Restaurants | fabliss

Nekter Juice Bar | West Hollywood, CA

ever since we got back from oahu, we have been searching LA for comparable acai bowls. surprisingly, the acai bowl craze has not really picked up in LA despite the popularity of juiceries that have popped up in the last 2-3 years.

nekter opened up in west hollywood (fairly recently). based on pictures of their acai bowls, we decided to come here early on a sunday!

we ordered:

acai banana berry bowl ($7) – acai, banana, raw vanilla cashew nut milk and berries blended and topped with hempseed granola, bananas and berries
acai tropical bowl ($7) – acai, banana, pineapple, coconut butter and raw vanilla cashew nut milk blended and topped with granola, coconut flakes, and bananas

oh em gee. #winning. the acai bowls are very refreshing. not too tart and not too sweet. presentation is great too! although it’s not island vintage coffee, it is a close second and is now are my favorite in LA.

both bowls are fabulous! the berry one is obviously on the tarte side. the tropical bowl (if you like coconut) is sweeter and creamier. it’s nice to have both so that you can have the best of both worlds.

parking: i just took metered parking right in front of the store. i think there might be free parking somewhere? i just didn’t see it.
service: friendly. when it’s packed, expect to wait a little bit. they try their best to fulfill ordered in an efficient amount of time. i had to wait 10-15 minutes.
ambience: small inside with only a table or two? there’s some outside seating.
overall: i wish there was one closer to me.. i’d come here every day (for real). ps. they are open M-F from 8am to 8pm. on the weekend, Sat-Sun their hours are 8am – 7pm.

Nekter Juice Bar
8951 Santa Monica Blvd Ste A
West Hollywood, CA 90069

By fabliss | May 4th, 2014 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

Ricky’s Fish Tacos | Los Angeles, CA

ricky’s fish tacos has been on our list for awhile now… especially after trying best tacos of ensanada and guisados!

we bought one fish taco and one shrimp taco so that we could try the whole menu (yes, not an extensive menu… i can’t even diss their menu because they have two solid options and they know it). so, both were delicious! ohhhh and the white sauce… it’s pretty darn good. i will say that the fish was more seasoned than the shrimp tacos (which is surprising because i always prefer shrimp over fish tacos…). with that said i would still get them both. the tortilla was solid. it does not just disintegrate while you eat it. a definite plus!

an array of sauces. i freaking love sauces. also, we went for a late lunch so the line wasn’t too crazy long.

since we were having eating adventures with stella and meg, we all just had a taco and a half for each person. next time i got, i’m getting a minimum of 2 tacos… probably 3. 4 would be aggressive for me… but i could probably put it down.

batter is crispy and not think at all. i’m telling you… these tacos are def up there with the best tacos in la.

food: tacos are awesome. fish or shrimp tacos… you really cant go wrong with either. i can see why people rave about this place. cheap, fast, delicious tacos! make sure you get some of the white sauce!
ambience: so this is a taco truck, parked on a lot with a covered (w/tents) eating area. tight space… i cant imagine what this area would look like at peak time.
parking: street (metered)
service: they churn out those tacos relatively fast. efficient process.
overall: i would come back here. i think best tacos of ensanada is my favorite fish taco but this one is a close second/third. you wont be disappointed.

Ricky’s Fish Tacos
1400 N Virgil Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027

By fabliss | May 3rd, 2014 | Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

LA Rose Cafe | Los Angeles, CA

it was 90 degrees outside and we were in desperate need of dessert. good thing we came across la rose cafe! i was super stoked about this place because their featured dessert is halo halo!

in case you’re wondering, halo halo is a popular filipino dessert consisting of shaved ice, variety of sweet beans, evaporated milk, jello, tropical fruits, flan, and ice cream. ps. my favorite vietnamese dessert: “che ba mau” or “three color dessert” is very similar (minus flan and ice cream) because its made of a variety of sweet beans and jello in a coconut/milky base. mmmm. you must try both of these.

two desserts they are known for (we ordered 2 and shared among three people):

bread pudding: delicious!! this was amazing!! just look at it!! it melts in your mouth. not overly sweet.
halo halo: i absolutely loved this! for those who have never had halo halo, you will be pleasantly surprised by the mixture of sweet beans and jello. you will love the ube ice cream! also! a very perfect dessert on a hot day! just sayin’.

dessert: both desserts were great! i would come back and order this again and again!
ambience: this place is actually very dark inside because of that thick drapery (yes we opened them to get these awesome pictures. also, this place does not have central air or the central air was broken. we were melting inside. they provide a few floor fans which helped.
service: a little slow. just be ready.
overall: the desserts were worth it and i would come back just to eat them.

LA Rose Cafe
4749 Fountain Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90029

By fabliss | May 2nd, 2014 | Dessert, Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

Lemonade | Studio City, CA

i was so excited when they announced that a lemonade was opening up in studio city! it is one of my favorites!

concept: healthy cafeteria style.

keep in mind that lemonade is one of those places that has a handful of solid dishes that you just have to know to order… the other dishes that are way too healthy are not for everyone (like me. i’m just not a beet dish person). my go-to:

salads:

pineapple chicken, green beans, coconut, jalapeño, jerk dressing (my favorite)
cauliflower, golden raisins, almonds, curry
avocado, cherry tomato, pine nuts, lime
butternut squash, brussels sprouts, red flame grapes, almonds

braises:

meatball (only if i feel like i need something substantial)
jamaican jerk chicken

protein:

pineapple chicken

my normal order is two portions (two salads) ($6). if i am starving, then i get two salads and a braise ($13) or a protein.

jamacian jerk chicken (above). pineapple chicken (below).

ambience: casual. keep in mind this is cafeteria style. pointing out that there is always a line here at lunch/dinner. good thing it moves quickly.
parking: metered on ventura blvd. good luck.

Lemonade
12401 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA 91604

By fabliss | March 31st, 2014 | Food, Photography, Restaurants | 0 Comments

Minami | Vancouver, BC

i have to say this upfront. minami was our best meal in vancouver… actually. it was one of the best…in our lives. yep. lives.

we stumbled on this restaurant after strolling around in yaletown on our last day in bc. (side note: there are so many awesome looking restaurants on mainland street. why didn’t we find this earlier?) also, when we looked up restaurants in vancouver, this one was not on our radar because there just wasn’t that many reviews of this place.

beautiful restaurant.

so minami is known for aburi, flame seared sushi. we have never had this type of sushi before! so they flame sear their sushi to enhance the flavor. …so delicious.

per the suggestion of our waiter, we ordered:

spicy kaisen soba peperoncino ($15) – prawns, squid, scallops, sweet pepper, shiitake mushroom, jalapeño, tempura bits, chili-garlic soy
premium aburi sushi lunch sampler ($27) – a selection of aburi, roll and oshi sushi (12 pieces)
aburi salmon oshi sushi ($15) – pressed BC wild salmon, jalapeño, miku sauce
aburi ebi oshi ($15) – pressed shrimp, lime zest, ume sauce

so the spicy noodles. freaking amazeballs. so delicious. i don’t even know what else to say.

we got the premium aburi lunch set (12 pieces) so that we could try a little bit of everything.

the salmon aburi is delicious. this is their popular one (this and the shrimp aburi. the premium set comes with two pieces of each). i would like to point out that it was extremely hard to only take half a bite of this in order to photograph. #selfcontrol

so the rest of the rolls were awesome but we have no idea what we were eating since it’s chef’s selection.

we loved the shrimp and salmon so much… we ordered more al a carte.

food: food here is a game changer. preparation is incredible and like nothing else you have ever had (umm…the fish just melts in your mouth). trust me. oh and presentation is beautiful. for us, it was very unexpected that we would fall in love with a sushi joint in vancouver, but we did. our favorites – shrimp aburi, salmon aburi and the spicy noodles. you must try all of these! fo sho.
service: everyone (especially our waiter) was helpful and attentive. after our meal, we went over to the sushi bar to thank the sushi chefs for an amazing meal. they were uber friendly… we would definitely sit at the sushi bar next time for a different experience.
ambience: beautiful restaurant. sleek. clean. oh, and a very pretty bar!
overall: we think about the aburi sushi at minami all the time. like i said, best we’ve ever had. best. it is on the pricey side but well worth it. we want to visit vancouver again just to eat this again. why can’t la have aburi sushi?!

Minami
1118 Mainland St
Vancouver, BC V6B 2T9 Canada
Neighborhood: Downtown, Yaletown

By fabliss | March 30th, 2014 | Canada, Food, Photography, Restaurants, Travel | 0 Comments

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