Portuguese Egg Tart For Sunday Breakfast

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I admire people who dedicate their Sunday mornings to making home-made breakfasts.  To me, Sunday morning is when I make up the sleep I miss during the weekdays. The last thing I want to do after waking up from my long sleep on Sunday morning is to make breakfast, I don't even want to make coffee. Unless I have some compelling reasons to stay home on Sunday, then I will unwillingly make breakfast.  Otherwise, after I rise and wash up on Sunday, I normally just leap out of the door and drive to my favorite places to get breakfasts. I usually go to different places to have different types of breakfast from week to week, and today, I went to one of my favorite Asian bakeries to get my beloved Portuguese Egg Tart ($1.65), to enjoy with my favorite Iced Coffee (medium 85C Coffee from the same bakery for $2.75, equivalent to Starbucks "Venti" size). 

This Portuguese egg tart is almost as good as the famous one I had from Macau during my vacation there a few years ago.  This is actually the freshest and best tasting egg tart I ever had in America. (Well, the last time I had Portuguese egg tart in America was at a supposedly authentic Portuguese cafe in Sherman Oaks CA, which I didn't care for because it was cold and the pastry wasn't fresh enough for me. I wasn't impressed with the way it tasted either. )

I also like the iced coffee here better than Starbucks because it's not as bitter, but it's more flavorful and aromatic,  and it comes already perfectly creamed and sweetened.  Sunday breakfast like this is one of the reasons I put up with the high rent and ridiculous long commute to live in Los Angeles.

Bakery: 85C Bakery Cafe

Address:1735 W Carson St, Torrance, CA 90501 

Phone: (310) 320-8585

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Vietnamese Chicken Curry

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

When I first moved to Los Angeles, the first thing I noticed wasn't the lame "Hollywood" sign. (By the way, what's so special about it that this sign has been featured on so many posters and glossy pages of travel guides?)  It was the ugly strip malls on almost every block I drove by that caught my eyes.  I found many of these strip malls very ugly, and depressing (because they just have such a third world vibe about them).   

But lately, I have fallen in love with these ugly strip malls in Los Angeles because I realize that there are always ethnic mom and pop restaurants nestled in them.  I never know what new food I will discover by driving into an ugly strip mall and this "unknown" element just adds a little excitement to my boring commute home from a long day of stressful corporate prison.

Last night, my venture into one of these strip malls had gotten me a tasty bowl of Vietnamese Chicken Curry ($7.99) with steamed rice on the side.  Compared to Thai curry or Indian curry dishes, Vietnamese curry is  much lighter in texture and the sauce is more broth like than gravy like.  I found this light version of very tasty and tender chicken curry stew very appetizing.  This is the kind of dish that goes extremely well with steamed rice or crusty bread.  I can get really full and satisfied by eating a lot of rice with only half of the chicken curry. This allows me to box the other half home for lunch the next day.  I can always make a big pot of steamed rice very easily with my rice cooker at home to use up the left over curry.  This helps cut down my dining bills.

Restaurant: Taste of Viet
Address: 1650 Sepulveda Blvd, Harbor City, CA 90710
Phone: (310) 326-2889

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Korean Chicken And Mixed Vegetables Bento Box (Chicken Japchae 닭고기, 잡채)

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

The reason why I love Korean food so much can very well be explained by the photo above.  For a lunch box at $10.95, it came with very delicious Korean BBQ chicken, a side salad, well seasoned mixed veggies, Korean pancake, Korean glass noodles, great al dente steamed rice,  and in addition to the lunch box; a bowl of soup, and numerous side dishes that includes potato salad,  and various yummy Korean pickles and seasoned veggies!!!  I come here a lot for this BBQ chicken lunch special because one lunch box has enough portion for both my lunch and dinner.  I also come here to pick up BBQ chicken lunch specials whenever I go picnics with my friends and family. A lunch box like this just makes fantastic food for picnics!!

Restaurant: Pine Tree Korean BBQ Restaurant
Address: 25890 S. Western Ave, Harbor City, CA 90710
Tel:(310) 325-1186

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Japanese Big Fried Chicken

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

Like chocolate, fried chicken is one of those foods that has tremendous universal appeal.  It's amazing how fried chicken can be done so similarly and yet taste so differently in different cultural renditions. I recently had a piece of the fried chicken in one of my favorite Japanese Ramen restaurants, I think I could be blindfolded and I could tell it was Japanese fried chicken.  Yes, it's this obvious to me and I am also a huge fan of KFC.  This Japanese fried chicken  just has this distinctive crispiness on the skin that has this burst of rich flavor for each crunchy bite.  The meat is very juicy, tender and amazingly seasoned.  As if all these great flavors aren't dynamic enough, the fried chicken comes with a side of seasoning salt. This is a special seasoning salt that gives the taste of this delicious fried chicken another kick of excitement.  As a big fan of fried chicken, I really love this one!  It's $3.00 for one piece, by the way.  

Restaurant: Hakata Ikkousha
Address: 21605 Western Ave, Suite J, Torrance, CA 90501
Tel:(424) 558-3953

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Korean Dumpling Soup 만두국 (Man Du Guk)

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I love dumplings. But I had never had Korean dumplings until today even though I go to Korean restaurants a lot.  It's because every time when I ordered steamed Korean dumplings or boiled dumplings in Korean restaurants, I was told the dumplings were sold out!!   It just made me even more curious about the Korean dumplings, and it therefore made me more eager to try them out.  I finally was able to order the Korean Dumpling Soup (laced with egg drop and topped with shredded dry sea weed) today at one Korean restaurant. I felt so lucky!! While I still prefer Chinese dumplings a lot more, I enjoyed the Korean dumpling soup very much.  The  broth was so soothing and comforting. I think the broth was infused with anchovy. But there was no obvious fish taste.  The broth  just tasted delicately delicious.  As for the dumplings, I think the filling is minced beef, glass noodles and some veggies, which I think were a little under seasoned.  But then may be it's supposed to be this way to be paired with the tasty broth and an array of richly seasoned vegetable side dishes. I love the side dishes in this restaurant because they made me love eating my veggies.  Besides, this restaurant always includes my beloved potato salad among the side dishes, while it varies the rest.  The dumpling soup also came with a bowl of rice on the side.  As a lunch special, it costs $11.95. But I usually stuffed myself up so much with all the side dishes and rice that I always ended up taking most of the dumpling soup home.  The dumplings actually tasted  better the next day.  Service can be slow, so I suggest ordering to go by the phone and go for pick-up when time is a luxury during lunch hour.  I was overall happy with the food in terms of taste and satisfaction.  I also love that I learnt a new Korean word today, "Man Du" means dumpling in Korean.    

Restaurant: Pine Tree Korean BBQ Restaurant
Address: 25890 S. Western Ave, Harbor City, CA 90710
Tel:(310) 325-1186

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Taiwanese Pickled Ground Pork Rice With Marinated Egg

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I always love the little diners and tea houses in Taiwan whenever I visit.  I'm so happy to find a Taiwanese tea house within a short drive from my home to relive my vacation memory in Taiwan.  One of the Taiwanese dishes I love from my vacation in Taiwan is Pickled Ground Pork Rice With Marinated Egg, so that's what I often order whenever I visit this tea house.  I usually order a small size for lunch ($6.85).  It comes with a bowl of delicious meat sauce, a tasty marinated egg,  a bowl of steamed white rice, sprinkled with seaweed flakes, topped with corn and Chinese cabbages.  It's a comforting and filling meal, and it feels healthy to me because it's so balanced with grain, veggies and proteins.  The meat sauce makes the veggies and rice taste so good.  I'm not naturally a veggie lover, and I don't like the boiled and bland veggies side dishes in the typical American restaurant.  But I enjoy my veggies in this Taiwanese meal.  I also ordered a large iced Yami Coffee at regular sweet level (it tastes okay, not great), which is a mistake because it's pretty expensive at $5.13.  I will just stick with water the next time...

Restaurant: Yami Tea House
Address: 24705 Narbonne Ave #101 , Lomita, CA 90717
Tel:(310) 326-2650

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls And Combo Pho

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I just returned to Los Angeles from a vacation in Southeast Asia, and yet my first meal back in America is Vietnamese.  I just can't stay away from Asian food.  I came to this Pho restaurant because my friends highly recommended it. But somehow, I just feel that the Vietnamese food here isn't too authentic.  The food is not bad, but not great.  Vietnamese Cuisine in Toms River NJ and Mrs. A Hanoi Pho here in this area both have much better Phos than this place.  The broth in Mrs. A Hanoi Pho tasted a lot more flavorful with no sensation of MSG. Meanwhile, the spring rolls in Vietnamese Cuisine back in Toms River  just tasted a lot better because the carrot and daikon julienne in the spring rolls were pickled and seasoned, and  Vietnamese Cuisine in Toms River NJ also used mint leaves inside the spring rolls for the greens, instead of purely lettuce. Meanwhile, the spring rolls I had in this restaurant ($5.99 as shown in photo) tasted pretty bland to me.  Yes, I used a lot of the peanut sauce on them, but the absence of  pickled and seasoned veggies, and the absence of mint leaves inside the rolls really water down the flavor quite a lot.

The House Combo Pho (Beef Brisket, Half a Beef Ball and some Tendons, $7.99 for a large bowl) in this place was totally dependent on my own addition of a lot of Hoisin Sauce and  Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce.  I normally don't like to add these sauces into my Pho. It's because in a good Pho place, the broth is the soul, which takes many many hours to slow cook and lots and lots of ingredients to churn out the broth.  I prefer to enjoy such richly flavorful broth as is without ruining it with the Hoisin Sauce and Sriracha Sauce which should be, in my opinion reserved to be used in water, not a great quality Pho broth of labor.   I always prefer my Pho to be in a slow cooked broth that is so flavorful that no extra sauce is needed.  I think the Pho at this place is just too bland  for my palate,  it's not a bad place to go for some simple and affordable lunch and dinner on a busy workday.  I personally just like Mrs. A Hanoi Pho much better even though the price there is higher. You get what you pay for.  The difference is clearly shown in the broth.  And I do miss Vietnamese Cuisine back in Toms River NJ, which is the only restaurant I miss from that area.

Restaurant: Pho 1945
1945 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717
Lomita, CA 90717
Tel: (424) 263-5989

Spicy Miso Chicken Stir Fry Rice Bowl And Iced Thai Tea

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

A week before Christmas, I treated my friends to one of my favorite dinner joints for some rice bowls.  My treat to them was in lieu of Christmas presents. I'm not good at shopping for presents but I figured out that I could treat my friends to a nice dinner while I opened the Christmas gifts they had for me.  My friends told me they were really delighted to experience such good Chinese food.  I am not even sure if this is Chinese food because I have a feeling that this is East Asian fusion food, or it can be Taiwanese style East Asian food.  I don't know if the owners are Taiwanese or not, but this kind of rice bowl reminds me of the similar ones that I had when I visited Taiwan a couple years before.  It also reminds me of the lunches I had when I was a kid.  My mom cooks this way, which is stir fry of thinly sliced good quality meat with lots of  fresh & crispy veggies, dressed with a very light sauce.  I think most Asian home style stir fries are light (but deliciously seasoned) like this.  The Chinese food in a lot of Americanized Chinese restaurants are too heavy and too drowned in either stuffy brown gravy, or the overly sticky and sour "sweet & sour" sauce.

I don't make this kind of stir fry at home because I don't have good knife skills to slice meat this thin and I don't like to load up on numerous type of veggies that I end up trashing because I can't use them up fast enough.  Cooking  for 1 to 2 people is a challenge when I like varieties in my rice bowl, 3 ingredients just don't cut for me.  I would rather spend time in working over time than making stir fry at home because I can get a Spicy Miso Chicken Rice Bowl for only $8.25, which is much less than what would cost me if I spend the time to cook it myself.  I also like the numerous kind of teas at this place. This time I ordered Thai Milk Tea ($3.00), which is not as sweet as the ones I got at the Thai restaurant, because this is somewhat a non-Thai lighter version.  

I like both versions. This lighter version really complements my meal here because I feel really healthy after meantime. There is just this light, clean and comfortable feeling.  So it all depends on whether I am craving for rich food  or light clean food at the moment. But I find this light version of Thai tea very enjoyable.

Restaurant: Go Go Juice Café

Address: 1943 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717 

Tel:(310) 539-6486

Notes From The Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Delicious Assorted Cakes For My Christmas Cocktail Party

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

As I mentioned in my previous post, I hosted an early Christmas cocktail party a week before Christmas.  Being an extremely busy professional who doesn't have much time to spend in the kitchen, I had chosen to not make my own desserts but to pay $52.08 to get a dozen mini cakes from one of my favorite Japanese bakeries.  These cakes were a great hit at my cocktail party.  They tasted richly delicious and were such a joy to eat.  Everyone at the party loved the good clean sensation from the cakes. These cakes just didn't leave a sickly and stuffy feeling in the chest or throat.  They were rich, yet smooth and they felt so light and comfortable after the last bite was gone.  They were really great with coffee.  I could have spent days in my kitchen and watched all the baking shows on TV but I don't think I will be able to make cakes like these. May be I can, but I just don't have the time.  According to my friends at my party, these were actually the best cakes they ever had in their lives. Of course, these cakes aren't made of vegetable shortening, and there is no food coloring in them. The ingredients are real chocolate, real cream, real fruits, and this is why these cakes don't come with too many color schemes, which I don't care. Because most of the colorful cakes that I had before from grocery stores and other American bakeries just made me feel so sick afterwards and all I tasted was food coloring. I personally hate the taste of vegetable shortening, and I don't like the taste of food color which is so strong in all cakes in a lot of American bakeries... and the fondant that is so widely used. Yuck. To me, cakes and desserts aren't about the color, the price or quantity, it's all about quality.  I would never want to eat cakes again if there were no Japanese bakery in the USA and if I couldn't find time or the money to bake them myself.

Bakery: Mammoth Bakery
Address:Inside Marukai Gardena Pacific
              1620 W. Redondo Beach Blvd. Gardena, CA 90247
Tel: (310) 538-9031

Notes From The Editors: Share your bakery experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

The Best Tasting Decadent Little Chocolate Cake

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

Set on a little gold plate, this is one of the best tasting mini chocolate ganache cakes I'v had.  Covered under the deliciously rich chocolate ganache are layers of light and fluffy regular cake and chocolate cake layered with real delicious whip cream and chocolate butter cream.  Dusted with coco powder, topped with rich chocolate truffle ball, chocolate pieces and a flake of gold (which is edible light sugar that melts in the mouth like cotton candy).  This mini individual size cake is so divinely delicious.  What I like about this cake is, it tastes so rich and so good and yet it feels so light. This is made by one of my favorite Japanese bakeries.  This cake doesn't give me a sickly and stuffy feeling. It's just a pure enjoyment to eat this cake because it's not overly sweet, and yet it's appropriately sweet, and indulging.  I just like the after feeling when I finished my last bite. I just felt great and I didn't feel stuffy and sickly like I always felt after eating a donut or a cheap cupcake from the average American bakeries, or something baked by my dear friends and colleagues from the mass market baking mix.  For people who think their cup cakes are good or the baked goods in the typical grocery stores are actually edible, just try this cake and they won't be able to go back and taste those craps again.  

This cake is $4.29, yes, it's not cheap because this isn't made of cheap hydrogenated anything or artificial chocolate powder cake mix and crisco, this is the real cake made by Japanese bakers using the real ingredients. This is how cake is supposed to taste like.  This cake is totally worth my time to eat and the possible extra calories that I added to my slim body. (My family and I  have been eating cakes like this all our lives, never the cheap disgusting baked goods in grocery stores. We don't eat cakes every day, only once in a while and we are still slim.)

Bakery: Monte Martre Bakery
Address: 2525 Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance, CA 90505
Tel: (310) 326-2783

Notes From Our Editors: Do you know how to ship delicate cakes?  If so, you are welcome to tell us how, and we will send you the above cake if we decide to publish your tips here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

240-Calories Herb Roasted Chicken Dinner

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

Herb-Roasted Chicken Over A Medley Of Zucchini, Tomatoes & Butternut Squash

I had been walking by My Fit Foods many times because it's right next to Trader Joe's, a few steps down from my favorite Chinese restaurant, a few more steps from Wholefood supermarket, an authentic Japanese grocery store, Blaze Pizza and also a number of Japanese restaurants.  I have always been curious about this shiny and sparkly clean store front but as you can see, there are just too many food choices within walking distance that it's not easy for me to make up my mind to walk into this prepared meals store.

Today, I finally bought a box of dinner ($7.29 + tax) from there before I walked over to pick up my Chinese lunch next door. The box size reminds me of meals that I ordered when I was flying with Virgin America.  In my opinion, the taste and quality of this dinner are also similar to the meals served by Virgin America, which I didn't particularly love, but I had no problem swiping my credit card for when I was hungry and I had no other choice.  The quality and the taste of this dinner are decent, but the chicken is just way too bland for my taste.  The veggies are somewhat less bland but they are still not well seasoned for my palate.  I mainly tasted the peppery seasoning from the veggies, and no salt. The taste is too one-dimensional for me, which is somewhat boring, compared to the ready meals from grocery stores like Wholefood, Fresh & Easy & Trader Joe's.  This dinner box is however much better than frozen dinners. It's after all made up of decent quality real chicken and real veggies.

Los Angeles may seem to be a great market for healthy meals, but the competition is fierce and consumers' are spoiled by all the great cuisines brought in from around the world.  If this store wants to survive here in Los Angeles, it has to do a lot better, in terms of taste, quality, price and delivery.

Store: My Fit Foods
Address: 2543-G Pacific Coast Hwy, Torrance, CA 90505

Notes From Our Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

My Thanksgiving Dinner Classics

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

After two years' absence from Black Angus Steakhouse on Thanksgiving day, my friend and I had returned this year for our traditional thanksgiving dinner there that we started several years ago.  Last time we went, it was $16.99 for a whole dinner with all the fixings.  This year, it was $18.99 per dinner. We like that the dinner included a bowl of richly delicious potato soup.  My friend suggested to go to my favorite Chinese restaurant which was open on Thanksgiving day.  But to me, I just needed to get that turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. I never had any kind of  food other than the American Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving and the thought of  not having it this year drove me into a panic mode.  So my friend gave in and I had my familiar comforting Turkey dinner that I usually enjoyed at Black Angus Steakhouse.

As usual, I was overall pretty satisfied with my turkey dinner there, even though pie isn't this restaurant's specialty.   The restaurant has very decent dinner rolls, and I love the turkey stuffing there.

The pumpkin pie I had there wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad.  I always requested the server to heat the pie up for me because I don't like pumpkin pie cold.

I had many Thanksgiving Dinners at relatives' or friends' homes where I literally felt like torture to me because the food was either too bland or just not well prepared by the not-so great cooks who think they are good cooks.  In order not to hurt their feeling, I often had to act like I loved their food that they piled on my plate.  There is nothing more tortuous than forced feeding myself a plate of cold, gamy or bland dry turkey, with the really mushy and overcooked broccoli or canned green beans casserole. The worst part was I had to sit at the dinner tables with people I love and care and try to hide the fact that I was literally repulsed by their cooking.  I just don't like canned veggies, I love fresh green beans but I hate canned green beans, particularly when they are drown in canned mushroom soup.  So this year, once again, I came up with all kinds of excuses to dodge my thanksgiving dinner invitations and chose a decent turkey dinner over spending time with friends and family.

Restaurant: Black Angus Steakhouse
Address: 3405 W Carson St, Torrance, CA 90503
Tel: (310) 370-1523

Notes From Our Editors: Share your restaurant experience with us and we will send you a box of gourmet Chocolate Truffles if we decide to publish your review here. For submission guidelines, please click here to connect with us.

Cantonese Style Kung Pao Shrimp

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I love Chinese food but if I have to pick my favorite among all Chinese regional cuisines, I have to pick the Cantonese cuisine.  Kung Pao Shrimp is basically on every Chinese restaurant's menu in America.  Yet Kung Pao Shrimp just tastes very different in every Chinese restaurant I visit.  I prefer the less saucy and less spicy kind of Kung Pao Shrimp that is rendered by the Cantonese chefs.  Kung Pao Shrimp is a variation of  the Kung Pao Chicken in China's  Szechuan cuisine.   The best Kung Pao Shrimp I ever had was in one of the side street diners in Hong Kong years ago when my parents first took me there for a summer trip.  It was the first time I ever had Kung Pao anything, and I will never forget the thrill of it. I was sitting at a table on a packed street with no air-conditioning but I had a blast and I consider that dinner to be one of the best I ever had.  I could see the chefs cooking on their roaring fire on one side of the street and then waiters fishing out live lobsters and fishes from the fish tanks on the other side of the street.  As a little kid, I was so mesmerized by the bustle and hustle of the cooking action.  I was totally hypnotized by all kinds of delicious smell floating in the air.  Back then I could care less about the name of the dish.  All I knew was I felt that  I had the best food in my life at the time (for my very short existence of only 8 years in this world).

Since then, I have been trying to find the same great Kung Pao Shrimp in America.  While I haven't yet found the Kung Pao Shrimp that tasted as good as the one I had during the summer trip in Hong Kong, I am lucky enough to find Kung Pao Shrimp that is decent. Even though Kung Pao shrimp is supposed to be a Szechuan dish, but I always feel that Cantonese Chinese restaurants produce better Kung Pao Shrimp than  the Szechuan restaurants.  To my own palette,  Cantonese chefs' rendition of Kung Pao Shrimp has just the right seasoning that is neither too hot nor too sweet.  The shrimp is also not drowned in sweet brown sauce like the ones produced by many American Szechuan restaurants.  I don't like Chinese stir fries that are too saucy.  I have to admit though I had never been to any Szechuan restaurant outside the USA.  May be I will be equally in love with the Kung Pao Shrimp produced by the more authentic Szechuan restaurants.

Until then, I feel fortunate to be living just a short drive away from  a Cantonese restaurant that serves decent Kung Pao Shrimp at $7.95 during lunch hours.

Restaurant: PV Palace
Address: 2166 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717
Phone:(310) 326-3228 Hours: Friday 10:00 am – 9:30 pm

Omakase Dinner At A Japanese Steakhouse

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

I had been to a lot of American Steakhouses, but this is the first time I visited  a Japanese Steakhouse.  I had the 5-course Omakase (Chef choice) dinner at $50.00.  It was money well spent because everything was delicious.  The first course was a plate of five dainty appetizers, a small piece of grilled filet mignon, melon with prosciutto, miso-marinated cream cheese, seasonal ohitashi (vegetable dish in the middle, crisp cucumbers), caprese heirloom tomato and buffalo mozzarella. I think this was French cuisine interpreted by Japanese, which was very well done.  It's different from the typical French cuisine, but it tasted just as good but lighter. I love the Japanese's touch of making the food taste light, fresh and tasty.

The second course was soup of the day, which was a cream broccoli cold soup. It was light, creamy and very refreshing.  I don't know how the two properties of  "light" and "creamy" can co-exist at the same time, but this was how I felt about the soup. It was so good!

The third course was a cold soba tapas (fresh made soba noodles topped with the chef's choice of accompaniment). This was another tasty and refreshing dish.  The noodles were well seasoned with super delicious Japanese dipping sauce.  The fish pieces on top were so fresh and so tasty. The tiny crunchy fried roes sprinkles were just addictive.  

There were a few options for the forth course, I chose the grilled miso-marinated cod, served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable medley. Most vegetable medley in American steakhouses tend to taste really bland and boring. But these vegetable medley made by the Japanese chef had a lot of flavor.  I cleaned out my plate and all my veggies. 

There were also options for the 5th course.  I chose the creme brulee which is of course very rich, creamy and delicious.  I licked my pate clean again, I used the strawberry piece to help me soak up the strawberry sauce on the plate. This was one  fantastic dinner that was totally delicious from the start to the finish. I felt really satisfied, yet without any bloating or sickly feeling I normally had with the American steakhouse.  I love the way the food was portioned, and the restaurant's use of fresh and high quality ingredients. I'd rather pay for quality than quantity. 

Restaurant: I-naba Steakhouse

Address: Country Hills Shopping Center, 2933 Rolling Hills Rd, Torrance, CA 90505

Tel: (310) 891-2333 

Delicious Chinese BBQ Combo Lunch Special

Review submitted by: Jane Ong

I love BBQ food, and Chinese BBQ never disappoints.  Today I had a $7.95 combo BBQ lunch special (BBQ Duck & Soy Sauce Chicken Over Steamed Rice With A Heap of  Bok Choi). It comes with free hot and sour soup.  I love the boned-in Soy Sauce Chicken but my experience with this famous Cantonese style chicken had been sighting of bones that were quite red.  When I visited Hong Kong, my friends there told me it was how the chicken was supposed to look because the chicken had to be extremely tender and juicy and with the bone also cooked through, the chicken had to be soaked in the boiling soy sauce for way too long, which reduced tenderness.  

I don't mind a little less tenderness and a little less juiciness.  Whenever I order this chicken dish, I always request the chefs to please make sure there is "no red" in the bones.  I love this chicken dish so much. It's really flavorful.  It pairs perfectly with Chinese BBQ Duck or Chinese BBQ Pork.  These meats make the steamed white rice taste so good.  It's a very filling meal and a very popular lunch box meal choice in the Cantonese culture. (The culture of the Quangdong province in China that includes Hong Kong & Macau. The majority of people there are quite slim which may indicate that steamed rice, and moderate amount of flavorful meats can curb the desire to over eat junk food...)

Restaurant: Nice China Cafe
Address: 2543 Pacific Hwy Ste B., Torrance, CA 90505
Tel:(310) 539-0323

Chinese Clay Pot Chicken Stew In Black Bean Sauce - 香蔥豆豉雞煲

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

I love food being cooked and served in a Chinese clay pot.  To me, clay pot cooking just  adds a great flavor to the food. Of course, the sizzling fajita pan and the grill also add very nice flavors to food. When I was visiting Hong Kong, I could spend every night having dinner at clay pot restaurants.  But where I am living now, my choice of clay pot dishes is quite limited.  Whenever I spot it on the menu in a Chinese restaurant, I always order it.  This time I spotted it on a white board ($11.99), written in Chinese.  This dish isn't on the regular bilingual menu.  I guess the owner probably thinks this dish won't appeal to the typical Americans because it's made of boned-in chicken pieces with the skin still on (sort of like how Chicken wings normally are served).  It does take some time to get rid of the bone during eating.  But I'm used to this kind of chicken, so deboning the chicken pieces while eating just comes natural to me.  I however won't recommend this dish to young children.  

Chinese cooking often uses boned-in chicken pieces because the bone and the skin preserve the tenderness, the juice and therefore the flavor of the chicken meat. The downside of this type of cooking is, there can sometimes be tiny crumbs of bones that I have to fish out.  Just like every now and then there are crumbs of crab shells and bones I have to fish out when I crack and eat crabs.  I don't mind putting in such effort because I am always rewarded by the great flavor.

Restaurant: Nice China Cafe
Address: 2543 Pacific Hwy Ste B., Torrance, CA 90505
Tel:(310) 539-0323

Spicy Korean Ramen With Shrimp Tempura

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

There are so many restaurants near my home that I just haven't had a chance to try them all. This restaurant is one of them. I always drove by the strip mall and was very curious about the sign that says "Rice Heaven" with Korean Characters at the bottom.  I finally paid my first visit today.  The place looks like the typical little Korean casual diner that I saw in Korean dramas.  I was going to have the Korean BBQ ribs but I just couldn't resist my craving for my beloved comfort food, "Ramen". Many Korean restaurants serve BBQ ribs but not too many serve Korean Ramen.  So I ordered the Spicy Korean Ramen instead ($5.99) and added an order of Shrimp Tempera (5 pcs for $5.99) for the protein.  The food tasted comparable to the other Korean restaurants I often patron. But to me, this place has the best tasting Kimchi.  I love the Kimchi here the most.

For those of you who aren't lucky enough to have a Korean restaurant in your town, you can easily make the Ramen at home, just click here for the recipe.

Restaurant: Rice Heaven
Address: 2937 Rolling Hills Rd, Torrance, CA90505
Phone:(310) 257-0134

Chinese Broccoli Is One Of The Popular Chinese Dim Sum Items

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

Most non-Chinese  probably will think it's odd to have Chinese broccoli during breakfast. But this dish is found on a lot of tables in the Dim Sum restaurant in the morning.  I guess it makes sense to always have veggies and fibers in every meal, particularly to balance the meaty Dim Sum.  I'm not a big salad fan, I love fresh salad made by good restaurants but I normally have to force myself to eat the raw salad at home because I haven't been able to find any bottled vinaigrette based dressing in the store that isn't so sour that I always become jittery when I smell or taste the dressing.  I don't like mayo based dressing too much either.  But I can easily eat a whole order of Chinese Broccoli at a Dim Sum restaurant all by myself.  

I guess I could have made the same dish at home for a lot cheaper, if only I'm not so lazy and so unmotivated to do anything in my small kitchen.  After all, my mom makes the same boiled Chinese broccoli a lot, sometimes for every meal.   The key is to buy really good Chinese broccoli which isn't bitter.  Then just wash it, and boil it in boiling water very quickly until the color just turns jade green.  It's important not to over boil it. It needs to be removed from the boiling water instantly when the green color shows up.  Then just drizzle oil that had been used from deep frying chicken or other food,  drizzle also the Lei Kum Kee oyster sauce (Lei Kam Kee is the best tasting oyster sauce, much better than the Kikkoman brand,  in my opinion).

The oil that had been used for frying chicken or other food really bumps up the taste of the broccoli. Then the oyster sauce of course gives the ultimate flavorful finish.    My mom always only heats a couple teaspoons of corn oil in the pan and drizzle it over the broccoli because my mom rarely  deep fries food at home. But the oil from deep frying really makes a huge difference in taste. This is the reason why boiled vegetables in Chinese restaurants always taste much better than home boiled even though we are using the same brand of oyster sauce. Chinese restaurants have a lot of oil from frying the spring rolls and other food to be used to dress boiled vegetables.  This makes the boiled veggies taste better than the American way of throwing butter on it.

Restaurant: PV Palace
Address: 2166 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717
Phone:(310) 326-3228
Hours: Friday 10:00 am – 9:30 pm

Chinese Dim Sum Breakfast Sweet Rolls

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

Having had no Dim Sum in Toms River New Jersey in the last couple months, I stuffed myself crazy this morning when I went to my most favorite local dim sum place that is under 15 minutes' drive from my home.  I literally piled my table with my favorite Chinese  breakfast buns (奶皇流沙飽 - Lai Wong Lau Sa Bao, which means sweet buns with runny milky eggnog sauce). These breakfast buns came in a dish of three per order. The chefs make only a limited number of these buns on Saturday and Sunday and they usually are sold out very fast.  Once they are sold out, there won't be anymore until the next weekend.  I love them so much I always brought more home. They keep well in the fridge for a few days and after warming up in the microwave for 12-15 seconds, they taste as good as fresh.

These mini size Chinese breakfast rolls taste a lot better than the cinnamon rolls because they aren't overly sweet. The sweetness is very well balanced. The runny milky eggnog sauce ran out every time I took a bite to brilliantly flavor the sweet buns inside my mouth. The buns are topped with delicious flaky crust topping (a mixture of flour, egg yolk, butter and sugar).  They are always served fresh, right out of the oven and they have to be a little warm. I can eat these non-stop because they don't give me a sick and stuffy filling even after I eat many of them.  But I usually try to limit myself to having only 3 a day.  I usually eat them with tea or coffee for breakfast.  

The first time I had buns similar to these was when I was visiting Macau, China in 2009.  At a very beautifully decorated Dim Sum restaurant in the MGM hotel casino there, a very beautiful, tall and model-like waitress there highly recommended a new type of buns to me, which was different from the traditional Chinese steamed buns with pasty fillings. She said it was the best seller there. There, the buns were white with white flaky topping and the runny saucy filling was also snow white. They looked delicate and they tasted dynamically flavorful, light and heavenly.  The buns at the MGM hotel in Macau were  of course a lot better tasting than these buns here near my home. I doubt any Chinese restaurant in the USA can beat the Dim Sum restaurant at MGM in Macau.  Then I started to hear the Dim Sum ladies at my local Dim Sum restaurant recommending these buns to me in 2011. Having missed the buns I had at MGM Macau, I was very happy to try.  I loved them on first bite.  These buns are very delicious even though MGM Macau has better. 

Cutting isn't recommended when eating these buns because you don't want to lose the sauce filling.  I always hold up the bun really close to my mouth and bite cautiously so as not to let the yummy saucy filling leak off the bun.  I often just order take out to save 15% on tips, since I am a big spender on these yummy buns.  P.S. there is another type of buns that look exactly like this but the filling is pasty and not saucy and runny.  I much prefer the ones with the saucy and runny fillings because they taste many time more delicious than the other type.  The Dim Sum ladies there always try to convince me to have the pasty kind when they sell out the saucy type.  

Restaurant: Restaurant: PV Palace 

Address: 2166 Pacific Coast Hwy, Lomita, CA 90717 

Phone:(310) 326-3228 

Hours: Friday 10:00 am – 9:30 pm

Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken at Bucca Di Beppo

Restaurant reviewed by: Jane Ong

After being in Toms River New Jersey for over 2 months, I am not only craving for Chinese and Japanese food, I am also craving for Italian food.  I was unable to find any decent Italian restaurant in Toms River when I was there since I wasn't familiar with the town, and the only times I had decent pasta dishes were when I ordered room service at my hotel.  

So tonight I took advantage of the $10.00 off coupon to go to Bucca Di Beppo. I know I could have gone to this very same restaurant in Atlantic City when I was in New Jersey.  But I didn't like driving long distance when I was in New Jersey because of the many extremely aggressive and crazy drivers in that state, and also the annoying tolls and jughandle everywhere. I had never heard about "jughandle" until my clients in New Jersey told me about it when I was frantically calling them for directions. I guess jughandle is a New Jersey "landmark" but my experience with it had been all bad.   Stressed out by my weekday driving in Toms River alone, I was definitely not willing to drive from Toms River to Atlantic city on the weekends just to go to an Italian chain restaurant that I can easily go to when I am here in LA, by driving less than 15 minutes.

Tonight, I ordered Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken ($24.99) which is chicken stuffed with mozzarella and prosciutto, served with homemade marinara and pesto cream sauces.  I never regarded this place as one of my favorite Italian restaurants, because I never felt the food here was any special.  I had been to much better Italian restaurants.  I certainly didn't feel the food here tasted bad.  I felt the food here tasted OK and the restaurant was close to my home to serve its purpose when I was hungry and too tired to drive around during those overtime weekdays.  But after I had spent 2 months in Toms River New Jersey, the food here all of a sudden just tasted so amazingly good to me.  I never had a frame of reference to how bad Italian food could taste. Now that I experienced the bad Italian food in Toms River New Jersey, I am enjoying this chicken plate so much that I almost feel lucky for having Bucca Di Beppo so close by.