Would You Like Your Fingers Tender, Or Your Nacho's Irish?

Barney's again? Yes I went there again. Did I get the same items? No I am not completely devoid of common sense. Only partially. I figured I'd expand my palate and be worldly, chicken fingers and Irish Nachos should do it.

Let me tell you something about the chicken fingers, well they are pretty perfect. I am not going to lie to you, pretty damn perfect. Cooked and breaded perfectly and I really enjoy Barney's BBQ sauce. The sauce is tangy and a bit sweet but not too much, a great complement to the tender chicken. Also the honey mustard is tasty too, if you are into that kind of fancy shit.

My only gripe is that you do not get that many chicken tenders. Yes they are pretty decent size but 3, seriously? I mean at least 4, come on Barney's you charge $14 for a pitcher of beer. Crazy.

Irish Nachos, what the hell is an Irish Nacho you ask. Well it's like home fries but not crispy with a ton of cheese on it and chili and guac on the side. That's really it. It really couldn't be seen as a nacho. Its like homefries and cheese. Which would probably be better because I like my home fries thin and crispy. If it was more nacho like, I feel it might be better. Throw all the ingredients together like if it had tortilla chips on a plate and see what happens, maybe some black olives, possibly some jalapenos? Have the potatoes crispy also, then my friend you might have a tasty treat. But hell what do I know?

Final Bite: Chicken Tenders are tender and delicious, Irish Nachos can stay in Ireland or Mexico or wherever will have them.

Barney's Beanery
8447 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
323.654.2287

Miso Hungry, What About You?

Sushi is one of my favorite things in the world. I could probably eat it everyday if I could afford it, but in LA who can really afford to do anything everyday? The really good places give you too little and charge you too much and the cheap places quality is not that great. So finding a happy medium is hard. Especially when you have the ability to eat the equivalent of 18 hand cut rolls if you do not restrain yourself. 

A restaurant I really enjoy is in Santa Monica called, Sushi Mon, well it used to be called Sushi Mon. Like most sushi places it changes hands more than dollar bills at a strip club, or street corners, whatever you are into I guess. But the menu has stayed the same and they still have a good lunch special.

I am a huge fan of free and when its delicious also, that makes me smile extra big. At Sushi Mon you get a free bowl of Miso soup. It is mostly just broth but it is still really tasty and warms you up. And apparently per Dani a good bowl of Miso is the foundation for a good sushi spot.

Now on to the lunch special. You get 5 pieces of fresh delicious sushi and your choice of one other item off a huge selection. I usually get the sashimi salad. Now here's the rub. The old owners gave you a huge bowl with a huge amount of veggies and an even huger amount of fish. Possibly why they are no longer the owners. That's a lot of food to be giving away at a really low price. So the new bowl is as it appears below. Mind you it is not small by any means, but when you are used to almost not being able to finish to being only just satisfied its slightly upsetting. 

Final Bite: Sushi Mon or whatever it is called now is a great lunch place if you want sushi. Yes their portion size has fallen since they have changed hands, but it is still a very good value and the quality is top notch. And you wouldn't know that the sizes changed unless I told you if you've never been. I am sure you will be fine.

Sushi Mon
401 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 576-7011‎

F Q, Where Do You Go To Brunch?

Things you need for a successful brunch location. 

1: Out door seating

2: Good Food

3: Great Company

4: Arnold Palmer's (or mimosa's or some sort of liquor)

All of which were in place for my brunch with my friend Janey. Janey is awesome and she says trousers which I love. 

We went to the French Quarter Market Place, aka the French Market for those who aren't jerks, there is no need to say the whole thing. We were patrons, 1 because Janey has never been and B it is close to my apartment and from previous posts you know that I am quite lazy. The service is always great and the food there is really tasty. 

I ordered a buffalo chicken sandwich and seasoned french fries. The fries were cooked perfectly and seasoned well and served as a perfect complement to my buff chic samy. The only complaint I had was that the French Market no longer sells shrimp SO they no long have cocktail sauce (I like cocktail sauce on my fries) so I had to make it myself with creamy horseradish and Heinz. Not that I cared, it's just that it's wack that they don't have cocktail sauce. 

The sandwich is great. You receive what I can only surmise as 3 lightly breaded chicken fingers with delicious buff sauce on them. I always get extra sauce because, well you can never have too much buff sauce. I did remember that I do not like bleu cheese on my sandwiches but I forgot that there is coleslaw on the thing so I had to slide that off which I felt bad about wasting. But who really likes coleslaw, and if you do, why?

Final Bite: The French Market is a great brunch place. They have really good food and I think it's not terribly pricey. As an aside, they have really good Pomosa's (pomegranate juice and champagne) shit will put you on your ass if you aren't careful. 

French Quarter Market Place

7985 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 656-0874

First Annual Foodapalooza Schedule is Set!!

On Saturday April 18th Dana Smith and I (and whoever else is interested) will be attempting the simple feat of eating. Eating at 10 food establishments and consuming 10+ food items. Below please find the schedule of what can only be described as a marathon of gluttony. Will we finish? I am not sure, but hell we will sure give it the college try. The day will start at 11am and will continue until we are finished or we perforate our stomachs and have to go to the ER. Either way I know one thing. It is going to be awesome. Really, really awesome. 

Let the eating begin!

Bloom Cafe - Smoked Salmon Tartine - $12
5544 Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 934-6900
Hours: 11am - 10pm

Village Pizzeria - Pizza - $11
131 N Larchmont Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 465-5566
Hours: 11:30am - 10pm

Cobra's & Matadors - Bacon wrapped dates - $10
7615 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 932-6178‎
Hours: 11:30am - 11:30pm

Los Tacos - Chicken hard/soft taco - $5, $5
7954 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 848-9141
24 hours

Omi Sushi - Baked Lobster Roll
8163 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 654-1056‎
Hours: 12pm - 12am

Belmont - Mac N Cheese - $14
747 N La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 659-8871
Hours: 9am - 2am

Phillies Best - Cheesesteak, Tastycakes, Birch Beer
1419 W Olive Ave
Burbank, CA 91506
(818) 840-8700
Hours: 11am - 9pm

Pita Kitchen - Lamb Shawarma, Greek Salad - $6, $5
14500 Ventura Blvd
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 990-7006
Hours: 11am - 11pm

La Cabana - Empanada - $8
738 Rose Ave
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 392-6161
Hours: 11am - 3am

Vanilla Bake Shop - Mini Cupcakes - $10
512 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 458-6644
Hours: 9am - 7pm

Vito That, Can I Just Get Two Slices?

Along with everything else I've been hunting down to eat, pizza has been one of the most elusive little buggers of them all. There are tons of pizza joints out here and there is always something not just right. Either the crust, cheese, size, price and anything else you can fathom is off in some way. 

Vito's is no exception. I had a borderline perfect slice of pizza at their fine establishment. The crust was thin and cooked perfectly. The cheese was well placed and melted to almost perfect perfection, and the pepperoni was a great topping. I usually like my pepperoni thicker and to curl up like a little cup containing heart stopping goodness, but as pepperoni's go it was normal. 

The sauce on the pizza was just not doing it for me. I am not saying it was bad. I was just not wow'd. Maybe I've been on the west coast too long and the image I have in my mind and what my taste buds remember has just hyped up everything so much. Putting everything on a pedestal so high that even the food I remember eating back home cannot even compare. 

Final Bite: Vito's Pizza is definitely one of the better traditional slices of pizza I have had since living in LALA land. The cost is not terribly high but this is coming from a guy used to buy $1 slices. I will be going back because yes it is still a really good slice but is also a block away, which me being lazy is awesome.

Vito's Pizza
846 N La Cienega Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 652-6859

Can you wing it?? Yes we can...

On historical route 66 lies Barney's Beanery, home of $14 dollar pitchers and a 'decent happy hour' at a not so decent time. Seriously who on god's green earth is off and can get to Barney's before 7pm during the week and really take advantage of this 'happy hour'? If you can I hate you...lucky bastards.

Barney's has an amazingly large menu with tons of choice for everyone. The salads are good all the way up to the burgers but this isn't a story about those. On Thursday for the PSU vs. Baylor NIT Championship game I ate some typical bar foods and would like to let you know that if you are going to eat wings Barney's is top notch. 

Yes I lived in NY State for a year, and yes I've been to buffalo, and yes I am spoiled with the wings back east. BUT if you are going to eat a wing, Barney's is very good. I get mine crispy with extra sauce and blue cheese, which I feel is the only proper way to do it. You do not have to worry about ordering drums only like you do at Hooters (which is really only good for their 9-1-1 Chicken sandwiches and well...Hooters) because all they give you is drumlettes, very large drumlettes at that. Which is the only fault I find. Yes I LOVE getting my moneys worth like the next man, and with this recession you gotta get as much as you can, but if they DON'T make them crispy for you they just turn out like big too chewy slaps of salmonella. If they were slightly smaller than they would be money all the time. This is not my first time but when they are busy they tend to not care about how crispy they make them for you.

I also despite always being disappointed ordered the mozzarella sticks. Maybe I'm just a glutton for punishment but I never like them. Not that there is anything wrong with the actual stick, they are just NEVER cooked enough. I want a molten bite of stringy cheese when I eat the thing. I want to burn my mouth and have a piece of melted cheese not break away from its self and swing back and  burn my face. But nope, never happens.

Final Bite: The wings are good and depending on your wing palate they can be great. Definitely something to order if you want some good bar food. The mozzarella sticks should be passed on, but I am sure I will order them again in hopes of cooked to perfectioness.

Barney's Beanery

8447 Santa Monica Blvd

West Hollywood, CA 90069

323.654.2287

Can I smell Your Aroma (coffee & tea co.)?

One thing you learn and learn quick in Lost Angeles is how the people here LOVE brunches. It's borderline ridiculous on how much we love brunch, but oh my god do we love brunch. Its pretty insane. Bring up brunch to a person here and they can talk to you for hours about their favorite places and what is great there. Damn brunch people.

Well let me tell you about the Aroma Coffee & Tea Co. in The Valley, yes I said The Valley, take your Bayside Tiger hatred of The Valley and leave it at the other blogs. (yes I am not a fan of The Valley but some of the food there is amazing)

I went to Aroma Coffee & Tea Co. with some friends and experienced what could only be put like this, It was pretty much the same experience as the Urth Cafe but you feel less pretentious. Not saying that the Urth Cafe has any pretension BUT there is none at Aroma. Same ordering and food vibe but just less "look at me, look at me." I would advise you to take the same care in arriving early that you do at Urth, damn lines, I hate lines.  

What I delighted my palate with was something I have had before but never talked about. Salmon salad. Thing is amazing. It is a perfect size and has everything you want in a salmon salad. Make sure you go towards the bottom where the jems of deliciousness lie. Capers are down at the bottom along with some red onions and other great treats. You get a hearty fork full in your mouth and you can thank me later.

Yes I am sure I could say it needs heat and needs maybe some other salad item, but you can always say something needs to be spicy etc. I was raised with spice so unless it definitely needs it I will try not to cloud your thoughts and let you find out for yourself.

Also if you like arnold palmers Aroma Coffee & Tea Co. has one of the best in the city. Like I said it's pretty much like going to Urth Cafe, so take that amount of drink options and put it The Valley. For all I know Urth owns Aroma and if they don't I wonder who came first and who stole from who.

Final bite: Definitely a great brunch place. Would I drive all the way into The Valley for it? Not unless my friend lived in The Valley and suggested it. Why? I live in West Hollywood, shits far man.

Aroma Coffee & Tea Co.

4360 Tujunga Ave

Studio City, CA 91604

818.508.0677