Pho 79

I’ve been coming here for a years and this place never disappoints. The quality is consistent (always awesome), the servers are quick and to the point ( just give them your order, don’t lag). Here the price is definitely right and you always get more for what you pay for. It’s cash only, so for you dummies that never carry on you, now is the time to start. Just order an Ox Tail, a Medium bowl of whatever meats you want, and happiness is achieved my friend. If you have any room left, order the avocado shake. Sounds weird, but you’ll love this offbeat dessert. haha

P.s. Just watch out during the busy hours, parking and seating could be a pain.

9941 Hazard Ave

Garden Grove, CA 92844

One last hurrah in Los Angeles

With only a couple days to go, J. Kao and I head out for one last trip to LA to just chill and chow. For so long I was promised a Hong Kong style breakfast, yet much like a recent post, it wasn't until the end till I was finally taken out... but hey I can't complain, since I'll be having the real deal in few months. (WOOT) 

But damn was I shown what was up, as soon as we sat down we ended up getting the whole shebang (pretty much anyways). Being only two people between us, it's amazing at the fact that we had a single bowl left to go. But it was seriously not that hard to put in work on this spectacular feast, personally I love love love Chinese breakfast and this hit me right in the sweet spot. Thank you very much for giving me a preview.

(Photography only lasted up until the first bite, seriously, I forgot about everything else as soon as I dug in.) 

1.Pineapple Bun w/ Butter: No real melon included, it's just named after it's appearance. It's my personal favorite combination of slightly sweet bread and salty butter (magic). -

2. HK-style French Toast w/ peanut butter: It's as good as it sounds, straight up.

3. Fermented Egg Congee: There's something about this one that makes it so much better than others. Savory chicken broth perhaps?  

4. Chinese Churro w/ rice wrap and peanut sauce: Guilty pleasure, stretch pants not included.

5.Ham & Egg Sandwich: Bare bones in simplicity, but I find a certain charm about in how it reminds me about my younger days. I'm told this a traditional thing for the old men to snack on before they go out to spend their days playing Mahjong  

6. Horlick: Not as sweet as I was expecting to be but incredibly refreshing and a pleasant palate cleanser. 

7. Ovaltine: J. Kao's personal favorite drink growing up.

After a brief interlude through downtown, what could a trip here be without visiting our favorite watering-hole, Handsome Coffee Roasters? See that simple menu, love it! The fine print makes it sound pretentious,
but it keeps the Starbucks crowd out. 

After deciding to stay local we ended up with the mega cravings for noodles, and since the ever-so-popular Daikokuya, is always packed we gave a quick search on yelp only to discover an equally intriguing spot only a few doors down. 

Being the group that we are, this cordial dinner turned into another veritable feast! Bowls and tempura for days, some of the notable side orders where the deep fried egg (possibly duck) which carried a deep yellow yolk, soo good. Among all the other bowls, the highest of recommendations can go the Uni Udon! So magnificently rich and decadent, that it has actual (generous I might add) chunks of tasty sea urchin floating about on ever bite. As a friend would put it, it looked like a hundred sea urchins died to make that dish, I have no shame. 

What's amazing is the lack of notoriety this place even gets! Half the people in here look like stragglers who didn't want to wait an hour plus over at Daikokuya and decided to compromise on the "other noodle place". But unbeknownst to their know, their about to get the rug pulled from underneath them. No matter tho, let all the attention go the hype machine and I'll just continue strolling in with only a few minutes wait. Haha

With our conquest of gluttony a success, the only thing left is one last drive through downtown and enjoy the lit up skyline as we say good bye one more time.  

Delicious Food Corner

2327 S Garfield Ave

Monterey Park, CA 91754

Marugame Monzo

329 E 1st St

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Pork Chili Verde

With a only a few weeks left to before J. Kao moves back across the Pacific to Hong Kong, we've decided to host little meal sessions where we're able to experiment with new recipes that we had our minds on but never really had the chance to try out. It'll  be taking place at our respective homes, one night each and every week until it's time finally say goodbye. This week I began our little series with a humble stew I've been craving since I've came back from the frosty Manhattan isle. It's a classic Mexican dish  that I grew up on and favored during chilly nights, stewed pork in chili verde salsa. For the Salsa Verde, I've come to really appreciate this version, as it comes close to my moms boiling method over the roasting variations I've seen everywhere else. Unless otherwise, you can acquire decent Salsa Verde at your local Mercado (Latino market) or even find it at Trader Joes, believe it or not.

• -Canola Oil 
• - 2lbs Boneless Pork Shoulder (cut into 1" cubes)
• - Salt & Pepper 
• - 2 cups Salsa Verde 
• - 1 cup Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
• - Medium Onion ( Yellow Spanish preferred), quartered 
• - 1 Large Bell Pepper (cut into large chunks)
• - 1 lbs Fingerling Potatoes 

-Heat oil in a large skillet on high and sear pork until they brown on the the outside, then transfer to a slow cooker/oven-proof pot. You might have to work in batches, so try not to over crowd the chunks.

-Once all the pork is cooked and transferred, add the broth to the skillet and scrape up any little bits of flavor using a wooden spatula. Once the broth starts to simmer, pour into the slow cooker/oven-proof pot along with the Chile Verde, Onion, and Bell Pepper.

-For a slow cooker; set on high for 4 hours until the meat is super tender, add the potatoes in the last hour. For a oven-proof pot; pre-heat the oven at 300F and set for 2 hours, add the potatoes in the last 40 minutes. *Be sure to skim some of the free floating fat off the surface, no need to use it anymore, it's done it's part.

-Serve in bowls with plenty of Tortillas and Lime wedges.