schuylar's Profile
Best Scone in Pasadena Area??
Most authentic and delicious English cream scones - only one place - Rose Tree Cottage in Pasadena. They have them packaged to take home. The proprietor will even tell you exactly at what temp to re-heat and for how long. That's how serious and proud they are of the scones. Be warn - these are traditional English scones. Not "Americanized".
Vietnamese restaurant near Alhambra for large group?
GD has two sister restaurants owned and run by members of the same family. One is Saigon Flavor in San Gabriel with almost the same menu. Unfortunately, this location is quite small. The one that will better accommodate your large group is called Vietnam House, located across street/caddy corner to GD. They have large round tables or can pull several long tables together for you. Try to avoid the weekend or else your wait might be over an hour for such a large group. They have the seven courses of beef in addition to items found on the other two menus. If you want the whole catfish, be sure to call ahead.
Roadtrip to Seattle (thru Oregon) from So. Cal
Now that's exactly the type of suggestion we love. Complete and thorough for the novice. Don't mind missing Napa at all as we've done that many times. Our focus is really after S.F./Bay Area
Assuming we can drive on with our car on the ferry to Seattle?
Roadtrip to Seattle (thru Oregon) from So. Cal
Thanks, paulj for the suggestions! We are not in a rush on this trip, so definitely will traverse to see the sights as suggested. Wow, free roadside blackberries. Certainly will keep an eye out for those.
Roadtrip to Seattle (thru Oregon) from So. Cal
We are embarking on a roadtrip to Seattle from Southern California the second week of August. Google Maps say that we'll be on the 5 Fwy most of the way before ending in Seattle.
We would love to go picking blueberries and/or blackberries and would appreciate any suggestions of farms/U-Pick along the route through both Oregon and Washington.
Also, any suggestions as to what to eat along the way? Some terrific country kitchen for breakfast perhaps?
We'll be Seattle for four full days. What must we not miss? All suggestions from cheap eats to fine dinning to snacks and sweets are welcome. We love it all and can't wait to sample what the great Pacific Northwest has to offer.
Much obliged.
French Crullers & Buttermilk Bars
What a great post. Thank you so much! I am a huge fan of both french crullers and buttermilk bars, but they are so rare, least of all good. I used to have to visit NYC for good french crullers at a place called Old Fashioned Donuts. They were large, soft, fresh and gooey. But, don't go looking for Old Fashioned Donuts for any comparisons. They closed the Upper East Side location. Gasp!
Health Restaurants
Actually it's more Vietnamese than Thai. And I agree - everything they do is above average and tasty. Lean towards the Vietnamese dishes. They are very authentic and flavorful, which is a trademark of the cuisine. The restaurant itself is small, but very clean - always a plus for a dining out experience.
Banh Mi Crawl in Rosemead...Or Why Lee's Kicks The Crap Out Of Mr. Baguette!
ITA. And well written. With so many choices with food in this country, few remember the real pleasure of good food. It's not all about fast, cheap and familiar.
Let's all support The Kitchen
After reading this rather interesting & unique article on The Kitchen in L.A. Times on April 22, 2007 (http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kitchen22apr22,1,2953762.story?page=1&track=rss) , I want to ask everyone's opinion on the state of Chinese restaurants in terms of:
- Value
- Cleanliness
- Food quality
- Service
I think The Kitchen is bravely changing the typical Chinese restaurant model. I personal agree to this new, progressive and evolved thinking when it comes to the experience of eating out. Voice your opinion on this subject. Better yet, share how will you vote with your feet and patronize the type of restaurants with qualities important to you. Thanks!
vegetarian options
Vinh Loi Tofu
18625 Sherman Way Ste 101, Reseda, 91335)
818-996-9779
Everything's made on the premise. Try the vegan spring rolls.
Vietnamese food in SG Valley
Unfortunately, I have to disagree on the Anh Hong suggestion. The place is a mess - from the floor, to the table and the wall - all covered in dropped food/grease. Cleanliness of a food establishment can certainly add to its overall enjoyment. Thus, the lack of it is a huge turn off.
what to do with mint?
Break the leaves off of the stems, combine with some red/green leaf lettuce, some bean sprout, meat of your choice and/or shrimp and wrap together in moistened Vietnamese rice paper - voila! You have homemade spring rolls.
Favorite holiday issues of magazines or special holiday issues?
Every year I look forward to two: Saveur and Real Simple. Saveur in January of every year is a special issue listing all of their upcoming favorites, which includes recipes, travel locations, specialty food items, chefs, gadgets, etc. Real Simple in most issues show me something very practical that I can easily incorporate. I would imagine the December issue would have holiday themed helpful ideas.
Another Casita Taco (NoHo) review.
I highly recommend their shrimp tacos too. Feshly grilled chunks of shrimps. The best thing about Casita is their salsa bar. Not the biggest, but definitely very good from the green to the red to the fiery. The mild chunky tomato salsa is wicked. Also, try the grilled green onions (whole stalk!).
Mexican supermarket to buy fresh carnitas
Grand Central Market in downtown. There from the various taco stands, cooked meats can be purchased by weight. I usually look around first for the one stand with the best looking selection on that particular day in terms of freshness, less fatty, etc. With the meat, you can get salsa, chopped onion and cilantrol and even lime wedges for a little extra. And if you're still hesitant to head downtown, consider this - in the same market, there's a fresh tortilla stand! Try the blue corn tortillas. All very reasonably priced for the fresh, authentic quality.
Enstrom's toffee
We discovered Enstrom's toffee in a gift basket one Christmas (the only time we EVER found anything edible in a gift basket!). We have been a fan ever since. Not only do we gift the yummy stuff, we treat ourselves to a few pounds every year. Now they have sugar free (imagine that!) and with dark chocolate as well as the usual milk. Order online early this holiday season.
Satsuma Tangerines: any sightings yet?
For even better tasting mandarins/tangerines, look for the Pixie, Lee and Paige varieties at your local farmers markets. All three are sweeter, juicier and more nuanced. Satsumas have had good press and are like the "Fuji" of apples (slightly different yet becoming more common).
Triumphal Palace versus New Concept for Dim Sum?
New Concept used to be better. Now, under new ownership, the quality is average at best. True that portions are bigger now, so ask yourself this: when it comes to dim sum, do I want quality or quantity. Even the service has gotten poorer at NC. TP is above average all around - food, service and value. Cleanliness and atmosphere - TP wins again by a big margin.
Busaba--Vegan/Vegetarian Thai
We tried Busaba for the first time recently for lunch. Everything we had was terrific. Nothing too oily or salty. The dumplings (ordered them steamed) were some of the best we ever had anywhere (from NY to L.A.). Does anyone know where we can find such wonderful veggie dumplings so we can steam them up at home??? We noticed they came in a large bulk bag probably pre-frozen (which didn't bother us at all because they were still very yummy).
Orin Apple
Honeycrisps are good, but Orins are the best eating apples. Ever. They are sweet, tart, juicy, crisy and a wonderful fresh apple flavor (not spicy). My local farmers market (Hollywood), Ha's Apples have them from the end of October thru mid-November. They are very hard to come by indeed and by posting here, I might have just lessen my supply!
Brined turkey
I do not want to brine my own bird either (no way do I have enough room in the fridge, especially in preparation for the Thanksgiving feast!). Fortunately, I found both organic or heirloom pre-brined turkey available at the Pasadena Whole Foods at $5.99/lb. Woohoo.
what do u think of the new Starbuck's Pomegranate or Tangerine Frappuccino juice blend?
Both of these sounded good until I tried them. They were way, way too sweet. I wonder if they contain more sugar than regular sodas.
Carrot cake
Jerry's Famous Deli has very good carrot cake. Whatever you do, however do not eat the carrot decoration on top. It leaves a horrible aftertaste due to the food coloring probably.
To Crunch or Not to Crunch -- Edible Cartilage
Definitely to crunch. Besides being tasty, cartilage is full of calcium.
How to keep tomato based sauces from staining plastic wear?
It's almost impossible to get rid of the stain once it's set in the porous plastic. I would suggest buying plastic containers that say "stain resistent". They appear to be made with denser plastic. That type of plastic containers cost more than the Rubbermaid/Ziplock, but you do get a much longer, more sanitary use out of them.
101 Noodle Express
Went to 101 NE for the first time this past weekend. The food was just blah. The service, however, was horrendous! The wait staff couldn't be bothered to educate/introduce a new clientele to the food. English was not spoken nor understood. Everything answer was a "no" - can't do this, can't do that. At one point our waitress picked up a used napkin on the floor and with the same hand along with the crumbled napkin picked up a bowl to give to a nearby table. Yuk! Never again.
Lee's Sandwiches [moved from Los Angeles board]
Lee's sandwiches have the worst quality meat in them. They are tasteless, very fatty and are dyed a funny pink/red to hide the poor quality. Not even the bread is good. Don't support such an establishment that takes advantage of their customers. Demand better. Unfortuantely, I do not have another recommnedation at this time for good quality Vietnamese sandwiches. Still waiting for someone to step up and stand out.
Best Champurrado?
The most flavorful, perfect balance between creaminess and cornmeal, not too sweet nor bland - the champurrado at La Luz del Dia Restuarant (at the end of Olvera Street) will make anyone a fan of the luscious drink.
1 Olvera Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012-2993
best iced tea? nothing fancy, just the usual black tea.
I second the black tea at Starbucks. It tastes of good quality, full body tea. It's not for the meek nor those who are in essence drinking amber colored "lemonade". To the black tea, you can add what you like - lemon, sweetner, even milk on your own, but it's important to start with good quality tea. Unfortunately, the other places such as Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Peet's, etc. have terrible cold tea. Some are even artificially flavored.
Vegan options at fun LA places?
For Vietnamese vegan, there's really one place: Vinh Loi Tofu -
18625 Sherman Way, #101, Reseda, Ca 91335
Phone: 818-996-9779
Hours: Daily 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Inexpensive
http://www.vegparadise.com/dining610.html
If you're a fan of all the wonderful, light, unique flavors of Vietnamese food, then you'll be pleasantly surprised at the quality and commitment of this little, non-descriptive place.
