LOS ANGELES:
This weekend I took a trip to visit some friends in Los Angeles who live in the Brentwood/Santa Monica Area. They were AWESOME hosts and took me to some really cool places. Here is where I went...
BRAVO CUCINA ITALIANA
Bravo is located in the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica. This place is an outdoor mall with tons of shops, restaurants and street performers. It is really close to the beach and a seems like a really nice and fun area. I went to Bravo with 2 of my friends. Two of us each got a class of the Blackstone Merlot ($8) which I love because it's cheap and I know it will be consistently good. My friend and I also got the Molto Bene Salad which was romaine lettuce with chicken, feta cheese, olives, tomatos and a honey vinaigrette ($14). Our other friend got the chicken marsala. It was served with roasted potatoes which looked awesome and a side salad. I am not a fan of mushrooms, actually I despise them more than anything on earth! However, he said that his food was really good. We sat outside on their heated patio and the waitstaff was friendly and attentive. We were given free dessert cards so we ordered the chocolate ganche cake and tiramisu to share. The tiramisu was excellent because it actually had alot of coffee flavor and I find alot of them to be sort of bland. The choclate ganache was nothing special and hard to eat. It completely fell apart when I stuck my fork into it and wasn't even that good, however, I have no self control when it comes to desserts so of course I nearly finished it! :-)Check out http://www.bravoitalian.com/menu/ for menu and locations
ROCK SUGAR PAN ASIAN KITCHEN
My cousin took me to eat at Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen in the westfield mall. The place is gorgeous. It is owned by the Cheesecake Factory group and you can totally tell. It definetly has that corporate chain feel and lacks alot of originality. We went for lunch, so we sat outdoors and it was really nice. When you walk in their are alot of cocktail lounge tables. It looks like it could be fun to go with a group get a cocktail from the unique list of cocktails and sit there for a little either before or after dinner. My cousin and I shared 3 dishes. When you first sit down they give you crispy rice crackers with a red mild chili sauce/dip. It is very good. Kind of like the Asian version of chips and salsa. We shared the cilantro grilled shrimp over mixed vegtables (which is a special). It was good because the outside was really charred and gave the shrimp a nice flavor. The shrimp were sort of small in size however. We also had the crisp calamari which is marinated in coconut milk and served with a chili dipping sauce. It was great. The sauce wasn't as spicy as I would have liked, but it was still good. The third item we shared was the Singapore Hainan pork which was served with sweet onions peas and chili sauce. The pork was pulled and really good and really tender. The sauce tasted like a spicy curry sauce. I love curry sauce, but if you don't then this dish is not for you. We didn't order dessert, but I saw some being passed around and they looked awesome. This is definetly a 3 after meal mint kind of meal! haha. Alot of different flavors and spices going on! The most unique thing we saw, was that they kind of valet your leftovers for you. They gave my cousin a ticket and keep the leftovers that people wish to take home in a cabinet upfront. They do this so that the table in clear between courses. I think it is kind of nice.For more information and to find a location near you visit http://www.rocksugarpanasiankitchen.com/
PINKBERRY
I LOVE PINKBERRY! Who doesn't? It is only on the west coast, but if you live near one I strongly recommend getting over there ASAP. My friend and I were able to walk to the one near her and since it was a gorgeoous day out we did! I ended up ordering the green tea yogurt with pom seeds, bananas and yogurt chips. Please keep in mind, this is not healthy. It may be healthier than regular icecream but it doesnt have alot of sugar!Log on to http://www.pinkberry.com/ for nutritional info and locations near you
ROBATA BAR
I really loved it here! The concept was Japanese fusion ala carte. They had sushi and raw dishes available, but my friend and I decided to order the skewers. They recomment 4 skewers per person including one fish and one vegtable. The skewers are ordered off of the robata yaki side of the menu. We got a gyu (aged ribeye) skewer which I ordered rare, because I think that's the only way to order meat that's not a burger. It had alot flavor and was pretty tender. The skewers are served with 3 dipping sauces a sweet ponzu, a spicy mustard and another more mild creamy one. I hated the spicy mustard. It tasted like mustard and wasabi mixed together. If you like wasabi you will like it. I think wasabi is hot for no reason without acutally enhancing the flavor of a dish which is why I don't like it. Spicy on the other hand, I can handle because it adds a flavor to the dish. The other skewers we got were the tsukune which was chicken meatball with teriaki sauce (amazing), suzuki which is chilean seabass (which I am always nervous to order since it will never be fresh, since it's from Chili it will be previously frozen 80% of the time you order it. It is also extremely easy to over cook) the final skewer we got was the nasu the japanese eggplant with sweet miso (Japanese eggplant is alot smaller and not what you would expect if you are used to eating regular eggplant, it is more dense). The meal was absolutely perfect. We sat at the bar, because I belive you get better service than if you sit at a table and I prefer to do whenever I am eating with just one other person. The cocktails were just as good as the food. We each ordered 2 cocktails the green lotus (white lotus vodka, green tea extract, ginger and cucumber) it was light and refreshing and the kyoto rose martini (belvedere vodka, white tea Bulgarian roses and garnished with a rose petal) it was mildly sweet and pefect for an after dinner drink. I think this would be a really cute date place since it is imtimate and had a sexy atmosphere and requires you to share dishes.www.robatabar.com
After dinner we went to Busby's Restaurant and Bar for late night dancing and cocktails. It was a young fun crowd and they played great music! I was happy I got to go to a fun local bar while I was in town. www.busbysonline.com 3110 Santa Monica BlvdSanta Monica, CA 90404(310) 828-4567
SPANISH KITCHEN
We came to Spanish Kitchen for some late night snacks and cocktails. I ordered the steak tacos with a crispy shell. They came out about 2 minutes after I ordered them. They really have their act together over there! I got a patron silver margarita with salt. It was perfect amount of sweet and sour and tasted like they used natural ingredients and for the 12 bucks I shelled out for the drink, I wouldn't expect anything less. The three tacos were small, but reasonable ($9). They were nothing special, but did the job. They served chips and salsa. The chips were warm and the salsa was good and spicy, just the way I like it! It was a fun place to hang with a large group. Apparently it is a celebrity hotspot. Luckily it wasn't on the night we went. It was still crowded but I'm sure it would have been totally different scene had a member of the HILLS been there.Check it out. www.thespanishkitchen.com826 N La Cienega BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90069(310) 659-4794
THE BELMONT
We went to the Belmont After Spanish Kitchen. They are owned by the same restaurant group and also serve food, but we didn't eat there. The food looked really good especially the salad with the seared tuna on top. I still have my Maryland license, which caused me some problems. The bouncer couldn't have been more of a douche bag. He looked at my ID and told me it looked "shady". I know that I look like I am young, so I decided to be patient with him and said "if you think it's fake you should ask a police officer to scan it I understand you probably don't see many MD licenses" He asked another bouncer to look at it, who was probably more dense than him and had no idea whether or not they would let me in. He told me my options were to 1. leave 2. he needed a second opinion. I said okay and then he stood there for about 5 minutes looking at my ID telling me how shady it looked. I said well if my options were to leave or have a second opinion can you please go get your second opinion. Apparently this is attitude in LA. Not in the east coast, but in LA this is attitude and this loser on a power trip told me to leave. My friends were pretty insistent I was getting in this bar and I kind of like a challenge. It would have been nice to get in just to be like ha I'm 22 and you're a f-ing moron! So I asked to see the manager, who looked at my ID and said he think it might be fine, but then asked me to sign a paper and match my signature. So I was in the clear, the manager said I was fine and could come in and then walked away. Then, the bouncer still didn't want to let me in. He said I was rude, I apologized, he said my ID looked fake, I said well 2 other people said it was fine and then walked right in past him. It wasn't much of a happening bar scene. They had hangar one vodka which I really enjoy drinking on the rocks so I had one of those and then we decided to leave. I would love to go back and try the food, but as for a bar, there really wasn't much appeal. Everyone was basically seated and there were so many tables and chairs everywhere (that were empty might I add) that it was hard to walk around. At the end of the night Frank the idiot bouncer apologized for embarassing me and keeping me help up for 20 minutes and then called me hot. I smiled and told him to have a good night. Gotta love LA!!
THE BELMONT
We went to the Belmont After Spanish Kitchen. They are owned by the same restaurant group and also serve food, but we didn't eat there. The food looked really good especially the salad with the seared tuna on top. I still have my Maryland license, which caused me some problems. The bouncer couldn't have been more of a douche bag. He looked at my ID and told me it looked "shady". I know that I look like I am young, so I decided to be patient with him and said "if you think it's fake you should ask a police officer to scan it I understand you probably don't see many MD licenses" He asked another bouncer to look at it, who was probably more dense than him and had no idea whether or not they would let me in. He told me my options were to 1. leave 2. he needed a second opinion. I said okay and then he stood there for about 5 minutes looking at my ID telling me how shady it looked. I said well if my options were to leave or have a second opinion can you please go get your second opinion. Apparently this is attitude in LA. Not in the east coast, but in LA this is attitude and this loser on a power trip told me to leave. My friends were pretty insistent I was getting in this bar and I kind of like a challenge. It would have been nice to get in just to be like ha I'm 22 and you're a f-ing moron! So I asked to see the manager, who looked at my ID and said he think it might be fine, but then asked me to sign a paper and match my signature. So I was in the clear, the manager said I was fine and could come in and then walked away. Then, the bouncer still didn't want to let me in. He said I was rude, I apologized, he said my ID looked fake, I said well 2 other people said it was fine and then walked right in past him. It wasn't much of a happening bar scene. They had hangar one vodka which I really enjoy drinking on the rocks so I had one of those and then we decided to leave. I would love to go back and try the food, but as for a bar, there really wasn't much appeal. Everyone was basically seated and there were so many tables and chairs everywhere (that were empty might I add) that it was hard to walk around. At the end of the night Frank the idiot bouncer apologized for embarassing me and keeping me help up for 20 minutes and then called me hot. I smiled and told him to have a good night. Gotta love LA!!747 North La Cienega Boulevard . Los Angeles, CA. 90069 310.659.8871 tel
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