Philadelphia: Philly Cheesesteak from Philly!

Ahhh Philadelphia = Philly cheesesteak. Seriously, that's all I could think about when I found out that I was gonna be there for work for about 4 days. When the time finally came last week, I was determined to at least try 3-4 spots.

However, things never work out as well as you'd hoped. I found out that Pat's, Geno's, and Tony Luke's were all really far away from me, and since I had to attend all the company dinners that we were planning for guests and customers, I didn't have as much freedom as usual to explore on my own.

On the first night though, there was nothing planned and coworkers suggested we go out to grab some food and I immediately went on Yelp to search for the closest cheesesteak spot to us and found Jim's Steaks.

Jim's Steaks

400 South St

Philadelphia, PA 19147

www.jimssteaks.com

Jim's Steaks, opened since 1939, another Philly landmark for cheesesteak! How awesome.

Menu!

The flattop where the magic happens.

My whiz with sweet peppers & onions. Whiz is a cheese sauce and every cheesesteak spot has a secret recipe in the cheese and spices used.

Chopped up steaks, topped with sweet peppers, then stuffed into a soft Italian roll.

Cheese whiz sauce is at the bottom. Cheesesteak with whiz is definitely my favorite way of eating a cheesesteak now!

Coworker's cheesesteak with provolone & onions.

Notes from celebrities cover the wall!

More messages to Jim's from famous patrons, as well as newspaper clippings.

Keating's River Grill

201 S Columbus Blvd

Philadelphia, PA 19106

www.keatingsrivergrill.com

Since we stayed at a Hyatt Regency this time, few coworkers and I decided to grab a beer at Keating's downstairs after we walked back from Jim's.

Ordered sliders to nibble on: turkey slider with Asian slaw. Mild wasabi flavor in the slaw, but the turkey patty was a little dry. Nothing too special.

Flying Fish Belgian Abbey Dubbel. Long name for a beer, but I like it! I love trying out local brews when I travel. Flying Fish is actually brewed in Cherry Hill, NJ, which is only a short car ride away. Fruity, mildly sweet beer. Not a bad beer to wind down the day with.

Not bad for first day since I did get to sample a cheesesteak from a famous spot. Even though it may not be as well known as the other's (Pat's, Geno's, and Tony Luke's are on TV all the time), Jim's Steaks did make one of the best cheesesteak I ever had and I want all my cheesesteak with whiz now :P

Little Tokyo: Sushi-Gen Revisited

Sorry for the lack of updates but been busy with work, but good thing is I just got back from Philadelphia, so I'll be posting about the trip later on.

First, for Mother's Day this year, sister and I decided to take the family here since my mom is a huge fan of sashimi and tempura, which makes Sushi-Gen the perfect place, with their dinner sets. Since we ordered the dinner sets, many of the things are similar to the post I made last time (here), with a few new pics, so won't be going into that much detail this time!

Sushi-Gen

422 E 2nd St.

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Sushi Gen dinner menu.

How thoughtful. They give you moist towelette!

Sunomono. Pickled cabage.

Another sunomono, with noodle, cucumber, and seaweed. Thought it was pickles last time haha :P

Sashimi from the tempura dinner set. Tuna, hamachi, and whitefish

Tempura set. They give you A LOT. Shrimp, pumpkin, potato, sweet potato etc. It was awesome looking. My mom was super happy with it haha.

The tempura that came with sashimi set.

Very puny portion compared to the tempura set.

But sashimi set gets this!!!

Saba & tuna.

Crab & spicy tuna. Still the best spicy tuna around.

Magoro (fatty tuna) and broiled salmon.

Squid, tuna, konjac, & egg omelette.

This was what I forgot to take a pic last time... hamachi kama!!! I LOVE fish collar so I was devastated last time when I found out I forgot. Not this time!

I love that char on the skin. So fatty and delicious :P

As usual, Sushi-Gen was popping so we had to wait about a little over an hour on a Saturday night (celebrated Mother's Day early), but it was worth it!

Seafood Madness Part 2: Spicy Fish Soup by the Sea

Generally, after pigging out at AYCE spots, I turn a complete 180 and eat something that's totally different for the next few days. However this past Sunday, Lydia & Young decided to drop by the South Bay for some seafood out in Redondo Beach, and of course, I tagged along with them since I already promised I would. We ended up heading to Pacific Fish Center out at the Redondo Beach Fisherman's Wharf.

Pacific Fish Center, aka 한국횟집, is this super popular place among Koreans and those who know about it for some fresh fresh seafood and for maeuntang, which is a spicy fish soup. I've heard about this place before but never knew what it was known for, and even when I got there, I still had no idea what this place was really all about. I just let Lydia & Young did all the ordering since it's a Korean spot :P

Pacific Fish Center & Restaurant 한국횟집

131 Fishermans Wharf

Redondo Beach, CA 90277

It really was the perfect day to go to the beach. Sunny, warm, with a slight cool breeze.

한국횟집, which roughly translates to "Korea raw fish" (correct me if I'm wrong :P).

The steam station where they steam up all sorts of seafood.

Live abalone. It's amazing how you used to be able to catch these off the coast of Palos Verdes.

Getting ready for the feast!

Chojang and soy sauce + wasabi for dipping!

Live shrimp. Yes, it is raw and it is ridiculously fresh. It had such a great bite to it!

I love the translucent look to it!

Wasabi for everything!

Gotta get a bit of the daikon to go with the shrimp.

Yes, yes I know it is a Korean restaurant but really, Asashi is better than Hite :P

SASHIMI PLATTER! Holy crap that thing was glorious. When it came all of our eyes went O_O

Octopus, that is stir fried a little bit. Perfect with chojang.

Sashimi.

Whitefish. Sorta chewy but it was fresh.

Salmon. I love the salmon sashimi, especially when you can see the fatty white part of the salmon! The best part of that plate.

I don't know what this is, probably hamachi? Whatever it is, 2nd favorite! There's also oyster in the back.. which I forgot to take a picture of.

Tuna.

Mackerel. Not like yesterday's ono mackerel but still good haha.

Cuttlefish, aka squid.

Now... this part of the sashimi platter are some of the things I don't usually touch: sea cucumber, surf clam, and ark shell (I may be wrong on this one). The surf clam was lightly boiled so that was ok, but then ark shell and the sea cucumber was a little weird to me haha. Sea cucumber is really soft when you first bite into it, then you hit this chewy part. Ark shell was just really soft. I just dipped everything in the chojang hahah.

Pickled garlic & carrot. Good to eat them once in awhile to sorta cleanse or just change your palate.

Fried shrimp heads from the raw live shrimp we ate earlier!

Crunchy and full of flavor!

Maeuntang set, the famous spicy fish soup! Got a small to share.

Maeuntang!! The soup broth was one of the best I've had. We were full already but the spiciness opened up our appetite.

The perfect soup for a hangover. Lots of fish bones for stock. Wish there was more fish haha.

Ggakdugi.

Pacific Fish got some REALLY good kimchi. It's like crack.

Considering how much fish I ate the night before, I still really enjoyed the food at Pacific Fish, especially the spicy fish soup. The whole meal ended up being around $140, which is expensive but what you get is dining on the wharf with the breeze blowing in, which to me is a price I wouldn't mind paying for once in awhile. Actually I already want to go back... so... spicy fish soup and soju anyone?