ob bear for the chicken win!

i do not advocate drowning one's sorrows in alcohol, but if you MUST haze your memory or dull the pain brought upon you by a disgruntled god(s), then i suggest you drown yourself in a huge pitcher of hite beer at ob bear. that's right, the bitterness of life can be momentarily forgotten here as you experience all levels of delicious excess.

accompanied by danny of kung food panda fame and d, my usual eating partner in crime, we spent a night drinking, chatting, and sweating as the food burned our tongues whilst the beer simultaneously cooled it...as i had remembered, the ob bear menu did not disappoint and was lavish and craveable as usual. but not wanting a food gut on top of a beer gut, we ordered modestly for two lean boy bellies and my very pudgy roaming one.

we started off with the infamous ob bear fried chicken. the chicken skin was fried to such a delicate crisp that it reminded me of savory tissue paper that one finds in a child's art project. the chicken meat itself was moist and slightly salty and did not require any condiments with it. the finely shredded cabbage slaw with the thousand island dressing was intriguingly delicious as well. i found myself plucking strands of cabbage to eat in between my bites of chicken.

the spicy chicken wings were torturously delicious as well. the sweet heat stung my tongue like a million furious korean bees. as i ate, i inhaled and exhaled feverishly to temper the heat, but to no avail. trying to tame that sweet heat was like dousing fire with gasoline...not going to work. as my dining partners sweated the spiciness out of their systems, i just whined "ohhhmyyygoood this is spicy!" but sooooooo good. very craveable and a must order as well when you visit ob bear.

danny then suggested an order of korean blood sausage. since i've had multiple versions of blood encased in a tube from other cuisines, i was intrigued to sample the korean version. once i nibbled on a slice, i immediately fell in bloody love. i absolutely enjoyed the noodles incorporated in the blood sausage. each bite was springy AND spicy. dangit, everything we ate sans the fried chicken were spicy. i was pretty ready for a tongue transplant at the end of this meal.

although my tongue burned slowly from all these spicy eats, the bottomless glass of hite beer momentarily dulled the heat and my worries. ob bear is a place where sorrows do not exist and the only thing i have to worry about is whether there's enough belly real estate to sock down all these delicious spicy eats. what a damn fine meal i had here...and thanks danny for your company!

OB Bear
3002 W. 7th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 480-4910

price: $$
verdict: omg, i love it!

r.i.p. pioneer chicken

memorial day.

another one has fallen.

r.i.p. pioneer chicken. although you weren't as tasty as i remembered you from my childhood, i still felt sad when i saw the fence come up a few months ago. after all, even though my palate has changed, we were still old friends afterall. perhaps i can find your cousin up north when i want to reminisce.

Pioneer Chicken
4376 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323) 663-2441

ob beer at ob bear

fried chicken use to mean pioneer chicken with it's greasy hard casing, or the original fried chicken at kfc with it's crispy crust. then you find some money in your pockets so you go to roscoe's for some fried chicken and waffles. but boys and girls, when you talk about well executed fried chicken that elevates this poor dead bird into a delicacy, then we have ob bear fried chicken. word.

not too long ago, i found myself hankering for some fried chicken and beer, which i am apt to hanker for once in a while since i do house a rather fat, hairy, balls scratching mini me inside this roaming belly of mine. when that happens, i try to cross off the craving and a "must try" eatery at the same time. booyah!

enter ob bear, a pub eating, beer slinging kind of joint. the establishment was a bit intimidating at first because i was reminded once again that i'm not korean. say whut?! but i like kimchi so much.....

but the server noticed the perplexed look on my face and brought out the english version of the menu which was highly decorated with pooh bears. i appreciated the attempt to bring signs of familiarity back into my eating experience cuz pooh is soooooo american. or perhaps it's THE bear of ob bear. i dunno.

first up was their crispy fried chicken. my first bite generated an image of savory phyllo dough masquerading as chicken skin. i kid you not when i say that this is the lightest, airiest, crispiest chicken skin i've ever had. the chicken itself was moist and flavorful and easily pulled away from the bone. if you come here thinking you'll be getting the same old fried chicken, you may be pleasantly suprised. sweetened cubed radishes were given as a side as well as shredded cabbage with thousand island-esque dressing. this is like the best beer food ever!

we were also given a complimentary leeks pancake with soy sauce for dipping. the crust was formed just right and the sweetness of the leeks contrasted nicely with the salty dipping sauce.

we also ordered the spicy squid. the noodles came as a separate order but everything gets mixed in to create a fantastically spicy dish.

in this hot red mess are chunks of squid, zucchini slices, rice cake, onions, and green onions. it's rather spicy but well worth it. my beer drinking, fried chicken eating meal felt complete with this red noodly burn.

i dug this place A LOT. i can imagine endless nibblings throughout the night as you throw down a few bottles of ob beers. great chicken and spicy squid dish and although pricier than the typical korean restaurant, it is pretty fab. i will be back again.

O B Bear

3002 W 7th St

Los Angeles, CA 90005

(213) 480-4910

price: $$

verdict: omg, i love it!

fried chicken on a waffle plate

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles
830 N Lake Ave
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 791-4890
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

i know the weather must be changing and a new season is upon us because i went to target on sunday and saw halloween AND christmas crap in the aisles. SHIT, the weather is cooling down quick and my blubber better be thick because i detest feeling cold. so i pinched my muffin top to check if i'll be properly insulated but ended up going to roscoe's chicken and waffles right afterwards JUST IN CASE.

seriously.

roscoe's makes me think fat thoughts like heart attacks, shamu, and freeing willy. if it wasn't for the fact that i have this odd friend that's NEVER eaten at roscoe's before (he was raised in a cave), i might not have gone this past sunday. to give them credit, i think their fried chicken is yummy and i'm always down for their waffles, but a meal there is oh so bad for the waistband. so after the last time, i swore not to go back.....neverrrrrrrrrrrr....

but i guess even though we swear off things, we sometimes forget, or the temptations become way too strong for us to deny it. you know what i mean, like "baby, i promise i won't ever cheat on you again...you're the only one i love! she meant nothing to me!" and then the prick goes and bangs the waitress. so i found myself looking at the roscoe's chicken logo on the door and thought..."oh no! not again"...i could have sworn i made a swear about this not too long ago....

once seated my friend was directed to order some fried chix and waffles so he ordered the 1/2 order with two waffles. i nabbed myself a piece of fried chicken which was sinfully good and not too greasy. i sure love that fried chicken skin!

as for moi, i ordered a side of waffles. i REALLY, REALLY love their waffles...i really do. light, cinnamony, made in the perfect thickness though i scraped off most of those butter mounds you see. there's actually a place in my belly that craves these roscoe's waffles.

this time, i ordered the big mamma special because i saw this huge omelette at the next table and the pavlovian switch was turned on which meant i wanted eggs too. what a HUGE EFFIN' MISTAKE that was. EEEWWWWWW!!! the big mamma special is pretty much scrambled eggs with cheese and onions. sounds innocent enough right until after the first forkful, i discovered that it was mostly cheese with a hint of eggs. it was WAAAAY too cheesy and i just couldn't do it to myself no mo'. i do not enjoy eating a block of cheddar cheese. do you? i didn't even bother with the potatoes drowned in gravy. *shudders* i left that monstrosity untouched like an ugly virgin.

so i swore never to go back to roscoe's again, which means i'll be back soon. but next time, i'm sticking with the fried chicken and waffles ONLY....better yet, i'll stick with the waffles and borrow a piece of chicken.

no more pining for pioneer chix

Pioneer Chicken
4376 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
323) 663-2441

price: $
verdict: not worth my time

once in a while, i recall a food memory that connects very closely to my heart and pioneer chicken belongs in one of those greasy heart string categories. when i see this sign (graffiti and all), i think of my pops and how he would take my sis and i for a pioneer chix run when we were but wee lasses. we usually ended up getting a piece of thigh and/or corn on the cobb. mmmm...it was so delicious back then....so delicious.

funny looking fat man riding in a conestoga.

15 years later from my last bite as a pubescent teen, my heartstring throbbed for some pioneer chicken. as i drove down sunset, i decided to drop in and pick some up for me and my pops, reversing the pioneer chicken story for once. lookie daddy i have a job! i can buy you chicken! $2.99 for a two piece chicken combo and a buttermilk biscuit. yeah i spoils him a lot.

i was greeted by two lone corn on the cobbs. it begged to be bought and i did. me = sucka.

in mounting anticipation, i picked up a box of fried chix. but MAN was i disappointed when those greasy wangs touched my lips! i recalled such good flavors!!!! but the greasiness was unforgiveable and the flavor of the supposedly awesome skin was just plain bland. where the hell did my journey down memory lane turn so craptastic?! instead of eating a piece of crispy chicken delight, i tasted a piece of chicken encased in an oily sponge. KFC is so much better. THERE, i said it. my memory of pioneer was officially shattered :(

i also picked up some fried livers and gizzards thinking that it might mean a party in my mouth. no. wrong. abort mission. greasy fried fuckers they were!

a buttermilk biscuit that lacked the softness and buttery-ness that i had fondly recalled. :(

a lackluster corn on the cobb. perhaps waiting way too long under those wire coils did them in. ill.

maybe everything tasted sooooo good because my pops had bought it for us and especially cuz he held our hands when he bought it. maybe next time, i need to bring my pops and ask him to hold my hand again. perhaps.

fire in da hole!

Kyochon Chicken
3833 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 739-9292
kyochon.com/

price: $$
verdict: not worth my time

my horrible day started with a visit to urgent care. apparently, i ate some questionable mushrooms the night before and got an allergic reaction to it. my face was swollen, my ears rivaled dumbo's, and i was itching like i had crabs crawling on my face. i was not a pretty sight.

after sitting in the third world nation that is my urgent care office, i finally got prescribed steroids to tame the mess that i found myself in. steroids...didn't baseball player rodriguez get in trouble for that? i guess i will be hitting some major home runs as well...feeling slightly pathetic and 100% sorry for myself, i decided to get some ice cream at rite aid when i went to pick up my prescription and then dinner at kyochon since it was on the way home. i was really looking forward to the korean fried chicken since i read so many raving yelp reviews about it. did it meet my expectations? heck no! why would it? remember, it's keeping with my theme of a horrible day.

first off, the chicken is dry and itty bitty. we ordered the combo plate which had 8 pieces of chicken each with two flavors; regular and spicy. as i ate the spicy version, i couldn't help but think that i licked the devil's balls. dang that shizz is spicy! true, there was a sweetness to the sauce, but you had to go through the super hot inferno first. ugh, i'm not sadistic to my tongue so that burn did not feel good to me. coupled with the fact that they served a side salad that is dressed up in mayo and kechup, i just felt pretty yuck after eating my meal. man, what a horrible day.

spicy, burning, sadistic wings.

when waffles and fried chicken copulates

Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles
5006 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 934-4405
www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com

price: $$
verdict: tasty, try it!

the best thing about roscoe's are their waffles. their super moist, perfectly made waffles. do smear it with the fluffy butter and drizzle a lot, and i mean A LOT of syrup. one bite, fork down, your eyes will roll to the back of your eye sockets. freakin' awesome.

the chicken. meh. mediocre. dry and greasy. it is a hit or miss. sometimes it's really good, sometimes, it's all dried up and anorexic looking. their yams are usually too sweet. they could have poured pure sugar directly in your mouth and it would probably taste the same as their yams. no go with that one.

but roscoe's is delicious because they make waffles that will bring the house down! delicious because they sometimes make some pretty good fried chicken even though it's a hit or miss event. ahh, sometimes, it's delicious when waffles and fried chicken copulates.