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