Tranquil Tea Lounge

 

Tranquil Tea Lounge is located in Downtown Fullerton. It's not a very big place, it's small and cute. I like the atmosphere, it is very relaxing. I am not the best at choosing teas, so it takes me a pretty long time to make a decision, but I usually just end up choosing something random. I like cold teas, though. The best part of this cafe is their egg sandwich! The bread is good and I just love eggs so it is a no brainer. They also have tomato soup, which is not that bad. And everything is served just so cutely! The tea glasses are cute. And if you order a hot tea, they give you a super cute tea pot!

Larchmont Bungalow

Larchmont Bungalow is located in Los Angeles and it is a type of place I think a lot of hipsters would go to. It's a small place, pretty quiet and cute. I ordered the red and blue velvet pancakes. They didn't even look like pancakes, more like cakes, but that's okay, the idea was the same. The red and blue coloring was kind of unappealing. There was cream cheese, walnuts, and syrup on top. I do enjoy things that are very sweet, but this was just too much for me. Every bit of this was extremely sweet, but I pulled through and still managed to devour it. It didn't look like much, but it definitely filled me up. My stomach was not very happy later.

Food for thought: I would not suggest this place, but if you are in the area, then why not? It is a bit pricey since you are in that part of LA. It is a cute place to just eat and catch up with some friends.

Chipotle

 

So I have finally decided to never eat Chipotle again because I just don't think it's worth it and honestly, it's not even as great as it is hyped up to be. I know I am going to get a lot of haters for this. How Chipotle works is you start by ordering either a burrito, burrito bowl, taco, or whatever else they have. Then you go down the line and request what you would like in it. It is kind of like Subway in a sense. My usual order is a burrito bowl with white rice, black beans, cheese, corn, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, and sometimes guacamole. I do not know why I used to like it so much. But it's gotten to a point where I'm just sick of it. Sometimes I go thinking that it will be better, but it just doesn't get any better.

Food for thought: Make this yourself at home.

Boiling Crab

The main Boiling Crab I go to is the one in Rowland Heights. Every time I have gone, there has always been a massive wait line, even on a Thursday night around 9pm. Totally worth the wait though. I pretty much get the same thing every time I come here. I stick to what I know and love! I order either half a pound or a full pound of shrimp. I choose to get mild spiciness and the whole shebang, which is all the flavors you can have for the sauce combined. You receive the shrimp in a plastic bag and the workers tie a bib around your neck if you want one. I suggest you get one because things can get quite messy. Some people I know like to suck on the shrimp head after they pull it off, but I think that's kind of weird. After you have peeled the shrimp, you dip it into the bag of sauce and enjoy! I also order a side of cajun fries. I love cajun fries! It tastes so good with a side of ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together. And for the shrimp, I sometimes like to dip it into the side of pepper and lemon.

Food for thought: Always come earlier than the time you actually want to eat. And when I say come earlier, I mean like and hour or so. And don't wear anything you mind getting dirty. 

Bruxie

I love waffles, therefore I love Bruxie. Bruxie is a restaurant that serves mainly waffle sandwiches. They have a sweet side as well as a savory side. Pictured above is a carnitas tortas sandwich. It was a special they had for Cinco de Mayo. Too bad they won't continue to serve it. The meat was extremely tender and there were just so many flavors in it, too good to be true! My favorite sweet waffle sandwich is the creme brulee. It has fruits and a ton of sugar, yum! I always make sure to order that one. Their chicken and waffles sandwich is not very good, but then again I just do not like that chicken and waffle combination. I do like the egg, bacon, and cheese waffle sandwich. I know it sounds like it is nothing special, but it is pretty darn satisfying.

Food for thought: Expect a line at certain hours. The waffles are a bit pricey, but I do think they are worth it. And their waffles are always nice and crisp. I suggest trying their lemonade too, it's prety good.

Casey's Cupcakes

 

I went to the Casey's Cupcakes located in Fashion Island in Newport Beach. This is a girl's dream! Everything is pink, my favorite color! It's the type of world that Katy Perry would dream up. All the cupcakes have super cute names and there are so many original flavors. I decided to go with the charming chocolate cookie dough cupcake. And boy, did I make the right choice! The icing was so smooth and there was edible glitter sprinkled on top, it was almost too pretty to eat. The cupcake breading itself was very moist. Whoever baked this cupcake deserves an award!

Food for thought: If you are a cupcake lover, please try this place!

Grub

 Grub is a restaurant located in Los Angeles around the Hollywood area. My 2 friends and I went here for dinner for Dine LA. We told the waitress that we had a party of three and she told us to wait outside, so we did. We saw that groups that came later than us were seated sooner. So we went inside and asked if we were supposed to write down our names or anything, and she was like oh, you guys can have a seat over there. They were super unprofessional with seating, but I let it go. It was kind of hard to flag someone down, no one was asking us for our orders. I had the Mac n cheese, there was a weird flavor to it. Kind of unappealing. But their big ass ice cream sandwich is really good. There were two times when we tried getting someone's attention and I'm pretty sure they saw us, but just walked away. I won't be coming back.

Crazy Rock'N Sushi

This has to be one of my favorite sushi spots. I work at a sushi restaurant so I know my sushi! I have eaten here numerous times and they never fail to make me happy. Not once have I been here and not ordered the Gold Crunch Roll. It is a California tempura roll with a lot of crunchy stuff (I don't know what it is, really) on top with eel sauce. Their eel sauce is a bit sweet, but that is what makes it really good. The calamari tempura roll is good as well. It is just tempura calamari on top of California rolls. I just love anything tempura. Their dynamite roll is not good, that is all I have to say about that one. The baked salmon roll is another favorite. It is baked salmon on top of California rolls with melted cheese on top. I know a lot of people do not like cheese, so if you are one of those people do not order this roll. 

Food for thought: Awesome! Everyone must try this place! They have happy hour all day (I never really understand places that have happy hour all day) with items that are always discounted. This place is extremely affordable and the quality is good as well. Sorry if I did not mention anything that was raw, I do not eat raw foods.

Lemonade

Yesterday I went to the Lemonade located near Wilshire Boulevard. The main reason I wanted to try this place out was because of their lemonade.. DUH. Pictures above is the watermelon rosemary lemonade, salted caramel macaron, citrus poached salmon filet, and kimchi noodles. The lemonade was very good! It was sweet with a hint of herb. But after a while it just started tasting like rosemary which I did not appreciate. The macaron was the biggest I have ever seen. It was the size of the palm of my hand. And of course I chose the only flavor I truly enjoy- salted caramel. It was okay, I have had better. It was a little too soft for my taste, I usually like them a little bit crispier. The kimchi noodles was not a good pick. I just did not like the taste, not much more to say than that. As for the salmon, YUM! I love salmon and this one was cooked perfectly!

Food for thought: If you are going to come here, you must try at least one of the lemonades! If it is your first time coming here, it can be a bit confusing. You order from section to section but everything is in order, so it is not too bad. And this place is shockingly pricey. The meal I had cost me approximately $18 and the portions were not very big. I would not come back.

La Grande Orange Cafe

 La Grande Orange Cafe is an American restaurant located in Old Town Pasadena. It is not that big of a restaurant, and half of the tables are outdoors. My friend and I had dinner here and we chose to sit outside. It was really pretty at night with a fireplace and pretty lights hanging from above. We both started off with ceviche. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but it was not bad either. For my entree, I ordered the short rib on top of mashed potatoes and gravy with vegetables. I must say, the meat was cooked perfectly! It was so tender! And not dry at all! And I absolutely love mashed potatoes! I could eat it with everything, really. The only complaint I could possibly have is that it is too small. For dessert, we shared a red velvet cake with ice cream on top and strawberry gelato. The red velvet was very sweet, but that is how I like my desserts. As for the gelato, I felt like it did not have enough flavor and it definitely was not sweet enough.

Food for thought: I would recommend this place for a romantic dinner. It is dimly lit and not too loud. You do not have to dress up, but you could if you wanted to. All in all, everything I ate was good if not decent. I would come back if I had the chance!