Our roommate Kyle wanted to take us to dinner as our wedding present. When trying to figure out where to go, we decided Mastro's was the place. It is probably the best steak I've ever had, and Sean has never been there. Not to mention their dessert ranks amongst my favorite! Warm Vanilla Buttercake...mmmm.... apparently I forgot to take pictures of my steak and all the yummy sides we got :( whoops! But I did get one of the dessert in...   
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Attended my cousin Jennifer's Christmas party and spent the night down in OC. The next morning was a rainy day and what better way to spend it than having some clam chowder? Well when it comes to Clam Chowder my all-time favorite is the Crab Cooker in Newport. We've been going here for years. When we used to visit California (when I still lived in Hawaii with my family), we would always make sure we went here. My dad even filled up a thermos (a big one) and brought it back on the plane with him once! We just picked some up to go since the little boys had to take their naps, but it was just as good. They even give you the yummy bread sticks or bread balls to go as well!   well since we were already in OC, we thought hmmm, maybe we should stop at "Claws" on the way back to LA. We just LOVE Claws! And my memory evades me sometimes but I'm sure I have blogged about this place before. We decided to splurge this time and get some oysters as starters! Yum!   My mother-in-law, Marilyn, is so crafty-- we were reminiscing about Hawaii and the yummy garlic shrimp truck -- Giovanni's yummmmm-- so she decided to try and make it on her own! Not only that, she had some young coconuts to drink and shave ice machine with all the yummy toppings to have for dessert... what a great meal!  she is still tweaking out the recipe... it's not spot on, but it sure is delicious anyway!  sean chopping the coconut, native style...   haven't food bloggedd in a while as I am swamped doing wedding stuff! But I just wanted to post some of my pictures and updates.... sorry!  sam and I's flight got delayed because of what we now think was a bomb threat!!! SO, we decided to treat ourselves to some pizza at wolfgangs...this is what i got  finally tried a hanks haute dog... didn't have too much time and dinner was soon, but had to get a taste. Got a plain one which was good but nothing out of the ordinary and no "outside the club bacon wrapped hot dog" goodness if you ask me. I guess I need to try a more exotic one next time.  went to the new side street in... it's so fancy! got the standard pork chops and fried rice but also tried the miso chicken which was super good!   I took Tutu to Mariposa for her birthday lunch. Tutu and I used to always come here on my summer vacations home so it was only appropriate. My favorite of course is the freebies, the consume and the popover. My popover was a little burnt and not up to par so that was a little bit of a disappointment, but I was so hungover I couldn't even ask for another one :-/ pretty sad huh?! I had the steamed clams which was always my favorite but not on the menu anymore, but the waiter was nice enough to ask the chef to make it.   For Tutu's birthday dinner we went to Roy's Waikiki. Which is actually where Chris works, but he was off that night. As we were checking in, this girl walks by and I"m looking at her, like I KNOW YOU...and she looks at me and she's like "manoa softball? Lauren?" I'm like yeah! IT was Hui! She was always so sweet, kinda like the big sister of our team... it has literally been over 10 years since I've seen her. Turns out she is the manager at Roy's and a friend of Chris's. She was so sweet and she even brought out 2 sushi rolls on the house.... they were BOMB.  ok, so these little things are the coolest thing ever. They look like mini mints but when you pour hot water over them, they expand like in the picture and become moist towelettes. I thought they were the coolest thing ever, and knowing my one track mind, I was like WEDDING... this would be so cool to have at hte wedding!  mom's escargot  tutu's crab cakes, they had a little kick to them, they were really good. And below was my meal- the mahi with a quails egg on top. It was good, but not amazing. . I don't know if I'd order it again to be honest.   Happy Birthday tutu! It was so nice to be home for her birthday and celebrate with her. THey brought her out this really plain looking dessert but it was SOOO good-- the bottom tasted like rice krispies treat or something and it was just absolutely delicious! We kept telling dad to try it because he loves his sweets and he was like I don't want any, it doesn't look good. But then all of a sudden he took a bite and was like MMMMMMMM!!! Hahahah so funny.  My bridal shower cake... I didn't even remember ever dressing up as a bride for Halloween! Too funny.  couldn't decide what to eat and was stuck between 3, Shelley said she had the pasta da vinci before and it was really good so I decided to give it a try... it was SOOO good. Prob my new favorite thing on Cheesecake's extensive menu.  this kinda belongs in the food category because food is made in the kitchen :) mom & dad are remodeling their kitchen.... looks super nice.    donna's almond cookies...gonna use these bad boys at the wedding as our "chinese dessert"  last meal in hawaii to go... didn't have time to go to yummy's so we stopped at pearls at kahala mall. Was good! But I still like Yummy's better :)  sean and i had a cheesecake factory gift cert and after my shower i was craving my pasta da vinci! We started off with a crab artichoke appetizer, which we both agreed was good, but not great- sean said it was missing something and I agreed, it needed a little kick or spice of something.  then sean had his usual chicken madeira and i got my now going to be normal pasta da vinci :)  finally tired the nom nom truck. THe line was SO LONG... I think it ended up taking like 45 minutes for us to get our order in.... it was cheap and good for $5 but not anything out of this world. I would eat it, but only if there wasn't a long line again.   sean and i hardly are together for breakfast in the morning anymore it seems like.... but we were for once and it was great... we made spam, eggs and rice :)  i heart ono hawaiian bbq  was up super duper early for the susan g. kome breast cancer walk in newport... so we stopped at McD's and I had my usual- bacon egg & chese biscuit. Hadn't had one in years probably!  I made chili for the first time ever... just the way I like it- no beans and with veggies- corn, carrots, mushrooms... I also made one with beans for kyle, sean and scott though...  Was up early one saturday for boot camp, then decided to stay out and do errands... went to the mall at 9 but they weren't even open yet! Aiya! So I had breakfast by myself-- a good ole ham, egg and cheese croissant :)  It's been a while since I've been at Costco and they had tuna... they did last weekend so I picked some up and made spicy tuna... also had stuff to make tamago and california rolls. I just love sushi nights!    i love me some mongolian bbq.  My bridal shower in California was really great too... shoes theme! Can you see my shoe cake? Posting two close ups too...    it was at marmalade cafe, and after 2 attempts to go to the one in santa monica but it being toooo crowded, I finally got to try it! I had the salmon dish which was really yummy. Big portion too!  cupcakes from vanilla bake shop for tiff & tara's birthday. Happy Birthday Tif & Tara! we opened them up at the airport on our way to see tiff... i had my fav banana choc chip and a starbies   Ahhhhh for those of you who remember my post about Kristen Hamamoto's cupcakes from TIff & Scotty's engagement party, you will remember that I had 7, yes 7 of them that weekend. Well this weekend for Tiff and Tara's bday, she made strawberry, yesssss strawberry-( my favorite flavor anything ) cupcakes and champagne frosting. Holyyyy moley these things were amazing. I only had 1.5 but I am still thinking about those bad boys. Seriously, it's amazing! 
 yummy. C&O's. I've created a pasta there that I must get every time now! I love it! Angel hair pasta, spicy marinara, medley of vegetables and sausage...simple but splendid! And of course, a million garlic balls and some wine to make it a great meal!  Local yolk for a sunday breakfast with my faves and to kinda celebrate Casie's pre-birthday. I used to eat here in college as it is in Manhattan Beach, and everything is really good, huuuuge portions too. I actually worked here after I graduated from LMU. Trace Keasler is the owner who hired me to be his marketing director. We worked on a bunch of promotions and started up deliveries (which was great because Sean needed a job that summer and became the delivery boy!) Eventually once I got my full time job with benefits I had to leave, but they are great people over there and yes, great food too! Anyway, I almost always get an omelette but this day french toast sounded amazing, so I had that with eggs and sausage! The french toast was amazing, but I definitely could feel like a pound of butter in every bite I had!  I made unagi for dinner... well I guess you can't really call it making since I get it at Nijiya and all I really do is throw it in the oven with the unagi sauce... but it's really simple and yummy! I made a somen salad on the side...   I made Teri Beef the other week too, so easy and so yummy!  Went to the Alibi room with Scott and Jenna last weekend. Got my favorite kogi tacos and fries. DELISH! Scott got the kimchee quesadilla which was OK, and then calamari tacos. The calamari was pretty good,but the regular kogi taco are still my favorite after trying almost everything else. I also got a peach sangria which was really tasty!!!!  Tito's Tacos....yes the famous tito's tacos. I actually do like these and we know Mexican is not really my forte but I do like these a lot. I'd say it's my favorite most authentic Mexican food that I like since I loveeee chipotle but that doesn't really count and I don't think kogi tacos count either hahaa  ONO Hawaiian BBQ I have said it before but I love Ono Hawaiian BBQ even more than L&L. Which seems like betrayal but all around, it's so much better. There is more chicken in the katsu, the sauce is just as good, their curry is delicious, and they have cabbage at the bottom of all their plates which I loveeeee. Sometimes I wish I could just order a whole plate of the cabbage!!!  CHicken curry-- a staple in our household. I like to have carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and spinach in mine!  I love boba. I had it Friday night from KC's Crepes on Lincoln and Saturday from Volcano Tea. I have to say, KC's crepes one was way better....not only the milk tea taste but the balls were much softer and yummier :)
I don't have any pictures, but I thought it was worth a blog post. Samantha went for her first taste of dim sum! I took her to the VIP Seafood on Wilshire... a little less crazy and less overwhelming than downtown (and closer). She liked it! Her favorite was the traditional pork shumai. Next time we are going to chinatown though!
Last Thursday after our soccer game, Kyle, Sean & I went to Hakata ramen. I FINALLY got to try it! Everyone, especially Taryn has always raved about it but it is not close so I never got a chance to try it... turns out from Manhattan Beach it's actually not that far at all, so it was perfect for us to go after our game. I got my ramen medium, medium, medium.... medium on hardness of noodles, medium on the oil and medium on the broth... I added corn and egg and Sean & I split the other half of Kyle's spicy miso. It was yummy! We also had some gyoza and rice which was perfect and you can choose a side if you get the set so we chose this thing that sounded like it might be like hapen cheese... fishcake and cheese, but it wasn't really the same. It was fine, but nothing like the nanpan cheese. Ramen was really good too though, I can't wait to go back. Kyle wants us to try his favorite one in downtown though, called Daikokuya.    It's been a while since Sean & I have been to Chaya Venice. His parents told us about it a while ago and we really love it there. Every Sunday and Monday they have happy hour all night at the sushi bar and there is a small menu you can choose from with everything discounted. So we went Sunday night (had dim sum for brunch so it was an amazing day of food) and it was packed! I guess we haven't been in a while and they changed it to every night happy hour. We waited only like 15-20 minutes though and to our surprise we saw that they had expanded their happy hour menu, yay! As always, everything was excellent!!! Such a great meal. One of the new items was oysters so Sean and I got 2 each. He thought they were a little fishy but absolutely loved one of the ponzu sauces- he was pouring it on everything! We also got the sweet potato fries which we always have to get... seems odd to have at a japanese restaurant but they are literally the best ones I have ever had... they come with this mayo sriracha type sauce that is absolutely incredible!!!  We also got the chef's special roll, which varies but yay it was my favorite one- a shrimp tempura roll that's just really really tasty. There is also a spicy tuna with these won ton chips that are reallly good and they are pretty generous with the tuna too! Also got the albacore salad which is really good, I like the dressing a lot.  The last new thing we tried was the miso cod. It was fine, but nothing special. It was also the priciest thing we ordered so we probably wont' be ordering it again. Would much rather get another order of something else since we absolutely love everything else!  I am going to double post here because it is wedding related but it's also too cool to pass up on the food side... we had a sewing party and Aunty Ruby was in charge of food... she not only made food "hawaiian themed" but she had all the decor to go along with it too! And Aunty Bet made these cupcakes that were sooooooo cute- little mini PINK and GREEN slippers and seashells... sooo adorable!     Got this really yummy orange citrus cupcake with cream cheese frosting... The orange wedge is even candied! Yum!  Tofu-Ya all you can eat Korean BBQ on the westside! It's like $17.99 I think, and was good! Great alternative to driving all the way to Korea Town... this one is only 5 minutes away...but that could be dangerous!  Biggest artichoke I've ever seen/ eaten!  New dish: sweet and sour pork with veggies. Came out pretty good!  Todd was in town visiting, and we met up with him at Father's Office. Since I don't eat burgers I ate before, but definitely enjoyed some sweet potato fries and a Heff!  Dim Sum in Chinatown... it's turning out to complete a perfect Sunday...  Jason & Shyla's 4th of July BBQ- these stuffed mushrooms were EXCELLENT!  Really great lunch at work- pasta, grilled shredded pork and cheese sandwich, tater tots, custard pie...  On our quest to start working out and maybe eating a little better, Sean had been asking for a blender. So for our mini anniversary I went to Costco and bought him a blender to make smoothies. I've actually been making use of it too. For two weeks I had a smoothie just about every morning made with fresh fruits, frozen fruits, juice and yogurt. They are actually pretty good without even adding sweetners. I just drizzle a little honey and that's about it!  I love Ramenya. I still have to try Daikokuya and Hakata, but they are so far! One day.... til then Ramenya will do- and this one is my favorite! Tan Tan Ramen- kinda like an egg drop soup but with ground pork and ramen!  7/11: Free mini slurpees and 50 cent hot dog day!  curry with croquette... one of my all time faves  sean accidentally got the drummettes at the market so we had to find something to do with them- half buffalo wings and half spicy chicken. THey turned out pretty good!  Love Rock Sugar and the sesame chip things with mango salsa.... way better than just bread! :)  lunch date with Samantha at Rock Sugar is the best!  We went to C&O's for Tara's engagement dinner yum yum.. I created my own pasta with angel hair, spicy marinara, mixed veggies and italian sausage. It was good!!!! I had like a million garlic balls though, those things are so addictive! The reason it's in my to go box (and yes I hardly had any this time, I was hungry!) is because I completely forgot to take a picture and then Samantha reminded me at the end of dinner! :-0  Breakfast in Santa Rosa: Sean and I split the Corned Beef mmmm and eggs benedict   Kristen made these amaaaaazing cupcakes (red velvet and vanilla) for Tiff & Scotty's engagement party. I think she said she made like 120! The vanilla ones were my fave, it tasted like funfetti but the frosting was fresh or something because it was so good and just the right amount for me. I got my count up to 7 for the weekend... I think I need to hit the gym....  Breakfast at the Lawson's...famous Lawson bloody mary included. MY FAVE!
 Went to this great little Japanese restaurant in Buena Park with Mike and Bet. Everything was delicious!!! Started off with a plum wine :)  spicy tuna crunch roll...always a favorite of mine! They do it well here.  shrimp & veggies tempura  stuffed mushrooms with crab- really good  hot wings at a japanese restaurant? I know, kinda weird, but they were bomb!  shrimp (tempura) tacos... I actually didn't try this one b/c I knew I wouldn't like the sauce and I had a spicy pork udon coming (which darn it, I forgot to take a picture of)...  I can't remember what this was... asparagus wrapped with short ribs? I can't remember anything except that it was one of the best things hahaha  spicy tuna on fried eggplant  kalbi (short rib) tacos-- meat was super good. I only had a bite because my whole meal was on it's way...but it was good!!!  The Farm Of Beverly Hills... The only time I've eaten here was for Marion's shower... I wasn't all that persuaded except for when the dessert came around... I decided to give it another go, so Tara, Sam & I went to the one at the Grove before seeing the premiere of Eclipse. I started off with the Corn Chowder which was good, but not nearly as good as other ones I've tried, or even the one I make!  I also had the coconut shrimp... which sadly wasn't very good. It was really dry and not too much flavor. I had a big lunch around 4 pm and wasn't very hungry... and I hate wasting food but I didn't even want to finish it because it wasn't tasty at all! That's pretty bad!  Well, just so happens we got to celebrate with Tara who just got engaged to Rob! Yay! I think that definitely called for the fantastic brownie ice cream caramel delight! I was disappointed by the meal and probably won't go back, but the dessert was as fabulous as the last. I could poke my head in for a bite of that any day!  Katsuya!!! One of my favorite places to eat.... luckily we had some of a gift card left so we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner using that! My favorite thing everrrr are the baked crap rolls... they are to DIE for! I could eat like 10 of them, but at $8 a pop, I stopped at 1. Til next time!  Mmmm rock shrimp is also very good, and similar to the one at Sushi Roku. We had this with a spicy tuna roll which is also very yummy!  This was the mushrooms & asparagus tobbanyaki. In the past I have LOVED this dish. THe ponzu flavoring is just perfect...but this time it was kinda dry, and not too much flavoring/ marinade. So it was a bit of a disappointment here.
Yay! Posting my eats in Hawaii...  Straight home from the airport... mom is the best! She had our favorites there waiting for us... mitsuken garlic chicken (SOOO GOOD), soy beans & poke!!!  Dad shared with us his ume wine, or ume something... vodka? I forget. It's made by soaking the ume in the juice for something crazy like 6 months or something, maybe a year? I was so tired I forget all the details...  First stop on Friday was to Genki. My favorite place ever. Here's their spicy tuna, my favorite spicy tuna from any place I've ever had... and the one in the background was a new one, spicy tuna in inari. It was just ok, the inari is so sweet and then the spicy ahi, kinda interesting combo...  mmmm ahi poke another of my favorites  tuna salad...sounds weird but it's really good... sean's favorite one.  Chinese Dinner @ Asia Manoa with tutu. She had her whole menu to order already written down... duck with buns green beans honey walnut shrimp beef look fun and we got to sneak in a pork chops!  Finally got to visit cupcake couture. Last xmas we went twice and both times they were closed! Mom got red velvet and I got a coffee flavored one. Yum!  Dad's famous fried rice!!!  I love love love love love the char siu look fun from chinatown... Mom went early one morning and picked some up for me. Yay! I ate all three rolls by myself...whoops  Mom and Dad have been raving about Pho Bistro and we finally got the chance to check it out. Man they were right! Totally not exaggerating one bit. It was delicious. And they let you bring in your own alcohol, no charge! We had a nice bottle of wine & some beers... First we started off with this unbelievable salad, then I had oxtail soup with pho on the side... it was FANTASTIC!!!    We tried a new shave ice place this time- Shimazu Store. It was really good! Soft! They had a lot of unique flavors...it was HUGE too. Go figure half mine fell off the top before I even got to the car but I took it back and they replaced the whole thing...really nice.  Seafood counter at Foodland is the best! We loooove the poke there. There's all kinds of stuff now too. To top it all of, they are now at Aina Haina shopping center, so close!!  Gyukaku would not have been my choice on my few days home, but it's dad's favorite and it was father's day! :)    Have to hit up rainbows when you go home... but actually there isn't anything there that I'm super crazy about. Everything is good, but nothing blows me away. My favorite thing is actually the ice cream float! Sean loves the teri burgers there though, so we stopped to get him one for the plane ride.
| AuthorBorn & raised in the 808, but moved to the 310 for college @ LMU. Loves my hubby, family, friends, food, shopping, warmth & sleep! ArchivesApril 2011 Categories |
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