happy day light savings day

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!

beef salad

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.

Do monkeys like bananas or coconuts better?

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

Soup in Berkeley

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!

SD for Lunch: Sab E Lee

Continuing from my last post, I headed over to Linda Vista after breakfast to meet fellow food bloggers Cathy and Kirk from mmm-yoso and Carol from CAB Cooks. They were nice enough to let me pick the place, so I chose Sab E Lee, a Thai restaurant that I've been wanting to try for a while. I have to admit I was a bit nervous upon meeting everyone. I had never met them (or any other food blogger for that matter), but I had a good time. I'm not sure if you the reader feel the same way, but whenever I read a blog, I always wonder what the writer looks like...

There was a somewhat awkward moment of thinking whether or not I should take out my camera, but I remember Kirk bringing it up somehow, and the cameras were out! =)

Onto the food:

Fish cakes (what kind of fish I'm not too sure)


Pad See Ew


Duck Larb


Salted Fish Fried Rice/ part of Kirk's shirt in the background. Yum yum yum! (the fried rice that is =p )


Panang Curry


And the best for last...Koi Soi (Spicy Raw Beef). Raw?? Hell ya, and put some more on my plate, please! I had never had raw beef before, but you can bet your sweet little @ss I'll be having some more in the future. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but the meat was pretty tender

Everything was ordered medium spicy. I think if I have a chance to go again in the future, I will kick it up a notch to see how much I can handle =) There was so much food!!! I wish I had gone easy on the pancakes. I was so stuffed. But there was more. Carol made everyone Red Velvet cupcakes, and that was the end of the line for me. I didn't think to take a picture though...

Sorry for the lack of descriptions. Even though this was a few weeks ago, it feels like a lot longer than that, and I don't really remember much except that the food was good. Read the blogs mentioned above if you want to read some detailed and knowledgeable commentary.

The owner Kobe was friendly, and the place is pretty small with just a few tables. Overall, it was a good lunch and great to finally meet everyone!

Sab E Lee
2405 Ulric St
(between Eastman St & Jewett St)
San Diego, CA 9211

Campus Eats Part 2

TGIF MANG!!!!

Oh lordy lordy, I am so glad this week is over with.

A quick caveat to the reader. These pictures were taken w/ my phone, so I apologize for the bad quality. I don't always carry around my camera and sometimes forget to bring it with me. With that said, let us continue on from yesterday's post...

Revisited Krazy Noodle Thai BBQ and ordered the Pad Thai w/ tofu ($6.50)


I suppose I should have tried it with chicken, but I've never had a good experience at any place when ordering it, as it always turns out too dry. The tofu was fine though and cooked nicely. My only real complaint was that I wished I had gotten more egg in it. Overall, I liked it although I've never really had a pad thai that blew my socks off...

Krazy Noodle Thai BBQ
20795-3 E. Amar Road
Walnut, CA
Monday - Sunday 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM

I also tried Peking Deli for the first time a few weeks ago and ordered the Fish Fillet with Tofu in Hot Bean Sauce ($10.95).


Tea and rice were quickly brought out.


The container was big, but there wasn't as much rice as you'd think, but still it was a good amount for my friend and I. They used a little too much water when cooking the rice though.


You get a bowl of soup along with your entree. I'm not sure if they do a soup of the day type of thing, but that day, I got the egg drop.


The food came out really fast. I don't think we waited more than 10 minutes. I'm not sure if this is a good thing, but there was only one other person in the restaurant besides us, so maybe that was why... I wasn't sure what kind of fish they used, but it did have a familiar fishy taste that I enjoyed. The heat level was lacking though. They marked it spicy on their menu, but it was more of a mild. My friend ordered the beef noodle soup ($5.95), which you can see in the background.

They have a pretty extensive menu, and a lot of the dishes are in the $6.50 range, so you could come here with some friends and have a nice little feast together for cheap. And the food's not bad either.

Peking Deli
1247 N. Grand Ave.
Walnut, CA 91789
Mon-Saturday 11:00-3:00 PM and 4:00-9:00 PM
Sundays closed

Thai Corner

Everyone's in a corner
they'll never turn around

-John Frusciante
(I couldn't help but give a plug for one of my favorite songs.)

Hello friends, food bloggers, and creepers!
herb jankies here with your weekend update.

Last week, I checked out Thai Corner in the Stater Bros Plaza in Chino Hills. It's one of the first places you see going down on Grand Ave, next to the donut place and Tuesday Morning. It seems that that specific spot has some bad luck with business. I've seen a sandwich shop, then a wing place there, and now it's a Thai place.

I came for the lunch special, and it was $6.99 for an entree with your choice of meat, a drink (thai iced tea or ice coffee, no refills), 1 thai spring roll, and soup of the day. I had a hard time deciding because I read on Yelp that the eggplant was good, but since it had a while since I had last gotten pad thai, I ordered that with chicken.

I was pleasantly surprised when my soup came out because I was expecting tom yum.


It was a bit on the salty/sweet side, but addictingly so, and I had no problem finishing it. I think the soup base was made with some tamarind paste...It had some rice noodles, along with some overcooked mushy carrots, bean sprouts, and green onions. As for what it was, I don't know. When I asked the waitress, she simply replied, "Noodle soup.


The spring roll wasn't as greasy as other rolls I've gotten in the past. There wasn't too much filling inside my roll, and I also found a pineapple in it, which wasn''t one of the ingredients described in their menu. Winner!
The pad thai was average. The question of authenticity always comes up for me. How do I know what is real pad thai? I once went to eat with my college roommate, who was Thai, and he told me that what we were eating wasn't the real deal. At the same time, I like what I like, and I'll use the example of American Chinese fast food with real Chinese food. I like both. Back to business though. The noodles were chewy and sweet, but the chicken wasn't too great and dry. Honestly though, there hasn't really been a place where I've gotten pad thai, and the chicken wasn't dry. One complaint I had was that the green onions were raw. If it was for garnish, then my complaint isn't valid, but it would have been nice if it was cooked. Overall, a good sized portion for your money.

The service was friendly and quick, but one thing that I was slightly annoyed at was that the waitress never told me about the drink special. I only found out about it when I left the place and saw their outside flyers. If i I had known, I woulda gotten the Thai iced coffee. Oh well...everyone makes mistakes.

Would I come here again? Yes. I'm always willing to give another place a try, unless I have a horrible experience. They have a pretty wide menu, and I've been reading about larb lately in other blogs, and want to try it out here. I've only had larb once or twice, and want to try it again.

Thai Corner
14230 Chino Hills Pkwy #H
Chino Hills, CA 91709

-open daily from 11:00-2:30 and 4:30-9:00
and until 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays

*They take card, but you have to have a $10 minimum.

For dinner today, I decided to make some chicken teriyaki. I love this stuff, and I've always got to try it, wherever I go. I don't care if it's some nice sushi place or Jack in the Box. Yet, I've never made it before, so I decided to give it a shot today, roughly adapting the recipe from mmm-yoso's blog. (If anyone is reading this from San Diego and doesn't know about this blog, it's worth checking out. I found a lot of good restaurants through Kirk's site, and it's an excellent resource for places to eat in the San Diego area. My first food blog I read too when a friend introduced it to me a couple years ago.)


I quickly cooked some chicken breast in a pan, along with some cooked red cabbage and carrots. For the sauce, I used soy sauce, sake, ground ginger, garlic powder, honey, sugar, and oj. Why oj? I've used it before in teriyaki marinades for bbq, so decided to put it in for fun. Cooking is about experimenting, isn't it? Yeah, I was lazy too and used the powder. Overall, the sauce came out okay, but it felt like it was missing something. Still, I thought it was better than some of the teriyaki places I've had in the area. This isn't to boast about my cooking; rather, it's just to point out that the places that serve teriyaki aren't very good. Anyhow, I put it over some rice, and I ate it with some siracha sauce and kimchi. Overall, I was satisfied with my meal.

I do have a question though. You know at those fast food type chinese places, and you order their chicken? How does it come out so moist? Is it a different part of the chicken, or is it the way that they cook it?

Lastly, my parents went to Korea a couple weeks back, and I was very specific about what I wanted: some fresh mountain spring water(I remember having some as a kid, and it was delicious. of course memory is a very unreliable thing...) and yut, a sort of Korean rice taffy candy that will wreck absolute havoc on your teeth. What I got instead was a Polo hat and Godiva chocolates...lol. But if I've learned anything about food blogging, there are plenty of opportunities to write about food, so here ya go:

Yeah yeah yeah. I understand that the flash created that glare, but without it, the chocolates don't look as nice. I have never really eaten much Godiva before, simply because of the price, and the fact that I don't see it around at the places I shop at. Anyhow, I liked how these looked and wanted to take a picture of them. I've only eaten a couple, and they are pretty good. I think I had a truffle one, and one with some sort of honey paste. But would I go out and buy some? Hell no. I'm fine with my See's Candies, or even a Reese's Peanut Butter cup...



1 final done, 4 more to go...then it's off to San Diego!

campus loop

Like I said earlier, I've been getting through the huge number of restaurants across the street from Mt. Sac, and progress has slowly been made.
There are several places to eat at Mt. Sac, the most notable being Carl's Jr, Mountie Grill, and Campus Cafe. I opted for the Cafe, since I didn't want a burger. I've been to the Cafe several times, and have been disappointed with each visit. They have this "buffet" offer, where you pile as much as you can on a small oval plate for around 7 bucks, which is a pretty good deal, if the food wasn't so bad. The problem is that nothing is very fresh since it just sits there under heat lamps or steam trays, granted they do change it up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. At least I hope they do for lunch and dinner. During this visit, I opted for the beef burrito for around $6. It came with rice, beans, beef(?), cheese, and your choice of several salsas and jalapenos, to which I got pico de gallo, salsa verde, and jalapenos. They've also got two types of red salsa...one I'm guessing is mild and the other hot. Sour cream or guac is a dollar extra. The lady gave it to me for free.




Horrible. I'm referring to both the picture and the burrito. The beef was not good. It didn't taste like Taco Bell's ground beef, nor did it even taste like those taco seasoning packets you can buy at the market. I don't know what it tasted like. I suspect they may have used leftover beef from something else, and cooked it up for the burrito meat. Needless to say, it wasn't very good, although if you put enough Tapatio on it, it won't matter what it tastes like anymore. Overall, I would recommend it if you're looking for a filler and don't have enough time to go across the street because it's pretty big(after trying to wrap it and having the tortilla rip, she wrapped the whole thing in another tortilla), but taste wise, it's not very good. The chicken is a bit better, but it's pretty dry. The service, however, has always been friendly. But all in all, this place has me missing UCSD dorm food.

Campus Cafe (Located on the West Side of Campus)
Not sure about the hours. The day I went, they closed at 7pm. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Across the street, near the Day and Nite bookstore, is a place called Chop Chop Grill. I'm really not sure what kind of food this place is. I'm going to say Japanese/Fusion. They serve up a variety of menutems , such as rotisserie chicken ("slow roasted in our secret blend of spices for a sensational taste""), curry dishes, rice bowls, noodle soups, pastas, salads, paninis(with asian style meat in it), crepe rolls, and snacks. They also have a good drink and dessert menu. You order on a computer touch screen what you want. I decided on the grilled chicken plate, which came with an appetizers, entree, choice of green sald or veggie of the day, and choice of steamed rice, brown rice, or stir-fry noodle. Fried rice $0.49 extra.

Again, apologizes for the picture. 5-10 minutes later, my order came out. I got the veggie of the day, which turned out to be green beans and little pieces of garlic cooked in butter. The appetizer was a piece of corn bread. The total cost of the meal was $5.58 and a soda $1.79, plus tax. The veggies were good and I liked the little pieces of garlic. The green beans were probably the frozen ones, but they still tasted all right. The rice wasn't that great. It was too buttery for me. The chicken was average I'd say, and the sauce, was just a regular teriyaki sauce. The portions aren't very big, but I was content after, and the prices are fair. I'd be willing to try this place again, just because they have such a large menu. The rotisserie chicken has also got me wondering what it tastes like. It seems that they tightly control the sale of their chickens, as they write, "...only available between 11:30 AM - 3:00 PM & 5:00 PM - 8:30 PM. Only limited quantities are made each day. to ensure that you get your rotisserie chicken, please come early or reserve one with us!" Is it that popular?

Chop Chop Grill
www.mychopchopgrill.com
1253 N. Grand Ave
Walnut, CA, 91789

Lastly, a couple weeks ago I went to a place called Krazy Noodle Thai BBQ. I had been to this place once before, but no pictures on that visit.


Tom Yum Kai (Chicken). Spicy and sour soup with chicken and mushroom. $7.95 (serves 4)
I first had some Tom Yum at Spices Thai in Mira Mesa, and haven't found a place like that yet, which has me wondering which soup is the right one? Theirs is a bright orange, from their liberal use of coconut milk I believe, but everywhere else I've tried it, it's more of a transparent orange. Anyhow, the soup was good. It had pieces of chicken, which I found to be dry, tomatoes, mushrooms, cilantro, onions, and green onions. I noticed that the onions weren't cooked completely, a step above raw. I didn't mind that very much. At least I knew that the veggies weren't sitting around in the soup all day, like Taco Nazo(which is having a seasonal tamale sale btw). There was a very strong lemon grass flavor in the soup. I'd say that this was good, and definitely better than The Boat or Coconut Bay's Tom Yum.


Rad Nah (crispy or soft noodle) with your choice of meat. $6.95
Crispy noodles and Beef was chosen. I had never had Rad Nah before, so I was curious to see what the gravy would taste like. The gravy was too sweet for me. I didn't like it. I would be willing to try this dish again some place else, to see what the gravy tastes like there. What is the actual gravy supposed to taste like and made out of? I looked it up just now and one of the ingredients is yellow bean sauce. The beef was a bit chewy, but the taste was pretty good. It had been marinated in something before hand, which tasted a bit like bulgogi, but sweeter. The vegetables consisted of some baby corn, carrots, bok choy (?) and bamboo.


Pineapple fried rice $7.50
This came with some tomatoes, chicken, shrimp, egg, your random assortment of fried rice veggies, and big chunks of pineapple. This was definitely different to what I was used to having. It wasn't very sweet, and it tasted like it was flavored with curry. It was good, but I prefer the fried rice to be sweeter. I think we got two pieces of shrimp. The chicken was good, and better than that of the soup. I'd go here again because I have yet to try their pad thai and pad see ew.
The portions were a good amount and this was too much food for two people. I sat in class wanting to go to the bathroom and make myself throw up. But what can I say...I'm a pig, and I really wanted some soup. And here's my thing about Thai restaurants. Why can't I get a side of soup for myself? Can't you just ladle a bowl and charge me a buck or two for it?



Krazy Noodle Thai BBQ
20795-3 E. Amar Road
Walnut, CA
Monday - Sunday 11:30 AM - 9:00 PM

After this feast of gluttony, I walked back to school, and saw a car accident, in which the person must have ran a red, and hit another car full on, around 40 mph. Fortunately, both people seemed okay. No matter how good of a driver you are, you never know what can happen.

Writing about Chop Chop Grill makes me want to go back there, so a future post of the place will probably come. Happy lazy Sunday to you all. I love Sundays....only day where I can sleep in!

I end with a picture of my dying basil plant. Hang in there little buddy...