This is What a Lobster Roll Should Be!

I had a pretty epic meal today in Boston... Check this baby out! 

How beautiful is this? This is how every lobster roll should be! It should be so massive that you can't even see the bread! Yes! 

 Belle Isle Seafood was a tad pricey. They don't cook any of your food until you order it, so the wait can be around 30+ minutes. 

 We got little lobster buzzers as we waited. 

 Here's the view of our meals. 

 The crab cakes were very delicious. This was a small side order. 

The fried scallops were good, but nothing to rave about. 

But let's not forget that the day was about this baby right here. I'm drooling right now just thinking about it!

Belle Isle
1267 Saratoga St
Boston, MA 02128

Happy Eatings! 

Dongbu Live Fish

 Dongbu Live Fish is a small, family-run restaurant located in a small Rowland Heights strip mall. The specialty at Dongbu is hwal uh, which refers to the Korean-style sashimi.

Upon entering the small restaurant, you see live fish and other sea creatures swimming in saltwater tanks. Although Dongbu’s menu is filled sushi and other items, the star of the show is the live halibut sashimi. It comes in four sizes from x-small to large. The XS is $65. Don’t trust the size! It is a lot of food since it comes with multiple other dishes. An XS could probably feed three people.

 Our meal started with quail eggs, edamame, and an array of Korean condiments to accompany our appetizers. Next came soup and salad. The salad was like a cole slaw with a sweet vinaigrette sauce. It also had roe and halibut and tossed inside as well. The star of the show of course is the freshly caught halibut. It is served on an ice platter. The sashimi tastes extremely fresh. We also wrapped the halibut in the lettuce leaves provided.  Accompanying the halibut platter were eight additional dishes. The raw abalone was a bit chewy. The naengmyeon aka cold noodle was one of my faveorites. It had salmon, halibut, fruits, and cabbage all mixed in with a kick of spice! 

Next they brought out baked mussels with imitation crab. We also had shrimp and fried sardines as well. The macakrel was grilled really nicely. The skin was perfectly crispy. The meal ended up another bowl of soup. This soup to end the meal was a spicy fish soup.

The service was exceptional. The entire family was so nice and accomdating. Despite the small parking lot, there are a few spaces reserved for Dongbu customers so make sure to check before you go parking across the street. Enjoy!

18785 Colima Rd.

Rowland Heights, CA 91748

Pissing Shrimp & Squid Ink Noodles

Hey all! I just got back from Hong Kong and am currently back in Los Angeles for the time being. So let’s recap another one of my meals then. Shall we? 

 Let me introduce you to mantis shrimp. In Cantonese cooking, it’s nicknamed the “pissing shrimp". Literally translated into Chinese as 攋尿蝦, (lài niào xiā ) due of their tendency to shoot water when picked up.

 I personally refer to the shrimp as the shrimp on steroids. Them babies look huge! After it’s cooked, its meat tastes more like lobster than shrimp. That was a lot of fun!

Next up is my do-it-yourself squid ink noodles that I had during hot pot/shabu shabu! (Please note I’m not engaged. Those are my Aunt’s hands.) 

 We got to squirt the ink into the shabu shabu pot and make our own noodles. I love playing with my food! In retrospect, we shouldn’t have made one long set of noodles. We should have stopped and given it a break because once the noodles cooked, it was hard to separate it and divvy it up later.

 Squid ink is high in cholesterol so I wouldn’t recommend having it too frequently. I love squid ink anything. One of the best ramens I’ve ever had was a squid ink ramen from Japan. This was more of a novelty thing just so we could play with our food.

Happy New Year! May your stomaches be filled with delicious foods this upcoming year!

Happy Eatings!

I'm on a Sea Food Diet

Back in Boston again. Sea food diet and the see food diet are the only diets I believe in. We're on a 2 week vacation with my mom to visit my nephew & celebrate my mom's birthday. We decided to go to Island Creek Oyster Bar!

See how ladylike I am? Did you want some?

 The wall was made of oyster shells

 Different angles 

 

Their menus were cute, but can you believe valet parking was $16? Gosh... I swear Southern California is just the best. East Coast prices are absurd. 

 We started with the bread that came with the cayenne honey butter. 

 Fried oyster slider 

 Raw oysters 

 Crab cake 

 This was freaking weird & amazing at the same time. Honey butter glazed biscuit! The biscuit was warm and buttery, but the sweetness confused my taste buds. It took me a few bites before I decided that I really liked this! A+++!

 The star of the night was this lobster roe pasta. The pasta was made from lobster roe. Delish! 

 One of the other stars of the night was the lobster roll. Of course there's a bunch of different lobster rolls in Boston. There's cheap ones & expensive ones everywhere. This was so good! 

Everything we ordered was delish that night with the exception of the seafood casserole. This was just not anything that blew my mind. I wish we had ordered something else instead of this. 

500 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215

Happy Eatings! 

Cousins Maine Lobster Grand Opening in Pasadena, CA

Cousins Maine Lobster had its grand opening on Friday, September 21^st and I was fortunate to attend with Foodette Friend Edward of the 626 Night Market. This was CML’s move from food truck to restaurant establishment.

So what did I think?

I really think CML has a lot of restructuring to do. There seems to be a lot of ideas all rolled into one. It was too much lounge and bar, making it very difficult for patrons to come in just for the food. There were very few tables available. While I was there, I saw some angry patrons who had come in for food. They waited more than 35 minutes.

(The Seating) 

(The Bar area) 

 Onto the food:

My order of lobster roll and lobster ice cream took more than 30 minutes to show up. The very kind waitress (Bless her soul) was also very confused on food and drink items on the menu. I was also carded for a root beer for the first time in my life because she thought it was real beer.

Taste wise, I really enjoyed the lobster roll. I think it’s great that they serve fresh lobster and crab delivered daily from Maine (and used within 24 hours of arrival). You can really taste the freshness. The lobster roll tasted fresh and the sauce wasn’t too empowering. Usually lobster rolls have a strong mayo sauce and I really liked how this one wasn’t like that.

However, for $14, the lobster roll was a little on the smaller side. The picture made it look much bigger.

 Onto the main talk of the town…lobster ice cream.

Honestly, coming from the girl who has eaten stir fried bugs before, this just wasn’t for me.

I was feeling alright when the ice cream tasted like vanilla and then right when I hit the chunks of lobster, my tastebuds got confused. You have to remind yourself that you are eating a dessert when you hit a chunk of salty piece of lobster. If you’re into bizarre foods like I am though, it might just to be worth your while. Try everything at least once, right? 

Hopefully, CML can work out their kinks and make it work in Pasadena. What are your thoughts? Did you go to the opening?

115 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena.

Happy Eatings! 
P.S. I hope you've been following on all the great San Gabriel eats I follow at www.626foodettes.com. It's updated at least once a day! 

Boston Part 2

Time for my food court food! So what did I order? There were so many choices!

 Baked clam! This was absolutely delicious. 

 And of course, I had to get another lobster roll. It didn't taste as good as the one from Part 1, but it wasn't bad!

 I was just about to finish ordering and paying when I looked up on the sign and saw passionfruit. Ugh! Why? Kryptonite may be Superman's weakness, but Passionfruit is mine. When I see passionfruit anything, I have to have it. It wasn't amazing ice tea, but I still ordered it. Nothing can compare to the fresh passionfruit juice I had in Vietnam. 

And of course I finished off my day with clam chowder and more baked clam. The food court meal was forgettable. Nothing was THAT delicious that blew my mind, but a girl has to eat. 

Happy Eatings! 

For those anxious to keep up-to-date with my latest good eats, check out my hyperlocal news blog that focuses on the San Gabriel Valley. It's updated multiple times a day! 

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!