CHICKEN & RIBS BBQ

CHICKEN & RIBS BBQ, Azusa




Location:

994 E Alosta Ave
Azusa, CA 91702
(626) 334-8220


Located across the street from the Azusa Pacific University campus, this place is considered by many locals as the Town's best kept secret. Although, I'm not too sure of it being much of a secret. My family has been coming here for as long as I can remember (when I was 5 years old) and maybe for even longer than I can recall. So basically its been 20 years and we are STILL coming here even though we don't live as close by anymore. Back when we lived in Glendora, we were basically eating at this place EVERY Sunday right after church. Unfortunately, since we don't live as close by anymore, our visits have become far less frequent but always considered a special treat.

Ambience:

20 years ago this place looked outdated as it has an 80s feel to it. 20 years later, this place remains exactly the same down to the very same arcade machines. The only difference? It's twenty years older, oh and the atm machine in the corner.

Food:

The menu is bigger than I realized. In fact, for some reason I never really knew they had a menu or maybe I did in the back of my mind but i guess it was just never important. You know why?? Because there are only 2 items on the menu that you need to know: Lunch Special and Dinner Special. The lunch special consists of two sides (standard order is rice w/ gravy & coleslaw but you can ask to substitute with veggies, fries or mash potatoes), generous portion of Beef or Pork ribs, bread, and chicken leg quarter smothered in their own BBQ sauce. Dinner special is pretty much the same except it also comes with soup and an extra chicken. IMO it is not worth the $4 or $5 price difference over the lunch special.
The meat is boiled until tender and then slathered with their BBQ sauce before it is tossed on the grill. It may not be "The BEST" you've ever had but it is the BEST for $4.95 with unbelievably generous portions.




Service:

The way this place works is that once you place your order at the counter, they hand you your drink, utensils and a number. You find a table and they bring your food to you and that is the extent of their service. But hey, that's more than what most places would do for you for a $5 meal and they are always very nice and polite.


Price: $

Nothing can beat their Lunch Special (BBQ Ribs-beef or pork, BBQ chicken leg quarter, coleslaw and rice) for under $5. Plus, lunch extends all the way to 4 pm and even if you walk in at 4:30 pm you may still get the lunch special deal if you ask them nice enough =)

**BTW last time I checked it was cash only.


Conclusion:

I've been coming here for over 20 years and if possible, I will still be coming here 20 years from now. My usual order: Lunch Special w/ Beef Ribs- Double Rice as I'm not fond of any of the other side orders.

ARROYO CHOP HOUSE

ARROYO CHOP HOUSE, Pasadena



website

Location:

536 South Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 577 - 7463

So it was our Anniversary the other day and since we haven't been out much lately we decided to go have a nice dinner to celebrate. We researched a few places in the Pasadena/ Los Angeles area, narrowing it down to a handful after throwing out all the places located in Beverly Hills (because that was just too fancy for us) & places that's more about the decor and being "In The Scene" than the food which of course took out many places in LA. We would have gone to Fleming's Prime Steakhouse IF the Lakers were playing at Staples that night since I've heard they like to dine there after games sometimes. We decided to go somewhere in Pasadena and it was a toss up between Houston's and Arroyo Chop House. Jim wanted Houston's but I wanted Arroyo and because I was the one making reservations, guess where we ended up going?

This place is F-A-N-C-Y. It's so fancy I was too embarrassed to try and take pictures of our food because you know, I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb taking pictures of my $40 steak like a tourist at Disneyland. Anywhos, so where do I begin?

Ambience:

The dress code here is Business casual/dressy casual. We saw a lot of well-to-do business people having dinner here and couples. I think it caters to the older, sophisticated crowd. I know I mentioned that this place was fancy but it is not fancy-wear your ball gown type, this place is more subtle-like Sizzlers for rich people. Definitely not a date type of place for the young crowd. You get to dine while listening to classical piano music which made us wonder if they just play a cd over and over again, but then we realized that right near us was a piano and a man playing on it. whoops! Didn't see him there! See how subtle they are?

Food:

Upon being seated, they ask you if you want bread, sourdough or garlic cheese. FYI it's not free but they do not tell you that. I think it's like $6. Personally I would get the garlic cheese bread as it is garlic cheese on sourdough. Get more bang for your buck. it was however, a little too toasted and difficult to eat because you get crumbs all over the place which I guess is okay because our waiter often stopped by our table to clean up after us (haha). For starters we ordered the beef tenderloin tartare. I don't think we would be ordering that again. It wasn't bad just not my cup of tea. Next I had a caesar salad (boring I know) which was pretty much typical, while Jim ordered Grilled Asparagus with shaved parmesan and arugula (very good!). Finally, the main entrees! We both ordered the New York Steak aged 40 days, scalloped potatoes and creamed spinach. Delicious! I ended up taking most of my steak home, reheated it in the oven and it STILL tasted good. I think that is a testament to the quality of the meat. For dessert we asked our waiter's recommendation and he told us to get the chocolate souffle which was to die for, served with a side of thick, rich whip creme =)


Service:

Service was awesome! Fitting service for an upscale place like this.

Price: $$$$

Bread. Appetizer. Asparagus salad. Caesar Salad. 2 New York Steaks aged 40 days. Creamed spinach. Scalloped Potatoes. Chocolate souffle. 1 beer. Tax & $40 tip. Total damage = $212

Recommended ? ? ?

Definitely. We can't afford to come here everyday or often but we will definitely come back here when we feel like indulging ourselves. But first, we need to check out its sister restaurant Parkway Grill which is often listed as one of the best restaurants in Pasadena.

SUPATRA

SUPATRA, Yorba Linda

website



Location:

21560 Yorba Linda Blvd
Yorba Linda, CA 92887
(714) 693-2888


The boyfriend's been looking for ways to improve his restaurant so we frequently visit other Thai Food restaurants particularly mid-level or higher scale. It's just a way for him to see where he can make improvements but it's also nice to be able to eat somewhere else once in a while. So we went on Yelp and looked up some restaurants we wanted to try and chose Rambutan (Silver Lake), Supatra, and Chadaka (Burbank). Went to Supatra and Chadaka on the SAME night! Looking back, I don't know why we did that.

Supatra is the type of restaurant that you wouldn't expect to be there. Its the type of restaurant you would find in more populated and trendy areas like Pasadena or downtown Burbank or the promenade. However Supatra isn't located anywhere near there. It's in Yorba Linda, in a shopping plaza with a grocery store (i think), dental offices and a nail salon.

Ambience:

Dim lighting and very nice decor. Dark wood tables and chairs with plates/place mats/table cloth of varying white/cream/mocha colors. The place itself isn't very big which I liked.

Food:

I thought the food was mediocre at best, but maybe we didn't order the things that they specialize in because the reviewers on Yelp speak highly of this place.
Anywhos. . . so this is what we ate:


Beef Satay

We found their Satay to be pretty standard fare though it was a bit dry. It falls somewhere between bad and mediocre, the dryness might just be a fluke. Wouldn't order it from here again though.


Stir Fry- Duck

This was probably my favorite dish probably because I LOVE duck. I can't really remember much about it. I didn't love it but I also didn't hate it.


Scallops & Shrimp Red Curry


The scallop and shrimp red curry dish made me upset. The flavor was good but I prefer my curry to be a little thicker. This had the consistency of water. Also, the dish cost $17 so I expected a little more. . . like a little more scallops and shrimp would be nice especially since they were using the small cheap shrimps. Restaurants buy their meat/vegetables/etc. wholesale and since I have inside information on what kind of prices they pay for them I KNOW it wouldn't have killed them to toss a few more in there especially for $17!!.

Service:

A+++ Service. Service with a smile!!! I'd have to say that their service is the best thing about this place followed by the ambience.

Price: $$

Dishes ranged from about $8- $20 but it is also family style so I would figure about $20/person to eat here.

Recommended ???

I didn't like ANYTHING that I had here but the service was so good that I'm willing to give it another chance. I hear they have lunch specials too. However, I don't know when I'd be in the area again so I suppose the next time I just happen to find myself in Yorba Linda I'd give it a try again.

COFFEE BREAK

COFFEE BREAK - Walnut


Location:

1217 N Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 595-0094


This is a small teahouse/taiwanese cafe located on the corner of Grand Ave. and Amar Rd., across the street from Mt. SAC. We came here due to the recommendation of our friend Jackie who said she had been coming here for years. So we thought we'd give it a try and headed down over there pretty excited to try the place out since we considered our friend a reliable source. UNFORTUNATELY, things didn't work out as expected. We step into this place and stand at the front waiting for a server to seat us or at the very least acknowledge that we exist, but that didn't happen. We stood there for 5 minutes and no one talked to us. I mean its hard to miss us! This place is small! In fact, they walked around us! We were standing face to face with the girl working behind the counter and she looked at us so we know she knew we were there. She wasn't even just looking at us, she was downright glaring. Either way, she didn't offer any help so we walked out.

A few months later we did return mainly because a few other people said some good things about this place. So we decided to give this place one last try and this time we were actually seated!


The Ambience:

Its decor is a mix between country kitchen and asian teahouse which is a little odd. From the outside you don't really know what to expect because the windows are tinted or blocked. It's basically small, quiet place to have a meal.


The Food:

Typical teahouse food. We ordered:


Pork Cutlet




Popcorn Chicken




The food here is pretty standard, but I suppose we weren't too adventurous with our selections. I don't really know what to say about this place. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great. Overall it did not really make much of an impression on my on either side of the spectrum.


The Price: $

It should cost about $10 per person to dine here.


The Conclusion:

I don't have much to say about this place because I think it's mediocre although if you go on YELP the reviewers there are pretty high on this place. However, I doubt we're coming back to this place again.

TAMAYA

TAMAYA, Hacienda Heights
Japanese- Rice Dishes - Ramen


Location:

17142 Colima Rd Ste E
Hacienda Heights, CA 91745
(626) 581-3223


Tamaya is located on the corner of Azusa/Colima in the same plaza as Albertsons and WAMU across from Puente Hills Mall. It is one of the few ramen places in the surrounding area. Since Tampopo closed down, this has been our spot to fix Jim's occasional ramen cravings.


The Ambience:

Tamaya is a small, homey, authentic looking Japanese restaurant which seems to be family owned and ran. When you walk in, a nice Japanese lady greets you with a smile and seats you. Because it is a tiny place there may sometimes be a bit of a wait to get seated. This is a no frills type of eatery, but something about it just gives off this feeling like you could find a place exactly like this in Japan. It's small, intimate and frequented by long time loyal customers.



The Food:

Their menu selection consists of different types of ramen, some curry, teriyaki rice bowls, katsu and a variety of other side dishes/appetizers. They also offer combination meals where you get to choose the type of ramen you want, a small sized rice dish and/or an appetizer. We usually start things off with an order of gyoza.



The gyoza is pan fried and we consider it an "okay" dish. Nothing really special about it. It kinda tastes like the frozen ones you can buy at the grocery store. Jim's usual order at Tamaya is the combo meal: his choice of ramen and usually a small rice bowl of beef teriyaki and it also comes with a side salad. (FYI- The small rice bowl isn't really all that small in my opinion and its very difficult to finish the whole meal if you opt for a combination dinner.) I'm not really big on ramen but I do consider the ramen at Tamaya as about average tasting though very much above many of the other surrounding ramen places in our nearby area. I have also heard some really good things about Foo Foo Tei in Hacienda Heights. I personally have not been there but Jim has so maybe he can write an addendum to this review. I don't often order ramen at Tamaya but there are a few dishes here that I LOVE. The beef teriyaki is one of them! It's delicious and sure beats the beef bowl at Yoshinoya in my opinion. It also costs less than $4 for a small bowl which in actuality is actually a good portion. Another favorite of mine at Tamaya is the spicy beef side dish. It's like a really tender stewed beef. I don't really know how to describe it, just that it's good! Trust me.

Jim's Ramen:



This particular visit to Tamaya I ordered a rice dish + appetizer combination. I got the Katsu-don rice dish which is rice topped with a pork cutlet and scrambled eggs. I've had katsu at other places before but this was a little different because the scrambled egg tasted a little sweet. With my first bite I just thought to myself, "Well. . .hmmm. . . that's a little different." I'm actually not sure if I like it or not. It's just . . . different.


Katsu-Don





Price: $

Including drinks, tax and tip, the cost of dining here per person should be around $10 -$15. It's not as cheap as going to a drive through or Yoshinoya but still very manageable.


Conclusion:

We come here mainly because Jim likes ramen and it is the closest one to us ( although Ajisen Ramen has recently opened nearby though we have not yet had the opportunity to check it out). However, we come back for the small, authentic Japanese restaurant feel, the nice Japanese lady who takes our order and the spicy beef. We definitely recommend anyone who likes ramen or Japanese food (not sushi) to give this place a try. We may have rated their ramen a little higher, but WE have tasted the BEST of the BEST ramen around. And I'm almost positive it's the BEST in all of Southern California. Shin-Sen-Gumi Ramen in Rosemead. I'm not a big fan of noodle soups, they're "okay" in my book, but if it's ramen from Shin-Sen-Gumi I'd eat it ALL day EVERY day!!! Their broth is to die for!! More on this place in a different review.

UPDATE?!!! Finally!!!

It's a New Year and . . . Well. . . we're finally back! We're super sorry for being MIA and not updating for the last few months. Keeping up this blog is actually part of my new year's resolution about finishing what I start and basically just following through. It's very probable that I will be the only one posting as my boyfriend Jim has been really busy managing Banana Bay and all the headaches that go with it. Hence, I will be writing reviews for the both of us. It's actually part of the reason why we haven't posted anything in a while-- just general BUSY-ness and lack of motivation on my part since this was JIM's idea as something we did together to kind of catalogue the places we've been to. Another reason for the lack of updates is that I had logged on one evening a few months ago and spent HOURS editing, adding pictures and writing new reviews only to then have my browser freeze and find that none of the new changes were saved. But recently, I happened to be thinking about this blog and decided to give it a quick look, saw the counter and was surprised! Other people, besides us and our friend (also named Jim who runs where we eating) actually read our blog! So that's also kind of an added form of encouragement to keep this going.

So what have we been up to? Where have our epicurean pursuits led us? Well, in the past few months since we updated we've developed an interest in Taiwanese food. I never realized how many restaurants in our surrounding area, specialized in this type of food (though i guess I shouldn't be since it IS Rowland Heights!!) and how for years we've just walked by them without a single afterthought. Our explorations have led us to dishes such as House Chicken, beef rolls, dumplings, mu shu pork, green onion pancakes and more!!! While sharing many similarities to Chinese food, there are definitely subtle and not so subtle differences in style and taste that we have found an appreciation for. 2008 was also the year of Cajun seafood restaurants and numerous visits to Boiling Crab and the hundreds of copycats it spawned. This summer we also went on a mini-quest for the best Alll-You-Can Eat Korean BBQ and HK Cafes (Rowland Heights, Monterey Park, Alahambra). So basically that is what we have been up to this past year. We look forward to putting up reviews to the places we've already visited and those that we will be visiting in the coming year and hope that people keep reading and find it to be helpful in their own food adventures =)