CALI - Mitsuwa!!!!

I've never heard of Mitsuwa before but after going in California, I understand everyone's anger in it being so far away from us in Chicago. 

LOCATION: 3760 S CENTINELA AVE., LOS ANGELES, CA. 90066

So Mitsuwa itself is an asian grocery store which also had a food court, a pastry shop, and a little book store. Christel purposefully took me here for some amazing tempura and another round of ramen because I'm always ready for some ramen. 

SANTOUKA

Since our goal for lunch was to eat some tempura we decided to share a small bowl of chashu hot miso ramen because Christel was saying that Santouka is a pretty famous chain and she wanted to make sure I tried it. I did have to add extra chashu because apparently a small comes with one piece and seeing as we were sharing I figured we could go for a little more meat, especially since I love pork belly. This little bowl of ramen was incredible. The meat was a great texture, the noodles were the perfect amount of chewy and this is one of the best broths I've had. I wanted to drink the whole bowl if only it weren't oily and spicy. I would totally go back to eat Santouka again.   

HANNOSUKE

In all honesty, I haven't had too much tempura in my life but the few times I have tried it in Rochester I've loved it. I like the tempura is crisp and light and usually involves really great vegetables being battered and fried so I was pretty excited to eat this really great tempura that Christel was dreaming about.

Tempura was our main dish for the meal so we each decided to order our own original tendon which comes as white fish, two shrimp, a soft boiled egg, seaweed, pumpkin, broccoli, and a shishito pepper over rice with a side of miso soup. This is the best tempura I've had in my life. The first bite of fish was like an incredible explosion in my mouth. The fish was soft but still flavorful without being too fishy, the batter was crisp and just had a light oily flavor and texture to it that melted across my mouth. Everything after that was just amazing. The shishito was strong and bitter but didn't linger, the shrimp disappeared so fast because it was just so good, and my favorite pumpkin was fantastic. Even the broccoli, which can be mushy when its tempura, was still crisp and had the perfect broccoli texture. By the time I got to the rice and egg I was stuffed and I couldn't finish it in the end so this would be a good meal as a stand alone but I wasn't going to pass up the option of ramen so there are no regrets there. Even the miso was perfect and helped me wash down any lingering oily flavor and feel full but not heavy.

I love every part of this meal and it may be my favorite of the trip.   

CALI - Shin Sen Gumi

Goal number 1 - Check! 

LOCATION : 1601 SAWTELLE BLVD. #101 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025

One of the places my friend Jimmy told me to go to in LA three years ago was Shin Sen Gumi. I didn't make it back then but believe me, I was dedicated this time and Christel was completely willing to help me make this happen. Our own trip ended up being a schedule of where we wanted to eat with places to visit as filler in between meals. As a true city vacation should be. We went and got Christel a haircut at her regular salon nearby on sawtelle and decided to hit up Shin Sen Gumi for dinner and boy was I a happy camper. 

We were very lucky with parking and got a spot on the street right next to the restaurant and only had to wait a couple minutes for a table to be cleaned before we were seated. Jimmy also gave me specific instructions on how to order my bowl of ramen but he's crazy and I'm sure I would've died in the sea of spice and oil he was recommending so I went a little off book. We each ordered 1/2 hakata sizes of ramen just so we could also order arabiki sausage because Christel has had them before and really wanted them again upon seeing several tables with that dish. They were great so I wasn't going to complain. I got my ramen hard/chewy, with medium oil, and medium broth strength, without ginger. I also added a flavored egg because perfectly soft boiled eggs in ramen are life. I also added a little chili oil on top of mine because Christel has turned me over to the spicy side of food and while I was alright with spice before, I love it a little more now.

This food was great. I love the bustle of the restaurant and the servers speaking Japanese to each other. The soup was balanced and had a really amazing flavor to it with a great kick from my chili oil. The half size was enough for us and we each finished the whole bowl (I can't say I drank all the broth but I probably could've if I was hungrier). I love the ability to customize the ramen a little and while I went midway on everything to see what my tastes were, I can see why people go back again and again.  

CALI - In-n-out

When in Cali - In-n-out

I'm not even going to say which one we went to because there are so many in Cali and we went on a whim while we were running errands. So let's just say it was somewhere in Anaheim and call it that. 

Christel and I have both been before, and we were craving burgers and fries so we just decided to look it up and were lucky enough to find one less than 5minutes away from where we were at that moment. In-n-out seems to be like Starbucks; you can be in one and see another one nearby. 

Of course we go for the cheeseburgers animal style, and just order the combo each which comes with fries and a drink. I swear, nothing beats In-n-out prices for this amount and at this quality. I really appreciate it and while I'm a fan of thicker cut fries, these still hold a nice potato flavor while being thinner. 

I'm not a huge fan of burgers, but one stop at In-n-out while I'm in town feels right. 

Snack Drawers

Quick post today, but I just wanted to say - I love my job. 

My co-workers and bosses took a little lunch trip to 'Park to shop' which is just a local asian grocery store and bought a drawerful of snacks. 

I'm so happy I work here and that everyone is so great at sharing with me. 

CHI - Meli's Cafe

Meli's is a mysterious place right here in Greektown that I always pass but never noticed until the week that three separate people on three separate occasions pointed it out to me and told me how great the breakfast was. Of course, this meant that I had to go right away so one day on our way to go bouldering, Christel and I decided to stop in for some Sunday Brunch. The second she said Meli's she mentioned the chicken and waffels and I was sold. 

LOCATION: 301 S HALSTED ST., CHICAGO, IL, 60661

Meli's is a cute place that's a little upscale - aka we were totally under dressed in our climbing gear but it's totally fine; we were seated by the door and no one seemed to be the wiser. Our chicken an waffles came out pretty quickly and smelled amazing. In all honesty we should've ordered one to share because the portions are pretty substantial and the prices are fairly high but we were greedy when we sat down and ordered one each.    

The waffles were house made and herb infused which you could smell before they placed it on the table. The chicken was large but perfectly cooked and seasoned well. I go without extra maple syrup even though I know that salty sweet combo is the whole point but this order comes with a maple bacon marmalade which balances out the salty well enough for me.

This dish was so filling and hit the spot for me but I only ate half of the plate and took the rest home. Unfortunately, I didn't end up eating it again and wasted the leftovers but you have to be in the mood for chicken and waffles so it was tricky for me to want it again so soon.