Gaon Korean BBQ

This is a really long overdue post! Last weekend, James Bomb and his family discovered this new Korean barbecue place that opened up near Old Town Pasadena. Being big fans of "korean bbq", we all were super excited to try this place out.

Upon arrival, we could tell the place was definitely brand spankin new. The walls, flooring, tables, everything was clean and the whole place didn't stink of meat fumes forever burrowed into the walls of an old time Korean barbecue venue. Anyways, onto the deets!

Good for: Families and big groups of friends
Parking: Street parking
Scene: Your usual crowd but a more ethnic mix than the Ktown joints
Service: Very enthusiastic, friendly waiters
Noise level: Dim
Seating: Indoor 
Price: $$
Rating: 3/5

We ate: Lemon soju, Kobe beef belly, Brisket, Prime rib, Beef tongue, Marinated short rib, Kalbi, Shrimp

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Elements Kitchen

So there comes a time in a man's life where he has to choose his favorite things.  Some choose the '69 red mustang parked in their parking lot. Some choose to love his best friend named Lucky the labrador. I choose to love the food served by the awesome people at Elements. I was referred here by a very good friend of mine, whom I cannot thank enough. Elements Caffe moved from Fair Oaks in Pasadena to join with their Elements Kitchen on El Molino Avenue. I always have a wonderful eating experience at Elements Caffe. I thought there could be nothing better added to Elements but someway.. somehow.. they did...now there is ALCOHOL! 

Good for: Families, brunch, a date, and just about any occasion 
Parking: They are various parking lots surrounding Elements. You can just follow the sign and park behind the building
Scene: A contemporary feel with many different groups of people enjoying themselves
Service: Very helpful staff but sometimes they get very busy
Noise level: Moderate chatter
Seating: Indoor and outdoor
Price: $$
Rating: 4.5/5 

We ate: Iced Brazillian Coffee, Hibiscus lemonade, smoked salmon benedict, and lobster mac & cheese with truffle oil and mushrooms 

Once you walk into Elements Kitchen, you get seated by a waitress anywhere you like.  There are a variety of seating spots.  It is a pretty spacious restaurant.  I went for brunch but for dinner, I believe, sometimes they have live jazz music by the bar. 

All of humanities goodness written in menu form

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Icho Izakaya

While going through a thankfully speedy Friday at work, James Bomb and I suddenly craved for some fish liver. Yes, fish liver. You commonly hear about fancy people eating duck or goose liver, but no, Asians prefer chicken, cow, snake...and fish liver. When we think about fish liver, we always end up thinking about our favorite little Japanese restaurant tucked away in an obscure plaza in San Gabriel- Icho Izakaya, or as the locals call it,Yi-ding.

Good for: Families
Parking: Free parking lot

Scene: Lots of local Chinese families eating at a Chinese-run Japanese restaurant

Service: Love them! Very sweet waitresses

Noise level: Moderate chatter

Seating: Indoor

Price: $$
Rating: 3.5/5 (James Bomb would probably disagree with me, this is his place)

We ate: Fish liver, Uni Nigiri, Toro Sashimi, Chicken Teriyaki, Beef Tongue, Chicken Cartilage, Dobin Mushi

Now my loyalty lies with Sushi Gen, which was previously blogged about, but Icho Izakaya isn't a bad runner up. However, if you're looking for an authentic Japanese restaurant, this won't do it for you because it is very Taiwanese.

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Akbar Cuisine of India

The setting is beautiful Pasadena where movies can cost from $2.00 to $30.00 dollars, where a monthly gym membership can cost $200, and MOST IMPORTANTLY where there is a lot of different ethnic foods.  Before watching the movie, Crazy, Stupid, Love, we ventured to Akbar for Indian cuisine.  Now Cherry Bomb and I fell in love with Indian food in London and have been searching for an amazing Indian restaurant since then.  And here we go!  

Good for: Dinners with friends and family

Parking: Next to Akbar is a parking structure, make sure you get your ticket validated!

Scene: Dim lighting and a pungent smell of various herbs and spices as you walk in. Small space consider making reservations

Service: Very helpful.  Fills water very frequently

Noise level: Semi-loud chatter with a crying baby.  Indian white noise music HAHA 

Seating: Indoor

Price: $$
Rating: 2.5/5

We ate:  Garlic Nan, samosas, tandoori chicken, mint chicken, chicken tikka massala, and lamb coco.    

Right when we walked in, the pungent smells of indian spices and herbs rushed into our noses.  It was pretty empty as it was a random day of the week.  Adjacent from where we were sitting was the open kitchen.  We were able to see them make the food roughly 6 feet away; fire spewing and chefs ladling curry into bowls.   We pleasantly waited for our food as there was a good lag time between ordering, appetizers, and main entree.  

The aforementioned ladling of curry

Pretty cool being able to watch them make food

Samosas 

Verdict: These were probably the largest samosas I've seen.  They tasted pretty good. Good to start with.  The samosas were made of vegetables, peas, and potatoes.  Cherry Bomb almost blew up because it was quite spicy.


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Cook's Tortas

After enduring a half a day of work, I began to feel the shear force of hunger hitting my stomach.  Cherry Bomb and I almost blew a fuse deciding what to eat.  We decided to head over to Cook's Tortas located in Monterey Park.  I have been here many times and I always crave it once in a while.  They always make aweesome fresh juice daily.  Cook's Tortas is one of those places that never come up, but when it does NOTHING will stand in your way to get it. 

Good for: Lunch break and random missions

Parking: Parking lot with many parking spots

Scene: feels like home

Service: Efficient and always gives excellent suggestions

Noise level: Quite noisy

Seating: Indoor & outdoor
Price: $
Rating: 3.5/5

We ate: A California Torta paired with a delicious fresh orange juice and macoroni salad.  A Chicken Basil Torta with a fresh cucumber and lime juice and potato salad. 

You walk into Cook's Tortas and there always seems to be a line.  Which is good because the menu is written out in chalk on the wall.  This gives you some time to decide what you want to eat.  Almost everytime, I have gotten the California Torta.  You can never go wrong with the California.  So once you order something, you then get to choose a side and a drink.  If you get the chance, order the guava juice.  It is heavenly!  We paid a $20 bill and randomly sat down at a table and waited for number 51 to be called.

The menu written on a chalkboard

The side dishes!

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Taste on Melrose

Last night, spurred from the excitement of starting this new blog, James Bomb and I made a massive nom quest out to West Hollywood to try out Taste on Melrose. It's on the ritzier side of Melrose, past the grunge and prostitute hangouts. I've been here a couple times for brunch (which I highly recommend by the way!), but this was my first time venturing into this place for a real massive meal. Can I also say that people who drive around this side of town are crazy? We thought we were nearly going to die on multiple occasions.

Good for: Dates & girls who want to go out for brunch

Parking: Valet for $4.50 or street parking if you're lucky

Scene: Very Hollywood

Service: Friendly (pretty cute servers)
Noise level: Loud chatter, music not overpowering

Seating: Indoor & outdoor
Price: $$ 
Rating: 3.5/5

We ate: Chicken tortilla soup, White truffle oil & mushroom mac & cheese, Kobe beef meatballs, Wild mushroom & radicchio risotto, Bread pudding, White wine

We got seated very quickly and had the choice of either patio or indoor seating. It was a great summer night, so we sat outside, with the lovely sun in my face. The hostess noticed me squinting profusely so she reassured me that the sun would go down by 7:15, which it miraculously did!

The dinner menu looked delightful enough and I wanted to try a lot of things, but the prix fixe menu was very tempting with its $26 price tag for 3 courses. We both decided to go with that and our server suggested some white wine for us that was half off. Sweet!

Pouilly-Fuisse Solutre, France
Very summery with a crisp, green apple aftertaste!

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Sushi Gen

Sushi Gen is one of my favorite sushi places in Little Tokyo. This place is always packed by 7 PM and the wait becomes an hour long so going right when it opens (at 5:30 PM…) is highly recommended. They also seem to have fresher sashimi available earlier on in the night. 

Good for: Family, Friends...Everyone!
Parking: Street parking or in the Honda Plaza for $3
Service: Friendly (though the guy at the front is a little moody sometimes)
Noise level: Dim chatter
Seating: Indoor
Price: $$$ (for 2, if you're eating a lot of sashimi, your bill can easily rack up to $100+)

Rating: 4/5 

We ate: Uni, Toro, Albacore, Soft Shell Crab

Soft Shell Crab

Verdict: This is amazing. Once you bite into it, you feel like you're swimming through a medley of flavor. I can never share this - always get your own order. Delish.

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