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

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

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.

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

Los Angeles (Little Tokyo), 90012 - Frying Fish

Decision - A fun fast reasonably price place for sushi

I love this place not only for the sensibly prices sushi but for the atmosphere. They have "stock" sushi and sashimi rolling around on the conveyor belt. To get some really good stuff simply ask your friendly sushi chef to make you a salmon skin handroll (always toasted long enough to get it nice and crunchy with a touch of sesame inside - this is my #1 fav spot for this)


and the Manhattan roll (tuna, avocado and cucumber) - heck I order it just to hear them repeat back to me "Man hat ton roll" :P


The black dragon is ok, I'm not a big unagi fan.


Their spider roll is really good too...alas we were full and didn't order it this time.

Did I tell you how wonderfully crunchy, warm and delicious the salmon skin hand roll is? Lets look at it one last time. So pretty.

Oh PS - When you're done with this you have to walk across the way for some red bean cakes! That's the next post.

Frying Fish
120 Japanese Village Plaza
LA, CA 90012
Tel - (213) 680 0567
They validate parking
No website

Los Angeles, 90012 - Phillipe's

Decision - The desserts will leave you with an ever-so-satiated smile...and the french dips are good too.


Yes, yes I know this has been covered by probably every foodie blogger in LA. Now it is my turn to throw my hat in the ring.

I'll make this short and sweet (since my pics of the actual sandwiches didn't turn out). The french dips are as tasty as they brag. I like to get mine "double dipped" = extra soggy.

The desserts are why I keep going back. Above is the banana cream and chocolate cream. The chocolate one is oh la la keep both hand on the table good. I'm not a huge banana cream fan but this one almost rivals the chocolate one. I know it looks like it is all whip cream but that's banana flavored goodness in there. I've heard their apple pie is just as quiverous (I know it is not a word but I like it).

I'll be researching more on this since their dessert menus is as deep as....the day is long

Update - I just had their apple pie.....eh not impressed. I'll stick with the fat laden cream pies :D

Phillipe's
1001 N. Alameda St.
LA, CA 90012
(213) 628-3781
http://www.philippes.com
I love the fact they have 2 parking lots so there's always plenty of spaces

quivered
quivers
quivery
quavers
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Ignore all
Add to dictionary

Candy Bars!

Decision - Crack is wack but sugar is legal

I have a bit of a fetish. Refined sugar is the finest white line I've ever had. I love cakes, ice cream, pastries etc. Unfortunately getting quality baked sweets is not always an easy thing. Too sweet, too hard, not sweet enough (What is it with Hispanic bakeries? They always look so amazing but have no sugar!). All the prior scenarios make me cranky because I hate wasting calories on crap.

So when in a bind for a line I settle for a dime bag of sugar and chocolate...candy bars. (Man I need to get out of East LA :P)
- This was more coffee fragranced than coffee flavored but still good
- reminded me of medicine
- I got this in Singapore, it was really sweet but still yummy
- I didn't notice anything extra cripsy about the KitKat but it was still yummy. The Double chocolate Reese's was yum yum yummy it still had a peanut butter flavor but had a stronger chocolate tone to it. The milkshake KitKat is da BOMB!!! The best out of all these limited edition schmancy new flavors. The fudge creme hershey's bar left me wanting to throw up from its hyper sweetness....or maybe it was because it was the last one of the set I scarfed down.

So why devote a post to candy bars? Well I have JUST learned that my bestest friend in Singapore thought of me while at the store and is sending me the below plus MORE flavors!!!!! How kewl is it I have friends that know how simple I am and bless me without me even having to ask!!!

I can not wait for your arrival mon cherie

Beverly Hills, 90210 - Sprinkles

Decision - Waste of money (I'm not a cheappie when it comes to food either)



There's 2 places that have been on my "To Indulge" list. Sprinkles was one of them. A friend and I decided to rewards ourselves after a I set a personal best at a 5k race we did.

By the time we got there, in the late afternoon, there was a line out the door and down the sidewalk! We figured it was half the fun and stood in line chatting it up with our fellow cupcake connoisseurs. Turns out none of the people around us in line had been here before either.... red flag #1

After a long and winding journey we rounded the corner into the front door to notice a lot of the flavors were sold out.

I ended up with (starting upper left and going clockwise):
Chocolate marshmallow - Chocolate cupcake with a marshmallow center. The cupcake was moist but not very chocolatey and the marshmallow center was just kind of a white mush.
Carrot Cake - This was really good. The frosting was really thick but it tasted like a good carrot cake.
Orange - This one was really good too. Nice strong orange flavor but not overpowering but again the 2" thick frosting that was REALLY sweet.
Black and White - Ehhh same flavor as the chocolate marshmallow without the goopy center

So I guess I was disappointed because as my Dad says when offered dessert "Bring me whatever you have with chocolate twice in the name" and the two cupcakes I was hoping would knock my socks off didn't even get me to wiggle my toes. When I'm feeling rich (the little suckers are $3.25 a piece) I might go back specifically to try the peanut butter chip, mocha or peanut butter chocolate. I have a feeling I will be disappointed since I'm not too impressed with their chocolate abilities



Sprinkles
9635 Little Santa Monica Blvd (Note it is LITTLE Santa Monica, the one next to the main one)
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
http://www.sprinklescupcakes.com

Hollywood, 90028 - Beard Papa

Decision - Tap a vein, I'm addicted



Well, I guess Beard Papa is the best place as any for my first review....why is that? Chances are you already know how delicious these little lard bombs are.



For those of you who haven't experiences these yet - get your butt over there. Expect it to be a bit bigger when you walk out. I have to admit I've only had a handful of other places Japanese style creme puffs but after having these my search promptly stopped. They are wonderfully flaky and then when your teeth penetrate the outer crust a cool creamy glorious custard invites itself to the party and ooohhh baby.

They also have these glorious little chocolate cakes. I don't recall the fancy francias name they gave it. It comes with direction to nuke them for a bit to enjoy the depth of their texture. It becomes like a little lava cake. Its really is nice, not sickening sweet.

Beard Papa
Hollywood & Highland Shopping Center
6801 Hollywood Blvd.No.1.5.-153
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 462-6100

http://www.muginohousa.com/index.html

Index

Alhambra
Cafe Spot

Arcadia
Sakana

Beverly Hill$
Sprinkles

Hollywood
Beard Papa

Los Angeles
Phillipe's
Frying Fish
Ko-Raku
Square One Dining

Monterey Park
Foo Foo Tei

Rowland Heights
Genki Living

San Gabriel
Goody's

Here There and Everywhere
Candy Bars