626 Night Market Part 1

Although I have traveled to about 18 countries, I've never been to Asia. 626 Night Market brings a bit of the flavor of the bustling open air food stalls to the US, and like a tourist, I explored for the first time this past week-end. (There will be 3 more week-ends this Summer if you want to go). I took so many pictures, I will be posting a Part 2 tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy today's photo journey :)

I went as they opened, so it wasn't quite a "night" market, but the crowds grew so big by the time I left 2 hours later that I was glad to have missed the long lines I saw later in the evening.

 The only downside to going early is that many of the vendors were not set up yet.

 I don't know if they had not yet put up any signage in English or if this it....

A few had displays of their food.

Some places gave out samples.

It was fun to watch some of the preparations:)

 I decided on grilled squid for my first bite and just as in Asia, none of the cooks spoke English.

 The squid  on a skewer for $6 was HUGE and delicious with a spicy BBQ sauce!

 After walking around all the food stalls twice, I settled on a steamed bun for my next bite.

 This was the biggest bun I've ever eaten, at least 6" in diameter and very very hot.

I chose seafood with a side of garlic sauce for $5.50 and it was a very savory filling choice in a pillowy fresh bun with a medium sized shrimp in the center.

Time to get some more cash before continuing my adventure....

Fish for Days

Even though Sushi Gen is probably my favorite place for fish, their location and popularity requires advance planning. Maki & Sushi is a good Plan B, located in a strip mall with easy parking and easy freeway access. They have the usual combination boxes with teriyaki, tempura, and sushi, but I chose the chirashi, a generous bowl with some upscale ingredients like amaebi, scallop, and unagi. The octopus salad on top was an unusual bonus topping, and because I requested no salmon, my bowl was nearly all white fish. Miso soup came with the meal and for $23 this was a good value. The cuts and presentation were not spectacular, but the service was efficient.

Church and State was one of my favorite places to go for French food before I left for France, so I wanted to go back and see if they would be able to maintain their rank on my list. The short answer is, maybe. I chose their salad niçoise with seared yellowtail for $18. The presentation was very nice, and the piping of tapenade around the plate added a nice punctuation to the salad, but as you can see the circles of tuna were tiny morsels for what was supposed to be a main course salad. The vinaigrette and vegetables were top notch (organic). They do have a prix fixe menu at $23 for 3 courses at lunch that is a bargain, but for a la carte considering the other options in town at that price point, I won't be rushing back.

Fish King is a market, a fishmonger, a cafe, and a family owned and run pillar of the community since the 1950's. It's a beautifully clean, neatly organized, and pleasurable place to shop. The fish will be better than at your local chain supermarket, Whole Foods included, but don't expect any bargains for the quality. Since I was too hungry to cook, I chose to have them prepare my halibut cajun style with a side of vegetables and coleslaw. At a little under $15, this was a big healthy meal, but I was disappointed that a fish cafe overcooked the fish filet and undercooked the vegetables. Even with the large assortment of condiments, I couldn't fix my plate. I would happily buy fish or sushi from them, but I won't have them cook anything for me again.

At this point, you may be wondering if I found any good places, but I saved the best for last :) Fanta  Sea Grill is nearly hidden in a complex with a large Rite Aid, and the only reason I saw it at all was because I was going to the drugstore. They are a wholesale seafood importer, so they procure fresh fish at excellent prices, and as they proudly proclaim, they use no butter or msg in their preparations. I chose the garlic shrimp to go, and they not only included a large portion of prawns, but delicious vegetables, rice, and salad with citrus ponzu, all for under $20. The prawns were cooked perfectly, with easy to peel off shells, swimming in a garlic broth that I used over the rice and vegetables for an added savory burst of fun. This was so good, I literally licked my fingers after peeling the shrimp!

Tender Greens only has tuna on their regular menu, but sometimes their daily specials are fish, and one day I lucked out with Artic Char. All their fish is sourced from responsible fisheries, so no worries about healthy sustainable fish on their menu:) I paired the perfectly seared filet on top of quinoa with an arugula salad, making my taste buds dance in happiness.

Mama Lu's, Phoenix, and Seoul Sausage Happy Hour

There are a few general rules to follow when trying to trying to decide if a place will be good: 

1) Is there a line when nearby places have none?

2) If it is an ethnic cuisine, are there people of that ethnicity eating there?

3) Has a friend with a discerning palate eaten there and liked it?

Mama Lu's answered all these questions yes, but aside from one dish out of four, I can not say it was good.

They are known for their dumplings, so we ordered some to test out their signature dish. They were surprisingly bland with a heavily cilantro based filling and even with some doctoring with tableside black vinegar and chili oil, the three of us only ate one and left the rest.

I am still on my quest for great beef chow fun. The presentation made me hopeful, because it was not greasy, but once again it required doctoring with several of the tableside condiments to flavor these noodles. Again we left half food on the plate.

The clear winner of the evening were the pea sprouts sautéed in garlic, which we all loved and which needed no doctoring of any kind! This was the only plate we finished completely.

The clear loser of the evening were the clams in black bean sauce which were cloyingly sweet and which none of us wanted to eat after a few bites. We were amazed at how full the restaurant was and how disappointing the dishes were, especially since two of my friends had eaten there before and enjoyed their previous meal. It may have been a change of chefs that night, but I am not keen to venture for another try with their poor batting average on flavors.

A better choice for Chinese is Phoenix Food Boutique, a small outpost of a small chain, catering mostly to take out customers. Their $7.95 shrimp and pork wonton noodle soup was a hearty bowl with wonderful wontons and fresh bok choy. I found the soup itself lacking in depth of flavor, but the ingredients were tender and tasty enough to merit ordering this bowl.

The $8.50 beef chow fun was big enough for 2 people, and chock full of tender slices of beef, crunchy bean sprouts, and tender spring onions. If it were less greasy, this would have been perfect!

Seoul Sausage has been one of my favorite spots ever since they opened a brick and mortar shop near Sawtelle. I've been to their Little Tokyo location before, but this time I brought friends for Happy Hour. Since my friends are adept beer drinkers, our wonderful waiter provided us with tastes of several before we placed our order. We shared the Sausage Party platter and all agreed that the sweet and spicy chicken and the kalbi pork were our favorites,

so we followed up with two full sized sausages of both.

One of my friends ordered the Da Rapokki, pork belly spicy ramen, but didn't like the lack of liquid, but I loved the spicy noodles and pork belly.

I couldn't come to Seoul Sausage without making my friends try Korean Fried Chicken aka KFC, which was the hit of the evening :)

Sweet Day

My desserts are usually fruit or cheese, but there are times when I crave chocolate or cookies. Thankfully I found two places to indulge those cravings when they arise :) 

Lolli and Pops is like heaven for those with a weakness for sweets; they offer ROOMS full of whatever temptation might entice you to replace your meal with a sugar high. If you don't have a location near you, they make gift packages and will ship to whomever you wish to bestow some sweetness.

 Some candies are sold by piece or weight.

 You can mix and match flavors while as you fill containers of different sizes.

 Some sweets are packaged for you.

 If you are nostalgic, there is an entire room of vintage candy.

 If you crave candy from other countries, they stock a few classic items.

 Classic US candies, from Jelly Belly

 to Pez,

 and Gummy Bears,

 each have their own section (or dedicated room).

 They have their in house brand 

 as well as famous names like Vosges,

 and Harry Potter.

After wandering through the store and feeling a bit overwhelmed, I decided I wanted a cookie (or two, or three), so I went into the Eagle Rock Italian Bakery. They are also a grocery store and deli, making sandwiches to go, and selling Italian olive oil, balsamic vinegar, semolina pasta, and more kinds of tomato products than I could count. It's a small selection compared to Bay Cities in Santa Monica, but the products are all curated for quality. 

I practiced extraordinary restraint by eating only 2-3 of these light buttery treats a day. It's going to require super-human resolve to limit my purchase and consumption now that I know how delicious they taste!