Barrio Fiesta

My friends Josephine, Susan and I were in the valley last week and it was dinner time so we thought we would try the Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila. It was late at night so there were only a few people at the restaurant.

We were overwhelmed with the menu. We didn't know what not to order! Whatever we decided, we were going to share among us. Susan had to order her favorite, Pork Adobo.  Josephine had to have the Pancit Canton/ Bihon Mix. These are rice noodles mixed with Chinese noodles sauteed with pork and shrimp and mixed with shredded vegetables. I ordered the Tortang Alimango which is a Crab Omelette.  We unanimously ordered the Crispy Pata which is one of their house specials; selected pig knuckles seasoned and deep fried to a crisp golden brown. Steamed white rice accompanied our entrées.

Everything was wonderful. I have to mention that the Adobo was the best I've ever had. The sauce was thicker than normal.  We, of course, had lots of leftovers. It is unfortunate that this restaurant is not close to home.  We are hoping they will open a branch in our area sometime in the near future. Barrio Fiesta currently only has two locations. One is at 16150 Nordoff St. in North Hills and the other is at 1512 E. Amar Rd. #B in West Covina, California.

Dominiques's Kitchen

I haven't been to Dominique's for several months only because I have been very busy so a friend of mine and I had dinner there last night. My friend loves mussels but they didn't have them so that was out. I thought of their wonderful Cheese Fondue but she does not like alcohol so I figured she might not like it. Our server told us about their special appetizer. It was White Anchovies on Mango with a tomato gazpacho sauce. I was in heaven since my friend loves anchovies so we definitely had to order it.  I also ordered some of their Truffle Parmesan Fries which are always a hit. Those were addictive and I was glad they didn't come in a big bowl because we would have eaten them all. We also decided to split a Caesar salad.

The anchovies arrived and the presentation alone made us almost want to cry from joy! The white anchovies glistened on top of the slices of mangoes. It was absolutely delicious. Liza, Dominique's wife, came over to see how we liked it but before we could say anything, I'm sure she knew what we thought just by observing the expressions on our faces.

For our entrėe, we ordered the Shortribs and the Steak with brandy and peppercorn sauce. Both were as delicious as ever. We hardly ate our entrėes as we were getting full. It was just too much food.

We couldn't leave Dominique's Kitchen without dessert; hence the Baked Alaska with our special request: "burn it".  It was as wonderful as ever. In our excitement/delirious state from an abundance of deliciousness, I forgot to take a picture of the Baked Alaska.

Dominique's Kitchen is located at 522 S. Pacific Coast Hwy. in Redondo Beach, California.

Corner Bakery Cafe

After our workout at the gym, Amy, Nako and I decided to have our lemon and custard donut at krust in Redondo Beach. We got there after shortly after 7:00 a.m.  The place was closed for no apparent reason. There was no note on the door and not a soul was in the bakery. We were devastated. We didn't know where to go. On our drive back towards the gym, Nako noticed Corner Bakery was on his side of the street.  It has been at its current location for a long time. We all decided to go and give it a try.

Amy ordered a Croissant with her coffee. Nako wanted to try their  Buttermilk Pancakes. They were both happy with their orders. Nako still preferred the pancakes from Pancake House.

I ordered the Avocado Spinach Power Flat. I was impressed with myself thinking that I was ordering something healthy, with keywords like avocado, spinach, and power. Scrambled eggs with Parmesan and cheddar on a multigrain flatbread. I didn't want to be too healthy so I opted for sourdough in place of the multigrain bread. I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. So good that I would order it again the next time.

krust, being closed was a blessing in disguise or we would not have ventured to Corner Bakery Cafe. Corner Bakery has multiple locations all over the state.

French Cookie

This is exciting news for people that love a great value. I recently discovered this French Cookie that was in a nice package. It's made in France and it was cheap! The beautiful box was less than $8.00. I had no idea how much you got in the box or if it was any good. I just went by the price and the packaging. I bought it at H Mart, an Asian market in Torrance, California.

When I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised by the numerous packages inside. There were 2 flavors of the wafer type cookies; strawberry and my favorite, coffee. Inside each package was an individually wrapped cookie. The packaging alone would have cost a lot so I was beginning to think that the cookies would be a disappointment.

I am happy to admit that I was dead wrong. The cookies were delicious. Great for snacks, dessert or even breakfast. The strawberry was very good but the coffee was even better. It had a very strong coffee flavor. It would be great served with coffee ice cream which I haven't had yet but am looking forward to trying. This would be Sandi's worst nightmare since she hates anything coffee.

White Truffle Potato Chips

There's not much to say about these newly discovered Truffle Potato Chips other than that they are wonderful and highly addictive. Recently my friend Edna brought my attention to these chips. She bought a bag and finished the contents from Trader Joe's by the time she arrived home. That alone made me buy 6 bags.

If you are not fond of truffles, and I don't mean chocolate truffles, you may not like them. However, if you love truffles (the mushroom kind), then I can guarantee you will LOVE them. They are Trader Joe's Brand, made with Italian white truffles and fleur de sel sea salt.

Coco Ichibanya Curry House

Coco Ichibanya is a curry house that just opened in Torrance. They have 1,400 locations worldwide. Currently, they have locations in Irvine, Brentwood, and Koreatown. Sandi and I tried it a few weeks ago after Mertz had a whiff of it while her son had it for dinner. It took us awhile to decide what to get because the menu was quite extensive.

The pictures helped a lot in the process of ordering. They have a chart that shows the level of spiciness. We picked level two. I ordered the Chicken Cutlet and Sandi had the Pork Cutlet which we intended to split. They arrived with an abundance of curry sauce. They were both delicious but we both thought the chicken was better and most tender. The level two was still too spicy for us. I also thought that it might be a good idea to ask for the sauce on the side as it overpowered the rice, that was just my opinion. While waiting for our order I couldn't help but notice there was something stuck to all the tables. It looked like a doorbell. I asked our server about it and he did confirm that they were buzzers for when we needed something. What a clever idea. The question was would someone come or will it be like being in the hospital and nobody comes running in when one pushed the buzzer. We did put it to the test when we wanted our check. I pushed the button and someone came right away!

There are numerous items on the menu we would like to try next time. The Baked Keema Cheese French Fries looked too good. So did the Chicken Cutlet Nan Pizza.

Coco Ichibanya is located at 2455 Sepulveda Blvd. Unit C in Torrance, California.

Trader Joe's Coffee Cocoa Batons

We've all had rolled wafers with different fillings; chocolate, lemon, mocha, strawberry, cappuccino, etc. I bought one from Trader Joe's called Coffee Cocoa Batons. On the can, it read: Delicate rolled wafers filled with coffee and chocolate cream. That sold me right there.

I finally opened the can and tried them. If you like strong coffee, you will love these wafers. It is not too sweet and it has a very strong coffee flavor. They are good as snacks to go with your coffee or tea. They are best when crushed on your favorite ice cream or gelato. I have had them both ways and boy are they super delicious. I happened to have some of the vanilla wafers which I bought somewhere else so I crushed one of them and included it in my ice cream. Yummmm!