Boba Drinks

The mechanics of how boba gets sucked up!

Hey guys! I know it's been a while. And I haven't drawn much food in my last few blogs so here's a gif  I made! Today I'm going to talk about boba or bubble tea. Boba are tapioca balls cooked to create a delicious sweet chewy ball. We usually get boba in milk tea, but it can also be in slushies, fruit smoothies, coffee, or any other type of drink.

Usually when I go to my grandparents house we get boba from a chain place called Lollicup. Lollicup is really good. It has many different flavors of ice tea or fruit smoothies. We don't really have any boba places on the Westside, so when we are in the mood for boba we go to Volcano Tea. I'm not complaining though, because Volcano Tea is fantastic. If you haven't heard of it, it's very popular. It, like most of the restaurants I blog about, is on Sawtelle. The only problem is is that there is usually a very long line. The service is very good though and the employees are able to take peoples orders fast and keep the line moving.

I really like Volcano Ice because in the boba drinks you can really taste the tea and not just the boba.  My sister likes to get Oolong milk tea a lot, which is really good.  Plus, they do not make the tea too sweet. The boba is also very chewy and delicious.

If you haven't had boba before, go try it because it's an experience sucking chewing balls with your drink! Tell me if there are any boba places that are good that I haven't heard about.

Lollicup website: http://www.lollicup.com/
Volcano Tea House website:http://easywaysusa.com/

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza (Pitfire, Abbots and Mozza)

Usually when people eat pizza they think of red sauce, cheese, and occasionally pepperoni or another kind of topping.

Our favorite place to go for pizza is Pitfire Pizza. We love going to Pitfire Pizza for gourmet pizza. They have so many different and unique kinds of pizza that they serve. Unlike most pizza places, I don't think you can find a plain cheese pizza at Pitfire's. They have a spicy shrimp pizza (Big Sur), Greens Eggs and Ham (It has a giant egg on it!) , mushroom pizza (Field Mushrooms) , and a lot more. Pitfire Pizza also sells many different types of drinks such as cream soda and boxed water. The pizzeria is very kid friendly, but adults like it too because they can get a class of wine there and feel civilized.

Pitfire's pizza dough is really good. It's crispy and thin and makes the pizza seem very light. The pizza's are delicious and we always go to Pitfire if friends come over. It's usually pretty crowded though. Aside from pizza they have great salads and pasta too and a great soft served ice cream.

Heirloom Tomato Pizza at Pitfire

We also like to go to Abbot's pizza. Even though we like Pitfire more, Abbot has an interesting pizza crust that's made from bagel dough!!! It's heavier, but quite good too. The mushroom pizza at Abbot's is outstanding.

Wild mushroom pizza with bagel crust at Abbots

We've been to fancy schmancy Pizzeria Mozza which is owned by famous Iron Chef Mario Batali. However, for the same kind of gourmet pizza as Pitfire, this Mozza is too expensive and not as kid friendly. Frankly, we don't think it's as good, pizza-wise or money-wise.

Pizza from Pizzeria Mozza

So, anyways, instead of eating regular cheese pizza all the time try something new! All three of these places have great pizza. Tell us which one you like the most!

All the contact information can be found here:

Abbot's Pizza: http://abbotspizzaco.com/
Pitfire Pizza: http://www.pitfirepizza.com/
Pizza Mozza: http://www.pizzeriamozza.com/LA/home.cfm

Good Girl Dinette

Hi everyone! Here's a good restaurant in Highland Park near the Metro Gold Line. It's a bit of a drive from the westside and it is in a very... artsy neighborhood. We decided to try Good Girl Dinette because they gave out promotional chips at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. THEY WERE GOOD.

Good Girl Dinette serves Vietnamese fusion food and it's done very well. Sometimes fusion food is not done very well making diners rather have the original ethnic dish, but not with Good Girl Dinette! Unlike most asian fusion restaurants, the food they serve is spicy and savory.  Each item they have on the menu is unique and accompanied with original homemade sauces created by chef Diep Tran. (The lemongrass chili oil is SUPER GOOD). I would definitely get the chili fries which is spicy and tossed with chili and garlic, with a dipping cilantro mayo. There is a different special on the menu everyday, depending on the vegetables and items in season. Chef Trans buys them from the farmer's market. My sister got Grandma's Pho and I got a special Eggplant Rice Noodle Salad. Both were delish!

Eggplant Rice Noodle Salad

The homemade soda pops are also really good. The fruit used in the pops change depending on what's available in the farmer's market. Last time I got the Tangelo pop and my sister got the Blood Orange pop. They were both great.

Good Girl Dinette is very spacious, clean, and inviting. There are different pieces of artwork hanging on the walls. The day we were there there was a painting of a beautiful giant squash.


You can find all the information about Good Girl Dinette and the menu here:


http://goodgirldinette.com/ 

The Frying Scotsman

This post is about a  "restaurant" in Portland, Oregon....so if you go there, check it out! My family visited Oregon last year. . . I think? We were walking around the city center, looking at the many food carts in Portland, trying to find something to eat. As we were walking I saw a sign that looked like this:

Somehow, my brain dug deep into all of the memories hidden in my mind from when I was 8 or 9 and  my brain told me that I knew this symbol from somewhere. (We're learning about the brain in science!) So I told my parents and sister that this was a food truck featured on Food Network. So they trusted me and followed the sign. There we met James (the frying Scotsman). And he was definitely from Food Network. It's hard to forget him. He looks very distinct and he has the most awesome accent ever. He's from Scotland (obviously). Anyways, I was too shy to ask him about seeing him on TV, but my dad asked him for me and he said he was featured on Food Network (on something called Eat Street) ! It was so awesome! And I got to take a picture with him!  He actually said I could go inside the truck but my mom didn't hear him and just started taking the picture....so sucks for me. I could have been frying fish with him. Oh well. He was the nicest guy ever.

Me with James!

And the fish and chips? Best I've ever had. It's so light and crunchy and delicious. It is greasy...but what do you expect? It's fish and chips. I think we got the Halibut, Mahi Mahi....and maybe the Haddock? Sadly...we missed the part on the menu that said Deep Fried Mars Bars... I heard those were really good. Maybe next time.... It was definitely enough for one person. The portions are really big (but not too big). The portions are perfect and it's so good. I really want some now.

BEST FISH AND CHIPS EVER
Here's their website and all the information!

http://www.thefryingscotsmanpdx.com/


SW 9th and Alder, Portland, OR 97205


I didn't get to see Portland that much because we had to catch a train back to Seattle. But it was definitely worth going to there to eat at the 
Frying Scotsman!
Like them on Facebook if you try it!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Frying-Scotsman-Portland/135370609444

85 Degrees Celsius and JJ Bakery

Have you heard of 85 Degrees Celsius. If not then you must live under a rock! It's the most popular bakery right now. 85 Degrees Celsius is famous for having pretty original pastries. This ranges from delicious chocolate bread, or a decadent cream cheese....pastry thingamabob, to a taro bun, squid ink buns (which i have not tried yet) or just plain fluffy white bread. Each time you go  there there's something new. You go in and it's crazy. The store is packed with people and a giant line that usually goes out the door.

Look how packed it is!

You go into the store and you get a tray and a pair of tongs. Then you can walk around and go to the little compartments that store the pastries (which are warm inside) and pick whatever you want. You actually can see workers rushing back and forth, trying to push through the crowd to replace pastries with warm and freshly baked pastries.

Other pastry

Taro Bun

 It's crazy in there though. The taro pastries they have are always good. They also have sesame buns, red bean, giant (and I mean GIANT) bagel type stuff which are actually coated in sugar and other spices. You may want to bring a few people with you. One group of people can wait in line while you pick out what pastries you want. Once you get in line, you can choose drinks from the menu. This includes smoothies, hot chocolates, boba (which I love..a different post) and their famous Sea Salt Coffee brewed perfectly to 85 degrees Celsius.

Sea Salt Coffee!

Don't want to wait in line? Don't want sweets? Then go to JJ Bakery. JJ Bakery's pretty popular too...until 85 degrees Celsius came along. They serve delicious food, that can be salty or sweet. The have really good tofu soup and Nwo Mi Fan Twan (which is kind of a rice roll filled with meat and crunchy crullers)  and they have a delicious pork chashu rice bowl and noodles (including my favorite Beef Noodle Soup).

Beef Noodle Soup

JJ Bakery

Nuo mi fan tuan

Green Tea Mochi

 It's so delicious, my parents came to Big Bear to visit my cousin and I, who were in a Chinese Camp (but that's another story. :D), and brought two delicious pork chashu bowls with them. We weren't allowed to eat in the cabin but we sneaked it in. They had chopsticks in the bag too. While we ate...we kinda got carried away. It wasn't our fault, you'd think that at a Chinese Camp they'd have Chinese food, but they didn't.  We were getting antsy without our rice. So we took pictures of ourselves enjoying it.
Anyways, that means you have to try it. It was enough to have my cousin and I struggle through a few more days trying to speak Chinese (just kidding, it was actually pretty fun...but like I said that's a different story)

Hope you like these. I know I do... I really want some chinese food now. Sigh. This is what happens when you're a food critic.

Gourmet Vegetarian

The food at this restaurant is delicious. The food is all vegetarian, even their "fish", "pork" "chicken" and other meat dishes are made of faux meat, i.e. gluten or tofu. Gourmet Vegetarian is in San Gabriel Valley. We go to this restaurant quite often. I'm pretty surprised I haven't reviewed it yet. A lot of the dishes at this restaurant are so good. To accompany the dishes, you can order either (1) porridge and crispy fried bread, or (2) steamed brown rice and soup. We usually order the porridge and bread combination because the porridge is really tasty with pumpkin pieces in it. The crispy fried bread is stringy inside and slightly sweet.

crispy fried bread

For the main dishes, we usually order the tofu with bean crisps, the faux fish, bitter melon in black bean sauce(not my favorite but my mom likes it), tempeh cubes with 3 chilis, and abalone slices (which are really giant mushroom slices with bok choi). I also really like this one kind with strips of tofu and celery. It's really delicious, but I don't know what it's called! I think it's in the background of the bread picture above. The food is so tasty and we usually over order and over eat, thinking that it's healthy because it's all vegetarian. It always makes me feel happy when I'm done eating.

cubed tempeh with 3 chilis

bitter melon

tofu with crispy bean sauce

This kind of food is usually not available on the Los Angeles Westside. You have to go to the San Gabriel Valley for the Chinese vegetarian dishes, and Gourmet Vegetarian is the best vegetarian restaurant of them all. It must be good because you see Buddhist monks and nuns eating there too. Here is the information for Gourmet Vegetarian.

140 West Valley Boulevard San Gabriel,

CA 91776 (626) 280-5998

Jasmine: Burmese Food

Jasmine is a small restaurant that sells Burmese food. The food is really delicious. Whenever we don't know what to eat, we always go to Jasmine. My personal favorite is the Chicken Curry. My sister usually gets the Chicken Tandoori, and my dad sometimes gets the Keema Curry. All of these are really good. The vegetable curry is delicious also, but that comes as a side if you get a different lunch special. The prices are really cheap also and you can see the chefs in the back making naan. A lunch special ranges from $3.99 to $6.99 and they all come with vegetable curry, rice, and naan. A lot of food is put into one plate and definitely enough for one person.

Jasmine not only sells delicious food, they also sell a few other things too. They sell Sriracha (which is GREAT with almost everything), pickled bamboos, rice, other foods in jars, different kinds of corn meal/ grains, and a lot more.

There is also a freezer with different Burmese ice creams and a refrigerator with different types of drinks. Our favorite type of drink to get here is the Grass Jelly Drink. It may sound, kind of weird, but it's very good. (Do NOT get mistaken as Grass Jelly banana drink because my mom accidentally bought four cans once and it tasted horrible) Grass Jelly has a jelly consistency and a very unique flavor. We eat it a lot when we get Chinese shaved ice in the San Gabriel Valley.

The only problem with Jasmine is when you'll get your food. Sometimes you can get your food in 5 minutes. (It's actually been pretty fast recently). Other times you can wait a lot longer. Okay, maybe it's not that long, but when you see other people's food and the smell of naan and curry, it can seem like a long time.

Here's the info below:

Jasmine:

4135 1/2 Sepulveda Blvd, Culver City, CA 90230

(310) 313-3767

Bahn Mi Cho Cu: The Best Vietnamese Sandwiches

My mom told me a little while ago about this place and bought a couple of their sandwiches before, but I never actually went to Bahn Mi Cho Cu until last week.

We had President's Day weekend off, and so we decided to check out the Terra Cotta Warrior exhibit at the Bower Museum before it leaves in March. Bahn Mi Cho Cu is a very little store (I guess sort of a hole in the wall) inside a mini mall in Orange County's Little Saigon. They sell all kinds of pre-made vietnamese delicacies, but most importantly, they sell Vietnamese sandwiches. Their store is not very inviting and filled with all kinds of food. Most of the other things they sell are sweet.

They sell boba drinks, teas, and grass jelly drinks but the drink we had was super sweet. Even when the ice melted it was still way too sweet for our tastes. I don't think the other drinks are much better either, but if you find one that isn't that sweet please go ahead and comment below.

The sandwich however, is a completely different story. We get the Bahn Mi special. This sandwich is so delicious. The homemade bread is so light and buttery and delicious. The sandwich is filled with pickled daikons and carrots, crispy cucumbers, and a very spicy (depends on the sandwich) jalapeno. The sandwich has thinly sliced Vietnamese ham, and pate. I love Vietnamese sandwiches, but ones from this place is so much better. They don''t stuff it with meat, and the French bread is light and airy inside but crispy outside. The price is amazing. The sandwiches are $2.50 each. If you buy four you get two free, so that's six giant sandwiches for $10. You may want to buy extras though and store it in your fridge for lunch, dinner, breakfast, and a midnight snack. Or for any time.

After you eat this sandwich you won't want any other Vietnamese sandwich besides this one. This is truly the one and only Vietnamese sandwich.

Maybe I'm not making it clear enough, but you have to try this sandwich. This is the ultimate Vietnamese sandwich. You should be able to tell how good this sandwich is by how much bold I am using in this post. I don't usually bold this much. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

PLEASE TRY BAHN MI CHO CU'S BAHN MI SPECIAL, and tell me what you think about it. :)

Here is the address below:

Bahn Mi Cho Cu

14520 Magnolia St.

West Minster

I hope I go there tomorrow!

Hole in the Wall

Hmmm.. talking about hole in the walls... there is an amazing burger restaurant called Hole in the Wall. It is literally a hole in the wall. It is behind Winchell's doughnuts, but it's always packed! When you walk into the "restaurant" on the left hand side you will see a tin can filled with sharpies and stacks of papers. The papers let you create your burger however you want, or order the burger of the week. You then can give your order to the person at the cash register and pay there. They call out your name when your burger is done. Once, my sister's friend put on the card "Voldemort" and my sister put "Albus Severus Potter". The man at the counter actually said "Albus Severus Potter" but instead of saying "Voldemort" he said "The one whose name shall not be spoken"

When you get your burger, it's going to look massive. However the burgers are so delicious you can always eat one all by yourself. Sharing would be recommended if you are expecting a regular burger. The meat is cooked perfectly and the condiments are so unique. There is Cranberry Mayo, homemade ketchup, onion mayo, and Chipotle mayo. They also allow you to add "extra stuff" for an extra $1.00 each, which include apple wood smoked bacon, avocado, fried egg (my personal favorite), sauteed mushrooms, and sauteed onions. The brioche bun is really good and fluffy. You can add fries or sweet potato fries to go with your burger too.










Although the place is a hole in the wall, they managed to make it very pleasant, especially on warm days. You can sit outside, which is very nice when the weather is warm, and they have sailboat sails that they roll out above to allow some shade. It's very relaxing, however you don't pay much attention to that when your eating your massive, yet gourmet, burger. (This is at the Santa Monica location at least... I never went to the one in West Hollywood)

They have two locations:

Santa Monica:
11058 Santa Monica Blvd.
at South Bentley Avenue (behind Winchell's Donuts)
310-312-7013

West Hollywood:
7998 Santa Monica Blvd.
at Laurel Ave. (1 block east of Crescent Heights)
323-654-0484

Their website is pretty hilarious, and very informative, check it out!
http://www.holeinthewallburgerjoint.com/

I think that they only take cash, but check the website to find out more information.

Mexican Food + Sushi?

So, if you're not as adventurous and would not like to go to El Atacor #11, another great Mexican food place is Taqueria Sanchez. Although, the place is also a hole in the wall, it's a little bit nicer and in a better neighborhood. (I think all of the good mexican food places are hole in the walls) They have a wide variety of salsas there including a guacamole-like sauce. The "pico de gallo" is good, like most "pico de gallo". The fish tacos are very good there, and although the food is pretty greasy, most Mexican food is like that. My sister always orders the sopes, which are her favorite. If you decide your not in the mood for a heavy meal, there is always a very busy sushi place right next door called Sakura. Sakura has pretty good sushi, (I really don't remember because I went there a long time ago). You have to wait a really long time though, because of how busy it is. The only types of sushi places we go to are Hide Sushi, Sushi Gen, Torafuku, Sushi Central, and Sakura. Out of all of them, Sakura is definitely not my favorite, but the types of sushi they have there are very original. Hide Sushi is very good. Sushi Central is not bad, they must have been pretty good to beat Bobby Flay in a throwdown. I don't think their sushi is very special except for the Ono. IT IS AMAZING. NO JOKE. They sear the fish and it melts in your mouth, it's so delicious. Torafuku is good for both sushi and noodles. (other japanese foods also) Sushi Gen is very good. I haven't been there in quite a while because it is in Downtown and it also happens to be a full house everytime we go there. Also, the artwork there is beautiful. I have yet to try the long awaited Sushi Stop. I've heard it is very good. I went around seven and it was packed. It doesn't help that there is NO seating. :( If you've tasted Sushi Stop please post some feedback! (or on any other sushi/mexican places! Thanks!)

I think it's funny that I went from Mexican food to Japanese food. My family and I made sushi last night so I suppose that's why I'm thinking about it so much. Hmm.. I guess that's all I can say in this post... so have fun trying these restaurants!

Here is all the restaurant info:

Taqueria Sanchez:

4541 S Centinela Ave

Los Angeles CA 90066

Sakura:

4545 S Centinela Ave

Los Angeles 90066

(I TOLD YOU THEY ARE LITERALLY RIGHT NEXT TO EACHOTHER!)

Hide Sushi:

They have a website yay!

http://www.hidesushi.com/

2040 Sawtelle Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Sushi Gen:

YES! ANOTHER WEBSITE!

http://sushigenla.com/

422 E Second St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Torafuku:

Mmmm.. looks good

http://www.torafuku-usa.com/

10914 W. Pico Blvd.,
Los Angeles,CA 90064

(This place is also next to an AMAZING indian place... But I'm straying from the topic..sorry.)

Sushi Central:

http://sushi-central.net/

3500 Overland Ave. #100
Los Angeles, CA 90034

Taquerias El Atacor #11

Wow, I have a lot to say about this restaurant. The neighborhood that you find the restaurant in is definitely not the best, and inside, the restaurant is not good either. This place, is literally a hole in the wall. How I would describe it is by using the word "grub". El Atacor #11 (don't get confused with the other El Atacors) doesn't smell the best either, and it's freezing inside. There are several game machines and an oldjukebox that plays Mexican music. They have the claw game and also some random arcade game. My cousins and I borrowed two quarters from our parents and put them into the claw machine, hoping to win something. Sadly, nothing happened. Angrily my cousins and I pressed the coin return button and out popped our two quarters... and two more. That's pretty good don't you think? We put in 50 cents and we got $1.00 back! Anyways, I'm not posting this just to talk about how sucky the decor is, (haha get it? El Atacor...decor) the food is what I'm here to talk about. The absolute BEST item you can get there (in my opinion) is the POTATO TACOES!!!! REMEMBER THAT!!!! It is soooooo (x100000000000) good. The potatoes and tacos are fried together till they are so crispy and delicious. They have an amazing type of "pico de gallo" that is a lot spicier but it is so delicious! If you are around the area you MUST go just for the potato tacos. Plus it is super cheap. Ten potato tacos are only $7.00. Can you believe it? It's so good! It comes with a guacamole dressing and sour cream drizzled on top. Uggghhh it's so delicious. Hopefully you get to taste the taco before changing your mind from the look of this hole in the wall.

El Atacor #11 have your standard burritos and stuff like that too. The burritos are humongous though, so you have to share it with someone or have a big appetite.

You don't go to El Atacor #11 for the burritos though... I mean you could but...the potato tacos are just so good. I guess I'm sounding pretty repetitive now plus I keep on gulping, so I'm going to move on. :)

Here's the address:

2622 N Figueroa St

Los Angeles, CA 90065

Neighborhood: Cypress Park

Have fun! Maybe you'll be lucky and get twice as much money as you put in the game machines like me!

It's kind of creepy in the restaurant too... It's okay if you take your potato tacos and run..maybe eat in the car.

AGHHH!!! The drawings I make are coming out so small! As soon as I fix the problem I will edit the blog.

HAPPY 2012!!!

Hope you like my drawing! I love Adobe Illustrator...

Sadly I'm not sure if I love the new year as much. In my mind it means more school. Anyways, I hope everyone has a great New Year!

Chabuya: Ramen...again huh? hehe

Although I am reviewing another ramen place, this one is definitely worth it. It is a LOT better than the others, in my opinion... Although I love California Ramen. Anyways, the restaurant is called Chabuya. It is, again, on Sawtelle. (Speaking about places on Sawtelle, there is a new Sushi place that opened called Sushi Stop. It is REALLY busy and apparently amazing. Any feedback? I have never been there before, and may want to try it.) Everything is about Chabuya is amazing. The prices aren't too high (considering the size), the rice bowls are good (I love the pork chashu bowl), the noodles are great, and the broth is so delicious. So far, my favorite ramen is the Kara Kara Ramen. It is spicy and delicious, although they do have classic ramen there as well. It's a great deal it you get a lunch combo, in which you get a mini rice bowl (and trust me it is NOT mini...especially the curry) with your ramen for only $3 extra.

The broth is delicious in all of the ramen, and not too rich like another place I went to.... Although, if you guys want "traditional" ramen. I would not recommend Chabuya, because a few people can get picky.... I like it, just like California Ramen, but I guess that's just my opinion.

Sadly they don't have a website, but here is the address:

2002 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-9834

Kara Kara Ramen!!! :P

I don't know what I am supposed to draw now after already drawing ramen.... :) I'll think it over.