Shin Woo Myun Oak, Korean, Northridge, CA

Shin Woo Myun Oak
10201 Reseda Blvd, Ste 101
San Fernando Valley, CA 91325
(818) 734 1717




Located in the food court of the Galleria Market in Northridge this amazing little stand has been open since 1948, and so far the food has been amazing!

I decided to try a Kim Chi and Beef Rice Bowl in a hot bowl.

As you can see you get a lot of food. Not only the hot rice bowl, but banchan (side dishes) which included some kim chi, pickled veggies, a sweet potato salad, cold noodles and a bowl of miso soup.

The Kim Chi and Beef Rice bowl was awesome! I loved the flavor. The egg melts into it and the hot bowl makes for hot crunchy rice wherever it touches the bowl. This was fabulous, and I will certainly try it again, and under $10!

I love this little food court, and Sin Woo Myun Oak was my favorite so far. Just delicious!

DeFranko's Submarines, Submarine Sandwiches, Van Nuys, CA

DeFranko's Submarines
7532 Woodley Ave
Van Nuys, CA 91406
(818) 780-9556
Mon-Fr 10:30AM-7PM, Saturday 10:30AM-5:00PM



My wife Kelly and I had passed this place many times and decided to try and, and I for one am so glad that we did! Wow, this place is awesome!

This place is literally a shack with 5 bar stools inside and a picnic table outside, and a tiny little menu.

They have 3 sizes of Sub, and cold or hot subs, salads, hot dogs, chips and drinks, and that is it. And all the veggies and meat are hand cut.

My wife and I both got the Italian Cold Cut on Italian Bread (though you can also get a roll or wheat) with everything, which is mayo, mustard, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, Italian oil dressing, Italian herb seasonings, chopped red or white onions, chopped pickles and chopped ripe tomatoes, and it is piled high!

Check out these pics!

WOW! And so delicious! With some chips and drinks it was well over $20, so not cheap, but well worth it!

Next I want to try the hot pepper steak, then maybe Italian sausage!

This place is great at one thing, and they do it perfectly. These are great subs, and you can see why this place has been around so long (the mid seventies I believe).

I was blown away, want one right now!

••••

I keep going back and bringing more people. This place is just awesome and addicting! They could start a food truck and make a killing. I LOVE THESE SUBS! WOW!

Katsu Japanese Cutlet, Korean, Japanese Cutlet, Northridge, CA

10201 Reseda Blvd, Suite 105,
Northridge, CA 91324
(818) 993-0088
10 AM till 9 PM

First off, how could I have lived in the valley for 5 years and not know that the Galleria Market on Reseda is an amazing and huge Korean Grocery store? And that it has a pretty impressive food court, with 3 Korean restaurants, this Katsu place and a Sushi place, and filled with Koreans (think I was the only white person there). I will be going back and trying the Korean places, but loving Chicken Katsu Curry form the curry house I had to see if there was something like it closer than downtown LA.

And there is, though not quite up to par with Curry House, though I love the sides, but great for so close to my house.

Kelly and I both got the Chicken Katsu Curry. And we got a device to tell us when to come back. Finding a seat was a bit of a fight as their could certainly be more seats, but you can find one, and they have people to come and clean what people have left.

As you can see the Kastu plate is huge for under $10, with a delicious cabbage salad, 2 pickled veggies, rice, Miso soup and the curry sauce. And the chicken is white meat, with a good breading (though dark meat always gives a little more flavor. My biggest complaint was the curry sauce, which while good, was just not strong enough, and with zero spice. Next time I might need to bring some hot oil to put in to kick the flavor up, and give me my spice level I like (and yes I will go back).

Quite good and tasty, though yes I could use a little stronger curry sauce.

Can't wait to get back to the Galleria food court and try some more food!

Lee's Sandwiches, Vietnamese Bahn Min Fast Food, Various Locations

Lee's Sandwiches

55 Locations, including many in Southern California

 

When my lovely wife and I went to get our new puppy east off the 60, we stoppee in a mall for lunch and decided to go with Lee's Sandwiches. This was a large and clean chain restaurant, with inexpensive Vietnamese Bahn Mi, as well as American sandwiches on fresh baked 10 inch French Bread. And did I mention cheap? Now the prices seem different between stores, but still run between $3 and $4 for the average sandwich!

Even better the sandwiches are delicious! So far we have tried the Grilled Pork and the Special with Jambon, headcheese and pate. Both are fantastic, with great crunch from the veggies, but the grilled pork is just fantastic! And seems to be the same between different stores!

Different stores have various different appetizers and foods. And they have delicious smoothies, and I recomend the passion fruit!

At the first store we looked up the place online, and were delighted to find there is a branch right near us in North Hills, as well as one in Lake Balboa. The prices are slightly higher in North Hills, but the same quality food with more appetizers, and various asian candies. And it looks like it is doing great! We could not be more delighted.

It may not be the best bahn mi in the world, but the quality is great and consistent, the taste is good and the prices are great! Why would I ever eat at Subway when I can have this?

La Brea Bakery, Cafe, Bakery and Pizza, Los Angeles, CA

La Brea Bakery
468 S. La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 939-6813
7 am till 6 pm everyday



I have been eating La Brea Bakery bread for years, and had always wanted to eat there, so I was quite excited to finally get the chance, but was anything but excited by the results. This cafe and bakery is in the old Rita Flora space on La Brea, and they have ample parking in back, both valet and self park, and the service was quite good, but I was unimpressed by the food!

I went for the Turkey Avocado sandwich for $11.95. Getting into deli prices for a sandwich, but not Deli serving sizes for sure. A large piece of country wheat bread, but not a lot of meat, with arugula, chipotle mayo, and supposedly avocado, but I couldn't see it or taste it. Absolutely nothing special here. Not bad, but nothing impressive. I could have made much better at home. You get a free side, eitehr a Green Apple & Fennel Slaw or Farfalle Pasta Salad, and I went for the pasta, but it was not very good. Overly oniony, and just not a good taste. I mostly left this on the plate.

My wife had the House Tomato soup and enjoyed it, though I am not a fan so didn't try it and can't say.

We did enjoy the Bread Tasting for $4.95. A basket of different breads with ample portions of oil, olive tapenade and butter. And the bread was un-surprisingly good, with the exceptional being a fruit and nut bread, that unfortunately is $16 for a loaf.

Mostly I think I was disappointed in my sandwich. No interesting flavors, no avocado as far as I could tell and boring turkey that could easily have come from the grocery store. Honestly for $12 I want a special sandwich, and this was anything but.

Extraordinary Desserts, Desert and Lunch, San Diego, CA

Extraordinary Desserts
1430 Union Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 294-7991



My wife had read about this place when researching San Diego for our anniversary weekend, and we decided we just had to try it.

When you walk in there is a huge glass case filled with different desserts, all of which can change all the time, as soon as they sell out. There is also a bunch of sit down tables as they have sandwiches and tapas type foods as well, though we just got desert to go.

They gave us a a sheet of paper, and told us to write down our picks to take to the cashier, and to have backups because things go quick. We got what we wanted though.

And the depressing thing is that it was a mixed bag. Some absolutely amazing, and some actually bad!

First off Kelly got ice cream and I got sorbet. The ice cream was a strawberry, and was OK, though tasted like strawberry jam instead of fresh strawberries. So it was a bit too sweet, but pretty good. On the other hand I had a banana and passion fruit sorbet that was the best sorbet I have ever had. The taste was exquisite, and the texture soft and fluffy. Absolutely perfect! I should have gotten more! REALLY SPECTACULAR!

Then we each got something to take back to the hotel room.

I got a chocolate chip cookie with cherries, and it was awful! Dry as the desert, and hard as a rock. Just not good at all! Couldn't even taste the cherries either. Bleck!

Kelly meanwhile got a chocolate crossaint with strawberries on top, and it was unbelievably good. Great in fact! Wow. So tasty! We had just had dinner and ice cream and were going to have a bite, but quickly ate the whole thing!

So not sure what to say about this place. It was hit or miss.

Joe's Mexican Restaurant, Mexican, North Hills, CA

16147 Nordhoff Street,
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 893-2400
Mon-Saturday 9AM-9PM
Sunday 9 AM - 8 PM



JOE'S IS UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT AND HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED! NOT THE SAME AT ALL! SEE END OF REVIEW!


I had been quite depressed that Ari's Pizza which used to occupy this space had closed, because I think it was easily the best Pizza in Los Angeles, but with this place being so near to where I live my wife and I decided to give a try and found a new favorite.

It is in the little strip mall at Nordhoff and Woodley Ave, so there is good parking.

Here is there menu from the Window.

The place is bright, with a nice new paint job and decent mayan decor and one questionable painting and sells a whole variety of Mexican food. The prices range from .99 for Tacos, $4.99 for a burrito and about $7 for Nachos. I am also looking forward to the Menudo that they have on Saturdays and Sundays.

My wife and I tried 3 tacos, with hot sauce. Carne Asada, Lengua (tongue) and Chicken. All of which were delicious! The lengua was soft and tasty, and the carne asada had a wonderful flavor.

Here is a Carne Asada Taco with the hot sauce.

I also had a carne asada burrito and it was mind-blowingly good. With a ton of other flavors in it. The beans were fantastic with garlic and probably lard, and there was some peas and spanish rice in there. THIS IS ONE MY ALL TIME FAVORITE BURRITOS! And I love burritos! Damn was this good!

Here is a messy shot of the inside of my delicious Carne Asada Burrito. Yum!

We had the Nachos, which were the most expensive item we tried, but they were fantastic. Heaped with guacamole, sour cream, melted cheese, the tasty bean mix from my burrito, carne asada, tomatoes and a ton of jalapapenos. AWESOME!

And the Nachos slightly dug into in a to go container. WOW!

I went from missing Ari's Pizza, to having found an absolutely amazing new mexican place! One of my favorites in fact. We will certainly be eating here again, as it is delicious and awesome and quite reasonably priced! GREAT! And all this food for under $20!


UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT!

We went to Joe's this last weekend, and saw this sign outside, and inside was a completely new menu, and Joe's awesome hot sauce had been removed from the tables. There is now a condiments bar, and the place is maybe a bit cleaner (at least in the fridge at the front). We decided to order and try it.

First off I had a great deal of trouble ordering. I ordered the first thing on the menu a Burrito and Taco, and they kept just trying to give separate burrito's and tacos, and not the combo plate (which is not listed as that, but comes with beans and chips and a weird salad (lettuce and tasteless dressing), and they screwed up my wife's hard and soft taco (giving 2 soft tacos). I had carne asada for the burrito and al pastor for the taco. And the meat while fine was just average. Nothing special at all. And the worst part was the beans. The beans were literally pale and almost tasteless, such a let down after Joe's amazing beans!

Honestly the food was not bad, but it was so incredibly mediocre that I would never go there again! So depressing after how amazing this place used to be.

My recommendation is to stay away!

IT IS COMPLETELY GONE NOW, WHAT A SHAME!

Currant American Brasserie, French American Cuisine, San Diego, CA

Currant American Brasserie
at the Sofia Hotel
140 W Broadway,
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 702-6309

;



My lovely Wife and I went to San Diego for our 5th Wedding anniversary, and were kind of playing it by ear as to were we would go, and ended up at the Currant in the Sofia Hotel. This is a stylish little French Brasserie and bar, and we have to say we were quite pleased.

We went early, and they have happy hour specials from 4:00 PM till 7 PM and 9 PM till close, including many items on the menu, and $5 wine glasses (red, white and sparkling), they had $5 mint juleps for the Kentucky derby as well.

The place was pretty empty, but still the service as exceptional with very friendly wait staff and buss boys. They even recommended bars to go to afterwards to see the sunset.

To star we had drinks and Popcorn of the Moment which changes every day. We had feta and basil and it was hot and delicious. Going to have to try and make this at home.

I had traditional Moules Frites in white wine with tomatoes and shallots and it was fantastic. Kelly had Moules Frites Basserie, which was in a bear sauce with bacon, leaks, chili and thyme. It was quite good, but not as good as the traditional. and they were only $8.95 instead of $14.95 because of happy hour!

Kelly also had an excellent French Onion soup.

For desert Kelly had a Butterscotch Gooey Butter Cake with Walnut chocolate praline ice cream, which she loved, and I had a very good blueberry hand made sorbet.

We also had a glass of absinthe, with the whole burning the sugar and then bringing a water decanter to pour in water. Very fun, though I am sure Kelly won't try it again (not liking black licorice, not that I do either).

Good food, great deals for Happy Hour and great service. If this was in Los Angles, we would certainly be back!

Davanti Enoteca, Italian, San Diego, CA

Davanti Enoteca,
1655 India Street
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 237-9606




Found this on our little wedding anniversary weekend away. This is in the Little Italy of San Diego, which to me was kind of a touristy Italian Larchmont for San Diego.

The food was great and the service was good. The only complaint is that the wine was a bit pricy. The cheapest glass being $11, and bottles being in the high $40's for the cheapest bottle, and I feel like Italian food should have wine (they did have cheaper bear, but...).

This place is done kind of Tapas style, where the dishes aren't huge, and come out as soon as they are done so you can share.

We stared with Bruschette, which changes daily, and was pretty good, with garbanzos and spinach and onions, but could have used some cheese and or balsamic vinegar.

For dinner I had a Riccio di Mare e Granchio, which was a linguine with sea urchin sauce and crab and it was quite good, but Kelly's marscarpone polenta and ragu of the day (which was a slow braised pork) was just awesome, if a little messy. They pour it at the table onto a wooden cutting board, so it drips over the edge, but damn if it wasn't delicious! YUMMY! Want to make it at home.

This place was quite good, and well worth checking out, if a bit expensive.

The Fish Market, Seafood, San Diego, CA

The Fish Market,
750 N Harbor Drive,
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 232-3474





I had found this place online and was excited to try it, as it has decent yelp reviews and is right on the harbor, and right next to the Midway Museum. And we literally ended up there accidently.

We were able to quickly find parking, though could see how it could get hard on weekends, though they do have valet for the restaurant.

The restaurant is huge, and has a higher class place upstairs as well as different bars around.

We got a great seat inside, safe from the heat, but right on windows looking out at the harbor, and able to look at the ships, and watched the 2 parked air craft carriers, a 3rd that went past as well as a destroyer going out to see. GREAT VIEW!

And the service was awesome. They filled drinks constantly and food was delivered quickly.

Now for the food.

Well the New England Clam Chowder was great, possibly the best I have had since the east coast. Very good.

Kelly had crispy fish tacos and quite enjoyed them. I went for Fish and Chips, which is one of my loves (and was not too expensive), but was quite let down. The plate was huge, but the portions were tiny! I got 2 small pieces of fish, and while the panko crust was not bad, the fish was overcooked an stiff as a board and would barely absorb the malt vinegar. The thin fries were OK, but the cole slaw was not to my liking either.

While the service and view were awesome and the chowder, I have to say messing up such a staple as fish and chips does not speak well for me, so I can't recommend this place at all.

Frosty Queen, Ice Cream and Hamburgers

Frosty Queen

17603 Chatsworth St

Granada Hills, CA 91344

(818) 363-6644

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This former Dairy Queen has the best soft serve in town, even better than the returned DQ! Awesome, delicious, creamy soft serve, cones and sundays, shakes and malts! Awesome!

Food wise, my wife had only had burgers and fries, and we were not too impressed. OK griddle burgers, but not too good. Would much prefer 5 Guys or  In N Out.

And there is even a drive through.

Manila Sunset, Filipino Fast Food, North Hills, CA

Manila Sunset 9516 Sepulveda Blvd North Hills, CA 91343 Phone number (818) 895-2001 My wife was feinding for some Filipino food, and since it was so close and so highly rated we went. She loved it, but I was not as impressed. This is in a strip mall pretty near were we live, with a decent amount of parking. The place is very clean and fast, but is a fast food place. Sure it has some decent flavors, but nothing that blew me away, though the lumpia shanghai was good. Still the portions could have been bigger for the price. They have a pretty decent menu though, and there are certainly other things I would try. Good enough for a quick bite, but certainly not fancy. Decent enough.

The Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila, Family style Filipino, North Hills, CA

The Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila 16150 Nordhoff St Los Angeles, CA 91343 (818) 920-3900 This was in a place that my wife and I have watched a sting of restaurants close right next to the Filipino Marker, and since Kelly always pines for Filipino food, we had to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised. The service is great, and they even have had an electric violin player playing at times. Now for the food. The portions are huge and reasonable, but this is very much family style, with you paying around $40 for 3 dishes. And it is delicious! The Pancit is fantastic, very much like my wife's grandmother's, or at least the closest approximation we have had in Los Angeles. The Pork adobe is quite delicious. My only complaints is I could use a little more vinegar in the adobe. And the huge pieces of fat are just too melt in your mouth delicious for someone who tends toward high cholesterol! And the lumpia (Filipino egg rolls) are great too. Sure not as good as grandma's) or even my mom's baked ones) but very good and well worth trying. My wife has had the bitter melon and loved it, but I have always though the stuff was just too bitter and vile for me. And the service was always fast and oh so friendly! Love this place.

Freebirds World Burrito, Mexican American, Granada Hills, CA

Freebirds World Burrito 17947 W Chatsworth St Granada Hills, CA 91344 (818) 368-8239 My wife and I had walked by this place many times on the way to the sublime Zankou Chicken, and since I love burritos, we finally decided it was time to give it a try. Looking inside I was very excited. Another Subway for Burritos like Chipotle. And the 4 sizes seemed even more exciting, as I can usually eat a lot (especially now on the warrior diet). I was excited by the cayenne tortilla (but wasn't impressed by it) and had a monster sized steak burrito with spanish rice, black beans, onions and roasted peppers along with various of the hot sauces, including the hot tomatillo sauce and the habanero sauce (none of which were too impressive to me, though I did like the little salsa bar). Honestly I just wasn't too impressed with the flavor. Sure I might give it one more try, but really I can make my own burritos that are much better than what I had, and it isn't that hard. And with Zankou next door, and Pieology as well, this place is pretty down on a list of places to try again.

Pieology, Pizza, Granada Hills, CA and elsewhere

Pieology 17943 Chatsworth St Granada Hills, CA 91344 (818) 831-8500 A new chain of custom made pizza shops, kind of a subway for Pizzas, but with better ingredients. I was actually quite impressed by this complaint and my only complaint was I could easily eat the whole pizza, so needed to get a side salad as well. You can get Red Sauce, Herb Butter or Olive Oil and 3 types of cheeses, and a plethora of toppings including artichoke hearts, and after bakes that can be added including pesto sauce or even roasted red peppers and they will pile it high on their thin crust pizzas. I also had a decent caesar salad as well. This is pretty darn good pizza, and I love that you get what you want without going halves with someone else. Very cool. Well worth checking out, reasonably priced, quick and tasty. My wife and I will certainly make a return visit.

Tacos Michoacan, Mexican, North Hills, CA

15755 Roscoe Blvd
North Hills, CA 91343
(818) 893-2204




Was in the mood for Mexican, so decided to try some place new that was nearby. This place is right across from the Budweiser plant on Roscoe, right next to Tommy Burger. A little whole in the wall in a strip mall with parking in the front or in the back on Woodley.


Well worth trying out. This place is inexpensive and delicious. I tried a carne asada burrito with everything and a carne asada and an el pastor taco. The carne asada was decent enough, though not amazing. And the el pastor was quite tasty.


Kelly also 2 tacos and we paid something like $15. And it was all quite good. I would certainly have it again. And try other things as well.


They also have a little bar with a couple of kinds of salsa, and spicy pickled veggies.

Next time I want to try the Tamarind drink, though I bet it is too sweat for me, though I can't say for sure till I try it. Other than a few drinks, they also have canned sodas.