i went to l.a. recently for a cousin's wedding and on our last day, before we headed off to the airport, we decided to grab something to eat at farmer's market. it was scorching hot that day as the temperatures peaked into the early 100s (degrees). anyways, we were walking around farmer's market trying to decide what to eat. we come across this korean bbq place and go hmmm...i guess we could try it. i didn't expect too much from it, considering it was just a stand at farmer's market.

i was so wrong. it was the best korean bbq i've ever had. since i'm not a big fan of kimchi or other vegetables, i chose to only get steamed rice (you can choose from white or brown rice) and the beef short ribs. the photo above is what my sister ordered, which is the same thing but with the sides. the meat was well marinated and seasoned and it was prepared in a reasonable amount of time. the portion of meat and rice wasn't bad at all for the price (i believe less than $10). the taste was amazing. i drooled as the scent of it being cooked in their tiny kitchen flowed to the seating area. the meat was so tender and juicy and i couldn't get enough of it. i really wanted to bring some home and go to our local korean bbq place and say *hey! can you make it like this please??* although they had other korean dishes, i'd have to say their bbq is top notch.

there are tons of places in farmer's market to venture to, from fresh fruit stands to cajun food to made to order funnel cakes, but if you love koeran bbq and korean food in general, stop by la korea...it's definitely worth it.

there's this new place in the land of sugar called the black walnut cafe (http://www.bwcafe.com/). this quaint little place is located in the new outdoor area of first colony mall. the menu varies greatly and has everything from garlic cheese bread to breakfast quesadillas. breakfast is served all day and they've got a pretty nice breakfast menu. the ordering of food reminds me of ruggles' order at the front and pick up your food when your buzzer goes off. i like the fact there is no actual *wait staff*, which is nice since i prefer being left alone sometimes and not have someone constantly ask *are you ok?* a word of caution. be careful when approaching the cashier. there's a mini counter in front of the cashiers that you might not see and there's a slight possibility you will run into it and bruise your thigh =(

so, one of the first things you'll notice is the pricing of their menu. rather than something being $9.99, the cost looks more like $9.17621. odd right? i think it weirds people out, because my dad, sister and angela all went O_o when they saw that. i thought it was amusing. there are also two menus laid out on the table before you get to the cashiers; the main one and the breakfast/wine one.

then, there's the fabulous gelato bar (yes i said gelato). there are about 10 different flavors served daily. the staff is really nice and are always happy to let you try every flavor. i've had the pleasure of having the butter cookie gelato, which has little crunched up butter cookies in it, and the caramel gelato, which caramelized bits of pecan in it. both were delicious, but i'd really like to have the hazelnut gelato. i had a taste of it once, but went with the butter cookie instead.

on to the yums. my first visit there, angela and i ordered the artichoke and spinach dip, which is normally served with tortilla chips, but you have the option of subbing it with garlic bread. go with the garlic bread. it's just 100x better with it. the dip was pretty good, but i felt there was too much cheese and not enough of the other stuff. sometimes it felt like i was just eating cream cheese with my garlic bread. it was still pretty good though. for my meal, i had the meatball sub. i really liked it. the meatballs weren't too big and they were really full of flavor. the portion was perfect and i managed to eat it all. angela had the greek pizza and i'm sure you veggie lovers would like it, but we all know i'm not the veggie person.

last friday, i took my parents to dinner there, in hopes that they'd enjoy it too. my dad loved their crispy fish tacos. crunchy fried fish in a soft taco shell, smothered with lettuce, pico de gallo, and cheese. my mom decided to go with the chicken quesadillas, which looked really good and it even had slices of avocado for every quesadilla. i thought i'd try the burger and i felt it was TOO well done. i like well done meat, but it was a lil too much for me. i still liked it, but would probably try one of their other sandwiches.

and the following day, my sister and i went. this time, we started with an order of the garlic cheese bread. it's slices of garlice bread with melted cheeses on top and served with a bowl of marinara sauce. oh it was fabulous. for the main course, she had, i want to say, the greek pasta? i can't remember it's name, but once again, tons of veggies. she said it was really light and didn't feel too heavy even if it was pasta. i had the lasagna and it was pretty good, but i'm sorry to say that i've had much better. i won't complain though, bc it was still pretty tasty. after that, my sister treated me to a slice of italian creme cake. it wasn't too sweet or too rich. it was just right and it made my day.

i think i've grown fond of this place. the atmosphere is really just cozy, with tons of mini tables surrounded by huge comfy seats. the food is pretty good and the portions are perfect. i know some places serve you these huge portions which annoys me, because i never bring food home. i haven't had a meal yet that i couldn't finish. if you live around me, call me. we'll dine =)

i lied. today is food in hawaii day.

it was mine & irene's first night in waikiki, hi and we really didn't know where to go. we just knew we were hungry, so we walk across the street and we see KYOYA Japanese Cuisine (http://www.restauranteur.com/kyoya/). it looked pretty nice from the outside. it's located on the bottom floor of a business building or condos, not exactly sure what it was. anyways, the lobby was very classy and asianesque in design. so, we decided to give it a try.

when you walk into the restaurant itself, the design seemed like a typical japanese restaurant here, with the sliding shouji door design prominent throughout the restaurant. the waitresses said hello in japanese and were all actually pretty friendly. it was a little intimidating that we were the only non-japanese sitting in the restaurant, but i think the only time they looked at us weird was when irene asked for a fork to eat her sushi with. haha.

they start you off with tea and an extensive menu of sushi and other japanese dishes that i wouldn't typically find in houston. but, i'm a lover beef terriyaki and i'm always looking for the ultimate terriyaki. kyoya had the best beef terriyaki i've had. the beef was very tender and juicy and the terriyaki wasn't overly sweet or bitter, as i've found it to be at other places. before that, the best terriyaki i've had was at a local restaurant called HOKKAIDO. now, my terriyaki came with more than just the beef and rice. they present it with a house salad, tsukemono (japanese pickles), misoshiru (miso soup), and dessert (hooray dessert). the tsukemono wasn't for me, but everything else was delicous.

irene had a sushi combo dish, since she's not really familiar with anything else but california rolls, and although i don't eat sushi, i know what's good fish and what's not. the salmon and tuna used on the fish were very fresh. the colors were so vibrant and it almost made me want to eat it. (i'm not a sushi fan, but i have tried many times to love it. we are not meant to be.) the presentation of all the food was beautiful and i didn't want to mess it all up, so as you can see, i captured its arrival before i tore it up. hahaha =)

overall, i thought it was a little overpriced, but i'm guessing that's about average for restaurants in hawaii. you also get what you paid for and that beef terriyaki was definitely worth it. if you ever make it to waikiki, give it a try if you're an avid sushi lover. i'm sure there are tons of other places to dine in waikiki for a lot less, but the service, atmosphere and the food were impeccable.

in celebration of my 28th birthday (yes, i know it was months ago), my friend irene took me to *the melting pot* (http://www.meltingpot.com/). it was my first time there, and i'm sure some of y'all have been to one before. you can find one in all but 14 states. poor north and south dakota.

the melting pot is a fondue restaurant. if you plan on eating there, make reservations as one meal can last up to 3 hours. the concept is simple enough. there's a mini stove of sorts built into the table, which our waitress turned on once we told her we were going to do the fondue thing. ^_^ irene ordered me the *yin & yang* drink (pictured above, middle). it contains godiva white chocolate liqueur, stoli vanil vodka and vanilla ice cream. oh and it's topped off with chocolate shavings. it was a delicious drink. i finished it in no time really. and alcohol? what alcohol? you can't taste it in the drink. that drink honestly tasted like a chick fil a milkshake only 100x better and much prettier to look at.

then came the dinner...we decided to go with the menu option of *big night out*. first out was the cheese fondue. if i remember correctly, we had the cheddar cheese fondue (cheddar & swiss cheeses, blended in with lager beer, garlic and other seasonings). our waitress was in control of the cheese making and it smelled fantastic. then you got this awesome assortment of breads and fruits. now, my only complaint about the cheese. the waitress, i thought, put way too much cracked pepper. it was overpowering and i could taste the bits of pepper in my mouth. otherwise, it was yummy. for those who know me, i could live off cheese and bread if i had to. hehe...

next up...the main course. we had to cook our own food. i don't like going to restaurants and having to cook. i'd prefer someone else to do it. but, we chose the meats cooked in a coq au vin broth. so we let our meats cook, using our mini skewers. it was good, but just a little bland. and i think there could have been more meat. although i think what the two of us ate was just right, if there had been 4 of us, that meat would not have been enough.

now, comes the best part of my meal. the dessert! mmm chocolate fondue (please note photos above)! the waitress said she wouldn't bring out the dessert menu till later in the meal, because once you see it, you can't think of anything else but the dessert. but really, what's wrong with that? well, i'm not a dark chocolate kind of woman. sometimes it's too bitter. so i said *let me have the yin/yang with the milk chocolate*. well, the waitress said *oh girl! please, taste our dark chocolate first before you make your decision*. i say okay, because, who in their right mind passes up free chocolate? certainly not i! well, it was yummy and i decided to stick with the dark/white chocolate mix. and do you see all the yummy things you get to dip in the chocolate? i was in yummy heaven. oh the best part? you have refillable baked goods. for example, we ran out of brownie bites, because they were great, and the waitress brought out more ^________^ irene and i finished it all. every brownie, apple, strawberry, whatever else was on that plate. it was all gonde =)

so my first experience at the melting pot was fun. irene's great. she said it was my birthday so i got a vase of roses and a digi pic taken with irene which they printed and put in a cardboard *the melting pot* frame. haha...it's nicely placed on my drawer. i think the next time i go, i'd stick with just the cheese and the chocolate. or maybe just the chocolate. a happy birthday to me indeed!

next time...i'll be covering the delicious korean bbq i had in nyc.

--->>together now. helloooooo adobo! when i came to nyc for my cousin's wedding he said we were going to a bar/restaurant that his friend owned called *dragonfly* (http://www.dfly-nyc.com/). i remember going there that night and ordering pork adobo (cubes of pork marinated in soy sauce, vinegar, bay leaves, whole black pepper, and other *secret* ingredients that make it absolutely delicious when cooked). i never did forget that place because the food was just delicious. it isn't filipino food specific. if you check the site, you'll see how they have a wide variety of different asian foods. but, they do specialize in thai and filipino food. so this time around, we went for lunch. that up there is the adsilog (adobo, fried rice, and egg). now, i have to say that it wasn't my mom's home cooked adobo, but it was the next best thing. matched with the filipino fried rice (fried rice with green onions and garlic slices) and fried egg, that meal was just so like eating at home. at that moment, i missed my mom's cooking.



--->>and what meal would be complete without dessert? i bring to you....HALO HALO. no, not the video game, silly kids. it literally means *mix mix* in tagalog. it's perfect for a hot summer day, like that day was. you pronounce it hah-lo hah-lo. normally made of crushed ice, different type of asian jelly's, jack fruit, leche flan, and ube...and served with evaporated milk/condensed milk or even coconut milk. people do it differently. anyways, the one at dragonfly was pretty delicious. they topped theirs off with your choice of ice cream. i had mine with vanilla. then you mix it all up and take a good spoonful of the milk/ice/jellys and eat. savor it. mmmmm...so good.

good thing is that there's a quaint little bar in the restaurant and the drinks are great. as far as price goes, it's pretty cheap compared to other places i've eaten in the city. my complaint is that they don't give you enough rice and then charge you $1.50 should you ask for a small bowl of it (blasphemy!). i also think the halo halo is overpriced at $4 with a brunch dish or $5 without. look, i'm from houston. for the same amount, i get a halo halo twice the size of the one you see there with more jelly's and such inside. and, i don't get charged for extra rice =) good place to eat. the staff was friendly and the food came out fast. i've already recommended others to eat there. ^___^

--->>if you're a daily walker of broadway near astor place, surely you've seen this little cream puff shop next to *the vitamin shoppe* called *beard papa's*. their to go menu claims they have the *world's best cream puffs*. while i cannot vouche for the entire world, i can say these cream puffs are the best i've had. i look forward to my nyc trips because i get a tasty cream puff from here. this time around, my friends and i made it to beard papa's about twice a day. yes, people, twice a day. haha and i did bring a box containing 6 delicious puffs home.

beard papa's has several locations in the city (http://www.muginohousa.com for locations), but we've always just gone to the astor pl. shop. they have different cream puff flavors, although i really do just like the plain vanilla cream ones. they've also got strawberry cream, chocolate eclairs, and an assortment of other flavors. the cream filling isn't too sweet and they are made fresh to order, so the puff itself is not soggy. the puff is light and airy and just...so yummy. the box i brought home is all gone now. my family said *why didnt you bring more of this home* sorry family. had i another suitcase, i would have definitely tried to bring at least 3 boxes home. =) oh...note to visitors. credit cards are accepted, but i believe they prefer cash as i was told they charge an extra 20 cents for using a credit/debit card.

alas, it will be a while before i get another yummy cream puff in my hands.

so what is this exactly all about? why start a new lj when i've already got one? i'd like to call this a food and travel blog. i've been vacationing lately and coming across foods that are yummy to me, and instead of flooding my current lj with pics, i thought starting one dedicated to just food and the food i come across while travelling would be best.

in the next post, i bring you...new york city

thanks, to the one or two of you who will be visiting this, for stopping by ^__^