El Patron Mexican Restaurant & Cantina, 5545 Reseda Blvd. Tarzana, CA 91356

This review is dedicated to mi otra familia: Eduardo A. and Irene H.  and Juan

When all hope fails to find a decent Mexican Restaurant, then you should really check out this blog. El Patron is a bit of a drive from Cal State Northridge, but well worth it. It doesn't look much as you pass by unless you really look at the restaurant. There's sort of an outside patio that makes this restaurant unique. The parking is quite bland. I would have suggested some colorful lighting or lights. I would add the colorful christmas lights, a security guard and hidden speakers playing some spanish music. That would definitely get the flow of Mexico. As you walk to the front entrance, it's pretty bland too. There should be some colorful christmas lights along the railing and maybe a speaker on the wall playing some pepe aguilar or some salsa music at least. As you turn left, you can see the semi-open patio that people are eating. Things starts to get interesting. When you walk inside and greeted, you have a choice to eat outside or inside. I prefer inside during a hot summer afternoon.

The interior of the restaurant is finely decorated with breathtaking photos and should have more breathtaking scenery pictures, but that's ok. The music that is being played flows with the restaurant. They are playing "Oye como va," by Carlos Santana. Anything by Santana is good enough for me. The menu is different since it's lunch time. I am unsure if the menu is same at dinner time since the waitress was persistent that there's only one menu, which I doubt. I will have to make a return for dinner real soon. The tables are quite small in height, since I am a tall guy; I have to sort of crouch and lean on the table to eat. However, the food selection is quite broad for a lunch menu. The food is on one side, and the drinks menu on the other side. This time I am in need of a burrito. So I order a Shrimp Burrito with guacamole. (Burrito de camaron). My date orders a carne asada burrito with guacamole. We each order water. The drinks like Horchata and Jamaica are good choices as well, but the thing is there are no refills which is the downside. (really no refills?) yep no refills and the price is horrible for the drink. You'd rather just drink water or possibly order a beer or margarita!

The chip and dip comes in and the chips are nicely hot and fresh. The salsa could be better and the bean dip is a bit salty. I have had better. The food takes a while and they get my date's order wrong. They make her a chicken burrito when she ordered a carne asada. Mine came out well. By the time she gets her dish, we are somewhat full already dining on chips and dip. But the flavors from the burrito is exquisite. They just need to work on a few things here and there, which could make this restaurant more authentic. The one thing I love about this restaurant also is they don't rush you out of the table, now this could only be because it was a slow lunch time. Until, I make a dinner visit.. I will let you all know. Food 5/5, Drinks 4/5, Value of food 5/5 and value of drinks 2/5. Overall environment or feel ... 3/5. But I love the food here, so I definitely will make a return visit. It's definitely up to you!

view of the bar

loving the mosaic tiles and the backdrop painting

My burrito de camaron (shrimp)

another view of the bar

Grandma Kim's Family Diner (8384 Topanga Cyn Blvd., Canoga Park, CA)

I have been coming to this restaurant when it first opened. This restaurant is situated in a medium sized plaza with decent parking. It's right across from the new Lowes. This restaurant has also been featured on the Daily News with a picture of the Granddaughter, Jennifer and the Grandma. We mainly order bulgogi here which is Marinated Beef. This has been our home for Korean BBQ for nearly 10 years. We were here since it first opened in 2004.  The restaurant, itself has changed its interior decor as it has grown over the years. I remember when it was just regular tables with not much decor and it was just plain white everywhere. Now, if you come and visit, you are wowed by how it looks like. 

I am not sure if it's still owned by the same owners, since there are new staff. I hope it is. For a sure thing, the bulgogi is a true winner here. We usually don't try anything else. If you are new to Korean BBQ, try bulgogi. It's marinated in a sauce that is mind-boggling. You will want more, or if you are full. Trust me, a few days later you'd be craving for some bulgogi. Now with any Korean BBQ, you get banchan which are side-dishes. Most dishes on the menu are served with BanChan. Some don't, but they should. I tried something different this time when I had visited Grandma Kims which was the Cold Noodle. Korean's have an awesome noodle which is Buckwheat Noodles and they are green or brown in color. The broth is to die for and it's very delicious. This is another dish that you should aim for which is the cold noodle soup which is mostly served during the summer months. But at Grandma Kim's, it is served all year. When you are done with the noodles, the broth is worth drinking. Unlike most broths, you won't get that feeling to drink water b/c of thirst. 

As for drinks, Korean hot tea is better which is Barley Tea. I love Barley Tea. Try it out next time, before you order any cocktails, beverages or alcohol. They do serve beer, soju, etc. That's something I would get into next time. The side-dishes that are served here are a-ok! The kim chi needs to be worked on, I have had better kim chi elsewhere. As the years progress, I think the kim chi's taste has withered down. The best Kim Chi I have had so far is at BCD Tofu House. 

The service depends on the day, but the service for the day I had went was horrible. 

Service: 1 star

Food: 4 star

Cleanliness: 5 star

Usually service is at least a 3-star.

Korean Buckwheat Cold Noodles

Bulgogi with side-dishes

inside the diner.

7 Leaves, (9786 Westminster Ave, Garden Grove, CA)

7 Leaves? If you look at the title of this post, you will definitely be like WTH? Why would you name a place called 7 leaves? 

Well, my brother had decided to give us a tour of garden grove. Wow it's a little small country of asian restaurants. It has so many Vietnamese restaurants!! So, I have been craving some boba and my brother had decided to bring the family here. When you enter, you finally realize it's a tea house that serves all kinds of teas with or without boba and some small pastries. The chairs and tables resemble a classroom and they have lockers. I would guess the lockers are there for decoration.

Now.. something my uncle in hong kong had said, "AFA.. (thats how he pronounced my name.. which is Arthur)... if the bathroom is clean, then the restaurant is superb).. well the bathroom here is pretty nice and awesome. So, onwards to the review of this tea house. It's very busy and hard to get a chair. We had ordered mung bean drink which was awesome. I thought it was going to be a yellow color drink, since in most Chinese restaurants serve mung bean dessert, it's usually yellow in color. 

This place is decently nice. But I am not that impressed by the interior design of this place. Needs more life to the place. I am sure there are other tea houses in Garden Grove. I would rate this place a 3/5. It wasn't worth the wait for the tea and waiting for a seat to sit in. I would've settled for Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. But that's my two cents for today. 

Mung Bean Drink

Inside the cafe.
Not so impressive. :/

For those viewing my blog

Can you please leave a comment. Any comment will do such as... if you tried the restaurant, and you got a different feeling for it, suggestions on places to try? if you enjoyed my review.

If you can, when visiting the restaurants that I have reviewed, that you can tell the owners about this blog so that they know when you visit, this is the blog that had led you to this restaurant. It will increase the popularity. I make no monetary funds from this blog. I just want this blog to be popular and allow others to read this! :) thanks for all those who have read! I will keep updating the blog every now and then.

The Great Wall Chinese Restaurant Review (Northridge, CA)

Went here once or twice, and the prices are overwhelming. I mean OVERWHELMING, like wow somehow too rich for my blood. But, upon entering the restaurant, you feel like you are in CHINA! The interior decor is very detailed with the sliding door for the private party room, or the wallpaper and Chinese paintings which makes this Chinese restaurant so unique. Most Chinese restaurants in the San Fernando Valley and in Chinatown doesn't have such a warm feeling to it. It could use a little air conditioning from time-to-time. The food may be expensive, but the food quality makes my tummy say "YUMMY!". This time I had made a visit with 3 of my friends and the anticipation for each dish to come out turned out triumphant in its pleasurable tastes. Whether it was the Sweet and Sour Pork, Vegetable Fried Rice, Fried Turnip Cake, or even Sweet and Pungent Shrimp; the flavors excite my palate and I am definitely ready for more. Even the Beef Chow Fun was enjoyable to eat. My friend is not Chinese but he definitely found a nice Chinese Restaurant to dine at. They close til 12, 11 being the last order. It's definitely worth the try! After dinner, they serve the casual "fortune-cookies" and candied caramelized apples. Of course, this time around; I was too full to even think about that. I would definitely recommend this place. 9/10 cleanliness, 10/10 food, 8.5/10 price. An added bonus is they close at 12 midnight. Now if that's not saying anything, I don't know what else to say. Keep also in mind, this is one of the few restaurants that serves the fried chips with sweet and sour sauce. Restaurants nowadays, don't serve such snacks!

Interior of the restaurant
Looks like I'm in Beijing or
Shanghai.

Look at this wall scripture. It's intense.

This is supposedly aiming
at the front of the restaurant

Upper Right is the fried chips, and lower left
bottom is the sweet and sour sauce. 

My buddy's favorite dish, Sweet
and Pungent Shrimp.
Actually very robust in flavor!

a much clearer view of the
sweet & pungent shrimp!

Veggie Fried Rice anyone? (on top) 

Or shall I dine on that
Orange chicken?

Indo-Mie Instant Noodles (Indonesian Noodles) Review

Hey everyone! I am sorry that I haven't been able to update as of late. I have been very busy with my final exams, and as of May 19th, I will be a graduating senior at CSUN; with a B.A. in Communication Studies. So, here is my review for today. Summer is here and sometimes we want to stay home and eat something easy. This is a really good instant noodle. Sure we have the classic "cup o noodles" or "Maruchan"; this instant noodle can be only found at 99 ranch market or most Chinese supermarkets. Primarily for those living here in the west san fernando valley, 99 ranch market is located on victory and sepulveda with access from the 405.

This is the indo-mie instant noodles. be sure
the flavor is beef flavor, b/c it really
does taste good!!!!

So you can either grab bags which is expensive, you rather grab a whole box which is $10-$12 for a good number of individual bags in a box.. Anyways, you take one bag out and you follow the directions. You take a pan and boil the water until it boils, and then place the dried noodles in. But do not add the seasoning yet.

This is how it looks like out the bag

Once the noodles are in the bowl, now add
the seasoning and sauces to the noodles
Now mix and the end result is what you
see in this bowl. Of course, I had made 2 bags
instead of one. It's indeed a bit spicy,
but it's really good! 

The spices and seasoning should be left out
DO NOT ADD them until you finish
cooking the noodles. As you take the noodles from
the boiling pan, place the loosen noodles into
a bowl.

Kula Revolving Sushi (Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, CA)

It just doesn't get better than this! Revolving Sushi bar in Little Tokyo and guess what? The sushi is just $2. Forget those other sushi wannabe places that have a revolving bar. They have different color plates and their prices are unpleasant. Not to mention, the sushi is not quite so pleasing. One place in northridge, Gatten Sushi was horrible, because they gave us a complimentary sashimi which looked liked shaved ice. It was so thin and small, that I immediately left.

Anyways, this review is for Kula Revolving Sushi. They have another location in Irvine, CA. I haven't yet been there, but will definitely have to go there soon. Getting here is the easy part. Waiting in line is the hard part, b/c people love to come here for the revolving sushi bar and the cheap price. Not to mention the sushi is just darn good!! Writing this review is surely making my mouth water up. I haven't been here in a few weeks, but just imagining it makes me want to hit up their place next weekend. My first time here was last year and I was in Little Tokyo eagerly looking for an awesome sushi place. My group that I had went with was looking for a place to eat and ended up eating at a fusion restaurant. Sorry, but if I am in Little Tokyo...I want SUSHI!!! So, I had passed by Kula several times and managed to wait in line. The waiting in line was well worth it. I had almost 15 plates of sushi. After that experience, I have taken my friends here and they love it. Every-time I say let's get some sushi, they always ask.. $2 sushi at kula? I nod and they jump for joy... as we head over to Kula in Little Tokyo.

There is also a menu for hand rolls which is also $2. The only thing here which isn't $2 is the sake, beer, and the ramen. But, I come here for the sushi, no doubt! One of my friend had watermelon here which I found kind of funny, but he was in the mood for dessert. This is by far my to-go-sushi place when I am craving sushi!!!! Check them out! they even have their own website, kulausa.com

The seating is either booth style or single aisle where you face the revolving bar. I like to face it, b/c the booths you sit in a group of four and I rather experience it face-on. The bathrooms are okay. What is needed is more sitting area, and to expand the revolving sushi to accommodate the other sushi eaters.. It gets really busy and the wait gets long since people over there don't come just to eat, but stay there longer either watching movies on their phones whilst eating or something really dumb. that's what i dislike, their should be management to take care of such time-wasters, so we as the customers can enjoy your sushi and eat. I usually go here, eat, and if i take a little longer..it's because I am resting my tummy or waiting for a particular sushi to be re-made. People!! you should look in the back in realize the other people waiting!!!!

I hope you have enjoyed this review as much as I do. I hope to get some more reviews before the month is over. Hope you share these reviews with your friends, leave a comment, rate it, and hope these reviews help you during your journey of eating. Let me know if it's helpful or not. I seek improvement every time I write these reviews.

Look the selection (sitting at a booth)

I think thats salmon in sake?

Crunchy Roll comin up

Add caption

Tempura roll

Can't remember the exact name, but i call this the epic sushi! has egg yolk in it.. and sometimes the yolk is dripping. mmmmm