Mastication Memoirs

Monday, July 03, 2006

Los Angeles (Hollywood), 90029 - Square One Dining

Decision - Their menu is VERY creative and tasty. It is a fun novelty.

Menu
One of the owners works along side the wait staff and you can tell he's enjoying himself. He advised us the menu will change so that we should check back often....no problem!

poached eggs. house cured salmon and wilted frisee on a shredded potato pancake with hollandaise
Poached eggs with house cured salmon and wilted frisee on a shredded potato pancake with hollandaise
The salmon was a bit salty but the fried till the carcinogens are ripe potato pancake was a great addition of texture to the dish.

Three slices of brioched French toast with bourbon - pecan topping and vanilla whip cream
Three slices of brioched French toast with bourbon - pecan topping and vanilla whip cream
Keep your hands away from a 3 food radius of my mouth when this dish is on the table. The bread is so moist. The pecans are caramelized in to sweet little nuggets and that vanilla whip cream...you can see the speck of black vanilla in them. It is such a nice light addition to the pecans.


frittata with bacon, spinach, tomato and cheddar
Frittata with bacon, spinach, tomato and cheddar
Everything on the menu is so novel that this dish is a bit of a non memorable event.

Moroccan mint ice tea CC / PB / Oatmeal rosemary
Moroccan mint ice tea and CC / PB / Oatmeal rosemary cookies
Mmmm the ice tea is glorious on the hot days we've been having. The chocolate "chip" cookie made me giggle with delight. It was like a mini soufflé with a gooey chocolate layer hidden inside. The peanut butter cookie reminded me of grandma's. I don't know what the idea behind the oatmeal was..but no thanks.

Also HIGHLY recommend the pecan coffee cake and the pancakes with bacon enriched caramel sauce!

Square One Dining
4854 Fountain Ave
LA, CA 90029
Tel - (323) 661-1109

8AM - 4PM closed Mondays

http://www.squareonedining.com/

Bring your patience. I think they need to schedule one more waitperson.

Monday, June 19, 2006

Rowland Heights, 91748 - Genki Living

Decision - Stuff fest. The crepes are huge and tasty.

Tako-yaki
Tako-yaki
Why o why do these little balls of delight have to always be so torturously hot when first served? The fish shavings were shimmering from the heat rising. It was lovely. It would have been more fun if the wasabi was a bit more viscous but it was still delish.

Hiroshima style okonomiyaki
Hiroshima style okonomiyaki
I had never tried this before but my dining partner almost broke out in tears when she saw it on the menu. I couldn't stop my "sampling".

Seafood croquette crepe
Seafood croquette crepe
The crepe is a bit thicker and more cake life than I prefer but it still works well. I really don't want to fathom how many calories were in this but.....it was worth every bite.

Genki Living
(In the back portion of Diamond Plaza)
1370 - 1388 Fullerton Road
Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Hours......Most places in the plaza open at around 11am and close at around 10 or 11pm during the week and later on the weekend.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Sunset Beach, 90742 - Harbor House Cafe

Decision - The menu is EXTENSIVE but quality is standard cafe quality. Don't go for a meal go for the shakes.

















The menu was intimidating to say the least. I think it was 10 pages long, complete with Mexican and Chinese food (hint don't ever order international fare from a place that offers more than one country unless you're at IHop.)

I had a nice turkey sandwich with avocados...the pictures looked sickly due to the lighting so I'll pass on posting them. My foodie pal went for broke and got the chicken fried steak. They were ok....not worth driving all the way to Sunset Beach for BUT.........

















Ooooo Momma just looking at the pictures makes me want to find somewhere private and fantasize about these little betties.

I never get shakes, I would love to get shakes but then I would make the sidewalk shake, so I resist but this time......this time they had peanut butter shakes. I had to get one. After ordering mine my cholesterol ingestor partner got a banana shake. A moment later a brilliant idea overcame me. Wait, didn't I see that there was an extra charge for extra flavors? Extra flavor? Like chocolate??? O yes, I did. I flagged down the waitress and had her revise that baby to a chocolate peanut butter shake.

The result? I have NEVER experienced such bliss, in a public or private arena. There was real peanut better in the shake but it was so wonderfully ribboned in. The banana shake had little nibbly bits of banana in it.

We even got naughtier and mixed to two flavors. Next time I go back, which o yes I will, I'm getting a chocolate, peanut butter and banana shake...and then we can watch the sidewalk shake sake as I walk by.

Harbor House Cafe
16341 Pacific Coast Highway
Sunset Beach, CA 90742
(562) 592-5404
Open 24/7/365
http://www.harborhousecafe.com/

Thursday, March 23, 2006

San Gabriel, 91776 - Goody's

Decision - We go back again and again and again.

Not only is the food 100% Americana but the ambiance is a wood panel wonder. I think this is the last bastion strong hold of Caucasians in San Gabriel.


The avocado burger with a side of sour cabbage is a staple of our diet. The meat is nice and fatty and well it is just yummy. The sour cabbage really sets it off. Its like a mild pickle without the strong tart. I really don't know how to explain it except for the fact it is yum yum yum and I've never had anything like it anywhere else. (It is not the normal side to the dish, so you need to ask for it.)

I also HIGHLY recommend their french toast. It is made out of sour dough bread and nice and dense without sitting in your tummy like a brick hours later.

This place is full of regulars that have been coming here since it opened. I think most of the waitresses have worked there since it opened too. They're really nice but don't cross them or they'll cut you. ..in a nice way

Goody's
865 E Las Tunas Dr,
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Phone (626) 286-3515
website - yeah right :P

Friday, March 17, 2006

Monterey Park, 91755 - Foo Foo Tei

Decision - I like the ramen in my previous little Tokyo ramen post better but this one is close and for a quick fix it isn't bad.


It in a small corner next to a really good Taiwanese breakfast place....that'll be reviewed very soon :D It is a fun small place to get a quick bite with friends.


I had the Kakiage Ramen which is described as Noodle soup with shrimp and vegi fritter. It was pretty good. My advice is to fish out the fritter and put it aside on the provided plate so you aren't eating moosh later. One bad thing, which is the case I am sure with almost all ramen places, is the soup was loaded with MSG. My lips were tingling.


This is Shin Shin Ramen. The menu says HOT and HOLY BATMAN it is hot. This thing was spicy! The fortunate / unfortunate thing was it wasn't a malicious spicy where you refused to eat anymore....it was a seductive burn where you know your digestive track is going to pay you back later but you still want more. (We call this a sliced cucumber hot.....it is so hot you want to take sliced cooled cucumber into the bathroom with you later. :P)


We got a side of eggplant and croquette. It was OK, their version is not something I would find myself craving.

Foo Foo Tei
750 S. Altantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 588-2010


Here's their other store
15018 Clark Ave.,
Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Tel: (626)937-6585
Bus. Hours: 11:30 AM-2:30PM 5:30PM-10:00PM

Thursday, March 09, 2006

Los Angeles (Little Tokyo), 90012 - Ko-Raku

Decision - Yum yum delish ramen and side dishes. This is one of the top 2 ramen places in Little Tokyo (in my HUMBLE opinion :P).



We come here a lot. Their ramen dishes are consistently yummy and they're open LATE (like 3am I think). The noodles have a nice firmness to them. I'm not a big fan of mushy or undercooked noodles, this is neither.


I highly recommend the tan tan ramen (pictured above). Nice and spicy but not malicious.


Also yummy is their seaweed salad and gyoza.

Ko-Raku
314 E. 2nd Street
LA, CA 90012
(213) 687-4972
No website
Bring your patience while you're hunting for parking and on the weekends after midnight chances are you're going to have to wait for a table.

Monday, March 06, 2006

Arcadia, 91007 - Sakana Seafood Restaurant

Decision - Good food but bring your patience and if you want lunch come early. Service is lacking and they close between lunch and dinner.


Is that not a lovely hunk of tuna? It is a bit hard to see the scale but it is almost as big as my head....and that was just 1/4 of what they had sliced off a big fish they were cutting up!


I had a mix of summer veggies on rice with tempura. They laid down a nice layer of sesame seeds under the summer veggies so it was pretty good. Without that layer I might have been a bit gagged since I'm not too hip on cold cooked veggies. The tempura was good since they included eggplant and squash.


Vickie had the salmon and sashimi. I've had this before and can tell you the salmon is nice and crunchy. Spread that nice tart lemon over the crispy goodness and you'll be in mastication delight. The sashimi is good quality too.


I had a bite of Mollie's chicken. Oooo the skin was still on and it was lovely.

Sakana Seafood Restaurant
713 W Duarte Road Suite H
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 821-9800

No website

Monterey Park, 91803 - Cafe Spot

Decision - Fun place with a nice variety of food



Mmmm one of my favorite things to get here is the Hong Kong Pancake (pictured above). I also HIGHLY recommend the red wine beef rib steak. It is a slow cooked, marinated, fatty (translation - oh so yummy) tender piece of beef.

They have a "Japanese" menu.....stay away from it. I've tried two things off of there and been disappointed each time.

This place will be revisited again soon, so more pics to come.

Cafe Spot
500 W. Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 308-3233
No website