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One thing to point out is that Pradeep’s is adamant about providing healthy dishes for their customers, from vegan dishes to gluten free. Their menu is packed with various options and combinations to satisfy any type of customer which is a great when visiting with a group. Each of us ordered our own dish as they come individually with their own side of rice and salad, something I’m not used to as we usually share with everyone at the table at an Indian restaurant.

I went ahead and ordered the Chicken Masala knowing it would be delicious after hearing others praising it one table over. Others ordered Salmon Masala, Chicken Tandoori, and Dal(a lentil stew). As you can see the portions were quite generous and plentiful. The stew of the Chicken Masala was a creamy yogurt & tomato sauce filled with curry spice and large chunks of white chicken breast.  The Salmon Masala came with the same stew, but with a large slab of fish sitting on top of the bed of rice. The Tandoori marinated chicken was served over basmati rice, with curry infused lentil and organic greens. Even though I did not order the Tandoori chicken, this was my favorite dish of the four and I will be ordering this on my next visit. Dal was another stew made from lentils, prepared on a slow fire with 10 spices and 5 fresh herbs. The stew tasted best when scooped with a piece of Garlic Naan, made fresh to order upon request.

If you’re looking for a buffet style Indian restaurant that will fill your gut and induce food coma, this is probably not the place. However, Pradeep’s Indian Cuisine makes up for it in quality and knowing that your arteries aren’t going to shut down is an added bonus. Some might find their prices a little high for Indian food, but you won’t find any complaints here as InvadeLA members get 15% off every visit. We flashed our card and saved a little over $11 which is definitely a great save in our book.

Seeing that we wanted to try multiple dishes, my partner and I decided that we’d each order one appetizer and an entree to share. For his appetizer he ordered the Crispy Chicken Nuggets, which were lightly fried soy chicken served with sweet chili sauce. As for my appetizer, I ordered the Grand Tempura. The Grand Tempura is broccoli, eggplant, pumpkin, zucchini, and soy shrimp, lightly battered and deep fried. The dish was served with Vegan Plate’s signature tempura sauce.

As you can see, the soy chicken nuggets looked completely like the real thing and you could barely tell the difference after biting into one. Part of me felt like we ordered this because it was familiar, so next time we’ll have to order something above the level of a McDonalds Happy Meal. Not to say that they weren’t good, they were EXCELLENT. I just feel that most non-vegans would go with something “safe” like I did. Well I’m here to end the misconception that vegan is not as good as the real thing. In fact, the owner “Cookie” told us that half of her customers are not vegan so taste is definitely not an issue here.

The Grand Tempura was an assortment of veggies lightly battered and deep fried, another “safe” appetizer but still worth ordering. Everything tastes good when it’s deep fried right? From brocolli to eggplant, we dipped each vegetable into the tempura sauce till there was nothing left. Not a very healthy start to a vegan meal but well worth it!

For entrees we ordered the Spicy Noodle, flat noodles with peppers, mushrooms,  onions, and vegan chicken. If you’re gonna order this dish, don’t be like my partner and go for medium. Spicy is supposed to be spicy, even if you pay for it later. The noodles were delicious and once again the soy chicken tasted just like the real thing so no complaints here.

Our next dish, The P.E.T., is a customer favorite. Before visiting we saw that numerous Yelpers mentioning The P.E.T. which stands for pumpkin, eggplant, and tofu. The bright purple highlights of the eggplant caught my eye when it arrived and I was eager to take a bite. After piling some on my plate and digging in, I noticed was that the veggies were very soft and juicy just how I like it. The sauce on the veggies was fantastic, every bite confirmed the praise it got from previous visitors. To top it all off, P.E.T. is served with a side of brown rice made with love.

Stuffed like fat turkeys, we asked Cookie to make us a dessert of her choice. She went away for a few minutes and came back with this: Fried egg roll bananas drizzled with vegan chocolate sauce. This was the highlight of the night. If you like bananas, you’re gonna love this dessert. The egg rolls were nice and warm, and the banana melted in your mouth. If there’s one reason to eat at Vegan Plate, it’s this.

Before asking for the bill, I remembered to pull out my InvadeLA card and Cookie took off 15% with no fuss. We’ll have to come back to Vegan Plate again and order outside of our comfort zone next time. Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or a meat lover, you will easily find something here to satisfy your cravings.

When I got there, it was after lunch and it was raining.  There were patrons scattered all over the restaurant, but I made my way to the bar portion of the diner.  As soon as I sat down I was served with fresh pickles, which is pretty customary when you visit a Jewish deli.

Before looking through the menu, I knew exactly what I wanted, but I looked through just to reconfirm.  Since it was raining, I ordered their famous Matzo Ball Soup.  Factors’ Matzo Ball Soup has been a dish they’ve been serving for decades, and their recipe has remained intact and unchanged since the beginning.  When it arrived, it had one huge matzo ball, a bunch of carrots, and of course their smooth noodles.  The soup made me feel warm from the inside out, and was a perfect appetizer because it left room for the main course … which was the main reason I came here.

The reason I came to Factor’s was to try The Famous Reuben.  For those who don’t know what a Reuben Sandwich is there are several variations, but the main ingredients are: corned beef, Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing, and sauerkraut all between a couple of slices of grilled rye bread.  However, at Factor’s they let you choose the type of meat you want, and since it’s a deli you know there are endless possibilities.  I chose the Pastrami which came with Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing and sauerkraut.  For my side, I ordered the steak fries only because the server recommended them … but there are different sides you could choose from; potato salad, Cole slaw, macaroni salad, homemade chips, fries or fruit.  When it arrived, it felt as if time had stopped and when I sunk my teeth into the sandwich for a split moment nothing in the world mattered more to me than that sandwich.  That’s how good it was.

Before asking for the check, I asked the server to bring be a small box because I couldn’t finish the second half of the sandwich.  Even though Jewish mothers have a fit if you don’t finish your plate, I personally love when this happens because I know that I will enjoy the second half later that day.  When he brought over the box, I handed him my InvadeLA membership along with my credit card, and when he arrived back with it 15% had been knocked off the bill.  You know I’m gonna be back here again sooner than later, especially because our office is so close.

We wasted no time at the menu, and showed the waiter our InvadeLA membership card so that he could bring out the free order of spring rolls that came with our bowls of pho. These weren’t your average spring rolls and we learned immediately that Absolutely Phobulous is very generous with their portions. Almost bursting out of the rice paper, the fresh spring rolls were filled with shrimp, vermicelli (dry noodles) and veggies. They were also served with a peanut dipping sauce that was mandatory with each bite.

Like any good pho spot, our bowls of Pho Tai came out pretty quick. Pho Tai is noodles with rare steak, green onions, sliced onions, and cilantro. Every bowl of pho is also served with a side of fresh basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño and lime. I noticed they also have chicken, seafood, and vegetarian options available so if meat is not your thing then Absolutely Phobulous has got you covered.

I’m told if you are not sweating by the end of your meal, then you’re not doing it right. While the soup tasted great on its own, I couldn’t help but add loads of Sriracha and hoisin sauce to give it the kick that would take me back to feeling like it was summer in the valley. With loads of basil and bean sprouts added, I was ready to dig in. The noodles were a little on the lighter side but, but I was happily enjoying the tasty broth loaded to the brim with steak. Most pho restaurants are a little stingy with their meat portions, but not Absolutely Phobulous. As I ate more noodles and spoonfuls of soup, pieces of rare steak would reveal themselves to my delight. Usually I’d be done with the steak midway through, but it was plentiful and lasted to the very end.

While one side of me wants an excuse to visit them again, the other side would prefer clear and sunny skies for a little while longer. However the free side of spring rolls can definitely persuade me for a repeat visit in the near future, rain or shine.

If you know me, you know that I rate a sushi restaurant by how crispy their spicy tuna on crispy rice is. As a matter of fact, no matter what … every time I have sushi, the first dish I order is ALWAYS spicy tuna on crispy rice. I usually have to order it extra spicy and extra crispy … but Toshi knows me so well, that I don’t have to make that special request anymore.

After that small appetizer, I ordered the albacore skin salad which was super tender and fresh. Toshi arranged the pieces of fish meticulously, and placed a jalapeno at the tip of each piece. The combination of the jalapenos and the sauce gave the tender fresh sashimi a taste that was so inviting.

The next dish I ordered was the salmon tempura roll. This roll had baked salmon on top and spicy tuna on the inside. Since the other two dishes didn’t really fill me up because of the lack of rice, this was a perfect hearty choice.

After that, I ordered the salmon belly. The belly is supposed to be the most tender part of the fish , and boy was it tender. When I sunk my teeth into the fish, there was little or no chewing necessary, and it literally melted in my mouth.

The highlight of my meal was not any of the dishes, nor the beer or saki. The highlight of the night was watching Toshi crack a sea urchin using a knife and his bare hands. I’ve never seen that before, so I found it very amusing. After he cracked the shell, he took out whatever was on the inside and torched it before serving. I didn’t taste it because I’m allergic to shell fish, but the person sitting next to me who did absolutely loved it.

After all this, believe it or not I was still hungry but wanted to lay off the rice so I asked Toshi to surprise me with an “off the menu” roll that did not include any rice in it. After some contemplation, Toshi made me a hand roll using a cucumber. On the inside, he put salmon and filled it with crunchy tempura which gave it a perfect crunch in every bite.

After the feast, but before asking for the check I made sure to wave my InvadeLA membership to Toshi who immediately took off 10% off the bill. The guy sitting next to me who had the Uni was so intrigued by the membership that he immediately used his phone to go to the website to see what other restaurants partnered up with InvadeLA. All in all, I had a great experience at Toshi and we highly recommend it if you’re ever in the area and craving some bomb sushi.

As soon as we sat down we were presented with small plates to munch on. Slices of bread accompanied by chimichurri are all too familiar to me and my downfall since I can’t get enough of it. But don’t make the mistake of filling up on bread because there’s plenty of good food to eat here my friends. They also brought a mini-appetizer which I did not catch the name of, but it tasted like an herb and vegetable soufflé. I would compare it to another dish to give you a better idea, but the only thing remotely close to it that I know of is called “Koo Koo Sabzi” which I’m sure doesn’t help you at all unless you’re one of my Persian friends.

The great thing about Santino’s tapas menu is that no two dishes are close to the same, so make sure and order a handful to get a taste of everything. I always order empanadas by default when visiting an Argentine restaurant, so we went with the Beef and Spinach. Their empanadas are huge as you can see, and more on the baked side rather than fried, just how I like them. I noticed that they also offer eggplant empanadas which I’ve never seen before so I’ll have to come back and try it.

Next dish to come out was “Gambas Al Ajillo” which is a plate of shrimp, garlic, paprika and white wine sauce. I loved the sauce and found myself dipping bread along with other foods in it just cause it was so tasty. The generous amount of shrimp was another huge plus as it lasted until the end of the meal.

It’s a known fact that Argentine cuisine is known for their beef, so ordering Crispy Sweet Breads was a must. It might not be the most beautiful dish, but this combination of beef sweet breads, arugula, and balsamic reduction was easily my favorite. The beef was fried to a crisp, but not heavy in the slightest. Arugula was also a nice touch to keep it well balanced.

To celebrate my birthday, we ordered dessert of Rhum Flambe Berries with vanilla ice cream. To our delight, Sergio accompanied us with a bottle of Pisco and that’s when the fun started. He talked about the restaurant’s history, what he’s doing to make it better, and after a few more sips of Pisco we got to hear some hilarious stories. Some might raise an eyebrow to Sergio, but he was the highlight of the night for us and kept us laughing for the rest of our visit. He gave us a tour of the place, and in the most gratuitous act I have seen since starting InvadeLA, he handed me a bottle of wine and said “Happy Birthday.” I told him that I will be back to open the bottle at Santino’s with him, so the question is… who’s coming with me?

When you walk in, the first thing you notice is the seating arrangement which is unique in that it allows you to sit at a large table with other patrons, or sitting with a smaller group at the bar. The menu offers everything from the traditional curry bowls, to their signature Naan Rolls. Some of the bowls to choose from are the Lamb or Beef Curry, Chana Masala, Saag Paneer, Aloo Gobi, and more. I wanted try a bit of everything, so I ordered the Bombay Plate.

The Bombay Plate includes your choice of two entrees, Basmati rice, a side salad, and their fresh made signature naan. For my two entrees I ordered the Paneer Tiakka Masala and the Saag Paneer. I’ve had both dishes before at other Indian restaurants, and I can tell you that Urban Masala really does a great job with their Paneer Tikka Masala. This entrée was so flavorful that I had no problem piling it high on my basmati rice and cleaning it off my plate. The Saag Paneer was also very tasty, especially when I dipped my naan into it.

I wanted to order one of their signature Naan Rolls, but I was torn between which one to order. I didn’t know if I wanted the Chicken Tikka Naan Roll, or the Chicken Malai. I chose the Chickent Malai Naan Roll, and asked him to make it a little spicy. You cannot have Indian food without breaking a bit of sweat from the spices. When it arrived, the sheer size of it excited me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish it, and I was especially excited to take left overs home for later. When I sunk my teeth into the roll I could taste huge chunks of tender spicy marinated chicken and an array of veggies. The roll wasn’t dry like some chicken roll, nor was it messy and saucy. It was filling, yet light and I would way rather have this roll than some generic sub sandwich for lunch.

Urban Masala is a terrific spot for either a quick bite when you’re on the run or a casual sit-down spot to watch the game. They recently acquired their beer and wine license, so now you have more reason to come visit them. Before requesting the bill I made sure to flash my InvadeLA membership and just like magic, they deducted 10% off my bill.