Ono Hawaiian Grill

I love Hawaiian food - the traditional lau lau, kalua pig, and spam musabi. This hearty cuisine is what makes those big Samoan Hawaiian guys so big for football. And Ono Hawaiian Grill serves up some of this fare. Well, Ono, like most other Hawaiian restaurants in the LA area, is serving it in a fast food fashion. You rarely see Hawaiian served in a fine dining setting, like Roy's Hawaiian.

On this day, we had the Hawaiian style chicken and the kalua pig plate, with a side of spam musabi. The chicken, like pork, is one of the few proteins that can be served savory or sweet. In this case, the sweetness of the sauce and marinade in the grilled chicken made a tastier dish. I don't know many other cuisines with a "sweet-side" of chicken. Unfortunately, the chicken was good a bit too long and was on the tougher side. The slow cooked and tender kalua pig is similar in texture of Mexican carnitas. Yet, also sweet like chicken, kalua pork is also good with a little heat. Unfortunately, Ono only featured Latin style hot sauces, not a homemade Hawaiian Fire Water - which is rarely found nowadays in this area.

Amyways. . . I realized I was comparing Ono Hawaiian Grill with Ono Grill in Monterey Park. Ono Hawaiian Grill didn't have the same taste as Ono Grill. I would also pick a bunch of other Hawaiian restaurants in the South Bay over Ono Hawaiian.

Note: I just found out that they closed Ono Hawaiian Grill recently.

What to Order: Kalua Pork
What not to Order: Hawaiian Style Chicken

Rating
0 pigs, $

Ono Hawaiian Grill
800 W Las Tunas Dr
Temple City, CA 91776
(626) 284-6600
http://www.onohawaiianbbq.com







Read more!

Mountain Cafe Revisited

The Beef Ban Chan(appetizer side dish) is special to Mountain Cafe. It goes with the abalone congee. You take the juices and spoon some into the congee and it produces a brand new dimension of flavor.


I recently went back to visit Mountain Cafe. Same as it ever was. My pictures this time were much better than before. No wall of text here. . .just a short post with pictures. Enjoy

My previous post on April 6, 2009

What to Order: #1 abalone chowder (congee)
What not to Order:

Rating
3 pigs, $

Kimchi. You'll find a lot of night owls coming here after drinking in Koreatown.

Kimchi Radish. One of the best things about this place is its late night hours - in fact it is open 24 hours a day.

Ban Chan of some sort. I forgot what this is. But it is a vegetable of some sort.

Mr. S got the soy bean soup #7 on the menu. With my congee our bill came out to be $15 total plus tip.

This is what the majority of the people order, #1, at Mountain Cafe. The egg gets cooked while you mix it with the hot congee. So hot, that even a day after, my mouth is still burnt from last night.

Here is their menu. Some people like their chicken soup #2 on the menu




Read more!

Japon Bistro

Sea Urchin - Uni, and Halibut - Hirame


Japon Bistro, yes - with an "O", is located in the heart of Pasadena off of Colorado near Lake. Pasadena features a one of most diverse collection of Japanese restaurants around, and is up there with the South Bay, Little Tokyo, and Sawtelle. With Shaab, Hurry Curry, Shiro, Gyu-Kaku and others, Japon Bistro draws a crowd almost every night.

Yet, being popular may not equate to being great Japanese food. In the US, and especially in Los Angeles, Japanese food is turning into less of a specialty ethnic cuisine and more of a popularized fare. Yet, I know I am being a snob when I say this, but I doubt non-Japanese could make quality Japanese food, such is the case with Japon Bistro.

Owned by Chinese, I felt that with the majority Caucasian clientele, I felt that Japon Bistro had crossed over (with their menu) to cater toward this American palate. But I realized that most ethnic restaurants had to do the same with their locally sourced ingredients. But that still doesn't deter my feeling toward Japon Bistro.

I wasn't to particularly satisfied with the rolls and the sushi selection that we had. The massive specialty rolls, which is great for groups, but not my cup of tea, is just a fun event. Though I wasn't all that happy with the uni - sea urchin. It lacked sort of the taste I am used to at Sushi Gin in DTLA.

But I did like the broiled black cod and the broiled Chilean Sea Bass. Both of these fish had good taste. I usually order the black cod when I am having izakaya.

Anyways. . . I didn't pick Japon Bistro, but we needed a place for our large group. At least the Sake was good. Japaon Bistro has one of the large selection of Sake's that I have ever seen.

What to Order: Black Cod
What not to Order:

Rating
0 pigs, $$

Japon Bistro
927 E Colorado Blvd, #102
Pasadena, CA 91106
(626) 744-1751
www.japonbistro-pasadena.com


One of their specialty rolls.

Their Pasadena Roll. Large amount of roe.

Broiled Chilean Sea Bass

Black Cod.

Seafood Noodles. A bit of the Chinese influence

Tempura. You can't really go wrong with Tempura

Seafood Salad

The huge chilled Sake we had.

Read more!

The Noodle Nazi from Dai Ho Restaurant 大和滷味

Minced Meat Dry Noodles.

This place has been around for almost 10 years. Dai Ho's owner, in its early days, was notorious for being mean to the customers. Everyone in the community knew he wasn't the most cordial, yet people kept coming back. As he has gotten older, he has softened up and the noodles have remained the same, arguably the best in Los Angeles.

There's a couple of options, in my humble opinion, are the must-order dish - the Dan Dan Noodles and the Minced Meat Dry Noodles. These two noodles are dry noodle dishes, which means, it isn't served in a soup broth. The Dan Dan Noodles either come in spicy or not so spicy, which are my favorite. The peanut spicy sauce gives a creamy texture in this meatless noodle carb meal. Then there's the Minced Meat Dry Noodles in which I remember from my childhood from the small restaurants in Taiwan. This non-spicy noodle with ground beef or pork is also one of their popular choices. Also. their Beef Noodles Soup is quite good as well, including their spicy version.

And a last note, their plumb drink goes great with the spicy noodles. And make sure you try some of their cold side dishes.

What to Order: Dan Dan Noodles, Minced Meat Dry Noodles
What not to Order: Everything is good.

Rating
3 pigs, $

Miss M's Post

Food GPS's Post
GiNa's Post (in Chinese)

Dai Ho Restaurant 大和滷味
9148 Las Tunas Dr
Temple City, CA 91780
(626) 291-2295

The side order of the cold roast chicken.

Beef Tripe.

Radish Soup

The Dan Dan Noodles . . . my favorite.



Read more!

Truck Feasting - The Buttermilk Truck and Slice Truck

The LA Mart - the site of Truck Feasting with the Thirsty Pig.

On this nice day, we found ourselves heading to the LA Mart to look for the Buttermilk Truck. Luckily, Ms. C "willed" parking for us and we found a spot. . . two blocks away.

Walking past the giant chair, I saw no crowds in front of the two trucks and inside my mind, I'm going "WE WIN!" But we still quickly order as if there were 30 people standing behind us. However this "win" high was quickly let down, from the Buttermilk truck, with lack of biscuits and rosemary hash browns. Disappointed and little pissed, we still order the Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders, the Hawaiian Bread Cinnamon French Toast Sticks, the Buttermilk Pancake Bites, and Housemade Cake Donuts.

The french toast sticks and pancake bites were expected tastes that we were accustomed to. But the Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders were a nice treat. The sweetness from the bread coupled with the saltiness from Portuguese with shoyu scrambled eggs was a nice little Asian flavored treat. Personally, I like shoyu (soy sauce) scrambled eggs and rice, but that's my homemade lazy meal. Though I was really hoping for some potatoes and hash browns. There's always next time.

Today, we also tried the Slice Truck, with a pepperoni, mushroom & green pepper, and ham & pineapple pizza. The pepperoni and mushroom & green pepper was fine. You can't go too wrong with those pizzas. But the Hawaiian style ham & pineapple pizza was particularly notable. This slice had huge cubes of ham, which were almost too big. You don't find these large cubes in regular pizzas. I did notice that the crust on the ends was a bit hard. But other than that, it was a solid pizza.

The menu at the Buttermilk Truck.

Nice shady spot right across the street from the court building.

Today's crowd had lawyers, designers, and buyers with some regular folk trying to take care of their tickets.

The Slice truck. Simple menu. If you are in and around downtown, they will deliver. They also offer whole pizza pies, too.

I would assume that Pizza Hut, Dominos, and Papa John's would soon have their own pizza trucks roaming around.


Both the Slice Truck and the Buttermilk Truck have two of the most colorful food trucks around.

Hawaiian Bread Breakfast Sliders - Portuguese sausage, sauteed onions and shoyu scrambled eggs on Hawaiian bread $5 per order

Buttermilk Pancake Bites - Served with butter and syrup Red Velvet Chocolate Chip, Check for seasonal flavors Order of 6 -PLAIN $4 FILLED $5

The Ham & Pineapple Pizza.

Hawaiian Bread Cinnamon
French Toast Sticks - Served with powdered sugar and syrup Order of 3 – $2.50 Order of 5 -$4

The Pepperoni Pizza from the Slice Truck.

Housemade Cake Donuts - Fried to golden brown and dusted with powdered sugar and glazed with cinnamon vanilla glaze Order of 3 – $2.50 Order of 5 -$4

Rating
3 pigs, $

Slice Truck
http://www.slicetruck.com/
http://www.twitter.com/slicetruck

Buttermilk Truck
http://buttermilktruck.com/
http://twitter.com/buttermilktruck


Read more!

LA Weekly 2nd Annual Gold Standard Food & Wine Event

I attended the LA Weekly 2nd Annual Gold Standard Food & Wine Event at the Petersen Automotive Museum with my friend Miss J. I just wanted to show this car, since it is my favorite car of all time.

There were a few things I didn't include, because my pictures were bad or I forgot to take. Like seeing Evan Kleinman from Good Food and Angeli Cafe with her vegan lasagna - which was really good. Or seeing J. Gold and his son enjoying the museum. And having bourbon whiskey from Bulleit Bourbon. It was a good time since the lines weren't long.


Lynda Kay was performing with her Guitar sponsors - Gretsch. She was pretty entertaining with her great golden outfit and her big hair. She sung some country songs, that kept me and the crowds mesmerized.

Bulgarini Gelato from Altadena. For whatever reason, this line was the longest one that we stood in. The line spaned across two other tables. The gelato was really good. This one was a combination of raspberry and pistachio. The raspberry was quite creamy and the pistachio had a savory component that was surprisingly good. bulgarinigelato.com

Rabbit slider from Bistro LQ. Tasted a bit gamey . . . more than I would have liked. But I commend them on serving such a daring meat. Mr. J Gold considers this place to be the center of odd French foods in LA. I might try this place. bistrolq.com

Dainty chocolate cupcakes from Tiara Cafe 123 East 9th Street Los Angeles, CA 90015. Bite sized goodness. Not much more say.

Mo-Chica's Albacore Ceviche. Nothing special . . . but not intended to be. It had good mouth feel, with no overpowering citric acid. I like albacore, so I thought it was pretty good. Notice the large Peruvian Roasted Corn Nuts. 3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007 mo-chica.com

Hungry Cat's smoked salmon. I could be wrong. Thank goodness the bread was tender. If you go to Hungry Cat. 1535 North Vine, Hollywood, CA thehungrycat.com, make sure you try the Pug Burger.

Border Grill's vegan taco. The avocado's are drenched with the black peppers. It was an expected favorite of mine. I liked it more than I thought I would. Look for their Border Grill food truck roaming around. marysueandsusan.com

Wurstkuche's sausages. I had the Mango & Jalapeno chicken and turkey sausage. Not all that spicy. Jalapenos aren't all that spicy to begin with. The Rattlesnake & Rabbit sausage wasn't all that popular. They are located near little Tokyo wurstkucherestaurant.com

Jar's sliced roast beef. Nice hefty helping. But I had to consume it with a spoon. That's one thing I must say - utensils are a big pain at these events. Finger Foods are the best. Jar's known for their steaks, which I have had before - quite good. thejar.com

Glendale's Palate offered a Pig Ears sandwich. Not usually my first choice in a pig, but this was the exception. It was juicy and tasty. Miss J liked it a lot. Palate is on my short list of places to visit. palatefoodwine.com

More from Palate.

Jitlada, offering southern Thai cuisine was there. They seem to know how to utilize the new online marketing tools well - like twitter.

Jitlada's beef dry curry. It had a lot of HEAT. . . err I mean spiciness. It was really good. I would have gotten seconds if I wasn't so full. 5233 1/2 W. Sunset Blvd. Hollywood 323 633 3104

Moles La Tia was my favorite table. This was a lighter chicken taco. They had two taco's that were flavorful and amazing. I thought I had tried Mole before, but after today - I realized I haven't. 4619 East Cesar Chavez Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90022 323 264 7842 moleslatia.com

This was a beef mole taco from Moles La Tia. I will visit here again. Thank goodness for their East Los Angeles location.

Lou on Vine's offering. This was a pork belly wrapped around a shrimp roasted slightly with a tangy orange sauce with a kumquat. Then they had a roasted duck on french bread. Hands down the most complicated dish. Check out the bamboo plate. Lou's often featured on the Market Report with Laura Avery on KCRW's Good Food. Great place, I've been there before and do plan to return. louonvine.com

Mozza's popular table had a risotto cheese on bread then with a tomato sauce. I probably butchered the exact detailed description. I think they ran out of food quite early. mozza2go.com 6610 Melrose Ave.

Beacon's offering - sopes. I've been meaning to visit Beacon in Culver City. 3280 Helms Ave. Los Angeles 310 838 7500 beacon-la.com

Babita's pork taco. Hmm. . .another find in the San Gabriel Valley. 1823 S. San Gabriel Blvd. San Gabriel 626 288 7265.

Nickel Diner's donut holes. They brought their strawberry shortcake and their famous maple bacon donut - which we had. Nickel Diner 524 S. Main Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 213 623 8301 5cdiner.com


La Casita Mexicana's tacos. Good Flavor but location is a bit far - in the city of Bell. 4030 East Gage Ave, Bell, CA 90201 323 733 1898 info@casitamex.com

One last shot of Speed Racer's car. Such a cool car when I was kid, and even now.


Read more!