Alhambra - Boiling Crab

I came here during my Winter Break with my friend Stu. He had been raving about this place for like ever and I was bored. We came on a Saturday night around nine and then we struggled to find out how to get a table. I ended up just asking the frantic people behind the counter that I wanted to be on the list. Some poor girl was flagged down and put us on the dreaded NO GUARANTEE list. DUN DUN DUN! She told us though that since we were the on the top of the list we were probably going to get a table. So then commenced the forty-five minute wait of freezing doom. Just kidding. It wasn't that bad since me and Stu were just hard core judging everyone waiting with us. There was a sad 30 year old birthday boy with his friends, some typically AZN T.A.B.s shrieking, and of course the classy old Vietnamese men who smoke up a hole in the ozone layer. It was a pretty hot crowd.

After oogling and much shit-talking we got seated. We order the 1 lb. of shrimp and 1 lb. of crawfish, whole shebang style, along with two pieces of corn and fries. Ordering "whole shebang" basically means please make these little chicken nuggets from the sea wonderfully garlickly and spicy. We chickened out and only got medium spicy, but what I have been seeing from Yelp the spicy isn't all that bad so next time.

After we order, the waitress ties on these bibs for us. Awkward for me since I need my personal space, but still awesome since I can be a bigger fatass than usual. Then she plops down a whole of roll of paper towels and that's when I knew I was getting into some fun. Here's a picture of where the night the began:

Another indicator of great things to comes was the fact that you eat off the table! YAY! Look at my ketchup happy face! Let the gluttony commence!

The fries were UNBELIEVABLE!. Cholesterol and obesity, you are soon to become my bosom buddies.

The treasure trove of seafood delights. Fantastic in a bag. Cholesterol for the year. Deliciousness! You can choose whether or not you want your orders in separate bags or not, but we wanted everything to stew together. We ended up getting more corn later, because the corn was soooooooo fantastic. And because I love corn more than anything else in the world. The only thing that kinda bothered me was how long it took to get my diet coke. The food had arrived and I still hadn't gotten my drink. The place was understandably busy, but still my drink should have came out first.

This is the aftermath of our seafood debauchery.

The whole meal came out to be some $25, which isn't bad for seafood and for how stuffed we were. So there it is. We came. We ate. We conquered. And we're most definitely going to this place again.

The Boiling Crab
742 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
626-569-9368
Mon- Fri 3PM - 10PM, Sat - Sun 12 PM - 10PM

Baker: Mad Greek

If you have ever drove to Las Vegas, you have seen it. That crazy little diner in the middle of nowhere next to the World's Tallest Thermometer. Never bothered to stop there before since my family usually packs in one last buffet before heading homeward, but since this time I was leaving before my fatherI got to stop this little curiousity. Its plug on Food Network helped to encourage me to stop as well. It's pretty easy to find since almost all the freeway signs point to it. If you're heading towards Death Valley or Las Vegas, you will see and be able to find Mad Greek with ease.

Inside the joint is a rather gauche interior filled with Greek newspaper clippings, tacky statues, and pictures of random celebrities while 80s Greek music blasts. The cashier was difficult to understand above the din of the restaurant, but somehow I manage to order 1 large drink, 3 Baklavas for dessert, 1 Spanokopita to share amongst my siblings, 1 Beefeater for Little Brother, 1 Beef Gyro for Little Sister, and 1 Schwarma for Me. Except when the order came out, my sister decided to take my schwarma and give me her gyro. The meal came out to a hefty $45.

The baklava was not to my taste as it was sickly sweet with a vague recollection of reduced rum or something. I am not a baker or Greek, but it wasn't very good. On the other hand, the Spanokopita with its spinich and cheese filling was quite wonderful. Only downside to the savory pastry was that it was cold. If it had been fresh, it would had been a little slice of heaven. My brother's beefeater was a plain beef and cheese sandwich with a side of fries. Nothing fancy. Boring tasting. My sister's schwarma on the other hand was on the salty side. The rice pilaf that was served on the side was delicious. The rice was buttery goodness that would have been a great complement to the gyro had it not been so salty. The schwarma's saltiness was balanced by the cool creamy tzatziki sauce on the side. However, I personally disliked how salty it was.

My gyro on other hand was really well balanced with in terms of its savoriness and actually taste of the meat. A mixture of moist beef cuddled in the fleece of warm fluffy pita bread. The pita bread for both the schwarma and gyro were out of this world. Nothing like any pita I have had before. It's reminiscent of Indian Naan, but not really. Super fantastico pita! While my sister thoroughly enjoyed her schwarma, I personally felt that the gyro was superior and secretly jumped for joy that she traded with me. However, despite the deliciousness of my schwarma I doubt I'd make a stop again at the Mad Greek simply because the overall quality and ambience of the resturant doesn't warrant the cost. This one stop fulfilled my curiousity about this desert diner. Though I do have to admit that the strawberry shake I bought on the way out might convince me that it's a great restroom stop and pit stop for shakes, but that's about it. Smooth, thick, sweet yet not overly so, the strawberry shakes are quite the masterpiece. Alas no pictures except for that of my lonely gyro.

My gyro.

Mad Greek.
72112 Baker Blvd Baker, CA 92309.
(760) 733-4354

Koreatown: Fat Fish

The Girls wanted to go out for Happy Hour, but unfortunately we couldn't schedule ourselves to make Happy Hour at the Fat Fish on Robertson so we settle for next best thing its sister in Koreatown. The KTown Fat Fish has its Happy Hour from 5 to 10 PM, which consists of half off everything on its sushi conveyor belt. Sweet.

Interior of Fat Fish.

Since the Koreatown location does not have an alcohol license, we decided to bring our own beer as suggested by many Yelpers. There is a liquor store just across the street. Though the liquor store ran out of six packs of Sapporo so I had to settle for just a one can of Sapporo and a six pack of Kirin Ichiban. There's no extra charge for outside beverages, but remember to bring a receipt for your alcoholic purchases. Hostess merely asked if I had one, but never actually saw the physical reciept so it's totally possible to skate by without one by lying.

Free metered parking after 5 PM. I parked inside an apartment structure on the same block, which said $3 flat rate after 5 PM. I didn't end up paying though since the security just let me out without even checking my parking stub. There's valet parking as well for $2. So lots of parking options for Happy Hour. It's also located next to a Pinkberry for those who are frozen yogurt fanatics or craving something sweet afterwards. The restaurant seems to share the same decor as its neighbor with uber hipster furniture. There's a really cute store Mobius that sell vinyl toys and imported Japanese fashion next door as well, which is great for loitering/shopping when waiting for a seat or friends to show. All three shops share a back corridor so you can enter all three stores without even going outside. Nice option when it's particularly cold or windy.

Schmancy Conveyor Belt Shot.

It's a sushi joint in Koreatown so not really high expectations. Slightly warmed sushi due to its circulation on the belt and watery uni were slightly disappointing, but the ambience is really nice for informal get-togethers and the salmon and eel not bad.

SALMON!

Also super nice was the hostess who was really attentive. She immediately offered an ice bucket for the beer and was quick to hand an opener as well. She also was very honest about the wait time, which is a small thing that is aways a appreciated. Speaking of small things, Banana's boyfriend TonTon had left a a small pokemon figurine, Chimchar, on the belt as a weird parting gift to the restaurant. But his plans were thwarted, when as we were leaving the super attentive hostess chased after us to hand us back the toy!

Chimchar chilling with the sushi!

Prices are range from $2 to $5, half off the little colored plates glued to the side of the conveyor belt. Little jars of ginger to cleanse the palate and soy sauce are usually located neat these signs.


But if you're a glutton, you'll still end up spending more than you anticipated due to the edible temptations that pass you by every other minutes. I end up spending $40 for an okay meal, which isn't something I'm usually ok with. But, it was a really fun experience and I'll probably wind up here again to try the much more exalted hand rolls and banana split that aren't ever half-off another day if I end up boozing in Ktown.

The left stack of plates is the evidence of my glutton. Thank goodness there is no sign of my alcoholism.

Fat Fish
3300 W 6th Street Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 384-1304
Accepts Credit Cards: Amex, Visa, Mastercard.