Boiling Point (California - West Garvey Avenue)

  California back post 4 of 6.  Stinky tofu, the first time I had heard of it was on Andrew Zimmerman's Bizarre Foods; though his description of it really didn't sound all that appetizing.  However, I knew my boyfriend had always wanted to try it out, so when we went to California we stopped by Boiling Point in West Garvey.  Upon spying the poster in the window facing the street I immediately gravitated to the house special hot soup.  I <3 exotic cuts of meats!

     The restaurant itself was pretty small, but it wasn't bad finding seating as we came pretty early for lunch service.  However as we started eating, it quickly got busier as the peak of the lunch hour approached.  With all the hot pots in the room it quickly heated up the surrounding environment, so it was fairly warm inside the restaurant.  Thankfully I love the heat (<3 for Florida being warm 90% of the year), so it didn't bug me very much.  However, I can see how after a while it might start to have an effect on others who might not like the room being that warm.  Midway through service, the staff did end up opening a window over the door in order to let out some of the excess heat.

     It was $8.99 for each hot pot with a free beverage for the lunch special, I mean who can beat that?  The hot pots are individually sized and they're of a decent portion.  Of course I decided on the House Special Hot Soup which contained stinky tofu, pork intestines, meat balls, salty veggies, quail egg, green nira, cilantro, pork blood, enoki mushroom, kamaboko, pork slicers, nappa, and tomato.  *Whew* What a long ingredient list full of wonderful off beat proteins and I was excited to try them all!  Depending on how adventurous you felt, you could ask them to tweak the spiciness level of the soup base from mild to an authentic spice level (which I'm going to guess is incredibly hot).  I chose to be somewhere in the middle, as I wasn't in the mood to tempt the fates with the top level of spiciness. =)

     So after we made our hot pot selections we added onto our order some extras like more slices of meat, meatballs, fishballs, blood cakes, etc. on the side.  It reminded me of ordering dim sum since the menu resembled a dim sum menu, putting the numbers of orders we wanted next to the item.  While we waited for our food we grabbed some of the special dipping sauces they had available: Spicy garlic bean paste, garlic creamy soy sauce, and the house special spicy sauce.  You could either dip random cooked items in them directly or spice up your hot pot's broth, whatever you felt like!  The house special spicy sauce was my favorite, the bean paste not so much...but that's entirely preference because I'm not a fan of beans (don't let my distaste of beans deter you from trying the sauce).  I remember the garlic soy sauce didn't really wow me since it was just...garlic + soy sauce, nothing too special.

     After a little bit of waiting, the parade of extras started to come out of the kitchen...

     Just a friendly bit of advice, if you order the blood cakes don't let them sit around for too long because as we would later find out they have this tendency to um...un-coagulate.  X_x  

     Our table was nearly overwhelmed with the amount of extras!  I don't think we were entirely prepared for the onslaught of food, we severely underestimated the amount of food we were going to receive.  To make matters worse (or better... ^_^ definitely better) the hot pots then came out!

     It was a steaming bowl of pure yummy goodness.  To take a quote from Grey's Anatomy, I could see "lines of deliciousness" emanating from the hot pot!  My only gripe was that because there were so many components for my hotpot that I only received a small portion of each item (my favorite part was the blood cakes).  Everything still tasted amazing though, all the flavors worked really well together, and honestly we had a bunch of random supplements to add on to what we purchased so I wasn't too upset about not having more blood cake, meatballs, fishballs, etc.

     Onto the stinky tofu, why we actually came here!  It actually didn't have as offensive of a smell that I thought it would possess.  It was actually a very mild odor, faintly smelling of gym socks (the best way I can describe it).  The taste was like one of those smelly cheeses, it wasn't that off putting, it just tasted like a mildly aged cheese but in the form of tofu.  It wasn't bad by any means, but it seems to be more of an acquired taste.

     By the way, don't worry about losing your soup base to evaporation because one of the waiters will happily come by to replenish the supply.  My boyfriend was slightly miffed when I had them refill his soup while he was off in the restroom because I diluted all the concentrated goodness that the proteins and veggies had imparted.  Whoops... ^_^()  The same applies if the fire underneath the hot pot seems to go out.  I know we ran out of sterno at a few points and the waiters were more than happy to relight the fire.

     Overall we had a fantastic time at boiling point.  The food and service were great and the price was right!  If I didn't have so many other places that I plan to visit my next trip out to California, I'd definitely stop by and eat here again.  <3  Boiling point, keep on doing what you're doing.

Boiling Point
153 West Garvey Avenue
Monterey Park, CA 91754-2801
(626) 288-9876

MILK (California - Los Angeles)

     Back post from California - post 3 of 6!  On our first trip to California we drove by MILK while perusing the Beverly Hills area while waiting for our reservation time at Pizzeria Mozza.  Although it looked pretty interesting, we didn't stop by at that point.  Only after we had returned home to Florida did I look up MILK online and saw that it had some decent reviews.  I made a note of it and the next time we visited Cali we stopped by before our Mozza reservation.  

     I was quite amused since the store is right across the street from the Insomnia cafe, which is used on the Bold and the Beautiful for a set (at least the exterior).  As a result I had a very silly moment in front of the cafe where I threw my head upon my forehead in a dramatic pose (maybe more cheesy than dramatic...) while my boyfriend took a picture.

     Anyways back on topic!  The parking is kind of rough in the area where MILK is located.  There's very limited spaces for parallel parking in the adjacent areas and behind the store.  We had to circle around a few times before we found a spot.  The inside is pretty simple, they have a freezer case with a selection of ice creams and sorbets, and a counter top full of cookies, brownies, and other goodies.  Their menu is pretty extensive as I was just expecting your basic ice cream parlor.  They had soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas, etc.  Pretty impressed to say the least.

     The freezer case was conveniently labeled with what flavors they had available for everything.  Since we were about to grab dinner, we decided to keep it light and ordered some bon bons which can be seen at the bottom of the freezer case in the picture below.  I really wish we could have ordered more; there were so many options and they all looked equally delicious!

     We bought a mix of vanilla and berry.  The bon bons were a tad expensive; I forgot how much we actually paid for them, but in the end I didn't really complain since they were well worth the money.  These days it's a rarity to find a halfway decent bon bon!  The Dibs you find in the freezer section of the supermarket are just not well made and prone to death via freezer burn.  =(       

     The last time I remember enjoying a bon bon as much as the one's in MILK were back when I was a little girl sharing them with my mom and dad at home.  I was really sad when they disappeared off the supermarket shelves and elated when they made a come back recently.  Sadly, Dibs just isn't up to snuff.  MILK's are wonderful though and I wish I lived close enough to indulge in them more than just once every year or two (+ added cost of an airplane ticket).  

     The bon bons at MILK have a light exterior with a satisfying crunch without being too thick.  The ratio of chocolate to ice cream is spot on and the quality of the freshly made ice cream really brought everything together perfectly; there were even random berry bits in the berry ice cream. ^__^  I'll definitely revisit MILK the next time I'm in California, I just don't look forward to searching for parking!


MILK
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 93906455

Genki Living (California - Rowland Heights)

     This is another back post from California - post 2 of 6!  I'm sad to report that as of the past February, Arcade Infinity has closed.  Arcade Infinity had a ton of fun import games such as Technika, Pop n' music, Para Para, Type for the dead, Beatmani, Guitar Freaks, etc.  Basically it was a gamer's paradise and it will be sorely missed.  =( 

     So Arcade Infinity brought us to this fun plaza where Genki Living is located.  We were looking for something to nibble on late at night after some gaming.  There was still quite a crowd bustling about, so we decided to stop by. 

     The decor gave the place a kind of funky/hip vibe to it, randomly colored furniture and equally random accessories strewn about.  I want to say it's not really my scene.  In typical Japanese fashion they had plasticized versions of their crepes on display, so you would have an idea of what you were buying.

     There was a pretty extensive menu posted over the cash register which included crepes, taiyaki, takoyaki, okonomiyako, etc.  We decided on just getting two taiyakis, my boyfriend got one with ham and cheese and I wanted to try out the mochi and taro taiyaki.  The kitchen area was open so you could watch them make your food, which I thought was a nice touch.

     So the taiyaki wasn't bad, it wasn't mind blowing either.  I want to say for my mochi + taro taiyaki, the mochi didn't really add much.  That's not really surprising though, mochi is mostly just a fun texture contrast. 

     Though the taiyaki was only so-so in terms of taste, I was pretty psyched to be eating a real taiyaki.  I think it has to do with all the Azumanga Daoih I watched during college.  If you watch around the 2:00 minute mark, my boyfriend and I basically re-enacted that scene.

     So if you're looking for a quick snack for a decent price late at night, I don't think Genki Living would be such a bad choice.  I'd definitely have to try more of their items to make a fair assessment of the rest of the menu.  =)   

     ...And if you're wondering, I eat my taiyaki head first!

Genki Living

Rowland Heights

1380 Fullerton Road

(626) 581-1395

California: Half and Half Tea House (San Gabriel)

Back Blogging #7:

Our last stop before the airport was for bubble tea at Half and Half Tea House in San Gabriel. The allure of honey boba was just too much for me to resist!

We had a bit of a rough time finding the place, but I place that squarely on the gps! Ok…it was really me, I input the wrong address. =( I actually started freaking out a bit, thinking that we might not make it back to LAX in time for our flight, all because of bubble tea.

Anyways, we made it there despite some setbacks! Like most of the places we went to eat this vacation, it was a small café tucked away in a strip mall. There were a bunch of people just hanging around outside and some gamers inside playing DOTA (woot gamers!). The atmosphere was easy going and very laid back, I’d go here just to curl up with a book and a cup of bubble tea.

Another one of those infamous pictures where if you squint really hard you can see me in the reflection! …And yes, that IS a penguin hat that I’m wearing.

I ordered a honey boba tea and my boyfriend had an almond boba tea. (Almond Boba tea pictured below)

The almond tea was great, it had a great flavor and wasn’t overwhelmingly sweet. The honey one was a mixed bag. The tea itself was a bit bland, but the honey boba was AMAZING! Heck, if I could just order a cup full of the honey boba itself I would have. They solve the entire problem I have with boba, the tapioca balls are usually just bland and add a chewy textural element to bubble tea. But the honey boba truly had flavor, an attitude of their own! In the end I should have ordered an almond bubble tea with honey boba. ^_^ Next time Gadget, next time!

I also ordered a piece of milk toast (no, it wasn’t called that, but it’s the best description that I can think of).

This was also pretty yummy, like a piece of French toast, just probably slightly drier (not to say this toast was dry, it really wasn’t). I’d kill for some honey boba in the bubble teas here in Florida…


Half & Half Tea House
120 N. San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91775
(626) 309-9387

California: Wurstkuche, speciality sausages (Los Angeles)

Back Blog #6:

We wanted to visit Royal/T but once again we were thwarted because I didn’t pay attention to hours/days of operation and they were closed on Mondays. Instead, we then headed to Wurstkuche for lunch. Specialty sausages, for the win!

Don’t let this brightly colored front fool you into thinking that you can’t possibly drive by this place and miss it, because you can. In fact we did and I was specifically looking for that striped door!

Parking is pretty bad here, it’s all street parking and some of it you aren’t allowed to park by. One of the patrons let us know that we were parked in a “no parking” spot, the first time we stopped the car.

We went in and I started to stare intently at the display case full of specialty sausages.

So many choices, but eventually I decided to try the rabbit, veal, and pork sausage seasoned with white wine. My boyfriend bought an alligator, pork, and smoked andouille sausage. Our friend tried out the duck and bacon with jalapeno peppers. We also got two different sauces, the pesto and curry ketchup.

Clearly we needed liquid refreshment, so we bought a bottle of sarsaparilla and sweet blossom soda.

The sweet blossom wasn’t too great, just a forgettable sweet soda. The sarsaparilla tasted like root beer, but less sweet. Next time though, I would just opt for a regular soda. ^_^

Anyways, with our drinks in hand we took our number and moved down the long bricked hallway to the dining area. Someone made an analogy of walking down that hallway to walking down a dark alleyway from a horror movie. XD If only I wasn’t afraid of the dark…but never fear, the light of the dining area was not too far off!

I thought the dining area was quite breath taking. But then again I like the clean, slightly modern and industrial look. Seating was like eating at a picnic pavilion at a park, long tables with butcher paper covering the top. There were also some smaller tables along one side of the wall on a slightly raised platform.

If I was a beer lover, I probably would have been in heaven judging my the multitude of choices offered just staring at the beer tap. Alas, I don’t drink and neither do I intend to start (which some people see as a killjoy, but I just don’t enjoy alcohol =( ).

So we sat down, had a nice conversation and waited for our food. About 10 minutes later our sausages and fries arrived!

They even write on the parchment paper the type of sausage that it is! Pictured in the image above are the rabbit/veal/pork and the gator/pork/andouille. We ordered the fries with truffle oil, but the oil was so subtle that we couldn’t taste enough of a difference to warrant the extra money spent (as compared to our friend’s French fries).

The rabbit sausage though it wasn’t lacking in flavor was sadly a bit too dry for my tastes. The gator was a bit chewy, but still yummy! The best hotdog however was our friend’s duck and bacon sausage which was tender, juicy, and succulent. I guess we should have known, since the age old saying is that “bacon makes everything better.” However, I’m guessing that the duck was the key ingredient here!

Overall it was a fun visit, the ambiance was great, the food was moderately priced, and you don’t get the chance everyday to try sausages with meats like alligator, duck, rabbit, rattlesnake, etc.


Wurstkuche
800 E. 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA, 90013
(213) 687-4444

California: Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles (Long Beach)

Back Blog #5:

Our last day in California and there was still a lot of eating planned! The entire weekend was a food marathon basically. ^_^ Anyways, we wanted to check out a Roscoe’s chicken and waffles while we were in the area. Apparently there’s a ton of Roscoe’s about, but we were told to frequent the one in Long Beach. This was also convenient since it was also on our way back to the heart of Los Angeles.

It was a quiet Monday morning when we arrived and the establishment wasn’t terribly busy. The place was really cute though, decorated with lots of chickens. XD

I really liked the fireplace they had, but only because there were these pretty pieces of tinted glass in it, in the place of firewood.

To me, putting chicken and waffles together seems like a strange idea. They really don’t seem to go together, especially if you intend to eat your waffles with syrup! So being the traditionalist I am (and also not a fan of breakfast), I simply ordered three chicken wings and a side of potato salad.

My boyfriend on the other hand, absolutely LOVES breakfast, and could not pass up the opportunity to try chicken and waffles!

The fried chicken here is superb, honestly they have the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. So by my tally, this makes California the home of the best crème puffs, udon, and fried chicken so far. The batter tastes great and more importantly the chicken isn’t dried out!

I had a bite of the chicken + waffle + syrup and let me tell you, the flavors did not clash at all like I thought they would. I was pleasantly surprised that the sweetness of the syrup didn’t overpower the taste of the fried chicken, but rather added another enjoyable facet to its flavor profile. I’ve had chicken and waffles together at Gladys Knight’s Chicken and Waffles in Georgia, but this was much better all around.

Roscoe’s taught me to embrace the combination of sweet and savory. Oh Roscoe’s how I miss your fried chicken so! Maybe move on over to the East Coast, South Florida perhaps? Please? =D

Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles
780 E. Broadway
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 437-8355

California: Shin-Sen-Gumi (Gardena)

Back Post #4:

After a day filled with pastries and fresh soba noodles, we ended the evening at Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori in Gardena. There’s no such thing as a restaurant that specializes in yakitori in Florida anywhere (I’ve looked!). So when I heard about this place, I knew we had to stop by.

Once again I had made reservations a month in advance so we could sit in a private room in the back. It’s an extra fee of $1 per person to use the private room, but it’s worth it in my opinion since the front room is a bit cramped for space. However, one day I’d like to go back in order to sit out front and experience the atmosphere.

When you first enter Shin-sen-gumi you are warmly greeted by the entire staff. Everyone shouts out greetings and it’s a very welcoming atmosphere. If you want, you can buy a drink for the staff and they’ll come by and share a toast with you with an enthusiastic “Kampai!”

The service here is stellar even though it’s always incredibly busy. The wait staff is attentive and knowledgeable about the menu and the specials. ^_^

So they brought us a menu, which is analogous to your traditional dim sum menu.

They also had a whiteboard conveniently placed in our room with the specials of the evening.

Halfway through our meal we figured out the trick to eating at Shin-sen-gumi. If you’re new there and don’t know what you want to eat, order one of each thing you want to try right off the bat, then order seconds of the things you do like after your first round. Even better, if you’ve been there before, order what you want straight away. Why? Because stuff sells out and things even an hour into service can go missing from the menu sadly. We learned this the hard way because around 5 items we wanted to try throughout the course of the evening just went “poof.” It’s not their fault; I solely place the blame on us not ordering fast enough. =)

I ordered the nankara, which is deep fried chicken cartilage.

Yes, I wanted to know what chicken cartilage tasted like. =P I like crunchy textures, so this was right up my alley. Honestly, I was the only person in my party to enjoy this dish. It wasn’t anything special and tasted entirely how it was advertised (lols?). It was even better when dipped in a little bit of salt mixed with lemon juice, Mmmm!

The boys ordered some roast duck, which I didn’t really touch so I can’t comment on.

However, I can tell you that dish of roast duck multiplied into four by the end of the meal. The boys really liked their duck!

I ordered a piece of mackerel off the special’s menu. I’m such a sucker for mackerel!

Mackerel is an oily fish and always has this subtle smoky flavor which I love. <3 Then came an order of takoyaki!

I’ve tried so hard to actually like takoyaki and I have come to the conclusion that’s it just not for me. It’s not that it isn’t made well; I just don’t really enjoy the taste of it. =(

My boyfriend also ordered this dish and it was delicious!

I’m not sure what it was called exactly, but it was an omelet with meat inside, garnished with bonito flakes. ^_^

Next came the parade of never ending yakitori! We ordered SOOOO much and I took SOOO many pictures, so I’m a bit lost as to which picture goes with which description, but I’ll try my best.

Eel livers:

I like liver and I love eel, so I thought that eel liver might appeal to me. Apparently, it really doesn’t and has a very fishy aftertaste which I didn’t enjoy at all.

Tofu:

We didn’t really enjoy this one either, the tofu was just sort of bland…

Onigiri (rice ball):

Sadly, once again, the rice ball suffered the same fate as the tofu and though I enjoyed the crispy texture, the flavor was just lacking.

Meataballs:

These were delicious! Absolutely delicious! So savory, tender, and extremely addictive. I can’t count how many rounds of these that we had.

Simply Grilled Shrimp:

Delicious, just lightly salted, and grilled.

Chicken Wing and Skin:

The chicken wing was good, but we were hoping for a bit more in terms of a serving. The skin was awesome, but then again, when is grilled chicken skin not awesome?

Chicken thigh with special sauce, Chicken thigh lightly salted:

The chicken with the special sauce was superb, definitely a must try if you go here. ^_^

Chicken Liver:

I love chicken livers, so I was happy with their rendition of chicken livers. Mmmm! Not really for those who don’t like the taste of liver already though…

Pork Sausage:

Honestly, once again, forgot what this tasted like. However, it was good enough that we got a second order of it. =)

I know I also ordered some chicken heart, onion, potato, chicken cartilage, and flap meat…but I’m not sure where those pictures went. C’est la vie! I can definitely say that the meat selection beat the pants off the grilled veggies.

I was honestly hoping to try some more daring pieces, such as the special heart, tail, special skin, gizzard, intestine, and feet…but sadly they sold out. *sniffles*

At the end of it all, this was our damage…

Look at all those sticks! Think of our bill! ^_^() It was soooo worth it though! Dinner took about 2 hours in total, as food came in small waves. But since our drinks were never empty, the awesome service, great good, and wonderful company we were blissfully happy the entire time.

If you’re looking for a casual night out with friends, good food, and don’t mind a bit of noise, I’d suggest trekking out for some yakitori. Food on sticks, never tasted so good before! ^_^ Oishii!

Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori
18517 S. Western Ave.
Gardena, CA 90248
(310) 715-1588