a chilled glass of chocolatey irony at serendipity 3

fate. destiny. john cusack. serendipity.

actually, none of those words had any influence on me eating at serendipity 3 when i was in las vegas this past week. the only words that did were FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE.

the words FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE makes me think of alanis morissette's song "ironic." how can something frozen be hot and how can something hot be cold? and if so does that mean hell can freeze over? better yet, will i live long enough to see that day? although i did not witness lucifer in a down jacket, i did sip some frozen hot chocolate at serendipity 3. and for $9.75 a pop for a small cup (the "for two" size is big enough to allow you to skinny dip in it), you can taste a little bit of irony, too.

how does irony taste like you may wonder? icy and chocolatey. not overwhelming or underwhelming...just static and basic. in fact, if this is what irony tastes like, then i would have rather spent my 10 duckets on a straight forward chocolate milkshake instead.

i also didn't appreciate the fact that it's powder based with a ton of ice blended in. perhaps i missed the creamy nature of a milkshake...or perhaps i felt like a fool paying $9.75 for cocoa powder and ice. perhaps the hype deflated too quickly in front of me and even viagra couldn't help it. perhaps i just don't like the way irony tastes. perhaps it would have tasted better if john cusack was actually sitting in it. perhaps i need to stop using the word perhaps. perhaps.

not willing to sit in gustatory defeat, i ordered a side of sweet potato fries ($6) hoping for a deep fry high. oh momma i'm glad i did because it was tasty! sweet, crispy, with a hint of brown sugar to bring this savory item to an almost dessertish level. though small in portion side, it is big enough fatty. although i did not taste their other menu items, i was pretty much convinced that this was as good as it'll get.

*sigh* oh irony. it's like hoping to win it big in vegas. the end.

Serendipity 3
3570 Las Vegas Blvd. S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 731-7373

www.caesarspalace.com/casinos/ca...

price: $$
verdict: it's aight

taking a bite out of ludo

Ludo Bites @ The Breadbar
8718 W 3rd St.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 205-0124
www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites/

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

when i took a bite out of ludo lefebvre at ludo bites this past saturday, i found him a tad stringy without much meat on his bones. the hairs on his arms tickled my throat as it went down towards my digestive tract, but this french talking entree was a bit saucy so i liked him a lot. hi ludo! sign my left booby!

oh boy was i excited to try ludo bites! i've seen ludo on top chef masters and expected a tempermental frenchie, but he was a rather gracious host. i also expected a menu full of delicious bites because sook of yutjangsah sells him like crack and it was pretty crack-like. what an adventure for my belly! my three friends and i couldn't stop eating and wished some of the bites were more like ludo shovels-of-food. perhaps ludo needs to consider this "shovel" option for his heifer-like patrons.

the happy belly journey started with bread and a lavender honey butter. um, delicious. the butter lacked the soapy taste that one usually gets from lavender inspired foods. i can probably smear this on YOU sexy and happily lick it off. it was goot.

we started our first real bites with the hawaiian tuna, with white chocolate, and thai jalapenos ($15 + $5 so our fourth friend can get a bite too). WOW. what a wonderfully soft piece of tuna that was and the chocolate slivers on top provided a wonderful sweet contrast to the pungent sesame oil.

the green beans salad, with peach, young coconut, apple, horseradish and lemongrass ($9). FREAKIN' WOW. one of my favorite dishes of the night. i LOVE the taste of "greeness" in the green beans because this dish celebrated what mother nature has to offer without molesting its birth right. the horseradish dallop on top was subtle and the sweetness from the peach and apple slices gave a sweet contrast to the savoriness of the dressing.

lobster tart with vadouvan butter ($14). lovely lobster meat in a puff pastry shell. i'm quite sure this dish alone was responsible for popping a button off my shirt.

boudin noir ($10) which is creamy blood pudding with a side of potato puree. i thought the dish was very subtle in taste because you did not taste the tinniness that usually comes from animal blood. i know my blood alright, being asian and part vampire. i cannot tell this was a blood pudding at all but my other three friends were not wild about it. it was aight.

roadkill. where's the body?

grilled duck breast with a leeks salad, ginger, capers, and truffle slivers ($22). HOLY SHIT. there is something undeniably righteous about duck fat and this duck sure had some junk in its trunk. although i am sad that it's dead and on my plate, its life was well honored by ludo. i loved the tartness from the sauce as well and this dish was easily the superstar of the night.

beef short ribs with smoked eggplant and goat cheese ($18). wonderfully cooked short ribs that fell apart when you forked it. though the goat cheese side was meant to only be the bridesmaid at this ceremonious occasion on my dish, it clearly was my favorite part. there was a nice creaminess to the cheese with slivers of raw cauliflower on top to add textural contrast. i could have eaten that forever.

creamy oxtail polenta with cantal cheese and black truffle ($14). my second favorite dish of the night. it's reminiscent of a savory, cheesy cream of wheat with a lovely hidden suprise of oxtail meat at the bottom. although this bowl alone may clog your arteries, how lovely would it be to have a bowlful on a cold winter day. lovely.

then we wrapped dinner up with two desserts. creme fraiche panna cotta with a caramel sauce and caviar ($15). suprisingly tasty since i don't normally enjoy caviar. i think the dark caramel with its almost burnt-like taste masked the otherwise fishiness of the caviar. it is an awfully small dessert but it packed a punch. a taste was all i really needed.

and last but not least, the peach in curry and mascarpone foam ($10). this dish was suprisingly good even though you can clearly taste the curry in it. the only sweet aspect is the ripe peach slices so in many ways, it was a savory dish masquerading as a dessert. everybody at the table enjoyed this as well.

lovely. a curry mascarpone lava erupting from the peach slice.

this belly journey hosted by ludo was indeed delicious and full of suprises for my tongue. thanks ludo for your delicious bites and although you will bid farewell to the breadbar at the end of august, i'm pretty confident you will pop up somewhere soon. i will be on the lookout for you and your french looking roosters.

MILK does the body good!

Milk
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 939-6455
http://www.themilkshop.com/

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

milk makes me lactate...i mean, milk makes me salivate. mmmmm....

i dropped by milk after a shopping spree at century city. like the uncool girl who is always one season late with the fashion trends, i am late with jumping on the milk bandwagon as well, but like the saying goes, better late than never (if you want to pretend to even care, milk has been featured on mtv's "the hills" since 2007 and was made very popular ever since). my quick visit was suppose to be for a quickie dessert fix which eventually turned into a reversed late lunch with a lot of sugary items to go. aigh, my fat butt.

i ordered their infamous blue velvet cake. yummmm. dark blue cake with blueberries nestled within and a generous coating of a cream cheese frosting which was perfect. to top it off, each slice had a chocolate covered blueberry.

the frosting to cake ratio was just right which meant a delectable bite times 20. as i ate, my friend notified me of my blue tongue. great, now i look like i licked a smurf. and to top that off, fast forward to the inevitable moment when you visit the crapper after eating one of these blue velvet babies, it will look like you pooped out a smurf as well. damn that blue dye is POTENT. consider yourself WARNED.

i couldn't resist the sugary temptations i saw around me and ordered myself a mint chocolate crunch shake to accompany my blue velvet. mmmm, loved the mint ice cream, love the teenie tiny chocolate pieces, and love, love, love the freshly made whipped cream. with some help, the entire shake was consumed with much enthusiasm.

before

after

by that time, a few more sightings of their savory items made my belly full of sugar yearn for something more substantial...and salty. i ended up ordering a hot pressed herb roasted chicken breast sammich. very yummy as well. the salad had a good tart balsamic vinegear dressing and the sammich had great oozy mozzarella cheese and portobello mushrooms to boot. tender, juicy chicken breast with a great pesto sauce. i really liked it...

before i walked away, i got a few dessert items to go to bribe a few folks in my life. of course i was able to taste them as well :)

two miniature red velvet cupcakes. the cake part tasted dry, but i suspect it might be because of their tiny stature that dried them out so easily. they were alright, but i probably wouldn't get them again. i may try the bigger red velvet version to see if that made a difference. i also got two mini blueberry muffins. ok, but nothing to rave about. their crumbly tops and muffin bottoms were too dry.

the carrot cake was a tad too sweet for me, but it was polished off quickly by other family members. the carrot cake had generous hunks of walnut.

the chocolate covered coconut macaroon was really tasty. the coconut had a nice glaze to it and was my favorite item from all the other sugary sweetness that i brought home.

what a sugar high i was on after visiting milk! i will be seeing you again. and again. and again.

ramen with a kick and a shove

Orochon Ramen
123 S Onizuka St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-1766
www.orochonramen.com/

price: $
verdict: tasty, try it!

i first saw orochon ramen on man vs. food and the seed of desire to try this place was immediately sowed. i was pulled into the hype not because i wanted to test my tongue against satan's crotch (this place is known for its signature fiery soup), but more because i really dig ramen and wanted to find an array of ramen houses to rotate through. methinks it's a good plan right?

on a friday night, the wait was manageable though the earlier you go, the better the chances for you to eat sooner rather than later. you have a choice of either indoor or outdoors seating, but sitting in seems more popular. when we got there, the wait was short. we barely missed the critical time when folks started packing in. must be all those damn hype eaters like moi.

we started off our dinner with the spicy scallop which is suprisingly DELICIOUS. it is chilled and the scallops are teenie, but it's meant to be eaten as a condiment. the scallops have a kick to it as well, but the spiciness is very manageable. the added sweetness to the sauce with sesame seeds sprinkled throughout it made for a delicious explosion in my mouth. it reminded me of a korean dish and i would come here JUST for these scallops. yummy.

a half order of fried rice was also ordered though it was a pathetic interpretation of fried rice. the rice was really mushy which is a cardinal sin in the fried rice making world. mushy rice is like a flacid penis, soggy fries, and overcooked pasta. no one will be happy with putting THAT in their mouth. ick.

then we finally got to our ramen...the reason for coming to orochon. to get to your said bowl of ramen, you need to make three choices. if you are one of those people that can never make up your mind, then i suggest you just give up now and say, "i'll have what he's having," hoping of course that what he's having isn't that fiery special #2 which will make you shit lava after you eat it.

so:

1. pick the soup base: miso, soy sauce, or salt. btw, why do they have a soup base called salt? are you thinking hypertension as well? bloating?

2. pick the spice level. i went with the #7 which is a code number for "wimp," "pussy," "loser." i did not mind that since i don't like too spicy so i went with the tongue friendly one...the one that has NO added spice to it. my friend ordered #5 which i took a spoonful of and thought it was ok. apparently, most of the spice settled to the bottom of the bowl. anyways, i was happy with being wimpy.

3. choose extra condiments for your ramen. i skipped this step thinking that it already came with cha su (pork) and veggies so why pile more on? but it was clear after i got my bowl that it's not really much. the cha su slices were thin, tough, and scarce. they were heavy on the bean sprouts, there were a few slices of wood ear (an asian fungus), and bell pepper. i think the most enjoyable part of this bowl was the ramen itself which was perfectly cooked. nice aldente egg noodles are the best!

the broth is good and the ramen was cooked perfectly, but in a head to head challenge with daikokuya, i think orochon has room for improvement.

the wall of fire eaters and lava shitters. if you can consume their signature #2 under 30 minutes, you too, can get a pic on this wall. err, no thanks.

all sapped out

Sapp Coffee Shop
5183 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-1035

price: $
verdict: it's aight

like a food lemming after watching anthony bourdain's travel show, i too went to sapp to check out their now infamous boat noodles. heck, i LOVE offal and couldn't wait for a bowl of it. did it disappoint? shucks yeah.

sapp is most definitely a hole in the wall establishment. it's located in a strip mall with really limited parking. fortunately for us, we rolled in just when another car rolled out. ahh, movie star parking! score! the restaurant itself has no frills with really basic decor for a total chill eating atmosphere. i love places like that! that means i can concentrate on the grub and not whether or not i'm using the right fork for my salad.

but when the food came out, here is where the infatuation with sapp was sapped out. the boat noodles are rice noodles served in a murky broth. that in and of itself is not a problem, but the hint of sourness in the soup was overwhelmed by the saltiness of it. with each successive slurp, the saltiness of the broth became more and more apparent. every slurp became flirtation with hypertension. the chicherones, tripe, and medium rare liver could not save the boat noodles.

the thai ice tea (now increased to $1.75 a cup) was way too sweet which again, reminded me how salty the boat noodles were because of the extreme contrast in saltiness and sweetness.

we also ordered the beef pad see ew. the beef strips were really dry and reminded me of beef jerky and the noodles were extremely oily. the ghetto fabulous dusting of the entire dish with white pepper powder did nothing for it.

either they had an off day, or the general population's palate has become saltier with time. regardless, the entire meal was way too salty and oily for me. the entire bill came out to be $26 with tip included. i really wanted to like sapp because i love hole in the wall places, but i don't think i will be saying whassapp to sapp anytime soon. i'm glad i tried it, but that's about it.

house of crazy soda dreams

Galco's Soda Pop Stop
5702 York Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90042
(323) 255-7115
www.sodapopstop.com

price: $
verdict: omg, i love it!

my 8 year hiatus from soda has officially ended today as i finished my second bottle of soda and burp out this review. i DECLARE that galco's is AWESOME. no, no, wait. it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious yah hear?!

i finally got the opportunity to drive my butt to galco's. the hype from watching food networks spotlights, huel howser's visits, and my friend's regular shopping sprees there inspired me to check it out. i wasn't expecting to spend much there...after all, i've been soda abstinent for so long. boy was i wrong.

galco's is fun. be ready to feast your eyes upon aisles upon aisles of soda, ranging from the quirky to the commercial. i picked up a few:

-clearly canadian (a childhood favorite...until they switched it to zero calories with the artificial sweetner. tastes like crap now)
-moxie (as suggested, i am suppose to sip this, not gulp it)
-rose flavored soda
-henry weinhard's root beer (oh dang, you tasty!)
-cherry soda (it is so red it will stain your teeth)
-black cherry soda

the other half of the store is stocked with beers of all types that you can buy per bottle or pack. i got a pack of lowenbrau beer for pops (seriously taking it back old school with that one).

not to mention, galco's also houses a nice selection of old fashion sweets: zagnut, chick-o-stick, mallo-cup, and my ultimate childhood favorite THE CHEWING GUMS SHAPED LIKE A CIGARETTE THAT YOU TAP AND THEN BLOW POWDER SMOKE OUT OF. you remember those?! they look like a pack of smokes but totally kid friendly!

so basically, i'm never coming back here again. my teeth can't take all that sweetness....ok, maybe i'll just come back ONE more time...ok, maybe i'm coming back tomorrow...alright, i'm leaving NOW.

4 pack of teeth decay

organic akasha

Akasha
9543 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 845-1700
www.akasharestaurant.com

price: $$$
verdict: tasty, try it!

i actually watched a food network spotlight on akasha when this restaurant was under construction. i immediately fell in love with its green and organic focus and was excited to try it. ahhh..the day arrived and it was gooood.

two friends and i went to akasha for dinner. we started off the meal with their onion rings. holy crap it was good! it lacked the oilyness that most onion rings are synonymous with and the paprika dipping sauce was plain WOWZAS! i started to spread some on my bread too because i just couldn't get enough of it. i also ordered the akasha cocktail which tasted like naughty cucumber water. it was refreshing as it washed down my food. i ordered their flatiron steak for my entree. the steak was topped with a tart green sauce and sauteed onions. paired with fries, the dish was delicious indeed.

the whole experience was nice and akasha is definitely worth a visit. i wouldn't make it a regular dining destination though because i think for the price it commands, there are many other similar eating places to explore first. but if you are in the area and feeling organic, i think akasha is a nice place to try. besides, culver city has transformed a lot since i last lived there. culver city is finally worth a visit on its own merit.