Dinner at Phong Dinh - CLOSED

I've been hearing about Phong Ding off and on for years now, primarily for the "famous baked catfish", but also due to their extensive menu featuring more unusual meats. When I posted a dinner outing to check Phong Ding out, I jokingly mentioned that while I don't necessarily want to eat the entire zoo, I'm open to trying some new things.

Upon being seated and given the menu, we were overwhelmed with all the choices. There were various dishes that featured everything from boar to kangaroo, from ostrich to quail, from snake to frog legs and so much more. It was amazing that we were even able to settle on the 10 dishes we finally ended up ordering.

Of course, I had already called and pre-ordered the baked catfish and wow, what a feast that was. We could have easily just had the catfish for dinner without anything else. First, came out all the fixin's which included all sorts of veggies as well as vermicelli noodles and the wrapper. Soon after, the catfish arrived in all its glory and in what seemed like moments, was stripped clean.

The fish was delicate, moist and tender and I really enjoyed the group's interactive eating. There's just something about eating with your fingers and hands that seems so liberating.

We were all getting kind of full with the catfish, but there were still 9 dishes to go. Of the other 9 dishes, two really stood out for me.

First, there was the charbroiled goat spare ribs glazed with spicy bean curd marinade. I've never had goat spare ribs before and my thought that the ribs probably wouldn't have much meat to it, but surprisingly, the ribs weren't as lean as I thought they would be.

The marinade for this dish was amazing. There was a little bit of heat, but it was a sweet heat. It also had a subtle smoky flavor to it that made it even more appealing. Other than the catfish, this was one of my favorite dishes.

Second, there were the quail eggs wrapped in shrimp paste and battered with crispy sweet rice flakes and served with ginger plum sauce. Once you get over the surprise of seeing green eggs appear before you, this is a really tasty dish.

Quail eggs to me, generally have a gamier taste to them than regular chicken eggs, but the combo of the strongly flavored shrimp paste and sweet rice really cut a lot of that gamey flavor out and just left an egg with really interesting flavor profile.

Another dish that I liked included the kangaroo sauteed with black and pepper and prepared flambe style with wine. This was my first time having kangaroo and it reminded me of goat or lamb just because it had a strong taste to it. I would have preferred less wine but overall, I thought the meat was tender and cooked well.

Overall, we didn't stray too much into the real exotic meats, except maybe for the Kangaroo, but still this was an enjoyable meal and I know that if I ever want to host more of a "Fear Factor" kind of dinner, Phong Ding is the place to go.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594429181266/

Phong Dinh
2643 N. San Gabriel Boulevard
Rosemead, CA 91770
626-307-8868

Mon Land Hot Pot City

Having enjoyed Shabu-Shabu in the past, I was really looking forward to checking out the Chinese hot pot version and for my first experience, I visited Mon Land Hot Pot City in San Gabriel with "Bon Vivant" and other members of our dining group.

Upon being seated, we were asked for our soup preference: mild, hot or both. We opted for both and what came out was this silver yin and yan bowl with one half having what they referred to as the "red" soup and the other half having the milder soup.

Both soups had an abundance of herbs, roots, peppers, gingers and green onions that were used for the broth flavoring. Both soups were great for different reasons. The "red" soup had the spicy factor and a lot of flavor. It could have been a bit hotter, but compared to the use of just plain water for shabu shabu, it was a much welcomed change. The milder soup was richer, had a surprising curry flavor to it and also had some unexpected heat.

The food we dipped in our soup ranged from lamb and pork to tofu, shrimp balls, daikon radishes and these really cool noodle bundles. The noodles were wrapped up in a nice little package. I was expecting them to fall apart after cooking but they stayed amazingly intact and I really enjoyed how the soup got caught in all its nooks and crannies.

We had 5 different sides with our soup, but what stood out for me was the lamb pancake and the lamb dumplings. The lamb pancake was golden brown and crispy and the meat inside was moist and I liked how the green onions added additional flavor. The lamb dumplings were amazing. You take one bite and get this delicious rush of broth into your mouth. Now those were juicy dumplings.

Overall, my first Chinese hot pot was a smashing success. We came out of Mon Land, feeling all warm inside from the delicious meal. I would definitely make a return trip and am looking forward to checking out Little Sheep next year to see how it compares.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594429439793/

Mon Land Hot Pot City
251 W. Bencamp Street
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 289-4889

Ebisu Japanese Tavern

Last November, after having gone on the LA Conservancy Little Tokyo Walking Tour, a few of us decided to check out Ebisu Japanese Tavern for lunch. It's an interesting space with what looks like a boat in the middle of the restaurant where people can sit around.

As for the food, I have to say that I wasn't very inspired by the lunch menu in front of me. For some reason, nothing looked that interesting. Of course, I was also fighting a bad cold at the time so that could have contributed to my lack of interest in food, but I went ahead and ordered anyway.

I ended up getting a combo plate which included a salad to start followed by deep fried creamed corn croquettes and shrimp "egg rolls." The shrimp egg rolls were wrapped in a wrapper that was different than what I'm used to and of course, I'm completely blanking on that what was.

I liked the salad. The dressing had a creamy citrusy flavor that I enjoyed tremendously. As for the croquettes and the shrimp egg rolls, there was really nothing special about them and are something I'd never order again, if I ever returned to Ebisu.

Those seated closest to me ordered sukiyaki, Japanese peppers with some kind of fish flakes and soba noodles. The peppers got raves, but the sukiyaki and the soba noodles apparently were nothing to write home about.

Overall, with all the other choices in Little Tokyo, I don't plan on returning to Ebisu anytime soon. There was just nothing there that appealed to me that much.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594427386972/

Ebisu Japanese Tavern
356 E. Second Street
Los Angeles, CA
213-613-1644
http://www.ebisu-la.com/

Dinner at Penang Malaysian Cuisine

With the imminent closing of Kuala Lumpur, I started looking for other Malaysian restaurant options and came upon Penang, which is in the Hong Kong Plaza in West Covina. Since it was only my Mom and I for dinner, we only ordered 6 dishes to share: an appetizer, 4 main dishes and a dessert.

It was a very interesting meal such that I either really liked a particular dish a lot or I didn't.

Likes: 1) Iced Barley Tea - I liked this drink a lot. It was very refreshing and I liked having the barley to chew on. Usually the only time I find barley in soup, so this drink was really interesting.

2) BBQ Roasted Pork Lo Mee Soup (Special egg noodles with BBQ roasted pork and vegetables in a chicken broth)

**This was a great soup. The noodles were firm. The pork meat was delicious and the chicken broth was just perfect. Definitely a great soup for winter weather.

3) Lady Finger Belacan (Sauteed okra with spicy Malaysian shrimp paste sauce)

**Normally, I'm not much of an okra fan because I find the insides too gooey, but that gooey factor was missing in this dish. The okra was fried well, firm and still had a"bite" to it and I loved the pungency of the shrimp paste that the okra was cooked in.

4) Mango Pudding and Ice Cream - I enjoyed both the pudding and the ice cream and especially since both had significant chunks of mango.

Dislikes:

1) Roti Canai (Malaysian crispy Indian-style pancake served with curry chicken as a dipping sauce) - While the menu description says crispy, this roti was actually bready and chewy and all in all, not that great.

2) Mango Chicken - Sauce was just too overwhelmingly sweet for my taste.

3) Volcano Spareribs (Spareribs that were cooked with some kind of sweet honey bbq glaze??)

** The meat was tender, but the sauce was just too sweet, similar to the Mango Chicken, so a couple was morethan enough for me to consume. It was just an instance where the dish looked much tastier than it was.

I'd say that I had an almost 50% success rate when it came to choosing the right things. :) If those 4 items I had ended up liking a lot were just okay, I probably wouldn't make a return trip, but I enjoyed them so much that I'm interested in sampling other Penang dishes. With the menu being quite extensive, the odds are hopefully in my favor that I'd choose wiser the second time around and would just make sure to steer clear from "sweeter" dishes.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594427362966/

Penang Malaysian Cuisine (in Hong Kong Plaza)
987 S Glendora Ave
West Covina, CA 91790
(626) 338-6138

Jagerhaus German Restaurant

In early November, I was looking for suggestions of where to eat close to the Arrowhead Pond and luckily, "SouthOCHound" from chowhound.com offered up Jagerhaus. I actually haven't been to a German restaurant before so I was definitely looking forward to checking this place out. I have to say that Jagerhaus is a great find.

The interior of Jagerhaus had a very homey feel to it. Flowered wallpaper and wood panelling surrounded us as we were seated, by a very warm and friendly hostess. Soon after being seated, we were served really wonderful bread. Warm and soft and with pumpernickel being my favorite, I had to remember to share with my dinner partner.

For dinner, I started with the goulash soup and than with my cabbage roll entree, I order sauerkraut and potato pancakes as my sides. The goulash soup was thick and hearty and tasty chunks of vegetables and meat. I really liked it a lot, except for the fact that it had a funny tangy after taste. :(

The cabbage roll was amazing. They didn't scrimp at all when it came to the meat. I honestly think it was actually a mini meatloaf that they just happened to wrap a couple cabbage leaves around, cooked and then served. The meat was moist and I liked the small chunks of onions that was mixed with the meat because it added some great flavor to this dish.

As for the sides, the sauerkraut was actually too sour for my palate. One or two bites and that was enough for me. I really enjoyed my potato pancakes, at least the outer edges. My one complaint is that they didn't fry it all the way though. The middle was not browned and a little mushy. If I didn't have that mushy middle, the potato pancakes would have been perfect.

For dessert, I shared the German Chocolate Cake and wow, what an awesome cake. Sometimes German Chocolate Cakes can err on the coconut being too dry, but this cake was so moist as was the coconut. The frosting was also creamy and full of chocolate goodness.

Other than a few glitches, I really enjoyed my meal at Jagerhaus and would make a return trip if I'm ever back in Anaheim again.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594398377776/

Jagerhaus
2525 East Ball Road
Anaheim, CA 92806
(714) 520-9500
http://www.jagerhaus.net/

Dinner at Babita

Earlier in the year, I finally got to check out Babita's for the first time. To tell you the truth, Mexican Cusine has always been my last choice whenever it was time to dine out. My experience at that time consisted of Acapulco, El Torito, fast food Mexican (Taco Bell, Del Taco) and other Mexican restaurants that weren't that memorable. Opening up a menu and seeing rows of burritos, tacos, enchilada options always ended up with me heaving a big sigh.

Not that I don't enjoy those dishes, but they all just seemed the "same" to me. After perusing Chowhound, I kept on hearing raves about Babita in San Gabriel and finally decided to make the trek there and wow, what a revelation. For the first time, I experienced the tender juicy meat of conchinita pibil (sp?) and had a delicious bite or two of the mole enchiladas and the roast pork loin that were ordered by others in my party. My sweet tooth was also ecstatic over the creamy guava mousse that I had for dessert. Overall, it was a awesome experience and really jumpstarted my desire to really explore more Mexican as well as Latin American and South American Cuisine.

Now towards the end of the year, I wanted to make my way back to Babita's to see if the food was just as good now as the first time and let me tell you, it was! My starter was a duo of soups: half pumpkin and roasted guava. Those of us who ordered that soup were told not to mix them together, but to eat them separately so that the integrity of the flavors can be kept. The pumpkin soup had just the right amount of sweet which balanced really well with the roasted guava soup that had an actual bite to it.

I shared two dishes with someone else in my party: the chiles en nogada and the enchiladas with a dark mole sauce. The Chiles En Nogada was delicious and with the Poblano Pepper being baked, the texture of the pepper was soft. The meat filling was tasty and moist while the sauce, though a little too sweet for me, partnered well with the pomengranate seeds, which added some tartness to the dish overall.

The enchiladas in the mole sauce was also superb. The dark mole sauce had wonderful complex flavorings from a little nutty to a little sweet to having just a little heat (not spicy, just flavorful) and although I thought there was a little too much sour cream, my, my, it did add a pretty lacy look to my dish. As for dessert, I just had a small sampling of the chocolate tamale and I gotta to say that was the best chocolate tamale I ever had. Rich, dark and sinful!

Overall, my second meal at Babita was fantastic and next time I won't wait so long to make a return visit.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594398436526/

Babita
823 S. San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-7265

Saigon Cuisine in Santa Ana

One Saturday I was in Orange County visiting a friend and we decided to check out a Vietnamese restaurant that was close to the movie theater we were going to see a movie at later on that evening. The restaurant's name is Saigon Cuisine. The menu looked interesting, but I was really in the mood for soup so I ordered the Crispy Chicken Noodle Soup, but once I saw that Avocado Milkshakes were on the menu, I had to have that, too.

I have to say that I really enjoyed that milkshake. It was thick and creamy and even had little chunks of avocado that hadn't been completely blended through. It was so good that I wish I had one in front of me right now. :)

I also liked my soup. It could have been a little richer, but it still had a good flavor. The crispy chicken, by the way, came out separately and it was fried to deep golden brown perfection. If I hadn't had the soup, I would have been just as happy to eat that chicken all by itself, even if my arteries would have been complaining the whole time.

My friend ordered the dry Vermicelli with eggroll, shrimp and pork and gave it a thumb's up. Overall, I'd make my way back to Saigon Cuisine again and this time with a bigger appetite so that I can sample more dishes.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594335178523/

Saigon Cuisine
3930 South Bristol Street Suite 109
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-557-8824
http://www.saigoncuisinecali.com/

Lunch at Teri & Yaki

I've been going to Teri & Yaki in the city of Monrovia off and on for a couple of years now, but after having lunch there this past Saturday, I finally decided to give it a review and share some photos of the food.

Teri & Yaki originally positioned itself as a chicken only teriyaki house. Now they also serve beef teriyaki, but for me, it's all about the chicken whenever I eat there. Normally, I'm not much of a teriyaki person. Whenever I've ordered any kind of teriyaki dish, I've always found the sauce to be overly sweet, so I pretty much gave up on teriyaki sauce as a whole.

However, when I first tried the chicken teriyaki at Teri & Yaki awhile back, I finally found the teriyaki sauce of my dreams. The sauce still had some sweetness to it, but not overly so and there was also that hint of soy sauce saltiness that balanced it all out for me. To this day, the only time I'll eat teriyaki anything is at Teri-Yaki. It also didn't hurt that the chicken even the white meat is moist.

What I also really like are the various side dishes you can order with your chicken teriyaki. I can never decide so I usually end up getting 3 sides of either the spicy slaw, spicy cucumber, cold bean sprouts or the seasoned spinach and end up taking home leftovers. The vegetables always seem really fresh to me regardless of what time of day that I have my meal there.

Although I don't find the spicy slaw or spicy cucumber that spicy, I still like that tang and hint of hotness of whatever chili sauce they use for those two sides and the bean sprouts usually have a nice crunchy nutty taste to them which I always enjoy. With all these particular sides being cold, I can appreciate the flavors differently from the teriyaki chicken.

Overall, Teri-Yaki may not necessarily be a destination place, but I enjoy it time after time, because the food is consistently good, fresh and then of course, there's my favorite teriyaki sauce.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594322306140/

Teri & Yaki
106 S. Myrtle Avenue
Monrovia, CA 91016
(626) 256-6705
http://www.teriandyaki.com/

"Soup's On!" - Clam Chowder at Original Fish Company

New England Style Clam Chowder is definitely one of my favorite wintertime soups and after having experienced the fabulous clam chowder at Splash Cafe in SLO earlier in the year, I was definitely on the lookout for a Socal version.

Before I go on, let me preface that I've never been to New England, which means I've never tried authentic New England Clam Chowder, so I can't attest to how "authentic" is the clam chowder at OFC. All I can tell you about is how my taste buds reacted.

I can say for sure that my tastebuds were completely happy. Although not as good as the one I had at Splash Cafe, this version came pretty close. This version of the New England Clam Chowder was thick, creamy, buttery with a good amount of clams and was the kind of soup that will warm you up and stick to your ribs. Delicious!

I almost wish that I just had a large bowl as my entire meal instead of just a cup. The filet mignon and shrimp skewer that I ordered for my entree was less than stellar.

By the way, since Manhattan Clam Chowder was also on the menu, I ordered a cup of that as well to check it out. I think the overall flavor was good and had a nice little kick to it, but it seemed oversalted to me so I only had 2 or 3 spoonfuls and that was enough for me.

Overall, my soup experience was very positive and with the Original Fish Company only 35 minutes away, I'd be willing to make the return trek just to savor their New England Style Clam Chowder again. :)

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594395298484/

The Original Fish Company
11061 Los Alamitos Blvd.
Los Alamitos, CA 90720
(562) 594-4553
http://www.originalfishcompany.com/

Maru & Mayflower Seafood Restaurant

Maru (Koreatown)

Just a couple quickie reviews. I checked out Maru Korean Cuisine for the second last August and wasn't wowed by the food. It wasn't bad, but just not spectacular plus language was a bit of a barrier to the point that the two ladies there pulled in another business owner to help with taking our orders. Also, there were some items we wanted to order but they had run of them already, so that was another pain.

Maru
356 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90020

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594300836051/

Mayflower Seafood Restaurant (Chinatown)

I also checked out for Mayflower Seafood Restaurant in Chinatown for the first time a couple of weeks ago. There were only two of us so we weren't able to do a large sampling of their extensive menu, but what we did ordered we really liked a lot.

The waitress recommended the Mayflower Lobster Special and along with that we ordered the spinach with crab meat and the steam whole fish. That lobster was to die for. Lots of garlic plus the lobster meat was moist. We were very happy.

The steamed fish was also a hit. The white meat was delicate and also moist and the sauce which may have been soy sauce and ginger perhaps was excellent.

The spinach was nothing spectacular and of course, this was ordered the night that the reports came out about the E-Coli outbreak and I didn't know anything about any of this until I saw the news later on that night.

Anyway, the two seafood items we ordered really were delicious and I look forward to going back and trying out more items from their menu.

Mayflower Seafood Restaurant

679 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-0116

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594301509180/

Dinner at Maison Akira

It's amazing to me how sometimes the restaurants closest to you are the ones you take the longest to try. In the past few months, I've driven into Gardena, Hollywood, Downtown, Silver Lake, etc., etc. to check out new restaurants but having lived just 15 minutes away from Pasadena for the past 20+ years, it was only a few weeks ago that I finally had dinner at Maison Akira, a Japanese-French fusion restaurant.

What the heck was I waiting for all this time? So far I've been to over 100 new (new for me) restaurants just this year and I can tell you right now that Maison Akira is definitely one of my favorites.

The restaurant itself was quite a study in contrast. The front dining room was more simple in its look and design while the back dining rooms had rich colors and beautifully patterened drapes separating a couple of the rooms from each other.

Upon looking at the menu, the majority of my dining group opted for the pre-fixed menu, a five course meal for $50. What a great price and believe me, you got your money's worth.

While I enjoyed every single bite from the amuse bouche all the way to dessert, the two highlights of my meal were actually Chef Akira Hirose's signature dishes.

First there was the Grilled Miso Marinated Chilean Sea Bass in a Honey Lemon Jus on Roasted Provencal Vegetables. Wow! Can I say that again? Wow! That Chilean sea bass was the best I've ever had. The fish was delicate, moist and practically melted in my mouth. I can tell you right now that every Chilean Sea Bass I have in the future will definitely be compared to the one I had that night.

Then there was my dessert, which was called the Timbal Elysee "Laserre". The presentation was so beautiful that I almost didn't want to eat it. Almost. This dessert had pure vanilla bean ice cream in a cookie tuile with fresh berries, a caramel dome and was served with a raspberry and vanilla sauce.

According to our waitress, the best way to eat this dessert is to take your spoon and press down so that it breaks and that way, you'll be able to eat some of the components at the same time.

This signature dessert had lots of textures. Between the "crunch" aspect of the cookie, the creaminess of the ice cream, the juicy berries and everything else, this is definitely one of the best desserts that I've ever had.

Overall, I had a really lovely experience at Maison Akira. The service was excellent. Our waitress was knowledgeable and of course, the food was delectable. I definitely am looking forward to a return visit sometime soon.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594395249133/detail/

Maison Akira
713 East Green Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 796-9501
http://www.maisonakira.com/

Patina & Blair's

Patina (located at Walt Disney Concert Hall)

After hearing mixed reviews about Patina, I wasn't sure what to expect, but thankfully, from start to finish, it was a great experience, at least food-wise. Service was a bit spotty sometimes, but it could have been worse.

In regards to food, I have to say that the appetizers were superb. The majority of the group ordered the Quartet of the Sea, which consists of 4 different seafood appetizers served all on one plate. It's a dish that changes depending on the seasonality of the seafood ingredients.

However, I ordered the Maryland lump crab cannelloni and melon appetizer and it was a big hit for me. The sweetness of the crab and the refreshing melon merged together in perfect harmony.

Everyone also enjoyed their entrees and desserts. Unfortuantely, my pictures of the entrees came out too blurry, so you won't see them in the photoset below. While everyone went for the lamb or the seafood dishes, I opted for the Crispy Jidori Chicken Breast with Lavendar. While I can't say that I tasted much Lavendar, the chicken skin was crispy and delicious and the breast skin was moist and tender, which is always a welcome thing.

For dessert, I went for the sorbet ice cream which included tahitian vanilla, a rich dark chocolate, chamomille lemon and unfortunately, I don't remember the 4th flavor. I really enjoyed the chamomille lemon and would have been happy with just that being the only sorbet in my dish. Unfortuantely, I didn't keep any notes on the desserts, so I don't remember the names of some of the other dishes, but you can at least see pictures of two of them below.


Blair's (Silverlake)

I've been hearing about Blair's for a while now, but it wasn't until last month that I finally got to experience it for myself. For those of you who don't know, Blair's positions itself as a bistro that serves New American Cuisine. If you want to know more about New American Cuisine, you can find out more on their website because here I'm just going to concentrate on the food.

Blair's menu is seasonal which is nice because they take advantage of what the best ingredients are for that time of year. For my dinner there, I went all the way from appetizer to dessert and what a treat my meal was. I started with the roasted beets, avocado and goat cheese on mixed greens with a beet vinaigrette.

This was a great salad with a lot of great textures and flavors: the creaminess of the avocado, the saltiness of the goat cheese and the weediness, slightly bitterness of the greens combined with the beets for great eating. My entree was the risotto with the butternut squash and also had unusual ingredients. How often do you see collard greens with butternut squash? At first, I wasn't sure about this combo, but the greens actually cut down the sweetness of the squash and actually balanced the dish really well.

Dessert was the caramel pudding trifle with strawberries, whipped cream and buttermilk cake. What I liked about this dessert is that it wasn't overly sweet and I don't think I've ever had a dessert that was made up of pudding and fruit before, so that made this dessert a little more different for me anyway.

Overall, both Patina's and Blair's were great restaurant experiences for me and I would definitely be more than happy to return to either of them in the future.

Patina
141 S Grand Ave (Cross Street: West Third Street)
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213) 972-3331
www.patinagroup.com/patina/

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594305212808/

Blair's Restaurant
2903 Rowena Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90039 (323) 660-1882
http://www.blairsrestaurant.com/

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594305236882/

Lunch at Atlacatl

After taking part in a Metro Art Tour, I had lunch with my dining group at Atlacatl, an El Salvadorean restaurant and it was really hit and miss for me. Actually, it was more miss than anything else. Most of the group ordered family-style primarily from the snacks section of the menu so that we could sample multiple items.

Of the 9 different items that we picked from the menu, 1 was great, 2 were okay and everything else I probably would never order again. In fact, it's highly unlikely, I'll ever go back to Atlacatl again. The one item I enjoyed a lot was their deep fried pork turnovers, which were golden brown on the outside with tasty and juicy pork in the inside. But then how could anyone possibly go wrong with deep-fried food.

Of the two pupusas we ordered, I preferred the one that had bean, cheese, loroco and pork. I wasn't necessarily wowed by it, but at least, it had more flavor than the other pupusa we ordered.  I don't know what it is with me and pupusas. I have a feeling it's just not one of my favorite foods. I've tried pupusas at a couple other restaurants, but they never really wow me that much.

As for items that I didn't like, the two tamales we ordered didn't do it for me at all. The consistency of the masa was very spongy and it reminded me of that bread you eat with Ethiopian food. That bread is fine with Ethiopian food, but for tamales, definitely not for me.

A couple of the items also seemed overly sweet to me like their milk pies and their sweet fried plantains. With the sweet plantains, eating it with the sour cream and beans cut down that sweetness a bit, but I just didn't care for the mix of flavors that much.

Overall, I wouldn't make a return trip to Atlacatl anytime soon. I'm hoping that it's just the quality and flavors of the food at Atlacatl in particular that's unappealing and that I'll have a more positive and delicious experience of Salvordean cuisine elsewhere.

Atlacatl

301 N Berendo St

Los Angeles, CA, 90004

323-663-1404

Raspados, Frescas, Licuados and More at Nevera

During the few times I've visited Hispanic marketplaces and saw signs of various beverages for sale like raspados, licuados, frescas, etc., I honestly always felt a bit overwhelmed. I wasn't quite sure what the difference was between all the drinks. There were some things I was familiar with like horchata, which is usually a staple at most Mexican restaurants. I've seen and had cantaloupe water drinks, which is a drink that is also popular in the Philippines. But what was a Vampiro or a Diabilito? Can you tell that it was the bright red drinks that tended to attract my eye? :)

To find out more, I set up a Mexican beverage tasting at Nevera Fruit Creations in Bell where we sampled a variety of drinks as well as other tasty treats. Our tasting started not with anything to drink; however, but watching the ingredients added and mixed to make Bionoco, which is a mix of fresh fruit sliced smothered with rich cream and topped with granola, almonds, raisins, dried coconut and wheat flakes. That Bionoco was delicious, sweet, juicy and refreshing. It would be great for a hot summer day.

After enjoying the Bionico, we sampled a Licuado, which is equivalent to a smoothie. Like a smoothie, a Licuado is a blend of fresh fruits, juice and ice. The Licuado we had was called a Poderoso, a mixture of milk, honey, strawberries, granola and pecans. You could really taste the strawberries in this drink.

Following the Licuado, we tried two different Jugos, which is a beverage made up of juices freshly squeezed from fresh fruit and vegetables. The first one was the ominous-sounding Vampiro. The Vampiro is a mix of oranges, carrots and beets and let me tell you, Vampiro is the appropriate name considering the color of this drink. The Vampiro had very interesting flavors. You get citrusy-tart from the oranges, a bit of sweet from the carrots, but I was truly amazed at the beets. When cooked, beets are pretty mild, but blended raw, the flavor of the beets was really strong, but interestingly enough, I liked that this drink had a bite to it. No pun intended. :)

The other Jugo we tried was the Dietico and the purpose of the Dietico is obvious by its name. It's a drink for those who are looking to lose weight. Dietico is a blend of celery, pineapple, grapefruit and cactus. Apparently, it's the cactus that's supposed to have the diuretic properties. I really didn't care for the Dietico that much. There was an aftertaste that wasn't appealing to the drink.

After watching a juicing demonstration, we all got a small sample of mango with chamoy sauce. Oh...My...God! That chamoy sauce was out of this world. We were told that the chamoy sauce is made of peaches and chili. It was hot and sweet. I'm not sure what else it's used for, but I can see it as a glaze for shrimp or fish or some kind of seafood.

After coming down from my chamoy sauce high, we went on to check out Raspados. Raspados are drinks made up of shaved ice with fruit syrups and diced fresh fruits. We had a choice of one out of three we could try and of course, I had to have the Diabilito and what do you know, this particular Raspado had tamarind and mango with chamoy sauce. Back to the chamoy sauce again for me.

I've always been a fan of tamarind, which has tangy, sour, slightly sweet flavors and when you combine that with the mango and that hot-sweet chamoy sauce, my tastebuds were all a-tingle.

After all the chamoy excitement, we went on to try a couple of different atoles. An Atole is a cornstarch-based Mexican drink that come in many fruit flavors. The chocolate atole is known as champurrado.

One atole was strawberry-flavored and when drinking it, it reminded me of a hot strawberry milkshake. A little too sweet for my taste, but still good. It was the guava atole that really got my attention. I can eat fresh guavas by the truckful and guava juice is my favorite juice, so I was really looking forward to a hot guava drink. I totally loved that drink. It wasn't too sugary and I could really taste the guavas with every sip. Forget hot chocolate. I'd take a guava atole anytime.

After being warmed up by the atoles, we were cooled down by two different Frescas. Fresca is a water beverage flavored and sweetened with fruits and flowers. Horchata is considered a Fresca. We sampled two Frescas, one was a pineapple water and the other was a cucumber, lime and honey drink.

The pineapple water seemed too watered down for me, but then I prefer my pineapple juice straight. What I really liked was the cucumber, lime and honey drink. It was cool and refreshing. I can see myself drinking that iced on a really hot summer day and feeling cooled down afterwards.

Overall, my dining group had a great time at Nevera's. I know we learned a lot. Now when I see those drinks for sale, I know what I'm looking at and of course, I'm heading straight for the nearest Diabilito and that yummy chamoy sauce.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594359559431/

Nevera
4846 Florence Avenue, #101
Bell, CA, 90201
323-887-3451
http://www.enevera.com/