Restaurants | fabliss

Porto’s Bakery | Burbank, CA

porto’s bakery & cafe. i really dont have to say much here. this family owned restaurant is loved by thousands and thousands of people who come from far and wide to enjoy some cuban sandwiches and pastries. my family has been going to porto’s for years (when the glendale store was the only one). even when the burbank and downey ones opened up, these locations are still crowded (this is not an understatement). we like to go to the burbank one pretty early so that we beat the crowds but even at 7am, there are a hundred or so people in the lines. a few things we always get:

potato balls – amazing
cheese rolls – we buy this by the dozen since there is a discount. these are delicious when they are warm and melt in your mouth.
cuban sandwich / midnight sandwich – my favorite is the midnight sandwich since its on a soft sweet roll.
guava cheese roll – my mom’s favorite

we barely get the food and eat there since we like to buy the pastries in bulk and eat it all week for breakfast. one nice thing about eating the sandwiches there is that you get plantain chips! (see below) they are pretty awesome.

porto’s is a must visit. i recommend the burbank location since its bigger and just has more seating.

tip: there are two lines. one express line (left) if you dont want any cake. in this line you can get sandwiches and the potato balls/cheese rolls. the right lane, you can order anything you want.

expect lines but again, its worth it in my opinion.

Porto’s Bakery
3614 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91505
Neighborhood: Burbank

By vivilinh | November 12th, 2012 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

Sushi Yuzu | Toluca Lake, CA

sushi yuzu is a little gem in toluca lake. if you are a party of 3 or more, you really have to make a reservation for dinner since this place is always packed. no joke. it’s a gamble to walk in there at 6pm (any day of the week) and ask to sit at the sushi bar…but we do it.

fish is really fresh at sushi yuzu. we honestly havent had anything we disliked here (that’s because everything is bomb). its a little on the pricey side…$12-20 a roll. however, i do have to note that the rolls are relatively large here.

what we ordered:

baked crab & spicy tuna roll – delicious
yellowtail with cilantro & jalapeño – we are big fans of getting this as an appetizer.
spicy popper roll (spicy tuna roll with popcorn shrimp tempura, cilantro & jalapeno) – we always get this. how could you not?
blue crab hand roll – kyle’s favorite
yuzu roll (albacore roll with sliced avocado, yellowtail, cilantro, jalapeño crispy onion and micro green on top of garlic oil ponzu sauce) – our first time trying this. we liked it and would order it again.

another roll that we always get but didnt order this time: lemon roll (spicy tuna roll with tuna, avocado & lemon slices)

service: sushi yuzu has great service! actually, our favorite thing to do is sit at the sushi bar so that we get to talk to the sushi chefs who are… awesome. if you do sit at the sushi bar, you definitely get your food faster. just keep that in mind.
ambience: very clean, elegantly simple.
parking: parking designated for sushi yuzu is rather limited. you would be better off trying to find street parking.

Sushi Yuzu
10118 Riverside Dr
Toluca Lake, CA 91602
Neighborhood: Toluca Lake

Category: Sushi Bar

By vivilinh | November 8th, 2012 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 1 Comment

Bea Bea’s | Burbank, CA

as many of you know, its hard for kyle and i to enjoy breakfast since we arent really egg people, nor do we love, love pancakes. (i know) so when we found this little gem-of-a-place (last september), we (i) went there every weekend, (ii) brought friends here, (iii) made our friends avid bea bea-goers, (iv) tried quite a few things on the menu (trust me, pretty much everything is good here), and (v) became friends with the waiters (it’s pretty bad when the waitress says, “hey, weren’t you here yesterday?”). this is our little breakfast spot and i thought it needed to be show cased on my blog!

this place gets hella packed on Sundays at 10-11am. hence, we like to go early so we arent waiting for our food (i get a cranky when i’m not fed). in summary, things i feel are a MUST TRY:

the MK (pictured above) – we get this every single time. cream cheese croisant french toast topped with strawberries and whipped cream. yum.
oh-em-gee – another one of their popular dishes. the waitresses even wear shirts that say “oh-em-gee”. hawaiian bread french toast & sweet cinnamon honey butter
spicy chicken wrap – kyle and i can really eat too much sweet for breakfast so one of us usually orders a sweet and the other one orders savory and we share. we always opt for this wrap because its so delicious! chicken is crispy, which is always a good thing.

they have a huge breakfast menu (see picture above) and a huge lunch menu. they are not open for dinner.

service – super friendly here. we noticed that they have a lot more waiters/waitresses now. good thing because they are always busy.
atmosphere – i would describe this place as homey. super simple, cute breakfast place in burbank
parking – ample. same plaza as the vons.
verdict – highly recommend this place for brunch. maybe if youre lucky, you’ll see me there too!

cheers!

Bea Bea’s
353 N Pass Ave
Burbank, CA 91505
Neighborhood: Burbank

By vivilinh | November 4th, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 3 Comments

The Salsa Bar | Studio City, CA

we’ve been on the hunt for a local mexican restaurant to call our “spot”. we pass by the salsa bar every time we go to the gym (i dont want to mislead you with this statement… we dont quite make it there that often). so! when google offered: $10 for $20 worth of mexican food we were uber excited!

since we had to spend $20, we ordered so much food:

chips and guac
chicken tostada (spicy)
steak burrito
horchata

food: portions are huge and so cheap! i love it! the burrito was good and would definitely get it again. the tostada was okay. the shell was a not really crunchy. next time, i’m definitely getting the burrito (more flavor) or tryin’ out their tacos. onto the salsa! they have a lot of options. be careful if you try the habanero salsa…its scorching hot. i mean it. apple and mango salsas are a must try. our favorite was the fire roasted salsa was our favorite.

staff: so friendly! helpful with the menu.

parking: some spots on the side and in the back. there is also street parking. we went on a sunday for lunch so it was not really crowded.

verdict: this little place has so much potential. we’ll be back, salsa bar.

The Salsa Bar
3791 Cahuenga Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604

By vivilinh | November 2nd, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 1 Comment

PizzaRev | Studio City, CA

since a pizzarev just opened up down the street from us, we got a coupon in the mail: 2 for 1 pizzas ($7.45 for one pizza)! what a deal! before we decided to go here, i looked up some reviews. someone described this place as the “chipotle of pizza.” what a genius.

so at pizzarev, you create you own individual pizza. unlimited toppings. sauce choices: red, white, combo (pink), and bbq. we tried pink and bbq (a sweet bbq sauce, my favorite). as you can see below, we went a little crazy with the toppings! then they pop it into the fire oven and its done in less than 7 minutes!

food: it was good. to be honest i came in without any real expectations. i’m not really good in the kitchen so when i go to an establishment where i have to make my own anything, my meal usually doesnt come out so great. hah! i like to leave it to the talented chefs for good food. however, my pizza (bbq) was good. each pizza is in the oven for a good 5-7 minutes.
service: very helpful. since they did just open, they had a ton of friendly people working when we were in there. despite the number of hands on the assembly line, there is a wait since each pizza is in there for a good 5-7 minutes.
parking: ample parking in the back since it is part of a plaza.
verdict: keep in mind that this is pretty much fast food…but a few notchces above lets say dominos pizza. generous toppings, delicious sauce, friendly service. If you just take it for what it is, you will enjoy this place. Don’t expect to be blown away by some gourmet pizza.
tip: since i had so many veggies on my pizza, the middle was a little soggy. i think im going to either lessen up on the toppings or ask them to keep it in the oven for a little longer.