better late than never at mo-chica

"better late than never"....like the 40 year old virgin when he finally got laid. "hey, better late than never" when i show up 2 hours late to my friend's birthday party. oops...."better late than never" when heidi montag finally realizes spencer pratt is nuts. yes, some things in life are definitely better late than never, like me FINALLY going to mo-chica contemporary peruvian restaurant located in downtown's mercado la poloma to FINALLY get my grub on. sheesh.

for one who was late to the mo-chica game, the urge to order everything was hard to resist, but i reigned in my urges because i was being treated to a fine meal there and i am not one to take advantage of the situation....though i will if you allow me to. just let me know ok, i am open to it.

i started off with mo-chica's blood red chicha morada ($2) which is purple corn tea. it's a tad too sweet for me and after sipping my friend's maracuya (passion fruit juice), i thought his drink was the better choice. shucks.

i started the grub fest with the ceviche del dia (market price). the huge kernels of peruvian corn and the hard stone-like toasted corn added great texture to the dish. the limey sauce and the sweet sting left on my tongue by the ribbons of raw red onion was a loud gustatory wake up call for my belly. yummy! nothing like good ceviche to start the meal off right.

although there were a ton of intriguing dishes to choose from, the choice was an easy one as i decided on the oxtail risotto ($13)...something about that beefy tail makes me weak in the knees. the small mound of meat heaped in the middle of the cheesy risotto pool was tender to the touch and literally melted in my mouth. the risotto was rather smooth and uber cheesy, requiring a slow-down-and-savor approach to the meal. i was quite satisfied with this dish and burped a loud appreciation for it to the dismay of the well mannered folks that surrounded me.

although i did not wreck havoc on the menu, the two dishes i've tasted thus far at mo-chica has given me more than enough reason to head back for a second tasting. i am glad that i was "better late than never" rather than "a day late and a dollar short." there is something seriously tasty going on in that food court and oh you lucky usc students, it must be crazy busy when school is in session for y'all.

Mo-Chica Contemporary Peruvian Restaurant
3655 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
(213) 747-2141

www.mo-chica.com

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

crunchy lasagna

Italia Express
10250 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 282-0711

price: $
verdict: not worth my time

this place serves standard sbarro-esque fare in a fancy food court up in the century city mall. i ordered their lasagna which wasn't impressive. the lasagna was a bit dry and crunchy. yes, imagine that, dry and crunchy lasagna noodles with dry and crunchy ricotta cheese. strangely enough, for what it was worth, it was fine to eat. ahhh...when i'm in a food court, i don't have any foodie standards. sadness :(

the best thing about italia express was the service i received which bumped it up a notch. i asked the server to give me extra tomato sauce for my lasagna which she happily smothered. i liked the fact that she didn't skimp on my request and was courteous to the finicky customer before me too. thanks lady, the extra sauce softened the crunchiness of the lasagna. but in general, don't eat here unless you need to try out your dentures to see if they work.

where did the moisture go?

Villa Fresh Italian Kitchen
48400 Seminole Dr
Cabazon, CA 92230
(951) 849-5058
www.villapizza.com

price: $
verdict: it's aight

in that particular food court, there's not much to choose from. villa fresh looked like a shiny star out of the lot.

the food is a bit sbarro-esque, but it's decent. the pizzas do have a crazy thick crust to it and it's huge. they also serve the typical fried appetizers like deep fried mozzerella sticks and an egg roll like concoction with pizza filling inside. i just inquired about those...i was at cabazon to do some shopping after all and it didn't make sense to go up in 3 dress sizes by inhaling all these fried foods.

i ended up ordering the lasagna which came with a super garlicky bread roll...they were both tasty. similar to sbarros, they never seem to give enough tomato sauce because half way through the lasagna, the darn thing must have soaked up all the sauce and moisture in the air but it remained dry as hell. where did all that sauce go?!

the food was decent and the bill came out to be $8.81 with a drink. not bad for a carbo recharge as i plowed through a few more stores afterwards.

gulen's grip

Gulen's Greek
10250 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90067

price: $
verdict: not worth my time

gulen's is located in the century city mall...so if you can bypass the oh so enticing panda express, you'd probably meander through the food court and find this place. they also display all their food in saran wrap so you can get an idea of your order. that's really helpful to me because i'm a visual creature.

i ordered the chicken kebab pita today....the taste is alright, though my arteries are probably a bit clogged from it. how do i know? because i discovered that while i was fisting my pita in it's foil cover, a pool of orangey oil collected at the palm of my hand. i had to use plenty of napkins to wipe up this oil spill.

gulen's does not feel like a healthy choice, but if i hunger and find myself yearning for some pita-like meal after arduous shopping, then this is a good place to go.