One of my best friends Dom hit me up this week to catch up. It's always random with this guy because our lives are so busy. But, it's so easy for us to get together. Catch up? ok. When? ok. Place? ok. Time? done. Nothing complicated, no over thinking, just go.
What I love about Dom is how he loves to try new restaurants like I do. He doesn't think too much of it either. He just knows there's of a new place and recommends us to try it without any doubts... unless there was a ton and he never mentioned in. He's a therapist. He's good at keeping his cool when things are totally NOT cool. He keeps me calm that way. With his soft voice "no no Daisy don't do that", "no no Daisy remember what we talked about?", "no no that's the angry Daisy", and my favorite of all "nooooo no no no". Love you Dom.
Honey Badger is located on Main street and corner of 5th:
555 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
The menu was pretty simple and straight forward. I didn't read into what they are about. If the food is good, I would want to know more. Well, if the food is bad, I would want to know more about the background of the creators and why they think their food is acceptable. Like really, I pay for this so I expect answers. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!
The restaurant is very hip for Alhambra. It's a new twist and something I would expect walking into in Downtown Los Angeles. The place was pretty empty walking in around 6pm, so of course seating was not an issue.
I was going to go for the classic Taiwanese beef noodle soup, but I wanted to try something different from their signature noodles selection. Truffle Mushroom medley noodle. Like ok my mind was set. Especially with the fried egg on top.
Mushroom Medley truffle noodle
Ok I was extremely excited when this came out. It looks hearty, portion was sized good, and the fried egg was cooked perfectly to my liking. BUT... to be honest, the dish lacked a lot of flavor. Some of the mushrooms could've been cooked out more to release the moisture and to create a nice caramelized exterior which normally gives a dish like this the umami you are looking for. Salt was not present in the mushrooms as well. PS> huge pet peeve when the food is not seasoned well. The essence of truffle was minimal to none. The noodle was good, but there was an awkward chew to them. I've had noodles like this before, but I've never had to really chew for each bite like I did with this. In the end, I had to add salt, black pepper, and a little soy sauce. And since I couldn't taste the truffle, I ended up putting some sriracha on it.
Will I come back? Probably, but not anytime soon. With that being said, I know what I ate had potential to be great. Not trying to give a negative review to the restaurant, just being honest. It's tough to do what they do with so many other restaurants surrounding them within a one mile radius.
I'm just amazed at how downtown Alhambra has changed. It used to be a sh*t hole and I hated going there. But now, there's so much more life and restaurants to try that I think about heading out during the weekends.
Downtown Alhambra has not seen the last of me yet. Stay tuned for more local eats in Alhambra.
Thanks Dom for the great conversations, belated dinner, and for your beautiful soul that I am going to take from you.
daiisies