Pinkberry

Pinkberry
West LA (Olympic Collection)

This is the healthy yogurt chain that started a over $1,000 worth of parking tickets. Photography is forbidden at these outlets. There are only two flavors green tea and vanilla. But if you want a twist it ONLY comes in the LARGE size (easily with toppings can exceed $10! I found that very annoying. I got the small green tea with one topping and that was almost $5.

The floor design and items sold are very cute. Service was fast and the toppings were fresh but I thought a bit pricey. You had choice of chopped up fruits and dry items from kiwi, strawberries, mango to coco puffs, chocolate chips etc. The yogurt itself in the original flavor is slight sour but the green tea is very refreshing.

I had the fortune to try Red Mango, the yogurt from which Pinkberry is based upon. I like them better and you can find them from the California Roll and Sushi chain sold by the ounce and much more affordable and tasty. There is a blog entry comparing both Pink Berry and Red Mango at LA Eater's blog using photos and doing a side by side comparison. After reading some things, they are banking on the advance work and research as well as success from the Pinkberry fame. Now it has multiple locations in Los Angeles area and an outpost in Chelsea on the East Coast in New York.

7 forks out of 10 forks
Atmosphere-clean and modern with light colors
Attitude--little snooty with the "no photos allowed" and why cannot they allow Small/Medium sized TWIST-half green tea/half regular ????
Price--pricey (especially when you add on an extra topping or two)

Sushi Mac--in West Los Angeles

Sushi Mac
West LA 9.15.07

This Sushi place is no nonsense with everything being $2.75 from nigiri, appetizers and maki rolls. With Sushi Mac, sushi is affordable for the masses unlike the usual $7-16 designer rolls and maki prices. Very clean and we went to one of the locations out of three in West Los Angeles. Very clean with two sushi chefs, one server (serves tea, gets you the bill and clears your space) and we were seated at the sushi bar area. There is a helpful chart that aids you in calculating how much your bill will be.

We tried some nigiri pieces and but particularly loved the unagi, hamachi and mackerel. The hamachi was delectable and very fresh. The spicy salmon maki was a big hit with us. The sushi mac special meatball (was nothing to write home about). Some of the other fried stuff was alright.

We were served the tea and water but the soy sauce, gari and wasabi was placed in front of you (self serve style). When we wanted more sushi I just ordered with the sushi chef in Japanese. (One thing I noticed while in LA there are native Japanese at Japanese restaurants. Not something you see a lot of on the east coast).

I would come again for the unagi, spicy salmon roll, hamachi nigiri! We need this place in Boston!

9 forks out of 10 forks

*atmosphere -simple, clean

*food ---overall fresh and quick

*price---cannot be beat at $2.75 for every plateful of food

Versailles in Culver City (Cuban food)

Versailles Restaurant

10319 Venice Blvd, Los Angeles /(310) 558-3168

Last night I met up with my friend KK from Chicago and TL (who now lives in the Bay Area). So we met up near my friend's place to eat at Versailles Restaurant known for their affordable prices, big portions and good Cuban food. There is a location in Culver City about a 1 minute drive from my friend's digs.

For a thursday night, it was not too crazy when we got there at 7pm. But within minutes the dining room lit up. A lot of red is used for the atmosphere, dim lighting and red splashed walls. When they had a birthday party, they turn off the lights and blow a whistle. (The first time it happened I thought it was rolling electricity or we lost electricity in the restuarant.)

Because we were forewarned by my friend, we only got two dishes and a pitcher of sangria. The sangria had alot of ice but I thought it was decent. It was not the best not the worst. The red wine, fruit and flavors were good but nothing stellar. We were served a little basket of lightly garlic flavored toast. We shared the #1 Pulled Pork and #6 a Popular Chicken dish and a pitcher of Sangria. For a party of 3 with flan we only paid $15 a person including tip. I am not a plantains fan but theirs was unbelievably good! (We thought that was a bargain!) Despite having only dessert, two dishes and a pitcher of sangria we were not able to finish everything! Their sangria was nothing to write home about but hit the spot. I enjoyed the pork and the chicken dishes.

#1-Lechon AsadoCuban Style Roast PorkCLASSIC CUBAN ROAST PORK MARINATED IN VERSAILLES' UNIQUE GARLIC MOJO CRIOLLO SAUCE ROASTED TO PERFECTION
9.95

#6-Famoso Pollo Versailles-Versailles Famous Garlic ChickenOUR FAMOUS HOUSE SPECIALTY - JUICY ROASTED HALF CHICKEN MARINATED IN OUR DELICIOUS GARLIC SAUCE GARNISHED WITH SLICED WHITE ONIONS

8 forks out of 9 forks

Service overall good

Food was simple and delicious

Tudor Tea House by Santa Monica Beach and 2nd St Promenade

The Tudor Tea House
1403 2nd Street Corner Second and Santa Monica Blvd) Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone:(310) 451-4107 · Fax: (310) 394-8924

I always have a weakness for afternoon tea as this habit came from college. Today I went to the bridal shower of a college friend AY and it was held in Santa Moonica at the Tudor Tea House. The tea house is nestled after walking into their shop area and the room is very cozy with cute floral wallpaper and knick knacks around the space. We had some Earl Grey and finger sandwiches, scones (warm and delicious) with some quiches. The sweets at the end I was told were very English but a bit too sweet for me. One piece which I thought was chocolate was actually fruit cake. Another piece which I thought was mincemeat pie was actually made of currants.

The service was efficient and very friendly. The servers had the English accent and were attentive to our bridal shower party.

We had a grand ole time and the table next to us had a lovely birthday celebration.

8 forks out of 10 forks

*good service

*authentic English sweets

*good location

Ramayani--Indonesian Cuisine in Westwide area --CA

Ramayani Indonesian Restaurant
1777 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (btw Santa Monica /Massachusetts Ave)
310 477-3315

Small, family run and clean restaurant in the heart of "Little Persia" as my friend MD told me. Usually when she eats there it is not so packed. On the night we went, it was very busy and full (not bad for a Wednesday night).
Pleasantly decorated with efficient service we had a nice meal in the Westwood Area. I only had a few dishes of Indonesian food (Gado Gado) but I wanted to have other stuff. We had lightly sweetened Chrysanthemum tea which MD recommended and I enjoyed.

Sambal Goreng Tahu Buncis string beans and tofu in a seasoned coconut curry-

Cah Kangkung hawaiian watercress quickly stir fried with garlic and chili and shrimp paste and tomatoes

Special Bakmi Goreng indonesian style egg or rice noodles with pork, chicken and shrimp

Bubur Keta Hitam a warm sweet, black wild rice pudding topped with coconut milk

The Sambal was not what a I expected kind of lackluster and not that flavorful with a tepid coconut sauce. I did like the chunks of fried tofu bits (but I enjoy tofu). The watercress was very good with the tomatoes, slight heat (even for medium I did not feel much), barely any shrimp paste (then again I am used to the strong Shrimp paste used in Chinese cooking). The Bakmi Goreng reminded me of lo mein but had Chinese sausage, egg, shrimp and chicken was good but nothing different from what I had before. One big highlight was the rice pudding---it was excellent. Not overly sweet and I enjoyed the texture of the black wild rice.

Prices overall were affordable and portions were generous.

8 forks out of 10 forks.

Pa Pa Walk---the place for Mango Shaved Ice in San Gabriel!

PaPa Walk
227 West Valley Boulevard #148B
San Gabriel, CA
626-281-3889

Literally a nice 3 minute walk away from Jian Jian Restaurant we went for Mango Shaved Ice which I was craving to try after reading CC's blog entry as the place to get it! Even her hubby who dislikes Mangoes enjoys dessert (ok she eats the mango fruit).

We walked into the restaurant with many people enjoying their desserts (they do serve food but CC only comes for the Mango Shaved Ice). The Chinese name is Mango Ice Mountain! (BOY they were not kidding when they say "Mountain".) The walls are laden with many colorful paper with Chinese characters in black ink of all the special dishes! They do have a menu with English Translations (do not fret). I heard some Canto pop in the background.

After a minimal wait, we got our Mango Shaved Ice! It was gorgeous and DELICIOUS!
Topped off with a scoop of mango ice cream, the shaved ice mountain I could taste the mango and condensed milke and heaping amounts of sweetened mango pieces strewn at the base took us a bit of time to eat. In fact, CC said she usually is rolling out of the place in an uncomfortable state. They do have the option of big $8 or small $5 but of course we HAD to get the big!

Xie Xie CC for taking me to PaPa Walk for this mango shaved ice mountain!

9 forks out of 10 forks

Yokohama Japanese Restaurant--Culver City area in Los Angeles

Yokohama Sushi Restaurant 3857 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA 90232 (310) 202-7062

I touched down into LAX and it is almost 9pm. My friends JB and TN pick me up and we have a quick bite at Yokohama near their place in the Culver City area. It is a small place in a plaza. Owned by Koreans (Korean music and servers) they are known for good maki rolls and affordable drinks at the bar.

We shared a Peach Sake Cocktail (more peach and sake so I liked it), some rolls--salmon skin, kappa, spicy tuna, unagi and avocado were some choices we had.

Lots more rice and presentation was decent. Service was attentive and atmosphere was nice very lively and not overly noisy for a Tuesday night.

7 forks out fo 10 forks