Shoot First Eat Later

Herb’s Best Healthy Pantry

A few months ago I received an email from Herb’s Best International founder Fannie Guanzon inviting me to dinner at her home.

This is Fannie, my gracious and beautiful host for dinner.

Herb’s Best Fannie Guanzon

Founded in 2004 by Ms. Fannie Guanzon, it started out by partnering with a poor farming community in Nueva Vizcaya (a province North of Manila) producing noodles. The raw materials used in making the noodles were primarily indigenous ingredients, Moringa taking the lead. The founder’s developing passion for Moringa led to extensive research, product development and innovation and thereafter, the manufacture of Moringa pure powder and tea and Moringa and other herbs-infused products.
from Herb’s Best Facebook page

Herb’s Best Healthy Pantry products

Fannie welcomed me to her beautiful apartment.

She even had a talented guy who did the flower arrangement and table settings that night. I was surprised to be the only guest that night. The other guests were her very close friends who were all so ‘kalog‘ and fun to talk with that I felt like I’ve know them for a while.

Fannie had Chef Ogie Reloj of Cafe Bonifacio at The Podium do all the cooking that night. (My review of Cafe Bonifacio coming soon). Chef Ogie is known as Manila’s roti king and he showed us how to make roti from scratch.

roti making by Chef Ogie Reloj

I wasn’t supposed to eat carbs but I couldn’t help myself since I love roti and this roti was fabulous. It was thin, light, crisp and not oily at all. The curry sauce that accompanied it was made Herb’s Best Sinigang Mix and other ingredients. It had a unique flavor that was perfect with the roti.

roti with curry sauce made with Herb’s Best Sinigang Mix

I’m not a big fan of eggplant but this salad made with diced eggplant, boiled saba (plantain), cilantro, salted egg and dressed with pinakurat (spiced coconut vinegar), olive oil and garlic was sheer genius! The soft eggplant and meaty saba, both mild flavored ingredients splashed with an aggressive dressing was an explosion in the mouth.

Eggplant salad with salted egg

I loved Chef Ogie’s award winning creamy salted egg dressing with Herb’s Best Ginisa mix on the salad greens with grapes, fresh blueberries, roasted cashew and yellow bell peppers. Pinoy fusion at it’s best.

Salad with salted egg dressing

Chef Ogie made a marinade using Herb’s Best Ginisa mix, lemongrass, keffir lime leaves, anatto and turmeric for the chicken.

Chicken Inasal with Herb’s Best Ginisa Mix

If the chef decides to open his own inasal restaurant he’ll definitely give the chicken chains a run for their money. Even though the chicken was marinated for less than an hour the grilled chicken was so tasty and fragrant. You could taste the tangy flavors all the way to the bone. This was definitely one of my favorites during dinner.

Chicken Inasal

The sinigang (sour soup) was made with Herb’s Best Sinigang mix which was free from msg and made with a tamarind base and 21 fruit and 15 vegetable extractives making it super healthy and convenient. The taste was just the right amount of sour and savory. The salmon belly was marinated in ginger juice that’s why there wasn’t any fishy taste.

Herb’s Best Salmon Belly Sinigang

I was already beyond full when the pasta came out. One bite and I was floored. Herb’s Best Amori pasta is made with oven-dried vegetables. The pasta tasted like fresh pasta and had the most amazing bite to it. The dried pasta takes only 3 minutes to boil just like fresh pasta. The sauce fresh shrimp, clams and cilantro was utterly divine. This was my favorite dish!!!

Herb’s Best Amori pasta with seafood

Chef Ogie (seated) with Fannie and her lovely friends made dinner so much fun that night. Good food and good company made for a perfect evening.

Herb’s Best Healthy Pantry prooducts

A box of Amori pasta contained 4 individually packed single serving portion of pasta. This is perfect for dieters who are watching their portions. Since the pasta contains vegetables it will make you full without feeling bloated. When you’ve tried this pasta write to me and let me know how much you love it.

Herb’s Best Amori Pasta

The great thing about the products of Herb’s Best International is each and every product is made with only natural ingredients that are packed with Moringa and other super healthy ingredients like fruits and vegetables that are beneficial to everyone in the family. This is specially good for kids who are picky eaters. They will never know that their food has veggies and fruits.

Read more about their products here and at their Facebook page.

Herb’s Best Healthy Pantry products are available at:
RUSTAN’S
Ayala Alabang
Corinthian
Forbes
Glorietta
Greenbelt
Katipunan
Magallanes
Rockwell
Shangri-La

SHOPWISE
Antipolo
Commonwealth
Cubao
Festival Mall
Libis
Makati
Manila
San Pedro
Sucat
Cebu

ROBINSON’S SUPERMARKET
BF Ruins
Pioneer
Metro East
Ermita
Batangas
Dasmariñas
Imus
Tagaytay
Nuvali
Mandalagan
Fuente
Davao
Davao Abreeza
Cagayan de Oro
Galleria
Laoag
Cebu Banilad
Nepo Dagupan
Dumaguete
Tacloban

LANDMARK Makati & Trinoma

Sta. Lucia Phase 1& Phase 3

South Supermarket Alabang & Sta. Rosa

Unimart
Makati Supermart
Cash & Carry

Pioneer Supermarket
Sugar Leaf Greenhills
Sugar Leaf Makati
500 Shaw Kiddie Club

NCCC Supermarket Davao
EchoStores

Dieting while on vacation

I’ve received a few emails from some Cohen dieters who are going to the USA for a vacation and asking how I managed my diet. Here are some of my tips for all those who are traveling and are on a diet.

In the US fast foods get a big flack for serving fattening and unhealthy food. I did manage to find healthy options in a few places. The first picture was a Chick-n-Strips salad I bought from Chik-fil-A which serves nuggets and strips made from real chicken and not chopped up chicken and fillers formed into chicken shapes like in some other chains.

I know I should have ordered their chargrilled chicken garden salad instead but I was feeling rebellious but I only ate 1 chicken strip and all the veggies with just a little berry balsamic vinaigrette.

The last time I ate at Chipotle I ordered their tacos which was 3 tacos in one order. This time I ordered the salad and skipped the corn salsa, sour cream and guacamole and just topped the lettuce with barbacoa beef and tomato salsa. I should have passed on the cheese too but it was my treat. I ate only half of the beef.

Chipotle’s salad with barbacoa

I had this salad in the food court of a mall. The dressing was made of yogurt.

Grill Kabob’s beef shawarma salad

Here are some of my favorite healthy meals in the US and Hong Kong.

Bouillabaisse from Whole Foods Market

Baked sea bass from Whole Foods Market

Salads from Lemonade

I also like ordering steak frites but I have the fries substituted with salad. Naturally I removed the butter on this steak I had at Bouchon Bistro.

One of my go-to places for good salads in Hong Kong is Istanbul Express and Ebeneezer. Middle Eastern restaurants have plenty of healthy options as long as you don’t go overboard with their yummy sauces. The salad was simply dressed with olive oil, lemon juice and pepper.

Istanbul Express’ salad with chicken donner

Tips for dieting while traveling:
1. Always request french fries or potato side dishes be replaced with a salad. All the restaurants I’ve eaten at gladly did this.

2. When ordering a salad always ask for the salad dressing on the side and use vinaigrette only. The one time I forgot to do this my salad was drowning in dressing. That’s where all the calories are, in the dressing.

3. If you can’t weigh you food just practice portion control. More or less you know the size of protein you can eat.

4. Say no to junk food. That includes chips, ice cream, processed food, soda and sweets.

5. No fried food. Also avoid food with too much sauce. The simpler the preparation the better.

I hope these simple tips help you maintain your diet while on vacation. I must confess I did gain 5 lbs after one month in the US. It’s because of all the cookies I ate everyday and the ocassional dessert, cornbread and scones. Try to be better than me avoid these temptations all together.

Cathay Pacific Economy Meal – LAX to MNL

The food on the flight back to Manila brought back me back to reality and portion control.

lunch menu

After the disastrous and depressing Low Fat/Low Cholesterol Meal (LFML) I ordered on my flight from Manila to San Francisco I stuck with the regular meal option on the return flight.

The food wasn’t bad at all. I loved the shrimp with orzo salad which was very light and refreshing. I ate the chicken with the orzo which was rice shaped pasta. Still carbs but what the heck. And yes, I ate the ice cream. 😀

chicken with soya sauce, steamed rice, shiitake mushrooms &
spring onions

dinner menu

The chicken, what little there was, was quite palatable. The carrot swede mash was sweet and savory and very interesting.

chicken with tomato herb sauce, rosemary potatoes, carrot swede mash

I skipped dessert since I don’t like red beans.

red bean mousse cake

Throughout the flight there were snacks like mini sandwiches, instant noodles, Pop Pan green onion crackers (yum!), macadamia nut shortbread cookies and Tim Tam cookies.

When I arrived in Hong Kong airport I bought a snack.

Dinner at Fiesta sa Barrio

This is it, my last meal in the USA. After spending a month going from San Francisco to Virginia, Washington DC and New York my last meal in Los Angeles was supposed to end with my best meal right? I was dreaming of Lawry’s Prime Rib or some famous TV chef’s restaurant. Where did I end up eating? In a Filipino restaurant!!!

This was our long table half filled with kids of all ages. The other half was filled with adults of all ages too. 😀

It was my cousin’s bff, Andrew’s birthday and his only request was to eat in a Filipino restaurant.

I really didn’t mind eating in a Filipino restaurant since I got to meet new friends who were super nice and funny.

I’ve eaten in a Filipino restaurant in New Jersey years ago and it wasn’t very good. I heard this restaurant was run by a guy who used to be the chef in Barrio Fiesta in L.A. thus the play on the restaurant’s name.

I almost fainted when the chicken skin chicharon came out. It’s my biggest weakness. I can skip any other kind of chicharon but never chicken skin. These babies were soooooo good and it tasted almost like Jollibee’s Chicken Joy.

To Americans and other nationalities reading my blog. Please do try chicken skin chicharon in your nearest Filipino restaurant. I just hope they can cook it as crisp as these. They didn’t even taste oily.

chicken skin chicharon $5.95

The calamari was so good and it had an intense flavor like dried squid but it very crisp. I’ve never eaten fried squid that tasted like this.

calamari $7.95

The sisig was just ok for me. It wasn’t crispy like the way they do it in Manila.

sisig $8.95

Although the picture doesn’t show evidence of any shrimp this was gambas and it was spicy-licious!!

gambas

For Americans it’s chicken soup for the soul. For Filipinos it’s bulalo soup. Clear broth simmered for hours with beef and bone marrow is what hits our soul. True Filipino comfort food.

nilagang bulalo $10.95

The last time I’ve eaten in Barrio Fiesta in Manila was decades ago and the dish I remember most is their bouillabaisse so I requested Sidney to order it. This bouillabaisse taste just like the way I remember. It was nothing like the ones I had here and here which were the more traditional style.

bouillabaisse $13.50

I’ve never seen bouillabaisse with a white, creamy soup base anywhere else but this was good and it brought back childhood memories.

In the US rice is free and eat all you can.

kaldero of rice

The sauce of the Kare Kare was not peanutty at all instead it was very beefy. It did have big and meaty pieces of ox tail. The bagoong was extremely salty.

kare kare $11.95

I found the crispy pata too oily but the flavor was good enough.

crispy pata $13.95

I loved the kenchi steak with gravy that tasted like it’s main ingredient was Knorr liquid seasoning. Kenchi is a part of the beef shank and that’s how they call it in the markets in Manila. It sounds like a Chinese name that has become part of the vernacular.

kenchi steak $11.95

I was impressed that they also had boneless bangus or milkfish which is a popular fish in Manila.

daing na bangus $11.95

I didn’t eat any pinakbet since I got scared of the very red color of the dish.

pinakbet $9.95

The tomato still had a sticker on it. 😀

ube ice cream $2 & buko pandan salad $2.50

The ube ice cream was even more purple than my shirt!

That night I found out my nephew Ryan was a budding masseuse of cured tita Karen of the knot on her shoulders.

In spite of some hits and misses I really enjoyed dinner in the company of such gregarious people. It turned out to be a great last dinner after all.

Fiesta sa Barrio’s menu
appetizer & soup, house specialties & from the sea
old time favorite, vegetables & noodles, rice dessert & beverages

Fiesta sa Barrio
4326 Eagle Rock Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041
telephone: (323) 256-4380

Brunch at Campanile

Who hasn’t heard of Campanile? I’ve wanted to eat there for years and finally got the chance on my last day in Los Angeles last December 2011.

Campanile is housed in an historic and dramatic structure built in 1929 by architect Roy Sheldon Price for Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin. Mr Chaplin originally intended to use the building as a mixed use site, retail downstairs, offices upstairs. Chaplin was never able to take occupancy as he lost the building in his divorce to his “child bride” second wife, Lita Grey. We pay tribute to the Chaplins as our two private dining rooms bear their names. In the late 1980s, following decades of neglect, the building was purchased by Executive Chef Mark Peel, former Pastry Chef Nancy Silverton and former Wine Director Manfred Krankl. Architect Josh Schweitzer supervised a complete remodel, converting the structure into a magical space intended for a bakery and restaurant. La Brea Bakery opened in January of 1989, with Campanile following six months later.
From Campanile

This dining area was so beautiful.

I don’t know why they sat us inside.

The basket of pastries from La Brea Bakery was excellent. It’s a good thing there were 6 of us sharing it or I would have eaten most of them all by myself.

basket of 4 pastries $15 – Walnut Coffee Cake & BlueberryMuffin

Apricot Ginger Scone & Chocolate Croissant

Sid had a simple open faced sandwich made with country wheat toast, arugula, parsley pesto, prosciutto and two poached eggs. He liked it very much.

Eggs & Prosciutto $16

Ryan had a slice of olive bread with an egg in the middle and some potatoes. I don’t understand how this cost $15 only a dollar less than the dish above and below. Anyway the important thing was Ryan loved it and finished it.

Egg in a Hole $15

What looked like a simple pasta dish with beef bolognese, kale and shaved parmesan was actually the best dish on our table in my opinion. What made this so good was the trenne pasta which was seared to a crisp. That was really unusual and was really good with the meat and vegetables.

Sautéed Trenne $16

The beef bolognese was no ordinary ground beef in tomato sauce. The beef was braised for a long time and was so tender.

The beef brisket hash was the healthiest thing I could find on the menu other than the egg white omelette which I’d rather not eat.

Scandia Beef Brisket Hash $17

The beef was just ok for me. It was tender and flavorful but nothing really special. I enjoyed the poached egg on sourdough toast a lot though. I wish I ordered the crab cakes benedict instead.

We were done with brunch when I remembered to check-in to Foursquare and was surprised to get a complimentary chef offering. I showed my iPhone to the waiter and he returned with a small dish with the softest, creamiest mozzarella topped with fresh pesto and cherry tomatoes. The best part was he gave all of us in the table a plate each. It was delicious and free thanks to Foursquare. That’s why I always check-in to Foursquare. You’ll never know if there’s a surprise that awaits you.

warm poached mozzarella with pesto and tomatoes

After brunch we went next door to La Brea bakery to buy some goodies.

This was the only picture I was able to take before someone told me picture taking in the bakery wasn’t allowed. That was the first time I was forbidden to take pictures in ANY food establishment in the USA.

I bought a rosemary corn scone and another scone which I forgot. I can’t believe I didn’t take any picture of my take-out goodies which I planned to snack on the plane back to Manila. Yes this was my last day in L.A. I do remember well how good the rosemary scone was. It had cornmeal and corn pieces in the scone. The texture was a cross between a scone and cornbread. The combination of my two most favorite breads in one delightful sweet and grainy scone with strong rosemary flavors was just heaven for me. It was very crumbly and I was glad it was in a ziplock.

Sid and Mary please bring me some rosemary scones next time you come to Manila!!

Campanile
624 South La Brea Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 938-1447

Farmers Market & The Grove

After our spectacular dinner at Fig & Olive we went to the Farmers Market and The Grove to walk off all the calories we consumed. It was also my first time to see these two places next to each other.

During the day the Farmers Market had tenants selling organic produce, meats, poultry and seafood. But at night the restaurants and food stalls are the destination of hungry people.

I haven’t seen retro aluminum and wood folding chairs like these in decades.

The stores also have an retro look to them.

The French Crepe Company had the most people in line.

Even the Starbucks looked so old fashioned.

We were planning to eat at Short Order the next day for Sunday brunch but changed our minds at the last minute. This will be on my list for my next trip to L.A.

Short Order’s menu

Dupar’s is another interesting restaurant and bakery.

These are just some of the pies they have.

Farmers Market also had stores and The Barber Shop Club where guys can get a traditional cut and shave.

I liked this antique gas station with an old truck parked beside it.

Earl’s service station

Farmers Market clock tower

We then walk to the nearby outdoor mall called The Grove. If you watch the tv show Extra you will hear the host, Mario Lopez, say, “we’re here live at The Grove.”

The place was nicely lighted for the holiday season. We were there last December 2011.

My nephew Kenjie is 14 and is already taller than me. The next time I see him he’ll probably be 6 ft.

This is L.A, naturally they have valet parking at the mall.

Farmers Market
6333 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90036
telephone: (323) 933-9211, toll free: (866) 993-9211

Regular Hours
Monday – Friday: 9 am to 9 pm
Saturday: 9 am to 8 pm
Sunday: 10 am – 7 pm
Some merchant hours may vary. Please call individual businesses to confirm their hours.

The Grove
189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036

telephone: (323) 900-8080

Donut Love with J.CO Donuts

I was going to start my diet again yesterday and not cheat anymore. I needed to lose the weight I’ve gained from my trip to the USA and Hong Kong Disneyland and many other mini vacations. I was quite a good girl the whole day until I went home and saw donuts.

The good folks over at J.CO Donuts Philippines sent me 2 dozen donuts. I almost fainted with joy and a sense of doom for my diet.

Obviously someone got to the first box of donuts before I got home since 2 pieces were missing. I applaud the effort to move the donuts around to make it less obvious. You know who you are!

The second box contained their bestseller, the Alcapone which is soft bite donut dunked in Belgian white chocolate and topped with sliced Californian almonds.

Alcapone donuts

They must know me well since there was a predominant brown color in one box.

berry spears, alcapone & green tease

I’m not a big fan of donuts. The last time I ate a donut was when KK opened in Manila and I went to their store in The Fort to see what the fuss was about. I was handed a free, newly cooked glazed donut. I took a bite and immediately tried to scrape all the sugar glaze. I found it too sweet and oily.

That was my last foray into donuts until yesterday. My first bite into the Alcapone donut quickly led into the second, third and fourth bite until I remembered to take a picture. I loved the soft donut without any oily aftertaste. The Belgian chocolate had the right amount of sweetness. The best part was the generous slices of crunchy almonds. I understand why this is the bestseller. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a donut with this much almonds. I can only imagine if they had a version made with dark Belgian chocolate instead. That would be even more heavenly.

Alcapone donut

For this post I had to try more donuts right? I was quite excited to try the green tease donut since I have an obsession with anything matcha (green tea powder) flavored, from cookies, candies and tea drinks. I was surprised at how potent the matcha flavor was. This was not just coloring. It was real matcha baby. The only thing that didn’t thrill me was the plain cream filling. I wish it was matcha flavored too. I had two bites of this donut’s topping.

green tease donut

I had to try one chocolate donut too right?

chocolate selections

I picked up the most chocolatey looking donut and was surprised to find the whole donut covered in chocolate. It wasn’t chocolate glaze but real chocolate. It it were low quality chocolate I would have spit it out but thankfully good quality semisweet chocolate was used. I had to physically push it away before I consumed another whole donut.

black jack donut

I was curious what this donut tasted like so I took another bite. Oh wow it had peanut butter flavored cream inside. The topping tasted like mocha. The combination was another winner. Uggghh I was so full after eating all these donuts. If I skip dinner will I save the calories of all the donuts I ate?

Thankfully donuts don’t have as much calories as cupcakes, muffins or bagels since they’re light and airy and not dense like the others.

choconuttzy donut

The next 3 pictures came from their Facebook page.

I want to try the cheese me up and mr. green tea too.

J.CO Donut variants

Aside from donuts they also have fat free frozen yogurt in their first branch at The Strip in SM Megamall Building B.

J.Cool

I will definitely visit their branch soon to try their coffees specially the espresso, hot mochabella and the iced green tea.

J.Coffee

The donuts are now safely hidden in the refrigerator. I shared 5 donuts with our household help and they loved it too although one complained it was ‘matabang’. Funny huh?

J.Co Donuts & Coffee
The Strip
SM Megamall Building B,
Julia Varga Avenue, Ortigas Center,
Mandaluyong, Metro Manila

Website
Facebook

Dinner at Fig & Olive

Whenever I travel I make it a point to research on which restaurants to try. However I don’t bother doing this whenever I go to Los Angeles because I implicitly trust the taste of my cousin-in-law, Mary who’s a foodie too. She knows all the best places to eat at in L.A.

I’ve never heard of Fig & Olive before. Mary told me that’s it’s very popular in New York and the branch at Melrose Place was the first one outside NYC.

The cuisine is based on the food from the French Riviera and coastal regions of the Mediterranean by Executive Chef Pascal Lorange.

I love the gorgeous interiors.

The view from the 2nd floor where we sat.

I really liked the open set-up of the mixed use restroom. The male and female cubicles were behind individual doors opposite this long sink counter.

I wish the restaurant had a tad better lighting. It was so difficult to get good shots since it was so dark. I’m not too happy with the pictures. I was ecstatic about the food though.

I don’t remember what the olive oils were called but I remember our waiter describing them as grassy, banana and fruity. I tried each olive oil and to my amazement one really tasted grassy which was a bit strange to my palate. The banana flavored olive oil wasn’t my favorite either. I liked the fruity olive oil the best.

3 kinds of olive oil

Sid and Mary brought their own wine.

We shared a plate of assorted crostinis.

3 kinds of crostini – 6 pcs for $19

All the crostinis were excellent but my favorite was the manchego, fig and macrona almond since separately those 3 ingredients are among my most loved food and together they were just perfect. Sweet, salty and crunchy.

mushroom, tuffle artichoke, parmesan
prosciutto, ricotta, fig, olive, walnut
manchego, fig, marcona almond

fig gorgonzola tartlet $15
Warm gorgonzola, prosciutto, fig, walnut arugula, scallion, tomato on a fine puff pastry

Again the flavors on this appetizer were just exquisite. All the ingredients complemented each other and the warm flaky puff pastry was just the perfect vessel.

For my main course I chose the Fig & Olive salad. It had nothing to do with my diet but I wasn’t very hungry and wanted something lighter although I was very tempted with the Côte D’ Azur bouillabaisse.

Fig & Olive salad $16
Romaine hearts, mesclun, fig, apple, manchego, dolce gorgonzola, tomato, walnut olive, scallion, 18 year old fig balsamic – Arbequina Olive Oil

OMG this was the best salad I’ve ever eaten in my life!!! You know many restaurants say they use only the best ingredients, this is the first time I tasted and appreciated what the best really meant.

The flavor of the olive oil was so bright and really brought out the flavor of each ingredient. Even the olives which I don’t normally like was delicious. The presence of 18 year old fig balsamic vinegar added just the slightest tang to my perfect salad. It was so dark I couldn’t really see what I was eating. Imagine my delight when I would bite into salty gorgonzola cheese with some sweet figs and tomatoes. The next forkful would bring a chunk of manchego cheese, olives and apples. This was so worth each and every dollar. Maybe more.

My nephews may be young but they are budding gourmands. They had the penne with mushroom and while truffle oil. Even without any traditional ‘sauce’ the pasta was rich, creamy and earthy.

penne funghi tartufo with grilled chicken $26
cremini and black trumpet mushroom, parmesan, parsley, scallion – White Truffle Olive Oil

I wasn’t able to try the ravioli since my full concentration was on my wonderful salad. I’m sure this was excellent too since I was the empty plate later on.

pumpkin sage ravioli $25
House made sage ravioli with orgnic chicken, ricotta and charmoula, pumpkin olive oil emulsion roasted pumpkin seeds, parmesan cheese and aged balsamic – Frantoio Olive Oil

dessert menu

I love all my cousins. They all follow the motto “dessert is as important as the main meal.” The apple tart tasted as good as it looked.

caramelized apple tart $9
crisp puff pastry with caramelized apples, vanilla ice cream

I love marzipan and I seldom see it in desserts. The cake had a wonderful texture and it was chewy and had a lovely orange flavor.

marzipan cake $9
olive oil gelato, candied orange olive oil & toasted almonds

The olive oil gelato was certainly unique. It was a bit salty so it was a good contrast to the sweet cake. The pastry chef knew the importance of textures and it came in the form of candied orange olive oil and toasted almonds. This is my kind of dessert – creamy, chewy, soft, cold, crunchy.

Homemade fancy ‘Kit Kat’ was served with the pot de creme. Was it for dipping? I’ll never know since it was gone even before we ate the main dessert.

chocolate pot de creme $9
crunchy praline financiers & vanilla cream

The deep, dark, rich chocolate love was underneath the vanilla cream. I just loved the hint of orange in the chocolate.

Excellent choice again Mary!!! This was one of my most memorable meals on my trip last Nov/Dec 2011.

Fig & Olive
8490 Melrose Place, West Hollywood, CA 90069, USA
telephone: (310) 360-9100
Mon – Sun:11:30 am-1:30 am

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Food Options at Century City Mall

I should have told Sidney earlier that I wanted to go to Universal Studios. Since we weren’t able to plan it he brought me to Century City Mall instead.

I’ve never been to this outdoor mall. It was pretty nice but I was all shopped out so we just walked around a bit.

I was fascinated with the food court though. It didn’t look like any mall food court I’ve ever seen before. The natural light from above made it feel like you were eating outdoors with the benefit of air-conditioning.

Juicy Bird

The choices were not your usual chains like Panda Express and the like. A lot of them looked really good.

Kichi Grill

Big Fat Pita

Charley’s Grilled Subs

But what really caught my eye was Take A Bao.

Take A Bao

They had different kinds of noodle soup.

Their main focus was on what we know as cua pao. Instead of just pata tim they had all kinds of creative fillings like pomegranate steak, Thai peanut chicken, crispy panko fish and sweet soy grilled tofu among others. Check out their full menu here.

And since this was L.A. the bao was served with a big helping of fresh Napa salad.

A bao s’more! How creative.

Next we went to vanilla bake shop to buy some goodies to give to my cousin Polly and her family who Sid and I were going to visit.

vanilla bake shop

Shockingly I resisted buying cookies. They looked so, so tempting though.

These icebox dessert shots were something new.

vanilla bake shop menu

Next Sid showed me RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen owned by the same group as Cheesecake Factory.

RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen

I was really impressed with the decor.

I love this door! I want to try their food next time I visit L.A.

Here’s Polly and Al with new baby O and big sister Lucy.

Westfield Century City is located in the heart of West Los Angeles, just 15 minutes north of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

It’s at the corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Avenue of the Stars. Customers receive three hours of free parking.

The J. Paul Getty Museum & The Restaurant

I’ve been to Los Angeles so many times in the past few years but this was the first time Sidney brought me to The J. Paul Getty Museum. As you can see by the first picture the highlight was our lunch at The Restaurant in the museum.

From the parking garage we went to the tram station that will take us up to the museum. The grounds were magnificent even at this entry point.

We were there last Dec. 10, 2011, a Saturday. Sid said this was considered very few people. The line went quite fast.

Riding the tram provided us a view of L.A.’s freeway and a view of the Santa Monica mountains.

Pardon the silly picture 😀

The Getty Center in Los Angeles presents the Getty’s collection of Western art from the Middle Ages to the present against a backdrop of dramatic architecture, tranquil gardens, and breathtaking views. from their website

with my cousin Sidney

We went around the gardens of the museum.

It was beautiful and there were still fall colors from the foliage.

Sid only gave me an hour to view the whole museum. Obviously it wasn’t enough time but I did see one of their most famous paintings, Irises by Van Gogh.

Visitors to the museum can download an app for their mobile device to help you navigate around the museum and listen to commentaries on the works of art.

Irises by Van Gogh

We rushed through the museum to have lunch at The Restaurant which was by the entrance to the museum. As soon as we arrived at the museum we made a reservation at the restaurant.

The Restaurant’s lunch menu (click to enlarge)

prix-fixe menu

Sid had the prix-fixe menu which started with this generous portion of waldorf salad filled with chunks of apples, dried cranberries and walnuts. I loved the candied walnuts which went well with the tart apples. The dressing was a bit too much but at least it was a light and creamy cider dressing.

waldorf salad

At first I thought the beef looked dry but it was really tender and very flavorful.

beef pot roast

The butterscotch pudding was unlike any pudding I’ve ever tried before. It was super light and airy and the salted caramel sauce on the bottom was simply decadent. If I only I could lick it clean.

butterscotch pudding

Sid and I shared an appetizer of roasted quail stuffed with wild mushrooms, crispy potato nest, garnet yam puree, wilted arugula and medjool dates. On it’s own the quail didn’t have much flavor but when eaten with the stuffing, sauce and dates it tasted better.

roasted quail $16

Since I was missing the bouillabaisse at Whole Foods I decided to order it for lunch. This version was totally different. Instead of a tomato broth this bouillabaisse was made with mussels, clams, shrimp, chorizo, coriander, chipotle saffron cream, fried onion and oranges.

bouillabaisse $20

This had a Southwestern flavor that was unique. The chipotle saffron cream was a bit spicy and the touch of oranges was quite a delightful addition to balance out the flavors. The seafood was perfectly cooked and very fresh.

I couldn’t help but dip my bread in the delicious saffron cream sauce. Look I was nice enough to give Sid 2 mussels and finished everything by myself. It was truly a wonderful meal. If you visit this museum be sure to have lunch or dinner at this amazing restaurant.

The J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive
Los Angeles, California 90049
telephone: (310) 440-7300

Admission to the Getty Center and to all exhibitions is FREE; no tickets or reservations are required for general admission. Parking is $15.

The Restaurant
Located in the Restaurant/Cafe building, the Restaurant offers full service in an elegant setting with views of the Santa Monica Mountains. Menus change seasonally.

Restaurant Lunch Hours
Tuesday–Saturday: 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.

Restaurant Dinner Hours
Saturday: 5:00–9:00 p.m.

Restaurant Brunch Hours (special menu)
Sunday: 11:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.