angelini osteria.

lunch at an old favorite.

an early bday celebration for b, at his favorite italian in LA.

the bread basket, and antipasto on the house. i love their thin, crispy flatbread, with tons of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette. we devoured the basket within minutes.

b ordered proscuitto with cantaloupe. the melon smelled sOo good that i wanted to take a bite.. but i forced myself not to… if i had an allergic reaction then the rest of the meal would have been ruined… but seriously.. fragrant.

the tricolore salad. light and simple.

short rib ravioli, with sage and butter.

spaghetti chitarra alla norcina with fresh truffles and sausage. the fresh, chewy pasta was the highlight of the dish for me, and a great texture to go with the waxy truffle.

as always.. angelinis never fails. yuM.

xx

la esperanza

la esperanza, in torrance.

i was craving pupusas, an el salvadorian dish, so i looked up the closest restaurant nearby, and gave it a go. when i arrived at the jumbled strip mall i wasn’t sure what to expect, it looked like it might be a hole in the wall.. but once i stepped through their heavy wooden doors, i could tell that they took pride in their restaurant, and it showed through their interiors and decor.

their pupusas were larger in size than i expected, at other pupuserias i’ve visited, they are about 2/3 of the size. the stuffed corn tortilla comes in a variety of fillings, my favorites being pork + cheese, and chorizo.. so that’s what i stuck with. and i was very happy with what i got.

great texture, fragrant hot corn tortilla. nice light sear.

sweet plantains, with sour crema. here they have a side order that comes with beans.

before i loaded up the pupusas with curtido, a fermented cabbage slaw.. i like to think of it as a latin kimchee..

then pour on some of the traditional watery salsa.  i like to top it off with a bit of the crema.

ta da! .. sO good. but the serving was so large, i couldn’t finish.. i could only eat about 1 1/2.. plus the plantains of course. after i took this last picture, i got too busy eating that i forgot to snap one of the filling.. the cheesy pork was my favorite, being lighter in flavor. the chorizo was good as well, but the heavy chorizo flavor overpowered the corn and the curtido, which i really enjoy.

to compare cuisines.. its similar in format to the japanese okonomiyaki, another one of my favorite dishes.

la esperanza was very reasonably priced, and their service was friendly and attentive. i’ll definitely visit again.. next time ill try to remember to get a pic of the filling.

xx

http://laesperanzarestaurants.com/

viks chaat & market.

this was my second visit to viks chaat market in the east bay.. there isn’t really anywhere else you can get indian “street food” like this. i LOVE everything here, the spices and flavors are such a refreshing change from my usual palette.

cholle bhature. this is before the bread fell, its light and somewhat crispy.. to eat, break off pieces, and eat with the pickles and cholle sauce.

mixed vegetable pakoras.

keema (lamb) samosas- i couldn’t eat this because i’m allergic, but b said it was really good.

i mean.. it LOOKS sO good, right? yuM.

pani puri. my fave! partly because its so cute.

to eat, you crack open the top, and its a hollow shell, fill with tamarind chutney sauce, garbanzo beans, potato, spiced water.. etc. and eat in one bite.

lOve.

xx

http://www.vikschaatcorner.com/

sushi on the run

my favOrite sushi bar in the bay area.

SUSHI ON THE RUN in los gatos.

chef nobo has been preparing fresh, amazing sushi since i was in high school. this is the ONLY place that i will willingly order “rolls.” his restaurant is teeny, and only sits eight at a bar, so if you don’t make the first seating, you need to wait about 45- an hour for the next. he only opens up shop after his sushi rice is prepared to the correct temperature..  you can see him through the glass window fanning away the sushi rice in the big bamboo container before his assistant turns the “closed” sign to “open.”

on our recent stay in norcaL, we went twice for lunch.

the “yellow rose” roll. yellowtail, avocado, garlic, scallion. sO good.

now, THIS is how nobo prepares his sushi. one pc of his sushi is easily 2 at any other restaurant.

i like to order uni + avocado handrolls..  he makes mine with shiso.

hamachi, fresh the day we ate it. we watched him slice this off the fish.. insanely fresh, great texture.

UNI. my obsession continues.

“paul’s passion” roll. yellowtail, avocado, scallion, tobiko, chilli.

i LOvE.

xx

 

http://sushi-on-the-run.com/

portola valley lobster shack.

lobster rolls!

my mom took us to this gem, in portola valley near palo alto.

its my new favorite place for new england clam chowder. their “chowdah” is not as thick as many others, and has generous amounts of clam and chunks of potatoes. the creamy flavor is addictive.

the maine lobster rolls are generously portioned, fresh and light. my favorite is the bread roll- buttered, toasted and thin.

check out the texture of the bread “roll.” amazingly yum.

lOve it.

xx

http://www.oplobster.com/locations.htm

sprinkles ice cream

my first visit to sprinkles ice cream.

i have so many eats to catch up on, after being away from cali for so long.

friends took me to sprinkles ice cream on the newport coast- i didn’t even know about this! i’ve been missing out.

heres a pic of all our orders.. yes, theres a sundae with a frosted cupcake top in there.

i ordered the red velvet ice cream sprinkles sandwich- with a double chocolate and a red velvet cupcake top.

 

super indulgent. a bit too much for me..

next time, i just need the red velvet ice cream. its amazing on its own.

xx

callaloo caribbean kitchen.

caribbean food at callaloo in long beach.

great place for good food and friendly service.

the green dish below is “callaloo.” its traditionally made of dasheen, which cannot be found in the states, so they use water spinach instead. its quite simillar to creamed spinach, with okra and onions.

below- a side order of plantains, that comes with the jerk chicken entree.

“buss up shut.” tore up roti, with mango dipping sauce.

jerk chicken entree.

macaroni pie. side order. sO good, surprisingly not greasy.

for dessert, sweet potato pone with coconut ice cream. sO good.

 

will def be returning.

xx

simple things

pies! simple things in la, on 3rd street.

we came here and grabbed an early bite before a show last weekend.  i lOve pies, savory and sweet, so when we walked by, i had to try it out.

simple white decor, brown paper and crayons. clean + quaint.

i started with tomato soup. thick, nice roasted flavor, but a tad bit on the salty side for me.

i got the organic chicken pot pie. it. was. delicious. with arugula salad on the side.

the savory filling was excellent, with huge pieces of chicken, almost coming out on my fork in strips. hearty, with a great creamy flavor.

for dessert, i tried two mini pies, the 2″ banana cream, and the cherry pie. both were okay, not especially amazing.. the banana cream was simple, with a crumble crust and a slice of banana with pudding. the cherry was sweet, and not tart enough for my liking. maybe the flavors weren’t as accurate because of the mini size..? i might try the bigger pie next time, to give it another chance.

b had the pumpkin whoopie pie, which he enjoyed.

the savory pies were excellent, the sweet pies fell a bit short after my expectations were raised.

overall a cute easy place to grab a bite.

http://www.simplethingsrestaurant.com/

xx

bruxies.

lunch at bruxies, chino hills.

this was our first time visiting this location. i like that it has more seating, and that their patio is dog friendly.

whats new..  the pastrami waffle sandwich, with thin sliced cucumber, slaw, and mustard. hearty and filling.

and my go-to fave, the prosciutto and gruyere.

mini bruxie maple syrup, (purchased separately) that my friend had me try-  it goes quite well with the flavors of this sandwich, and adds a sweet kick. i think im addicted.

love that bruxies has been expanding locations!

http://bruxie.com/

xx

paisano’s pizza.

we’ve moved back to CaLi!

first things first.

PIZZA. greasy american pizza. this is no gourmet pizza.. this is the fragrant cheesy late night kind, that you shamefully crave.

the pepperoni thin crust from paisano’s in hermosa beach, is the BEST.

 

its good to be home. for good.

xx