oakley "oakmonster" b.'s Profile

A couple of friends suggested going to Cafe Sura for our double date night. So we did.

Bibimbap in sizzling stone pot, with all the rice cooking up crispy at the bottom.  Squirt in your own sauce and tossing a few pieces of kimchi in there.  Perfection.

Missing here is the meat.  But that's okay. I stole some bulgogi off of my husband's heaping pile on the hot plate, and he didn't mind too much.

However, trying to steal the kimchi from him and I risk getting hot chopsticks to the hand.  I had to remind him that all the side dishes had free refill.  Actually, our waitress (owner?) did come out and gave him his own dish of kimchi.

The steamed dumplings stuffed with tofu were blah compared to our main courses.  

If we're ever in that part of town again, we'll definitely go back.  Then again, living so close to Cypress, we probably can find something equally tasty a little bit closer to home.

Consider us your former fans, Suede, bcause we will not be coming back any more.  It's too bad. The 4-4-4-4 deal is a pretty good one and the vibe is nice.  However, having been overcharged TWICE in a row and my email to management went unanswered, we're done with the place.

A party of 5 were charged the automatic 18% as a party 6.  Sure, my friend didn't check his tab before he left so he brought it back the next day.  The manager was apparently too busy spinning to come settle the dispute.  Whatever. So we continued our group party.

This time, our final bill had all of the Greyhounds (as far as we know, a well drink) charged at $7 instead of the usual well price of $4.  The waitress argued that it was the computer error, trying not to reduced the charge. She finally gave in, and the parting words were that my friend didn't have to be rude to her about it...which he wasn't.  He was adamant that she corrected the check which she clearly didn't want to do.  And of course, now with a legitimately big party, we were stuck giving her 18% tip. I'm sure that's why she couldn't give a damn.

There you go. Watch your tab at the end of the evening, kids.

Basil Leaf happens to be the closest pho joint to us, so we gave it a shot.

"What do you expect?  This *is* Seal Beach," was my husband's answer to the first few questions I've raised about this place before he changed to rolling his eyes.  [ETA: This is not a knock against Seal Beach. It's just...how shall I put it...not the first place you'd think of when it comes to being "ethnic".]

Like the lack of Vietnamese nationals in the shop.  You know, how some of us judge if an ethnic food joint is worth the trouble.  When we walked in, I was the second Asian in there.  Like "hot tea" that was served in individual tea pot and a side of the actual Western teacup with handles, and dangling from the pot was the recognizable Stash "premium green tea" bag.  Like the price of $2.50 for each tea pot.  Like the price of pho at almost $8 a bowl--steep for pho.  

Now, the food.  The hubby is quite a pho connoisseur, having eaten with his Vietnamese coworkers up and down Westminster and Santa Ana.  My Vietnamese-American boss takes me out to pho in China Town so I know what to expect as well.  I believe we had a pretty good authority on how pho should taste.

Hubby didn't do so well with the Beef Pho (pho bo). While the beef is tender, there wasn't a lot of noodles and the broth wasn't flavorful, more like a slightly flavored beef broth from a box.  Actually his was spicy even before he puts any Sriracha in.  I didn't expect to see Pork Noodle Bowl (bun thit nuong), a dry noodle with grilled pork, on the menu but there it was.  And the pork is excellent and therefore the two stars.

Finally, the egg rolls.  The puny little egg rolls, $5.95 for 4. Puh-lease!  And to add, and I quote the menu, "chicken imperial rollS or vegetable imperial rollS", to the noodle bowl at $1.25 only get you ONE, cut in 2 halves.

This was also the most expensive pho meal we ever had with total bill of $30 and change.  The grilled pork alone is not enough to bring us back.

This tiny little spot in Long Beach has great ambiance of a real Italian cafe.  The friendly wait staff who actually speak Italian, pronouncing everything correctly, add to the magic of this restaurant.  And the wine list is great as well.

Five of us girls had dinner which started off with prosecco, a bottle of red, and rounded out with the dessert wine.  So, please forgive me if I can't recall all that we've ordered that night.  :)

We ordered the appetizers, of course.  A sauteed mushroom and polenta dish drizzled with the lovely truffle oil and a fried artichokes with ricotta and goat cheese.  Everything went well with our prosecco.  

We each ordred a pasta dish in different variety of noodles and sauces I don't quite recall now.  Everything went well with our bottle of red.

We topped off passing around a glass of the dessert wine and biscotti, and took turn taking our spoons to the tiramisu.

I might not have remembered exactly what we at that night, but I remember a fantastic time, fabulous wines, and zero bad food.  

We currently are planning to have our husbands drive us todinner at Vino Y Cucina so we can enjoy our evening even more!

Macaroni and Cheese.  Baked perfectly in your own little skillet with a touch of smoked chili.  (Dinner only though...bummer!)  

Washed down with a pint of anything served up at Beachwood.  

That's all I have to say about that.

A MAJOR upgrade since my last post when Maderas first opened.

We decided to go back and give the place another shot so we ordered the mixed plate with baby backs, beef ribs, briskets and chicken.  Everything was delicious, especially baby back ribs which were so tender they fell off the bone.

I still have to give the thumbs down to the roasted vegetables and the tri-tip.  (A friend ordered it and we were not impressed.)  I would recommend the green beans which was cooked just right, crisp and flavorful--not sad and odd tasting like the roasted vegetables.  And the loaded garlic mashed potatoes.  That's right, your server will ask if you'd like bacon, cheese, and chives on your garlic mashed potatoes.  It is just as yummy as the fabulous baked potato soup, just more garlicky and solid.

So, order these and don't really mess with anything else: baked potato soup, baby back ribs, green beans, and loaded (or not) garlic mashed potatoes.

Sure, the worker bees like me don't get out to "fancy" restaurant much, especially in Downtown LA.  But we figured it was New Year's weekend, we'd better rush the place before all the suits get back in town.  

First of all, even with half of the town gone for the holidays and how new Drago Centro is, we were surprised how full it was at lunch on Jan. 29.

This white table cloth fancy restaurant doesn't give me the snooty/stuffy heebie-jeebies.  A lot of that has to do with their friendly and very professional staff.  Like everyone said so far, the service is absolutely impeccable.

Our party of four did not order any alcohol (boo!), but we did like both of the green iced tea and the fruity black tea (with currant?).  We especially loved the little jar of simple syrup--no more crunchy sugar at the bottom of iced tea glass!

My boss and the girl colleague started off with essentially a green salad. (le lattughe miste - mixed baby lettuces, red onions, brioche crisp, lemon vinaigrette).  The brioche crisp hides in the bottom of the plate to soak up in the lovely vinaigrette.

For the main event, my boss had the venison carpaccio, walnuts, sherry vinaigrette (il carpaccio di capriolo) which melts in your mouth.  The guy colleague ordered the salmon salad (insalata di salmone) with scottish salmon, asparagus, tomatoes, arugula, sherry vinaigrette.  A salad is a salad for that one.  Nothing mind blowing.

As a fan of pappardelle, I can't help ordering the lovely noodles, roasted pheasant, morel mushrooms (le pappardelle al fagiano).  I thought it would be more of chunks of pheasant, but actually it was more like shredded super tender pheasant with this lovely gravy-like sauce.  It was extremely difficult to do my usual "eat only half the portion served" to leave room for dessert.

The girl colleague, however, ordered my favorite dish that day: pumpkin cannelloni, hazelnut butter, parmesan, sage (i cannelloni di zucca).  Three of my favorite components--hazelnut, butter, and parmesan--blended well with the pumpkin and sage, inducing an instant addiction!  And the cannelloni was crisp up top (looks like they've been broiled a bit) which add the loveliness to the overall texture and taste.

For dessert, I have read fabulous thing about the doughnut.  I just wasn't in the mood for fried dough, so I went with la coppa d'agrumi--layered citrus segments, zabagalione (custard), mascarpone gelato.  It didn't say on the menu but there's also a layer of thin cake, toasted up top, and hidden basil sauce/puree in there.  

Basil? In dessert?  I know!  It was one of those that sounds like an odd combination but it actually works with the citrus.  The mascarpone gelato?  I was tempted to ask if I could please order a gallon of that to go.

We had a fabulous time.  Yes, it was a bit pricey for the worker bee's lunch, but the food, the ambiance, and the service was worth every penny.

After having read about Senor Big Ed in the LA Times, the girls and I gave this Puerto Rican hole-in-the-wall a try.

One word. Mofongo.

It might not be as glorious as the one Anthony Bourdain had in the beach shack in Puerto Rico, but the concoction of mashed fried green plantains, garlic, olive oil and pork cracklings, served with fantastic broth is pure heaven.  We agreed next time we would probably just order one of these with a side of arroz con gandules and call it a day.

We ate many other things that night and we loved them all. Slow cooked pork leg. Softball-sized potato ball stuffed with ground beef (relleno de papa). Arroz con gandules (Spanish rice with pigeon peas and pork). Tostones (fried green plantains patties). Pastelilios (beef-filled turnovers). Pastel (tamale made with plantain).

The meal is heavy in your stomach but VERY light on your wallet. However, we found service to be on island time and a bit sparse. Don't come here if you're in a rush or expecting 5-star service.

Oooooooo....mofongo.

Don't you be in a hurry to come eat at this place.  Trattoria Limone is not huge, and the parking is street only.  Take your time to savor the atmosphere and/or watch your dishes being prepared in front of you.  Order a bottle of wine.  Enjoy the evening taking it easy, and you won't be disappointed.

Oh, and my 5-star rating is mostly for the pappardelle.  Them noodles--and all of their pastas--are fantastic!

My 4 girl friends and I went there for 7 p.m. dinner.  We did land a table, however, it seemed we started the trend.  Suddenly the restaurant was full.  We did have a 6-month old baby with us so our decision process was slow, and therefore our order was taken much later than everyone else.  Matter not, the wine was flowing and the bruschettas were moist with crunchy crust, we didn't much care.

A friend ordered chicken cultet sort of thing with pesto pasta.  She said it was a little dry, but the pesto and pasta made up for it.  Another friend ordered the smoked chicken tortellini which is so deliciously smokey we were convinced there were bacon in that--there was none.  The new mom downed her spaghetti marinara with meatball so fast, we didn't get a chance to have a bite so that must be good.  The unlucky one of the bunch, the one who introduced us to this place, ordered bolognese and was let down a bit.  The sauce was meaty and delicious, however, wasnt' "saucy" enough to stick to the noodles.

I had the winner of the evening with the lamb medallion and pappardelle with cream sauce and just enough feta.  I was never one to go for feta, but always for the lamb.  The feta in this sauce, however, didn't overpower.  Instead it turns the dish into something heavenly.  I would die of gastro-explosion just to keep eating the pappardelle and that sauce!  It doesn't help that the lamb was tender and flavorful.  Should I finish the lamb or pappardelle?  Oh gosh, I can't decide!?!?!

No room for dessert today.  Besides, the baby decided to wake up as we wrapped up dinner so we had to leave before he started fussing.

By 9 p.m. the restaurant cleared out except for one more table and a few folks at the bar/open kitchen.  Chef John Huson came to talk with us.  I almost jumped across the table and kiss the man for that parpadelle.

Burlesque with Adrianne was a lot of fun.  Must let your hair down literally and suddenly all the moves were sexier.  She also taught Zumba right before.  I watched the last 5 minutes of it and I really wish I could be in that class too!  It looks like a total BLAST.

I also started Lyrical Jazz with Sizzle on Monday.  She is awesome!  We did Fosse's All That Jazz from Chicago and learned a lot about the style as well as the choreographer.  Not to mention the work out.  (Aww...my quads...)