Fried (fruit or meat) Pies?

This is more of a southern delicacy but they can be delicious if fried correctly; i.e. the proper temperature of oil so the pies are light and flakey rather than soggy and greasy.

Other than the county fairs, are there any places in the area that serve them?

I've got a serious craving to satisfy!

okie in Los Angeles Area

What's good in Malibu these days?

I really like the tri tip sandwich at the BBQ place outside of How's Market. I like to ask them to go easy on the sauce, though, as it can be overly slathered.

It's very nice to sit outside at the little tables and of course you can choose from a variety of inexpensive drinks and sides from the market itself. It's a great, inexpensive lunch for Malibu.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Cafe Paradiso in Santa Monica???

I'm sad to report that I walked by last night on my way to Wilshire and found Cafe Paradiso closed, with all the furniture removed.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Review-Pickles Deli Newbury Park

Thanks for the report but sorry for your experience.

I've never seen a reason to try Pickles with Brent's now in the area and I'll probably just leave it off my list, although I have heard good things about the food.

And because Brent's is so big and their service so good, I've never had much of a wait there.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Cafe Paradiso in Santa Monica???

I had a really nice dinner there about two weeks ago. It's a simple yet charming little place and the service was fantastic.

I had the farfalle pasta with salmon which was excellent. My dining companion had the sea bass special which was also very good.

They have a handful of wines by the glass and all were reasonable. We split the tiramisu for desert and it was very light and delicious.

I will definitely return.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Ethnic Asian Food in Thousand Oaks

Just FYI, Chen's in T.O. is closed.

A bit surprising as it always seemed to be busy.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Ethnic Asian Food in Thousand Oaks

After completely burning to the ground over a year ago, Kohinoor Cuisine of India in Thousand Oaks looks like it's close to reopening. Was by there about a week ago and there was lots of activity and an "opening soon" sign in the window.

It's in the shopping center on Avenida De Los Arboles just east of the 23.

The food was always decent, although somewhat spotty. Will be nice to have them back at least as another option in the area.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Woodland Hills / West Valley with nice patio?

Don't feel bad.. I did a search and found your report before going. I decided to try it anyway because my dining companion had just moved to WH and I wanted to try a place close to her new home.

I was also hoping they had improved their service but that was by far my biggest gripe. There was a disinterested high school kid as host (busy flirting with one of the waitresses) and our waiter was nice but seemed very inexperienced. When our mains came and I asked about the salad, he said 'I thought they brought that out?'. Was too late by then anyway.

It seems their main focus is events, although the main dining area is quite large. Considering we were there at 7PM on a Thursday night and the place was almost empty (once the wedding folks finally dispersed) they might catch a clue that something is pretty wrong.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Woodland Hills / West Valley with nice patio?

Thanks for all the recs.

I decided on Villa Piacere, mainly because of the location and the outdoor patio and because it was new to me.

When we arrived at 7PM, a wedding and reception was just ending in their upstairs function room and it was rather an ridiculous scene with tons of people and little kids and an incredible amount of noise and congestion just trying to get into the place. If you ever plan on dining there, I would ask about any overlapping functions because the noise was deafening.

That also meant the majority of the patio was not available and the small part that was (a little section right by the door) was crowded and unappealing. So, we ate inside.

The inside decor is nice in an open and rustic sort of way but there probably only 5 other tables occupied in a big space.

The food was blah. I ordered a salad that never came and I had a rigatoni and shrimp special that was totally flavorless. My dining companion did like her Chilean sea bass, though.

Lesson learned: Ask specific questions in advance about the outside patio, because it really did look like a lovely spot, tucked away from Ventura Blvd. along a side street with lots of mature trees, brick pavers and twinkling lights.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Woodland Hills / West Valley with nice patio?

I've read all the WH recs but was looking for a good dinner spot with a nice outdoor dining area.

Know several places in Malibu but that's too far... Would prefer Woodland Hills, West Hills, Calabasas area (excluding Sagebrush Cantina).

Thanks in advance!

okie in Los Angeles Area

Ethnic Asian Food in Thousand Oaks

I finally got by the fit2bthai location in TO and had a very nice meal.

I took the food to go as I don't really like their space. It's well done but with an open kitchen and all those hard surfaces, it's a cacophony of noise in there -- and it wasn't close to crowded.

I had one of the combinations with the Tom Yum soup, fiery basil chicken and purple rice.

The soup was excellent: nice and tangy with lots of vegetables. At first I thought the basil dish was a bit flavorless but then realized they just use less oil as part of the health slant. I had specified medium spicy and was pleased to find it actually had a bit of a kick. It was cooked perfectly and the ingredients all tasted fresh and bright. The purple rice was also very good with a nice texture and taste.

The portion was big enough for two and I believe the total cost was only about 8 bucks.

It's not a place I'd choose for dine-in (don't even think they have a liquor license) but I'll definitely try it again for take away.

Also, I just saw on their website that they have sold their Moorpark location to a family that will operate a different type of Thai restaurant in that space.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Ethnic Asian Food in Thousand Oaks

There is another Thai place that just opened at Moorpark & Wilbur, oddly almost straight across the street from the still-new White Elephant:

http://www.fit2b-thai.com/homepage.html

Haven't tried it yet but when I do, I'll be sure to report back. Looks somewhat promising and there is another location in Moorpark.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Ethnic Asian Food in Thousand Oaks

After being underwhelmed on my first visit, I tried White Elephant again yesterday and was quite pleased.

I had one of the lunch specials which had chicken pad thai and spicy green beans and beef. Both were quite flavorful although the pad thai used rather thin noodles.

The house salad was just iceberg lettuce and the dressing wasn't that great... More like thousand islands than the peanut dressing most thai places serve. I'll try the soup instead next time.

It's a nice little place with booths on the perimeter and a few tables on a nice little patio.

I'd definitely recommend it and look forward to sampling more of their items.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Thousand Oaks?

Some additional in TO/WLV/Agoura

Mastro's
Galetto Cafe: Great Brazilian / Italian fare
Medittereano: Italian
Zin American Bistro: interesting menu right on the lake
Brent's Deli
Los Agaves: Mexican - lotsof tequilas and some good shrimp dishes
Harold's: Mexican and breakfast
P6: very trendy and good lunch specials
Gino's: Italian
Moz's Buddha: Pan-Asian
Terri's Cafe: breakfast
Adobe Cantina: good pork dishes & margs
Bandits BBQ: some of their sandwiches are good
D'Amore - NY style pizza
The Landing Sushi Bar & Grille: bento boxes

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

Correct!

Although I think the BBQ place (Red Sky) was where Chuy's Mequite Broiler is now... White Elephant is on the other side of the donut shop, further back from Moorpark.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

liu, I think you are talking about Pinkberry and I was referring to Shave It. :)

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

BTW, a new Thai place opened up in T.O. a few weeks ago called White Elephant Thai Cuisine. It's in the Whole Food shopping center on Moorpark in the old Flying Tamales space (I knew that place was doomed).

It's a nice little place with an outdoor patio. They have quite an extensive menu for a small restaurant, with all the usual salads, noodle and curry dishes.

Last night I tried their spicy basil chicken and I'm sad to report it was pretty bland. Not at all spicy, a little watery and just not much flavor.

I'll definitely try it again though, as we desperately need a decent Thai place in T.O. (and yes, I know about Pookies in WLV). On my next trip, I'll ask them to up the spiciness a bit and see if that helps.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

I was there about that time (4PM on Tuesday) and it was pretty busy -- every table was full.

It's an interesting concept and word certainly seems to be getting out. I had the root beer float, which has a bit of ice cream on the bottom -- delicious! I need to go back and try some of their fruit flavors.

Interestingly, they had the exact same funky light fixtures you see in Pinkberry.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

Thanks for the heads-up! I'll definitely give it a try.

They have a great website:

http://www.shaveitice.com/home.cfm

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry Opened Today in Westlake Village

I stopped by there today on a long bike ride and it wasn't very busy at noon time. I'm sure most people still don't realize it's there and open. It's also very small... Only five little tables and no outside seating apart from a couple of benches that are part of the shopping center.

I also had their product for the first time and really enjoyed it. I had original flavor with strawberries, kiwi and mango and it was delicious. I got the medium size with the three toppings and I'm sure I would have found it more plain had I ordered the small size with only one fruit on top.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry coming to Westlake Village

Website says WLV location is now open:

Westlake Village
3835 E Thousand Oaks Blvd
Westlake Village CA 91362
Daily 11 AM - 11 PM

okie in Los Angeles Area

santa monica/venice area for drinks and apps

Primitivo also serves a nice sangria by the pitcher. :)

okie in Los Angeles Area

Pinkberry coming to Westlake Village

I saw an ad for employees on Craiglist a few weeks ago and it listed 3835 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. as the address, which would in fact place it in the same shopping center as TJ's.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Party w/ appetizers and music on the Westside

We had the event last night at the Venice location of Air Conditioned and it came off very well. We had the semi-private room in the back which was about the perfect size for 30 people, although it was incredibly dark -- a couple people actually stumbled over the furniture! But it was funny more than anything else.

I ordered a variety of appetizers and the Tuna Tartar Sliders were a big hit as were the fries, which were a mixture of regular and sweet potato served in a huge martini glass.

We started about 8 and had almost the whole place to ourselves but by 11PM it was so packed you could barely move through the room. But it was a very fun vibe and a great crowd with a pretty good DJ.

For those of you that don't know the venue, it's just has a old-style yellow sign on the top that says "club" and it's right up to the street on Lincoln, just south of Rose on the west side of the street. Once you enter, it's a whole other world of red naugahide walls and a colorful bar. Very slick decor and totally unexpected from the outside.

Thanks again for all the recs -- the event was a big hit.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Party w/ appetizers and music on the Westside

Thanks so much for this rec. I stopped by there last week and it's a perfect configurationfor us.

I'll report back after the event.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Champions League Final + Beer

The Cock & Bull in Santa Monica (2947 Lincoln Blvd) always shows the games -- I believe it's owned by a Liverpool fan, so there will be plenty of Scousers there. It's a great atmosphere for footy and they serve traditional English fare, include breakfast.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Party w/ appetizers and music on the Westside

I'm trying to organize a party for about 30-40 people on the Westside for Saturday, June 9th.

We want a place that has a hip, clubby feel but also that could provide a semi-private room for heavy appetizers and cocktails. Would strongly prefer a place that has good music -- live or DJ -- and a dance floor.

I know there are a bunch of places in the Hollywood are but was hoping to find someplace closer to Santa Monica. But really anywhere on the Westside would work.

Thanks in advance!

okie in Los Angeles Area

Something sushi-ish going into the Cisco space on Westlake Blvd. in the Conejo?

Ventured to Suki 7 last night and I don't think I'll return.

We didn't have a res but were seated at the sushi bar within about 15 minutes -- pretty good for the middle of a Saturday night. Their bar area is not very big and is in the rear of the main dining area. They did have a completely separate room when you could sit and order a cocktail, but I found it strange... Too separated from the rest of the place and rather empty, both of people and furniture.

Ordered a couple of their rolls and the "Mount Fuji" was actually quite good with fresh cucumber and spicy tuna. The other sushi was really underwhelming, as was the sampler platter from the robata grill, although the one skewer with asparagus wrapped in bacon was very tasty. The rest -- including part of a corn cob -- was really uninspired.

The decor was nice and hip but more understated than their other two restaurants (P6 and Chapter 8). I actually like to go get a cocktail but at those other two places (before or after a meal elsewhere) but I didn't care for the bar area at Suki 7. And the sushi bar didn't really have any energy or fun vibe.

And of course, the whole experience was quite expensive, especially given the very small quantity of food.

I actually think P6 and Chapter 8 have their places in the Conejo but I'm not quite sure Suki 7 is going to fly.

okie in Los Angeles Area

Goodbye Zankou

I *finally* got around to trying Zankou and while I can't speak to trends (food quality or pricing), I can say that I loved the meal.

I ordered the Tarna plate and although it did seem a bit pricey (around $8 or so) I quickly realized I was going to get two meals out of the serving.

The chicken was moist and tasty and of course, I loved the garlic sauce. Because there was so much meat, I did run out of pita for the second go-round. Still, I mixed the sauce with the chicken and it was delightful.

I think next time around I'll have some TJ's pita on hand and just bring the whole thing home.

okie in Los Angeles Area