It’s summer! As exciting as it is to not have classes and
exams, I’m going to miss USC. I have made such good friends this year and had
so many adventures, so I’m sad to see everyone disperse. I’m especially sad to
see the seniors leave. The Class of 2012 is pretty awesome. Interestingly
enough, for me summer doesn’t mean more food escapades. Being at home means
more home cooked meals by my mom and less outings, or at least fun outings (my
parents aren’t foodies and like to stick to the familiar like Applebee’s or
Souplantation—fine establishments, but not interesting enough to tickle my
fancy). My dad and mom are also trying to be healthier and so baking is not
welcomed here (sad day). My sister’s bridal shower is coming up though and I
volunteered to be in charge or food, so that’s going to be exciting. I’m going
to be cooking and baking for 30 people! But until that happens, all I can do is
reminisce on the last food adventures I had…
Good ol’ Groupon. So a few months ago, my friend Todd and I
decided to buy a Groupon for Samba. I’ve only had Brazilian BBQ once and it’s
just fun experience. Plus, half off of Brazilian BBQ is a steal! The food was
overall pretty good and the panoramic ocean view of the bay was pretty spectacular,
but I have to say I was disappointed in the variety of meat they had. Libra
Brazilian Steakhouse (the other Brazilian BBQ place I’ve been to) had a crazy
list of different meats. However, Samba’s bacon wrapped turkey is unbelievable.
I thought it was scallops because it was so soft and melted in my mouth like
butter. Simply amazing.
Moving on to Sweet Rose Creamery. I’ve been wanting to go to
this ice cream shop for a while now. I had a tab open for months and it just
lingered there ‘cause I refused to close it until I went (I thought I’d forget
about it if I closed it to be honest). Luckily I know some boys that love ice
cream and spontaneous adventures! So during dead week (USC gives their students
a few days to study before finals hit), I got a band of some super nerdy, but
awesome, guys to come with me. My friend Josh and I shared The Bacon Sundae. To
be honest, I didn’t get this sundae ‘cause I love bacon, but ‘cause I thought
it would photograph really well. And it did! It was good though. The huge bacon
garnish looked good, but it was a bit too bacon-y for Josh’s liking. Sweet Rose
also has unique flavors like basil and olive oil. I’d love to go back and try
some other flavors in the future. More fun adventures to come in Santa Monica!
Now we’re going to take a trip two hours south to San Diego!
Well, I’m back home for the summer and one of my closest friends, Lucia, and I
got to hang out last week. We decided to splurge a bit and go to The Cottage.
This is a super cute restaurant and guess what… it looks like a cottage! I read
reviews on Yelp about the ridiculous long waits, but it wasn’t too bad on a
Friday late morning. And! To add to its cuteness… there were blankets in a
basket set aside for people who have to wait a long time. Lucia got Stuffed
French Toast, while I tried Eggs La Jolla. I never had eggs benedict before,
but the dish came highly recommended on Yelp. Lucia’s French toast was pretty
darn delicious. So fluffy and just the right amount of sweetness. My dish was
good too, but because I’ve never had eggs benedict before I wasn’t sure if it
was made super well or not. I wish the hollandaise sauce had more flavor. It
was just creamy. As for the eggs, it was good and soft and didn’t have that an
unappealing taste. I’m not a big fan of yolky eggs, but this was good. I do
wish the overall dish was easier to eat though and the potatoes on the side
were a disappointment. I’d say that environment gets a 5/5, but the food (at
least my dish) gets more of a 3/5.
And lastly, Extraordinary Desserts. Man-o-man do I love this
place! I’ve been here many times before, but I have not written about it yet.
Extraordinary Desserts in located in Downtown San Diego. There are only two
shops—one is in Little Tokyo and is more intimate and good for a date, the
other is close to Balboa Park and is super cute and great for afternoon tea.
Now, I totally think an Extraordinary Desserts should be opened in LA ‘cause it
would do so well. The desserts are fabulous (yes, fab-u-lous) and beautifully
made. The garnishes often include flowers, fruit, and gold foil. I got the
Napoleon this time around and Lucia got the Viking (not photographed, but
basically a crazy chocolate layered cake). The Napoleon is pretty messy to eat,
but oh so good. The whipped cream is extremely fresh and light. Typically I
like to sit down and eat at the actual shop, but we were tight on time so we
had to take it to go. If you do eat there, they plate the dessert beautifully
with some type of fruit syrup design. Their teas are pretty awesome too. Even
with to go, I got raspberry syrup on the side. Man I love this place! If any of
you are in San Diego, check it out!
In case y’all don’t know, the rest of the summer I’ll be
jetting off to Taiwan for my cousin’s wedding, then spending two months in
Santa Monica for a local mission trip, and then my sister’s getting married! I
don’t know if I’ll get to go out to anymore hip restaurants any time soon, so
this is au revoir for three months (let’s be honest though, I suck at posting
regularly so this hiatus isn’t that big of a deal or even noticeable). I hope
to post about my sister’s bridal shower and wedding, but no promises.
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One more note! I’m thinking about changing food blog name
and look. My roommate, Samantha, and I came up with “Mochi Lips.” It’s a long,
but funny, story (perhaps one day I’ll share it). Anywho, I’d like to make this
blog more modern and mature, but if you like the cutesy-ness of it, let me
know. Hrm… my sister also calls me “Bubs” so that’s a potential name… No matter
what, the food blogging will not end! =)
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