Restaurant Review - Go Burger

Mind you I had a whole blog, ranting about the customer service and mediocrity of this place, but here are the details you really need to know…

Our sweet potato fries were not cooked all the way, and we were told that sweet potatoes are just dense like that… Really? Tell that to SPITZ.

Some visiting friends were carded for drinks, but me and 3 others were not. NEVER IMPLY THAT A LADY LOOKS OLD…especially in a group.

But the truth of the matter is.

It was just mediocre. The burger was fine and the design of the place was interesting, but how many mediocre burger places do we need in LA???

#failGoBurger #NoBurger

Sous Chef Emily's bday, part 2 - Lemon Pepper Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Peas

And yes, finally part 2!

So my roommate and I had Emily over and fed her dinner for her birthday part 2. In the event of people not liking what I make them, I always harass until I get an answer. And Emily wanted Lemon Pepper Chicken.

It’s easy to then run to the store and buy Lemon Pepper seasoning, but I like to make things difficult for myself and evaluated about 7 different Lemon Pepper Chicken recipes. And the winner was from Essence Magazine (Don’t judge!) and it was quite delicious. http://www1.essence.com/recipes/dinner/info/chickenwithlemonpeppersauce/

I did double the lemon in the sauce, but taste as you go. I was very shocked that the gluten free flour that I used made a great crispy batter on the chicken. The chicken was perfectly juicy!

Along with that I served Peas with Butter (yes, the real stuff) and my Garlic Mashed Potatoes from a previous blog - http://rachelafterthanksgiving.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-st-pattys-day-partay.html

We ate till we were stuffed. And then my roommate surprised Emily with Bacon Brownies. *That is her personal recipe. I don’t eat and tell. ;)

Sous Chef Emily's bday, part 1 - Stout Review

Personal disclaimer – Recently, I have noticed a sensitivity I have to gluten. I was tested and do not have celiac disease, thank God! But I am trying to keep closely to a gluten free diet so my friends will still hang out with me. So I will be trying to make more gluten free friendly recipes and posts… this is NOT one of those posts.

First things first. Happy bday, Emily!!

On her actually birthday (March 4^th) a slew of us friends ventured over to Stout in Hollywood! After a verbal punk rawk lashing from me, Emily had an awesome time! Even though I love to try new and exotic things, sometimes a great burger is just what you need. :)

from L to R: Kat, Jen, Emily, Me

Their selection of burgers hides in the shadows of their huge beer list!!

However, I think I have met the grand-daddy of all amazing burgers. It is the Morning After Burger.

Topped with a fried egg that is still gooey inside*, BACON and chipotle ketchup. How can anything in this universe go wrong with bacon!?!?!?!

Interestingly enough, this amazingness is not listed on their website!

The Goombah (beef bugerg with pamaisano flakes, smoked mozzarella, crispy prosciutto, roasted tomatoes, roasted garlic), Shu (beef burger with pepper jack, light bell spread, grilled avocado, and chipotle spread), and Imperalist (beef burger with caramelized onions, aged cheddar, bacon chips, stout ketchup, and mustard relish) are on my wait list. They do have chicken and vegetarian choices, but I want a real burger, thank you very much! And why do I have to live close enough to walk here?!?!?!?

Please notice the Seasoned Fries (which are kinda hard to see), they are shoelace style, the Sweet Potato Fries, and the huge Onion Rings. I was in greasy food HEAVEN!!!

And for beers, delicious wheat laden beers. I started out with the Old Speckled Hen, but after tasting my friends Blanche De Bruxelles (Thanks, Jen), I had to get a glass.

We all had an amazing night.

Try out Stout for yourself.

Stout

*Now, I would love to say that I share many things in common with cook/restauranteur Anthony Bourdain. (Im sure you know who he is. If not, please check out NO RESERVATIONS on the Travel Channel. ) But the one thing we do share, and will always share – we love runny eggs… I cannot get enough of them. Delicious and gooey, it is some sort of weird comfort food for me.

Please to forgive me!

Father, Forgive me, for I have sinned. It has been 6 months since my last food blog...

I plan on remedy-ing this soon.

Stand by...

BEST OF LOS ANGELES - HOMEMADE TOMATO SOUP

Only found at Bricks & Scones in Larchmont.

http://www.bricksandscones.com/menu.html

And you can awesomely pair it with a grilled cheese sandwich.

Tell Jinah I said hello...

Restaurant Review - Larkin's part 2

I went there over the weekend and had the catfish. Amazingly crunchy with not so much of a fishy taste. The breading had a nice crunch to it.

And Larkin came by the table to say hello... yeah, I probably go here too much. :)

Restaurant Review - Larkin's

Dear Larkin’s…



How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Now granted the parking situation isn’t the best and the food takes a while, BUT before you stop reading, let me entice you with the food ordered by my food cohort, Emily, and I. (Emie’s edits and insights are in bold.)

BBQ Meatloaf w/ Garlic Mashed Potatoes & Fried Okra
Homemade Mac and Cheese
Hot Link Corn Dogs (w/spicy mustard)
Sweet Tea
Banana Pudding (Southern Culture on the Skid’s ‘Banana Pudding’ song already has me dancing in my seat, anxious and antsy to put this banana pudding to the test)
Black and Blue Berry Cobbler (you read that right. Blackberry and Blueberries together in heavenly bliss. It’s like they knew Rachel and I because these are our favorite fruits, kinda creepy, kinda delicious)

Now let me/us break it down for you (break it down! Break it down now!).

Em and I have been trying to hit here for a while and when the opportunity arose we jumped at it.

We started off with the Mac and Cheese. Scrumptious beyond belief. Cheesy, gooey, piping hot and way too big for an appetizer or a side dish. But a great way to start the dinner. (Side Note – Larkin, his real name, owns Mac & Cheeza downtown in LA. Yeah, I gotta try that soon. http://www.macandcheeza.com/ )

Then the Hot Link Corn Dogs came with a small green salad. Now as many of my friends know, I am not one to rave about salads, but the balsamic vingrette on this made my taste buds tingle. The tart, sharp flavors jump started my mouth into anticipation for the invigorating spices that were coming (And served as a much needed, light cool down after the hotness o’ the links). I am all about using mustard on hot dogs… Dijon mustard to be exact… but these Hot Links were not Hot Dogs. And these Hot Links were hot. Yet the slightly sweet corn breading (batter) around them helped to ‘soften’ the blow of (the) Hot Links. Needless to say, the Dijon that came with the dish was not needed.

Right now, I would like to take a moment to give praise to an amazing glass of sweet tea. Mind you, I am not big about sweet things to eat, but drinking them is ANOTHER story. The sweet tea not only hit the spot, but also the sweetness helped cut the heat (that may have been overwhelming otherwise) to make the dinner delicious.

Then came the BBQ Meatloaf, Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Fried Okra.
1. When the Meatloaf came to the table I had to ask if it was the meatloaf because it was the size of decent steak (and sorta resembled one in the fact that it wasn’t a perfect square cut out from a loaf like one might expect from a typical meat loaf and it was DRENCHED in BBQ sauce – see #2).
2. The BBQ sauce was a bit overwhelming.
3. I’m not a big fan of gravy on mashed potatoes, but I do love Larkin’s gravy. However, next time, I would have to pass on it. With the BBQ as spicy as it was, you needed just the potatoes to help calm the flame in your mouth (yeah the potatoes were rich and full of flavor and texture, the farthest thing from an instant white lump as you can get. Very good but almost a little overbearing with everything else we had going on, on the plate).
4. Let’s just say at one point I stole the fried okra from Emily (uh, sorry about that! It’s okay!), and I could have eaten it all day (once you pop the fun don’t stop!)! Fried to the perfect crunch and not sopping or gushing with oil. This will have to be a staple side when I come back here in August!

So at this point we are both barges. Barges = we ate too much, cannot move, needing to be rolled out of the building, much like a barge. ☺ And yet we both have a dire need to order dessert (‘I can’t liiiiiiive, livinnnn’ without you (dessert)).
In the HUGE selection they give us, the Black and Blue Berry Cobbler catches my ear and the Banana Pudding catches Em’s…

Flashback – As a kid, my grandmother had half of her backyard in the suburbs dug up so she could garden. And although I love raspberries, I LOVED BLACKBERRIES. And to be honest, I didn’t know that they were called Blackberries till a few years ago. My grandma used to call them Thimbleberries, because as a 6 or 7 year old, Blackberries fit perfectly on your finger tips and you can eat them off like olives. And they looked like thimbles. One of the many things I learned about food in Michigan.

Needless to say, this dessert was my fav. ☺

I LOVE BLUEBERRIES. I just do and if you do too, you will love this. This banana pudding was made from scratch, with fresh bananas in it and crumbled up bits of nilla wafers on top, old school southern style. The banana flavor was rich and refreshing, although it’s on the soupier side. I prefer a more held together pudding, texture wise, but all the flavors hit the right spot. And beware! They give you A LOT of dessert. One dessert was enough for two people, but one per person is good if you need a midnight snack.

I’m not a big fan of Bananas, but the creamy gooeyness of this would make anyone melt.

I can’t wait to head there again… Actually, I will be there Saturday if anyone would like to say hi.


http://www.larkinsjoint.com/


http://www.squidoo.com/banana_pudding