[Food] Frysmith

I know I haven't posted in a while, but now that I'm starting to settle into the new semester, it's time for another post! While I was back at home for winter break, I made sure to stop by the Frysmith. If you don't know, Frysmith is a food truck that uses French fries as a canvas to paint a culinary masterpiece on. I swear I thought of something like this before them, but I was young and not ready to start a business. Oh well (:P). As you read this, keep in mind that I made this visit about a month ago and I can't seem to find my notes. I'll do my best to remember everything as accurately as possible.

They had different kinds of poutine throughout the month of December. If you know me, you know I love poutine, but being foodies, we needed to try a variety of their offerings. We got the Rajas Fries, Kimchi Fries, Sweet Po Fries, and their special Holiday Poutine. Also, they switched from their old boats to oval-shaped platters. This switch definitely helps get the toppings more evenly distributed on the fries. It made for a more pleasant eating experience than when they used the classic boat.

The Rajas fries were excellent. You get giant strips of shawarma-marinated steak with caramelized onions, fire-roasted poblano chiles, cilantro, and jack cheese. These fries are MEATY! Seriously, how can you not like something with strips on strips of steak? Oh, and the steak is perfectly cooked, tender, and full of flavor.

The fries are of the thin variety and they sit in the perfect spot between soggy and crispy. For something like this, you don't want a very crispy French fry; and you never want a soggy, limp French fry.

I'm going to go ahead and say this now, these were my favorite. As a Korean, how can the Kimchi Fries not be my favorite? These fries are topped with kimchi, Kurobuta pork belly (삼겹살), onions, green onions, and cheddar cheese. The brightness of the kimchi cut through the fries and pork while the pork and cheese provided the hearty element of the dish. There was a great balance of flavors. It also proved to be an excellent palate cleanser in-between eating all the other fries.

The Sweet Po Fries are sweet potato fries topped with chicken in a tomatillo-tamarind sauce, jack cheese, and cashews. The flavor profile on this one was sweeter than the other fries we had; the tamarind in the sauce is definitely a prominent flavor. The cashews lend a great textural contrast to the rest of the dish as the sweet potato fries aren't as crispy as the regular fries. I thoroughly enjoyed these fries, especially in-between bites of the other fries.

The Holiday Poutine was topped with bacon, cheese curds, and holiday gravy. Remember how I mentioned that I love poutine? Well, this one was sadly disappointing. First of all, the cheese curds weren't as melty as I like them. I know cheese curds are supposed to have some bite and "squeak," but these were pretty firm - the gravy could have been hotter. On that note, the gravy was this dish's greatest downfall. Because it was a "holiday" poutine, they flavored the gravy with cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and orange peel. The flavor of the spices were too strong and overpowered everything else. We all came to the consensus that the gravy just didn't work with the rest of the dish.

Overall, this trip to the Frysmith was a very pleasant one, as my other visits have been. They are always experimenting with new dishes and specials. For example, for a week (until yesterday), they turned into the Soupsmith and served soup instead of fries. Everything from the food to their truck sets them apart from most other food trucks. Their custom made truck runs on fry oil! Go check them out some time. Fries never fail.

Frysmith www.twitter.com/frysmith www.eatfrysmith.com (818) 371-6814

[News] Lightroom 4 Beta Goes Public

I just wanted to let everyone know that Adobe just released the Lightroom 4 Beta! Lightroom is my favorite digital photo processing software on the market. It makes processing and organizing your photos a breeze. If you are serious about photography and have not yet heard about or tried Lightroom, I don't know where you've been all this time. So go, check it out!

Note the sneak peek of an upcoming post in the screenshot.

Click here for the download and more details.

[Photo] Rose Parade: The People

As promised, here is the second post on the series covering my time at the 123rd Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA. Today, I will feature the people of the Parade. Hopefully this will offer a slightly different point of focus than other peoples' coverage of the event. Above, we have some jolly old men on the Shriner's Hospital float called Soaring for Kids. Check out yesterday's post for another photo of the float.

Here we have the mounted rider my friends and I lovingly called "The Asian Cowboy (with a Fu-Manchu)." We really liked his stache.

Of course every group of horses was followed by an equally (or in most cases, more) exciting group of poop scoopers! Everyone loves these guys and gals. They get cheered on as they do their work in the wake of the horses. The woman leading this group was especially excited. Fight on.

Even if you camp out early to save a spot, it can be hard to see over the heads of everyone in front of you. Luckily we had primo accommodations and got access to some great vantage points. However, if you were stuck behind droves of people, you should take notes. These guys are actually on top of a ladder. Genius!

Now, if you don't know yet, I'm a photographer. Photographers tend to be a bit nosy curious when it comes to what gear someone else is using. Naturally, I couldn't help but notice what people were using to photograph the parade.

Here you have the oh-so-common iPhone. It takes great pictures. That's a fact, which is why you see people everywhere taking photos with them.

Next, I spotted a relatively small tablet sticking out of a crowd of iPhones and SLRs. It must be a bit awkward to take photos with, but oh well, it works.

Now, an iPad. It's just too big to be comfortable to use as a camera and frankly, it looks ridiculous. I'm not going to judge you if you do it, but others might.

Okay, this one just dumbfounded me. A Nintendo DS? Huh? What's going on? Yeah...I've never seen this before. I guess there's a first for everything.

I hope you all enjoyed my coverage of this year's Rose Parade as much as I enjoyed watching and photographing it! If you want more information about the parade as well as more coverage, check their website out here!

[Photo] Rose Parade: The Parade

First of all, Happy New Year, everyone! Today was the 123rd Rose Parade in Pasadena, CA, and for the first time of my many Rose Parades, I was able to attend in person! Thanks to some generous friends of friends, we had access to a penthouse and street view of the whole parade. What a great way to experience my first in-person Rose Parade. As we watched, it was really strange not hearing commentary from Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards like I'm so used to. I realized how clueless you are watching the parade without commentary. I had no idea what many of the floats were, but I still enjoyed it. Today I will be featuring photos of the parade itself. I plan for another post tomorrow on the people of the Parade.

Here is this year's Grand Marshal, J.R. Martinez.

The parking was pretty ridiculous, as one could imagine.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Be sure to check back tomorrow night for another post on the people of the Rose Parade!

[Photo] Ivan Rackov Feature Photo

A few weeks ago, I was assigned to take feature photos of Cal water polo's star attacker, Ivan Rackov for The Daily Californian. I was initially a bit intimidated by the assignment because of my lack of experience with portrait shoots. After some learning and brainstorming, I came up with an idea that would fit the title of the story, "Eye on the Prize." I came up with the brilliant idea to have Ivan use a water polo ball to silhouette the sun and fix his eyes up on it. I was going to use a couple strobes to light Ivan, balancing the exposure on him with the ambient exposure. I could just picture the epicness in my head. I ended up getting to the shoot late because the class I had before was running over time. When I got to the location of the shoot, I found out that I had but five minutes with Ivan. A part of me went into panic mode. I had to ditch my initial plan of setting up lights. Also, because of the position of the sun, I couldn't get a clean background like I wanted to. Not to mention, I was rushed. This was one of those situations where I just had to adapt. I ended up breaking several rules that I usually follow religiously. First, I had to mount my flash on camera. This is a major no-no, especially when using it to shoot directly at the subject, which I had to do. Second, I had to use my wide-angle lens. I typically shy away from using a wide-angle lens (especially a super-wide like my Tokina 11-16mm f2.8) to shoot portraits. However, in this situation, breaking some rules actually worked in the final image. Here are the images I got (yes, there are only two, mind the five minute period I had). The following images are copyright The Daily Californian.

Here's what the image looked like in print with design's work and the story.

[Photo] Autumn Leaves and Good Food

In the midst of my busy week, I decided to take a short break and take some photos outside. I walked around for maybe ten minutes and got a few photos of the Autumn leaves and a nice little cafe around town. It was a very relaxing few minutes in which I got away from my studies and such. I hope you enjoy these photos, I know I enjoyed making them.

Here's my attempt at doing a faux Instagram effect in Lightroom. I'd say it looks pretty hip.

1 Year Anniversary! (The Year in Review)

Today marks one year since my first post here on my blog. It's crazy how time flies by. Over this past year, a lot has changed and I feel like my blog has developed quite a bit. I just wanted to summarize the year in terms of my blog.

Just yesterday (right before the 1 year mark), I hit 10,000 page views! How exciting. I know my blog isn't the most high-profile or popular, so this is quite a feat in itself!

My most popular posts are M&M Blueberry Donuts, Rainbow Donuts vs. M&M Donuts, and Southern Californian Food Adventures. It's funny how these blueberry donuts of all things are the most popular thing on my blog. Without fail, I get people finding my blog by searching "blueberry donut" on various search engines.

On that note, the three most searched terms that refer people to my blog are "m&m blueberry donuts," "banksy i hate mondays," and "house of prime rib." Again, these blueberry donuts dominate. Maybe I should just switch over to being a donut blog...

There's also been some interesting search terms people used to find my blog. Some of these include: "ice cream cravings before bed," "fattest breakfast dish," and "breakfast chili cheese fries." This might give you an idea of my reader base and I love it.

I know this post probably wasn't the most engaging, but I hope it's interesting for all of you to see the guts of my blog. Thank you so much for all your love and support over the past year and keep on the lookout because I have plenty more posts planned for the future! Feel free to leave feedback, comments, or suggestions for my blog or future posts!

[Photo] Big Game Week Campus Lights

As some of you may or may not know, we here at Cal just had our Big Game against Stanfurd. Sadly, we lost, but we fought hard and it was a close game. In honor of Big Game week, various parts of campus, like Wheeler Hall, Sather Gate, and the East Asian Library, were lit in blue and gold. I got a photo of Doe Library while walking around campus at night. I was kicking myself for not having a tripod or even taking photos of all the lights. It would have been great to have a complete photo set of all the lights with a nice long-exposure on all of them, but I missed my chance.

[Food] Pepero Day (11.11.11)

First of all, I want to say sorry for the lack of posts for past couple weeks, I've been extremely busy. Anywho, onto the post. As you all know, last Friday was November 11, 2011, or 11.11.11. Not only was it the last binary day of the century, but the most epic Pepero Day for a while. For those of you that don't know, Pepero Day is a Korean "holiday" of sorts where people get Pepero for their friends, family, significant others, etc. You can learn more about it from the folks at Eat Your Kimchi. It's basically a day for snack companies (Lotte) to make tons of money...

What do you do on a cold, rainy Pepero Day when you don't want to buy Pepero? Make some, of course! Some of my friends and I got some pretzel sticks, chocolate, and various things to coat the sticks in. It's probably the simplest thing ever, and it's fun when you make them with people you love! After you're done, you can either give them away or eat them all yourself. If you eat them all yourself, you're probably pretty lonely anyway (joking, but true...). Note: these photos were taken with a friend's camera because of the spontaneity of the happening.

After making bunch of them, I ended up receiving some! I felt so loved until I read the note attached to them.

Threatening, right? I decided to not take any risks and follow their instructions.

I must say, they were a lot more colourful than the ones we made. They did melt a bit, so excuse that in the photos, I'm sure they were beautiful before. Off the record, I think ours tasted better, but they still made for a great pre-San Francisco trip snack! More on that SF trip in later posts to come. But really, they were great! Chocolatey, crunchy goodness, with a hint of salty from the pretzel sticks, not to mention full of love! Food is always better when it's made with love, and I think anyone can testify to that. So, next November 11, make (or buy) some Pepero for the people you love!

[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

[Photo] Laundry Love October 2011

Last week, I participated (albiet, for a short time) in Laundry Love Berkeley. Laundry Love is an event put on by Christian students at UC Berkeley who show the love of God through the simple act of providing free laundry for the homeless. Through events like this, you meet people that you normally would never meet, and there really are some amazing people that show up. We typically think of the homeless as failures in society that ended up on the streets because of their lack of effort and motivation. This isn't always the case. I met some people with very successful careers and amazing life stories that just went through a series of unfortunate events. These are real people, just like you and I. In fact, I met a man named Curtis who studied guitar under the one and only Joe Satriani and boy, this guy can shred. Anyway, here are some photos from the event.

[Food] Robata Jinya

Robata Jinya is a ramen house in West Hollywood with a very modern, hip look to it, which is probably important if you want to be a big name restaurant in Hollywood. We were among the first patrons of the day and were promptly seated.

All of the broths they make are some variation of my all time favorite, tonkotsu. They have shio tonkotsu, shoyu tonkotsu, miso tonkotsu, and spicy tonkotsu broths. Our whole party chose to get the house special shio tonkotsu, which they only make 20 servings of per day. We also got a few other dishes on the side.

The sushi and rolls were good, but not amazing. They were of your run of the mill sushi joint variety. The clean, simple presentation definitely makes for nice photos though.

The chashu pork bowls were not what I expected. Their chashu pork is not the chashu pork that I am accustomed to. In fact, it tasted just like jang jo reem (장조림), a korean dish made with beef cooked in soy sauce. It was salty and a bit tough to chew.

There was one dish that really stood out, the Crispy Rice with Spicy Tuna. I have never had anything like it, so it caught me off guard. The base of the dish is made with cakes of rice fried to a golden-brown crisp on the outside while maintaining a soft, pillowy inside. The textural contrast is amazing. On top of the hot, crispy rice is cool spicy tuna. Finally, the whole thing is topped off with a slice of jalapeno.

I’ll say it now, this was easily my favorite part of the meal. The dish is perfect in just about every way.

The ramen was another one of those “good but not great” dishes. Maybe I’m just spoiled by Daikokuya (previously reviewed); I tend to judge all other ramens against their's. Let’s take the shio tonkotsu ramen part by part.

First of all, the noodles. You get the choice between thick and thin noodles. Everyone got the thin while my cousin went with the thick noodles. I enjoyed my noodles, they had snap without being overly tough. Perfectly cooked; think al dente. The thick noodles on the other hand were too chewy. I would definitely pick thin over thick here.

The broth was a mix of tonkotsu and shio (salt). As I mentioned earlier, they only make 20 servings of this broth per day, which is why we went so early. Sadly, I did not think it lived up to the hype of exclusivity (the early bird gets the worm). A good tonkotsu broth is thick, almost creamy, fatty, and chock full of flavor. The broth here was not as thick and flavorful as I would have liked. In my book, straight tonkotsu is the only way to go.

Now, the toppings. The pork was the same disappointing pork used in the chashu pork bowl. It was far too salty for the ramen. However, in the ramen, it was sliced and boiled rather than chopped and dry, so it was definitely better. The absence of the almighty egg was another disappointment for me (again, spoiled by Daikokuya). The vegetables cut through the fatty broth nicely and were refreshing in between slurps of noodles and soup. Finally, I loved the addition of the fried onion straws, but then again, I have a soft spot of onion straws. These will (obviously) lose their crispiness and get lost once mixed into the broth, so I do not think they are very necessary. Still, a nice touch nonetheless!

Although I may have downplayed Robata Jinya, it is still a nice ramen shop that makes a good bowl of ramen. I definitely recommend the crispy rice with spicy tuna though. If I was in the area, I would go and get a couple orders of just that and I would be a very happy man. Ultimately, I would point you in the direction of Daikokuya if you wanted a great bowl of tonkotsu ramen, but check out Robata Jinya and make the decision for youself!

Robata Jinya 8050 W 3rd St Los Angeles, CA 90048 (323) 653-8877 www.jinya-la.com

[Food] G Burger

G Burger is a relatively new burger joint in La Habra, California. They've been getting a lot of attention lately, probably due to their ridiculous burgers. It's located seemingly in the middle of nowhere and there's not too much space for dining in. I counted about six small tables, two booths, and a counter as well as a couple tables outside. My first impressions were that it was a sit down place, but you actually order up front and can choose to dine in or to go. I would highly recommend against the latter. These burgers are meant to be eaten right away.

On seeing the menu, I was a bit overwhelmed by the G Burger, which was what I had my eyes on. I knew that you could get whatever you want on it, but I didn't think it would come with everything and the kitchen sink by default. It normally comes with two patties, cheese, teriyaki glazed onions, portabello mushrooms, slaw, grilled pineapple, a fried egg, pastrami, avocado, chili, bacon, mixed greens, tomato, and pickles. Talk about a mouthful. I already knew that there would be too many clashing flavors, so I opted to take out the pineapple and substitute plain grilled onions for the teriyaki onions. For the cheese, I went with cheddar.

For sides, I got the gravy cheese fries because I am always on the search for some good poutine. My cousin got the G Style Fries, which are a copy of In-n-Out's infamous Animal Style Fries, but with bacon. My friend that joined us got the Tropical Fries, which come with avocado, pineapple, bacon, and 1000 Island dressing.

The food took a while to come out, but I don't blame them, there's ton of stuff to prepare for each burger.

Let's start off with our sides. I'm going to be straightforward and honest, my gravy fries sucked. The gravy had a really odd flavor profile that just didn't go well with the fries or the swiss cheese. I guess I expected something more like poutine: plain brown gravy and cheese curds. The other sides, however, were great.

The tropical fries played with sweet, savory, salty flavors which I thought worked well. The only thing that I would have changed is using riper avocados. The avocados in these fries were firmer than I like.

The G Style Fries were absolutely top notch, but I did not get a photo...they disappeared too quickly. The crispy fries with grilled onions, cheese, 1000 Island dressing, and bacon. Just wow. They took something great and made it better with bacon. Seriously, (almost) everything is better with bacon. These fries get my stamp of approval over and over again.

Now let's move on to the main event - the burgers. All of us were floored when our burgers came out. I don't remember the last time I had a burger this big (although I've seen bigger, i.e. Hawkins House of Burgers). As I mentioned before, I skipped the sweet elements of the G Burger, the pineapple and teriyaki onions. Still, the burger had way too many things going on. Because of the many bold flavors, I didn't thoroughly enjoy the burger. Let's break the monstrosity down and look at the different elements of the burger.

The buns are great, perfect for a burger this big. They are substantial and can handle the different components of the burger. They don't get soggy and fall apart from the sheer amont of toppings, which is important. The buns do their job just fine.

The patties are delicious and cooked perfectly. They have a big meaty flavor and have a good amount of juice, although not as much as I would have liked.

The bacon was amazing to say the least. It was thick cut, peppered, had a full-bodied bacon flavor, and was not too fatty. In my opinion, this is the perfect bacon for a burger.

The cheddar cheese falls in line with the previously mentioned key ingredients of a hamburger. It is just sharp enough to cut through the flavors, but not overwhelming.

Because these four key elements of the burger meet my standards, I believe that the G Burger has potential. Here are the downfalls.

The pickles are far too sweet for my tastes. I should have read the menu a bit more thoroughly to find out. I like my pickles vinegary and salty. Not sweet. The pickles cut through the melting pot of flavors and ruined the overall taste for me.

The egg was overcooked. I like my eggs with a runny yolk and whites that are just barely set.

Everything else, I either couldn't find or taste. If the slaw, pastrami, and chili weren't listed on the menu, I wouldn't have known they were in the burger. It was rather disappointing because I love all three of these things.

I would definitely go back to G Burger, but I would not get the G Burger "all the way." I'm still thinking about what the perfect combination of toppings would be, but in my opinion, the key to a great burger is simplicity. At the end of the day, the bun, patty, cheese, and (sometimes) bacon are what make or break a burger.

Go try out G Burger for yourself! Get it any way you want it, but my recommendation, keep it simple.

G Burger 421 E La Habra Blvd La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 245-7208 www.gburger.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] Daikokuya

Ahhh, ramen...one of life's great pleasures. But there's so many different kinds! There's shōyu (soy sauce based), shio (salt based), miso, and what I consider king, tonkotsu. Tonkotsu is the rich, milky soup that is made by boiling pork bones for hours. This is exactly why my favorite ramen place is Daikokuya. Daikokuya specializes in this heavenly ramen and the long wait testifies to its greatness. In fact, while I was eating at the bar, I overheard a woman next to me that came from hours away in Northern California. That's right, just for Daikokuya.

After waiting for a good 45 minutes, we entered the small restaurant and were seated at the bar (the small size of the restaurant definitely contributes to the wait times). Without thinking we all placed our orders. I got the ramen combination with the shredded pork bowl while my sister and cousin (check his brand new blog!) got the combos with tuna sashimi bowls.

Soon after placing orders, we got our salad. It may just look like some cabbage with dressing and masago, but it's a lot more than that. The dressing has a very full-bodied, almost meaty flavor. It's hard to describe, but we all loved it. It was the perfect way to start the meal.

Just look at how sexy that tuna looks. I don't know if words are necessary here. I didn't try it, so I really can't use words, but wow.

My pork bowl was just as good as that tuna looks. The pork is tender and full of flavor, the sauce heightens the flavor experience, and the ginger cuts through the rich flavors.

Before we get to the ramen, let's take a moment and observe the proper way to eat it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WrkdTrrwew]

Here's an excerpt from the 1985 movie, Tampopo featuring the Ramen Master. Now that we are properly educated...

The noodles are perfectly cooked, just enough bite without being firm. The pork is fatty and melts in your mouth. The soy boiled egg has a yolk that straddles the border between runny and solid. The bean spouts offer excellent textural contrast to everything else. The soup, oh the soup. Someone save me, I'm salivating at my screen. It's everything that you want your ramen soup to be. Flavorful but not overly salty, rich without making you sick, and creamy. Creamy? Yes. That's probably my favorite aspect of the tonkotsu broth. I'm going to have to stop here, I'm having withdrawls.

Does your favorite ramen cause such strong feelings? Probably not. If you've never had a taste of glory, be sure to stop at Daikokuya. There are several locations, but my favorite is the one in Little Tokyo. My other recommendations here are the gyoza, the pork fried rice, and the kotteri, or extra back fat, in the ramen. One comment on the kotteri option, it's delicious, but too much of it can be a bit overwhelming. I've only had it once, but definitely try it out for yourself. Really, anything you get here will be good.

Daikokuya 327 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 626-1680 www.daikoku-ten.com