Avra

When Sugar invited me and Zohreh once again to Avra, I got all excited. Zohreh could not join us this time, so it was just me and Sugar.

I would go more often if I didn't have to drive the 405 Freeway. Sugar doesn't mind driving, so it was a real treat to just sit back and relax. People who know me know I hardly get excited over fish. I would rather have a good steak, veal, or pasta.

I was surprised to learn that they still had their prix-fixe lunch for $38 from 11:30-4:00. Our server, Derek, talked us into ordering the Greek Tomatini cocktail. This was vodka, basil, honey, cherry tomato, white balsamic vinegar, and dry vermouth. I practically made him promise we would like it, and he said, "Definitely yes." The drink was so good. Sugar and I enjoyed this drink. I especially loved the strong basil taste.

Before our appetizer choice, they brought a plate of hummus with olives, pita, and something very crunchy, which went well with the pita.

For our first course, Sugar picked the Fish Souvlaki: 2 grilled skewers of Chilean sea bass (that had an extra charge). I opted for the Spanakopita; oven-baked filo, fresh spinach, feta, and leeks. I remember having this before and loving it. After eating the 2 generous portions of these flaky Spanakopita, I was almost full.

Our main entrée was a whole Dorado fish served with Horta (Greek term for edible wild greens usually dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. I ate my entire fish! Sugar took some of hers home. The fish was so delicate and fresh, truly delicious. 

We had several choices for dessert. We opted for the Baklava, but not before asking if they made it in-house. The answer was yes, so we both had it. They were flaky indeed. But I only had one, so I took the other home.

After our meal, the manager Sean came to introduce himself. We praised him for the excellent service we received. By the time we left, the restaurant was packed. I could see why... excellent food and service at a more-than-reasonable price.

Avra is located at 233 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills, California.

Bettolino Kitchen

I received an email from Bettolino Kitchen regarding a South Bay Restaurant Week, which I was unaware of. It was a prix fixe menu, but it didn't really give you a choice; what they picked looked pretty good to me. My friend Yvonne invited me for lunch. I showed her the menu, and it looked good to her as well. 

Our server brought out their freshly baked bread, served with olive oil and herbs. I always ask for freshly grated Parmesan cheese to top the olive oil. 

We both ordered the special. For $35, we started with the Primi, which was Finnochio: wild arugula, thinly sliced fennel, shaved Parmesan with lemon, extra virgin olive oil. That salad was refreshing. The dressing was delightful.

Secondi was Lasagna Carciofi: handmade lasagna sheets layered with shredded chicken, spinach, artichoke hearts, ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan sauce.  We both enjoyed this a lot. It was a generous portion we couldn't finish, which was nice because we could both look forward to more of this delicious dish. I'm hoping they put this on their menu.

Dolce was a Pasta Cake; delicate pasta dough folded with sweet mascarpone, citrus, and vanilla sauce. We were both stuffed, so we had one bite and took it home. 

For your information, this special is only available from November 7th to the 16th. I hope you take advantage of this special, which is such a great deal. 

Bettolino Kitchen is located at 211 Palos Verdes Blvd. in Redondo Beach, California.

Crème de la Crêpe

One thing about this restaurant is that you can always count on good food. This is why I chose it to take Sister Becky for her belated birthday celebration.

Joelle, the owner, was our server. We were all debating which appetizer to order. Sandi and I have never had the Cheese Fondue at this restaurant so we ordered it and it was a hit! Three kinds of cheeses served with pieces of their wonderful French bread and cut apples. This would be the best way for me to eat an apple a day!

Both Sr. Becky and Sr. Janelle asked what I recommended, and I told them they should try the Chicken Dijon, which is the best. Sandi and I love it. I have said in past blogs that I never order chicken at a restaurant because it is just chicken, usually boring. But not here. I was happy they took my recommendation. Sandi ordered the Chicken as well. 

I had a hard time not ordering the chicken. I also love their Beef Bourguignon. I have not had it in a long time, so Beef Bourgunon it was. The meat was tender and pretty satisfying —real comfort food. 

We were all pleasantly full.  The two Sisters loved their chicken and commented on how juicy and tender not to mention flavorful it was. We ordered the chocolate cake which I've heard from our friend, Sugar, was delicious and not sweet.  While we waited for our dessert, the lights in the restaurant went off and there was a siren/alarm that went off. I looked outside to see what was happening.  All of a sudden we heard a recording of the song "Happy Birthday to You"..... and out came Joelle with the birthday cake. We were all surprised and Sister Becky was happy indeed.  She was hesitant to blow the candle as she didn't want to spread germs. We coaxed her into just blowing it and before she could think about it again, Sr. Janelle just blew it off. I guess they both got to make a wish.

Thank you, Joelle for making Sr. Becky's birthday special. 

Crème de la Crêpe has multiple locations. We went to the one in Rolling Hills, California.

Mama D's

This restaurant has been around for a long time though it just opened another location at the Rolling Hills Plaza in Torrance. I have tried it and indeed I liked it. 

A few days ago, Sandi and I thought of going back and this time we were lucky as it was just a few minutes past 5pm which is late for us. 

As soon as you enter, you are handed a slice of their Garlic Bread. Then we were asked if we wanted to play a game for a free entrée. Who wouldn't want to play a game? There was a timer and a large button. If you could stop the timer in 10 seconds, you win. It is not as easy as it seems. I was a few seconds late. Sandi tried and I told her to make sure she stops way before the 10 second mark. She did worse than me!

We decided to stay for dinner anyway. Before we decided what to order, they served as bread with olive oil and herbs. I ordered their house Cabernet but for some reason I did not like it. I mentioned it to Gerson, our server and he apologized and I asked for another Cabernet which he gladly exchanged without batting an eyelash. That impressed me because I've encountered servers in the past that were defensive and sometimes even having an attitude.

 I previously had ordered the Isabella's Angel Hair Pomodoro, which is just fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil, sautéed in olive oil. I did like it a lot as angel hair is hard to keep aldente but they managed to cook it just right. This time I tried the Kelsey's Capri Pasta which is the same as the Isabella's but with Buffalo mozzarella! Another thing that impressed me was my endless request for Parmesan Cheese. Gerson made sure I had enough. Sandi had Isaabella's Angel Hair Pomodoro and enjoyed it as well.

While we dined, Chris the owner came by and introduced himself. He is usually around and while most of his employees are young, they seemed to like what they were doing. It was not just a job. It didn't look like kids running around without their heads on. They were professional and yet fun. I applaud that. When we were done with our pasta, Gerson brought us 2 chocolate chip cookies which we thought was a very nice touch.

Mama D's is located at 2595 Airport Dr. in Torrance, California.

Steak Library

Cindy and Sandi wanted to go back to the Steak Library. How can I refuse, after all, we all celebrated my last birthday there. We were greeted by a young lady who seated us. I asked if Makato, the manager, was still there, though he mentioned he may be moving elsewhere. 

We already knew what we wanted to order when we got there. Since Sandi was going to order her regular Diet Coke, Cindy and I decided on a glass of wine. I wanted a glass of Cabernet, which was $18. She came back later to inform us they were out of it, the next price of Cabernet was $24. That irritated me. A good restaurant should not run out of something on its menu, especially if we were the only ones there at the time. Sure, it could happen, but if I were the manager or the sommelier, I would have offered the next price cabernet for the price of the original one that the customer ordered. Our server apologized as she informed us that she was new. The only other server was another young lady tending the bar.

They served us good bread with 2 kinds of butter. We asked if we needed 2 orders of the Cotton Candy A5 Wagyu. It now comes in a skewer, and she said one order was just 1 skewer, so we would need 3 skewers. It used to come in a bowl, but now it would have been too much to get 3 skewers. We just settled for the Caesar Salad for our starters. We ordered the Truffle French Fries to go with our steak.

We all decided on the Filet Mignon cooked medium. Cindy's was perfect. Sandi was a bit on the rare side. Mine was so thick that I was sure it would be rare, and rare it was. Our server again apologized and took ours back. It came back a lot better. I could not finish mine, and the last 5 bites were rare. Though the steaks had a very good flavor, I could not help but notice how salty it was. I do like things on the salty side, and when I think it's salty, it is very salty, and Sandi did agree.

We did not even want to see the dessert menu. We all knew we were going to order the Banana Foster, and this we did not share. We all ordered our very own.  That did not disappoint.

Steak Library was always a gem of a place with very good steak, and the service was impeccable. The service has declined. They need a good manager. They did not charge us for one of the desserts, which was nice, but at that point, we all thought it was not the same.

Steak Library is located at 1937 Pacific Coast Hwy. in Lomita, California.

Vendetta Rossa Fresh Grill

I hadn't heard of or seen this restaurant in Lomita until recently. Sandi and I decided to try it. We were surprised to discover that it was just for take-out.

And so we stood there, studying the menu. We both decided on the Chicken Kebab Plate. We waited patiently and finally got our order. We were in a hurry to get home as we were starving. 

The plate came with 2 sticks of Chicken Kebab, salad of your choice, and rice. You also had the option to pick 2 sauces: Tzatziki, Chile, Garlic, or Tahini. We did order a side of fries to try. An order of a plate was way too much for one meal. We easily could have split one order, especially since we had the fries. I did not get to take any pictures at the time because, as I mentioned, we were starving. I managed to take a picture of our leftovers, which we happily had the following day.

We had to go back once more because we enjoyed it so much. The excuse was that I forgot to take pictures, so we had to have a repeat performance. 

This time, we ordered the Super Plate, which wasn't on their regular menu (found it on order.toasttab.com). The plate came with 1 chicken skewer, 1 steak skewer, and 1 kofta kebab, served with rice and salad, and a choice of 2 sauces. This was perfect and plenty for the two of us. Their chicken and steak were tender, juicy, and just delightful. 

Lo and behold, when I started writing this blog and looked for pictures, I could not believe I had once again forgotten to take a picture of the Super Plate! Another excuse to go back.

We are happy to have discovered Vendetta Rossa. They are located at 2418 Lomita Blvd., Suite F, in Lomita, California.

Karaköy Güllüoğlu

While in Istanbul, Sandi and I were ready to go to the Baklava store that was recommended to us, Hafiz Mustafa, which has numerous locations in Turkiye, Dubai, and London. It has been around since 1864. Karaköy Güllüoğlu has fewer locations, with one in Athens, Greece. 

When we asked the trusted people we met at our hotel, they unanimously recommended we go to Karaköy Güllüoğlu instead. And so we did. We ended up going twice during our stay. They had the most incredible flaky baklava (the regular one) and the chocolate. After the first bite of the chocolate, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. No baklava can be better than this! They were not overly sweet, flaky on top, and you could almost taste each layer of the phyllo. The bottom is a bit chewy. 

We were told later that their ice cream is also very good. So on our second and last visit, we tried the ice cream. Sandi had the Baklavah Dondurma flavor and the Karadutlu Dondurma (Black Mulberry). She was not crazy about the Baklavah Dondurma but enjoyed the Karadutlu. I had the Karamelli Dondurma and the Limonlu Dondurma, which I loved. Their ice cream is so different. It is made from goat and cow's milk, salep (a flour from orchid tubers), and sugar. They all had a chewy texture and had a resistance to melting.

I highly recommend this place for Baklava. The family has been making baklava since 1843. They have been around for 21 years before Hafiz Mustafa. So they must be doing something right!