Fraiche

More friends coming into town (it's summer, what can I say?...well, WAS summer), and I wanted to take them somewhere special. Downtown Culver City is now officially a hot spot for restaurants (considering the lack of parking that I usually encounter there on a Friday night) so I figured, somewhere around there. I had been wanting to try Fraiche for awhile, so I took Brian, Goldie and Leonard here.

The place felt a bit trendy and I was admittedly a bit under-dressed (I'm just not a "dressed up" person, I suppose), but I felt glaringly so this time around. We were seated outdoors, which was nice. I have to admit, service was pretty spotty. Our waitress pretty much ignored us. I know we're not the "high rollers" or anything, but Goldie wanted sugar for her iced tea...is that too much to ask?

The cloudier shade of brown liquid was my Arnold palmer, and in the background, Goldie's unrequited non-sugared iced tea. Also, bread and olive oil were placed on the table - I remember the bread being not so special (kinda like biting into a weird sponge) but the olive oil was something special - really flavorful and robust.


Leonard and I got the Royale with Cheese - a burger topped with Gruyere, with a different kind of bun - basically, a circular croissant. On the side, it came with mayo (no ketchup, after all, this is a french restaurant!), iceburg lettuce and tomatoes, and fries, all arranged on what I could only describe as a 80's yuppie's glass tv dinner tray. The bun was very different, I liked it, but the patty was not really anything special, sadly. I don't remember it being cooked to my specifications - more of a well done than a medium rare. The cheese helped this burger a lot - the tasty melted gruyere is always welcome on my burgers. And disaapointing iceburg lettuce?? Iceburg is totally acceptable at Apple Pan (mainly because of the nostalgia) but here, at Fraiche? I was a bit disappointed, actually. Fries were alright. Dipping them in mayo is still weird to me.

Brian got the chicken pita, again served on a bubbled glass yuppie tray. Doesn't it kind of look like this pita threw up what it ate all over itself?!! Okay, that's not the most appetizing thing to think of. Concentrating on the food...I tried a bit, it was alright, Brian liked it (but mainly because I think he is an eternal carb hater, and this seemed to have little in the carb department.) I dislike huge wedges of cucumber (thinly sliced cucumber is my preference) so I probably would have been a bit disappointed with this had I ordered it.

Goldie was in a pasta ravioli kinda mood, so she got these cute mint pea ravoilis. This was a deceptively small serving, I tried half a ravioli and was overwhelmed by how dense each one of these is. This ends up being a pretty heavy plate. The intense flavor when biting into a piece of one of these was surprising, as was the combination of mint and pea. I almost felt refreshed after biting into one.

Honestly, I was a bit let down by Fraiche, after reading so many good reviews about this place. Perhaps I will give it another try, during dinner. And if Goldie comes along, I'll try to remember to bring some extra sugar for her iced tea.

Fraiche
9411 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 839-6800

Cafe 50's

Judy and Kelvin came into town for a wedding, and was staying over for the weekend. Kelvin had a huge craving for cherry coke, at 11pm at night, so we headed over to Cafe 50's (the Santa Monica location). I admit, I hadn't been here since the beginning of college, so my vague memories of their food were a bit...foggy. But I knew, for sure, that they would have cherry coke, and their varieties of shakes were extensive enough to please Owen.

Walking into Cafe 50's hits all those kitch-y notes - the neon signage, the posters plastering every inch of the wall (even the ceiling), collectibles and stuff basically everywhere. There were even board games available for people to play (Judy longed to play Connect Four or Battleship) but we ended up just chatting away after we were seated in our red vinyl seat booth.

Our waitress insisted on us joining their birthday club (only Owen joined, but it did pay off - he got a "free entree coupon" in the mail this past month!). Our busboy was kind of...weird. I think I told him what we wanted for drinks, and he clearly said, "Sorry", instead of "Thank you". Weird. What is he sorry about? Should we have been worried about what we were about to eat?!!...maybe he was sorry because this showed up at the table after sitting around for a spell...

A HUGE saucer of clam chowder, with a healthy skin formed on top. If you jiggle this bowl, you can recreate the Earthquake of '89 all in the confines of this vessel! This is the bowl version, and not the cup version. I can only imagine what size the cup version is! Although weary, we still tried some, which was not too bad, but the skin really turned me off of eating in general. Maybe this soup was really from the 50's, thusly, Cafe 50's lives up to its' name!

Don't let this angle of the camera fool you: these plates of garlic cheese fries (in the foreground) and chili cheese fries were HUGE. The amount piled high on Judy's Chili cheese plate could easily take up the space of a whole roasted chicken - imagine how much chili and cheese that is for a second - okay - now think about trying to EAT all that grease and meat product and whatever. And every second that goes by, the fries are turning into one giant mass of potato mush. Kelvin hardly ate any, Judy tried her best but I estimate she ate about 1/8th of the amount on her plate.

I got the special of the day, Fish and chips. Pretty pitiful plate of fish and chips, but satiated my cravings for a fry up. The fish wasn't exactly "line caught, fresh from the sea"...but what did I expect after having the clam chowder. Fries were okay.

Owen got an avocado bacon cheeseburger, with sweet potato fries instead of regular fries. You can't really see the burger under the mess of fries and rabbit food, but I had a bite and it was decent. I probably should have stuck to something like this but I didn't feel like having a whole burger. The fries were very tasty though, I especially like the cut of the fries, good amount of fry on the outside and soft potato on the inside.

Since they're open late and have a decent amount of diner type things on the menu, I think I'd go again to have more land animals and not seafood (what I was thinking, I have no idea), but I'd say watch out for the soup and portions - unless you're starving.

http://www.cafe50s.com/
11623 Santa Monica Blvd, LA
310-479-1955

The Del

In the interest of wanting to try a new place, I had heard that The Del, a bar type restaurant in Playa del Rey, was worth checking out. I made reservations on Opentable.com (One of the handiest sites I've ever used) about an hour before we left, and it was not a problem. The place was really close to The Shack, a burger place we used to frequent during school. The nice ocean breeze welcomed us as we left our parked car.

The place was pretty bustling, even though it was pretty small. The decor was kind of - weird. Almost...off. It seemed like we were on a movie set, of what a movie director thinks a bar should look like. The walls were black, with accents of gothic type wallpaper. Flatscreens were everywhere. There was a pool table and an extensive bar area. We were seated in a booth with spotlights on us. It was a little...uncomfortable. I felt like any minute, a director would come in and tell us that we were eating incorrectly. Kind of weird.

But, we were here for the food, so here it goes...

Pat of butter, with black salt sprinkled on top. Nice little touch, the salt was very flavorful and crunchy. This was spread upon...

One lone piece of bread each. A bit frugal to me, but it's better that I not fill myself up on bread.

My sparkling water - I dunno, something special and expensive. It was okay. Probably could have been more fizzy, I prefer that.

A plate of calamari. Pretty well done, a bit greasy but not too bad, but a little more salty than I usually prefer. I liked the squiddy parts more than just the rings. The bit of salad was a nice touch, but it got all oily from touching the calamari pieces. The dipping sauce was nothing to write home about - no distinct flavor detected.

Owen's slab of New York Steak, upon two, count em, two colors of string beans, on an island of mashed potatoes, in a sea of au jus. Owen absolutely loved this. The taste I got was really tasty. It was perfectly cooked, pink in the middle, seasoned well, with a good crust on the outside. These people know how to cook meats.

I got a burger, which was cooked perfectly as well - pink in the middle, burger juices running into the bun (okay this will sounds gross, but I took a bite of this burger, and there were so many juices that I literally got a mouthful of juice that squirted down my throat. Yeah. Get your mind out of the gutters now. Focus on the food. Okay.) The fries were nice, good amount of seaasoning. The bun to this burger was a great cradle to the meat patty. Condiments were thinly sliced, everything was playing to the strength of the burger patty.

It was a nice dinner, but Owen really doesn't want to come back here again because of the ambience and decor. I could hardly hear myself talk, everything was so loud. It's a shame, because the cook here really knows his way around meats (you are welcome to think whatever dirty thoughts you want with that comment. You're welcome.)

thedelrestaurant.com
119 Culver Blvd
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
(310) 823-6800

Callendars

After escaping to Howard Hughes Center one hot summer evening, we decided to watch a movie to soak up some delicious A/C. The movie was pretty mediocre (Get Smart. Why. My quick review, probably a 4 out of 10. But I had pretty low expectations for the movie...even so. Don't watch this movie if you were a fan of the original series. But I digress), but we wanted to stay out of the apartment a little longer, to wait for it to cool down a bit more, so we stopped into Callendars for some dinner.

Callendars is an updated, "higher end" Marie Callendars. I only know Marie Callendars for their pies and horrible mediocre premade plastic food, but Callendars is actually alright. Service was quick, albeit awkward (our waitress was a bit new I think, and kept checking in with us...too much coddling makes me feel they want us to leave ASAP.)

To start, we ordered spinach and artichoke dip, which came with really thin and flimsy tortilla chips, and pico de gallo. This plate was HUGE. I mean seriously, I think I could have used this plate to fit 3 meals on it. The dip itself is pretty decent, cheesy and hot, but as I mentioned before, these chips are so thin, if you try to dip with them, the chip cracks with the effort and the result is half a chip in your hand, and half a chip embedded in the dip. That was a bit annoying, but again, the dip was still tasty, as was the pico de gallo.


Complimentary cornbread, brought to the table, with whipped butter. Crumbly, dry, I dunno, maybe cornbread is just not my thing. We didn't eat that much of it.

Owen's favorite kind of sandwich combination: turkey, avocado, bacon club on a croissant. The thick steak fries are the star of this plate, personally, but the sandwich is pretty darn tasty too. The turkey isn't fake, it tastes like it actually came from a bird carcass. The bacon is decent, probably could be crispier but that's my own preference. The croissant as the bread product that binds everything together, just a stroke of genius. The outside of the croissant is crisp, the insides fluffy. And it randomly comes with a small red delicious apple. Why not?


Here's what I got, a cobb salad. Way too drenched in the dressing. Shredded lettuce, I think mostly iceburg. Blah. Chicken was okay, just kinda bland and dry. They weren't skimpy with the avocado, at least. This was definitely...eh. Okay. Nothing I'd get again.

Owen ended up getting a piece of pecan pie to go, but I never even got a bite of it..he ate it while I was asleep. He owes me pie. That's all I have to say about that.

Again, Callendar's is alright, definitely better than the Marie Callendar's usual restaurant fare.

Father's Office (Culver City)

The obligatory and necessary post about Father's Office - THE place for burgers. The anticipation for Father's Office Culver City to open was nervewracking -drive bys during their construction time led to disappointment, and a sign that said "FO..." When I found out it had finally opened, I managed to drag Owen and Bryan out to eat there, the third night it was open.

For a Wednesday, the place was HOPPING, but then again, maybe it was because it was so shiny and new. We waited in a line just to get in. After being let through their beautiful wooden framed doors, it was confusion everywhere. No host or hostess. But I'm here for the food?

I guess it doesn't matter, and part of the "appeal" of the place - again, it's a bar. You order at the bar, everything, beer, food, whatever, and then pray to high heaven to get a seat before you get your food. We managed a small cramped seat for three, sharing the table with 2 other people. The seating on the patio/open air area is nice, but again, everyone's vying for any seat available, so it's mercenary.

I ended up ordering for the boys, as they saved my seat, and after a longer than average wait (total wait time at this point was about 45 minutes from starting to wait in the line to get in to when we finally got food to the table) they finally set down the fabled magical food.

The sweet potato fries, "a la carte", served in a mini cart. Cute. These fries are really good though. Some of the best I've had. And no dipping these holy fries in ketchup - they only have aioli (blue cheese kind or regular kind.) I didn't mind at all - with aioli that good, ketchup was the last thing on my mind.

And HERE is the oh so talked about Father's Office burger. It's a really juicy, delicious, dry aged beef patty, molded in an oval shape to fit the bun, which is more sub sandwich style than hamburger bun style. The bun keeps the caramelized onions (cooked down to a sauce more than anything else - the onions were a shadow of their old oniony selves), maytag blue cheese and gruyere and peppery arugula all together in a perfect package. The fries were super tasty as well, dipped with more aioli.


Here's how half a burger at Father's Office fits into Owen's hand. A hefty burger, to be sure, but every single bite of this burger is something to be savored. Check out the pink medium cook of the meat, the way the juice of the burger gets caught by the bottom of the bun...it's a thing of beauty.

The cheese, especially, has quite a note in this burger - sharp, distinct, but mellowed out by the onion soup topping, and offsets the arugula. It's just a masterpiece. I managed to save half for later, which took all my energy to not just go to town on both halves of this burger in one sitting. The meat, is just SO good. This high quality of meat used for burgers is such a treat.

I just had some fizzy water for a drink, but I wanted to mention that this was some of the best fizzy water I've had - they use the same carbonation system for their beers, I think, so the water is especially bubbly and delicious - plus, it's free. Hooray for that.

So the burgers meet all expectations, but the difficulty of getting this burger is daunting. I can't just order a burger to go and eat it at home - I'd have to wait in line JUST TO GET IN, and then wait in another line, order and pay, and then wait for them to make it, and then wrap the thing up myself, and slink outta there. A lot of trendy people come to drink here, and don't leave (completely understandable, after all it is a BAR...) I just wish they had a restaurant or takeout window or something, ANYTHING for the people who just want a burger and not drinks. But it is not so, so we just follow the rules and wait in line for half an hour just to get a chance to get this mystical burger. I guess if anything, that prevents me from having this burger more than once every season, which is probably better for my heart, hah. Until next season, I will dream of this burger...

www.fathersoffice.com
3229 Helms Ave., Los Angeles

Sprinkles Cupcakes

My first Sprinkles Cupcake...it's like the first time you go to anywhere that has so much buzz around it, like Pinkberry. However, my first experience with these charming cupcakes were not marred with an actual trip to the Sprinkles store...it was brought right to our office! Cam's mom surprised the creative team with a bunch of cupcakes for Cam's birthday! Thanks again!

Here's a pillaged box, with a bunch of them already snatched and consumed. I love the look of these cupcakes and their "trademarked" candy circular nipple thing on top. The frosting looks so clean, and not haphazardly slapped on top. However, it's really difficult to figure out what flavors these cupcakes are. I just had to make an educated guess as to which one I wanted.

What favors are these? I guess I won't know till I try them all...

Notably, these set of cupcakes are frosting-less - for the more health conscious cupcake connoisseur. I BELIEVE the flavor is pumpkin. Maybe. I don't know. I only had a half of a cupcake myself.

So, WHAT cupcake did I end up having? I had a strawberry icing, vanilla cake cupcake. And dang, was it good. Flecks of strawberry laced the icing, it was a light flavor, but in the end, a cupcake is a cupcake, and it was sugary as hell. I'm more of a fan of subtle desserts (like fruit flavors, or something sweet but not TOO sweet), but you have to try everything once.

I didn't get a picture of MY cupcake, but Mark offered to display a cupcake he was eating:

As displayed perfectly by his palm. It's a chocolate sprinkles, chocolate frosting and vanilla cake cupcake. I really like the shape of this cupcake - the sprinkles liberally rolled onto the frosting, the texture it creates. It's a good look.

And here's a cross section of the cupcake, after a bite has been taken. Look how thick the layer of frosting is - it's a BIG mouthful of creamy sugar. The cake itself is moist enough, but I prefer a moister batter than this.

The cupcakes live up to the name and hype, but I admit I'm not the best judge of cupcake character. Every once and awhile is good though...

Piknic

For my cousins' graduation lunch, she had set up the restaurant to be at a place conveniently close to LMU, and her choice was this restaurant named Piknic. It's located in the new complex in Playa del Rey - I didn't even know it existed, since it was well hidden from the main street (I usually zoom by on Jefferson Blvd. in my best effort to get away from the gnarly traffic of the Marina..) This place almost seemed exclusive, since it was the only restaurant in the group of high end condos and apartments. The place was bursting with people, and most of them nicely dressed. This was the place to be!

Emileigh had a huge reservation with Piknic, but most of the party didn't get there until later because of traffic from LMU. A lot of second cousins were gathering, and we were encouraged to order...since we were starving, we did...

We ordered some spinach artichoke dip, which came at the same time as everything else, so it was kind of awkward. We were starving so I forgot to take a picture until we had dug into it a bit. It was pretty good!

A half demolished French Onion Soup...there was a ton of cheese on this, and the soup itself was rich and deep. A really solid french onion soup, enough of a crouton to broth ratio, with plenty of carmelized onions in the soup.

I ended up getting a Steak sandwich. Isn't it a thing of beauty? The steak itself was really good, not overcooked or dry, and a good amount of cheese melted all over it. The bread was especially good, and kept everything inside the sandwich - check those grill marks! The fries were really tasty, good mix of textures.

Owen got a turkey club sandwich, as he usually does and will whenever there's one on the menu and it's lunchtime. This was a killer club. The bread was nice and grilled, and thick, like texas toast. The bacon was ample, and I think there was avocado on there as well. The turkey was from a carved bird - the most preferred kind of turkey! Owen requested sweet potato fries, which he prefers over regular fries. He could not stop eating them!

Owen really wants to come back here for a breakfast sometime. They have an ample menu of smoothies with fresh fruits, and the breakfasts that the others had ordered looked pretty good as well.

Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill

On a rare rainy day in LA during lunch, we headed over to Farmer's Market/The Grove to meet up with some other coworkers that were already eating at Chipotle. However, the place was full to bursting with people, and we decided to run to the other side of the parking lot and check out Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill. The place was pretty full, but we managed to get a booth pretty quickly.

The menu was pretty standard BBQ place fare - I'm assuming it's a chain, but it's not a chain I've been to or heard of other than this place, so it's new to me. We all decided on the lunch special, as the choices for their combos were reasonable and we all wanted soup, to warm us up.

A breadbasket arrived, with very delicious rolls. I think they had been coated in butter and herbs. These were still warm and fresh, and had a good crust to them.

We all got the clam chowder. Pretty decent, but nothing out of this world. Considering how hot it's been around LA, the thought of soup is almost too much right now! But on that day, the warm soup was perfect for the cold day outside.

My combo consisted of half of a BBQ beef sandwich, with au jus, and a loaded baked potato, with cheese, bacon bits, sour cream and chives and butter on the side. I liked the bread on this sandwich, and the au jus was a bit salty but good for dipping. I managed only a few bites of the baked potato and brought the rest of it home to share with Owen :)

Similarly, Annette and Grace chose half sandwiches (pretty much the same as mine), and Grace chose mashed potatoes, while Annette chose mac and cheese. It was good, but it was a lotta food.

This place was actually pretty okay. I usually have a dislike of most chain restaurants, but this was pretty good. I'd go again, but with so many choices at Farmer's Market, and Dupar's down the way, it might be awhile before I work my way back here.

Obi Bear

Ray had been singing the praises of Obi Bear's Korean fried chicken, so we met up there for a late dinner. The area around Obi Bear is a bit dodgy - I felt a little nervous as I was walking down the street from my car, (I wasn't aware of Obi Bear's parking lot, which is like a secret or something - no signs, just a caged area for cars. I ended up parking on Western, which was a few blocks away.) Funnily enough, Obi Bear is right next to an AA meeting place - convenient for people who fall off the wagon, I suppose. Location is everything!

Anyways, walking inside, there is the bar, and a bunch of booths. There was no seating in the non smoking area, so we had to go to the smoking area. On to the food!

Some salty snacks to get people in the mood for drinking. Dried salt coated peas, pretty good- nice and crunchy.

So here's what we got - the Korean fried chicken. It came with shredded cabbage with a thousand islandly sauce on top, jalapenos and the chicken, of course. There's also a tiny dish of seasoned salt too, I forgot to get a picture of that.

Here's a close up of the radishes, which definitely separates Korean fried chicken from other fried chicken I've had. The radishes are in a sweet brine, crunchy and with a good bite to each piece.

So here's the lowdown on this chicken - first off, it tasted a lot like chinese fried chicken, which I used to have when I was younger, during big Chinese banquets. (where are the shrimp chips!?) Take a piece of the chicken (with the paper thin fried skin, if you can). The seasoned salt is sprinkled on top. Take a bite, then quickly grab a piece of radish, and eat that right afterwards. The combination of sour, salty, crispy, crunchy, savory and textures is just...great. Swallow, repeat process. A bite of salad inbetween this cycle is always good too. A solid thumbs up from me.

I haven't had the other incantations of Korean fried chicken yet (Kyochon, Bonchon) but I heard about the gnarly wait times for ordering (sometimes up to 40 minutes?). Obi Bear's chicken came out pretty quickly, so I have no complaints there. I'm coming back - now that I finally know where their parking lot is.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/o-b-bear-los-angeles-2

Cynthia's Restaurant

Meeting up with some old coworkers from the 'flix, we decided to meet in a halfway point between our two workplaces. Jane suggested Cynthia's restaurant, known for their comfort food. I trekked down the street for an early lunch - it's not too far but it's a solid 20 minute walk...

It wasn't too hard to find them - they were the only ones in the restaurant! I guess we really did take an early lunch...

After a quick look at the menu, I quickly made my choice. The waiter was kinda...weird. A little forward. I don't really know how to describe it, he was really forward and left an awkward feeling. Well, that didn't change the quality of the food, so here goes...

Jane and I got mini sliders with fries. Each of the patties were different - turkey, angus and kobe. I couldn't taste the difference between the angus and the kobe one - I think Kobe beef is really like any other beef when it's in burger form. The turkey one was a little dry and needed a lot of dips into the ketchup. Overall, pretty decent but I've had better burgers in my life.

Peter's chopped salad - he's trying to eat better, and this was a great step in that direction. I felt a bit guilty eating mini burgers in front of him. He mentioned that the salad was quite good though, so I guess I shouldn't feel so bad.

Erika got what the restaurant was known for - their fried chicken, with a side of fries and salad. This is a pretty upscale chicken plate! Maybe it's because I don't usually have salad with a bunch of fried chicken...maybe I should more, to make up for eating the fried chicken! In any case, Erika seemed to like this.

To get the full effect of "comfort food", we got a dessert of bread pudding for the table. This was probably the most mediocre bread pudding I've had. Nothing special. I didn't have very much of it - too sugary without having a good taste. Oh well.

It was great to see my former co-workers, but I had an issue with Cynthia's later - I found out that they had charged me twice for my credit card! I called the restaurant, which reassured me that the charge would be taken off (an issue with their credit card company, I think, because a whole bunch of people had the same problem.) Not their fault, but definitely a hassle. It was kind of pricey, too, but it was to be expected because it was on trendy 3rd street on the expensive Beverly Hills City Limits. It was okay but I don't see myself going back here very often.

Daikokuya Ramen

After a goodbye drink over at Tom Bergin's (home to the Irish Coffee!) a few of us decided to go out to eat some late night grub. Kurt suggested Daikokuya, which I had only heard good things about, so we made the trek to Little Tokyo.

A bit of a wait later, we were seated in a small booth. The place was hopping - tons of people waiting, a small amount of space to feed them in. We were handed laminated menus, held together by binder clips...

Kurt suggested we get the combination - the ramen, plus a small fried rice. He insisted that this fried rice was some of the best around. Also, he insisted that we get the extra "pork back fat" added to our ramen soup. Trusting his recommendation, we ordered as we were instructed. Noticing our surroundings, there was some funky old Japanese themed posters on the walls, an old TV that relied on its' tired bunny ears antenna for its' broadcast, and the kitchen in full view of anyone who was willing to look up. We soon got our food...

The salad that came with the meal - it had overtones of a coleslaw. Shredded cabbage/iceberg, with a creamy tasty dressing. The dressing is what made it pretty good - I kept going back to this salad inbetween bites of my main meal.

Which came right after that. A huge bowl of ramen, with a pile of negi (green onion), a whole soy sauce boiled egg, pork slices, that delicious back fat ridden broth, with fat floating on the top like jewels in an ocean. It really was good - the noodles had a good bite to it, with a perfect amount of green onion in each bite. There was a huge quantity of noodles too - I usually run out of noodles before I run out of everything else, but it was not the case here - I was totally full before finishing all the noodles. And the broth! A deep hearty flavored broth, made with pork bones (bone marrow is such a great flavor), and made even better witha scoop of mashed garlic condiment. This is definitely comparable to some of the ramen places I had in Japan.

The fried rice did not disappoint as well. It was very flavorful, good amount of that greasy sheen that good fried rice has, bits of onion, egg, pork shards...it's a tasty bit of rice. I might just go back here just for this rice...

This place usually has a long wait time to get in, but it's pretty worth it. A must try if you're a fan of ramen.
http://www.daikoku-ten.com/

Langer's Deli

During one of my first weeks at work, I was a bit bogged down with learning the ropes, and couldn't go out to lunch one day. My coworker Zeke was headed to Langers, and promised to bring back a sandwich - and he definitely delivered! Thanks again!

I had been wanting to go here for ages - pictures of their legendary sandwiches were mouth-wateringly good, and pastrami is one of my favorite deli items. When Zeke came back with a bag and I opened it up...it was a mixture of feelings. Excitement, anticipation, joy...

First, off, the condiments. What's a sandwich without the little extras? These pickles are number 1. Seriously. Number 1. Best pickles I've ever had, ever. Right amount of sour, not too crispy or too soggy - just...perfect. And you can't have a pastrami sandwich without mustard, so a few mustard packets were in order. The pickles were packaged in an airtight package, a convenient 2 per pack. They definitely thought ahead!


Unearthing the wrapped sandwich...

...to reveal a thing of beauty. Ohh man. This looks good.

The meat was perfect. Succulent, thick, cut by hand pieces, not too salty, not too fatty. These slices were laid out on fresh rye bread, with a good crispy substantial bite to the crust. A smear of mustard from the pack, just before taking a bite - it was an EXPERIENCE. I manged to constrain myself to only eating half, and then sharing the other half with Owen when I got home, which he was extremely happy to do. Great sandwich. I really don't know what else to say. Just...awesome!

Ice Kiss

After a big group gathering for my birthday dinner (Korean bbq, always good for groups), Korean Ryan and Helen suggested getting some shaved ice and boba. We headed to one of their favorite places, Ice Kiss, which was a short drive from where we were eating at Tahoe Galbi.

We snagged a few tables outside and placed our orders - while we were waiting, we played with an old jenga set that was available for patrons. I admit the jenga set was kind of gross -when a jenga set gets to the point where the wooden pieces get slimy, I think it's time to retire the set.

Anyways, the desserts came and everyone dug in...

Owen and Bryan got a funnel cake, each. They chose not to put any "extras" on it, but even when it's plain it's pretty nice. Whipped cream dots all around the edge of the plate, powdered sugar, fruity pebbles, and fudge drizzled all along the top. Any kind of fried dough is good dough, right?

Here's Derek's version of his funnel cake, with all the fixin's...strawberry ice cream, fresh cut strawberries, more of the fruity pebbles and whipped cream. This was definitely good for anyone with a sweet tooth, and he scraped his plate clean.


This was an order of the shaved ice - green tea macha style. It comes with sliced fruits (strawberry, kiwi, banana), a scoop of green tea ice cream, red bean, mochi bits, condensed milk and whipped cream. It was really nice and refreshing, and the mochi bits were definitely the best part - chewy, soaked up some of the sweetness from everything in the bowl. Shave ice is a really good dessert for me, I think - not too sweet, I love ice, and it's great to share.

This is Helen and Korean Ryan's order of strawberry shaved ice - a lot like mine except that there's strawberry ice cream instead of green tea.

This place was pretty good! I liked that we could chill and play board games if we wanted, and they provided blankets if you got cold. Nice little touches like that are very welcoming to guests.