Wedding pictures have slowly started to filter in from the over 100 cameras that were at our wedding. While the official photos are yet to be seen, this is the best one I’ve seen hands down.
“Everybody in the picture? Smile!” The joke’s on them. I’m the happiest person in the photo.
That something is your spelling. Michelle and I went to Fraiche in Culver City last week. How that is pronounced “fresh” is beyond me. Fraiche was one of the places within two blocks of our place that we hadn’t checked out yet, because it looked expensive, beyond our normal casual dining standard. Taco trucks are right in our dollar to flavor ratio. We decided to try it out because we had a Groupon.
People watching while we sip on our beers.
Steak Frites. Cooked perfectly and not drowned out by the sauce. I want to taste the meat.
Monkfish “Francaise”, poor man’s lobster. Say what you want about the socioeconomic status of those who eat this dish, but I love it.
The dishes were well balanced without one flavor overpowering any other. I don’t think that I will be eating here regularly without some money saving coupon in the mix, because I don’t think I could take a hit in the wallet from this place regularly.
This weekend was a weekend full of fun, possibly regrettable decisions. I think I need some help with my self control. Friday my friends came over after work for happy hour. We were going to do it up big.
We started at Gyenari, where we got the tower of beer that screams, “Look at us. We are douchebags drinking beer!”
Afterward we decided to grab a couple of slices with some more beer at LaRocca’s Pizza.
With Korean and Italian cuisine represented already, we decided to hit up Tacos el Gallito and add Mexico to the mix.
Since Father’s Office is in between home and the taco truck, we decided to do it up right and stop there too.
Keep in mind this was all done before 9:30 PM. As I passed out in the middle of our furniture-less living room, I vowed never to eat or drink again…until the next time. Unfortunately for me, the next time was the next day.
I got to be a part of a special day for a very good friend of mine. Congrats, Tyson and Angie!
So like any good friend would do, I celebrated. A bread basket did catch on fire at my table, but that was a good two feet away from me. Couldn’t have been my fault.
Friday we went to Tahoe Galbi for Carissa’s birthday. After stuffing our faces there was still a whole plate full of meat that was uncooked. Lorenzo bet me ten dollars that I couldn’t finish the whole thing. It’s a good thing I took him up on his offer. I did not bring enough cash to pay for dinner.
The next morning I still had meat flavored burps all the way through noon.
Saturday’s lunch was at Gonpachi in the Miyako Hybrid Hotel. It’s a bit expensive for dinner, but the lunch menu is decently priced.
The city won’t allow them to put a sign on the street, so only the locals have discovered it.
I really like the decor in this place.
The setup inside is very clean. I wouldn’t mind spending an evening here sharing drinks with drunk Japanese businessmen.
Lunch comes with a salad bar. Everything is very fresh.
The miso soup is included with the salad bar. Nothing special but miso soup is always enjoyable.
Spicy Tuna rice bowl.
The Temptation. Tuna, salmon, yellowtail, halibut, roasted eel, shrimp tempura, spicy tuna.
Kobe Burger.
Grilled Ahi Sandwich.
Hand made soba with tempura.
Special Chirashi Bowl.
After lunch I met up with some of my groomsmen to get fitted for the wedding. Does anyone else see Arnold Schwarzenegger from Twins?
After getting fitting, a couple of us went to watch the NCAA tournament. After a few beers and some whiskey, I went back to Michelle’s place where we had round two of Carissa’s birthday. Much more beer was consumed before we headed out to a bar to do more drinking.
Michelle suggested we get Easter Pho. It’s the perfect meal after a night of drinking.
I think I gained back all the weight I lost just this weekend.
Two words can sum up this past weekend. Eating and sleeping.
Friday night Michelle were looking for some Korean BBQ, but the place we’ve been to a couple of times was closed. We went to a local joint that serves Korean bar food. We were looking for something spicy and this did it. After dinner I was passed out by 10:00PM.
Saturday morning we woke up early to head to the LA Street Food Festival. The place was a mad house.
Wrong. It was a long ass line.
Once inside there were more lines. It reminded me of the lines to use the bathrooms at Coachella. Insanity. The first thing we got to eat was Panang Curry from the Yum Yum Bowls truck, because the line was the shortest. The rest of the time we spent in long lines, feeding each other as we got food from one line or the next.
Qzilla BBQ was probably one of the best deals, $5 for a sampler. They were delicious.
Fries from the Frysmith truck. Kim Chi, Rajas, Chili Cheese, Chicken and Sweet Potato, and a special Foie Gras Mousse.
Fried Chicken from Ludo Bites truck. My cousin Trevor got in this line as soon as he got into the event, and it was the last thing we got to eat. Delicious, but worth three and a half hours of wait? No way.
I’m pretty sure they had no liquor license as beers were done as donation only.
For those of you that couldn’t get into the event, don’t feel bad. It wasn’t worth it. I know the organizers were caught off guard by the popularity of the event since this was the first time, but even with a bigger venue I still wouldn’t recommend attending this. What they need to do is create night markets like they have in Taiwan.
After the food fair we decided to hit up Mr. Churro on Olvera Street for some custard filled churros before heading straight to Chinese New Year dinner. We thought we wouldn’t be able to eat anything, but we did surprisingly well for having eaten all day. We were exhausted from standing in the sun all day so we crashed by 9:00 PM, sleeping until 9:30 AM.
Michelle insists she has mono. I certainly don’t. Who has she been kissing?!
Friday I got to meet up with all my groomsmen for dinner. The plan was to discuss what we’re doing for my bachelor party, but it was also an excuse just to grab some food and beers. It’s a good thing we didn’t make this a critical meeting for deciding what to do for the party, because we got nothing done. So far they’ve decided to either to ride bikes with baskets and streamers on the handles or kill a hooker. Uh, yeah.
Why can’t we do both?
Poor choices on New Year’s Eve lead to a bad start to the new year. That’s really all you need to know, but for those of you that like to see me in embarrassing moments, read on please.
Dinner was at Jitlada in Thai Town. For those of you unfamiliar with Jitlada, the best stuff on the menu is the back page, which is known to be incredibly spicy. It’s good but not really the kind of meal you enjoy before a night out on the town. It’s normally safer to enjoy a meal here and then speed a night close to a toilet.
Fortunately for us the pain we experienced was only during the meal and it was on the inlet side of the body. It hurts so good.
After dinner we went back to Annie’s place to have a few drinks. Then the really bad decisions started as we headed out to the bar.
I think it was no more than a fifteen minute walk to the bar, but by the halfway point I put down three beers. There would have been a fourth, but halfway through it I realized I was too full. Here Michelle and I stop to pose.
As you can see by my facial expression, I am already having too much fun. Yet I keep drinking. You won’t see me in the rest of the pictures with my friends at the bar, because I decided to make new friends and hang out with them.
On the walk home, I decided to take a rest on this couch. I’m sure it was filthy.
This picture isn’t to point out that someone else had too much fun. This is just to point out that Annie had a poster of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Why?
Michelle gets all the blog love.
I don’t remember this, but I tried to feed soda to Fred. Based on pictures he was not happy. Probably like waking a hibernating bear.
I spent the rest of the night in the kitchen, wedged next to the fridge.
Then my friends drew on my face. I’m talking hands free! My only complaint is that they did this AFTER they drew on my other friend’s foot WITH THE SAME MARKER!
This is the good knee. I have random bruises on my arms and I feel like I pulled my lats. I also looked at my jacket and thought I had blood all over it, but I was later informed that Michelle used me as a napkin. Thanks to all my friends that stuck by me so that these were the limitations to my injuries.
The rest of the year can only be better. Bring it on 2010!
Lately I’ve been having a craving for tacos. Thanks to e*star’s gentle push, I set out for Taco Tuesday at Hudson House in Redondo Beach. You wouldn’t imagine that a place named Hudson House would serve tacos, and by the looks of the inside of the place you still would be cautious about what kind of tacos they would serve.
Sorry about the crappy pictures. I’m always self conscious taking pictures in public places like bars/restaurants so I rush them. Maybe next time when I’m with a larger group I’ll feel more confident to snap pictures.
This place seems more like a brew house than a taco joint.
The entire menu looks pretty good. I might stop in here even if it wasn’t Taco Tuesday or happy hour.
The Hudson Ale, not quite a pint. Blueberry Cava Cocktail.
Street Tacos. You have the choice between chicken or carnitas. These are the chicken. Both are delicious and heavy on the meat.
Street Tacos, $1 each. Pail of Fries, $2.
Don’t expect the tacos to blow your mind. I’ve definitely had better tacos, but these are good and cheap. The meat is cooked tender and juicy and packed generously in the tortillas. Definitely worth it.
I’ve been living in the South Bay for a long time now and this gem went hidden from me for so long. I’m not going to let that happen to other people. There is a clear mission now. I will be making this spot known to friends and family, starting with this blog post. Taco Tuesday was something I thought only existed in my days in LA. No more.
Who’s up for Taco Tuesday in the South Bay? Just a happy hour would be fine too.
We knew from the moment we booked our trip that we were going to come to the city to leave it. We took a trip upstate to check out the foliage. Unfortunately we were about a week late to catch everything in color, but it was still pretty amazing to see some of the trees with different colors, and it was even great to see some trees without leaves.
Are we there yet? I’m tired! I have to pee! Michelle is on my side!
We all have that one embarrassing friend. This is mine. We call him, Fargo.
This picture was taken by Michelle Woo, famous blogger and photographer.
This particular location we went to was the Storm King Art Center. Among the open land and trees were massive sculptures made of industrial building materials.
No one believed me when I said I saw a phallic sculpture, so I took a picture.
We don’t do this kind of stuff in California.
I call this one, Toppling the Doctor’s Tower.
Lorenzo yelled, “Alice, get out of the picture!” Turns out it was Kyung with Susan’s purse.
Looking comfy and loving nature.
Obligatory jumping picture.
We didn’t get back into the city until pretty late. Dinner was at a Korean restaurant. These are the peppers that you eat or make mustache faces.
Drinks at Shebeen. This is Beer Club, New York.
By this point we were exhausted, but with only one more day left we knew we had to go big or go home. Wait, maybe it’s go big and then go home.
Our goal in New York was to eat, and boy did we eat. We were walking to Momofuku Noodle Bar on Thursday when Cindy finally popped online and said, “Go to Ippudo instead! Get the pork buns!”
Michelle, opening the curtains to a wonderful meal.
These are the pork buns. They’re probably the best thing I ate the whole trip, and I ate a lot of good stuff. After this meal Michelle said, “I trust anything Cindy recommends.”
The ramen is delicious too.
Michelle has no time to talk. She’s eating.
Angelinos wandering around New York.
I don’t eat dessert really, but a trip here is generally a must for some sweets.
Frozen hot chocolate.
Under the fudge and whipped cream is ice cream and chocolate cake.
After eating desserts there, we thought we wouldn’t be able to eat again, but we powered through.
Mmm, delicious shrimp.
Swordfish. Om nom nom nom.
Lamb. Not the least bit gamy at all.
Short ribs that were perfectly tender.
We found ourselves throwing down some great beers after dinner at The Pony Bar per Cindy’s recommendation. The last thing we did was grab chicken and rice from a food cart. If I was drunk it would have been awesome. It was mediocre after only four beers.
Hello, there. My name is Matt, but on this website I just refer to myself as m@. I love all things Star Wars, food, beer, and music, especially The Beatles. I'm one who likes to be noticed and will sometimes say or do inappropriate things to get your attention. I'm perfectly complimented by my online and real life partner Michelle.