Newport Tan Cang Seafood

House Special Lobster

Filet Mignon Cubes

XO Stir Fry Green Beans

I came here with my family for my brother's birthday. I'm not a big fan of lobster, but I do enjoy the way the prepare it at Newport Seafood. I'm not really sure what they use to cook it, but coming from someone who rarely eats lobster, this place actually makes it pretty tasty!

Since it was my brother's birthday, we decided to let him choose the other dishes. He's a huge fan of the other two dishes ordered, and it didn't disappoint. The filet mignon cubes (bo luc lac - Vietnamese name for it) was really pepper-y and it was cooked to about medium. The XO stir fry was tasty too. It's hard for restaurants to mess this dish up, well at least at the places I've had it.

I would come back to Newport Seafood for a delicious meal. The thing is that the parking lot is tiny and this place is always packed! If you do decide to come here, make sure to get there early to avoid the crazy rush.

Newport Seafood
518 W Las Tunas Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Laters~
R

Marston's - Pasadena, CA

I'm always in the mood for American breakfast food, but the nearby restaurants that serve this were IHOP and Denny's. I'm not saying that those two restaurants are not good... all I'm saying is that I wanted something different. So L and I hopped onto yelp and searched for some recommendations. After scrolling through, we found Marston's, located, where else, but good ol' Pasadena!

Marston's - street view

 Marston's is super cute, inside and out. It looks like a place you'll find in Stars Hallow from the TV show Gilmore Girls.

Fantastic French Toast

Bacon

The Serendipity Omelet

 I'm so glad we found this place. It was super delicious. L wanted to satisfy her bacon and french toast craving, so she got a side of the bacon. The thing about Marston's is that there are no combos. At Denny's or IHOP, we can order a plate of french toast that comes with some type of breakfast meat, but at Marston's, we had to order them separately.

The Fantastic French Toast was... fantastic! It was basically like a powered up french toast. The thick slices of toasts were first dipped in a egg batter, then it was rolled in corn flakes! For a little over a dollar more, we got the fresh fruits with the french toast. The dish came with a scoop of butter and syrup.

The Serendipity Omelet was a-ma-zing! According the menu it was "the chef's inspiration" and has "a little of everything". Inside the omelet, there was ham, pepper, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese. On top of that were some ortega peppers and pico de gallo. I'm drooling thinking about this omelet....

Marston's only serve breakfast from 7am to 11am, so if you are thinking about visiting them for breakfast, make sure you get there before 11am!

Marston's
151 E Walnut St
Pasadena, CA 91103

Laters~
R

Green Street Tavern - Pasadena, CA

L's birthday just passed! Yay to another year towards old age! Since it was her birthday, I gave her control to the reigns and she chose Green Street Tavern. The restaurant is right across the street from Buca di Peppo and Gyu-kaku. I must have walked past this place so many times and never even noticed it! I need to explore Pasadena some more. So many wonderful places to try.

Our wine for the night

We each started the meal with a glass of wine. I'm not a big wine drinker, and when I do drink wine it's mainly sweet, white wine. I chose a German Gris-Ling and L chose a Pinot. I tried her red wine, and it was too dry for me.

Grilled Quail Salad

Miniature Baked Brie

Pan Seared Foie Gras & Duck Confit

We started off with 3 appetizers, all were equally delicious. The grilled quail salad was yums, but the little bones got annoying to eat around. I was recently introduced to brie. I'm not a big cheese lover, but I love brie! This dish was extra awesome because the brie was baked. It was all warm and creamy. I would come back for the brie and the foie gras! It was my first time eating foie gras, and I know... it's an evil way to treat animals and whatnots, but goodness I been missing out on all yumminess! I love the Asian style BBQ duck and this reminded me of it. By the way, my mouth is just watering thinking about these dishes.

Lobster Ravioli

Three Little Piggies went to the market….
And none of them came back home!

Our main courses consisted of the lobster ravioli and the Three Little Piggies. L ordered the lobster ravioli. I'm not a lobster fan, but I decided to give it a try. The flavor was a bit too fishy for me, but like I said, I'm not a big fan of lobster. I ordered the Three Little Piggies. The extremely long name of the dish totally caught my attention. It's basically a trio of pork dishes. Starting from the top right going clockwise: crispy pig ear salad, smoked ribs, and braised belly on top of pureed yams. Although I did enjoy the dish, I was a little disappointed because it didn't wow me. Maybe I was too "wow"-ed out from the appetizers.

Honestly, I would come here again, especially for the appetizers. :) I really did enjoy all that we ordered though. Happy birthday L! 

Green Street Tavern
69 W Green St
Pasadena, CA 91105

Laters~
R

New Kingswood Teppan Steak House - San Gabriel, CA

So L and I was trying to figure out what to eat for dinner one night, and we wanted something different from our usual choices. I ended up suggesting this place. I've been here before, but L has yet to try it. Basically New Kingswood is like Benihana, with both doing a teppanyaki styled meal. For those who don't know, teppanyaki comes from Japan. Teppan meaning iron plate and yaki meaning grilled or pan fried. So put it together and teppanyaki means pan frying/grilling on an iron plate.

Our teppan

We had to share the table with a family. Man did those kids eat... I tried to take a picture without the kid, not much luck there.

Our chef

Our chef did little to interact with us. Maybe it was because the other party had like 3 kids. He probably figured that the kids would get more of a kick out of his little tricks. *tsk tsk* The kids could have cared less... L and I were more interested in his show.. The kids were more interested in their DS.

Veggies

 I always loved eating the vegetables. I totally need it to balance out all the meat. The vegetables included mushrooms, beansprouts, zucchini, squash, and onions. It was sauteed perfectly. I would come here just for the vegetables!

Scallop and Steak

 I ordered the scallop and steak combo. The meat was the first to be cooked, and I am one to wait for my entire meal to be ready before I start, so when the chef finished the vegetables, which was about 10 minutes after the meat, the steak and scallop wasn't as hot as I liked them to be. The meal was good nonetheless. The steak was cooked in garlic (lots of it) and black pepper sauce. The scallop was just cooked with garlic and butter.

Steak and Fish

I forgot what fish it was specifically that L ordered. She couldn't wait for the vegetables, so she started to eat. I had to stop her to take a picture! The fish was pretty good. I just didn't like the teriyaki sauce they put on it. L also got her steak cooked with garlic and black pepper sauce. 

Our failed volcano

I assume many of these teppan places do the volcano. I heard Benihana does it too, but I've never been so I couldn't tell you from firsthand experience. The volcano failed right after he lit it, so we didn't get to see the whole fire and steam event. O wells...

Overall, this place isn't too bad. I do notice that a lot of butter is used throughout the meal. If you like butter than go for it, but if not I'm pretty sure you can ask for them to use regular cooking oil or something. The other section to the restaurant is an all you can eat hot pot place. I have never tried their hot pot, so I wouldn't be able to comment on it. 

New Kingswood Teppan Steak House
250 W Valley Blvd Ste L
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Laters~
R

Henry's Taiwan - Seattle, WA

There is little better than a bowl of beef noodle soup. On a ever-so-typical cold, rainy, gray day in Seattle, beef noodle soup is a major craving of mine. But lately I haven't had any, as there is a severe lack of it in my neighborhood. I finally filled that void.

This is a bowl from Henry's Taiwan, situated appropriately near the ornate Chinese gate in Seattle's International District. It is a fairly tiny place with maybe six booths and two tables. There was no wait this particular day, but it would be worth it anyway. Don't worry, they play Mandarin pop for your entertainment.

Order the beef noodle soup and you get a sizeable bowl filled with chunks of stewed beef (and some tendons, watch out now), spiced broth, and homemade noodles. These noodles can also be ordered with shaved-style noodles - I spaced and should have ordered those, but this bowl was still delicious.

Not a fan of noodles? They serve a nice variety of rice dishes and appetizers. Henry's Taiwan also has red bean dessert! I didn't have any, but I regret that decision. 

Sliced pork belly served with a sweet soy-garlic sauce. There is no pork belly that doesn't taste amazing.

Stinky tofu. Ah, I didn't partake. Sorry, I can't do it.

This post is dedicated to C, L, and R, as I am trying to bribe all three to visit Seattle. Come to Seattle and you can have all the beef noodle soup (plus rain and trees) you want!

Dog Haus (Pasadena, CA)

 These are no ordinary dogs......

El Mariachi- grilled onions, red bell peppers, pickled jalapeños, melted white american cheese

The Cowboy- white american cheese, smoked bacon, onion rings, bbq sauce, crispy onions

Loaded Sweet Potato Tater Tots

Reservoir Dog- chili con carne, yellow mustard, coleslaw

Grand Slam- smoked bacon, egg, tater tots

When people talk about hot dogs in LA, Pinks and LA Death Dogs are usually the first to come to mind.  But, you cannot overlook Dog Haus.  Dog Haus has a enormous list of specialty hot dogs.  The most unique thing about Dog Haus is that they use Kings Hawaiian Rolls as the bun.  These dogs are loaded with all sorts of toppings.  They are so overfilled that it makes it difficult and messy to eat.  But, oh it is so worth it.  One of my friends ordered a El Mariachi, which she said tasted like taco hot dog.  I decided to go with the Grand Slam because nothing can go wrong when you have a fried egg on top.  I can tell you one thing, my hands got so messy, but I didn't care.  You would think that this would be a salty dog with the egg, tater tots, and bacon, but it was not at all.  The sweet, toasted Hawaiian roll neutralized it.  Normally hot dogs don't get me full, but I was stuffed.  After I was done, my friend asked me if I liked Pink's or Dog Haus better?  I would have to go with Dog Haus simply because the dogs are bigger, heartier, and have better toppings. 


Location:
Dog Haus
105 N Hill Ave
Pasadena, CA 91106

Until next time,
C

POP Champagne & Dessert Bar

I recently went to this place to celebrate my friend's birthday. We had heard about POP from one of our other friends. This place is located in Old Town Pasadena. I've probably walked by it countless amount of time, but never cared to stop by. Boy, I wish I found this place earlier!

Brachetto d'Acqui

We started with Brachetto d'Acqui, a bottle of sparkling wine. Majority of us prefer the sweet wine over the dry. This tasted a mix of various berries. It was so heavenly, we had 2 bottles.

Prosciutto-wrapped Shrimp

Cherry Heirloom & Roma Tomato & Basil Bruschetta

We started off with 2 appetizers or what they call "Beginning Bites". The bruschetta was amazing! The flavor of it just fills your mouth. They did not give us enough bread for it, so we took the bread from our cheese platter to finish it off. The shirmp dish comes with a roasted garlic aioli sauce. The shrimp itself was pretty good, but mix in that aioli sauce... and mmmmmmmmmm~....

Cheese Plate

 First off, I just want to say that I am not a cheese person. I would only eat cheese when it is on pizza. Since I'm not one to appreciate cheese, it's hard for me to judge this plate. On the plate, starting from the cheese slice on the bottom is a French cheese made out of cow's milk. The middle circle cheese is a French cheese made from goat's milk. The top slice is made out of cow's milk. It came with a handful of various dried fruit, and on the very top left corner is a block of blueberry mint tartar. The cheese plate came with a basket of bread. The top slice of cow cheese was probably my favorite, it tasted like the Laughing cow cheese. My least favorite was the goat's milk cheese, I was never a fan of goat's milk and that still holds strong today.

Margarita Flatbread Pizza

Truffle Mac n Cheese

 Our main course consisted of the pizza and mac n cheese. The Margarita Flatbread Pizza was extremely flavorful. The taste of basil and tomatoes filled our mouths and the cheese was so gooey. But my favorite dish of the night has got to be the truffle mac n cheese. The cheese flavor was not too strong, which I was grateful for. The fried onion on top helped to add a bit more flavor to the dish. The pasta used was not macaroni, but the seashell pasta.

Afternoon Delight

Vanilla Creme Brulee

Strawberry Nutella Crepe

 Now on to the dessert! We ordered 3 different things, and let me tel you, it was super hard to even decide on these 3 items. POP's dessert menu was huge! The Afternoon Delight consisted of 3 things: chocolate covered strawberry, vanilla creme brulee, and a mixed berry pavlova. A pavlova is basically a hardened meringue. The vanilla creme brulee was probably my favorite dessert from the 3. I usually don't like creme brulee, but this one had a good flavor and texture to it. My least favorite of the 3 would have to be the strawberry nutella crepe. I think it was the caramel that threw me off because I'm a huge fan of dessert crepes.

Birthday Dessert: Chocolate Sorbet

As a way to say happy birthday, the restaurant gave my friend a chocolate sorbet. It was tasty and nice way to end the meal.

I would love to come here again. The ambience of the restaurant was very chill. Our waiter was great and very helpful. He totally looked like James Franco... *wink wink* a total plus. If you do decide to come here, make sure to make reservations because they can get super busy!

Location:
POP Champagne and Dessert Bar
33 E Union St
Pasadena, CA 91103

Laters~
R

Pie 'n Burger - Pasadena, CA

I should really start off by apologizing for the lack of posts. The four of us has been busy with life and family, especially during the holidays. Speaking of holidays, Happy Lunar New Year to all those who celebrate it!

C and I wanted to try something new and also wanted to explore a bit more of Pasadena. I did not realize how much Pasadena has to offer. I usually just stop in Old Town Pasadena, but South Lake Avenue has a lot of restaurants and shopping too! We decided to stop by Pie 'n Burger, we both heard about the place before, but we did not know what to expect.

 Right when we walked in, we can basically see the entire restaurant. It was tiny! A long table for a bar like seating ran through the entire restaurant and there were about 3 additional tables for larger parties in the back. We sat ourselves and the menu was up on the wall. The place gave off an old school mom and pop shop vibe.

Grilled Tuna

I ordered the grilled tuna sandwich. The portion was huge. It came with pickles and potato salad on the side. Honestly, I was not impressed. I had better... a lot better.

Burger and Fries

C ordered the burger and fries. The burger was good. The fries were just how I like them, crunchy and hot. C wanted chili on her burger, but they had already ran out for the night.

All in all, this place was just okay... the food was overpriced for me. I can get the same food at In-N-Out for a more reasonable price. I would only go back to try their drinks. They make their milkshake the old fashioned way. They make their soda the old fashion way too! The add the carbonated water and soda syrup separately. I would also try their pie. We got to the restaurant late, so many of their pies have already been sold out.

Location:
Pie 'n Burger
913 E California Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106

Arirang Tofu House - San Gabriel, CA

A must-go-to hearty food for us is always Korean tofu stew. Our usual go to spot was packed, so we decided to switch it up a bit and try out Arirang. I was pleasantly surprised. The meal as a whole was delicious!

Side Dishes

They also gave us a kimchi pancake. I prefer the usual pancakes, but it was still yummy. I believe the usual pancakes only contain vegetables. The side dishes were tasty, and like usual, they're refillable!

Galbi

 I would say galbi is something that I would usually order when I go for Korean food. This place made it really well, but the only complaint I have is that the portion is really small...

Bibimbap

 C ordered the bibimbap. I had a taste of it and I enjoyed it. For those who are unfamiliar with Korean food, bibimbap is a mixture of rice, veggies, and sometimes meat. It comes out with the veggies and meat on top of the rice, and you can add as much red chili paste as you want, then you mix, mix, mix!

Kimchi Tofu Stew

 I ordered the kimchi tofu stew. It came out bubbling, sizzling hot. The waiter added a raw egg into it, which is optional. The stew is hot enough to cook the egg right there. The stew was yummy. I'm always afraid of places using MSG in their stews, and I am happy to say that this place doesn't! Yay!


I'm glad we found this place since the wait for this place is not as long as our usual place.

Location:
Arirang Tofu House
529 E Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776

Laters!
-R

A & J Hot Point Hot Pot- Rosemead, CA

1st order with Herbal & Spicy Broth

My sister and I decided to take my parents here for Christmas.  We love to eat hot pot, but it gets a little bit pricey when you have to order a la carte.  At A & J it is AYCE for $17.99 at dinner.  You can choose 2 broths out of 6 different types.  We chose spicy and herbal.  The spicy was a tad spicy, but we just diluted it with the herbal broth.  A cool thing about this place is that you make your own dipping sauce.  There is a counter full of different sauces that you serve yourself.  There are 20+ items that you can order to put in your broth.  It ranges from beef, lamb, seafood, veggies, tofu, and noodles.  We chose to go mostly with the lamb since it was lean and it goes great in hot pot.  One of my favorite items of the night was putting the fish into the spicy broth.  It gave the fish the right enough kick, even for those who can't handle spicy.  Their house special noodles were delicious.  We ordered about 6 of them.  They were just so chewy and yummy that it served as a great balance with the rest of the meat and veggies.  We were there for about 2.5 hours which shows that the food was good.  Stop by and eat endless amounts of hot pot, and make sure to order the fish and noodles. 

Refill #2/6

Location:
A & J Hot Point Hot Pot
8508 E Valley Blvd Ste 102
Rosemead, CA 91770

Until next time,
C

Hakata Ramen Shin-Sen-Gumi: Rosemead, CA

Takoyaki

This was the first meal that all of the 4 foodies ate together in a long time.  It felt great to be reunited.  Our first destination....ramen!!!  We were starving, so we started our meal with an order of takoyaki.  Takoyaki is octopus cooked inside of a pancake-like flour based batter, and covered in fish flakes, seaweed, takoyaki sauce, green onions, and mayoinase.  It was quite delicious, as you can tell, by the time I got my camera left there was only 1 left.   The takoyaki was a little small.  They were tasty but not as tasty as some that I've had in NYC.  However, this did get our juices running for the ramen.

Tonkotsu Ramen

 The main course has arrived, Tonkotsu Ramen.  When you place your order you have the option of choosing soft, medium, or hard for the noodles.  I decided to go with medium.  The noodles were really thin and had the right amount of chewiness.  You also have the option to add more noodles for $0.50.  The broth had the perfect amount of pork taste, and was not salty as is found in other ramen places.  One vital item that was missing was the hard boiled egg, which you have to pay extra for.  I also wished there would be a little more meat, as there were only 2 slices of pork.  Aside from that, the ramen is definitely worth trying.  This was my 2nd time at this place and each time I come I have to compare it with Daikokuya's in Jtown.  The first time I came I loved Shin Sen Gumi.  After I went the 2nd time, I've decided that I have to stop by Daikokuya again and see which place I like better.  Stop by and try a bowl of ramen.  Make sure you go early because there is always a wait.

Location:
Hakata Ramen Shin-Sen-Gumi
8450 E Valley Blvd Ste 103
Rosemead, CA 91770

 Until next time,
 C