Food Review: Benny's Tacos & Chicken Rotisserie (L.A)

Hanging out in Venice, CA, my sister takes me to this little dive of a restaurant that gives off a lot of character. 

Colourful and very authentic-looking, I was excited to try this place out.

Since it was a very nice and warm day out, we sat outside.

There was only one other customer sitting outside. As first impression goes, I thought... hmmmm. But then when we went inside to order, the place was filled. Almost every table was occupied.

It was a little early for dinner (4:30pm), but after a day shopping and walking around Santa Monica, we were starving.

This was more than enough for 2 persons:

The rotisserie chicken were extremely juicy. Every bite was delicious. The hummus was also very good. It wasn't overly salty and was thick and creamy.  They gave us a couple other sauces were very complimentary with the chicken.

Overall, this was a very tender and delicious meal.

I'd definitely come back again!

www.bennystacosveniceca.com

427 Lincoln Boulevard

Venice, CA 90291

Food Review: Veggie Grill (L.A)

Veggie Grill is a franchise

Veggie Grill is a complete vegetarian option

I've only been to 2, but the inside of these restaurants are as clean as how their food 

Menu: 

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Quinoa Power Salad ($8.95 USD)

Quinoa + Kale Side Salad with diced red onion, bell pepper, avocado, fresh fennel, cannelloni beans, carrots, almonds, currants, mint, citrus dressing, hemp seeds.

This was a jam packed salad. It was very filling that I couldn't even finish it. I had to save half for later. 

BBQ Steak ($8.95 USD)

Veggie Steak in tangy BBQ sauce, caramelized onions, chipotle ranch, coleslaw

The Steak was a little dry. But since I just started eating healthier, it was a little harder to enjoy as it was not a real steak. ;p

This is the best to eat if you need to eat out and still be healthy and keep a full stomach. And the prices aren't ridiculous. 

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I give Veggie Grill 3/5

Check them out, they're pretty Social Media friendly!

Food Review: Banh Mi Che Cali (L.A)

Heading back to Monterey Park, we picked out a Pho restaurant to dine at, and then once we got there, another Pho place (much bigger space and with parking) got our attention and soon, we were heading towards this bigger Pho restaurant called "Banh Mi Che Cali".

740 E. Garvey Avenue

Monterey Park, CA 91755

This place is a bit more than just a Pho restaurant.

It's got a huge display for pre-packaged sandwiches, apps and desserts

And the prices on all food items are crazily economical. =0)

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Getting past all their display and counter top goodies, we take a seat and I finally get a good look at the rest of the restaurant. Functional and spacious is how I would describe it.  The service is kind of like the space. They're efficient but not so friendly. 

So this was a first for me, Chicken Pho. I know.... it's not all that unique or different, but it's something that has never been offered at any of the Pho restaurants I've ever been to. 

So we all ordered it. haha

But before we get to our Chicken Pho, here's a look at their menu:

On top of their amazingly cheap prices, they have more deals!

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Our Chicken Pho ($2.97 USD)

This was good pho. Very good pho. 

The broth was saturated with flavour and it wasn't from MSG. The chicken in the pho was tender and they were very generous with their portions (especially with the meat).

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For the price, the portion and the taste, PHO Banh Mi Che Cali is a definitely a hit! 

Go Go Go!

Food Review: Mama Lu's Dumpling House (L.A)

Mama Lu's is one of the first places I went to while exploring Monterey Park, CA.

It's a small chain restaurant with 3 Mama Lu's on the same street, not too far from each other. But it was BIG difference when we checked out 2 of them. The decorum and style were complete opposites. The new one that we went to is very spacious and modern looking.

New Mama Lu's (left) | Older-looking Mama Lu's (right)

A look inside their menu:

It was a good size menu. =0) 

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Our food list for the night....

You can't go to a dumpling house and NOT have Shao Long Bao

Taste: It was pretty good. The soup inside tasted good, but it wasn't hot enough. It was luke warm.

Shanghai Style Chow Mein (photo below)

Quite honestly, this was a bust. Being from Toronto, Canada where Chinese food is ALWAYS great (especially in Scarborough, Ontario). The dish lacked all taste. It was bland and very oily. 

Our last dish, did not save the day. An order of the Seaweed Fried Fish. It was over battered and not cripsy. 

Overall, it was quite disappointing in every dish. But I was told that, same dishes, were made better at the older Mama Lu's down the street.

Give it another chance? We'll see.

1/5 stars

Food Review: Luna Park (L.A)

Lunch slash Brunch to a new venue and new city for me today.

My family and I had our first L.A dining on a late Sunday morning @ Luna Park (in mid-city Los Angeles, in Koreatown)

From the outside, the restaurant has a very old L.A slash diner feel to it. And once you enter a similar feeling, but with a bit more burlesque atmosphere, gushes in.

The decor is very unique and fun feel.

The service was fairly good. The servers were courteous and accomodating (big stroller, coming through). The space between the tables were not much, so it feel like tight pushing through my nephews' ride. 

As it was still "morning",  I decided to order a brunch-y food item: Bagel and Lox. 

This is what appeared in front of me:

Quite different from what I'm used to. There wasn't a bagel on my plate, nor thick or creamy cream cheese. Inside I had 4 pieces of whole grain bread, smoked salmon, and a very watery white sauce. Much as the presentation was, it was very unfulfilling and left me half full. 

For the one dish i had a Luna Park, I was left a unsatisfied. However, if I ever do come again, I'll give it  one more try to see how the others come to taste.

2/5 stars

Food Review: Mabu Station 麻布小館

There's a new (opened a couple months ago) place that I'm totally digging on. Yes, I used the term "digging" and yes it's still a cool place to go!

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It's called 

麻布小館 Mabu Station and it's located one street south of Finch Avenue at 5457 Yonge Street, North York (just south of the light on the east side).

The decor is very cute, but a little to "green" for me. Like another blogger said, it has a very IKEA-esque to it. ;p The service is definitely a step up from your average Bubble Tea place in the Toronto GTA. And surprisingly, after I checked out this place on the social medias platforms, I read that one customer had ordered a drink but didn't like it and one of the staff members actually let him returm and replace it with another drink. Wha?????? Does that even happen at bubble tea places? I was shocked and pleasantly surprised.

Another nice known fact is their large snack options as well drink options. They've got A LOT on the menu. On top of that, when I went a couple weeks ago, they had a special going on -Post a photo of your order on either weibo/facebook/twitter and get a drink/dessert equivalent of $5.99 free. And then the cherry on top is their free wi-fi (password is printed on the menu on the top right).

WI-FI password: 6474302175

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Things we ordered:

I wanted something taiwanese (they had a lot of Japanese inspired items), so I got the very popular (on all taiwanese & bbt menus) Taiwanese Style Minced Pork on Rice.

The taste was good. 

The serving was pretty big/average. 

The only thing I didn't quite like was how the egg was cooked - too well-done. But other than that, the rice dish was good. =0)

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Then, we got sweets of the sweets

My friend ordered this, so I didn't think too much about it. I thought it was a waffle until I bit into it. This is a Mocha Fresh Red Bean Belgian Waffle topped with green tea ice cream and surrounded by whip cream. This was pretty decadent and I loved it. But quite honestly, it's HUGE... or rather filling. So I warn all people who order this that it's good for 2-3 people to share.

My Mocha Red Bean Belgian Waffle slice of heaven!

Another fun item on their menu is their Panna Cotta with toffee sauce pudding cup

One was already stolen off the tray before I got my photo in. =0) This was a nice and light dessert, but I don't know if it's really worth ordering outside. It was very cute and I liked the presentation very much.

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And if you really like their food/drinks, just for that and not simply for the atmosphere, then they do take out. Yes! 

They go as north as Highway 7, as west as Keele, as east as Don Mills, as south as Highway 401.

Overall,

Price ................ $ (average)

Atmosphere/Space ............. 3/5, small/medium

Location ........... Yonge/Finch Ave.

Taste ............... 3.5/5

Service ............... 3.5/5

Wifi ................. Free