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Syrup Desserts, Downtown LA

Comments (0) | Sunday, January 8, 2012

I found out about Syrup Desserts from a Six Taste brochure promoting a food tour of Downtown's Financial District. The sweet grilled cheese sandwiches they offer were reasons enough for me to make a short bus trip down the street.

 Lounge area upstairs where there are board games available to enjoy.


 What you see when you walk in the store.

 Italian soda - don't remember the flavor though.

 Latte - it was good, but nothing to brag about.

 Blackberry Muenster - an awesome grilled cheese sandwich that contains fresh blackberries, muenster cheese, walnuts, blackberry preserves and ham on texas toast and topped with powdered sugar. The sweetness from the sugar, creaminess of the cheese, savory ham and tartness from the berries was an explosion of flavor. A must try.

Syrup Signature Waffles - Liege waffle served with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream. strawberry glaze and whipped cream. What's not to like? The crispy waffle was the perfect vehicle for the berries and the ice cream.

Syrup Desserts, 601 S. Spring Street, Downtown Los Angeles


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Urth Caffe, Downtown LA

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Urth Caffe is a hip organic coffee company that specializes in its own brand of coffee and tea. They also happen to serve good, farm fresh food. They have four locations - Beverly Hills, Downtown, Santa Monica and West Hollywood. In fact, some episodes of HBO's Entourage show the Beverly Hills location.

On one of my first visits to Urth, this is what I got:

 Sausage and Potato Omelette - three organic eggs with spicy chicken sausage, bell peppers, onions, heirloom potatoes and parsley. Served with a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and bread.

 Caffe Latte Dolce - it's supposed to be sweet and mild, prepared in the Italian tradition. It was good, but I thought it was a little on the bitter side.

Brioche Bread Pudding - WITHOUT raisins. It will probably feel like a big lump in your gut because it's kinda heavy, but it is really good. Especially when it's fresh.

Urth Caffe, 451 South Hewitt Street, Downtown Los Angeles


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Newport Tan Cang Seafood Restaurant, San Gabriel

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Newport Tan Cang Seafood Restaurant is well known for their Newport Special Lobster. They currently have two locations, one in Rowland Heights, and the main location in San Gabriel. The restaurant is essentially a Chinese seafood restaurant that is heavily influence by Vietnamese, Cambodian and Thai cuisines. My tip of the day would be to go there early; it fills up quick. Oh yeah, and if ordering the lobster, bring money. A substantial amount of money.


 
 Clams with Black Bean Sauce

 Sauteed Pea Sprout

 Newport Special Lobster - worth the trip and if you get there during the rush, it's also worth the wait.

 Yang Chow Fried Rice

 Kung Pao Chicken

Steamed Whole Fish - I think it's tilapia

Newport Tan Cang Seafood Restaurant, 518 W. Las Tunas Drive, San Gabriel


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Lucques, West Hollywood

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For DineLA many moons ago, we visited Lucques for lunch. Lucques is owned by renowned chef Suzanne Goin, and is located on Melrose, close to La Cienega. I liked the atmosphere at Lucques; it was sophisticated, yet homey.

 House bread, almonds and olives, served with butter and sea salt (I think).

 Corn soup with poblano peppers and pepitas - savory and comforting with a little kick. Chief complaint? Not enough.

 Fall fruit salad served with prosciutto, walnuts and saba - I didn't try it, since it was Boogs's choice, and the only indication I had that he liked it was an empty plate.

 Polenta with summer squash, salsa verde, pecorino and breadcrumbs - I decided to go the vegetarian route, and it turned out well for me. Tasted good, and felt healthy.

 Grape leaf wrapped trout with green rice, nasturtiums and dill yogurt - Boogs's entree choice, and he raved about it. I thought the green rice was good, and the fish was well cooked, but to me, it was simply an "ok" dish.

 Bittersweet chocolate tart with crushed honeycomb and coffee ice cream - my dessert choice, and it was yummy and rich. I'm down for coffee ice cream anytime.

Vanilla semifreddo with Gaviota strawberries and almond croustine - I loved this dessert. The combined flavors and textures of vanilla, strawberry and almond worked so well together. Too bad Boogs didn't want to share too much.

Lucques Restaurant, 8474 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles


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Flying Pig Cafe, Little Tokyo

Comments (0) | Monday, January 2, 2012

The Flying Pig Cafe opened its doors in Summer 2011, to much anticipation from food truck followers. The Flying Pig Truck currently has a successful run serving pan-Asian fusion food to pork lovers. We visited the restaurant in Little Tokyo within the first two weeks of its grand opening.

 Kakuni - pork belly on brown rice. It has similar flavors to Filipino pork adobo. I thought the pork could be more tender, but otherwise, it was an "okay" dish. Definitely overpriced, though.

Duruchigi - marinated spicy pork with brown rice, served in a skillet. I thought this dish was definitely more flavorful than the Kakuni, and certainly packs more punch.

I really love the Flying Pig Truck - the pork belly bun is awesome, practically to die for. But I find the new restaurant a little lacking, with super loud music, small portions and high bills. I'm hoping that as time goes by, the restaurant would find more balance. 

Flying Pig Cafe, 141 South Central Avenue, Los Angeles


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Cabbage Patch, Downtown LA

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Cabbage Patch is known for "farm fresh fare." They have three locations - Beverly Hills, Playa Vista and Downtown Los Angeles. Some coworkers and I visited the downtown location for a quick bite and also to check out the culinary selections available.

Cheese Burger - Niman Ranch ground beef served with Tillamook cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon, and arugula on a toasted brioche bun. It comes with ketchup and aioli, and your choice of coleslaw or fries. I thought that the beef was juicy, fries crispy - overall a good meal. And I washed it down with this:

Iced mint tea - cool and refreshing

Cabbage Patch, 520 W. 6th Street, Los Angeles


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New Capital Seafood Restaurant, Rowland Heights

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Instead of making a resolution I know I can't keep (resolution being posting frequently), I'll just post as many photos as I possibly can of places we've been, and foods we've eaten now. So in my mind, the next several posts will be out of order, but to you, it will just seem as if I've been eating. A lot.

This one is of New Capital Seafood Restaurant (NCSR), located on the second floor of the bustling Diamond Plaza Shopping Center in Rowland Heights. By "bustling," I mean it's super hard to find parking, especially during the busy hours. During the day, they serve dim sum, the Chinese version of tapas. Dim sum is typically served in small metal containers from carts wheeled around by the ladies who work at the restaurant. If you make eye contact with them, they'll usually stop at your table, offering you a plethora of dishes. Here's a sampling of the stuff we got.

 Shu mai - pork dumplings. A dim sum staple, and NCSR knows how to make them well. It's perfect with a little hot sauce.

 Braised pork spareribs, simmered in their own juices, making them tender and flavorful.

 Cha siu bao, BBQ pork bun - not my favorite (I may have eaten one too many as a child), but it's definitely a dim sum favorite for many, including Boogs. What's not to like? There's bits of flavorful BBQ pork encased in doughy goodness.

 Sesame balls - for a lack of better descriptors, it's usually lotus paste inside of a glutinous ball rolled in sesame seeds. It's sweet, so it's usually a dessert item, but the rule of dim sum is, if you see something you like, get it then, because it may not come around again later.

 Fried shrimp dumplings - one of my favorites because it's fried and served with mayonnaise as a dipping sauce. How good is that?

 Fried shrimp balls - using a piece of sugar cane as a skewer, this dish is sure to please. It comes with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. Did I mention that it's fried?

 Turnip cake - I know it may sounds a little gross to those not familiar with dim sum, but I assure you, these are so good. It's one of my favorite dim sum dishes. It's par cooked, and then pan fried to order. The only problem with these at NCSR is, it's super hard to flag down the lady with the this cart.

 Taro (wu) gok - also known as taro dumplings. Inside is a tasty mixture of minced pork, shrimp and mushroom. Outside is a crispy, flaky, almost fluffy taro batter that is deep fried to golden brown.

 A few words to the wise: It's best to go early, either before or around 10:00 am. Otherwise, you will be stuck outside inhaling second hand smoke, waiting for your number to be called. In fact, by 10:00 am on weekends, the San Gabriel location is virtually packed. Also, no matter how good the lady says the dish is, if it doesn't look good, it probably isn't. If you're not into eating "unusual" meats, it's usually best to ask someone what it is before ordering it.

New Capital Seafood Restaurant, 1330 S. Fullerton Road, Rowland Heights


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2012? Really?!

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Good grief! It's 2012?! I have been so remiss in posting, and I totally apologize for not doing so. It's not like I haven't eaten anything good the last three months or so...

To make up for it (sort of), here's a festive photo to kick off 2012. Happy New Year!

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting


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