[Monterey Park] [Chinese] 陸羽美食 Look You Fan Dim

Look You Fan Dim
陸羽美食
123 N Garfield Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 280-2888

Parents went out for dinner on Saturday night.  I had to stay http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com to study for a big test.  (Man, pharmacology is probably the hardest class ever!)  They brought some delicious Chinese food http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com.  Look You Fan Dim is at the corner of Garfield and Garvey, inside the Hong Kong Supermarket plaza.  Parents saw some ad on Chinese newspaper about their dinner set special and went to check it out.  5 dishes + 1 soup for $38.  Now that's a good deal.


碧綠斑球 Rock Cod Fillet with Vegetable ($7.50)

Rock Cod Fillet with Vegetable was good.  Fish was soft, with tons of veggies.

Last Day of Work

Today is my last working day at my current job. I am going to be laid off at the end of the day. Well, we actually found out the news 1.5 months ago. That was pretty nice of them to let us know early so we can start looking for the next job.

So what is my plan? I am planing to concentrate in school and collect unemployment money (thank you taxpayers!). I should be able to collect the money till next year. Then I graduate! Then I can find an animal job, one that I will really enjoy doing!

So please don't say "oh I'm sorry to hear about your layoff." I am actually quite happy about it. Seems like everything will work out perfectly fine. That's why they (<---- not sure who are they though) say "when a door closes, another door opens."

Now I can totally dedicated to school, sleep for 8 hours a day, go out for dinner and date, and have time to cook! I am so looking forward to 2am tonight when I get off work... for the last time! ^^

Mom's Bento is the Best

I have two more days left at work! Then no more bento.... Oh well, let's see what I ate last week.


3/23/2009

I love my mom's fried vermicelli.  It tasted every "Taiwanese"!  Just love the shitake mushroom in the vercimilli.  And of course, garlic chili sauce form Wonton Forest.  Mom also sauteed some cucumber with leftover roasted duck meat.  Delicious!

[Arcadia] [Chinese] 合利 Hop Li Seafood Restaurant

Hop Li Seafood Restaurant
合利
855 S Baldwin Ave
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 445-3188

Since I didn't really had a satisfying lunch at Dumpling House, I kept on thinking about the big red sing I saw outside of Hop Li Seafood Restaurant.  "ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL.  ALL DIM SUM $1.38."  Now that's a great deal.  Dad was feeling tired and wanted to go http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com to take a nap.  So we walked over to Hop Li to get some dim sum to-go.


乾蒸燒賣 Pork Dumpling Shiu Mai ($1.38)

It was 2pm and we ordered 8 items.  After waiting for 15 minutes, a watreiss brought the order out and told us 4 of the items were sold out.  Well, pretty much all the items with more expensive ingredients were sold out.  We didn't want to wait any longer and just settled for the 4 items.

Pork Dumpling Shiu Mai was good, but nothing too special about it.

[Arcadia] [Chinese] 頤豐園 Dumpling House

Dumpling House
頤豐園
921 S Baldwin Ave #A
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 445-2755

My mom absolutely loves the prime rib from Black Angus.  We went to Black Angus on Tuesday for lunch, and found the door locked.  What?  They don't serve lunch anymore?  We went there for lunch before and really enjoyed their lunch special menu.  Could it be bad economy = bad business = no more lunch hour?  Oh well.  So we started driving toward Arcadia.  Dad mentioned he felt like having some noodle.  We passed by Dumpling House and decided it would our randomly picked lunch spot.



I remember this place used to be a Yuen Nan noodle place before.  But that was a long long time ago.  The restuarant had pretty good business for lunch.  Restaurant was 90% full and a few people came in to get to-go.

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[Los Angeles] [Chinese] 山東園 San Dong Won Chinese Restaurant

San Dong Won Chinese Restaurant
山東園
3603 W 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 382-0815

I passed by San Dong Won and saw the big banner "Special All Day xxxxx (Korean writing) $4.99".  Had no idea what the special was, but $4.99 for dinner sounds good to me.  On Sunday night, I walked a few blocks from work to here to get the special for dinner.


Chan Chiang Mein ($5.99)

San Dong Won is a Korean style Chinese restaurant.  The place was small, but it was almost full on Sunday night.  The all-day special turned out to be Chan Chiang Mein.  It was supposed to be $4.99.  But they told me there would be an extra $1 charge for to-go order containers.  What?  Extra for the container?  Next time I'll bring my own container then.  Actually, the extra charge was such a turn off.  I'm not sure I'll ever come back again.

[Los Angeles] [American] Original Pantry Cafe

Original Pantry Cafe
877 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90017
(213) 972-9279
http://www.pantrycafe.com

I had a late night mystery shopping job at Original Pantry Cafe on Saturday.  Dr. P and I went to a birthday party first and got to Pantry around 12:45am.  We parked across the street, paid $2, and hurriedly crossed the street for some late night dinner.



This place was full.  We had to wait in line with fellow half drunk patrons for about 10 minutes before a table became available.  The greasy air inside the restaurant made us really hungry.

Bento Time

Bento time again!


3/15/2009

On Sunday I had dough cut noodle from China Islamic and Sirloin steak from Shrimp House.  Leftover food is always good for bento.  Also brought honeydew melon and a Meyer lemon.

[San Gabriel] [Chinese] 東方特快 Oriental Express Cafe

Oriental Express Cafe
東方特快
158 S. San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 292-1868

When economy is bad, cheaper restaurants have better business.  I stopped by at Oriental Express Cafe to get dinner last week.  The line was out the door! 


3 Items Combo ($4.60)

For $4.60 (after tax), you can pick any 3 items from the steamed table.  Rice, soup, and a milk tea are also included.  They used to give out boba tea, but I guess they are trying to cut cost as well, so now it's just milk tea.  The portion is enough for me to eat 3 meals!  I don't think I can cook all the food for under $5 at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com. 

[West Covina] [American] BJ's Restaurant

BJ's Restaurant
2917 E Eastland Ctr Dr
West Covina, CA 91791
(626) 858-0054
http://www.bjsrestaurants.com

Dr. P's friend got a new surfboard on Saturday and he invited Dr. P over to take a look.  Afterward they invited us to go out for a drink.  We went to a bar in Covina and it was full.  We tried to go to another bar across the street and it was full.  So we settled for BJ's.  Got there around 11pm and it was also full.  Everybody was out drinking or what?



We got our seat after a 10 minutes wait.  So I guess recession means more alcohol sale? 

[El Monte] [Ice Cream] Baskin Robbins

Baskin Robbins
3818 Peck Rd # A
El Monte , CA 91732
(626) 579-5937
http://www.baskinrobbins.com

After our Vietnamese noodle dinner at Pho Minh, we dug out a buy 1 sundae get 1 free coupon and headed to Baskin Robbins for some dessert.


Jamoca Almond Fudge with Hot Fudge Sundae ($2.99)

Baskin Robbins offers some premium sundae, but those cost about $5 or $6 each.  Too expensive!  So we both went for the $2.99 create your own sundae.  1 scoop of ice cream, 1 topping, whipped cream, and 1 choice of nuts.  Dr. P got Jamoca Almond Fudge with Hot Fudge.  The coffee flavor ice cream was yummy.  It was rich and creamy.  I like this one a lot.

[South El Monte] [Vietnamese] Pho Minh

Pho Minh
9646 E. Garvey Ave, #108
South El Monte, CA 91733
(626) 448-8807

Dr. P came to my side of town on Saturday after surfing down in OC. We are trying to save money and wanted something cheap and filling.  A good bowl of pho is always satisfying.  So I took him to Pho Minh to try the no MSG pho.


特別牛肉粉 Pho Dac Biet ($5.55)
Special combo w/ rare slices of steak, well done brisket, flank, tendon & tripe

Dr. P got the Pho Dac Biet with beef, brisket, flank, tendon, and tripe.  The soup was so rich and had a creamy color.  Dr. P took a few bite and said, "I think this is the best pho I've ever had!"  He said he used to like Pho 79's a lot.  But now Pho Minh is his new favorite.

[Arcadia] [Seafood] Shrimp House

Shrimp House
4488 E Live Oak Ave
Arcadia, CA 91006
(626)448-8742
http://www.originalshrimphouse.net

I probably had been passing by Shrimp House for the past 20 years, but somehow never went in the restaurant.  It was called Shrimp Ahoy back in the days.  Then there was the 80% off deal for Restaurant.com, and I saw Shrimp House on the list.  $25 gift certificate for $2?  It was a great deal and perfect opportunity to try a new restaurant.



Parents and I wanted to have an early dinner on Friday.  We got to the restaurant around 5:30pm.  The restaurant was full!  With a lot of people waiting outside!!  I had no idea their business was that good.  After a 10 minutes wait, we got a booth seat.  The decoration of the restaurant is very "seafood-like".  There's blue sky ceiling with seagulls and lots of sea-related fixtures and signs along the wall. 

Last Week's Dinner at Work

Here are the pictures of my dinner from last week.


3 Cheese Hot Dot ($1.94)

On Sunday I had a 3 Cheese Hot Dog from 7-Eleven.  I don't even know why I like 7-Eleven's hot dog this much.  I crave for it every two weeks or so.  My favorite toppings are:  relish, salsa with cilantro, little ketcup, little mustard, tons of mayo and nacho cheese.  Yum!

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[Walnut] [Light Meal] Royal Catering

Royal Catering
(626) 280-9780

I work with 8 rescued greyhounds in my school every Friday from 8am to 2pm.  There was some construction going on near the dog kennel.  So we have this Royal Catering truck that comes around to sell lunch to the construction workers.  I took advantage and grabbed lunch as well.


Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwich ($3.50)

I got grilled ham & cheese sandwich. Melted cheese, a few slices of deli ham, tomatoes, and tons of lettuce.  This was a simple sandwich, but so very tasty!  I shared the sandwich with another girl because a whole sandwich was just too much for me.  She also thought it was yummy.

I think I'll get lunch from this catering truck again next week.  Again, much much better than food on campus.  One simple sandwich is about $7 on campus!

Laugh! :)

I read some funny jokes in Reader's Digest. Everyone can use some good laughs, right?

--------------
As a stockbroker gets out of his BMW, a car slams into the door, shearing it off. When the police arrive, the stockbroker is apoplectic.

"See what that idiot did to my beautiful Bimmer?" he shouts. "Do you know what this car cost?"

"Sir," says the officer, "you're so worried about your car that you haven't even noticed that your left arm was ripped off."

The stockbroker takes a look at where his arm once was and screams, "Where's my Rolex?!"

[Walnut] [Japanese] Domo Sushi & Roll

Domo Sushi & Roll
1375 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 598-8291

I had my Anatomy & Physiology for Domestic Animal class today.  Between lecture and lab (we skinned a cat today!  I think I'm still a little traumatized. *_* ), we had a short break for lunch.  We had a Carl's Jr (which has price slightly higher than regular Carl's Jr), a Starbucks, and a small cafe (with cafeteria style food) on campus.  Don't they know students are poor?  Then why do they make campus food more expensive than what it is?  So I went across street to this place with a big "Japanese Fast Food" sign outside.  The name of the restaurant is Domo Sushi & Roll.  They serve teriyaki, tempura, and rolls.


Spicy Teriyaki Chicken Bowl ($4.25)

I got a spicy teriyaki chicken bowl for to go.  I thought they would have some kind of special spicy teriyaki sauce with the chicken.  But it was just regular teriyaki sauce with Asian garlic chili sauce.  The chicken was surprisingly good.  The meat was really tender and soft.  Vegetables were fresh.  This was a lot better than what I expected from a little "fast food" place by a college campus.  Service was really quick.  Only took them 5 or so minutes to get my food ready.  Portion should be enough for a boy, and would make 2 meals for a girl like me.

Mapo Tofu & Broccolini Over Rice

I went grocery shopping with Dr. P on Sunday.  Too bad there is no Fresh and Easy in West LA.  So we settled for Ralphs.  Gotta love the double coupon there.  With the Ralphs card and some coupons, we were able to save $48!  Since we had a box of instant mapo tofu sauce from Nijiya Market at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com, we decided to cook lunch at http://www.eileenlikestoeat.com.


Mapo Tofu & Broccolini Over Rice

I sauteed some ground pork, add the sauce in a pouch, add tofu (medium firm), then simmered.  Done.  Yes, it was fast and easy.  No, it didn't taste good.  The mapo tofu sauce didn't exactly taste like the mapo tofu to me.  Or maybe that was Japanese version mapo tofu flavor?  I think I can make a much better mapo tofu sauce using Chinese chili bean sauce.  And I gotta have garlic, ginger, and green onion in my mapo tofu.  Next time I'll definitely make my own mapo tofu sauce.

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[Beverly Hills] [American] Ruth's Chris Steak House

Ruth's Chris Steak House
224 S Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 859-8744
http://www.ruthschris.com

I've known the name Ruth's Chris for years.  I've been wanting to try their steak for years.  I finally did last Saturday.  Thanks to their special $39.95/person 3 course classic menu, we had delicious steak without breaking the bank.



We arrived at our reservation time 7pm.  The restaurant was almost full.  The hostess brought us to the back room.  We passed a fish tank with live lobster in it.  I thought only Asian restaurants do that.  We liked the back room.  It was a lot quieter and spacious than the front booths.  I would hate to be seated at the booth by the entrance with tons of people waiting by your table while you are trying to have a romantic dinner with your date.

3/2/2009~3/5/2009 Bento

Bento from last week.


3/2/2009

I love my mom's braised pork rib!  I think she can open a restaurant just selling pork rib bento!  The braised potato was delicious, too.  There were also sauteed oyster mushroom and sauteed napa cabbage with garlic chili sauce from Wonton Forest.  Also a piece of roasted duck from 99 Ranch Supermarket.

Kitty Likes It Hot

Kitty is loving the heat lamp....



Just like Strawberry did before....

[Los Angeles] [Indonesian] Simpang Asia

Simpang Asia
10433 National Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 815-9075
http://www.simpangasia.com

Simpang Asia is a small Indonesian market in West LA.  They also have a small Indonesian cafe that served authentic dishes with pretty reasonable price for westside standard.  Dr. P and I came here on Sunday for lunch.  The food was good, but we still had a pretty bad experience there which made Dr. P swore to never go back again.

There was no seat available inside so we grab a small table outside.  After ordering from the inside counter, we waited for about 20 minutes for our food to arrive.  While waiting, a group of Indonesian teenagers showed up.  There were about 15 of them who took the small table right next to us.  They were loud and obnoxious, I mean REALLY REALLY loud and obnoxious.  They crowded around our table, which was quite uncomfortable.  When our food arrive, Dr. P went inside to get some chopsticks.  I was busy taking pictures and wasn't really paying attention to the kids.  Next thing I know, they took our umbrella which gave us the shade for our seats, WITHOUT even asking.  I was still stunned when another girl tried to take Dr. P's chair away, RIGHT IN FRONT of me, without even saying anything.  I quickly stopped her.  She dropped the chair, didn't say nothing, gave me a mean stare, and walked away.  OMG!  What is happening to our education?  Why are kids like that nowadays?  When Dr. P came back, they kept on bumping into his chair, again, without saying anything.  Those kids were so rude, but there isn't much we can do.  I mean, I don't really want to be fighting 15 kids.  I just want to eat my lunch!


Nasi Gudek ($7.50)
Authentic rice platter from Jogja, sweet spiced, slow cooked chicken, egg, tofu and young jackfruit over rice and a side of tofu and beef rinds spicy curry.

Anyway, so the food arrived.  I ordered No. 1 on the menu, Nasi Rames.  Not knowing much about Indonesian food, I don't really know how Nasi Rames looks like.  So when the server sat the plate down in front of me, I assumed it was what I ordered.  Everything looked brown.  I had no idea what I was eating, except for the curry tofu, which was served in a separate bowl.  The brown stuffs tasted sweet.  I ate lots of mushy stuffs that I had no idea what they were.  I just assumed it was some sort of soybean products like tofu.  I did liked the food.  But I vaguely remembered the dish I ordered had beef and curry chicken in it.  We got the menu to make sure.  Yup, I didn't think they gave me the right dish.

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[Azusa] [Japanese] Black Cherry Garden

Black Cherry Garden
530 S Citrus Ave #13
Azusa, CA 91702
(626) 339-6058

Wen read about Black Cherry Garden in J-Goods Magazine and visited the new yakitori restaurant.  This restaurant has only been opened for 3 months.  But Wen already visited 3 times and couldn't stop raving about it.  After reading her 3 visits on her blog, I really had to go try it myself.  And Wen had her 4th visit with me.



The restaurant is located in Azusa, inside a strip mall, next to a.... uh.... adult shop. 

[City of Industry] [Fusion] Wonton Forest (CLOSED)

Wonton Forest
18230 Gale Ave
City of Industry, CA 91748
(626) 435-1430
(CLOSED)

I've known Paul for 5 or 6 years.  Paul graduated from UCLA.  His family has a restaurant in Hawaii, where he went to work/live for awhile.  He's super funny, especially after a few drinks.  He has an adorable girlfriend.  So I thought I know Paul pretty well, but I never knew Paul can cook.  I remember Paul talking about his goal on life is to open his own restaurant a few years back.  And he did it!  Wonton Forest was born 8 month ago.



Wonton Forest is located inside the then Hot Gossip now Starbucks plaza.  (Man, I still remember the Hot Gossip days back then....)  The restaurant isn't big, but it's clean and actually feels pretty spacious.  The deco is modern and had a serene feel to it.  Definitely not your typical hole-in-the-wall type of noodle shop.

Bento Everyday

"The economy is so bad" seems to be the hot conversation topic lately.  I am also affected by the bad economy.  Got the news that I will be laid off at the end of March.  Oh well, guess I'll just try to find another night job.  If not, I'll go to school full time in April and May.  Then I'll find another full time job starting in June.  In the mean time, I don't want to be too stress about it.  But in order to save money, I've been a good girl and bringing my bento to work everyday.


2/18/2009

Taro cake with some garlic chili sauce.  Meatball with enoki mushroom and cabbage.  I really like the meatball from IKEA.  You can cook it in so many different ways.