It’s been way too long. Ridiculously long in fact. No, I did not abandon my food blog, but life has gotten a bit crazy and writing about food hasn’t been on the forefront of my mind. What has been on the forefront of my mind is grad school. I spent the last year applying to UK theatre conservatories for an MA in Theatre Design and then spent a month in the UK in the summer interviewing with the schools. However my crazy schedule hasn’t stopped me from eating at great places! So... Please prepare yourself for a super long entry with lots of photos (what else is new?)!
Let’s first talk about Komodo. For those of you who haven’t stepped into this wonderful restaurant or laid eyes on its black food truck, Komodo serves Californian and Asian fusion dishes (that’s a mouthful!). I’m talking Asian spices with familiar SoCal ingredients like guacamole and fresh veggies. Needless to say, I love their food (being Taiwanese and born and raised in SoCal might play a huge factor). I got to try this gem’s truck first, but I got to say I like their restaurant a lot more. There’s more choices AND their fountain drinks are PHENOMENAL. I adore the Lychee Lemonade, but the Passion Fruit Green Tea and Mango Citrus are also great. I had the MP3, which is a burrito filled with top sirloin, seared quail eggs, tater tots and garlic aioli. I was really craving comfort food that night and so this really hit the spot. I also shared truffle fries with a friend. I’m more of a thick-cut fries kind of girl, but I can’t complain with this side’s flavors.
Moving on to Top Round, I really wanted to try this little joint because LAist had an article about their shakes (I love pistachio ice cream and they have a shake version). Funny enough, I didn’t have a shake when I got there (the food is pretty heavy by itself). What I did have was the Bar-B-Cue sandwich (provel cheese, friend onion, jalapeño straws, bar-b-cue sauce, all between onion buns) and Dirty Fries (fries with gravy, provel cheese, carmelized onions and Round sauce). Sad to say, I was a bit disappointed. I hoped that the Bar-B-Cue sandwich would have some kind of kick to it because of the jalapeños, but it all kind of melted together into one goopy mess. The dirty fries were also a bit disappointing because the fries were all super thin and crispy (again, I’m a thick-cut fries gal) and it all quickly cooled, making the whole thing a ball of cheese and gravy. The restaurant is cute and I was with great company, but I’ll probably be back only to try the pistachio shake.
Tea Rose Garden is a cute high tea spot in Pasadena that my friend Melissa introduced to me. Nestled on a little street of shops, you would hardly notice it. However, when you walk in, you’re presented with a kind of gaudy, but quirky and lovely cafe. The owners try to make the inside look like the outside by installing a fountain in the middle of room and painting the ceiling sky blue. Tea Rose Garden feels like your grandma invited you over for tea because all the cups and saucers are mismatched and there is wonderful clutter of flowery decor everywhere you look. I expect that when I’m 80, this is what my house will look like. I personally like places like this, places with personality bursting out its seams. The food was also pretty good and loved how they gave us PLENTY of Double Devon Cream. You can never have enough cream with an English scone.
And lastly, let me introduce you to BLD. One of my friends treated me to this swanky restaurant and you can definitely sense how high-end this place is by the price on its menus and the celebrities that line up to eat there (spotted Minka Kelly there and yes, she’s just as pretty as she looks on TV). I had a chorizo tortilla española, which is a Spanish omelette filled with chorizo. Not only was the omelette delicious, but the roasted potatoes were FANTASTIC. I would eat a plate of just those potatoes if I could. Everything was seasoned just right and I can understand why such a long line forms every morning.
When I was in the UK this summer, I didn’t go on any new food excursions, but I revisited my favorite markets and restaurants and got to cook a bit when I was WWOOF-ing in Wales (WWOOF stands for Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms and it’s a program where volunteers work on a farm and are housed and fed in return). However, I did get to see Yotam Ottolenghi! Ottolenghi is a celebrity chef in the UK, who’s dishes are inspired by Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean flavors. I got to eat at one of his restaurants last year with a friend and was quite impressed by his flavor combinations. I was just wandering around London one evening and decided to stop by the new Foyles bookshop. Just so happened that Ottolenghi was opening the cookery section that night, so I got to hear him give a little speech and snap a few photos. Pretty cool, eh?
Oh! And I forgot to tell you that I did in fact get into grad school! I’ll be attending the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for MA Theatre Design (Scenography). School starts in September and I don’t know if I’ll have any time to blog to be honest. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll pop back to write about some traditional Welsh food!
