Nombombs: A Los Angeles Food Blog

Gaon Korean BBQ

2011-08-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

This is a really long overdue post! Last weekend, James Bomb and his family discovered this new Korean barbecue place that opened up near Old Town Pasadena. Being big fans of "korean bbq", we all were super excited to try this place out.

Upon arrival, we could tell the place was definitely brand spankin new. The walls, flooring, tables, everything was clean and the whole place didn't stink of meat fumes forever burrowed into the walls of an old time Korean barbecue venue. Anyways, onto the deets!

Good for: Families and big groups of friends
Parking: Street parking
Scene: Your usual crowd but a more ethnic mix than the Ktown joints
Service: Very enthusiastic, friendly waiters
Noise level: Dim
Seating: Indoor
Price: $$
Rating: 3/5

We ate: Lemon soju, Kobe beef belly, Brisket, Prime rib, Beef tongue, Marinated short rib, Kalbi, Shrimp

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When you open up the menu, you realize that this isn't a cheap all-you-can-eat place. The AYCE menu had 3 different plans, with the cheapest Plan A being $24.99 and the most snazzy of the plans being $49.99! We decided to go with the middle ground, but $29.99 is probably on the higher end of AYCE Korean barbecue prices in the LA area...

This is going to be a sort of inaccurate review of the meats because I had no idea what I was eating most of the time. Everything sort of just came in a pile.

Lemon soju (unpictured): Didn't have a strong alcoholic taste to it and the lemon was not overpowering, but the whole bottle kind of smelt like bathroom cleaner.

Kobe Beef Belly

Verdict: My favorite meat from our AYCE selection. We started off with this so we immediately thought we had found the best Korean BBQ place ever. The fat on the belly was juicy and made the whole thing just burst with flavor.

Brisket in the center

Verdict: Very chewy and not cut as thinly as other Korean BBQ joints. Average meat quality.

Prime Rib (I could be making this up)

Verdict: Very tough to chew on, and had the overwhelming taste of cow. Does that make any sense? It basically didn't really taste like barbecued meat. Very lean...would advise a shorter cooking time on this one.

Shrimp

Verdict: You can't really go wrong with shrimp! It was fresh and our waiter cooked it with a whole lot of butter. Juicy and delicious!

Korean Pancake

Verdict: Everyone's favorite by far. These wonderful slabs of who-knows-what came free for every 2 people at the table. It wasn't burnt and had a great fluffy texture and lots of green onions!

Overall, we had high expectations of this place just because our meal started out realllllyyy good. The free appetizers that every Korean BBQ place seems to have was extra delicious here and the kobe beef belly was the best meat there. It sort of went a little downhill after that :(

However, if you're around the Pasadena area and you're too lazy to drive all the way down to Korea Town, this place is not a bad alternative at all. Still very authentic but just a bit on the pricier side.

Elements Kitchen

2011-08-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

So there comes a time in a man's life where he has to choose his favorite things. Some choose the '69 red mustang parked in their parking lot. Some choose to love his best friend named Lucky the labrador. I choose to love the food served by the awesome people at Elements. I was referred here by a very good friend of mine, whom I cannot thank enough. Elements Caffe moved from Fair Oaks in Pasadena to join with their Elements Kitchen on El Molino Avenue. I always have a wonderful eating experience at Elements Caffe. I thought there could be nothing better added to Elements but someway.. somehow.. they did...now there is ALCOHOL!

Good for: Families, brunch, a date, and just about any occasion
Parking: They are various parking lots surrounding Elements. You can just follow the sign and park behind the building
Scene: A contemporary feel with many different groups of people enjoying themselves
Service: Very helpful staff but sometimes they get very busy
Noise level: Moderate chatter
Seating: Indoor and outdoor
Price: $$
Rating: 4.5/5

We ate: Iced Brazillian Coffee, Hibiscus lemonade, smoked salmon benedict, and lobster mac & cheese with truffle oil and mushrooms

Once you walk into Elements Kitchen, you get seated by a waitress anywhere you like. There are a variety of seating spots. It is a pretty spacious restaurant. I went for brunch but for dinner, I believe, sometimes they have live jazz music by the bar.

All of humanities goodness written in menu form

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Outside seating by a fountain

Hibiscus Lemonade

This is a refreshing drink that is perfect for an awesome bright sunny day! The hibiscus punch by itself is too sweet for my taste. So Cherry Bomb and I agree that the hibiscus lemonade and/or the hibiscus iced tea is perfect.

Brazillian Iced Coffee

If you ever need an alcoholic wake up call in the morning, order this. It was so strong in the beginning, I had to ask them to add more syrup and coffee. After I did that, I was pretty much addicted to it. It really grew on me. I would consider ordering it again. However, they have a slew of alcohol now! Yay for drinking during brunch!

Smoked Salmon Benedict

Loved the hollandaise sauce that dressed the smoked salmon benedict. This dish included a slice of smoked salmon with an english muffin, spinach, and poached eggs to complete this architectural wonder. This is Cherry Bomb's first time trying this dish.

Lobster Mac & Cheese

Now to the main event. In my mind when this dish arrives to my table, Michael Buble would jump out singing "Feeling Good" and fireworks explode in the background. Maybe I'm overselling this dish but hey you won't know until you try it! The mac and cheese is made perfectly with chunks of lobster. The truffle oil, mushrooms and breadcrumbs are an excellent touch. I would say this is the perfect blend between childhood and the finer things in life!!

Okay so maybe I am biased because I fell in love with the food here. I would recommend having brunch at Elements Kitchen and getting the Lobster Mac & Cheese to anyone that is visiting LA or to someone in London and force them fly over here with the tale of Elements. Have fun and best wishes on your journey for awesome life changing food!

Signed,

Icho Izakaya

2011-08-21T01:32:00.000-07:00

While going through a thankfully speedy Friday at work, James Bomb and I suddenly craved for some fish liver. Yes, fish liver. You commonly hear about fancy people eating duck or goose liver, but no, Asians prefer chicken, cow, snake...and fish liver. When we think about fish liver, we always end up thinking about our favorite little Japanese restaurant tucked away in an obscure plaza in San Gabriel- Icho Izakaya, or as the locals call it,Yi-ding.

Good for: Families
Parking: Free parking lot

Scene: Lots of local Chinese families eating at a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant

Service: Love them! Very sweet waitresses

Noise level: Moderate chatter

Seating: Indoor

Price: $$
Rating: 3.5/5 (James Bomb would probably disagree with me, this is his place)

We ate: Fish liver, Uni Nigiri, Toro Sashimi, Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Tongue, Chicken Cartilage, Dobin Mushi

Now my loyalty lies with Sushi Gen, which was previously blogged about, but Icho Izakaya isn't a bad runner up. However, if you're looking for an authentic Japanese restaurant, this won't do it for you because it is very Taiwanese.

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James Bomb and his family are frequent visitors to this joint, so once we entered, we were met with smiling waitresses who greeted him very nicely. We got free endless edamame and some miso soup and salad, free of charge as well! We took a seat at the sushi bar, and since it's run by Taiwanese people, they weren't strict at all about how we were eating our sushi or if I was on my cellphone or not (at Sushi Gen they get really angry...).

Fish Liver

Verdict: I never ate fish liver until James Bomb introduced me to it at Icho. It's soft, melts in your mouth, and well, doesn't taste like a fish's liver. Drenched in ponzu and topped with onion and radish, all these different tastes simply blend into a very light and scrumptious appetizer.

Uni Nigiri

Verdict: The color seemed a little off to me as I'm used to a more vibrant orange, but this place piles the uni on. We each got three thick slices in our nigiri. It had a light sweetness level, and tasted a little off...but James Bomb liked it.

Toro Sashimi

Verdict: Ice cold tuna belly melting in your mouth. That's basically all there is to it. This toro was the more firm version of tuna belly, not the fatty, oily kind. Nom nom nom.

Chicken Teriyaki Bowl

Verdict: I normally never order chicken teriyaki at a Japanese place because I go for the sushi, but we were trying to keep our bill down. I was pleasantly surprised at how juicy and perfectly crispy the chicken and chicken skin was. Good to share between two people.

Beef Tongue Skewers

Verdict: It's nice that Icho doesn't completely char their barbecue skewers here, but this beef tongue was a little too meaty for my taste. Too thick.

Chicken Cartilage Skewers

Verdict: Loved this one. It was juicy and had that distinct barbecued taste to it. There was a lot more meat to it than cartilage which for me was a plus!

Dobin Mushi Soup

Verdict: Great dish to finish off your meal with! The mushroom broth base is perfect. I love how this soup is in a teapot because it just makes you feel all sophisticated...sort of. Anyways, there's pieces of chicken, enoki and shrimp that tops it all off.

All in all, Icho Izakaya is a great sushi place to go to if you're craving for Japanese in the San Gabriel Valley. However, if you have the time and are willing to bust a mission for sushi, I would definitely venture out to perhaps Little Tokyo.

Love,

Akbar Cuisine of India

2011-08-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

The setting is beautiful Pasadena where movies can cost from $2.00 to $30.00 dollars, where a monthly gym membership can cost $200, and MOST IMPORTANTLY where there is a lot of different ethnic foods. Before watching the movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love, we ventured to Akbar for Indian cuisine. Now Cherry Bomb and I fell in love with Indian food in London and have been searching for an amazing Indian restaurant since then. And here we go!

Good for: Dinners with friends and family

Parking: Next to Akbar is a parking structure, make sure you get your ticket validated!

Scene: Dim lighting and a pungent smell of various herbs and spices as you walk in. Small space consider making reservations

Service: Very helpful. Fills water very frequently

Noise level: Semi-loud chatter with a crying baby. Indian white noise music HAHA

Seating: Indoor

Price: $$
Rating: 2.5/5

We ate: Garlic Nan, samosas, tandoori chicken, mint chicken, chicken tikka massala, and lamb coco.

Right when we walked in, the pungent smells of indian spices and herbs rushed into our noses. It was pretty empty as it was a random day of the week. Adjacent from where we were sitting was the open kitchen. We were able to see them make the food roughly 6 feet away; fire spewing and chefs ladling curry into bowls. We pleasantly waited for our food as there was a good lag time between ordering, appetizers, and main entree.

The aforementioned ladling of curry

Pretty cool being able to watch them make food

Samosas

Verdict: These were probably the largest samosas I've seen. They tasted pretty good. Good to start with. The samosas were made of vegetables, peas, and potatoes. Cherry Bomb almost blew up because it was quite spicy.

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Assortment of spicy sauces

Garlic Nan bread

Verdict: The garlic nan is pretty good! I was pleased with the texture and strength of the garlic flavor. It was gigantic! Pairing the nan bread with the curries made my stomach and taste buds happy.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Verdict: It had a good amount of garlic flavor and it was not too spicy. It could have been made a bit sweeter and it was most definitely more on the sour side of life. It was loaded with pieces of chicken breast. Overall, the masala is a safe bet.

Lamb Coco

Verdict: Now I liked this dish more than the masala. There were hearty chunks of perfectly cooked lamb. It was an interesting flavor as there was a bit of coconut flavor in it, hence the name. It was a bit spicier than the masala which made me very happy. It was really good with rice. I would recommend this dish for Akbar goers.

Tandoori Chicken and Mint Chicken

Verdict: The chicken seems to be more on the dry side. If it weren't for the curry, this wouldn't have been a good choice. The mint chicken didn't taste like mint at all but it was still decent.

Overall, the food is decent. Pretty good if you can't think of anywhere else to go. Our journey for an awesome Indian restaurant continues!

Until next time,

Cook's Tortas

2011-08-18T16:47:00.000-07:00

After enduring a half a day of work, I began to feel the shear force of hunger hitting my stomach. Cherry Bomb and I almost blew a fuse deciding what to eat. We decided to head over to Cook's Tortas located in Monterey Park. I have been here many times and I always crave it once in a while. They always make aweesome fresh juice daily. Cook's Tortas is one of those places that never come up, but when it does NOTHING will stand in your way to get it.

Good for: Lunch break and random missions

Parking: Parking lot with many parking spots

Scene: feels like home

Service: Efficient and always gives excellent suggestions

Noise level: Quite noisy

Seating: Indoor & outdoor
Price: $
Rating: 3.5/5

We ate: A California Torta paired with a delicious fresh orange juice and macoroni salad. A Chicken Basil Torta with a fresh cucumber and lime juice and potato salad.

You walk into Cook's Tortas and there always seems to be a line. Which is good because the menu is written out in chalk on the wall. This gives you some time to decide what you want to eat. Almost everytime, I have gotten the California Torta. You can never go wrong with the California. So once you order something, you then get to choose a side and a drink. If you get the chance, order the guava juice. It is heavenly! We paid a $20 bill and randomly sat down at a table and waited for number 51 to be called.

The menu written on a chalkboard

The side dishes!

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I just thought this was cool

Three drinks made daily

Chicken Basil, potato salad and fresh cucumber juice.

Verdict: The basil flavoring is very good and light. It fit perfectly with the chicken, tomato, cheese, cucumber, and lettuce. The chicken, however, was pretty dry. Though the cucumber juice made the meal easy to finish.

California Torta, macoroni salad and orange juice

Verdict: The California, as I have previously stated, is delicious! After finishing it, I still craved it with a full stomach. The orange juice isn't your traditional pulpy juice. Cook's Tortas did something different and made it awesome.

I thought this was funny and made me really want bacon.

I would most definitely come back for the California and guava juice.

Cheers,

Taste on Melrose

2011-08-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Last night, spurred from the excitement of starting this new blog, James Bomb and I made a massive nom quest out to West Hollywood to try out Taste on Melrose. It's on the ritzier side of Melrose, past the grunge and prostitute hangouts. I've been here a couple times for brunch (which I highly recommend by the way!), but this was my first time venturing into this place for a real massive meal. Can I also say that people who drive around this side of town are crazy? We thought we were nearly going to die on multiple occasions.

Good for: Dates & girls who want to go out for brunch

Parking: Valet for $4.50 or street parking if you're lucky

Scene: Very Hollywood

Service: Friendly (pretty cute servers)
Noise level: Loud chatter, music not overpowering

Seating: Indoor & outdoor
Price: $$
Rating: 3.5/5

We ate: Chicken tortilla soup, White truffle oil & mushroom mac & cheese, Kobe beef meatballs, Wild mushroom & radicchio risotto, Bread pudding, White wine

We got seated very quickly and had the choice of either patio or indoor seating. It was a great summer night, so we sat outside, with the lovely sun in my face. The hostess noticed me squinting profusely so she reassured me that the sun would go down by 7:15, which it miraculously did!

The dinner menu looked delightful enough and I wanted to try a lot of things, but the prix fixe menu was very tempting with its $26 price tag for 3 courses. We both decided to go with that and our server suggested some white wine for us that was half off. Sweet!

Pouilly-Fuisse Solutre, France
Very summery with a crisp, green apple aftertaste!

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Chicken Tortilla Soup
Tomato, chipotle, jalapeno, corn, cilantro, red bell peppers, creme fraiche, tortilla strips
Verdict: I'm not keen for tortilla soup but this one was pretty good- like salsa in soup form!

White truffle oil & mushroom mac & cheese
Verdict: To me it tasted like ham and didn't live up to the massive buzz this dish has on Yelp, but still, pretty decent.

Kobe Beef Meatballs
Pine nuts, golden raisins, caramelized onions, linguinie, white truffle cheese fondue, parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Verdict: Meatballs were nice and soft, with strong hints of garlic and just the right amount of pine nuts.

Wild mushroom & Radicchio Risotto
Porcini & Cremini Mushrooms, Taleggio Cheese
Verdict: Nice consistency but this was definitely too salty!

Chocolate brioche bread pudding
Creme anglaise, vanilla bean gelato
Verdict: Right when our server put it down it was like smores exploding in my nostrils. I'm not a big fan of bread pudding, but this one was nice and fluffy. The vanilla bean was a great compliment. This is a must get. It is delicious!

I think I'd definitely want to come back here again- especially for some brunch.

Love,

Sushi Gen

2011-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Sushi Gen is one of my favorite sushi places in Little Tokyo. This place is always packed by 7 PM and the wait becomes an hour long so going right when it opens (at 5:30 PM…) is highly recommended. They also seem to have fresher sashimi available earlier on in the night.

Good for: Family, Friends...Everyone!
Parking: Street parking or in the Honda Plaza for $3
Service: Friendly (though the guy at the front is a little moody sometimes)
Noise level: Dim chatter
Seating: Indoor
Price: $$$ (for 2, if you're eating a lot of sashimi, your bill can easily rack up to $100+)

Rating: 4/5

We ate: Uni, Toro, Albacore, Soft Shell Crab

Soft Shell Crab

Verdict: This is amazing. Once you bite into it, you feel like you're swimming through a medley of flavor. I can never share this - always get your own order. Delish.

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Albacore Nigiri, Toro and Uni

Delicious Uni

Verdict: Sometimes you get lucky and the sushi chefs pile on the uni- othertimes, you get a mere single slice. The toro is usually consistently good here and isn’t too veiny or oily. As for the albacore, Sushi Gen is my favorite place for it. Just the right amount of green onion, ponzu and ginger!

Cheers,