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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Food Tour 2010 - Part II (LA)

Day 2 in LA. :)

BLD
7450 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 930-9744
http://www.bldrestaurant.com/

Price: $$

We started with Saturday brunch at BLD in Hollywood. They were also featured on Food Network's "Best Thing I Ever Ate" with their Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes. YUM! That totally peaked my interest and I put it on the eating
schedule! hehe.

Just a fyi, they only take reservations for parties of 5 or more. And for brunch, it's probably a good idea to make a reservation. The place was pretty packed when we got there for our 12:30 reservation. Its a cute place. Open and bright. The weather was AMAZING so we chose to sit outside.

Our waiter was really cool... friendly and attentive enough to where he wasn't disruptive.

I scanned the menu over and over again, even though I had already decided early on to get the pancakes. I made some suggestions to my friends though...hehe :P

Here's what we got:
Ricotta Blueberry Pancakes (berkshire maple syrup) $13~


The pancakes were pretty big and full of blueberries. So pretty! And it came with a cute little log cabin container of maple syrup. I've heard that Berkshire maple syrup is one of the best? I'm not an expert, but I do know its 100% pure maple syrup. The pancakes were awesome! Super light and fluffy and lots of blueberries. Every once in a while you'll get a pocket of ricotta. :) And the syrup wasn't too sweet, which I liked. I shared about 1/4 of it and basically devoured the rest. haha.

My bf got the House Made Turkey Sausage Frittata (oven dried tomato, arugula, feta cheese, wheat bread and substituted salad for potatoes) $13~ It was a HUGE plate. I suggested he substitute the home fries for the salad which was a good idea. The salad made the dish lighter and it was really fresh and yummy. The frittata had tons of stuff in it but was still not too heavy. If you are hungry, this'll definitely fill you up!

One of my friends ordered the Fried Egg Sandwich (toasted sourdough bread, nueske's thick cut bacon, gruyere cheese, aioli, spanish chorizo home fries) $13~ This was another item that's been raved about on reviews. It was pretty good. So simple, yet delicious. The bacon was definitely nice and thick, lots of flavor. The egg was cooked nicely with a runny yolk. It's definitely a sandwich you eat with your hands because the sourdough is too hard to cut thru. But careful of the yolk cuz it gets messy. A good messy. :P I personally would've like to see a different bread... like a brioche or something.. on the sandwich (since I'm not a fan of sourdough) but it was still a really good dish.

My other friend got the BLD House Beef Burger (apple chipotle ketchup, smoked cheddar cheese, wild arugula, caramelized onions, salad) $16~ The burger didn't look that big, but the patty was thick! The flavors were great.The meat was really tender and juicy. I really liked the sweetness from the apple chipotle ketchup. The bread was soft and buttery with a slight crisp on the edges. Pretty good burger if you ask me! hehe.

Overall a great brunch! I enjoyed every bit of it! The great weather, being with my friends, and awesome food! There's nothing better than just relaxing and enjoying a great meal with people you care about! :D

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Since this was our only full day to explore we had to move on to our next destination...

Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles
5006 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 934-4405
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

Price: $-$$

With chicken and waffles popping up all over the place in Dallas, I really wanted to try one of the original places that came up with the concept. The places in Dallas are usually more gourmet and they put their own twists on it, so it would be good to get an idea of the original.

We went right after brunch...OMG...more food! But there's no other time. So we just got one thing to share...

#18. Thigh and Waffle $6.90~

I was kind of surprised to see the prices on the menu...I thought i would be cheaper... The waffle was pretty thin but had a nice crisp to it. The chicken flavor was pretty good, but the skin wasn't what I expected. Not really super crispy... Personally, I think the chicken and waffles I've had in Dallas are better. The chicken at Buttons was definitely better than Roscoes. However, the Red Rooster Louisiana Hot Sauce MADE the dish!

Basically you take a piece of chicken (with some skin), a piece of waffle, and dip it in a hot sauce/syrup mixture. THAT'S the perfect bite! The tanginess and spiciness of the hot sauce with the sweet syrup and waffle and the salty chicken. YUMMERS! I think if I had the hot sauce, I can make my own chicken and waffles at home. hahaha. Get some Popeye's chicken and waffle batter. :P

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For dinner we were initially going to another restaurant in Hollywood, but my friend suggested this little hole in the wall Japanese BBQ place. It sounded really cool so we changed our reservation.

Sei-Ko-En Japanese BBQ (Yakiniku)

1730 Sepulveda Blvd. Ste 14
Torrance, CA 90745
(310) 534-5578
Price: $-$$

This place is pretty tiny, but they do take reservation, so make sure you call ahead. Right when we opened the door, I had to take a step back because it was SOOO smokey in there! OMG!!! I almost didn't wanna go in there! haha...

We were seated in a booth with 2 grills in the middle of the table. The waitresses were all older Japanese women, didn't have the best English, but they were really nice. They brought us some complimentary Bean Sprouts. It was tasty!

We ordered a bunch of stuff!
Prime Rib $8.95~
This was delicious. Each order wasn't that big so we ordered 2 of these. Super tender, we left it on the grill a little longer so it would get a nice crusty char on it. YUM!!!

Pork $7.95~ The pork was pretty good. Nice and tender with good flavor. Although with all the other great dishes, this was a little less memorable.

Super Prime Tongue $13.50~ This was beef tongue. Don't be scared. It's basically like really tender/thinly sliced beef. Super tasty!

Ox Tongue, slightly salted with green onions $8.95~ We liked the beef tongue a lot so we decided to try the Ox tongue. I liked this even better than the beef tongue. Also thinly sliced and the green onion/salty marinade was super tasty. The green onions had light onion flavors that really made this good.

Minced Raw Beef (with Egg) $8.95~ My friends told us we had to try this and see for ourselves. They had hesitations the first time they had it since its raw marinated beef with a raw yolk. I hope its super good quality!! Yikes! So you mix up the yolk into the beef with a little squeeze of lemon and dig in! It was really good! Didn't feel or taste like you were eating raw meat at all. The marinade wasn't overpowering but it definitely got rid of that raw meat flavor. The meat was super tender. If you are adventurous, definitely try this. You won't regret it!

Squid $7.95~ I love grilled squid but sometimes it can get chewy. Not this one! The texture was perfect! We ordered 2. :)

Beef Liver $7.95~
We decided to order liver. Some of us didn't really care for it and some liked it. I had forgotten I didn't like liver so I actually suggested ordering it. :( But after tasting it...I remembered I never liked the texture. Kinda dry...and tasted 'liver-y'. haha. Yea, you know what I mean. Not my favorite dish of the night.

Fresh Lettuce with Homemade Miso $5~
Just a bowl of fresh lettuce, cucumber, carrots, and a freaking awesome miso sauce. I put that sauce on EVERYTHING! I wrapped the grilled meats with the lettuce with a cucumber, some of the bean sprouts, and the miso sauce. PERFECTION!! :)

Fresh Lettuce with Sesame Oil Dressing $5~ This was more like a salad. Chopped lettuce with a very light dressing. It was nice and refreshing pairing with the heavy grilling. I liked it a lot!

What a great meal and awesome experience. Just make sure you don't have anywhere important to go after you go eat here cuz you smell pretty yucky after you walk out. Engulfed in all that smoke (which after a while you don't see it as much anymore.. haha)... Definitely give this place a try. It's awesome! :D

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