2022

91 posts

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November 6 posts
Buffalo Trace, Louisville
Uncategorized

Buffalo Trace, Louisville

First Distillery tour - Buffalo Trace. Amazing distillery with one of the hottest tours in Louisville. Buffalo Trace, Wellers, Pappy’s, Fireball, Blantons, and other bourbons are made here. Got to see where they bottle single barrel bourbon. Luckily, we got a chance to purchase a Blantons. It was here, where I learned the most about bourbon distilling. I recommend trying to get a tour appointment here first, when coming to Louisville. Reserve early!! . . . . . . .

September 3 posts
Happy Mooncake eating festival day, Shanghai
Chinese

Happy Mooncake eating festival day, Shanghai

Happy Mooncake eating festival day. 中秋節Also known as Mid Autumn Festival. Mooncakes are big and heavy to eat. Usually I can only eat a small portion of one, this year about 1/4. Today we decided to have pan fried dumplings - Sheng Jian Bao 生煎包 I call these the big brother to the more famous steak pork dumplings Xiao long bao XLB 小籠包. The Sheng Jian Bao are much larger, juicier, and have a thicker skin. When I lived in Shanghai there was a Sheng Jian Bao stall a few minutes away. Used to grab a few of these for breakfast on the weekends. In Shanghai, there was a famous chain called Little Yangs that featured Sheng Jian Baos, and they were really good. There are a few places in LA that have sheng Jian Bao, but I believe the best ones are from Kang Kang in temple city. If you have never tried it, I strongly recommend it. . . . .

ACME Breakfast CLUB, Taipei
Taiwanese

ACME Breakfast CLUB, Taipei

Breakfast from Pine & Crane. Taiwanese breakfast is one of my favorite meals. Similar to a western breakfast, it features hearty foods with eggs, rice, and fried pastries. Had the Chive and egg pocket. I don’t remember seeing this in Taiwan as a breakfast item. But I know it is popular in China, too. The thousand layer pancake with egg and chili sauce was surprisingly good. I expected a pan fried and thinner pancake with the egg, called a Dan Bing 蛋餅. I would assume they pre-make the thousand layer pancake, and the Dan bing requires fresh made pancakes. I believe this leans more toward a China version as well. Regardless, I did like it pre-sauced, even though it wasn’t what I expected. And lastly, my favorite Fan Tuan, basically a Taiwanese rice ball. This was the most Taiwanese item visually, taste, and texture. It had the pork floss, preserved veggies, and egg. But the egg, which they included, was a hard-boiled soy egg. I asked for a fried egg, like how it is done in Taiwan. But they said no substitutions. I remember when I was living in Taipei and almost every morning I’d get one of these fan tuans 飯糰 with a fried egg. Anyways. Would I return? Yes. I want to try the other things. Would I recommend this place? Maybe for a few select items. . . . . . .

August 7 posts
Chinatown Summer Nights, Chinatown
BBQ

Chinatown Summer Nights, Chinatown

BBQ in Chinatown. LA Brisket. We ordered the OG bowl with Beef Brisket. But it was a little too dry. And the brisket slices were unexpectedly thin. Not sure about the accompanying green salsa sauce. Reminded me of salsa verde. The slaw was really good and sour - just the way I like it. The pork ribs, seemed like small portion. They taste well and had good flavor and texture (that’s the CBJ in me). The loaded fries with brisket was quite hearty, yet seemed to lack enough fries, strangely. I liked the fries a lot. The single Texas toast was good, wish they gave us another slice. Not sure if I recommend, yet. But I’d return just to try others. Brisket 7 for taste, 8 for tenderness, 7 for appearance. Pork ribs 8 taste, 8 for tenderness, and 8 for appearance. . . . . . . .chinatown

Accomplice, Culver City
Taiwanese

Accomplice, Culver City

Taiwanese food at Accomplice. Nice little neighborhood bar with Taiwanese food. Only tried fried tofu and the scallion pancakes. But I think the sauce is more Shanghainese with the sweetness. I am more used to a spicier and less sweet sauce for tifu. And the scallion pancakes, not sure of the vinegar sauce dipping sauce. I think this is more of a china flavor. Plus I think the scallion pancakes seems deep fried rather than the traditional pan fried. I get that this catering more to an American palate. Perhaps the chef is from china, instead of Taiwan. Next time I want to the other dishes. Regardless this is a cool car with a good selection of whiskeys. Almost had the full selection of Nikki whiskeys, they were missing the takesuru and days. I had a glass of the buffalo trace bourbon. They also had a really good green cocktail that was spicy. That was really good. . . . . . .

July 9 posts
June 14 posts
Farther's Office, Los Angeles
American

Farther's Office, Los Angeles

The burger at Farther’s Office in DTLA’s Arts District. Very yummy burger and nicely spiced fries. Washed it down with some tart pear cider. I needed that acidic cider since burger was lusciously rich and decadent. Its no wonder that the F.O. Burger is one of the notable burgers of LA. It’s tough to grab a snapshot of this burger. I’ve tried so often it not easy to find the right angle at night while a little buzzed. The fries were surprisingly good. I expected something a little more than something dried bordering on stale. But the flavor was good along with the dipping sauce. Anyways. I was more surprised that F.O. Wasn’t too crowded on a Saturday night. . . . . .

April 14 posts
The Derby, Arcadia
American

The Derby, Arcadia

Prime Rib at the Derby. The Derby is the oldest and arguably the best restaurant in Arcadia. Used to be owned by George Woolf, who also rode the famous race horse - Seabiscuit. The derby was originally located on the corner of Foothill and Santa Anita. Along with the prime rib, we had cheese bread, creamed spinach, potatoes romanoff, calamari, and crab cake. We couldn’t finish our desserts. This year, the Derby is celebrating their 100th year. . . . . . .

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia
BBQ

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia

Santa Anita BBQ Championship at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia. Got to try a bunch of different bbq including, Pulled Pork Nachos, BBQ chicken, BBQ pork tenderloin, BBQ pulled pork tacos, BBQ pork ribs, BBQ beef tri tips and more. Yummy. KCBS - Kansas City Barbeque Soceity was on hand to judge 30+ BBQ entrants. You could see their trailers parked outside cooking and smoking. Also, I got to meet a BBQ legend - Harry Soo! Luckily we got there early to avoid the crowds and long lines. . . . . . . . .

March 20 posts
Slabs Barbecue, Pasadena
BBQ

Slabs Barbecue, Pasadena

APL Barbecue. Adam Perry Lang, BBQ Hall of Famer, in my neck of the woods! APL, a YETI brand ambassador, has a new barbecue joint featuring smoked Beef Ribs! Though there’s no brisket, I feel beef ribs is the holy grail of smoking. It’s unfortunate that Moo’s craft and Slab rarely serve beef rib, I’m glad APL has them. It’s strange that Angelenos haven’t realized how good beef ribs are. Anyways. Check out the big beef rib, the pork rib sandwich, cornbread, and the sides. . . . . . . .

Xiang La Hui, Los Angeles
Chinese

Xiang La Hui, Los Angeles

Sichuan food 川菜 at Xiang La Hui 香辣汇. We had Spicy Roasted Fish with Red Peppers 香辣风味烤鱼, which was super spicy. The square caldron of fire had a simmering oily broth of goodness with cauliflower, potatoes, peanuts, a fish, and of course spicy and mouth numbing Sichuan peppercorns called Hua Jiao 花椒. Out mouths were in a constant state of fire. But with the fish and hua Jiao, it numbed our tongues to allow us to eat more. Not sure if that is a good thing. Later on, I realized that we needed to have the plum juice 酸梅湯, which is a sweet and sour juice. This juice, a typical Chinese drink, is offered at hot pot joints as well as Sichuan restaurants, really hits the spot and soothes your overly excited taste buds and neutralizes that spicy mouth fire tingly sensation, just so you can eat more. I’m sure you’ll pay for it later, if you know what I mean 🚽. We also had House Special Pork Belly 梅菜扣肉, which isn’t a Sichuan dish, but it was perfect for us. The sliced pork was overly salty which had its place for our taste buds, since we had spicy, sweet, sour, and now salty. We each had a bowl of rice to make sure we were full. I recommend this place, but I caution those who might not be ready for a full tongue sensory overload. . . . . .

February 9 posts
Slab, Hollywood
BBQ

Slab, Hollywood

Texas BBQ at Slab. Had brisket, of course, pulled pork, pork ribs, collard greens, Mac and cheese and corn bread. Too bad we didn’t come on the weekends for beef ribs. The the pulled pork and pork spare ribs were tender but needed sauce. The collard greens were a bit too salty, but I still like it. The Mac and cheese was slightly too runny. The cornbread with the honey butter was nice and moist, as it should be. The brisket was great. Love brisket. Make sure you ask for white bread to eat with the brisket. Enjoyed slab. Wondered why there weren’t more people there on a Friday night. I guess it is more of a day time thing. Regardless, I’m glad there weren’t any lines. . . . . .