Dishola: Reviews by the Dish
- dishola /dish•ō•lâ/
- v. To share the love of food - dish by dish. n. The ultimate source to find real meals at real places that rule.
kblood's Profile
Bacon Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
1135 N Lawrence Expy,
Sunnyvale, CA
(408) 734-2828
kblood
on 06/08/08
The full name of this restaurant is quite a mouthful: Hong Kong Saigon Seafood Harbor Restaurant. The dim sum is quite a mouthful too! This dish, Salt & Pepper Calamari, features lovely fresh calamari deep-fried in a light and crispy batter, then sprinkled with salt, garlic and red chili peppers. Every piece of dim sum we tried was excellent. The only draw back to going here is that at lunchtime the place is an utter madhouse -- at least 20 people were waiting outside for a table and hundreds more were packed into the stadium size dining room. It's so noisy you have to shout at your table mates -- but that is half of the fun because everyone gets excited when they see a new offering come by on the push cart and they start yelling at the server to bring over platters of lobster, or steamed pork buns, or deep-fried shrimp dumplings....
333 Saint Charles Ave,
New Orleans, LA
(504) 378-2840
kblood
on 06/02/08
Trout is such a lovely, mild fish and I haven't seen it on many menus recently, so I jumped at the chance to order local Trout Meunière at Lüke. The fish was well cooked (perfectly flakey; not dry) -- however, the seasonings on the plate (vegetables included) were nothing exciting. Even a simple squeeze of fresh lemon juice would have enhanced this dish -- but none was offered.
1001 N Alameda St,
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 628-3781
kblood
on 05/29/08
Philippe's has all the qualities I adore in a restaurant: it is old/historic (established in 1908), the staff is quirky (half of the servers are absolute dears, the other half will do time in hell), and the food is really good. I'd only ordered the classic French Dip made with beef in the past, but on this visit I went wild and ordered lamb with bleu cheese. The lamb is wonderful -- chunks of well-spiced roasted leg chopped and packed into a crispy French roll. The addition of the bleu cheese just kicks it over the top from good to really good. (Skip the potato salad -- it doesn't taste like it's made at the restaurant, and if it is, they need to hire a couple new crew members... )
877 S Figueroa St,
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 972-9279
kblood
on 05/28/08
The Original Pantry has been located in downtown LA since the dawn of time (not quite, but close) and serves top of the line bacon -- cooked to that perfect combination of crisp-marbled with a few swooshes of seductively smooth pork fat. There's a friendly staff (all of whom are so mature they may have worked here since the place opened in 1924), the coffee is strong, the decor is original and the doors never close (open 24/7). Just avoid the "hash browns" -- an inedible pile of bland, twice-cooked spuds-- and you'll have a great time.
401 Poydras St,
New Orleans, LA
(504) 523-9656
kblood
on 03/26/08
In a perfect world, every street corner in America would house a Mother's drive-up. In this imperfect world, we have to go to New Orleans to enjoy a proper breakfast. If you’re lucky, you’ll arrive at Mother’s on a slow day and get to the order counter within twenty minutes. Your reward for the wait will be a homemade biscuit stuffed full of “debris” from last night’s roast beef pan. Add a few dashes of hot sauce and you’re in breakfast heaven.