Dessert | fabliss

Japanese Dessert @ Mitsuru Cafe | Downtown Los Angeles, CA

i’ve been going to mitsuru cafe in little tokyo since i was a kid. what do we get here? imagawayakis! think hybrid pancake/waffle filled with sweet red beans. have i ever told you that i love red beans? love.

it is best when you get it fresh / hot. if i am ever in little tokyo, i cannot (i repeat) cannot walk by this place without buying at least three. usually i buy a 10 and eat it all day. a tip: keep it warm or warm it up if you eat it later. it is better that way.

it is one of my favorite desserts in la. i do understand that it is not for everyone but if you want to try a little japanese treasure and what i consider a staple in little tokyo, come here and eat this. it’s fabulous.

yum.

Mitsuru Cafe
117 Japanese Village Plz Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012

By vivilinh | May 20th, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants | 1 Comment

Salju Dessert | Alhambra, CA

our newest discovery: shaved snow! we are huge fans of shaved ice…but this concept of shaved snow blew our minds!

so one main big difference is that shaved snow is shaved…(wait for it)… frozen milk! think ice cream meets shaved ice… the milk makes it creamy/fluffy and just a nice place to call heaven when its a tad sweaty outside.

don’t be fooled by how it looks (not the greatest presentation). after a few minutes of research and a 40 minute drive later (on a slightly hot day), we fell in love. how do you go back to a life before this? we are still trying to figure that out.

at salju dessert, you can get it any way you want (like yogurtland, menchies, etc and put coco pebbles and then some gummy bears lol) but I like it with just fruit. what you need to decide:

size: we share a medium.
snow flavor: our favorite is lychee
syrup: condense milk is a must. (it is drizzled on top)
toppings: we get coconut jelly, mango, strawberry and red beans.

that’s all ya need!

cost of a medium $5. cheap price of a piece of heaven, agreed? we also like the strawberry milk tea!

find us here during the summer. fo sho.

Salju Dessert
35 W Valley Blvd Ste B
Alhambra, CA 91801
Neighborhood: Alhambra

Category: Dessert, Shaved Snow, Shaved Ice

By vivilinh | May 2nd, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food | 0 Comments

Bäco Mercat | Downtown Los Angeles

kyle read in GQ magazine that bäco mercat was the best new restaurant of 2012. since it was such a bold statement, we decided that it will be the next place on our list to try. so for my birthday, he made a reservation for two!

bäco = a sandwich. apparently, a special one. we decided to order:

el pesco bäco – crispy shrimp, sriracha, chive dressing. obviously we got this because of the sriracha.
bazole soup – noodles, pork broth, mushroom and a fried egg (haha, no we did not enjoy the egg).
caramelized cauliflower w/pine nuts, mint and garlic
hamachi crudo w/ avocado and hash brown ball
pork bell ricotta cavatelli (recommended by the waitress)
cocä bondiga (also recommended by the waitress)
tamarindo & mango soda (made in-house)

one thing we were blown away by: the bäco pop! before coming here, we heard that the soda here was amazing. amazing? psh. obviously i did not believe it. we got the tamarindo and mango soda anyway. …i was completely wrong. so wrong. the soda was delicious! i literally was blown away by it. (yep) i would come here for this soda. we actually wanted to buy a case of this for our home. nuff said.

hamachi crudo came first. this was delicious!! it was a great start to our dinner. a pleasant surprise was the hash brown in the form of a ball. great compliment to the hamachi and the guac.

onto the bäco! besides the fact that it is just a pita sandwich (i really dont know what we were expecting)…it was wonderful! the batter was still slightly crispy, the sriracha added a great kick! great, sandwich! we get the craze.

the bazole was something we did not expect. we really thought it was going to be pozole… ya know, the kind we eat during the holidays. nothing like it. think ramen…with a huge egg in it. broth was good but the dish overall was just ok.

the cauliflower was great. i was a fan.

the cavatelli (a pasta) was recommended by the waitress. this was awful. we did not like this at all. not only was the cavatelli green, it kind of looked like we were eating worms. so childish, i know. but it wasnt just that…the combination of the pork and the cheese…it didnt taste very good. do not get this. there are definitely better dishes than this.

cocä aka crispy flatbread…so basically this is just a thin crust pizza in our opinion. we were not expecting this…at all. we ordered the bondiga – three cheese, smoked jalapeno and meatball. anyway, it was just ok. we were not in love with this. the cheese is a little overpowering.

onto dessert (my favorite part)! we ordered the (i) caramel upside down cake w/ pineapple and hazelnut and (ii) chocolate banana cake. they were both just ok. my the caramel on my cake was on the burnt side, which i am not a huge fan of (some people love this).

overall: while some dishes were a hit or a miss, the hits were definitely worth mentioning and recommending. we would come back here for sure.
parking: street or lot. expect to pay…its downtown.
tip: make a reservation. this place gets packed!

Bäco Mercat
408 S Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Neighborhood: Downtown

By vivilinh | April 22nd, 2013 | Dessert, Food, Photography, Restaurants | 9 Comments

Republic of Pie | North Hollywood, CA

republic of pie is one of my places to just hang out. we normally come here for pies and a coffee but on nice mornings when we can make it in, we go for the chicken pot pie! it comes in a small, cute cup. it’s great. make sure you get it!

tip: they have live music on the weekdays! love it! favorite pies are the chocolate bread pudding (a la mode of course) and banana cream pie (also a la mode).
parking: street parking.
atmosphere: homey, library, coffee shop, all in one.
service: always amazingly friendly.

Republic of Pie
11118 Magnolia Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91601

By vivilinh | April 17th, 2013 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Dessert, Food, Restaurants | 2 Comments

Asian Fusion @ Asia de Cuba | West Hollywood, CA

asia de cuba is our favorite restaurant in la right now. we went here for our anniversary last year and fell in love. when a deal on gilt came up for a pre-fix dinner for two at this wonderful place, we obviously had to get it. so, asia de cuba (in the mondrian hotel) sits on top of a hill in west hollywood, overlooking la. excellent location.

the night we came, it was cloudy out but still warm enough to sit outside. love it.

our deal ($110) was a four-course dinner for two. for our starters, we chose (i) ropa vieja of duck and (ii) crispy octopus ajillo. the ropa vieja of duck was topped with hoisin sauce served in lettuce cups. note to self, must get this again. the duck was moist, sweet with a little spicy kick. this is a little wrap so its not heavy…however, it is a messy.

the amazing view. too bad it was cloudy out.

the crispy octopus ajillo w/ caramelized onions and sake pickled lychee was highly recommended by our waitress. this is something we never have ordered but we are absolutely glad we did. they werent lying when they named this crispy. it really is! not dry crispy. moist on the inside, crispy on the outside. how do they do it?! for someone who loves crispy texture…this was awesome.

note that the plating here is amazing! so we took a gazillion photos! (yep, i’m one of those)

calamari salad “asia de cuba”. this is their signature salad. calamari, hearts of palm, bananas (yeah first time for us too), cashews and sesame orange dressing. refreshing. calamari and cashews give it a nice crunch.

we were weirded out by the bananas at first but the tastes blend so well.

after appetizers, we were given a great palette cleanser: coconut sorbet! delicious!

the view is so amazing. here’s another shot.

lobster mash was great (mastros, you still win my heart for best lobster mash). we got this because we thought it would go well with the gambas gigante mai tai a.k.a. giant prawns in red thai curry, rum, and coconut cream. the curry was good. we wished it was hotter (temperature and spiciness). side note: its hard for us now that we have been to thailand…curry was so good there. now every time we have curry, we compare it to our thailand adventure!

anyway, curry was good. prawns were gigantic.

our second main and one of our favorites: char siu beef short ribs w/ chili orange salsa! this is absolutely amazing (and it’s amazing every single time we have it). this is definitely another must get dish! taste – think explosion of flavor. presentation – impressive, clean and very colorful.

dessert – mexican donuts.

tip: other things that we love here that we couldnt order because it wasnt part of the tasting menu – miso cured alaskan black cod (fish was perfectly prepared) w/ grilled shishito peppers and plantain fried rice topped with avocado salad aka guacamole (asian cuban fusion…get it?!)

overall: obviously we are big fans of this place. we recommend this to anyone looking for a nice view of la and great food. price point is on the high side so this is definitely a special occasion kinda night.
ambience: dining room inside is all white. large windows overlooking la.
service: great service every time. we have never gone there when it’s ridiculously packed so you get a lot of undivided attention.
parking: valet only.

Asia De Cuba
8440 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Neighborhood: West Hollywood

By vivilinh | April 14th, 2013 | Dessert, Food, Restaurants | 2 Comments

Previous 3 4 5 6 7 Next