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!

Weekend Lunch Date: Lemongrass Asian Bistro

Ask me which mall I frequent the most and I’d always answer Shangri-La Plaza. And since I’m the one organizing the mini reunions with friends, I always suggest having lunch or dinner at Shangri-La. So when some of my Dongguk friends and I met up for lunch, we decided to meet at… you guessed it.

 

I remembered that I haven’t tried the restaurant beside Dome so off to Lemongrass Asian Bistro we go. Actually, we were supposed to have lunch at Pho Hoa but we were too hungry to take another step.

T and I went first as E and D were still busy buying stuff for E’s trip to Palawan (which she found out that same day and that she’s off the following day).

T and I decided to order light dishes as we do not know what E and D were craving. We ended up ordering Thai Catfish Salad with Green Mangoes (PHP265) and Crispy Fish Fillet with Tamarind and Sweet Chili Sauce (PHP350). I also ordered a glass of Thai Iced Tea (PHP105) and Chilled Sago with Mango and Coconut Milk (PHP105) to complete my meal.

The salad arrived first and just like in other restaurants, the sauce, nuts, onions, and mangoes were all on the side. Since we were not sure if E and D are fond of the other ingredients, we just took enough to top our portions and opted not to toss the salad.

 

It was crunchy and it was a great contrast to the softness of the shredded green mangoes. I needed to put more sauce though as the catfish was really dry and it made my throat slightly itchy.

 

The fish fillet was served in a very cute way. It looked like mushrooms! It could pass for cocktail gatherings as you do not need utensils to eat it. It was nothing extraordinary but I loved that it was served freshly cooked. 

My First Bite: Jatujak

After a fun pamper me day that fattened our wallets… with receipts, my friend and I decided to have a not-so-heavy dinner as we were still digesting the food we ate from Mesa.

 

We were planning to eat at this Persian restaurant along Mega Strip but we got lazy after doing a quick grocery. We then decided to eat at Jatujak instead as it passed my one and only requirement: must be a restaurant I have never been to before. It was odd though as I am a frequent diner of Pho Hoa. I guess I have really not been fond of Thai food before. 

 

The place was quite small but you can’t deny the Thai ambiance with the purple motif of the restaurant. Service was also quick. The waiter gave us a menu as soon as we sat down. Perhaps, it was because we sat near where the owner was busy computing the day’s sales figures.