albert "smoovebert" o.'s Profile

spent the morning working there and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are 3-prong power outlets EVERYWHERE.

they've come into their own. whee!

I had to have my Panasonic plasma tv repaired (They have beautiful pictures but are about as reliable as a Yugo), and after some searching, I found J&R. As mentioned in other reviews, they were friendly + honest and although it took a while to get the set fixed (due to backordered parts, not their fault), they kept me in the loop so I knew what was going on.

Recommended!

Me and The Lady went to Sel de Mer yesterday for an early evening repast, buoyed with a sense of excitement from the hearty recommendation offered by one of our erstwhile trusted Brooklyn culinary concierges. "Erstwhile?", you might be asking. Are you that fickle with your friends and your trust, Albert? Well, the reasons for this will become plainly evident during this review. Shall we?

We arrived to a relatively empty house, with a sole diner at the bar and two other couples--to be fair, I was famished from a hard day's work slaving over some hot advertising and a couple of meager meals so we were on the early side--I was hoping that this might mean we could get attentive service from the staff who wouldn't be spread too thin over the 3 tables in the place, but... I was wrong.

We were quickly told (from the back of the room) to "sit over there or over there", and after a period that could generously be described as leisurely, we were unceremoniously presented with a bottle of room temperature tap water (according to our tap water preference, not our temperature preference) and our reasonably priced Anchor Summer Ales, which were also less-than-cold.

Although the sliced bread brought to the table was of the soft, chewy and mass-produced variety and not of the crusty and tasty variety, it was helped immensely by the accompanying butter and sea salt. The sea salt was to be one of the highlights of the meal, which I suppose I should be surprised by, but then again, that's what "Sel de Mer" means, right?

The other highlight of the meal were the oysters, which were acceptably sized, acceptably fresh, and remarkably were served on ice. (I was wondering whether they had ice in the kitchen, judging by the temperature of their earlier offerings). The pickled watermelon mignonette was interesting. I prefer the more traditional shallots, but whatever, it was fine. To be fair though, the oysters were good and reasonably priced.

Time passed, and more time passed while we waited for our mains. This gave us time to not only reflect on my empty beer bottle (which would take a fair amount of wild hand-waving to rectify), but also on the decor, which is sort of a melange of rustic fish shack and olde-timey new england bar, which I reckon would be a lot nicer once the sun went down.

Ahoy! Our mains arrived and while The Lady's grouper came with a whole heap of spinach and perhaps half a dozen mussels, my 4 sad scallops came on a small bed of interlocking haricot verts and wax beans. Sadly, her fish was overcooked (or something) because neither of us were able to figure out just-what-was-wrong with the odd texture of her fish. Luckily for her, she had the mussels and the spinach to save her meal. I had no such luck, and no amount of flowery prose can disguise the fact that I had 4 pathetic, rubbery scallops sitting on green beans. Hey, at least they weren't soapy!

I can't help but think that the items on the regular menu (burgers, fish and chips, fish sliders, t-bone) might fare better under the ham-fisted skills of the kitchen, but really, there's way too many other good restaurants that I'd rather go to before giving this place another shot.

So, the joint is named after the highlight of our meal, which was the effing sea salt on the butter. Pass.

$3.75 Aprés-Ski/Snowboard Ketel One Martinis punctuate some of the highs and lows of my trips to Vail. You see, The George hosts a happy hour from 3pm to 7pm featuring a menu of healthy apps and starters for $7.75 and ANY DRINK for $3.75. The food menu is filled with solidly prepared bar food favorites like buffalo wings, nachos, and fish and chips, as well as more adventurous (and delicious) offerings like mushroom/duck quesadillas.

recommendation:
Get up early and hit the slopes to get fresh tracks and avoid the tourist/gaper crowd. Get off the mountain by 2:45pm, get yourself to The George by 3 to pick out one of the big leather couch areas in the main area (or else you'll be stuck in the povo game room in the back), order drinks and food. repeat as necessary.

I'd never been to Fiesta's! before, but the second the overly-chatty waitress placed the rather generic looking chips and salsa down on our table, I knew exactly what to expect. Fiesta's! (sic) is your typical local perfectly passable mini-mall Mexican restaurant, where I would put even money on the fact that most people order the 1 or 2 item combination, and 90% of those people order some sort of Taco/Enchilada pairing. These types of restaurants might as well be McDonald's/Starbucks, you know when you order a shredded beef taco/cheese enchilada combo, you'll get a side of "spanish" rice prepared out of a bulk mix from Smart & Final, a heap of refried beans gussied up with a handful of white cheddar, and a greasy beef taco and a sad little tortilla filled with cheese, soaked in a "red sauce".

I had the Tom Apple combo, named after a local golf pro, and so perfectly passable that I forget what was in it, besides the obligatory rice and beans sides. I vaguely remember a chile relleno that wasn't deseeded and was pretty spicy, a blue corn enchilada (with cheese), and a carne adovado burrito which was juicy and tasty, though very small.

If you're in the area and you're feeling homesick for your local perfectly passable mini-mall Mexican restaurant, Fiesta's! is the place to be.

A group of 10 of us descended upon The Edendale this past Sunday at noon to enjoy the sunny 70 degree weather on the front patio and (more importantly) the bottomless champagne brunch. A dozen+ bottles of champagne later, it was 3pm and we (mercifully) were cut off. Luckily I have a memory like a vice and recall enough about the experience to write a coherent review.

We were seated promptly (nobody awakens before noon in Silver Lake apparently, the outdoor section in front did not fill up until at least 1:30) and our friendly waitress cheerfully took our complicated orders (only one person ordered something without omissions/substitutions/additions) and true to her word, kept the champagne flowing. This was probably a good thing, as it took FOREVER for us to get our food, so at least we had plenty of bubbly (and trips to the photo booth in the back patio) to keep us busy.

The food arrived and to the staff's credit, all the 9 of the complicated orders came back correctly prepared, and right about at the same time. My Bacon/Lettuce/Avocado/Tomato sandwich (with an added fried egg over medium) and side salad were done just right, and although everything I saw and tasted was good, I felt slightly underwhelmed at the ambition of the brunch menu, as all the scrambles and breakfast sandwiches that I saw around me were things that I might whip up during a weekday morning.

I would still recommend The Edendale for their solid, well-prepared brunch, their awesome photo booth, good service, and lovely patio areas.

I like Nita Nita enough that I drag myself out of Manhattan at least once or twice a week to go there.

The low-key vibe, the friendly service, the great locals, the awesome food, and of course THE BOOZE (esp drink specials) keep me coming back again and again. Great place to meet up if you have a group, as there are a few long tables in the front that you can take over. Since I am writing this in the winter, it's almost easy to forget to mention one of my favorite things about Nita--the gorgeous back garden during springtime/summer--one of my favorite places to be, cocktail in hand.

One other thing to mention: besides the awesome jukebox, they have pretty good DJ's play different kinds of music a few times a week, within the space of a few weeks this summer Kid Koala, Tyondai (from Battles) and Smoovebert* all graced the decks there. No slouches there.

*alright, alright, alright fine_I_am Smoovebert, fine. *ahem*

Cham represents the two things I love most about food in LA, legit ethnic foods and abundant, fresh ingredients. Cham takes authentic Korean flavors and dishes and prepares them with the presentation and attention to quality ingredients that is the cornerstone of California cuisine. Though terms like "modern korean" food sort of creep me out, that's probably the most appropriate term for the food here.

After consulting with the extraordinarily helpful and friendly staff, I had the beef and leek soup, which tasted for all the world like a fresh version of (the korean super spicy shredded beef soup) yukejang that was a lot less spicy (but still very good), and the ssam garden platter with beef bulgogi. The ssam platter comes with your choice of meat, and a gorgeous plate (in both color and presentation) of bibb lettuce, shiso leaves, picked radish, buckwheat noodles, spicy red pepper paste, and cilantro--the idea being that you make lettuce wraps with the ingredients to your liking. The bulgogi came on a sizzling iron platter, and away I went, stuffing my gaping maw with helping after heaping helping of bbq goodness, for a very reasonable $11.

I was so underwhelmed by Pete's that I had to wait til I had a couple of visits under my belt to make absolutely sure that this place was as mediocre as I initially thought. The space itself is actually quite nice, all mosaic tile floored and dark wood clubby, and really, the bar area is quite a nice, large, open and airy space.

Unfortunately, the care that was taken with the physical space did not carry over into the food, drink, or service. While the Hellman burger, oyster spoons, and blue cheese fries taste decent, like something an adventurous home cook might whip up at home out of a recipe in a "10 Minute Meals You Can Cook at Home!" feature in Maxim, the food is just... "off"--the presentation seems to indicate that the food was joylessly slapped together with the care and skill of a line cook at a prison mess hall. If you are expecting the alcohol to add some shine to the lackluster experience, I hope you're not drinking cocktails, as I've had some of the weakest pours I've experienced in LA here on several occasions. How about some quality human/social interaction to lighten up your unremarkable experience? Don't look to the hostess, managers, or waitstaff, who invariably have ranged from glum to confused/contradictory to just plain rude.

Look, I understand that Pete's was one of the first bar/restaurants in the area during the "revitalization" and so they could manage to survive while still being so uninspired, but as more establishments roll into the area that don't take their customers for granted simply on the basis of them being the only game in town, I don't see how they can continue like this. Thank goodness.

**i saved my 100th review for this**