Kitchen Mouse in Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA

My sister and I have been trying to eat better and have a more active lifestyle so even during weekend brunch, we try to make sure our options are on the healthier side. Sometimes we’re successful, sometimes we’re not but on this particular weekend, we did pretty good! We chose to have brunch at Kitchen Mouse which is a vegetarian and vegan friendly spot with the cutest decor! I got the black bean cakes with slaw on the side and my sister got the chilaquiles. I actually really liked my black bean cakes. The slaw was good but a little too tart for me. I’d have to say it is on the pricier side but I really like how fresh the food was and how good I felt after! 🙂

Magpies in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, CA

I have been seeing this place all over my social media feed so I knew I had to try it soon! It’s a new soft serve ice cream spot that offers seasonal flavors and delicious toppings. I dragged my friends here so that I could dig into some creamy soft serve ice cream and satisfy my ice cream craving that I seem to have EVERYDAY. I got the sweet cream with the hazelnut wafers and almond brittle. I have two words, “LOVE IT”.

626 Night Market at the Santa Anita Race Tracks

I went to the 626 Night Market just recently and it’s a huge food festival that features vendors that offer Asian fusion foods or eateries that are located in Alhambra/Monterey Park. It is super big so of course I didn’t get to try everything but I did get one of my favorite things in the world, TAKOYAKIS. Takoyakis are Japanese snacks that are little balls of batter with squid in the middle and toppings such as bonito shavings, green onions, seaweed, mayo, etc. I have to have it whenever I see it so I knew that the 626 Night Market would definitely have it. I’m going again soon to accompany a friend that wants to go, so I guess I’ll be having more and trying other things!

AMARA KITCHEN IN HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES

My sister and I decided to grab a healthy brunch because we knew with July 4th, we’d be eating tons of junk food! We love coming here for amazingly delicious and healthy dishes. I love getting their bowls and pancakes. I’m a sucker for pancakes and I know that if I don’t stop myself, I’d eat the entire stack; butter, syrup, and all! I love their version which is paleo friendly and won’t make me feel as guilty after! Plus, the decor here is adorable!

WEXLER’S DELI in DOWNTOWN, LOS ANGELES and SANTA MONICA

I love love love everything bagels and any chance I get, I try to avoid them because I can’t lose control. I would eat a few in a sitting with cream cheese too! Anyways, we went to Grand Central Market on the weekend to grab some brunch and I allowed myself to splurge by getting the Big Poppa’s bagel sandwich from Wexler’s Deli. It has pastrami, cheese, and egg on a bagel of your choice. And my choice was an everything bagel, of course! If you love smoked salmon/lox, bagels, pastrami, or corned beef, this is the spot for you!

RECESS in HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES

Went to try this new spot out for dinner one night with the boyfriend. We loved the decor and thought the food was pretty good.  I did really really like their dessert! It was a panna cotta with a coffee crunch ice cream on the side. I heard their brunch is delicious so I’ll probably go back to give that a try!

Berry Bowl in Highland Park

I make it a goal to grab an acai bowl from Berry Bowl at least every other weekend. Maybe it’s an LA thing, but it’s one of my favorite snacks. Thank goodness it’s healthy! It’s like a smoothie that you eat! With toppings! It’s so refreshing and I can also have chocolate in it too! What’s better than that?!

Winsome in Echo Park

My sister and I went here for a sister brunch during Memorial Day weekend! It was a little hard to find but we made it there and it was such a cute little spot to have brunch! Definitely a trendy eatery that offers healthier options, which is sometimes what I need. I got the potato rosti, which is almost like a latke and it was topped with poached eggs and smoked salmon. Yummm, right? My sister got a baked eggs plate with a side of bacon. We enjoyed our meal so much and might want to come back and try some of their other dishes!

Afters Ice Cream in Pasadena, CA

I recently discovered this place (don’t know why) but it’s absolutely scrumptious, delicious, amazing! I don’t think I know enough words to describe it. The ice cream flavors are super yummy and they offer these things called Milky Buns which are pretty much like glazed donuts filled with your choice of ice cream and topping. So far, I’ve tried the jasmine milk tea (purple one) and the milk and cereal flavor. Both of which are amazing! They haven’t done me wrong yet so I’m going to be a frequent visitor!

Urth Caffe in Pasadena, CA

Came here for a healthy brunch with a friend and my sis one weekend. See how much green I had? I was awfully proud of myself but I’m sure I ended up having a burger for dinner or something anyways. At least I tried, right? Anyways, I love coming here for their green tea latte, which is great hot or cold! They have tons of desserts and pastries which I’ve heard are also delicious! After our yummy brunch, we went out to explore the local Container Store.

Homemade Goodness by Moi!

I had some avocados that were getting pretty ripe and some radishes that needed to be eaten asap so what better way to use them than to make avocado toast?! I know everyone is eating avocado toasts right now and they’re trending but they really are delicious! There’s a reason why everyone eats them! Another plus is that they’re healthy. I need a more substantial toast, so I like adding some egg to them as well. See below! 🙂 

Dodger Dog at Dodger Stadium

Went to a baseball game just last night after I haven’t been in over 10 years! I knew that I had to have the infamous Dodger Dog, nachos, and garlic fries, which I happily succeeded! The boyfriend got me the Cuban dog, since the Dodgers were playing Miami last night and it was pretty good! Especially since I was starving by then! However, I was ready to knock out when it was barely the 3rd inning…

For this Foodie Friday post, I wanted to recap my experience at the most recent Yelp Elite event I attended! I signed up for the tasting event at Ozu East Kitchen in Atwater and was very excited to try out this new ramen spot! The restaurant had a very cool, modern look to it but onto the food!

We were given a cute little menu with the food we were about to enjoy! For appetizers, we had the chicken karaage which was super tender and moist. The owner was nice enough to come around and describe the cooking process to us! The next appetizer is the charred edamame which had so much flavor and depth to them. It was one of the best edamame dishes I’ve ever had. Another great dish was the shishito peppers; it was slightly spicy but not too overpowering. I loved it!

We all got our choice of ramen and I chose the miso vegan ramen, since I always tend to get the traditional tonkotsu. I loved that they used spinach noodles instead, which was very different but it was a nice change in flavor. My ramen wasn’t too rich but also had tons of flavor. I felt like I chose a healthier alternative! I mean, it was still a week night so I couldn’t go crazy! …but I finished the night with the yummiest match green tea gelato.

I highly recommend this spot and need to come in and try some more dishes out before they get too popular! 🙂

BUTTON MASH

Met up with some of my friends at this little spot in Echo Park and thought it was super cool! They have retro arcade games around the restaurant so you could play while you’re waiting for a table or just simply go and play! We got several plates to share between 5 of us. Each was very flavorful and exciting! They serve a menu of Asian fusion style dishes from burgers to wings to noodles. It’s a very refreshing and solid take on Asian food.

FOUND COFFEE

Decided to meet up with a friend for coffee on Sunday morning and decided to try out Found Coffee in Eagle Rock. Now, I always say ‘go have coffee’ with someone but I never seem to get coffee. I usually gravitate towards chai teas so of course, that’s what I chose. It was very light and pretty good, not my favorite but doable. I did like their pastries though and the decor! It’s a great place to sit and catch up with someone.

CURRY KING

This place can be hard to find and is located in a strange area of Atwater but I always pass by so thought I’d finally try it out! The boyfriend and I had dinner there one night and got a shrimp dish, garlic naan, samosas, and the mushroom curry dish. Everything was SO yummy! I was very surprised at how good it was considering that we were the only two in the restaurant at dinner time! I’ve read that people like their lunch buffet so maybe that’s when they’re the busiest. I’d love to come back!

KING HUA

DIMSUM is very close to my heart and I find every excuse possible to eat it any chance I get. I often come to this spot in Alhambra because they have plenty of options and serve this dish called ‘snow milk buns’ which is a very fluffy dessert pastry filled with light custard. It is absolutely delicious!

Last weekend, I met up with my friends in Arizona for a small weekend road trip adventure where we traveled from Phoenix to Sedona to Page. We all live in different states, so we agreed on Arizona for our little getaway and meeting point. It’s nice to be able to get together every so often and have a group trip, especially when we all live so far away from each other!

Since today is Friday, I wanted my Foodie Friday post to be of all the food we ate while we were on our trip. Let me tell you, it was definitely better than I expected. I often resort to fast food and junk when we go on road trips but there were some spots that were surprisingly delicious and somewhat healthy.

Check them out!

OUTLAW GRILL (Sedona, AZ)

We came to this little spot after our morning hike and we had worked up a good appetite. They had bbq, sandwiches, burgers, and various items. The boyfriend and I decided to share an order of pork shanks (shown below) and a grilled cajun chicken caesar salad. The pork shanks were the highlight of our lunch! They were both crispy and tender at the same time, and dipping it in their house bbq sauce was amazing!!! Meaty goodness!

BLACK COW CAFE  (Sedona, AZ)

After lunch, we searched for ice cream spots because several of us were craving it! We found this popular ice cream spot, almost like an old fashion soda fountain, called Black Cow Cafe. When you walk in, you can smell the freshly made waffle cones, and that’s when you know it’s good! I got the malted vanilla ice cream in the waffle bowl. It really hit the spot! Super creamy and delicious!

STATE 48 TAVERN (Page, AZ)

After a long day of driving, we decided to stop by this spot in Page and not expecting too much. I ordered the battered avocado tacos and roasted beet salad. We all also shared the kimchi fries. EVERYTHING was so good! Such a great fusion restaurant that satisfied our hunger!

TORTAS DE FUEGO (Sedona, AZ)

For our last night, we wanted to grab a quick dinner and found this little place. Instead of getting tortas, which is what their known for, we all got different things. I got the trio plate, which gave me a crunchy taco, enchilada, and flauta. What can I say, I love variety! It was pretty good but nothing beats tacos in LA!

BESTIA

This is my second time at Bestia and the first time for my sister and her boyfriend! I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to come here again especially when it takes months and months to get a reservation. I think we booked this 3 months ago and our dinner time was still at 8:45pm- still pretty late for dinner in my mind! But who cares?!! Gotta come here as much as I can!

It’s one of the must-try spots in LA and definitely has a huge waitlist. I already knew what dishes I wanted to have again and what I wanted to try this time. We got plenty of small plates during our last visit, so I knew I wanted to try one of their pizzas and meat dishes.

Our server recommended the crostini with egg and black truffles, which was such an amazing choice to start off with! The eggs were creamy and the flavor of the truffle shavings made the dish unbelievably delicious! I highly recommend this! The pizza we chose was the Burrata which was nice and light with amazingly yummy cheese!

Another highlight of our dinner was the Tomahawk pork, which was a 37 oz piece of pork. They ran out of the porterhouse, so the alternative was the Tomahawk which won my boyfriend over the minute our server told us about it! There was a scrumptious and crispy crust on the pork and the meat itself was so tender and moist with just the right amount of bite. It was pretty pricey but worth it.

I’d say our visit to Bestia was successful because my sister and her boyfriend left the restaurant wanting to book another reservation! I don’t mind though!