Part 2 allegedly confirmed.
Santa?
A unicorn?
What does he have to do with this?
I went to the Hedley & Bennett sale this morning and was hoping to try the kabocha and charred eggplant from the Shao Kao BBQ truck, but they were still setting up when I got there. I thought my husband would be able to try Howlin’ Ray’s, but they didn’t show up…at least when I was at the sale. Alas, I went to the American Tea Room for a matcha latte, and I picked up collard greens, a bulgar salad, veggie nuggets, and a veggie burger from Locol.
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What - no iced coffee?!?! That matcha latte looks intense. It must have really hit the spot.
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Actually, I did get an iced coffee from Locol. I drank it before I took the photo. Ah, the iced matcha latte from American Tea Room was very, very satisfying. They know how to treat their tea with respect, instead of weighing it down with oodles of sugar. I sampled their genmaicha, which was quite excellent - perfectly nutty and earthy. I need to pick up a bag the next time I’m there.
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How were the veggie nuggets? They were out when I went, so I wasn’t able to try 'em.
And have you had the soft serve? The twist is damn near perfect.
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I had a good day yesterday.
Lodge Bread - We got the cinnamon roll, babka, avocado toast and a roll of seeded. Avocado with radishes and salt/herbs isn’t revolutionary or hard to replicate at home, but the toast was so great. Really made it. I wasn’t going to get the babka, but everyone in front of me ordered it, so what else was I supposed to do? Both the roll and babka were good. Think the sourness that both of them have works better with the babka with the chocolate balancing it out.
Taco Maria - I’ve only had the lunch a la carte there, but it’s been so freaking good every time. We split the aguachile, caesar salad and brocoli con chorizo. Sweet child of mine that aguachile. I’ve thought about it since I had it last visit, and I will continue to think of it fondly. It’s so bright and tart and spicey. I’m on a big caesar kick, and this was a good one. Nice mix with the lemon zest and anchoiade. For tacos, I had one pescado frito and one tocino. The fish taco is good but not my favorite. The pork belly was new for me, and I liked its smokiness. Had a bite of the chicken mole as well, and it had a nice heat. I love being there. Have to try dinner/brunch.
Theorem (the Porotola coffee concept bar next to Taco Maria) - Worth the visit alone, I think. There’s definitely an element of gimmick, but all of the drinks I’ve had there have been genuinely good and interesting. It feels like there’s real thought and testing behind each coffee cocktail. This month’s theme is Wes Anderson. Next month will be Tiki. Here’s the menu:
Ayara Thai - Had been there before but wanted to try the pad thai after its mention on EaterLA. It tasted like a good pad thai, as far as pad thai goes. Maybe not at the same level as Pok Pok but still a good meal and a lot closer than Chinatown.
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The veggie nuggets are very good. I"m very fond of the tarragon mustard sauce that comes with it.
I’ve been meaning to try the soft serve, as I’ve heard great things about it, but I just never order it. I’ll have to finally get a cup my next trip. The woman waiting in line next to me got a sundae, and it looked so perfectly decadent.
@President_Mochi, have you tried their collard greens?It’s my favorite thing on the menu - just smoky vegetable goodness.
No, but now the collard greens (along with the veggie nuggets) are on my list for my next visit, which I intend to be soon. Thanks!
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Went to Hot Red Bus in Alhambra on Friday for fish and chips and they have a few Friday Lent specials. We opted for the Captain’s Catch which is 3 pieces of swai, 2 pieces of cod, 2 pieces of pollack, 6 fried shrimp, chips, and cole slaw for $39.99. Fish was fried to perfection.
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That is my dream meal, @J_L! Chirashi for an early Hinamatsuri?
Hina arare (sweet rice crackers) from Nijiya and sakuramochi from the Okabe Seifunjo pop-up at Mitsuwa in Torrance. Most times, mochi is a little too sweet for me. The sakuramochi had chunky rice, a nice an (sweet bean) filling, and was perfectly balanced by the pickled cherry blossom leaf. It was so exquisite, I wish I had bought more of the sakuramochi… This was an early Hinamatsuri (Girl’s Day) celebration.
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A relatively big eating weekend (for me)… 
Fri dinner at Tender Greens. I normally love the place, but the special pasta (tuna confit w/ radishes and green beans) was a TOTAL fail. The tuna was bone dry (it was hard to pierce the tuna was a fork), and there were huge chunks of pasta stuck together (one clump was at least 2" x 1"). Seasoning was good. After I found a fourth chunk of pasta, I politely took the plate back to the counter and asked for a falafel plate (they graciously agreed to make the switch).
Sat lunch at Dai Ho. Dan dan mien (large w/ a little bit of chili oil), bean curd, tofu, vegetable dry sesame noodle, minced beef noodles, and sliced beef (not sure what the correct name for it is). All was very good (aside from the sliced beef, which was a bit dry; my father said it was exemplary the first time he had it). I could’ve used a bit more chew to the dan dan noodles, but the sauce had nice depth to it. The smaller size prob would’ve been sufficient.
Lodge Pizza Night. Ugh. It was totally packed in there (at 5:15PM) and there was one very large, very noisy party next to us that order 10 pizzas, even though only half the party had shown up. I think we waited leasted 30 min for the pizza. The crust was good, but the crowd tonight (I heard one of the employees telling a customer that such a large crowd was unusual) showed some, er, production issues. Aside from the very long wait for the pizza, people who had ordered after us got their pizzas first, and the employee insisted on us coming up to the cashier to get our pizza, despite the fact that I could barely stand up and rotate in place. ::shrug:: The party next to me also annoyed me b/c of one of them took large amts of uneaten crust and dumped it in the trash. Thanks for sucking up resources and then showing a disregard for the product.
The pizza itself was good… but I think the bakers were rushing to get the pizzas out, so the crust vs. the central part of the pie wasn’t very well-defined and there wasn’t anything close to an even amount of ricotto on the slices. And the pea tendrils needed to be cut (not sure how I was supposed to eat an 8-in strand of pea tendril). And the crust is a bit more bready than I like.
Truth be told, for roughly the same price, I like Milo and Olive pizza WAY better (it’s also much closer to where I live).
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And who are they? 
Live spot prawns, Washington State dungeness crab, and live abalone at Hmart.
