Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop - Costa Mesa

I love being in Costa Mesa even though I haven't really figured out all the go to spots. Spending your day somewhere else you are not familiar with can be challenging. It really depends on what to eat in the area. That's always the biggest question. I got the opportunity to taste some food from Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop. They do have a few locations, but why not pick one that I am more comfortable with and getting the opportunity to explore at the same time.

3321 Hyland Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Chopshop is located outside the OC Mix. I've never been to this side of Costa Mesa. Just being here was exciting enough. They have a pretty wide selection of items to pick from. Luckily, they had a Sunday Brunch menu that we were able to pick from. Huevos Rancheros. Almost immediately I knew that's what I wanted. But. John also wanted it. We can't both order the same things. That just doesn't happen. I let him have it. I am always the nice one, remember that. I ordered their flat iron steak with 2 gourmet sides: Roasted Yams & Red Onion, Pomegranate Quinoa.

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Steak was delicious. Perfectly medium rare. The seasonings were simple. Roasted yams with red onions, can't complain. The Quinoa, however, were cranberries and not pomegranate which was a bummer. But I did enjoy the sweetness of the cranberries. It actually complimented the yams really well. Lucky you. Lucky me.

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Sunday Brunch : Huevos Rancheros

I don't know how to say this... but this tasted like the Mexican Taco from Taco Bell. BUT, in the BEST way possible. And come on, who doesn't love the Mexican Taco from TB? The Huevos Rancheros is consisted of over easy eggs, refried black beans, chipotle sauce, pico de gallo, avocado & crisp corn tortilla strips. Ridiculously crispy, the sauce is also extremely flavorful, egg, cheese, guac! I would highly recommend this. Also, this is not as heavy as it looks. It was very light, but extremely satisfying.

After your done, make a stop at the OC mix to check out some shops.

Top Round Roast Beef - Los Angeles

1000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019

On the corner of La Brea and Olympic, you will find Top Round.

I've seen this place when I used to work in BH. The restaurant really has an old fashion feel to it. Kind of like a hipper Johnny Rockets with a spazzle of Big Boy. I dig it.

I, like many of you, grew up eating roast beef sandwiches from Philippe the Original French Dipped Sandwiches in Chinatown. Top Round carries the delicious roast beef sandwiches, and others, with a twist.

Pulling up to the shack, you will find plenty of parking spaces. Not sure how packed it gets during the busy lunch hour, but it was fairly empty in the morning. We were recommended to try their breakfast sandwiches aside from their regular roast beef sandwiches.

As you wait for your sandwiches, you should get your sauces ready. I also like how they have spicy mustard and horseradish as condiments.

Tots with liquid gold. Words can't describe how guilty and awfully delicious these things were. I would come here just for this. Top Rounds has got it right so far with the hangover cure. Crunch tots and thick ooey gooey cheese sauce.

The classic with bacon

This English muffin breakfast sandwich has everything that you crave at McDonalds, but better. And real. You get your bacon, your fried egg, and their awesome Wizz sauce that is better than anything you can imagine. No need for napkins. There will be plenty of finger lickin'.

Served with a sesame bun, this little breakfast BLT is more comforting that it sounds. I'm not sure what made this so special, but it was pretty freaking tasty. Maybe it's just a golden rule to have bacon, eggs and avocados in everything. But for some strange reason, I really enjoyed the tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise. The flavors brought me back to when I was a child and road tripping through Mexico. Don't ask. The price was a little steep at over $8.

Steak and Eggs? How about more wizz sauce. GOLD I tell you! So this was the first bite of the roast beef. Absolutely bangers. Extremely tender 10 hours roast beef that will definitely catch you off guard. I didn't know what to expect. But this, some spicy mustard and a dash of horseradish? Just skip your plans for the rest of the day because you would want to stay right here.

Dagwood beef is the ultimate hangover cure. Roast beef, fried egg, fried tots, and provolone cheese inside an onion bun. Just add wizz sauce for an extra $1. WHY THE HECK NOT. Trust me it's some good sh*t. It's downright dirty and I love it. This is your ultimate cheat food. And they nail the fried stuff out of town.

Recommend this place STAT. Must order their roast beef, tator tots, and wizz sauce on everything.

1000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019

Tacos Tu Madre - Westwood

LA has definitely been a taco staple exploding into different counties. What I find is there are more contemporary fusion tacos than what you would find the past decade. Tacos Tu Madre not only offer your fusion tacos like Korean BBQ or Duck Mole, but also stays within your comfort zones by offering Asada, Carnitas, Al Pastor, Lengua, and Chorizo Egg which I HIGHLY recommend.

Tacos Tu Madre - 1945 1/2 Westwood BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90025

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Chorizo and Eggs

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This menu was taken a few months ago when I first visited the restaurant. This menu is located outside their take out window, but they also have one to look through for more in depth options. I've included their most recent menu to the left.

As you see, besides the tacos being more sophisticated, so are the prices. But, there are also more component to each taco that you order here. I brought John with me. Like myself and many of you who grew up with $1 tacos, find it blasphemy when a taco costs $1.25.

But as the economy is growing, so is everything else. That's right, a bundle of cilantro can cost 99 cents. Avocados are expensive as hell. And lemons are only used if it's a special occasion. You catch my drift.

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Ahi Tuna

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This is my favorite from everything I've had. For $4.75, this is totally worth it. Served on a crispy tortilla shell, the ahi tuna is cut in chunks and mixed with avocados, spicy citrus yuzu ponzu sauce, chives, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes.

The only thing I can say, is I can't extract the yuzu flavor. For some reason, I tasted a lot of ginger. Maybe I have poor taste buds. Maybe they don't even have any ginger in house. But it's extremely fresh and something I would never complain about. I would definitely order 2 of these and be content.

There are options to order this in a Burrito or a Bowl for additional charges. A burrito or bowl will supplement as a meal.

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Chips and Guacamole

In other words, the Darth Maul version. How can you not think about that just by looking at these colors. Or maybe even Deadpool. Each chip has a helpful amount of salt, but not too much. Just enough to balance the guac. I couldn't help but dive back into this from time to time. Avocados are the good types of fat, and I will keep telling myself that everything it touches will become just that.

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In the platter above, there's Duck Mole, Korean BBQ, Crispy Fish, Carnitas, and Lengua. The tortillas is not your standard 2 sheets, but one presumably hand made. You gotta eat these fast because the tortillas does break apart if it sits for a while. All the tacos were packed with flavor. I ate these tacos not keeping in mind with what I've grown up eating, but to keep an unbiased opinion based solely on flavors. So yes. I will pay over $3 bucks for a taco.

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Street Corn

Street corn is my thing and something I love to make at home. This is not your elote you would find on the streets. Mayonnaise was missed, and it seems they use red chili flakes instead of cayenne. This does make eating a lot easier, and less messier than it would be on a cob. 

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Red Velvet Churros

They have desserts like red velvet churros and frozen horchatas to help you move on with your day. The red churros were interesting and definitely had no resemblance from a traditional churro. These are much more dense. I would love the cream cheese frosting to be sweeter as well has the roll out of the cinnamon sugar that is coated.

Putting everything in thought, I would be back. Space is extremely limited, but tables turning over is fairly quick. It does help there are 2 Starbucks within a 1 mile radius.  They do have street parking with meters, a lot where you need to pay, or residential which is just around the corner which is what we did. Trust me, after these tacos, you should take the walk.

Tacos Tu Madre is snuck away, but has a giant colorful mural. If you are lost, but close, it's in between to 2 Starbucks I mentioned.

Good luck.

IDLE Hour - Pau & Johnny - Part 1

I've known Pauline and Johnny for quite some time. I would say 14 years or so. Johnny and I have stayed friends after High School and I really consider him as one of my best friends. I still kept in touch with Pau from time to time mostly through social media. It wasn't long before Pau and I geeked out over our love of food. And it was about time we rekindled our friendship after a decade of not seeing each other.

Pau arranged our meet at the IDLE HOUR in North Hollywood.

4824 N Vineland Ave - Los Angeles, CA 91601

As punctual as I am, I can't believe that I was the last one to arrive. Don't worry, that will be made up shortly with a few drinks. It was weird to see Pau again. But, it didn't feel different. And it almost feels like just yesterday that we were in High School all over again. There wasn't much awkwardness at all if any. And it literally took no time before the first round of drinks started.

Pau's first drink was a mimosa while Johnny dove into his bloody mary. I steered away and ordered a Ballast Point IPA. And, it wasn't long before we ended up doing rounds of IPA.

Besides the usual work and stuff, life really just went on. There wasn't much to catch up on since Johnny and I have kept in touch, I see the life of Pau through Instagram and Facebook and vice versa between them. So basically, we just talked about food and really digged into the roots of our favorite things to eat. One thing I love about these 2 are the love of food they have for all cultures. There isn't anything these 2 would not try. And you know what? It's hard to find true foodies that embraces all foods of the world.

We didn't order much to eat. Just beer. And more beer. Until we realized we really should order food before getting passed out drunk on the sidewalk. Pau wasn't too hungry. Johnny was contemplating over short ribs. And I had my eyes on the chilaquiles. We decided to go for the chilaquiles since something to share was satisfying enough from all the beer we had.

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Chilaquiles

The chilaquiles were large enough to share between 3 of us. The sauce was flavorful with a slight kick of heat that creeps up after. Some queso crumbles topped with 2 perfectly sunny sides. Yes I will order this again.

After ordering another round of beer, I've became a total snapchat guru. Though, I don't remember how to use it now. I'm sure it will all come back to me once I have my hands on a beer.

This was probably around 2. Stay tuned for part 2.

GJELINA - Abbot Kinney

GJELINA is the first restaurant I've tried when visiting Abbot Kinney for the first time. On Abbot Kinney, there are a few blocks congested with little stores and restaurants to check out. I don't remember why we chose GJELINA that day, but I am happy we did.

GJELINA is one of those places where you might see a celebrity walk in. I've seen a few, but I'm pretty infatuated by their brunch menu to even care. I forget how good the food is here. Though I never had dinner, I can honestly say GJELINA is one of the best breakfast-brunch restaurants you can ask for. Not only is it pretty freaking delicious, but the items are priced fairly.

It was for John's Birthday that I decided to take him here to celebrate with a good brunch meal since we had to spend time with family that evening to celebrate Chinese New Years. There are a good variety of items to select from, but there are some dishes that are too hard to pass up.

I'm just going to dive right into this.

Duck Confit Potato Hash

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Potato hash, duck egg and grainy mustard

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Duck Confit Hash

Duck confit is very hard to find executed well. Most of the duck confit has I've had in my days were either too dry or not confit enough. And, the potatoes are so flavorful. Almost if they were based in the duck fat. There's nothing more to say I love you than a beautiful yolk with a nice tart grainy mustard to cut through the richness. Do I need to say more?

Moroccan Baked Eggs

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Merguez, Chili, Tomato Sauce, cilantro & Spiced yogurt

I highly recommend this as well. A beautiful tomato sauce with chilies and lamb sausage cooked in, baked on top with 2 eggs. The spiced yogurt is everything you need to bring out the beautiful flavors of the merguez. The toast looked intimidating at first because it's fairly large, but just enough to finish this dish.

But wait, there's more.

Pizza Pomodoro

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Pomodoro with burrata cheese

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Nothing beats a good Neapolitan Pizza than from GJELINA. They do it well. The crust is insanely thin, crispy, nice cushion crust, and that beautiful yeasty tang we ALL love about a Neapolitan pizza.

Comes out piping hot with some fresh basil tore on top, a dash of oregano and some more condiments on the side for you to play with. Yes, I dipped the crust into my Moroccan eggs.

Is it Christmas already because everyone is say Hallelujah up in here.

Happy Birthday John.