the old one was bad, making it really difficult to correctly put in images and
captions. But at least i could type and eventually get images on there (after
an hour or so of deleting and replacing lost images and the horrible gallery
feature.

The new interface promised to be more user friendly, yet its even more atrocious.
i can’t even properly write in this box without the words falling off the page
when i write too much. (shouldn’t it go back to the beginning of the line
rather than just keep on writing off the screen?!?!?)

Needless to say, i rant, because its so hard to see what i’m doing, (plus they
never fixed the annoying image feature), so i’m having a hard time posting up
a few of the new restaurants i have already install for y’all.

well i’ll try to make the best of it and get something up to u real soon.

PB & J cupcakes for dessert at Joe's Place

I’m a new convert to Joe’s place. Set in a strip mall next to Big Lots, this formerly dead piece of property has become an avenue of sorts for the urbaness rock/hip culture of today’s youth. The outside store sign is strangely reminiscence of a tiki hut Polynesian vibe whereas upon entering, you are greeted by what could only be described as a hybrid urban outfitters/ mum and pop cottage/barnes & nobles hosh-posh of eclectic fixtures and nick-knacks. We’re talking multiple different types of spunky clocks playing against the wall, a small little bookshelf dedicated to urban outfitter type trinkets for sale such as magical 8 balls, Joe t-shirts, and other paraphernalia brought back from the dead of the 1970′s, plus various other items lining the walls.

xmas trees, pianos, rocking chairs, and books to read!

Small attention to detail like these is what make Joe's unique

Joe’s place is surprisingly large, a deceptive view from the outside, but with 2 rooms (one of which is available for meetings), it allows for dozens and dozens of patrons to sit down and relax on the multitude of regular dining chairs and tables, or if you wish, to sit within the lounge area with comfy sofas, rocking chairs, and even an adjacent piano and fireplace. Available right over is a large shelve with all different types of books for you to peruse at your pleasure, or feel free to bring your laptop while sucking down an enjoyable starbuckesque type beverage with their free wi-fi connection.

Specials and deals are found on the black chalkboard above

Once you’ve finished sightseeing over the entire place, which there is plenty to look at, and also at the same time wondering to yourself how such a room so mix-matched and completely unresolved of any true style of decor could ever look so intimate and attractive, please feel free to step up to the deli style counter where you are greeted by a friendly cashier.

Click the menu for a better view

First question he asks ” hi guys, so is this your first time here?” with a friendliness that seems genuine and unforced, something that belies the rock look he has with tattoos on his arms as proof. He directs to a well-made sheet of paper while guiding you to the proper way to order an any-way-you-like-it sandwich from their establishment. Simply put, choose the bread (out of the several choices they have), toasted, untoasted, or panini toasted is your next question, followed by the type of condiments they have, the types of cheese you prefer, then continuing with your choice of the various types of meats they offer, then up to five out of the dozen or so vegetables and greens they have, lastly by your choice of home-made potato salad or coleslaw (the potato salad is delicious, thick and teaming with potato, black olives and the other ingredients. It offers itself as a very nice side dish to any complement sandwich). The base price of the whole sandwich plus the side dish is $6.50.

Matt's roast beef au jus special w/ cranberry sauce ($6.50)

The true winner of their shop however is the plethora of suggestions the workers have to offer. This time around, the co-owner matt suggested a hot roast beef au jus style sandwich, which sounded just right for me. A French style roll panini pressed with warn roast beef au jus, two styles of melting cheese, plus a thin layer of cranberry sauce came in this approximately 5 by 5 inch sandwich. My first observation upon tasting the sandwich is they did good job in making the roast beef, still nice and tender, with still a hint of the flowing au jus juice within the meat. The panini press had done its job in toasting the bun, plus also offering a very well made out and enticing presentation. A good amount of cheese went into this sandwich, particularly good for a cheese lover like me, and it complemented the meaty aroma of the roast beef quite well. The piece de resistance of this sandwich is the layer of cranberry sauce in-between the meat and the bread. I’ve never had it quite like this before, and I have to say, it made the sandwich oh so good. The cranberry offered a tangy sweet hint of flavor, that though would seem unusual company for roast beef au jus, rather offered a different dimension to this otherwise normal dish. And so kudos to matt for being able to come up with something as creative and tasty as this dish.

Kristen's Sandwich

My two other friends who also accompanied me ordered off the menu, one order the Kristen’s sandwich, a vegetarian’s delight, which included allot of very fresh and crisp vegetables. She elicited this 3 out of 5 stars, her only complaint that prevented it from being 4 stars being that the ciabatta bread it came on should of been toasted (something easily fixable if she had asked before hand), though perhaps with this sandwich, the cashier should of offered it as an option while ordering.

Another friend ordered the half and half, a half and sandwich of your choice plus soup of the day, which today was tortilla soup. We each got to try a small sample before hand, generously offered by matt when we came in, and indeed the soup was very fresh and flavorful, indicative of its homemade origins. The soup base was robust and powerful, complementing the beans and other ingredients mixed into the soup. Easily comparable to the well made tortilla soup available at the island’s burger chain stores.

Meatball sandwich

For her half a sandwich, she chose to make her own, going for the meatballs with alfalfa sprouts. The sandwich was decent, the meatballs being tender and somewhat juicy. What lacked in this dish were the powerful flavors in the meatball. Though the meatballs had good flavor to it, personally for me I would of preferred this type of Italian meat to have more spices that would offer it a stronger zest flavor that would truly distinguish it from other meats. Overall, this meatball dish would have satisfied any person it served, but also it has room for improvement.

Even these guys participate in the ribbon decorations!

Oh by the by, besides serving espresso, cappuccino and other hot items from their beverage selection, they also offer mini and regular cupcakes that make for an excellent dessert. While asking to buy some mini cupcakes, which cost a dollar a piece, Joe the owner of the store, offered us each a regular cupcake ($2.00) for free, it being their way of promoting these neat little suckas. Each regular cupcake came in a clear plastic box, with a colorful decorative bow and sticker to add to the overall presentation of the cupcake, easily presentable at a little kid’s birthday party. They had three or four different selections at that time; we all chose the different ones to share. Peanut butter & jelly cupcake, pumpkin, and French vanilla. I tried all of them and had varying views of them, but for the most part consider all them in a positive light. I was hesitant to try the PB& J at first, after all, who has peanut butter and jelly on a cupcake?!?! To my surprise, it really did taste like PB & J, and though odd at first, was quite enjoyable once my brain acclimated to this perverse coupling of foods. The pumpkin cupcake was by far the best. It just simply taste good. The French vanilla cupcake was moist and light, however the addition of the chocolate mousse icing on top seems to be this cupcakes failing. It just did not taste good on the vanilla cupcake base. In my opinion, this French vanilla cupcake would have been tops with the replacement of the chocolate mouse with say vanilla icing instead. Oh, and I would be a very happy person if they were able to offer a truly great red velvet cupcake. Every since doughboy’s disappeared, there has been a void in good red velvet cakes…. (But the disappearance of doughboys is another story for another time.)

Regular sized cupcakes $2.00

Overall, Joe’s place is an exemplary place for anyone wishing for a different experience. No more mass-produced starbucks places, but rather a homey cottage like establishments where the people call you by first name, as if you were friends. These people are the new cultural and social entrepreneurs of the culinary world, and it is my hope that they continue to be creative and innovative with their sandwiches and other foods. Only by continuing to try new and different recipes, usurping the culinary norm and playing with new and different ingredients, can food really evolve. Next time you visit Joe’s, be sure to tell them to create you something special. You may be in for a surprise.

4 outta 5

Joe’s Place
1340 E Huntington Dr
Duarte, CA 91009

(626) 357-5637
www.eatatjoesplace.com

http://www.yelp.com/biz/joes-place-duarte

Cashew Nut lunch special at Thai City

Over the past summer my coworkers and I have been visiting this restaurant near our work place. Perfect since its not too far from work, has reasonable prices (inparticular the lunch specials that go for $6.50), never overcrowded (though never empty either), and has some very delectable and almost authentic thai cuisine.

Only thing missing here are the fishes and Turtles!

This business is located on the very busy street of Huntington blvd in duarte, surrounded by residents and a few businesses. the parking lot in the back is usually full during the lunch rush, but street parking is ALways available for your convience. The first thing you notice upon walking thru the wooden arches is the small little pond with the squirting water on your right, surrounding by a small rock formations and bits and pieces of flowers and shrubbery. Very nice and somewhat tranquil, though if i had my choice, i would of opted for perhaps a flowing waterfall and maybe some fishes in the pond!

Traditional Thai style? maybe. Old? fo'sure!

Entering the restaurant you will find a business partitioned into two rooms, each inlaid mainly with dark wooden panels and fixtures meant to inspire the more rustic traditional thailand architecture, also effectively utizilizing the large windows to allow real sunlight to brighten the room rather than artificial light.

Hey have a great lunch menu, which runs for $6.50 and includes soup, two fried wonton pieces, salad, and white steamed rice with your entre.

These photos are compliations of all the times i’ve been to thai city and remembered to take pictures.

Sorry, I don't recall the name of this dish

Though i don’t recall the name of this dish, it came from the lunch special section. Obviously, It has something to do with chicken and i beleive the diner said it was reasonalbly decent, earning itself a 3 outta 5.

Shrimp appetizers

Anything fried is good, and these were no exception! crispy wonton wrapped around shrimp and deepfried.

Very yummy.

Curry

Very good curry. We had these multiple times and everytime we go, someone in our party always always orders this dish. Though often times its a hit or miss for people (THey complain that it either has too much coconut milk or not enough), but often i find it really just depends on the individual curry tastebuds of the eater. Spicyness can be adjusted to your liking by telling the waitress. One coworker who shall remain namless, (though she’s mexican so you know she can eat spicy) ordered it spicy, and lets just say she coudn’t finish her curry, hehehe. i thought she was almost in tears at the end. lol. thats spicy!

stuffed chicken

stuffed chicken part 2

Sorry for the last couple of horrible pictures. i’m still not a very good photographer. But perhaps these blurry pictures is a metaphor for the actual taste of this stuffed chicken. i managed to taste some of it and too my dissapointment found the meat to be on the dry side. the noodles and meat failed to compliment each other and too be honest, i found it rather disconcerting that after all that mushing and mashing of all the different ingredients, that they would remold it back into the shape of a drumstick and chicken wing. Say thats UNNATURAL…

Pad-see-ew. SCORE!

Pad-see-ew, a staple of the americanzied thai appetite, comes in the the form of thick noodles with beef and broccoli with a nice portion of sauteed garlic all wok fried into one dish. I managed to get a taste of this the first time around and the 2nd time around, ordered a dish for myself. This dish itself is a true winner. the noodles were moist yet firm, the beef was tender and moist and offered a nice complimentary flavoring to the broccoli. Combine this with all the diced pan-fried garlic and it made it for a wonderful lunch. Unfortunetly, this is not part of the lunch time special so u’ll have to pay the full $7.95 for it. still way worth it.

Lunch special - Cashew nuts with chicken

Lunch special - Orange chicken - YUMMY!

I think i’ve ordered the orange chicken the last three times i’ve been here. So, i know that being a food bloggie, i should be trying as many different dishes as possible, but this orange chicken is THAT freaking GOOD. i bet they make it to order right here and then, cuz each time i get it, the chicken is always nice and tender, and the outside fried batter is always cripsy. ONly complaint i have with this dish is the proportion of batter to chicken is a little on the high side. you tend to taste more batter than chicken which may not always be a good thing. Luckily i like me’s some fried stuff, so the high ratio of fried batter wasn’t all that bad. The highlight of this dish is definitely the orange sweet and sour sauce, which absolutely for anyone that has a sweet tooth. You can also try this viscousy syrup with the wontons that come with the lunch specials (its hidden underneath the wontons).

Oh, i guess i forgot to mention that the salad that comes with the lunch special is your standard fare of iceberg lettuce with some sliced up carrots etc. the sauce on the salad is pretty good. very nice and refreshing.

Lunch Special Menu

Thai City

4 outta 5

2414 Huntington Dr
Duarte, CA 91010

(626) 303-2736

Cherry Pie - Baked Form

McDonalds, the cultural fast food icon of the world. Located in 119 countries around the world, serving 47 Million customers each and everyday, and also the establisment of one of my favorite desserts of all time. PIE!. back in the hay days, the use to serve fried apple pies, a delicious crispy elongated pie feeled with warm and soft apple pieces. Sadly, the days of obesity and health conscious fanatics led to the disbandament of these fried miracles for the more healthy baked variety in 1992. ( tho here and there they still have small pockets of mcdonalds resistance that still serve the fried kind. like the walmart mcdonalds in duarte california off of mountain road.)

Every so often, here in the US they release for a very limited time, a variation on the pie. Quite common place in other countries and regions (i.e in Thailand, they have the taro pie and in Hong Kong they have the mango pie, whereas closer to home in hawai’i, for a limited time during xmas they had fried banana pies).

Fried Banana Pie, Circa Xmas 2007, Honolulu Hawai

A week ago, i came across the cherry pie which i must admit was absolutely delicious. It came in the baked dough form. BOO!!!!! However, even in this form, the cherry filling was absolutely delicious, not to mention the dark ruby red filling was absolutely mesmerizing and quite appealing visually. Try it out before there gone!!1!.

Cherry Pie, Limited time availability

 P.S. work and partying has gotten to me lately, so i haven’t been updating any biggies, but rest assured i’ll bust out some good reviews in the near coming future!. LATES!

Mammas Margherita Pizza Slice. Yummy!

My food inspirations initially came from the foodie site www.yelp.com . Real reviews from real people. None of that self advertisement crap meant to exploit the good natured honesty of the real foodies of the world. And so i happened to stumble across Mamma’s brick oven pizza in nearby pasadena. the pictures on the site was enough to stoke my curiosity, so much that on a casual sunday morning, my foodie buddy and I headed over to this joint to begin our enjoyment of a good slice of new york style pizza. the rest as they say, Is History.

Mamma

Look at the red and white checkered table clothes

Notice something similiar about the building? well, after a bit of digging around and talking to the owner, we found out that this actually use to be a KFC building, recently in the last few years taken over by mamma’s. Mamma herself, Jamie, spent her time remodeling the place to give it her own homely, non-kfc, appeal by stitching the draperies herself against the windows and a few other things.

 The pizza was so good here, after sunday a couple of co-workers and I came again, friday night after the rush where we were met by the hospitable and friendly owner steve. Curteous and warm, steve is truly a man that enjoys his job and shows it with his customers. upon entering, he set us right with our table, cleaning the table away and rushing us some free garlic knots for us to try before we made our order. Now thats service!

Yummy Garlic Knots

Notice the thin layer of olive oil and garlic over each piece

 As you can see, the garlic knots come with a glistening of what could only be olive oil with a strong hint of garlic. moist and light,  the knots were also put in the oven for a few minutes for good measure. by the end of the night, i could still smell the garlic and i’m sure anyone that was within a few feet of me could as well. Now thats good garlic.

Look at the brick oven plus the girl trying to hide from the shot. LOL

Now this pizza joint is a fast food/sit down restaruant type of vibe. You order and pay up front, choosing from either the plethora of different pre-made pizza slices or rolls, or the made to order pizzas and pasta. As you can see, their gourmet pizza slices come in a variety of toppings, from the usual fare of pepperoni and sausage, to others such as the Margherita which have fresh mozzarella, basil, zerty margherita sauce, parmigiano, with extra virgin olive oil. All of which is put into the brick oven to heat for several minutes. the overall affect is that of a tasty slice of new york thin crust pizza thats piping hot and tastes like it was just made to order.

The Margherita Slice

I ordered the Magherita slice.  As you can see, they have different types of cheese generously applied to the whole of the pizza, with basil spread throughout. the slice of pizza came out piping hot, melty and long strips of cheese dangling from my mouth. To my suprise, the pizza was actually somewhat crispy, a welcome suprise.

The Brick Oven slice

My friends ordered the brick oven pizza (pepperoni, salami, italian sausages, mushrooms, olives, onions and resh mozzarella).  You can actually see the mozzarella ( the white patches on the pizza).  this pizza wasn’t crispy, but not suprising due to all the fat and grease coming off the meat, but still a tasty slice for meat lovers.

Mama Jamie and Steve. Suprise mama is asian?

it was a joy to see steve interacting with his patrons, seeing him walk up to his customers asking how their meal was, having repeat customers telling him how much they loved his pizza. definitely one of those mum and pop joints that cater to repeat customers. oh, it also turns out steve is a big James Dean fan, thus his request to have his picture taken in front of the james dean photo.

Hazel Nut Gelato

at the end of the night, after a good few minutes of conversation, steve was generous enough to offer us some gelato to try. wow, first free garlic knots and now gelato!?!?! score. i have to say, the gelato was a little bit of a dissapointment. i ordered the hazel nut, and looking at the gelato, you could tell that perhaps it was left in the freezer a little too long. the gelato was a little hard to scoop, showing in the layers of gelato and the freezer burn taste. the sample of blueberry i tried was much better, it being the best selling so obviously had not been in the freezer as long as the others. But hey, its free right?!?! best bet for you if you feel like a little desert is to sample all of them first, then make your decision. The worker was more than happy to help us with that. The blue berry was very good overall though.

Overall, great pizza. the gelato leaves alittle to be desired, but hey, i go to a pizza place to get great pizza, and thats exactly what you get here at Mamma’s brick oven pizza plus a good helping of friendly hospitality.

Food: 4 outta 5 stars

Hospitality from steve the owner: 5 outta 5 stars.

(626) 799-1344

Waiola Shave Ice

Click for a better view of the menu!

This original location (there is two in all) is found on a small side street on whats pretty much one of the local corner shops. there you can buy all your small little snacks and drinks. the side window however is where the action really is. on a sunny and warm day in hawai’i (which is plenty and often!) you’ll find lines and lines of people outside waiting to devour this nice cold chilly treat.

One of the locals biking to get some shave ice

My cousin, as the local that has been here before, already knew what i wanted. it was to be the small cup with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the bottom, followed by mochi balls, shaved ice topped with pineapple and strawberry syrup and a nice thick dash of Li Hing Mui powder to top it all off.

Conclusion. absolutely delicious and refreshing. As you can see, the shaved ice is so finely carved, that it resembles not so much shavings as more like a snowy powder. the result of which, applied with a generous amount of fruit syrup ( in this case pineapple and strawberry), you’ll realize that every single part of the shaved ice is drenched with flavor, tasting more like ice cream/popsicle then anything else. The syrup is itself was strong and well balanced, covering up any possible ice taste.  Topped on the shave ice, is Li Hing Mui. its a traditional chinese food, made from salty dried plum. In the bottom picture, you can see it as a red powder on top of the shave ice. From wiki, “The li hing mui is said to be an acquired taste because it has the combination of sweet, sour, and salty taste. Some people also say that it tastes tart, and some even tangy.” Well that quote is pretty much spot on. I’ve had the actually li hing mui seed plenty of times before, but shamefully i have to say this is the first time i’ve had the powder with ice cream, and i’m so upset with myself that it took me so long to find out!

The syrup penetrates every single part of the shave ice

As i dug deeper down, i finally hit the mochi and the vanilla ice cream. the mochi for those of  you that are not in the “in”, is a glutinous rice which is pounded into a paste and then molded into shape. In this case, the mochi were rectangular shaped. The mochi came out nice soft and slighty chewy, exactly how mochi should be. Along with a nice helping of vanillia ice cream (probably generic store brand), the mochi came out tasting delicious.

You can see the mochi in this pic, probably pinkish from the red syrup

Scoop of vanilla ice cream at the bottom. still want more!

Now combine the vanilly creamy ice cream, soft chew mochi, flavorful shave ice, and the tangy li hing mui powder into one scoop and wow, AWESOME!

Parking lot of waiola

They actually have a parking lot for this place that can handle about 10 cars. must be useful over the weekends. But, now that i think about it, it is a pretty big parking lot for such a small mum and pop joint. Maybe it belongs to someone else?

Oh wells. This place as you probably can already of tell, is great treat. the whole cone cost about 3.50, which is about the cost of a starbucks drink and definitely a good change up from all that caffiene.

I’ll definitely be back here again and i hope i’ve managed to convince some of you that will be heading to oahu hawai’i to hunt this little gem out for yourselfs.

Aloha!!

(808) 949-2269

Yelp site

Shrimp

Hi All. sorry for the recent absence. Work has kept me super busy. I’m sure all of you have been there and understand. =).

As recently as a month or two ago, i headed over to Hong Kong for a friends wedding. While there, i got to experience all the magnificient sites and food that this compact city has to offer.

I have no clue what these could be

One of the many seafood vendors

One of the highlights of the trip was the seafood market. my memory is a little hazy, but i believe this market is called Lei Yue Mun, and can be found along the seafront. This place is amazing. Basically you have a long street with seafood restaurants, along with fresh seafood sellers selling their wares. You go to any of the many seafood restuarants first, and get a table. Then you leave the restaurant (remembering their name) and walk and check out all the seafood stores around it. See some kinda seafood you like from any of the dozen of vendors? ask for it, they’ll tell you what kinda good yummy’s you can cook it into. then tell them the name of the restaurant your at and they’ll pack it and walk it right away to the restaurant where they cook it for you. Talk about FRESH and YUMMY! i can just recall one of my friends (or me) looking into the eye of a wierd looking crustacean and saying to it “hi there, your gonna taste yummy in ma belly” . lol. True story with some ab-libs. hahah.

Here are some of the plethora of seafood we ordered. Stuff i’ve eaten many of times before, plus others that looked wierd cook, and even scary when alive!

Steamed Shrimp

I have no clue what this isWe let our hosts pick our food, them being the more knowledgable about chinese seafood. So we got to try alot of unique ones i've never had before. All i can say is that it was a treat and unique experience eating them all. Of course, the sight of these odd creatures did make me pause a second before eating them, wondering how to bypass all the claws and chitin covered appendages.

Close up of unknown thingie

We got a whole bunch of clams for free cuz we ordered so much!We ordered so much from one particular vendor, they gave us a whole bowl of clams. this picture doesn't do it any justice, but we had dozens upon dozens of clams. All for FREE. FREE i say, FREE!!

[/caption]

These cost over 10 bucks a piece!

 A special treat were these huge oysters. the shell was the size of my entire hand, while the muscle inside itself was about the size of a silver dollar.  They were steamed with some rice noodles and green onion chives spread over the top with a teaspoon of fried garlic on top. the muscles inside where tender with a strong hint of garlic. delicious. It was quite a sticker shock to realize upon paying that each of these oysters cost over $10 US dollars a peice. ouch!

close up. absolutely delicious and huge!

Chili Cheese fries. $4.59

Most of you that have been visiting Yummy Monterey Park food blog probably have come to a certain conclusion of my eating habits by now. That being, i am inescapably and inevitably addicted to fast food! But most of all, i love burgers and fries. Theres something magical about holding that burger in your hand, being able to taste all the various condiments found in a burger, differeniating between lettuce, tomato, onion, meat, bun, ketchup and all the plethora of possible combinations found within a neatly packaged (though sometimes messy) wrapper. And to top it off, whenever you feel like you need a slight change in your taste buds, you can switch off to french fries for a quick salty change.

That being said, i would like to mention one of my all time favorite establishments of the burger domain. The Hats. The hats is pretty much an icon of the 626 area  having three locations in alhambra, monterey park and temple city, including 7 more establishments within southern california.  Their first location was established in 1951, which is quite an achievement for a small burger joint.

The Hat's : corner of Valley and Garfield in Alhambra

If you’ve lived in monterey park or alhambra, you’ve seen it. Its that place on the corner of vally and garfield. the one with all the people in front of it at all hours of the day and night. hahah.

Always a constant stream of loyal patrons

Parking lot in the back.

Their claim to fame is their “world famous pastrami”. ahem. quite a hefty title to go by. i hope they can handle my critique! hahah.

How would i describe ‘The Hat’s’. one word: ALOT…. (or is that two words?!?!?! i never could bother figuring that out. hahah).  for a decent price, they give you alot of food. i typically only order two things from the hats which are their awesome ‘Chili cheese fries’ and their ‘Pastrami burger’. Sounds good already ya?

Eating chili is a messy affair...

As you can see, their chili cheese fries that cost $4.59 is anything but little. sometimes me and my buddies would come here for a late night snack. 3 or 4 of us will tackle this single gigantic monstrosity and barely finish it ( of course its just a midnight snack, so we chose not to eat that much). They serve it with a heaping stash of golden cut fries. They use the thick potato cut style of french fries which allows for a higher proportion of potato taste to fried taste in every single chip, which any french fries connoisseur will know is what makes a frie a good frie. 

Look that that thick chili

Now for the perfection da resistance! the chili. look at dat chili  man! i ain’t talking about no frilly little watered down eat before bedtime chili. I’m talking about a heart attack inducing, takes an hour to slide down your throat, can’t sleep with your girlfriend type of chili. Absolutely marvelous. the chili is thick, with plenty of of chunks of ground meat in every bite. the texture is what chili should be, the chili itself isn’t spicy, but has a strong and vapid smell to it, and the color of it is a nice bold cyan red that in my opinion gives the chili a even more pleasant appearance. On top of the chili is a handful of cheddar cheese that melts into the chili giving it even more flavor and fat to go along with your already clogged up arteries. PERFECT!

Patrami burger. dinner for two. $6.99

Now if we really want a meal, i also order a pastrami burger. At 6.99, its pretty expensive considering a burger iself is around 2.00, that would mean the extra pastrami they heap onto the burger is another 4 or 5 bucks. pricey…. i didn’t know the going rate for pastrami was that high. hahah.

As you can see, its pretty big, usuall good enough to split into two. Its a typical burger, however as you can see they add quite alot of pastrami onto it. enough that i can’t quite exactly put my mouth over the entire burger. i gotta tackle it in two bites. lol. the pastrami is overall pretty good. Sometimes i get good moist pastrami and other times i’ve had some lackluster pastrami that was a little on the dry so, so overall its a hit or miss on their part. That being said, even when the pastrami is a little too dry, you could still smell and taste the pastrami, indicating they have quite a good recipe in terms of seasoning and curing the beef.

Stop by sometime, you are definitely in for a treat!

4 outta 4 stars!– Gotta try it!!

The menu and location can be found online their website.

http://www.thehat.com/index.htm
Website

You’ve seen it before. You’ve wondered whats the hype. You’re curious about whats inside. Why that name? and what makes it so intriguing? Dare you go in? or should you just sit back into your nice cozy car seat and drive on by, making a mental note inside your head to visit this place the next time you are free…. like you say you would always do.

I am indeed referring to Bahooka’s, the restaurant with the interesting name and even more interesing outdoor decor. Looks part hawaiian tiki hut, partial robinson crusoe hideaway. Thumbs up for a restaurant that delivers on ambiance. You could tell that the owners of this restaurant wanted to create a special environment for their guests, that of a tropical polynesian paradise, and i do say they nailed that right on the head. Even from the outside, you’d notice the tropical palmtrees and playful fixtures such as the gigantic cruise ship blow horn outfront.

Entering inside is a completely different experience. Everywhere you walk, you see dark wooden furniture, probably mahogeny i’m guessing, with fish tanks. tons of fish tanks filled with an assortment of aquatic creatures from fishies to turtles. From the ceilings dangle shanty colourish lanterns and plastic parrots, anchor chains and wooden buckets. All the while you wonder, am i in a polynesian tiki hut? or the port bow cabin of a pirate ship?

We were promptly seated, slow for a friday night, they were setting up it seems for a birthday party, yet still very few patrons for this time of night. Walking to our table was a treat in itself, as our entire party could not keep our eyes from jumping from the left of the room, to the right of the room, to up top at the ceiling… so many things to see!!!

our table, wooden, was propped up by a gigantic link sea chain. we ordered drinks. what sounds good for our co-worker that just arrived from holland? how about a BAHOOKA BOWL (VODKA). it has flames in it. that sounded good. 20 dollars? sounds pricey, but it feeds two. okay, we’re game.

WOAH!!! its really on fire. how cool is that. omg…. this drink is strong…… we can’t finish it. okay.. we need help guys. this thing is fruit punch tasty and getting us tossed. Its freakin’ strong, and sooo worth the 20. what? you can’t drink our drink because your drink was so good and strong your tossed too? pffft. and you call yourself a mexican… tsk.

oooh, look, foods here. heres your salads. howz it? looks like regular salad to me. bahooka’s special salad dressing? tastes like a lighter version of thousands island dressing to me, but the girls liked it alot. my clam chowder which cost an extra 75 cents was okay. average by all accounts. It had medium thickness with a few half clams here and there, however the overall taste of the meal was lacking.

okay… now here’s the real food. we ordered from the bahooka’s special which was roughly 20 dollars a plate.

i ordered the bbq ribs and 6 oz new york steak (medium well) with a yam. the bbq ribs were pretty good. they had a good amount of meat on the bones, and though the meat didn’t fall of the bones as many other bbq restaurants would claim is the only wayy bbq ribs should be, the meat itself was moist and tender and flavorful even prior to adding any bbq sauce to it. the only gripe i had was that they only gave you a tiny cup of bbq sauce. you couldn’t exactly bombard your ribs with bbq sauce but rather only spread it over one or two sides. next time, i’ll ask for more sauce because the sauce is pretty good itself and you can’t call it bbq without getting your hands a little bit dirty.

The steak itself was average. as you can see, they did a nice job in grilling the steak, but to be honest it didn’t taste like it was really grilled. i’m guessing they may have panned fried it most of the way then finished it off with a quick grill…. or those could be painted on grill marks (kinda looks like it ya? lol) overall,l i wasn’t stoked about the steak. typical steak that was rubbery at times and had some flavor but nothing to write home about. the yam was well…. a yam…. nothing special, if you like yams, you’ll probably enjoy this soft and palatable sweet potato.

my friend ordered the teriyaki chicken. i didn’t get to try it, but just looking at that overall brown color and how she had this smirk on her face as she only managed to finish less than half the chicken, she didn’t like it that much. awwww.. its okay. your too buzzed to notice that chicken ain’t great anyways.

oh wait… what do we hear? someones birthday and the waiters are singing a happy birthday song to them. awww. how typical. what…? its not my birthday dude. no, don’t tell the waiter its my…. sheeeesh….

oh hey, at least we got this FREE awesome flaming shaved ice desert for my *cough cough* birthday . how lets taste see…. it tastes like….. ice…. wow. how cheap. the red and blue coloring was exactly that. coloring, we could not taste anything at all except ice. at least we could have some of that pineapple, which i must say is absolutely ripe and delicious. yay for free desert on my fake birthday!

overall.. .like many people have mentioned before, Bahooka’s is not really a place for the food. its for the ambiance, its for the curiosity, its for the strong drinks and decent prices, and just maybe, just maybe, its for the bbq ribs, extra sauce on the side.

Thanks for checking out Yummy Monterey Park. Look forward to seeing you again soon for another one of my ramblings. =)

4501 Rosemead Blvd
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 285-1241

3 outta 5 stars for the food
5 outta 5 stars for the unique environment and decor

With so many delicious foods that this event has to offer, I had to (as a famous and respected food critic. cough) diverge from our usual 626 food and show you all the delicious and greasey culinary delights of the LA county fair. The LA county fair is going on from sept 5th to sept 28th 2008. thats right, its happening RIGHT NOW. so what are you waiting for? its at the pomona fairplex and only 20 minutes drive from the 626 area. go go go. here the link to the website with directions, admission prices, and all the plethora of different eats. be sure to look at dates and times since they are closed on mondays and tuesdays, not to mention the special concerts and events happening throughout the next few weeks.
http://www.lacountyfair.com/2008/index.asp
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Lets start off with some of pictures of the fairplex. parking is $10 for general admission. If you arrive after 5 pm on wednesday or thursday, the admission is only $5!!!! With that being said, me and my poor co-workers came around 6pm after work on wednesday. be sure to bring a light jacket as its starting to get chilly later on at night.

Blooming Onion. Absolutely delicious

Yummy. Blooming onion for $7 with ranch dressing. a good deal and everyone in our group loved it. lightly battered and perfectly fried. a must have on your trip. This sucka is pretty big, can easily feed 5 or so people until you don’t wanna eat no more.

three different tacos

carne asada, pastor, and chicken soft tacos. ehhh. it was so so, for 2 dollars a piece, i was expecting more. Frankly, i could of gotten tastier tacos from any of the local taco trucks in east LA.

Jumbo Hot dog. $8. not too shabby. its a typical hot dog with the various regular fixings like ketchup, onions, relish etc. WHile been humongous, that was the extent of how great it was. Go to your local costco’s for a cheaper dog that tastes almost as good. That being said, it was still a well made and good tasting hot dog, just nothing special about it.

Dissapointing nachos. I call them YUCKchos.

Nachos were YUCK!. chips were kinda pathetic. I was hoping for some home made chips, maybe deepfried right before hand. These chips seemed to be the type you get out of a bag. The cheese was so so. no one touched them so they got soggy real quick. overall a big dissapointment.

Pulled pork and fries. ~ $7.50. this was actually suprising. when my friend brought the food to us, i only had one question on my mind “wheres the bbq sauce?” the pulled pork burger was alright in itself, but this sucka would of been plenty of times better if it came with bbq that drenched the meat. thats how its suppose to come right? without the bbq sauce, it just seemd a tat too dry.

one of the numerous taco stands scattered around the fairplex.

the night time views were spectacular. be sure to go on the lift that takes you up and across the fairgrounds. the ride itself costs about 3.50 per person and gives you a highrise view of the entire fairground. This should definitely be one of the things on your to-do list.

the beer bar is on the other side.

they also have a sizeable wine tasting section in the fair. on one side, they had wine, the other side had a bar that sold various beers and alcoholic beverages from around the world. If memory serves me correct, each wine taste is $3 dollars. ( or it could be $6). huh….. guess my memory starting to suck now eh?

Cholesterol in a bun!

i had to try this… deep battered deep fried whitecastle cheeseburger.

errrgh….. i love fried stuff… but this thing almost gave me a heart attack. every single bite, i felt grease and fat just sliding down my throat. it was not a pretty sight. lol. hey. you only live once right?!!?!?

a little too salty and not enough alchie!

Margarita. I didn’t like it. too salty, not enough alcohol. ON the plus side, they had a live mariachi band playing for the audience.

Rocky Road Fudge

Big slab of chocolate fudge. $7.

You must try the australian potato fries. basically they are potatos cut into slices and put in batter and deep fried. i guess they are kinda like french fries, but they have a different type of batter and coating that makes it uniquely special. quite a popular side order in australia and one i use to enjoy quite alot when i used to live there. unfortunetly i didn’t order any, even though it was on my to-eat list. sorry, but that white castle burger was slowly killing me and not in the good kinda killing way…. whatever that means.

Churro. $3.00. yummy.

Turkey legs. couldn’t order one cuz i was dying from all the fried food from earlier, but i had it at other fairs and its one of the highlights of the trip. be sure to share. cuz these suckas are HUGE!!!.

wow. this fair was huggggggge. 5 hours was not enough to explore indepth all that it had to offer. besides all the differents foods available (in which i only showed you a tiny portion of), they have artisans fair selling everything from candles to umbrellas. they have numerous rides and games where you can win prices ( the games were actually pretty expensive to play). they had attractions like a hawai’i themed room showing exotic flowers with live dancers doing the hula. too much to talk about. all i gotta say is GO! don’t miss out. go, have fun, and give me a shout out on how good it was.

lates.

5 outta 5 stars.

A must go.

From sept 5th to sept 28th, 2008 (excluding mondays) and tuesdays

http://www.lacountyfair.com/2008/index.asp