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Chang'An - San Gabriel

July 6, 2016

Alhambra and San Gabriel is known for cheap eats. I hear people say it all the time "it's so cheap!" or "Everything is so delicious!". Like, literally calm down. Everything has been inflating the past few years. Chicken rice isn't $3.99 anymore, but would be $7.99. And if you are saying I'm not eating at the right places, and that you are still paying that little, then something is definitely wrong with that chicken.

I've given up with some restaurants in 626 even though I still eat around here a few times a week. Competition have really stepped up the last few years. There's a lot more Taiwanese restaurants as well as dumpling houses and hot pots. But what surprised me the most was Chang'An.

Chang'An is located in San Gabriel on 227 W Valley Blvd, Ste 358. Chang'Ans concept is something I envisioned a few years ago. I thought it would be creative if classic Chinese food was presented in an ambitious way where you would find in fine dining restaurant. You will definitely find that here. All the dishes were not just tasty, but insanely beautiful.

I tried a lot of food that day. I liked everything I had so enjoy the photos:

I love the herbaceous flavor of crown Daisy, but I've never had it uncooked. The sesame dressing complimented the salad perfectly. I know a few people who aren't fans of crown Daisies that can definitely appreciate this salad.

Rubbed in cumin and charred to perfection. Perfect pairing to beer :P

These were large lumps of scallops. Served individually so there's no commitment to those who don't eat scallops. Sitting on top of rice noodles, it is drizzled with minced garlic and soy.

Stir fried pea sprouts - one of my favorite chinese vegetables.

few fried dishes: Fried tofu, Chicken Jidori, Fried Kabocha with salted egg yolk (Must Order)

Beef Tataki - Seared with House Special Yuzu soy.

Delicious fatty pork belly. You must eat the skin and fat.

Served with stir fried sweet pea sprouts.

Vanilla Ice cream with grilled Japanese sweet potato. Sweet potato desserts is on the rise. This is definitely a good version of what I've had.

These are mini rice balls filled with black sesame paste in sweet rice wine sprinkled with osmanthus flowers. A very sweet delightful way to end an amazing course.

Make sure to check them out if you haven't:

227 W Valley Blvd, Ste 358 San Gabriel CA 91776

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Magnolia House - Pasadena

June 27, 2016

When people say Pasadena, the first thing I really think of is Old Town. It's until recently the past few years that people are starting to reach their endeavors elsewhere. The Paseo has really become that place along with the few around Colorado and El Molino. But to go even further, you now have Lake Ave booming with new restaurants and concepts. From Sunlife's Acai Bowls, to Sugar Fish by Chef Nozawa, you have classic old school fine dining like Smitty's and not so long ago Del Friscos that just made it's way on Lake about a year ago.

With that said, there's Magnolia House. It's tucked away on the corner of Lake and California. It's a great hang out spot for the local workaholics to get away after a dysfunctional 8-5. Trust me, I know a few.

Magnolia House launched a few cocktails that will sure help you escape the monotonous cycle of the case we call Monday's. But I like to just accept the fact that I will use any excuse to grab a drink.

I'm not a cocktail person, but I will honestly say I enjoyed each and every one of these sippers. I've been drinking old fashions pretty consistently lately as my beverage of choice. I would easily pick any one of these, especially a hot humid day like the ones we've been facing in LA.

These finger licking wings are available for Happy Hour. For $6, you get 3 pieces, fried and doused in Korean sweet and spicy sauce with a side of pickled chili cucumbers.

Beer Cheese sauce with vegetarian toppings. Vegetarians are safe as this contains no meat.

Local yellowtail, yuzu vinaigrette, Pickled red onions and micro shiso. Would love more citrus kick from the yuzu, but the portions of the yellowtail were generous and lump-sum. On the Happy Hour for $9, you get 3. Loved these bites.

The sweet onions are, obviously, caramelized and mixed with smoked gouda. Fried and served with a dipping sauce of greed goddess. Sounds pretty amazeballs to me. Happy Hour, $5 you get 3.

You can always find fresh oysters here as well. 6 for $16 (not on Happy Hour) served with mignonette, horseradish, and cocktail sauce. Get your afrodisiac on. It's always a great topic for conversation. Haha..

I say yes to everything pork belly. Don't even ask me. They use a heritage duroc pork served with cherry puree, pickled lady apple, frisee, and french breakfast radish. The pork was briny from the cure, but that fat is just melt in your mouth stuck in the back of your neck goodness. Paired nicely with the cherry puree, apples, radishes, frisee, basically everything to cut down the richness of the fat.

The brussells sprouts are cooked down with smoked bacon and tossed with a cilantro pistachio pesto. Topped off with a fried egg with Pecorino shavings. All vegetables need to be eaten this way.

Yup, you should plan your next happy hour accordingly. Remember to invite me when you do. Every excuse to drink remember? Happy grubs!

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Kings Row Gastropub - Pasadena

June 19, 2016

I hope by now everyone knows that I am not vegan/vegetarian. Or at least anywhere near it. No problem with people who are, I just want to make it known that I love meat. My dad was a butcher. Eating steaks and chops was something we did on a weekly basis. Knowing Kings Row serves a whole pig roast every 3rd Thursday of the month, I literally had my calendar booked for this day. The pig is beer brined and cooked low and slow in a hot box for 12 hours. So you can bet all you taste is pure pig goodness.

20 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91105

Well of course the first thing first is always cocktail time.

It's never easy for people to see a whole pig like this. For me, I'm used to it. Not just because of my dad, but Chinese people eat a hell lot of roast pig. We find it beautiful and pretty awesome.

The belly is cut into to release all the juices and fat goodness into a cup. But for what? A jus? Executive Chef Sundeep was super excited during this. Which made us all wonder what we were in stored for.

The photo to the left is another photo of the cup being almost filled before switching it out for another. Before you know it, the juices were split into different cups.

Yup it's this bad boy. Only something you dream of doing because it's that naughty.

How was it? How did it taste? It was silky and delicious. Not as fatty as I thought it would be but oh you definitely know it's gonna cost you a few hours at the gym. But to good health with good fats!

A little treat for being a good spectator.

For $15, you get a good sized portion of the pig and skin with jalapeno mac & cheese and an arugula salad. I don't devour that much mac & cheese because I am lactose intolerant, but I would do it for the mac & cheese that's served on this plate. Extremely comforting with the pork. The crispy skin... The best part and always a favorite is the pork belly. It's cooked oh so tender that it literally creates strands like spaghetti. And if you are good, like me, I got a special part of the pig, the cheek.

They also have other great dishes here if pork isn't for you. Things like cheese burgers and this awesome fish'n chips will make you order more beer. The fresh cod is a nice big chunk of flaky meat you will not complain about portion. Their fries also, is to die for. If you come here, always order their fries or something with it.

So mark your calendars for the third thursday of every month.

They also carry great breakfast/brunch that you need to check out.

20 E Colorado Blvd Pasadena, CA 91105

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Pizza Romana - Fairfax

June 1, 2016

“All of our dough is fermented for 24 hours in the traditional Roman style. We then hand-stretch and bake all our pizzas in authentic Italian wood-fired ovens. We use produce from the farmer’s market and our own downtown garden, organic and pesticide-free whenever possible; meats raised in a humane manner and without the use of antibiotics.”

— Pizza Romana

I just want to immediately say how amazingly delicious the food was at Pizza Romana. It doesn't get anymore authentic than this. Almost all the ingredients used in this restaurant is imported from Italy. We are talking from the tomato sauce to their water used to make their pizza and lasagna pasta sheets.

615 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

There's plenty of seating from indoors to outdoors. They also have wine tasting every Thursday night which you will definitely find me there pretty soon. Pizza Romana also carries an extensive wine list. I highly recommend you ask about their wines to pair perfectly with your tastes.

Pizza Bianca served with the Salumi & Fromaggi. Super thin and killer crust.

Super simple, but having all cheeses and salumi imported from Italy just makes it that much more exquisite. These were so delicious to eat. I mean, there isn't any other way to really describe how tasty these were. We have Speck, Capicola, and Mortadella. Served with some dried cranberries, apricots, cashews, and 2 types of cheeses. The cheeses were mild, but complex. Nothing gamey about them which I can appreciate. I'm not a huge fan of stinky cheese as it takes over everything. Their pairings were spot on.

This is better than Mom's lasagna. This is quite frankly the best lasagna I've ever had in my life. The bolognese sauce is made with 3 meats: pork, beef & veal. Layered with bechamel and mozzarella, this rustic dish deserves to be put at a 5 star restaurant. Each bite was luscious with a beautiful bite from the elasticity of the handmade pasta sheet. For $8, there's definitely nothing to complain about. No sharing on this one.

Simple Margherita pizza with an amazing crust and chew. The pizzas are light and airy. The dough is also easy to digest. What really stood out from the pizza was the cheese. Amazing quality. With the delicious tomato sauce and fresh basil, I could sit by the beach and eat this while watching the sunset.

Buffalo Mozzarella with arugula and Prosciutto

There is absolutely nothing that tastes like this. Nothing. You have to get this. The prosciutto was amazing. The creamy Mozzarella was to die for. The pizza dough. Just everything is perfect about this. The saltiness of the prosciutto paired with the cheese and the lingering peppery arugula... this has changed my life.

When we think of Pistachio ice cream, we think of mont green. I grew up eating Thrifty's ice cream from Rite Aid, but never understood what tasted like pistachios in that ice cream. I loved it though and has always been one of my favorite go to. The gelato from Pizza Romana is actually imported from Sicily. How f'ing cool is that right? This tasted nothing like Pistachio made here. This is the real deal. Sweet and subtle. Has a faint flavor of roasted pistachios. An amazing treat to end our amazing meal.

I highly recommend you check this place out for many reasons. One big reason is how it made me felt like I was traveling. Each item on the menu has a story from where the ingredients were sourced. Ask about it. They have something great going on here. The other reason, and I really want to stress on this, is how affordable the items on the menu are. Even their bottle of wines are less than $40.

Map it now: 615 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036

Buon Appetito!

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C.O.D Restaurant - Seafood & Raw Bar - Beverly Hills

May 24, 2016

8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048 — 8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

C.O.D hasn't quite officially opened yet. They are still undergoing their soft opening which means open to service. Fortunately, most of the menu items were available with some added additions not on the menu. The added additions are normally chilling with the others at the raw bar. It wasn't long before our tasting started. My drink of choice was a glass of red wine.

These were incredibly fresh and creamy. These were plump, sweet and had a slight lingering faint mineral taste. It was pretty much how it was described on the menu.

What I fell in love about C.O.D is the amount of items they had on their menu. You didn't just get seafood, but there were also other items like braised beef cheeks. See the whole spread below:

Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice

Lobster Roll

Crispy Pork Belly

Tuna Poke

Braised Beef Cheeks

Uni Pasta

Chocolate Bread Pudding

Sweet Purple Yams

I was a huge fan of everything you see. Just to dance around the food, the spicy tuna crispy rice wasn't too spicy, but the rice was perfectly crispy with a nice soft chew from the rice. I'm not a fan of overly crispy rice cakes. This was nice and crispy on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside.

I also loved the crispy pork belly. It was actually one of the favorites on the menu. I recommend ordering a beer to wash this done. It's sharable, but do you really want to? It's fine if you want to try a bunch of other dishes. This is a definite must order. The lobster roll was also extremely freakishly delicious. The lobster was perfectly cooked and jammed packed into a nicely crusted brioche bun. There's nothing better.

Then you have entrees like Braised Beef cheeks served over a creamy quinoa. This was definitely $$$$ quality and NOT something I would expect to find here. So delicious. I've never had quinoa prepared like the way it did here. Very decadent and definitely the show stopper. The uni pasta was also very unique. They use a nori fettucinni which causes the green color. The sauce had mentaiko folded in which is a very classic Japanese tradition used in some pasta dishes. The uni pasta also had truffle, but not over powering. Amazing subtle and friendly to the not so uni friendly crowds.

The desserts were rich and full of flavor. They will be getting coffee soon which will be great to get a jolt of pick me up.

Highly recommend C.O.D if you are looking for a place to dine. Beer, wine and sake are available. I believe a full liquor license will be on its way.

8408 W. 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048

Cheers!

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Wine & Dine

Chang'An - San Gabriel

Magnolia House - Pasadena

Kings Row Gastropub - Pasadena

Pizza Romana - Fairfax

C.O.D Restaurant - Seafood & Raw Bar - Beverly Hills