Showing posts with label west LA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label west LA. Show all posts

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Tudor House, Santa Monica, CA

Tudor House
1403 Second Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-451-4107
http://www.thetudorhouse.com/
Bakery, breakfast, lunch, and tea room. Not open for dinner.
Plenty of surface and structure parking nearby for 3rd Street Promenade.

Visited: February 2010

This review is of the numerous pies that you can buy either in the Bakery or have served in the restaurant for Lunch. They're quite the value when purchased in the Bakery - prices range between $2.95 -$3.95. In the restaurant, they're $8.50 and served with Tudor House Salad. They're easy to reheat in the oven or toaster oven, 350*F for about 10 minutes.

All of the pies have a very rich crust, and are quite filling.

Cornish Pastie - ground beef and veggies in a nice gravy. This was one of our favorites with a great flavor.

Beef and Onion - a very fine ground meat and onion filling; almost felt like mushroom duxelles. This was a little salty, and you definitely need the crust to help cut the saltiness. Overall, though, this was one of our favorites.

Beef and Potato - a nice mix of meat and potatoes. This also was a good choice.

Steak and Kidney - chunks of steak and kidney. Rather bland.

Lamb Vindaloo - it was definitely a lamb curry of some sort, but did not taste like vindaloo.

Lamb and Mint - well, I wanted to try this one, but it confirmed that I don't like mint with my lamb. I ended up picking out the meat chunks - those were tender and tasty.

Vegetable Curry - A nice mix of potatoes and veggies. A different texture than some of the pies in that you could feel chunks instead of the feeling being smooth. Nice spice flavor.

Chicken Curry - a soft mix of chicken and veggies. It has a nice little spicy kick.

Chicken and Mushroom - a nice blend of chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. But like all of the other pies, there's just enough sauce to hold it together; no need to worry about any gravy spilling out.

Spinach and Cheese - very very cheesey (a bright orange kinda cheese). Too salty and rich.

Spinach Artichoke - also very cheesey. I ended up picking out the artichokes.

Pork Pie - plain, and the chunks of pork were rather firm.

Scotch Pie - a mixture of ground beef and spices. This was also a very tasty pie.

I'm glad we took the opportunity to try all of the pies. It was interesting that some were so tasty, others bland. Some I would definitely get again, others definitely not. Overall, I would choose to purchase them in the bakery to take home instead of being served in the restaurant.

Ye Olde King's Head Afternoon Tea, Santa Monica, CA

Ye Olde King's Head
116 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-451-1402
http://www.yeoldekingshead.com/
Plenty of nearby lot of structure parking.
Casual dining and pub.

Visited: Afternoon Tea: February 2010
Visited: Pub, several times

Ye Olde King's Head has Afternoon Tea every Saturday from 2-5. We're always looking for a fun place to have English Afternoon Tea, so we were glad to be invited here for a special event.

There is one set Traditional Afternoon Tea menu (meat or vegetarian) for $15.95 meaning that you don't have a choice between how large a tea meal you want or any options within the menu.

You do have a choice of tea: Earl Grey, Darjeeling, or a House Blend of black teas. Each person gets their own pot with a shared tea leaf strainer. Milk and cute little sugar cubes are on the table. They do refill your pot with hot water if desired, and that was a nice touch.

On to the meal...Because we were a large group, the tiered trays were brought to be shared between 2 or 3 persons, which was nice to conserve space. However, we did end up with quite a number of tiered trays on the table and after a while it was hard to see each other.

The top plate of our tea tier was a scone with what looked like currants but tasted more like raisins. The scone was served with a dish of jam (to share) and what I thought was a dish of Devonshire cream but was in fact cream cheese! Quite shocking, I say. A nice dish of butter would have been better. But since I don't like either jam or dairy spread on my scone, I thought the scone was rather plain and dry.

Also on the top tray was a mini quiche and a slice of a sausage roll. Both of which were warm and very tasty. It would have been nice to have a full sausage roll, as that is something uniquely British and would have been a great treat.

The next tier down were our sandwiches. Overall, the ratio of bread to filling was very high on the fluffy bread side. The sandwich flavors were cucumber-cream cheese, egg salad, and something called Indian chutney with grated cheddar cheese (I thought this was very odd, kinda sweet and salty, but some others seemed to really like it).

The bottom tier was dessert. There were two different types of sliced cake. Very tender cake with cream fillings.

Overall, it was fun to try out their Afternoon Tea, but I won't be back.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Tito's Tacos, Culver City, CA

Tito's Tacos
11222 Washington Place, Culver City, CA 90230
310-391-5780
http://www.titostacos.com/
Located just west of Sepulveda Blvd. They have their own parking lot and street parking, however during meal times, parking can be difficult.
Fast food. Order and pick up at the inside or outside counter. Some covered dining. Cash only.

Visited: Numerous times over the years. Dinner, Take-out.

You know it's good if the cops eat here. Well, judging by the lines, everyone eats here!

The menu is limited, but everything they do is good. They have Burritos (bean, BRC, beef), Tamales ($2.70, beef or chicken), Enchilidas ($2.15, Cheddar) and Tostadas ($2.15, beans), but my favorite is the Tito's Taco with Cheese ($2.20) - you must be clear to say with cheese if that's how you want it. The tacos are a crisp shell filled with shredded beef, lettuce, and Cheddar cheese - simple as that.

All orders come with a large portion of chips and their homemade fresh tomato salsa. The salsa is so refreshing, and goes great with their Refried Beans ($1.50). They also have Chili Beans, but I prefer the refritos.

The perfect dinner is 2 tacos with cheese, an order of refried beans, plus the chips and salsa. That means dinner is $5.90. Amazing. While you can order a soda to go, I recommend taking your Tito's Tacos home and opening a bottle of merlot. It sounds odd, but the combination is wonderful.

Diddy Riese Cookies, Los Angeles, CA

Diddy Riese Cookies
926 Broxton Ave, Westwood, Los Angeles, CA
310-208-0048
http://www.diddyriese.com/
Pay and metered parking available throughout Westwood.
Fast food. Limited seating.

Visited: Numerous times over the last 10 years. Take-out.

Diddy Riese's is a mainstay of Bruin life, located in Westwood Village about a block from the UCLA campus.

Their cookies ($0.35) are great - my favorites are the chocolate chip and cinnamon sugar, but they also have 8 other traditional flavors to choose from: choc chip with walnuts, white choc chip, white choc chip mac nut, peanut butter, double chocolate with nuts, oatmeal rasin, chocolate with white choc chip, and candy (like M&Ms). Three cookies are $1.00, Half Dozen are $2.00, and a Diddy Dozen is $3.75,

They also serve brownies, Dreyer's Ice Cream and now offer Hawaiian Shave Ice.

But for a real treat, get the Ice Cream Sandwich ($1.50): your choice of two cookies and your choice of ice cream. My favorite combo is 2 cinnamon sugar cookies with vanilla. YUM!

Diddy Riese's is open until midnight, and til 1am on Fridays and Saturdays. Don't be surprised if there's still a line at closing time.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

The Dinner Detective, Courtyard Marriott, Culver City, CA

The Dinner Detective
Courtyard Los Angeles Westside
6333 Bristol Parkway, Culver City, CA 90230
http://www.thedinnerdetective.com/
http://www.marriott.com/

Visited: January 2010, Dinner, Dine-in

This is a combo review of the dinner theater, The Dinner Detective, and of the venue, the Courtyard Marriott.

The Dinner Detective is an interactive, part scripted/part improv, murder mystery theater presentation. After you've checked in, you're asked to fill out a nametag with your alias for the evening. Then during the reception, you're given instructions to begin 'interrogating' your fellow guests - some of which are in fact, guests like you, others are actors mingling with the group as fellow guests.

The reception had a cash bar for soda, beer, wine and cocktails, and open service of coffee and hot tea. The hot hors d'oeuvres were veggie spring rolls and veggie quesadillas. Both were tasty, but a bit soft - the travails of serving them in a chafing dish, I suppose.

Dinner started with a nice mixed green salad with mushrooms, carrots, cucumbers, and cherry tomatoes. A light vinaigrette was available on the table, as were rolls and butter.

Between courses, mystery action occurred, and during the meal, we were given clues to review and opportunity to discuss with our fellow guests.

We had a choice of entree (which you reserve when you purchase your tickets), and we wanted to try each they had to offer: tri tip with peppercorn sauce, Alaskan king salmon with lemon butter, and chicken marsala. The servings were very generous (for example, you got a whole chicken breast not just a half), and came with rather plain mashed potatoes, and large servings of carrots and broccoli. The meats were tender and their accompanying sauces were tasty, but we wished we had more of the sauce. There was also a pasta primavera (vegetarian) option that someone else at our table had, but they were not very pleased with it.

The murder mystery comes to a crescendo during the next break, and over dessert, you are given an answer sheet to identify who you think is the killer and why. Dessert was a very tasty double fudge chocolate cake served over caramel and raspberry sauces.

As we're wrapping up dessert, the detectives return to announce who did it and why. And then the host announces the winner who correctly deduced the killer and motive.

It was all very light-hearted and good fun, and the food was pretty good, too. The service seemed right on time and very responsive. I would recommend the show and the venue.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Paco's Tacos, Los Angeles, CA

Paco's Tacos Cantina
6212 Manchester Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045
310-645-8692
http://www.pacoscantina.com/
Located between Sepulveda and Truxton. Free parking behind the restaurant; shares the lot with other businesses and can be crowded at meal time.
A second location at 4141 S. Centinela Ave, LA.
Casual. Full bar. At dinner, can be dark inside.

Visited: Lunch and Dinner, Dine-in
Most recently: November 2009


Paco's has some really nice Mexican food basics (Enchiladas and Tacos, and other items in combination) as well as some tasty "Regional" and "Native" plates such as the Cochinita Pibil de Yucatan, pork chunks marinated in a special BBQ sauce served with rice, beans, and tortillas.

The real reason to come to Paco's is for the flour tortillas. They are handmade fresh throughout the day, and served warm with crisp, flaky and chewy textures in all the right places.

This location is near LAX and worth the stop if you are heading to or from the airport.

Friday, August 21, 2009

Fritto Misto, Hermosa Beach, CA

Fritto Misto
316 Pier Ave, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
310-318-6098
Metered street parking which can be quite busy during the summer and any Fri/Sat.
They have another location in Santa Monica at 601 Colorado Ave.
Casual nice. Beer and wine.

Visited: Several times, Dinner, Dine-in
Most recently: August 2009


I've been to both locations, however I've eaten at the Hermosa location more often.

They start you off with a warm crusty bread and cold butter. I'm such a sucker for warm bread.

For appetizers, they have a Fried Calamari in two sizes ($6.50, $10.50). It's fine, nicely cooked, but nothing special. I wouldn't order it again.

However, the Fried Pillows ($6.00) are amazing. These little fried pasta pillows filled with ricotta and basil are served with cocktail sauce and a creamy peppery and garlic mayo. These little guys are addictive. You can also get these unfried as the basis for your pasta entree.

They also do have a Fritto Misto platter ($11.50), however due to its size, I have yet to order it. Maybe I need to go with a larger group of people. It includes fried shrimp, calamari, artichoke hearts and seasonal veggies.

While its name is Fritto Misto, it really is a pasta place. You can get almost any combination of pasta, sauce, and toppings that you could possibly want. Each component is added together to create your final dish and price. I think it's a bit pricey to do it this way, but then again, it's a custom order.

Here's an example of a plate I've created: whole wheat pasta $6.25 (it has an interesting shape that holds sauce pretty well) with pink sauce $2.25, and eggplant and wild mushrooms $3.25 for a total of $11.75 for a vegetarian dish.

They also have several dishes already devised for you, and those are pretty good too. In all, the portions are very generous.

The Cajun Seared Chicken ($10.50) has a nice kick to it. It's blackened chicken breast pieces mixed with a garlic cream sauce and tossed with a red bell pepper fettucini. Overall, it's a relatively simple dish but it packs a lot of punch.

The Pasta Pancetta ($12.00) is absolutely heavenly. It's an amazing mix of crispy pancetta, sun dried tomatoes, and sweet caramelized onions with the garlic cream sauce and tossed with tomato fettucini. The only thing is that it is a very rich dish, and about half way through, I was ready to box it up. It did make for great leftovers, though!

We've also had the Italian Sausage & Roasted Red Peppers ($10.75) which is a generous portion Italian turkey sausage, peppers, caramelized onions and marinara sauce. It comes with linguini, but we ordered the whole wheat pasta, and that was just fine.

Also pay attention to the Daily Specials. I had the beef tenderloin that was marinated in hoisin, and served over egg fettucini with caramelized onions and mushrooms. Very very tasty, and the meat was incredibly tender. With the sprinkle of fresh herbs, it tasted almost like a beef stroganoff.

In all, it's a fun place to come back to frequently because there are so many options to mix and match on the menu. They offer beer and wine, as well as have free corkage.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Sonny McLean's, Santa Monica, CA

Sonny McLean's
2615 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-449-1811
http://www.sonnymcleans.com/
A few parking spaces out back, otherwise you're on your own finding street parking on Wilshire, 26th Street or Princeton.
Casual. Full bar.

Visited: Friday, March 06, 2009, Lunch, Dine-in


Sonny McLean's is an Irish Pub and Restaurant with a definitive Boston slant. If you are a Bostonian in LA missing your roots, this is the place to come. They feature Boston sports, lots of memorabilia, even some seats from Fenway. They also have pool tables and darts.

This used to be Red Setter; if you've been there, you know where Sonny's is.

So we just had a few things...

The appetizer portion of the Fried Clams ($12.00) - these are amazing. Super fresh and plump. Not those chewy things you usually get. It comes with coleslaw and tartar sauce. This portion is huge, and enough for a meal. But they also have the Fried Clam Dinner for $16.95 that includes fries.

The basket of Sweet Potato Fries ($4.95) were plentiful and very tasty. I just love sweet potatoes this way - crisp on the outside but soft and sweet on the inside.

And the Hamburger ($7.95) was huge! It's a half pound burger on a potato roll served with fries. It comes with the usual lettuce, tom, onions, pickle and regular potato fries. Quite a meal.

They have 30 beers on tap, plus more bottled, and a full bar. A quiet place to come for happy hour; a bustling place to come on the weekend.
--T