Summer Nights and Shabu with Friends

A heat wave has officially hit southern California and I am officially dying from this weather!  I love so. cal, but this heat needs to vamoose pronto.  Even though the weather has been horrible, my girls and I made plans to get together and have a Shabu Shabu/Hot Pot night.  For those who aren't familiar with Shabu, it is a meal that consists of a burner in the middle of the table with a steamy hot pot of broth to cook thinly sliced meats, various veggies, and noodles, served with dipping sauces.  It is my one of my comfort foods.  I have fond memories of shabu/hot pot nights growing up, and I am literally drooling just thinking of it.  

Our pot is ready!

Our fixin's: sliced beef, baby corn, bok choy, spinach, Udon and Rice noodles, baby carrots and tofu, all dipped in Ponzu sauce with green onions.  

It all went down smoothly with this Lychee Sake! After a long day at work, sometimes we just need a little shot of Sake. 

On a side note: One way to cool off in this summer heat, is eating a bowl of Taiwanese Shaved Ice.

Taiwanese Shaved Ice courtesy of SinBala in Arcadia.  Contents include: coconut jelly, red bean, rice balls topped with shaved ice, condensed milk, and brown sugar and coffee syrup.   

Enterprise Fishing Co. Santa Monica, CA

So if you haven't noticed already, I am frantically trying to play catch up on my blog posts! There has been a lot of events going on in August alone, that I haven't had the opportunity to post all my tasty adventures.  A few weeks ago, my immediate and extended family gathered to celebrate 3 birthdays, my Brother, Cousin, and Sister's birthdays.  Growing up my siblings and cousins did almost everything together.  I have fond memories of our two families gathering frequently to celebrate birthdays and holidays.  Over the years, we all got extremely busy with our lives, but continued to have strong bonds with one another.  Recently, the families decided it was time for us to all go out to dinner and hang out, like the "good o' days"

I was designated to look up a few restaurants in Redondo Beach and surrounding areas.  Using yelp I was able to find Enterprise Fishing Co.  I read reviews and they were overall good ratings of the place, and they would accommodate for large parties (14 people to be exact).  I called to make reservations, and they asked for a credit card number to hold the reservation.  Overall the dining experience was good, but I think a lot of that was due to the awesome company I had.  Oh, and the food was tasty too! :)

My Lychee Martini was VERY strong.. but I can't expect it not to be it IS a martini! but the BEST part of this photo.. is GG in the background

our first batch of Oysters on the half shell.. I can remember the taste of their briny flavor... *drool*

GG's chicken finger kid's meal... I adore the boat tray it came out in

Fried Calamari

creamy clam chowder.. it was good.. but the oyster crackers made it better

Lobster Bisque baked with puff pastry on top.. very rich and yummy! And you can definite taste the large amounts of white wine that was used in this bisque!

Parmesan and Garlic Crusted Halibut with spinach and marinara sauce 

Rib Eye Steak with Baked Potato

Cioppino was delicious stew of seafood and tomatoes with cheesy bread

Surf and Turf- Steak with Grilled Shrimp

Swordfish with grilled veggies

Miso Cod with crispy rice patty and green beans.. the rice patty was a nice surprise

Seafood Pasta

Mud Pie for the birthday boy and girls!

Umami Part 2

Yes, I went to Umami again... but it had been months! This time around, I brought 3 of my friends to have a mini foodie adventure with me, 2 of which had never been to Umami.  I couldn't bring myself to try something new at Umami, I just couldn't resist getting the signature burger, the Umami Burger.  However, I did try a few new sides, drink, and dessert!

Umami Burger

SoCal Burger- Turkey patty, roasted tomato, house spread, cheese, butter lettuce

Cheesy Tots- my new favorite item on the menu.. crunchy on the outside, and warm and gooey on the inside.. yummy!

Iced green tea, sweet potato fries and onion rings with house-made ketchup

cookies and cream ice cream sandwich made by Milk

After a bite of the ice cream sandwich., the ice cream was creamy and cookie was soft, but the macaroon was a bit too chewy for me.. however, overall it was tasty

Las Vegas Foodie Adventures Day 2

Day 2 adventures were amazing and a mission altogether, but man, was it all worth it...

We started the day at Bouchon at the Venetian, a French bistro style cafe.  We all ordered some type of brunch, which were all wonderful.  The dining experience was good, a bit too slow for our liking, but overall the waiter was very courteous and my water was always filled.

Fresh baked bread placed on our table smeared with berry jam.  

Brioche bread pudding french toast, with layers of chopped apples

Steak Frites with herb butter

 Crab omelet with toast and bacon

  Crab omelet with toast and country grilled ham

Eggs Benedict 

 Country Grilled Ham, scrambled eggs, home style potatoes and toast

 Sweet Corn Soup... it was phenomenal 

Hawaiian Style Poke- this little hole in the wall took me and my dear friend about 25-30 minutes to find.  It is located on Wynn Rd, but no one told us or our GPS, that there are two Wynn Rd's.  Finally, with closing time approaching quick, I called the restaurant, and asked for directions.  When we finally got there, the owner greeted us and made up a fresh batch of Poke.  And boy, it was worth it! For further reference, this amazing place is located on Spring Mountain Rd. and Wynn Rd. 

30 minutes of anticipation.... 

Limu Ahi Poke had pieces of Ahi Tuna, red onion, scallions, sesame seeds and a type of seaweed

 Garlic Ahi poke consisted of Ahi Tuna, garlic slices, red onions, scallions, sea salt, and black sesame seeds

Shoyu Ahi Poke...Ahi Tuna, garlic, red onions, scallions, and soy sauce. This was the crowd favorite.  Will be definitely going back... 

Raising Canes, is a local Vegas fast food joint, that values using good quality products.  Raising Canes specializes in chicken fingers and sweet tea.  Very good stuff!

Chicken Fingers, Texas Toast, Fires, coleslaw, and Raising Canes special sauce

SWEET TEA! YUMMMMY!

Las Vegas Foodie Adventures Day 1

Sorry I've been so M.I.A. over the past few weeks, it has been extremely busy, yet I found myself in Las Vegas this past weekend yet again.  This time around it was to celebrate a good friend's birthday.  I was determined to try out different restaurants and local spots located around Vegas.  So I did some research and compiled a small list of options for our Weekend Foodie Adventure.

First stop, Hash House A Go Go.  I had heard many amazing things about this place.  The portions are HUGE, the food is fresh and yummy, and service is always great.  Boy, were they right! The dining experience was wonderful, and we had 2 servers, both very attentive and made us feel at home.  Overall, the food was great and the portions were huge, we all ended up needing a doogy bag.

Wheat Straw was the centerpiece of the tables

Green Tea in a tea bag hanging from a popsicle stick

Roasted Garlic Chicken Hash with asparagus, roasted corn and scrambled eggs. The huge biscuit was very good with the strawberry preserves that were placed on the table.     

Meatloaf Hash with sautéed spinach, roasted red peppers and scrambled eggs.  

Chorizo Hash with various peppers and scrambled eggs.  This was very good!

Corned Beef Hash with scrambled eggs.  

Second stop, Grand Lux Cafe at the Venetian before going out for a night of dancing.

Southwestern Chicken Salad was super yummy.  There were all types of textures going on here, crunchy from the lettuce and strips of tortilla chips, soft and chewy from the tangy chicken, roasted corn, black beans and creamy avocado.  

Fried Calamari, Zucchini, and Onions

Pecan Bread Pudding-Super Yummy!

Nothing beats a good hike

Went hiking at Crystal Cove State Park with my friends a week ago and it was amazing! I hope to go hiking on a regular basis, it was so refreshing and a great way to be active.  I hope to visit the Hollywood Sign, Mt. Baldy, and Chantry Flat sometime very soon. 

if you look closely.. you will see hundred of little red insects

I gotcha rabbit!

Tone carrying everything