Recently in Southern California Category

So the folks at Santa Anita got the message loud and clear about the madness that was the first Food Truck Festival held in February, (see my previous post.)
A separate admission into the festival, 23 trucks, ridiculously long lines, trucks running out of food - there was reportedly 10,000 folks in the festival alone - not the greatest start.
Now, with Food Truck Festival II being held this Saturday, April 2, they hope to make it up to foodies by not having a separate admission fee - yes, just $5 gets you into the park and the infield where the festival will be held - and featuring more than 80 food trucks.
I have to admit, I'm a little skeptical. No separate admission can mean there may be way more people trying to get at least one taste of these gourmet food offerings and there will be some trucks who will be more popular than others, no matter how many are offered.
For me, the idea of a food truck festival is great because one has the opportunity to try more than one truck in one place versus driving around all over SoCal - it's a one stop shop!
But when there are long wait times and that doesn't happen, it makes me just want to give up and resort to just following a few fav trucks.
I don't think I've been to a festival yet that features over 80 trucks, so guess I'll wait and see until after how it all went.
For more info on the festival and a full list of trucks, visit http://www.santaanita.com/specialevent/2011/food-truck-festival-ii
I will not be able to attend, but if anyone out there knows how it went, or has pictures - let me know. Meanwhile, check out below what's new in the food truck world.

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Forget drive-throughs, food trucks and pop-ups are practically bringing gourmet truck and other delicious food to your front door. But for those who still like the sit-down dinner night out, Breadbar presents the Hatchi Truck Stop.
For one night a month for the rest of 2011, a new guest truck will be cooking up a specialty menu of 8 items for $8 a pop at the bakery and pastry shop's kitchen in Century City. Yes, inside. No eating in your car or outside the truck (unless you have leftovers after.)
Kicking off the series tonight, March 31, is Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race" winner, Grill 'Em All.
Reservations are essential for all series dinners, served from 6 to 10 p.m., with a minimum purchase of $32 per guest.
Last check in by the Grill 'Em All team is some spots opened up for tonight's event which will feature heavy-metal inspired cuisines such as Molson Beer and Cheese Soup with Frisée, Lardons, and a Bacon Vinaigrette; "Behemoth Style" Meatballs with BBQ Sauce, Bacon, Smoked Cheddar, and Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings; Duck Confit Poutine with Wisconsin Cheese Curds and Rosemary; and Peanut Butter and Jelly Three Ways-Canapé and more. Microbrews from Humboldt County's Lost Coast Brewery will be offered along with the menu.
Call 310-277-3770 to see if you can snag a table tonight, or for any future series events which includes "The Great Food Truck Race" runner-ups, Nom Nom Truck, Frysmith and more. Visit www.breadbar.net for the full list of trucks and more details.
Breadbar is at 10250 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles.

Although there have been crazy rumors that the gourmet food truck phenomenon is ready to bust. We here in the San Gabriel Valley are just starting to get a taste, especially since it's rare that one of those big-name trucks make regular appearances in our neck of the woods.

Luckily, there have been enough outcries and great supporters that have rallied to bring food trucks to the area, most recently the Irwindale Speedway held a food truck festival and now it's Santa Anita racetrack's turn.

This Saturday, Jan. 29, get your grub on at the tracks' first Food Truck Festival being held from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., coinciding with one of the tracks big season races - Sunshine Millions.

The festival will feature about 20 of some of the hottest gourmet food trucks in Southern California as well as a wine tent and gastropub, and a special performance by the Spazmatics - all taking place in the infield, literally in the center of all the racing action.

The Grilled Cheese Truck, Border Grill, Ragin' Cajun and Lobsta Truck are just a few trucks to feast at during the festival. Unlike other food truck festivals, there is no need to buy tickets separately before ordering food at the trucks. Each truck will take orders and payments individually on the spot. Wine and drinks will work the same.

Tickets are $12 in advance which includes parking, entrance, race program and everyone in attendance will get an 18-pack cooler bag. Tickets at the door are $12 but do not include parking ($4). If you pay for the park entrance only, there will be a separate $5 fee to enter the festival area.

For racing fans, gates open at 10 a.m. and first post time is 11:30 a.m. For more information on the race, visit www.santaanita.com or call (800) 574-6401.

**DISCOUNT** - As a special incentive for San Gabriel Valley residents, Santa Anita is offering a $2 discount with special code SG News when purchasing tickets at www.santaanitaevents.com. The code is only valid until Friday, Jan. 28, so go get your $10 tickets now!

For more information about the festival, visit www.santaanita.com/specialevent/2011/2011-food-truck-festival.

I humbly admit this food blog may not always be the ultimate source for diners seeking somewhere new to eat or something new to try, but still I receive plenty of emails from restaurants near and far, offering me to come in and enjoy their new offerings so I can include them in the blog.

And although I am all for trying something new, most of the time I am not able to make it to these places for various reasons - the restaurant's in New York, they are not in my price range or such as the recent one I was tempted by, their specials are midweek and are located farther than my 20-mile radius of cities I frequent. 

I don't always have the time or energy to drive far for dinner after work, let alone in traffic to go to West Los Angeles. So even though I may not be heading here any time soon, maybe some of you out there are more adventurous than I, and are willing to go try Taco Tuesday at The Spanish Kitchen.

The special taco menu on Tuesdays sounds amazing, with tacos such as the Mexican BBQ Pork with chipotle cabbage and cotija cheese, or the Beer Battered Halibut with corn avocado salsa - YUM! There's also some vegetarian selections. 

Let me know if you go and if the tacos are as tasty as they sound.

A few weeks ago, I was sent out to work out of one of our other sister papers' office in Torrance and while I was only there for a couple days, I thought I would venture out for lunch and see what the city had to offer.

The first day, on my way into the office I passed by a sushi place that caught my eye and I knew I had to try it for lunch - Sushi Boy.

From the outside it looked like a fast-food type of sushi bar and even though that didn't sound too appealing, I was intrigued.

As I walked in, it was just what I thought - fast food. They did add some cool Japanese art throughout the dining area to get a more authentic Japanese restaurant feel to it.

The menu featured a variety of sushi rolls, sashimi and sushi, as well as combo meals with salad noodles and bowls offered.

Wanting to try a little of everything I ordered the Takumi value meal for $6.80 which came with four pieces of california roll, one salmon and one shrimp sushi serving, three pieces of tekka maki and kappa maki each (tuna and cucumber, respectively) and a spicy tuna hand roll.

Each value meal comes with a serving of miso soup, or get a fountain drink instead for a few cents more.

My order came out pretty quick - ten minutes or less - and with the price, I was a little hesitant.

Everything looked surprisingly fresh for how quick it was served. The soup was okay but there wasn't much, if any, tofu which I'm used to having in my miso soup.

I dug into the Califoria rolls first - they were average, nothing special but pretty good for fast food. I don't know what type of wasabi they served but it didn't taste like wasabi I've had before and it wasn't necessarily good.

The cucumber and tuna tasted fresh but the seaweed was sometimes a bit too chewy. The salmon and shrimp tasted pretty fresh and not fishy. I wish I had better wasabi to serve it with.

The best item by far was the spicy tuna hand roll. Not only did the spicy tuna have the right amount of heat but there was plenty in there and it all fit perfectly with the cucumber and rice.   

When I first spotted Sushi Boy I never seen anything like it and I thought maybe I was trying something that could only be found in Torrance but as I perused the to-go menu I discovered there is a Sushi Boy in the San Gabriel Valley!

Or at least a version of what seems like a franchise. The company has 12 California locations in all including one in West Covina - Marukai West Covina at 1420 Azusa Ave. 

I will definitely have to try Marukai in West Covina one day but I may still call it Sushi Boy because it sounds cooler. For the other locations, visit www.sushiboy.net .

For the variety and price, I was happy with the quality of my lunch at Sushi Boy.

SECOND DAY

For lunch on my second day in Torrance I thought I would entrust my new Blackberry to help me find something I hoped would be different and unique.

Craving noodles, I was torn between a Thai restaurant and a curry one.

Since I don't have too much experience with curry I thought I would give the Curry House a try and it was only across the street from the office.

When I stepped in it was a nice sit-down restaurant. I was seated by a hostess and soon visited by my waitress. She sensed I was new there and gave me more time to look over the menu.

I don't know much about what exactly is normal for a curry restaurant menu but there I knew it didn't seem normal to have jambalaya on the menu.

The jambalaya entree was special to Curry House because it also included curry sauces. 

I really wanted to try something with a good curry sauce but the Jambalaya-style curry meal came with rice and I was still craving pasta or noodles so I went with something else.

The Seafood Tofu Shirataki Fettuccine ($10.05), featured shrimp, white fish, baby clams, squid, onion and bell pepper in a curry cream sauce - perfect! Pasta and curry all in one.

I ordered hot tea and water but there was a wide variety of beverage options with tropical iced tea, iced oolong and green teas, shirley temple, iced cafe au lait and more.

And if you have a reason to celebrate or feel like a little libation they also serve alcoholic beverages such as plum wine and Kirin Ichiban, a Japanese beer, on tap.

The table settings and the atmosphere of the restaurant was nice but it didn't seem too busy at the time but I was having a late lunch so I hope, for their sake, there was more customers there a little earlier.

Despite not having too many customers, my meal took a little while but that only made me believe it was freshly made to order by real cooks in the kitchen.

By the time I did get my plate, I was pretty hungry. It was hot but luckily for me not too hot (I can't stand extreme temperatures in my mouth).

I dug right into the squid and the fettucine, swirling it around in the curry sauce to get a nice taste of it.

The squid wasn't too chewy but it did have a bit of a fishy taste and after having some bites of the perfectly tender and flaky white fish I knew it wasn't that. Maybe it was the baby clams.

It was pretty easy to scoop them out of their little shells but they also had more of a fish taste than clam flavor. The fettucine was nicely cooked and the curry sauce was tasty but I was expecting it to be spicy and it wasn't.

Overall for a seafood dish it was tasty but I would skip the clams next time and maybe ask for some spicier sauce on the side or instead of.

Now, it being my second and last day in Torrance I thought I was having lunch at a restaurant that again, is exclusive to Torrance but once again I was mistaken.

Curry House is a small chain of restaurants with 11 California locations, (one being take-out only), including one near the Puente Hills mall in the City of Industry.

There is such a variety of food on their menu that it's a good thing there is one closer to me so I can try other offerings.

There is everything from salads to curry rice dishes to spaghetti dishes and even kid's meals.

Curry House in Puente Hills is at 17865 Colima Road in the City of Industry. For more information on other locations or menus, visit www.house-foods.com/CurryHouse.

So much for adventure dining in new cities.... At least I don't have to drive to Torrance to try these places again.

I absolutely love Buffalo wings. What's not to love? They're fried, saucy, you use your hands, and you can dip them in lots of ranch sauce. There are lots of restaurants in the area that serve wings, but the San Gabriel Valley definitely needs more. Here's my evaluation of the places I've been:

BJ's
Great presentation. The wings are fried but are served un-sauced. Instead, you get a small bowl of buffalo sauce and ranch sauce. The wing sauce is vinegary, spicy but without any serious heat. The kick comes from the vinegar. Even without sauce, the wings have great flavor. The skin is crisp but there's plenty of juicy meat inside. I'd give these an A.

Pizza Chalet
One time I went to this local pizza joint in Covina, the waiter told me they were out of wings! I couldn't understand how this was possible. It's like Quizno's telling customers they're out of turkey meat, which really did happen last week. Pizza Chalet wings are just average and not really memorable. The restaurant makes up the taste shortcomings in price. You can get a whole lotta wings for a lot less than other restaurants. B-

Pizza Hut (Wing Street)
If you can't find a specialty wing restaurant, Pizza Hut is a good backup. The wings are good, not great. They're definitely on the fattier, softer side when compared to other wings. The Dallas Morning News even wrote about Pizza Hut's increasing reliance on wings in their business. Smart move. Wings are relatively easy to make and rarely discounted. B

Wingstop
All the way from Texas, this chain opened its first SGV location in Monrovia a couple of years ago. Now, they're they're popping up everywhere: Baldwin Park, Chino Hills, Fullerton, Alta Loma, Whittier, Cerritos. Wingstop really knows how to pack a lot of flavor into a small piece of meat. My favorites are original hot, lemon pepper and garlic Parmesan. They also have a flavor called Atomic that's probably the hottest wing I've ever had. Unfortunately, Wingstop wings are very small and over fried. The skins are nice and crispy but so is the rest of the meat. Still, these wings are definitely worth a try with a side of fries. (The seasoning on the fries is divine.). A-

Buffalo Wild Wings
With 14 flavors organized by spiciness, Buffalo Wild Wings (aka BW3) is the most "fun" wing place. You might need a couple of return trips to try all the flavors. So far, my favorite flavor is hot, which has a lot of heat but is also very flavorful. As far as texture goes, the wings have the perfect crispy to juicy ratio. However, inside meat is rather bland, especially when it's not coated with a dipping sauce. For the overall wing experience, you can't go wrong at Buffalo Wild Wings. Unfortunately, there are only 3 locations in California: Rancho Cucamonga, Murrieta and Mira Loma. Let's hope they open more. A

Hooters
I don't care what other people say. The wings at Hooters aren't good. If you like the service, ambiance or atmosphere, that's fine. But Hooters isn't worth visiting for just the food. The wings are heavily sauced, too vinegary and too salty. The texture is similar to wings at Pizza Hut -- soft, but not quite as fatty. Hooters also serves Buffalo shrimp, but it's drowned in the same salty, vinegary sauce as they put on the wings. If you're craving wings, don't go to Hooters. There are too many better options out there. C