Self Proclaimed "Authentic Indian Cuisine"

I had one of the best meals here at The India's Tandoori . I've only had Indian food a few times before and I usually order some type of curry. This time I tried something new per suggestion of my apartment mate. And it was indeed a good choice.

Usually I find Indian food to be deceptively heavy. The portions LOOK small. You think, oh I got this, no problem. 20 minutes later you feel like you're 3 months pregnant.

This place is very close to the Burbank Town Center, so it’s a great place to grab a nice meal after shopping. That’s exactly how I stumbled upon it.

It doesn’t look like much from the outside but it’s nicely decorated inside. The tablecloths are deep maroon and the silverware and white napkins nicely complement it. Based on the setting and atmosphere in this place, it’s a potential date restaurant I would say.

After I sat down it took the waiters a long time to get me a menu and even a glass of water…The restaurant wasn’t even full but the two or three waiters there could not juggle all the customers’ requests.

After taking a look at the menu, I could see how a meal here might not be cheap. I wanted to try something different that night so I ordered Chicken Tikki Masala instead of my usual curry. My apartment mate recommended it.

As I sat patiently waiting for my dish to arrive, I was given some thin, crisp chip-like bread and three types of sauces. One was chopped onion and tomato. The other was chutney and the last one was some kind of brown colored sauce that was tangy. The sauces were delicious!

My Chicken Tikki Masala arrived in a square bowl and I also ordered a side of rice. The waiter served the rice into my plate and poured some chicken tikki masala on top of the rice. I would have liked to serve myself though, so I could determine how much masala I wanted on my rice and how much I wanted to eat at one time.

My first bite into this beautiful concoction was delicious. The sauce was so creamy. A smooth buttery taste. The tanginess of the tomato in this sauce was just perfect. Not too much that it overwhelmed the creamy taste but not too little either. The taste reminded me a lot of cream of tomato. The chicken was in small chunks. Lean and cooked just right. I really liked the rice too. You could even eat it by itself because it had a slight salty taste to it. Small strands of carrot were also mixed into it.

By the end of my meal, I was completely bloated and alas, I could not defeat the Chicken Tikki Masala. I brought the rest home, satisfied.

The waiters took the longest time bringing me my check so my apartment mate and I thought they didn’t want my money.

So the only downsides to this place were the service and price of food. However, I would say the quality of food negated those somewhat. Overall 4/5 stars.

French Crepe Co.

In my lifetime, I've had crepes in french class at school, at Crepes A Go Go in Berkeley and in Paris, France. Each of these places was quite different from the others. If it's correct to say that the crepe I had in France was the most authentic, then none of the other crepes I've had are at that level.

Let me start off by describing the crepe I had in France. The batter turned out to be very, very thin to the point that it was hard and crispy even. The filling inside (I got nutella and banana) was very thinly spread. The product was this hard shelled, thin crepe.

With that, I'll tell you about my experience at French Crepe Co. When I arrived, there were signs at both doors instructing me to seat myself. So I did. All the seating was outdoors and it was a beautiful day. I could people watch while enjoying my food. There were menus sitting on the tables already so I started browsing before the waiter even got to my table.

The menu has savory crepes, sweet crepes, chef specials, waffles, sandwiches, gourmet sandwiches, paninis, croissant sandwiches, salads, soups, European specialties and all kinds of coffees and cappuccinos. I could tell from this menu that French Crepe Co. is not completely Americanized and did have a few unique French dishes like the gourmet sandwiches, croissant sandwiches and European specialties.

However, after having looked at the menus of the three locations of French Crepe Co., I noticed that the same dishes at different locations were priced differently. Because I ate at the Hollywood Highland location, I paid an extra $2. I find that ridiculous. Everything on the menu at the Downtown Burbank location is a few dollars cheaper.

I ordered the Crepe au Jambon Sauce Mornay. It is a ham and mushroom crepe with cheese sauce. The food came fairly quickly and the crepe also came with a mixed greens salad with Dijon mustard dressing.

The crepe was warm and soft when it came to me. The batter was definitely thicker and softer than the one I had in France. When I cut into it, the cheese sauce flowed out. The sauce was very extremely creamy. The ham was good quality ham, and they put in quite a bit of it. The mushrooms were not cooked thoroughly. The very few pieces that did existed, were raw. I also felt like the proportion of cheese to ham and mushroom was too high. Personally, it was too much cheese, but I understand some people might like it. Good thing I had the salad to mellow out the creamy taste. The crepe looked small at the beginning but I found myself completely stuffed by the time I was done.

Sitting outside and enjoying the sunny weather made the experience as a whole better, but if I had to rate just the food itself, I would give it a 2.5/5. Overall 3/5.

Sushi Yuzu

My sushi cravings one night brought me to Sushi Yuzu , which I now think is a hidden gem in Toluca Lake. Yelp's reviews for this place were very accurate.

It's walkable from my apartment so my apartment mate and I decided to take work up our appetites a bit. My hunger made the walk feel so much longer than it actually was, so this made even more eager to try their food by the time I go there.

If you're just walking by, it's easy to miss this place. We were looking for it and it still was a little difficult, just because the sign for the restaurant is nestled in a bunch of leaves.

It was about 6:45 when we got there and the only spot left was at the sushi bar. The rest of the restaurant was full except a few tables that were reserved. I could tell from this that Sushi Yuzu is popular. I would recommend making a reservation if you're going to go after 6:00 and you want a guaranteed table.

At first impression, the restaurant is very clean and simple. I would describe it as "minimalist".

We were given a double sided menu and a long sheet of paper that you order your sushi on. There were hot appetizers, cold appetizers, regular sushi, and specialty rolls. The appetizers range from $4-$23. Most were about $10. The rolls were about $12-$13, with some exceptions that were extremely pricey. On average, everything here is two or three dollars more expensive than Kuru Kuru Sushi.

I ordered Kani-Shitake Age as a hot appetizer and a Baked Crab and Salmon Roll. The Baked Crab and Salmon roll had been lauded about on Yelp and I wanted to try the appetizer because it just sounded good.

The Kani-Shitake Age is tempura shitake mushroom,stuffed with crab and scallop. It comes with spicy radish on the side and soysauce tasting dipping sauce. The way this dish was presented made it look very delicate. And when things are given in small quantities, we think it's good because there is so little of it. And this indeed was delicious. I wanted to savor every bite. I first tried it with the radish and dipping sauce together, but the radish didn't appeal to me. It was this strange, stinging, spicy taste. The tempura shitake was warm and crispy. The layer of breading wasn't too thick just lightly covered the mushroom, which was still juicy when you bit into it. The juices from the mushroom then flow into the crab and scallop stuffing and altogether, it's amazing. I had finished the 4 pieces before I knew it.

Then comes the Baked Crab and Salmon Roll. This is a baked salmon roll with soy paper and avocado on the outside, baked crab dynamite on top, all placed upon a bed of miso sesame sauce. The flavors of this roll just burst in your mouth. I didn't know what the charred thing on top of the roll was when I first got it, but I discovered that it's basically a mayo-based sauce with something else that makes it taste creamy and tangy. It melts into the baked crab and salmon. The warmness of this meets the cools refreshing taste of the avocado on top and soy paper mellows it out as well. But as soon as those flavors cancel out each other, you get a kick of the miso sesame sauce at the bottom and now you want another piece.

I wasn't hungry anymore after the appetizer and the roll but I definitely could have eaten more! The only downside I would give for this place is the price. If I had ordered another roll, so I could walk out satisfied, my bill would have come out to be nearly $40. It was definitely worth the money though. If you're looking for cheap sushi, then this may not be the most ideal place. If you're looking for GOOD sushi, with less worry about price, this IS the place to go.

4.25/5 stars!

Since 1960...

Porto's Bakery & Cafe has been a favorite in Southern California. Porto's traces its origins back to Rosa and Raul Sr. Porto. The family emigrated from Cuba to California after both of them became unemployed. When they arrived in America, all they really had were the clothes on their backs...and Rosa Porto's baking talent. Rosa began baking and selling delicious cakes to their neighbors and soon enough, her home was not large enough to accommodate the increased demand. They opened the first bakery on Sunset boulevard. Similar moves continued as popularity increased over the years and before they knew it, Porto's had become one of the most unique bakeries in Southern California. Now there are three locations: Burbank, Glendale and Downey.

My very first encounter with Porto’s was actually through Yelp. When searching for red velvet cupcakes, Porto’s came up as one of the best matched choices. I didn’t go to Porto’s that night I yelped it but I drove past it the next weekend, not knowing it was Porto’s. I remember wondering why this restaurant was so crowded. I heard about it again a week later from a friend who is from Southern California. She and I, along with two other friends decided to brunch there the next weekend.

We got to Porto’s around 12:30 pm and it was jam packed as usual. If you decide to come eat here at peak brunch/lunch hours, you’ll most likely have to find parking on a nearby street and walk a bit to the restaurant.

From the exterior, there’s nothing much about this place that will catch your eye. It’s a simple yellow cement building. The inside is PACKED. They hand you a menu when you walk in so you can look at the menu while you’re in line. The menu has many, many choices such as appetizers, sandwiches, breakfast foods like omelets, house soups and salads. And of course, a large selection of baked goods.

I basically ordered what Yelp told me were the most popular things here. Stuffed potato ball, Cuban sandwich and an iced green latte.

The stuffed potato, what the bakery and café is most famous for, was my favorite. A single, little deep fried potato brought so much happiness to my taste buds. Perfectly fried, golden and crispy. Hot and steamy inside. Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. The stuffing inside is seasoned beef. The beef wasn’t chunky and the taste of the herbs and seasoning complemented the starchy taste of the potato.

The Cuban Sandwich (Cubano) was a little disappointing. I had high expectations for it because there was so much talk about it and it sounded so much better on paper. This sandwich had slow roasted pork and ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, butter, mustard and mayonnaise on Cuban bread. The bread was nicely toasted, crunchy on the outside and warm and fluffy on the inside. The meat however, lacked taste. It didn’t really taste like much more than deli meat to me. I’m sure the quality itself was better but the taste, not so much. The sandwich was huge though so it definitely fills you up. Sandwiches also come with plantain chips. I’ve never been a fan of plantains. I’ve had various forms of it but haven’t developed a liking for it yet.

The iced green tea latte was delicious, but a little too sweet for my taste. It actually tasted better when I was halfway through it because the ice had melted a bit and it diluted the drink.

The atmosphere of this place is loud and fun, a great place for friends to gather for lunch or brunch. The dining area is like a cafeteria, a huge room with a lot of tables.

The potato ball upped my rating for this place. 3.75/5

Everything You Can Eat

If you're considering going to Moo Dae Po II in Koreatown, an all you can eat Korean BBQ restaurant, then you better get there on an empty stomach. And I'll promise you you'll leave on a full one.

I've eaten at many Korean BBQ places in my life, in both the Midwest and in the West coast. When I'm at school in Chicago, I can't be picky about my Korean food. So when my friend Korean friend asks me to go to a good BBQ place that's worth the money, I take her up on the offer.

Now, having eaten it in Koreatown in Los Angeles, I have to give the restaurant in Chicago a sad 1.5/5 stars. Let me tell you why.

Moo Dae Po may not be a bright and shining star in the sky as it's situated on a small street in the middle of the masses of Korean BBQ restaurants in Koreatown, but it has a nice, big storefront. You won't feel cramped at all as you walk into a spacious place.

Also, there is valet parking right in front of the restaurant so you can easily drop off your car and step inside. However, if you'd rather save some money, you can park along the streets. Some nearby places are not metered. Those that are are free on the weekends after 4 pm. It just takes some looking around. Another option is to take the Metro Red Line to Vermont/Wilshire and it will be a short 5 minute walk from there.

So I would suggest arriving there by 6 pm if you want to avoid any kind of wait. Around 7 pm, the place will be completely full, not surprisingly.

Once you get seated, you will immediately be given, if not already prepared on the table, a selection of side dishes. These range from kimchi, marinated tomatoes, bean sprouts, pickled cucumbers, etc. Since I’m usually starving by the time I get to Korean BBQ, I like it when they have this prepared or get it to you fast. You have something to nibble on while browsing the menu.

What you want to look at is the all you can eat section. There are three choices here, each at a different price, $25, $20, $17. The most expensive one has a large selection of all kinds of meats and sea foods. The middle one has both meat and sea food but a much smaller selection. The cheapest option does not offer sea food, but still has a generous amount of meat to choose from. All of them come with rice and steamed egg.

The first time I came here, I got the $20 combination. We decided we wanted seafood too. The second time I came here, because it was so good I wanted to come back a week later, was definitely the better choice because all the types of meat I liked were still on the list and I didn’t really like the seafood we got the first time. We ordered squid the first time around and it was well marinated, a little too spicy for my taste though. And it was too easy to overcook. It got tough really quick because of the fire, but we weren’t sure if it was cooked all the way through. You probably don’t need to order the seafood choice unless you really want to eat seafood or if there is a particular meat in that list that you are dying to eat. Personally, I think all the good meats are included in the cheapest selection.

 Beef Brisket (above)

Spicy squid (top), spicy pork belly (center), bulgogi (bottom)

Spicy Squid
Mediocre. The spicy sauce did not have enough other flavor, only spicy. The squid itself, as I mentioned, was just too difficult to cook well. Don’t let my lack of skill hold you back if you want to try this, but I would suggest that unless you think you have a good handle on cooking squid, don’t order it.

Spicy Chicken
Good. This wasn’t chicken breast like I had expected but it was still very, very tender. The sauce for this was very spicy, spicier than the spicy pork belly and spicy squid. It did, however, taste very good. The meat is tender, but not juicy, so don’t overcook it. I could do without this though.

Beef Brisket
Better. The only downside to this was that it was not marinated so I had to dip it in bean paste for it to taste good. The meat was very fresh though. It came out in neatly rolled up slices in bright red all piled up in a shape of a pyramid. It was very lean. You could barely see any fat.

Spicy Pork Belly
Even better. I’m usually not a fan of pork belly, but this changed my mind. They give you huge pieces, that you have to cut up as you cook them. This had more of the taste of the marinate sauce for Kalbi, so more sweet. At the same time, it was spicy as well. I liked the marinate for this the best because it was a combination of both the sweet flavor but also the spicy. I do have to warn you though, be prepared for some fat. The first time we ordered this, the pieces we got were more lean, but the second time we got this, the pieces were mainly fat and almost no meat. If you get lucky, this will be delicious.

Kalbi
How delicious. Make sure to not overcook this. Once the two sides are browned, cut up the entire thing into smaller pieces so you can see the inside of the meat. As soon as the red is gone, eat it! This meat is so perfectly marinated just how Korean BBQ should taste. It’s this salty but semi sweet taste that good marinated meat should taste like. Also, the juices just flow out of the meat as you’re cooking it. It never gets dry and even when you eat it, the juices just keep coming. The most tender and flavorful kalbi I’ve ever had.

Bulgogi
So delicious as well. This is probably my favorite. Marinated to perfection, juicy, tender, lean, perfect. Just imagine the perfect meat you can ever eat and this is it.

The spicy pork belly, kalbi and bulgogi were my favorites because of the flavor and quality of meat. They’re all available on the cheapest combination menu too so it works perfectly for me.

Just a tip, be sure to clearly tell the waiters what you want to order. Some may not be fluent in English so have them repeat it back to you so they get your order right. I was a victim of this.

One last note, at around 8 pm, they turn the main lights off, put on colorful, club-like lights and play kpop. They also have huge screens around the restaurant so you can complete your Korean dining experience by watching some kpop. If it’s your birthday, they will catch you on camera and play you a birthday song! The entire atmosphere is just so upbeat and fun, you won’t be able to sit completely still in your seat. It’s a great place to go with friends or a big group or people. Probably not the best for a first date.

If you are in town, definitely try this place. 4.75/5

Kuru Kuru Sushi

First off, I have to say I am a huge fan of sushi. HUGE. I'm also picky.

My apartment mate and I stumbled upon Kuru Kuru Sushi on Yelp one night when we didn't feel like cooking and had finished all of our leftovers. We have eaten there twice in one week.

It's a bit of a hidden gem. Situated in a shopping lot with many other small businesses, it doesn't necessarily catch your eye. The interior of the restaurant doesn't necessarily leave an impression either.

There are booths and tables and also a sushi bar. Not a lot of seating but the two times I was there, this didn't seem to be a problem. The waitresses are all extremely friendly and many customers seemed to be frequenters so they were treated especially nice.

There were so many selections on the menu! And everything was so affordable. I ordered an NBC Roll (the rolls were named after media networks and broadcast terms!) and a Donburi with chicken. My apartment mate got a Production Roll.

NBC Roll had shrimp tempura, crab, cucumber, avocado and crunch on top. It was so fresh and the crunch on top added so much to the sushi. Sushi is really soft usually so the crunch added to the texture. The sauce drizzled on top also complimented the sushi very well. Perfect roll.

Production Roll had salmon on top of crab, cucumber and avocado. Again, the salmon was very fresh and when it comes to raw fish, that's very important.

The donburi was sub par. It was a good amount for the price that I paid, but there wasn't much flavor in it. Perhaps they forgot to add salt? I ended up pouring soy sauce over it and mixing it up.

This is a great place to go to if you want some good quality, cheap sushi. Not the best for taking someone out on a date or a fancy dinner with family, but definitely a great restaurant overall. I give it 4.5 stars!

"Outcome of a dream..."

...is an accurate description of Mantee Cafe . Another family owned and operated restaurant, Mantee Cafe is a quaint and elegant place serving authentic Mediterranean cuisine.

This was one of the few times I decided to try something different than what I usually eat and I was decently satisfied.

We had apparently walked in from the "back" of the restaurant and the actual entrance of the restaurant is in the back patio. This was interesting and when we got to the patio, it was so beautiful. I loved the decor. It was elegant yet cozy. The yellow lighting through the entire patio (lamps, chandeliers, ceiling lights, candles, Christmas), antique furniture and decorations.

When we got there (around 5:30 pm) there were a few open tables and we were lucky to get the last one outside in the patio. Throughout the night, every single party that came in had reservations and the wait time was about one hour 15 minutes. If you plan on coming here, make reservations!

We had a hard time reading the menu because everything was so authentic! We asked the server to explain the dishes to us and she did a great job. She also recommended some dishes that were popular.

Based on her suggestions, we ordered a hot appetizer called Mantee's Traditional (what the restaurant is named after), a house special called Mantee's Basterma and an entree called Kashkash Kebab.

As we waited for our dishes, we got pita bread and a type of flat bread along with a sesame/olive oil sauce. I love it when restaurants give you bread or something to keep you munching while you're waiting.

Mantee's Traditional is baked ravioli stuffed with Angus ground meat that is covered in garlic yogurt sauce. When I dug into this dish, I had expected to see raviolis the size of those in Chef Boyardee's microwaveable cans. However, the raviolis were tiny. They were the size of seashells. They really were bite-sized. Nonetheless, I still really enjoyed this dish because the raviolis were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The tangy yogurt sauce also made my mouth water so I just wanted to eat one ravioli after another. Because they're so small, you don't even realize how much you're eating. We had almost finished this dish before the house special came.

Mantee's Basterma was slices of baguette topped with Armenian beef prosciutto and a quail egg. I love baguette and proscuitto so I ordered this. It was indeed tasty. Also bite sized, the food disappears quickly. The baguette was crispy and the meat was tender and juicy. However, I wasn't a fan of the quail eggs. For some reason, they tasted a little game-y. But the consistency was perfect. Not too runny but not too hard.

Kashkash Kebab is seasoned ground beef topped with spicy charbroiled tomato. It comes with rice. I usually don't like sausages but this was delicious because the ground meat wasn't packed too tightly. When I cut into it, the meat would come loose and it was seasoned thoroughly. The rice was infused with some kind of soft, brown, stringy thing. I had no idea what it was but it added a bit of something extra to what is usually bland rice. It was a nice touch and complemented the strong flavors of the meat and sauce well.

I love trying new food so I really enjoyed my dining experience here. In addition, the decor and atmosphere really added to my meal. 4 stars!