mother may i?

everyday i'm hustlin

2011-02-17T22:39:00.000-08:00

Took a long bus ride to Costa Rica and visited a local zoo that worked primarily in rehab and reproduction. They have had many problems of people taking wildlife, and then later trying to drop it off at the zoo when they either felt bad or didn't want them anymore. This objectification of animal life, which is not uncommon in the US, angers me so much. The two most often questions I get asked when I tell people I am in vet school: 1. You really like animals huh? 2. What do you think of Michael Vick? But this is neither the time nor place for a rant.

We got a behind the scenes tour and got to handle some animals. I love my field!

Their friendly guard dog.

A baby sloth

Afterwards, we stopped by a nearby restaurant for lunch. I forget what the dish was called, but you had your basic beans, rice, beef, that mashed stuff was potatoes, but it had a coffee taste to it, and a fried plantain. The beef was overcooked and dry, but I did enjoy the sides.

Got to wander the streets of San Jose for a bit. Came across some beautiful masks there...one of my favorites.

Another night in Heredia, we went out to a restaurant near our stay. I got the traditional Aztec Soup (whether or not this is what they actually ate remains a mystery to me). It was a tomato/vegetable broth with pieces of avocado, cheese, and tortilla bits that was a bit on the bland side. Still, given the rainy and cold weather up here, I'd have another bowl of that right now.

School has been relentless, but I still love it. And it's little things like this that make my day. I found this in my class mailbox for vday (some other classmates got one too, but who did it still remains a mystery) that's just too good not to share. Warning: unsuitable for kids.

i'm back

2011-01-31T18:14:00.000-08:00

Apologies to the handful of readers who still check the blog. Things have been busy/rough to say the least, but you're not reading this to hear excuses, so onto the show.

In December, I had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua and Costa Rica to do some volunteer veterinary work. Overall it was an amazing experience as I got to see vet medicine practiced in other countries, learn some clinical skills, and practice my high school level spanish =) The trip definitely made me reflect on how I live in the U.S. as well as what kind of work I wanted to do in the future...

Here's a few of my favorite pictures that I took in Nicaragua.

We flew into Managua, but stayed at an orphanage on Ometepe Island, off the east coast.

My roommate

Here, we worked with large animals, mostly Brahmin cattle as well as some horses and goats, all of which were suffering from malnutrition. Having pretty much no experience w/ LA, I was more than happy to learn.

The meals that I had here at the orphanage were my favorites of the whole trip. You just can't beat a home cooked meal. The ladies working would make lunch and bring it to us at the worksite, something everyone looked forward to. Lots of rice and beans, a cabbage slaw, fried plantains, and some kind of protein, here chicken. Being that Nicaragua is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere, I did not expect to eat so well over there.

We also go a chance to learn and do some castrations. After a friend finished neutering a bull, the owner requested the testicles. A few minutes later, I walked by, only to see him slicing it up with a machete and tossing it back w/ some salt and lime. I was curious to know how it tasted, but given the fact that we did the surgery with a local anesthetic, I really didn't want to ingest lidocaine.

Had to try their beer here. It tasted like a lighter/bubblier version of Heineken.

And if you know anything about me, you know that I love soup....something my team soon learned. Here was a fish soup, the stock a bit on the bland side.

And I had it almost every time we went out to eat. Seafood soup complete w/ lobster tail. This was on the other end, really really rich.

And the chicken soup was just right...a very homey and simple soup.

Quite the gathering...

Can you see the two little hooves coming out of mama cow?

I could really see that the kids in the orphanage were loved and had a strong connection to the place. Amidst all the bs and horrible things that we see depicted daily on the news, it was refreshing to see something positive for a change.

The last night, they threw a good bye party for us, where the kids performed, and went all out with a pinata, cake, and ice cream. I'm not quite sure what kind of cake it was (banana breadish), but it certainly was delicious.

Once the pinata hit the floor, it was every man, woman and child for themselves.

The island was a beautiful place, and it felt quite odd to be swimming out there in the middle of December (not that I'm complaining). A week here and we were off to Costa Rica.

happy day light savings day

2010-11-07T08:47:00.000-08:00

November already....I can't believe it. Apologies for the lack of updates lately. School has and will always be a struggle to keep on top of things, but I'm not complaining. I love every second of it here. So here's a few pictures of what's been going on lately. All pictures below were taken with my cell phone.

My sister came up a few weeks ago, and we wanted to check out a local sushi joint, but they were closed for lunch, so we went next door to Thai Recipes. It's no secret of my love for soups, so I ordered the Tom Kha Jay: a hot and sour soup filled with zucchini, mushrooms, and cauliflower with lemon grass, galangal, cilantro, chili, and lime juice. Overall, I thought it was a decent soup. I'm going to have to make this myself one of these days because it's one of my favorites.

I also went with the papaya salad. I've only had this salad once or twice before so it was interesting to see apples in this. The sauce gave it a nice pungent kick. I ordered the spiciness level at a medium, and the heat was definitely there as it slowly built up to burn away at my lips.

I've been experimenting with different salads at home. Here is an purple cabbage slaw with green onions, cilantro, and tomatoes in a gochoojang (red pepper paste) dressing.

Another time, I tried making a nicoise salad (I suppose I should have taken the picture before I mixed things up, sorry to those that lost their lunch looking at this picture) in a mustard vinaigrette.

And of course, I try and take advantage of every free lunch talk the school has. Usually, it's pizza, but occasionally, we get a treat. Here's a steak sandwich from Pluto's.

For the most part, I've been cooking at home and haven't been exploring the restaurants too much. It's a great way to relax and forget about school for the one or two hours in the kitchen.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

let them eat soup (and then some)

2010-10-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Here ye, hear yee. Let it be known that I love soup. But you can't be jabbering without the wock, so I decided to make some to feed me for the rest of the week. After perusing a few blogs, I decided to try making Portugese kale soup (caldo verde) after remembering an old episode on the food network where Emeril is a creeper and goes to some grandma's kitchen and watches her make soup. All the produce from Davis' farmer market.As well as some chorizo from Bledsoe, that sells humanely raises, natural, no antibiotics added pork at the farmer's market at well, and man this chorizo was good. I was tempted to just eat it instead of throwing it in the soup.I sauteed the sausage and onions first.I then added the beans, potatoes, kale, a bay leaf and filled up the pot w/ chicken broth. Cooked it for about an hour.

My finished product. What I knew was once again reinforced. To make a good soup, you can't do it half assed w/ premade chicken broth/I shoulda cooked it for longer. I can't really talk poop on it though...I just don't have the time right now to make my own broth. The soup wasn't that great, but the next few days it got better. I would definitely try this again, but add some more herbs/veggies to perk up the soop.

Sorry about the lack of posts. School is just rushing by as I desperately try to keep up w/ the pace. Sometimes in class, I feel like I'm in a dream, that I still can't believe that I'm going here. What's even more bananas is that I'll be a doctor in four years. The highlight of my day today was standing in the hall eating chips and salsa that people had left out from the lunch talk.

To end, I have a quick question. How much do you guys spend per week/month on food (groceries wise)? I felt like I dropped a lot this weekend (granted the farmer's market can be more expensive, but for some things I think well worth it), and I've already cleaned out a majority of it. Well, back to studying some bones, muscles, and the glycolytic pathway.

No soup for me tonight.

eat yo greens

2010-09-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm so glad it's the weekend...this first whole week of school was definitely though, and my body is still adjusting to the long hours. But, i love every second of it here. The past weekend at the farmer's market, I passed by a booth that was selling collard greens and decided to try making it. It's always so hard to just stick to my list of things because everything looks so good there!
I looked up a few recipes, and it seemed simple enough. I think usually it's made with ham hock, but I didn't have the time to get that going so I just used bacon instead.
Cook one diced onion with some bacon (I used 4 slices of thick cut) and garlic until the onion turns translucent.
Then add the greens. I used two bunches destemmed. It may seem like a lot, but they really reduce in size after a few minutes. I added a few tablespoons of vinegar, then when the size goes down, add 1 cup of water of chicken broth. Simmer for about 30 minutes.
The finished product. Overall not bad at all.
I've been eating pretty simply otherwise. For dinner today I just had a salad of corn, bell peppers, celery w/ garlic olive oil/vinegar dressing, a piece of gouda, and a cup of wine ( I have no wine glasses). I think my cooking strategy is to make a lot of something on Sunday, then have that for the rest of the week. I bought some kale today at that same stand I got the greens, so my next post will be about that.
The cat is doing well, and we're both slowly learning about one another. I've discovered he loves the laser pointer. I've thought of a few names, but I'm still not sure if they completely fit him: Poot (short for Pooter), Little Man, and Hubert. Happy Sunday!

new toys and some beef

2010-09-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hello from Davis! Things have been busy with moving into my new place and orientation and such, so I'm glad to have this holiday weekend to writeup a quick post!

I went on a little splurge and, with a lot of help from CAB, I bought some new knives for my place, a Shun 4" paring knife and a Global 7" Santoku.

So far, I'm quite happy with my purchase although I am a little scared when I use them because they are quite sharp.

I've been trying to save money and eating at home, and my meals have been simple for the most part. Here is a bunch of stuff I got at the farmer's market (post to come in the future). The tortilla type thing is a potato Bolani, an afghan bread thingermabob. It's pretty darn good, a bit thin but the potatoes make it pretty filling.

What I've been missing in my diet though is meat, and after a few days, I couldn't take it anymore, so I tried making boeuf bourguignon (don't ask me to pronounce it), inspired by Paestry's lovely post. The recipe seemed simple enough and reminded me of the Stone Soup story, and I was excited to see how a few ingredients would mix together to make a tasty stew.

I know nothing about wine and just ended up getting the cheapest one. Until yesterday, I don't think I've ever had a Pinot Noir, but man it was good and so gentle on the tongue!

Down the bottle went into the pot.

After a few hours with some added mushrooms, tomato paste, and flour+butter.

I ate it with a big hunk of french bread. I made a bunch to eat for the next couple days. Overall, I was happy with the product, but next time I am going to add some herbs and see how it turns out.

In other news, I got a new roommate/my first cat! His previous owners couldn't keep him because he didn't get along with their other cat, and when they got him from the shelter, he was named "Tizer." I've been wanting to rename him, but can't think of anything good at the moment although I'm sure it'll come. Hope everyone's enjoyin their holiday!

S.A.T.C 2010

2010-08-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't a post about Carrie or one of her whiny friends. I'm here to talk to you about LIFE and what's real: Santa.Ana.Taco.Crawl, HOLLA-day inn (i love that line paestry!)! I hadn't done one of these in a while, and I made sure to do quick run beforehand to work up the appetite and rockin my gym shorts with the expandable waistline. Some quick shoutouts:

-Gratitude to Elmo and Gustavo, and everyone else from stickaforkinit who provided the necessary info from their blogs.

-Much love to my adventurous friends who braved the heat with me and persevered to five spots + dessert. Special thanks to the young and up and coming Jomo (who can bake bread in your rice cooker, biatch!) who took all the pictures, drove, and made it to the bonus round.

This year's taco crawl is brought to you in part by:

And now, with the formalities out of the way, I introduce to you Harry Potter and the Santa Ana Taco Crawl.

The secret list.

Marauder's Map.

Amuse bouche.

A. Alebrije's Grill. The owner (?) was quite a friendly guy who enthusiastically described his product and some of his favorite items. We ordered a Taco Acorazado to share and sat down on some plastic crates outside the pink truck.

This thing was bananas. A freshly made tortilla(so good), beans, rice, thin pounded breaded beef steak, tomatoes, onions, avocados, and a sprinkle of cotija cheese with some cactus on the side. We liberally added some hot carrots and some of the tasty salsas, and this was quite a delicious meal. I was tempted to order another for myself, but we had places to go and tacos to see!

B. El Gallo Giro.

Dayammmm!!!! A perfect remedy for the heat.

Sandia, tamarindo, horchata. I enjoyed my watermelon very much.

We ordered the Torta Cubana to share. Ham, spicy pork, beef steak, and headcheese all stuffed with veggies on their own freshly baked mexican bun, which was a bit airy although my piece had significantly less bread than the other two. A monster.

They also make baked goods and were giving out free samples of their tres leches cake. Amiga made the comparison of this place to Lee's Sandwiches.

C. Taqueria Tapatia

Here we each ordered an al pastor taco. Overall, it wasn't great, but it was above average imo although the others didn't seem to like it too much. No picture, but they make a pretty damn good melon aqua fresca.

D. I'm still not sure if this place is called Torta Ahogada or Chiva Torta. I had visited this place on the last run I did.

We ordered their specialty, the torta ahogada and split it three ways. This looked a lot more naked than the last time I had it although I suppose I could have added the pico and what not myself. The bread was like an crunchy baguette and I think the filling was pork though honestly, I have trouble telling the difference sometimes. Also inside was some beans and onions. Being a pansy, I requested it to be "media" so that slow burning sauce didn't drown the sandwich completely. Definitely a different kind of torta and one worth trying.

To aid digestion, we walked around the adjacent Northgate Market and picked up some mexican candy.

Also D. El Rincon de Sabor. We went on a bit of a wild goose chase for this one. We saw a truck a few feet away but didn't see a name. After some turkey jivin and some wild turkey shots though, we headed back and saw the name on the other side. I laughed so hard at my dumb mistake that I walked into a pole. I cried for a bit, then I laughed some more.

We saw that this place offered the acorazado too, so we had to try it out to compare. While overall, this was a pretty decent taco, it fell short of Alebrije's Grill. The tortilla didn't seem hand made and more oily (seemed lightly fried). There were also no beans and other veggie goodies.

We didn't get to go to E, so we went straight for dessert to Natural in Anaheim.

I ordered the chamoyada. Basically apricot+chile+salt+mango shake. Read the full description here. This was a really intense drink.

Comes with a special straw!

The young eligible bachelor got a cantaloupe smoothee. Two white gloved thumbs up he sang. We then headed back home. The end. Or was it?

A few hours later after some gentle coaxing (like the guy is trying to do on the right), we met up at Bootlegger's for a beer and some more tacos for the bonus round. I thought the Dos Chinos Truck was gonna be there, but instead it was Calbi. No pics of the beer, but it seems they raised their prices a little bit and a lot of their selection is gone although I did get to try a delicious hopped up hef.

I've had this truck before once after a tipsy night in L.A. The cute worker took my order of a spicy pork and chicken taco. The chicken wasn't very good...cubed pieces that reminded me of sandwich meat. The spicy pork was better though. It had this sweet taste to it that kinda reminded me of apple juice and later on, a slow burn. I wasn't a big fan of the lettuce or cheese on it. But my friends both said they thought it was better than Kogi.

All in all, a pretty fun and successful crawl, and I didn't get sick either. +1 star. This will be my last socal post, and I think it's fitting that I go out with a bang as I'm moving up to Davis tomorrow to spend my next four years. So to end, lemme hear you say, "hotel, motel, HOLLA-day inn!" Peace love and tacos everybody!

Ojiya!

2010-08-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Still on my search for good sushi in the area, I decided to check out a place in the Chino area. I had been here once before a few years back, and it had seemed to be a promising place.

To start, I shared an eggplant dish that had been simmered in some kind of soy sauce base and topped with some grated radish, which I thought was pretty good.

My sister ordered a combo that came with soup and salad.

For her main dishes, she got chicken karaage and some sashimi. I've only had that chicken once a long time ago, so I don't really remember it too well, but this version was a bit bland although decently fried.

I got the chopped yellowfish (or was it toro?) in ponzu sauce, which wasn't too bad.

An order of ikura, which was also average.

And a sample nigiri plate. None of the stuff besides the spicy tuna roll was very fresh. I had proceeded to mark single orders of nigiri, but when I saw that it was cheaper getting this, I jumped on it. Well, now I know why.

I found both the quality and their prices average for a sushi bar. Seems to be a neighborhood favorite as the place was pretty packed. But my search for good sushi in the area still goes on.

korea: hongdae and shindangdong

2010-08-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

We stopped by Ewha University (the top women's university) to visit an old friend, then we were off to Hongdae U, in which the surrounding area is known as a popular college hangout. While I loved UCSD and La Jolla is a beautiful place, it's far from a college town and I was always slightly envious when visiting friends at other campuses, particularly Berkeley, where the city seemed to be integrated, and not segregated, with the school.

The women here were definitely a lot more beautiful than I remembered them to be. Lol, actually that's a guy, rockin the tight jeans and a leopard skin hand bag. A lot of the males here seemed to be on the feminine side in dress...Sorry for the blurry picture, but when you're in the subway station, you gotta move, lest you get trampled.

The subways are awesome here though, and we found Hongdae easily enough.

We stopped by Bonchon, the Korean fried chicken place, for a quick snack. I've actually never had visited this particular joint in the states, so I wanted to see how it would be in the motherland. We ordered some Asahi and munched on some free chip/corn thingies.

The digs.

While waiting, the helpful waiter came out and gave us each a box saying "sample." What the fruit?

Inside the cute little package lay a small chicken wing. I thought to myself if these were the size of the wings, I would feel jipped. It didn't seem to be very fresh, and I guess they were trying to get rid of them. Later when we were leaving, I saw them handing out free samples outside.

The waiter then came out with a metal gravy boat. I asked what it was, and he said it was a fruit cocktail as service. Lol...gotta love it here.

We ordered 5 drumsticks, 3 spicy and 2 soy sauce I think. These were quite big pieces and if you love thin crispy skin, you would enjoy this. I don't remember how the soy sauce tasted, but the spicy wasn't very hot at all. It reminded me a bit of a korean ramen packet seasoning (like shin ramen). I still think Kyochon has the best spicy wings although the one in Rowland Heights seems to have gone out of business.

Up close and personal with that double deep fried goodness.

We spent the rest of the night wandering around from place to place. Some kids spitting some rhymes at a playground.

Wonder what they have in here?

Seriously though, the ladies were looking right, a stark contrast from my past memory of ugly school girls. A friend of mine described this place as a "meat market."

Nearby was some reps from Cass, giving out free beer. Another watered down lager, but hey, it was free, and you know me!

Do your thing little turkey....

As the sun went down, the crowd grew bigger.

We stopped by this strange place that sold "hard" drinks in a bag, much like Kirk's adventure with beer.

I ordered a jungle juice (haha) and drank this down pretty quickly. Not very strong, more sweet than anything else.

We allowed ourselves to be pulled in by the tide of the crowd and ended up at some random drinking place.

We just wanted to drink, but they said we had to order something, so we went with the cheapest thing on the menu, a fruit salad. This weird looking thing came out. I think the white stuff was a bit like frosting.

Of course, we had to get the classic combo. How are you gonna say no to soju for under 3 bucks a bottle? Boktan gumbeh! (Soju bombs lol)

Shortly after, a waiter stopped by and proceeded to quickly put it all this stuff on the table. "Whoa whoa whoa, we didn't order any of this stuff!" *Waiter, giving me a curious look* "It's service yo, so enjoy yourself!" *Me nodding and smiling* "Thank you!" Among the goodies was a cabbage salad, seaweed soup, spicy marinated squid, tofu, and hidden in the dark because I didn't use my flash, a whole fish and corn cheese.

Finally getting to a decent buzz, I started to crave ddukbukki (spicy rice cakes), but I decided to hold back the craving (despite the fact that there were a bunch of vendors on the streets), and we took the subway back home.

But not to worry kids, there is justice in the world. I met up with my cousin the next day, and he took me to Shin Dang Dong ddukbukki town, a small strip that sells solely ddukbukki. There were people outside of their own restaurants, inviting you in, saying theirs was the best and you'd get hooked up.

This ddukbukki was a bit different from what I was used to though. It was served in a big pot and cooked in front of us with a whole other bunch of random stuff thrown in like ramen noodles. We ordered the extra spicy.

After a few minutes, it started to boil and turn an angry shade of red. And St. Peter in heaven, it was spicy. The heat on this was not a creeper; it immediately burned you from the first sip and if it went down your trachea, God help you son. Even my cousin, who has a high tolerance for the spice, had to admit it was pretty extreme. The small rice cakes were on the bottom, but because of the potpourri of other ingredients, there didn't seem to be too much of them, and that was a pity because I like those things. Overall, I preferred the more traditional version, but it was still good. After that, our two weeks in Korea were up. It went by so fast. It definitely is an amazing place, especially since I hadn't been in 15 years, but I hope to visit again soon!

korea: nam dae moon & myung dong

2010-08-22T12:52:00.000-07:00

It seems so long ago since I went to Korea, but I still have a post or two to finish up the trip. Namdaemoon Sheejang is a market/shopping area, one of the largest/oldest in Seoul.

This spot was selling some delicious wang mandoo (king dumplings), 5 for 2000 won (less than 2 bucks).

This was about a week or two before the World Cup, so national pride was running strong.

We then headed over to a nearby mall for lunch. I got the jjol myun (chewy noodles with vegetables), a refreshing antidote to the warm weather outside.

For dessert, we stopped by the nearby Red Mango and got some Pat Bing Soo (red bean shaved ice). I was a bit disappointed by this and have had better in the states.

Afterwards, we headed over to Myung Dong, a similar outside shopping center, where the old and modern coincide.

Wtf? This place was a clothing store.

At night, this place totally transformed with a lot more of the younger generation taking over the streets.

A street food bonanza.

It seemed overwhelming, but was nowhere on the level of the next place we were to go to...

road trippin 4: caspar and the bear

2010-08-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

Of course, I had to get some hiking in on my trip up there. I did the Staircase Trail, an easy 5 mi hike (for the most part, there's very little incline/decline).

When I saw this banana slug on the trail, I nearly crapped my pants as I silently screamed like a pig being slaughtered. These things were all over the place.

All good things have to come to an end though, and after a few quiet days, I headed back south. I stopped by Healdsburg to visit Bear Republic Brewery.

To drink, I had the seasonal Whangadoodle Ale, an Imperial Amber at 8.4% abv, filled with malty goodness.

To eat, I had a disappointing clam chowder, which had the consistency and bland taste of paste.

I don't know why, but throughout the trip, I had this craving for salad, so I ordered the Santa Fe chicken salad. As described on their menu: "grilled marinated chicken breast, avocado, tomato, roasted red peppers, on a bed of baby romaine hearts and baby greens, with a red chili vinaigrette." Sadly, this fell short too. The dressing tasted mostly of oil, and none of the ingredients here tasted very fresh. I don't want to hate because I do love their beers, but at least what I tried, I have to tell it like it is.

I stopped by Oakland to visit some friends, then I was off back home. First time travelling alone, and I have to say it was a great experience, something I definitely plan to do again. If anyone is planning to do a road trip of a similar nature, I suggest bringing an audiobook or two =)

Here is what one's drinking for August. Looking forward to enjoying the barrel aged Rasputin XI.

road trippin 3: a farm house & a farm house beer

2010-08-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

I drove up and through the Jackson Forest to reach caspar, a small little town. I stayed at the nonprofit hostel style Jug Handle Creek Farm for a few days. It was an old place (built before 1900), but beautifully maintained.

And for $28/night for my own room, queen sized bed, lemme hear you say HOLLA-day inn (as a friend would say). After an uncomfortable night at the hostel and the driving, I felt like I was sleeping on a poofy cloud.

They had a wonderful organic garden, where you were free to pick the produce and use it in the ktichen.

It was my first time seeing a rhubarb plant.

Strawberries were slowly starting to grow.

Peas!

One thing I enjoy about the outdoors is seeing all the different plants and their many wondrous colors. This bright flower was no exception.

Just a few miles away was Fort Bragg and the North Coast Brewery. They make Old Rasputin & Pranqster Ale to name a few.

Across the street is their brewpub, which was a little more upscale than your average bear. To drink, I had Le Merle, a saison/farmhouse style ale. I've only tried a saison one other time at The Bruery, but I really enjoyed this beer, particularly the smell, which reminded me of a fallow field, whatever that is. That's a horrible description, but hey, I tried.

So after reading all about it in Dennis' blog, I was delighted to see cioppino($24.95) on the menu (Sorry for the bad picture). It was filled with red snapper, shrimp, small scallops, and a clam or two and served with several slices of garlic bread. Upon my first sip, I was surprised to find it have quite a kick! Overall, an enjoyable stew, one I would like to try again somewhere else to compare or give it a shot myself.

I usually don't get dessert, but I decided to splurge for one night and ordered the mud cake made with their stout and topped with some vanilla ice cream along with a glass of Brother Thelonius, a Belgian style strong dark ale. I believe this was my first time having a beer inspired dessert, and this fell short. While I could appreciably taste the stout, the cake was way too dry, and the ice cream was the only thing making it work.

I came back to the farm house, feeling tipsy, and swapped tall tales with the other inhabitants over the warm inviting fire. It was COLD there (and we're talking about august folks...)

road trippin 2: berkeley, point reyes, russian river!

2010-08-18T15:19:00.000-07:00

well rested, i continued my trek up north, stopping by bakesale betty's in berkeley for lunch. the menu is simple: fried chicken sandwich, chicken pot pie, and whatever baked goods they happen to be making. i opted for the sandwich. i'm not a big fried chicken fan, but i found this to be pretty good. the coating of the chicken was still crispy when i got it. the simple slaw comprised of cabbage, peppers, and i think parsley or cilantro, dressed in some kind of olive oil/lemon dressing. put some tapatio on that, and this was a pretty tasty and filling sandwich. also picked up a slice of banana bread, which honestly was the best i've ever had (no picture tho, ate it for dinner).i planned my trip to explore parts of cali i hadn't been before, so i kept goin up, across the richmond bridge to point reyes.did an enjoyable hike although i have to admit i was a bit scared as i had never really hiked alone before. paranoid thoughts ran rampant of being killed and my body never being found. luckily, my backpack has a built in rape whistle, which gave me confidence and quelled my fears.stayed at a hostel for the first time (never thought there were any in the us for some reason)room shot.after a rather sleepless night, i explored the area a bit more the next morning (curiously enough, it had rained the night before), then made my way up to santa rosa to visit the russian river brewery. sound familiar? they make pliny the elder.it was around lunchtime, so i ordered the meatball sandwich with a side salad. the sandwich was nothing special (meatballs tasted frozen), but i really did enjoy the vinaigrette on the salad.but really, who cares about the food? it's all about the beers here. i sampled a few of their brews, my favorite being damnation, a strong belgian style golden ale. i ended up buying a few bottles to bring home.as much as i wanted to try them all, i had to show some restraint because i still had to drive a few more hours up north to caspar. remember not to drink and drive kids!

road trippin 1: nipomo and big sur

2010-08-17T11:56:00.000-07:00

as a final huzzah before school, i decided to take an impromptu solo road trip up the coast two weeks ago.

passed through nipomo for some santa maria style bbq. this joint was next to the santa maria brewery, but i didn't go in sadly...

ended up getting the pulled pork sandwich though. the telera bread was a winner: slightly toasted, fresh, and thin but just enough to sop up the sauce. the coleslaw dressing was light, but it did its job in balancing out the bbq sauce, which was more sweet than tangy. gotta appreciate that crunch of the cabbage too! the pork was pretty darn tender. overall, a pretty solid sandwich although i'm not sure if it beats cabs with her smoking sprees lately.

from there, i went up to big sur and stayed at the new camaldoli hermitage.

room shot.

lunch was the main meal here, served buffet style and eaten in our separate rooms. i particularly enjoyed the quiche.

i spent a few peaceful days here, reflecting and getting my mind right for school. i know that it's a cliche, but i still say it with wonder every time: i can't believe how fast time has gone....be movin up to davis in a week and startin in two!

back in seoul: insadong

2010-08-15T00:13:00.000-07:00

after a few days in the countryside, we headed back to seoul. although the city is pretty amazing, there are a lot of places that tell a different story of anyone who doesn't belong in the wealthy minority. i recently met w/ a friend who just came back from korea and told me how hard it is to make it out there (unless you're a foreigner).

sign for a laundry place.

from there, we went to insadong, an area famous for its many shops that sell artwork and antiques. i got a painting framed here for 40 bucks...only to break the glass at the airport and get a new piece fitted here for 60. >_<

and of course, there's always some street food vendor hustling. this lady was selling some kind of custard filled "bread" (can't think of really what to call it). what was funny was that she had a picture of lee myung bak on her cart, ordering some of her goodies. they weren't very good though.

after walking around a bit, we stopped by for a drink at a tea place.

all homemade.

i ordered sujunggwa, a cinnamon punch, which was the strongest i've ever had and woke me right up.

and some snacks on the side: i'm not sure what the stuff on the left is called, but its a thin puffed up piece of yut (malt) and on the right, some candied ginger.

as we were leaving, we saw a group of young pups tryin to make a dollar, singing jason mraz. check out the drunk man in the back as he dizzily swayed and clapped his hands to the music. if there was a caption for the second kid on the left, it would probably say, "wtf?"

happy sunday yall!

beef salad

2010-08-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

cravings are a funny thing. i find myself wanting something that i hadn't even thought of or even never had. perhaps it's my body telling me it needs a particular nutrient or maybe i just read and eat vicariously through too many food blogs. whatever the case, i found myself very badly craving a beef salad. and not just any beef salad, but a thai beef salad. i had only a hazy recollection of what this really meant. i've never tried one before although i did have a delicious raw beef salad last year at sab e lee, having had a memorable lunch with several of my favorite food bloggers. so i decided to finally submit to my wants and took the opportunity to check out a new thai place in diamond bar.

for the longest time, this used to be the neighboorhood amicis....cheap and filling pizza that i would get sometimes with a friend as we walked home from middle school. and i was pretty shocked when a few months ago i drove by and saw a thai joint. ordered a thai iced coffee that was a bit too heavy on the half and half, but still did the trick.

and here is the grilled beef salad (~$10): standard iceberg lettuce mix, mint, cilantro, red and green onions, and a lone slice of tomato topped with a whole lotta steak cooked medium. the dressing was a citrusy fish sauce base and i shoulda requested it on the side because there was too much on the salad. overall a borderline good salad but my body was happy. as i left, i found myself thinking that i should try to make this at home sometime as it seems simple enough.

my first chicago hot dog experience

2010-08-13T20:34:00.000-07:00

after enjoying a few beers at bootleggers with some friends, we started to have the mad munchkin munchies. a friend suggested portillos in buena park, and off we went. the majority of these pictures are credit of the young, up and coming jomo.

inside, the place had enough visuals and bright lights to trigger an epileptic seizure.

after the posts on kirk's blog, you can only live vicariously for so long before you break down and get your butt over to whatever it is you've been reading about for the past few months...or even years. and let me say that this was delicious. Mustard, relish, onions, tomatoes, pickles and peppers on a poppy seed bun. i could taste celery salt in it too. like the restaurant itself, the dog looked like it had too much going on, but once you took a bite, wow. like the protocol when one has a fit, follow suit: clear the area and enjoy the ride. and for $2.45? winna~

i'm an onion rings lover, so of course, i had to try these as well, and these were solid....perhaps not the best, but when you got the munchies man...

friends opted for the italian beef on french bread, which looked really good too. they gave it two thumbs up. i mean look at that thing. would u want to mess with that? (the answer btw is hell yea, and say it with some gumption!)

we killed that **** mang! the place is pretty close to knotts...anyone want to go? i haven't gone in years and for some reason have been itchin to go. holla day inn! (credit goes to paestry, who's been murkin it w/ the posts lately)

gochang and naju, korea

2010-08-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

after a few days in seoul, we took a bus down to the country, a noticeably different sort of place...

lots of rice fields out here.

made some new friends

so i learned about something called temple stays.

it's like a hostel, but you stay at a buddhist temple. i would love to do that one day and see how monks live.

as you would guess, the pace of life was quite different here for people...

and animals alike!

for dinner, we got to try korean beef for the first time. it was a circular building where you buy your own meat in one section...

then walk next door to the connecting restaurant to cook it.

some of the meat purchased

the simple setup. some vegetables (lettuce and perilla leaves) to wrap the meat in along with some green onion salad.

banchan wasn't much but i was too busy stuffing myself w/ the meat to really care. and while i can't remember the details, just trust me when i say, it was damn good.

after some bbq, it's common to eat neng myun (cold noodle dish in beef broth). the noodles however were darker than usual. i think they are normally made from buckwheat, but in this case, these were made from some kind of root, but I forget the name. But this was so refreshing after eating all that delicious meat.

hwood hike + wurstkushicles

2010-08-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

although i am a southern california native, i haven't really seen all the landmarks the golden state is known for since i am quite comfy in my suburban sanctuary thankyouverymuch. however, a few weeks ago, i ventured out into the wilderness (albeit cautiously mind you) into the jungle known as hollywood. sad to say, but i've only been once. so when a friend asked if i wanted to do a hike up to the iconic sign, i said sure, why not? starting off at Griffith Park, there is a slight detour that's worth seeing.

give you a hint: duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh

pow! the batcave from the Batman tv show from the '60s with Adam West. The cave was really small though.

it's an easy hike about 3 miles to the top with a mild continuous incline.

the route we went took us behind the sign. the whole thing is actually fenced off and a helicopter makes it rounds regularly to make sure no one tries anything crazy.

for dinner, we went near little tokyo to german sausage and beer joint, wurstkuche. there's always a heated debate on how to correctly pronounce the name. i thought it was wurstkushies while another thought wurstcooch. one of the guys ended up asking the beertender, who said it was vurstkookah. i still like my way of saying it better although it'll change depending on my mood.

it's a pretty simple menu. a whole bunch of different sausages, beer, and belgian fries with homemade dipping sauces. that's it. oh and dessert they have a oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich, which i have yet to try. they have nice glassware for all their beers...which is a pretty extensive selection of both bottled and draft beers, many unknown to me. I tried the Koestritzer Schwarzbier.

for the sausages, i got the bockwurst (veal, pork, & spices) along with the Filipino Marharlika (sweet pork & natural seasonings), both with grilled onions and peppers (one with spicy, one with sweet). both were pretty tasty although i thought the bockwurst had a better snap. they do offer exotic sausages too (take a look at their menu) and on a previous visit, i tried the rattlesnake (but i think it was another type of sausage not rabbit) and found it rather dry. if it was just rattlesnake, i think i would have liked it better so i could learn what that tastes like by itself, but i guess it's either too expensive or it can't stand on it's own? No picture of the fries, but I'd vouch for em. If you want go the extra mile, you can ask them to sprinkle some truffle oil on it. Go ahead and pamper yourself, you deserve it! my only gripe is that both times i've gone they've messed up on my order, but they were quick to fix it. overall, a fun place to relax and knock back a few steins of great beer.

yosemite sam

2010-07-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago, i went camping with a few friends to yosemite. i didn't take pictures of the food because i was too busy cooking, but i did get to try a tri tip recipe from menu in progress that was pretty doggone good. it was my first time cooking over a fire though, so it was tricky, but i did learn a few things from it. honestly though, it could have turned out like crap and still tasted good. i don't know about you, but when i'm out camping, everything tastes delicious. i remember once i had canned corn beef hash on a trip and thought it was the best thing i ever had. so when i got home, i bought it at the market and cooked it up, only to spit it out because it tasted like dog food. so there you have it.

despite the beer drinking binges and card games, we did have time to squeeze in a short hike to sentinel dome.

where you got a pretty nice view of yosemite falls

as well as the amazing half dome....something that is on my to do list the next time i come here.

made a new friend up here. damn thing had been fed by people so many times, it wasn't afraid to get close.

inspiration point. a weekend is barely enough time to just see one place because the park is huge.

we left the park through the west exit, following the merced river and noticed it was remarkably hot as it got well over 100 F that day.

decided to just stop by the first place to grab a quick lunch before the long drive back and saw this happy joint in mariposa.

the place was so packed and busy! a typical american joint with your sandwiches, burgers, and what not.

having had my fill of meat and heavy food, i was craving for something light and fresh so i got my favorite tuna sandwich on wheat and a trip to the salad bar.

verdict? it was a good sandwich although the mayo seemed a little watery. all in all though, a fun trip with some old friends.

truit fart

2010-07-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Nad's Bakery's post on a fruit tart, my sister and I decided to give it a shot.

We're still getting the strawberries from the same spot, and while I don't often go out on a limb to sing my praises about this hoot nanny or that, this little shack sells the best strawberries I've ever had, and the prices aren't too bad looking either (~$16 a box or less than $10 for seconds(smaller strawberries, but same sized box).

the finished product, which was laughable compared to nadia's. guess i should have looked at her pictures before putting on the fruit haha. also i ignored my sister about the crust being too thick, which it turned out to be. timing the crust cooking time was tricky too, and the crust ended up being overcooked but not burnt thankfully. overall though, it tasted good if you just closed your eyes and didn't look at the thing. i plan to give this another shot, but will use vanilla bean instead of extract to see how it tastes.

disney adventures on kcal nine

2010-07-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

about a month back, my recently engaged cousin and her fiancee flew into cali for her birthday, while i did have a disneyland annual passport once, i had never been to dt, so with my camera, i trotted over to downtown disney.

to tortilla jos.

while we were waiting, i munched on some free thin tortilla chips with some decent blended salsa and sipped on my strawberry margarita. Given the location, it's pretty darn pricey (~40 bucks a pitcher x_x)

After changing my mind a few times, I settled on Jo's favorites ($14.95): chicken flautas, tequilla bbq ribs, spicy mango mustard shrimp, and a carnitas tostada. The carnitas and ribs were dry with not much going on, but I did enjoy the flautas. The shrimp, sadly, wasn't much on the spicy side and was more of a very sweet mustard than anything else. But it was a pretty big platter, and I wasn't able to finish it.

besides the happy couple, i also got to meet my cousin's talented friend/co-organizer of the party nadia, who has a beautiful blog. she baked some nice treats for everyone to look at and enjoy.

along with some chocolate cupcakes with a hazelnut(?) filling inside. *so* good as cathy from mmm-yoso would say =)

a trip to the tower of terror(that ride is awesome) would have been a nice nightcap, but being able to see j&j was good enough. congrats again you two!

cowabunga dude

2010-07-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

i have been wanting to go to tony's little italy in placentia for quite a while now after reading the new diner's post. the opportunity arose when I met w/ a friend, who let me choose the joint.

we ordered tony's special: sausage, bell peppers, mushrooms (i think canned? not that I cared), and onions. the crust was thin like a pie, and what stood out the most here was that it was very cheesy. i've had two chicago style pizzas before, at bjs being in the middle and zachary's with a lot of sauce, and it's funny how this one fell on the opposite scale. overall, i liked it although i wasn't much of a fan of all that cheese, but if that's your thing, i think you would really like it.

observe the healthy puddle of oil leaking out on the side. call me weak, but after two slices, i was done.

the place itself is pretty small and in a strip mall that's easy to find. we went for lunch, so there wasn't much of a wait besides the time it took for the pizza to bake.

1808 N. Placentia Ave Unit B

Placentia, CA 92870

also, don't forget, free slurpee at 7-11 today!

yahtzee! another food pornapalooza palazzi!

2010-07-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

while my korea posts have been severely lacking in food pictures, i hope this one partly fills the void.

i can count the number of times i've had fine dining on my hand(s?), so i was lucky to add one more finger to my rather large collection of experiences when i got to eat at chaegundam. we heard that it was a vegetarian restaurant, but they did offer meat.

you can choose among fixed meal sets, and we opted for the lower priced ones at 33k and 45k won, around 30 and 40 USD.

to start, we had a cold jellyfish dish in a light mustard sauce.

a green salad with lotus chips in a delicious berry dressing.

jap chae, a noodle dish made from yam starch

i didn't like the pickled lotus too much because they put in cinnamon, which was a weird combination for me.

refreshing white radish kimchi

a black sesame porridge

arrowroot jelly with some mixins

soy sauce shrimp

some "nigiri" was given out as service. first was dolagee (bellflower root)

along with mushrooms.

to drink, we had some makgeoulli

traditionally drank in a bowl. this one overall was average...it wasn't that great, but still drinkable.

some kind of beef wrap

a very thick mushroom soup (stew?). i think the broth was made from soy beans.

at this point, taking all of these pictures started to feel like a bloody chore, which is probably why i'll never do a sushi post, at least in the foreseeable future. big ups to kirkk on his ridiculous three part urasawa post as well as kirbie's recent post on her gaslamp tasting extravaganza.

gujeolpan, thin pancakes in which you took some of the veggies(traditionally nine, which is what gu means) and made a wrap. we were ready to throw in the towel here. belts were loosened, bellies clutched, and groans let out freely, yet still the food kept on coming

galbi jjeem, a korean pot roast type thing.

fresh out of the fryer tempura: jujubes, orange zucchini, and ginseng (?!)

mushroom and green dduk (chewy rice cake) skewers

then, as if to rebuff any thoughts that the joint wasn't legit, the traditional rice and dwenjang jjigae (soybean stew) was served.

along with a myriad of banchan. as the old man in my yoga class hooted last night "oh lordy lordy lordy!"

the rice was cooked in a dolsot (stone pot) and scraped out, leaving a thin hard crust. tea was poured in afterwards, and you eat it as a soup. (as anyone who's been to a korea tofu house probably knows).

at last, dessert was served. some dduk that was filled with red beans and pine pollen, which really tasted...piney

along with watermelon and a light fruit tea. produce was really fresh here but also quite expensive.

overall, the food was wonderful and i really enjoyed being able to experience a new dimension of korean cusine. stuffed, we decided to walk it off

to the hotel. but still bloated, we walked across the street to a buddhist temple. i really wanted to take more pictures but my camera battery died shortly after. this had to be one of my favorite places i got to see at seoul. with all the hustle going on 24 hours a day in the city, i really felt like one could find some peace and quiet here.

the more pictures i take, the more i realize the difficult challenge of trying to capture everything i felt during that particular time. still, doing the food blog has awakened an interest in photography and its self taught lessons freely given with the growing pictures i snap (yo bagels). holla.

seoul - south side

2010-07-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

before this trip, i had only been to korea once around 15 years back. I have some memories of the month I spent there, but Seoul was nothing like I remembered it to be. After parting ways with the tour group, we were free to explore on our own. The first place we went to was a few minutes away from our hotel by taxi, which is a cheap option for transportation w/ the starting fare around 2.50. But sometimes it was pretty scary to be in the backseat. While I find bad drivers in America to be characterized by their egotistical selfishness and ignorance of their surroundings, the drivers here speed around with a recklessness that only shows a disregard for all life, including their own.

But by the grace of god, fresh bread, and everything else holy in the world, we arrived at the Kim Young Mo Bakery, the first organic bakery in Korea.

plenty of free samples to try. lots of european and korean goodies on display.

for myself, i picked up a strawberry ice cream sandwich. the outer layers were more of a cake than cookie, and the inside was more of a sorbet.

there are so many businesses here, stacked upon one another. i wondered how they all survived. (the minimum wage here is 2500 won, a little under $2.50).

minsokchon was a traditional folk village park that showcased the old ways of life. it's also a place to drink soju in sd.

all that walking around was definitely tiring.

we also visited gyeongbok palace and changgyeong palace. one thing i loved about seoul was that the modern coexisted with the old, something you don't really see in the U.S. since it is relatively new (with the exception to the indigenous).

also loved that you were free to drink outside. here's the classic combo that will have your head spinnin. have a happy 4th everyone!

drink local

2010-06-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

taking a break from the korea posts to share some favorite watering holes.

sunday nights at ra sushi, one of those americanized sushi joints. happy hour starts at 8 pm. they recently raised the sake bombers from 5 to 6 bucks, but still a good deal.

you get a small hot sake (about 3-4 shots) + a 22 oz kirin. the sake is pretty harsh, but just drop it in your beer and you'll be alrite kid. i've tried a few of their hh menu items, none of them very good. but when you're paying 3.50 for a roll, you've pretty much lost your right to complain. get there early cuz this place is poppin and gets packed fast! (i go to chino hills, but i can imagine it's the same all around cuz the drinks are cheap)

the next place is on an inconscipuous corner in fullerton in a warehouse. most of these pictures from here on out were taken courtesy of the young and upcoming jomo.

bootlegger's. i had been looking for some local microbreweries nearby besides the chains and thanks to a tip from my friend paestry (who has now been transplanted back in sd, god bless her), mission accomplished.

a list of their refreshments. i felt like a kid in a candy store the first time i came in here. (~20 beers god damn!)

the sample flight is a good way to go to be able to try a variety. 5 2 oz pours for 3 bucks, what?! in general, their prices are pretty reasonable and a little lower than what you'd expect at a craft brewery. you'll find no pretentiousness here as you're free to ponder life while wearing an old t and shorts while sipping on beer in a mason jar. my favorites so far would have to be their golden chaos and cherry Chernobyl (which sadly is no longer offered). oh funny story the first time i came here. i noticed these two older biker gentlemen, waiting for their beer. these were some tough looking mother effers, tatted up to the gills and donning their worn out jeans and leather vests. everyone had their eyes on them as they left...in a scion xB.

i did say it was in a warehouse right? a small but chill place, much like the bruery. my only complaint is that the tasting room is open only thurs-sat and they close at 9. you can often find food trucks here which is a bonus since you don't have to go chasing after them nor deal with annoyingly long lines. staff is friendly too even with an ignoramus like me.

speaking of which, the bruery is another small but rising player in the world of beer.

i was introduced to this place by a friend. same deal here...enjoy liquid bread in the same warehouse they make their beer...food trucks sometimes...mixed easy goin crowd. you can do a sample flight here too. it's around 8 or 9 bucks, but you do get to keep the glass to bring home for your kids. lots of interesting libations to enjoy although not as many offered compared to booty's.

holla

gyungjoo and sulaksan

2010-06-28T22:28:00.000-07:00

took a bus from busan to gyungjoo and picked up a snack at a rest stop.

hodo gwaja (walnut "cookie")

filled with sweetened red bean and bits of walnuts, these things were delicious to eat fresh and probably one of my favorite snacks to get whenever i could.

as well as these hodduk, a thick somewhat oily hotcake filled with honey and bits of peanuts. this guy manned his station like a pro.

we visited the chunmachong (heavenly horse tomb) and other tumuluses, which were a bunch of grassy mounds over a tomb where royalty were buried. the h.h. tomb, named because of a painting of a pegasus (which regretfully went extinct last year) was found in the tomb, was estimated to be around the 5th or 6th century.

lots of rowdy school kids, awaiting in line to go inside the tumulus.

in case you were wondering why some people were sitting on the hills. maintenance!

boolguksa, one of the many temples we visited.

outside, a halmunee (grandma) was doing her thing on the streets and i bought a cup of ginko nuts from her.

check out that building with a pagoda cut into the whole structure.

spotted some young soldiers. korea has a mandatory military service for males.

another pit stop, but this one selling both dried and preserved fish and other seafood like squid.

do you see the grill in the back?

some fish were thrown on and cooked on it, shoot was shot, and cups of home brewed makguhlli were poured and passed all around. makguhlii is a type of fermented rice wine that was originally drunk (as a previous writing tutor, i think the correct form is drank, but when i say it aloud it doesn't sound right). it seems like it's having a popular resurgence in korea (and consequently, the us) as of late, but when i had it bottled here, i found it to be watery, bubbly, and overall bland. although the drink isn't very strong, the stuff i had here was thicker, darker in color, and sweet, overall, a delight to drink.

nearby, a lady hauled her cart filled with yut, a korean malt taffy. you know i had to get some of that sweet that chewy stuff.

the next day, we went up to the sulak mountain.

a long way up via cable cars.

from there it was a short walk to the top. it was hard to see how high we really were since it was so foggy.

there were a bunch of rocks, stacked on top of each other. it's said if you put a rock on top of one of these towers, you can make a wish. i believe this is a Buddhist practice and saw these things all over korea.

you have to do a bit of rock climbing to get to the top, but it was fun and even old ladies were doing it. on a side note, the korea/uruguay and usa/ghana games this past weekend were heartbreakers.

once at the bottom, i picked up some bbundehgee(silk worm larvae) and some little snail like things ( i have no idea what these are called). the larvae smelled and looked horrible. i never had it before nor did i ever really want it although they do sell these things canned in the US. but i decided to give it a shot and found it to pretty good if you can get past the smell. it had a very nutty flavor to it.

there was also an enormous Buddha statue on the grounds. growing up in cali, 99% of the koreans i know are either protestant or catholic. but seeing temples all around korea, i was reminded that at another time, korea was once largely buddhist. it made me reflect on the effects of westernization and its missionaries. on a bigger scale (and by this i mean how it relates to me because i am the world), i thought about my own korean heritage and what it all meant as we took a long bus ride to seoul.

jeju to busan

2010-06-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

there's a trail that goes around the whole island. i would love to be able to hike that one day.

the weather here was great. i was worried that it would be hot and humid but it was def. under the 80s while we were here.

as mr. horsey can attest too.

jejudo, like a lot of korea, has drastically changed over the years with more and more buildings growing, and i learned a good deal of their economy is based off tourism.

the first week we were there, we went with a tour group and one of the places they took us to a place that grew sang hwang mushrooms. they sat us in a room and a man dressed up as some kind of worker started extolling the virtues of the magic medicinal mushroom, which cured cancer, regulated blood sugar, and helped with acne. they were selling a bottle of the stuff for about 120 bucks, and i saw a few people buy a box of the shrooms, well over a thousand bucks. what recession son?

a closeup of the fabled fungus, ground up. i washed it down w/ some ggool mool (honey water....love this stuff, partly because i wasn't allowed any soda growing up and drank this instead. probably also explains why i'm a candy junkie.). i sat there amusedly, watching the play act itself out. that's not to say that i think eastern medicine is rubbish. i find it pretty interesting and would love to study that in school. i simply thought that it was all a con to sell tourists something at an exorbitant price. so I looked it up later and was surprised to find that research did show it as a potential anti cancer agent as well as some other goodies. so you be the judge.

another thing characteristic of the island are these gamgyools. they look like small tangerines, but they have a bump on the top which you can kinda see in this picture. they were more on the sour side. at least the one i tried was.

hopped on the plane to busan, the second largest city in korea. went up the busan tower.

i grew up in the suburbs my whole life so whenever i go into the city, i feel overwhelmed, amazed that there are so many people compacted in such a small amount of space and to whoever first thought of building those high rises and apartments.

our hotel was right next to the beach, and the next morning i did an enjoyable jog following the shore and seeing everyone set up for the day.

for dinner we went looking for the pojangmacha aka street food. we soon found a little enclave of tents. people were on the hustle here (as well as other parts in korea) where they stood outside their place, beckoning you in, telling you they'll give you a good price/hook you up.

in case you couldn't see what this stand was all about

seafood is what they offered

the menu. a U.S. dollar was a little under 1200 won when we got there. soju is dirt cheap. at the markets its around a buck.

i'm not a fan of it, but then again, i don't really have much of a taste for any kind of hard alcohol (if you can even call soju hard). on the rare occasion, i can taste a sweetness to it, but for the most part, it has the disgusting aftertaste of rubbing alcohol to me (guess that just means i have to drink it more often). i usually mix it with beer and it's quite tasty this way. we ordered a bottle and were given some cucumbers with some dwenjang (soy bean paste aka miso) for dip as the halmunee (grandma) prepared our order from behind the counter.

while waiting, we ordered some odeng (fish cake) from the next stand for 2000 won. i've never really liked odeng, and this stick didn't change my mind about it. i can remember having it for the first time as a kid and thinking wtf. i thought the broth would at least be okay and taking a hopeful sip, i was disgusted by it. there are plenty of things to be angry about the world: the radical religious right, douchy liberals (refer to southpark s10e2), or corporate scumbags. but what the **** does that have to do with me? all i cared about was i didn't like the soup and i was pissed. and that's the truf mang!(for those without two gold front teeth that have a gap between them, you can just say "truth" as you silently read this). postscript: i no longer have such strong feelings towards the broth after talking things out with my psychologist.

sea squirts. it's been almost a month since this meal so sorry if i skimp out on the details. soft but some parts were a little hard, like eating those clam nigiris. tasted fresh and like the sea. dipped in some chojang (red pepper paste + vinegar), these were quite addicting.

some steamed mussels served in their own broth w/ bits of jalapenos

another type of sea squirt

some tomatoes to munch on as we took a break. the colors were so vibrant.i think these were little eels grilled with peppers and garlicsteamed clams to finish off the meal. overall an enjoyable fun meal but i left not wanting to eat that kinda stuff for a while. too much of a good thing yknow?

and in case you had a weak stomach and needed to go to the potty...she had you covered mang! i definitely suffered the next day eating too much of the stuff.

jejudo deul

2010-06-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

observation 2: there's no tipping in korea. as the story goes, an American had a meal at korea and left the standard tip. as he was leaving, the owner of the restaurant came running out, telling him that he accidentally left some money on the table. you would think that no tip would mean crappy service, but it's the exact opposite. i found the people to be very polite and accommodating (for the most part). if anything, the service is too quick here, most likely because koreans are impatient.

/rantabouttippinginAmerica (feel free to skip).

it's utter bullshit. now hold on a second before you start stoning me. this is not an attack on the food industry workers(there are a few other jobs that include tips, but this is the big mama imo) nor am i a stingy bastard...i put in the min 15% or more if i'm happy w/ the service. anyone who's been in the customer service industry can attest to the majority of idiots they have to deal with(and i put myself in this category as well). and if you have had any experience, you tend to empathize with the other people you see swimmin in the same shee it as you. then again, you can also choose to be an a hole and let out all your frustrations from your job to the next guy, thus continuing the vicious cycle of hate. let the circle be unbroken sucka. my qualm is with the system. there are a lot of other jobs, where people are on their feet all day, take crap from both customers and the higherups, and hustle so hard that by the end of their shift, their ass looks like something Michangelo himself sculpted. and they're receiving minimum wage (or less) just like servers but get no tip. how is that fair? why do only certain professions get tipped while others don't? who gets to arbitrarily decide that? the tipping system should be abolished. but since i know that's not going to happen, i'm going to make a tip jar and put it on the front desk at work tomorrow. and you best give me my 15% or i'm gona go Oprah on your ass (god i hate her so much, but that post will be for another day my friends). /endrant

the hotel we stayed at was the lotte jeju, and it was a fine hotel indeed. a lot of the hotels we stayed in had casinos to cater to visitors, but only foreigners were allowed. i think there's only one casino in korea in which natives are allowed to play in. another short note: tipping does happen in korea although i believe it to be rare. at a casino, i drunkenly asked the dealer if i was supposed to tip and he told me yes. but perhaps this was the case since only foreigners were allowed? even a lot of taxi drivers don't expect tip.

if the name sounds familiar, you may have seen the brand on a piece of korean candy or gum. lotte is a huge corp that also makes cookies, has their own chain of fast food restaurants called Lotteria as well as owning the baseball team the lotte giants.

there was a trail in the back of the hotel which led down to the beach where you found

peace

if you've gotten this far reading, i commend you for your perserverance. you're probably muttering to yourself right now, "this guy needs to get off his soap box and start showin the food porn or i'm out." so here was the breakfast buffet, which had both western and korean items.

the setup

there were a bunch of baked goods like bagels, croissants, and chewy tapioca bread.

and some fresh selections of fruit. fruit was really good here.

standard omelette and egg station along with waffles

different yogurts, bread w/ cheeses, fruit salad

fruit juices

a noodle soup station

salads, meats, and you gotta have that kimchi

there were a bunch of different hot dishes too, but i didn't take pictures of those (refer to observ. 1) but i got a slice of french toast and a waffle. the "sand" in the syrup is cinnamon sugar.

along with bacon, potatoes and jeonbok jook, which is abalone porridge.

your choice of coffee or tea. i ended up drinking a lot of coffee when i was here. many restaurants have coffee vending machines where for usually around 100 won (~ 10 cents), you could get a small cup of coffee. and by small i don't mean american small (which somewhere down the has turned into medium), but those small water cups people use to take shots with at parties.

i love breakfast and i love buffets. but the good life is over. as it was in the beginning, and now and ever shall be, world without end. it's back to my cereal w/ fruit.

oops, i forgot to write it on my last post, but let's go korea tomorrow!~

jejudo

2010-06-13T22:43:00.000-07:00

caveat: this and future korea posts are more about travel than food. i'm ashamed to say it, but i didn't take as many pictures of food as i'd have liked. just letting u know before some of yall get your panties in a bunch...

observation 1: people were pushy as heck here. growing up, i witnessed this of my halabujee(grampa) plenty of times and it didn't matter if it was a kid or old granny, he would push them out of the way without a word and went on his merry way. i always attributed this to his cantankerous nature, but now i know better. the words "excuse me" do not exist in korea. so make sure you gtfo of the way.

it took about an hour to get to Jejudo, a volcanic island. It is known for its abundance in three things: wind, stone, and women, and said to lack these three: beggars, thieves, and locked gates.

Dol Haleubang, literally meaning stone grandfather, are Jejudo's iconic statues made of basalt stone and seen all over the island. They were thought to be protective spirits.

Yongduam, or dragon's head rock.The angle of this picture doesn't cater to the imagination very well, but this link, taken from lifeinkorea.com, shows it better.

Of course, there were some food stands everywhere, and I got a chicken skewer.

It was basted with some sweet sambal sauce. It was a lot of gristle, was lukewarm, and overall not very good.

there was a slow country time feel to the island and we wandered around. saw some squid hanging out to dry

nearby was a barley field.

also visited a bonsai garden. one thing i noticed in korea was that they seemed to promote well being. i'd see little quotes and phrases in front of urinals to read and ponder on life while taking a leak.

trippy gate thing (not exactly sure what it's called)

picked up some freshly made yut, a korean taffy. this was on my list of to eat. my parents went a few years ago and asked me what i wanted. i told them some fresh mountain spring water and yut. they brought me back a polo hat and godiva chocolates. what the fruit? so i made sure i got mines this time around mang.

a closer look. while the hardness may intimidate some, some gentle gnawing will coax the bit to a pleasant chew that will have you grinning before it gets stuck on your toof and pulls it out. i love this stuff and just writing about it makes my gums ache in want.

could have just stayed here for a month alone

korea fo rea

2010-06-09T03:11:00.000-07:00

the past 2 weeks just flew by and i'm back at home, wondering if it was all a dream. we left after midnight and oddly enough, about two hours into the flight, they served a meal. i don't know why, but i had a mad case of the munchies. A caveat to the weak of heart: these pictures may disgust you.

i opted for the beef, which was as drab as my picture, but beggars can't be choosers mang. it came with some potato salad w/ ham, a stale roll, and some cheesecake.

while my sis got the bibimbap (which I ate too). It came with some miyuk gook (seaweed soup) and some pickles with some fruit for dessert. not bad pig...not bad at all if you squeezed out all the gochoojang (red pepper paste) on it. After 3 glasses of wine (I amusedly watched the guy next to us down at least 5 glasses of wine, but no drama for your baby's mama), I passed out for a couple hours and awoke just in time for breakfast.

Green tea porridge. This was surprisingly good.

We arrived at Incheon a few hours later, only to be greeted by gloomy, rainy weather. Took a bus to a smaller airport and waited a few hours to go to Jejudo, an island off the southern tip, so we explored the airport.

loads of these machines all over korea.

Korea has been becoming more and more westernized over the years, and I saw plenty of these joints around Seoul.

A display of some of the goods. (At the time, the dollar was about 1200 won woot).

Food here wasn't that expensive (compared to the U.S although obviously more than what it would cost elsewhere). We ended up going into a random joint for a late breakfast/whatever meal it was in the US as the time was 16 hours ahead. I got the kimchi udon.

Kimchi ramen straight from the package (they didn't try to front here and proudly had the boxes out for all to see), but still good when you're hungry.

Needless to say, I got a lot of reading done. Goggles! Damn I'm still jetlagged.

food for thought

2010-05-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

when i first started cooking and things didn't turn out how I imagined it to be, I chalked it up to the fact that there must be some special or exotic ingredient that I was missing. Of course now I realize it's just because I was/am a shitty cook.

I've realized something though (south park ending moment). Simple is good. Take for instance, some locally grown strawberries with fresh honey whipped cream. Kudos to whoever came up with this idea. Same to you mr or mrs. apple w/ brie cheese, and the many other simple yet delicious combos that work.

Then again, I'm sure you could also say that I'm just saying this simply cuz beyond the baby steps I'm hopeless xD

I've been making it rain on this biatch (and by biatch, I mean my blog) lately. it was a mad attempt to catch up and clean up shop because I'm going to korea this weekend. I've only been there once a long time ago, so I'm looking forward to it, so much in fact that I've been doing the master cleanse to prepare for some good eats and drinkin. cyall laters kids!

an indian secret garden

2010-05-20T08:28:00.000-07:00

after a night of tequilla shots and rock band, I took a mandatory trip top dog the next morning, but I've already done a post on it and don't want to bore you. (I tried the garlic for anyone wondering and found it pretty darn tasty). and for anyone in socal who wondered about top dog, i read in oc weekly's stickaforkinit (i always read it as stick for a knit) that Berkeley Dog opened in orange county (mission viejo which is pretty damn south but a brea one to open soon) and is being supplied by top dog.

for lunch, I wanted to try something new, so my sister took me to vik's. as you walk through the colorful eye pleasing entrance, you go past the bored looking cashier and down the aisles filled with wonderful aromas of spices and other things i know nothing of then you make a left, another left, a right, and then spin 3 times in place and a robin will come and help you find the key to the locked gate, and through it...

you are greeted by utter chaos and madness. we were herded like sheep into the line, goaded into taking our order quickly before we were trampled to death by the moving crowd.

Panicking, I tried to scan the menu (this shot is for Dennis, the most meticulous food blogger I ever did meet), hoping to find anything familiar or appealing, but it was no bloody help at all! Click on the menu for full size and you'll see why.

So just like on a multiple test exam, I picked blindly and desperately prayed for the best, going for the chicken biryani. Underneath the rice were three small chicken pieces, some with bone. And along with it some yogurt sauce w/ cucumbers in it. The dish was sneakily spicy and really good...but I have no idea what it was made with.

My sister got the dosa(think thin crepe) with masala filling. Filled with potatoes and peas. Should have taken a cross section pic. I'm not quite sure what the other stuff along with it is.

to drink I got both the mango lassi

and some cold refreshing coconut juice. What I also liked about this place was that there were three cans for waste: one for trash, one for recycling, and one for compost. Respect mother earth!

there were a bunch of desserts on display, and I wish I had tried one.

I have no idea what any of them were though, which made it all the more appealing! I felt like a kid in a candy store. Overall, a pretty interesting and good place (i hear norcal has better indian than socal), one that I would go to again, but not without doing some research beforehand so I wouldn't have to feel rushed.

Stuffed, we headed back for me to get my things and head back down. But not before I tried an It's-It, generously (albeit drunkenly) bought for us by my sister's friend, who mysteriously disappeared for the weekend after a night of beer and soju shots (forgot my camera to do a post on that joint though)

The makeup.

And an ugly inside look. The chocolate overpowered the cookie for me, but the ice cream was pretty good. It's inspired me to bake some cookies at home and create my own ice cream sandwich. After a short nap and armed with an audiobook (into the wild, which I only got through the first disc haha), I got my nicely shaped rump (i've been doin those squats and yoga mang) back on the road and drove home.

driving up north sucks

2010-05-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

took a long and lonely drive up north (party of one! a certain somebody would say) this past weekend to look for housing. it's slowly starting to hit me that i'm going to be moving and starting school in a few months, which seem both short and far away at the same time. on the suggestion of my sister's friend (haha), we checked out redrum burger in davis after visiting a few apartments. The place used to be called murder burger, but after a change of hands, the new management held a contest to pick a new name, and the people wanted redrum.

the menu. they also had a huge italian soda/milkshake menu, which i should have tried...next time i guess.

zoom sampler which gave you onions, zucchini, and mushrooms. you think you know deep fried? you don't know a g*dda ** thing about deep fried till you see and try how this place does it. redrumin your heart is what they'll do. the poor veggies were practically donuts. this was the thickest batter i've ever seen, and it was way too heavy for me. after one ring, i was done, and proceeded to eat the rest by peeling off the batter. but if you're into that sort of thing (this is america ain't it?), i'm sure you'd enjoy it.

i shared a regular 1/4 cheeseburger and an ostrich burger. let me start off with the burger first: the patty was good, but I think 1/4 lb was too small to really appreciate the taste. what i really liked though was the soft sesame bun. the ostrich burger on the other hand wasn't very good. i was surprised to find out it was red meat(although if you think about it, it's built like a raptor), but it was overcooked, making it a bit chewy. i'm not really sure how to describe the taste because it was something completely new for me. overall, i didn't really like it much, but i'd be willing to give it another try sometime.

finding housing was a success and after a few hours of impulse shopping at the vaca outlets, we headed back to Berkeley to go to Zachary's, a Chicago style deep dish pizza joint, for dinner. I wrote about Zachary's a few months back, but it was a half baked pizza my sister brought down. This time I was here for the real thing. It takes about 30-40 minutes for your pizza to come out, so I enjoyed a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale while waiting. It had been a while since I'd had this, and it's a pretty smooth and enjoyable beer.

more waiting as i looked at the fan art

they had up on the walls.

You can get different toppings for each half of pizza so we opted for the spinach and mushroom on one side and sun dried tomato and basil on the other. The pizza is a little different (I've never been to Chicago nor had their pizza, so I don't know if this normal protocol) but it goes dough, cheese, toppings, then tomatoes, so a sort of upside down pizza if you will. The crust is more thin (but not too thin) and crisp rather than fat and chewy.

After much eager anticipation, our server came out with the pizza, asked which half we wanted first, and expertly cut us off a piece of that pie. I don't know if I had hyped it up too much in my mind over time or I needed meat in the pizza, but it wasn't as good as I remembered it to be. I couldn't really tell the difference between the two pizzas haha (although my sister could). BUT that's not to say that it wasn't any good. I ate three slices, and they were pretty fatty too, boasted the prideful annoying child.

we fly high...no lie...you know this...MULIN!

2010-05-18T17:00:00.000-07:00

takin a quick break from food to talk about a few bottles of pop. while i don't have the elegance or beautiful pictures like A Menu in Progress' Sazerac Cocktail (one of my favorite posts although I have yet to try this), I hope you enjoy. a few months ago, i was introduced to the power of the moscow mule, and have since converted to the church of all things mule. for those that don't know: wiki is truth.

there are variations of course(i've enjoyed it also w/ rum and i hear mixing with jameson is tasty as well), but that's the gist of it. A funny dramatized manga take about the drink...no idea if it's true or not, but never thought I'd read a comic centered around a bartender. so i got my fat ass over to bevmo to get ginger beer. what's ginger beer? a stronger (nonalcoholic usually I think) version of ginger ale.

-cock 'n bull....the og gb used when this magical drink was created. if you like ginger, you'll really like this(take some notes canada dry). it packs a huge punch that initially seems to sizzle on your tongue and then leaves a spicy ginger karate kick that lingers in your mouth.

-Bundaberg. this was a much sweeter version that hailed from Australia. Overall, although you could still taste the ginger in this one, it was a much more mellow compared to cock n bull. both used strictly sugar as their sweetener, and you could definitely taste it more in this one. they also boast that their drink is naturally brewed, which I think means that instead of artificially adding carbonation, the bubbly is created naturally through fermentation. i'm not sure if cock 'n bull does this too, but bundaberg's wasn't very bubbly at all.

i also really love root beer (virgil's is one of my fave's) and decided to check one out from Sioux City as Bev Mo has not just a wonderful alcohol/beer selection, but sodas too. this was ok at best, but it really didn't taste that much different from your main line root beers.

their sarsaparilla/"the grandaddy of root beer" was definitely better, and both were quite sweet. i'm sure that you have your own sweetener preference for pop. depending on how i'm feeling, i'll opt for one or the other, but i have to admit, i have a weakness for American HFCS coca cola, and let me tell ya, when mc donald's had that 64oz soda for under a buck, i did not hold back. i love that sizzurp!

in case you were wondering what's up with the dog, it's my attempt to "spruce up" my poorly taken pictures. it was given to me before one of my school interviews, and i squeezed the living bejeebus out of that thing as i waited my turn to be grilled.

www.eatyourpizza.com (it wurks)

2010-05-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few days back in DC, wandering around the mall.

Across the river, and eventually reaching Georgetown

to this pizza joint, Pizzeria Paradiso and was seated next to their open window.

They had a pretty good selection of beer. I ended up trying the St. Faulian Triple, and then later a Bear Republic Big Bear Stout. They had beers from all over and I was surprised to see one from The Bruery, a small microbrew in Placentia. And I got a simple margherita pizza: tomato, basil, mozzarella. The cheese was really milky and overall, this was a good pizza. Plus after a long walk, I was starving, so I devoured this in no time.

My last day, I went to check out The General Store with my cousin. In some DC magazine I got from the airport, they were listed under soul food, but they offer quite a variety from fried chicken to fish tacos.

I ordered the sweet tea, then we sat down while we waited for our food. It's not exactly sit down, but you pay and sit, then a guy comes over with all your food.

I got the chili w/ cornbread. Hearty and a little on the sweet side.

while my cousin ordered the chicken tarragon sandwich. Very fresh tasting. They make everything here down to their mayo. We also shared two sides

rich mac n cheese

and some delicious collard greens with small pieces of pork.

For dessert, although I was stuffed, I had to try some of their lemon chess pie. Really sweet, but the lemon helped to cut through some of that. They also offered some kind of buttermilk pie, which I also wanted to try, but I think I'll just take a shot at making it sometime soon instead.

Overall, I thought it was good solid homestyle food but a little on the pricey side.

incomplete trifecta or the eye of the tiger

2010-05-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

we walked off the food coma and pretty soon, we could see downtown (not sure if that's what it really was). you see, we needed to burn off some calories for the grueling challenge ahead.

first stop was village whiskey, which specialized in...take a wild guess. i'm not a big whiskey drinker nor am I much of a drinker in general although I try to hold my own...which isn't much. we were here to check out some of their food though.

duck fat french fries with sly fox cheddar sauce. this is america baby...we don't hold back on nuthin! i have no doubt in my mind that this dish was specifically made to spite vegetarians and vegans. i didn't think too much of these though...they were good, but nowhere near the orgasmic taste i thought i would experience.

their beautiful village burger, weighing in at 8 0z and accompanied by boston bibb, tomato, and house made thousand island dressing on a sesame roll. a while ago, there's been a rise of places serving gourmet hamburgers...i guess it's not just california. it was a good, perfectly cooked burger ( i liked that it came out piping hot), but it was underseasoned (it could have used more salt imo). if we had added cheese, this would have been better. regardless, all this was just a warmup for the main event/the only reason why we had bothered to come all the way out to philly : the cheesesteaks (kidding cousin J haha =p )

when you see flashing lights and people shotgunning beers in their party buses, all of which are reminiscent of vegas, you know you have arrived at Geno's. The menu is pretty simple. I can remember several years back my cousin patiently coached me on the linguistics of ordering a cheesesteak as I nervously stood in line at Pat's, afraid I'd blow it and be booted to the back of the long line as the Philly locals would jeer and sneer at "this damn California kid tourist." But today was a different day. I had my lucky rocketpants underwear on and nothing was gonna get between me and my steak. I approached the window with swagger and confidently said "cheesesteak with wiz" (cheesesteak with onions and cheese whiz).

The thought of some canned cheese goop wasn't appetizing in the least, but I found that this was actually pretty tasty. Thinly sliced rib eye steak, grilled onions and cheese along with the chewiness of that bread...so good. Despite the long lines, I think we waited less than 20 minutes before ordering.

We decided to skip Pat's this time, the local contender down the street, and check out Jim's. This size and wait of the line rivaled that of Disneyland's Space Mountain but at least we got to stare at the food being prepared.

But patience is a virtue little child, and we were soon rewarded. I got the cheesesteak with sweet peppers, onions, and provolone. The biggest difference between the two places was that Jim's chops up their steak, so on your first bite, you initially get a burst of the steak's juices, then as you chew, it gets kinda dry.

Luckily, I had this to solve the drought. Drink local! lol...(damn someone please shoot me for using that word)

If we had gotten Pat's, we would have completed the holy trinity (although like any religion, this is highly debatable) and have been awarded three wishes by the gods themselves. Unfortunately, this did not happen. What did happen was that our bellies burst from the pure unadulterated gluttony that took place that evening as we arrived home moaning and feigning disgust when in actuality what we really felt was a deep rooted pride that we were mother******* champions!

Needless to say, after almost a week of eating heavy food to the point of wanting to vomit, I had my only healthy meal for the trip the next morning and probably the only time I had fresh fruit. Thanks J for making the salad and your hospitality and thanks J 2 for driving us around! OC taco crawl next time you two come to cali.

brunch in philly and a moral refutation on red velvet cupcakes

2010-05-13T00:13:00.000-07:00

the next morning we woke up pretty late (although I suppose in cali time, it was same ol) and went to get some brunch at honey's, a place that seemed to emphasize using local produce. the place was packed, so we put our names down and walked around a bit.

Spring was a bloomin, and my allergies were a raygin

as the wild things (of all shapes, colors, and creeds for discrimination was unheard for these wildebeests), high off banana peels and cough syrup, danced without inhibition along the walls.

we ended up at a cupcake shop called brown betty, run by a woman who used to be a lawyer. This was my first time going to one of those fancy 3 bucks + for a cupcake joints. The "dessert boutique" was very small, and behind their display, you could see everyone hard at work in their small kitchen area. What was nice was that were were several free samples, and I really liked their strawberry. What we ended up getting though was the Red Velvet and Sweet Potato Pie.

*short rant here, feel free to skip* I hate the name "red velvet" and the way some people sigh and swoon when hearing the name as if they were recalling a summer in France. Actually, i didn't know what a rv cupcake was until relatively recently (hate on me hata) and was dismayed to learn that it was just a godd*** chocolate cupcake with red food coloring. Upon further research, I learned that the red color used to come from a chemical reaction that occurred when mixing buttermilk with unprocessed cocoa, but I'm not sure if that's a common practice now. Do I like red velvet cupcakes? Sure, but the illusions that I had of royalty and magic associated with the name were harshly stripped away to reveal the emaciated tweaker and liar it really is and always has been. don't mind me though. i'm just a bitter angry man. but it's just a bunch of baloney man! End rant*

An overview shot of the potato cupcake. I liked it although the tater taste wasn't that strong. I had my reservations about these joints as I find the price a little steep for just a cupcake (although I'm sure you could raise an eyebrow or four at what I've paid for other things to eat), but I suppose everyone has something they're willing to splurge on even if the price is a bit inflated. And in case you were wondering, the red velvet was unremarkable, and due to my strong objection to and religious conviction against the offensive cupcake (or more so its name), no photo was taken.

We arrived back at Honey's, and after about 20-30 more minutes cuz the place was crakalackin, we were seated outside. I don't really get the chance to eat out for breakfast often, so I was looking forward to the brunch (it was around 1 Pm at this point haha).

I got the enfrijoladas: 2 flour tortillas filled with scrambled eggs and beans, topped with salsa verde, black bean puree, sour cream, queso fresco, red onions, radishes and mixed microgreens with added chorizo. I didn't like the sausage too much, but otherwise, I loved this.

My sister got the epilepsy inducing buttermilk pancakes with seasonal berries.

Cousin Blueberry got an omelet with toast and a potato cheese and onion latke.

And we all shared a delicious bowl of brussels sprouts, cooked with white wine, cream, garlic, and slivered almonds. I forgot the name of the coffee they offer, but it was good. I knew it was good stuff when I started to feel the caffeine behind my eyes after a few sips...needless to say, we all drank too much and ended up being wired and having stomach aches for the next few hours.

Don't go into Mr. McGregor's garden, Peter Rabbit!

harry potter and the big ol chocolate cake

2010-05-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

After a few days in dc, we took the bus for 9 bucks to philly to meet another cousin. while waiting at the local B&N book store for her to pick us up, i started reading several volumes of y: the last man , and i found it to be pretty damn good. while i could go on about being a comic book geek (and btw, isn't a graphic novel just a fancy way of saying a thick comic book?), i'm sure you rather see pictures of what i had for dinner.

we picked up some wine and walked over to Dmitri's, a Mediterranean joint. The place was quite small, and we sat at a table behind the grill. I can't see myself settling down in the city, but I really do like that you can just walk around everywhere.

Our wine was chilled (I think no corkage fee, but correct me if I'm wrong) and a basket of pita bread was brought out. We hadn't really eaten lunch, so my sister and I were starving, and we (or maybe big ol fat me) went to work on the place, ordering the hummus.

Beets, one of my favorite veggies.

A crappy picture of some delicious meatballs, cooked so that the shell was a little hard, but everything inside, still good.

Calamari. Chewy chuga choo choo.

We also had some blue fish, but I didn't bother taking a picture because at that point, I was more concerned about stuffing my face rather than thinking about the blog. Sorry yall, but a guy's gotta eat! The food here is prepared simply with no frills or tutus to be found. Perhaps I am biased because I was starving at the time, but I really enjoyed my meal here along with tossing back a few glasses of white wine.

We then stopped by for dessert, getting some water ice (think soft shaved ice) at a local joint (not ritas) and trudged back home. The night ended with Scrabble and The Blind Side while munching on some cheetos, Haribo gummy bears (the best), the fattiest slice of chocolate cake you ever did see from a Jewish deli in DC (the name was Fat Chocolate cake or something and which was SO damn good), and a bottle of red wine. Note: I thought the gummy bears would go well with the wine, but guess it just goes to show I have much to learn about pairings.

Stay classy my friends.

www.ilovethischicken.com

2010-05-09T18:46:00.000-07:00

is the amusing name of El Pollo Rico's website (dun't work mang) painted outside their door, and let me tell ya, the colonel's got nothing on this joint, so good you'll be suckin to get every last bit of that marinade on dem bones even though you just visited the doctor's and she told that if you kept up those high cholesterol levels, it would kill ya. All right, perhaps I'm stretching the truth a bit as this was my first time trying peruvian rotisserie style chicken at El Pollo Rico in Maryland, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought it was pretty tasty, especially slathered with some aji and mayo(?) sauce. Fine dining? Rip apart the meat with your hands because civility has no place here when there's a tasty bird waiting to be devoured. Respect the meat mang!

A cheap and filling dinner was washed down with some Chicha Limena, a purple corn drink that tasted a bit medicinal due to the cloves in it. (eugenol extraction in ochem lab anyone?)

For dessert, we stopped by an ice cream joint run by a Jamaican woman. I tried a scoop of coconut pineapple and rum raisin. While the former wasn't anything special, the rum raisin was absolutely delicious, and I don't really consider myself a lover of rum (although my experience with it is laughable having only had, you guessed it, captain morgan's during college). The maker used a heavy hand, and the ice cream was potent, so much in fact that despite it being in the freezer, the plump, soft raisins burst with rum and started to sing yo ho yo ho in my mouth. Another noteable mention was the Guinness ice cream, a chocolate malty start with a smooth Guinness finish. An absolute delight.

I challenge you to try that on for size, Yogurtland, and I don't want your Red Velvet either. But I'll save that rant for another day my friends.

obama for yo mama pt. 2

2010-04-25T19:40:00.000-07:00

After wandering around DC, the night ended with a late dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl. Couzin told me that since elected, Obama has been eating around town, doing wonders for the restaurant economy, and Ben's was no exception as he dropped in, unannounced, with the mayor of DC one day.

An amusing sign posted for all the world to see.

taken from cache.daylife.com

What do you crave after you're drinking? I usually like some sort of soup. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option at this place, but that was okay since I was here to try the chili half smoke, a moderate sized link made up of half pork and beef with a variety of spices, and combined to create something new for me.

Not the most attractive picture and I didn't take a very good shot at it either, but the half smoke itself did the trick for dinner and the morning after =x. The chili wasn't too heavy and didn't overpower the sausage at all. All was well in the world. I just wish we had it given to us fresh off the grill because it seemed like it would have tasted a lot better hot, but we did come after midnight.

Cheese fries. Your standard goop that tastes oh so good when you have the munchies.

Till next time folks. Same hot dog time. Same hot dog channel.

east coast west coast everywhere a pig pig

2010-04-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had the chance to visit DC and Philly with my sister. It was nice to be able to just spend a week there peacefully without having to give a damn about anything. I had a good time visiting family, but good lord, i met a lady named gluttony, and I came back to cali a hurt heart, a swollen foot, and a few pounds heavier.

Having taken the red eye flight, we passed out once we arrived in DC and woke up to have a late lunch/early dinner.

Here's the spread from a local take out joint + a Heiny. As much as I love the whole shebang, I am more of an Old Bay fan when it comes to seafood(perhaps bc salt>butter for me?). I was curious to what it actually has in it and so I looked it up on wiki: "Mustard, paprika, celery seed, bay leaf, both black and red pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, salt, and ginger," all of which combines to make something which I fondly refer to as crabby crackle crack to sprinkle sprinkle liberally on your food.

Maybe it's my poor technique, but getting the crab meat out is tedious, hard work. Wonder how long it took these guys to make these cakes or what they did different from my cousin's tutorial? Very meaty and good with a squeeze of lemon. Served with some coleslaw and a stale homely looking bun which I still ate.

We had no trouble polishing off the dozen #1s. brains and guts tasted like something familiar, but what was its name? What's in a name anyhow. It was lipsmackin good.

Had to get the bubba shrimp too. I think I'm going to buy some Old Bay and make this myself.

And that was the start of my clogged artery causing, belly bustin, let's fatten up Wilbur for that applewood smoked bacon and winter ham we all love so much, trip to the east coast.

Noodles and soup and o my!

2010-04-15T21:33:00.000-07:00

Heyo! Glee has resumed, and life has meaning once again. Hallelujah!

Sorry about the lack of updates. I haven't been eating out too much/didn't want to bore you with the stuff I occasionally cook. Here's a short blurb on a Korean joint that specializes in kal gooksoo, which literally means knife noodles.

The banchan here only consists of one thing: kimchi, made from radish greens(i'm not really sure what to call them, but the tops of radishes), served in a clay(?) pot, which is where the restaurant name, Hang a Ri, comes from. I thought it was really refreshing and a cool welcome to complement the noodle soup.

We also got some steamed dumplings. These were really quite good. For the first time in my life, I found myself not wanting to dip them into soy sauce. They were fine on their own.

The kal gooksoo portion was huge and topped with long strips of mushrooms. The noodles were thick and gave a nice chew. I'm not completely sure, but I think they make their noodles here. But the real winner was the broth. It had a solid seafood base that held its own against the sands of time. Maybe they used some clams? Usually, I've had it with some ground beef or pieces of chicken, so this ocean inspired version threw my presumptions to the wind, only to be carried off to the ends of the earth, destined to die alone.

Also got some mandoo (dumplings to go), and they were still good a few hours later. What you know about that?

weekend in davis

2010-03-22T22:38:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, I was up in norcal mainly for an interview at Davis that I thought went good/ok. After a night in Davis, I took a lovely train ride to Emeryville and met my sister. I had eaten a small lunch and was ready for round two when I got there. She took me to two local breweries.

The first was Triple Rock. After perusing their menu and special brews, I went with the Kaiser Soze.

This was my first experience with an imperial stout, and I was surprised to find that it was not heavy like I imagined it to be. I don't have much of a developed palate, but I did taste some wonderful dark fruit in there. And it was delicious. If I could have bought a growler of this to take home, I would have. And at 13%, it went down smooth like brandy (I've never had brandy before, but I imagine it would be like this), and after a few sips, my head started to feel light as a bubble, and a smile slowly stretched from one ear to the other.

Soon enough, the beer munchies arrived. I love nachos. I can have my mind set on something, but if I see a place offers nachos, I'll most likely order it.

It was pretty messy, and overall, I thought a decent plate of nachos.

My sister ordered the garlic fries, which was a huge serving, and we weren't able to finish off both of these appetizers.

We then went off to the Pyramid Brewery. My sister told me an interesting tidbit about Berkley...their water (what their source is I have no idea) has a lot of minerals, so some breweries liked that and set up shop here.

The menu. Lots of things I had never seen before.

I went with the amber ale. Tasty.

They had a spot outside where they show movies sometimes. First time visiting a big brewery...even though I didn't go on a tour or anything like that.

The next morning, I had a slice of apple pie(from where I forget) and two hot dogs from Top Dog before leaving. I really liked the crust on this pie. Please excuse the shitty picture...I tried.

For the few people that actually read the blog, sorry about the lack of updates. And if you were wondering, I made it into UC Davis! I still can't believe it, and it seems everyone I've told is more excited than I am. I suppose it will hit me when I move up there. Special thanks to all my friends and family who read this and helped me w/ my personal statement and interview prep . Couldn't have done it without you. And I can't forget to thank all you bloggers with your kind words as well. =) As much as I loved Kansas State, I've decided to go to Davis...it's just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Looks like I'm going to have to start learning to cook Korean food before I leave in a few months!

OMGWTFBBQ

2010-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

^ haha to whoever coined that term ^

hay party people, meese, piggies, and horsies!

About a month back, I checked out a popular BBQ joint chain called Lucille's BBQ. I had been here once before a few years ago, but didn't remember much besides big portions and drinks being served in mason jars. I'm no expert on BBQ like The New Diner, but here's my humble take on this Zagat promoted southern Cali institution.

I have been on this sweet tea binge lately (McDonald's large sweet tea for a buck, holla) and quickly got my fix before I started throwing a hissy fit from withdrawal.

Damn I love sweet tea way too much. I know I'm stopping by Mickey D's today before my class to get my daily dose. Type 2 diabetes here I come!

Although your meats can come out sopped wet or dry, Lucille's offers some additional sauces to try. I love BBQ sauce, but nothing really stood out here. The spicy was weak, and the Memphis, to my disappointment, was mainly just a mix of ketchup and mustard. I think my favorite sauce has to be from Phil's in SD.

Soon enough, some freshly made biscuits arrived. These were pretty filling, and the apple butter that came along with it was delicious.

They did offer lunch specials for the evening, but I was greedy and wanted two sides, so stuck with the dinner option and ordered the tri tip with some greens and beans.

The Angus beef tri tip was quite tender, and the sides were good although I didn't appreciate the burnt and dry pieces of scrap meat in my collard greens. My friend ordered the ribs and let me try one. Both of us weren't too impressed as they tasted like they had been overcooked. Overall, I thought the meal was ok, but this wasn't knock my socks off bbq like the reviews would have had me believe. If anything, I left with the revelation that I don't like tri tip cooked that way. The total including tax and tip was a little under $30, which to me is a bit pricey although I did leave stuffed. Service was great...no complaints there.

Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ: 1639 East Imperial Highway, Brea, CA 92821-5809

Lastly, I just wanted to share that I got into Kansas State! Yippee yai yay m****f*****! And I got an interview to Davis! And I put my pants on all by myself this morning! I feel like I should be going ape shit right now, but the news hasn't fully sunk in yet because all I can think about is the interview. It's Davis ffs! Last week I felt like I was soaring. Now I'm just stuck deciding whether I should be waiting for the other shoe to drop or ride my luck by playing some 21 at the casinos. My Barona!

Ickle Me Pickle Me Tickle Me too

2010-02-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

If you don't know what the title is a reference to, shame on you. I had written about Honda ya once before and have gone a few more times since then. Here's a short blurb of the last visit w/ some family during Christmas break.

I noticed this time, as we were seated, we were given some free house pickled cucumbers or pickles, wtf? LOL (I hate that word, but it seemed right to use it here) seriously what's the difference? And more importantly, where did word pickle come from? It's a funny little word, giving a short, light tickle on my brain every time I say or think of it. (Research shows that 50% of the people who read this just said "pickle" aloud). According to WikiAnswers, "English got the word pickle from Middle Low German pekel, which means 'sharp in taste.' Words like pike and picket also derive from the same source as pickle." But I digress. These pickles (roffle) had a pleasant spicy note to it.

For the starters, we ordered some nasu miso (eggplant). If you like eggplant and have never tried this before, this is something worth checking out. Nutty and not too salty...I want to learn how to make this.

and stewed kabocha, which was served cold. Sweet and salty. I ate the rind too. Another thing to try making; I found a recipe on a blog called "The Sprout and the Bean."

My cousin went for the Udon with mountain yam (grated tororo), but she didn't like it because the yam made everything else too gooey.

After some deliberation (they offer a wide variety of food on their menu), I decided to be boring and ordered the kimchi ramen again. I was disappointed that it wasn't as spicy as last time, but still a nice thing to have on a winter night (take that with a large block of salt as I do live in southern California).

The service was slow this time around. The other times I haven't had any complaints, but our waitress just wasn't on the ball that night.

With some dessert at Yogurtland(my goodness, it's ridiculous how many of these are popping up with its dopplegangers right across the bloody street), we drank hot cocoa and ate popcorn by the fireplace while playing a lopsided game of Monopoly, in which my sister killed us all. Needless to say, I don't have a strong desire to play that game for a while.

Of course, we ordered some skewers from the grill, but I didn't take any pictures of those, seeing how I had enough already from the last post.

Do monkeys like bananas or coconuts better?

2010-01-31T13:49:00.000-08:00

Anyone from Rowland Heights and the surrounding area knows about Banana Bay and Coconut Bay. Why these two restaurants have pretty much the same menu, I can only guess, hearing rumors raspily whispered by the alcoholic bum who sleeps next to the noraebang on Nogales after I gave him a dollar and a butterscotch candy or the gussied up goose church womenfolk gossipers who have nothing better to do than gab about other people's lives. Whatever it is, I really don't care. All I know is that while they may not be the best or authentic Thai joints in town, prices are cheap, the food is plentiful, and the live music brings a mixed crowd of thugs, lovers, haters, and kids who love to jerk. So without further ado, here is my take on the two behemoths of R.H.

Lodi dodi.

First up was Coconut Bay:

I shared a Thai Jerky with some friends ($7.95).

Deep fried marinated beef served with a spicy dipping sauce. I thought it was a little too dry, but otherwise okay.

For the main course, I went for the Sukiyaki, thai style ($7.95).

Bean thread noodles, egg, squid (lots of it as you can see), shrimp, chicken, and assorted vegetables in a spicy red tofu paste flavored soup. The soup was actually mild and was served with a side of some sweet spicy sauce, which tasted a lot like Korean gochoojang and vinegar. I added this into my soup, and it helped to give it a little kick.

Secret menu: spicy bbq chicken? A friend tried ordering it here, saying that they would make it spicy if she asked them, but the server had no idea what she was talking about.

Overall, the food was ok. Service was quick, and it wasn't hard to flag down the help. They gave us a 15% coupon for our next visit as we left. It seems that they often have happy hour here for football games or when the Lakers play. There is a bar section with some pool tables (could you add a ping pong table please?) along with big flat screen tvs put up everywhere to stare at when the table conversation takes an awkward turn.

A few weeks later, the Tritons crew met up at Coconut's older sister's joint, Banana Bay.

I hadn't been here in a few years, but what I did remember was that the service had been horrible. And surprise surprise....

Service was wonderful this time.

*A short blurb on service and the dining experience. While the Bolsheviks love to sing about how service is on the same level as food, other radicals embrace the philosophy that the dining experience is solely about the food, and service and the extras are things that matter little. If the food's good, it doesn't matter that I'm treated like doo doo because it's worth the abuse baby(see soup nazi)! Personally, I'm on the fence about this issue. Damn me and the rest of us wishy washers that are bringing down this country. I just thought in this particular case, the service was worth writing about because I found myself saying this shit is BANANAS! (fast forward to 3:15) at the 180 they did*

We were treated to a basket of shrimp chips with some kind of (hoisin?) sauce as we sat down. Never had these before, but they were nice to munch on while we waited for the rest of the party to arrive and get rowdy.

While the Banana Bay Pad Thai special looked tempting (my friend who ordered it was very disappointed), I went for the BBQ Pork Noodle Soup. It had egg noodles, and I asked if they could add vegetables to it, which they gave me me a generous helping of without an additional charge.

I was a little offset by the pink broth color, which was attributed by the bbq pork, but I got over it. The broth had some sweetness to it, so I added a bunch of jalapenos and chilis to give it more of a kick. Overall not bad.

Secret menu try 2: I asked for the bbq chicken spicy for the same friend, and after some haggling, the waiter understood what I wanted and the kitchen complied. (+1 star)

But the main occasion of the evening was that it was the young up and coming Jomo's bday, so we had to celebrate. We ordered him some ice cream atop some banana egg rolls while the live band sang happy birthday to Camp Snoopy's very own Linus.

The rest of the night was celebrated at the noraebang as we sneakily snuck in a box of wine, which caused me to crack up with glee every time someone else or I proceeded to waterfall from the bag. Holla!

Banana Bay: 18230 Colima Road Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Coconut Bay: 18922 Gale Ave Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Freebie #15: Free Bagel & Shmear

2010-01-25T22:19:00.001-08:00

at Einstein Bros.

Coupon here.

Courtesy of Slickdeals.net

Holla.

crab people

2010-01-20T14:02:00.000-08:00

hay.

shortly after, I took the BART to SF to meet w/ my cousin and in-law, and they took me out for some dungeness crab at a Vietnamese joint. They put bibs on you, which reminded me of Boiling Crab...

We ordered two crabs:

Drunken crab. Sweet, strong alcohol taste to it.

I forget what the other crab was (roasted?), but equally delicious.

Always need some veggies to go along with the meal.

Asparagus with oyster sauce and garlic.

Sauteed eggplant with garlic and basil leaves

Garlic noodles. Buttery and addicting. Along with some white rice, I was in heaven. Def. the best meal of the trip.

Everything was so damn good, and (as usual) I ate way too much. Thanks once again for the meal and your hospitality Y&T!

Ode to Top Dog

2010-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

Whenever I go up to north, I always try to make an obligatory trip (or two) to Top Dog.

A list, where everything is 3 bucks.

I opted for the lemon chicken, a favorite of mine.

I should have ordered two. Aw shucks.

Soup in Berkeley

2010-01-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

What do you like the next day for your hangover?

I like my soup, and I like it hot. After a night in SF, I met with my sister, who took me to a Thai temple in Berkeley, where a bunch of food stands were erected against the gloomy, cloudy weather.

Beef noodle soup: meatballs and slices of beef with your choice of thickness of noodle. I went with medium. In between the cold weather and hangover, this was a godsend, warming me from my head to toes.

I also shared a papaya salad. It was more sweet than spicy. Is it supposed to be crisp? I always imagined it to be, and I've had it twice before, but can't remember. It was a refreshing complement to my hot soup.

Lastly, I saw some ladies working the griddle and got some of these things.

Some kind of taro cake and khanom krok, a kind of pudding pancake that just melts in your mouth, made with coconut milk and? I didn't like these too much as I found the addition of gren onions overwhelmed everything else, but I still ate them all =)

Overall, I was happy with the food. The dilemma I always face when I go to a Thai place is whether to get pad thai or go for something new. And for the past few times, I've been able to hold out and be adventurous. But man, I love pad thai and pad see ew too much. There's a Thai temple near my house. I wonder if they do this too?

I thought the interview overall went okay, and regardless of my negative dwellings on some parts of it, it was a good experience for me. Part of me still couldn't believe that I had made it this far and was there. The people were very friendly, and I would love to have the chance to go there. Just have to wait and see now. Thanks for your encouragement!

another mountain to climb

2010-01-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

If you remember from a past post during the summer, I tried to go up Mt. Baldy w/ a few friends but was not able to complete it. This time, I was more careful in selecting people who were in better shape and able to make it to the top =)

The last mile or so. Definitely the hardest part of the hike.

Made it.

The hike took a good 8 hours or so, and we were starving by the time we got down. We quickly decided on whatever was nearest that urbanspoon directed us to and came along this place.

A Japanese fast food joint.

We ordered some hand rolls: spicy tuna, salmon, and tuna.

I got the chicken teriyaki plate that came with the choice of two salads. The first was with some stale dry noodles in a vinegar based dressing with red onions and cucumbers.

The other was some Thai style slaw with some peanut and sesame dressing.

The food wasn't that great, but having had trail mix and granola bars all day, I wasn't about to complain.

Mikuni Japanese Grill

263 Foothill Blvd

La Verne, CA 91750

And then we got Yogurtland for dessert. I think I conked out around 7 or 8 that day.

By the time you read this, I will be flying high in the air. I'm off to Kansas for an interview. Hopin to nail it. It's gonna be freezing!

Another Pie Post

2010-01-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

Apple pie this time, and again, it was a recipe given to us by our dad's manager.

I liked this double crust recipe because I'm not a fan the dry and flaky crusts. But we made the bottom part thin and the top part thick, so I'll have to remember to adjust for next time.

The apples used were Jonagold. I never had one until that day, and I found them soft like a Gala. There's so many different apples out there, so it should be fun, trying them all out and seeing which tastes best to me. The apples weren't as firm as I'd like them to be, but that may be fixed by slicing the apples thicker or using a different type of apple. What are your favorite apples to use?

We opted to use a pyrex baking pan because it'd be easier, and the pie pan we had might have been too small.

Dotting it with butta (sorry blurry picture)

My sad attempt at trying to make a flower/Mitsubishi sign on the crust.

Baked.

Done.

Once again, the presentation was ugly, but it tasted pretty damn good. I'm going to give it another shot next week with different apples.

Happy new year to everyone! I'm off to do some running. First work out of the year. Lost all control over the break...too many baked goods!

Pie o my

2009-12-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

My sister and I attempted to make a lemon meringue pie a few days ago. This was definitely trickier than the other pies I've made and required a lot more work and time. The crust was made first, then the filling, then the meringue.

I rolled out the the dough for the crust for the first time. It's gonna take a while before I can get it down, but man, it was not easy (nor pretty).

The finished product.

After letting it cool and fridging it, it was time to taste test it.

Failed. What pie? It was a friggin soup. While everything tasted good, I had baked the meringue too long, which is why you can see some droplets. The bigger problem was the filling. It was thick before I had topped it with the meringue, but somewhere and somehow along the line, it became watery. Upon some research, I'm guessing I either did not completely cover the meringue over the pie or I didn't let it cool enough, which resulted in the pie becoming "weepy." I am going to have to ask the baker what I did wrong and try again.

With some leftover crust pieces. I quickly (as you can probably tell) squished them, dipped them in some cinnamon and sugar, and baked it with my pie. I called them "crusties." =p

still messing w/ the blog as you can see. Not really sure what I want for the picture for my header nor do I really know what to do with the size.

Almost January. It never ceases to amaze me every year how fast time goes. Days are mere minutes...

gone fishin

2009-12-26T08:45:00.000-08:00

This month's adventure is brought to you by Transderm Scop.

I went deep sea fishing for sand dabs with some friends last weekend at San Pedro's 22nd Landing. Way too early for all of us...

Cutting up the squid for bait...

and putting it on our 10 hook line and waiting while the pelicans eyed the poles. Some of these guys would try to jack you as you were pulling your fish up.

Winna. It was more manual labor than fishing, but still fun. Great money value since there was no limit. Everyone caught at least 60 of these babies.

Took a break every once in a while and went into the kitchen. Coors light for breakfast anyone? The true breakfast of champions right there.

She made an awesome cheeseburger.

Closeup. I ended up getting two. First time she added some bacon. Second time, she put in some jalapenos. Everything fresh and delicious.

Two people caught Mako sharks.

I had one on my line, and I lost it. That could have been me, enjoying a tasty shark steak. =**(

It was so peaceful and quiet out there, and thanks to the patch, I didn't get seasick either. I came home, stinking of fish, took a shower, cleaned the fish, pan fried the tasty morsels, ate em, and passed out.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday...

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T21:37:00.000-08:00

I know my posting activity has slowly been dying, but I will be changing that over the break/sprucing up the blog a bit. It was a long and stressful semester, but I'm very happy that I finished strongly, so now I can chill over the holidays and rest easy. One more class to take, and I'm DONE. And while the waiting game continues, it's only good times from here on out...

Enough of the small talk. Let's go onto the food. For the break, some family came back home, so we had a pre-Christmas feast at my cousin's/-in-law's.

They had grilled up some lemon chicken and tri tip(sorry no picture of that, was too busy eating). We were all starving by the time we got there, having to deal with some horrible traffic, and let me tell you, I ate way too much that night. Also a thumbs up to the salad (no picture), which I had 4 helpings of.

Some Duvel to get the party started.

My other cousins also made some brownies for dessert, and this blurry picture does not do this any justice...It had a good balance, and I enjoyed that it was dense but at the same time cakey.

As I sat there gluttonously stuffing my face, enjoying good company, and playing Taboo, I thought to myself, this is what the holidays are all about, and it was great to just enjoy the night without having any worries at all. Thanks to my cousins who made this all happen.

Merry Christmas everyone!

going to california

2009-12-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

SF that is.

school's out, work's done, and it's time to play. i'm loving the rain....lord knows california needs it.

I am still messing around w/ the blog and learning a few tricks about html on the way. i know i have a lot of blogs missing on the links section. i lost them all somehow, so i'll have to add them one by one if i can find/remember them all. but overall, i like what i have so far...it seems a lot less cluttered.

here are some pictures of some goodies my sister brought back with her from norcal a few months back...(which also shows you how far behind I am in some of my posts...)

a fruit tart w/ an excellent cream filling from La Farine Bakery

A half baked veggie pizza from Zachary's. Of course, our oven is a joke compared to theirs, so it didn't come out as well, but still, it was nice to eat.

I'm going to pass out now...I still have to pack...

foolin around

2009-12-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

w/ a new template....so "under construction" for now

My first pie(s)

2009-12-02T23:19:00.000-08:00

gawdddddddddddddddddddddamnnnnnnnnnn

I SAID, ahhhgawddddddddamnnnnnnnnnnn

Sorry everyone. I know that I've been neglecting the blog lately, but I'm still alive. Life has been quite busy, and this week is no exception w/ finals coming up. So here's a quickie on my past Thanksgiving.

I decided to step it up this year and attempt to make two pies, crust and all. Sprinkles and that cupcake craze? Nah kid. Pass me the pie son cuz I got five on it. Gimme a fatty slice, and you better make sure to put on some of that freshly made whipped cream too FOOL.

The first pie I chose to make was Uncle Richard's sweet potato pie, recipe courtesy of Homesick Texan's beautiful blog. I had actually made it the week before as a trial run and because I had never had a spp before. It turned out well, so for Thanksgiving, I decided to tweak the ratios of the ingredients. Baking that pie made me feel confident, but I got too big for my britches because I should have just left it as it was. The first pie wasn't too sweet, had a good sweet potato taste, and went well w/ whipped cream. But this pie oh deed on the spices and ended up tasting very close to pumpkin pie although you could tell that the texture and taste were slightly different. Lesson learned. Also, I don't know what I did wrong, but on both pies, there was a paper thin layer of some white froth after it was done baking (you can see it in this picture too). Any suggestions/ideas? Oh, and a holla to my sister who made the crust. It was a little bit too thick, but certainly better than the frozen stuff you can buy.

The second pie I made is a favorite of mine: banana cream pie. I got the recipe from my dad's manager, an excellent cook and baker from the east coast(she makes an apple pie for us every year, and i'd put my bollocks on the table to say that it is the best apple pie I've ever had).

The graham cracker crust was easy to make: crumbs, sugar, and butter. And yes, I am well aware that I could take a few classes on presentation, but I tried damnit! When I read the recipe, I was surprised that bananas didn't actually go into making the cream/pudding. I layered the bottom with bananas before I put on the pudding and found that the flavor had infused overnight. It was pretty fun making it, especially whisking the liquid and feeling sweet satisfaction as I felt it getting thicker. I had to skip the end part, which called for putting the pudding through a mesh sieve. I didn't have a clean one, so I didn't want to do it. Overall, I thought it tasted good, and next time, I will make a thicker crust because it came out a little too thin for my liking. I will also get some nilla wafers and put them on top too.

I'm out folks. Going up to SF once I finish my tests, so see ya in a few.

Exhausted

2009-11-26T00:07:00.001-08:00

As of today, I have successfully baked my first banana cream pie! Woohoo! Pics to come later.

Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving!

Taps Meal Deal

2009-11-22T08:08:00.000-08:00

A friend did me a huge favor, so I offered to take him out to dinner, and he chose Taps. So off we went. The pictures didn't turn out too well because the place was dimly lit. You can either sit in the main dining area, the oyster bar, or the bar area. We chose the bar.

Warm, crusty sourdough bread with some olive oil/balsamic vinegar came out quickly

as did my order of liquid bread, the Porter.

I had seen them advertising their 3 course meal for 25 buckeroos and decided to go for that.

For my appetizer, I chose seafood ceviche that came with some thin tortilla chips. It had pieces of fish, shrimp, scallops. I didn't like it too much because it was too sweet. I prefer plain lime...no ketchup please.

My friend ordered the Seafood on Ice, which came with two crab legs, two shrimp, and two oysters? But they actually hooked him up with another crab leg.

Although it's a seafood place, I had come from the gym and wanted a , so I ordered their petite New York steak Oscar style, which I found out was asparagus, crab cakes and bearnaise sauce topped on the steak. I didn't like it too much because it ended up being way too heavy and overpowered the steak. I ordered it medium rare, and it came out a little bit more cooked than I would have liked it to be. . It was served with a generous portion of mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables (squash, zucchini, carrots, green beans).

The biggest surprise of the meal was that the deal came w/ a 10 oz of their signature cream ale. Winna! If I had only read the fine print...I wouldn't have ordered that porter! Nah, I still would have =)

Creme brulee topped with some strawberries and garnished with mint. Damn, did I choose the wrong dessert to go with such a heavy meal. By the time I was done with this, I was bursting at the seams. I let out a groan of content to the dismay of our neighbors, loosened my belt, and somehow carried myself out of there.

Even though we were at the bar area, our service was attentive, and everything came out in a nice and orderly fashion. The food may not have wowed me(at least what I ordered), but I still thought it was a pretty good deal for everything we got.

Taps Fish House & Brewery
101 E Imperial Hwy
Brea, CA 92821

*A note about parking. While they do offer valet parking, I like to park behind the Yardhouse or the parking structure next to the movie theatres a couple blocks down.

Liked what you saw and read and want more? Read here for apast visit in which I puke my guts out after a night of oysters and good old fashioned debauchery.

Can't believe it's going to be Thanksgiving soon. Going to bake a pie today as a test run =) Have a nice and peaceful Sunday!

gimme some soup

2009-11-08T19:44:00.000-08:00

Sweet Jeebus. 1/3 way into November already and hot dog! 5 more weeks of school! Apologies to my few readers for the lack of updates. Along with working more hours because money makes the world go round, the start of the NBA season aka fantasy madness has put my productivity/motivation for the blog straight in the toliet. Go Clippers! That's right. I said it.

The semi cold weather (this is socal after all) has gotten me thinking about those summer nights. One particular night, leaving the Anthill's Pub drunk and hungry, I desperately wanted something else besides the usual fried and heavy bar food. My cousin suggested Gen Grill, a favorite past high school hangout of his that was right across campus. So off we went.

Sukiyaki Bowl around 7 or 8 bucks. I know this isn't really soup, but it sure hit the spot. Noodles, large blocks of tofu, thinly sliced beef, and some random bits of spinach(?) over a generous bed of rice drowning in a sweet, warm broth/sauce. I wished that they had given me a bit more than the sad thin layer of beef that meakly covered large amount of rice given. I always do appreciate extra rice, but not at the expense of the other goodies on my plate.

4143 Campus Dr
Suite C-196
Irvine, CA 92612

We wanted some dessert afterwards, so on the suggestion of Elmo Monster, we checked out Strickland's , which specializes in frozen custard. Having frozen custard is rare, and I can't really think of a place that offers it. The last (and possibly only) time I remember having it was about 2 years ago in Philly.

When we went, we were taken aback that they only four flavors were being offered: vanilla, chocolate, mocha, and ? I forget. We were sad as we were hoping for some more exciting and interesting offerings.

I also saw that they offered pineapple and strawberry (?!!) Dole Whip. I remember some of my friends who all had Disneyland Passes would go on some days just to get this treat at the stand near Adventure Land (I think...wherever the Jungle Cruise is located). I opted for the good ol pineapple.

A beautiful tower of the soft serve, which I had no problem devouring.

Read about Paestry's experience with the whip, in which she one ups me by getting the float at Dland.

On a partially related note, I finally found out what "ghost riding the whip" means. Hilarious.

4523 Campus Dr.
Irvine, CA 92612

Been craving some floats and ice cream lately, so time to look around the area for some good eats. Hope you had a good weekend!

Revisit to Foo Foo Tei

2009-10-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

One of the many posts that is long overdue. A couple months back I went back to Foo Foo Tei in Hacienda to get a bowl of ramen before class.

The usual suspects.

Nasu miso to start. It was a little too salty for me. I'm no expert though on this dish, only having it at one other place, which made it more on the sweet side. Anyone have a recipe for this?

Yasai Shio Ramen with Chasu. Lots of veggies in a good sized bowl. Personally, I am a miso fan, but I decided to take a risk and to go for the shio. I didn't like the consistency of the broth because it was kinda thick. If you ever cooked those non freeze dried / "fresh" noodles in the soup base instead of cooking them separately, you'll know what I'm talking about. Not sure what was going on that day. While I did enjoy the taste, I still like miso better =)

Oodles of noodles.

Friend ordered the Shin Shin ramen. It was supposed to be very spicy, but he said it wasn't too bad.

I finally experienced the horrendous wait here, so it's best to come during the off hours. Service was quick and efficient despite the growing crowd.

Foo Foo Tei
15018 Clark Ave
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

Have a nice Sunday!

K-town to J-town

2009-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Location: Los Angeles, Koreatown, The Corner Place.

Objective: To take grandpappy out for lunch.

The menu.

Banchan to the right of the gas grill: Some sweet black beans, vinegary radish and carrots, and some cool radish kimchi chilling in a light salty broth. Also some sesame oil and some scallions in a light oil dressing and lightly dusted with red pepper for the meat.

Banchan to the left of the grill: Kimchi, sprouts, some nonspicy cabbage kimchi, spicy squash, and I forget what the last dish was. It looks like ginger, but it wasn't...Overall a decent selection of sides.

The bulgogi. One thing you immediately notice is that they give you a lot of meat. We just put in one order, and this was about half of the serving. I'd say 1 order of bulgogi is good for 2-4 people, depending on how hungry you are.

*Caveat: I was a bit wary this time around when we ordered. On a past visit, I bit into a piece of meat that tasted horribly off, like it had been wallowing around on the dirty floor and then decided to jump back into the tub with the rest of its doomed brethren. It didn't happen this time, and I thank the sweet lord above for that. My cousin also said this had happened to her once. =/
Otherwise, the bulgogi was good. The meat was tender and marinated nicely with a good ratio of sweet and salty.

If you read the menu and were wondering what in the world was "Cold Noodles in Soup," it is dong chimi gooksu, a dish that Gil Mok/The Corner Place is known for. Above is the regular size. A very minimal dish made up of noodles, green onions, and a slice of tomato for garnish in a cool radish soup...the same salty brine that the white cabbage/radish kimchi, but slightly modified. It was a bit sweet, which made me wonder if they used sugar or even 7 up. I remember when I was younger and visited Korea, we visited this nengmyun place that used Chilsung Cider (think 7up/Sprite) in their broth. Some may find it plain, but I enjoyed it with the banchan and found it to be a nice remedy for the hot weather.

Service was prompt and friendly, and no real complaints besides that one time w/ the meat. My grandpa seems to like the place, and although he is a bit demanding to say the least, the staff was patient with him.

2819 James M Wood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006

*Parking can be quite a hassle since everyone in the tiny plaza decided to each put "Parking only for ___" on a few spots in an already small parking lot. I hate that! So, if you park in the wrong spot, you may be chastised by the local parking security officer and shooed away. So far though, I've been lucky*

We also stopped by Little Tokyo to pick up some manjoo. I ended up dropping my grandpa off to get the goods while I aimlessly circled around trying to find parking.

These were freshly made and still steaming...

and filled with red beans that had been sweetened with honey.

Simple and delicious.

I never did find out where he got it, but he told me it was from a little street vendor in the plaza between 1st and 2nd. Perhaps you readers have a better idea of where it is than I do.

Hump Day Randoms

2009-10-14T18:09:00.000-07:00

I love Wednesdays. Well, Wednesday nights to be more exact as I drive home from work. I have one easy class on Thursdays, and even though I have to work part of the weekend, I don't mind because the worst of the week is over.

Last Sunday, I finally got to try one of the many recipes I've had bookmarked for a good while now and made some Rosemary Apricot Bars that I saw on Gastronomy's blog.

Here's a piece. Mine was nowhere as pretty as hers, but I was happy with the taste. The only thing I think I messed up on was the consistency of the topping. I didn't mix it well enough and I could have added a little more butter to avoid some parts that had a gritty feel from just being unmixed sugar. Still it was a lot of fun to make and even better to eat!

I also met up with some of my cousins last weekend, and one of them surprised me with a few beers he had picked up for me. So without further ado, the beers of the month:

I've only tried the Franziskaner before, so I look forward to drinking them all...in one sitting. Kidding!

Hope your week is going well, and huzzah huzzah, tomorrow is Thursday!

Golden City

2009-10-11T09:26:00.000-07:00

Last bit on my past SD trip. I had the chance to get lunch with several other food bloggers: Kirk and Cathy from mmm-yoso, Carol from CABcooks and Dennis from A Radiused Corner. No shyness this time. Camera was out without hesitation. =) Kirk took care of the ordering.

Some egg rolls and crispy things were served as a part of their lunch special.

Soup or soup? I chose soup. Hot and sour (other choice was egg drop I believe)

Our waiter putting on his gloves and ready to get down to business w/ that duck. The man deftly cut the duck and wheeled the cart away.

The product: slices of crispy skin, compliments of the man's knife skills. Now grab a little of that along with some scallions...

Slap it one of these piping hot buns, fresh from the steamer. Dab a little hoisin sauce on it and...

boom! My sammwich. I have never had peking duck before and found it to be a fun experience. The total was $20, which I was told was a good deal.

The second course of duck: lettuce wraps with duck meat and some water chestnut.

Pork Intestine w/ pickled vegetables. Another new dish for me. It tasted just like you'd imagine it to be. The pickled vegetables were sweet, reminding me of pineapple/sweet and sour, and helped to cut through the offal taste. Overall though, not bad, and I got to try something new.

Steamed pork w/ preserved vegetables. Very fatty and just enough to give you a heart attack. Enjoy!

Beef stew w/ daikon.

Kwai Fei Chicken. Cold chicken in some kind of ginger sauce. Nice to gnaw on.

Fish w/ black bean sauce. I liked eating this over some rice.

So there you have it. If you're not in the mood for Mexican, San Diego is a place with few late night options, but luckily Golden City is one of those place you can go to for some cheap eats. The total for five people came to around 17 bucks/person (?)

Want to read more? Check out Carol and Dennis' take, or check out mmm-yoso for a multitude of posts as well as Kirbie's Cravings, who has recently written about GC as well.

I always liked the colors of this sign. You'll see the plaza right off the 163.

Golden City
5375 Kearny Villa Rd
San Diego, CA 92123

Good company along with trying new food made this lunch a lot of fun, and I hope to do it again sometime soon. Afterward, I saw some new massage place that opened up that had an hour massage for around 20 bucks. So to work off my food coma, off I went. Not a bad deal at all.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Roy's

2009-10-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Previously on mother may i?

I was able to go down to San Diego for a few days in August before school started. A friend who works at Roy's invited me to try the place out, so, getting the rare chance to eat at a nice place/being a poor student, I wholeheartedly agreed. Throughout the meal, I learned a lot about how the restaurant works and how things are prepared. But as I sit to write down this post, I realize how much I've forgotten since then =/ Sorry all, but I have limited space in my head and had to make some room for school. So onto the food.

Started off with some edamame seasoned with some Japanese spice.

Soon after the rolls appeared along with a bottle of white wine (whose name I forget). Lakanilau Roll(left): Seared Kobe Beef wrapped around Snow Crab, Tempura Asparagus. I've never had Kobe beef before. The beef was a little bit rubbery, having been sitting so long and waiting to be eaten while my friend and I caught up with each other. The crab tasted different to me as I'm not quite sure if I've ever had real crab before in a roll...only krab =) I like crab and I liked the roll, but it just tasted a little weird. I still kept eating it though. Avocado Sunrise at Haleakala (right): Tuna, Hamachi, Salmon, Avocado & Asparagus Tempura Roll with Dynamite Butter. The tempura and butter sauce made this very rich. The mix of fish reminded me of this box type roll I had once at Sammy's Sushi in SD. And in the back was some other roll that I can't remember, either a shrimp tempura or a spicy tuna roll.

I can't remember what roll this was either. Maybe an eel roll topped with some roe? The sushi was pretty good and fresh as far as I could tell, and I thought that it could have done without the sauce.

We also ordered another appetizer: Tarragon Pesto Grilled Japanese Eggplant Staircase Molten Brie, Fried Capers & Balsamic Onions. I love eggplant, and this was a nice new spin on the vegetable I once hated as a kid.

Having stuffed ourselves on the appetizers, we shared a trio: Roy's Original Blackened Island Ahi, Hibachi Grilled Salmon, and Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish.

My favorite out of the three was definitely the butterfish. I've had it before, but only at a sushi joint and never cooked. It was very fluffy and soft, and the sauce was light and sweet. The salmon was good, but to be honest, I've never really had salmon at a place that blew my mind. I feel I can make the same at home and would be just as happy squirting some siracha on it. The Ahi came in some kind of mustard sauce.

Gotta have that rice!

And we still had dessert: Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Soufflé Flourless Chocolate Cake with a Hot, Molten Center; served with Raspberry Coulis and Vanilla Ice Cream. Rich hot chocolate inside the cake, which made this so good. I could definitely go for some right now...

I eat well everytime I come down to SD, and this meal was no exception. The food was great, the presentation beautiful, and the service prompt and timely although I admit my view is biased since my friend works there. But regardless, a mahalo to Mr. Magoo for dinner and the wonderful experience! Ono brah! (haha had to put that in there =p )

Roy's
8670 Genesee Ave
San Diego, CA 92122

Next time on mother may i?: A lunch with some fellow food bloggers in SD, who have already posted about it, making my job a lot easier... =D

The Menu

2009-09-23T21:59:00.000-07:00

Things to do:

~~Finish and send VMCAS~~
Finish and send supplementals
Send Transcripts
~~Take GRE and send scores~~
Polish my dancing shoes

And I'm back. Sorry for the long break. Once school started, I didn't have as much free time on my hands, so the application process took me a lot longer than I expected. But it's all done with now, and the waiting game begins.

So going backwards from my last post, my friends and I desperately needed to eat, hungover from the previous night's tipsy adventures in PB fueled by some local bar special of 5 dollars for a beer+shot. Friend suggested The Menu, which was a couple blocks from his place, so we walked over.

I usually eat a light breakfast of some cereal or yogurt/fruit before I start my day, so I really enjoy the rare times I am able to go out to eat whether it's some sit down place or McDonald's.

I was craving something green, so I went with the veggie omelet, choosing mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and green chiles with cheese. It came with a side of buttered wheat toast and potatoes.

I didn't like the potatoes too much, but a good dousing of Cholula perked it up. Everything else was good. And I really love toast. +1 star for it already being buttered so that I didn't have to do it myself =p

Mr. Magoo got the buckwheat blueberry pancakes.

The Cat in the Hat got the pancake, eggs, and potatoes breakfast.

Overall, a no nonsense sort of breakfast place that's filling and has decent prices. They also serve champagne and beer if you need a pick-me-up in the morning/are an alkie. Service was friendly and helpful.

The Menu
3784 Ingraham St
San Diego, CA 92109

Hogetsu and a Hiatus

2009-08-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a story about my last stop from my past SD trip earlier this month.

I had read about Hogetsu Bakery on mmm-yoso!!! and had been wanting to check them out for a bit. Read about Kirk's visit here or just search "hogetsu" on the site...you will find many posts there.

It was a pretty far drive from Pacific Beach...at least it felt like it. As I got off the exit and onto 3rd Avenue, I realized I hadn't written down the address. *#$*@$! By some miracle, I turned into a plaza that I thought it was in and got very very lucky. I should have immediately taken that as a sign to drive straight to Barona to test my luck even further at the tables (damn I've had some fun and sad (mostly sad) times there), but I had to get home.

It's a small little mom and pops store that makes and sells manjoo, mochi, and other Japanese snacks/candies/drinks. Can someone tell me the difference between manjoo and mochi? Are they the same? Is mochi a type of manjoo?

I selected a little bit of this and that and went home. I got 12, and I think the total price was around $15.

Some of these were too pretty to eat. I only had one or two mochi (the two in the center), and I found the outside to be very soft, unlike the chewy ones I've only had. The rest were for my parents. My dad liked it, but my mom thought the stuff they sell in Little Tokyo was better.

Hogetsu
1210 3rd Ave
Chula Vista, CA 91911
Tues-Sat 10:00 - 4:00 PM

I've also read that Mitsuwa, Nijiya, and even Zion sell stuff from Hogetsu if you don't want to drive down to Chula Vista. Depends where you're coming from I suppose, but I think it's a cool spot to check out.

Summer break is over, and school and work are back in session. I've also got Brazilian Jujitsu tonight. I signed up to have a break from the monotony of my science classes. Should be pretty fun.

4 posts in a row, I've got a nice streak going on here, but it's only because I've been putting off the inevitable. I'm going to take a break from blogging in an effort to get on my apps...I hope to finish within the next two weeks, God willing. See ya in a bit.

and another one!

2009-08-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Met with some of the old UCSD alum at the BJ's in Brea a few weeks back. BJ's is a chain/brewery that serves deep dish Chicago style pizza as well as other entrees. I don't know if this is "true Chicago style" since I've never been to Chicago or am a pizza expert, so please don't stone me.

We arrived early to take advantage of the happy hour, $2 off appetizers and 1/2 off personal pizzas, which end up being about 5 or 6 bucks. Descriptions taken off their website because my memory is foggy and it sounds a lot better using theirs =) Some photos seen here were taken by the young up and coming Jomo.

We started off with some drinks. I'm not a real big fan of BJ's brews with the exception of their porter. So whenever I go, I ask what seasonal beers they have. That day they offered the Trois Pistoles, a Belgian Dark Ale (right). This had a dark fruity taste and was delicious. Upon looking it up, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the brewing company was Unibroue, which makes La Fin Du Monde.

Avocado eggrolls: a blend avocados, cream cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions, cilantro, pine nuts, chipotle peppers and spices. Served with a sweet tamarind sauce.

These were pretty good and held their own w/o the overly sweet sauce, which I thought took away from the slight spiciness of the eggrolls.

Overview of our meal.

I decided to try something new for once and ordered the Chicken lettuce wraps, one of the "lighter" picks on the menu: Marinated chicken breast diced and sautéed with mushrooms, water chestnuts, celery, green onions, garlic and topped with crispy wontons. Served with chilled iceberg lettuce cups, sesame soy sauce and hot Chinese mustard.

I soon learned that the hot mustard was burn through your nostrils hot, as I unknowingly applied a liberal amount to my wrap. It came with about 6 lettuce wraps, and there was still of the chicken left. I'm not sure if I would get these again because I am a big fan of their nachos, but it was better than I thought it was going to be.

Great White: Rich and creamy Alfredo sauce with mushrooms, garlic, fresh Roma tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and grilled chicken breast.

I didn't get to try this one sadly.

BJ's Favorite aka the works: Oven-baked meatballs, pepperoni, Italian sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, white onions and seasoned tomatoes.

When it comes to pizzas, I like having a little bit of everything, so this was a good choice. The crust was thick but wasn't too oily. I thought everything went well together, and no ingredient overpowering the rest. And at 5 bucks, who's complaining?

One thing they're also known for here is their pazookies, which is a freshly baked in a deep dish pan chocolate chip cookie (although on their website, it shows they offer different kinds of cookies now) topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. We killed it. And you know this Mannn! Looking at this picture makes me want one right now.

Service was good even though it was busy.

The place was pretty packed, and if you want to get those happy hour deals (4-7 PM and 10-12 on weekdays), it only applies to the bar area, so you're going to have to jump on those empty tables as soon as they become vacant because it's a free for all in there.

BJ's
600 Brea Mall Drive
Brea, CA 92821