The Stinking Rose & Garlic Restaurant

I went to The Stinking Rose & Garlic Restaurant in Beverly Hills for a friend's birthday dinner.

It's a bit pricey, but if you're willing to pay a little extra more, it's worth the trip to the restaurant in Beverly Hills. The general manager and wait staff are very friendly, attentive but not too much, and very helpful. The common ingredient in most of the dishes is garlic, so if you're a garlic fan, you'll definitely love this place.

 Garlic Bread

 Silence Of The Lamb Shank

 Italian Garlic Meat Loaf

 Forty Clove Garlic Chicken

 Rabbit

 Salmon
 Not sure what this is called...

Urth Caffe - Downtown Los Angeles

I don't visit coffee places very often, but when I do, I enjoy the quaint little ones. Starbucks is so overrated! Over the weekend, I visited Urth Cafe, located in Downtown Los Angeles, CA and met up with a few members from the Pleasure Palate meetup group. When the event host mentioned Hello Kitty latte and other characters that were drawn on the foam of the lattes, I was pretty much sold and I was so excited see that part! It has an indoor sitting area as well as a large outdoor patio area. It gets pretty busy here on the weekends, so both indoor and outdoor areas get full. Boba teas and hot teas do get served here, so if you're not a coffee drinker, it's ok. They will also make characters by requests on the foam on your tea lattes as well! This is certainly a great place to hang out with your friends. The only thing that I don't like about this place is that while the music that they play is nice, it's also a bit too loud. There is already enough talking amongst the customers and at the counter all of which are loud enough already, so when you're sitting inside and talking with your friends, it's hard to hear them if you're not shouting over the music.

 I ordered a Cafe Mocha

Santa Anita Park Food Truck Festival - January 2011

I attended the Santa Anita Park Food Truck Festival in Arcadia, CA last weekend. Santa Anita Park was normally known for its horse racing, so the guests in attendance of the food truck festival got a chance to watch and make bets on the horse racing.

The participating food trucks were:
* The Grilled Cheese Truck
* Don Chow Tacos
* Border Grill
* Canter's Truck
* Chunk'n Chip
* Baby's Bad*ss Burgers
* South Philly Experience
* Dosa
* Yatta Truck
* The Sweets Truck
* Dante Fried Chicken
* Dogtown Dogs
* Barbies Q
* No Reservations
* Knockout Tacos
* Chef Brian's Comfort Truck
* Ragin' Cajun
* Crepe'n Around
* Lobsta Truck
* Fresh Fries LA
* Lardon Truck
* Tapa Boy LA
* NaanStop
* Coolhaus
* Lake St. Creamery

While the concept of gathering several food trucks together in one place was great, it was amazing how many people were there. Perhaps the event was over-advertised because the lines to order food at most trucks were outrageously long (2+ hours) and the wait (45 minutes) to pick up the food after ordering was also ridiculous.
 Chocolate Brownie from Sweets Truck

 Kiwi Cupcake Shooter from Sweets Truck

 Slumdog from Dosa Truck
The best way to describe Dosa is like a French Crepe meets a Mexican Quesadilla meets Indian ingredients. The Dosa (dough) is fluffy and w/holy. The first bite is enlightening with a great balance of tangy Paneer (cheese), acidic Tomato, mushy Yellow Curry Potato, and green "Indian" Pesto. It's got just the right amount of grease to warm your insides, and enough crispy edges to keep your figure in check. There were other dosas on the menu, but I decided to try a slumdog (a dosa with potatoes and spiniach) which sounded, looked and tasted very good, light, fluffy and not greasy.


 Two "Big" Scoops from Coolhaus; one chocolate and one Thai Iced Tea. Coolhaus ran out of cookies before I ordered my ice cream.

Irvine China Garden - Chinese Cuisine

China Garden in Irvine, CA serves Dim Sum and dinner and is open everyday with long hours including major holidays. For Orange County where there aren't that many Chinese residents as it seems, the food here is pleasantly delightful with good customer service. Just beware that the wait for a table can be long and parking can be a bit of a hassle.

I have been going to Dim Sum since I was five years old...unfortunately, I don't know the English names to most of the items and my friends who were with me didn't know the names either.

A few Dim Sum items:

Dim sum is a Cantonese term for a type of Chinese dish that involves small individual portions of food, usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Going for dim sum is usually known in Cantonese as going to "drink tea" (yum cha, 飲茶).

Dim Sum is usually linked with the older tradition of yum cha (tea tasting), which has its roots in travellers on the ancient Silk Road needing a place to rest. Thus teahouses were established along the roadside. Rural farmers, exhausted after working hard in the fields, would also go to teahouses for a relaxing afternoon of tea. At first, it was considered inappropriate to combine tea with food, because people believed it would lead to excessive weight gain. People later discovered that tea can aid in digestion, so teahouse owners began adding various snacks.

Free Birthday Meals & Treats - December 2010

My birthday was mid-December and I signed up for the birthday club on various websites from various favorite restaurants and eateries a few months ago. Want to "eat free for your birthday"? Sign up at http://www.freebirthdaytreats.com/ as well as typing "eat free for your birthday" in the google search to help you along.


Red Robin - http://www.redrobin.com/

Royal Red Robin Burger (FREE birthday meal/entree)


Mint Brownie Shake; this was not free, but thought I'd share a photo

Red Robin (second location) - http://www.redrobin.com/

Bleu Ribbon Burger (FREE birthday meal/entree)


Oreo Shake; NOT free, but thought I'd share a photo

Claim Jumper - http://www.claimjumper.com/

Meatloaf Sandwich (FREE birthday meal/entree)


Red Velvet Cupcake with Cream Cheese Frosting (FREE birthday dessert)

Benihana - http://www.benihana.com/

Chef doing tricks with cooking utensils; preparing meals for guests; beating heart and volcano



Complimentary items that all guests received with meals


Hibachi Steak with Sauteed Mushrooms (FREE birthday entree/meal)


Sundae (FREE birthday dessert)

I also had a free birthday meal and free birthday dessert from an Acapulco restaurant, however, I forgot to take photos...just simply forgot.