Japan in California: Yamashiro Japanese Restaurant

I love Japanese food. People close to me (and those who see me wolf down sashimi) know how much I just adore it. And every time I eat out, one of the cuisines I consider is Japanese. I'll either crave for salmon sashimi, ramen, tempura, udon, or whatnot. It must be my anime addiction that caused this. Anyway, on my last night in Los Angeles, my aunt R treated me to this nice restaurant overseeing LA. 

Hello, Yamashiro!

The place is so Japanese! It felt like I was really in Japan though I'll never know because I have never been there. I wanted to capture every corner of the place with pictures. I was like a kid trying to ingrain every bit of detail in my mind as this place is simply... amazing. At least for me. 

 It was rather chilly that day but we didn't care and took pictures like it's nothing!

We ordered though before we went out to capture the beauty of the place. We ordered Wakame Seaweed Salad ($12), Pistachio Salmon ($16), Truffle Hamachi ($16), Spicy Seafood Hot Pot ($10), and Duck Confit Asian Cobb (forgot to take note of the price of this one). For dessert, we had Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich ($12) and Banana Fritters (price was not in the menu as well).

The Wakame Seaweed Salad's serving was pretty stingy. Luckily though they gave us an extra serving for... FREE! The power of the people I'm with. :D The taste though was your typical seaweed salad. You could get a huge serving of it if you buy the ingredients yourself.

The Spicy Seafood Hot Pot wasn't spicy at all. It was served warm and it was a good appetizer. All the ingredients (shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, mussels, and scallop) were fresh. Yum! However, the serving, again, was too small.

Gluttonshopper on an L.A. (Mis)Adventure

If you're in L.A., a car is not a want, it's a necessity. Going around places is difficult without one. But the thing is, if you don't have one, you can't keep on relying on someone who has. You just have to brave it up and explore! And so I did.

During my first trip in L.A., I was with my mom and sister and we used to take the bus together. We have been to Chinatown, Glendale, and Hollywood via bus. And we didn't get lost at all thanks to the detailed bus route from one of my aunts. (Plus you are braver when you're with someone.) I also took the bus last year once on my own and I was confident simply because I know where I was going, my favorite mall, Americana.

From Beametrobusoperator.com

But yesterday was a different situation. I wanted to visit my Aunt's dad who got confined in a hospital in Glendale but I have no idea how to go there from Carson. And I have never tried riding the bus around Carson. 

 

So I did a bit of research and found some apps to use. I downloaded four but ended up using just one and deleted the other two since they were all MAJOR FAIL. I kept the other one for double checking routes and schedules.

Restaurant Love: Thai Original BBQ and Restaurant

A trip to L.A. is not complete without stopping by Thai Original BBQ restaurant. For the past two trips, I always make time to visit this place and order the chicken with shrimp rice meal. And last Sunday was the "day" for it.

After attending service at Dream Center, N and I decided to have lunch. At first, we were unsure on where to eat as we were not really craving for a specific cuisine or dish. Then it struck me, I want chicken from Thai Original BBQ. 

Photo taken last 2011.

Ordering was a breeze since I know what I want. One S-1 (Kai Yang Dinner or Chicken Barbeque, $8.75) please! N ordered S-2 (Barbeque Pork Spare Rib Dinner, $9.65). 

The service was really fast! It took them less than 5 minutes to serve our food. I guess the dishes are ready and just needed to be plated. 

Oh how I miss this big serving of chicken! The meat is well cooked and the rice is to die for. The shrimps were fresh too! Plus that special sauce is deeelicious!

Restaurant Discovery: Yellow House Café

I just love visiting Koreatown in Los Angeles. There are a lot of cute restaurants and cafés (and some of which are in Manila too) open till the wee hours just like how things are in Seoul. The place I visited this time seems to be a popular one as it was still packed at 8 p.m..

Meeting up with K and T guarantees that we eat somewhere cute or fancy. (So, horray for me! I'll have something nice to blog about!) This time, they decided that we have dinner at Yellow House Café .

We met up a little bit past 8 p.m. and we had to wait for a table to clear up. Apparently, the bigger the party, the more difficult it is for you to get a table.

While waiting, we all decided that we order something to pass time since we were all too hungry to wait. K and I ordered Cheese Tteokbokki ($10.95). 

Happy Lunch: Maui Style Hawaiian BBQ

I remember the first time I explored L.A. alone was the day I shopped my heart out. I got a free ride from G going to Americana (one of my favorite places), then I went straight to Forever 21 and H&M in search for thicker clothes. After a while I decided to go to Galleria and visited Cotton On, another Forever 21, and The Body Shop. It took me a while before I realized that I missed lunch time. So with paper bags in tow, I went straight to Galleria’s food court to grab a meal. I remember that the meal was around $10 and it was HUGE. I had a hard time finishing it. So when N1 and I went to Citadel with N2 and S, I made sure that the meal we’ll order will be for sharing.

It’s shopping time again. Funny how most people tend to be on extreme shopping mode whenever their vacation is about to end. It happens to me every time and I spent a lot of time in Walmart buying chocolates.

It was past noon when we decided to have lunch and headed to the food area of the outlet. We spotted Maui Style Hawaiian BBQ and since they offer heavy meals, we went in. (Oh rice, why are you so attractive?)

There's rice there somewhere.

N1 and I ordered the Beef and Chicken meal ($7.49) for sharing while N2 and S ordered a meal each—beef and shrimp combo and beef and Maui Crunch Roll.

And the winner of the In-N-Out vs. Tommy's match is...

“In-N-Out is nothing!” That was what one of our hosts in the US told me when I told him that we ate at In-N-Out and loved it. Of course I was shocked with his comment convincing me to believe that there’s a way better burger. Well, I know that for sure there is but on the fast food level, In-N-Out was pretty good. “You have got to try Tommy’s,” he added.  As a foodie, that sentence intrigued me… a lot.

While on our star hunt, we spotted something else as well… a Tommy’s branch! Finally, I could taste the so-far-I-was-told-that-it-was-better-than-In-N-Out burger! 

I was still pretty full that night as I had a heavy dinner and we came from a birthday party as well where I attacked the salad bar (aside from my slices of pizza and chicken drumsticks).  But gluttony took over and I ordered cheeseburger… with fries and cola. (Well, the ad was tempting!)

Let’s Paint the Town… PINK.

One chilly night, we decided to brave the cold winds and bend down to look for stars… at the WALK OF FAME area in Hollywood. But this is another story. The Tommy’s trip after the long walk is also another story. What I wanted to share in this entry is how we painted the town… pink. Or how the wind made our noses pink.

Another must visit place according to my friends was Pinkberry. I’ve heard a lot of good reviews about this place… that it serves really good yogurt, that the place is über cute, and Kim Kardashian loves hanging out here (uh, where did this come from?).

We were supposed to go home already as it was already past 12 midnight when we finished posing with the stars… on the floor of the Walk of Fame. But our eager tour guide R wanted to tour us around Burbank. As he was the one who does the driving, we just sat back quietly as he drove to the place he called his “favorite hangout”.

With our toes curled and noses turning pink, we strolled around Burbank and saw… PINKBERRY. Well, they were about to close already when we arrived yet they still welcomed us with smiling faces. I love you already!

Let’s Salsa!

We were planning to go to Hollywood but for some reason, we ended up in Santa Monica. And boy, was I glad.  

“Hello Santa Monica!” we said while being greeted by the cold breeze coming from the beach nearby. 

We were tired from all the walking and the intense heat from Beverly Hills when we decided to move to Hollywood to grab lunch and roam around the Walk of Fame. However, the GPS failed us and we ended up in chilly Santa Monica. 

Our grumbling tummies did not let us roam around further and we found ourselves warm and comfy inside La Salsa, one of the many food places in the area. 

They have a pretty good array of Mexican comfort food from tacos, nachos, to burritos. I had my eyes on the taco salad but for some reason, I decided to go for Tacos La Salsa ($5.85) instead thinking that it was a heavier meal. My aunts decided to go for the Taco Salad ($5.25) and the Three Pepper Fajita ($8.49).

What I loved about the place was that there were several dips available. There were avocado, salsa, and even mango dips. It was a feast!!!

Gone French in Hollywood: The French Crepe Co.

I always loved crepes but I never considered it as a possible lunch especially when dear tummy grumbles like there’s no tomorrow.

It was one sunny but chilly day in Hollywood when we decided to do a bit of museum hopping. We arrived a bit past 12NN and we were hungry. Unwilling to eat at McDonalds, we searched for a better option.

I wanted to eat at this bistro place but my mom and sister wanted to eat something else which was not on the bistro’s menu. But since we were extremely hungry, we decided to eat at a promising place named The French Crepe Co. (which was just across the bistro).

Fine, since I was not the one going to pay anyway.

L.A. Food Find Favorite: Kyochon

Hey, Bonch—Kyochon? Same offering, different names… confused.

 

After a very short Chinatown trip, my mom, sister and I decided to have lunch at our new favorite place, Glendale Galleria. With grumbling tummies, we patiently waited for the bus and off to shopping wonderland.

Since we were stingy that day, we decided to avoid restaurants and headed towards the food court instead. There were a lot of choices but the two restaurants/food concessionaires that stood out were Panda Express (since I love pandas) and Kyochon. 

Last Day Lunch with Manny Pacquiao

…’s favorite restaurant in Chinatown, L.A.. To make more sense, I ate at Manny Pacquiao’s favorite Chinese restaurant! *POW* (Okay, perhaps the pow didn’t help make me sound cooler.)

On our last day in L.A., our family friend treated us to a Chinese restaurant somewhere in Chinatown. She said that our very own PacMan frequents that place. 

 

Upon entering the restaurant, the claim “PacMan frequents the place” was confirmed in more ways than one. 

Ordering was quite difficult due to language barrier. We were not the ones who ordered the dishes but I felt my aunt’s frustration while conversing with the person who waited for us. It was a happy ending though as after 15 minutes of describing and pointing, the order was made. 

L.A. Food Find Favorite: Thai Chicken Barbeque

My aunt picked us up at the Glendale Galleria after a brief shopping spree and decided to bring us to this Thai restaurant that specializes in grilled chicken.

Hungry and cold, we got so excited after hearing the word chicken. 

The place was like a diner and it made me smile like crazy for somehow, I got to check one off my list.

First thing I noticed when we sat down was the pretty flowers. It somehow made me forget I was hungry for a minute or so.

L.A. Food Find Favorite: Porto's Bakery

“I need to buy some potato balls” was what our family friend said. Potato balls? Baby potatoes… those you bake and dip with butter? Apparently not. It was so much better.

After a quick stop at Ross, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom, and Staple, our friend asked us if we could drop by Porto’s on our way back home. Since we were clueless what that is, we said, “Sure!”

We were greeted by brown interiors and furniture (what’s with cafés and the color brown?) and I can’t help but notice that there was also a party store on the second floor.

*Confused* I wasn’t sure if I could check the pastries first before lining up (for people might think that I was cutting in line) or if I should patiently wait for my turn, take my time browse through the different mouthwatering sweets and savory dishes. Anyway, with the help of my dear (how I wish it was longer) neck, I was able to find something I fancy (plus the famous Porto’s Potato Balls). I called out to my mom and pointed out the Triple Chocolate Mousse while my sister stared at her so eagerly and pointed with her mouth the Chocolate Éclair and Tiramisu. Since we heard that the Cheese Rolls were popular too, we ordered 3 of that as well.

 

We hurriedly went back home to try the goodies.

Myeongdong in L.A.?!?

I’m sure that all K-Pop fans know what Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, and Namdaemun are… shopping havens. Well, I found a similar one here in L.A. and they call it Americana.

A classier looking Myeongdong, I’d say it looked more like Apgujeong (less the posh clubs), Americana was the first place I fell in love with here in L.A.. Filled with families during the weekends, this place is filled with good stores such as Forever 21, H&M, Barnes & Noble, and restaurants and cafes such as Crumbs and The Cheesecake Factory.