monks: the crisp on the onion rings was great but flavor wise it kinda fell flat...the aioli was garlic flavored I think, but tasted more like mayo than the flavor which is a thumbs down in the aioli department for me...



monks: the sweet potato fries were delcious! I think that the ketchup was made in house...but I don't remember and it must not have tasted that amazing for me to forget.

Umami Burger in Santa Monica with Pam and John.

Umami burger and onion rings

monks: umami burger! the fifth taste! so in spire of the so-so sides...the burger was AMAZING! you'll see later we went to father's office which was pretty damn delicious, but in terms of gourmet burgers I thought Umami's was better hands down! Mostly because it was 1. saltier-the father's office one has a onion/bacon compote which is sweet- a big no-no on my savory items and 2. more texture friendly-father's office had that mushy compote... even though I like a burger with a lot of fresh veggies and a fat slice of raw onion, neither umami or father's office had this, but umami had a crispier things on it... fresh bun, soft and crisp on the inside, must have been brushed with butter or oil! the super duper tasty meat, i know it had a roasted tomato, must have been roma, it was sweet and salty, but the good sweet i like =) tart sweet! it also had a crunch parmesan cheese disk that was amazing taste wise and added a cool crunch to the burger... i know there were spreads or homemade mayo type products in there but i forget what! It's called umami x6, meaning 6 elements...what else...oh some cooked wild mushrooms too! hmmm i think there was cooked onion too...geezus...well all in all, it gets the thumbs up from me! there's a bunch of em in the LA area so it's totally worth the stop!

Start of Day 2...I'm starving!

Welcome to Day 2 of our trip! On the first day, we plowed through 5 food places. Can we top that today? Read on to find out!!!




Liezl: Ahhh breakfast. My most favoritest meal of the day.

monks: i think this may have been my favorite breakfast too except that i felt so sick and full afterwards...plus, one day we started off with hodad's bacon cheeseburgers and that's more my kind of breakfast!

Day 2 6/26/2010: North End Caffe in Manhattan Beach

Liezl: Ino two eggs over easy grilled ciabatta topped with brie and herb salad truffle oil

Mitch: Huevos divorciados opposing corn tortillas bacon pepper jack

Monks: Carmel onion applewood bacon gruyere maytag blue arugula, carnitas taco

Coffee and fresh orange juice

monks: everything here was super yummy! and savory! all the bread was crispy and crunchy and everything had a lot of garlic in it! thumbs up! I would stop here again...it seems like they do a lot of specials there too that I'd wanna try...it's just a super small spot!

Hey why not some drinks and more food to end our first day???

Liezl: Final stop of the day, Ortega 120, which has 120 types of tequila. This wasn't on our list of "must-eats," but we were hanging out with Michelle's friends and decided to get close-by eat and drinks. At this point I was done. Ready to quit the trip. My taste buds could taste no more. The thought of repeating this entire process for 4 more days made me wimper...but that's why you need teammates to push you!!! (This was an ongoing theme for the trip by the way)
In my opinon, the best thing about this restaurant are the drinks. Sureee I only tasted 3, but they were unique. The one I got, pictured above, is called the Espicy Mango. Had tequila, citrus sour, mango puree, lime and chiles. The glass was rimmed with a spicy and sour sugar. How cool!

monks: I'm glad Liezl came to her senses and remembered what this trip was for! you can't sit out on a meal!!!! the drinks were tasty, but honestly so strong i couldn't enjoy the taste...i had the horchata martini which was so yummy but the kick afterwards hurt! and the end of the drink was kinda creamy and gross, but all-in-all they were special and unique enough to be worth the money...and you could tell the liquor was top shelf...



Liezl: Even though I tired of eating, I happily ate the chips and salsa and ordered an appe. These are Gorditas de Jenn. As the menu states, they are lightly fried masa pockets with chile braised short ribs (those were the magical words that made me order them), avocado, mexiquesos, with avocado salsa. The pink stuff in the picture was pickled onions. Dude these things were HEAVY, but delicious. If I ate them now, they would be more delicious because I could probably actually taste them now. Liezl Food Road Trip Rule #1: Don't eat tasty food at the end of the day. You can't taste it, and you'll be pissed at the fact that you can't. So what to order instead? How the hell should I know?

monks: these were damn good! such a good combo of tastes and textures! who doesn't love deep fried things stuffed with meat!?! everything tasted really fresh and bright and the pickled onions were so yummy!
not pictured-unless mitch adds it...were the fish tacos i got...they were tiny like these but deep fried with seared tuna...good little fusion number...but the pico de gallo and sauce components were all on point and the fish was delicious!!! thumbs up!

A Food Trip Must-Do...Bar-B-Que!!!

Liezl: I was totally psyched about JayBees Bar-B-Que! It was another awesome Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives joint! When I saw it on TV a million years ago, I remember thinking, "Damn I wanna go there!" but never thought that I'd get the chance! This is located in Gardena, which is...pretty ghetto. To be honest, even though it was daytime, I was a tad nervous. This hole-in-the-wall-with-the-metal-screen-door restaurant was tasty!

monks: so i have to say, by the time we got here i was kinda full and i'm not a huge fan of bbq...i like meat...salty meat, and sometimes bbq ends up being more sweet than salty...that's why i like vinegar based bbq sauce, i forget if that's more southern or not. but i always love some greens! haha lizoes post makes it seem like this stop was a 'make a wish foundation' stop! i feel her on the shady environment...when i pulled out my iphone to take pictures i didn't wanna get made fun of...or jacked... even the tiny order up window had metal bars in front of it! but low and behold...as we were eating this super old puerto rican (she had a flag hanging) gramma rolls up in a mini-van, house dress and slippers and got herself some bbq!




Liezl: Here is Michelle posing with our giant platter of food. Keep in mind that this is our 4th place in our trip.

monks: that rib was huuuuuge!







Liezl: Now on to the important stuff, what we ate! This is the combo platter with beef ribs and pork shoulder with a medium spice sauce. Holy crap it was spicy! But geewwwd. I wish the meat on the ribs were more tender, but it was the sauce that made the meal for me. On the side we got baked beans, which I normally dislike because of the sweetness, but these were the best beans I've ever had! It was flavorful with spices (not heat) and not sweet. Also got coleslaw, which I also normally don't like. I'm anti-mayo!! Buuut, it was tasty! Just a touch of light mayo, and the veggies were crunchy and fresh. My body was probably craving non-meat products at this point. Oh yeah and there was bread which was barely touched. Monks got a serving of collard greens (which they microwaved!). Not bad...


monks: i agree, the beans were somethin special! i have no idea why...maybe cause they were more salty than sweet? i feel like bbq baked beans are usually too sweet for me! lizoe pretty much summed up the greatness of the meat and sauce...the greens were tasty but not warm enough...and yea, not fresh and also i'm a greens snob...lots of good oakland spots here with better greens, plus my roomie and ex used to make em the best ever! this place (mostly because i'm not a huge bbq fan) gets my approval but not a huge thumbs up

Liezl: Just so you understand how massive these ribs really were.

Keep on truckin'! We need sugar!!!

Liezl: After eating a super savory breakfast and 4 hot dogs, we were in need of a sweet treat. Monks saw online that one of Giada De Laurentiis's favorite place to eat is The Chocolate Bar. So here we are in Encino, probably 20 minutes after eating at Fab's ready for sugar.

Of course I had to brag to more people that we were on this food road trip, so I told the owners there that we saw online that the famous Giada De Laurentiis loves this place. They have never heard of Giada visiting, so they started looking online. Yeah we realize later that she never went. Online it says that one of her favorite things was a chocolate bar at someplace. Whoops!

Being a fan of variety, we got a small box of chocolates which included: dark chocolate coconut, dark chocolate caramel with red Hawaiian sea salt (can't go wrong with caramel and salt! one of my faves), Oaxca something with ancho and Mexican pepper, caramel mushroom (it only looked like a mushroom, not tasted like one!), peanut butter dark chocolate, and hazelnut crunch truffle (big fan!). I took a bite of almost every single one and realized that I was too damn full to eat anymore. But the trip must continue!! Michelle calmed her belly with a Mayan truffle tea.

monks: not a fan of sweet...but i did try some candy and the ones that had dark chocolate and the salt were interesting and yummy...they were giving out these samples of what seemed like hot chocolate with gelato...i think it was really some kind of chcolate liquid truffle with creme fresh and vanilla bean...which is just a fancy version of what i said...that was pretty damn good though =)

June 23rd afternoon FABS!

Next stop for lunch was Fab's Hot Dogs! Closer to socal, I think around Gardena (Liezl: I think you mean Reseda)...and in case you didn't know...That's him! The owner of Fab's! Don't worry, Lizoe let him know about our famous trip! Can you believe he still works the register even after his TV debut?! Lizoe got a mexicali dog with adobo sauce and grilled onions but for some reason I don't have that pictures, so better get on that Lizoe!

Liezl: It's funny, but in a kind of pathetic way, that to me and Monks, people we see on the Food Network are what we consider to be celebrities. As soon as she saw him, she got super excited. This was my chance to actually talk to someone that I saw on tv!! I asked him if things got busier since being featured on the Food Network and then we started chatting about the food tour. He seemed impressed. Monks seemed embarrassed. Fabs was probably one of my top 5 joints. Top 5 out of 30 is not bad at all! Wide variety of interesting toppings and you could tell that they actually cared about the taste. It was more of a gourmet hot dog than a top-it-with-anything-crazy hot dog.

monks: yes. i was embarrassed. yes. i think people on the food network are celebrities. yes. i think lizoe is a freak. i loooooooooooooooooooooved this place! it was one of my favorites!!! so many choices! i couldn't pick just one which is why i ordered 3 dogs for just mitch and i! the place was cute, clean and friendly...they moved over to this spot because they needed more space after the show aired! when you walk in the smell of yummy meat fills your nose! mmmmmm wipe your mouth! all the meat and toppings tasted fresh and homemade and everything was so flavorful! if it weren't so early in the day i would have ordered more! i guess this is why i'm the fat cousin...



Liezl: Ahhh I can still remember the excitement of seeing him...but I forgot his name.

monks: what a rookie lizoe...his name is JOE FABRATINI!!!! i dunno if i got the spelling right but that's his name! eat that sucka!



Mitch with the mouth watering dogs!

oh man...despite the green stuff looking like caterpillars as mom said...i think that was my favorite one...tree knows one of my favorite foods is skirt steak with chimichurri sauce...i think it's from argentina? it's been my birthday meal here and there...it's mostly cause of the sauce, it's an acidic (mostly lime!), olive oil and some herbs fusion and tastes so yummy on anything!!! ANYTHING! so that green dog was a delicious dog with skirt steak and that sauce on top! so damn good! one of em was the bald eagle ripper i think? the ripper just means it had the delcious dog deep fried til it ripped open! the bald eagle slaw-that's the orange looking one, was delicious! not too sweet or sour and the veggies tasted so fresh! i believe the middle one was a bacon wrapped dog with traditional slaw and jalapenos! i LOVED this slaw! i think the whole mustard? seed made it! it just tasted to good and flavorful! not sweet, sour or creamy, just perfect and crunchy!!!! even though i loved that slaw the best, you just can't beat a mission dog from sf! c'mon, 2am after drinking and dancing, a bacon wrapped dog fried on a cookie sheet in it's own oils (fuled by a propane tank!) with onions, peppers, mayo, mustard and ketchup...that will always win no contest!

Him again!


monks: that joe, such a hard worker!



So from the top: You have the ripper! Which is a deef fried dog with their special 'bald eagle slaw'....kinda like a more tomato based spicy coleslaw...pretty damn good... in the middle is a bacon wrapped dog with traditional slaw which was super yummy with big seeds and herbs in it and jalepenos on top....third dog on the bottom was the chimichurri dog with sliced steak and a chimichurri sauce-tangy olive oil, lime, parsley or cilantro....sooooo good!
Liezl: That chimichurri dog was the best! How can you beat meat on top of more meat? It was hecka good! Yes I said hecka. Among the 3 of us, we ate 4 dogs. Not bad for an afternoon snack. We took a bite, then passed it to the next person. Hooray for variety again!

monks: damnit, i should have scrolled down...i didn't see that mitch wrote all that stuff

(mind you- that bbq post came after these 4 hot dogs!)

fabs gets a double thumbs up from me!!!!!!




Liezl: Aaaand here I am fresh from my second nap of the day ready to eat my dog!

June 23rd : Madonna Inn cont...

monks: Here's the main dinning area for the steakhouse part...
Liezl: Yeah it was crazy gaudy! Bubblegum fake pink flowers everywhere! But I guess that is where the charm comes from..




Liezl: Even the sugar was pink!!! Everyone got to drink from these goblets and it was badass! It made me feel important. I was so tempted to steal it, but I was afraid that the gods would punish me and that would've been an awful way to start the roadtrip.




monks: Here's Lizoe with her openfaced roast beef sammy with mashed taters I think...
Liezl: Ohhh yess. Openfaced sandwich is a weakness of mine. It's because you can see all the layers of smothered goodness! There was a ton of meat. I just left the bread behind. I love how we started our tour with a full meal each!!

monks cont. : meat good, gravy, good. nuff said!



monks: On the left are their pretty goblets for sale...and to the right Mitch's BBQ tri-tip sammy with potato salad.
Liezl: One of the best parts of going on a foodie trip with others is that you get to taste their food too! This was good, but Mitch couldn't finish it. We saved half the sandwich for later (um yeah we never got around to eating it).

monks continued: it was painful throwing that to-go box away...but it was the start of a new day of wating and the thought of wasting space on a day or two old sammy was just not right...her meat was pretty damn good though!

monks: My breakfast came with homemade biscuits! These came with butter, honey, apricot jam and strawberry jam!
Liezl: Yeah I was jealous of Monk's biscuits. I actually thought that was the best tasting thing on the table! Good thing she doesn't eat sweets. Mo' fo' me!

monks continued: i don't care for this kind of stuff but it sure was yummy...all fresh! straight from the oven to my plate! however, i still like popeye's biscuits the best, prolly cause they inject them with butter and salt...

monks: I had corned beef hash and eggs over medium with hash browns the veggie fix-ins and my biscuits which by the way came along with us on the road! So did Mitch's sammy, both left uneaten though!
Liezl: Glad Monks went with the corned beef hash. Supposedly it's house made. It's not the usual comes-out-of-a-can mushy kind (although I do enjoy it), it was the chunky I-chopped-this-from-a-hunk-of-corned-beef kind. Yum! Salt rocks.

monks continued: lizoe forgot to mention that i took her to the best part-it's featured on the travel channel...it's the waterfall urinal! in the downstairs men's bathroom! it's all decked out in gold and chrome...the men's urinal is one big wall of what looks like gold and pearl and all kinds of crazy stuff AND it has a constant waterfall running! pretty neat if you ask me! =) thumbs up for this spot! portions are huge too! such a plus and a great way to start off the trip!

monks: Still getting the hang of it sorry...

June 23rd: Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo

monks: This place looks like a frosted cupcake...or like someone puked pepto everywhere

June 23rd, 2010

monks: So, I hate computers...and therefore blogging as well, but I really want to get this thing going before I forget all about it so here goes it. I'll do my best to do it in some kind of organized fashion, but in reality, it will probably either 1. be all over the place or 2. need to be edited by mitch!...

Liezl: so now I'm finally contributing! Meh I'm only a month late. Roadtrip to me means...snacks!! So the night before I went to Target, texted the cousins and stocked up on salty goodies and caffeine-filled energy drinks. Yeah we didn't touch them at all during the trip. I guess I forgot that this was a FOOD trip.

monks: June 23rd: The first stop- The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo! This hotel/cafe/steakhouse (I forget it's name)/etc. have been around for quite some time and have really made it as a famous tourist attraction. Each hotel room is themed as something different like bedrock, emerald something, lover's cove yada yada and are all decked out and super over the top! I hear the cakes at this bakery are amazing, however they're extremely large and tall and we just ate a huge breakfast as follows:

Liezl: And the outside looks like a giant castle!! Why didn't I take pictures of it???