Tag: Good Eats

My L.A. Foodie Bucket List

Posted July 19, 2017 by Rowena in Personal | 8 Comments

I live in a city that is filled to the brim with trendy restaurants, cafes, diners and just everything a foodie lover could want and I don’t take advantage of being so close to some of the best restaurants around. I’ve lived in Los Angeles County all of my life and as a creature of habit, I don’t venture very far from my comfort eating spots.

I’m hoping to change that this year. I’ve been bugging my friends about starting up our foodie group again but well, one of my friends moved away and the rest of the group has chaotic schedules that it’s hard to get together often.

Well, my schedule has opened way up with Brenna graduating and I have a lot of free time on my hands so…why not make a list of the trendy spots I want to try and then drag my friends with me on these foodie adventures? I will find a way to make it work and B Nice, Tasha, Hanah and Theresa? We’re going to be busy this year!

Here’s a list of the stuff that I want to try before the year ends.

1. Magnolia Bakery (Banana Pudding)
2. Georgetown Cupcakes (Cupcakes)
3. Gus’ World Famous Fried Chicken (Fried Chicken and Pie)
4. Republique (Banana Cream Pie)
5. The Apple Pan (Apple Pie, Hickory Burger)
6. The Pie Hole (Pie)
7. Jongewaard’s Bake & Broil (Pie)
8. Cofax Coffee Shop (Chorizo Breakfast Burrito)
9. Dodger Stadium (Dodger Dog)
10. Honey Kettle (Fried Chicken)
11. Pink’s Hot Dogs (Hot Dog)
12. The Griddle Cafe (Pancakes)
13. Toast (Breakfast)
14. Nick’s Deli (Breakfast Burrito)
15. San Pedro’s Fish Market & Restaurant (Seafood)
16. Shake Shack (Something Borrowed)
17. Milk (Baked Goods)
18. The Loop (Churros)
19. Paradise Bowl (Acai Bowls)
20. Lemonade (Salad)

I’m starting with 20 and then will add anything else that catches my fancy. I’ll also be tracking what we try out and maybe writing up a post about it or something. Should be fun.

Have you guys tried any of these places? Anything that I should add to my foodie bucket list that isn’t there already?

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The Girls Went to see Sammy J

Posted April 27, 2016 by Rowena in Personal | 0 Comments

I have been dying to see Sammy J in concert ever since I found out that he was coming to California way back in January. At the time, I was pretty obsessed with his song Waiting and with his voice as well. I remember sitting in the stands at Brenna’s game one night, singing along to the song playing on my phone when I started googling his tour dates. I found out that he was going to be in town in April and immediately asked my friends to go with me.

I got responses immediately from most of them and they were all a go…and this is one of the things we planned on that we actually followed through on. Mulu and I didn’t make it out to Vegas for the Rugby tournament but I wasn’t going to miss out on Sammy J too.

I had a blast. We missed the first opening act, The Late Ones (haha, we were the late ones that night) which was a bummer because I actually know those kids. I know their parents and I remember them as little kids but my kids kept me from getting to the venue earlier to catch their performance.

Still, the concert was fantastic. We caught Tenelle’s performance and while she sang a lot of covers, she did rock the hell out of them and had Meghan and I scream singing our asses off to the two songs of hers that I knew. Haha. She was great.

The crowd was jamming hard when Tenelle was on stage but the minute that Sammy J came out, the crowd somehow got bigger and they just erupted. It was complete madness and that guy from New Zealand rocked the hell out of that crowd. It was one of the funnest things that I’ve done in a while.

I didn’t get a lot of videos of the concert cause I was too busy scream singing my way through the show but here are some that I took. Please excuse Meghan’s big ass head in front of me. Haha.


Sammy J singing Waiting (my song!)


Sammy J and Tenelle singing Say That You Love Me (my other song!)

Also? Please excuse the shakiness of the video too. My arms got tired. LMAO! Freaking Meghan wouldn’t get her damn hand and phone out of my way either. Ehh.

Still, all in all the concert was great. I had a good time with Sammy J (haha), with my girls and I only felt a little bad that Brenna and Makenna (who wanted to go to the concert) stayed behind to babysit Hanah’s kids so that Hanah can go.

Here are some pictures from our night out with Sammy J!

Sammy J 1

Sammy J 2

Hanah and I are trying to figure out what our next adventure will be so I’ll update when we figure that out.

So much fun!

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Good Eats: Porto’s

Posted February 25, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Good Eats Foodie Club

Downey Portos
Porto’s
8233 Firestone Blvd
Downey, CA 90241
Hours of Operation: Mon-Sat 6:30 am – 8:30 pm, Sunday 7:00 am – 7:00 pm

It’s the second month of the year and I got together with my friends to try a new to us place again. Well, new to some of us. This month we did lunch and we drove out to Downey to try out Porto’s. Did you guys know that Porto’s is the #1 food place choice on Yelp? Mulu and Therese haven’t eaten there yet so we went so they can try it out for themselves.

Porto’s is known for its potato balls and bakery but they have great sandwiches and salads as well. I didn’t take any pictures of our food but we tried something from everywhere. Theresa had the Raspberry Mojito (great), I tried the Caprese sandwich with banana chips (good), Mulu and Hanah had the Turkey Croissant sandwich (yum) and then we tried chocolate croissants, beef empenadas and the creme brulee. Everything was good, very tasty. Not one complaint.

Portos Downey

This place was great and it got two thumbs up from all of us. If you’re going to the Porto’s in Downey on a Saturday, make sure you have the time cause there’s always a line that wraps around the building. On the upside, the lines move fast so you won’t spend your entire day there.

Next month is Dinner and we’re thinking Indian…but we shall see.

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Good Eats: Great Maple

Posted February 9, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 0 Comments

Good Eats Foodie Club

GMGreat Maple
21434 Hawthorne Blvd.
Torrance, CA
Hours of Operation: M-F 11am – 10pm; Sat 9am-10pm; Sun 9am – 9pm
Daytime Menu | Brunch Menu | Dinner Menu

So one of the things that I promised myself I would do this year was get out more. Try new things and just get out of my house. I spent a lot of time last year at home watching my shows, reading and watching movies but not this year. This year is going to be the year that I start doing things. I’m going to try new restaurants, go to concerts and just have fun again.

I’m fortunate to have friends that will go wherever I drag them and last month, I was lucky that my friend had a birthday so that we can tick a new restaurant off our something new to try list.

Mulu Birthday Breakfast

Mulu’s birthday was last month and we got a group together to celebrate her special day with breakfast at the new Great Maple restaurant at Del Amo Mall. I hadn’t ever been and to be honest, I never heard of it before Hanah brought it to our attention. Thank goodness for Hanah cause without her, we would have celebrated Mulu’s birthday at IHop. LOL.

Happy Birthday Mulu!

We tried a little bit of everything and everything that we tried was great.

We started with an order of the Maple Bacon Donuts.

Maple Bacon Doughnuts

Donuts

These doughnuts were delicious. The doughnuts itself were light and fluffy and with the maple syrup, powdered sugar and bacon bits, the flavor factor skyrocketed and it totally rocked my socks. Loved these.

French Toast

French Toast Log

Next up, we tried the GM Brioche French Toast Logs. Look at those suckers. They were pretty big french toast logs and to say that they were delicious is putting it mildly. I could have happily ate these things all day long. The bread had the perfect amount of crispiness on the outside and softness on the inside. The syrup and the bacon bits? Only added to the greatness that were these french toast logs. I’m a fan.

Scramble Melts

Scramble Melt Pic

Last up, I had the Hardwood Smoked Bacon Scramble Melt to round out our breakfast and while it wasn’t my favorite part of the meal, it was still delicious. I loved the eggs, the freshness of the ingredients and the potatoes were fabulous too.

All in all, I had a great experience at the Great Maple. The waitstaff were friendly and informative (they answered all of our questions with a smile on their face) and our food was promptly delivered so really, I have no complaints. It was a little fancier than what I’m used to but that’s a good thing. Haha.

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