FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Monstah Lobstah

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Earlier today, Val and I had a conversation that went something like this:

Val:  What do you think about coming over to my place and walking to Monstah Lobstah and getting crab legs for dinner?

Me:  I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.

We headed over to Monstah Lobstah on a mission.  We ordered a bucket of beers and a pound of crab legs each.  About halfway through, we both had the same fear that we were still going to be hungry when all the crab leg cracking was over.  We ordered hush puppies and onion rings and filled our bellies with bread-y goodness.

Val and I are both huge Crab Shack fans, but are totally on the Monstah Lobstah train after tonight.  Not only is it much closer, but it’s cheaper, the sides (especially the hush puppies) are amazing, and did I mention it’s closer?  We’re totally coming back next week for all-you-can-eat crab leg night!

Do crab legs fill you up?  Or do you find that you have to order sides in order to complete the meal?

Hello Santa Monica!

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This trip has been a bit of a whirlwind tour of LA county. After my final day in conference land, I hopped in a cab and headed to Santa Monica.

I met Callahan at his office where we did a quick exchange of hugs for keys. I downloaded the mapquest app, looked for a lunch spot on Urban Spoon, and was on my way – true iTourist style.

I had been meaning to try Real Food Daily for quite some time and, by chance, it was the first restaurant that Urban Spoon suggested. Fate? I think so!

I ordered the VLT wrap sans T with a pressed salad and a Russian tea cookie for dessert. Everything was stellar, including the location. I’m totally crushing on Santa Monica right now!

Overdue Introduction

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Ariel.  Baily.  This is your introduction.

When Baily moved from Tampa to LA in January, I introduced her to Ariel via Facebook.  But a big city, conflicting schedules, and a missing link (me!) made it tough for an official introduction.

The three of us finally met up last night for dinner at a fancy shmancy restaurant near my downtown hotel.  A fancy shmancy Water Grill with a 50 percent discount since Baily is a supervisor at Ocean Avenue (a relative of Water Grill).

We let Baily do her expert ordering thing and ended up with quite the spread: The Grand Iced Shellfish Platter, Diver Scallops, Rock Fish, and Fromage Blanc Cheesecake.

The platter allowed us to sample a huge portion of the raw bar menu, which was phenomenal.  I have a whole new appreciation for oysters with stats beyond the traditional oysters on the half shell that I order at local dives back home.  And both main course dishes were loaded with exotic mushrooms, making the entire table pleased with our selections.

And the cheesecake?  Yum.  The dessert, in its entirety, was prepared in-house and you could totally tell.  The vanilla bean ice cream was the best ice cream I have ever had the pleasure of trying.  No joke.

Even though I’m looking forward to being home and getting back into my routine… I’m really enjoying being the total foodie that I used to be, even if it’s only a temporary thing.

Lunch Date!

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I have no food in my house.  As in, I ate popcorn for dinner last night.  And not that I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it, but I totally wouldn’t have eaten popcorn for dinner given a more meal-worthy option.  So today when thoughts of lunch time rolled around, there was no cruising home to make my own meal.

Almost as quickly as it it dawned on me that my fridge was food-less, I remembered that Val’s new job is much closer to my office and we hadn’t had our first lunch date yet.  We met half-way at Thai Terrace, where we were greeted with a small soup and veggie spring roll – standard lunch special treats.

I ordered the Tofu Pad See Ew and Val ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken.  It was the first time I had deviated from their Pad Thai and I couldn’t have been happier with my decision.  Level 4 spicy was right on the money.  Basil and crisp veggies were goodness gracious yum.  We were in-and-out within the hour.  And…  they served some fried sweetness as we waited for the check.

Thai Terrace is all about distracting you with snacks while waiting, which means I’m all about Thai Terrace.

Now I’m off for a Friday afternoon run before meeting Val and Amber for dinner and cocktails!  All this DC-ness has left me missing my friends.

Happy Weekend!!