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.

Boo for Bún bò Huế

It's cold and dry thus I am craving something hot and greasy, especially after my belated 21st birthday drinkfest with my cousins. I want Bún bò Huế. It's a Central Vietnamese noodle dish that consists of rice noodles similar to that of soba noodles, an intense broth flavored by stewed beef bones, lemon grass, chili, and shrimp paste, and assorted bits of a pig and a cow like marinated beef shank, oxtail, pork knuckle, and blood cubes. It is a fantastic spicy salty gamble that can either cure your hangover or give a mighty case of the runs. I was hoping for the former. At six I call my best friend Banana up and ask her what's a good place for Bún bò Huế because she's Vietnamese and I trust my best friend. Most of the time any way. She told me that usually Bún bò Huế is a dish for an earlier meal and that places that usually specialize in it close early typical of speciality restaurants. However, she states that there is a restaurant on Valley Blvd. that has pretty good Vietnamese fare including my latest craving.

Nha Trang Restuarant resides where Brodard Restaurant used to be or at least that's what I found out later from Yelp.com. It also kept the heavily Thai influenced interior of the former restaurant complete with the a bronze statue of the dancing Krishna and drained water fountains. The place seems to still be undergoing the change in management and construction as the beginnings of a boba bar was taking place to left of the establishment upon entering. Stark florescent lighting made the place seem even more sad and tired. I was a little worried, but I have eaten at plenty of other places where the atmosphere was atrocious and the food more than made up for it. Except my fears were confirmed by the waitresses sitting in table near the host's stand. They were speaking Chinese. There's nothing wrong with Chinese people, but if there's anything my parents have taught me is that Chinese people cannot make Vietnamese food and vice versa.

Still my empty stomach and ridiculous yearning for Bún bò Huế persisted and I sat down to order. The table was appropriately filthy, stained in broth and fish sauce. A little sign of reassurance since you can't eat Vietnamese food without a sticky table. Bún bò Huế was $5.50 so each got a bowl and started off the meal with Nem Nuong Cuon, a rice paper roll with roasted pork, which was $3.75. Since the place had recently changed mangement, it was still trying to lure in new customers, there was a 2-for-1 drink special. Most of the drinks were boba bar stuff, nothing special. Probably also trying to advertise their burgeoning boba shop as well. $2 for two green teas.

Nem Nuong Cuon came out first. Beautiful presentation and delicious. The added twist to Nha Trang's version is that they hide a slivers of fried spring roll wrappers to add an unexpected crunch to the roll. However, there was only three rolls rather than the standard four. I ended up eating two because I am a fatty. The dipping sauce was unnaturally hot temperature wise and more sweet than nutty. Also awkward was the fact that despite the rolls being appetizers, the servers did not bring us any extra bowls or plates so that Banana and I could both eat the damn things. We resorted to using makeship plates with napkins until the servers noticed our odd behavior and finally brought one bowl by for us. Meh. It's a restuarant nestled in between San Gabriel and Rosemead. Service is expected to be brusque and minimal, especially since we're only paying for so much. The sheer deliciousness of the rolls made me more excited about my piping hot bowl of noodles.

Finally it arrived and I was disappointed. First, they only gave us one plate of Bún bò Huế accessories. Second, they only had white cabbage instead of purple cabbage! PURPLE CABBAGE IS A MUST! Third, the broth was way too salty and laden with MSG. It lacked the lemongrass and the chili and shrimp paste were absent as well from the broth. Boo. Instead my broth was reminiscent of instant noodle soup. Where was my oily red tastefully savory broth?! Not here. Then finally to add insult to injury, there was Cha Lua in my freaking noodles and the pork knuckle was a pathetic little nugget. Cha Lua belongs with Banh Beon or Banh Mi not in Bún bò Huế! For those of you who forgot or don't know, Cha Lua is known as Vietnamese ham and consists of pork, starch, and fish sauce. It's commonly used as sandwich meat and is pretty salty by itself. Adding this nugget of sodium was the deathblow to an already overly salty soup.

This was the weirdest version of Bún bò Huế I have ever had in my life, not to mention the saltiest. Banana, you have led me astray and I don't know if I can ever forgive you! Granted, the last time she came was for Pho and not Bún bò Huế so I guess I can be merciful. Bill came out to be 18.13 for the both of us. Paid with a twenty and left the rest for tip. A cheap meal, but don't know if I could endure the intense salitness and ensuing bloating in exchange for saving a few bucks.

No pictures for now since I'm a poor student and don't own a camera.

Nha Trang Restuarant 647 W Valley Blvd Alhambra, CA 91803 (626) 281-1840