The Griddle Cafe: Discovering Coconut

OH MY GAWD.

Why the F did it take me THIS LONG to order the scotch on the rocks flapjacks ($10.95)? Coconut, pecans, oats, butterscotch chips --> flapjacks. ‘Tis perfect. The flapjacks were the perfect sweetness and were oh-so-fluffy. It tasted like coconut ice cream almost. Amazing. Speechlessly amazing. And, of course, I never do the Griddle without their dark roast French pressed coffee ($3.35). Just a pot of that makes me a happy, functional person. Yes, their coffee makes me want to contribute to society.

But while I was living la vida loca with my flapjacks, I could tell mom wasn’t really blown away by the turkey and cranberry sandwich. Take my advice, stick to the griddle-cooked stuff or the eggs. Come on, I didn’t even KNOW they served sandwiches. Mom’s sandwich looked pretty I-can-make-that-at-home (ICMTAH) – the bread wasn’t even toasted (non-toasted bread pisses me off).

FOOD: 5/5
SERVICE: hit-or-miss
ATMOSPHERE: 4.5/5

The Griddle Cafe ($$)
7916 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046

[NYC '09: Brunch, day 5] Max Brenner: Savory or Sweet? Well, Let's do Both!

(Little Miss Pinky: a great Brunch Cocktail)

Debs and I met up with our beloved Shoe for brunch in Union Square on day 5 of our Manhattan trip. It was unreal seeing Shoe in NY! The weather was a little too gloomy and gray for brunching on farmer’s market fare outdoors so Shoe took us to Max Brenner a couple of blocks away.

Max Brenner was surprisingly uncrowded when we arrived. I could smell the rich chocolaty-ness of the place even before I stepped into the restaurant. So much for a light brunch! The brunch menu is so extensive – we took at least twenty minutes to decide on what to order. Debs was the first to close the menu after deciding on the tuna salad sandwich ($11.25). Shoe and I were both vacillating between the sweet and savory offerings so we decided to order two dishes to share. From the savory end, we got the guilt-free omelet ($14.50) and on the sweet side, we went with the spiced apple and walnut French toast ($14.50).

(Mmmm...waffle fries)

Food took a while but we didn’t really mind since we were busy catching up. I also ordered an absolutely delicious Little Miss Pinky Martini ($10) while we were waiting for our food. The cocktail – a mixture of vodka and triple sec with strawberries was a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and with a name like that, how could I not order it??

Anyhow, the food came eventually and the portions are huge! We should’ve expected it. Shoe and I started with the omelet…which, as we had guessed, was hardly guilt free (trust me – we didn’t order it to be healthy). It was extremely well-made – the omelet was huge and fluffy and chock full of flavorful garden veggies and melted cheese. It was extremely substantial and tasted almost meaty even. The eggs came with a side of well-seasoned hash and a buttermilk biscuit. The biscuit was a shining star. It was buttery, fluffy and crumbly all at the same time. Amazing stuff!

(Delicious but DEFINITELY NOT guilt-free)

We moved onto the French toast which was plated along with two cute vials of syrup and melted white chocolate. The French toast was wonderfully eggy and fluffy. Too bad they didn’t use thicker bread (when will places learn?) to really bring out the toast’s potential custardy goodness. The spiced apple and walnut combo was perfect and everything was made even better with a generous dousing of melted white chocolate…but then again, what isn’t :) ?

(Pass the White Chocolate)

Service at Max Brenner’s is excellent. All the waitstaff are super friendly. Must be from all the endorphins from working at a place like this. The place was getting packed by the time we left so I guess, arrive fairly early if you want to try brunch here. Food was fantastic and the company was even better. It was so great seeing Shoe again. Well, hopefully, before long, we’ll be able to meet up in Manhattan again :D

FOOD: 4/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 3.5/5

MAX BRENNER ($$)
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0030
http://www.maxbrenner.com/

[NYC '09: Brunch, day 4] Bouchon Bakery: The Lake

(Ingenius Coffee-to-go Lids at Crumbs)

On day 4, Sunny and I decided on a second round of Bouchon Bakery + Central Park. We hopped off the C line at Columbus Circle and picked up a few baked goods before hopping back on the subway out to West 70th. We took a little stroll around the upper west side, stopped at the 72nd street station (so beautiful) before ducking into Crumbs for a coffee-to-go.

(Sweet, moist coffee cake)

We entered the park on 75th – I was planning on enjoying our food at the Ladies Pavilion (remember when Carrie and Miranda talk about forgiving Steve in the SATC movie? Yes, there) but the place was occupied by a wedding ceremony. How cute. Well, we settled instead on one of the benches facing the lake. It was equally lovely.

I took a bite of Sunny’s coffee cake which was crumbly and moist. The brown sugar topping really brought it up a notch too. Stellar stuff. And after falling in love with it the first time, Sunny bought the raspberry and almond croissant ($3.25) again. This croissant is a MUST-TRY. It’s so amazingly flaky – it melts on your tongue and leaves a soft, tart sweetness. SOOO good. I wanted to get that too but since Sunny got it already, I decided to try something else with the hazelnut and fig croissant. I’m not a big fig fan – I got it mainly for the hazelnut. This croissant was also flaky and soft but the fig taste was probably a little too much for me. Definitely get this if you are a fan of figs. It’s chock full in every bite.

(No other croissant will be good enough after this: raspberry and almond croissant)

(Hazelnut and Fig Croissant)

I wanted to try Bouchon Bakery’s famous TKOs (i.e. Thomas Keller’s Oreos) but, since I’m not a crazy big fan of Oreos to begin with, I decided to forego them and opted for a second round of macarons ($2.75/ea) instead. I got the chocolate this time and also got the caramel (my favorite!) again. The chocolate was well and a definite chocoholics’ dream but I definitely preferred the lighter flavors like vanilla and caramel. Seriously, the caramel is so amazing.


It was an absolutely beautiful day. I love Central Park and I love Bouchon Bakery. And, of course, the company I was with :D Sunny and I did manage to sit in the Ladies Pavilion for a while after we had finished our food. So peaceful, so beautiful. And it’s times like these that you know life is good.

FOOD: 5/5
SERVICE: 3/5
ATMOSPHERE: 4/5

BOUCHON BAKERY ($)
10 Columbus Circle, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10019
(212) 823-9366
http://www.bouchonbakery.com

[NYC '09: Dinner, day 2] Katz Delicatessen: When Dorothy met Deli

I have a soft spot for greasy Jewish-American diners and I have another soft spot for cheesy 90s chick-flicks. Put the two together and what do you get? Katz Delicatessen in N-Y-C!

Katz is definitely a New York institution. The ordering system can be super overwhelming for an out-of-towner – we were all really confused about the ticket vs. waiter system. It took three UCLA educations to finally crack the system and we eventually grabbed a table near the front. The self-serve counter is where most of the action is. It’s the epitome of NY speediness: you come in, put down your order, grab your sandwich and go. But we had been trekking around East Village and the Lower East Side the whole day and all we wanted to do was plop our asses down and have a meal.

(Welcome to a NY diner: pickles)

(Fries should be FAT. With Lox omelet)

(Debs' Pastrami Omelet)

Although I had planned on returning to a carnivorous diet during the NY trip, I didn’t want to overwhelm my palate with five inches worth of sliced pastrami on rye after over five months of meatless-ness so I opted for the lox and onion omelet ($13.40) instead. The omelet was huge and came with a generous portion of steak cut fries. The plate was greasy as hell but whadda’ expect? This is, after all, an American diner. The omelet was pretty good but I couldn’t find any onions at all in it :s the lox was also good but a little bit too salty for me. The omelet was too overwhelming for me halfway through – both in size and saltiness and I just couldn’t go through with the whole thing. I did pretty well though. The fries were the bomb though! Thick crunchy wedges with fluffy, piping hot innards – I finished all of them with no problem. I also got a bottle of their in-house lemonade ($2.50) which was the perfect washer-downer for the food.

(Trust me, skip the snapple)

I wouldn’t say that the food was amazing (but the fries were!) but Katz does have an absolutely fantastic atmosphere. It’s SO New York. The subway musician eats at the table next to the Wall Street financier just off from work; the waiter (yes, SINGULAR) has been working at the diner for years, stays for a chat, cracks jokes and asks if you want “caw-fee” at the end of your meal. Katz is not just a diner serving greasy sandwiches and omelets. It’s part of New York and there lies its charm ♥

FOOD: 3.75/5
SERVICE: 4/5
ATMOSPHERE: 5/5

KATZ DELICATESSEN ($/$$)
205 East Houston St.
New York, NY 10002
http://www.katzdeli.com

City Bakery: French Toast with Class (04/07/2008)

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I've been sifting through some of my old writings and I realized that I have a whole bunch of food reviews that I never got round to posting on the blog. And because I REALLLLLY don't want to start studying, I'm going to do some more food blogging/procrastination. So here they are, reviews from yesteryear.

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I went back (of course) to the City Bakery and got the french toast. A while ago, I was pretty sure that the Griddle Cafe's Creme de la Creme french toast was the best thing ever...but then I realized that the REAL French Toast king resided at the City Bakery. SO good. The big, thick slice of toast was warm and crispy on the outside but soft and near-custardy on the inside. Yepp, I definitely think this is legitimate love.

The City Bakery LA ($)
Brentwood Country Mart
(Intersection at San Vicente and 26th)
http://www.thecitybakery.com