Last Friday was nice compare to the previous 2 weeks, it didn't rain. We also had full member plus a bunch of extras. Our target was the Thai House, located on 2080 S. Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. It is located in a mid size plaza, parking was plentiful, and there are plenty of other shops around it. This little restaurant was unique in many ways, anyone who's ever been to a Thai place would almost certainly noticed that they like to make the atmosphere to be ....Thai, ...Buddhist statues, Thai emperor picture, somewhat dim, and to be honest, somewhat dirty feel. Not here! They did this place to be contemporary, lighting was bright but not blinding, chairs and tables were of modern design. It gave the feeling of youth, energetic, modern, lively.
So we got our table of 7. We had with us, BETZ, the extra E, teenage boy wonder Mr. R, and special guest star Mr. V who happens to be B's hubby. We waited about 10 minutes to be seated, considering they were pretty packed that was fast. We decided to order a bunch of dishes and share. They had a decent size menu, and we were somewhat at a lost as to what to order, they all seem so good. We ordered our drinks first, and here is a slight disappointment, no alcohol. Oh well, guess its the heaven's way of telling me not to drink. So pretending to be underage, we ordered 4 Dr Pepper in decanter, 1 Pepsi in decanter, 1 ice tea, and 2 Thai Coffee with Boba. That's right, they don't serve soda in cups, they serve in decanter. Very nice touch. Both E's wanted appetizers, so we had, Fried Tofu with sweet and sour sauce topped with peanuts, Avocado Rolls, and chicken satay. The tofu not everybody liked, but then some people just doesn't like tofu to begin with, so wouldn't try. The Avocado rolls were quickly consumed, as were the chicken satay. The tofu had maybe 5 pieces left when we finished.
The main course:
2 orders of Pad See Ew chicken
2 orders of Spicy spaghetti with beef
1 order of regular chicken fried rice
1 order of spicy chicken fried rice
1 order of Orange chicken
1 order of Thai Basil with beef
1 order of Asparagus with shrimp
and to top it off just in case, a tub of steam rice.
yes, you read that correctly, that's a lot of food!
So lets analyze each dish
Pad See Ew with chicken, slightly sweet and not oily at all. Excellent aroma, well done.
Spicy spaghetti was decent in spicy, but slightly too oily. A little less oil would make this an A dish.
Chicken fried rice, unlike Chinese style fried rice, which the rice tends to be hard, or Japanese fried rice where the rice tends to be too soft(the difference being long grain vs Cal rose rice), their fried rice were...for lack of a better word, fluffy. It was really good, and not oily.
Spicy Chicken fried rice, same as above, though it wasn't only moderately spicy.
Orange Chicken I am never a fan off, somehow battered fried chicken coated with tangerine sauce never appealed to me, but everyone else liked it and the presentation was well done.
Thai Basil with Beef, very nice dish, very spicy but not quite fire breathing level. For those who like spicy food, garlic, or mint, or all of the above, this dish is a must.
Asparagus with shrimp, usually with asparagus, each spear would make 3 parts, tip, stem, stem, well we had 3 tips, and about 18 stems... the tasty was decent, however with so many flavorful dishes to numb our taste buds, this dish became lost to us, as any subtle flavors went undetected. It was good, but it failed to "mariage" with the other dishes. Definitely not the restaurant's fault, we did order it after all.
Overall
Location/Parking ****************************A-
Environment/atmosphere*********************A
Drinks**************************************B+, sorry whichever deity is in charge, I've been worshiping Bacchus lately, so I must have alcohol.... though grudgingly, I have to admit, that Thai coffee was really good.
Food****************************************A-
Price****************************************A+. 7 people, 9 dishes, 3 appetizers, plus drinks... $101 dollars...need I say more?
Overall *************************************This restaurant gets an A
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
New Capital Seafood
Last Friday, Feb 13, 2009, was also a rainy day. We decided to stay close instead of venturing out for something new. We decided to have authentic Chinese food, so we went to New Capital Seafood at 140 W Valley Blvd, #D44 (4th floor), San Gabriel, CA. This is as close to the real thing as you are going to get when eating Chinese. It isn't dumb down for Anglo taste buds, the service, however, is also as close to the real thing as you will get...which isn't necessary a good thing.
We arrived at 8:50 and had a table for 4(well 5, but one is a baby on high chair). They immediately served us hot tea, for those of you that must have tea sweeten, don't bother. We are talking authentic Chinese after all. I had brought a bottle of Camelot Pinot Noir with me(nice daily wine), and had to pay to get it open. So for 4 of us, T,Z, special guest star Ms. V and Mr. J, we were given 2 menus... wth, authentic service I see. Now I had been here before, and so had Ms. V and Mr. J. We proceeded to selecting, Ms. V wanted kung pao chicken, for Mr. V we had oysters in black bean sauce, to complete the selection, I decided we would have a spicy clam dish that had spicy black bean sauce, Kobe beef in oyster sauce, and live scallops in shell. We waited for 5 minutes before the waiter noticed we were ready, after ordering, they gave us a 3# lobster battered and fried with pepper and salt for free(you get a free lobster when you order over 30 dollars, good for dinner and late night meal). It wasn't packed, the rain definitely didn't help business, and they had about 4 waiters and a few bus boys, I was expecting better service, but what can I say, it is authentic Chinese food with what must be authentic Chinese service. I think anyone who's been to that region(Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, China) would know what I mean by that.
So to put it bluntly, service sucks. With lobsters and clams, they only came and change our plates once. Then again, I being used to it, didn't go there for service, I went for food, so how was it?
This is where they excel. Almost all the dishes were done to perfection. The Kobe, the oyster, the clams, even the kung pao chicken. Mr. J and I were busy putting food in our mouths while Z was taking her time being lady like.... and Ms. V was too busy catering to her rug rat of a daughter to truly enjoy the meal. Well she did ate most of the kung pao chicken which was her choice. We ended up each selecting our favorite dish. For Z it was the clam, she never had it with the shells before, and you should see her eyes light up as she tried it for the first time. Ms V, kung pao chicken. Mr. J and I were the garbage disposal service and we just ate and ate, though Mr J did like the oysters most. For me, I would have to say the scallop in shell, since everything to me tasted excellent, I had to choose it as it is by far the best in presentation as well as taste.
I had ordered a special dessert, which came in a whole coconut, for Z and Ms. V to share. They liked it, Ms. V already know what it was, but it was a complete surprise to Z. It is coconut with swiftlet's nest, of course I had to gross her out by telling her in laments terms...hehehe, if you want to know what it is, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_nest_soup.
So Overall time:
Location/Parking*************************A, large lot, both surface and underground, with security guard.
Enviornment*****************************D-, bad service ruins environment
Drinks***********************************C, standard wine list, standard drinks(beer, soda), low to mid end tea selection.
Food************************************A, salute to the kitchen staff!
Price************************************A-/B+, about 25 per person, knowing what we ordered, in other places it could easily top 50. The free lobster was a nice touch!
Overall**********************************B/B-
We arrived at 8:50 and had a table for 4(well 5, but one is a baby on high chair). They immediately served us hot tea, for those of you that must have tea sweeten, don't bother. We are talking authentic Chinese after all. I had brought a bottle of Camelot Pinot Noir with me(nice daily wine), and had to pay to get it open. So for 4 of us, T,Z, special guest star Ms. V and Mr. J, we were given 2 menus... wth, authentic service I see. Now I had been here before, and so had Ms. V and Mr. J. We proceeded to selecting, Ms. V wanted kung pao chicken, for Mr. V we had oysters in black bean sauce, to complete the selection, I decided we would have a spicy clam dish that had spicy black bean sauce, Kobe beef in oyster sauce, and live scallops in shell. We waited for 5 minutes before the waiter noticed we were ready, after ordering, they gave us a 3# lobster battered and fried with pepper and salt for free(you get a free lobster when you order over 30 dollars, good for dinner and late night meal). It wasn't packed, the rain definitely didn't help business, and they had about 4 waiters and a few bus boys, I was expecting better service, but what can I say, it is authentic Chinese food with what must be authentic Chinese service. I think anyone who's been to that region(Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, China) would know what I mean by that.
So to put it bluntly, service sucks. With lobsters and clams, they only came and change our plates once. Then again, I being used to it, didn't go there for service, I went for food, so how was it?
This is where they excel. Almost all the dishes were done to perfection. The Kobe, the oyster, the clams, even the kung pao chicken. Mr. J and I were busy putting food in our mouths while Z was taking her time being lady like.... and Ms. V was too busy catering to her rug rat of a daughter to truly enjoy the meal. Well she did ate most of the kung pao chicken which was her choice. We ended up each selecting our favorite dish. For Z it was the clam, she never had it with the shells before, and you should see her eyes light up as she tried it for the first time. Ms V, kung pao chicken. Mr. J and I were the garbage disposal service and we just ate and ate, though Mr J did like the oysters most. For me, I would have to say the scallop in shell, since everything to me tasted excellent, I had to choose it as it is by far the best in presentation as well as taste.
I had ordered a special dessert, which came in a whole coconut, for Z and Ms. V to share. They liked it, Ms. V already know what it was, but it was a complete surprise to Z. It is coconut with swiftlet's nest, of course I had to gross her out by telling her in laments terms...hehehe, if you want to know what it is, go here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird%27s_nest_soup.
So Overall time:
Location/Parking*************************A, large lot, both surface and underground, with security guard.
Enviornment*****************************D-, bad service ruins environment
Drinks***********************************C, standard wine list, standard drinks(beer, soda), low to mid end tea selection.
Food************************************A, salute to the kitchen staff!
Price************************************A-/B+, about 25 per person, knowing what we ordered, in other places it could easily top 50. The free lobster was a nice touch!
Overall**********************************B/B-
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sambi of Tokyo
Finally catching up, yay!
Last Friday, Feb 6, 2009, was just such an ugly day! It was pouring, the power around my block went out for 18 hours due to a tree crashing into the power poles, my car was held prisoner by my own garage, we were going to go to another restaurant, but was too far, didn't know the way, raining way to hard to look for, so in haste, we picked a restaurant that our special guest star Ms V frequents, Sambi, located on 8649 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA 90241.
That's pronounced san-bi for those who are interested, and means praises in Japanese. You'd be surprise, but I've heard it being called Zombie before. Anyway this is a very nice restaurant and serves sushi and teppanyaki. We went for teppanyaki. Oh, for those who don't know what teppanyaki is, I think American calls it Hibachi, though I have no idea why. Its cool though cause Japanese speaks Engrish, so by rights, we should be able to speak Yapanese! It basically is a guy making your food in front of you, on a gas heated grill, doing fancy knife work and make a show out of it.
We arrived, decent size lot, free parking. The building is elevated and you have to climb a small flight of stairs to access. Once inside, you can see that this place represents a lot of history. Photos of various and some quite recognizable people have set foot in this place before. The lobby is plastered with photos. Very impressive. The inside setting is nice, with a large water fountain in the middle that resembles a small lake, very ingenious concept. They had a live lounge singer in there performing, but it wasn't loud and the music blends in with the atmosphere, very nice touch. It wasn't crowded due to the rain(or so I believe), for our party, it was only TZ, special guest star Ms V, and her hubby Mr J. We sat around the grill and were served promptly with our drinks. Large bottles of the Canadian made Sapporos, Ms V and I both had a pina colada, and Z had wine as usual. We also ordered appetizers, Ms V and Mr J had edamame, which is basically boiled baby soy beans with the pod and lightly salted. I wanted to try some of their sushi even though we were doing teppanyaki, so I ordered a serving of ninja roll, which is basically spicy tuna with rice paper. At once I can tell that the spicy tuna was fresh. The coloration is still that of maguro, it was quite satisfying.
For our main, Ms V and Mr J ordered and shared a seafood combination, I being the fat one ordered a seafood combo also, all for myself! And Z ordered a Sambi Speical Deluxe, which is Filet mignon and Shrimp. We all get to raid the salad bar, not that there were a lot of selection there, and Japanese style fried rice. So as we are drinking our liquor and munching our appetizer/salads, waiting for the chef to come and show us his awe inspiring skills, I guess Ms V's pina colada was super spiked, as she said she had to go to the ladies room, she invited me to go with her, in front of her hubby!!! I almost died right there, that was just so so wrong! Seriously Mr J, there is absolutely nothing going on, I swear! Luckily Mr J also works with us and knows our relation, so we just laugh it off....phew! How come my pina colada wasn't spiked up like that?
So our chef came, name Francis. As anyone who has had teppanyaki before, the food is only secondary, it is the atmosphere that people drown themselves on, and the chef dictates the atmosphere. I was kinda worry at first, but after he opened his mouth, omg this guy is a riot! He was so much fun that those hard working promptly serving waiters looked stiff compare to him. Then he started bragging about how he can drink and no one can beat him....so what do we do? We had our resident drinker go into a sake bomb match with him. Z stepped up to the plate, now mind you Z is a classy drinker, and doesn't usually do beer, definitely never did beer+ sake. In fact she doesn't even know what a bomb is, but boy did she show him. Francis slams the table and in goes the sake, I scooped the glass up and put it in front of her, here drink this, fast! Guess who finish first? Not the bragger that's for sure, go Z!
Food over all was fresh and done properly, though Francis did over cook the filet mignon. I had a lot of food, cleaned my plate and everything, and I didnt even share! My new year resolution must have been loose my waist, by gaining 2-4 inches:)
Overall
Location/Parking ******************************B+, if they had a security guard it would be an A for sure.
Environment **********************************A+ , thanks Francis, I was not a happy camper when I came in, I left quite happy!
Drinks ****************************************A-, just for that pina colada Ms V had already said it is better than a B
Food ******************************************B the only requirement for teppanyaki was fresh, but people don't do teppanyaki for exqusit or delicate tastes.
Price******************************************B-/C+, it was pretty pricy, expect at least 40 bucks per person, but still well worth it.
Overall***************************************A-/B+
Last Friday, Feb 6, 2009, was just such an ugly day! It was pouring, the power around my block went out for 18 hours due to a tree crashing into the power poles, my car was held prisoner by my own garage, we were going to go to another restaurant, but was too far, didn't know the way, raining way to hard to look for, so in haste, we picked a restaurant that our special guest star Ms V frequents, Sambi, located on 8649 Firestone Blvd, Downey, CA 90241.
That's pronounced san-bi for those who are interested, and means praises in Japanese. You'd be surprise, but I've heard it being called Zombie before. Anyway this is a very nice restaurant and serves sushi and teppanyaki. We went for teppanyaki. Oh, for those who don't know what teppanyaki is, I think American calls it Hibachi, though I have no idea why. Its cool though cause Japanese speaks Engrish, so by rights, we should be able to speak Yapanese! It basically is a guy making your food in front of you, on a gas heated grill, doing fancy knife work and make a show out of it.
We arrived, decent size lot, free parking. The building is elevated and you have to climb a small flight of stairs to access. Once inside, you can see that this place represents a lot of history. Photos of various and some quite recognizable people have set foot in this place before. The lobby is plastered with photos. Very impressive. The inside setting is nice, with a large water fountain in the middle that resembles a small lake, very ingenious concept. They had a live lounge singer in there performing, but it wasn't loud and the music blends in with the atmosphere, very nice touch. It wasn't crowded due to the rain(or so I believe), for our party, it was only TZ, special guest star Ms V, and her hubby Mr J. We sat around the grill and were served promptly with our drinks. Large bottles of the Canadian made Sapporos, Ms V and I both had a pina colada, and Z had wine as usual. We also ordered appetizers, Ms V and Mr J had edamame, which is basically boiled baby soy beans with the pod and lightly salted. I wanted to try some of their sushi even though we were doing teppanyaki, so I ordered a serving of ninja roll, which is basically spicy tuna with rice paper. At once I can tell that the spicy tuna was fresh. The coloration is still that of maguro, it was quite satisfying.
For our main, Ms V and Mr J ordered and shared a seafood combination, I being the fat one ordered a seafood combo also, all for myself! And Z ordered a Sambi Speical Deluxe, which is Filet mignon and Shrimp. We all get to raid the salad bar, not that there were a lot of selection there, and Japanese style fried rice. So as we are drinking our liquor and munching our appetizer/salads, waiting for the chef to come and show us his awe inspiring skills, I guess Ms V's pina colada was super spiked, as she said she had to go to the ladies room, she invited me to go with her, in front of her hubby!!! I almost died right there, that was just so so wrong! Seriously Mr J, there is absolutely nothing going on, I swear! Luckily Mr J also works with us and knows our relation, so we just laugh it off....phew! How come my pina colada wasn't spiked up like that?
So our chef came, name Francis. As anyone who has had teppanyaki before, the food is only secondary, it is the atmosphere that people drown themselves on, and the chef dictates the atmosphere. I was kinda worry at first, but after he opened his mouth, omg this guy is a riot! He was so much fun that those hard working promptly serving waiters looked stiff compare to him. Then he started bragging about how he can drink and no one can beat him....so what do we do? We had our resident drinker go into a sake bomb match with him. Z stepped up to the plate, now mind you Z is a classy drinker, and doesn't usually do beer, definitely never did beer+ sake. In fact she doesn't even know what a bomb is, but boy did she show him. Francis slams the table and in goes the sake, I scooped the glass up and put it in front of her, here drink this, fast! Guess who finish first? Not the bragger that's for sure, go Z!
Food over all was fresh and done properly, though Francis did over cook the filet mignon. I had a lot of food, cleaned my plate and everything, and I didnt even share! My new year resolution must have been loose my waist, by gaining 2-4 inches:)
Overall
Location/Parking ******************************B+, if they had a security guard it would be an A for sure.
Environment **********************************A+ , thanks Francis, I was not a happy camper when I came in, I left quite happy!
Drinks ****************************************A-, just for that pina colada Ms V had already said it is better than a B
Food ******************************************B the only requirement for teppanyaki was fresh, but people don't do teppanyaki for exqusit or delicate tastes.
Price******************************************B-/C+, it was pretty pricy, expect at least 40 bucks per person, but still well worth it.
Overall***************************************A-/B+
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cheesecake Factory at the Grove
January 30th post
Ok sorry for the delay, I have been overloaded with mundane everyday life stuff. Anyhow this will get me caught up with January. This time we went to The Cheesecake Factory at The Grove, located on 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles . I have never been to The Grove, so it was a completely new experience. As far as location goes, this place is nice, reminded me of Fashion Island on Newport. The parking structure was huge, I felt like I was in an obstacle course driving up to the 5th floor though. We had the full BETZ team, along a few guest eatters. B brought her hubby, Mr V. E brought her teenage boy, Mr. R, I brought a special guest star Ms. V(no relation to Mr V), and she brought her daughter mini B:) Our advance scouts arrived at 8:30, to reserve for a table for 6(we didnt anticipate so many), and was told that the wait would be around 45 minute to 1 hr. I arrived by 9:15, and at 9:30, we were told it would be at least another 30 minutes...ouch! Luckily, there were plenty of shops around, and even a bookstore to pass the time. Slightly after 10 we were finally seated, however, they wouldnt let us put 8 people in their booth of 6, so B and her hubby had to sit by the bar and have their romantic dinner for 2.
As far as the environment goes, the lighting was perfect, dim but not so you can't see your food. It was not too noisy even though it was packed. We sat down and proceeded to order our drinks. Ms V had a pina colada, Z had her pinot noir by Chalone Vineyard, E and Mr R had soda... and mini B had a pina colada virgin, and I had a Long Island Ice tea. I have no idea what B and her hubby had, since they didnt mention it and sat apart from us. Everyone liked their drink, but Z said her pinot noir was a bit bitter, they probably opened a new bottle and didn't air it.
So on with the food. B had ordered Pasta Carbonara, but didn't tell me what Mr V had. E had Louisiana Pasta, but didn't tell me what Mr R had, so for this post, we will just pretend that Mr V and Mr R were Star Trek red shirts:) Z had Chicken Madeira, Ms V said she had Fettucini with Chicken and SD Tomatoes, and she shared it with mini B. I being the fat guy, had to order appetizer, so I ordered Buffalo Blast, and for my main course, I had Pasta De Vinci...mmmm
The reviews were mixed.
For B, who had Pasta Carbonara, her exact words were: It would have been better if it didn't taste too much like bacon. The bacon overpowered the sauce and chicken.
For E, who had Louisiana Pasta: I loved my dish, the bit of spice was just right. Overall delicious!
For T, who had Buffalo Blast and Pasta De Vinci: I think the appetizer was gross, the breast meat was soggy at best, almost like rot, but the dip was nice and I was hungry(when am I not hungry??) However, the Pasta De Vinci earned its name. The mushroom was done just right, and the chicken flavorful. Pasta wasn't lacking either, al dente!
For Z, who had Chicken Madeira: The mixture of ingredients (asparagus, melted cheese, mushroom and Madeira sauce) took a couple of bites to get used to. It was fine. The mash potatoes had the right kick and was delicious.
For Ms V, who had Fettucini with Chicken and SD Tomatoes: Tasty, creamy, perfect. Lots of food it was excellent. I finished my drink and that is rare so that means it was excellent as well.
So as you can see, the reviews this round were rather mixed. So overall
Location/Parking******************************For LA, its an A, B if you compare it to say...orange county? Fee base parking, but at least I didnt have to pay anyone to violate my car!
Environment*********************************would have been an A if we didnt have to wait so long, 1.5 hr is excessive by any stretch of the imagination, and they dont take reservations either. It definitely ruins the mood of things. Lucky for them, there are plenty of shops around, so B!
Drinks**************************************B-, cocktails were fine, wine selection was average.
Food***************************************this one is hard, but as an average, it would get a B-, maybe C+. Pick your dishes carefully!
Price***************************************it's not inexpensive, average I would say. B
Overall*************************************B/B- restaurant!
Ok sorry for the delay, I have been overloaded with mundane everyday life stuff. Anyhow this will get me caught up with January. This time we went to The Cheesecake Factory at The Grove, located on 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles . I have never been to The Grove, so it was a completely new experience. As far as location goes, this place is nice, reminded me of Fashion Island on Newport. The parking structure was huge, I felt like I was in an obstacle course driving up to the 5th floor though. We had the full BETZ team, along a few guest eatters. B brought her hubby, Mr V. E brought her teenage boy, Mr. R, I brought a special guest star Ms. V(no relation to Mr V), and she brought her daughter mini B:) Our advance scouts arrived at 8:30, to reserve for a table for 6(we didnt anticipate so many), and was told that the wait would be around 45 minute to 1 hr. I arrived by 9:15, and at 9:30, we were told it would be at least another 30 minutes...ouch! Luckily, there were plenty of shops around, and even a bookstore to pass the time. Slightly after 10 we were finally seated, however, they wouldnt let us put 8 people in their booth of 6, so B and her hubby had to sit by the bar and have their romantic dinner for 2.
As far as the environment goes, the lighting was perfect, dim but not so you can't see your food. It was not too noisy even though it was packed. We sat down and proceeded to order our drinks. Ms V had a pina colada, Z had her pinot noir by Chalone Vineyard, E and Mr R had soda... and mini B had a pina colada virgin, and I had a Long Island Ice tea. I have no idea what B and her hubby had, since they didnt mention it and sat apart from us. Everyone liked their drink, but Z said her pinot noir was a bit bitter, they probably opened a new bottle and didn't air it.
So on with the food. B had ordered Pasta Carbonara, but didn't tell me what Mr V had. E had Louisiana Pasta, but didn't tell me what Mr R had, so for this post, we will just pretend that Mr V and Mr R were Star Trek red shirts:) Z had Chicken Madeira, Ms V said she had Fettucini with Chicken and SD Tomatoes, and she shared it with mini B. I being the fat guy, had to order appetizer, so I ordered Buffalo Blast, and for my main course, I had Pasta De Vinci...mmmm
The reviews were mixed.
For B, who had Pasta Carbonara, her exact words were: It would have been better if it didn't taste too much like bacon. The bacon overpowered the sauce and chicken.
For E, who had Louisiana Pasta: I loved my dish, the bit of spice was just right. Overall delicious!
For T, who had Buffalo Blast and Pasta De Vinci: I think the appetizer was gross, the breast meat was soggy at best, almost like rot, but the dip was nice and I was hungry(when am I not hungry??) However, the Pasta De Vinci earned its name. The mushroom was done just right, and the chicken flavorful. Pasta wasn't lacking either, al dente!
For Z, who had Chicken Madeira: The mixture of ingredients (asparagus, melted cheese, mushroom and Madeira sauce) took a couple of bites to get used to. It was fine. The mash potatoes had the right kick and was delicious.
For Ms V, who had Fettucini with Chicken and SD Tomatoes: Tasty, creamy, perfect. Lots of food it was excellent. I finished my drink and that is rare so that means it was excellent as well.
So as you can see, the reviews this round were rather mixed. So overall
Location/Parking******************************For LA, its an A, B if you compare it to say...orange county? Fee base parking, but at least I didnt have to pay anyone to violate my car!
Environment*********************************would have been an A if we didnt have to wait so long, 1.5 hr is excessive by any stretch of the imagination, and they dont take reservations either. It definitely ruins the mood of things. Lucky for them, there are plenty of shops around, so B!
Drinks**************************************B-, cocktails were fine, wine selection was average.
Food***************************************this one is hard, but as an average, it would get a B-, maybe C+. Pick your dishes carefully!
Price***************************************it's not inexpensive, average I would say. B
Overall*************************************B/B- restaurant!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Waters Restaurant
Still catching up with the reviews from last month.
Journal from Jan 26, 2009
So we went to Irvine this past week and tried out Waters Restaurant, located on 4615 Barranca Pky. Everyone was unavailable except for T and Z again, oh well. Irvine and OC in general has always been my playground, but it was the first time I set foot in this little restaurant by the lake. The environment this time is exactly my cup of tea, parking was plentiful, private lot, oh and free?? The restaurant itself is lake side, with both indoor and outdoor seating. There are schools of ducks...or geese swimming along the lake. I can see that outdoor seating during summer may be a problem(it would smell bad), but its still winter/spring, and they did have outdoor heaters.
So anyway we choose outdoor seating. This is ideal for couples....oh well for us, guess we can pretend to be a couple lol! We had ordered a bottle of Camelot Pinot Noir, it was extremely good even though it is a daily wine and very inexpensive retail.. I did wonder how they got us a bottle of 2006 since everything out in the retail market is still 2005... oh well, another one of those life's little mysteries. So for starters, we had Lobster Taquitos, comes with 2 dips, avocado relish and pico de gallo. It was amazing to say the least, I would definitely say it was better then the main course we had....lol. Z ordered the Mushroom Dijon Chicken, and T ordered the Steak and Gulf Shrimp. So while waiting for our food and munching on the lobster taquitos, we were full of expectations. The environment was excellent, the wine good, the appetizer good, the main course should be awesome right? Well it wasn't, its not bad, it may even be consider border line good(B-/C+), but because we were given so much signs to have high expectation, it just didn't live up to it.
T asked for the steak to be medium, it was medium/well done... no blood. T likes to see blood when eating steak. The shrimp was definitely overcooked, either that or they have been precooked and just reheated. Like any good seafood, if you overcook or reheat them, the texture gets hard. T was definitely disappointed at the main course.
Z had the Mushroom Dijon Chicken... she had 1/4..maybe 1/3 of it, and took the rest home. I think that said enough for itself.
The saving grace I would say was the waiter, who provided excellent service.
To the kitchen staff, try harder please. By all rights you have a restaurant that should have been packed on a Sat, but it wasn't, and now we believe we know why.
Overall conclusion
Environment/Parking*************************A+
Drinks**************************************(A-/B+)
Service*************************************A
Food(Appetizer)*****************************A
Food(Main)******************************** C
Prices*************************************B+(moderate to inexpensive)
Overall************************************B+
PS sit inside next time if you are going not as couples....
Journal from Jan 26, 2009
So we went to Irvine this past week and tried out Waters Restaurant, located on 4615 Barranca Pky. Everyone was unavailable except for T and Z again, oh well. Irvine and OC in general has always been my playground, but it was the first time I set foot in this little restaurant by the lake. The environment this time is exactly my cup of tea, parking was plentiful, private lot, oh and free?? The restaurant itself is lake side, with both indoor and outdoor seating. There are schools of ducks...or geese swimming along the lake. I can see that outdoor seating during summer may be a problem(it would smell bad), but its still winter/spring, and they did have outdoor heaters.
So anyway we choose outdoor seating. This is ideal for couples....oh well for us, guess we can pretend to be a couple lol! We had ordered a bottle of Camelot Pinot Noir, it was extremely good even though it is a daily wine and very inexpensive retail.. I did wonder how they got us a bottle of 2006 since everything out in the retail market is still 2005... oh well, another one of those life's little mysteries. So for starters, we had Lobster Taquitos, comes with 2 dips, avocado relish and pico de gallo. It was amazing to say the least, I would definitely say it was better then the main course we had....lol. Z ordered the Mushroom Dijon Chicken, and T ordered the Steak and Gulf Shrimp. So while waiting for our food and munching on the lobster taquitos, we were full of expectations. The environment was excellent, the wine good, the appetizer good, the main course should be awesome right? Well it wasn't, its not bad, it may even be consider border line good(B-/C+), but because we were given so much signs to have high expectation, it just didn't live up to it.
T asked for the steak to be medium, it was medium/well done... no blood. T likes to see blood when eating steak. The shrimp was definitely overcooked, either that or they have been precooked and just reheated. Like any good seafood, if you overcook or reheat them, the texture gets hard. T was definitely disappointed at the main course.
Z had the Mushroom Dijon Chicken... she had 1/4..maybe 1/3 of it, and took the rest home. I think that said enough for itself.
The saving grace I would say was the waiter, who provided excellent service.
To the kitchen staff, try harder please. By all rights you have a restaurant that should have been packed on a Sat, but it wasn't, and now we believe we know why.
Overall conclusion
Environment/Parking*************************A+
Drinks**************************************(A-/B+)
Service*************************************A
Food(Appetizer)*****************************A
Food(Main)******************************** C
Prices*************************************B+(moderate to inexpensive)
Overall************************************B+
PS sit inside next time if you are going not as couples....
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Betz Blog
Moving the blog over from yahoo to here today, they never got it right with the search and stuff and am tire of waiting..... anyhow, about us. Betz is a group of 4 people who has had extensive experience with the foodservice industry. Each week one of our member determines a restaurant to go to and we sample out their dishes. The target area is anywhere from Los Angeles to Orange County. There are no requirement for any of the places we visit, they could be expensive, moderate, or inexpensive. We critque them base on location/parking, atmosphere/environment, drinks, dishes, and prices.
***A BIG DISCLAIMER, we are not professional food critics, and we are not invited/hire by the various restaurants to put in a good word for them. We pay full price for our food and drinks, we grade base on how we like things, and that in itself is abstract at best. Yes we may have certain knowledge to the materials used, but our taste buds are of the commoner breed, sorry no blue blood's here. You may or may not agree with us, and are encourage to try out the place just as we have. We provide our opinion, and that is it. We are also not responsible for any surge or loss in income due to our comments***
So today we are going to convert over a couple of posts from the previous blog.
Entry for January 10, 2009
So our first week we selected a Sushi restaurant in LA...oooo sushi. This is a restaurant that I have not been to for over 14 years, and omg its still around. Its call Noshi Sushi, and is located on 4430 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004. 2 of our members were busy that day and so only TZ were available to try it out. The location is not in the best part of LA, but they do have their own lot and security guard to monitor the lot. So now you walk into the place, and you will notice a waiting area with a board where you write in your name, how many in your party, and if you wish to wait for the bar or do you want a table. I noticed immediately that the place looks different from before, and can only assume that they had some reconstruction done. So being only 2 of us, we went for the bar, the tables looked as if it will take longer to wait for anyway. So we sat down and ordered drinks, I got a bottle of canadian made Asahi(I missed the made in Japan imports) , and Z ordered green tea and warm sake. Then we went for it! Sushi omg sushi! It's still as big as before, and I do mean BIG! Giant silices of maguro, hamachi, spicy tuna was unique if not the best in this side of the continent. Z was never a true sushi eater(you know the type, yea I eat sushi, get me some california rolls....what the ginger doesnt go into the soy sauce??? yea that type!) But I forced her to devoure some raw fish!! hahahha and she liked it. So its all good right? No not all... You see there are some problems as well. For example, they dont have mirugai...oh comeon I love mirugai, what do you mean you dont have it! Its on the menu for crying out loud. And then there was the dish of ika, it just taste..powdery.
So final analysis
Location ******************* Passing C+/B-
Drinks ******************* Standard Passing C, nothing special
Sushi *******************Standard fare and the spicy tuna gets an B+, portion gets an A+, but doesnt have everything and well, I didnt like the ika.
Price/Value*******************A+ for sure. It is super inexpensive when it comes to sushi, the two of us ordering so many different sushi's didnt top 70 bucks, there were a guy who went solo next to us and his didnt top 25! I think it gives those 30dollar all you can eat sushi place a run for their money, and lets not forget, the size, each slice of fish they put on, can probably make 2 slices of sushi in any other place!
Overall the place gets a B+ in our books
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entry for January 20, 2009
So last Friday we went to try out a local Hispanic restaurant in Hollywood. Its call Velvet Margarita, located on 1612 CAHUENGA. We went separately, that was immediately a mistake, as there are just no parking around, so we ended up paying 10 bucks per vehicle to get valet parking. Eek, I really hate having others drive my car, its like a violation of sorts...
So we paid someone to violate our vehicles, and we went into the place. Since we went separately, we didn't all arrived at the same time. Z was already there, B & E were still stuck in Friday night traffic, I got in, and the first impression was dark and noisy, which isn't my usual environment, dark is ok, noisy is not my cup of tea. Any how, they had this bouncer like manager who decided he needed to card me, and that made my day! You guys out there don't even realize how much I want to be carded, once you get past a certain age, you'll start thinking like I do...heheheh:)
So I found Z at the bar already, bottle of water in one hand and a mango margarita on the other. I was starving at the time and decided that I better not order anything until I get some grub down, strange things may happen if I drink before eating. Well it ended up to be an non issue later, as you will all see. So we stood there for about 20 minute before B&E got there, and they brought an Extra E with them! So we got our table and started to ordered. For drinks I got a pina colada, B wasn't feeling well and only ordered a soda, E doesn't drink...or so she claimed, so she too ordered a soda. The Extra E ordered a strawberry margarita. So of all the drinks we had, only 3 contained alcohol. MM, PC, and SM! We also ordered our food, Z had the ahi tuna with a house salad, B had an extra large bowl of soup only, E had chicken enchilada with Ceasar Salad, the Extra E had chicken mole with a house salad, and I had Chicken taco with soup. I really dont know what it was call as the waiter said it in spanish, but I knew it had turkey meatball and veggies in it.
So we waited on our food, and they served us these red tortilla chips with 3 dips. 2 were salsa and 1 was bean. Being hungry already, it tasted great, even bean dip which I normally would not touch. The drinks came, my pina colada came with a coconut, it tasted great, but being hungry, and I actually finished it before the food came, I never even got a buzz, nor did I taste the after taste of Rum, I think they made it a virgin for some reason... While Z liked the MM, the Extra E did not like the SM at all, she found it lacking in all respects, citing that it doesnt compare to places shes frequent. She literally left the drink whole, oh well guess she really disliked it.
The food finally came after about 20 minutes. The soup was good but not hot enough for my taste, and I dont mean spice, I mean water temp! Everyone who had salad liked it, and Ceasar was reputed to be excellent. B couldnt taste much being ill, but liked the soup non the less. So far, at least for me, this was a no thrills place, then I tried the main course, 2 chicken taco and comes with rice and beans, the rice and bean were...whatever, I mean, how good can you really make rice and beans? But the chicken taco was an eye opener for me. It was by far the best taco I ever had, the chicken was juicy and tasty, they werent overcooked or dry at all, which is quite common everywhere else I went before. Everyone agreed that the food was great, and reasonable for the price. Overall, it was an unique place, you can tell that they put alot of thought into the decor of the place, the drinks were lacking in our opinion, the location was not the safest, and parking was lacking, at least for a friday night it was. What it had going for them imo is the food, it is really first rate.
Conclusion
Location*******************************D, sorry it just doesnt feel safe as soon as you are outside
Environment***************************A-/B+ for any who like dark and noisy places, for me personally I give it a C cause I dont like noisy places.
Drinks*********************************F, what happened to the alcohol? I am by no means a heavy weight drinker, in fact, I get a buzz drinking beer....and I didnt get buzz...
Food**********************************A-, while there were limited selection on the menu, they have became masters of all items on the menu. Hats off to the kitchen staff.
Price/Value****************************B-/C+, 10bucks a drink, and you will need serveral to feel any effect, 10 dollar parking, 16 dollar per dish. The dishes were actually quite reasonable, but the drinks and parking tiped it over to not so reasonable.
This is definitely a place to come to enjoy the food. If you are out to drink or want a place to hang out and chat, sorry find somewhere else, but if you want some great hispanic dishes, the by all means come here. Dont forget to bring some cash for valet though!
***A BIG DISCLAIMER, we are not professional food critics, and we are not invited/hire by the various restaurants to put in a good word for them. We pay full price for our food and drinks, we grade base on how we like things, and that in itself is abstract at best. Yes we may have certain knowledge to the materials used, but our taste buds are of the commoner breed, sorry no blue blood's here. You may or may not agree with us, and are encourage to try out the place just as we have. We provide our opinion, and that is it. We are also not responsible for any surge or loss in income due to our comments***
So today we are going to convert over a couple of posts from the previous blog.
Entry for January 10, 2009
So our first week we selected a Sushi restaurant in LA...oooo sushi. This is a restaurant that I have not been to for over 14 years, and omg its still around. Its call Noshi Sushi, and is located on 4430 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90004. 2 of our members were busy that day and so only TZ were available to try it out. The location is not in the best part of LA, but they do have their own lot and security guard to monitor the lot. So now you walk into the place, and you will notice a waiting area with a board where you write in your name, how many in your party, and if you wish to wait for the bar or do you want a table. I noticed immediately that the place looks different from before, and can only assume that they had some reconstruction done. So being only 2 of us, we went for the bar, the tables looked as if it will take longer to wait for anyway. So we sat down and ordered drinks, I got a bottle of canadian made Asahi(I missed the made in Japan imports) , and Z ordered green tea and warm sake. Then we went for it! Sushi omg sushi! It's still as big as before, and I do mean BIG! Giant silices of maguro, hamachi, spicy tuna was unique if not the best in this side of the continent. Z was never a true sushi eater(you know the type, yea I eat sushi, get me some california rolls....what the ginger doesnt go into the soy sauce??? yea that type!) But I forced her to devoure some raw fish!! hahahha and she liked it. So its all good right? No not all... You see there are some problems as well. For example, they dont have mirugai...oh comeon I love mirugai, what do you mean you dont have it! Its on the menu for crying out loud. And then there was the dish of ika, it just taste..powdery.
So final analysis
Location ******************* Passing C+/B-
Drinks ******************* Standard Passing C, nothing special
Sushi *******************Standard fare and the spicy tuna gets an B+, portion gets an A+, but doesnt have everything and well, I didnt like the ika.
Price/Value*******************A+ for sure. It is super inexpensive when it comes to sushi, the two of us ordering so many different sushi's didnt top 70 bucks, there were a guy who went solo next to us and his didnt top 25! I think it gives those 30dollar all you can eat sushi place a run for their money, and lets not forget, the size, each slice of fish they put on, can probably make 2 slices of sushi in any other place!
Overall the place gets a B+ in our books
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Entry for January 20, 2009
So last Friday we went to try out a local Hispanic restaurant in Hollywood. Its call Velvet Margarita, located on 1612 CAHUENGA. We went separately, that was immediately a mistake, as there are just no parking around, so we ended up paying 10 bucks per vehicle to get valet parking. Eek, I really hate having others drive my car, its like a violation of sorts...
So we paid someone to violate our vehicles, and we went into the place. Since we went separately, we didn't all arrived at the same time. Z was already there, B & E were still stuck in Friday night traffic, I got in, and the first impression was dark and noisy, which isn't my usual environment, dark is ok, noisy is not my cup of tea. Any how, they had this bouncer like manager who decided he needed to card me, and that made my day! You guys out there don't even realize how much I want to be carded, once you get past a certain age, you'll start thinking like I do...heheheh:)
So I found Z at the bar already, bottle of water in one hand and a mango margarita on the other. I was starving at the time and decided that I better not order anything until I get some grub down, strange things may happen if I drink before eating. Well it ended up to be an non issue later, as you will all see. So we stood there for about 20 minute before B&E got there, and they brought an Extra E with them! So we got our table and started to ordered. For drinks I got a pina colada, B wasn't feeling well and only ordered a soda, E doesn't drink...or so she claimed, so she too ordered a soda. The Extra E ordered a strawberry margarita. So of all the drinks we had, only 3 contained alcohol. MM, PC, and SM! We also ordered our food, Z had the ahi tuna with a house salad, B had an extra large bowl of soup only, E had chicken enchilada with Ceasar Salad, the Extra E had chicken mole with a house salad, and I had Chicken taco with soup. I really dont know what it was call as the waiter said it in spanish, but I knew it had turkey meatball and veggies in it.
So we waited on our food, and they served us these red tortilla chips with 3 dips. 2 were salsa and 1 was bean. Being hungry already, it tasted great, even bean dip which I normally would not touch. The drinks came, my pina colada came with a coconut, it tasted great, but being hungry, and I actually finished it before the food came, I never even got a buzz, nor did I taste the after taste of Rum, I think they made it a virgin for some reason... While Z liked the MM, the Extra E did not like the SM at all, she found it lacking in all respects, citing that it doesnt compare to places shes frequent. She literally left the drink whole, oh well guess she really disliked it.
The food finally came after about 20 minutes. The soup was good but not hot enough for my taste, and I dont mean spice, I mean water temp! Everyone who had salad liked it, and Ceasar was reputed to be excellent. B couldnt taste much being ill, but liked the soup non the less. So far, at least for me, this was a no thrills place, then I tried the main course, 2 chicken taco and comes with rice and beans, the rice and bean were...whatever, I mean, how good can you really make rice and beans? But the chicken taco was an eye opener for me. It was by far the best taco I ever had, the chicken was juicy and tasty, they werent overcooked or dry at all, which is quite common everywhere else I went before. Everyone agreed that the food was great, and reasonable for the price. Overall, it was an unique place, you can tell that they put alot of thought into the decor of the place, the drinks were lacking in our opinion, the location was not the safest, and parking was lacking, at least for a friday night it was. What it had going for them imo is the food, it is really first rate.
Conclusion
Location*******************************D, sorry it just doesnt feel safe as soon as you are outside
Environment***************************A-/B+ for any who like dark and noisy places, for me personally I give it a C cause I dont like noisy places.
Drinks*********************************F, what happened to the alcohol? I am by no means a heavy weight drinker, in fact, I get a buzz drinking beer....and I didnt get buzz...
Food**********************************A-, while there were limited selection on the menu, they have became masters of all items on the menu. Hats off to the kitchen staff.
Price/Value****************************B-/C+, 10bucks a drink, and you will need serveral to feel any effect, 10 dollar parking, 16 dollar per dish. The dishes were actually quite reasonable, but the drinks and parking tiped it over to not so reasonable.
This is definitely a place to come to enjoy the food. If you are out to drink or want a place to hang out and chat, sorry find somewhere else, but if you want some great hispanic dishes, the by all means come here. Dont forget to bring some cash for valet though!
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