Amanda Enclade's Profile
Ethiopian Private Party/room or other suggestions...
Private 40th birthday party
thinking ethiopian but open to other suggestions
want it to be special and unique...
anyone know of any great private rooms? probably about 20 people
New Must Try Sushi? LA?
It's my bday- I want sushi.I love hamasaku, sasebune, sushi zo, hikko...is there anything new or old that I have not tried?? Need to decide- any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
V BAR (valentino) finally I have found what I am looking for in Santa Monica
funny you should suggest salute...that"s where we were headed originally but they were closed. when do they officially open??
V BAR (valentino) finally I have found what I am looking for in Santa Monica
I stumbled into V bar yesterday with a girlfriend...it's the offshoot bar of the well known restaurant Valentino. Ever since I moved to Santa Monica over 3 years ago, I continually complain about the choices I have to go out to eat and drink wine. Everything is super high end or super low end without anything in-between. How many times can I head over to the 3rd street promenade or abbot kinney? It usually takes a good 20 minutes just to park. V Bar is located in a mellow neighborhood right near Trader Joe's on Pico and 31st. Now I am well aware that the main restaurant Valentino is one snazzy and expensive place but I was more than pleasantly surprised by the warm service, wines by the glass(Valentino has one of the best wine lists in all of Los Angeles) and the menu available in the side bar. The food is an offshoot of the Valentino menu with much lower prices.(they said you can order off the big menu as well.) I ordered the branzino which was FAB-U Lous and they served parmesan crisps on the house that were not to be believed.
Most of the menu items were priced between 11-16 dollars...seriously! The wines by the glass were perfect and in my price range as well. I kept thinking the whole time I was there...why did I not know about this place?why have I not been here before? why is it under the radar? why are they not advertising this place? I asked and they said the bar had only been open 2 years...but still 2 years is a long time. I am so excited to have found this place...especially since I live 5 minutes away.
Schmerty's Cookies -- Thoughts?
good fresh cookies. packaging is quaint and homemade but I think that makes them unique and old fashioned. my son loves them.
Sugarfish by Sushi Nozawa??
Just got back and I am disappointed. You cannot go to this place and have an authentic "trust me" experience. Trust me is based on trusting the best catch of the day not a pre fix menu. The other thing that I could not get past were all the white people working in the place. I could barely see a Japanese person back in the kitchen. This just doesn't seem right. There's something about the cultural experience one has at an authentic sushi place and this is like pinkberry but with sushi instead. I like the customs, ettiquette, etc of Japanese sushi bars. Although I can do without the attitude of nozawas place in studio city. It will be interesting to see what happens here- maybe the majority of westsiders will like the concept and the cucumber rolls. I ordered #3, the biggest and most expensive. Started with good tuna sashimi but very small portion. Then had 5 pieces of sushi- all good but not over the top. Then, the worst of all- an overwhelming amount of cut rolls. 4 big pieces of each: toro(could have been basic tuna for all I could tell), yellowtail, cucumber and crab. The crab roll is Nozawa's signature roll and only 4 pieces? along with all the rest? Maybe they are marketing themselves to sushi newbies or perhaps as sushi fast food. The big plate of cut rolls was too much. How about 1 crab roll like Nozawa normally would do?
This Sunday night- ISO great restaurant
there is 3 in our party..is it really that busy on a sunday night?
Hip and Happenin' on the Westside?
nothing wrong with Table 8- only trying to avoid the drive on a Saturday night. Those are great suggestions! Thanks!
This Sunday night- ISO great restaurant
I am in Phillie this Sunday for one night. I want to go somewhere great, where should I go? Cost does not matter- good good food is what I'm looking for and any type of cuisine is fine.
Hip and Happenin' on the Westside?
We have reservations at Table 8 but I would like to go somewhere closer on the Wextside. I am taking a couple of eastcoasters out whom have requested hip and happenin'! Help!
Potato Pancakes
thank you for this. we made these tonight instead of the old way which does not combine potato types or put in spices. these were excellent! everyone raved and raved. thank you again, and happy holidays.
Atten: Manhattan Beach- I need the best spot for my 40th bday with hubby
christine, avenue or chef melbas it will be...
Atten: Manhattan Beach- I need the best spot for my 40th bday with hubby
bummer...they are closed mondays too. thanks for the fabulous suggestion!
Atten: Manhattan Beach- I need the best spot for my 40th bday with hubby
I was planning on going to la sosta enteca and they will be closed monday! bummer!!!!!
any other suggestions that are near? I will be staying at The Shade Hotel.
gems at Trader Joe's
chocolate chip cookies in the frozen section
pie dough in the frige
pizza dough in the fridge
chinese chicken salad dressing
crispy wontons in the chip area
greek yogurt
raw milk grana padana
honeybush tea
maple syrup
canned corn
organic baked beans
champagne vinegar with citrus
Dinner Party Wine Etiquette
OK, this is making me LOL. I suggest insisting on contributing to the dinner by "bringing the wine", ask what they will be serving and choose based on this. also, I normally do what spyturtle suggests and walk straight to the kitchen and open the wine myself!
Only in uptight circumstances (where we clearly don't know the people yet and they seem like they might be offended) would I hesitate...and drink the yellowtail...but at least yellowtail is considered a drinkable cheap wine..better than charles shaw. just the sight of the shaw makes me feel ill.
Another great Kiriko dinner
bummer......I hate to hear that although I always get the omakase to avoid that situation. if you sit at the bar there, for some reason, the quality goes way up. the baby tuna sahimi is over the top. did you have that? I'd try again- just to be sure and I'll do the same for kiriko- I want to try the famous mushroom soup.
Another great Kiriko dinner
My current favorite is Hiko. I can't seem to find anything else that I like as much. It comes from the same style as sasebune, nozawa vibe except not overhyped and over busy which makes it very very special and tasty. he's not a smiley guy, very much a nazi but his fish is superb and the atmosphere is pretty, simple and peaceful. All family run.
Another great Kiriko dinner
I know everyone loves this place...we tried it a few weeks back, had the omakase (about 200 bucks total) we were not blown away at all. in fact, there was not one dish that I thought was exceptional. I guess I have become a spoiled sushi snob but kiriko just did not add up to what we were expecting based on the suggestions from this board.
my vote for the westside is in: SINGAPORE EXPRESS
we tried Singapore Express (maxella/lincoln) tonight after hearing about it here on chow. It exceeded my expectations. The BEST green papaya salad I've had here in all of Los Angeles and the veggie curry, pad woon sen, gado gado and laska were equally delish. The combo of thailand and singapore was perfect. I highly suggest this place! You order at the counter and it is extremely casual. I will be back! and they do deliver. yum yum.
What to Order @ Loteria Grill?
I love:
chicken nachos--special and amazing!
chicken enchiladas with green sauce /rice and beans are perfect
the red sauce is good too
chicken mole tacos or enchiladas-the mole is sweet and yummy
egg dishes are great
mushroom tacos
unfriendly staff at maxella pinkberry/the magic is gone
unhealthy...hmmmm...unhappy, grumpy, unhelpful with a greasy mc donalds feel.
unfriendly staff at maxella pinkberry/the magic is gone
yes, it is understandable, but when she realized I wanted a "swirl" she could have happily replaced my combo with one, especially since I dropped 25 bucks on our entire order -that is not understandable.
unfriendly staff at maxella pinkberry/the magic is gone
I took the family to the new pinkberry this morning at 11 am. We are all fans, just started going about a month ago, starting at the sawtelle location where part of the fun was the cool, upbeat staff who knew my kids by name and they were very excited about the product. the experience at this new lincoln/maxella pinkberry was, ah, just OK. what was sort of an addiction before was gone....angela the cashier and order taker was not very nice or accomodating.she reminded me of the sort of person that works at mc donalds- tired, underpaid and not happy or healthy for that matter.
I ordered a med "combo" which I thought was the combo of plain and green tea which they are advertising right now. I asked when she was making it, "is that the ccombo"?( I didn't see the green tea swirl)"yes", she replied. whan she handed me the yogurt, I asked again, "is this the combo of green tea and plain?" "oh no", she replied, "that is called the swirl".
without offering to redo it, change it to what I initially wanted. I have to say I was shocked, my normal self would have insisted on a change but I was dumbfounded as far as where did my friendly, happy pinkberry people go?
late morning biz meeting westside/bev hills
looking for recs on a coffee shop/house with good coffee, pastries, maybe regular fare.
I am paying, so I don't want the bill to get too crazy. I need something not too busy where a conversation can be had, a place that is not cheesey or too regular (like starbucks).
I am imagining something euro style. help!
Lunch on Main Street in Santa Monica
I recently had the venice chopped at chaya venice- one of the best salads ever. rock shrimp tempura on a bed of unique veggies and salad with a spicey creamy dressing. very very very tasty. everything else was very good too.
the galley is fun and pretty good if you want old school.
amelia's has great soup.
everything else is just average, nothing I would get excited about.
am i ruined for sushi?
we had the same experience when we went to Kiriko...and it was not less expensive. raves on this board, we had the omakase and not one thing blew us away. very sad to be so spoiled.....
