Déjà Vu

You gotta love it whenever life throws an unexpected surprise your way, no matter how menial that surprise may ultimately appear in the greater scheme of things.  It was the lunch hour of a sunny Saturday afternoon, and a couple of friends and I had embarked on a quest to find a particular Los Angeles food truck specializing in sushi.  Here’s what we ended up with instead:

One Truck, Two Truck, Three Truck...Twenty?

As I mentioned in a previous post, the food truck phenomenon has inexplicably exploded onto the Los Angeles dining scene, and with such a wide variety of trucks at our disposal on this particular afternoon, our first instinct was to sample as many of them as we possibly could.  However, as we had arrived fairly late, we faced both long lines and the impending threat of many trucks selling out of food.  Not to be deterred, we designated the more crowded and appealing trucks for a rain check and delved into what limited options were available to us.

Multiple food trucks for one meal?  I swear I’ve done this before…

First up:

Yum Yum Bowls

Chicken Satay

Chicken Panang Curry

Sporting the bold catchphrase “Culinary Art On Wheels” may not have been such a good idea for this particular truck.  The term “art” implies creativity and ingenuity, both of which were noticeably absent from Yum Yum Bowls’ menu, which featured nothing but typical, cliche Thai dishes.

Now while it may not have necessarily lived up to its daring catchphrase, Yum Yum Bowls’ food wasn’t half bad.  The Panang Curry was quite enjoyable, presenting the taste palate with both a genuine Thai spice and authentic flavor.  The Chicken Satay was soft and tender, and while the accompanying peanut sauce was a bit on the bland side, I wasn’t expecting too much from this appetizer to begin with.  Trust me, once you’ve tried satay in Singapore, satay from any other part of the world just doesn’t taste the same.  All in all, Yum Yum Bowls wasn’t spectacular, but it didn’t disappoint either.  A word of advice for this truck however: Make an effort to fulfill your audacious claims, or change your slogan to something that more strongly represents your food.  Next up:

Don Chow Tacos

Soy-Ginger Shrimp Burrito

While the Kogi Food Truck has long been considered the trailblazing pioneer in the realm of mobile Asian fusion dining, Don Chow Tacos is its retarded little brother, attempting to imitate Kogi in every possible way but failing dramatically.

I sampled one item, the Soy-Ginger Shrimp Burrito, from which I tasted no soy, no ginger, and no Asian flavor whatsoever for that matter.  To make things worse, the burrito was composed of roughly 90% rice and beans and 10% shrimp.  While I could maybe understand overloading on the rice, I didn’t realize beans were such a steeple of Asian cuisine.

For goodness sake, Don Chow, if you’re claiming to specialize in Asian fusion grub, at least make a half-hearted attempt to feature some Asian flavor and throw in some bamboo shoots or bok choy or something.  At least Kogi puts kimchi in their tacos/burritos and seasons their meat so that it tastes remotely Korean.  I might as well have gone to Rubio’s where I would have gotten the exact same burrito except bigger and with more shrimp.

Fucking disgraceful, Don Chow.  I’m opting to abruptly end this post in a demonstration against your pitiful…

Along Came Pauley

Yelp Once More: Ricky’s Fish Tacos on Santa Monica.

Tonight, for one reason or another, I found myself inside UCLA’s storied Pauley Pavilion.  Alone.

Now a basketball court has always served as an oasis for me, a sanctuary I could consistently escape to in order to clear my mind and temporarily elude the challenges that life would occasionally toss my way.  Tonight, I was alone, with one of the most historically renowned college basketball arenas all to myself.

Without a ball.

The irony is unfathomable.  And while I wish there was some latent lesson to be taken away from this situation, for now, this story’s only moral is “always carry a ball with you.”  I’m sure this message works analogously on some deeper levels but at 4 AM in the morning, such interpretations are difficult to come by.  Forgive me.

Fat Is Just A State Of Mind

Back in the Yelp Game: Louisiana Fried Chicken on West Manchester.

A new year brings resolutions, new mentalities, and fresh perspectives.  But old habits die hard, and while I may have personally adopted a new approach towards life, my eating habits remain adamantly resistant to change.

Of course, I have no complaints, and the first Thursday of 2010 offered me quite a dining adventure.  Embarking on an afternoon drive with a few friends down Wilshire, we eventually found ourselves stationed across the street from LACMA where we pulled off the extraordinary: three food trucks in one delicious hour.

I’m not quite sure when the craze took off, but food trucks are more pervasive then ever in Los Angeles these days, and in order for me to become well versed in this dining phenomenon as quickly as possible, I’m going to have to sample these trucks in bulk.  On the agenda today: The Asian Soul Kitchen, Tastymeat!, and Mattie’s Southern Kitchen.  First we tried:

Asian Soul Kitchen

Salmon Korokke, Shrimp Lettuce Wrap, Spicy Creamy Mac N Cheese, & Thai Black Rice

While the menu options were unique, the blending of soul flavor with Asian cuisine provided a mesh of tastes that seemed too confused and conflicted to warrant anything beyond a one-time sampling.  The mac n cheese was plagued by an overwhelming amount of black pepper, the Thai black rice was stale and tasteless, and the flavor of the shrimp lettuce wrap was, for lack of a better description, awkward.  The salmon korokkes were the standout feature, but that isn’t saying much given that it was more potato than salmon and it isn’t too hard to make fried potatoes taste good.  Overall, Asian Soul Kitchen gets an A for originality and effort but a B- for taste.  Next up:

Tastymeat!

The BamWich (1/2 Beef, 1/2 Lamb)

Feta Fries

Specializing in Turkish Kebabs, Tastymeat! managed to win us over before we even tasted the food.  A friendly staff jovially guided us through the menu, making suggestions, and even offering us a free order of their Feta Fries after our initial refusal because “they were just THAT good.”  The half beef, half lamb “Bamwich” was great, benefiting from a tasty sauce and a well-seasoned beef/lamb tandem, but it was a little stingy with the portion of meat included.  On the other hand, the fries were as good as advertised, featuring a tangy and delicious feta cheese cream sauce which turned even a feta cynic such as myself into a believer.  Lastly:

Mattie's Southern Kitchen

Fried Chicken, Biscuits, Mac N Cheese, & Veggie Gumbo

Yet another truck garnering points for its customer service.  With the truck wrapping up service for the day and the food getting cold, the owners decided to give us a discount on the fried chicken combo meal as well as toss in a few more pieces of chicken and a couple extra biscuits.  The gumbo and the mac n cheese were subpar but the fried chicken and the biscuits were spectacular.  Despite being close to an hour old, the chicken was still crispy, devoid of the typical greasy, oily feel that comes with anything fried while the biscuits were still soft and fluffy.  Who knows how good the food would have been had it been fresh.

Three food trucks for one meal?  Sure sounds like a great start to 2010.  In the words of Ice Cube: “Today was a good day.”

Grand Finales Are Overrated

As the sun set on my undergraduate college career last week, I found myself in the most peculiar of positions: helplessly stumbling towards the finish line.  Drawing a blank on five out of the six questions on my last final exam, setting my pencil down, and essentially giving up with two hours to spare wasn’t exactly how I pictured myself closing out my time at UCLA.  Granted, a bout of sheer apathy that had afflicted me while studying the night before may have had something to do with those results,  I still managed to find myself uncharacteristically upbeat after the failed test.

Why? Realization: Too often in life people allow themselves to become consumed with their preconceived notions of how the events in their life will unfold.  Too often things are expected to go a certain way, but when they don’t, people let the discrepancy between their expectations and reality prevent them from enjoying the moment for what it really is.  And if there’s one lesson I learned in college, it’s that things never turn out how you expect them to.

Yeah, I didn’t expect to find myself crashing and burning on my last final.  And as appealing as it may sound to travel down the conventional path of demoralization and wistful longing for how things should have ended, I’ve decided to forge a new path, and take a fresh, new perspective on the matter.  Forrest Gump said: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”  And from now on I’m going to stop hoping for the strawberry-filled one.  There’s nothing wrong with the dark chocolate or something filled with caramel, because at the end of the day, no matter which chocolate you end up with, it will still be sweet.

So if things don’t unfold as I expect them to, so be it.  A failed final is not an indication of a defeated departure, but rather a symbol of freedom.  I have been honorably discharged, exonerated from my obligations as a student and thrust into a world ripe with opportunity.  And in the process, I finally ditched the girl I had been trying to break up with since I first started searching for a full time job this past summer.  You know her quite well actually, I’ve talked about her a lot in previous posts.  Her name was Pessimism, and she was a bitch.

Bring on the job search, baby.  I’m fucking excited.

Pressure

Several years back, Carmelo Anthony was featured in a commercial in which he coined the phrase: “Why wouldn’t I want the last shot, when I know I’ve already made it?”  With Kobe Bryant up to his usual antics last night, such a phrase came to mind in light of yesterday’s heroics:

While Kobe himself dubbed it a lucky shot in a post game interview, it was the reaction to his fortuitous relationship with the backboard that bears any significance.  Furthermore, it bears comparison to THIS game winning reaction:

Notice the obvious discrepancy in reactions to their shots?  The difference is confidence, and knowing you’re great as opposed to merely thinking it.  Granted that James’ reactive demeanor deserves a reevaluation once he’s reached Bryant’s level, a ton more games and a dozen more winning jumpers later, for the time being, we can put this “best in the league” debate to rest.

Oh, and for those throwing Dwyane Wade into the mix, it’s worth noting that it was originally Wade who set the stage for Kobe’s heroics.  Up four with 10 seconds left in the game, the Heat had just force Kobe into a bad shot but with the ball in his hands and sailing out of bounds, Wade tried to save it to Mario Chalmers.  One of the earliest lessons you learn in basketball is to NEVER SAVE THE BALL UNDER YOUR OWN BASKET.  The ball ended up in Pau Gasol’s hands who subsequently made two free throws.

And of course, it was Wade’s missed free throw six seconds later that finally drew the curtain for Bryant.

Yeah, Dwyane Wade and LeBron James are great.  But when you’re talking about who’s the most confident under pressure in the league today, without question, it’s Bryant who has the greatest capacity to remind us that this is where amazing happens.

Journey

Today, I attended my last college lecture as an undergraduate, and while reflecting on everything that has transpired over the past four years, I happened across the following video.  Coincidentally, it dictates one of the most valuable lessons that I learned during my time at UCLA.

Never focus too much on the summit of the mountain or else you won’t get to enjoy the climb up.

Rule #32: Enjoy The Little Things

I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again.  The past few months have not been exceptionally kind to me.  I could easily elaborate on the stress that accompanies thinking about the future as well as the laundry list of complementary torments, but a jittery movie character from the unexpectedly ingenious flick “Zombieland” has managed to sway me towards the side of positivity and optimism.

Straight from the mouth of Jesse Eisenberg, playing Zombieland’s protagonist: “Rule #32: Enjoy the little things.”

And if ever there was something simple to be enjoyed, it was food.  My recent trip to northern California was so jam-packed with stellar meals that I almost felt guilty for deriving so much pleasure from such heavenly dining.  Let’s take a look, shall we?  The weekend started off at a Carl’s Jr. along the I-5:

Noble Beginnings

It seemed only right that we jumpstart a weekend full of unbridled feasting with some good ol’ fashioned American fast food: a teriyaki burger, crisscut fries, and fried zucchini.  Hitting the road after our meal, we arrived slightly after 330 AM in Sunnyvale and drifted off to sleep, amidst our dreamy anticipation of the next day’s culinary adventures.

Saturday morning tipped off with a trip to the famous Northern California hot spot, King Eggroll, which is pretty much the restaurant that would have popped out had Panda Express and Sam Woo given birth to a child with a disturbing addiction to deep fried side dishes.

World's Greasiest Breakfast

There’s nothing like starting the day off with a deep fried medley of greasy goodies: a fried pastry with King Eggroll notables, two shrimp balls and two eggrolls.  After wrapping up, we proceeded to San Francisco for the main event: Pho Garden restaurant and their infamous Pho Challenge – 2 lbs of noodles, 2 lbs of beef, 60 minutes.

Mission Impossible

I’m not even going to bother trying to be cute in describing this experience.  The Pho Challenge was one of the absolute worst fucking ideas I have ever been a part of.  I was barely halfway through the gargantuan bowl when I started to feel like stabbing myself in the esophagus if I had to continue painfully crawling through the endless mound of disgusting noodles.  Updated specs: 2 lbs of noodles, 2 lbs of beef, 5 competitors, 5 failures, 1 heaping portion of shame and disgrace.

It took a while before we could wipe clean the humiliation and work up the personal fortitude to finally look at ourselves in the mirror without any feelings of contempt.  But when we finally did, we decided to stop by Hong Kong’s own Hui Lau Shan for some advertised “healthy desserts” to cleanse our systems.

Hong Kong Hotline: Nostalgia On Line 1

Hui Lau Shan still holds the title as one of my favorite food stops in Hong Kong, and while the American version didn’t quite live up to the original taste, the side of nostalgia that accompanied my dessert more than made up for it.

After a night of shameful stomach pain and a stop by a mash-up party at DNA Lounge in San Francisco, we decided on a whim to make the drive to Berkeley to grab some Top Dog.

Pink's Called: They're Jealous

Admittedly, I was still suffering from the Pho at this point but I had never tried Top Dog before, and after hearing copious CAL students and alumni (my Dad included) rant and rave about the place, I wanted to see what the hype was all about.  Verdict: Delicious.  Granted the hot dogs weren’t as extravagant and thoroughly accessorized as Pink’s in Los Angeles, the beauty of Top Dog rested in the tasty wieners themselves, instead of a mound of toppings and sauces heaped upon it.  Score a point for simplicity.

Still riding the tail end of our food high, we decided to cross the street and close out the day with a quaint little place called King Pin Donut located in an area dubbed the “Asian Ghetto” by Berkeley students.

One Hell Of A Bedtime Snack

Thank you King Pin Donut, for reinvigorating my love for the donut, in particular: the glorious apple fritter.  Thank you so much.

Following six hours of blissful food coma, we awoke the next morning with the scent of Pho still creeping on every last breath, but promptly made our way to Santa Clara’s SmokeEaters for part #1 of lunch: hot wings.

Hooter's, You Don't Got Shit On This

Hands down, best wings I’ve ever tried.  One of these days I’ll muster up the courage to make my way back there and try their Hellfire Wings Challenge (12 of their spiciest wings in 10 minutes sans the water).  But on a weekend where the eatable elements had defeated me once already, I didn’t have the heart to challenge them again.

Part #2 of lunch found us at China Chen in the heart of downtown San Jose, a spot owned by the parents of one of our closest friends.  A couple of us in the group had already had the pleasure of dining at China Chen so we knew exactly what to expect.

Egg Noodles, Rice Noodles, And Beef Balls, Oh My!

Scrumptious Simplicity

Combination noodles with fried rice cake and egg on the side.  Alas, a clean feeling yet delicious meal without too oily or greasy of beginnings.  Score yet another point for simplicity.

As the group wrapped up its meal at China Chen, the inevitable culmination to our mini vacation loomed upon us.  However, not quite ready to bid farewell to the weekend, we decided to partake in one final hurrah: dessert at Sonic.  It seemed only appropriate that we bookend the weekend’s festivities with unhealthy fast food.

One Fitting Finale

Talk about a photo finish: French toast sticks and and a pineapple slushie (with chunks of real pineapple!).

Surprisingly, the above pictures don’t even encapsulate ALL of the food that was consumed over the weekend.  Not pictured but still deserving of credit: A chocolate muffin from a Shell Gas Station mini-mart, a couple pieces of garlic bread, and half a burrito from the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.  FOR SHAME.

It was a fattening weekend indeed, but a much needed hiatus from the life of an unemployed, recent college graduate.  I spent the following week griping about how fat I had become but in retrospect, I don’t think I would have sacrificed any meal consumed during that epic trip.  I’m glad I enjoy food as much as I do, for its good to be able to break up the banality of a hopeless job search with a delicious, hearty meal.  Rule #32: Enjoy The Little Things.

ok- i’ll go get the iron on letters?

Thank You For Holding, Your Call Is Important To Us

Direction and motivation needed.

Much has been put on hold, but I resolve not to to let this blog perish.

I will return.

Homecoming

“Welcome back! Welcome back!” screamed the people.  Actually, it wasn’t so much people than it was a grand welcoming party of fruit flies buzzing about the unwashed dishes and trash in the kitchen, a sight that would make even Oscar the Grouch cringe.

To my dismay, my two week excursion to Asia had to end sometime.  And as the plane hit the ground, reality soon hit me…hard.  First the right hook: a dirty apartment left in complete shambles.  Then the left hook: sickness, insomnia.  Finally, the knockout punch, the uppercut: a ravenous job search, still unsuccessful and still plaguing every single damn corner of my mind tearing it to absolute shreds and taking every other part of my body with it.

Okay, admittedly that’s a bit dramatic but whoever would have thought that finding a job would be such a chore.  Chore?  Sorry, I meant MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.  If I want any shot at getting a damn job I might have to do some Tom Cruise shit: break into a company’s office at night and hang down from the ceiling while I forcefully insert my resume into a their “to hire” pile.

WHATEVER.

I’ll deal with this issue the only way I know how.  Take a vacation.  Vegas here I come.

Veni, Vidi, Vici

This summer has been a rough one.  Unemployment, a fruitless 2.5 month job hunt, and an eclectic collection of odd jobs (shouts to CASSEL, Drinking Study, and Largest Mixer) have not made for a very productive summer.  Now ordinarily, coupled with a downtrodden economy, unemployment would traditionally drive one down the path of penny-pinching frugality.

But I say, fuck tradition.

Fresh off yet another trip to Vegas last weekend, I’ve decided to take a more logical approach in the face of unemployment: take an expensive vacation to Far East!  In less than 12 hours, I’ll be on the plane, ready to check Japan off my “Asian Countries Conquered” list.  Then one week later, I’ll rendezvous with the country that has managed to carve out a rather significant niche in my heart: Hong Kong.

I'm Coming For Ya!

Some of my happiest memories have come during my time in Asia, and each trip has provided me with a different set of revelations and soul-searching experiences.  Only time will tell what these next two weeks will bring.  Bon Voyage!