Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Hide Sushi

Sushi! I love me my sushi, and I've passed by Hide Sushi enough to see that this place is super popular (I see people waiting outside for a table at all hours of the day!) I was forewarned about their cash only policy, so I made sure to get some cash that day when I met up with Daphne, Robert and Owen.

We snagged a seat in the back and quickly ordered, we were very hungry. They were very fast in delivering our food to the table, considering the amount of people in the restaurant at the time.
Hide Sushi
Two sets of each kind of roll, spicy tuna and spicy yellowtail, arrived first. These were delicious rolls, very freshly made, great quality fish, good texture on the rice. We devoured these very quickly, so tasty!
Hide Sushi
From the left: salmon skin roll, California roll, and then a spicy salmon roll to round out the plate. The salmon skin was Robert's favorite, he always orders it, and I definitely agreed with his decision. We described the salmon skin as "salmon candy", crunchy, fishy and savory, I wish more places had it as a fast food item (KFC could try to go out on a limb to try to get more asian customers?). California rolls aren't really my favorite, but this version was nice, very generous with the avocado. Salmon was good, I could have had more of those too.
Hide Sushi
Some nigiri - from the left front - unagi, (eel), sweet shrimp, and salmon. Starting with eel, which is my favorite meal ender, I love the sweet sauce and the savory taste it has, I always have one to end my sushi meal. Salmon nigiri was very good, no overly fishy taste (which is Owen's judge of good salmon), and super tender once eaten. They went quickly.

Daphne had ordered the sweet shrimp, as she had heard to order this (later, you will see the fried shrimp heads), they do not waste any of the huge sweet shrimp. However, she tasted it and instantly did not like it, so she gave the other one to me. Honestly, I am not the biggest fan either (raw sweet shrimp has an interesting texture when eaten, the best way I can describe it is it makes my mouth feel...fuzzy and powdery), but I don't like letting things go to waste, so I had it. I think I'll stick to cooked shrimp from now on.
Hide Sushi
The fried shrimp heads were the redeeming factor to the sweet shrimp sushi, after turning their bodies into sushi, the heads are fried whole. Snapping off little bits of antennae and legs, each piece tasted like the best shrimp chip I've ever had. I would devour a plate of these, given the chance. Please don't judge me...sometimes I'm a glutton...
Hide Sushi
Last plate...more spicy tuna and a tuna roll. I already chatted about the spicy tuna, so the tuna roll, good ratio of cucumber and tuna (very generous with the tuna). I liked that it was cucumber bits instead a big chunk of cucumber like I'm used to, it gives a great cucumber flavor to the roll instead of overpowering everything.

We were super full after all these rolls, and I remember that the bill was quite reasonable. Great quality, great price, really nothing more I can ask for. I need to go back soon.

Hide Sushi
2040 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025-6230
(310) 477-7242

Truxton's American Bistro

I hadn't seen Brook in awhile, and met up with her for lunch one weekday. Since I had never tried it, I wanted to give Truxton's Bistro a shot (last time I had tried to eat there, it was completely bogged down with a party, and we never even got to be seated - no one ever showed up at the front - a huge negative, there always should be someone greeting, right?) I decided to give the place another chance, after all, there were a lot of people there, that's at least a good sign right?

Scanning the menu, I noted that a lot of the menu items were pretty pricey, but I was still willing to try, if anything to check out the quality. Of course, my usual drink order...
Truxton's American Bistro
A nice frosty arnold palmer, very welcome on that hot day.
Truxton's American Bistro
Brook got a meatball(?) pizza, I think it was meatball anyways. The other toppings included red bell pepper, onion and a slight dusting of parsley. The pizza crust was impressive, very thin but still managed to keep all the toppings secure and didn't bend under the weight of itself when picking up a piece. Brook only ate like, a quarter of this, and saved the rest, it was rather big.
Truxton's American Bistro
I got a turkey club sandwich, with sweet potato fries. I think I got this mainly because this would be Owen's order of choice if we were to go again, and I wanted to gauge how good his order would be, plus I wanted to bring half of this home for him, as he was sick that day (yes, he's sick a lot...a lot of headaches :( ) I remember enjoying the sweet potatoes a lot, as they were crispy, well seasoned and the perfect fry size. The sandwich itself was made of fresh carved turkey breast, a pleasant surprise (I dislike the water packed stuff but have come to terms with it when served this at restaurants, Owen DETESTS water packed turkey and will completely reject a sandwich if it contains it), good mixed baby greens and tomato, with bacon, but I could be wrong as this was awhile ago. This was a very decent sandwich, however, very pricey (I think it was around 12-13 for the sandwich, and an extra dollar or two for the upgrade to sweet potato fries.)

The atmosphere was nice and very busy, I'm sure a neighborhood restaurant is very welcome around these parts, in terms of variety (oddly, there are 3 Mexican restaurants within spitting distance of each other around here...). The price point is a bit high for my taste, but I can see myself coming here once and awhile.

UPDATE: I went here again with Owen and my parents this past week, to get some breakfast. I had gotten a breakfast burrito, with chicken sausage, scrambled eggs, pico de gallo and cheese. My side dish was fresh fruit (I had a choice of potatoes but went with fruit.) Owen got their french toast, my parents got scrambled eggs and toast, and bacon, and snacked off each others' and my plate. The food was pretty good, the fruit was very sweet and my mom really liked my breakfast burrito. However, one thing was driving me nuts - there was this annoying loud squeaky noise whenever the servers went through the door to the kitchen, which was very often. I know it was a little thing but it bothered my experience enough to ask the server to fix the squeak, which didn't happen during the busy morning rush. I hope they fix it by the time I go back next time.

Truxton's American Bistro
8611 Truxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90045-3910
(310) 417-8789
www.truxtonsmaericanbistro.com

Koreatown Galleria

Just a quick post (I have much to catch up on, and it's almost the new year..!), but one hot summer day, I decided to stop into Koreatown Galleria for a quick lunch after I had gotten my haircut.
Koreatown Galleria
Don't exactly remember what the name of the little stand was in the food mart, but I craved Korean cold noodles. This was a really great combo - Korean cold noodles and Korean bbq marinated beef ribs over rice combo. The springy, cold and tangy noodles make slurping them a joy...I am instantly refreshed after eating these. The beef was very tender, I didn't really finish all the rice but the meat was great, and with the kimchi-ed bean sprouts, kimchi cabbage, and pickled veggies, it was a perfect meal. I should have taken my leftovers back home but I had some more shopping to do, so I figured it would be a waste...I'll remember to do that next time.

Koreatown Galleria Food Court
3250 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90006-2367
(323) 733-6000
koreatowngalleria.com

Monday, December 07, 2009

Sugarfish

This is from when Marcie and I finally got together one day to celebrate both our belated birthdays. She had wanted to try Sugarfish for ages, and we finally made it there, early enough so we were the first customers of the day on a sunny Saturday mid-morning.

I'm most intrigued by Nozawa's "Trust Me" menus, how for the most part, that's all they offer, you can get a few things more a-la-carte but that's it. Marcie and I both went with the "Trust Me" menu selection (not the Trust me lite, I wanted to try the crab roll!).
Sugarfish
A plate of edaname was brought out for each of us to nibble on. Tasty pods of edaname are always fun and a great way to start a meal.
Sugarfish
Second dish, a chopped tuna sashimi, with green onions and ponzu sauce. Each piece of tuna was like a glistening ruby, so tasty and fresh. I'd have to say the quality of fish was excellent across the board, very clean and tasty flavors. The portion was quite small, but a great start.
Sugarfish
Next up, 2 pieces each of Albacore and Salmon Sushi. Same thing all around - super fresh and tasty. I remember the rice being nice as well, although it was a little more crumbly than I would have liked (a lot of grains fell off en-route from plate to soy sauce to mouth), but the fish more than made up for any minor complaints about rice.
Sugarfish
Another small plate arrived - one piece each of Yellowtail and Halibut Sushi. Nothing more can be said about the quality that I haven't said before, just top notch and very delicious.
Sugarfish
As the waitress put down this plate, she cautioned us to eat this sooner than later, as the seaweed is crisp and fresh. The Toro Hand Roll was really amazing, the fish was very luscious on the tongue, and the rice issue was resolved by this method of eating, as the rice was enveloped by the seaweed. I could have had 2 more of these.
Sugarfish
Last plate was the Crab Hand Roll, same rules applied as the toro handroll. The crab meat was SO sweet, each bite was just like fireworks in my mouth. Hrm, in a good way.

I felt pretty good after that lunch but I think I probably could have done even more, maybe some a-la-carte items to finish it off. I am definitely going again soon.

Sugarfish
4722 1/4 Admiralty Way
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292-6905
(310) 306-6300
www.sugarfishsushi.com

Friday, November 27, 2009

Kuru Kuru Sushi

This is awhile ago, when I had a different schedule at work (nights). Louisa and I met up with Bryan at Kuru Kuru sushi, as Bryan had a craving, and we were up for anything. I had gotten some takeout here before (decent) and was willing to give them a shot. The place was pretty full with people from the studios having their dinner, so space was limited. We initially sat at the sushi bar, but moved to a table once one cleared up.

Bryan and I were intrigued by a particular item on the menu - called "Monkey brains". Whaa? So, I HAD to order this - after all, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is one of my favorite movies of all time. This is what arrived at the table...
Kuru Kuru Sushi
...hrmm. I guess...monkey brain-ish. Kinda. Far as I can decipher (the waitress wasn't very descriptive, and the menu literally only said "Monkey brains") it was a mushroom, stuffed with tuna or other fish meats, tempura fried and covered in a siracha and teriyaki sauce. The novelty of the name was pretty much the best thing about it, I mean, it was edible but I don't think I'll order it again. The mix of fish meat became quite overcooked in the frying process, the mushroom itself was fine. I guess they did the best they could with presentation.
Kuru Kuru Sushi
This was Louisa's salad that came along with her dish. Sad iceberg lettuce leaves covered in ginger-y dressing. Serviceable, but very much a great example of "camp salad" (Owen's reference to how it's cheap lettuce in a bag, that came with purple lettuce and carrot shreds, that he was forced to eat during YMCA summer camp. Oh, the stuff that we endure as kids.)
Kuru Kuru Sushi
This was the rest of Louisa's dish, the Chicken Teriyaki dinner. The char-grilled chicken is over a bed of noodles, and white rice on the side. Louisa liked this, I've had it for that one time I had takeout and it's pretty decent. Good grilling on the chicken.
Kuru Kuru Sushi
Bryan's sushi cravings were satiated by this roll, I'm not sure what they called it, but considering they named the last dish Monkey Brains, I'm going to call it "Snake Surprise". I think it's a California roll topped with pieces of salmon sashimi. He was fairly happy with this roll, although Bryan is pretty much happy with most things he orders.
Kuru Kuru Sushi
I got a chirashi sushi box, scattered pieces of sashimi fish over a bed of sushi rice. From what I remember, it had tuna, salmon, whitefish, shrimp, and flying fish roe. The quality of the fish was not extremely great but it was ok. The salmon was a bit stringy. They were fairly generous with portions though, so I guess I can't complain too much.

I definitely have to try some more sushi places in Burbank to compare but this place falls neatly in the mid-low range of sushi places, but service was friendly and the turnover seemed pretty frequent so I would be willing to come here again.

Kuru Kuru Sushi
521 N Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505-4983
(818) 846-6552

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Mozza to go

Whew, finally a moment to catch up on posts! Thanksgiving vacation is such a blessing.

I was eagerly awaiting the opening of Mozza to go - so exciting to be able to get the amazing pizza at Pizzeria Mozza in a take out window instead of at the restaurant, which is usually very crowded and busy. It's also nice to be able to call them beforehand and have the pizza ready right when I walk up...it's great! The nice part of this very small space is the products you can get, here's a wall of stuff you can buy from Mozza to go...
Mozza To-Go
Dry pastas, canned tomatoes, really high quality products available for purchase. I even hear you can buy soap that they make from their used cooking oil. Sweet!
Mozza To-Go
Bryan tried the Pizza alla Benno: Speck, pineapple, jalapenos, mozzarella & tomato. Bryan's not a picky eater but he loved this enough to want to go back a few days later, and get the same pizza. Once he likes something, he usually sticks with it always. Note the delicious bubbly edges on the crust - one of the best things about Mozza pizza!
Mozza To-Go
I got a Coach Farm goat cheese, leeks, scallions, garlic & bacon pizza. The leeks and scallions added a nice fresh contrast to the creamy goat cheese, and the saltiness of the bacon and mellowness of the roasted garlic. A perfect pizza? I might have to submit this one up for a nomination, for sure.
Mozza To-Go
I got this pizza to go for Owen, his favorite Fennel sausage, panna & red onion pizza. The house made sausage, laced with fennel, with delicate red onion strands, it really stands out as a classic favorite with high end ingredients.

I wish I lived closer to this place so I could actually order delivery from here. Mozza to go is a welcome addition to my "special treat" take out rotation. Oh, I also got a butterscotch budino to go as well, I forgot to take a picture of it cuz I scarfed it down too quick...I think it tasted even better because I was in my PJ's instead of in the crowded restaurant. Do yourself a favor and try some takeout from this place!

Mozza to Go
6610 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
323-297-1130
http://www.mozza2go.com/

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Umami Burger

Quick quick post on Umami burger, as I'm completely embarrassed that I haven't posted this and I went here around the 4th of July (Oh MAN I've been backlogged on the posts...) My friend Brian was in town for Anime Expo, where we had a booth at Artist's alley, where I sold some of my prints. We met up for dinner with some of his friends at Umami burger, where I had been very interested in going to, as I passed it daily going to work, but hadn't gotten a chance to go to, up until then!

Brian's friends were really nice, and we chatted it up while waiting for our table. And we waited. And waited some more. We eyed the lucky groups of people that had gotten there before us. People were basically camped out there for ages...there were birthday celebrations, big groups of people eating, talking, then ordering SECONDS on their burgers...it got to ridiculous levels. I think we ended up waiting about 2 and a half hours. That was beyond my limit, even for a really hot restaurant, but I guess I really can't blame the restaurant, they just had a lot of people, and not very much space.

Anyways, on to the burgers.
Umami Burger
I think this was Brian's burger, he got a Manly burger - beer cheddar cheese, smoked salted onion strings, and bacon lardons. Sorry for the blurriness, we were starving and disjointed at this point. He and I shared our burgers, so we each got a taste. The quality of the meat was very good, the shiny bun encased the ingredients very well. I think the burger was rather small for the price, but I admit I wasn't hungry after eating a full one, so I guess it was satisfying enough. The bacon and onion strings on this one were very nice, added a lot of texture and savoriness (the signature flavor of umami...right?)
Umami Burger
This was my burger, the Pork and Stilton burger - blue cheese, pocas port carmelized onions. I actually liked Brian's burger better, I'm glad we agreed to share. It didn't have enough of the poppy flavors that I expected (like a knock your socks off amount of flavorful blue cheese, I think they were rather light handed in the blue cheese generosity department), although I still liked it - again, the quality of the meat was excellent, but I could have used more intense flavors.
Umami Burger
This was the truffle burger, and my favorite one that I tried, definitely worthy of an "umami" label. Very savory, deep flavors that stuck with you after you took a bite, and very unique. If I were to go again I would get this burger. Maybe two. Okay I'm a glutton.
Umami Burger
Brian's friends insisted to us that their fries were not worth ordering, but I didn't even get a chance to see for myself as they had run out of fries for the night. Oh well. I got the onion rings instead. These were tasty, lots of tempura batter, not too greasy, with their "special" ketchup, I liked it but only about 4 rings for 4 dollars was a little steep for me. I might just rock another burger next time.

Again, I don't blame Umami for the overloaded dining room that night, so I'll be back again at some point, hopefully when they're not so overloaded with other guests.

Umami Burger
850 La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-931-3000
http://www.umamiburger.com/

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Portos Bakery and Cafe

Louisa hadn't tried Porto's before and that was a crying shame, so we headed there one day to experience the magic (well, by the way people talk about this place, it's practically epic). A HUGE line was winding around for the bakery section, luckily, we were going to the cafe line which was a lot shorter. The prices were quite cheap for sandwiches and their signature items, I am not sure about each of the cake prices but I think I paid around 25 dollars for everything...here goes...
Portos Bakery
I got this pretty little chocolate cake with mousse inside for Owen. I think it looked prettier than it tasted, but Owen liked it fine- it's chocolate, after all, and a dark chocolate, at that.
Portos Bakery
One of the things Porto's is famous for - their cheese rolls. They're really affordable, and really tasty. They're what I want cheese danishes to taste like - flaky, the cheese is not too sweet or heavy, and airy bites of sugar coated pastry. So good as a breakfast or anytime snack.
Portos Bakery
The second thing that Portos is famous for - their potato balls. These breadcrumb coated balls are pretty dang addicting...I'd liken them to mini portable shepherd's pies....
Portos Bakery
Here's a shot of the insides. Meaty meat mixture, surrounded in mashed potato, with a fried coating. I think this is the American answer to the Chinese dumpling.
Portos Bakery
And this is my sandwich, a turkey on a croissant sandwich. It came with plantain chips, a fun twist on the usual potato chip that would usually come with a sandwich, but I still prefer potato chips. These plantain chips had a nice satisfying crunch, though, and a faint taste of plantain, I think when you cut plantains this thin then fry them, you lose most of that flavor that goes along with it. The turkey croissant-wich was great, freshly baked croissant and yummy turkey is pretty much awesome. Also, at a price around 4 dollars, it was a nice change from the usual 9 dollar or more sandwiches I've come to begrudgingly pay for at other restaurants.

I'd definitely go again to sample some more of their baked goods - I had an unpictured mango mousse, which was very tasty and refreshing, with good mango flavor. It reminded me of mango pudding from Chinese restaurants, with more tartness, which I enjoyed. I'll be back again!

Porto's Bakery and Cafe
3614 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91505

www.portosbakery.com

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Back home in Lahaina

I’ve been here many times but I don’t think I’ve blogged about it yet. Sometimes I get a crazy Hawaiian food craving, and this is our restaurant of choice to satisfy that craving. The restaurant is hard to see from the street, as the entrance faces the back and not street front, but upon entrance, it’s quite festively decorated, taking the Hawaiian theme to heart, with fake foliage, vines and even a fake tree in the middle of the dining room.

I can’t help myself, when there’s Spam musubi, I order it…

Back Home in Lahina
Okay, my view on Spam- well, it’s not so bad. My mom and dad used to fry up thin slices of it, and then put sugar on them (because they felt like Spam was way too salty, which it is…but the addition of granulated sugar on top is not a great addition). We’d have this with rice, so this is not that much removed from spam musubi. I admit the Spam slime (the gooey slimy gelatin that encases the Spam in the can) is the most unpleasant part, and would deter most people upon experiencing “Spam in the raw”. Upon opening the can, I would suggest immediately rinsing and blotting the gelatin away, as it does not add or detract from the overall experience, and slicing it up and frying it to get a good crust on it.

Back to the spam musubi, they do a decent one, with a bit of teriyaki and green onion chopped on top. Nice little snacky appetizers to start the meal.

Plate lunch is very popular in Hawaii (from what I remember when I went in, ah, 8th grade!) so they have something similar with their lunch specials, choose one or two chicken or beef or pork, each plate comes with their ramen salad, rice and a scoop of mac salad. Here are the variations that we ordered:

Back Home in Lahina
Julian got the lahaina fried chicken and upgraded his rice to bacon fried rice. Almost all food is better when you add bacon. I think the lahaina fried chicken is the thing to get here, the marinade for the chicken is sweet, fried perfectly with fried crunchy bits all over it. The ramen salad is interesting - straight from the package ramen, crumpled up over thinly sliced cabbage, green onion and a tangy dressing. The mac salad is a nice texture contrast, very creamy and overwhelmingly ginger flavored, that's the only thing that I don't really like about their mac salad, how strongly the ginger taste is. The sauce was a teriyaki sauce, but I don't use much of it myself, I usually douse my plate with siracha sauce.
Back Home in Lahina
My plate lunch combo was very similar, lahaina fried chicken, BBQ Hawaiian chicken, plain white rice, ramen salad and that scoop of mac salad. Whenever I'm here, I'm quite drawn to this order, but I've gotten variations on this before - I think last time I ended up switching out my ramen salad for gyoza (very freshly fried!), and sometimes I get chicken long rice on the side (not pictured, but think, salty chicken noodle soup with rice noodle instead of thick pasta noodle, with a lot of green onions). I've also had their salmon, which was decent as well.

Also, on another visit, I've tried their premium Hawaiian ice cream. Owen couldn't help himself when he saw that they offered a chocolate, coconut and macadamia nut ice cream. (not pictured.) The generous scoop more than satisfied his cravings, the coconut made the whole scoop very rich, and the macadamia nuts were fun to crunch into. I didn't have much at all, since I'm not really a fan of chocolate ice cream (I know, it's a thing...), but if I did like it, I would choose this one.

This place is one of our favorites and we usually have excellent service. Highly recommended!

Back Home in Lahaina
916 N Sepulveda Blvd, Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles, California
http://www.backhomeinlahaina.com
310-374-0111

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Made this at home: Apple Pandowdy

Apple Pandowdy
I actually cook quite a bit, but I don’t share enough of my own cooking pictures on this blog…every so often I make something super special and it’s so pretty that I photograph it. So this is one of those things, a apple pandowdy, cooling off from its’ stint in the oven. I had wanted to make something a little special for dessert for board game night, and had gotten a bag of granny smith apples….so apple pie was the obvious choice. However, I was still a bit nervous about pie-making…especially about a bottom layer of pie I had to par-bake.

I had gotten a great recipe from America’s test kitchen, for an apple pandowdy, which was a lot easier than having to make a whole pie, and could be a lot juicier and have less complicated cooking time. Peeled apples, some lemon juice, a bit of maple syrup, butter, pie crust, egg white and some sugar sprinkled on top – and here we are. Warm from the oven, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it was a perfect sweet ending to game night.


Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Fritto Misto

I had been wanting to try this place for awhile, after passing it many times on my way back home from 3rd Street Promenade, and had heard great things about it, so I set up a lunch with Daphne and her brother to meet up here. The place was bustling crowded, filled with office workers from nearby. They wouldn’t seat us until we were all there, so I waited a spell and eyed their desserts (I guess all premade and precut, everything was pre-plated and saran-wrapped).
Fritto Misto
When we sat down, we were immediately served this basket of warm bread. The texture of this bread was not entirely unpleasant but nothing special, as was the crust. The best part about this bread was the fact it was very warm, and was refilled even though there was only one piece left (the lone piece of bread, no one wants to take it…)
Fritto Misto
My usual drink order, the Arnold palmer. Good ratio of lemonade to iced tea.
Fritto Misto
As I eyed the menu, I had really wanted to order the namesake of the restaurant, the Fritto Misto. We agreed to order one as an appetizer and share it. When this dish landed on the table, it was a massive mound of fried goods – fresh and hot – containing pieces of broccoli, zucchini, shrimp, carrot, scallop, and eggplant. Cocktail and tartar sauce were provided for dipping. This really ended up being too much, a more appropriate amount for 6 people instead of 3. We could not finish this, which was a shame because re-heated fried food is never the same, so it was a waste. Ahh, waste….don’t tell my mother, please.
Fritto Misto
This was Daphne’s gnocchi pasta balls, with mini shrimps, in a cream sauce. This was deceptively a big portion, as each little gnocchi dumpling was filled with…
Fritto Misto
…ricotta cheese, as Daphne is proudly displaying here. She liked it a lot, I think.

Fritto Misto
This was what Eric ordered, a ravioli in a pink cream sauce, with sundried tomatoes. I think the ravioli was filled with chicken (he insisted that he “needed meat”, so I think that’s what they offered), and he got “full enough” from this dish (a major concern he had when ordering), so I think it was a success.
Fritto Misto
ordered the lunch special, which that day happened to be lasagna. Lunch specials come with a side salad, and I requested it to be a walnut gorgonzola salad (extra charge) instead of the usual choices of Caesar or house salad, and I’m glad I made the choice – the gorgonzola salad was enough to be a meal in itself. The lasagna had a really rich tasty sauce, which I enjoyed greatly, but I managed to control myself and only have half of this plate, the rest went to Owen who was sick at home and appreciated the treat.

At this point, I was too full to even look at desserts, so I guess that will have to wait for the next time I go! I think I’ll try dinner here next time…

Fritto Misto
601 Colorado Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 458-2829

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Casitas Taco Al Carbon

It feels like ages ago since I went to this place with Fernando and Louisa, but I’m finally getting around to showing the pictures for it (don’t hate me, please…) As I do not know many places in Burbank to eat, Fern drove us down to Casitas for some Mexican food, in a tiny strip mall close to Downtown Burbank.

Casitas Taco al Carbon

The place itself is extremely small, the kitchen consists of a cramped grill operating directly behind a short counter with a cash register.

Casitas Taco al Carbon

The salsa bar is quite attractive for a small place – plenty of ice and a few romaine lettuce heads for display purposes. I just hope they don’t necessarily use those later for people’s salads. I filled up little containers full of pico de gallo, red and green salsa, and chipotle, and waited outside, as there was pretty much no room to linger in the doorway with other people ordering their food.

This is what we unearthed once we got back to work to eat our takeout food…

Casitas Taco al Carbon

Louisa and I got steak nachos – my eyes popped out of my head when I opened the Styrofoam container. Generous amounts of pico de gallo, guacamole, and sour cream completely concealed the equally generous mound of tortilla chips, melted Monterey jack cheese, pinto beans and thick cuts of flank steak. There was no way to finish these all in one sitting, and unfortunately a lot of this got wasted, as tortilla chips do not withstand the test of time or slowly congealing cold cheese. The portion was just…ridiculous.

Casitas Taco al Carbon
Close up of the meaty cheesy bean-y stuff...
I doubt even the manliest of men could tackle this nacho monster before it becomes inedible and fuses all into one piece. Taste wise, it was pretty decent, although with any kind of nacho consumption, all of it kinda starts tasting the same (gloppy cheesy slightly crunchy spicy.)

Casitas Taco al Carbon

Fern decided to go “healthier” and got a chicken Caesar salad, which he claims is the only salad that leaves him satisfied. This clear takeout container must have held at least 3-4 char-grilled chicken breasts, atop chopped romaine lettuce (agh, from the salsa bar?!), and quartered tomatoes. This came with a few salad dressing containers, and one container of shredded parmesan cheese. He threw everything in the container and shook it all around, ‘till it was all mixed up. He finished the whole thing, and seemed pretty happy.

To be honest, (this might be too much information…)my stomach hurt something bad after I ate the nachos, but I didn’t want to blame the nachos for it, and I don’t like lambasting a place unless i give it a second chance (I have grown as a foodblogger….right??), so that’s exactly what I did – I gave it a second chance, and got the chicken Caesar salad that Fern seemed to like so much. The taste was fine, the chicken was a bit on the dry side, the dressing was creamy and tasty enough, and I would have liked the tomatoes to have been chopped instead of just quartered (making them difficult to bite while covered with dressing). The portion was again, generous.

However, I again got stomach distress. Two times I've gone, two times I've been in massive pain. So in the end, as great of a portion and as decently tasty as it was going down...I can't recommend this place. By all means, maybe it was two flukes, just random chances that I got sick both times - but I don't think I can go another round on Casitas.


Casitas Taco Al Carbon
405 N Victory Blvd

Burbank, CA 91502
(818) 848-3242

Friday, August 07, 2009

Ciao Christina

Ciao Christina is a small little restaurant, just recently reopened after a long refurbishment, within walking distance of work, so Louisa and I decided to give it a try. We had heard that they had great gelato, and the gelato case is what instantly drew my eyes when I walked in. After a quick review of what flavors they had, I decided on:

Ciao Christina!

A scoop of hazelnut and a scoop of pistachio. I actually am not usually a pistachio flavor kinda gal, but this was an excellent pistachio gelato, although I think the real pistachios were quite stale and I had wished they had excluded them. The hazelnut was a rich nutty flavor, it was a good accompaniment to the pistachio. I ate this pretty quick - isn't gelato best eaten fairly quickly, before it gets soupy?

The rest of our dinner (yes, we had dessert first while waiting for our "to-go" order, sometimes, dessert first is a necessity) was unearthed when we arrived back at work, and what a pretty sight it was...
Ciao Christina!Align Center


This was Louisa's chicken parm sandwich (sorry for the blurriness). The bread was thick, and possibly could have been made in house, it was so good. The chicken had a nice breading to it, and held up its' crispness against the tomato sauce. There were even some olive slices in the sandwich. The potato chips were a real treat - they were freshly fried! Not out of a bag! Extra crispy crunchy, and really fun to eat. (I ended up ordering this the next time I went!)


Ciao Christina!
I had decided on a chicken sausage stromboli (they also have calzones, but strombolis have mozzarella cheese on the inside, instead of ricotta, and for me, it was not a ricotta kinda day.), which was freshly made by request, and it showed. First off, this thing was huge - like, football sized. The bread was really great, not too much chew, not too hard of a crust. I neglected to take a picture of the insides, but the chicken sausage was where all the flavor was, and the cheese held it all together.
Ciao Christina!

This also came with my stromboli - tomato sauce. This was excellent sauce - great to dip pieces of the stromboli in, I was almost eating this as if it was tomato soup. Louisa gave her approval, as an Italian - she mentioned it was "good gravy" (I guess tomato sauce is known as gravy in her family?)

Ciao Christina!
Louisa also had gotten a cannoli to go, as her snack/dessert for later. I should have gotten one too, but I figured my stromboli was going to kick my ass (which it did.) I tried a bit of the creamy ricotta insides...sweet, tangy but mild, with bits of chocolate chips and dried fruit in the filling. I should have gotten one.

The proximity of this place pretty much assures the fact I will return, but I am also pleased it has great food, although I admit it is a little pricey (cept the gelato, which is a steal at 3 dollars for their biggest cup.) I will have to try their pizza next time.

Ciao Christina
4201 W. Olive Ave.
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 563-2426

http://www.ciaocristina.com/