Out and Abouts: Original Thai BBQ

I know that I recently did an Out & Abouts this week, but I couldn't help myself for this special occasion. This afternoon Eugene and I took Candice to fill out paperwork to her new job! Can you tell that she's happy? From working at a fabric store for 5 years to an Office Manager. She got her Christmas & Birthday wish all in one.

Her work is also a 10 minute drive on side streets from Eugene's place. I'll be giving her rides to work starting Monday until she gets better acquainted with things. We asked him a good place to eat for lunch and we went to this place just around the corner.

I love this place when your in a group looking for good food. They have family combinations that are under $30 and can feed a family of four. You know me and good cheap Asian Food, I never get tired of it. We ordered the C-2 Family combination.

 Here's what we got:

Clear Soup: Your standard chicken and vegetable clear soup. Mmm I love the little mushrooms and onions in it. You can tell that it comes out with the flame in the middle to keep it warm. I almost finished all of this immediately. Asian soup is so simple yet so yummy!

Honey Spare Ribs: Yeah, these ribs fall right off the bone. They're so tasty with a light honey sweet marinate. I'm not sure why they include the sweet chili sauce with it as it's pretty sweet by itself. They're also pretty saucy and spread well on the rice.

Yellow Chicken Curry: Oh yes, the sweet spicy curry! I love the potatoes that come with it. The sauce is lightly sweeter than most Thai curries because they add a bit of pineapple to the mix.

Broccoli Beef: Unlike the Chinese version, this has a much thinner sauce that is lightly sweeter. The beef is also sliced thinner so you get more of the Broccoli.

It's been awhile since I've had some Thai food so I was more than obliged to go. We had so much left overs it was ridiculous. It was a good token for Candice to take home before she got ready for her current job and put in her two week notice this evening. Wow, can you belive the years almost over? So many exciting things!

0

Herbal Haze Tea Haul

Bird Pick was having a sale the other day where all of the Herbal Teas were 20% off. As of the recent wacky weather changes I've been having trouble sleeping so I milled through the shop on what I could find. I was able to get two Herbals and a Tisane, Tisane's are a rarity for me, but this one was very unique that I couldn't resist.

At Bird Pick they do a great job of offering you samples of any tea you can imagine, they're also very knowledgeable on the benefits of each tea. Nothing like a little tea geek chat to get my spirits moving. What drew me to them this time around was the Chamomile Tea. Love had some the last time we were there and I was smitten by the taste that it had. So without further adieu, here's what I got:

Chamomile Flowers: I'm not sure if these are German or Roman, but these blossoms have a distinct thick honey taste to them. I often shy from Chamomile because after sometime they have a characteristic to have a hay like taste, which is rarely masked. So far these flowers have been a little wonder for me. I drink some every night I feel the fidgets and they seem to be giving me good solid hours of sleep.  I must warm people that the first time I drank it at home it made my throat swell which is a similar reaction I had to Chrysanthemum blossoms. Seems like if you have a weed allergy you should be careful with weed like flowery teas. I was able to cure it by using a tea sock which took out any fine bits left.

Tranquli Tea: This blend is famous at Bird's Pick. Some people take shots of this tea in concentration in replacement of certain medications and swear by it. It's a refreshing simple blend of mint, lavender, and chamomile. What makes it amazing is the sheer freshness of the ingredients which gives it a robust flavor. They sell these in bag for as well and I encourage anyone thats looking for a relaxing tea in the evenings to visit their website to get some.

Pineapple Dreams:  I'm not a Tisane person. I really don't enjoy the bitterness thats so characteristic of them and when I do it's loaded with honey. This is why I was so surprised that I was drawn to Pineapple Dreams. Most of a teas taste comes from it's scent, and this tea has the sweet scent of Pineapple balanced with sharp berries. Unlike most tropical tea this was not a super mixed fruity scent but a sweet simple scent of the fruit itself. When trying it, the bitterness was still there, but the difference was the sweet finish which was nice. Usually a tisane will sweep a throat with a dry feeling, this didn't at all. The layers of flavor are what sold me over this tea. Not an everyday tea but a good one to have in the collection.

I encourage anyone to check out the Bird's Pick website when they can. There's a little something for everyone.

www.birdpick.com

-Stef

0

Outs & Abouts: Phoenix Bakery

I'm an advocate for cheap Asian cuisine. Here in SoCal there's just no way around it. There's absolutely no point in spending on an expensive meal when there are so many small cozy businesses to choose from. More importantly, it's much fresher than you will get and the expensive competitor and there's much less guess work as to what they put into the food. I worked on a few restaurant brands in my time as a designer and let me tell you that the food industry can be revolting! Most things are microwaved and deep fried at chain stores expensive and cheap alike. So I'm super picky as to where we eat. Thankfully there are plenty of options in the Greater Los Angeles area. It makes me feel great that I support small, local, and family owned businesses. Phoenix is a great example of this.

The Phoenix Bakery that I go to is located in South Pasadena, but I know they have a few chains further towards Arcadia/Alhambra area. They are a Chinese deli with Hong Kong/ Taiwanese cuisine which is much different from the common Mandarin Cuisine that has been franchised and popularized with places like Panda. Anyone thats never tried Taiwanese or Hong Kong food I beg you put it on your bucket list to do so! The difference is that their foods rely more on spices complimenting the main vegetable or meat and less reliant on sauces and oil. The desserts are heavenly too, but that's a whole other blog post. I'm going to talk about my love for egg noodle soup.

Top to bottom:
Yangchow Fried Rice & Egg Noodle Soup w/ BBQ Pork & Veggies

Egg noodle soup is sort of a pho/ramen hybrid thats savory. The noodles are thin made with egg and rice flower which lends a rich flavor in itself. The broth is a simple clear broth that has a few spices. What really makes this dish amazing are the toppings! I like to keep mine simple and go for the Barbeque Pork and some fresh steamed bokchoy. The meal is light with the broth but hardy with the firm texture of the vegetables, noodles, and meat. It's heavenly!

Love went for the Yang Chow Fried Rice. The rice is lightly seasoned with spices and vegetables, but it's famous for it's steamed shrimp and Chinese sausage. Chinese sausage can best be described as a small more intense version of chorizo except sweet and loaded with exotic spices. Give it a try if you have the chance, but make sure it's not used by itself because it's flavor is overpowering alone.

Mmm nothing like Dim sum Desserts

We were going to get dessert, but I really wanted to grab some tea so I'll leave that for another post as I mentioned. Phoenix may look like a little whole in a wall, but their dishes are top notch! Other dishes I recommend are their Congee (a rice porridge), Honey Walnut Shrimp, and Deep Fried Rock Salt Sole Fish. For vegetarian options they make an amazing pickled tofu that I enjoy with the Sauteed Mushroom and Greens.
-Stef

0

Out & Abouts: Mako Bowl

Friday Night I wanted to go out, but I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg doing it. There is just something about trying to make a fun Friday night and it happening naturally. I also wanted to celebrate this rare time where the weather was actually cold for a weekend in SoCal (Yes, even in October) and enjoy something warming. As we browsed the shops in Pasadena we decided on a good old friend: Mako Bowl.

Mako Bowl was a place that I regulared while I was attending Community College for a short time. There was one right across from the front of the campus. To summarize Mako Bowl, its basically a Japanese comfort food place, much like Yoshinoya except healthier and with much better options. Something that always made it a choice to go to was the affordable sushi, Eugene's favorite and choice without fail is the Salmon Bowl where they give you salmon sashimi laid on a fresh pile of sushi rice. You can also get it with slices of avocado if you want even more of an indulgence.

Veggie Tempura, Chicken Udon, & Salmon Bowl

I for one was always a soup person so I'm a sucker for the Chicken Udon. Fresh skinless/boneless chicken boiled in Udon broth and loaded with noodles and green onions. It's the cheapest entree on the menu but so filling! to mix things up I usually order a side of something, usually its either California Rolls or Tempura, which I went for the Veggie Tempura this time.

By the time I was finished, you had to roll me out of the shop! It was cold enough of a night that we took a light stroll around to let the food settle; later to find our way into Old Town. If your in Pasadena and like Japanese food, give Mako Bowl a try. Trust me, it's a place your taste buds and wallet can agree on.
-Stef

0

Cocary Hot Pots: Outs & Abouts

 The beauty of living in the LA area are all of the interesting specialty shops that are around. I know that if I ever leave the state I'll miss the variety that I get here. There's always something to do if you're feeling up to it. That's why I thought it would be nice to create Outs & Abouts; a section of posts dedicated to the fun things that are around here that I enjoy. This week I'm going to write about my favorite Hot Pot place, Cocary.

Some of my family still lives in Monterey Park; famous for it's Chinese culture. When my mom first came to the United States she stayed with her older sister and family for a few years in this city. So the food and ways of Monterey Park have become a tradition and a piece of everyday life for us. Whenever family flies over, we ALWAYS eat in Monterey Park. Cocary happens to be a place only popular with my immediate family, so I make the trip myself whenever I can.

Cocary is not your stereo-typical Chinese food. It's what you might consider a variation Korean BBQ houses. The tables are equipped with a pot that has a huge bowl in the center which they fill with soup broth and the outside of the bowl has dished out areas to grill meat. (If you've ever watched the anime Ruroni Kenshin, Akabeko is a Hot Pot Restaurant.) There are refrigerators in the back where you pick out the things that you want to cook, this is for both the soup and the grill. We chose beef to grill with eggs, fish-balls, and veggies to boil in our soup. 

Another thing that I love about Cocary, especially on cold days are the unlimited porridge and steamed rice. I love topping my porridge with the grilled meats and veggies. This day I tried the Oyster Mushrooms stir fried in the satay sauce; it was so yummy! I made sure to make room for my vegetable soup. The spiced broth they use is so heavenly; alot of the locals toss noodles in their soups but I like mine veggied up to the max!

 The best part of this place is the price; we only paid about 20 bucks for the two of us and we were stuffed to the brim. This is definitely a fun place for big groups and raises plenty of good conversation. I also recommend that you come try the lunch bar, where they have a train of the dishes come by for you to cook on a mini personal hot pot in front of you.

 

Until next time,
-Stef

0