Today we decided to go to the new Santa Monica Place. It just opened last week and what a difference. It is now an open mall with a layout that reminds me very much of Hollywood and Highland. There are three floors that go in a circle with the middle like an open atrium. Although the temperature at my house was 92 when I got home, it was 64 in Santa Monica with a thick marine layer. This is a high-end mall with the anchor stores being Bloomingdales and Nordstrom, which isn't open yet. Don't expect to find anything like Kohls at this mall. The third floor is mostly dining. Eventually there will be something called The Market with what appeared to be food stalls. There is a food court with seating both inside and out. The food court had various cuisines and the food looked very good. Seating on the third floor allows guests to view the Ocean while eating which was hidden by the marine layer today. There are also some upscale sit-down restaurants. We chose to sit down at what is described as a modern Mexican restaurant, La Sandia.
After a short wait, we were led to an inside table that actually feels like it is outside. It has lots of natural light and long windows. Immediately, our waitress asked for our drink order (iced tea for me, diet Coke for BK). She returned with chips, a little thicker than I would like but not a drop of grease and very tasty with no apparent salt, excellent salsa with just enough spice but not too much and a small side order of very good guacamole which I ordered.
For my meal, I ordered Tacos al Pastor - adobo marinated pork / grilled pineapple / onion / cilantro / salsa verde in three corn soft tortillas. This came with refried black beans and Mexican rice. Everything was cut in small pieces and the amount of rice and beans was also just the right size. I am so tired of going to restaurants and having to order huge amounts of food which I can't finish. I cleaned my plate. The pork was tender and tasty and the pieces of pineapple added a wonderful flavor. BK ordered Chipotle Barbecued Chicken Salad - grilled all natural chicken breast / crispy tortilla strips / pico de gallo / corn /Panela cheese / black beans / napa cabbage-romaine salad / cilantro ranch dressing. Everything was very fresh and BK said it was very good. Although we didn't order dessert, the waitress told us that the desserts are like small tastes but we were both too full for even a small dessert. It took a little long for us to get our meal but one of the hostesses came over to say that our order was taking some time but would be out soon and it was. My tacos were $9.50 and BK's salad was $12. This is a restaurant which I would like to visit again
There are other interesting sounding restaurants in Santa Monica Place which I would also like to try. I don't get there very often but I will remember this when visitors come as well. We walked around the entire mall and then stopped in at the Ugo Cafe on the first floor where they have coffee, pastries and gelato. After having a taste of the gelato, I ordered a kid's size raspberry and it was fantastic. BK had a Napolian which she thought was delicious. All in all, our trip to Santa Monica was an epicurian delight.
Showing posts with label Mexican food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mexican food. Show all posts
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Los Arroyos
It has been a long time since I have written a restaurant review. Part of that is that I am not eating in many restaurants these days. Another is that I just haven't felt like writing anything. However, this past week I went to the the outlet stores in Camarillo. I needed a new pair of sneakers which I always buy at the Nike Store there. It was the nicest day we had here in a long time and I was feeling like I really wanted to go out, something which I haven't done for a while. After being quite successful with shopping, we were hungry. I don't like the food court there and I am watching my food these days. My sister likes a BBQ place in the old town of Camarillo but I didn't feel like BBQ. We went to the new section of the outlet, near the Croc store, and there we saw Los Arroyos, a Mexican restaurant, one of my favorite ethnic foods. I looked at the menu and felt I could eat there.
The ambiance is decidedly Mexican with Mexican music playing as well. The waitpeople were very helpful explaining that we ordered at the registers and the food and drinks would be delivered to our table. BK and I decided to share a fajitas combo of chicken and steak, minus the green and red peppers and sour cream. She also ordered a cup of meatball soup. I had tropical iced tea as well. BK liked her soup which was thick with meatballs and vegetables, including avacados. Although there were Mexican spices, they were not overwhelming, just enough to give it a good flavor. BK was concerned that there wouldn't be enough food for us to share but there was plenty. The chicken and steak were both flavorful and tender. It came with rice and black beans and we chose corn tortillas. Because we asked not to have sour cream, we were given a double helping of guacamole which was excellent. The fajita combination cost $14.95. Both of us were very happy with our meal and now when I go to Camarillo for shoes, I will definitely return to Los Arroyos.
The ambiance is decidedly Mexican with Mexican music playing as well. The waitpeople were very helpful explaining that we ordered at the registers and the food and drinks would be delivered to our table. BK and I decided to share a fajitas combo of chicken and steak, minus the green and red peppers and sour cream. She also ordered a cup of meatball soup. I had tropical iced tea as well. BK liked her soup which was thick with meatballs and vegetables, including avacados. Although there were Mexican spices, they were not overwhelming, just enough to give it a good flavor. BK was concerned that there wouldn't be enough food for us to share but there was plenty. The chicken and steak were both flavorful and tender. It came with rice and black beans and we chose corn tortillas. Because we asked not to have sour cream, we were given a double helping of guacamole which was excellent. The fajita combination cost $14.95. Both of us were very happy with our meal and now when I go to Camarillo for shoes, I will definitely return to Los Arroyos.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Tequilas Restaurant and Famous Cupcakes
Tequilas Restaurant
A few days ago I felt like Mexican food, which is not unusual. I truly believe that I could eat Mexican, Chinese and Japanese, along with a bit of American every day that I live. We decided to try a place we had never been so we went to Tequilas Restaurant in Van Nuys. The restaurant, itself, looks like many – brightly colored on the inside and cute. They have outside seating but we sat indoors. Looking at Victory Blvd. isn’t exactly a great outdoor scene.
Tequilas has a very interesting and varied menu as well as a lunch buffet which was in the $8 range. We skipped that and ordered from the menu. One of my favorite Mexican dishes is carnitas. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants is Mexicali where I almost always get the carnitias which is pork that has been roasted in its own juices and just absolutely falls apart. I decided to have that for my lunch. One difference I noticed immediately was that this pork had a lot more fat than Mexicali has which is just about fat free. Actually this doesn’t bother me but I know it does bother some people. It was extremely tender and tasty. It came with refried beans, rice and guacamole. She asked me what kind of tortillas I wanted. I told her corn but she never brought them which was fine with me because I really seldom eat them and it is healthier for me to eat the meat as a dish in itself. The big disappointment was when she came to tell us they were out of guacamole. How can a Mexican restaurant be out of guacamole at lunch time? I love guacamole. When she brought my meal, it had three slices of avocado on the plate. I looked at her questioningly and she said that they just got the avocadoes. So why didn’t she offer to bring the guacamole when it was ready? Her English wasn’t very good so I didn’t bother to ask her. I took my three slices, squashed them up, added some salsa and made my own. The rice, beans and chips were OK.
BK had arroz con pollo or rice with chicken. This was a grilled chicken breast on top of Spanish rice with melted cheese and salsa over it. She loved it. She would go back again and get the same thing. Our service was spotty. The restaurant filled up quite a bit and most people got the buffet. I might like to try that also. Our meals were $10.99 each which, for some reason, I thought was just a little pricey. I guess that is because at Mexicali they have a lunch special where I would have the same food, except I could get black beans which I prefer, slightly less meat but also less fat, and a soda all for $7.99. Tequillas is at 13627 Victory Blvd. They have various specials throughout the week and a Sunday brunch.
Famous Cupcakes
Since we had been going to various cupcake places, we decided to return to the one that BK felt was the best to see if we still felt that was the case. Famous Cupcakes is in a little mini-mall off Laurel Canyon and Riverside between Jack In the Box and Starbucks. On this day we got three different cupcakes – vanilla milk chocolate which was a chocolate cake with white frosting, chocolate coconut which again was a chocolate cake with white frosting covered with coconut, and black tie which was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We found all of these to be far better than most we had tried. The cake was moist. The frosting was not terribly sweet and it was thick but not too thick. These cupcakes are certified kosher and are all natural organic. There are 15 varieties of which 10 are available daily. They cost $3.25 each which is a little high but they are delicious. I know my daughter loves Sprinkles and she will be visiting here in about 5 weeks so I think we will then be going there. I would like to see if I think Sprinkles is any better than Famous Cupcakes.
A few days ago I felt like Mexican food, which is not unusual. I truly believe that I could eat Mexican, Chinese and Japanese, along with a bit of American every day that I live. We decided to try a place we had never been so we went to Tequilas Restaurant in Van Nuys. The restaurant, itself, looks like many – brightly colored on the inside and cute. They have outside seating but we sat indoors. Looking at Victory Blvd. isn’t exactly a great outdoor scene.
Tequilas has a very interesting and varied menu as well as a lunch buffet which was in the $8 range. We skipped that and ordered from the menu. One of my favorite Mexican dishes is carnitas. One of my favorite Mexican restaurants is Mexicali where I almost always get the carnitias which is pork that has been roasted in its own juices and just absolutely falls apart. I decided to have that for my lunch. One difference I noticed immediately was that this pork had a lot more fat than Mexicali has which is just about fat free. Actually this doesn’t bother me but I know it does bother some people. It was extremely tender and tasty. It came with refried beans, rice and guacamole. She asked me what kind of tortillas I wanted. I told her corn but she never brought them which was fine with me because I really seldom eat them and it is healthier for me to eat the meat as a dish in itself. The big disappointment was when she came to tell us they were out of guacamole. How can a Mexican restaurant be out of guacamole at lunch time? I love guacamole. When she brought my meal, it had three slices of avocado on the plate. I looked at her questioningly and she said that they just got the avocadoes. So why didn’t she offer to bring the guacamole when it was ready? Her English wasn’t very good so I didn’t bother to ask her. I took my three slices, squashed them up, added some salsa and made my own. The rice, beans and chips were OK.
BK had arroz con pollo or rice with chicken. This was a grilled chicken breast on top of Spanish rice with melted cheese and salsa over it. She loved it. She would go back again and get the same thing. Our service was spotty. The restaurant filled up quite a bit and most people got the buffet. I might like to try that also. Our meals were $10.99 each which, for some reason, I thought was just a little pricey. I guess that is because at Mexicali they have a lunch special where I would have the same food, except I could get black beans which I prefer, slightly less meat but also less fat, and a soda all for $7.99. Tequillas is at 13627 Victory Blvd. They have various specials throughout the week and a Sunday brunch.
Famous Cupcakes
Since we had been going to various cupcake places, we decided to return to the one that BK felt was the best to see if we still felt that was the case. Famous Cupcakes is in a little mini-mall off Laurel Canyon and Riverside between Jack In the Box and Starbucks. On this day we got three different cupcakes – vanilla milk chocolate which was a chocolate cake with white frosting, chocolate coconut which again was a chocolate cake with white frosting covered with coconut, and black tie which was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. We found all of these to be far better than most we had tried. The cake was moist. The frosting was not terribly sweet and it was thick but not too thick. These cupcakes are certified kosher and are all natural organic. There are 15 varieties of which 10 are available daily. They cost $3.25 each which is a little high but they are delicious. I know my daughter loves Sprinkles and she will be visiting here in about 5 weeks so I think we will then be going there. I would like to see if I think Sprinkles is any better than Famous Cupcakes.
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