Restaurant Review: Sea Empress

This week on pandagrub, we are going to be doing a restaurant review of Sea Empress. Sea Empress is a Chinese restaurant. The address is 1636 W. Redondo Beach Blvd., Gardena, CA. We went here for dim sum around lunchtime on a weekend.  "Dim sum" means "touch of the heart" in Cantonese.  The history of dim sum has its roots in China where travelers on the ancient silk road or rural farmers used to visit teahouses to rest and started combining this drinking with small dishes of food.  Today dim sum has evolved into a weekend family or gathering of friends dining experience.  Usually, restaurants will serve dim sum via small carts like this:

The ladies with the carts will come by your table and you can order whatever you wish.  The best part about dim sum is that you can taste a variety of dishes.  Everyone at your table can order his or her favorite dish, and maybe acquire a new love for a dish!

 In the picture above is haam seoi gauk, 鹹水角. The haam seoi gauk is a deep fried oval-shaped dumpling made with rice-flour and filled with pork and chopped vegetables.  It was pretty tasty, but I didn't eat more than one because it was deep fried and slightly greasy.

 Shown in the picture above is an egg custard called dan tat. (蛋挞.) Dan tat has a slightly tangy center and a flaky pie crust. It is probably my favorite Dim Sum food, and it has been since I was a baby.  I love the combination of the flaky pastry and the smooth custard.

 These are salty deep fried anchovies garnished with green onions and peppers.  You can eat these fish whole -- heads, bones, etc. The anchovies were very savory and crunchy.  These are my grandfather's favorite because he loves fish!

 Here are baked BBQ pork pastries (chau siu bao) or 叉烧包. These buns are very soft and fluffy with a touch of honey on the outside and the inside is filled with perfectly tender BBQ pork.  My uncle loves these.  You can also find these in a steamed form.

 This is calamari or deep-fried, salty, perfectly cooked squid (魷魚鬚). The squid in the calamari was cooked perfectly and not too chewy, but the batter was too salty for my liking.  Thumbs up for the jalapenos, though!

 This is shrimp har gow (蝦餃). Har gow in Cantonese means shrimp ball or dumpling. The outside of a har gow is very sticky and soft and the inside is tender steamed shrimp.

This was the last dish my family got at Sea Empress to finish off dim sum. It is a little known dish called "Yin and Yang fried rice." The red sauce is a very hearty tomato sauce with chicken and onions. The white side is a cream sauce with shrimp. Underneath these sauces is rice with scrambled eggs and bits of meat. It even looks like a yin and yang symbol!

This is a copy of our bill.  The little stamped circles represent each of the different types of dim sum dishes that we ate.  I hope you enjoyed this edition of pandagrub! Be sure to try Sea Empress with your friends!

p.s. some sad dim sum news:  Empress Pavilion, a dim sum restaurant in downtown LA's Chinatown, has closed after almost 25 years in business.  My parents used to take my brother and me there for dim sum when we were babies because it was so loud inside that our crying wouldn't bother the other patrons and my parents could get a decent meal.  Read more about Empress Pavilion's closing here.

p.p.s. where's the panda?  I forgot to bring one to the restaurant!  Here's picture of some baby pandas:

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.

Kang Ho Dong Baekjong

This week on pandagrub we are going to do a restaurant review of Kang Ho Dong Baekjong.

This is Kang Ho Dong Baekjong.  It is located in Koreatown in Los Angeles.  The address is 3465 W. 6th Street, Suite 20, Los Angeles, 90020.

If you don't speak Korean, you are probably wondering what the name means.  "Kang Ho Dong" is the name of a person.  This is Kang Ho Dong! He is a Korean comedian and MC. He owns this chain of restaurants.  He is known for his funny personality and his resemblance to Psy.  "Baekjong" means butcher in Korean. This makes sence because the restaurant serves lots of different kinds of meat.

Before ordering the meat, I got a dosirak.  A dorisak is an old style metal lunch box.  Normally, you would just eat the rice and side dishes inside, but here, they magically change a regular dorisak into bibimbap!  In the picture above the waiter is shaking my dosirak to mix it up.

This is what my dosirak looked like after the waiter finished shaking it. My dosirak contained rice, kimchi, fried egg,and seaweed. I enjoyed the dosirak because it wasn't too spicy or too salty.  Also, the ingredients all mixed together to make a really satisfying combination.

This was our table at the restaurant. The table was filled with yummy side dishes like kimchi,eggs, and bean sprouts. The "moat" around the grill is filled with scrambled eggs, corn and cheese, and veges,

In the picture above my mom is grilling the thin beef skirt.  The kalbi is to the left and cooked to medium rare perfection! As you can see, we really dug into the corn and eggs around the grill!

 The panda in the picture above is named Periwinkle. Periwinkle is sitting with a bowl which contains beef skirt, egg, corn, and spicy bean sprouts. The meat was cooked perfectly and tasted so great hot off the grill.

I enjoyed this restaurant, and I will definitely come back. The atmosphere at the restaurant is really fun also!  There's loud KPOP playing, lots of people having fun, and super friendly waiters and waitresses who are attentive and greet everyone LOUDLY!  This was the best Korean BBQ that I've ever had. For more information about Kang Ho Dong Baekjong click here and here.

Restaurant Review: Busboys and Poets

Sorry that I haven't posted in awhile. I've been out of town on the east coast. This week on pandagrub we are going to be doing a restaurant review of Busboys and Poets.The address of Busboys and Poets is 1025 5th Street NW, Washington, D.C.

The twin pandas in the picture above are named Plum and Blossom. Plum is on the left, and belongs to my Aunt Tina, and Blossom, who belongs to me, is on the right. They are sitting with my dish, the grilled chicken panini. I thought that this was one of the best paninis that I've ever had because the chicken was cooked perfectly and the bread was crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside.

 Now Plum and Blossom are sitting with my Aunt Tina's dish. She ordered the homemade meatloaf. She especially enjoyed the garlic- herb mashed potatoes due to their perfect seasoning.

Plum and Blossom are now sitting with my dad's dish, the shrimp and grits. My dad enjoyed the shrimp as it was cooked perfectly and because it was engulfed in a creamy cajun sauce. 

 Plum and Blossom are sitting with my brother's dish. He ordered the blackened salmon. My brother enjoyed the perfect seasoning on the salmon and the delicious wild rice.

Now Plum and Blossom are sitting with the final dish of the day, my Aunt Doris's dish. My Aunt ordered the fried chicken with mashed potatoes. She thought that the chicken was very moist and tender. She also thought that the mashed potatoes were superb.
Busboys and Poets is a special restaurant because it's a haven for progressive political and social movements. In addition to serving great food they also have great community events. I enjoyed this restaurant and my trip to Washington, D.C. and I hope that I can go there again. Just by reading the menu I learned about a poet named Langston Hughes, here is one of his poems.

I, Too

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America

Restaurant Review: Seoul Sausage

This week on pandagrub we are going to do a restaurant review on Seoul Sausage. Seoul Sausage won the Great Food Truck Race on Food Network. You may remember Seoul Sausage from my 626 Night Market post.

 Seoul Sausage's address is 11313 Mississippi Ave. Los Angeles,CA 90025.

 The panda in the picture above is named Boba. Boba is sitting with my meal. I ordered one flaming fried ball and one Lil 'Osaka fried ball. The Lil 'Osaka fried balls consist of curry and rice. The flaming fried balls contain kimchi fried rice and cheese. 

 This is the inside of the Lil 'Osaka ball. I enjoyed fried ball this very much because of its bold flavors and perfect seasoning. My favorite part of this ball was the curry.

Although both fried balls were good, Boba and I enjoyed the Kimchi ball more because it was spicy. The cheese was a very nice touch. My favorite part of this fried ball was the kimchi.

 Now Boba is sitting with what my dad and brother ordered. They both ordered the same thing: galbi sausage sandwiches. They thought that the sausage was juicy,moist,and very flavorful.

Boba,my dad,my brother,and I all shared this dish. We got one of the specials called Da KFC (Korean Fried Chicken). It was kimchi cornbread and spicy chicken. We all enjoyed the kimchi cornbread more than the chicken because the chicken was a little bit hard.(I think my mom's recipe of this dish is much better.) However,seasoning of both components of the dish was impeccable.

That kimchi cornbread and fried chicken were the perfect way to end lunch. We will definitely come back to Seoul Sausage. Next time Boba and I will try the Spicy Pork sandwich with apple cabbage slaw. For the full information about Seoul Sausage click here.

Restaurant Review:Umami Burger

This week on pandagrub we are going to be doing a restaurant review of Umami Burger. Umami Burger has locations in Anaheim, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles,Thousand Oaks,Costa Mesa, Hermosa Beach,Studio City, Santa Monica, Hollywood,La Brea,and Cahuenga.

I went to the Umami Burger in Hermosa Beach.

The panda in the picture above is named Oreo. Oreo is sitting with the burger that my dad ordered. My dad ordered the Ahi Tuna burger.He thought that the burger tasted like a healthy fish and chips. He especially enjoyed the sauce that was on the tuna. Inside his burger was ahi tuna,avocado,daikon sprouts,pickled ginger, and wasabi flakes.

 Oreo is now sitting with my brother's burger. My brother ordered the Umami Burger. He said that it was the best burger he ever had! He thought this because the meat was super juicy and tender and he also liked that the parmesan cheese was crispy. His burger contained shiitake mushrooms, caramelized onions,roasted tomatoes,parmesan crisp, and umami ketchup.

Now Oreo is sitting with my burger, the Cali Burger. I also thought that this was the best burger that I  ever have eaten. I loved this burger because it was juicy and the bun was toasted to perfection. My burger consisted of butter lettuce,roasted tomatoes, house spread,american cheese,and caramelized onions.

Umami Burger even brands their burgers! I  will definitely go to Umami Burger again, next time I will try the Umami Burger. For the full information about Umami Burger click here.

Restaurant Review: Bottega Louie

This week on pandagrub we are going to be doing a restaurant review of Bottega Louie. Bottega Louie is a bakery, restaurant and bar. 

 

The panda in the picture above named Louie. Louie is very excited to be going to Bottega Louie. Bottega Louie's address is 700 South Grand Los Angeles,CA 90017.

Louie and I went to Bottega Louie for breakfast. Louie ordered the freshly squeezed pineapple juice.

Breakfast is served! I ordered the New York style egg sandwich on a kaiser roll. Louie and I thought that the sandwich was very delicious because the bacon was cooked perfectly and also because the kaiser roll was soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

My mom ordered the prosciutto and buratta over a potato pancake. My mom especially enjoyed the burrata because it went very well with the proscuitto and potato pancake.

After we finished our breakfast my mom and I went to the bakery. Look how many different kinds of macaroons there are!

Bottega Louie also has many different kinds of cakes.

As a special treat, my mom got me and Louie two macaroons. Louie and I picked the raspberry chocolate and the lemon macaroon. I will definitely come back and try the lunch menu. For the full information about Bottega Louie click here .