January 3, 2008 2

La Palapa (Puerto Vallarta: Los Muertos Beach)

//// By in 02: Mexico, Favorite Food Entries

Happy New year everyone! Can’t believe ’07 is over already. It’s been a great year for food and travel for us. I spent a week at Puerto Vallarta for the Xmas break with my boyfriend while Freda spent a few days at Vegas. Ever since Freda went to Puerto Vallarta in 2005 I’ve always wanted to go there, see the highlights of her trip: 1, 2, 3, 4. 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 ).

DSCN2355.jpgDSCN2360.jpg
Puerto Vallarta is quite a gourmet town! There’re lots of really good restaurants, from chichi gourmet to causual local eats. On our first day we had an early dinner at La Palapa that’s located right off the Los Muertos beach. It’s been around since the late 50s and was originally just a Palapa stall. Nice view and very romantic.

DSCN2363.jpg

Red snapper with red pepper sauce. Really good! Beautiful presentation too. The paprika-like sauce was amazing, and the fish was fresh.

DSCN2364.jpg

“La Palapa” seafood Enchiladas: shrimp, fish, scallops, calamari, mushrooms, red seafood sauce and Monterrey jack. Wow this is really amazing! Really really delicious. Didn’t know enchiladas can be this tasty. Love the red seafood sauce which was lobster bisque-like. The pickled cucumber on top taste very Asian.

We pass out on the beach after the meal, very satisfying.

La Palapa
Calle Pulpito 103, Playa Los Muertos, Puerto Vallarta
(322) 222-5225

Tags: , ,

December 27, 2007 5

Hunan Seafood Restaurant (San Gabriel)

//// By in 01: San Gabriel, Favorite Food Entries

Happy Holidays!

I went with a group of 10 to try Hunan food at San Gabriel Valley. Hunan is a regional Chinese cuisine that’s signature for the dry hot kind of spicy flavor (as opposed to Szechuan’s numbing hot). And as the pictures show, the food has bold, vibrant colors. Everyone was gulping down bottles of beers to neutralize the flame. Two guys were sweating like a fountain (amazing sight)!

IMG_0042.jpg
House Special Lamb Rib. This is stunning! Hot and crispy and very flavorful. It’s simply on fire. This plate was gone within seconds. We were temped to wrap the remaining chili pepper sauce home for cooking use.

IMG_0029.jpg
Hunan Smoked Ham with Bamboo Shoot You have the choices to choose what to stir fried the smoked ham with: Leeks, Bitter Melon, turnip, etc. The smoked ham are very delicious with dense smoky flavor. The fat in ham are cured to the point of chewy and melty.

IMG_0032.jpg
Another lamb dish. Toss-Fried Mutton with Cilantro, a perfect combination of the mutton and fresh herb .

IMG_0044.jpg
An intimidating Beef Hot Pot with peanuts and bean sprout. The red chili peppers are daunting, and the bean sprout underneath were thoroughly soaked with the chili oil and sauce. It’s irresistibly good.

IMG_0049.jpg
Here’s one of their most famous dishes: Steamed Fish Head Casserole with Chopped Hot Pepper sauce. The fish head is humongous. The sauce is the best of the dinner: it’s a complicated multi-flavors chop of chili peppers, ginger, garlic, shallots and pickled vegetables.

IMG_0040.jpg
Crab with Stir-fried Hot Sauce. It looks good but sadly I was too late to get a piece.

IMG_0026.jpgIMG_0033.jpg
We did ordered a few more mellow dishes to balance out the palette: Mapo Tofu and Crystal Shrimp with Cucumber.

Every plate is very spicy and strong flavors. But we simply couldn’t stop eating. This restaurant was burnt down awhile ago. It’s re-opened in the current new location. It’s a good place to bring in a huge dining group so you get to try a bit of everything. The price is mostly above $10 a plate.

Hunan Seafood Restaurant
8772 E. Valley Blvd.

Tags: , ,

December 21, 2007 Off

Sprinkles Cupcakes

//// By in 09: Weho

DSC06430.jpg

DSC06433.jpg
It’s the party season so we are behind in our posts. Many offices get these beautiful Sprinkles Cupcakes. They’re lovely treats, yum~ The decorative ‘graphics’ on top are a bit hard though.

Tags:

December 14, 2007 4

Bloom Cafe (Wilshire Vista)

//// By in 07: Mid-Wilshire

DSC06404.jpgDSC06411.jpg
DSC06248.jpgBlogged about Bloom Cafe on Pico at Wilshire vista few months ago and it has become one of my favorite weekend brunch place. I love the cozy just-hip-enough interior, easy parking on the street and of course the healthy fresh tasting food.

DSC06254.jpg
Smoked Salmon Tartine $10 cucumber, goat cheese, watercress and chive on rasins & walnut country bread. The smoked salmon is fresh. The fries are really good!

DSC06251.jpgDSC06406.jpg
Red Curry chicken Sandwich $9.50 Grilled chicken breast, tomato, diced apples, dried raisins, green onion and tarragon in a curry mayhonnaise. It’s good, the chicken is not dry and the sauce is tasty. Grilled Chedder Sandwich $7.50, mango chutney mustard on walnut country bread. A bit oily but not heavy. Perfect comfort food on a chilly day.

Bloom Cafe
5544 Pico blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019

Tags: ,

December 6, 2007 6

Terroni (Beverly Blvd)

//// By in 09: Weho

DSCN2282.jpgDSCN2286.jpg
DSCN2276.jpgA new Italian restaurant from Toronto specializes southern Italian flair and thin crust pizza opened in the space where Authentic Cafe used to be on Beverly Blvd. We went on an early Sunday evening and it was very crowded already. We didn’t have reservation but managed to get a table (though I heard they don’t take reservation?) Great interior decor, lots of lots of Eames chairs but the space still has that festive and rustic charm. There’s movie projection on one of the wall near the ceiling, it was showing La Strada, which unfortunately caused our “suffering” from the next table guy’s very loud, non-stop, not-so-insightful ramblings on Fellini.

DSCN2288.jpgDSCN2287.jpg

All their pasta and sausage are handmade. Tagliatelle al Ragu: Homemade Tagliatelle in a Traditional Bolognese Meat Sauce $15.95. Fresh handmade pasta just taste so much better. I got the Tirolese pizza: tomato, Mozzarella, Italian Cream, Speck (Smoked Prosciutto). $13.95. It’s delicious! Love the thin crusted, the sauce and speck. Everything tasted fresh and authentic. The pizza came uncut which is the Italian way.

They have a “no substitutions, no modifications” rule, bravo to them! I’m not getting the idea pf patrons going into a restaurant to order a dish that the chef created and then requesting swapping/eliminating certain ingredients. Not saying people don’t have the right to (I know some people have allergy problem at certain food), but what’s the point of ordering that dish then? Why not just order something else. Unless there’s not one single item on the menu you can just order as it is, but still may be that means you shouldn’t eat there. Anyways, I can’t wait to go back and try their other pizzas and dishes. There’re many to choose from and they have a big wine selection too.

Terroni
7605 Beverly Blvd., Mid-City CA 90036
(323)954.0300

Tags: , ,

Older Posts
Newer Posts