Rochelle "Techie Diva" R.'s Profile

When I was little, they had a Farrell's at the Cerritos Mall.  Every kid wanted to have a birthday party there, it was just too cool. The place was so nostalgic that I wondered why it ever closed down and why there wasn't a place like it.  Then I found out they were opening a Farrell's in Brea.  SCORE!  It was close to my folks place, so I can check it out one weekend.  It is located at the Birch St. Promenade, so there is structured parking, but it can get full pretty quick, so be prepared and patient.

It opened around the holidays and there is still a line to get in.  Luckily we only had to wait about 20 minutes to get a table.  

The place is huge and the employees are super friendly and fun.  If you are celebrating a birthday, the staff get the drums, gather around, have you stand on the chair and sing to you.  Very fun for kids of all ages.

I ordered the Philly Cheesteak w/ fries, which was decent.  My sister had the burger, which was decent, and the mister had a Turkey burger which was okay.  I ordered a chocolate coke which was okay, not enough chocolate syrup.  Overall food was mediocre, nothing to knock our socks off.  We were looking forward to the dessert any way.  My sister and I decided to order the Ice Cream Nachos, which sounded really exotic.  However, when it arrived at our table, it really wasn't.  The "nachos" were just smashed up wafer cones.  The ice cream didn't taste special or homemade.  We come to find out, they use Thrifty ice cream.  Say what?!!  I really think they should make their own ice cream or at least use some gourmet ice cream.

I wanted to love Farrell's, I really did, but when I've had awesome ice cream from places like Scoops, Coolhaus, etc., the bar is now set pretty high.  Although I do like the atmosphere of the restaurant, it is doubtful that I will be back. :(

So, I am a threading virgin.  I had previously waxed and plucked my own eyebrows, but after spilling my jar of wax few times, I was forced by the mister to look for other alternatives.  

I visiting the folks in the OC, so it was the perfect time to get threaded.  Yelp lead me to Sameera. Being a Saturday afternoon, I wasn't sure if I needed an appointment or how long the wait would be.  I gave them a call and the receptionist said no need for an appointment and there was no wait when I called.  

When I arrived, there were a few people ahead of me, but I only waited about 10-15 minutes, since they had a lot of staff.  The lady who did my threading was nice.  The pain wasn't that bad, kinda like waxing. The mister liked how well groomed my brows looked and said that I should get threaded from now on.

There's plenty of parking since it is located in a shopping center near CSUF.   I will definitely come back.

Coolhaus is one of the only food trucks I still chase.  I love their homemade ice cream sandwiches.  I was stoked to find out that they have opened a storefront.  Now, I don't have to chase them down to get my gourmet ice cream sandwich fix.  I had the one story s'mores cookie w/ nutella ice cream.  YUM!  The nutella ice cream is my fave.  If you are a chocoholic like myself, it is a very chocolately ice cream.  I recently discovered that you can get 2 different flavors for your ice cream sandwich, which is awesome if you can't decide between two flavors...i.e. the nutella ice cream or stout & pretzel ice cream, you can get half and half.  They also serve hot chocolate.  I had the chipotle hot chocolate which was spiced with a bit of cinnamon and chipotle peppers.  It was as good as the Chuao hot chocolate I always get when I am in San Diego.  Finally, I can get something comparable locally.  

The shop is decently sized and there is enough seating and plenty of street parking.  I suspect I will be visiting this place often as the weather gets hotter.

When I was in Narita International Airport in Tokyo waiting for my flight back to L.A., there was a rumbly in my tumbly so my sister and I went looking for snacks.  We saw some people buy these rice balls wrapped in seaweed.  Being adventurous we decided to buy some and we loved it.  In the middle of the rice is some type of filling like salmon, tuna, etc, and then it is wrapped up in seaweed.  When I got back to L.A., I found these rice snacks at the Japanese stores like Nijiya Market or Mitsuwa.  I never knew the name of these tasty treats, I just called them Japanese rice ball snacks.

Then, looking for a new place to try out, Yelp lead me to Sunny Blue.  Turns out the name of these rice ball snack things is Omusubi...duh!  Just like the Spam musubi I would order at L&L, never made that connection.  Anywho, Sunny Blue makes the omusubis fresh, made right when you order it and you can see them making it right in front of you.  The prices are very cheap...nothing between $2.50 to $4.  Not bad.  They have flavors you just can't get at the stores, like Curry Chicken, Shitake mushroom, tofu. They even offer free barley tea to drink.  I think I've tried everything on the menu and everything is so good.  Very fresh and warm.  The staff is uber friendly and they bring a sense of community.  They seem to know the regulars and the regulars are local peeps, not just the hipsters.  There's metered street parking and there's metered parking lots nearby.  Since it is on Main St., I am sure it can get crowded during the weekends.  

The only downside is the place is tiny.  There are only a couple of seats inside and just two small cafe tables outside.  Some opt to stand along the wall and eat their omusubis or take them to go.  I'd give them five stars if the place were a little bit bigger.  They could've easily made this business into a food truck, but I give them props for opening a storefront instead.  

I've already been to Sunny Blue twice and I will go back everytime I want a lighter meal.

I've been waiting forever what seemed like forever to try this place.  It was the cute penguin logo that caught my attention.  It reminded me of the video game Pengo.  I loved that game.  

Now, there is another shaved ice place that just opened down the street, so I was curious how this place was different.  Turns out that instead of shaving ice and pouring various flavored syrups on it, Blockheads creates blocks of ice made of various ingredients.  For example, if you want strawberry, the block of ice is made of strawberries, cream. etc.  Then, they take the ice and thinly shave down the ice and serve it with various toppings like fresh fruit and drizzles like condensed milk or chocolate syrup.

Being a Blockhead virgin, I asked the employee what was the most popular choices. He recommended the mango and the black sesame.  So, the mister got the black sesame with oreos, rice cakes and drizzle of chocolate syrup. I had the mango with mango puree, rice cake and condensed milk.  Both were delicious!  The black sesame tasted like chocolate, but with hints of sesame.  The consistency of the ice was almost like ice cream, smooth and creamy.  It was a nice surprise.  The storefront is nice and spacious with several tables and chairs both in and out to chillax and enjoy your dessert. There metered street parking or if you want to walk a bit, there is some street parking in the neighborhoods.  I will definitely come back.

$2.75 for sushi, how can you beat that? Even for the price, the sushi is pretty good quality.  Aside from the staple nigiri and rolls like salmon, spicy tuna rolls,  they have special items like Salmon sushi with truffle oil, waygu beef sushi.  Just look at the board for specials.  They also have non-sushi items like udon soup, curry bowls, potstickers, etc., again...all for the low price of $2.75.  Now, there are a few items like the tuna sushi and other speciality sushi that are around $4 or $5 dollars, but the majority of the items on the menu are $2.75.  

The only downside is the place is rather small, so there is usually a wait, so be prepared. I think it is because of the wait, many call in their orders and take their food to go.  There are no tables, rather you sit sushi bar style where the sushi chefs prep the food.  There is parking in the rear, but I think it is a small lot and there is metered street parking, but as anyone who frequents the eateries on Sawtelle, parking can be slim pickings on certain times and days of the week.  Despite these drawbacks, I still love SushiStop.

So Scoops has been on my bookmark list, like, forever and for some reason, I just have not gotten around to trying it.  I was craving for some ice cream and wanted something more gourmet than Baskin and Robbins, so the mister and I went to Scoops.  

When we finally went, I was shocked to learn that it was only a block away from Chego.  How did I not see this place before?

Based on other Yelp reviews, I had to try the Brown Bread.  It sounded strange, so I definitely had to try it.  It wasn't bad, it had crunchy bits to it.  Not sure how to describe the flavor of the ice cream....kinda like caramel, but not as sweet?  It didn't knock my socks off like Sweet Rose Creamery, but it did satisfy my craving.

Parking is not very good since it is located in a tiny shopping center with few parking spots and street parking can be hard to come by.  There is some seating inside like a couple of tables and a couch, but it is a tiny shop, so if it gets crowded, you won't be able to sit.

It seems like they rotate their flavors, so I'd be willing to stop by again and try out another flavor.

Hot diggity dog (...yeah I went there, ha!), there's a Wurstkuche in Venice.  We were driving back from Santa Monica to WLA on Lincoln when I saw a line out the doors of the building that used to be Air Conditioned Club.  Low and behold, I saw a sign that said Wurstkuche.  WooHoo!  One of my favorite local eateries was now a hop, skip, and jump from my humble abode.  I love the original location in DTLA, but it was always a trek to get there.  

This location is much like the original. The space is rather small when you place your order, but when you round the corner, there's ample seating and they even have a little outdoor space with a few tables. There's a bar in the seating area, so if you want to grab a few more brewskies to wash down your sausages, you can get them there instead of going back to the front of the house.  Also, like the original, there is no parking lot, so you have to look around for street parking.  Luckily, each time I went, we found parking right away.  I am thinking that will change once more people find out about this place.  Sigh!  It's also kid friendly.  Many urbanite parents bring their kids here and it isn't a problem.  

I had the Austin Blues, which was a little spicy, but I like a little heat.  I had the fries, of course, with tzakziki and pesto mayo.  Yummy!  

So glad this place opened up!

I love me some ice cream.  I've seen many reviews on Sweet Rose Creamery, so I had to go try it.  Sweet Rose Creamery is located in Brentwood, but it was a part of Brentwood I hadn't been before, the Country Mart.  It was a nice surprise.  The shopping center felt like I was somewhere in Malibu and not a stone's throw from the busy area of Westwood and Santa Monica.  There is actually free parking for the the shopping center...when you can find a spot.  This is nice since many of these gourmet shops don't have good parking.  There's also plenty of metered parking as well.  I did get a little lost trying to find the place since I was thinking it was in the middle of the shopping center where all the food was.  Instead, it is located on the outside perimeter on the side near Bank of America.

The shop is small, there's a few barstools to sit inside and a few tables on the out, so if it is crowded, there may not be a place to chill and eat.  They have unusual flavors on their menu like PB & J sundaes and stout ice cream.  You can sample the ice cream before selecting one. The staff are friendly and very helpful.  My hubby picked balsamic fig with goat cheese.  Strange combo, but it was fantastic.  I had the chocolate, which was very rich and tasted like I was eating an expensive chocolate bar.  Everything is handmade at the shop and they rotate out their ice cream flavors.  This place is a real treat and I will definitely stop by again.

Luckily I had some time on the weekend during a business trip to go exploring.  I headed toward St. Petersburg.  What an awesome place.  After checking out the beautiful white sand beaches, I got hungry and went looking for a place to eat.  One of my co-workers said I just had to try the stone crab, so went looking for a seafood restaurant. Since this was a spontaneous trip, I didn't Yelp ahead of time nor did I have access to Yelp on my cell.  Hurricane looked promising. It is three levels, bistro/cafe style on the 1st floor, more formal dining on the 2nd and the top level was the bar.

I decided to eat at the 2nd level.  It wasn't very crowded, but for some reason I had to wait awhile to get seated.  I ordered the stone crab and since I was in Florida, I had to try, what else....Alligator!  They had an alligator appetizer that was served like tenders with dipping sauce.  I liked gator, tasted like fishy chicken :)  The stone crab was just okay, nothing to knock my socks off.  I had it cold, which is how the waiter said I should eat it, but I usually like my crabs warm, so maybe I should had it that way.  

A highlight of the restaurant is the fantastic view of the beach which is right across the street.  I got there just in time to see the sunset which was awesome.