Cheesecake Factory!

Good old cheesecake factory! My wife for my birthday dinner decided to take me to Cheesecake Factory, and we had a 50 dollar gift card to spend! After work, we drove down to Huntington Beach and the Bella Terra shopping village. This was our first ever visit to this medium sized shopping village which has a beautiful design and upscale attitude without all the upscale shops.

The Cheesecake Factory building has some Mediterranean and Spanish influences with seating inside and outside in a patio area. Although quite busy, we only had to wait 10-15 minutes for a table for 2. We were seated under decorative art on the ceiling and met our pleasant server. Immediately, we were brought our waters and our bread:The white sourdough-ish bread was warm but a little chewy with a crisp crust. The dark rye bread was my favorite of the two. Although it didn't come as "fresh out of the oven", there was a sweet taste to the bread. Again the disappointment came from the too chewy texture.

Next came our appetizers; there was no disappointment here:

Crispy Artichoke Hearts in a garlic and lime sauce

The artichoke hearts were pure deliciousness. Fried to perfection, every single bite had a squirt of sour lime and a hint of garlic with each crunch.

Firecracker Salmon Rolls

Awesome dish. Salmon was cooked perfectly and sat inside the slight bitterness of spinach which was inside a crispy, fried shell with surrounding red cabbage and lathered in a spicy sauce. All the ingredients were fresh and crisp.

We decided to share our main course so we could have room for dessert!

Hibachi Steak

My dad would curse the day someone invented a sweet steak, but my wife and I thought this was a good dish. It was a hibachi steak, 2 asparagus strips and garlic mashed potatoes in a sweet Hawaiian like sauce. The asparagus strips were crisp and fresh, the garlic mashed potatoes had just enough garlic and onions. The steak was perfectly cooked to order at medium rare. It was tender and soft like a fillet mignon, although it did require a sharper knife to cut through (unlike the meat at Cut in my previous review).

Of course, when you go to "Cheesecake" Factory you must have cheesecake for dessert:Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Yummy! What else to say... I have tried 6-7 different cheesecakes in my lifetime from here and none have disappointed. These cheesecakes are not too sweet nor too rich nor too cheesy. Vanilla bean may seem like a plain choice, but it too was excellent. All this food fit just under the amount on our gift card.

The good: Appetizers and Desserts, Bella Terra was beautiful
The bad: Bread
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars, good experience, if it weren't for the bread, I would have given 4.5 stars.

P.S. We have a new car! Review of the 2009 Nissan Sentra coming soon!

Kogi BBQ

Finally, we are able to visit the twitter sensation that is Kogi BBQ. The Kogi truck Verde with Jay taking orders made its way to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, and an impromptu visit was in order. As we arrived in line, we noticed a couple other potential bloggers taking pictures, the biggest of which was Kayte from About.com. Also making her rounds was Kogi's demographic analysis person (will have to apologize, forgot your name!). The line stood still for 30 minutes while we awaited a health inspector to conduct his business. All things a go, the line started moving quickly. The aroma of Korean BBQ sauce filtered through the air. So what did we eat?

Kim chi quesadillas

Interesting taste. Kim chi and cheese in a tortilla, don't forget the rooster sauce! My wife's favorite by far, for me it was maybe just a tad too eclectic. I am not a big kim chi fan, so I would prefer a good old chicken quesadilla from El Torito.
2 Spicy Pork tacos and 2 Short Rib tacos
Now these were more my cup of tea. Kim chi and ordered meat in 2 small tortillas, and again don't forget the rooster sauce! Perfectly cooked dish, however again, the Korean and Mexican mix just didn't send my palate into ecstasy; it was a little much on the kim chi for my tastes. Not bad, but I would much prefer the Adobada tacos from Ensenada's King taco anyday. Add a bottled water and the cost for the night was just under 16 dollars.

Overall, this was a good experience and I do recommend trying the Kogi BBQ truck at least once, for the atmosphere and to try food you have never tried before. However, if I am to go again, I would not order the same thing ... maybe the sliders next visit? Taking suggestions for the next visit.

The good: Atmosphere, diverse patrons
The bad: just too much kim chi in the dishes for me
Overall: if you love kim chi, you will definitely love Kogi BBQ.

P.S. New digital camera in use, Olympus Stylus 1050 SW. Will be reviewing this after one month's use.
P.P.S. To all my friends, you don't see this often, but here's me in my dorky pose!Say Buh bye to the Queen Mary at night!

Brithday Dinner - CUT

Ah, 5 blog posts in and already we have a visit to a 1 star Michelin guide restaurant. For my brother and my birthday (July 14th and July 23rd), we went to the highly reviewed CUT, an upscale steakhouse in Beverly Hills, 1 block away from the famed Rodeo Drive. This is my second time at the restaurant, but only the first time for many of our party members.

Cut is a ultra modern medium sized restaurant in the sleek Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire (even the bathrooms were stunning). As anywhere in downtown Los Angeles or Beverly Hills, parking is difficult to find, however, valet parking is 12 dollars after validation but across the street is a parking lot that cost 7 dollars.

Upon first entering the area for valet parking, it is immediately evident the class and elegance of the Beverly Wilshire; there a Lexus, here a Lotus, there a Mercedes, further along a Hummer limousine, and at the end of the driveway sat a Lamborghini. Dress code ranged from sexy short dresses to elegant long dresses, sports coats to t-shirts and jeans.

On our seating and as the menus were passed around, guess who joined us for dinner?Angelina Jolie

and Susan with Terrance Howard? (Bet the paparazzi missed that one!)

The ambiance of the restaurant was slightly comical and strange in that the backs of the menus were several pictures of celebrities and high above us on the wall were large almost life-size framed photographs of my all-time favorite duo (big time sarcasm); Heidi and Spencer Montag looking down over us, practically drooling over our food.

Now, what you have waited for, the food! With the 8 of us there we were able to try 3 appetizers, 8 steaks (some repeats), 5 side orders and 3 desserts. Not to mention my father and I tried 2 mixed cocktails. The cocktails at 14 dollars each were not worth their taste in my opinion. Briefly, one tasted a little sour with a vanilla aftertaste, my drink was Tequila mixed with blackberries in a martini glass and tasted like pure alcohol with a hint of blackberry.

The appetizers were:
1. Garlic Corn Salad - my dad's favorite appetizer, I had very little of it and can not give you a great description other than very fresh, very crisp.
2. Tempura style soft shelled crab - absolutely excellent appetizer, teasing you with crispy tempura crab in a spicy and tangy sauce reminding me of the spicy mayo spread Puerto Ricans use on their bread,

3. and the one we actually remembered to get a picture of:Maple Glazed Pork Belly, Asian Spices, Sesame–Orange Dressing, Bartlett Pear Compote

This was my favorite of the appetizers, but not as tasty as previous. The maple glaze made for a sweet treat, the pork belly oily and tender with a crisp skin.

The main course: I have a picture of my plate:

Japanese Wagyu Ribeye with sauteed spinach on the bottom and squash barely seen on top

The wife's plate:USDA prime, Illinois corn fed, aged 21 days bone-in Ribeye with fingerling potatoes, spinach and squash as side dishes

Overall, the steaks that were passed around the table also included, the American "Kobe" beef, the Nebraska corn fed ribeyes, the Nebraska corn-fed Sirloin. The steaks were grilled in a 1200 degree oven, and all of them were too charred for my tastes. It was impossible to scrape the charred areas off the steak to enjoy the rightful juiciness a steak should be. Going down the list: the Illinois corn fed USDA prime was very meaty and thick, cooked to the ordered medium, and pretty tough. It was also dry and overall tasted like something we could cook ourselves on our grills in the backyard or even worse. The Nebraska corn-fed ribeyes were less tough and slightly juicier/more tasty. The American Kobe was my favorite from the previous time I ate here, is a good solid tasting steak, again too charred, but the taste rivals some of the best steaks out there otherwise. The Japanese wagyu is pure buttery, melt in your mouth piece of meat. If you like your steaks fatty and the fat marbalizing over the muscular meat, then this is the cut for you. It was by far my favorite of this visit, but in my opinion, was ruined by the charred taste.

The side dishes included fingerling potatoes (good tasting potato dish with herbs and spices), tempura onion rings (thin onion rings deep fried in light tempura batter), squash which was salty and peppery, garlic sauteed spinach which tasted good, but no where near the taste of Indonesian kankun., and lastly the creamed corn, which is no where near as good as Lawry's creamed corn.

But of course, the desserts were probably the best tasting of our whole dining experience on this visit.Almond gazette with vanilla ice cream

I didn't get a chance to eat this one, so it must have been good!Creme Bruleed Banana Cream Pie

Good tasting dessert, tasting strongly of banana with hints of creme brulee on a baklava like crust.

And saving the best for last:Baked Alaska

Absolutely excellent. I wish I had eaten this elsewhere so I could compare the taste, but it was definitely tasty and not overly sweet here. At least we ended up the dinner on a good note.

Overall the check came out to 110 dollars per person. Really this visit is not worth the money we paid. The steaks were underwhelming; especially with the charred salty crusts on every single steak. The sides were average. The appetizers were good but not stand-out like the desserts. Would I eat here again? That would be a difficult question, but I would probably have to say probably not. Overall would give it 2.5 out of 5 stars.

The good: Desserts and atmosphere
The bad: charred steaks, average sides, cost

Toko Rame

Last Saturday, we had Indonesian food out, second day in a row! Yummy! We visited for the second time together a little restaurant in Bellflower, CA called Toko Rame, or literally translated "Busy Store". This little restaurant is a halal Indonesian restaurant with likely Muslim owners. It was a scorcher outside, but relief was found inside, not only in their air conditioning but also this wonderful drink:

Es Shanghai - Shanghai Ice

This is a wonderful mix of the different iced drinks you can find in most Indonesian restaurants. It has green jelly, cocunut cubes, tape, green flour strips, jackfruit and ice overlayed with sweet syrup. Although I am not a fan of tape (not sure you want this translation; fermented rice), the taste in this concoction was not overbearing and suited the dessert drink well.

The real food consisted of only two dishes on this day as we ate just the two of us, the first of which was:Siomay Bandung

This is the first time we ate this dish at this restaurant. We ate a very similar dish the previous time we ate at the restaurant, called tahu camput surabaya (surabayan mixed tofu) . The siomay bandung somehow lacked the taste of the first one. However, the peanut sauce was still tasty, and overall good portions make this a good choice to try, although I would reccommend the tahu campur surabaya more. For you stinky bean (pete) lovers, the tahu campur surabaya also had stinky bean!

Our second dish:

Salty and Spicy Fried Fish Fried Rice with Pete (Stinky bean again!)

Any entree with double the fried food and that is spicy will turn out exquisite. And so this dish was. For you stinky bean lovers, the stinky bean on this dish lacked the usual pungent aroma and strong taste and may have been disappointing, however to myself, it made the dish better because it didn't overwhelm the remainder of the tastes. The fried fish is not mixed into the rice in this case; neither is the sunny-side up egg. The acar (vegetable garnish) is spicy without beaing too sour; perfect for my tastes. The white things on the side? They are fried shrimp chips, oh so yummy! They are already tasty on their own, but when they are mixed with fried rice or dipped in peanut sauce or a spicy broth, they taste even better.

The Good: Price including the dessert drink was only 23 dollars including tip. The food was good, but not as sastifying as our first visit.

The Bad: The location is a little ghetto, although close to the 91 freeway. Minimal seating, again maybe 20-25 diners maximum eating together in this room. Food not so spicy today.

Overall: Although the food was not spicy enough for my tastes (neither was the sambal), the food was fairly tasty and cheap. Another 3 stars out of 5 from me. With Indo food being so difficult to find in the area, I am sure we will eat here again in the future and I promise to review different dishes... maybe even some oxtail!

Indo Kitchen

We have had the first travel post, now it is time for the first taste post. My first taste review is of a cozy little restaurant in Alhambra, Indo Kitchen. My wife always says that this place suits her family well (from Surabaya). I have eaten here before and always enjoyed the spice and specific taste of shrimp paste in most of their dishes. This time, there were quite alot of people coming in and out for lunch on this holiday weekend.

Our first dish:

Squid in Spicy Padang Sauce

This was actually a disappointing dish. It was not as spicy as advertised. The squid was well cooked, however the sauce tasted mostly like watered-down tomato paste.

Our second dish:

Kancun Belacan - Hawaiian watercress in sauce of red peppers, garlic and shrimp paste

This dish never disappoints, this time was no different even though not as spicy as usual. It is a unique taste with spice and shrimp paste creating a pungent aroma. Portion size for a vegetable dish is paltry.

Our third dish:Shrimp with Pete (Indo sator bean)

Ah, the wonders of Pete. Indonesian food is full of "smelly" foods that "at least to them" tastes really good; can you say Durian. Pete is another one of these fruits that the Surabayans love putting in everything. WARNING! This bean usually will make you and all your excrements stink for days to come, kind of like asparagus or large amounts of garlic. The pete today was actually weak (maybe previously frozen). The shrimp are full headed with skin-on, so for those who are queasy about eating shrimps whole, it may be an adventure deshelling and beheading the shrimp.

Our fourth dish:

Deep fried frog legs in butter and thick soy sauce

The artery clogger of our lunch, this was an excellent dish. The frog skin slightly crispy with the meat still juicy, the sauce not overwhelming the main dish. Overall, a very simple dish, yet enjoyable.

Our appetizer:

Martabak Telor

This is egg, red and yellow onions, and capers inside a pastry like exterior baked to a crisp. Even though it was listed as an appetizer, it came very last. The little cup on the side is green chile peppers, cucumbers, radishes and red onions; all pickeled.

The good: Today the frog legs and martabak telor were good. Everything else was on par or sub-par. The price was also good, lunch for the five of us was 40 dollars.

The bad: Except for the martabak telor, the portion sizes were rather small on everything we ate.

Note: This restaurant is a tiny hole in the wall restaurant, with enough room for 25 people max eating at one time.

Overall impression: On a five star rating system, would give it a 3 for this visit.