Steak, Bread, Lobster Mashed Potatoes, Oysters, & Cake

Mastro's Steakhouse has been on my list of must-go places for awhile now. For me, it was choosing between the pretentious Beverly Hills location or the Thousand Oaks location in the San Fernando Valley. Plus, if you follow Chelsea Handler, you know that she loves Mastro's. Is that a good enough reason to eat there? No. I'm picky about who I take food advice from. Trust me, Chelsea Handler didn't do it. But here I was anyhow...

 The atmosphere was a little too dark for me. I  don't like dark lightening. It's a personal thing. Also, they have a live band in the middle of the restaurant. I personally don't care for a live band. I was there for the food. And I love bread! The bread basket was great. It came with pretzel rolls, garlic cheese crisps, sourdough, and a few others I never got to. 

 Raw oysters are a must! I personally would rather go to a cheaper place like Boathouse for the oysters.

Ta da! So I was about to order a rib eye or another cut until the waiter told me about their specials. Damn them! Once he said that Waygu Rib-Eye was on there. I caved. I have an obsession with Japanese anything even if it's just the name. It was American Waygu steak for  $96. Zero Japaneseness aside from the name but I caved. 

I ordered it raw. Yes, bleeding steak sounds great. Anyways the bone was humungeous. I actually was able to take it home. The Waygu was good, but nothing great. Not $96 great. 

 The Lobster Mashed Potatoes for $34 - filled every bite with a clump of lobster in it. Between two people, it's plenty to share. There's a huge chunk of melted butter that comes with it as well. It's a big portion. You'll have to take it home. 

 Chocolate Layer Cake was presented. It is super good. We took a couple bites and had them pack it up.  We had wanted to try the famous Butter Cake but we were way too full. 

And their home-made whipped cream. Yum! 

2087 E Thousand Oaks Blvd
Thousand Oaks, CA 91362


Happy Eatings! 

SinBala, You Make Me Happy

SinBala. Oh how I love thee. If you want good authentic Taiwanese comfort food, then this is the place to go. Keep in mind, the place is small. The room in the back has a sign that says their maximum capacity is 25. Best part is it's open til 10 p.m.. And complimentary Chinglish menus bring Taiwan to you. 

Would you like a Chewing Drink? Why, yes. I would. Thank you. 

 And Taiwanese sausage with sliced garlic cloves. It gives it the sausage a spicy kick when you eat it together. I even bought their famous sausage rice with eggs and veggies home. It was delicious! 

 Duck grass noodles. Not my favorite, but the noodles were of good quality. 

Oyster Pancake. Yum. They do a really good job at this. I always have to get this at Taiwanese places to gauge how authentic the place is. Plus, this dish is the only dish I can order in Taiwanese so I got to practice. 

Service was lightening fast. Had all the dishes within 3/4 minutes. Loved it. Reminded me of Taiwan. Sinbala, you have my seal of approval. P.S. Their shaved ice is good as well. Not THE best I've ever had but yummy nonetheless. I can live off their oyster pancake and sausage rice all day. 


651 W Duarte Rd
Arcadia, CA 91007




Happy Eatings!

I Only Eat Pretzels The Size Of My Head

I don't go to Santa Monica for beach days. I don't go to the beach to drink. I go to eat! 

 Enter... On the Water Front Cafe. It has the alcohol and games to keep the guys occupied, but more importantly....

 It has a gigantic pretzel the size of my head to munch on while the guys drink and play their games. 

I even snuck in my own Arizona Tea so I didn't have to buy a drink from them. Thrifty. If you do go, make sure to not get salt. It's too salty and the sauce that comes with the pretzel is strange tasting. It's a weird mash-up of mustard, relish, meat sauce? Just use the butter they serve it with!

It's a worthy experience just to have a taste of the gigantic pretzel! Yum! Hot and pipping fresh! 


Happy Eatings!




205 Ocean Front Walk
Los Angeles, CA 90291

626 Asian Night Market Disappoints

"The Chinese have an expression “人山人海”， which literally means “mountains and seas of people” – the entire setting is either obscured or literally composed of millions upon millions of bodies so much so that not even an ounce of landscape can be seen among the bodies of people.

Seas of people all right. Perhaps those unfamiliar with the saying are best left with this picture to imagine the scene. Imagine the insane lines at the Disneyland Theme Park on steroids times three. The sight is a familiar phenomenon for those who frequent night markets in Asia, but at the first 626 Night Market in Pasadena the scene was the only thing that was comparable to the Asian Markets it was trying so hard to emulate..."

To read the rest of my blog post go here. 

Claypot Rice

 I love traditions and doing things the old way. That's why when I see claypot rice still done like the old ways, I'll jump on and sit down no matter how full I am! 

 Claypot rice is a must in Chinese cuisine, but it's not everyday that you get to have it old school style. What's old school style? Take a look! 

 Back in the day in Hong Kong, you were able to pay an extra $10 HK, which is about $2HK to keep the claypot and take it home. Unfortunately, not many places still make it the traditional way with the little mini gas tanks next to it. The rice had a crunchy layer and is delicious! 

Causeway Bay, Street Style!

Happy Eatings! 

Desserts

I love eating desserts! Here were some of the ones I was able to get into my tight week in Hong Kong!

 Baked egg pudding

 Young coconut with bird's nest

 Hot Pear dessert and red dates

 Boiled Chestnut and red dates dessert 

 Hawthorne and sago tapioca 

 These last two I had no clue what they were! So enjoy!

Happy Eatings!
Sorry for the short unexciting posts. I need to get back on track for my US posts!

Give me Teppanyaki!

Frequent followers of this blog know that I love teppanyaki. Wa San Mai in Hong Kong is it or me! I like to keep teppanyaki for special occasions because I want to really appreciate it each time I have it. My family doesn't get why I'm so obsessed with it so they find it entertaining when I get giggly and excited when they booked a surprise session for me. 

 Salad & sauces

 Goose liver, toast, cod, and abalone. 

 Here was the finished goose liver. It was delicious. The toast is there to soak up the oil from the liver, but I ate it anyways. 

 Hello, lobster! My motto for eating Asian food has always been if it's raw great, if it's still moving even better! 

 Sure it's a little grotesque to see a lobster still wobbling on the stove and getting sliced in half, but it's also just kind of awesome right? 

 Hello there George. I named my lobster George. Looking good!

 Ouch! Sorry George. 

 Scallops and fish. Yummy....

 Shallots. Yes! They are always so good from here. 

 Cucumber salad. 

 Next up was a sort of beef tortilla. The chef took a very thin sliced beef and put garlic and green onions inside and made a sandwich. 

 Don't you love how the toast had the restaurant's logo on it? Classy. 

 Next came a Japanese tortilla. That's my name for it of course. 

 Ssh at this point I was already full, but how can I say no to more steak?

 I like it red. 

 Now there's a first for everything. My mom had the abalone, but the chef asked if anyone at the table wanted the other "icky" parts remaining from the abalone. (His words, not mine.) Why, not? Word to the wise I wouldn't do it in the future. This thing had to be cooked for about 30 minutes before it was deemed edible. 

 Fried rice on its way!

 And then came my Lobster miso soup. It was delicious. Much better than my clam sake soup I had last time. 

 Finished fried rice product.

And of course ice cream freshly flown in from Japan. Here's the peach sorbet and the green tea.

Short captions this time. Not as many details as last time cause I'm sure you guys are tired of hearing of my teppanyaki love. Remember say no to those immitations. There's no weird shows at real teppanyaki place. Let's move beyond Benihanas and go back to tradition! 

Happy Eatings!