March 31, 2010 3

Flying Pig Truck

//// By in 21: Food truck

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More food truck! The Flying Pig truck sounds interesting as the people behind it are Le Cordon Bleu-trained and the food they sell is what they called “Asian & Pacific rim flavors with French technique”. A quick look at the menu shows they sell Gua bao and creative fusion tacos. Gua Bao, or known as “Taiwanese burger”, is a traditional Taiwanese snack that has became quite popular in New York according to Freda who visited there 2 months ago. Will Flying Pig bring this trend to LA?

Flying pig

Braised pork belly bun with red onion escabeche, sesame cucumber. $3 This is their star item. They call it bun but it’s actually gua bao. It’s very delicious! The braised pork belly is very tender and flavorful. It’s a good renedition of the traditional Taiwanese gua boa.

Flying pig

Tamarind duck tacos with toasted almond, pickled beet salad $2.50
Other than Gua bao they have a very interesting fusion taco menu. I picked the duck one as it sound good. I was quite surprised at how gourmet it taste! The shredded duck was tasty and there’re so many different flavors: mild sweetness from the beets and nice touch of acidity from the mandarin orange.

I can’t wait to try other stuffs on the menu. Very good food and they definitely stand apart from many other food trucks out there. Highly recommended to track it down!

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March 18, 2010 5

Grill ’em all Truck

//// By in 21: Food truck, Favorite Food Entries

Grill 'em allI might have found my new favorite food truck: Grill ’em all, it’s heavy metal theme (“Grill ’em all” as in  Metallica’s “Kill ’em all”) and serves gourmet burgers. Excuse the blurry picture, it was a chaotic night when I came across it right outside Silent movie theatre where we went to a sold out screening of the 80s cult film Liquid sky. With all the heavy metal graphics all over the truck it’s pretty easy to spot on the street.

Grill 'em all
All the burgers sound interesting on the menu. I got the Blue cheer burger. It has cranberry gastrique, maytag blue spread, munchos potato chips. It was incredibly delicious! The meat patty was juicy and well seasoned. It’s multiple flavors in each bite, the sweet and sour cranberry gastrique works well the creamy blue cheese, and the chips gave a nice crispy texture to the bite. Two thumbs up!

Jon had the Waste ’em all burger (not in picture) which has marinated green chilies, pepper jack, beer soaked onions. Also tasty, though he likes mine more.

Grill 'em allGrill 'em all
My co-workers came across the truck outside of the office on another day. Not sure the name of this burger, it has “grandma’s” BBQ sauce, pineapple, bacon and cheddar. My coworker liked it a lot.

He also got the Double dipped frites – sweet potato fries with truffle oil (!) The fries were great, crispy and thin.

The burgers have interesting ingredients and combinations that works and are delicious. I personally think they’re way better than the very overrated Umami Burger which had the problem of soggy buns, generic flavors despite the interesting ingredients listed on the menu…etc.

Check their website for schedule and location. The burgers are worth to be tracked down!

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March 18, 2010 1

Chico’s (Highland Park)

//// By in 20: Highland Park

In an old post I asked if anyone knows any Mexican place in LA serves cafe de olla, a reader recommended Chico’s at Highland Park. At that time I wrote it down on my little notebook and soon after forgot about it. I’ve been craving Mexican food lately so I digged it up and decided to check this place out.

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Locates in Highland Park, a neighbourhood I’m not too familiar with other than Good girl dinette and the wonderful Galco’s Soda Pop Stop, is known for good authentic Mexican restaurants due to its large Latino population. It’s easy to spot Chico’s as it’s got colorful walls and cute wall drawings. There are several really gorgeous craftsman houses right next to it (check it out if you love craftsman houses). The interior was cute and homey.

Chico'sChico's

Fresh orange juice and Jamaica. Complimentary salsa and chips. The salsa was tasty.

Chico's

So here it is, Cafe de olla– coffee with cinnamon, cloves and a bit of chocolate. Delicious! They give you milk if you like it more creamy.  You don’t need sugar at all. Free refills!

Chico's

I got the Tacos Dorados (crisp shell tacos) plate. The tacos were great! One is chicken the other is beef. I like the beef one more. Juicy and tasty.

Chico's

Huevos Rancheros – hard to go wrong with this breakfast staple.

The rice and beans are pretty good too. A good solid Mixcan place. If you haven’t had Cafe de olla before do give it a try!

Chico’s
100 N Ave 50, Los Angeles, CA 90042
(323) 254-2445

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March 12, 2010 3

Bombay Cafe (West LA)

//// By in 11: West LA

The indian restaurant Bombay Cafe on the west side is one of those places that I passed by often, but never tried. We finally ventured in one day to switch up our workday lunch stables.

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The interior is roomy and bright. Good sweet Lassi.

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Sev Puri $7 – handmade puris (crackers) topped with onions, potatoes, three chutneys and lots of crisp chickpea-flour noodle. Very tasty~ It is sweet, sour, savory, soft and crunchy all at the same time!

They have lunch sets for weekdays. They’re luncheon sized plate served in a tin tray.

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South Indian Thali $10.95. masala dosa (a crisp rice crepe filled with turmeric potatoes), uttapam (a semolina griddle cake topped with tomato, onion, green chili and cilantro), south indian style lentils, and coconut chutney. I especially like the uttapam. The potatoes inside the masala dosa was quite moist.

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Non-Vegetarian Thali chicken or lamb curry served with vegetable, green salad, chickpeas, basmatirice, and plain naan. Delicious though it is very luncheon size.

The food is tasty and not oily nor heavy like most Indian places, but the portion is a bit small. Hence it felt rather pricey in general (the ‘but it’s the west side” tax?)

Bombay Cafe
12021 W Pico Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064

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March 12, 2010 3

Scarlet Tea Room (Pasadena)

//// By in 02: Pasadena

It always pleases me to know that there’re quite a few of teahouses in Old Town Pasadena co-existing. If quaint is not your style, there’s the elegant and pretty Scarlet Tea Room.

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The interior is bright, elegant and cute like a dollhouse. The chandelier looked like it should be a miniature.

The menu offers different tea sets: Five Course Tea Ceremony, Three Course or the Mini Tea $14.95 that we got.

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You can choose two from a variety of Tea Sandwiches. I like the Roast Beef & Aged White Cheddar the most.

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You also get a small pot of loose leaf tea. The selection of tea isn’t as big as other tea houses, but it’s good for people who doesn’t want to go through a phone list of tea.

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The Mini Tea set rounded off with a dessert: Strawberry Romanoff. It is so fresh and delicious!

Though it lacked the authenticity of a traditional English tea room, you’d feel like stepping into a charming world of dollhouse. They have live Jazz and dining menu at night as well.

Scarlet Tea Room
18 W Green St Pasadena, CA 91105

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