Now, correct me if I am wrong here, but those waffles don’t seem to be buttered at all…
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Hahaha!! Chicken n Waffle Stir Fry was my first thought!
And they serve their butter melted and yellow in a little cup! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not watching my butter intake!
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Lol it looks like you cut up every “square” of that waffle
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Tacos Aquí Mero, La Puente.
While certainly this small stand will not be topping any FTC taco lists in the near future, it was worth checking out for their Hidalgo-style barbacoa, which is very good.
Sometime around last summer, a new Hidalgo-style barbacoa purveyor was born that goes by the name of Tacos Aquí Mero. True to form, tacos were the main item on offer, barbacoa de chivo available in both soft and crispy fried tortillas.
The team first moved to an Arco station in East Los Angeles, but has relocated to a high-speed stretch of Amar Road between California and Unruh Avenues. Since there is no stopping on Amar, you are better off approaching the stand from the neighborhood just south of Amar and parking on Foxworth Avenue.
Catching up with them on a recent chilly and windy Sunday morning (the stand is open Saturday and Sunday only from 07:00 to 15:00), it was also of note that they sell a beautiful consomé to accompany your taco orders, and the hot broth was much appreciated.
One of the nicest features of the stand is the availability of three homemade salsas, each presented in a giant molcajete. The salsa verde goes very well with their barbacoa, while the orange habañero is ready to make you sweat whenever called upon.
Tacos de barbacoa ($2 each, above) are placed on nicely warmed tortillas and given plain. The condiment bar is ready for you to top each with your desired amount of onions, cilantro, and lime juice, as well as the salsas. On warmer days, their aguas frescas will need to be explored.
On Facebook the team talks about taking no shortcuts in their preparation and using pencas de maguey (agave leaves) during the overnight cooking process. The barbacoa itself does not defy this, rich, smoky and smooth with so much juiciness.
A cup of consomé (above, available in $2 and $4 sizes) is a clean but very complex broth. It is not served with any goat meat, so they offer chickpeas and rice if you would like to make it a bit more hearty. Either way, it is wonderful to sip on between bites of tacos, especially on cold winter weekends.
They also sell their barbacoa by the pound for those wanting to cater their own family breakfasts at home. Look for the bright sign below the next time you are passing through La Puente.
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Midoh in Rowland Heights. The best Hamburg steak I’ve ever had* (*maybe had Hamburg steak 2-3 times in my life).
Great donkatsu. Good fry. The loin was much juicier than the filet. No surprise there.
Kids loved the mabeyaki udon with beef. Shabu shabu like meat. Good beef broth not too salty and very nice soft boiled egg.
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Best hamburg in SoCal. I always get the curry hamburg and add cheese, they give you a chili condiment to spice up the heat level of the curry which add to the awesomeness of the dish.
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Appollonias finally made it. Just plain cheese, super delicious cheese skirt, airy crunchy dough, zesty tomato sauce. Jumped to my favorite pan style pizza (although I don’t think there that many…prime and wagon?)
Bang bang with kazu nori
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Those succulent ribs prepared with love by Chef @JLee at Pearl River Deli (Chinatown) were spectacular.
Attended a kid’s birthday party, and one of the parents demonstrates mad baking skillz…
Freshly squeezed sugarcane juice, from Saigon Deli, after the Firecracker Run (Chinatown)… #carbloadaftertheracetoo
Lions’ head, dongpo pork and Longjing tea shrimp: All wonderfully scrumptious iterations of Zhejiang cuisine, from Jiang Nan Spring (Alhambra). The place was packed.
Despite its kitschy plating, the “squirrel” flash fried fish showed subtlety between its sweet and sour notes, which I found better than the fried seaweed fish most other tables were ordering… #nosqirlsactuallyinvolved
Boysenberry pie alert at The Apple Pan!!!
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Holy sh*t, that is some impressive piping!!!
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I had much the same response (though, having less restraint, I didn’t bleep myself big, big grin)!
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Went to Everest this weekend with Mrs. WireMonkey:
We stan this place so hard.
They make such a perfectly wrapped sandwich (BLAT in this case) and cut it in half for easy access.
Also, as I might have mentioned elsewhere, their breakfast burritos are my Socratic ideal. I’m not saying they’re fancy but 1) it’s served all day, 2) they offer all their meats as a filling option (ham, sausage, bacon, pastrami and chili), 3) the burrito gets griddled and 4) they wrap it up the middle for easy unwrapping while you drive:
Very serviceable red and green salsa, too (although I’ve noticed the green has been a little thin lately).
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Apollonia’s square is the truth! Up there with Mama’s Too, Prince St, LB Spumoni or whatever prototype Detroit/Sicilian is your Rosebud.
That their best thing, the squares, are barely available, don’t get me started. And that it takes them a good 20 minutes to heat it up.
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Yeah they had bacon one that came fresh out of the oven and it looked insane but I didn’t want to be greedy
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Is Longjing tea shrimp on special menu? I don’t see it on their regular menu.
First time eating montas at Monta Factory in Glendale. I appreciate the texture of the dumplings from the baking process and I enjoyed the dumplings more after I left and let that sweet sweet after taste linger. I would get the sauce on the side next time.
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Ah yes, it’s written in Chinese as 龍井蝦仁 on the Specials Menu (on the pink paper in the plastic display of each table)… Apologies.
Costa (Whittier)
A new seafood focused restaurant in Uptown Whittier decorated with modern flourishes and a live band on weekends. They’ve got a full bar and plenty space to hold private parties. The menu is slightly confusing…lots of seafood…and the dishes skew Spanish and Mexican…but they also use yuzu and chimichurri…and they also offer tacos and pizza. 
Grilled pulpo starter…it was a touch over cooked. But the spices and the accoutrements made it tasty. It was rather large, too…and reasonably priced at $13, but I wouldn’t order it again.
We also at the crispy pork belly…which was plated well and tasted okay…but the pork belly pieces were improperly cooked. Some pieces were all dried out and over while other pieces were perfect. The most solid dish we had was the roasted beet and spinach salad. We were more impressed with their complimentary chips and roasted salsa…it was smokey and spicy. The chips were a mixture of big and thin blue corn tostadas and thick and small white corn tostadas…served warm. I think we got full off of the tostadas and salsa alone.
What was impressive was their cocktail program. Drinks were super good here…balanced and made with fresh juices. They’ve inventive garnishes (macerated dragon fruit and hibiscus flowers) and we ran through about half the menu.
Service was super friendly…it’s only been open a couple of months so I can tell they’re trying hard to encourage people to return.
The husband loved it…I’m on the fence, but would come back for the chips/salsa and bar alone.
The Nixon (Whittier)
From a drinks and dessert standpoint, I think it’s started it’s down slide. No more table side dessert…and my tiramisu was bleh…the one I make is better. The husband had a nice pear tart. But what stuck me most were that the bar program isn’t as good as it used to be. Drinks were unbalanced…and the crowd was now more casual than what it used to be. Maybe it was because it was later and they were changing it over to be a bar/lounge after dinner and they had 2 parties of about 100 people each coming in. It was very different from my experience a year ago. Katsuji Tanabe should really check in more on his house here.
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Monsieur Benjamin - SF
Housemade Dried Sausage, Little Beak Peppers, Cornichon
Abalone, Lemon, Caper
Endive and Apple Salad with Walnuts, Fourme d’Ambert Blue Cheese, Banyuls Vinairgrette
Onion Soup Gratinée, Beef Broth, Gruyère, Croûtons
Crêpe au Sarrasin ! Ham, Cheese, Mushroom, Spinach, Egg
Rum Raisin
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