Random Trips and Good Food

Blue Water Seafood Market and Grill, as seen on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. This place is no joke. You can believe the hype. I drove down to San Diego with a friend.. just for the day. This was our first stop. I had orange juice for breakfast, and nothing else. I definitely had big eyes after an almost 2-hour drive, and I definitely ordered A LOT. There was 5 of us. We all ordered separate things, and some of us shared. Let me share with you... the party that ensued... in my mouth.

Ceviche. I've never had it with shrimp before. But this is delicious. Nothing bad about it. I enjoyed a couple bites, but not too many... cause I was waiting for the rest of my food...

Oyster Shooters. I ordered a dozen for our table. These are raw... and I chose the not-spicy ones. I have only recently welcomed oysters into my life, and these are fresh and really good. No grittiness or fishiness. They still look like boogers to me, but it's good. Add your lemon, pour some sauce on, and slip it into your mouth. REALLY GOOD. I had about 4-5. I lost count.

Mahi-Mahi tacos. Wow. These were amazing. Everything about it is right. There was a small block of Mahi-Mahi in the taco, and you just gotta squish it a little to make it small enough to put in your mouth. And you will eat it... down... to... the.. last little morsel. Yes, I cleared that plate.

Swordfish sandwich with the lemon garlic butter marinade. WOW is basically the word that popped into my head as I took that first bite. My eyes lit up, my heart fluttered, and my mouth was entering bliss. The consistency of the fish was very moist. I think the pairing of the bread and the fish was incredible. The swordfish would probably be amazing in the taco as well. I enjoyed every single bite of this sandwich. I could not stop eating it. And yes, I cleared that plate as well!

Halibut with lemon garlic butter marinade. I ate these in the order I show it. I cleared every single plate before I moved to the next. this was my last plate... and it's not the least. The halibut was amazing. Not as moist as the swordfish, but... so... so... FRESH. The rice underneath was just as incredible. And that Blue Cheese dressing is... THE TRUTH. If you have a friend that completely rejects Blue Cheese, have them taste this one. They will be very surprised. I was dipping my halibut in there too.

Gosh, I can't really say anything bad about this place. Everything hit the spot. I definitely packed my stomach with food, and I had no desire to stop because it was all too good. The great thing is that I didn't feel horribly full. I was OK. I was satisfied and very happy. I will definitely come back here again. The line was never short... always leading to the entrance. But there's a good reason why it is that way, Blue Water Grill is GOOD.

Easy Ways to Get Me Out

1. Food: If you know me right, you know that I will travel long distances for food. It's a great way to tempt/lure/win my heart. That's right... Take yo' notes.

With that said, my friend used Hash House A Go Go as a weapon to lure me into a impromptu Vegas trip this weekend. And I can't lie, that was a major tugger at my heart. They won. I drank. I danced. I played. It was fun. But I have to say that Hash House A Go Go was, perhaps, the highlight of the trip.. haha

I present you with FATASS-CITY:

This is the Sage Fried Chicken Benedict. The portions are totally fatass-plates. I already knew that I couldn't finish even half of it. This was pretty amazing. The chicken was crispy and tasty. The sauce on the top was such a great touch. And that biscuit is so fluffy and yummy! I don't even know how else to explain it. But it was such an explosion on a plate. The aftermath was not pretty.

I didn't eat this for myself. I shared with my friend. And I actually only had like... 4 bites. This is the Burger stuffed with Mashed Potatoes and Bacon. There is no way you can hold the sandwich and bite into it. It's one of those burgers that you have to knife and fork. My friend cut me a small piece, and I couldn't even fit that in my mouth.

Out of everything I tried, I have to say that this might be the favorite. Bacon Waffles. Simple: sweet and savory. There's nothing else to say here. But it's like heaven in your mouth... especially if you are a fan of bacon. I am definitely a fan of bacon.

They have two in Vegas. One in Imperial Palace, and one way off the strip. That's the one that Adam from Man V. Food filmed. There's another one in San Diego... and I'm thinking that I'll be taking a trip down to SD soon... Oh yes, SOON.

Big Eyes. Not-so-big Stomach.

I like to say that I am a fatass... but in actuality, I believe my eyes are bigger than my stomach. WAY BIGGER. However, in some rare cases, I can eat like a dinosaur. I have some witnesses who can vouch for that. (OK, OK... I might be exaggerating. I am no Koboyashi).

Well anyway, I had driven almost an hour in rush-hour traffic in LA. Through the horror that LA-folks know as 101 and 110. I had just gotten off work. It was not rainy, but sprinkle-y... and apparently no one knows how to drive in that weather. And my stomach was about to start a brawl.

Gina had told me about this place: Flor Blanca, and since then pupusas were on the brain. It was the time to try it.

Prices are not bad at all. I bought 4 pupusas, 2 horchatas, and 2 plantains for about $17. That fed 2 people. It might as well have fed 4 people.

That horchata was DEEEEEEEEEELICIOUSSSSSSS. Now I don't know too much about the drink, but all I know is that this one was mighty tasty. The cup looked small, but it was just the right amount for me... (I realized that after the meal).

The pupusas are actually a good size. For only $2, that is not bad at all. I should have stuck to ONE pupusa. My eyes said two. My stomach didn't fight it. But I swear I felt the sides of my stomach slowly stretching.

I have had pupusas at several places in LA already. I actually haven't had a bad pupusa yet. Flor Blanca delivers, alright. The pupusa is so incredibly cheesy; how could you go wrong? I ordered the chicharron and the squash and cheese pupusas. I couldn't even tell the difference with the amount of cheese in those things. It didn't matter, it tasted amazing as soon as it hit my hungry, hungry mouth.

I could hardly finish my pupusas. I left maybe 1/5 on my plate. I moved on to this heavenly thing: plantain. I've never had plantains like this before. It was basically plantains surrounding some custard-y middle. It looked like a big burnt yellow potato. As soon as you cut into it, this is what you see. I didn't eat all of the middle since it was a bit too much for me. I do love plantains though. But it put me over the edge. I felt like I ate the world for dinner....

Flor Blanca is good. I don't know if I can call it the best I ever had though. I don't know if one pupuseria has caught my tongue yet. I haven't tasted THE ONE yet. But this definitely isn't a miss!

Indulging on Fat Tuesday

Some of you know that I partake in Lent. This year I will be giving up cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and the like. Lately, I have been going a little crazy eating them in large amounts. I've done this before, so I should be alright.


Yesterday was Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras. I celebrated with some friends at a local bar, The Coffee Table Lounge. The food is decent. They serve beers and wines for the most part. However, I also saw some Soju cocktails. I went with wine for the night. I ordered the Bleu Cheese Burger, with fries. I wasn't too impressed with this burger. They put a little too much Bleu cheese for my taste. But I almost finished the whole thing. I can't let food go to waste like that... The fries are good there. I had a bite of the chili cheese fries and the Parmesan fries as well. I gotta say, those Parmesan fries were really good. I could eat a whole basket to myself.

I went next door to their other cafe area, and got myself a vanilla cupcake, a red velvet cupcake, and a double chocolate cookie. They look DELICIOUS here, but they are actually so-so/meh. CUPCAKES: the cake part is good. The frosting is too sweet. I ended up scraping most of it off and eating all of the cake part. COOKIE: too crumbly and nothing special about it. I would have finished all of it if it didn't crumble in my hands.

All in all, I'd say go for the food rather than the sweets at Coffee Table. Probably the beer, too. They have a pretty huge beer selection.. just looking at that menu.

But farewell to my loves: cupcakes, cookies, brownies, macaroons, and the like. We'll meet again soon.

LA Street Food Festival FAIL

I expected to eat my heart out at the festival. That surely did not happen at the LA Street Food Festival. And luck was certainly not on my side that day. I thought I'd be green and take the Metro there. Thought I'd be smart to avoid traffic and parking and take the Metro. I thought that planning my strategy (wait in line, get food, bring food to next line, wait in line, get food, bring food to next line, and so on and so forth) at the festival would get me to accomplish the goal of eating from 10 food trucks. NO, NO, and NO!

I didn't even see the end of the entrance line that wrapped around the gates, into the parking lot, and back out the gates leading all the way to San Francisco. Oi, needless to say, we decided to leave and feed our hunger pains elsewhere. The destination was Little Tokyo and Wurstkuche.

Turns out Wurstkuche had the wUrst line. Har Har Har... So plans shifted from Wurstkuche to Curry House. We waited what seemed forever, and the sound of my name for our party was like the sound of heaven.


Had the Keema Curry. Not as spicy as the Chicken & Ginger dish. Still good, but I do enjoy the spiciness a lot more. But at that moment, anything that entered my mouth and stomach would be welcomed with the most open arms ever. Hunger and walking in the blasted sun is not a good combination.


We found this truck nearby: Dainty Cakes. Is this the only truck not at the LA Street Food Festival? Well, it wasn't that great. They only had freshly baked Red Velvet cupcakes by the time it was my turn in line. I wasn't even hungry. But we all know I have a weakness for sweets. I really wanted the Salty Chocolate brownie... but alas, none left. The Red Velvet was so-so. The cakey-part was good. But the frosting isn't the best I've ever had.


Red Bean Cakes at Mitsuru Cafe! I do enjoy these, but these aren't the best I've ever had either. Nothing will compare to those in Asakusa, Tokyo... of course.


Mochi ice cream at Mikawaya! I had the Kona Coffee and the Chocolate Mochi. I enjoy those chocolate bits in the Chocolate one. The Kona was good too. But I didn't know they had Mochilato's now! I forgot to buy one, so I'll be back for those soon.

Despite the total LA Street Food Festival fail, I consoled my sad, hungry stomach with Little Tokyo eats.

Note to self and yourself, perhaps: Just try the food trucks at LArtwalk. You'll have a better chance, and you don't have to pay an entrance fee. Follow them on twitter, and go leisurely.

DTLA Artwalk has also become a FOODwalk.

I've been to Downtown LA's artwalk about 3 or 4 times. The first time, I really did look at art. The next few times, all these food trucks started popping up, and I started getting hungry while walking all over for art. This time, I did a good mix of both. Here are my discoveries this time!

Big MAN Bakes. I was eye-ing this place the day before when I had a meeting across the street at Blossom Restaurant. It was closed, so I couldn't go explore it at the time. LArtwalk was my chance. And sure enough, I found myself waiting in line trying to figure out which ONE I wanted to try. I'd like to try all of them TBH. I tried "The Old School". $3.25 a cupcake. Pricey, sure. But I'll try anything once. The man knows how to bake cupcakes. Moist, very cakey, and that frosting is not overbearing. Thank you, William.

Nickel Diner. Eversince I had that bacon doughnut at VooDoo in Portland, I had to remember to compare it with LA's. I definitely find VooDoo's to be better. This one is not as Maple-ey. The bacon is sprinkled on the whole thing, so you actually taste the bacon in each bite. Verdict: VooDoo wins. Still, not bad Nickel. Another note... Nickel has a VELVET DOUGHNUT. Trust, you'll find me at the next LArtwalk with that in my mouth.

Grilled Cheese Truck. You know, when I first heard of this truck I didn't think too much of it. "Oh I can make those at home..." But then I actually read the menu, and I felt the saliva drip down my chin. We caught this at LArtwalk... our first stop. Pictured above is a Cheesy Mac & Rib w/ BBQ pork and carmelized onions grilled cheese sandwich + Gruyere & Bacon grilled cheese sandwich. Both of these have FATASS written all over it. Did I enjoy it? HELL YES. I'll have to try their dessert grilled cheese sandwiches.

LArtwalk has evolved quite a lot since I've been. I haven't even been going that consistently or for that long. But the mobile food movement truly brings me in a lot more. Where there is food, there I am...

Portland has Good Food.

These are only some highlights...



Pearl Bakery - Ginger Cookie, Chocolate Chunk Cookie, Parisian Chocolate Macaroon


That Parisian Chocolate Macaroon was heaven in my mouth.

VooDoo Doughnut Burger and amazing Fries @ The Original.

Cannoli @ Mama Mia Trattoria

Apparently, I love desserts. That's no surprise.