French...Finally! Monsieur Marcel Restaurant & Wine Bar

I finally had Coq Au Vin!


You would think that with my obsession with food, i would have had tasted authentic French food by now right? After all, it does set the standard. Well no, since french food tends to be pretty pricey, i've never had the pleasure of having real French Food until now. Thanx Starla!


Authentic French Fare but without the Fine Dining aspect. Since it's located in The Farmers Market, it's probably the only good French Place in L.A where you could eat, without breaking the bank.


The food was just what we needed for the nippy, freezing weather that we have been experiencing lately.
We started off with a hot, steaming bowl of rich Fondue with a big bowl of little cubes of fresh baguette. Cheesy not soupy, with the familiar taste of liquor taming the richness in the end. The cheesy threads that stuck to the bread when you took it out was the size of a football field.


For my main course, i had to try the famed Coq Au Vin that i had only read about, never thinking i was going to experience it anytime soon. This is a typical meal that you would find cooking in an old french village. It was what Frijoles con Tortillas are to Mexicans. The meat was so tender, it felt like it had been cooking all day. When the Red Wine reduction intertwined with the Scalloped Potatoes, it was something truly amazing. Nice wholesome food to keep me warm for the whole winter.


The Chocolate Mousse deserves an honorable mention also. Chunky and chocolaty where so many have come up too sweet and too light.


Truly Winter Food if there were ever any.

Farmers Market
3rd and Fairfax

thanxgiving...

Damn, do you know what this day means to me?



This is one of the few holidays if not only one that is not dying or getting more depressing as you grow up!!! All to the happy feelings! Like Christmas when i was little kid.
Can't wait!!! This is what is going to be happily clogging my arteries this year.

1. My Pumpkin Pie
2. My Buttermilk Biscuits
...of course from scratch!!!(c'mon...it's me!)
3. Sweet Potatoe Gratin
4. Baked Potatoe
5. Organic Ground Chicken Stuffing
6. Natural-Organic-Free Range $130 Heritage Turkey that better be good!

I've never been this happy in my life!!!

Proudly Reporting on First Annual East L.A FARMERS MARKET

Damn, I never thought i would live to see the day.


For the first time...ever. Organically grown produce available in the East Side of Los Angeles. This was a milestone.


It was actually pretty good for the first time. Not as big and diverse as other known Farmers Markets but it's hey, it a first! And of course, plenty of free samples were available for the free-loading masses. It was funny to see them getting mad at the people for taking more than one sample.


It was also my first time tasting the rich buttery taste of a organic Persimmon. I can't wait to eat the rest of the stuff i bought!
Asian Pears, Asparagus, Pomegranite, ON THE VINE tomatoes just to name a few!!!

La Monarca Bakery: Finally Represent'n

I'm still tripping out, the words

East L.A

on the front page of the food section on the L.A times? I couldn't believe it. They were doing an article on bakeries and someone finally shined some light onto the Latino culinary community. Finally, people have appreciated all the hard work that goes into making a decent pastel. Whether it being the balancing act of a Tres Leches Cake or a simple Relleno De Fruta, it's about time!


La Monarca bakery's Ricardo Cervantez said that he wanted to target a Latino market that is often neglected by the retail food industry. Since it was my little sister's B-day, i figured why not support the cause?


Of course i had to order the Dulce De Leche cake. I called to order and was suprised to find out that for a "cuarto de plancha"(25-30 people) only cost $40. Normally the places that are mentioned on the paper tend to be on the pricy side and this was just the average cake price you would find anywhere.


When we went to go pick it up, all the pastry's on display got the best of me. Like always, I couldn't wait for later. I ended up with their Fruit Tart, a couple of "Bolillo's Integrales"(Whole Wheat Rolls), Whiole Wheat Biscuits and some Whole Wheat Cemitas lightly sweetened with Piloncillo(unprocessed brown sugar).


The Fruit Tart was unexpectedly light. Normally Mexican Patisserie tends to have a heavy amount of butter or lard. But this was different. The crust was light and flaky without being greasy. The custard was nice, not overwhelmingly sweet. And the pear on top happended to be in season. And if it wasn't sweet enough, it was all glazed in a simple syrup.


The Dulce De Leche cake looked beautiful enough to be accepted by my little sister, who's poor life is about to be tortured by the problems of "Teenagerness". And yeah, it was also tasted as good as it looked. Moist and airy and not overwhelmingly sweet. Again, this had that light taste that the tart had earlier. They were extremely generous with the whipped cream but that wasn't a bad thing in this case, the custard inside was a different one that i had earlier, also delicate. It was nice to know that they don't use the same one for everything much like other bakeries do.



Score one for us, finally!

Indo Kitchen: The Ultimate Test

Alright, i finally tried this place out. I would of gone earlier but i just hate going to school in Alhambra so much that i just want to get the hell out of there right after school. You would think that i would at least gone to all the places in the Great San Gabriel Valley huh?


Since we came out early, i figured i try it out. It was pretty empty with only some other guy in there. I knew that indonesian food was truly something different with extremely sharp flavors. I was scared. I didn't know what to expect. It had that notorious fish oil smell that also permeates in some of the other best Asian restaraurants (Golden Deli, Bale Bakery, Lee's Garden). After a while of looking at the menu, i decided on trying the 2 stars "Longtong Cap Goh Me" (steamed Rice Ptties topped with chicken curry, vegetables, chile egg and shrimp crackers) not too adventureous but not too common either.


I wish i didn't hear hear the sound of a microwave beeping several times but unfortunately, i did. Damn, was that a highkill. All of my anticipation died. After several minutes we finallly got our food. The curry was different, light. There was some thing in it that i could'nt tell what it was. It was white, cut into chunks almost meaty but lacked that fleshy richness, I've never had it before. I thought it might be some sort of vegetable, after a while i couldn't help it any more and just asked the waitress. "Jackfruit". Ohhh.....i said. The rice patties were cut up and served along with the curry as opposed to being "topped" by it. They weren't as chewy as the vietnamese style ones, you could actually taste the grainyness of the rice in these. They were very meager with the chicken too, with a little slab of a some undisclosed part of the chicken. It tasted old, along with the green beans. It was obvious this dish had been microwaved. It just didn't have that fresh taste that food has when it's barely made. It was good, but i kept on feeling bad that it could of tasted better.


My friend was brave enough to order the Avocado Shake. This was definetely something i can't get used to. Think sweet guacamole.


It was good but i know that the food here could be better, i just know it. I'll come back.

Indo Kitchen
5 N 4th St
Alhambra, CA
(626) 282-1676

Tangy yogurt this, Guilt-Free That...

...Pinkberry.


This seems to be the trend right now. I'll admit, afer reading everyone rave about it. I was dying to try it. I mean it had everything that i love: kind of health foodish but without sacrificing too much flavor.(no added sugar, coconut and Carob Chips available!!). Yesterday i couldn't take it no more and somehow convinced my dad to drive halfways around town for it! Since East Los doesn't seem to be "adequate" for a pinkberry location(eventhough their opening one just about everywhere else!!)


For almost 9:00 PM on a Monday, The K-Town Pinkberry looked more like some sort of club or party than a Frozen Yogurt Parlor. If you closed your eyes, the sound of the rambunctious techno beats and the chattering of young hipsters combined would make you think you were in some sort of rave.


I went in hopes of trying their green tea flavored yogurt but when i saw that they charged a dollar more, settled for the unappealing "plain". I'd rather get a medium with 3 toppings then a small green tea with none. They had some pretty good topping options. Of course i got coconut, carob chip and since i didn't really want nothing else, thought i should be getting some sort of "berry" so got blackberries.


But hey wait a minute, after a couple of spoonfulls, i noticed that the middle was completely hollow!!! They swirled it completely around and only made it seem like it was overflowing with everything and you got what you payed for! If it wasn't for the toppings, i would of been really dissapointed. The yogurt itself did have that "tangy" taste that everyone was talking about but i didn't think it was that great. Just think frozen yogurt, literally. I was done with it faster than a mexican kid eating a boli on a hot summer day! And once you finish this, all you want is more, more more! Even if you did get a large.


Boy, did they get me.
Think, the starbucks thing but with yogurt.


Someone out there is making lots and lots of money off this stuff

Pinkberry
3300 W 6th St
Los Angeles,
CA 90020