Eat Drink Style Taco Town. Opening soon?

One of the best discoveries for me this year was the office time-killer, YouTube. I found this great clip on there. Definitely SNL's greatest spoof commercials. Why is this funny to me? Because it's an honest sketch of America's tendency to gluttonize. In America, everything has to be pushed to the limits. Bigger, faster, meatier, fatter, crunchier, etc. Will there be an end to everything we obsess over? I've watched this over 30 times and I'm still not tired of it. Here's the link.

Taaaacccoooooo Tooooooooowwwwwwwnnnnnnnn

Eat Drink Style Iron Chef: Battle Souplantation???

BR and I love Souplantation. Why did we frequent such a place when we had all the good restaurants in the Wilshire/La Brea area? Simply because you can get a decent variety of things to eat. I actually like their macaroni and cheese. With virtually no meat available, this is heaven for vegetarians and anyone that has a double-digit balance in their checking account. Sadly, this holds true for the both of our poor souls. On our Nth visit to Souplantation for lunch, we decided to entertain ourselves and take things to another level.

Me: “You know what would be funny?”
BR: “What?”
Me: “We should do an Iron Chef battle at Souplantation, using all the crap ingredients they have.”
BR: “I can easily beat you.”
Me: *Scoff. “It’s on, you punk. Presentation, plating and taste are all accounted for.”
BR: “It’s on asshole.”

***Aaaaaaaairrrrrreennnnnnnn Keeeeeeeeeeetchuuuuuuuuuun*** (I think that’s what he says. Correct me if I’m wrong.)

As you can see, the tension was present even before we stepped foot into Craplantation. This was a serious issue. She had an advantage though. Her ex-bf, and my old co-worker at The Restaurant, had taught her some culinary skills. I, on the other hand, was basing all my creations on freaking Rachael Ray and Tyler Florence haha. Considering that most restaurants won’t give you access to the kitchen, this was going to be tough. No fancy German knives, no cutting board, no stove, no pots - nothing. At least give me a microwave oven. It was basically an episode of MacGuyver filmed at Souplantation.

Right after we entered we split off – giving each other dirty looks. She headed for the salad bar section on the left, and I headed for the right. I couldn’t let her see what ingredients I would use. I grabbed 4 or 5 plates and carefully examined my resources. I was really bent on the fact that we couldn’t use a stove and the only meat available was that rubbery white stuff they refer to as chicken. As for broth, I would only be able to use the salty chicken noodle soup broth. After about 45 minutes, we met back at the table and presented our best dishes. Keep in mind, nothing on here was bound to taste good so this was more about presentation and creativity. I’ve also included my own grades for each dish. Here’s what we compiled:



A. Iron Chef Dylan. Using that rubbery white stuff and Cream of Mushroom soup, I simply made a pasta dish wish the cold noodles and garnished it with green onions that I got from the employee ‘tossing salads”. This was headed for failure because I didn’t have anything to at least heat the noodles and sauce. Disgusting. D+

B. Iron Chef Dylan. Well if you’re gonna serve pasta, a nice sandwich will be a fine accompaniment. Or so I thought. I grabbed two slices of their dry-ass focaccia and slapped chicken meat in there that I had shredded. I also mixed some spinach, onions, olive oil and vinegar together for a little ‘health kick’. I think it’s hilarious that Souplantation even offers different types of vinegar. What are they trying to be? Gourmet? This wasn’t so bad but it was definitely on the bland side. C+

C. Iron Chef BR. What in the world is that you ask? Not even BR knew. This alien life form took shape after she cut a piece of cornbread in half and ‘garnished’ it with what looks like a fried chow mein noodle, baked yam and pineapple. And for extra presentation points, she added raisins and a few drizzles of olive oil. I don’t think either of us tried this out. F-

D. Iron Chef Dylan. I continued with my healthy-dish spree and took a bowl full of garbanzo beans. I smashed them with my fork and added salt, fresh ground pepper and olive oil. I was trying to make hummus but this looked more like freshly thrown-up apple sauce. You like how I garnished the focaccia bread with the green onions? The garnishing still didn’t do any justice for this piece of shit dish. G+

E. Iron Chef BR. As if she didn’t have enough of that alien life form, she resurrected it even after the busboy shook his head in disbelief. BR wanted to take a simpler approach and really emphasize the true taste of the foil-wrapped yam that tasted like Playdoh. She finely pureed the yam flesh with her fork and laid it over another piece of cornbread. And of course, drizzled it with olive oil. D+

F. Iron Chef BR. Instead of mixing yams with the frozen yogurt/ice cream like any of those Iron Chefs would do, she did a take on a classic American treat: the Candied Apple. She crushed some peanuts and placed them on top of the Granny Smith apples and added a mixture of chocolate and caramel syrup. This was by far, the most interesting looking dish and it tasted good. A

G. Iron Chef Dylan. Why can’t I stay away from the pasta. I spent a good five minutes fishing out the noodles from the chicken noodle soup. I had to hurry because people were behind me. Using the noodles, I again added the Cream of Mushroom soup over the noodles, with a garnish of parsley. This was good from far, but far from good. D+

H. Iron Chef Dylan. You know, maybe I should just work for Olive Garden. My pasta dishes aren’t that much different from OG’s current menu. Using the same noodles that I had fished out, I added tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and the only cheese in sight – cheddar. This looked like a dish from Acapulco. G+

So who’s cuisine reigned supreme in Battle Souplantation? I’d have to say that it was, unanimously, NO ONE’s. The fact of the matter is that Souplantation is pretty gross, and there isn't anything you can do to make it enjoyable. They keep everything bland to stay on the safe side. It’s up to you edit your food with their salt, pepper and fine selection of Sysco vinegars and oils. I am not going to Souplantation for a while. I’ll have to give credit to BR for her Candied Apple dish. Good job buddy.

Thanks for reading. You may throw up now.

Eat Drink Style 101 Noodle Express, San Gabriel - Freshly-Made Beef Scallion Pancakes

Driving around on San Gabriel Valley's, Valley Blvd. can be a dangerous thing. It's basically an obstacle course for Traffic School students... 24/7. Almost every time I drive on this street, my blood begins to boil because I am always behind a 30-mph herd of people that are doing anything but focusing on the road. Some people are busy yapping away on their cell phone, some are just blinded by their own facial sun visors that remind me of a welding mask (are you going to drive or are you going to solder me a new metal table in your car? make up your mind!) and most of the time, people are just too freaking old to be on the road. Like Koreatown, SGV's streets are surrounded by strip malls and shopping centers. If you don't know you're way around here and are trying to find your address, you can easily get into a car accident by not paying attention to the road. I've been close to rear-ending people in Koreatown because it is strip-mall overload – laden with signs that bear virtually no English. In SGV, there's one strip mall that I drive by all the time, always with a line of people strung along the parking lot. And if it wasn't for Jonathan Gold's review, I would simply drive by as usual... not knowing that this Shan Dong-style restaurant called 101 Noodle Express makes a truly delicious beef scallion pancake.

With a name like 101 Noodle Express, I am immediately discouraged. When I pass places like Pizza Pit, Burger Barn and Taco Town... I can't help but yawn. Even Panda Express is more interesting than 101 Noodle Express because pandas are just more interesting than pits, barns and taco-laden towns. Once I walked in to this aromatic and crowded restaurant, I had a feeling that the name did no justice for this place. While standing around for the next available seating, I looked around to see what people were ordering. Okay, I see beef scallion pancake... over here, there, there, there, back there, a few crumbs on that old lady's mouth, right here, one piece dropped on the floor, there... I think the jury has reached a unanimous decision.

Beef Scallion Pancake ( 牛 肉 捲 餅 )
I have no idea why I have the habit of rubbing my hands together whenever I see the waitress come out with my dish. It's automatic. The waitress laid the pancakes down and I did a double-take on the size of these mothers. My god, they were super-sized. Thinly-rolled and wrapped around beef that I could tell was super moist, and a generous serving of chopped scallions and cilantro. Awesome. Before I even drilled my teeth down to the center of the pancake, I felt the thin crackling of the toasted pancake. The beef was super tender and seasoned well with a sweet, home-made bean sauce. The balance was perfect in every bite. I recommend adding some of the chili sauce on top for a nice kick in the ass. 2 big 'fajitas' for $6.75. I like these much better than Mandarin Noodle Deli's version. The beef is not as tender there.

Stir-Fried Scallion Pancakes ( 家 常 炒 餅 )
Don't be frightened, it's not Applebee's strange new appetizer. This is the wilder cousin of the aforementioned dish. The ladies next to me were kind of enough to let me take a photo of their dish. The scallion pancakes are chopped into triangles and stir fried with bean sprouts, scallions and probably a little bit of salt and sesame oil. Jonathan Gold says it best... they're kinda like a wild version of Chinese nachos.

Shrimp Pork Dumplings ( 蝦 豬 肉 水 餃 )
A lot of people ordered these as well. 101 offers a nice variety of dumplings, more than Dumpling 10053 in El Monte does – 19 kinds! The most interesting ones are lamb dumplings, pumpkin shrimp pork and scallop leek dumplings. I'll have to try next time. The ones pictured above are shrimp pork and filled with a nice amount of stuffing. They don't skimp on the shrimp. The dumplings were juicy but compared to Dumpling 10053, I have to give the gold medal for taste to D10053. The shrimp/leek and 3 flavor (sea cucumber, pork, imi. crab) are done nicely.

Chinese Chili Relish
Seems like there's a bit of Latino influence here at 101 Noodle Express. You've got the beef 'fajita's, the scallion pancake 'nachos' and then there's this 'salsa verde'-like relish you can use on almost any dish. It's made of cilantro, chinese celery, green chilis and boiled onions – it's awesome. I put this in my beef noodle soup, scallion pancake and stuffed it into my dumplings. Sometimes even the smallest, unexpected things at a restaurant are reason enough to bring you back. In this case, I'm all for that chili relish.

Thanks for reading.

101 Noodle Express
1408 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 300-8654

Eat Drink Style Four Things Meme...

Yoony over at Immaeatchu recently tagged me with the Four Things Meme. Before that, I had no idea what the hell a meme was. Here goes:

Four Jobs I've Had In My Life in LA:
*art director (advertising)
*art director (advertising)
*pantry cook @ a DT LA restaurant
*cook for a catering company

Four Movies About LA I Could Watch Over And Over:
... not sure if they are about LA, but they are based in LA
*boogie nights (torrance and chatsworth)
*heat (downtown LA)
*swingers (hollywood?)
*that's all i can think of

Four Places I've Lived All Over L.A. (With Food Memories of Each):
*irvine - college years, memories of awful dorm food
*SGV - valley blvd. is indispensable. i would fall into depression if valley blvd. was wiped out
*west LA - i love sawtelle blvd.

Four Places I Would Vacation At In LA:
*palos verdes
*echo park/silverlake (yes, i don't mind)
*standard hotel either on sunset/dt la
*santa barbara

Four LA-Based Websites I Visit Sometimes:
*la.foodblogging.com
*la weekly
*the food bloggers on my blogroll
*troubadour.com

Four Of My Favorite Foods Found In LA:
*breakfast burrito without potatoes at Alberto's (chain)
*a heavenly bowl of pho from Golden Deli (san gabriel)
*shao loong bao dumplings from Ding Tai Fung (arcadia)
*dim sum (all over)

Four Places In LA I Would Rather Be Right Now:
*at my catering boss's place cooking
*my own kitchen
*eating outside of a restaurant on a nice, sunny day
*any dive bar @ 2 pm

Tagged:
Kristy of Best of LA
Jeni of Oishii Eats
Amy of Foodie Universe
Zteve of Gastrologica
Edwin of Elmomonster (just change it to OC)
Kirk of Mmm-Yoso (just change it to SD)

Eat Drink Style Yabu Yabu Yabu - West Los Angeles

Starting a new job is always a good thing – the slate is immaculately clean. Those TPS reports you slaved all morning over dissipate into oblivion. Those superficial how’s-it-goings, how-was-your-weekend’s and have-a-good-evening’s to co-workers can finally be put six feet under. The obligatory ‘goodbye’ luncheons at piece-of-shit restaurants no longer need to be dealt with. Any beef you’ve had with the past workplace is gone. In addition to the wonderful feeling of leaving a workplace for a new job, is the nice salary increase. For some, it means more money for more toys, vacations, clothes, drugs, etc. As an aspiring caterer and epicurean, this new job meant more career opportunities and of course, more food for me.

I’ve been in West LA for nearly two years and have limited myself to the Sawtelle restaurant row. Obviously because of my last job working for a few pesos an hour. What about those places on Olympic, Wilshire and Pico? It was time to move on and feed my curious palate. On Tuesday, I met up with my friend’s EP, SJ and AF for dinner. We had originally voted on Ramenya but didn’t feel like eating bowls of 3,800 mg sodium-broth and noodles. You’ll know what I mean if you ever walk into a Nijiya, Mitsuwa or Marukai. Take a stroll into the colorfully-fun instant noodle aisles. Sure, the picture of the Chashu ramen looks good; it’s the information on the nutritional label that isn’t. I’ve seen some as high as 5,800 mg of sodium. No thanks.

EP/SJ: “Ramenya is too salty blah blah blah blah blah…”
Me: “Yeah I know. I want noodles though.”
EP/SJ: “How about soba at Yabu?”
Me: “Sounds good to me and the kidneys.”

***By the way, EP and SJ do not share the same body like conjoined twins nor do they speak in unison. I’m just abridging the email conversation.

We got to Yabu at around 7:15. We walked through the heavily-draped blue curtains, which I got tangled in, and were greeted immediately. The resturant holds maybe 40 people including the sushi bar and is staffed with 3 servers. I don't really know how to describe the look of the place. It didn't make me cringe nor did it dilate my pupils. It's just normal and clean, which is good enough for me. Although a few tables were open, we were pointed to the sushi bar due to some reservations. We could see directly into the kitchen and see the chefs at work. The kitchen was built on a lower level, so those chefs looked like midgets. Everybody loves midgets except for my friend SJ.

As we were given menus, the head midget gave us a treat.

Head Midget: “Ees on duh howsuh!” (It’s on the house.)

Nice. What I thought would be a yummy, complimentary treat turned out to be merely 6-7 pieces of bean sprouts mixed with sesame oil and wakame seaweed. I could’ve eaten the whole thing, but in the presence of three women, I’m going to take down my appetite level down a notch. It was good. Sparse, but good.

Besides the obvious sushi fare, Yabu is known for their hand-made soba noodles and selection of broiled fish entrees. Yabu also offers a nice section of appetizers and starters. Why those two weren’t combined puzzled me. I looked on the menu and caught on to the ‘Yabu Homemade Tofu’. Oh nice. I got a 220 over 200 result on my cholesterol test and this dish would prove beneficial. Yes, 200 is the cut-off – I am in trouble. After a few exchanges of ‘What are you gonna get?’, we all settled on soup noodles and appetizers for the cold weather. Here’s what we had:


A. Yabu Homemade Tofu - This cholesterol-lowering dish was served cold with a 'Wari-Shoyu' broth spooned on top. I thought this dish was nicely made. A subtle taste of dashi and shoyu in the broth, balanced by sweet ginger, pungent garlic and crispy/crunchy green onions. This could please the Iron Chef judges if some roe, caviar or sea urchin was added to it. This was too small of a portion for me though. $5


B. Nasu Miso Eggplant - Italicized on the menu as "Yabu's Most Popular", I gave in. The perfectly sauteed eggplant was served with a miso/sake/sugar sauce. The dish was sort of oily and it didn't help that I added a few drops of chili oil. Overall, a very tasty dish that I will order regularly. I wish they offered this as an entree with some rice. $5.50


C. Mystery Hand Roll - EP ordered this and I have no idea what it was. I think she mentioned something about mushrooms but didn't seem to thrilled about it. $?.??


D. Duck Soba - For any first timers at Yabu, I'd suggest giving their udon/soba a shot since it's their specialty. The soba buckwheat noodles are made fresh daily and you can watch the chef handle it delicately in the kitchen. Although it is handmade, I prefer the packaged kind. The noodles didn't have much of a bit and seemed a bit chalky b/c it was easily broken/cut by my chopsticks. Maybe soba noodles weren't met to have some al-denteness to it. Although the duck slices were tender, I probably should have taken them out so that the broth would not cook them any longer. Oh well, it was probably braised anyway. This dish was good, but not great and after about 10 minutes, the broth seemed to get saltier. I'd order this dish again, only with udon instead of the soba. This bowl of soba came from the recommendation of the waiter, and with good reason... $12.50!


E. Tempura Soba - SJ likes anything salty, so I didn't hear a single complaint about her food. You can't go wrong with salty broth and deep-fried vegetables. $9

F. Curry Soba - EP rolled her eyes as I asked her bowl of curry soba to pose for me. I took a taste of the sauce and liked it. It was sweet and creamier then say, Hurry Curry. She wasn't able to finish it b/c it was quite heavy for a girl of her stature. $9

I think everyone was content with the meal. I'll definitely be back here. For those interested in trying Yabu, go for the broiled Black Cod, sashimi and handmade soba. I think the Miso Black Cod is better than Beacon's by far.

Thanks for reading.

Yabu
11820 W. Pico Blvd. (near Arsenal and Liquid Kitty)
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 854-0400

Eat Drink Style Waiting: A Nice Look at Corporate Craphole Restaurants

Last week, I rented Waiting from Netflix. I don't know if it's suitable for everyone, but working in the restaurant industry, I found it humorous. The movie is about a bunch of employees that work at a Bennigan's-type restaurant, named Shenanigans. The funny part of the movie is that it's shot 98% of the time in the restaurant, and you get a feel for what it's like to make $7 hr at TGIF or Red Robin. If you remember Chotchsky's from Office Space, this is sort of what it's like. You get the angry customers, jokester employees, foul-mouthed cooks and lowlife manager.

Things to pay attention to in the movie:

"The Game" - I can't stop laughing about this
Anything Dane Cook says - great comedian
The Busboys
What the cooks do to your food - if you're a nitpicking foodblogger, you deserve this

I seriously thought this would be a stupid movie b/c I don't like Ryan Reynolds or Justin Long, but they did a good job making me laugh. DO NOT THINK OF ME DIFFERENTLY if you dislike the movie haha.

My lesson to everyone: be nice to the people that serve your food.

Enjoy.

Eat Drink Style Ma Dang Gook Soo - Korean Handmade, Knife-Cut Noodles

Since moving to the Silver Lake area, it's been beneficial living in such close proximity to Koreatown, what J & I refer to as a foodie goldmine. We used to frequent the standard Korean bbq joints most newcomers to Korean cuisine dined at, but learned that there is far more depth to what is one of my favorite Asian cuisines behind Chinese and Vietnamese. There's the 14-hour-braised beef bone soup called suhl lung tang, the spicy crab hot pot, spicy raw crab, black bean noodles, all-you-can-eat intestines & tripe, sashimi rice bowls, cold buckwheat noodles, pork belly fried rice cooked on a Medieval-style shield, etc. The list goes on. But as much as I love korean food, one thing I wished there was more of is soup noodles. In addition to the Korean-Chinese dish jjam pong, a fiery seafood noodle soup, jaap chae (beef & vegetable vermicelli) and packaged kim-chi ramen (la myun), the list is still short. And then I find out from trusty Koreatownists about a place called Ma Dang Gook Soo - a place for kal gook soo, korean soup noodles.

J & I parked in the tiny strip mall MDGS is located in, which neighbors BCD Tofuhouse and E-Moon Oak . Walking up, I saw this illustrated motif of something very promising. Handmade! Knifecut! I could hear the Pavlov bells ringing. We walked in and see four waitresses in the kitchen turn around and say 'ahn yong ha sae yo'! The restaurant itself has a very homey feel and is adorned with large photos of Korean villages. By the cashwrap, small photos of their menu are displayed across a wall but you can tell it's been about a century since they last updated the withering food images.

We took our seats and were immediately served some ice cold barley tea, which is refreshing during the summer season. On the wall were a few Korean articles and a Jonathan Gold review on MDGS. Here is Mama Ma Dang Gook Soo.

As I was walking to the bathroom, I took a peek into the kitchen and saw four Korean women making noodles – I wanted to document it! I walked into the kitchen slowly and did this sign language communication thing with my fingers and camera. After a few seconds of puzzled looks, they figured out that I wanted to take a photo and welcomed me in. The women were joking around and frolicking in their freshly made noodles – they all wanted to pose for the camera, but everyone made way for Mama MDGS. As I was taking the photo, she lifted the noodles up like a kid showing his 3-lb trout on a summer trip.

There's nothing more beautiful than freshly made noodles or pasta. The flour was rolled into a very thin layer and folded over neatly like a book of fabric. The cook then took her 14-inch chef knife and gracefully sliced the dough into 1/2" noodles (similar to fettucini). Note that these are handmade & knife-cut noodles, unlike the chinese knife-shaven noodles (dao xiao mian). The process is different because a cook will hold a ball of dough, use a paring knife to skillfully launch the slivers of dough into a boiling pot. The result is a chewy, un-uniform 'noodle'.

Korean Soup Noodles with Chicken - dahk kal gook soo ( 닭 칼 국 수)
My eyes lit up when I saw our waitress carefully steer herself in between the tables, holding a piping hot bowl with two hands. Steam beautifully rising above. I was intentionally limiting myself to the side dishes set in front of me, saving my space for this. You can order from four types of soup noodles: chicken (what most people recommend), clams, anchovy and kimchi. The bowl comes with shredded white meat, julienned scrambled eggs, 1 whole boiled potato, zuccini, scallions, roasted seaweed in a white, milky broth. I'm sure the majority of the whiteness comes from the flour runoff of the fresh noodles. Like suhl lung tang, kal gook soo is served somewhat plain. You're expected to use the condiment tray to flavor your own soup. A little salt, tons of black pepper and 3 big scoops of their delicious, garlicky chili paste. Everything tasted really good, and is simply comforting. It wasn't the most outstanding noodle dish I've had, but I worked up a nice sweat because I enjoyed it. Compared to more robust soup noodles like Thai Boat Noodles or the spicy lemongrass-based bun bo hue, one may think that kal gook soo is on the lighter, bland side. But I'm a huge fan of Korean food because most of the dishes are very homey and untainted by customers demands. Next time I'm going for the Anchovy version. Yum.

Close-up of the Noodles ( 닭 칼 국 수)
I loved the un-uniform cut of the noodles. Such a nice feeling knowing that my food wasn't processed by some greasy, rusty metal monster. I much prefer my food made by jolly Korean women frolicking in flour and noodles. Wee!

MDGS's Chili Paste ( 다 대 기)
One look at this and I fell in love. Scallions, garlic, red chili pepper (go chu ga roo), sesame seeds, soy sauce and sesame oil... hot. I added 3 big scoops to my soup noodles. This isn't spicy at all and is simply a flavor enhancer. I can eat this stuff off rice because it's so tasty. I took half the jar back in a small container. Sorry MDGS!

Cold Spicy Noodles ( 쫄면)
This may look like bi bim naeng myun (cold spicy buckwheat noodles with meat) but there are subtle differences. The noodles used for this are made of wheat flour and potato-starch, which make the noodles extremely chewy. There's no meat in here but rather a barrage of julienned vegetables and topped with half a boiled egg. This was also served with a hot bowl of anchovy broth which is reminiscent of bonito flakes.

For those that have been to Olympic Noodle and Myung Dong Kyoja, would love to know what you think of their kal gook soo soup noodles. Reports on those other two soon! The total bill for this was $16... a great deal for a meal that makes you feel at home without hearing the crap that comes out of your parents mouths. Thanks for reading.

869 S Western Ave

Los Angeles, CA, 90005

(213) 487-6008
CASH ONLY (what a surprise?!)