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sea urchin

CHANG Beer

July 13, 2018

Chang Beer

I attended Chang Beer's Sensory trail not too long ago. It was an event in Los Angeles that brought everything Thai to one place.

That day was actually the first time I've really drank Chang beer. Meaning I've had a few during this event. I don't know why I don't drink this, but I was really impressed. It's delicate crisp flavors really compliments any type of food. I can see this pair extremely well with bbq foods and spicy dishes. It has a nice sweetness to it without being overbearing whatsoever.

Our dinner tasting was curated by Chef Bao Bao of Baoburg in Brooklyn, New York. The flavors held true to tradition done in a modern aesthetic presentation.

1/2 shell oyster with ikura, uni, fried shallots, and a spicy sweet chili sauce.

Papaya salad with fried catfish served on a bai cha plu.

Khang Hung Lay - Northern style pork stew curry with pickled garlic and ginger, pork rind served with sticky rice.

Khanom sai sai - steamed un-chan sticky rice flour with salted caramel coconut filling.

Drink CHANG beer!

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EMC Seafood - Arcadia

January 9, 2017

I've been to EMC a few times before and happy to share their recent grand opening at the Santa Anita mall (Arcadia, CA). I knew a lot of people made their way out to Koreatown and wait in a line over an hour. Wait no more! Well maybe a little bit... but at least you don't have to drive as far depending on which way you are coming from. They are known for their oysters. From Kumamotos to Kusshi, $1 dollar happy hour oysters, their famous uni pasta, and of course more seafood creations. See full menu HERE (Santa Anita).

Here's a glimpse from the media night I attended. (Thanks to everyone that joined the fun when I went live on Instagram!)

Wine, always red. I don't even care if I'm having seafood.

Oysters

Salmon Carpaccio

Uni Toast

Black Truffle Sliders

Grilled Foie Gras

Clams in Abalone Broth

Black Pepper Beef Mignon

Uni Pasta

With berry compote. This is temporary.

400 S. Baldwin Ave. Suite 2215 Arcadia CA 91007

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Oto Oto Izakaya - Monrovia - Brother's 30th

November 28, 2016

Talking about Oto Oto will be a bit personal for me. I don't talk much about restaurants in my posts because I only want to feature the offerings as well as the ambiance. In terms of the actual flavors and whether I like it or not, I don't dive too into it because that is something I want you to be the judge of.

Oto Oto on the other hand... I've worked here in the past for 3 and a half years while finishing my college degree in Business Marketing. I haven't been back since leaving over 2 years ago. I think the reason was the clean break from the restaurant. I wanted to eat new things. Italian cuisines, French, American, and contemporary cuisines whatever that means. The spark for Japanese food just vanished. It wasn't that I stopped coming here only, I also stopped my Izakaya and Japanese food craze unless a friend or family member wants it.

This is why we came here tonight. My brother, David, was turning 30 that night so we wanted to have a nice dinner followed by a countdown. I made a gesture to eat at a place like Oto Oto "Izakaya-style" so we can drink and just snack on items. But turned out, he was really excited to go back to Oto Oto and eat all the food he loved when they used to visit me during and after work.

Without going into detail today, my true drinking habits started here. I've also learned a different side of Japanese cuisine I wasn't familiar with. Izakaya. I immediately fell in love. Not just by the food, but also by how the chefs work. The main chefs are from Japan to continue this restaurant group here in America. IF you have to know, I believe they have over 150 chains in Japan. Oto Oto Monrovia, is their flagship in the U.S.

The restaurant is louder and much livelier than your typical conservative sushi dining experience. The best way to describe the whole Izakaya experience, is to start with a drink, order a few appetizers, and then order more drinks. Continue. I like to start with beer or sake. And order little appetizers like chicken karaage:

My first time eating this was here. I ate at least one piece of this every day. And when I am super hungry, I would order this with a bowl of rice. I would squeeze the lemon all over the chicken and my rice so I'll have the lemon flavor throughout. This, by the way, is fantastic with beer.

So you cheers a little and snack a little. One of the next dishes are all my favorites to eat here while enjoying great company, with drinks.

Here is the chicken skin, chicken liver, and special heart which is the fatty membrane around the heart of the chicken (DELICIOUS). Everything was eaten with a dash of togarashi pepper.

Ankimo in ponzu. This is monkfish liver served in a bowl with ponzu, spicy grated daikon, seaweed, shredded cucumbers and minced green onions. I used to also eat this with rice. The flavor is mild yet creamy in texture.

Half shell oysters - 1 ordered with UNI - Sea Urchin (recommended). Served with spicy grated radish, minced onions and ponzu. Super fresh and clean.

Wagyu Carpaccio. I know these are all my favorite foods here, but you have to order this. Tender wagyu beef over mixed greens, sliced red onions, sprouts and minced green onions with a savory tataki sauce. Everyone at the table was happy about this.

Salmon cut roll. We always order this wherever we go.

Yellowtail belly. Just melts in your mouth. I eat this with a touch more of wasabi even though it's already added with a dash of soy sauce. Your eyes will roll back.

Dragon roll. Yes, unagi is good and we love avocados. But did you know they use real snow crab in all their rolls? Think again when you want to pass on their rolls. And hey, you are eventually going to need something to soak up all that alcohol.

For the next few years, I suffered with the syndrome to call this Spicy tuna at every restaurant. It is called spicy tuna pizza here at Oto, but a lot of other restaurants have the same concept with different names. I loved the seasoning of the spicy tuna.

More yakitori. Beef tongue and Pork calbi. Both are recommended.

They were sold out of their tebasaki karaage (fried chicken wings) so we ordered their chicken wings yakitori instead. I like this version, but the boys wanted fried.

Shiso gyoza. I knew what I wanted, but so did my brother. He made sure we ordered this even though we were extremely stuffed. His eyes rolled back after taking a bite. Served with citrus ponzu. If you love gyoza, you haven't loved it until you had it here. Made in house.

Limited quantity: Miso Marinated cod bones. Don't be fooled by the name, these are packed with flavor and meat. I've had this at other restaurants, but it just doesn't compare to here. It just tastes so fresh and not like it's been sitting in the fridge for a long time. The portions are also generous. Pairs fantastically with beer.

We also had a simple straightforward snow crab roll and ended our night with watermelon shaved ice.

If you plan on visiting let me know, I love it here.

OH and Happy Birthday again brother.

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Sushi Roku Pasadena 16th Anniversary

November 17, 2016

Happens only once a year for all of us. Birthday's are special. Especially at Sushi Roku, they go big by offering their dinner menu for 50% off (food only). I've been eating here for many years now, but only found out about this big shebang last year. Rounded up a small group and rushed towards the bar seating area since they were booked for the night.

Sake for the table. After this bottle, we did some sake samplers (recommended).

And here are the slew of foods we ordered to celebrate Wednesday

and the 16th Anniversary of Sushi Roku. I swear I am here all the time it feels like home.

Shishito peppers, nasu dengaku, and hanabi are always my go to for appetizers when I'm here. Oh! and fluke kumquat sashimi in a yuzu vinaigrette. The sushi you see are yellowtail, ankimo, salmon, toro and uni. Orders of salmon cut rolls are always welcomed. Some baked crab handrolls are always satisfying. And surprisingly, the chicken Karaage was very tasty with a bowl of hot rice! For dessert, we had their warm butter cake with vanilla ice cream and 3 unique mochis with flavors: pistachio, strawberry chocolate chip, and passion fruit.

One Colorado 33 Miller Alley Pasadena, CA 91103

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EMC Seafood & Raw Bar - Irvine, CA

August 29, 2016

All you Los Angeles natives out there have been crazing over EMC. And if you aren't not from LA, the chances of your friends taking you hear is pretty high. Just like the poke craze, ice cream donuts, and even F'ing churros, you know have tons of restaurants serving up their own raw bar. EMC was one of those top hitters that made it popping first with their location in K-town. It's like 10PM and my friends would still want to head out for Happy Hour. Well wait no more because they also have one open in Irvine. I'm not sure how long the wait can get considering how packed the location in K-Town gets, but those of you that huddles in one car for this, that live out of LA can worry no more.

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

Best part yet is that they are conveniently right off the 5 on Culver. Not even a mile off the exit to find yourself the grand restaurant waiting for you to devour everything they have.

And they have a lot:

Lobsters are still alive. Oysters are still shut. Sea Urchins just laying there, looking dead, but you know they are hella alive and waiting to be popped out of their shell. Whole f'ing branzinos. I can go on and on, but it won't be fair for me to relive this moment at home.

Crispy Garlic Brussels Sprouts. I know. Before you start talking about how I am ranting about the seafood, and I start showing you a bowl of sprouts. Because these were so delicious! Just so perfectly cooked and extremely flavorful. And, I am a huge advocate about having some kind of greens with your meal. Like a big steak with a piece of broccoli. That good balance talk, you feelin' me?

We had 1/2 a dozen of Kumamoto oysters and 1/2 of Kusshi. Fresh, sweet, perfectly shucked, with cocktail sauce and jalapeno lime. Always a must order.

I know. Here I go again. Now, what the F does fries have to do with anything? These are fries with truffle mushroom aioli. Like shut the front door who the hell comes up with this stuff? That garlic you see right THERE is some good umami-mouth-gasm right there. Fried so crispy with soft centers, ooooo that just gets me right here *points at my heart*. And for the record, it's on the starters menu so it ain't no side dish psssshhh (I literally did the hair whip).

The glorious Uni pasta. Also, that one Uni pasta that everyone talks about. It really does live up to the rave. The spaghetti was perfectly cooked and coated in a cream, Fish Roe, Chives, and Dried Seaweed concoction. The fish roe did it for me. I love-love-loved the texture that it gave the noodles.

If this is the only thing you came here for, by all means do it. If you want to eat a lot of other items, make sure you get this to share. It's a heavy dish even though a delicious one.

Toro Toro Roll - Ground yellowtail and albacore belly inside, topped with chu toro and caviar on top. The kind of fishes you want to eat simply. A touch of wasabi and soy sauce to compliment the fattiness of the fishes. Cleanse your palate with some ginger after before headed for your next bite.

Lobster roll definitely winning. Served with a slice of lemon and melted butter. I am sensitive to butter. Makes me really tired if I have too much so I just use a tad. But what's really a tad when it's melted? Feels like you can easily pour the whole thing on, no regrets. The lobster is cooked in Tarragon Butter, Sea Salt, and stuffed inside a Brioche Bun. Thumbs up for the flavor combo.

We also ordered their black pepper filet mignon to those allergic to seafood. Delicious, tender, and perfect with the bowl of rice it comes with. We also had their crispy pepper calamari that's served with spicy aioli shown below:

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

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Wine & Dine

CHANG Beer

Chang Beer

Drink CHANG beer!

EMC Seafood - Arcadia

Oto Oto Izakaya - Monrovia - Brother's 30th

Sushi Roku Pasadena 16th Anniversary

EMC Seafood & Raw Bar - Irvine, CA