Gen Korean BBQ - Los Angeles

Someone suggested we go for All-You-Can-Eat Korean Barbecue in Los Angeles, so we found Gen Korean BBQ through Yelp.  

Side dishes from top: oisobagi (cucumber kimchi), baechu kimchi (napa cabbage kimchi), pickled bamboo, chonggak kimchi (daikon kimchi) and mashed potatoes. 

The side dishes were good - especially the mashed potatoes. 

Fried Dumplings (gyoza) and Korean Fried Chicken

The Korean Fried Chicken was good - definitely worth ordering again even if there wasn't a lot of white meat. The gyoza were okay. 

Beef and pork on the grill

Yummy!

Veggies, squid and more beef! 

Tofu soup

The tofu was a little old and you could tell based on the texture which was grainy and not very smooth. 

Overall: A very filling meal on our way to LA - a pretty good KBBQ experience, but I've had better. The fans really helped the air circulation and we didn't smell like BBQ when we left. 

Website: http://genkoreanbbq.com/

Food at Coachella Music Festival 2016 - Indio

Welcome to Coachella! 

Day 1

After picking up some merchandise and dropping it off at our lockers, our next order of business was food! Luckily, I was at Coachella with some veterans, so they knew to head to the beer gardens (for ages 21+) for the good food options! And sure enough, Sumo Dog had a booth at the Beer Barn (on the way to the Do Lab). 

Sumo Dog! A huge foot-long hotdog with spicy mayo, seaweed, chili and cheese

Top: Coachella Dog; bottom: Sumo Dog
These Japanese-inspired hot dogs were really fun and different. A fun and playful take on the traditional hot dog.

We wandered around and saw some fantastic sets, but the heat was really getting to us. So when we saw the Afters Ice Cream stall between the Sahara and Mojave tents - we decided to stop by for a well-deserved treat!

Milky bun with cookie monster ice cream and fruity pebbles
The milky bun was like a really good soft and glazed donut with blue ice cream sandwiched in between and crispy & colourful fruity pebbles to add some texture.  I don't know if it was because it was so hot out or if the sugary cereal and bun overpowered the ice cream, but it almost tasted like the cookie monster ice cream had no flavour.

Around 3-5pm was actually when the heat was the worst and we went to take shelter in the food area between the Gobi and Outdoor stage.



Pulled Pork Mac & Cheese
Funnily enough, I wasn't super hungry, but I was really tempted by the mac and cheese in a cup - so I decided to try something a little different and get the pulled pork mac and cheese.  Contrary to my expectations, the bbq sauce and pulled pork were just kind of scooped on top of the mac & cheese cup rather than being mixed into the pasta.  The pulled pork was good, but the mac and cheese was a little too dried out around the edges.

Fried Chicken and fries
The chicken looked a little overdone on the outside, but the meat inside was still juicy.


Jambalaya

Huge portion of rice mixed with pork, veggies and spices.  It wasn't particularly good, some parts of it was burnt and rather strong.

Day 2

We went to the other beer garden on the other side of the Yuma tent (near the Cupcake Vineyards) for a late lunch/early dinner and got a whole bunch of lobster items! 

Lobster Rolls, Lobster Tacos and Lobster Mac & Cheese

The mac & cheese was a lot better than the place the day before - the pasta was actually really creamy and they kind of just threw some lobster on top (which was still yummy). The lobster rolls were on the expensive side, but still really good! The tacos had a nice tangy taste and were a lighter alternative to the mac & cheese and rolls.

 Monster fries with pulled pork and coleslaw
A huge dish of fries (good thing we were splitting them), but rather mediocre overall since the fries were on the slightly soggy and burnt side (not really fresh). They also had a lot of coleslaw and pulled pork - but not enough sauce. 

Day 3

We went back to the Beer Barn for lunch. 

Garlic Noodles with Chicken
Really yummy with some nicely seasoned and tender chicken - I loved the contrast of the fresh cucumber and sour daikon with the noodles.

Crab Fries
These were loaded with mayo and sprinkled with crab - I mooched some fries rather than place my own order especially since it was so hot out (I was a little worried about the heat spoiling the food)


Blueberry Lemon Popsicle
Cooled down with one of these in between sets - more blueberry than Lemon and it was interesting to see that they marketed it as a Prince tribute (in remembrance of his song Purple Rain).

Personal Pepperoni pizza
We just grabbed whatever was closest to the Coachella (Main) Stage so that we could get a good view.  It was okay - basically sustenance so that we could party late into the night.

For more on my Coachella Weekend 2 Experience, check out my Travel Blog. I also have a post about planning my trip and tips for Coachella --> here. 

In-N-Out Burger - Indio

After a jam packed Day 1 of Coachella, we got home late from the last set of the night (Purity Ring was amazing!) and had the munchies - so my friends took a car out to grab some In-N-Out Burger. 

Cheeseburger

Just plain and simple. It was pretty good for a fast food burger (probably better than McDonalds, but not as good as Shake Shack seemed to be the general consensus among our group).  I just saw it as sustenance to satisfy my late night craving and after eating and showering, I happily passed out from my long day. 

Website: http://www.in-n-out.com/

Eight4Nine - Palm Springs

After a 12 hour journey (including airport wait time) from Toronto (and Vancouver), I landed in Palm Springs ready for my Coachella Weekend! (Well not really ready - all I felt ready for was a shower and a nap after my long day of travel).

So sunny and hot! I'm loving this t-shirts/tank tops and shorts temperature after Toronto's chilly winter.

On my friend's recommendation (based off the New York Times), we went to eat at Eight4Nine.

Really cool building!

  

Menu

We knew right away we were all going to get the four course meal!

First Impression

Blackberry, Serrano ham and cantaloupe with balsamic vinaigrette
A nice starter - you've got the play on flavours and textures with sweet, savoury, sour and tangy all wrapped together on a skewer as an amuse bouche.

Second Impression

Shrimp chips and ahi tuna poke
My first poke! Although pokes are now become super popular outside of Hawaii (it's sort of expanding like the ramen craze).  I thought this was pretty good, but after trying my friend's shoyu pork belly, I think I would much rather get that because it was so delicious!

The Main Event

Beef Tenderloin
Potato planks is a really apt name for the potatoes.  The presentation was really nice (even though we were eating outside on the patio in the dark).  The turnips and root vegetables were rather grainy and fiberous and not the best complement to the melt-in-your mouth tenderloin.

Finale

Coachella Lime Pie
I love lime tarts and key lime pie - so I had some pretty high expectations.  It was a nice pie with the right amount of sweetness and tartness, but it didn't really wow me.

Nanaimo Bar
This was not really a nanaimo bar at all.  It was a frozen multi-layer custard cake with a dense raspberry layer and dark chocolate cake with chocolate glaze on top.

Overall: Great four-course meal and good service at Eight4Nine.  It was a great way to start off Coachella in Palm Springs the day before the festivities begin!

Website: http://eight4nine.com/

Sik Korea

My friend's going away dinner was at Sik Korea. 

Side dishes: Beancurd strips, chap chae, kimchi and broccoli

All were really good - we got quite a few refills. 

Fried Mandu/Gyoza

The mandu were interesting - they had a thicker skin than gyozas and wo tips I've had before, so they were puffier and you could tell these were deep fried instead of pan fried. 

They were still pretty good. 

Tteokbokki (sometimes spelt with a D?)

Spicy Korean Rice Cakes with gochujang (the spicy red chilli sauce) that Korean food usually uses to add flavour to their dishes (kind of like soy sauce for Chinese food). The sauce was a little spicy but it added the flavour and really made the rice cakes taste a lot better. 

Gamjatang

Surprisingly this didn't have the red colour that most gamjatangs I've seen usually have, but the little seeds were really spicy.  This was a huge bowl of pork bones with a ton of meat on the bone which made it a large portion for one person - good value for money here! :) 

Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup)

A large bowl of soup with a whole chicken stuffed with sticky rice, ginseng and garlic.  I've been searching for a restaurant in Toronto that could recreate the one I had in South Korea.  Unfortunately, this one didn't really satisfy my craving, it was better than the one I had before in Toronto since the soup had more chicken flavour and was a little thicker and hearty than the watery one I had before. 

Overall: Good Korean food at Sik Korea (I understand why my friend recommended it now!) and the service was pretty fast. 

Black Camel

April 3, 2016

Beef Brisket with garlic mayo
I love their buns: the eggy bread pairs so well with the garlic mayo and smoky beef brisket.  It's just a delicious sandwich experience every time!

December 5, 2012

On my way to Patachou for tarts two weeks ago, I noticed a crazy line-up of men in business suits outside a seemingly normal sandwich place. It's not that often that you see a queue outside a restaurant that isn't the newest and hippest restaurant downtown (case in point - all the ramen places) . So, I made a note to myself to do a little research and maybe come back and check it out some other time.
The Black Camel has been a popular sandwich joint for almost 10 years (since 2004) and they're well-known for their smoked meat sandwiches like beef brisket and pulled pork. 

Pulled pork with arugula and Black Camel BBQ sauce
The pulled pork shoulder was super tender and yummy. The interesting part of the sandwich was that it was a little sweeter than I expected (I'm not sure if it was from the BBQ sauce or the pulled pork). 

The BBQ sauce was a nice complement and I liked that it was a little milder and less smoky than traditional BBQ sauces. 

Beef brisket with roasted roma tomatoes and Charamoula and Pesto mayo
Wow! The brisket was melt in your mouth tender and juicy and the combination of the charamoula and pesto sauce just made the sandwich so succulent, flavourful and finger licking good. I added the roasted roma tomatoes for an extra $0.90 since I wanted some balance to my meat-heavy sandwich, and boy was I ever glad because it worked out so well! The sandwich was heavenly....(and a little more guilt-free cause I got my serving of vegetables instead of only being a carnivore)

Overall: Crazy amazing sandwiches: the smoked meats are all amazingly tender and juicy and the sauces are  fantastic! The service was great too (despite being a 3 person operation at lunch). This place is definitely more of a grab and go sandwich shop as there's barely any seating in the tiny restaurant.

Website: http://www.blackcamel.ca/