We went to Lobster Festival in Long Beach!! I love Lobsters, so I was really looking forward to it!! Admission + Lobster Dinner was $25/ per person. Good deal!! We all got to the festival around 9pm and it was not busy at all. The best part was we could get to eat warm lobsters fresh out of steamy pot. It was really sweet and fresh. Good..! I am definitely going back next year with Lee and friends. (even thou Lee doesn’t really like lobsters.)
Crazy People and me
Hand Roll Sushi at home!
We love to make Hand Roll Sushi at home. Hand Roll Sushi makes an ordinary dinner special and fun!! It is all about preparation but it is really easy. Tonight, we had Rock fish and Yellowtail Sashimi. Also I made Cha-shu pork and broiled Black Cod for appetizers. It is so much fun to make your own Hand Roll Sushi!!
Lee bought me a Secret Weapon for our cooking. It’s a Slow Cooker!!! I am very happy to have it because I have wanted it for a long time. As soon as I got it from Lee, I made Pot Roast. And it came out.. GREAT!!!! I was really happy. And now I am making “Smoked Brisket Soup”. Lee is in Canada for his friend’s bachelor’s party and coming back to LA tomorrow. So I am making delicious soup for him to recover from hangover.
Mr. Hamilton Beach
I got some smoked brisket from Whole Foods. Their smoked brisket is too good for soup. But it gives great flavor and I like to put them in soup. I chopped tons of vegetables and threw everything in my lovely slow cooker. And now I am at the waiting stage.. Another 3 hours…
I can’t wait to taste my soup. And also I can’t wait for Lee to come home tomorrow. I hope he will like the soup too.
♥
We love to eat, cook and discover new things.
Good food doesn’t have to be always expensive. We love little restaurants with good homemade food.
Our dream is owning a tiny cute restaurant that has good food and good Sake.
♥
Izakaya Style Dishes
If you go to Izakaya style restaurant, they have many small portion of dishes like Tapas. Lee and I love Izakaya style, so one night I made Izakaya style dinner. I made “Tebasaki Chicken (Japanese chicken wings)”, “Pork Wrapped Asparagus” and “Halibut and Aioli Potato Tower (My own creation)” for us to feel like we were at Izakaya style restaurant.
Halibut and Aioli Potato Tower
Pork Wrapped Asparagus is really easy and delicious. You dip it in Ponzu and radish sauce when you eat. Halibut and Aioli Potato Tower was my creation. I fried thinly sliced potatoes and layered them with sauteed (lightly battered) Halibut. Finished it up with Aioli Sauce.
Kyo Chon Packaging
Tonight Ayu-chan suggested we try Kyo Chon chicken wings for dinner! Her really good friend Marie-chan has been recommending them for some time now, and we took the bait! Ayu-chan made the trip to pick up chicken wings for the both of us tonight.
Upon arriving home, I see two bright red and white boxes in two similarly colored bags. I can smell the garlic in the air as we prepare our table to take part in the chicken wings! I also see that we have two kinds of wings, along with the garlic we have spicy wings. We are ready to eat. Itadakimasu!
We both first tried the garlic, and I think we both realize that these are very good chicken wings! The garlic has a very crispy crust, and an addicting flavor to it. The meat inside is as chicken meat should be, moist and tender, not the KFC variety which many times nowadays is mushy and somehow soupy inside. On to the spicy wings! Which we find to be very good, but for some, such as Ayu-chan, it can be very spicy to eat and definitely needs a glass of water to accompany the wings!
Kyo Chon Chicken
All in all, we both agree some of the best fast food chicken wings (korean style) we have had, although the only thing we did notice that may keep us from coming back to Kyo Chon, or having on a regular basis is the price. In our minds this is very, very good fast food chicken wings. Kyo Chon though charges these wings at a very premium price! The cost of our meal was $20 total for two boxes of the tasty wings, and one box has ten wings a piece. It is still a very tasty meal, and my guess is that I am sure we will be back, just maybe not that often.
The Steakhouse!
This past Saturday evening ( 8.15.08 ) Ayu-chan and I went to a restaurant with two friends of ours, John and Keiko. This was a steakhouse we had been hoping to one day attend, since they were known to have “wagyu beef”, which is the top beef that Japan exports. We all know the most well known brand of wagyu called “Kobe beef”. It is one of the three top grades of wagyu beef, but unfortunately here in the states we dont get real “kobe” beef. We get kobe “style” beef, that is usually born and bred in similar way as wagyu, but raised here in the states…but their are rare Japanese steakhouse restaurants that actually import real wagyu beef from Japan, and we had found out ” The Steakhouse “ in torrance was one of those restaurants.
Our beginnings were simple, we ordered some red wines, and a nice white for Ayu. We ordered some appetizers. The first appetizer we ordered was duck, and additionally a albacore salad. The duck was very good, not so gamey in flavor, nicely marinated in a citrus sauce. The albacore was interesting…not something that I think we would order again…but we came to a steak place, so I am not sure we should have expected much for seafood. The side bread was delicious, and the wine was great. All in all, a good beginning to the meal, and we were all able to look past the albacore salad.
Earlier she had shown us the different cuts of meat available for us to have that evening. There were three choices of prime u.s.d.a. beef that looked excellent, and at the bottom of the serving tray were the two selections of Wagyu beef. One was a wagyu filet mignon, and the second choice was a wagyu N.Y. Strip Steak. Ayu and Keiko both chose the wagyu filet, I personally wanted the N.Y. Strip Steak, as from my experience filets are great, and very tender, but always need some sort of flavoring added to the steak to bring out that great taste, such as butter, bacon, or some other technique. So my choice was the N.Y. Strip of wagyu beef, and John chose the same after seeing the size of the filet.
Wagyu Filet Mignon
After a short wait we recieved our steaks on a hot sizzling cast iron plate. Granted, the steak looked like nothing special on top of the onion bed. I was a little bit hesitant at this point, but John soon took a bite and made one comment “Amazing”……and I heard Ayu and Keiko say the same about their steak. I soon took my first small bite, and I really had to agree with John…it was simply an “amazing” cut of beef. If you notice from the restaurant link there is fat marbled all through out the meat. When eating this cut of steak, the only thing I can describe the first bite would be, is that there is a burst of flavor. The fat has literally melted in the meat and therefore the steak is extremely juicy, with a sweet “fatty” flavor. I knew that the strip was the better steak immediately, since that it needed no extra flavor at all. I cut off a bite for Ayu to have, as she did the same for me with the filet. The filet was very good, but lacked some of the flavor that filled the N.Y. Strip. Though the radish/soy/garlic sauce that was available worked perfectly for the filet.
Wagyu N.Y. Strip
In the end we all left extremely satisfied, and very happy to have made it to ” The Steakhouse “ for John, and I’s first try of wagyu beef. If I was to recommend a steak at this particular place, do yourself a favor and try N.Y. Strip of Wagyu beef, it will be something uniquely different, and leave you wanting more. Of course if you also have any recommendations of great steak restaurants, I would be very glad to hear them also.
Oishi katta desu!!!
Good friends, and a great meal!
On August 8, 2008, we went to my friend, Hana-chan’s wedding in San Diego.
It was really beautiful wedding on the boat.
The boat wedding was a really good idea!
The food was actually pretty good too =)
Coconut Shrimps, Filet Mignon steak etc..
Next day
Brunch at Estancia Hotel in La Jolla
Crapes, Pancakes, Sausages, Egg Benedict etc..
Cocolate Covered Strawberries!
I have been hiding something special for us to do this Saturday from Ayu for two weeks…She is a fantastic cook, and we both enjoy trying new things, and enjoying new experiences.
Two weeks ago, a producer that I work with, invited me to lunch. The first place, and original intention, that we went to was completely packed, and there was no parking to be found on the premises. Upon finding no parking, and no available way to make time to go to this establishment, I somehow remembered of this other location she had mentioned some time ago, that was very close to our work. This place was called Surfas. I had no idea what kind of establishment this was, but as soon as I said the name, Gayle’s eyes lit up and a smile came to her face, and we were on our way!
Upon making the turn into the parking lot, I notice that Surfas is store, rather than a restaurant. While walking up to the building I then notice that there is a rather small cafe attached to the larger building, and I see of course this is our destination. We quickly order, and then we are told we will be notified when our food is ready. I take this time to enter the store and walk around…I immediately knew within a few seconds that I needed to take Ayu-chan here very soon! While walking around, I notice they have a sign that notifies patrons of cooking demonstrations on the weekend.
Thus my plan is hatched at that moment, on a Saturday, we will come here for lunch, and a class! Lucky for me, that day at lunch, I find out they make amazing sandwiches also!
After many days of avoiding questions, and statements from Ayu trying to extract information about what we will do on this day, Saturday finally comes around. She meets me at work (unfortunately an emergency came up at my work requiring me to be there in the morning) and we set off!
I use trickery and confusion tactics to throw her off of our final location…we pull in the parking lot, and I am able to semi-surprise her of the place. Walking from the parking lot, I notice the place is packed for the class/demonstration that we are headed, but first the Cafe! We head into the cafe, look at the pastries, bread, sandwiches, and on to the menu! After reading over the many offerings on the menu, we both settle on the Kobe Haute Dogs.
Kobe Haute Dog
Our meal has begun! The hot dogs are very tasty, sweet, fresh, and fulfilling. We get fresh greens along with the sandwich, and we enjoy the meal very much, and finish satisfied. Side not, we are pretty sure there is no actual kobe beef in the hot dogs, but either way, it doesn’t matter, as the actual taste of the dog was terrific.
Then we begin our adventure inside the store itself. We are able to stroll around shortly before the class begins, and Ayu is able to see the vast selection of pots and pans, restaurant and baking equipment. I can only hope she is impressed with the place, as she is a little bit quiet while walking through the store.
The class begins, and we find out it is a cake decoration demonstration. They brought in someone from a local bakery to give a general foundation of how to decorate, illustrate, and give overall tips on how to make a beautiful cake. I even took an interest in the class as I soon figured out how difficult, and how much of a skill and artform it is to decorate a cake.
Itadakimas!
We both feel as today was a fun learning experience, and a new enjoyable experience altogether. There will be many continued trips back to this store for supplies, demonstrations, and of course the cafe for lunch! If you ever happen to be in the area, a definite recommend to just check out the store, and give the lunch a try, I am sure you will leave satisfied.
