jotfoodie's Profile
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
I have been to quite a number of night markets from Taipei, Taichung, and Kashiong, and NONE of my experiences were that terrible as the one in Pasadena. They were crowded all right, but you can move, you can breath, and lastly you can eat and shop.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
Unbelieavable comments - ""We had 8,000 Facebook fans on April 14, and that's what we expected," Jonny Hwang, one of the founders said. "
Huh ??? Does this person has a brain at all ? Does he realize how Facebook works ? 8000+ likes, how about all the friends of who clicked on the LIKE, that number could explode exponentially.
Secondly, he mentioned they prepared for 8000, somebody please tell me, if that small block can hold 2000 people at any one time. I think a 1000 would already be overly crowded.
They were lucky, that nobody went berserk and shouted FIRE in that cramped block. That would be beyond anybody's imagination of the consequences.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
Hi Servorg, you nailed it on the head. By the comments alll over, most were not impressed but outrage was the norm. I have great respect for Mr. Taster, but I have to beg to differ on the first line of his comments.
When most people could not even get ONE thing to eat, and did not bother to wait. The 12 of us left without anyone able to get a single bite,we all ended up in Alhambra. We all have summed up the experience - it was Horrendous, Horrific, Dreadful, Awful, Appalling .... you all get the picture.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
I was not referring to chow's response. Their own Facebook reponses should have alerted them, plus other bloggers and news media, e.g. LA Times. Spend a minute to think about it, how could not one expect such a turnout.
626 Asian night market a ZOO!
ANGRY is too mild a word to describe the experience. Sure, a BIG turnout, that should have been expected, if the planners have some iota of common sense. It was poor planning to begin with, you could hardly move in that block. The area restaurants greatly benefited, all the way to Alhambra and San Gabriel, as scores of people who just left after witnessing the horrendous traffic condtion, and a near to impossible navigation to reach any of the booths. There are only a couple of places, I could think of for such venues, if they dare to hold another one - Rose Bowl or Convention Center.
To those who did not go, you all made the wise decision by staying away.
Please Help This New Valley Boy
"It was one of the best meals I've had in the city." I second & third your comment.
My wife said last year when we were there, "The best meal she had in the year 2011." And
I totally agreed. The flavors were just amazing.
We are ovedue for another visit.
LQ@SK REVIEW....THE FINAL DAYS!
I believe Nguyen mentioned Highland Park, a couple of times.
LQ@SK: Changes coming
Hi Porthos,
We were there last night as well. I totally agree with you on everything especially the Lobster Uni Tapioca & the braised baby goat, and nothing can beat Epoisses, as far cheese is concerned from the cart.
I am just wondering, where were your party sitting last night. I assumed you were in the 6:30 group.
Also I came to know Chef Quenioux and the effervescent Nguyen, through your post last year. Our family wants to thank you for sharing. We have been there 3 times and looking forward to more of LQ offers in the future.
LQ @ Starry Kitchen Starts June 5th
I could not have said it any better. We totally second on the oyster & mussels dish, the kimchi sabayon was really excellent and a surprise. We used the bread to scoop every bit of it. What do you think of the bread (from Bread Lounge), we think it was just ok.
Queee Portuguese Closes
When I was there March of this year, the owner told me that they are moving across the street. It looks like that did not happen either.
Thanks for the update.
LQ @ Starry Kitchen Starts June 5th
Hi Porthos, thank you for posting this, that gave me and my wife the opportunity to try it last night. The link was what we had:
http://bistrolq.com/LQ/SK/Menu/
We liked eveything except for the Mu shu Foie Gras. Personally, if the Foie Gras was a seared a bit, it would have been more flavorful, too raw.
Tonight is the last night, LQ will be serving at Starry Kitchen before he will leave for a month for vacation. I look forward when he comes back in August.
The crew was on spot as far as serving everybody. The water was being filled without asking.
It was a good experience, for $45, no corkage, it was really a good deal.
Nguyen who is the owner was there to serve and explained the dishes, and direct the crew while LQ in the kitchen with 2 other chefs. It was a well run operation.
The 6 course-dinner took around 1:30 to 1:45 to finish.
By the way, kevineats was there last May and he had a different menu. To those of you who have never been to Starry kitchen, you can click the link below to see how the restaurant look. It is very casual and actually get loud when fully booked.
http://www.kevineats.com/2011/05/lq-fooding-around-in-la-at-starry.html
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Starry Kitchen
350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
El Bolivar in Chatsworth , is it still open?
Thanks, Kevin, for the reminder. The restaurant is still very much alive. My wife and I went there for lunch today, we live so close to this place, that we finally made it, and met the mom (hostess, waitress, & chef). There was one other table occupied the whole time we were there, 1:30 to 2:45 PM. The following are what we had:
Fresh squeeze, Red Berries and Guanabana ($3 each) – (very good)
Mini empanada (on the house) – beef & potato (excellent)
Small bowl of Mondongo ($6) – beef tripe & pork soup serve with rice & ever present arepa (corncake). (excellent)
Bandeja Paisa ($15) – fried pork, beef, Columbian sausage, egg, arepa, avocado, fried plantains, with rice and beans (good, pork not too dry)
Lengua en Salsa de Ciruelas ($14) – beef tongue in prune sauce – serve with rice, salad, arepa, and fried plantains. (very good).
This place is a little pricey as pointed out by C. Thi Nguyen’s LA times article. We wish they get more business, and wondering the price maybe a factor that a lot people avoided trying.
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-find-20100722,0,4130868.story
Dinner near Woodland Hills
I second, I third Brandywine.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/51719
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Brandywine Restaurant
22757 Ventura Blvd, Woodland Hills, CA 91364
Salt's Cure. . . Just meh
We had brunch last Saturday, and this was our take of the place. Go for the stuff they cured. There’s a reason why Michael D Symon, the iron chef who tried this place, and said ‘…loved the headcheese’ (quoted from Facebook). We had headcheese ($10), and it was excellent. I also ordered the 2x2x2 ($13, 2 eggs, 2 sausage, and 2 bacon, the only good thing was the bacon. I have read elsewhere of tons of complains on how they do their pork, like the burger you had. Their sausage is like mini meatballs, pink in the middle, and lack of spices, made them smelled & tasted too porky. The other order was bagel with smoked salmon ($15), nothing to write home about. Costco’s smoked salmon easily beat theirs, which according to the server, they got them locally. The coffee ($5) was good, fresh grind, and French press.
Where to host a 100th Birthday party in Northridge?
A monumental milestone - Happy 100th birthday to the birthday celebrant !!! - Amazing.
I would suggest Hot Wok Cafe, northwest corner of Nordoff and Reseda. You can host a decent Chinese Banquet for your guests, and you will not break the bank. No problem on parking, handicap accessible, and the time you specify, you can practically have the restaurant to yourself & guests. Even though they do not have a private room, but they have 4 big round tables at the back of the restaurant., which are plenty for 15- 25 people. Just look for Chris, the owner's daughter to work on the banquet menu, to your liking.
http://www.hotwokcafe.net/
Best of Downtown Chinatown
I took your recommendation and went to try Queee this past Saturaday. This is my take of the restaurant.
I realized before I went, that Queee is occupying the former spot of Asian Noodles (A Filipino Noodle place we used to go in their early days). By the way, Queee is losing the lease and moving across the street in May/June timeframe.
Chef Paulo was such a nice guy. He repeatedly came to check with our table (2 of us).
A complimentary amuse bouche of seared tuna with a hint of sesame oil to start the meal – good.
I asked Chef Paulo to prepare a plate of the best fish he got and he came back with a sashimi plate of salmon, tuna, smoked albacore and uni. He is a sustainable chef. My wife and I felt it was just ok, nothing great. $12 was good deal.
We then ordered the Portuguese Specials:
Porco à Alentejana (Pork & Clams) – both of us were disappointed with the peculiar taste of the whole dish, - will not try this again. The pork has no flavor except of the sauce I mentioned.
Grilled Lamb Chops w/ Rice – we felt the disk was just OK, I could do better I think, nothing to write home about this dish.
And then:
Chef Paulo, gave us Caldeirada (Fisherman’s Bowl), on the house. Such a hospitable guy, and the irony of all was this dish was the best of our meal.
For Desserts:
A sample of 5 morsels of different desserts served each with a Chinese soup ladle.
We really want to like this restaurant and want to support it, but our take is his dishes are too ordinary. Did we miss something ?
Has anybody ever tried his special dinner events?
Chef Paulo, was such a nice guy.
REVIEW: Rasputin International Grocery, Encino
Thank you Das, for starting this thread. I was there is past Sunday, it was also my first time, after strongly recommended by my colleague, who is Russian. I usually go to The Bazaar and Fancy Food Store, both on Reseda,
It was Sunday (2pm) and there were only a few customers in the market. I was just like a kid in a toy/candy store when I saw the massive prepared foods on display. I have to restraint myself, lest I bought everything on sight.
The following was I got, and all of them were excellent in quality and taste. You can always ask to try it first before deciding to purchase.
1. Whole Duck - $25.00 - moist and tasty
2. Lamb tongue - $9.99/lb - not gamy at all, light in flavor
3. Chicken liver $4.99/lb - soooo aromatic
4. Plov - rice and veal (not sure if this Uzbekistan style)- the rice to me is too sticky, the veal w/ bone is just soooooooooooooo good. The Bazaar has a different rendition of this disk, rice and lamb. $6.99/lob
5. Beef lula and chicken lula kabob - so fragrant $5.99/lb
6. Stuffed Cabbage - I like the way they made them, like meatloaf - $4.99/lb
7. White mushroon spread - $5.99/lb
They are little bit pricey as compared to the other Russain stores in the Valley, but the quality of their products and the cleanliness of the place, made them all worthwhile.
Kanda Sushi - Westlake Village
Thank you for sharing. How much did you pay ?
http://www.kandasushito.com/
Informal Engagement-Dinner or Lunch Worthy Restaurants
Congratulations !!!
I am not sure if you would consider hosting a Chinese banquet in Monterey Park. I have helped my nephew on his engagement party two weeks ago, at Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant (Miriwa is the Chinese name now) on Atlantic Blvd. We were able to reserve a private room, away from the noise, and enjoyed our privacy. There were 2 tables, around 25 of us. I think 20 will be perfect for such banquet. The room required at least 388.00 (the banquet menu prices range from 388-588 before tax & tips), per table, which is within your budget. I was able to negotiate for bringing my own wine and my own wine glasses (they charged $1 for each wine glass), with no corkage fee, and the restaurant also threw in free 2-liter soft drinks for us. Everybody enjoyed the occasion and the food as well.
(626) 308-2128. 145 N Atlantic Blvd Monterey Park, CA 91754
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Ocean Star Seafood Restaurant
145 N Atlantic Blvd Ste 201, Monterey Park, CA 91754
Xiao Long Bao and Cats' Ears Noodles In Reseda
That was exactly what I told my wife, after taking my first bite:)
Xiao Long Bao and Cats' Ears Noodles In Reseda
Thank you for trying it out first for the team. I have heard of this place, and passed by it so many times. After seeing your review last night, my wife and I went to give it a try. The family is from Honan (河南), China. The mom was originally operating a restaurant from Princeton, New Jersey, she moved here to help her daughter and gradually introduce this Chinese Northern Cuisine. You would think that this place is a fast food chinese place, but it is not, it is a sit down restaurant. I have to say, the service was excellent, very accomodating. The mom was wrapping Pork & Dill Dumpling (all hand made dumplings are 5.95) when we stepped in. We were the only customers from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM. So that was the first order of the night, since I like lamb dumplings, she suggested to prepare them potsticker style instead of boiled, as we already have that for the Dill Dumplings. We then ordered the Cat's Ears Noodles, I have to agree with Chandavkl, that the Cat's Ears are too thick/dense for our taste as well. As to Galen's question, if they serve it in a soup, the answer is no. My wife who is from Taiwan and she was expecting it to be in a soup as well, but their version is different (see pic). We then ordered Sauteed Vege with Hot Peppers (辣椒小炒), the vege was cut green beans. The last dish was the green onion pancake (蔥油餅), a very different version. I think it is more like 'hand grab pancake' (抓餅). Lastly, we ordered frozen dumplings - 25 pieces of Pork & Dill Dumplings and 25 pieces of Pork & Chinese Spinach to go. The dishes we ordered were between 5.95 to 7.95. 50 Frozen Dumplings are 15 (some are 12). Do not expect delicate dishes, it is more like home made, a little on the rough side. I will go back and try other dishes, they ran out of Celery and Dried Bean Curd (芹菜豆干), when we wanted one to go. They are very nice people and will try to accomodate your preference. The mom sat down in the middle of our meal and had a nice chat with us.
any good food that isn't a chain in calabasas or woodland hills
Brandywine - (Northeast corner of Ventura and Fallbrook - parking in the back lot)
22757 Ventura Blvd
Woodland Hills, CA 91364-1334
(818) 225-9114
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/51719
The best Taiwanese rice rolls in all of SoCal ...
Thank you for starting the thread. I first went there 2 or 3 months ago after my co-worker who lives in the area told me about it. I have tried 4 times since. By the way, it is 四海一家 (Four Seas One Family) and not related to 四海豆漿 in Taiwan (I asked). I was hoping it would be 四海豆漿, because I ate there every morning for a whole week when I stayed in Taipei, it was just next to the hotel I was staying.
I have to agree that the rice roll is huge, what I like about it, is they gave you the option of adding 酸菜 (sour vegetable) to it. That added condiment made it so tasty. I also like the rice roll of JJ Bakery (Arcadia), the plain version, the quality of the rice is better and more compacted. If I have to pick one dish, I enjoyed the most, it has to be the 豬肉燒 餅 (Pork Sao Ping), they also have the beef version. I was hoping the egg dish (蛋 餅), be the one I tried in Taipei. Their version is more like an omelette. I have bought their frozen Pork dumplings and Pork Bao home as well. The wrapper or skin of the dumplings are thick for my taste. The baos are ok, not bad and not great. I also tried their Gua Bao (割包), I think they just heated it up in the microwave. The chinese crullers (you tiao -油條) are not too oily and the soy milk (plain) I did enjoy. I suggest people should go in groups to try a little of everything. It is very easy to over order.
Anyway, a good alternative to Yung Ho.
Nice Dinner for 2, in West SFV?
How about Brandywine, I believe corkage is $25.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/51719
good sushi in woodland hills/calabasas?
This is my wife's favorite Japanese Restaurant in the Valley. We have been going to this place, way back when they were still a small place, I would say close to 20 years. We usually go for cooked dishes, especially the kushiyaki. A lot of their appetizers are very delicious as well. This place is always trying to serve something new in their menu. I like their ankimo (monkfish liver), layered of thinly sliced tomato, jalapeno, and the liver. It is making me hungry now.
good sushi in woodland hills/calabasas?
It is Shibuya, and I second it. Be there early to sign up to sit in front of Tom.
4774 Park Granada Ste 8B
Calabasas, CA
peking duck?
I believe CA passed legislation to exempt Peking duck and roast duck as well from certain CA Health codes.
Brandywine in Woodland Hills?
You should definitely give it a try. If you can have lunch there on a weekday, so much the better, as far as price is concerned. I can understand some of the sentiments shared about the owner's attitude, but when you come to know him, he is actually a nice and funny guy. By the way, the wife is the chef. I have been there many times, and even had a 15 people Christmas luncheon a few years back, and everybody loved it. The place is very cozy. Some recommendations - the Seafood Soup is pretty amazing, Muscovy Duck, Rack of Lamb are great as well. Another thing is every Thursday at noon, I have always seen the owner of Woodland Hills Wine Company which is just acrioss the street dining with his friends. Enjoy and report back if you decide to go.
