Friday, July 22, 2011
Too broke
I'm too broke to go out and eat :P Just found some older stuff so will be posting those up soon!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Las Vegas: Hikari Sushi Bar
To be honest, I'm sick of the buffets in Vegas. Except for the recent addition of Wicked Spoon in Cosmopolitan, buffets... just aren't that fun anymore. It's always the same items. However, Leonard knew of an AYCE Japanese spot about 5 miles away from the strip so before we left Vegas (went beginning of June), decided to check out Hikari for some AYCE sashimi!
Hikari Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
4175 S Buffalo Dr
Las Vegas, NV 89147
Neighborhood: Spring Valley
Hikari, located about 5 miles away from the Strip.
Some of the items that you can get off the AYCE menu!
Started off with salmon skin salad. The dressing was sorta like... a sweet teriyaki dressing. LOTS of salmon skin.
Sashimi sampler. Came with tuna, salmon and hamachi.
Fried soft shell crab! Whole pieces of fried crab. Yum :]
You can even get raw oysters! It's Japanese style oysters, but really it is just oysters with a little of tabasco and some vinegar. Still not a huge fan of oysters and these big ones freaked me out even more, but it was pretty good! I only ate two though hahah. Some people ordered by the plates. Ridiculous.
Negi hama. Very simple roll with hamachi and green onion. The only roll we ordered, since we wanted to focus on the items that were worth more!
Hama kama! Yellowtail fish collar. As many as you want!
Rather than ordering more sashimi sampler or nigiri, you can actually order just sashimi. Hikari is the only AYCE places I've been to that let you do it! We definitely took advantage of that, and started off with salmon.
Tuna. Yes, you can sorta tell all the fishes were frozen, since it lost a little bit of its sheen, but still good!
Seared albacore. Just a little bit of kick.
Hamachi! Yellowtail still the best!
White fatty tuna. Not really that fatty but it is an item that you can't find at many Japanese AYCE!
Unagi :] I think I ate 2 orders just by myself haha.
Shrimp tempura. ONLY shrimp. Hikari is awesome.
Shrimp fried rice. Nicely done, with the rice fluffly.
Uni. And no, I didn't eat one. Like I said from the last post... still gotta learn to like it hahah. I wanted to more of the other stuff anyways :P
Ended the night with fried scallops! I could probably do without the aioli and eat it with katsu sauce instead, but man, fried scallop must just be my new seafood obsession.
Hikari is definitely a great find and props to Leonard for showing us the place. I'm still amazed how you can just order whatever you want and they won't even raise a fuss. The service was great too, and the people working at the restaurant are actually Japanese, so that's always a plus. Midori in LA is more about the rolls, while Hikari focuses on the simpler stuff. Can't wait to go back!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Redondo Beach: Uni is an Aqcuired Taste
Michael and Connie paid me a visit a few weekends ago, and decided to take them to Redondo Beach Pier for some spicy fish soup at Pacific Fish Center. Even though I did just go there recently with Young and Lydia, figured... why not, it's a beautiful day!
Redondo Beach Pier
W Torrance Blvd
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
View from our table at Pacific Fish Center.
I had to get the live shrimp again. Just as good as I remembered!
With the live shrimp, you also get the fried shrimp heads!
Ahhhh so good. Shrimp flavor to the max.
Spicy fish soup once again! A large this time :P
Yes :] Fish (prob cod), mushroom, green onion, tofu, cabbage, daikon etc. Good stuff.
After we killed the soup, walked around a bit and headed down one level of the pier and headed to Quality Seafood for some fresh fresh fresh uni!
Since 1953!
It's an old school spot that sells all sorts of fresh seafood. They even have an oyster bar right at the front and you can choose from over 20+ oysters to have it shucked in front of you. Ranges from $1.65~$2.50. A LOT of people go for that.
Fresh yellowtail!! Would totally get it if I knew how to cut and fillet fish... hmmm... hamachi sashimi and kama.
What Connie and Michael were aiming for! Fresh sea urchin for some uni.
Sorry buddy. You gon die.
Fishmonger opening up the sea urchin for us...
... and you get this!! Uni! As fresh as it can get! Flavored with a little sea water. It was actually still moving around while it was sitting on the plate hahaha.
I have never seen uni with that shade of yellow. It's had such a vibrant yellow color.
Look at all the little egg sac haha. To be honest, I still have not acquired the taste for uni yet... it's still a bit too much for me.
Yea, Connie and Michael killed it. I only had a little spoonful, and now I can say I did it haha.
Afterwards, decided to grab dessert!
Michael's chocolate covered black cherry ice cream cone.
Just your typical Dreyer's ice cream, but man, the black cherry is good already, but on a warm day, it was even better.
Connie and I decided to share a funnel cake topped with french vanilla & mint chip. Funnel cake was disappointing :[
Good food, good friends, beautiful weather: it was a good day!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Chicago: One More Time
Woke up pretty early on the last day of our stay since we had a pretty full day and there was a few things we wanted to accomplish. For Ben and I, it was to go on the Architectural Boat Tour, and for the Ahrhan and Anna, it was to check out the original Macy's and shop a little. However our ultimate goal that day was to go to another deep dish pizza spot before we all head off to the airport and take our flight home.
Intelligentsia Millennium Park
53 E Randolph St.
(between Wabash Ave & Garland Ct)
Chicago, IL 60601
Yup, at the famous Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea for breakfast since Ben and I needed something quick!
Intelligentsia is actually from Chicago!
Lots of baristas, and yup, hipsters.
Single drip!
Cool looking bag for pastries!
Ben's breakfast: iced green tea with almond croissant.
My cafe latte. Really nice steamed milk and deep espresso flavor!
Latte art.
Chocolate croissant. It's a little different. It's not really flaky like most croissants, more like a bread.
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After the boat tour, Ben and I met up with Ahrhan and Anna at Lou Malnati's, which is another famous spot known for their deep dish pizza. They actually had a throwdown here with Bobby Flay on his show and did end up beating Bobby. Check out video below!
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
439 N Wells St
Chicago, IL 60654
Neighborhoods: Near North Side, River North
Lou Malnati's for lunch!
The "Lou" with fresh spinach, mushrooms, and sliced tomatoes covered with mozzarella, romano and cheddar cheese. Also sausage added.
Took over 40 minutes to bake this bad boy!
Lou Malnati's is known for their buttery and flaky crust, and I'm not gonna lie, it's damn good. Holds up super well with all the toppings and juices from the vegetables.
Juicy, cheesy pizza!
Less sauce than Pequod's. Awesome combination of ingredients! Somehow ate 2 slices here hahah.
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After stuffing ourselves with pizza, we decided to stop by Garrett's Popcorn to get some of the popcorn that Oprah loves :P Garrett's actually all over Chicago and they are known for their flavor gourmet popcorn (of course).
Garret's Popcorn
4 E Madison St
(between Holden Ct & State St)
Chicago, IL 60602
On the way there, saw the original Pizza Uno.
Huge popcorn bucket at the shop!
The different offerings. They have 3 kinds: buttery & plain, caramel, and cheese. You can also get a mix of caramel & cheese, which they call The Chicago Mix, or you can get a Caramel Crisp, which is popcorn clusters with nuts and caramel.
Different tin cans. I didn't get it cause it was too expensive.
After you order, they fill your order right in front of you! Caramel crisp with pecan is for sure my favorite! Forgot to take a picture though haha.
Overall, an awesome trip to Chi-Town and I can definitely see why people call it the perfect city for foodie. Whether it is fine dining or something old school like a hot dog, definitely a destination for you taste buds. Hopefully... it won't be too long before I can take another bite of the awesome deep dish pizzas in Chicago!
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