Restaurant Review : Doya Doya

This week on pandagrub we are going to be doing a restaurant review on Doya Doya. Doya Doya specializes in okonomiyaki, which is a savory Japanese pancake.

 Doya Doya's location is 2140 Artesia Blvd Torrance, CA 90504.

 The panda in the picture above is named Takoyaki. He is sitting with the mayonnaise bottle (check out the cool triple spout!) and  Japanese fish flakes (bonito).

 My mom and I got the special pork okonomiyaki. Takoyaki, my mom and I really enjoyed the okonomiyaki because it was perfectly seasoned and the flavors blended together perfectly.  My favorite part is the egg on the outside.  My mom's favorite part is the variety of veges and the sauce on top.

 You can garnish the okonomiyaki with seaweed, bonito flakes and mayonnaise.  I love watching the bonito flakes sway in the piping hot steam of the pancake!

Look how full of yummy stuff the pancake is!  My mom says that there is also an "Osaka" style of okonomiyaki that is a lot thinner and crispier.  That sounds great too!

I will definitely come back to Doya Doya. Next time I will try the Doya special mix okonomiyaki. For more information about Doya Doya click here.

Homemade Cheez-Its

This week on pandagrub, we made homemade Cheez-Its.

To make the Cheez-Its you need 8 ounces of sharp and coarsely shredded cheddar cheese, 1 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 a stick of unsalted butter, 2 tablespoons of ice water, and 1 cup of all-purpose flour.

 The panda in the picture above is named Dumpling. Dumpling is adding flour to the mixture which contains the butter and the cheese. Soon he will be adding the ice water to the mixture.

 This is what the cheese mixture should look like after you finish mixing it. After you finish mixing the mixture, wrap it in saran wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

  After one hour in the fridge the cheese mixture was divided in half. In the picture above Dumpling is rolling out the cheese mixture.

 Now we have started cutting out the Cheez-Its with mini cookie cutters.

 After you finish cutting out all the Cheez-Its poke a hole directly in the center of it. After you do that place the Cheez-Its on a baking sheet and put in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes.

 The Cheez-Its should look like this after you take them out of the oven. Look how puffy and golden brown they are! Dumpling and I can't wait to eat these!

Dumpling loved our homemade Cheez-Its because they were perfectly crispy on the outside and flaky in the middle. Dumpling even thought that our homemade Cheez-Its were better than regular Cheez-Its!    I will definitely make this recipe again! For the Cheez-Its recipe that I used click here.

The drink next to the Cheez-Its is Korean banana milk. It is my favorite drink in the whole world! Next time you go to the Korean grocery store be sure to buy some banana milk and give it a try! I bet you'll like it! It really compliments the taste of the Cheez-Its very well!