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esther n.'s Profile

Photo of esther n.

Photo of esther n.

"silent but deadly"

Elite 2007 Elite 2006

profile votes icon Review votes:
100 Useful, 25 Funny, and 91 Cool

Location

Los Angeles, CA

Yelping Since

March 2006

Find Me In

Little Tokyo or Orange County

My Hometown

Cerritos, CA

When I'm Not Yelping...

people cry

Why You Should Read My Reviews

do it for the children

My Second Favorite Website

http://www.metafilter.com

The Last Great Book I Read

The Omnivore's Dilemma

My First Concert

Ozma!

My Favorite Movie

To Be or Not To Be

My Last Meal On Earth

hopefully not for at least 60 years.

Don't Tell Anyone Else But...

I have not yet seen the third Star War (the Jedi one)

Current Crush

Idris Elba!

Recent Reviews

85 Reviews

Filter by: Location   Category
12117 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604
(818) 980-0004

The Counter  

Categories: Burgers, American (New)
Neighborhood: Studio City

4 star rating
 7/6/2009  
The second Counter I've been to (the first was the one in Santa Monica). We managed to narrowly beat the crowd, which was very fortunate, as things got *really* hopping only a few minutes after we ordered.

The Counter certainly serves some well-fortified burgers - chock full of whatever fixings you order, with high-quality ingredients. The "medium" beef patties are quite pink when they come out, but they apparently tasted great. I had the veggie burger myself, and it was terrific.  The grilled chicken was pretty nicely cooked as well, apparently.

I really love the sweet potato fries, I have to say. The ones we ordered today were cooked to perfection, with just the right amount of sweetness and savory-ness, not a drop of gratuitous oil, and deliciously crisp. Am not a huge fan of the horseradish mayo that they serve with the sweet potato fries, but you could do worse.

The wait staff is attentive and nice. No complaints about service whatsoever.

Generous portions, tasty, tasty food - it's well worth the price, and given the crowds, I'd have to say I'm not the only one who thinks this.

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939 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 209-7475

BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse  

Categories: Pizza, Breweries
Neighborhood: Westwood

1 star rating
 4/4/2009  
Thought this would be a decent enough place to eat at after watching a long boring movie. The wait wasn't bad for a Friday night. Then, fter we'd been seated, one of the servers tripped and spilled a container of red sauce, which splattered all over the table, my hair, my jacket, and my dinner companions. They brought over the manager, who offered to dry-clean my hoodie (which I declined, because, um, it's a hoodie). She then offered to comp the drinks we'd ordered, and we were okay with that. Too bad they forgot to do even that in the end.

To top it off, the pizza we ordered took forever to arrive. Also, they gave us napkins for us to wipe the table with, but didn't really check to make sure all the damage had been cleaned up. When the 4th member of our dinner party arrived, he sat in the empty chair, and it was only when we got up to leave that he realized he'd gotten red sauce all over his wool sweater. We asked for the manager and she offered to pay for HIS dry cleaning. I hope he remembers to let them reimburse him.

Thanks for letting me vent! Needless to say, going to this BJ's is a mistake I won't be making again.

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14905 Pomerado Rd
Poway, CA 92064
(858) 679-0186

The Original Pancake House  

Category: Breakfast & Brunch

3 star rating
 1/18/2009  
I was a little wary when I saw the other reviews, but I think I had a good meal. If I were to use only one word to describe it, "filling" would be it.

(Here are some more words though).
I got the Crab Cake Eggs Benedict, which comes with 3 pancakes (potato ro regular) and it was a giant entree! The eggs were perfectly poached (and made me wish I'd asked for toast. The hollandaise was a little runny-looking, but properly super-rich. The crab cakes had good flavor, but were kinda soggy. The pancakes were A-OK. My dining partner enjoyed the corned beef hash, and said it was good. The potato pancakes were, to my surprise, a bit on the sweet side, but very crispy.

While choosing our entrees, we'd thought about ordering a Dutch Baby as dessert, but in the end were way too full. I saw someone else's order of it, though, and it looked great!

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11976 Artesia Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 246-0217

Quest Cafe  

Category: Chinese

4 star rating
 1/8/2009  
I've had only one thing from this cafe, and it's the only cafe I know that offers it, so I felt it was worth a review. Grass jelly milk tea!  

It's like boba milk tea, except instead of starch-laden smushy tapioca balls, you get oodles of grass jelly. You can look it up on Wikipedia if you do'nt know what it is (I didn't, until my friend introduced me to this tasty bev). Anyway, it's delicious!

The consistency is different from other fruit-jelly drinks, and it goes really well with milk tea, which is on its own entirely too sweet.

And now I'm totally hooked on the stuff, so in spite of the unexpected location of the cafe, the surly wait staff, and the $3.20 price tag, I'll probably become a regular!

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13243 South St
Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 402-7897

Sophia Beauty Salon  

Category: Hair Salons

3 star rating
 12/21/2008   First to Review
Over the past several years I've come here a few times to get my hair cut.  They usually do a pretty good job, but this last time, it was just so-so (and more expensive than previously). The staff are friendly and conversant in English, so that's nice.

I did get a magic straight done here about 5 years ago, and concur with the previous reviewer's statements regarding the care and attention they pay throughout the whole process (which takes freaking hours, which is why I haven't done it since).  But back then, they were also pretty good with the haircuts, and I'd have given them one more star if Yelp had existed that year. Ah, the good old days.

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18329 Pioneer Boulevard
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 860-7794

Great Seafood Harbor  

Category: Dim Sum

4 star rating
 12/21/2008  
Just had dinner here tonight. The service in general was extremely nice and the staff were very accommodating, by which I mean, they were pretty patient with our group of 9 clueless Koreans who had no idea how to order the dishes we liked, because we didn't really know what they were called, but in the end we managed to order some of them anyway.

I mean, I can't recommend whatever scallop dish we ended up getting, nor the orange chicken. The flavor of the first was a little broad for my taste, and the chicken had a strange, almost papery texture that I didn't like. But the dim sum plates (fried dumplings, shu mai, har gao, stuffed tofu)  were quite good, so clearly that is their forte. If I ever go back, it will definitely be for lunch.

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327 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 626-1680

Daikokuya  

Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown

4 star rating
 12/8/2008  
I'm only writing a review because my visit to this place last week marked the first time in about two decades that I ate something made of pork. I got the ramen dish where the noodles come separate from the broth, because I was a little wary at first, but soon I dove right in and had most of the broth. And I even tried some of the pork meat!

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103 W Imperial Hwy Ste A
Brea, CA 92821
(714) 672-0911

Fitness Grill  

Category: American (New)

3 star rating
 12/8/2008  
Nice decor, the dining experience is pleasant and relaxing. The service was okay, the food tasted fresh, and I had trouble deciding what to get because everything sounded good.

But whether the food is as healthy as the restaurant's name implies is anybody's guess. Maybe it's lower in fat and trans-fat free, but most of the dishes tasted a little high-sodium.  In any case, the name is sort of stupid, and they should change it =P

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321 W Katella Ave
Anaheim, CA 92802
(714) 991-0305

California Pizza Kitchen  

Categories: Pizza, American (New)

2 star rating
 10/20/2008  
Your run-of-the-mill CPK, the food is the same everywhere, so blah. This is a new restaurant, though, and you can tell the staff are a little rough around the edges, so don't expect decent service anytime soon.

The complex this CPK is in offers a PF Chang's and a Cheesecake Factory, and a couple of other restaurants that would probably be better choices.

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339 E 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-0887

I Love Boba  

Category: Coffee & Tea
Neighborhood: Downtown

2 star rating
 7/24/2008  
I've been here a few times now. The first time I went to pick up a boba for my supervisor, and I was carrying a Starbucks coffee that I'd bought for myself. The bobarista chastised me, and I felt kinda bad.

The next time, I had some actual boba milk tea and it was pretty good - not too sweet, and not too chewy or slimy.  I don't mind the imitation-Pinkberry interior; at least it's bright and happy!

Most recently I went as penance for that time I brought my own Starbucks, and ordered an Americano. That was a really big mistake.

I'm also disconcerted by its "B" grade.

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27 Compliments

  • Good Writer

    I totally agree with you on your Kim Sun Young review!

  • Just a Note

    hells yes! and they serve it HOT! I had to take a pix of it...

  • Just a Note

    wait, grass jelly? is that different from the coconut stuff?

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1 List

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Out of my wallet, into their foodstuffs
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