April 2008 Archives

Check out the fan survey on the best ballparks in Sports Illustrated. In the food category, Angel Stadium ranks at No. 10 and Dodger Stadium is No. 13. 

The cost of food is rising, have you noticed?

A couple of weeks ago, we published a database of the cost of grocery items at different stories. Check it out.

By Kevin Felt

Orchid Thai Cuisine in Arcadia wouldn't be out of place in the trendy malls dotting the landscape of modern Bangkok.

As we thumbed through the long menu, filled with traditional Thai foods and a limited selection of Chinese-influenced dishes, we gazed at the comfortable modern decor and baby blue ceiling, augmented with wispy clouds and twinkling star lights, which would be right at home in the trendier parts of Bangkok.

The annotated menu includes more than 100 items with helpful descriptions, ranging from Satay Chicken, Papaya Salad and Jungle Curry to Panang, Pad Thai and Nam Khao Tod.

For most of the a la carte curries and main dishes on the menu, you can chose between beef, chicken, pork or tofu for $7.95, shrimp or squid for $9.95, or fish or scallops for $12.95. Most lunch specials, served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, cost $5.95.

The generously sized $7.95 a la carte plate of Spicy Orchid Crispy Chicken was especially tantalizing. Small chunks of chicken were stir-fried to the perfect crispness in a tasty garlic glaze with slivers of carrot, green onion and cashews.

Though the menu labels the dish as spicy, the friendly waiter's warnings convinced me to try a medium version. Although it did little to sizzle my admittedly high-tolerance palate, the dish, atop 50-cent sticky white rice, was delicious.
 
Next was the $7.95 Pad-See-Ewe with tofu.

Thin, inch-wide rice noodles were pan-fried in a sweet soy sauce with egg, firm tofu and Chinese broccoli to create the slightly sweet, slightly salty dish, served on a large platter. It was good, but slightly bland for my tastes.
 
As an added surprise, as we boxed up our leftovers, the waiter delivered small cups of dessert.

Every day, the restaurant provides patrons with a different Thai dessert, he explained. Today's specialty was a surprisingly tasty soup of chewy green tapioca balls, corn kernels, coconut shavings and iced sweetened milk.

It will definitely be worth another visit to try the Eggplant with Basil Leaves or the Green Curry.

Orchid Thai is at 1311 S. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia.

I can't stand the idea of bugs, flies, spiders or any sort of insect near me, much less in my food. Fortunately or unfortunately, diners have no clue and no control of what goes on inside the kitchens of most restaurants. Who knows what the conditions are like behind the swinging doors. At a few establishments, however, the kitchen or prep area is out in the open. I'm referring to places like Subway, Quizno's, taco stands, and to some extent, Panda Express and El Pollo Loco.

For lunch the other day, I stopped at O Salads, a restaurant in Irwindale that's basically a large salad bar. The last thing I expected to see was flies buzzing around, but I saw at least three. One was a super plump fly resting on the counter. Another was flying wildly all over the restaurant. The third was crawling on the slices of carrots and cauliflower.

You might say that three flies is no big deal. I'm sure there are worse kitchens and more serious health violations at other restaurants. And really, O Salads seems like a very clean, well-run restaurant. But watching the flies buzz around made me lose my appetite for a salad.

I went next door to Xa Vietnamese Grill and ordered a plate of grilled beef over rice.

Dining at a new restaurant can be confusing, even overwhelming. With more than 100 different items on most menus, ordering the right dish is like picking the winning lottery number or guessing the exact number of jelly beans in a candy jar.

The problem gets worse when you’re trying a new cuisine. The dishes use new flavors, different ingredients and are sometimes in a foreign language.

Offering popular yet simple dishes, Rosie Thai Food in Covina is an excellent introduction to Thai food, especially if you’re not familiar with the cuisine.

First, try all-day specials. You’ll find familiar Asian dishes, such as Kung Pao chicken and teriyaki chicken, as well as classic Thai favorites like pad Thai and spicy beef with mint.

For $5.95, the all-day specials come with rice and salad, and during lunch, a small cup of soup. For a few extra dollars, the specials include more exciting dishes, such as stuffed chicken wings, shrimp sauteed with black pepper and garlic, and Thai barbecue spareribs.

Keep in mind that Thai food expertly combines sweet and savory flavors, so the beef and broccoli stir fry at Rosie will taste very different than at a Chinese restaurant. The combination of the two flavors creates dishes that will make you hunger for more but not weigh you down.

Once you’ve graduated from the specials menu, I highly recommend dining family style and ordering more authentic Thai dishes from the second half of the menu. Not only is the food delicious and flavorful, but it’s also very affordable.

One of my favorites is panang curry with chicken, a sweet and savory coconut-based curry. I also like the Tom Kha Gai soup, which includes coconut milk, lemongrass, straw mushrooms and various herbs. Both sweet and savory, the soup is light enough as a starter or can be ordered as an entree. On a cold night, it’s especially satisfying.

If you enjoy spicy food, the hot mint leaves and chili paste with chicken is a highly addictive stir fry dish. However, you may want to keep a large glass of ice water or milk close by.

Rosie Thai Food is at 474 E. San Bernardino Road in Covina. It is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays. For more information, call (626) 339-4935.

By Esther Chou

Two locations of Red Brick Pizza in the East San Gabriel Valley have closed recently, and I can only guess why. There was one location at the Lakes in West Covina, close to Edward's movie theaters, and another in Covina on Badillo and Grand, next to Von's grocery store.

Neither of the restaurants had great business, and I'm not sure why. I have a few guesses.

First, let me start with what they don't do wrong:
1. The pizzas taste good.
2. The menu offers a lot of a lot of variety and creativity. Toppings included prosciutto, pine nuts, ricotta cheese, sesame thai sauce, arugula, kalamata olives, and all the traditional pizza toppings.
3. They also have breadsticks, salads, sandwiches and gelato
4. They offer coupons and specials
5. Every booth has its own flat panel TV and remote control

Here's what I don't like:
1. It is expensive. Small pizzas cost about $7, mediums for $10.50 and larges for $17. Sure, the pizzas tasted good, but they weren't that good. The pizzas didn't feel like a good value for the money.
2. The pizzas aren't filling. A medium pizza feels like a small pan pizza from Pizza Hut.
3. Service is slow. The restaurants can operate with just two people in font -- one person making pizzas and another person taking orders and making salads.
4. The casual dining environment feels fast food restaurant, but the menu prices aren't.
5. The restaurants don't market themselves as a take-out pizza place, don't offer delivery nor do they allow customers to order online. They want dine-in customers, but it's not very enjoyable to dine there either.
6. You can't control the volume level on the televisions.

Sometimes, it's all about compromise.

Some people like fruit pies -- apple, cherry, strawberry. And other people prefer cream pies -- banana cream, coconut cream, custard.

This pie is a great compromise. I'll start from the bottom layer:
- Graham cracker crust. (The pie I bought used a darker graham cracker crust, which was crunchy and not super sweet
- Thin layer of vanilla cream. (This is the same type of cream used in the banana cream pies)
- Thicker layer of strawberry cream. (Small bits of chopped strawberry).
- Top layer of sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

If you like Marie Callender's fresh strawberry pie, you'll probably like this one too. However, I found the slices of strawberries weren't as satisfying as whole strawberries in the fresh pie.

For those of you who like cream pies, there's plenty of cream here to satisfy.

Even better. Marie Callender's is having a sale on the Strawberries 'n Cream Pie. $10.99. Compare that to the 13.99 fresh strawberry pie.

Rarely does one get convenience and quality: It’s usually one or the other.

However, at the Vons supermarket in Glendora, I found that these two traits have apparently united at the deli counter.

As a former Azusa Pacific University student, I’ve been going to the Glendora Vons deli for years, finding it to be a local, quality meal — even on a student budget. In those days, a Vons sandwich was a decadent treat enjoyed during my weekly trips to buy Top Ramen in bulk.

So, for the discriminating eater on the go, this may be the ideal solution.

One of the great things about the Vons deli is their sandwich ingenuity, something you wouldn’t expect to find on a toilet paper or dish soap (or Top Ramen) run.

For $4.99, the deli offers a variety of interesting and unique sandwich creations.

In my younger years, I never did branch out all that much, sticking mostly to turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread. For this review however, I decided to go nuts — or at least my version of nuts.

I ordered the “Hail Caesar,” described as having Primo Taglio pan-roasted turkey, Primo Taglio havarti, green leaf lettuce, garlic spread and tomatoes on rustic Italian bread.

Sounds fancy, right? It tasted pretty fancy too.
 
The combination of the havarti cheese, fresh lettuce and tomatoes was entirely refreshing. And while the garlic spread was a bit strong, it served as a nice counterpoint to the rest of the sandwich.

My only complaint, however, was the rustic Italian bread. I’m not entirely sure why a bread that shreds the roof of one’s mouth is being widely used on sandwiches, but it shouldn’t be. It hurts. I recommend staying far away from the rustic Italian, and instead perhaps opt for a nice sourdough or wheat roll.

While the sandwich alone was $4.99, Vons will “make it a meal,” which means add chips and a medium drink, for $1.50 more. However, the chips can be substituted for fresh fruit or soup.

“California Dreamin’” is a pan-roasted turkey sandwich with avocado, bacon and ranch spread, also on the painful rustic bread.

These are just a few of the many culinary Frankensteins available for the adventurous palate.

Gourmet soups, rotated from day to day, are also another feature here. For a $3.29 small, or $3.99 large, customers have the choice between broccoli and cheddar, minestrone, chicken noodle or clam chowder. And that was just on Friday. Couple a half sandwich with the small soup and pay only $4.99.

Finally, hot paninis are available in turkey and havarti; ham, swiss and cheddar; pastrami and swiss; three cheese; or philly cheesesteak.

I personally wouldn’t touch those greasy nightmares with a 10-foot pole, but for the seemingly ubiquitous price of $4.99, you, too, can look like you were recently dipped in oil.

I guess my favorite part about all of this is that, while there’s a Starbucks four doors down from Vons, there’s also one about 20 feet from the deli counter.

So, why not substitute that soda for an iced coffee? It goes great with a turkey sandwich!

File this post under cheap eats, not tasty eats. I've never been a fan of Friday's, but sometimes, cheap food is cheap food.

Here's a coupon for a buy one get one 50% off lunch at Friday's. It's only good during lunch on weekdays from the "Right Portion" menu. If you go, let me know if it was worth it.

We're in nebulous period between winter and summer. It can get very cold and very hot within a couple of days or hours. Still, it's not too early to start thinking about ice cold summer treats. With some input from around the newsroom, here's a pros and cons list for ice cream, soft serve and Pinkberry-like frozen yogurt.

Ice Cream Pros
Super rich and creamy
Ubiquitous
Satisfying
Sundaes, Banana splits, shakes, floats
Ice cream sandwiches
More than 31 flavors
Chocolate and Peanut Butter ice cream from Baskin Robbins
Coldstone

Ice Cream Cons
Really fattening
Brain freeze
Guilt
More fat, sugar and calories
Cavities
Freezer burn
Feeling so full you don't want to get up

Soft Serve Pros
Creamy
Easy access (McDonald's)
Good ice cream substitute
Goes well with chocolate syrup
Great with toppings
Served in baseball helmets
It swirls!

Soft Serve Cons
Somewhat fattening
Fewer flavors
Imitation
Can't "mix-in" toppings
Melts easily
Bland

Pinkberry Pros (or similar frozen yogurts)
Refreshing
Hip
Won't weigh you down
Nontraditional toppings -- Cocoa Puffs, Mochi, Specialty fruits
Fewer flavors
Healthy bacteria (better BM?)
Trendy, therefore cool
Cute name

Pinkberry Cons (or similar frozen yogurts)
Sour
Fewer locations, not sold in stores
Not like ice cream
Can get expensive
Not usually served in a cone
Long lines
Trendy, therefore for followers
There are no pink berries in Pinkberry
Sounds too much like Blackberry

Reporter Jennifer McLain has a story about Mariscos Uruapan, a Mexican restaurant in Irwindale that may be using a fake permit to serve liquor.

ABC issued a liquor license to Mariscos Uruapan in 2003 for the sale of beer, wine and hard liquor, but a city permit only allows it to sell beer and wine.

Records used for the 2003 liquor license show that a planner, Marcos Bereda, authorized the approval. But city officials said that no planner with that name ever worked for the city.

The city concluded last month that ABC "erroneously" issued the restaurant, at 16034 Arrow Highway, a license four years ago and relied on false records to do so.

Although I've driven past this restaurant several times, I've never eaten there before. Anyone?