Last Post From The States

Hey guys! So as you may have noticed, I've actually been in Hong Kong for almost a week already but since I've been so behind on my L.A. posts I decided to finish them up before I started posting in HK. Here's my last random L.A. post. 

Soft shell crab say what? How amazingly intriguing are these babies? From Kiki's bakery in San Gabriel, here are dried baby crabs that you can eat whole!

And what do I like to drink ? Hot coke with lemon. May sound bizarre to non-Chinese but it's actually a great way to soothe your throat. It's great for colds and it just tastes good! Try it!

Happy Eatings!

I'll be posting from HK soon. 

Yelp-you failed me!

Hello from Hong Kong! Yes, I'm here again. I know... I might as well live here with as often as I'm here instead of back in L.A.. If you couldn't tell, I'm a tad bit behind on blogging so today's post is still going to be from Los Angeles. A good friend recently came from San Francisco to visit. We decided to do a handy yelp search for something different and wound up with Mantee's King's Delight in Studio City. The seating was outdoors very romantic but the food was Eh.... The parking lot is also hard to find. It's kind of hidden. 

 Pita bread and the crunch crackers that we dipped in humus. 

Beef salad. I usually really like salad and veggies. I didn't care for this too much. It was a tad too strong. 

A humus-like dish we dipped with pita bread... It was okay. Could have lived my life just fine knowing that I haven't had it. 

Mantee's King's Delight. This tasted like the fillet migon slices that is a popular Chinese and Vietnamese dish. This was pretty good. Portions were just too small here. 

This was a sort of baked cheese dish we had that was paired with our pita bread. Eh....

Here was the famous dish-mantee baked with yogurt on top. This was the only dish that really did it for me. This was basically like really yummy pasta baked in yogurt. It was delicious. Too bad their portions were super small. I wish I could have returned everything else on the table and just had this!

Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the place. The mantee with yogurt was the only dish I would consider going back for which is a shame since I usually love Mediterranean food. I also wish we ordered something more typical like a kabob. Yelp has failed me this time. They really need to redeem themselves. Hmph!




Happy Eatings! I will be blogging from Hong Kong soon!


If you want to try the mantee, you can check them out at 10962 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604.

In Honor of Fast Five

In honor of "Fast Five" I decided to go to back to Neptune's Net, which was featured in the 2nd Fast & Furious movie I think. Click here to check out my last visit. 

Gorgeous day out!

Amazing cocktail sauce and tartar sauce. 

And amazing seafood as usual! Last time I went our bill came out pretty high. Turns out getting the sampler is a better choice for your wallet, plus you get to have a bit of everything. Fried fish, squid, crab cakes, fries, calms, etc.

For those that don't know, this is a great place for people watching and for going to the Malibu Beach right afterwards. It's also a motorcycle hub so you can sit and people watch and check out who comes in with the cooler tats and bikes!

42505 Pacific Coast Hwy
Malibu, CA 90265-2221

Happy Eatings!

I Can Die Happy

If you're a frequent reader of my blog, then you know how much I love Sasabune. Sure, your bill may make you cry, but it's amazing. Your experience is all based on trust and they have all of mine! I don't want to rewrite things I've said about them in the past so I'll just say a little bit here and there.

Just look at their amazing handmade wasabi. Ahh, I love it so much I get extra platefuls because I eat wasabi down at Sasabune. Their wasabi has a lemon tang to it. It's amazing, yes, yes, yes! 

Ponzu sauce. What can you truly do to make ponzu sauce different and amazing? I don't know but I will drink this stuff. As usual you have a choice of American or Japanese omakase aka chef's choice. The Japanese is slightly more expensive because their ingredients are considered more exotic. Our bill came out to about $225 after using a coupon from restaurant.com. It's totally worth it though!

Baby blue fin tuna, regular tuna, blue crab, scallop, yellowtail, scallop, eel, sweet shrimp, spanish mackerel, regular mackerel, baked mussel, raw oyster, salmon roe, sea urchin, and more! Seriously how can you go wrong? I've said it before and I will repeat it again. This is my favorite Japanese place in L.A.! Yes, take that!

This marks my 3rd visit to Sasabune and I'm definitely planning another one soon before leaving to Hong Kong for the summer. To read all about this place's awesomeness click here. 

Happy Eatings! If Sasabune ever needs a spokesperson please let me know. I'd do it for free! *drool* Where else can I physically drink and gulp down wasabi because it's so good?

Gwai Lo/Laowai Approved!

See through kitchen. Pretty snazzy for a Chinese place!

Happy Harbor Cuisine in Alhambra kinda screwed themselves over when they first opened a little while ago. They poorly targeted their demographic-cheap, Chinese people! Originally, they tried to tout itself as a high class restaurant for noodles, congee, breakfast and snacks. They would have $5.88 deals for breakfast that would end up being about $10 when the customers actually paid their bill. NO BUENO.  You see $5.88, may sound like a steal but they would charge customers an extra $1 for a side, an extra few bucks here and there for their drink. Typically Chinese places do not charge for basic tea. So them Chinese were PISSED and Happy Harbor wasn't so happy anymore. (FYI, their competition have deals that will give you soup, rice, the meal, and free drink for about $6 or less.) They finally ran a slew of ads on Chinese radio to lure people back by saying they added more food and lowered prices. Viola- in comes me! 

 Spicy pork kidneys. Sounds gross but it's rather delicious!

 They are known for their wantons so I had to have some. They also brag that their Hong Kong style milk tea is really good. It's not bad. 

 Not bad... I don't know if I would come soley for that. 

 Here was something different. Not your typical noodle roll. The inside was stuffed with salted tofu. 

 Here's the inside. 

 Of course we had to buy some to go. It's so far to get to San Gabriel for me that we usually buy a few day's worth of food each time we visit. String beans for the win. Pretty good!

Chicken with Chinese style spaghetti. 

All in all, this place was pretty nice. I know their yelp reviews were so so. The place was decorated really nice and clean. There are multiple flatscreen TVs playing inside while you eat so you don't have to talk with your family while you eat. (I swear traditional Chinese people don't have much conversation with their kids.) Tiger mom status! The TVs were tuned to Phoenix TV and American TV. Plus point for the foreigners or the people who just don't read, speak, or care about Chinese programing.

Last point, this place was Gwai lo/Non-Chinese approved. Their menus were colorful and neat and easy to navigate through. They had really traditional dishes and everything was properly labeled in English not Chinglish. In fact, I was learning some English names of things while I was there. This was a great place for non-Chinese people to visit for good authentic Hong Kong food. Usually the San Gabriel Valley isn't too welcoming to non-Chinese but this place seems like a place that could fill that void.

Approved by me!

736 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801

Happy Eatings!

Take Me Back to Hong Kong-STAT!

Just my luck-the one time I'm not in Hong Kong and the World Trade Center in Causeway Bay decides to make a whole tribute to my favorite cartoon character Pucca. My aunt was nice enough to snap this picture for me on her iphone she recently learned how to use. I really hope this display lasts for another 4 weeks or so. Doubt it considering things in Hong Kong stay in fashion for a grand total of 5 minutes before it's taken down. Since there's a little bit of HK nostalgia going on right now the food is gonna match the occasion as well. Here's 王家沙 in Causeway Bay during afternoon tea time.

 Here's some thinly slicked raw abalone with a wasabiesque dipping sauce. One word-BOMB. I love wasabi and I love abalone. Together it makes me think as though I'm eating sashimi during a Chinese meal. Quite the awesome combination.

Pork sliced paper thin with xo spicy sauce... Which by the way have you guys heard that some residents in China recently found pork that they bought to glow in the dark? I kid you not. There's is glow in the dark pork being found in China. I did a short blog on it for on a school site. You can read about the lovely pork here if you're intrigued.

And here's some salt and peppered flavored crunchy tofu. Yum!

Looking at this food & Pucca displays kinda makes me miss Hong Kong, but then again I'll be back soon so I should probably be enjoying food here instead of worrying about stuff over there. After all I probably don't wanna be eating any glow in the dark pork anytime soon.

Happy Eatings!

Persian Food

Okay, so I'm not gonna lie. I'm usually not a big fan of Persian food. I only like certain Persian dishes. I think their version of crunchy rice doesn't sit well with my stomach. It's way harder than the Chinese version, but hey, it's an acquired taste so whatever floats your boat. I do have to say that we had some awesome kabobs, pita bread, and humus at Darband's in Tarzana that may be worth checking out if you like Persian food. I have some other favorite places that also carry Persian food that I can talk about in another post.

 This was actually made of eggplant. I love eggplant, but this was definitely an acquired taste. The aftertaste was pretty good, it's just the initial taste that throws you off. 

 Kabobs!! The beef and the lamb just didn't do it for me. I really liked the chicken though. The meat was moist. 

Sorry for the blurry pictures. I was here for a rehearsal dinner so I was busy using my camera for pictures other than food. If you are gonna check out Darband's I'd definitely try out their humus. It's pretty good!

Located at 19337 Ventura Blvd Tarzana, CA 91356.

Happy Eatings!