Little Fat Sheep

With such an off the wall name, I really had to check this place out. My friends and I planned to come to hot pot last week and I had been counting down the days to enjoying some authentic Mongolian hot pot. 

Being the foodies that we are, we made a few pit stops since Monterey Park is about 35 minutes away from the Westside. We hit up Saigon Sandwiches for some Vietnamese sammies, then came to Little Fat Sheep.

Located on the corner of a strip mall, it was easy to find. Parking was a cinch and we hurriedly walked in since we were starving. 

Upon entering, I notice the decor of the place as very colorful. There were paintings on the walls of sheep grazing in a green pasture. Hmm.. I think I will pass on the lamb tonight.

Our order:

-3 plates of beef

- flounder filet

- fish balls

-seaweed knots

-imitation crab meat

-enoki mushrooms

-shiitake mushrooms

-vermicelli noodles

-fried tofu

-bok choy

- napa cabbage

- winter melon

I loved the half spicy, half regular broth. All the herbs in the broth made it so damn tasty that I didn't even need any extra sauce to dip the meat and veggies in. My faves were the beef, seaweed knots, winter melon, mushrooms, cabbage, bok choy and fish balls. The noodles were too slippery to extract from the broth, so I opted for some white rice. I can't eat hot pot without rice.

Would I come back? At $20 each for 4 people, this is a deal! We were stuffed! Service was a bit slow though. And I think the quality of the beef was not as good as Mizu. However, the green onion pancake was off da hook! I need more now. 

Little Fat Sheep

120 S. Atlantic Blvd

Monterey Park, CA 91754

Am I picky?

As a foodie, one would think that I eat anything and everything. Au contraire. I am probably one of the most finicky eaters you will run into. 

List of things I dislike--

- cheese (except for brie)

- mexican food in general (ew to beans and cheese)

- pizza (yep, I said it)

- eggplant (texture is disgusting)

- bitter melon (oh ewwww, just gross)

- pork (except for bacon, yes, I know that's from a pig)

- popcorn (who wants shit stuck in their teeth?)

- chicken feet (ugh, *shudders*.. claws)

- ham and cheese (this one is obvious)

- beer (tastes like pee)

- soju (tastes like rubbing alcohol)

Hmm.. I know there is more, but I can't think of anything else right now. Feel free to add items. 

Yogurtland

After gorging on dim sum, we came to Little Tokyo for some Starbucks. But, this place created a diversion for my daughter and she begged me to come in here, saying that her friends told her it was way better than Pinkberry. I obliged, as I usually do when it comes to food.

We walk in and the place is packed! I stood there for a minute wondering what to do since I've never experienced it. Saw the long line and the self serve stations of yogurt and figured out we are supposed to get it ourselves. 

We get in the line and it's barely moving. I'm wondering what is taking so long considering all you have to do is pick your flavor(s) of froyo, load up on toppings, weigh it, pay and enjoy. Wth. Originally, I wasn't going to get anything, but I saw TARO froyo and HAD to get some. It was so worth it though. 

I got vanilla, cookies and cream and taro. All I can remember is the taro had the best flavor, sweet without being overly sweet. My toppings were kinda off since I added kiwi, mango and chocolate sprinkles. None of it really tasted well with the taro. Maybe next time I will just get plain taro with mochi.

Oh, the price was great. 30 cents an ounce. Total for K and I was $5.59. What better way to cap off a greasy meal than with a frozen, inexpensive treat. Pinkberry can kiss it. 

Yogurtland

130 S. Central Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Shakey's Pizza

The economy sucks and times are tough. This is what led me to Shakey's last night. I am not a fan of pizza, since cheese is not my thang, but who can say no to free pizza? 

Before you get too excited, the reason we got free pizza is cuz one of my buds is a teacher and she gets free coupons in appreciation of her hard work. So, we all piled into her car and headed here. 

Shakey's is just an ordinary place, nothing fancy, reminiscent of a school cafeteria. We order at the front- 1 medium mushroom pizza, 1 pepperoni pizza, and mojo potatoes. Mojo what? I was curious to try these suckers since I've been needing my mojo back. 

We snag a booth and watch the Lakers game that's playing. 10 minutes later, our huge ass pizzas arrive. Among the 4 of us, we were still unable to eat all the pizza. I thought it was okay tasting, too cheesy for me, and it def needed more mushrooms. But, what do I know? I'm not a pizza connoisseur, but I didn't fancy the pizza here. However, the MOJO potatoes were quite the hit. These fried potatoes were addictive and I could not stop eating them. I had maybe 10-12 pieces. Ah shucks, there goes the diet.

Total cost of meal- $5. We had to pay for our drinks. I doubt I'll come back, but I did find the recipe for mojo potatoes online so it's all good with me!

Shakey's Pizza

12924 Washington Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90292

Breadbar

It was a cold and windy night when we stopped into this quaint restaurant located on the first floor of the Century City Mall. 

I had been sick that day, and couldn't keep any food down. Some good ol' soup sounded good at that point. 

We headed in here and snagged a corner table near the front door. The place was 50% full on a Tuesday evening, shoppers needing a break, couples who wanted some decent food and didn't want to wait 45 min at Houston's, or friends meeting up for a cozy dinner. 

I ordered the lobster bisque which turned out to be a mistake. S had the cauliflower soup which was quite tasty. I usually get that too, but that night I wasn't feeling the cream. My lobster bisque was fishy tasting and not fresh at all. Plus, it just tasted plain weird. I had a few spoonfuls and was over it.

My entree was the portobello mushroom burger with a side of garlic ginger fries. The shroom burger was aight, but too much cheese. Blah.. The fries were good though, especially dipped in my ketchup and Chalupa concoction. 

S had the  caesar salad with shrimp. It came with romaine lettuce leaves intact and he had to cut them. I guess this is the way they do caesar salad here. He said he liked it, so I will take his word on that.

Service was decent. This place gets 3 stars. I'd come back, but not often.

Breadbar

10250 Santa Monica Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90067

Zu Robata

I came here on a Monday night after reading about the highway robbery that is $20 Omakase. Twenty bucks for a 9 course meal?! How could I resist?

It sounded good in principle, but in actuality, the food was just a disappointment. Let's just go in order, shall we?

* Miso soup- they have really good miso soup with the perfect blend of seaweed and tofu. It even came in a pretty white bowl that accentuated the colors in the soup.

* Pan fried edamame with black bean sauce- this was a most interesting dish. I have never had edamame in this fashion and really enjoyed it. It came coated with this spicy goodness that I could not stop licking. 

* Black mussels- WTH? This was the most bland and disgusting dish I've ever had. It was so chewy that I had to drink water to swallow it. My DC and I both agreed we did not like this dish. Granted, it was pretty, but I don't give a shit if it's pretty. Food needs to be edible. Oh, the after taste was just plain gross. I had to keep drinking water and he was downing his coke like it was the end of the world.

* Spinach with garlic and butter- This came in an interesting presentation. Wrapped in foil atop of a mini burner, I was intrigued to see the contents (and also to get that nasty mussel taste outta my mouth). It took a few minutes to steam, and the waiter came over to open it for us and fashion a "plate" from the foil. The spinach itself was decent, but it was so buttery, I felt that I gained a pound every time I took a bite. 

* Unagi Roll- VERY random plate. It was just ordinary sushi. I can't really say much, but ok...

* Hokaido Scallop wrapped tuna olive tapenade with crunchy carrot- That's a mouthful. I am a HUGE fan of scallops, I'll take them any which way.. but these were just meh. Seared and with this very intersting crunch stuff on top.. it didn't really taste like carrots, unless carrots all of a sudden taste like nuts. Also, spicy as hell.

* Salmon Teriyaki- dude, this was undercooked. Salmon teriyaki needs to be cooked completely. I hated this dish. And it had skin on it. Hated that more. However, it had spinach underneath coated in the good teriyaki sauce which I ended up eating over my steamed white rice. Can't go wrong with white rice!

* Chicken spicy anticucho miso- WTF? We were baffled when this dish came out. It was the worst chicken I have ever tasted. Dry and doused with this spicy sauce all  over it. It just did not go with the flow of the "Asian" flavors. I felt like Bobby Flay had just popped in and made this. Except, Flay would do a much better job. Sigh. We had 1 bite and could not wait for that dish to disappear.

* Dessert quad- well, this was kind of a redemption for Zu. I really really liked the banana cake with caramelized banana on top. This is saying alot since I do NOT do dessert. The hazelnut ice cream was extremely sweet as was the ice cream with portfiteroles. The chocolate souffle was not bad, but a few bites and I had reached my sweeetness quota. I did like the ZU sugar adorning the top. Nice touch. 

Overall, the food here was just not tasty. Price was reasonable. Service was decent, but a bit slow at times. It was freezing in the restaurant as we seated close to the door, but still, there shouldn't be an opening on a 47 degree night. Sigh. 2 stars. 

Zu Robata

12217 Wilshire Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Soowon Galbi

My friends and I had been craving KBBQ for a while, and I found this place on Yelp brimming with 5 star reviews. I told them we should go here instead of Chosun, so we all agreed.

Driving up to the place was interesting. Most places in K-town are seedy looking and a bit ghetto, but my friend and I were lucky to find a parking spot right up front. We walk in and the restaurant is very clean, bright and doesn't smell completely smoky. Yay, my hair and clothes won't stink!

We sit down and the 5 of us start to order. Combo A, seafood pancake and some beer. Soju came with the comb, but soju is not one of my fave drinks. I mostly drank some beer, but I was really there for the food. 

Combo A ($99) had brisket, beef ribs, beef sirloin, pork neck, marinated beef sirloin and soup. My fave was the brisket cuz it was thin and not chewy. I found some of the sirloin too chewy for me. The pork neck was surprisingly good, although I am not a fan of pork, ok, except for BACON. I think Chosun still has better quality beef though. 

OMG.. the banchan came out and I was sooo thrilled! Bean sprouts, broccoli, radish, seaweed, kimchee, pancake, and some other stuff I don't know what the names are. My faves were the seaweed, bean sprouts and the pancake. We had 2 of everything for the 5 of us. 

I also liked the lettuce salad they gave us. Goes well with the meat. Speaking of meat, the rice papers were awesome. Those are another must have to eat at KBBQ. Oh, and the soup was pretty good too. 

Seafood pancake was delicious! I love octopus and calamari. It was just a wonderful accompaniment to our meal. 

Would I come back? Yes, for sure. At $25 per person for insane amounts of food, this is def worth the drive.  Just remember to wear your stretchy pants. And put your hair up so it doesn't smell like meat.

Soowon Galbi

856 S. Vermont Ave, #C

Los Angeles, CA 90005

Yang Chow

My friend R had been raving about this place for months, telling me how I must try their famous Slippery Shrimp dish. 

Finally, he got me to go here for lunch. I guess I had to make an exception since he always comes to my hood for meals. 

So, on a Saturday afternoon, my kid and I make the long trek to the eastside. One hour later, we arrive at his place and I make R drive since I'm just not in the mood to be driving in Chinatown. 

We head over and find parking in this secret lot. $3.

Yang Chow is freakin packed to the gills! The hostess said it would be a 5 min wait for the 3 of us. 15 minutes later, she calls our party. Geez.. I'm totally beyond the point of starvation as is my daughter. 

Get seated and we proceed to order half the menu. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.

* Vegetable Moo Shu- Do not wrap my moo shu! They took out all the fun, I wanna wrap my own food. And he made it all big and shiet. I hate big moo shu. 

* Stir fried green beans with minced pork- Good dish, right amount of spice and greasy as hell. 

* Scallops with veggies- this one was my fave since I love scallops!! Came with broccoli and water chestnuts. My kid ate all the water chestnuts and hated the scallops. Good thing cuz I hate water chestnuts.

* Slippery Shrimp- Ahh, the famous dish.. Lightly fried with bits of garlic. It was tasty, but I'm not a fan of fried foods, so I let them eat most of it.

* Shanghai style noodles- Blame this on my kid. She saw this dish at the next table and demanded we order it. I obliged, being the nice Mommy that I am. It was pretty bland and very greasy.. just overall Bleh. We had a few bites and were over it.

Overall, this place is okay. Service is mediocre, but that's normal for Asian places. Water tastes like ass, so try to order a soda instead. I noticed that most of the clientele was anything but Asian. I think the 3 of us were the only Asians there.

Yang Chow

819 N. Broadway 

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Urth Caffe

I'm a westside girl at heart. Getting me to go to downtown is like pulling teeth. So, you better entice me with something good.

My friend, JG lives downtown and really wanted me to go and visit. I fckin hate driving downtown since I have no sense of direction and get lost, especially on all the retarded one way streets. When I am downtown, my stress levels go beyond SUPREME and saying I have road rage is an understatement.

Anyways.

JG convinced me to make the trek cuz he said there was a new Urth Caffe. WHAT?!! Urth is downtown?? I love Urth. Reluctantly, I agreed.

The weather was beautiful this weekend so we sat outside on the patio. This Urth has a bit of a different crowd. I believe they are referred to as "hipsters". I'm used to the moms with strollers at the Bev Hills location or the Hollywood types at the Melrose one.

It was a change of pace. I liked that we could actually get a table. Service was good and the food was yummy.

Pumpkin pie with tons of whipped cream. Good thing my kid ate most of it. JG had the coconut banana cake which was quite scrumptious as well. I had the mint tea with lots of honey. No coffee for me. I can't do caffeine after 12 noon or else I am up all night.

Parking was a plenty, thank goodness. Well, considering it was located in an alley, I guess parking should be ample.

I'd come back, but ONLY if I was already in the area.

Urth Caffe

451 S. Hewitt St

Los Angeles, CA 90013

So Kong Dong

I came here over the weekend with a friend of mine who highly recommended this place. She was right. This place has the best soondubu I've had in LA.

Way better than the MSG filled tofu at BCD.

I like the straight forwardness of this joint. It's straight TOFU, which is a good thing cuz they do their tofu right. I barely touched the banchan. Just rice and tofu.

Silky and smooth with a homemade taste to it. Me likey!
$8.99 per soup. Cheap. I had the clam soondubu and it came with clams in shells. Very tasty.

My kid had the steamed dumplings ~ 20 per order. She ate 19. I had one. That means she loved them. Dang. Proud Mama here.

I'll be coming back, but only on weekends. Traffic stinks in K-town.

So Kong Dong

2716 W. Olympic Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90006