Photography | fabliss

Bludso’s Bar & Que | West Hollywood, CA

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came here opening weekend. we have had bludso’s on our list (the compton location) but have never tried it. we obviously expected a long wait and huge crowds. we were sat in 45 minutes. not bad. the meat came out fast and piled on a tray. oh yeah, it’s amazing. we were not disappointed. they have some pretty dang good bbq here. we liked the ribs (especially with the spicy bbq sauce) and the mac and cheese.

not fans of the corn bread and the brisket is definitely a hit or miss. some of the pieces were uber soft…others were very dry. our damage:

pros: wait was long but food came out fast. we loved our waitress. great service – prompt, enthusiastic, great water service, and great recommendations.
cons: parking isnt the greatest. the bartender is extremely slow.

bbq is definitely good here. in my opinion, better than baby blue’s bbq and gus’. fall off the bone? No, not really. are you going to be mind blown? no. is your tummy going to be happy? we think yes.

Bludso’s Bar & Que
609 north la brea ave
los angeles, ca 90036

By vivilinh | March 6th, 2013 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 5 Comments

M.B. Post | Manhattan Beach, CA

oh mb post, i cannot tell you how long we have waited to try you. so here’s the deal. the restaurant is medium in size with a bar and dining room. there are only a few tables designated for reservations and the rest is mostly communal seating for walk-ins. knowing that we would be rolling 9 deep (which sadly later ended up being 6 deep), we made a reservation two months in advanced (overachievers much? yeah, probably) so here is what we ordered (keep in mind that the menu changes regularly):

bacon cheddar buttermilk biscuits w/ maple butter
roasted brussel sprouts
farro, butternut squash, hen of the woods mushroom, parmesan, pepitas, sage
fontina and parmesan mac & cheese
spaghetti squash, yam puree, cider gastrique, pecans, apple chips
steamed mussels, green curry, chinese sausage, coriander rice
thai marinated shrimp ceviche, coconut, cucumber, pineapple, shrimp chips
vietnamese caramel pork jowl, green papaya salad, lime
white oak grilled skirt steak, grilled broccolini, red chimichurri
bbq moroccan lamb belly, harissa caramelized onions, japanese eggplant
pork baby back ribs, korean chili glaze, scallions, thai chili, lime
chicken pot pie
duck meatballs, marinated cucumber, hummus, garlic yogurt, mint
valrhona chocolate & salted caramel tart, vanilla whipped cream
keylime custard, vanilla soft serve, graham cracker, burnt meringue

everyone was right! cheddar biscuits were bomb. maple butter…we are believers. ceviche with shrimp chips. never ever thought of this combo but so wonderful! we loved everything about this dish.

brussel sprouts, you impressed us. a definite must order when you visit. duck meatballs were ok in my opinion.

mussels in curry were delicious! ribs were on the salty side.

farro and spaghetti squash. general consensus was that both were just ok. i personally did not love this dish. it was on the bland side and on top of that…a little too mushy a texture.

vietnamese caramel pork jowl (pig cheek) over a papaya salad. freaking awesome. we all loved this. great flavor combo.

despite having one person in our party who simply just doesnt do pot pies (we know. she’s pretty awesome despite it), everyone agreed that it was good but it was just a chicken pot pie. i personally really enjoyed it, especially the crust. this picture does not do it justice. its pretty gigantic.

we were a fan of the mac & cheese. dont expect to have your mind blown. its just creamy goodness that was a nice combo with everything else we ate.

lamb belly. no one liked this one. it was extremely salty.

this is the skirt steak with broccolini, topped with a red chimichurri. steak was very tender. the kicker is the chimichurri since its a little spicy. kyle loved this one.

because our dessert came after the sun set, i dont have a single picture of any of it! we all shared the chocolate tart and the keylime custard. i can only (personally) speak for the keylime custard since i dont eat chocolate. it was pretty extraordinary! definitely my top 10 desserts! please make sure you order this! from the rest of the group, the tart was pretty awesome too.

ambiance: love the space, theme (think urban postal). near the beach (not on the beach). nice kitchen that you can see through glass walls. ps. your menu comes in an envelope!
service: our res was at 5pm (sunsets 5:40pm). i’m pretty annoying with my giant camera at restaurants but everyone at mb post was amazing and tried their best to get as many dishes out to me by the time the sun fully set. awesome, huh? i thank you, mb post.
parking: we didnt have a hard time finding a metered spot.
conclusion: two hours later, $336 spent, uncomfortably expanded bellies…all worth it. we were pretty happy with our food adventure. mb post, i will be back. maybe next time, i will get 2 keylime custards for myself!

enjoy your weekend!

Manhattan Beach Post
1142 Manhattan Avenue
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

By vivilinh | March 1st, 2013 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 5 Comments

Mammoth in the Winter!

it’s a level 5 friday!! hope everyone is enjoying their friday!

so, this was our second time in mammoth during the winter (we are in the process of learning how to ski). we definitely lucked out on the weather! (i love playing with my dslr in mammoth!) here are some awesome shots during the weekend.

have a good weekend!

By vivilinh | February 15th, 2013 | Friends, Life, Mammoth, Photography, Travel | 0 Comments

Chiang Mai, Thailand – Part III

Chiang Mai Thailand U Chiang Mai Hotel

in chiang mai, we stayed in the old town (the center of the city and surrounded by a moat and huge walls) at the u chiang mai hotel. we absolutely loved it and cant rave about it more. we loved staying in the old town because you can literally walk to most of the temples. within the old town, there are no high rises because no building is to be taller than the temples. this area is on the quiet side normally. however, the busy streets/night market outside the wall are a 15-20 minute walk. not bad.

the hotel itself was pretty awesome. it is located at the center of old town and is close by amazing spas and restaurants! the staff goes above and beyond to make sure that your stay is fantastic and they are all so helpful and friendly. breakfast is included daily, which is a plus. the best part: the AC can be blasted and keeps the room at a pretty freezing temperature! a nice touch: fresh, beautiful orchids daily.

Wat Chedi Luang | Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, Thailand Chiang Mai Thailand Krathrong's Dhukka

krathrong’s dhukka

write the name of your family name on the three corners flag
cut your nail, your hair and put them in the leaf-krathrong
pray to buddha to send your troubles away
make your wishes to think, to speak, and to do good.

now your troubles will be sent away

Loi Krathong Chiang Mai

huen phen is one of those must eat places in chiang mai. they are known most for their kao soi. kao soi (turned out to be our favorite thing to eat in thailand) is a curry noodle, special to northern thailand (“lanna” means northern thailand). we tried to eat this every day. we mean every. single. day.

just finding huen phen was a little bit of a hot, sticky, sweaty journey. this place is packed all the time…and its huge! we ended up over ordering (5 dishes for two of us) and would highly, highly recommend the kao soi (duh) and the fried papaya salad. those were the two stand out dishes. when we came here, it was 90 degrees and felt like 90% humidity (actually this is what it felt like the whole trip). we were sweating. it was uncomfortable. before the trip, we were told to stay away from water that was not bottled and ice. this was the day we had to cave in. it was just too hot and the room temperature water bottle just did not do it. we had to order the thai tea with ice and it was amazing!

Huen Phen Chiang Mai

walking around… visiting random temples and enjoying the festival decorations.

Chiang Mai Thailand Chiang Mai, Thailand

how excited were we that we were in chiang mai for the loi krathong festival and yi peng festival??

a krathong is decorated with folded banana leaves, incenses, and a candle. when it’s a full moon, everyone in the city launches their krathong on a river, canal or a pond, and make a wish!
loi krathong coincides with the northern thailand festival, yi peng! for yi peng, everyone in the city launches floating lanterns into the sky! (my bucket list!)

this was the best time for us to be there since (i) the whole city was decorated with lanterns and flowers and (ii) there were festivals/events going on every day that week!

Chiang Mai, Thailand Chiang Mai Thailand IMG_8145-1 lantern time! IMG_8125-1 IMG_8158-1 IMG_8136-1 street chicken IMG_8303-1 IMG_8180-1 IMG_8201-1 floating lantern! IMG_8203-1 we are sweating in this picture... floating lanterns IMG_8262-1 IMG_8306-1 IMG_8315-1 IMG_8351-1 IMG_8309-1 IMG_8347-1 IMG_8344-1 lots of photographers... IMG_8313-1 IMG_8355-1 IMG_8346-1

lanterns everywhere! breathtaking. i didnt end up taking my dslr that night (bad decisions) so my pictures arent that great and do not do this festival justice. its something that you should definitely see yourself! imagine floating lanterns let go everyone in the city…all night long!

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one of the must see temples in chiang mai is wat phra that doi suthep, which is located on a mountain 9 miles / 15 km away from the city. to get to the temple, you have to climb 309 steps (obviously not to bad since i did the downtown stair climb! woot) on the way up, there are a lot of food/clothes/souvenir vendors (we are embarrassed to say that we got ripped off by all of them because we are the worst at haggling). oh, but! we obviously stopped for some corn and tangerine juice which was delicious!

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the temple has an amazing view of chiang mai. too bad the morning we went, it was on the cloudy side. the temple is beautiful, isnt it?

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By vivilinh | December 31st, 2012 | Life, Photography, Thailand, Travel | 5 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.