July 2013: Month in Review Part 2

July 21st: Peach Cafe, The Grove, The Block and Urban Seoul

Started the morning off with brunch at one of my favorite spots, Peach Cafe.

peach cafe benedict (from their weekend specials)

i don't quite remember what tony ordered lol. I want to say it's the Breakfast Skillet also off their weekend menu.

After grubbing, I wanted to visit the Topshop store at the Grove. I ended up getting 2 pairs of pants for work. Didn't have much luck finding anything else at The Grove so we started the trek back to San Diego. I wanted to stop at a Off 5th so we went to The Block at Orange. I found this shirt and I just couldn't resist taking a picture. Freakin' hilarious.

Didn't end up getting anything but we started getting hungry so we decided to stop for BCD Tofu House. Unfortunately, there was seriously 20 people ahead of us on the list so we decided to try Urban Seoul. Reminds me of Kogi BBQ truck but more Mexican inspired.

urban 3b (aka bibimbap)

urban 3b

japchae mari (my first time trying this. very interesting)

pork belly tacos (the bomb dot com)

July 22nd-26th: Work

After work on the 23rd, I ventured out to "explore" San Diego. I headed over to UTC to try Tender Greens. I had heard so many good things and it did not disappoint. I believe I got the Simple Salad with Marinated Steak. The steak was super good. I didn't have to add anything to it which in my book means it's really good lol.

For dinner we went to check out Dumpling Inn. It has super high ratings on Yelp with over 1,000 reviews and ever since I moved to San Diego, I've been looking for places with good Asian food... specifically, dan dan noodles and dumplings like the ones at Din Tai Fung. This place has a hella line. We went around 7:30p on a weekday. There were about 10 people ahead of us and they even close the wait list before their closing time. I think on that day they closed it at 8pm when they actually close at 8:30p. Some people leave and they check the wait list every 10 minutes or so and cross your name off if you aren't there so I wouldn't recommend leaving to do other stuff after putting your name on their. This isn't an American restaurant lol.

Anywhos, the dan dan noodles were ok. Not spicy at all for me. The real hidden gem that I found which I didn't even expect to find was the creamy corn soup. OMG! Seriously if you love corn (which I do) you MUST try this soup. It's absolutely delicious. So when we were ordering the lady asks us if we want the large or small bowl of soup and encourages the two of us to get the large. When it came out, my eyes seriously O_O pooped out of their sockets. This bowl was freakin' huge. We could have gotten the small but I'm so glad we didn't because the soup was SOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Everything else was good but nothing to write home about. I would say it's authentic and compares to food in SGV.

dan dan noodles

creamy corn soup

hung pao (insert some kind of fish) lol

On the 24th, Tony's parents invited us out to Veranda Fireside Lounge and Restaurant at the Rancho Bernardo Inn. The ambiance is super nice. We sat out on the patio area facing the golf course and saw the sunset. Super great place for brunch with the gals or a birthday dinner. Very good for larger groups as well. They also have a lounge-y area where you can get drinks from the bar and just chill.

tomato bisque (?)

never ending prime rib!

tiramisu

On the 26th, we went out with Brandon to the Bay Park Fish Co. If you enjoy food that has a curry type taste, you will love the steamed mussels (I guess it tastes that way 'cause of the coconut milk and lemongrass lol). The pasta that I got was in the same sauce as the mussels but it was still delicious! Me and repetition is A-ok!

steamed mussels

July 27th: Donna's Bridal Shower/John's Birthday Party

the bridal shower area

the food. yumes!

the girlies

July 28th: JT/JZ Concert & Beef rolls

Heading the the Justin Timberlake and Jay Z concert in Pasadena, CA. We decided to stop at McDonalds and I got the last minion in my collection! Here he is partying like a rock star.

the rose bowl.... the rose bowl

before the show started

beef rolls at 101 noodle express after the concert. yumes!

July 29th:

Monday morning started with breakfast at Julienne. The gazpacho was so refreshing!

open faced egg salad sandwich with white truffle oil and tomatoes on toasted pumpernickel
with a side of gazpacho

grilled mahi mahi tacos (off their summer menu)

sprinkles ice cream

look at these two g-nomes (lol i know how these are pronounced but apparently not glocks)

July 30th: Bruno Mars Concert

Sorry, I don't have anything up from this concert yet. We were literally 5 rows from the back of the place so there's not much to see anyways. Great energy and overall great concert!

July 31st:

Best day ever! NOT! haha. Got written up twice in the same day but let's leave work at work. I got this lovely package from Tanya in the lovely Hawaii!

all my goodies!!

my meal at phil's bbq. 

Until next time folks! Talk to ya'lls soon!

March: Part 2

Coachella was this past weekend and Refinery29 has posted a bunch of pictures of stylish ladies from the show. Upon browsing, I was pleasantly surprised that there was a picture of a stylish pharmacist! Go pharmacists! :D Anywhos, onto more catch-up posts.





Mar. 13 (tues): 

Tanya's family was in town at Disneyland so I met with them after work for dinner at Ariel's Grotto inside California Adventure.

dessert tray

me and my cappuccino

twinsies for real

Mar. 15 (thurs):

Went to Kula Revolving Sushi Bar and Class 302 with Tony's cousin, Britani. We saw the craziest thing: two cars on fire! Fricken scary!

Mar. 16 (fri):

I actually had Friday off which was why Tony was in town. I had seen a couple of my sisters at Julienne and saw gorgeously delicious photos of their creme brulee french toasts so I had to go try it for myself. 

if you couldn't tell, the creme brulee french toasts were gynormous!! 

some of the best tasting potatoes i've ever had in life. seriously.

candied bacon. yumes to infinity. melt in your mouth goodness. 

We weren't sure what we wanted to do for the rest of the day but decided to (or at least attempted to) walk off all the food we had just consumed at the Arboretum. It's funny how some places are literally in your back yard and you never go. Living in LA there's tons of those places (basically all touristy places). Awhile back I watched one of the styling videos from Wendy's Lookbook and she was at the Arboretum and it looked really nice and I made a mental note to visit. Here are some highlights (we took WAY too many pictures lol).

After walking around the Arboretum for a few hours, we were pretty hungry. We decided to grab something close by at Nordstrom Cafe. Their food was decent. Besides the lack of plugs, it would be a pretty nice place to study... if I still did that stuff lol. We were stuffed afterwards so it was back to my house for a nice nap. 

For dinner we ended up Yelping another place to try. The Green Zone actually had some pretty high ratings and we were looking for some healthier options. Most of their food is organic so it was perfect. I was scared their food wouldn't be flavorful since it's "healthy" but it actually tasted really good. From the looks of their Yelp page, it looks like their Hainan Chicken is also a popular dish. I'll have to try that next time and see how it compares to Savoy. 

appetizer sampler for 2: shrimp rolls, prawn tofu wraps, and salmon triangles

sea bass salad

clam linguine (sautéed in white wine & garlic broth)

Mar. 17 (sat): Work

I had to work on Saturday but Tony decided to stay in LA for an extra day and just wait for me to get out of work. We were in a "try-new-food" kind of mood that whole weekend so we ended up Yelping another restaurant. This time we decided to go with 101 Noodle Express. I think what caught Tony's eye was their "Chinese burritos". The pictures on their Yelp page are actually quite old, especially the ones of the menu. Their new menu is actually really nice. Everything was super delicious. I would definitely come back to this place. The only pooper is that it's cash only :(. Darn those Asian places and their cash only policies! Reminds me of this 626 video lol.

i think these were the dan dan noodles

pork roll

spicy beef noodle soup

Mar. 18 (sun):

We had a lazy Sunday and didn't start heading out until a little after noon. We were going to Ray Ray to eat but they were closed. While trying to find other places to go, we stumbled upon another place... the name definitely sold us on the place... Honey Badger Cafe. We just had to go (especially since I do such a great rendition of the "honey badger don't care... honey badger don't give a sh**"). The place has sandwiches and some specialty drinks (they even have a durian smooth or some sort of durian drink! A must try for the next time I go!). Their food seems really fresh and healthy. It's also a nice spot to study. It was pretty packed when we were there. It seems like no one leaves and everyone is just studying but if you're able to get a table then I'd give it a try.

what a nice view ;)

i think this was the cuban roast pork

i want to say this was the spicy chipotle beef sandwich

That concludes that weekend. Twas a pretty eventful and foodie-adventure-filled weekend.


Hope everyone had a great weekend!