[Food] Christmas Eve Dinner 2013

I know that posts have been inconsistent due to finals and other business, but I promise, new content and perhaps a major website overhaul are in the works! Until then, my family and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Here are some photos of this year's annual Christmas Eve dinner.

A pumpkin chestnut soup to start.

Tomato and arugula salad.

Filet mignon, kale and raw gruyere stuffed portobello mushroom, snow peas, and sweet potato hash.

Again, we wish you all a fantastic end to 2013. Merry Christmas!

[Food] Christmas Eve Dinner

Merry Christmas to you all! Here at our home, we don't mess around with food. This year, we had filet mignon, twice baked potatoes with bacon, creamed spinach, homemade onion rings, and a slice of my mother's sponge cake with a berry sauce and homemade whipped cream. Again, I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

[Food] Thanksgiving 2012

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving yesterday! I know our family most definitely did. Here's how our family does Thanksgiving dinner.

One fried turkey.

And one bacon wrapped turkey. We've been doing this since forever. Before those meatheads on Youtube did this "next level" stuff.

Dessert. Also because I didn't get a chance to snag photos of our "American" desserts.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgivings and are continuing to enjoy your leftovers... I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you, my readers. You all are awesome. What are you thankful for?

[Food] Langer's World Famous Pastrami

Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant is located right by MacArthur Park is Los Angeles, CA. Langer's is a Jewish style deli that serves pastrami and corned beef the right way. If you think pastrami is that thin-sliced, salty luncheon meat you get in your sandwiches, you're mistaken. Langer's has a rich history that you can read more about at their website. My cousin describes it as the Katz's of the West (he's been to both). Katz's is probably one of the most well-known Jewish style delis and is famous for being featured in When Harry Met Sally... Anyway, back to Langer's.

Langer's conveniently has their own parking lot just down the street, which makes life so much easier. Once you get to the restaurant, expect to wait, especially during peak hours. When you step inside, you'll feel like you stepped back in time to the mid 1900s. Even their menu offerings have an old-school flair to them.

When I saw that they had a chocolate egg cream on the menu, I just had to get it. For those of you that don't know, a chocolate egg cream is a drink that was popular back in the day. It is basically seltzer water, chocolate syrup, and milk whipped up real well (there was more head in the photo, but it had deflated). It's not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. My sister and my cousin both got cream sodas, which are also delicious. I'd definitely recommend getting the cream sodas if you're not as adventurous.

Now, here is the pastrami and corned beef I was talking about. [Insider Tip: They'll bring you a sample if you ask.] Notice how the meat actually looks like meat. The meat actually tastes like meat too. Oh, and it's not overly salty. In fact, it's not salty. It really just tastes like meat. I know, this may be revolutionary to some of you.

When I saw this, I knew that we were meant to be...with some modifications. I subbed the Nippy Cheese (American) for Swiss and added some Russian dressing on the side. Pastrami Reuben what up!? Also, note the prices. Quality don't come cheap. The prices are high, but this is not somewhere you go every day.

We got an order of fries to share. They are just your typical crinkle cut variety. Nothing too special. They were great; perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

No. 44 sub Swiss, add Russian. Behold glory. Everything about this sandwich was perfect. The rye bread was buttery and crisp. The cheese was melted nicely. The pastrami. Oh the pastrami. Thick, handcut pastrami fit for a king. The sauerkraut lent just the right amount of brightness to cut through the meat and cheese. The Russian dressing I got on the side brought the whole thing together with a hint of tang in the midst of it all. Seriously guys, it's hard to top this. Reubens are my absolute favorite type of sandwich and this one tops my list (thus far). My cousin may chastise me because I haven't eaten at Katz's yet, but for now, I'm more than happy.

Here's an obligatory cross section shot. Through all that greatness, there was one thing I didn't enjoy too much: the pickle. I love pickles, but I hate cucumbers. This pickle was a pickle that wasn't sure of it's state of being. It straddled the line between cucumber and pickle. It had too much of that fresh cucumber taste and not enough of the salty, vinegary, pickley goodness. That's just my humble opinion though. I'm sure there's plenty of people out that would love this pickle.

If you didn't catch it in my post, the bottom line is simple - go now. Unless you've experienced Katz's or Carnegie, this is something you don't want to miss out on.

Langer's Delicatessen-Restaurant 704 S Alvarado St Los Angeles, CA 90057 (213) 483-8050 www.langersdeli.com

[Food] The Hungry Bear

The Hungry Bear is one of those hidden gems that you probably never heard of unless you're a local. I recently found out about the Hungry Bear through a friend who used to eat here as a kid. After we (my sister, my cousin, and I) wandered through an old plaza, we found the Hungry Bear tucked away in a corner.

The moment we walked in, we felt a bit out of place. We were the only Asians the restaurant, which is odd in Fullerton as it has a large Asian population. The decor is very homey and welcoming with earthy greens and teddy bears strewn all about the place. After a short wait, we were seated by our very happy waitress. She made sure to point out the specials.

On Mondays, four of the specials and their Specialty Steak are half off. Their prices are already low to begin with, but we'll talk about price later. I decided to go with one of my all time favorites, country fried steak, my cousin opted to try their Specialty Steak, and my sister got the bacon wrapped filets.

I got started off with a salad. It was nothing special, just a typical salad with dressing. My cousin got the same.

My sister had the cheese and potato soup, which was pretty much cheese and potato. How can that be bad, right? Well, it wasn't. It was delicious. The best way to describe it is as a super thick cheese sauce with chunks of potato.

My cousin's Specialty Steak (sirloin) wasn't quite medium rare, which he ordered. He decided it would be fine to just eat it (it was still great, I tried some), but the waitress insisted that it be the way he asked for it and took it back. They brought another one out within a few minutes. Talk about great service! The second time it was cooked perfectly and tasted even better than it did the first time. The meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful, just like a good steak should be.

My sister's bacon wrapped filets were to die for. The two tender filets were wrapped in bacon and cooked medium. Even without getting a piece of bacon in your bite, you can taste the smokey bacon flavor. With a piece of bacon, its simply amazing.

My country fried steak was a bit different than I'm used to. A typical country fried steak is made with tenderized cube steak, which almost has the texture of ground beef. However, the Hungry Bear makes their country fried steak with a piece of sirloin that's been pounded out. This way, it still has the texture of a steak, but is tender like a more typical country fried steak. The breading is very light and crispy, just the way I like it. Finally, the gravy is light and peppery. It's not like glue, which I've experienced too many times. The gravy complements the steak and doesn't just fill you up. This is a top notch country fried steak.

Each entree comes with a big piece of garlic bread and your choice of potato. We also got a side order of macaroni and cheese. None of the sides were out of this world, but the garlic bread and my mashed potatoes (with the same great gravy on my steak) were still delicious. The macaroni and cheese on the other hand was rather disappointing. It was just boxed mac and cheese.

After all that food, we decided that we needed to get some dessert. We got peach cobbler and apple pie. Each comes topped with a heaping scoop of French vanilla ice cream and a generous amount of whipped cream. The peach cobbler has a bread-like crust on top, which isn't crispy like I'm used to. I liked the apple pie better, but then again, I have a soft spot for pies. The ice cream leant a good amount of sweetness and provides a nice contrast to the hot dessert. The desserts themselves weren't too sweet, which I like.

The best part of the meal was when we got the check. We got all that food (and drinks) for less than $50 and we could barely move. Now that's a steal. Still, I wouldn't mind eating here any other day, even without the half off prices. Everything about the Hungry Bear makes it stand out; the quality of the food, price, and service are excellent. So please, check out the Hungry Bear for yourself!

The Hungry Bear Restaurant 2219 N Harbor Blvd Fullerton, CA 92835 (714) 526-2711 www.thehungrybear.com

[Food] House of Prime Rib

This past weekend, my sister and some of my good friends came up to the Bay Area to visit me. The highlight of our trip was our trip to the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco. I'm going to try to keep my words to a minimum so that you can all bask in the glory of the prime rib...

So pretty much all of us got the King Henry VIII Cut, which is their biggest cut of meat. Included with the main course is a salad, your choice of creamed corn or spinach, loaded baked potato or mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and three kinds of horseradish.

They start you off with some great sourdough bread. Crispy on the outside, light and pillowy on the inside. Perfect. But don't get full off of this. It's a trap! They also give you the choice between sparkling and still water. I love the fact that they have sparkling water at no extra charge.

The salad is an important part of the meal. It has beets in it, which play a key role in digestion after the meal...you know...it's kind of important.

After your salad, they wheel out the "Meat Chamber" and carve your prime rib for you. If there were no consequences, I would probably grab one of the meat chambers full of the prime rib goodness and run.

I got my prime rib medium rare with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. The meat was amazingly tender, like butter...I honestly cannot find word to describe the prime rib itself...just ughhhhhhhhh. As far as the horseradish goes, I like the middle one the best, the mild one is too mild and the spicy one is too strong (it's just raw horseradish). And make sure to use that Yorkshire pudding (which is basically olde school bread) in the end to sop up all that beautiful juice that pools up at the bottom of your empty plate.

The best part is that they give you another small piece of meat if you are still hungry after your meal.

Here are some additional photos with other glorious things like the meat chamber and loaded baked potatoes (note the amount of bacon on those suckers).

[slideshow]

As far as technical info goes on the photography, it was darker than the bat cave in there. I was shooting around f/2.2-2.8, ISO 3200, and 1/100-1/125. On top of that, I had to bring up exposure in Lightroom, so they are pretty noisy, but it's fine.