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: 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