Patty is back!

Patty came back home last Monday night.

Here was her first meal back in the States:

While we were waiting for Patty's luggage at the airport, I asked her what she wanted to eat and she suggested In-N-Out. That's exactly what I wanted as well!

I took Thursday and Friday off this week. We've been pretty much glued to the TV watching the Olympics every day.

For lunch on Friday, we went to Sakana Sushi (Glendale location). We've been going to Sakana for years. They have consistent food and are very generous with their slices of fish (the slices of fish for nigiri and sashimi are maybe 50% larger than most places).

We ordered an Agedashi Tofu ($4.99) and Sakana Special (served w/ miso soup and salad; $9.99). We added fried rice to the lunch for an additional $1.99. The soup and salad came out first, followed by the fried rice. The fried rice wasn't so good - kind of tasteless and mushy.

Next up was the Agedashi Tofu. This item was good although I prefer Kampai's version.

After a few minutes wait, the sushi came out. Here's a pic:

See the monster-sized slices of fish?!? This is nice because we can actually share one piece of nigiri (w/ each of us having one bite).

We were sooooo stuffed after this lunch!

This morning, I had my monthly Washington Street Foundation event. This month's event was our annual community service activity at St. Mary's Food Bank (St. Mary's is the world's first food bank - opening in 1967). We boxed up "Emergency Food Boxes", which are distributed free of charge to those in need. Here are some pics:

For dinner tonight, we went to Davang - one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants. We ordered the following:

• spring rolls (two for ~$2.75)
• lemongrass chicken (~$6.95)
• salt and pepper shrimp (~$6.95)
  

Here are the pics:

The spring rolls were good. The rice paper wrappers on them were still warm, meaning they were freshly made.

The lemongrass chicken was good, although I prefer Little's Saigon's version of this dish.

The salt and pepper shrimp was fantastic! I counted 15 large head-on shrimp. A serious bargain for only $6.95.

Including tax, our meal came out to only $16.75! (and we had leftovers)


Places mentioned:

In-N-Out
various locations

Sakana
20250 N. 59th Avenue
Glendale, AZ 85308

Davang Coffee Shop
4538 N 19th Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85015

LA and San Diego trip

My grandpa passed away recently so Patty and I drove to LA last Thursday to attend his funeral service.

THURSDAY
On our way there, we stopped at In-N-Out for lunch. (Even though we have a store about a mile from us, it's a requirement that whenever we drive to LA, we must go to In-N-Out.)

Doesn't it look like the burger is saying "Eat me..."?

After arriving, we had a snack at Niko Niko Sushi (Redland, CA). We ordered a genki roll (crab, eel, salmon) and inari to go. Both were pretty good.

Later in the night, we went to Victoria Gardens (an outdoor mall in Rancho Cucamonga) to walk around. I wish there was something like this in Phoenix. The most comparable mall here would be Kierland Commons. It's much bigger (and better) than Kierland though. Tempe Marketplace and Desert Ridge don't compare.

Before going back to my parent's house, we stopped by Pinkberry for a green tea yogurt w/ mango. (It was kind of chilly so we ate inside the shop - no pictures allowed.)

FRIDAY
We had a quick lunch at Tea Station. We had luo buo gao (turnip cake), fried taro balls, fried tofu, and gua bao (a kind of "bun" sandwich). We also had a boba tea. The food items were pretty bad (how can you mess up fried food???) but the drink was good.

Here are some pictures:

After lunch, we headed to the Buddhist Mausoleum at Rose Hills for my grandpa's service.
Here's a picture of him...

(Dec. 16, 1911 - Oct. 11, 2007)

Up until his late 80s, he was still riding a moped to get around. He was probably famous in our neighborhood as "the old man with the red scooter"...

After the service, we met up w/ my parents for snacks at Diamond Plaza (in Rowland Heights). We got pastries (can't remember the name of the bakery) and yogurt from Kiwiberry - hover over the pictures for descriptions. I loved the mochi topping on the yogurt...

Here are some pictures:

For a "pre-dinner" snack, Patty and I went to Canaan Restaurant (in the Diamond Plaza Food Court). We had mi fun and won ton soup. Both were good.

SATURDAY
Patty and I drove to San Diego for a short overnight trip.

Our first stop was La Jolla. We walked around the Village and Ellen Scrips Browning Park.
Here are some pictures:

For lunch we went to Curry House. We ordered a pork katsu curry, corn soup, and iced green tea. All of the items were just ok for me.

After lunch we walked around Nijiya Market (which is in the same plaza as Curry House).

We checked into our hotel, took a short afternoon nap, and then headed to the downtown/Gaslamp area. Before leaving, I checked out the Chowhound California board to see what restaurants people were recommending in San Diego. A French place called Cafe Chloe seemed to be mentioned most often so I decided to go there for dinner. We arrived at 5:20pm, right before the dinner rush. By the time we left (around 7), the place was packed. It's a nice looking place w/ indoor and outdoor seating. Here are a few pics:

We ordered the following items:

• Garlic Shrimp Brochette
  
• Steak and frites w/ a cauliflower gratin
  
• Black Cod w/ pumpkin puree and artichokes
  
• Pomegranate Mimosa
  

After almost twenty five minutes (from the time we placed our order), the Shrimp Brochette arrived. The shrimp were overcooked and lukewarm. Not a good start...

We waited another twenty minutes before our entrees arrived. The steak and frites were lukewarm. The accompanying cauliflower gratin was extremely hot. The black cod was also lukewarm. I'm guessing this was a timing issue where the kitchen was waiting for the gratin to finish.

The steak and frites were just ok. The black cod was slightly above average. The cauliflower gratin and pumpkin puree were probably the best items.

Service was somewhat erratic throughout the meal. Thinking back, we definitely should have mentioned the temperature of the dishes and the overcooked shrimp.

I was pretty disappointed w/ Cafe Chloe. It's a nice place but the food seems overrated.

After dinner, we walked around the Gaslamp area and Horton Plaza.

Next, we headed to Little Italy. We stopped at Cafe Zucchero for a chocolate and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato. We thought the gelato would/should be decent in Little Italy but we were wrong. The texture and flavor of both the chocolate and nociolla was off. Both had a powdery texture and artificial taste.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Saffron for a "post-dessert" snack. We originally wanted sticky rice w/ mango, but the cashier told us that it was only available during the summer months. We ended up getting sticky rice w/ banana instead. It was very tasty!

SUNDAY
We spent the morning at Balboa Park. It was beautiful - I wish we had something like this in Phoenix. It's so sad - I can't think of any major "attractions" in Phoenix. Whenever people come to visit, we end up taking them to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, etc. Why are we still here?!?

As we were walking back to the car, we saw condos (directly across from the park) w/ a banner - "Starting from the 300's". We were going to check them out but upon closer inspection, we saw that they had studio, 1br, and 2br units. 300k for a studio?!? Given it's a prime location, but still...we passed and went to lunch instead.

For lunch we went to Dumpling Inn. I've been to Dumpling Inn twice before, on previous visits to San Diego.

We had spicy beef noodle soup, marinated cucumber, and xiao long bao. The beef noodle soup was good, although the beef was not quite as tender as it should have been. The marinated cucumbers were great - the best thing I ate during our trip. The xiao long bao were good - not the best I've had, but good.

After lunch we headed back to Phoenix. It looks like we got out of there just in time! (raging fires in San Diego)

Brain dump

Wow - it's been over a week since my last blog entry! I'll "blame" it on the following:

• being sick (that's a pretty good excuse right?!?)
• The History Channel - for sucking me into a re-broadcast of the miniseries "Band of Brothers" (it originally aired on HBO in 2001 but this was my first time watching it)
• and most of all...good old PROCRASTINATION! =)

Here's a brain dump...

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About a week ago, Patty and I went to Little Saigon for dinner. It was our second time there. We ordered Spring Rolls, Banh Xeo, and Lemongrass Chicken.

The spring rolls were fantastic. They were freshly made and served with a delicious peanut/hoisin sauce (I also tasted a hint of coconut in the sauce which made it even better).

Next up was the Banh Xeo. When the server (the owner) first dropped off this dish, I immediately wondered if she had mistakenly heard that I wanted two orders. Most places serve one banh xeo but Little Saigon serves two per order. It was really good - much better than the one I had at Noodles Ranch a few weeks ago (see my Noodles Ranch posting here). Here's a pic (FYI - this is what Banh Xeo should look like):

The Lemongrass Chicken was also great. We first tried this dish on our last visit and were blown away by the fantastic flavors.

The rice (Jasmine rice) was also good.

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I made halibut for the first time last week. I found this recipe for grilled halibut w/ a butter/lime/cilantro/garlic sauce. Although I overcooked the fish a tiny bit (oops!), it turned out pretty good - the sauce was really tasty.

This past weekend, I made french toast for the first time (using this recipe). I'd say it was a success for my first time. Here's a pic:

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I'd been reading many good things about Hana Japanese Eatery, a place that opened a few months ago in mid-town Phoenix. Patty and I went there for dinner last Friday.

We ordered:
- seaweed salad
- salmon nigiri
- Caterpillar roll
- Hana Pecha roll (shrimp tempura, crab, asparagus)

Sorry, no pictures - we sat at the sushi bar and I felt strange about taking pictures in front of the sushi chef/owner.

We were given a complimentary "poke chip" appetizer. Basically, some poke on top of a chip. It was good, although I think it would be better if they made the chips smaller.

The seaweed salad was good, though I thought it was a bit expensive for what you got.

The nigiri and rolls were all good. The fish tasted (and looked) very fresh.

Patty and I had the same opinion - everything was good but we weren't particularly "wowed" by anything.

For dessert, we went to Mary Coyle's, a classic ice cream shop right across the street from Hana.

We ordered a cup of chicken noodle soup (for my cold) and a brownie sundae. I forgot to take pictures this time. Both items were good.

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Yesterday I met up w/ Matt and Hyung-Joo for lunch. Matt was in town (he lives and works in Taiwan) and I hadn't seen him since May of last year.

We went to delux, a place I've been to many times before. In my opinion, they have the best hamburger in Phoenix.

Matt and I both ordered the delux Burger. Hyung-Joo had a fish sandwich. We got a basket of mixed fries (regular and sweet potato) to share. For drinks, we all had root beer (on tap).

The regular fries were pretty good but I thought the sweet potato fries were a bit soggy (they are usually very crispy). Here's a pic:

The burger was great, as usual. Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the burger. I didn't try it but Hyung-Joo and Matt said that the fish sandwich was really good.

We met up again for dinner (w/ Patty this time) at Bravi, a fast-casual Italian restaurant. Patty and I have been to Bravi many times before - it's one of our "go-to" places for good, reliable, and reasonably priced Italian food.

We ordered the following to share:

• Sweet Gorgonzola and Pear Salad w/ Candied Pecans
• Spaghetti w/ Marinara Sauce
• Lasagna al Forno
• Italian Sausage and Carmelized Onion Pizza
  

Everything was great, as usual. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food (must be getting old...).

It was great to see you guys! It's always nice "re-connecting" with friends that you haven't seen in a while.

Hyung Joo - I'm still cracking up from "What's the biggest Japanese holiday?"
Matt - see you again in a few weeks! (Patty and I will be going to Taiwan next month)

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I know, probably a mess to read and follow but at least I'm caught up! WOO HOO!

Red Robin

How ironic. Right after I post about my dislike of chain restaurants, I end up going to one. It was however, one of those in the five percent of good chains, Red Robin. Patty and I go out for burgers about once a month, and it's usually either at In-N-Out or Red Robin. Delux is another one of our favorite burger places, but it's farther away so we don't go there as often. We had a certificate for a free burger (for Patty's birthday), and decided to use it for lunch this past Sunday.

We ordered a Banzai Burger, an Apple Harvest Chicken Salad, and a Freckled Lemonade.

Not much to say about the burger and drink. They were great, as usual.


The salad was a new menu item. It sounded good in the menu description:

"Fresh field greens tossed with juicy grilled chicken, diced apples, candied walnuts and Goat cheese. Topped with sliced apples and a dijon vinaigrette. It's sophisticatedly fun. Better than the farmers market."

I thought it was just ok. There was quite a bit of iceberg lettuce mixed in with the field greens and the apple didn't seem too fresh. I think the chicken was a pre-made product (i.e. Tyson Grilled Chicken Strips) but Patty thought it was pretty good. We'll pass on this next time...


Since we were redeeming a birthday certificate, our server brought out a complimentary dessert sundae. It was a nice treat (on top of the free burger).