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
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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!