California Archives - Page 4 of 4

In California

Cactus Taqueria: Mexican Food in Hollywood

March 3, 2015

When in Los Angeles, get your Uber driver to recommend places to eat. Thats what we did. We really wanted Mexican food, but it was so hard finding something close to the place we were staying at. It’s pretty hard navigating Yelp and Urbanspoon to find the right place.

Our driver dropped us off at Cactus Taqueria in Hollywood. He guaranteed us it would be amazing. He told us how one of his drunk passengers made him drive here in the middle of the night just to get a few tacos. Clearly he was feeling the late night munchies.

We had no idea where we were but that was ok since there was a long lineup for tacos. The staff were friendly. Seating is outside but it can get a bit chilly in the winter. We decided to do take out as our place was a short distance away.

We ordered a bunch of items to go and took tons of sauce and pickled vegetables. The sauces all tasted amazing!

Carnitas Tacos ($1.25 each) is topped with onion and cilantro. Definitely grab some of their signature sauces and add them on top. Mmm so good.

Fish Taco Supreme ($2.25 each) is topped with cilantro, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. Very delicious and the sour cream works so well with these tacos.

Cheese and Avocado Quesadilla ($5) was cut up into 4 pieces and was oozing with delicious cheese. The avocado was a nice addition.

Wet Chicken Burrito was delicious! So saucy and so good. You will definitely need a knife and fork for this item.

Overall, the food was great! We were glad our Uber driver recommended this place for dinner. The prices were great and we loved every single bite.

We Rate Cactus Taqueria:

Address:
950 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA

Website:
http://cactus.menutoeat.com/index.cfm

In American

In-N-Out Burger: Not So Secret Menu

March 2, 2015

As a Canadian, one of my goals in life was to have a taste of In-N-Out Burger. I know, it’s a really sad goal but I love trying different fast food restaurants out. Vacations are a good reason to pig out.

In-N-Out Burger is located mostly in the South Western States. When we were in Hollywood, we decided to come here for a snack. The line ups were quite long.

Their menu is quite limited with only 3 types of burgers – hamburger, cheeseburger and the double double. There are a few hidden item on their menu like the Flying Dutchman, 3×3, 4×4, grilled cheese, protein-style and animal style.

Double Double with Animal Fries.

Double Double has 2 patties, 2 slices of cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onion, secret spread on a toasted bun.
Animal-style fries come with two slices of melted cheese, spread, and grilled onions on top.

Protein Style Cheese Burger is their regular burger wrapped a lettuce. Great for those who hate carbs.
Cheese Burger has lettuce, tomatoes, onion, a patty, and secret sauce in a grilled bun.

You can grab some ketchup and hot peppers.

My first few bites of In-N-Out Burgers and they were good for Fast Food Burgers, but not the best out there. It was a good experience, but I still prefer A&W in Canada.

We Rate In-N-Out Burger:

Address:
7009 West Sunset Boulevard,
Hollywood, CA 90028, United States

Website:
http://www.in-n-out.com/

In American

Disneyland: Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port

February 26, 2015

Finding cheap lunch in Disneyland with ample seating is quite tough especially when you want to stay out of the sun.

During our time in Disneyland, we ate at Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port in Tomorrow Land beside Space Mountain.

The spaceport is fully equipped with earthling food dispensed at 3 stations: Pizza, Pasta and Salads.

Enlist Space Age heroes like the Mars-inara spaghetti with Meteoric Meatballs, Countdown Chicken Fusilli with sun-dried tomatoes and garlic Parmesan cream sauce, and self-contained slices of Mega Pepperoni, Lunar Cheese, Orion Hawaiian and Venus Vegetarian pizza.

Gather galactic greenery with the Planetary Pizza Salad, Celestial Chicken Caesar or the Starfield of Greens with bleu cheese, walnuts and dried cranberries, and replenish your fluids with refillable soft drinks available in souvenir sipper cups.

Pretty funny descriptions of their food. Space themed Italian food.

Tons of seating for small to large groups! It’s air conditioned too.

It’s cafeteria style and you will only find 3 sections – pasta, salad and pizza.

Mars-inara with Meatballs ($9.99) has spaghetti and meatballs with celestial tomato sauce and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Count Down Chicken Cavatappi ($9.99) has cavatappi pasta tossed in a garlic-herb oil topped with seasoned grilled chicken, a parmesan-pesto cream sauce and cheese.

Overall, the food is decent for fast food. You definitely get more value from the pasta than pizza. We got the salad to try to be a bit healthier. Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port is a good place to take kids.

Website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disneyland/redd-rocketts-pizza-port/

In American

Original Pancake House: Breakfast in Anaheim

February 25, 2015

When in America, make sure to see if there is an Original Pancake House nearby. Or at least that’s what I do. Ever since visiting one in Chicago, I’ve been thinking about their Dutch Baby and Apple Pancakes ever since then. It is a chain restaurant around America, but it was first started in Portland in 1953.

The seating is nothing fancy, but the staff are very friendly and accommodating. It was our last day in Anaheim and our group of 5 ladies with a suitcase each really stood out. Everyone else seemed to be a local.

Coffee was needed by all of us. There was no denying this.

Dutch Baby is oven baked German pancake. This is one of their signature items and it comes in 2 sizes – small and large. We wanted the large size, but the small size arrived at the table.

Served with whipped butter, lemon and powdered sugar.

Apple Pancake is oven baked with fresh granny smith apples and pure Sinkiang cinnamon glaze. It has a lot of sugar on top. It was decent here. I had a better one in Chicago.

Bacon and eggs is a classic. We needed something savoury to balance out the sweet pancakes.

Hashbrown and eggs is another good item to share with the table. Best eaten with ketchup and hot sauce.

Pancakes were beautiful and served with whipped butter.

Side of Sausages were delicious and an essential part of any breakfast.

Strawberry Waffle has their golden brown waffle lightly dusted with powdered sugar then topped with strawberries and fresh whipped cream.

We ordered everything and it was delicious! Original Pancake House was a great time for us ladies. We took an Uber here since we are not familiar with the area at all.

We rate Original Pancake House:

Address:
1418 E Lincoln Ave
Anaheim, CA

Website: http://www.originalpancakehouse.com/

In American

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro: American Chinese Food

February 24, 2015

P.F. Chang’s is an American chain restaurant featuring Asian food. As an Asian person, it just seemed weird to dine at an American Asian Restaurant since Vancouver has a lot of Asian Restaurants.

I’ve spent years avoiding this restaurant because I assumed it would just be crappy food court-like food. This time around, I’m glad I came here for dinner since their American Asian food was quite food. It’s a good fusion of both cuisines.

Stella Artois was needed for a long day at the Disney Parks. Beer with Asian food is awesome.

Mongolian Beef has sweet, soy-glazed flank steak wok-seared with scallions and garlic. The beef was tender and full of flavour.

Chang’s Kung Pao has spicy Sichuan chili sauce with peanuts, celery, scallions and red chili peppers. Not too spicy at all.

Rice comes in a small bowl.

Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wrap is their signature appetizer. It has wok-seared chicken, mushrooms, green onions and water chestnuts over crispy rice sticks, with crisp lettuce cups.

You grab a little bit of filling and put it on a leaf of the lettuce. Then you fold it up and eat it.

Pad Thai has bold Thai spices wok-tossed with rice noodles, egg, tofu, bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, crispy shallots and cilantro.

Shanghai Waldorf Salad has fresh chopped kale, endive, radicchio, crisp apples, grapes, celery, grape tomatoes and candied walnuts tossed in a light miso-lime vinaigrette. This salad isn’t Asian at all, but it tastes really good.

At the end of the meal, there are fortune cookies. A fun way to end the meal.

Overall, the food was pretty good for American Asian fusion food. A nice surprise!

We Rate P.F. Chang’s China Bistro:

Address:
321 W Katella Ave
Anaheim, CA

Website:
http://pfchangs.com/

In American

Smoked Turkey Legs in Disneyland

February 23, 2015

We found ourselves snacking a lot at Disneyland instead of having a set meal during breakfast and lunch. There really wasn’t time for real meals when we only had a few minutes in between rides. We had so much fun that we only stopped to eat when our feet got tired.

One fun thing to eat at Disneyland are their Smoked Turkey Legs. You can find them throughout the park for about $9.99.

It’s massive and quite heavy. It’s about a pound or so. The meat inside was tender and had a strong smokey flavour, so the turkey tasted more like ham. It makes me curious how they prepared these legs. Plus, what happens to the other parts of the turkey.

You can eat it with fork and knife or go animal style and eat it off the bone. I would suggest fork and knife so you can share it with your friends. They might be grossed out if you slobbered all over it. It’s very tempting, but I had to share because the leg is huge.

I tried to take a size comparison with my iPhone, but I needed it to use it to take a picture of the food. So, here is the turkey leg with my head. One thing I couldn’t do was find Gaston and eat this Turkey Leg at the same time. Tracking down those characters are quite hard.

Website: disneyland.disney.go.com

In American

Churros in Disneyland

February 22, 2015

I love Churros! I made it a mission to have a few churros in Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park. It’s not hard to find them since there are carts everywhere in sight.

They heat them up fresh on the spot and cover them with plenty of sugar and cinnamon.

Churro ($4) is pretty expensive when you know you can get it at Costco for $1. But, since you have no other choice, this will do. It does taste pretty good. The churro is pretty long, so it does make for a great snack.

Just watch out for all the falling sugar, it might get on your clothes if you’re not careful.

Website: disneyland.disney.go.com

In Anaheim

Tiki Juice Bar: Dole Whip in Disneyland

February 21, 2015

Tiki Juice Bar inside Disneyland serves up Pineapple Dole Whip Soft Serve. When you visit Disneyland, you must make a stop here. Since you’re probably at Disneyland all day, it a great refresher and to cool you off from the hot sun.

Pine no more for pineapple—savor a taste of sunshine with the legendary frozen treat known as Dole Whip. This counter outside the Enchanted Tiki Room hosted by Dole® also serves pineapple spears, juice, Dole Whip floats and fruit bowls.

The line up wasn’t to long since we went in February but the staff seem to prepare them ahead of time so the line does move quickly. I’m not sure about the busy months of the year.

Dole Whip Float ($5.19) was what I ordered because I wanted to try their soft serve and their soft serve. A perfect combination and the size was quite big.

Pineapple Dole Whip Soft-serve ($3.79) was large a well. We all got one and the first few spoonfuls were amazing. Since it was so large, it did take some time to finish. Then it just got sweeter and sweeter. In the end we wish we shared instead of getting our own.

Overall, no regrets. It was delicious and very refreshing.

Location: Outside Adventure Land in Disneyland

Website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disneyland/tiki-juice-bar/

In Anaheim

Searching for Starbucks at Disney California Adventure Park

February 19, 2015

Finding Starbucks at Disney California Adventure Park is a must because you need to stay caffeinated the whole day in order to finish all the rides and attractions.

Head to the Fiddler, Fifer and Practical Cafe on Buena Vista Street and the only Starbucks will be inside. The cafe is a few steps from the entrance, so it’s not hard to miss.

The drink menu is pretty standard, but the prices are a tad higher that regular Starbucks since there are no other alternatives around.

They have baked goods, sandwiches, salads, etc.

Once you have your drink, there’s a lot of tables you can choose from. Since we came around 2pm, there wasn’t a lot of people around. After the day of walking, our feet needed a little break.

One cool aspect are the cups! You will only find the Disney Parks cups here. Cute.

No need to fear a day without coffee! Disneyland also has a Starbucks too but in only one shop.

Website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/fiddler-fifer-and-practical-cafe/

In Anaheim

Corn Dog Castle in Disney California Adventure Park

February 18, 2015

Disney California Adventure Park was our first stop to really reliving my childhood before I get married. There’s not too many varieties of items to eat in the park, but my girl friends and I found a secret love of corn dogs.

Of all things, it was corn dogs. The first stop was Corn Dog Castle.

We just stumbled upon Corn Dog Castle near Goofy’s Sky School in Paradise Pier.

At this medieval-themed boardwalk stand, the corn dogs rule! Why? Each one is made to order, hand-dipped and deep-fried at your command. Choose from original chicken-beef, hot link or ooey-gooey cheddar. All cometh with apple slices or chips.

The prices are decent, but it’s definitely not the most healthy item in the park, but then again it’s hard to find anything healthy in Disney California Adventure Park.

Original Corn Dog ($7.69) comes with a choice of chips or apple slices. My friends thought it was the best corn dog they have ever had. They had this everyday!

Hot Link Corn Dog ($7.99) comes with a choice of chips or apple slices as well. I chose the chips since apples don’t belong in a vacation. Plus, I haven’t had chips in a while, so I was craving them.

The Hot Link Corn Dog was massive and very spicy. You will even see the chilli flakes inside the sausage. Stick with the original corn dog and you’ll have a good time.

When you are at Disney California Adventure Park, definitely grab a corn dog as a snack!

Website: https://disneyland.disney.go.com/dining/disney-california-adventure/corn-dog-castle/

In American

Umami Burger: Burgers in Anaheim

February 17, 2015

Umami Burger is an American chain restaurant specializing in gourmet burgers. As the name suggests, their burgers utilize the umami flavour that is a savoury taste. All their burgers are made fresh in-house.

We came here after walking around Downtown Disney and were famished after the long walk around that area. We then took a short Uber to Umami Burger, which was very painless.

The interior is pretty cool and they have a lot of old looking license plates.

Umami Burger ($11.50) is their original burger which contains parmesan frico, shiitake mushrooms, roasted tomatoes, caramelized onions and their Umami house ketchup.

I got my burger made medium rare and I love the flavour and texture combination. That parmesan crisp really made it wonderful.

Manly Burger ($12) has beer-cheddar, bacon lardons, smoked-salt onion strings, Umami house ketchup and a mustard spread.

Mandu thought the burger was ok, but it was quite pricey since it doesn’t come with anything on the side.

Simple Salad ($4) has market greens with their chef’s seasonal dressing. We shared the salad amongst the table as we knew we had to get enough vegetables while on vacation. Its quite easy to skip out on vegetables when there’s fast food everywhere. The salad was good and had a light vinaigrette dressing.

Overall, Umami Burger was good, but a tad pricey. They do use quality ingredients and the flavours do go well together.

We Rate Umami Burger:

Address:
338 S Anaheim Blvd
Anaheim, CA

Website:
http://www.umamiburger.com/

In American

Cheesecake Factory Anaheim: Lunch near Disneyland

February 16, 2015

The Cheesecake Factory is located in the Anaheim GardenWalk, it is about a 15 minute walk away from Disneyland and California Adventure Park. After taking a 40 minute ride from LAX, we arrive in Anaheim at 2pm and wanted a quick lunch. Since GardenWalk is a few steps away from our hotel, we decided to come here and get some pasta.

Cheesecake Factory is a US Chain restaurant best known for their vast varieties of Cheesecake and huge entree portions.

The restaurant seats a lot of customers.

We gravitated towards their lunch menu since these are smaller versions of their entrees.

Complimentary bread arrives and you have brown and white. It comes with butter on the side. These kept us occupied before the main meal arrived.

Louisiana Chicken Pasta ($12.50) has parmesan crusted chicken served over pasta with mushrooms, peppers and onions in a spicy new orleans sauce. Good portion size and it tasted good according to Mandu.

Pasta with Chicken and Scampi Sauce ($12.50) has chicken breast sautéed with garlic, herbs, tomato and white wine in a scampi cream sauce tossed with spaghettini. Of all the pasta dishes we ordered, this was definitely the best and has loads of chicken.

Fettuccine with chicken and Sundried tomatoes ($12.50) was good but the sundried tomatoes were sweet, which was odd. Other than that, the chicken and the sauce were great.

Overall, the food was decent and filled us up for lunch. The portion for lunch is still quite large, so I can only image how big the dinner sizes are.

We Rate Cheesecake Factory:

Address:
321 W Katella Ave #100 Anaheim, CA

Website:
http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/