La Bocca Felice

I can't seem to stop blogging about this restaurant. Wayne and Tiffany were excited to experience the Italian cuisine of La Bocca Felice since they had never been there.

I brought a bottle of Champagne to share among us as the corkage is still free. Nima, the owner, came to our table and popped the bottle himself as he brought us Champagne glasses. He informed us of their specials that evening. The lobster was one of them, and though I was set on ordering the Vitello Marsala, as soon as I heard Wayne wanting to order the lobster, I immediately changed my mind. I did not want to be drooling over his lobster, so that decision was a no-brainer. I also have had that in the past, and it was outstanding.

For appetizers, we decided to share an order of the Capesante, jumbo scallops seared with dried cranberries and pine nuts cooked in Marsala wine topped with shaved Parmesan, and also ordered Fried Calamari. Everyone enjoyed these appetizers. 

Tiffany ordered what we suggested, which was the Pappardelle Short Rib Ragu. She loved the pasta! Sandi decided on the Vitello Marsala this time and asked for a side of pasta. They were very generous with the pasta. She, too, loved her dish. 

We did not order any dessert because Sandi had made a Peach Crisp the day before, and we thought of having some with a scoop of ice cream when we got home which we all enjoyed. 

La Bocca Felice is still a favorite. They have great food and service. They are located at 301 W. 6th Street in San Pedro, California.

Tatel

Ramon and John have never been to Tatel and when they mentioned they wanted to try it, Sandi and I volunteered to accompany them. They were in for a treat at this wonderful Spanish restaurant. I told them about the prix-fixe they have which is very reasonable and it includes their famous cheescake.

The reservation was made by Ramon and as soon as we walked in there was my favorite server, Yago who immediately called my name like we were long-lost friends. It's nice that I don't have to be an Angelina Jolie to be recognized. We sat at our usual table outside which is not totally outside since it is still under the roof. 

Yago brought us their regular menu so I asked for their prix-fixe menu and he informed us that they only have that on weekdays and this being a Saturday, it was not available. That was a disappointment so I just willingly suggested to the 2 men what I thought they should try. They happily considered my suggestion. John ordered my favorite Potato Salad with tuna. For his entrée, he went with the Prime Beef Tenderloin which looked good. Ramon ordered Green Bean Salad w/ Miso dressing. He also decided to try their famous Iberico Pork Loin. For sides, they both decided to share some Sautéed Spinach and some Brussels Sprouts. They enjoyed their selection of dishes. Before we even got started, we were served a delicious cold and refreshing Tomato Soup.

Sandi and I split their delicious Roasted Beet Salad with oranges, avocado, hazelnut with a light coconut dressing. For our entrée, I asked Sandi if she was game in ordering the Spanish Wild Sea Bass in Salt Crust for two. The server came to show us the fish in the salt crust and moved to a corner and proceeded to crack the crust and fillet the fish. I would have preferred for him to do it table-side as this is part of the presentation/entertainment. This is how they served it in Sorrento, Italy when I first had it 20 years ago. He placed a linen napkin on top of the fish and tapped it with the back of a spoon. He then came with the finished product, served with roasted tomatoes and lemon. The roasted garlic was just as delicious when eaten with the fish. The tomatoes were so sweet. I could definitely order this again. 

For the finale, we had to have their most famous Cheescake. I have said this several times that even if you are not a cheesecake fan, this will be the exception since there is nothing like it.

Unless you live in Ibiza or Madrid in Spain, you will not be able to experience the wonderful Spanish cuisine at Tatel except for the one in Beverly Hills, California.

Truxton's American Bistro

After seeing the movie Mack & Rita with Diane Keaton last week, which was a terrible movie, Zohreh, Sandi, and I ended up at Truxton's American Bistro. Zohreh has never been there, so it was a perfect place to go.

Sandi and I have been there numerous times and knew what was very good. We started with the Buffalo Cauliflower, spicy buffalo sauce with bleu cheese crumbles, and green onion served with a ranch dressing. We all enjoyed that.

 I love their Sweet and Spicy Shrimp tacos in corn tortillas with melted pepper jack cheese, spicy cabbage slaw, with your choice of sides. We opted for the French garlic fries. Zohreh and I split the tacos. Zohreh wanted to order the Seafood Pasta, and I hadn't had that before but was craving pasta after we saw Diane Keaton eating pasta in the movie, which was the movie's highlight. So we split that too. I must say, it was pretty good with the delicious succulent shrimp.

Sandi ordered the Fish & Chips; cod cooked in beer batter served with tartar sauce, chipotle, and ketchup. This came with garlic fries. She seemed to enjoy it.

Our server Ben, a young lad, was amusing. When we asked him to take our picture from far away so as not to make anyone fatter than they are, he got on the chair across our table to take a picture from higher ground. He went above and beyond to make us really enjoy ourselves.

You can always rely on good food at this restaurant. Truxton's American Bistro is located at 24530 Hawthorne Blvd. in Torrance, California. There are two other locations; one in Westchester and the other in Santa Monica.

Doubting Thomas

I read about these Tangerine Rolls in the L.A. Magazine recently. I quote Best of L. A. from Los Angeles Magazine: "Chef-owner Naomi Peteu figured out a unique way to brighten up this ubiquitous pastry (referring to cinnamon buns). She opted for California citrus - often Tahoe Gold tangerines from Friend's Ranch in Ojai or sometimes tangelos - and buttery, pull-apart croissant dough coated with brown sugar and zest. Baking produces a soft core and crispy coat crusted with tangy caramel sauce glazed with tangerine juice and crème fraȋche". After reading this, what person in their right mind would not want to run or drive over there to sample these rolls? I talked to Laura, who lives in downtown L.A. She looked at the map and informed me that this place is close to her home. She, therefore, volunteered to go get some that same morning. She proudly sent me a picture of the boxes in her car. The first thing that entered my mind was when she stepped on the brakes, the boxes would be flying off. So she sent me another picture. This time she buckled them up with the seatbelt. I felt better.

I asked her to buy four. When she got there, she was informed there is a limit of 3 a customer can buy. I was ready to give her my credit card so I would be the second person buying them, but eventually, the salesperson gave in and sold her four. As soon as she got here, we sampled and shared one. Sandi, Laura, and I absolutely loved it! It's literally the best bun/roll I have ever had. It was not sicky sweet like most buns because of the citrus caramel. What a great idea. Chef Naomi is a genius! 

As I was sampling the bun, I was already thinking and planning how I could buy and freeze these babies. I emailed Chef Naomi and also asked her about the name Doubting Thomas. Currently, they do not offer any pre-orders because they are short-staffed and have limited refrigeration space. I was very disappointed! As for the name, Chef Naomi spent a summer in Barcelona, and her favorite patatas bravas bar was called Bar Tomas and vowed if she ever opened a coffee bar in L.A., she would call it Bar Thomas, which made her think of the apostle Thomas. If you recall, Thomas doubted Christ and had to feel his wounds to believe he was Christ. According to Naomi, doubt is something we all relate to, and thought it would provoke conversation by naming the place Doubting Thomas.

We ate 2 pieces the following day, and I am proud to let you know that I have perfected the heating of the buns. You merely preheat the toaster oven to 450 degrees. When hot, you put them in and lower the temperature slightly. Leave them in for 3 minutes watching and making sure the caramel does not burn. Take them out and Voila......thank God for the pleasure of enjoying Tangerine Rolls!

Doubting Thomas is located at 2510 W. Temple St., Filipinotown in Los Angeles. Thank you, Laura, for picking up these rolls.

Blufish Sushi & Grill

We celebrated my son's belated birthday last night. I asked him where he wanted to go, and his response was a sushi restaurant. My Japanese friend Sophie recommended this restaurant to me, so I took her recommendation seriously. I looked at the menu to see if they had other things besides sushi or sashimi since this was not Sandi's cup of tea. Luckily they had a ton of different dishes.

The menu was extensive, so it was hard to make a decision. We first ordered Garlic Edamame and Soft Shell Crab Tempura to share. Erik and I decided to share the Sashimi Combo B, which included 16 pieces (chef's choice) of sashimi with a spicy tuna roll. What a treat!

This was definitely not enough for the 2 of us, so he chose the Burning Man Roll, which had tuna and veggies with jalapeño. That was very spicy; after I had one, I had to eat the rest without the jalapeño. The Mango Shrimp was super delicious. I don't remember what the other ingredients were but trust me, it was mouth-watering. 

Sandi opted for the Chicken Teriyaki with rice and salad. She had me taste the chicken, which was different from most chicken teriyaki because the sauce was nice and light as opposed to heavy, sticky teriyaki sauce. In my excitement from all the sushi and sashimi, I neglected to take a picture of her dish.

We decided to have dessert at home. Blufish Sushi & Grill is located in a small strip mall, and its address is 22804 S. Western Ave. in Torrance, California.

Bonello's New York Pizza

This charming little place in the city of Lomita serves different kinds of pizza, but the star of the show is their specialty pizza Potato Alfredo. I have blogged about this before, but I wanted to refresh people's memory on this particular pizza which is different and unlike any other. 

The large one measures 18 inches in diameter. Of course, it is good if you eat the pizza there, nice and hot, but picking it up might be a bit better because if you heat it up on a nonstick pan on the stove (without oil), it gets very crispy. The pizza is a thin crust, but heating it makes it much better and real crisp!

I still had some spicy honey my brother brought from Gino's Pizza in the Philippines. So we drizzled some on the potato slices, and it was incredible. If you would like to try this experience, I imagine you can make your own spicy honey. When you order this Potato Alfredo Pizza, I strongly suggest you order it without the American cheese which comes with it, because in my opinion, it takes away from the taste and is much better with just the regular cheese they put in with shaves of Parmesan. Bon Appetito!

Bonello's is open every day except Monday and Tuesday. They are located at 24427 Narbonne Ave. in Lomita, California. 

Chart House

Our friend Sugar invited the girls for dinner at the Chart House last Friday. We were all excited even if Sandi and I were just there a month ago with my brother and his wife visiting from Singapore. Our friend Amy was in 7th heaven since she loves the ocean, and you couldn't get closer to the ocean than dining at this restaurant. It was a beautiful warm afternoon and the beach was a bit more crowded than on previous days.

We all decided on the Prix-Fixe, which made more sense since it included a soup or salad, main entrée, and dessert. Zohreh and I brought a bottle of each of our favorite Spanish wines. Sandi and Zohreh had the Chopped Salad.  Amy, Sugar, and I had the Caesar Salad. Before we enjoyed our salads, Sugar ordered the Shrimp, Avocado, and Mango Stack, which we always have to order because there is nothing like it! She also ordered the Coconut Shrimp with 3 sauces. I had to take their word that it was good since I would not try anything with coconut! And since I did not partake in eating the shrimp, I doubled up on the shrimp, avocado, and mango stack.

 

For our entée, we all ordered the Prime Rib, except for Zohreh, who opted for the Savory Shrimp Pasta, pappardelle pasta in a light garlic butter sauce, and succulent shrimp. Dinner was not complete without the Sautéed Sizzling Mushrooms, which we all enjoyed. Everything was delicious, and we were all ecstatic!

Dessert was their Lava Cake with ice cream. Everyone was full so some had the ice cream and took the cake home. On the other hand, I tried my best to consume everything, which I did!

Our server, Ken, was very attentive. He did have the perfect personality and was very good at his job. So far, we have always liked our servers which is very important since this is part of the whole dining experience. 

The girls and I thank Sugar for a wonderful dinner and the pleasure of her company. Chart House is located at 231 Yacht Club Way in Redondo Beach, California.

Utsav

The last time we were at this restaurant, there were 4 of us, and we were introduced to Joseph's partner, Chef Bhimrao. For some strange reason, all the pictures I took that day vanished! So, the only way I could blog about some of the dishes we ordered was to do a repeat performance. 

Sujata, Sandi, and I had dinner at this restaurant yesterday. We love the food at this small venue located by the parking lot of Lampost Pizza and Ralphs Market in Torrance. We can never get enough of the Papad, the appetizer that resembles a potato chip, but this is made with chickpea. The two sauces, tamarind, and mint, go very well with the papad. The Kanda Bhajia was the best with the 2 sauces. I can become a vegetarian easily with this kind of fried onions!

We always have to have the Chicken Tikka Masala, which is excellent. This time I asked Joseph to make everything a level 5, which is spicy but manageable. We had to have the Garlic Naan but requested that it be well done so it gets really crispy. Sandi reminded me that we needed plain rice since the sauce of the Tikka Masala had to have more than just the naan to accompany it. 

Sujata ordered the Bhindi Masala, which is made with okra and ground spices. She loved it. The flavor was good, but this was not my type of okra. I prefer my okra deep-fried! She also had the Vegetable Biryani, a rice dish with multiple veggies and spices. I tried it and liked it though I would not order that with the Tikka Masala only because it wouldn't do the Masala sauce justice. You need something plain to appreciate the wonderful flavor of the sauce. 

We were served Rice Kheer to share for our dessert.  It's the Indian version of a rice pudding made with basmati rice, milk, sugar, nuts, and spices. I was too excited that I forgot to take a picture. Trust me, it was very good and refreshing. A nice finale from eating spicy food.

Joseph was able to drag his partner Chef Bhimrao out of the kitchen to meet us again. He was nice enough to pose for a picture. He wanted to know if we enjoyed the food, and we all said we would come back soon!

Utsav is located at 2937 Rolling Hills Rd. in Torrance, California.

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