That Martha Stewart Event was just awful unless you got there really early or had VIP. I had a few good bites before the ferocious lines started:
Noree Thai/Luv2Eat - Tofu, Noodle and Curry
Border Grill - Barbacoa Taco
Gracias Madre - Jack fruit Taco (I think this was my favorite bite)
Can’t recall who had it ? - Escargot inside a fried arancini ball
Bazaar - Philly Cheese Steak
There was a super nice looking paella being done by Preaux & Proper but I could not get near it.
We got there late because my plus one had a previous engagement. The rum bar was ridiculous, but the wines down that neighborhood were easily obtainable.
I thought it was just me being old and not being excited about lines. Lesson learned. Probably going to stop going to these events in the future.
Cal Mare did an arancini but I’m pretty sure there wasn’t escargot inside or maybe they had run out of escargot by the time I got over there.
That’s why we ended up in Little Tokyo for Chinchikurin for takoyaki and okinomiyaki afterwards.
No it was not cal mare - they were in the gaggle of places with parks and border grill. This place was in the line that had makani, Noree Thai, cut. Might have been Antonia Lofansa’s (sp?)
Garlic & Chives (Artesia)
House special lobster…you can’t see it, but there are lobster noodles underneath. We loved the healthy aroma of lobster, butter, and aromatics. It was a female lobster, so there was also a healthy amount of roe.
For lunch #2, I got takeout from the soft opening at new XLB purveyor Dan (in Pasadena). (Lunch #1 was at original Arcadia Din Tai Fung, just to calibrate my tastebuds.)
Takeout comparison: Din Tai Fung (left), and Dan (right): The fillings were comparable in flavor and flavor. The skin is a bit thicker on the Dan XLBs (understandable; to properly contain larger volumes, a thicker membrane is necessary, given the same material). I actually like the thicker skinned XLBs here.
Scallion pancake: These tasted a bit too fried and taut, and not as supple as many might expect. And why is there a dipping sauce for these scallion pancakes? The pancakes are traditionally meant to be tasty enough to stand on their own.
Had really awesome Amatriciana and then polenta abruzzese with a sausage and pork rib at a neighborhood spot in Rome called Al Passetto di Borgo. Roasted chicken was good too
Ordered from Ruen Pair’s Thai-Chiu Chow/Chaozhou menu
Plain Rice Porridge
Salty Turnip and Egg
Water Spinach with Fermented Soybeans and Garlic with Fish Sauce/Lime/Garlic/Chiles
Thousand Year Old Egg with Basil and Chiles
SKIP the Char Kway Teow…wet mushy no heat not much different than 99% of Pad See Ews and Chow Funs in So Cal. No char no airyness no wok breath no fragrant
But the Laksa Mee with a generous squirts of that homemade hot sauce with handmade egg noodles that are springy is a damn good bowl of noodles!!
I went classy with these as well and ate them with my hands. I don’t know exactly how to eat these, but I folded it like a taco and ate it. It tasted much better eating this way than with a fork and knife.
Really good, first time trying because the lines were so long before. The nori they use is excellent, really tender. The furikake and the glaze together made the musubi a little too sweet, but overall I really enjoyed it.
Our friends live in that part of Downey and we find ourselves at Class 302 a lot. I thought I was the only one who thought the medium has a tad more kick than usual. I’m the only one game enough for medium…the rest of those chickens won’t touch it. Haven’t been to any other branch in a while, so I can’t compare. Thanks for letting me know that my taste buds aren’t faulty.
Cheap nori usually is chewy. I order a lot of SPAM musubi and a lot of places use cheaper nori which is a disaster as you do not eat it in one bite much like a hand roll. Better quality nori usually is more tender in tensile strength. One can easily eat the musubi without the nori becoming a nuisance as far as the rice and SPAM spilling out when taking a bite.
Musubi Monster in Orange, for instance, uses a cheaper nori sheet and it becomes a disaster. Shakas in Monterey Park and Musubi Mama use better quality nori to where you can take a bite without compromising the structural integrity of the musubi.
Usually good nori is crisp but tender to the bite and can most often make a perfect bite mark. Great nori will seemingly melt apart in your mouth. Crap nori is like a rubber band.
HiroNori Craft Ramen (Irvine)
This was a fail. The tonkotsu broth was way salty…like a salt lick. The corn and bamboo slices only mildly helped. The chashu is sous vide and then charred for color. Mine was so charred, I considered it burned and bitter. The only positive is that their egg is spot on, but I didn’t like how it was not sliced in half at delivery. I have no idea why this joint is so crowded and popular. Not going to let my friend pick lunch next time.
