The Unvegan

Curried Away at Wagamama

September 29th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

This might be the prettiest picture I've taken.

While in Boston for a long weekend, I took the opportunity to check out how people eat on the other coast. My first chance to sample the “local fare” came at Wagamama, an international Japanese food chain originally from England. Ok, so it wasn’t exactly local, but Boston is New England, so I made due with what I had.

Our waiter was a low talker, making it difficult to ascertain what he was trying to say at any given moment, but eventually we all figured out when it was time to order. After a long look at the menu, I settled upon the Chicken Katsu Curry, which is some fried chicken cutlet, rice and curry. It also came with “mixed leaves and red pickles,” which I tried to convince the low talker that I didn’t want. Continue Reading»

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Boston, Chicken, Curry, food, Japanese, meat, restaurants, Reviews, Travel, wagamama

Not Quite Sushi at Kaya Sushi

September 17th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

If it weren't for those tomatoes...

When you walk into Kaya Sushi, there is a massive glass waterfall blocking your way. Do not be deterred, though, because you can easily circumvent this waterfall by walking to the left or right. If you make it past, you’ll find yourself in the posh new sushi restaurant in El Segundo.

The place had an apparent brush with Korean as well as Japanese, since the lettering in their logo was distinctly Korean and there were even a few Korean items on the menu. Their sushi roll list was quite extensive, but I managed to find the least sushi-ish dish on the menu for myself. Continue Reading»

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California, Cheese, El Segundo, fish, Japanese, kaya sushi, Korean, Los Angeles, restaurants, Reviews, Seafood, Sushi

The Next Level of Fusion at the Marked5 Truck

September 11th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A pleasant surprise

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find that Marked5, one of LA’s multitude of food trucks, was making its way down to El Segundo, just in time for my lunch hour. I looked up Marked5 online real quickly to make sure I knew what I was getting into and saw that their menu consisted of a sort of American and Japanese fusion. They made burgers, but instead of regular buns, they used rice. I had no idea how this would work without the rice falling apart, but I was eager to find out.

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Burgers, Curry, El Segundo, food, food trucks, hamburgers, Japanese, Los Angeles, marked5, meat, Mobile, Reviews

Happy Hour Meats at Gyu-Kaku

July 14th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

A beautiful display of meats.

In my never-ending quest for the perfect happy hour in LA, I wound up at Gyu-Kaku in West LA for Japanese BBQ. With five minutes left in their Happy Hour, we arrived and were told there was a ten minute wait. Discouraged, we still decided to make the best of it and took our seats after the wait. Our zealous waiter checked his watch as he arrived at the table and disappointedly reminded us that we had just missed happy hour. We told him that we knew, but we had tried to arrive on time and had to wait. Quickly thinking, he told us he was actually a manager and he would give us happy hour prices for our first round of ordering. Score! Continue Reading»

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Asian, BBQ, Beer, Cooking, food, happy hour, Japanese, Los Angeles, meat, restaurants, Reviews, sukiyaki, West LA, yakiniku

An Unfortunate Meal at Mr. Hana

June 25th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

There is just too much green for one plate to take.

I had heard a lot about the Century City food court, which really surprised me considering most food courts I’ve been to don’t get any fancier than S’barro. As I was going there for a movie already, it was finally time to check out the food court.

I was actually very surprised with what I found. This was no ordinary food court with Panda Express and McDonald’s. Instead, it was filled with upscale places that made me feel like I entered an international marketplace with prepared foods. After a long walk around and a little sampling, I decided to order from Mr. Hana, a Japanese place. They had a great looking platter with spicy chicken, gyoza (dumplings), shrimp tempura and rice that I decided to get. It also came with mixed vegetables, which I was sure to order without. I also ordered a Japanese Melon Soda, which is one of the greatest drinks ever created. No, seriously, next time you see it, you must get it, you can thank me later. Continue Reading»

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Century City, food courts, gyoza, Japanese, Los Angeles, melon soda, mr. hana

Strange Meats: Octopus

May 8th, 2009 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Just your normal buffet...

In honor of the Detroit Red Wings being in the playoffs and beating the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks last night, I decided today would be a great opportunity to highlight the consumption of octopus. (For more information on why that is a reason to highlight octopus, please click here)

My first octopus-eating experience came while I was living in Japan. I attended an event that had a typical array of buffet-like foods, when I suddenly came across bowls of tentacles. One of the bowls had boiled octopus, while the other was fried. Taking a bit of each, I sat down to eat that eight-armed wonder of the sea. Continue Reading»

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Japanese, octopus, Strange Eats, takoyaki, Travel

Hide Sushi

December 26th, 2008 Tweet Facebook Digg Stumble Reddit

Check out those pieces with just fish. Yeah. Those are mine.

As a warning, I am not one of those people who gets crazy cravings for sushi or thinks of sushi as some amazing dish that has to be eaten weekly. In fact, I am still waiting for the “sushi fad” to fade away like Pogs, skateboarding and the pet rock did years ago.

Despite this, I found myself in need of an afternoon snack in that crazy Japanese strip of West LA. My friend recommended Hide Sushi, and I complied. My unvegan diet doesn’t leave too much room for sushi, especially if you consider seaweed a vegetable, so I avoided the rolls and ordered the basic yellowtail over rice from the menu.

Sushi doesn’t take too long to make, so I didn’t have to wait too long to fill my mid-afternoon void. I filled my little bowl with soy sauce and a healthy dose of wasabi before dipping my sushi in. Continue Reading»

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Japanese, restaurants, Seafood, Sushi, West LA

Rants and Raves

PETA Kills Cats

November 6th, 2009

A recent article in the Washington Post might, on the surface, seem to be good publicity for PETA, but anyone who reads the article between the lines can see what is really happening. The article talks about the fanatical lives of PETA interns. You know, how they stuff envelopes, hand out pamphlets and umm cover themselves in fake blood.

Going Global at Plan Check

Fries of the world.

A couple of weeks ago, The Backyard Bite invited me to The Burger Culture Clash, sponsored by Stussy (which apparently still exists) and Plan Check. Plan Check, by the way, is a sort of new (since February) restaurant in West LA with Chef Ernesto Uchimura of Umami Burger fame. As my love of burgers, especially those of the umami variety, I jumped at the opportunity.

Although I arrived alone, I was not the only lone eater. Just next to where I was seated, I met e*star LA and we decided to share a meal called loneliness, because it’s better than eating alone. We made quick friends over our respective blogs and Midwestern roots, then got to work at dissecting the special menu, which Plan Check will be featuring for the next month if anything tickles your fancy.

‘Japanese’

Curried Away at Wagamama

Not Quite Sushi at Kaya Sushi

The Next Level of Fusion at the Marked5 Truck

Happy Hour Meats at Gyu-Kaku

An Unfortunate Meal at Mr. Hana

Strange Meats: Octopus

Hide Sushi

Rants and Raves

PETA Kills Cats

Going Global at Plan Check

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