Ramen Redemption? I Think Not....

    There's no denying that my favorite ramen joint is Hakata Shinshengumi. They are amazing. I've tried the top 4 ramen places and have still repeatedly gone back to Hakata. In fact, the servers and everyone there already know us. We are hardcore ramen lovers. Well, with any food that doesn't taste horrid my rule is to taste it more than once, twice, or maybe even thrice. So here's my redemption for ramen from Daikokuya, which many people say "have the best ramen in town that even beats out ramen in Japan." Ha, I laugh in those peoples' faces. Ha, Ha, Ha!

Here's the Daikoku Ramen. I'll include a picture of their menu .

It's yummy don't get me wrong. They even include an egg inside and have a Tsukemen option for those hot days like today when its 117 degrees and you don't want your noodles inside burning hot soup. Sorry though, it's not enough close to my beloved Hakata. 

Feel free to go to Daikokuya though because then lines at my favorite place will get shorter! It's located at 327 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. If you go to this location, you need to pay for parking cause it's in Downtown plus the lines can go as long as 2 hours! It's usually 30 mins though if you're lucky. Why on Earth would I go here when I could have free parking, better ramen, and a good time? 
Happy Eatings!

Mediterranean Bliss With A Hint of Japanese Disappointment

    After coming back from a long trip in China, I've been quite Anti-Chinese food for awhile. Luckily, with the help of my most awesomest Danielle we found Panini Cafe-an awesome mediterranean place! 

Panini Cafe: 21600 Victory Blvd. Canoga Park, CA 91303

 Panini Cafe has the best chicken kabobs. I got my order with rice and salad. Sooo juicy with peppers and tomatoes in between the chicken. 

Chicken panini!! Amazing!!!! With a side of chicken salad!! Everything was so fresh!! So yummy!!!

Next Stop: Tokyo Table in Arcadia. 

    It was a sad, sad day. Tokyo Table used to be so awesome! I even had a special frequent member card that if you ever accumulated $500 in a year you would get X amount gift certificate. Sad part is I was only less than $50 away from getting up to $500. Yup.. it WAS that good.


    Well I went back to Tokyo Table to find that they completely changed up their setup. Instead of fine dining, it was now "bar" style do it yourself. They fired all their employees except for 3 and got new management. You serve yourself now. Plus, they got rid of a lot of their items from before, changed the prices, and downgraded the quality of food. R.I.P Tokyo Table. I think the Irvine location is still okay though.

Here's goodbye to my last spicy tuna summer roll. This looked the same as the one before but definitely didn't taste the same. 

Goodbye to my lovely sushi pizza. You will be missed.

Happy Eatings to everyone else but it's a sad day for me. =[

Perks of a Private School

I have to admit, I've been a public school snob all my life so I was very surprised when I started graduate school at USC and was fed! USC picked up our bill. We had custom catering the first week of orientation and we also got fed during one of our reporting assignments. Then again, it might have been because they felt sorry for us since they made us take the bus to Skid Row for that assignment. Nonetheless, I was rewarded with an awesome Mexican meal at Yxta Cocina Mexicana in Downtown LA. 

The door that led into Yxta looked like something out of Alice & Wonderland. It was tiny, but once you got inside the place looked super nice unlike the questionable exterior. They had freshly made salsa that was really good. Spicy & mild were both good! The tortilla chips were addicting. Just thinking about the horchatta and strawberry juice is making me drool right now. 

And here was my main dish. El pastor tacos topped with pineapple, which is pork that is marinated with lots of spices and deliciousness. You know a Mexican place is legit if their el pastor tacos are good! 

You can check it out at: 601 S Central Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90021






On a side note, here were some snacks USC made for us as well: freshly made potato chips on a skewer! 

I should have tried this private school things years ago! I hope to gain at least 10 pounds before I finish my Masters if this keeps going on!
Happy Eatings!

Back in SoCal! Hello L.A.!

After about a 2 1/2 month leave from Los Angeles, I was back and ready for an eating rampage of everything non-Chinese. Here's how I started...


1) With Japanese Curry at Curry House in Santa Monica
2130 S Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025
Indian curry is good but how about combining that with Japanese? Even better!!!

Curry Udon!

Eel Curry in a Grilled Stone Pot

Prime rib Curry in Grilled Stone Pot

Here's some killer corn soup. I think it's all butter inside. Yummy!

2) Jack N' Jills Too

on Robertson where all the paparazzi are 

8738 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 90048

Here's their BBQ pulled pork sandwich and their amazing sweet potato fries! For the win!

Happy Eatings!

Welcome Back to L.A. for a few months until I'm back to Hong Kong again.

Summary of Beijing

Being in Beijing by myself for a little over 2 months was definitely a new experience for me. It made me have to use mandarin 24/7 and cut down on my Chinglish. I thought Beijing would be a lot different from the last time I visited 4 years ago since the Olympics happened, but nothing really changed. *ahem* Take that however you want to. I may make fun of Beijing at lot, but honestly right now I'd rather be back in Beijing than getting my butt kicked in Graduate School.

Here's some nice video from my trip:

If you recall my earlier post on The Great Wall here, you can remember how coming down the Great  Wall was a matter of life and death. The video above is me choosing to possibly die by sliding off the tracks instead of dropping to my death from a cable car! They called it Toboggan. 

Here's a guy on the street drawing my Chinese name in calligraphy. It's like the kind you get at all touristy places where each letter looks like an animal only more awesome!

Most food outings  that stood out the most included:
Miao Food From Guizhou
Southwestern Minority Food
Mongolian Food

Happy Eatings! Goodbye Beijing! See you soon?
By the way if you were wondering what my first meal back in the U.S. was.....



It was In & Out! Double Double, Animal Style with a Chocolate Milkshake. How American of me!