Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

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Kings Row Gastropub- Pasadena

I've been to Kings Row a few times since they've opened doors a few years ago. I've celebrated friends birthday here, graduations, and their famous piggy roast that you can find every 3rd Thursday of the month. It's a great space to hang out and they do offer food to accommodate the savvy eaters.

Besides having food to serve with your drinks, I kind of forgot that breakfast/brunch was something they did here at KRG. Below you will find the slew of most of their brunch menu with a few additions to their main.

Brunch

Mains

And of course, you can't forget the cocktails.

Check them out for Brunch whenever you are looking for a local spot. Nice to not have to dive into Los Angeles.

20 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91105

 

 

 

 

 

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Salt & Straw - Studio City

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Salt & Straw - Studio City

I've met a lot of people in my life. It's really rare to find people who are really passionate with what they do. After meeting Tyler, who we called the Chief Churner Officer (any many other names), we feel that Salt & Straw represents the real passion chasers out there. Tyler was literally traveling in Beijing when he realized where his heart belonged. To be on the literal scale, he packed his bags from Seattle and headed to Portland to attend culinary school. 

It was also a coincidence that his cousin Kim, who is also the founder of Salt & Straw, was then pursuing her dreams of opening an ice cream scoop shop. It took no time before these 2 masters collaborated and worked out something more than delicious flavors of ice cream, but really developed a story into what they do.

I felt extremely privileged to have met Tyler. He was smart, funny, and wickedly genius with his flavor combinations. I would say he's like the Willy Wonka of ice cream. It's amazing how Salt & Straw which was originally from Portland, has made their trademark in Los Angeles with little to no effort at all. They love what they do. And I can honestly say it comes through with their product. Not only are they artisans with their ice creams, but they also incorporate local business ingredients into their creations. An example is their "May Flowers" flavor. One of the creations was called Wild Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies. The honey that was used was from  Massey Honey Co, a local Los Angeles/ Orange County apiary where the honey is extracted by hand and strained.

We've tried most if not all of their flavors. Everything we had was delicious. Perfect. And executed without flaws like a perfect round on Chopped. A few of my favorites Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts, Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbon, Freckled Woodblock Chocolate, Rhubarb Crumble with toasted anise (May Flower special), Wild Honey with Ricotta Walnut Lace Cookies, and Black Olive Brittle & Goat cheese if you are a HUGE goat cheese fan. These are some of the favorites to name a few.

This here was my favorite combination. Tyler randomly scooped these for us without knowing. Sea Salt with caramel ribbons on the bottom and Stumptown Coffee & Compartes Love Nuts on top. There's no other way to describe it besides DELICIOUS and Decadent.

Studio City is their newest location that just opened recently. I highly recommend you check it out. Easy parking with tons of friendly patrons. I'm hooked. You just might see me there.

12180 1/2 Ventura Blvd. Los Angeles, CA - 10AM - 11PM Daily - (818) 358-2890

**Stay tuned. They will be opening up another location in the Arts District in DTLA**

 

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The Backhouse - Koreatown

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The Backhouse - Koreatown

I love Los Angeles. It's a blessing to live in such a multicultural community. We literally have culture right here in our own turf. There's nothing that you can't find to eat. We have Vietnamese food, Oaxacan food, all kinds of Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Cuban, French, Italian, etc.

Yakitori is something that is widely eaten in Japan and something that I preferred to have when I was there a few years ago. But grilling meats on a stick isn't just a Japanese thing though they did perfect some of the best versions I've had. You will find more yakitori houses located in Torrance. But since we are so diverse, there are more and more locations now serving up cuisines locally so you won't need to venture off too far.

The Backhouse serves items you would find at your typical Izakaya. From yakitori, to sushi, and to many fried nibbles, to lavish ramen noodles to soak up the alcohol you spent drinking all evening. But that's really how you do it anyways.

3500 W. 6th St.Suite 301, Los Angeles, CA 90020

Here are the few, many items that we had.

Corn Tempura

Our appetizers were a seared Salmon and Albacore Carpaccio. The Albacore Carpaccio wastopped with crispy garlic, onions, extra virgin olive oil, and garlic ponzu. The Salmon Truffle Carpaccio was topped with truffle shaving, japanese pickle, ponzu sauce, and white truffle oil. What's not to love about truffles right?

The corn tempura, however, was so amazingly delicious. The dipping sauce, which I believe was some sweet garlic miso, was velvety and oh so perfect with the crunchy tempura. Great beer food.

A few yakitori samples here to show. Shiitake, cheese tsukune, beef tongue, and rib eye. Everything tasted delicious and memorable. The special beef tongue was very tasty.

Other items we had were negima and grilled jumbo sweet shrimp. The negima was made with chicken breast instead of dark meat.

The sushi sampler we received was a very fancy one featuring some of their best fishes they had to offer for that evening. I can't complain about any of this. They had special uni creations such as their scallop and uni combination topped with caviar.This needed to be devoured in one bite. No exceptions.

 

Other Uni creations were Uni with Red Snapper wrapped with shiso. I'm in love with shiso. I can eat almost anything that involves shiso leaves. It's so aromatic and fragrant. There's just isn't anything that reminds me of it or can come close to what this taste like. Again, topped with caviar that automatically creates a one bite experience.

Delicious lamb chops grilled and served with a sweet miso butter sauce. Just give me a big bowl of rice and I will be a very happy happy girl. Cooked medium, just the way I like my lamb to be. I find it more gamey tasting when it's closer to rare.

Dessert was a giant crepe filled with vanilla and bananas, topped with whipped cream, chocolate syrup, brûléed bananas, fresh fruits, and mochi ice cream.

The drive wasn't that bad on a Friday night coming from Pasadena. I recommend an early arrival to grab a table. Seats do fill up fairly quickly with EMC Seafood downstairs.

Eat, drink, eat some more and drink some more.

3500 W. 6th St.Suite 301

Los Angeles, CA 90020

 

 

 

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Spread Mediterranean Kitchen - DTLA

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Spread Mediterranean Kitchen - DTLA

Spread is a new restaurant opened in DTLA that serves a fresh idea on Mediterranean food. A group of foodies and I got to sample some of their menu items along with a few cocktails to highlight the concept of this restaurant. Parking was pretty forgiving if you come early enough to get lucky with meters. There are also local lots you can pay for a flat rate that averages $8.

Spread offers lunch that's no more than $11, but also serves dinner that is both casual and sophisticated at the same time. Cocktails you will find at Spread would be no more than $9. They want to make grabbing lunch a necessity and not so much of a burden. It takes them hours to prep the food before it takes just a few minutes to fulfill after your order. But what you have purchased is quality. They want to make the ease of grabbing lunch a less burdensome part of your day, but also a great place to hang out for happy hour and dinners.

Here are just a few items you will find available. As you can see, they have casual items such as a Harissa beef braised wrapped in a freshly made flatbread to a more sophisticated Falafel Hash that I like to it a Falafel "Crab Cake". They have bright dishes such as a watermelon feta salad with a yogurt mint dressing to a Za'atar fried chicken that won't make you fall asleep.

Dinner is proposed to smaller dishes which makes snacking and drinking at the same time that much more fun. Come with a few friends and try a few dishes with cocktails, wine, and beer. Yes, you should have it all.

334 S MAIN STREET, LOS ANGELES, CA 90013

 

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Sushi Roku - Pasadena

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Sushi Roku - Pasadena

I've been dining at Sushi Roku for over 6 years now. Sushi Roku is not just a place for food, but also a great place to have parties, celebrations, dinners, brunch, or whatever you want to call it. I've sat at this place for hours. With drinks. And friends. I'm not a weirdo, I swear.

I went to Sushi Roku last week to try a new item on their menu. Well, it's not really a new item, but something that is enhanced for the true connoisseur. Their executive chirashi. This was made, because not everyone wants the regular plain oh chirashi bowl. Don't get me wrong. It's still good. But if I can get a larger variety of premium fishes for lunch prices, I would jump all over this like you know, fat kid love cake kind of deal.

First things first, wine, DUH. I want all of you to know that I am a red wine drinker. I just had a bad night of white wine and it just kind of ruined it for me. Kind of like Grey Goose. Drank that thing back in the day with warm Sunny D that ended up NOT a great night to remember.

Butter edamame

Turning a healthy snack into a not so healthy snack. I chuckled a little with that line.

I like to think of the executive chirashi as a mashup of whatever fresh fishes the chef wants to present. Doesn't that look stunning? I got more heads turned looking at this thing than me. I mean I get it. There's no way I can compete, but the wine does help me feel better about myself.

Some of the fishes features were Amaebi (sweet shrimp with fried head), Hon Hon Maguro, Kanpachi, toro, Uni, tai, hirame, & Kinmedai. Of course fish varies from time to time, so don't expect the same. I wouldn't expect the same executive chirashi everytime. This was well worth the $36. The quality was great, presentation was exquisite (of course the gold flakes helped), and it was just an overall really tasty dish.

Sushi Roku is located in Miller Alley. The restaurant is next to Crate and Barrel if you are really lost. If you are really lost, find a security that are floating all over Old Town Pasadena. They are in the yellow polos. And if you can't find them, just go home and cry because you failed in life.

33 Miller Alley, Pasadena, CA 91103, United States

 

 

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