Mt. Vesuvius Burger - Red Robin

I recently went to Red Robin in West Covina after receving a "promotional" email about the Mt. Vesuvius Burger. For every Mt. Vesuvius Burger sold at participating Red Robin, 50 cents would be donated to the National Center For Missing & Exploited Children Foundation between July 26 to September 11, 2011.

This burger consisted of beef, bacon, bleu cheese, Provalone chese, and tangy lava sauce. It was created by a kid who was the grand prize winner in the 2010 Kids Cook Off! Kids are so smart these days and this burger was good!

Yogurtland

I recently visited Yogurtland in Diamond Bar, CA. A friend of mine mentioned that she visited one because she saw this sign and had to get her yogurt fix in a Hello Kitty cup with a Hello Kitty spoon! I couldn't wait to get a Hello Kitty cup and spoon! The cup isn't reusable, but the spoon is!

Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurt and Oreo Cookie Yogurt with cheesecake and oreo cookie crumbs toppings.

Malbec - Argentenian Cuisine

Malbec is an Argentinian restaurant in Pasadena. My family, my sister's friends and I recently came here and had dinner for my sister's birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed the ambience here and the customer service was nice too.

The food wasn't great, but it was nice. All the meat dishes are cooked over a wood burning fire, although your food may or may not be somewhat burnt or charred due to the cooking preparations.

There were about ten of us together and we had a "long" table for our group only, so it was hard to take photos of all the food that we ordered. The bread with herbs in olive oil is complimentary to all parties. We ordered several appetizers, most of which I can't remember the names to, but I was also only able to photograph the calamari.

I was also only able to photograph the main entrees that were closest to me as there were many ordered in our table.

Asado con Vegetales - Argentinian Style Short Ribs with Vegtables


Bife al Malbec - New York Steak


Ojo de Bife al Ajo - Ribeye Steak


Pollo al Limon y Hierbas - Half Boneless Chicken with Lemon and Herbs

Our table only ordered two types of desserts and they were shared amongst the people at our table. The desserts were Creme Brulee and Caramel Flan. The Creme Brulee wasn't a traditional dessert that everyone knew it as, but it was still very tasty.

Orange County Fair 2011

I recently went to the O.C. Fair. Fairs are fun to visit when there are interesting things to see, games to play, and food to try out.

I didn't try out a lot of food here, but tried out the ones that I wanted to eat. Also, how can you not have funnel cake at a fair?! The strawberries tasted fresh and sweet. Sweet, but not overwhelming.

The fried oreos were also sweet, but not overwhelming. I don't have a major sweet tooth, so it was nice that the sweetness in the fried oreos wasn't overwhelming.

I had always wanted to try the chocolate covered candied bacon and I finally got the chance. It was ok, but it wasn't as exciting as I thought. Perhaps it was sweeter and saltier than my liking. This may hit the spot for those who have a major sweet tooth and/or loves chocolate though.

Harlem Place Cafe

After visiting the Downtown Los Angeles Artwalk, my friends and I went to Harlem Place Cafe as one of my friends already knew about this place and thought that we should try it out. The artwalk in Downtown L.A. is usually held every second Thursday of the month and there are also other food places to try out including several food trucks during Artwalk night.

This place is in a "hidden" location at the end of a short alley next to the Museum Of Neon Art. I like the fact that there are art work (graffiti art, paintings, and photography) on the wall. It's also a "hip" place for the young crowds. While they play "cool" music, the music was very loud, making it hard to have a conversation with your friends and/or when ordering your food. How do you enjoy your meal and conversations with your friends if you have to yell over the music just to be heard?

Since this was my first time here, I had only tried the pulled pork sliders. My friends ordered the same, so there wasn't much to try out or get opinions on other foods or get photos of other food. The pulled pork sliders were pretty good though and it was reasonably priced for the portion with a soda. Each plate came with two sliders and cole slaw. The customer service was generally good, but we thought it was strange that they didn't give out numbers so that they could remember who ordered what. We had to remind our server once or twice about our orders, but he somehow forgot about one of my friend's order and he returned with three sliders for forgetting my friend's order which was awesome. Each plate of sliders usually came with two, but my friend got one extra on the house for the inconvenience.

Free Slurpee

On July 11, all 7-11 stores gave away free slurpees. In the middle of summer, it's certainly nice to have a drink to cool you off. But beware! Because this is a very popular summer beverage amongst children and families, and they're free, it's hard for 7-11 to keep up with the demands. You may find that the store you visit, have run out of slurpee cups of all sizes. They also may have ran out of slurpees on some or all of the flavors. They're limited on the flavors, but what can you complain about when you can get one for free on July 11 from 7-11?!

Kogi BBQ food truck

I visited the Kogi BBQ food truck when it was in Diamond Bar, feeding their fans a few weeks ago. This was before I saw an episode of "Eat St" where Kogi was one of the trucks featured on the show. They were famous for their Korean-Mexican influenced tacos. I visited them again recently when they were feeding fans in Pomona because I wanted to try their famous tacos.

I ordered their three taco meal. In this photo, clockwise starting at the top, were Chicken Taco, Spicy Pork Taco and Short Rib Taco. I enjoyed these tacos, although they were a bit messy to eat. I think I enjoyed these tacos better than their Kogi dog that I had last time I visited the truck. I also got a fourth taco (short rib) on the house with my meal. I didn't ask for an extra one and it was nice of the cooks to give a free one away! I'm not sure how often they give away free items since they don't mention specials or promotions, but I was pleasantly surprised.