Sinbala

After my last jaunt to Simbala in Rowland Heights and being highly satisfied with the deliciously wonderful Taiwanese food, I had to check out their sister or cousin restaurant, Sinbala in Arcadia.

My boy and I made the trek yesterday from the Westside to the SGV. It took about 40 minutes to get here and another 20 minutes of waiting to get a table.

Seeing all the Asians waiting outside made me feel good that Sinbala would not disappoint. It's pretty small inside, but they bust out the food quickly.

We sat at a small table next to a table of 4 women who ordered a bunch of noodles, noodle soup, oyster pancake and sausage. I was salivating just looking at their table.

I ordered in Mandarin with bits of English. What.. I don't know how to say "Pumpkin" in Chinese.

Green onion pancakes: as good as the cousin restaurant. Crispy, slightly greasy with a nice scallion flavor.

Sausage with garlic: DANG. I guess it is true. You haven't had Chinese sausage till you've had it with slices of fresh garlic. The pungent and spicy garlic really complements the sweet/salty of the sausage. Divine!

make sure you eat some mints after this dish


Pumpkin rice noodles: Awwwww hells yeah. Tasted as good as before. Love all the pumpkin bits. Huge portion too, we had to take it to go.

heaping plate of pumpkin noodles


Noodles with spicy brown sauce: We call it Ja Jiang Mein. - Clearly these noodles are for the meat and spice lover. I loved it. I thought the thin slices of cucumber gave it a nice crunch and welcome coolness.

look at all that meaty sauce


How much did this all cost? $20. I know!! What a deal! And we took leftovers home of ALL the dishes. Gotta love the SGV for cheap eats.

Sinbala
651 W Duarte Rd, Ste F
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 446-0886

Caffe Roma

We came here today for lunch cuz I was really craving some good pasta. In retrospect, I regret not going to my first choice, Cafe Med in Weho, but whatever. We were already in BH and didn't feel like making the drive.

Sat down outside, but had to move since the umbrellas weren't covering the blazing sun. At least the service was nice because the food was not worth the price.

I had the spaghetti with langoustine special. It was salty and I thought it came with grilled veggies, but alas no veggies. WTH. It came with a small langoustine on top of my pasta, and pieces of langoustine in the pasta. $24. Yeah, not cheap or worth the $24 in my opinion.



He had the Pappardelle al cinghiale (pasta with boar) which was quite earthy and heavy. I've had better boar elsewhere. It just didn't tantalize my taste buds. Nothing popped in this dish at all. We didn't much care for it, so took a few bites and packed the rest up to go. $20.

pasta with boar.. boring


Lemonade- $4. Mostly ice. Eh.. it's Beverly Hills. That's about normal. Good thing I had ice water. I can't justify paying $8-10 for a bottle of flat water if I can get tap water for free. What? We're in a recession.

Total- $53.

Would I come back? 40%. I just have had better pasta elsewhere for a cheaper price.

Caffe Roma
350 N Canon Dr Ste 13
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 274-7834

Simbala

Last weekend, my GF and our kids came here to get our Taiwanese grub on. Boy, was I glad we did. What a way to satisfy my craving!

There was about a 15-20 min and we were starving. But, it made the food taste THAT much better. I guess anticipation really does make a difference.

Green onion pancakes: Yummy, perfectly crispy, greasy and just damn good! The kids loved them. I had once piece and the next thing I knew, they were pretty much gone. Little oinkers.



Pumpkin with rice noodles. OMG. This was heaven on a plate for me. I love Mi Fun, and this version with bits of meat and pumpkin was awesome! It came in a big portion too so I was able to stuff my face and save some for later!



Beef noodle soup: Damn, this soup was SPICY! It came with handmade noodles and big chunks of beef, along with lots of spicy pepper flakes. We were both blowing our noses. Very good hangover food. And no, I was not hangover, just sayin.



Rice with bamboo and pork: This dish looked pretty tasty, but I didn't have any. However, my friend and her son liked it so that's a good sign.



Wonton soup: Big wontons in a delicious broth with cabbage. Can't go wrong with this one. A classic soup, very good flavors.



We ordered shaved ice for dessert even though we were stuffed. The kids dug in and shaved ice is only $5 for one order. You also get to pick 5 toppings. My favorite was the rice balls. OMG. YUM.

Total for lunch was about $35. Cash only. That's the only downfall of this place. I didn't have enough cash, but my friend covered me. But, I had enough food leftover for dinner!

Simbala
18489 Colima Rd
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
(626) 581-9885

Greenblatt's Deli

A-OK. My sentiments exactly.

Greenblatt's has been around forever, but today was my first visit here. My friend and I decided to check it out since we were in the area, and he was craving a tuna sandwich. I was just glad they had free parking in the back. Parking in WeHo is like finding gold in a land mine.

Btw, if you have a low car or a nice car, please be careful of the high ass incline going into the lot. Just a friendly warning.

Walking in from the parking lot, we headed downstairs and grabbed a booth by the window. The inside of Greenblatt's is pretty dim and musty, kinda reminds me of a bar like Cheers, except there was no bar. Or people who knew my name.

Alas, the waitress appeared to take our order and I decided on the beef brisket with au jus on wheat, with a side of macaroni salad. My drink of choice, Yoohoo. I haven't had Yoohoo in so long, my tummy was craving it. Weird, considering I don't really drink much milk.

brisket goodness with a side of macaroni salad


My friend had the tuna sandwich on toasted rye with swiss cheese and a side of Kettle potato chips.

Food arrives within 10 minutes to my happiness! Wooot!!! I was starving, and really wanted some macaroni.

Mmmm.. macaroni was good, kinda slippery, but had some flavors. I think they could have not put so much mayo, but hey, it's their salad, not mine.

Brisket was very tender and flavorful. I hated the au jus, since it was way salty and tasted like butt. I do not recommend the au jus at all. Just eat the brisket as is. Unless you want to see how butt tastes like, then dip away!

My friend liked his sandwich and I liked his chips. hahaha.. Wasn't in the mood for tuna today.

tuna


Overall, it's a decent place to get some food if you are in the area. But, I wouldn't drive here specifically for it. Lunch- $31. Worth it? I'll let you be the judge.

Greenblatt's Deli
8017 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 656-0606

Villa Blanca

Stopped by here for lunch today and wasn't very impressed. It's pretty pretentious and the food wasn't all that.

Look, I get that this is Beverly Hills, but the restaurant that used to be here, Trilussa was way better.

Anyway, apparently this place is owned by the same guy who owns Sur over on Robertson. But, Sur has better food and service.

the white menu to go with the white decor


We sat outside on the patio next to an older couple and two older ladies. I guess this place caters to an older crowd, mostly over 40.

complimentary bread with olive oil and olives


Food was nothing special. I ordered the dover sole with broccolini and fingerling potatoes. It came drenched in butter! WTF. I didn't much care for the sole, but the broccolini was good and the potatoes weren't too shabby. I left most of my dish cuz it just didn't do it for me.



My DC had the nicoise salad. Ehh.. it was okay, kinda bland if you ask me, but he liked it. I thought the green beans were the best part.



The waitress was okay. This place was okay. I don't think I'd come back though. It was pretty pricey for the food that we got. Lunch was about $45.

Villa Blanca
9601 Brighton Way
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 859-7600

BLT Steak

Still my fave steak house in LA!

We came here Friday night right after making a reservation 10 min before showing up.

Service was great, waiter was funny and took care of us, bus boys made sure our waters were filled and table was clean.

Man, those huge popovers are the shiet. I could eat 5 of those and call it a day. Add some of the pate they serve you and it's a damn good meal.



We ordered a ton of food. In retrospect, it was way too much, but hey, we like to indulge!

Lobster: $90!! What?! I know, right? But, it was 3 lbs of lobstery goodness and came in this huge metal plate topped off with bread crumbs. OMFG. Sooooo effen good!!



Duck: Wow, another stellar dish. I had the breast cooked medium and it was still tender as ever. Yum yum yum! Quack quack! I didn't get a chance to eat the thigh, since there was so much breast to eat. But, well worth it at $33.



Wasabi mashed potatoes: Very delish. Slightly spicy and really buttery. I think this by itself is about 500 calories per spoonful.

Poached green beans: Wow, surprisingly great tasting dish! A bit salty, but it had great garlic flavor and was one of our faves of the night.



Gnocchi: Not very good at all. Don't bother. Too heavy and chewy.

Squash blossoms: Ehh.. another meh dish. Fried and too salty. We didn't like this at all.

I had the raspberry drink which was okay, not good enough for me to finish. I ALWAYS finish my alcohol. So, yeah, pass on that. He had the Riesling which was not that good either. I like sweeter Riesling and this one was a bit dry.

Our bill was $221 before tip. Blame it on the $90 lobster. But, it was a damn satisfying!

BLT Steak
8720 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 360-1950

Gordon Ramsay @ The London WeHo

Mr. Ramsay, you failed to deliver.



My date and I were so excited to try this restaurant, but alas, it wasn't a 5 star experience.

Service was slow in the beginning, since we waited about 10 minutes after being sat down before the waiter appeared to take our drink order. Tables were a bit too close together, I didn't really want to hear the stupid conversation of the 16 year olds dining next to us. It was absurd really, these two making out and then asking for "a piece of cooked fish" that wasn't on the menu.

But, whatevs.

We both had a glass of Darting Riesling to start which was quite delish. I ended up having 2 glasses and getting a nice buzz.

I love Riesling


They brought out potato chips with the bombest chive foam ever! I couldn't get enough of the chive foam which was basically sour cream mixed with chives. It was so good, I asked for another serving. Oink. After that, they gave us some good ass bread. It was rosemary and chive flavor and so addictive!

chips n dip


mmm... carbolicious


i loved the chive foam!


Then the appetizers came and this is where it started going downhill.

Salmon Gravlax: too chewy and overall nothing special. Disappointing.

not good


Hamachi with caviar: this was pretty good. I love hamachi and the caviar added lots of flavor to the well seasoned fish.

a good hamachi dish


Curry scallops: Umm.. No. Too salty and what's up with the foam? I didn't like it at all, nor did he.

not that good and small portion


Lobster Risotto: Pretty tasty, albeit the presentation was kinda meh. The peas gave it some nice crunch and made me feel like I was getting some greens.

good chunks of lobster in here


White Chocolate Parfait: Interesting dessert. I liked it, he didn't. The parfait was supple and refreshing. But, it wasn't the best thing ever.

prettier than it tasted


For a meal costing around $120 before tip, this was not worth it. I'd much rather go to XIV.

complimentary chocolates and wine candy


I leave you with a restroom pic. love the mirrors.


Gordon Ramsay
The London West Hollywood
1020 N San Vicente Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 358-7788