S&W's Country Diner
Close to the Sony Lot in downtown Culver City

S&W's is ALWAYS without FAIL crowded on a weekend. I know this because I actually waited one time. And I was really really hungry. Nowadays, I try to go when the wait time is a little lighter - during the weekday, when there's mostly people from the Sony lot down the street, in their black outfits and constantly on the phone. I met up with Owen and got a seat outside, even though the interior of the restaurant has fun things to look at (stuff that any self respecting diner would have - chachkeys, signs that say weird country sayings, old timey posters). We wanted to have our meal in the open air. And there was no wait for the outside table, so there ya go. Our waitress was prompt and we got our food pretty quickly.

Even though S&W is known for their breakfasts, I chose to try one of their lunch offerings. Yep, just call me a rebel! I got their turkey club sandwich with curly fries.

Check out that MOUNTAIN of curly fries! And I assure you, they were crispy, flavorful, tender, everything that curly fries should be (and so rarely receive.) Each wedge of club sandwich was stuffed with moist freshly carved turkey breast, big pieces of sliced tomatoes, a layer of thick bacon slices, lettuce, all surrounded by wheat bread. These were hard to bite all the way though, but so worth it to attempt to. Here's a close up...

Check that sexy food! 2 of these wedges did me in, so I had some tasty leftovers for later.
Owen got an open faced turkey sandwich, which he was so eager to eat he hardly paused long enough to let me take the picture! The same great carved-from-a-turkey breast was the meat of this sandwich, doused with a thin gravy, topped over a slice o' white bread. The stuffing was very good, a nice bready-mushy-seasoned mash, and the cranberry sauce in its little covered container, to not mix with everything else on the plate. Owen's only complaint to this dish was the gravy - too watery for his taste, and a little too salty. Otherwise, this was his perfect meal.

Be aware, S&W's only takes cash (as noted by their sign - "In god we trust...so cash only") but they are really friendly on the wallet, so check this place out on a weekday lunch - it doesn't always have to be a weekend brunch spot!

The most amazing breakfast sandwich to ever be made...of course, invented by the French...I can't take credit for this, so here's the link...but can't you imagine? Each bite, to have a perfectly delicious mini egg yolk (in this case, quail eggs, which are quite delectable, I remember eating these as a kid). I don't really know if I could eat this...but purely by the design, it s a thing to behold. Croque Madame, indeed.

Storyteller's Cafe
In the Grand Californian Hotel, Disneyland Resort

More Disneyland food, hooray...ever since more of our friends got annual passes, it's been great fun going every other week or so (honestly!). It's also great to go to the restaurants in the resort - and the 10% pass discount doesn't hurt either.

Storyteller's Cafe has great atmosphere - earthy and welcoming, and smells deliciously of cinnamon-y BBQ sauce (the kind they put on their rack of ribs.) It almost doesn't feel like a Disneyland Resort restaurant. The wait isn't so bad, because they set out a cart with free apple cider and little cups. This cider is realllly good and addictive, and warms you up instantly on a cold night.

I can't say I've ever had bad service here, although the one time when my parents went without me, they said they were "ignored"...but I give them the benefit of the doubt, they've been very attentive every time I've been.

Once sitting down, a big ole basket of breads was placed before us...
Cornbreads and a lil' mini loaf of soft white bread. And a dish with triangles of butter. This cornbread is addictive - sweet, with corn kernels embedded in every muffin. The outside of these muffins are just right - to make that sticky but tantilizing outer crust. The bread is just okay to me but it is softer than soft. Onto the GOODS. I got the Warm Chicken melt, as I never tried this dish before. I have to say it's just, alright. Not great but not horrible. Chicken breast slices are topped with a huge slice of beefsteak tomato, grilled onion and cheese, and the bread is huge texas toast garlic bread, served with a side of fries. The fries would have been better if they were less cold..an off day because I've had piping hot fries from them before and they're good, not greasy and not overly salted. The tomato was the thing that dragged this melt down - gloppy and overbearing, I hate when tomato is cooked and the tired skins of the tomato get stuck between your teeth. I pulled the rest of the tomato out of the sandwich after taking a few bites. The bread is HUGE and overbearing, I had to rip off the edges to make a more managable sandwich. It's a ton of food and I was fuller than full after eating it.
Ryan tore into a 1/3 lb cheeseburger with guacamole. Look at how much guacamole they hooked him up with!! It's like a TOWER of green creamy goodness...and not often can many people say that. By the way, those strawberries in the corner were actually pretty decent - I was expecting them to be sour, but they ended up tasting alright.
This was Dean's Spaghetti with meat sauce, but honestly this was like, meat with some sauce and noodles. This was like, a vat of meat. And cheese. Dean said he would have liked more garlic bread, which, by the looks of the two meager pieces they put on his plate, is a fair assessment. He almost finished this monster but threw up the white flag as his stomach was just about to burst.
This was Mike's cheeseburger with bacon. Nothing much to say about it, 'cept he ate almost all of it....AND...
It was Mike's birthday last week so they brought him a Mickey Chocolate Mousse! I love the festive feel of this, with the mini M&M's, sprinkles, and chocolate ears. I couldn't even take a bite I was so stuffed, but Mike managed to scrape the plate clean. (he loves his sweets!)

This restaurant is a good place to relax after a busy day walking around Disneyland/California Adventure. It's a bit secluded from the crowds (although a ton of people go here still, but I'm comparing it to restaurants that are located INSIDE the theme parks), and the food is very decent.

Yashima Japanese Restaurant
Sawtelle and Olympic - 2nd floor

Where to eat on Halloween...Amber and I searched for a place to go during lunch. We had wanted to try the new rotating sushi bar...but upon arrival at the door, found that they were CLOSED on Halloween?? What self respecting business closes their doors on HALLOWEEN? I would understand every Sunday, or even MLK Jr. Day...but Halloween? Suspicious...

So we continued our search. Amber mentioned this small restaurant around the corner in the same complex...so we went there. Yashima has sparse decor - oddly enough, I would describe it as 80's minimalist. Trust me, you just have to see it for yourself.

We were seated quickly and presented with a menu that mostly consisted of udons, soba and rice bowls. Water was quickly served. This place was fast. Awesome.
I chose the special of the day - shrimp curry rice, small bowl of udon, tempura, a few nuggets of chicken karage, and mixed greens salad with one slice of tuna on top. This was a great set! So many different flavors, not too much of anything, nothing too overwhelming. The salad was perfect, a tangy Japanese dressing with delicious mixed greens, and the piece of tuna on top was such a great bonus! Tempura was hot and crispy, udon was supple and chewy in that good way. The two bites of karage were a nice little bite. Here's a close up of the shrimp tempura curry rice. The shrimp was alright but the curry was just okay. I mean, it was alright but nothing to go out of my way for.
Amber got the Beef Bowl set. This thing was huge for her - she only ate maybe a third of it - but loved every bite. Nice use of egg, and those shreds of seaweed! So perfect.

This is a top view of her set. Her miso soup looked really good!

Yashima was a nice little place to eat during lunch. I'm going again!

KC's Crepes
Lincoln Blvd and Manchester - close to Otis and Loyola

I'm letting my readers in on the biggest semi undiscovered crepe/boba place on the westside..shhh! I don't want everyone to flood to it, to make it more crowded than it already is on a Saturday afternoon...but as a dedication to my quest for good food, I must share this place with the blog-0-sphere (whoever is reading out there, anyways.) Otis and LMU students might know this place well - a tiny little space in a nano-mall, with one of the parking spaces converted to a little patio oasis to enjoy the outdoor breeze. Walk in, and usually KC himself (I'm assuming that's his name - the really nice Japanese surfer guy with a baseball cap that welcomes you) will take your order and make your drink. Such delicious drinks they have, too...

Owen's favorite, the latte boba. He'd get one of these everyday if he could (but luckily, or unluckily, they're closed on Mondays.) It's simply a shot of espresso, whole milk and deliciously sweet bobas - which make this drink SLIGHTLY sweet but the coffee is the true star here. For some reason a lot of boba places that I've been to REFUSE to do this simple thing - i.e. Lollicup which have their "Coffee tea boba" - which is just as it sounds, coffee plus tea mixed together. Gross!?
I went for my usual, a strawberry iced tea, with less flavoring than he usually puts in there, as I requested. Refreshing, delicious, with that good SNAP after you take a sip...you know what I mean? Like...AHhhhhh. In the background is Jay's Thai iced tea. He seemed to like it.
Now to the crepes! All the crepes are freshly made immediately after you order them - KC's daughters/co-workers/relatives (I don't know?) start making these delicious hand rolled things of beauty. After making them, they come outside to your table with a "So sorry for waiting!" and place the baskets full of crepe creations in front of you. The edges are paper thin crisp, fit perfectly in your hand, wrapped in a brown piece of paper. My crepe was the Turkey Sandwich crepe - with turkey slices, monterey jack cheese, mayo, mustard, mixed greens, a few tomatoes, and salt and pepper. Soooo good, not heavy, and mouthwatering to the last little bite!

This was Owen's Tuna Salad crepe, which I've had before as well. They don't skimp on the tuna in this, and really throw a lot in there. Mixed greens again, tomatoes and mayo (kewpie, I forgot to mention!).
This was Jay's BBQ Shrimp Crepe. Unfortunately I guess this wasn't exactly what Jay was expecting, as I think he thought they meant, BBQed shrimp. Instead, it was shrimp with BBQ sauce. However, he still liked it - he proclaimed that the shrimp was not overcooked..something that was very important to him (and he's a cook, so he would know!) and finished it all. I don't know if there was only shrimp and BBQ sauce in there, I forgot to ask and he ate it too quickly :D But I took that as a good sign.

I think the only thing that I'd have to complain about this place is the prices - these are not cheap crepes (Jay's, being the most expensive, was around 7 dollars!) It's like JAPAN prices. Also, it's a CASH ONLY place. But KC has a card system - buy 10 get the 11th free, for bobas and crepes...so that takes the edge off of it. And I like supporting him, as he goes off to make drinks and surf on his off days...so GO KC CREPES!

The Counter Burger
Ocean Park across the street from Activision

Burgery goodness! A good meaty burger was just what we were all craving one Friday night, so we all met up at the Counter. The wait was long (the place is fairly small and trendy - so the crowds were thick) and once we sat down we were ready to GRUB! We had already filled out our checklists of what we wanted in our burgers (so convenient - and so many possibilities) so we chatted an waited for our food...
As almost always, we start with my favorite drink, the Arnold Palmer...the perfect mix of refreshing and sweet...
We got an order of cheese fries - real cheese was melted over this bunch, so Owen was happy. For some reason I love me some fake cheese (yes! I know! It's disgusting but there's something about it that I strangely like...call it a weird obsession) but these were really good.
Regular fries were also ordered...check out the in-progress ketchup drawing of...A big smiley face! Yes, these fries are happy to be devoured...and they were, although my favorite fries are steak fries, these shoestring fries were pretty good in their own right. Now to the real deal...the burgers! Owen got a 1/3 lb (they don't offer anything smaller than that!) beef burger with tilamook cheddar cheese, grilled onions, bacon, avocado, a caesary sauce spread (I think!) on a honey wheat bun. The piece of bacon that I managed to snag from his plate was juicy and delicious. I think he really enjoyed his burger - nothing was left on his plate when he was done.
Here's my 1/3 lb turkey burger, with grilled onions, scallions, olives, mixed greens and a goat cheese spread, on a honey wheat bun. Soooo good. Eating this burger was a messy business - it was so full of stuff that a lot of it fell on the plate. I ate the stuff that fell out with a fork - nothing goes to waste! Everything was delicious and fresh, and I enjoyed it greatly.

The Counter lives up to its' fame...good burger place, I love the ease of ordering exactly how I want my burger dressed, but the wait is a problem...I guess it is to be expected for such a trendy hotspot.

Bay Cities Italian Deli
Lincoln Blvd and Broadway in Santa Monica

Oh man. I know this is a bold statement...but there is such a thing as the perfect meal. There are different versions of this perfect meal (fancy perfect meal, casual perfect meal, etc.). This is the perfect sandwich craving meal. Yep. Anyone else that has been here will have to agree - this place is awesome.

However, there are a few pitfalls - first being parking. The parking is in a small lot on the side of the store, and is always packed. Richy Santa Monica folks will murderously and inconsiderately cut you off for that lone half spot in the back. It's a huge bummer. Secondly, EVERYONE comes here for a sandwich from the deli - take a number and then wait for at least a half an hour for your number to be called. This is not a joke. For instance, our number was 43. They were on number 5. Don't get me wrong, those guys behind the counter work hard and they're super nice. There's just so many people that are waiting for exactly the same thing you want. And that is a DELICIOUS SANDWICH! They bake their own amazing bread there - these Italian rolls that have a crunchy crispy crust and a soft as anything interior. Super fresh. If you grab a loaf while mulling around the store waiting for your number to be called, there's almost always a fresh, HOT baguette stack near the front of the store.

In any case, yes, it's worth it to jump through these hoops and get to what you've been waiting for...
A LARGE GODMOTHER with the works - which consists of:
genoa salami, mortadella coppacola, ham, prosciutto, provolone. No substitutes. There's no NEED for substitues. This thing is amazing.
The delicious shredded lettuce, Boar's head meat and cheese, Italian mix of bell peppers, oil and vinegar, mayo and mustard, on that mouthwatering bread. Even though there's a lot of salty meats in this sandwich, it surprisingly not as salty as you would think it should be - the bread and other stuff mellows out the salt. This is a slice of heaven. Really.
Just to mix it up, Owen got a turkey with cheddar cheese. This was equally great. Love that Boar's head meat...the turkey is so delicately sliced and fresh and delicious and everything you want in a turkey deli meat.

We also got some Hava Chips (Owen's favorite) and I got an Orange Pellegrino drink (sooo good). This makes for a great meal and quelling of any sandwich cravings you could ever have. Just have patience while waiting for your number to be called...ignore your urge to go to the Jack in the Box down the street as your stomach growls...you will thank yourself over and over again as you're taking a big bite out of this sandwich.

Zen Zoo
Sunset Blvd in Hollywood

The morning after the art show, a few friends were in town (LAUREN!!) so we met up with them at Zen Zoo, after trying to go to Budda's Belly (which was closed.) The atmosphere here was really relaxing and pleasant - really did the whole "asian atmosphere" tastefully but not over the top. Nice.

Here's my green tea latte, gracefully presented by Lauren's hands. This was actually really good - flavorful, not too sweet, blended ice. Refreshingly milky. I thought it was a good choice for the morning.
Owen was craving miso soup so we got a big bowl of it. By the looks of this bowl it looks amazing, and at first, it really was - good hearty stock, big green onion slices, shiitake mushrooms. However, the bad part was how much ginger they put in here. This is not ginger soup, it's supposed to be miso soup. All I tasted was ginger the more I drank it, and there was also big chunks of ginger that I had to avoid (I HATE biting into ginger, I like it as a flavoring or I can tolerate little bits of it but big old chunks? A world of no.) This would have been much improved if they put more tofu or seaweed in here.
This was our order of chicken curry, chinese style. I liked this more than Owen did, because he's used to the Indian curries or Japanese curry. Chinese curry is not so in your face as the other curries - more watery, less punch/richness. They were generous with the ingredients - big pieces of potato, white chicken meat, carrots and onions. I liked the sprigs of clover looking rabbit food on top and the black sesame seeds. White rice lined the bottom of this bowl. It was decent, but not necessarily something I'd order again.
These baos were part of the combo set that we ordered. Chicken, BBQ pork and vegetable. These were delicious. The bready part in the bao was extremely light and fluffy - and not gross and soggy like some dimsum places have it (the condensation from the steaming drips all over the baos and makes the dough all nasty and gooey). This version was awesome. I could have had like 3 more BBQ pork ones and like 2 more of the chicken ones - the vegetable was alright but not my bag.
This is the dumpling part of our combo - the wheel o' dumplings. " All of our dumplings are made with a thicker rice flour wrapper." They don't lie. I don't mind the thicker wrapper, it was all about the fillings, which were excellent. I don't know what everything was, except for a mix of shui mais and har gaos (meat and shrimp dumplings.) The triangle dumpling in the middle was filled with veggies. Not bad. Everything was good, and everything was eaten.

Zen Zoo was a great thumbs up from all of us. It wasn't one of those "authentic" places but it was a good rendition of it, and really relaxing.

Wedding Food

A wedding reception is supposed to have the most killer food. So here's a quick review on food we had at Owen's aunt's wedding...

First off, beet salad. Okay, I don't like beets so this dish was not a winner in my book. The little mug was some cold gazpacho, which was okay, it tasted like chilled chopped tomato chunky soup. I only ate the greenery and cheese off of this plate. Beets, you are my mortal enemy.
After that, was lemony sorbet. First off, sorbet should be freezing cold when served, because the texture of sorbet is delicious when you dig your spoon into the scoop - a refreshing way to "cleanse the palate". However, this stuff was gross, all melted and soggy. I took a little spoonful and spit it back out. Lame, lame and lame. If I wanted cold lemon soup I would have had lemonade and ice and would have been happier. An Icee from the movie theaters was better than this slop.
My plate was a softshell crab with mashed potatoes, green beans tied up with chives, carrots and some other root vegetable. The softshell crab itself was alright, but I wasn't a fan of the sauce they used on it - too gingery sour, I really just wanted a good salty miso dressing on top. The rabbit food on the rest of the plate was okay. I have to say that even after I ate everything on the plate, I was still hungry. Crunchy crab does not go a long way, I guess I'm more used to having this with rice.
Owen's plate was more substancial - the Lamb, on which they poured a delicious pea gravy sauce over the meat once it finally got to the table. There was also a square of scalloped potatoes with breadcrumbs over it, that was pretty decent. Again, rabbit food to round out the plate.

We didn't stay for the cake because we had to go, but I heard the cake was a carrot cake and really yucky. Like, hard shell outside for the frosting. Carrot cake should always be moist and have a good cream cheese frosting or something like that on the outside to balance out the cake. So thumbs down on that even though we didn't have it.

Overall, I've definitely had better wedding food, and the service was horrific - we didn't get served dinner until 9pm (the ceremony ended at 4:30pm!!) And it was freezing in the Malibu mountains. So yes, even though this is not a restaurant I wouldn't suggest using whatever catering service they used, haha.