Why so many post at one time?

I'm downloading the iOS4 for my iPhone and it's taking a while... too bad, I don't have food in front of me to eat and talk about.  Just leftovers eariler tonight but it was still good though nonetheless!  Nothing to post about though.  Maybe next time... If this iPhone update won't finish soon, perhaps I may find something in the fridge to eat!  Hahaha!!

California Crisp

This restaurant is at the Paseo Colorado.  Second level, next to Coldstone Creamery!  It's a good place to get fresh salads and sandwiches - FAST!  They have a pretty good menu which includes, salads (potato and greens), sandwiches, wraps, and paninis.  For lunch on this day, I had their Grilled Chicken Breast Panini.  As you can see, they serve it with freshly made chips too!   The panini is made with grilled ciabatta bread, pesto, tomato, lettuce and cheese (sorry can't remember what kind).  I've had this on a wrap before too and it's good, plus it has less carbs too!  But as you can tell, I don't care much for counting calories!  LOL

So, if you find yourself wandering around Paseo, which by the way, doesn't have any good stores at all - at least for me.  Wait, Bath and Body is there and I do get my Antibacterial Hand Soap from there so, I guess there IS one good store.  And yes, there's a Macy's there but even that store suck-ass!!! Left overs from the Macy's Lake location or something!  Grrr... Off topic again!   Anyway, come by this place since it is a good "fast food" place!

Savoy

Oh, Hainan Chicken where art thou?  I was telling Chester, my brother, that I could eat this every other day!  Maybe it's probably because I don't eat this enough that whenever I do, the flavor and craving just collides and it's heaven in my mouth and tummy!!!  Ok, maybe I am overly exagerating the whole thing... but yes, I do love this very simple chicken and rice dish!

The chicken is cooked/boiled with ginger and other unknown spices concoction and the broth is what they use to cook the rice with.  If you know Chinese food, it's kinda like what they do to the Peking Duck before it's roasted or Chicken before it's fried (I think.).  You can get all white meat or dark meat, it's your choice.  The result, both the chicken and rice is so flavorful!  It is served, as you can see, with soy sauce, more fresh ginger, and spicy sauce.  The sauce, is in this big container at the restaurant and you can tell that everyone asks for more of it all the time!  We certainly did and have always when getting this to-go.  One of this days, we will figure out how to make this darn sauce... it's sooo good!!!

If you notice, after going to Lee's Sandwiches, we stopped by this place for lunch.  We had a couple of hours to spare so, we figured we should eat before partying at the bowl!  I'm so glad we did!!! LOL

Lee's Sandwiches

Vietnamese Sandwich place!!!  This location is on Valley Blvd. in Rosemead, CA.  On my way to the Playboy Jazz Festival this year, we stopped by to get sandwiches for me, Chester and friends!  It was a hit too since they all loved it!  Vegetarian and BBQ Pork were my choices this time!  

I actually didn't know that this place is here until my brother took me that day.  I was thinking of going to their other location on New Ave. and Valley, in Alahambra, CA.  Anyway, this place is HUGE!!!  It's like the McDonald's of Vietnamese Sandwhiches et al!  I really can't get into all the food they sell but the sandwiches is basically what they are famous for!  Also, they make their baguettes on site and when I was waiting for my 10 sandwiches, being made, they just rolled out a big batch of freshly baked baguettes!  Oh, it was amazing... how much they make a day and how it looked oh so good and yummy!!!  I wanted to just jump across the register and grab some fresh bread... good thing I didn't have a bottle of Olive Oil, vinegar, and fresh ground pepper or else I would have!!!  My mouth is watering just thinking about it again!!!

Did I mention that this place has a drive-thru?  It was packed inside and the line to the drive-thru was getting longer by the minute!  They are fast but the hoards of people just kept coming!!!  What's cool about it too, there were a lot of non-Asian going there!  I think that's cool and exciting that other cultures are trying "new" things and being open with the food they eat!  We all should be, ya know!!! 

Oh, almost forgot!  Their prices are very reasonable... $2.45 for a half-baguette sized sandwich! 

Dots Cupcake

I don't know why I haven't posted about this quaint store that makes/sells very delicious cupcakes!  What's wrong with me?!  

Well, let's start with the basics.  This place is on Arroyo Parkway, of course, in Pasadena CA.  They also have another location on Fair Oaks, right behind J.Crew on Colorado Blvd.  I guess there seems to be a trend in Pasadena with restaurants/stores having two locations and very close to each other too.  Good business call?  Who knows... I honestly just care that they make quality and delicious food for me to eat!!!  Hooray!!  Ok, I'm getting too excited... So, let me get back on track.  The two cupcake stores are very small - plain and simple, they just sell cupcakes and they have different menu for each day of the week.  The Red Velvet, Chocolate Lovers and Chocolate Vanilla are the usuals and available every day of the week.  Red Velvet used to be my favorite but it got trumped by the Black Forest (newest on their menu), pictured on the right.  Just read this description... Valrhona chocolate cake with Cherry and Espresso bean topping and Chocolate Butter cream.  Let me hear it!  YUMMMM!!!!

Here's their website so you can figure out which day you want to go.  I'll bet you will want to go once you see their menu.  Lots of options and cost $2.75 per regular sized cupcake.  They have a "mini" size version and those are for $1.75.  Definitely good for taste testing but I say, just go for the full size and enjoy!  You can't go wrong with any of their selections.  Dang, I really should get paid by this places I'm literally selling.  Oh wait, I have a total of 5 followers.  I guess not enough to bargain with the restaurants/stores... shucks!

Europane

This restaurant is just around my work, on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena, CA.  Apparently, they have another location on Mentor St. and Colorado Blvd., as well.  Anyway, the following are Espresso Macaroons, Chocolate Fudge Cookie, and their famous open-faced Egg Salad Sandwich.  I like it on Whole Wheat bread but they have like 7 kinds of bread to choose from.  Oh, they include two small slices of pineapple too on your dish as garnish and to refresh your palate afterward.

So...if you like egg, you'll definitely love the sandwich!  They make it with just the egg not completely hard boiled so, it's not in lumps and doesn't need too much mayo, cream or whatever it is you put to make egg salads.  Sorry, not a cook/chef...I just eat!!!  Anywho, it was definitely creamy in your mouth and the flavor is great!  Again, that is, if you like eggs!!  They have several type of macaroons and my friend Lia and I tried the espresso this time. I liked it and will try the other kind too; I think there's about 3 or 4 kinds of macaroons!

California Seafood

As some of you may already know, business on Colorado Blvd. is tough... specially when it comes to food!  California Seafood just opened about two weeks ago now.  I was there the first week when it opened; which is obviously their Grand Opening week- where everything was half off!  With that kind of incentive, I'm there!!  If you're also familiar with Colorado Blvd, you may have heard of the old Rotisserie Chicken restaurant that it replaced.  If not, this restaurant is it's replacement and is on the corner of Colorado and Arroyo Parkway, across from the now defunct McGillicuddy's. Yes, if you haven't been in Pasadena for a while, that place is now gone too.  Replaced twice now and counting...  But I digress.  

The food at California Seafood is pretty good.  If you like seafood, there's a lot to choose from.  Mainly everything is grilled, but some fried.  For our taste test, my friend Lia got the Fish Tacos with Chips and I got the Grilled Salmon with Garlic Butter Sauce, Brown Rice and bread. According to Lia, she liked her fish tacos and it looked to me, at the time, she did enjoy it.  It was also recommended by this random guy eves-dropping on our conversation.  Anyway, can't comment about that as much as I can with my dish.  The grilled salmon was cooked just right- not overdone or undercooked.  The garlic butter definitely makes the dish... it was so good I wanted to ask for extra sauce for my bread! Everything was a perfect combination with the brown rice.  Which by the way, you have to ask for... I did and I'm glad they have it available!

Price-wise, this place is pretty pricey... Mine was $12 and some change along with a medium sized fountain drink.  But since I'm smart, or cheap, I went during their special half-off week.  I will confess that I ate this dish twice in that same week!  What can I say, seafood is my favorite!!   Anywho, I liked the food but with that price, I will have to crave this to eat there that often.  

In NYC!

Just some pictures from my recent trip to NYC.  No comment really... I keep forgetting to take pictures whenever we stopped and ate. So, here's just some random items from when I wasn't too excited and remembered to take a picture.  I do remember though that I enjoyed all the food I ate while on the trip.  I even ate food from a street vendor... that's saying a lot, if you know me! 

The Oinkster

The Oinkster is located in Eagle Rock, on Colorado Blvd.  It's our first time there and was just invited by a friend to try it out with them.  I guess they heard or read it somewhere that it served some tasty pastrami.  It's funny since we've all been in this area many times and know people that lives here but have never once stopped by or let alone known the place existed!

Off to the restaurant and food... the restaurant is plain and there's really nothing special about its location or setting.  It's like just any restaurant or stand on the street and perhaps, that's also the reason why we've never stopped there before.  It's very unassuming and personally, it's a place that I would not stop by unless someone recommended it to me or I'm meeting a friend who have heard good things about it... as you know the latter is my situation.  The food; I had the Oinkster Pastrami.  If there's anything to try in a new place, why not start with its namesake.  After all, it must be good to bear the name, right?  Well, let me tell you that it was not a mistake in doing so.  The Oinkster Pastrami is good! It actually have flavor!!!  It's not your run-of-the-mill pastrami that just have a pepper and mustard taste to it.  This pastrami actually have ingredients which gives it a lot more flavor than the competition.  It had caramelized onion, Gruyere cheese, red cabbage slaw, and of course the juicy (not peppered) meat; all in a good sized french bread.  Don't think that they won't give you enough to eat as compromise... the sandwich is packed with the tasty and tender meat in it and one order is definitely enough.  Of course, had I not gotten some fries, I probably could eat another half.  But who could pass on their Belgian fries anyway?! It's actually just like the In-N-Out fries; which I think have the best fries!  Make sure to dip your fries in the Garlic Aioli sauce and you will not be disappointed.  Warning!!! The sauce is garlic-y so bring mints!!! 

Also, I did try the BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich too.  Since I wanted to try it, I switched half of my pastrami with someone so, we can try both sandwiches.  Hmmm... I did not like the pulled pork as much as I did the pastrami.  I'm not saying it's bad, but it's just alright.  If I had to pick, definitely the pastrami wins!  I did discover one thing though, I did like the pulled pork much better once I started putting some of the garlic aioli on it!  It probably sound weird but it's good!  I think the pork was just a little dry for my liking and the BBQ sauce wasn't enough to save it.  The sauce was a bit runny, as well.   

Anyway, overall I liked the experience and the food!  The location may be small and unassuming but the food is big on flavor and the pastrami very tasty!  There are other items on the menu but I think it'll be hard for me to pass up on the pastrami, when I come back again.  Since we got there at 7:30 PM, the line didn't dwindle until about 9:30'ish...since there was quite a few of us, it took us long to leave the place and even had time to try their Taro shake.  I heard it's good, but how can you go wrong with Taro shake anyway.  I love Taro shakes, specially with Boba!!! I just had too much to eat and drink so didn't bother to get one.  So, that's it!  I say if you're in the area, definitely go for it and I'm sure you'll be glad you did! 

Che's Bday Dinner @PF Changs

Here we are again at PF Chang's... This time, it's Cecile's birthday so she got to choose the location.  I think we all know the dishes but for some who do not, they are: Lettuce Wrap (we got one vegetarian and chicken), Wonton Soup, Kung Pao Chicken, Mandarin Chicken and Shrimp, Chicken Lo Mein, and Mu Shu Pork. Of course, all these with brown and white rice to match! 

I really like PF Chang's but it seems like their dishes are leaning towards the salty side.  I couldn't believed how much iced tea I drank by the time I finished my meal.  Maybe I'll just rest/refrain from this restaurant for a while... 

 

Lucille's Smokehouse & BBQ

Lucille's Bar-B-Que has become one of our regular place to go to.  It's not surprising since you get a lot of food! Its family-style serving and setting is perfect for any family or group gatherings.  The food is good and the drinks, bottomless!  They also give you as much biscuit as you like and with their butter... Definitely a plus!!! With this one, I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.  Besides the cake, it's the only one I would not recommend.  We had it on a whim since we couldn't pick a dessert; not a good choice at all. 

BACKYARD FAMILY FEAST (Serves 4+) 
Like an outdoor picnic! Choice of two racks of baby back, St. Louis or beef ribs and two half BBQ chickens, plus your choice of four sides. Served with a half dozen homemade biscuits with apple butter, and your choice of one bottle of Lucille's BBQ sauce. 

Boiling Crab

Ahhh... My love, Seafood!!! If you love or just like seafood, I definitely recommend visiting the Boiling Crab! They have several locations in the SG Valley; Alhambra, Garden Grove, and Rowland Heights.  I've actually only been to Alhambra and RH.   The RH location is the newest and biggest of the two. They don't take reservations and the place already have a wait line by the time they open. Notice, they will only sit you if your entire party is present.  I've had better chance at lunch than dinner, of course.  1-2 hr wait for dinner is pretty normal for a party of 5 or more.

The Boiling Crab menu is pretty simple.... their main entree is shellfish and there's lots to choose from- crabs (2 kinds), crawfish, clams, shrimp, oyster and lobsters.  You can select it in four different kind of seasoning too; Rajun Cajun, Lemon Pepper, Garlic Butter and The Whole Sha-Bang (all seasoning mixed in)!  Of course, you can have it non-spicy to "XXX (I can't feel my mouth)" intensity!!  Personally, I like the Mild Rajun Cajun and the sauce is a good mix with rice, if you order rice on the side.

Whenever we go, we also like to order corn on a cob and they will mix it in with your seasoning so, you'll get the delicious sauce on it!  Sounds kind of weird, perhaps, but it's really good!  Sweet Potato fries are a perfect combination with the meal too!  Oh, I can't forget about the Fried Calamari for appetizer is yummy!  

The place is very casual, specially since they serve the food to you family-style.  Most of the time we get a couple of pounds of shrimp and several crabs, depending on how many people we have in our party.  The shrimp, which we usually get, are ordered in pounds.  It's is served in a plastic bag with lemons and drenched in the sauce you selected.  Everyone basically just digs in... be careful it's hot!!  The crab is ordered individually but priced of coursed by weight.  The crabs are large and I have yet to get one that is not full of meat.  Best yet, they are never "fishy"...Always fresh and so tasty!!!

So, if you're in the area or like seafood and willing to travel, I highly recommend the Boiling Crab.  I think it's reasonably priced and their servers are pleasant and very attentive.  The servers keeps coming back to check on you for refills and anything you may need, and I never felt like they were rushing us out either!  They seem to understand that people are there for the food and would like to enjoy and take their time to eat. 

I hope you try it out and no, unfortunately, I don't get paid to promote them here.  Just like to share...


By the way, the girl in the picture is my friend, Alina.

The Counter

My iPhone is running out of juice... Thoughts about this place to
follow!

Noodle World

Another place I like to go to for lunch- Noodle World! One of the thing I like working in Pasadena is the variety of food around me! So much options, sometimes I can't decide what to eat.

These items are; Fried Tofu with Sweet Sauce and Crushed Peanut, and my favorite soup, the BBQ Pork and Wonton Soup with Egg Noodles.

First, the tofu. Can't really go wrong with tofu, it's typical, but the dipping sauce is what makes any tofu dish. The sweet sauce is delish but if you're not into the sweetness, it's still good with soy sauce!

Next, the soup. There's nothing special about the soup, really. It is just your plain 'ol flavorful and well seasoned soup; which I think is the best kind! The broth makes any soup and this is no different. The BBQ definitely compliments the broth and the amount of meat and wonton is just perfect portion with the noodles. It's definitely a must-try if you're overwhelmed and can't decide with the tons of soups on their menu...Can't go wrong with this!!

PF Chang's Lunch Bowl

So glad this place is close to work! I like going to PF for their
lunch bowls. This one is the Crispy Honey Chicken; lightly battered
and served in a sweet, flavorful sauce over white rice. Normally, I
like their brown rice but not so much for this dish so, I went for the
full calorie meal! I would never give up taste for calorie count
anyway!!! I'm just saying... :-) Anyway, I actually want a bowl right
now!!

This is from one of our recent visit to Kabuki. I can't even remember what my sister, Cecile, is having but I just wanted to test this upload link from Picasa. Hopefully, it'll make posting easier and faster for me!!

Cooking Class @Roy's Hawaiian Fusion

Yes, it's been a while... not that I have stopped eating or something, that'll never happen!! I just really haven't had a chance to post anything lately.

Anyway, today we just came from Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in Pasadena.  They have this cooking class every month and it's pretty popular since they book fast! For this event, I made my reservations last month.

I originally intended to go to this event for my sister Cathy's birthday.  Her birthday is tomorrow, and since it's Easter Sunday I figure it would be hard to celebrate and go out;  since every year our family gets together and usually spend all day long at a designated relative's house - to do the egg hunting for the kids and eat lots of food for all!!  I guess, a typical family gathering.  But anyway, let me tell you about today...

So, Roy's Hawaiian Fusion is as you have guessed originally from Hawaii.  The restaurant is definitely famous in Hawaii and has now come across to the mainland.  Ironically, when we were in Oahu, we didn't get to visit their location there.   Our first visit to Roy's is actually here at their new Pasadena location.  Our chef tells us that this is actually their smaller restaurant and built different from their normal setup.  He mentioned that due to the economy at the time of building, they weren't sure how the location would do.  Now, he said that they are the third busiest restaurant out of their 33 locations!!!  

On to the class... when we came in to do the class, we didn't have any idea how it was setup.  We had different thoughts on how it would be and it turned out to better than expected!  The setup was simple, they bring you in to the kitchen, introduce you to the setup and food/menu, and then off to work.  Most of the work is actually done by the chef; today we had Sous Chef Chris.  He showed and explained to us the ingredients while going though the menu.  He also did most of the work by doing all the mixing, the cutting, and moving around in the kitchen.  While he did all the preparation, we get to watch, ask questions, assist and definitely taste!!!  I wouldn't trust us in cutting also if I was him!  We were all newbies except for a couple of people that took last month's class and one that is actually a cooking class teacher too, not really sure if she's a chef.  I guess she is but she's weird.  Of course, as in any class, there's always a show off; asked questions that they already know the answers to and make comments so that the chef will approve of them.  Oy vey!!!  "Let's move on..." is what I thought!  I'm hungry, darn it!!!

Sorry...now we can talk about, better yet, show the food... Overall the class was good and the food was great.  The preparation was easy to learn and re-create.  They also hand you the recipes for each dishes we made and followed it step by step with Chris.  Chris was definitely patient, who took his time to show us the works, and is also professional while not being dull at all!  After the seasonings were mixed and fishes and meat ready, he let us prepare the actual dish and cook them!  Yes, actually cook them while he observed!  This was the second best part, of course, first was when we ate the food! :-p

Here's what's on the menu today.  We actually made all these dishes and all of them were good!!

- Macadamia Nut Crusted Mahi Mahi

- Hibachi Grilled Salmon

- Roy's Blackened Island Ahi with Spicy Soy Mustard Sauce

- Misoyaki Butterfish

- Honey Mustard Charred Short Ribs

Click here for the pictures!

Vietnamese Sandwich from Van's Bakery

For dinner, I will be having Van's Vietnamese BBQ Pork Sandwich.  This time, I got it with French bread instead of the baguette.  Oh by the way, for those who know this bakery, they do not offer the Buy 2, Get 1 Free anymore... Nooooo!!!!

Anyway, their sandwich is good but I've had better.  Nonetheless, I will be enjoying my dinner later tonight... Yes, I ate too much that I probably won't be eating it till after the Oscars!  So far so good, nothing surprising has happened in the awards, but I digress.

Also, if you haven't heard, I've given up rice for lent so it's been a long hard weeks for me.  You'd think that I would get over it by now, but I've been eating it forever, it's haunting me.  The craving is so bad and my mom keeps cooking the same food (that's perfect for rice) that I'm filling myself up with whatever I can find that's not rice or rice derived food, to no avail. Oh well... I lost a couple of pounds so that's definitely a plus!

Boba Run @Quickly

For dessert, we headed to get Boba...Not surprising, huh?  LOL

Lunch @China Bistro

-Sweet and Sour Soup
-Kasey eating his plain rice...Kids, don't know what they're missing!
-Shrimp Dumpling Wonton Soup
-String Beans with Ground Beef
-Deep Fried Squid with Spicy Salt
-Fried Chicken
-Fried Pork Chop with Spicy Salt
-Beef Chow Mein (Pan Fried)

This is probably one of our favorite Chinese restaurant in San Gabriel. Food is delicious, authentic and lunch menu price is so affordable too!

The restaurant is newer and cleaner, which is hard to find in this area. It is located closer to Rosemead at the end of the restaurant row on Valley Blvd. and I think definitely benefits them and their customers. But as all the Asian restaurants in San Gabriel, this place is no different in staying true to serving quality good Asian dishes!!!

Today's Lunch

Ate lunch with my friend Luz today.. Went to Camille's at Paseo in Pasadena.

This pizza is called Zorba the Greek. Odd name but a yummy thin crust pizza and good size for $8!! I only ate half and will have the rest for dinner.  It's not the best pizza I've eaten but definitely something I can put in my lunch rotation.