Last weekend before hiking in the Malibu mountains, Hubs and I decided to fuel up at Jinky’s. I couldn’t decide if I wanted savory or sweet for brunch but luckily the menu offered something that could satiate my wavering appetite. I ordered the Sierra Mountain breakfast which contains 2 eggs, 2 french toast (or buttermilk pancakes)+ choice of gourmet sausage or ham steak. I got the french toast and asked the server to make it flaky (their specialty which adds a nice crunch to the toast) with fresh strawberries and walnuts sprinkled on top. I am not a fan of french toast but at Jinky’s I make an exception for the flaky version because it is delicious and I can’t even taste any egg on the batter which is how I liked it.

Hubs had a had to kill the breakfast burrito craving he’s had for the past couple of days so he ordered the Desperado which is  quoting from Jinky’s awesome menu “a hardy blend of scrambled eggs, red onions, diced tomatoes and ortega chilies, cheddar cheese, chopped potatoes and Jody Maroni’s Turkey-Chicken Chorizo *(or vegetarian chorizo) – served with pea guacamole, salsa fresca & sour cream (substitute chorizo with choice of gourmet chili)

Just a short FYI: I use to keep a copy of Jinky’s menu (the paper kind, not the actual menu, I’m no klepto!) by my bed and peruse it before I fall asleep. It’s a great read.

Hubs and I usually also get a side of gourmet chili (selection changes everyday) but didn’t want the extra weight to hold us down as we conquered the Mishe Mokwa Trail in Malibu where I almost got attacked by a snake and survived it like good ole Indiana Jones.

I have worked in Downtown almost my entire life and there has been some great transformation in the area. The streets use to be trash strewed and buildings dilapidated. On Sundays mornings back in the day, there would be no reason to come to this part of town unless you were looking for your dealer. But that has changed in past few years in the redevelopment of Downtown LA. It has become much more urban chic so to speak and Nickel Diner is a great addition to this.

Although there was a long line outside, we were lucky enough that a couple of parties ahead of us left and we only waited for about 15 minutes before getting seated. The inside of the restaurant looks like a cross between a small town diner from the mid west and a New York deli.

After taking our orders, the waitress brought us a sample of the strawberry crumble donut and the bacon maple donut. Hubs said that the strawberry crumble taste like Good Humor strawberry shortcake bar and I thought the maple bacon donut tasted like one of those ham and cheese bread from the Taiwanese bakery. They were both good.

I debated whether I should get an full sized donut since they had a plethora of amazing choices such as red velvet, nutella and samoa just to name a few. However,  I resisted because we were planning to head over to the Beer Float Showdown later that day where I was ready to consume large amounts of beer and ice cream. The donuts looked might delicious in their cages though.

I was really torn between the baked pancakes or the scramble that I was hankering earlier. I ended up getting the scramble anyways. Once I get my mind made up, it’s almost impossible to deter it. Although this is just the run of the mill scramble with bacon and garlic, the goat cheese adds a different texture and taste to it.

Hubs got the 5th and Main which is spicy bbq pork has topped with 2 eggs, sunny side up. There was a tad too much BBQ sauce and it was a little too sweet for my taste but all in all, BBQ for breakfast is awesome and sinful.

I look forward to returning to Nickel Diner to try the rest of the donuts and to experience peaceful Downtown on a Sunday morning.

There were 7 of us so we ordered about 6-7 starters. First came the lamb chops, beets, fresh garbanzo’s, sumac yogurt. The lamb was not gamey at all and was cooked medium rare and seasoned to perfection. The table liked it so much that we ordered a 2nd plate and even got 2 of our non lamb eaters to try a couple bites. I guess it’s all about the quality of the meat and how you prepared it. Hubs was one of the 2 non lamb eaters and he gobbled those bites down.

Beets, feta, sungold tomato, kalamata

arugula, corn, pecans, Japanese tomato, parmesan

Since we were taking friends here for the first time, we were kind of playing “hosts”, making sure that everyone was okay with the food and etc. Hubs and I were also preoccupied with taking pictures as well. So I really don’t remember the lighter dishes such as the 2 above. I guess you can say their meatier dishes stood out more.

Here is the grilled squid, chorizo, chimmi churri. Couldn’t taste the chorizo much but the squid was very fresh.

So here is the groups favorite starter of the night, pig ear, chili, lime, fried egg. So much that we ordered another one within seconds of devouring it. The first bite really surprised me as it was such a tangy surprise. Sour and spicy and chewy and crunchy all up in my mouth. This is a MUST ORDER!

After reading all the reviews about this one, I ordered the poutine, oxtail gravy, cheddar for the beef eaters in the group. One beef eater was rendered speechless after the first bite. He was surprised how light the dish was despite the gravy over fries.

We doubled up on the pork belly, kimchi, peanuts, chili soy, scallion since Hubs and I really enjoyed it in our previous visit. Again, this dish did not disappoint.

Finally we are onto the main course. We decided on 4 of the 5 dishes offered that day.

Halibut, king crab, gold rice succotash, tabasco butter. I really liked this dish as there were so many textures. However, among the 7 of us, we all only got a bite of this. I plan to return very soon to have this all for myself.

grilled shrimp, fresh black eye’s, bacon, curry, creme fraiche.

We ordered the flat iron, artichoke hash, truffle parmesan fondue for the cow lovers and boy they were more in love with the bovine after they took the first bite. They were about to fall off their chairs. The steak was prepared medium well upon the server’s suggestion.

When the balsamic pork ribs came, the table and ooh’ed and ahh’ed . She was a beauty. The meat was succulent and slid right off the bone. Even the bone was succulent, it was cooked so thoroughly that I could bite into the bone. How do they do that anyways?

The ribs came with a side of blistered corn & zucchini, herb butter

Then it’s time for DESSERT! Of course we had to order ALL 5.

tres leches, dulce de leche. This was Hubs favorite. Again, it was not heavy but full of flavor at the same time.

panna cotta, saba

pound cake, strawberries, cream the famous chocolate crunch bar

Strawberry shortcake

Last but not least the apricot tart, pistachio creme fraiche.

I truly madly deeply love this restaurant. They are never afraid to slap you upside the head with flavor and substance but at the same time keeping the texture light. It’s comfort food on steroids, graduating from a liberal arts college. Okay, doesn’t make sense but all in all, the dinner was beyond expectation and had service to match.

We went on an extremely busy night and our table was not yet ready at reservation time because the party before us lingered a bit longer than expected. The hostess Madeline checked in with us often to give us updated news on our seating situation. She offered to take our drink orders first and gave us menus to peruse. Madeline also gave us the bigger table so we can be more comfortable. These are little gestures but make a dramatic impact on hungry diners waiting to be seated. I also noticed how everyone working at the restaurant pitches in to help. If there was a glass that needs to refilled or a table that needs to cleaned up, runners, servers, hostesses jumped right in and took care of it. I don’t care how great the food is or how many Michelin stars it earned or what culinary school the chef graduated from, if a restaurant does not have good service, it might as well be a Denny’s.

14 thumbs ups to Animal for incredible food and stellar service. I will definitely be back soon.

**Thanks for Hubs for helping out with the photography.**

I had the pleasure of meeting sinosoul, nakedsushi, resforthree and wanderingchopsticks that night. It was such an amazing thing to have a whole bunch of people get together and just talk nonstop about food food and more food.

I have had my share of Thai food in LA, in Asia and in Germany.Everywhere I go, the taste is consistently the same. However, Jitlada changed my perception of Thai food. I didn’t realize that Thai food can be so dimensional. There were 13 of us total and I brought Hubs, Sis and Bro to dinner too! Yeah I like to travel with an entourage. Between the introductions, pleasant exchanges about favorite foods and comparisons of the nastiest food ever touched our tongues, we somehow got our order in. Amidst of the mini madness, I tried to take pictures of the food but I was too concerned with eating it then shooting it. However, nakedsushi has already blogged about her side of the experience along with some incredible pictures. So go check it out!

I’ll try and recap some of the food we had.

Some sort of salad:

Oxtail soup (which I didn’t have because it was beef):

Yellow curry with clams.the BEST Thai curry I’ve ever tasted.

Another curry with balls made from fish paste. This one is off menu and another great dish. If I recall correctly, there were thin rice noodles in the curry as well. This was my favorite dish of the night. This curry and the previous yellow curry tasted completely different. This had a little more body to it.

Brown sugar chicken. I actually remembered the name of this dish because many of us made a hoopla about ordering this since we were all too curious. In my mind, I was envisioning something similar to Kyochon fried chicken but with not so much batter. Instead we got this. It was a little disappointing because it just tasted like something from Panda Express would have..bland and not even sweet at all.

This was some sort of stinky bamboo and salted fish curry. Although I could smell the stench across the table, I had to give it a try. I had something similar when I visited Ningbo China  and yeap, it was the same, extremely salty and taste like the smell of a squat toilet.

Lamb hot pot. Very lamby, very good.

Surprisingly and fortunately, I could handle the spicy factor on all the dishes. Some folks who have frequented Jitlada in the past said that it was definitely less heat in the dishes. I’m okay with that since I like actually being able to taste my food instead of trying to put out the fire in my mouth.

We finished off the meal with some Morning Glory peanut brittle and caramel that resforthree generously brought for everyone. I LOVE PEANUT BRITTLE. Hubs and I almost missed a flight because I NEEDED to get some brittle from the See’s candy cart at the Burbank airport. Morning Glory brittle is not overly sweet and has the perfect crunch to it. I was coveting the entire bag of brittle and I volunteered to bring the remaining brittle and caramel home. You can get your own Morning Glory brittle here!

Jitlada and meeting fellow food lovers was such a treat. Thank you everyone for an enjoyable night. Looking forward to the next get together.

Tel:(323) 663-3104

Le Roy’s is a diner that serves damn good classic American fare and great prices. The service is impeccable as well. The ladies exude southern hospitality and calls you sweetie and honey. I loves it.

Hubs almost always order a omelet with tater tots. If you are not a fan of tater tots (I don’t know why because they are the best breakfast tuber evers!), Le Roy’s offers 3 other choices of  home fries, breakfast potatos, and hash browns. But let me reiterate again, the TATER TOTS are best. Brings me right back to 4th grade. They are made crunchy on the outside and steamy goodness on the inside.

I am a carb whore and usually order some sort of pancakes or waffle but that day, I ordered the Portuguese sausage, eggs and fresh fruit. I love that Le Roy’s fruit salad consists of “real” fruit such as pineapple, kiwi, strawberries and just peeled bananas. I hate it when restaurants give you the “fake” fruit like grapes and mushy, overly ripen cantaloupe mixed with canned peaches. Blegh!  If I remember correctly, Le Roy’s also offers breakfast links and sausage patties as well. I LOVE these options!

Another reason for me to come back to Le Roy’s for more is their homemade salsa. We had to ask for it but the waitresses are more than happy to bring it for you. In fact, they insist on it. I pour this salsa over everything. It’s that good.

Le Roy’s is only opened until 3 pm. There is counter seating, indoor seating and also a small patio in the back. Don’t be deterred by the line outside the restaurant as It usually goes by pretty fast. Definitely give Le Roy’s a try if you are ever in the area. If you are not a breakfast/brunch person, they also offer lunch items such as sandwiches and salads.

My traveling companions and I decided to venture beyond our hotel and walked into one of the city’s many city centers. After looking at a few suspicious rice and noodle shops, we found a nice sit down restaurant on top of a McDonalds. The restaurant had a special priced menu that offered fares that ranged from US$1 to US$ 3. The lotus root cakes where one of the items that were on this special priced menu and for some reason I thought it would be sweet. However, the dish was savory and delicious. It was made with chunks of lotus root and ground pork and looked like thin slices of pork chops. This dish was RMB 8 which is around US$ 1.17.

Another dish off the cheapo menu was the steamed pumpkin with lotus flower petals. Again, I thought this would be a sweet dish but the pumpkin was steamed in a soy sauce base, kind of like the sauce off of the roast duck at Sam Woo’s. The sweetness of the pumpkin was a nice contrast to the oily and salty flavor of the sauce. This cost a whopping RMB 12 (US$ 1.75).

Next up, THE ROASTED GOOSE, which came highly recommended by our waitress as it is their house specialty.I can never tell the difference between duck and goose when they are roasted because the consistency is the same, a little gamey a little fatty. Eithery way, it was one of the best goose/duck meat I’ve had in my life. It was meaty in all the right places.

However, what I loved most about the goose was that it was hiding a pile of Schzewan style pickled turnips and carrots underneath. The tangy and sour crunch of the turnips was a nice refreshing surprise after digging through all the salty goodness of the goose meat.  This dish was the most expensive of the entire meal,  a whopping RMB 26 (US$ 3.85)!!!

I had to order something that I knew would be SWEET for sure so I decided on some sort of a green tea roll with crushed peanuts. It was crushed peanuts and crystallized sugar wrapped inside green tea (or green food coloring) infused rice cake.  This dessert definitely hit the chewy,  sweet and crispy spot that I was looking for to end a nice meal.

After this cheap and delicious meal, Guangzhou almost redeems itself to me, almost.

Hubs and I have been venturing out of our comfort zone of SGV,  Silver Lake, and Santa Monica for our breakfast/brunch ventures. So after a nice long run at the Rose Bowl one sunny Saturday, we decided to try the breakfast/brunch at Auntie Em’s in Eagle Rock.

For some reason, I was really hankering for a sandwich all week so I decided to order the black forest ham and eggs with mustard see gouda on grilled pretzel bread. I thought the pretzel bread was going to be hard like well, a pretzel but the texture was a cross between sourdough and white bread. The black forest ham was not overly salted and the gouda added a nice fragrant touch to the sandwich. Although the sandwich looked like a monster overfilling with eggs and schtuff, it was actually not too heavy or too much. I finished the entire thing.yes I did.

Hubs opted for the very innocent looking scrambled eggs and Cajun turkey sausage & toast. It was good but nothing write home about.

I have eaten cupcakes from Auntie Em’s before but never had their red velvet ones (my favorite kind of cupcakes evers!) I loved that there Auntie Em’s offers 3 sizes, mini, small and large. I was pretty stuffed from my monster of a sandwich so I just ordered a mini red velvet cupcake for taste. When the cupcake was brought to me, our very friendly server Jody brought me two cupcakes! “I couldn’t just bring you one honey!” Love her!!!

Although I prefer more sour cream cheesy frosting on my red velvets like the ones from Lark Cakeshop in Silver Lake, Auntie’s Em’s red velvet cupcakes were moist and the frosting was nice and sweet. The chocolate cupcake was also tasty but I’m not really a chocolate person so I can only vouch for the nice cakey texture and not for the taste. The best part was when the bill came, we were not charged for the cupcakes or our drinks. Did I mention that I love Jody! By the way, it was my first time having Intelligentsia coffee which is self serve here. I am hooked! Love the dark roasty and smooth flavor of their coffee.

Okay, I admit that I actually went to Auntie Em’s again the following week. This time I was craving waffles or pancakes, one of the daily specials was pancakes with fresh berries with shaved coconut and real maple syrup. However, I was informed that they were out of pancakes. I was BUMMMMMED. The server (not Jody this time) suggested their french toast which was comparable to the pancakes. Being a french toast disliker but craving something carby, I succumbed to the suggestion but was later disappointed.

I have never been a fan of french toast so again, I probably can’t really accurately asses this dish. I just thought it was bland and had a crunchy shell. Looks pretty though no?

Hubs lucked out on the biscuit with eggs and turkey sausage gravy. We were pleasantly surprised and delighted at the sight of this dish! Look at it! Isn’t she a beauty?! Yes, those are Auntie Em’s homemade biscuits that was almost as big as my face! Hubs and I thought it was just going to be a regular biscuit with regular gravy and side of eggs. The biscuit was fluffy and the gravy was not over the top heavy.

Although I was disappointed with the French toast, the biscuits and gravy redeemed it.

Auntie Em’s “cooks by the season” so although they have a regular menu, their specials are what sets them apart because they take advantage of the items in season and cook accordingly. I am curious about their veggie and salad items and abundance of pastry items so I will be back soon.

I had to interrupt my blogging about the rest of my trip in Hong Kong and China because this place blew me away, thanks to Sinosoul and the power of Twitter. ednesday is Date Night with the Hubs and I was stumped on our dinner destination. But I had a vast amount of resources at my fingertips; I tweeted for help and got a slew of replies along with links to the recommendations.

Among them was Cube. Sinosoul had already written a review on the place  (and way better pics!) and sent me the Aperitivo menu for the week. Alas my attempts of getting there before 7pm was futile. Damn you LA traffic. But that’s okay, there’s always the regular menu. Cube’s menu changes every week according to what the chef gets at the local farmer’s market and the food is inspired by a region in Italy. The week we went, the fare was inspired by Umbria. Cube offers Italian fare with strong Californian influences. After perusing their menu online, I was in the mood for tapa-esque, fusion-esque foods so this place was perfect.

As we were seated in a corner surrounded by chocolates, jams and olive oil from Italy, it’s evident that Cube is a restaurant/cafe with a nice marketplace incorporated within. there were chocolates in packaging that would put the Japanese to shame. We were handed a menu, a wine list and another small leaflet of their cheese flight. Cube carries 85 different types of cheese and thus the required leaflet. Hubs and I decided to consult our very nice and informative server Nick for his favorite cheeses. Nick was extremely helpful throughout the entire night. We ordered most of what he suggested and they were just perfect.

A word of warning here, I am still learning how to take pictures in the less than daylight conditions with my point and shoot. So add that on top of hunger, you get fuzzy pictures.

After giving Nick a very generalized preferences of how we like our cheese (no goat and nothing that smells like toe jam), he presented us with the below slab of beauty:

From left to right: Gruyere (semi-hard, cow, Switzerland), Tomme Brulee (semi-soft, sheep, Switzerland, Hubs’ favorite of the three) and my favorite, couch farm triple creme (soft). We also ordered mixed olives and regular prosciutto to go with our cheese. The slab was sprinkled with almonds, rosemary jam, dried apricots and these mini raisins. We were also offered their house crostini which I quickly devoured with the triple cream cheese.

Next up was my favorite of the entire meal, the diver scallop crudo with peaches, blood orange juice and peppercress. OH-EM-GEE, scallop crudo was melt in your mouth, made me feel like frolicking through a field of sunflowers goodness. It was a burst of refreshing goodness in my mouth. The peaches were sliced so thin but the flavor so pungent.

Soft shell crab was next and although fresh, the batter was a little much and tasted like a pastry. However the sweet corn puree that the crab was sittin’ on was delish.

I’m a sucker for any dish with the word crunch or crisp so I had to order the summer crunch made with farmer’s market beans, sweet corn, hazel nuts and pecorino. It was definitely a crunch a offered a pleasant contrast to the meltiness and gooeyness of the 2 items that preceded it.

Hubs and I decided to only order one main entree so we can save some stomach space for dessert and antipasti. With the high recommendation of Nick, we had the seared diver scallops with lemon risotto, asparagus and bacon vinaigrette. Yes, those were bits of bacon on top of the scallops. This is a MUST EAT at Cube. I’ve had my share of scallops before from French restaurants and Cantonese restaurants. But these scallops are possibly the best ones I’ve had so far. The bacon bits on top provided a nice opposition but not overly salted addition to the dish. I am not a fan of risotto but I was fighting Hubs for the last spoonful.

Next up was Hubs’ favorite of the bunch,the baked 4 cheese mac and cheese with fried guanciale and truffle oil. I have no idea what fried guanciale is but man it’s delicious! It taste like bacon but with a denser composition, very similar to the Chinese cured meat. The top layer of the mac and cheese was slightly crunchy and bottom layer a melted heaven. Great contrast and not too creamy.

By this time both of us was stuff to our throats but desserts (and soup) ends a good meal. There were so many tempting choices on the menu so we had to consult our server Nick again for his must haves. Here is what we ended up getting the Victorian rhubarb and raspberry cobbler with tahitian vanilla ice cream and  crispy cinnamon fritters  with dark valrhona chocolate and fresh cream for dipping in which Hubs’ proclaimed upon first bite, “They are like bites of clouds!” Gotta give him kudos for that since his literature consists of curly brackets and semi colons. The cobbler was a very generous portion of sweet and tart goodness. The top crust was not too overpowering and was a good balance to the mounds of berries underneath. Both were Nick’s suggestions and both were unforgettable in a delicious kind of way.

So here’s my only decent picture throughout the entire night.

Yes yes, take some time to admire that. See what a full and happy stomach can do?

Cube is now one of my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles. I was so in love with my experience there that I wanted to come back the following weeks but didn’t because I was ashamed that I haven’t blogged about it after telling Nick I was going to. (Sorry NIck!) Cube’s food is fresh, fabulous and flavorful and the service is top notch which made the food that much better. Now that I blogged about this gem , I can return without shame.

615 N. La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90036
Tel:323-939-1148

Stepping into the restaurant was like stepping into a cross between Tao nightclub in Vegas and Burke Williams. Lots of reds and bamboo textured seating and I swear I heard a fake waterfall somewhere. . But the food made up for the Asiancentric decor.

My coworker felt like noodles so she opted for a prawn cioppino with noodles. Once my eyes landed on the words scallion pancake and pizza, my mind was already made up. I ordered the Peking duck scallion pancake pizza. That is very CPK-esque but I was taken to liking the fact that instead of regular pizza dough, it’s made with scallion pancake. I have a weakness for carbs that can be both chewy and crispy at the same time. We decided to share a smoked salmon dragon fruit salad with mango dressing. I needed something RAW after all those fishballs on a stick.

As I was still on my infatuations with tomatoes, those cherry tomatoes were sweet and delicious. The noodles were cooked to al dente and there were generous chunks of fresh prawns in the pasta. Luckily, my coworker didn’t seem to mind as I was only eating the cherry tomatoes. Love that the portions were huge for Asia standards.

Here is my Peking duck pizza on scallion pancake.

I loved the texture of this pizza, chewy, cheesy, meaty, crispy. The chef was smart not to overkill the pizza by adding any other ingredients to spice up the pizza as the peiking duck already had a very powering taste and the slight scallion taste from the dough and the sprinkles just added that kick.  Yes my friend, I ate every piece of this pizza, all by myself. I really like that this restaurant took new approaches to Chinese and Western food without completing reinventing the actual dish. Sometimes a little tweak is all we need to make things fresh. Definitely recommend.