dineLA: STK LA

dineLA Dinner #3: STK

steakhouse that oozes sexy 

black cloud mojito. absolutely delicious
($8 at the bar for happy hour, $13 at the table)

complimentary bread. sooo good and buttery!

diver scallops
(corlander crust-young coconut-textures of corn)

petite filet with individual portion of corn pudding and truffle fries

warm flourless chocolate cake
(nutella ice-cream - cocoa nib crunch)

pharmers off duty

had to get a picture with the sign lol. i am a lover of fonts and their usage :D

Verdict: Valet is $9. Very hidden. If you're coming from the 10 Fwy on La Cienega, it is on the left hand side. Their bar prices are happy hour prices so their signature cocktails are only $8! However, if you bring your drinks to the table and get a "refill" they charge you $13 per drink. Best drink up at the bar my friends lol. The food was by far the best of the 3 different places I went to for this summer dineLA. Scallops were extremely good. I was most impressed with the flavor of all the food. With my super Asian taste buds, I like everything extremely flavorful and this place was definitely up to par. The steak was cooked medium rare as requested and the flavor was pretty good. They included a sauce that took the steak to the next level. I was really looking forward to the truffle fries (the Jenga looking thing in the middle) but they actually tasted dry and hard which was disappointing. The corn pudding was absolutely delicious. If you're Asian or familiar with Asian snacks, you've probably had those yellow corn balls. The corn pudding tastes EXACTLY like that. So friggin good. The chocolate cake was cooked to perfection. It was so soft and fluffy! The place definitely exceeded my expectations. I wasn't really expecting the food to be good since it's such a "scene-y" place but this place is the whole shabang. The decor and seating is very intimate and romantic. I'd love to go here for a romantic night out. 

Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/stk-west-hollywood

dineLA: The Penthouse at the Huntley

dineLA Dinner #2: The Penthouse at the Huntley

pre-dinner drinks in the lounge

at our table. you can kind of see our reflection in the mirror.

tartar surf & turf
(tuna & steak dressed with arbequina oil, capers, sea salt & grilled bread)

braised short rib
(bone marrow bread pudding, pommery mustard braising jus)

chocolate lava cake
(earl grey ice cream, grand marnier creme anglaise)

no flash. a little blurry but you get to see the nightlife in the background

with flash - in our little booth

Verdict: 5 stars for the ambiance and decor. Great place for after work drinks. Booths are super romantic and almost every booth has a view. I think this would be a great place for lunch so you can see the beach better. Early dinner would be nice too so you can see the sunset. Maybe it's because we were here for dineLA but the customer service wasn't exactly up to par. I usually hate reviews that focus on the service because I want to know more about the food but, if you can see in this last picture, our cups are completely empty and were never refilled throughout the entire night. The tuna tartar was very fresh. The braised short rib was melt in your mouth good but could use a little more flavoring but the bone marrow bread pudding was super good. The earl grey ice cream was very interesting and tasty. I got to try the honey truffle ice cream with peach dessert as well and the truffle ice cream really brought out the taste of the peaches. Very good. I think I would come back for brunch in the future and maybe spend the day in Santa Monica & 3rd street. 

Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-penthouse-santa-monica

dineLA: Nick & Stef's Steakhouse

dineLA Dinner #1: Nick & Stef's Steakhouse

the dineLA menu

pretty girlies :)

the other side of the table

the fabulous

cheers!

us and our filets

*sorry for the less than awesome quality of these iPhone pictures. My sweaty palms smear the camera sometimes lol*

regular bread. eh.

seriously the yummiest bread ever! it's too bad you only get one :(

tuscan kale salad (very tart tasting)

petite filet mignon

milk chocolate & guinness bread pudding
(two types of alcohol in the description meant i was getting this for sure lol. yumes!)

lovers & friends

Verdict: A wonderful meal with fabulous folks. Love the fact that they don't charge a corkage fee (limit 1 bottle of wine per 2 people), the fact that it's so close to so many things in DTLA, and complimentary valet. Our reservations were made for 7:30p and we were seated almost immediately even before all of our party got there. I would definitely come back if I was going to a show at the Ahmanson (for example, Mary Poppins!). I read on the menu that they also offer shuttle service to the Staples Center. Very romantic and they also have an outdoor drink/bar area, great for happy hour.

Yelp - http://www.yelp.com/biz/nick-and-stefs-steakhouse-los-angeles

Falling for Fall

Some stuff I've been lusting after online.

j. crew

j. crew

american eagle

j. crew

express

j. crew

Cars Land Part 2

Cars Land Part 2

Last weekend we got early entry tickets to visit California Adventure an hour before the park opened. We got there around 7:20a. There weren't any lines to get into the park but there was already a 60 minute line for the Radiator Springs Racers ride! There were only about 10 people in the fast pass line so we decided to get the fast pass instead. The fast pass line opened right at 8am so we stood in line for about 30 minutes. Last time we got there a little past 9a and all the fast passes were gone! Crazy! 

Before getting in line, I went and got myself a breakfast scramble cone. 

cone #3: verde scramble cone - i absolutely love the taste of the soft pretzel bread.
they also have a bacon scramble cone. these are only available during breakfast.

no line for a picture :)

Last time we didn't get a chance to go on Luigi's Flying Tires because the wait was down for most of the day and when it finally went back up, it was a 75 minute wait so we went on it this time.

even their railings have tires. attention to detail is everywhere in cars land.

a race car bush.

Because we are the fatties that we are, we were already getting hungry so we decided 

to check out the breakfast menu at Flo's V8 Cafe. 

cars waffles come in the breakfast kids meal. we also ordered the brioche french toast
(which pretty much tastes like the creme brulee french toast at julienne)

After that, we decided to visit the preview center.

finally found a good version of this picture inside the preview center.
the little short film was super cute! i would highly recommend visiting if you haven't!

thought this was pretty awesome

We hadn't been on Toy Story Mania in awhile so we decided to go there next. 

definitely losing my touch :( can't even get the cat anymore!

Finally, it was time to head back to Radiator Springs for some racing! Gotta love that fast & furious lol. 

photobombers in the background lol. fast pass line is awesome! waited less than 15 minutes.

on the ride!

went to luigi's tires

about to race! 

tony spent most of his time during the race portion making that face since
we didn't know where the camera was lol

enjoying a drink while watching the racers ride. i do enjoy a little people watching on occasion.
tried both of the beers at flo's v8 cafe. i liked the darker one more.

the new buena vista street walt & mickey

My Disneyland annual pass will be expiring soon and sadly I won't be renewing :(. 

Can't afford to be forking over $700 to play. Got loans to pay... and vacations to go on lol.

Can't wait for an amazing day/night celebrating the birth of Pearl!

Thanks for reading!