Rod C.'s Profile

Aarrgggghhhhh!!  Shiver me timbers!  A music festivus at Indio, CA.  That sounds like the Indian Ocean.... Indiee..what?  All the way in the desert.  No this is not Burning Man, but you could be fooled into believing it was based on the amount of skin and freebooters that showed up.  Everyone from banana leaf wearing man-pig ass pirates to old salty seadog pirates and even cute lassy pirates.  It was a swashbuckling event!  Normal pirate fare, salmagundi (ya know, pirate food!)  The beer garden reeked of Black Jack, Cap't Morgans, Grog and Hogshead.
The head was more like Davy Jones's Locker, with wenches walking barefooted into the porta potties and stepping through the plague laden brown puddles. Dead men tell no tales.

The grub was pricey...they temptin to hornswaggle me booty.

Me favorite bucco was Morrissey.  He even quoted pirate slang, "I smell burning flesh!!........and it better be human!".....The crowd roared as he walked off the deck, later coming back to say, "Ahhh....How I love the smell burning animals!  Aarrrggghhh!"

The Jolly Roger was up and blowin in the wind! Don't bring your cutlass inside, the Privateers will pillage your booty.

We came here for our good friend's B-Day.  It was pretty crowded here.  The service was nice, but seemed overwhelmed by a the amount of people who ordered drinks.  The DJ and the music makes up for the service, however.  The drinks are pretty pricey, but what do you expect?  You pay for ambiance, and the opportunity to hopefully see The Big Lebowski, you know, The "Dude". Well, we didn't see him this time.  We seriously overdressed for this place after that most reviewers were denied access for not following the dress code.  In my opinion the dress code was put into place to draw in affluent guests who were more likely to buy more drinks, spend on big tips and buy a round or two for everyone.  Girls should have no problem as a little skin will get you anywhere, unless you look like Shrek.  It's the guys that need to watch this requirement.
Tips: Don't wear cut off sweats, wifebeater tank tops, and high tube socks.  Chances are you'll get compliments for your savvy fashion, but you'll still get booted.  Instead watch the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Check out watch Carlton Banks is wearing, and copy that.
If that doesn't work, tell 'em your Ernie McCracken or Roy Munson.  You'll get a good response.

Came back for another round.  If you haven't been here, try the Spicy Tuna on rice cake.  It 's pretty much the highlight "item" here at Iwata.  A surely good way to start off your eating experience here.  The calamari salad was a winner.  We shared a couple of the omakase specials and we were delightfully surprised with the taste and cost.  For dessert we shared the california rolls with fried onions on top and an order of crunchy rolls.  It was a nice way to finish off our lunch.  Very casual, good place to dress down and crunch.  Bon appetit!!

After cruising the humble Conejo valley for "Casa de Perro" me and my goon got munchie fever.  We drove by Fit 2B Thai, and decided to give it a try.  

What we ordered:
Tom yum goong was super good with tarty finish
Spicy beef with green beans was tasty
Green Curry with chicken was fresh and slurplicious
Last but not least was the wild purple rice.  A really nice touch!
We are coming back soon.

Haa!  We came back for more.  This time I went simple with the milanesa chicken and mashed potaotes.  The potatoes must have crack!  They are soo good!  I shared a piece of salmon beef empanada and milanesa steak.  All tasty.  Pampas never fails.  We all shared the flaky miljohas with dulce de leche.  Wow...that hit the spot!  Happy Birthday Goon!

We came here for my fiance's B-Day.  We heard great things, saw Fabio on Top Chef, and thought the restaurant was elegant and nicely decorated.  We made reservations for a Sunday lunch, but we made it in time before the Red Hat Society flooded the joint.   We were warmly welcomed by the hostess and bartender.  Overall service from everyone was great, but our server could have been more attentive to the customers and less focused on her vanity.  We sampled the Granchio a jalapeno- Crab salad.  A good lunch sized portion. The bartender recommended the Salmon salad and the poached pear salad.  We're definately coming back to try those.  I had the lasagna, which was savory delicious and a good sized lunch portion as well.  For dessert we shared coffee with flourless chocolate cake with vanilla bean gelato, and bread pudding.  All a nice touch.

Now for the low-down:  Most of the patrons came in wearing casual clothing, sweats, pajamas, which reminded me of the locals of Simi and Moorpark.  This was great because the swanky crowd of Westlake and Thousand Oaks didn't spoil the casual style of this Moorpark gem.  The booths had throw pillows, and althought they look nice, we just wanted to throw them.

The interior walls are high and stylish.  The bar was excellently stocked with a welcoming view as you enter the main doors.  The rooms are well thought out and have partitions that allows for private " Eyes Wide Shut" moments.  You better know the password here if you want to join.....hehee!  A nice place to bring the family, significant others, or your group of friends.  Added bonus: the wine corkage fee is $12 and cake cutting fee of $2.50.  What a deal!

If you are a wannabe paparazzo don't forget your camera.  We found the Top Chef, turned celeb cornered by Simi locals snapping candids while at the same time thinking of how much could sell their photos to the National Enquirer.  Unfortunately we forgot our camera for photo ops.  

Note to self: Don't get confused with "I can't believe it's not butter"  This guy is pretty hot in person. Hehee. Ladies start your engines!

Cool points for being nestled in downtown Main street.  This place draws the right crowd and rewards them with delicious choices of organically prepared entrees.  I chose simple and like many places I rate creativity by how well their nachos are made.  Nature's Grill scores high, using blue corn tortillas with fresh guacamole, cheeses, olives, fresh pico de gallo, sour cream and frijoles negro.  I sampled the Buttermilk Squash soup with a honey oat roll, which was tasty.  Try the shakes, they're made fresh to order with choice berries and fruit!  I can't wait to come back.

Yummers...We ordered the choco banana shake, tater tots, chicken club toaster.   Why is Sonic all they way in the boonies?  Not sure, but if do get stuck in this part of town, make sure to stop by and try the burgers.  The gals do rollerblade to and from your car just like roller girl (Heather Graham) in 1997's Boogie Nights.  
For next time, what caught my eye was the burrito laced with Fritos brand chips, the Coney chili dogs, and the onion rings.

The oysters rockefeller were given to us free of charge, because they ran out of stock.  Not too impressed with the oysters rock.  The taste of liquor is much too strong.  Tasted like 1 cup of liquor instead of one teaspoon.    We ordered the Filet mignon, which made up for the oyster drama.  The creamed spinach made a good compliment side dish, the garlic mashed taters are pretty tasty.  The prime rib had too much fat.  About 30% was pure fat.  Yuck!  It was done rare and looked like sashimi.  The Lava chocolate cake is done in-house according to the server, but for $10 for the dessert alone, you can get a whole meal and lava fudge cake with soft serve at the Souplantation.  Reservations recommended!!  They were out of stock on many items here.  Not an overall good impression, especially for the price.

Hey Hugo...you officially popped my cherry this weekend!  Came here with my partner in crime and Liza S after a brisk hike at the Wilacre Park/Fryman trail.  We decided to crunch here on a Sunday afternoon and risk the long wait.  Darn...we couldn't find parking in the front lot, so we parked off in a residential street about 50 foot paces from the entrance.  
So on to the Yelp!
The gals ordered fresh O.J. (not Simpson juice) and the Sunshine (Orange-grapefruit-strawberry) and I chose to stick with agua.

Apps: Fried Green Tomato Napoleon (Layers of crispy deep fried green tomato slices with goat cheese and greens) .  Sounds good at first, but disappointed with the portions!!  C-mon guys....You only gave me two tomato slices!  OMG...WTF...Don't get me started with an abbreviations rant!   I was hoping that the fried green maters would match that of Ramsey's diner in Lexington, KY.  Not the case......Sooo...not the case!

The gals ordered the Chilaquiles.....they smelled good and were filling, too!  I passed on this one.  A gastric disaster waiting to happen!  The gals liked it, but I didn't stick around to see the aftermath!

I ordered the Hugo's version of the Cuban chicken sandwich.  This isn't even pressed! OMG...WTF...Hey Mang!!  Say h-ello to m-ah little friend!  Yah...I'm the BadGuy!! Don't get me started again on an abbreviations' rant!!  The chicken was good, but not what I expected for $12.75  At least the arugula and greens salad made up for that! Ayyyy...Yay...Yay...Mucho Caro dinero!!  Did I say that right??  Who cares........at least I can watch the Three Amigos and get inspired to learn some real Spanish.   Hey...El Juapo........tell 'em to bring us out more tequila!   From what I saw, most people seem to enjoy the ambiance.  The service was decent, the patrons were obviously Studio City glitteratti.  Good people watching.
Make sure to check the street signs for No parking, or you'll be a$$ed out!  

Most memorable moment while at Hugo's:  Tall Euro man takes a long time in Restroom...After several dudes frantically knock and test the doorknob to see if it's open, the tall guy steps out and looks at me.  "As if I was the culprit idiot sweating him to squeeze his turd."  Anyhow, he exits, I go in only to discover he declares his own "Cold War" tactic on the toilet and doesn't flush!  Ewwww......the toilet flush valve does not work! It's broken!  I sh*t you NOT!   So, I hurry out and try no to get blamed for the tall Euro guy's little Manhattan Project gone wrong!  Another case of rear hatch blastoff!  Sphincter meltdown!!  
President Truman wouldn't stand a chance against this guy!

Verdict:  I'll come back, I always do.