Roscoes House of Chicken and Waffles

3 ★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3 ★★★ for the food
$ 30 and below
i came here for our department dinner. when i heard we are going for chicken & waffle, i was like... r u kidding me... it looks so cheap and normal.... but i heard it's rated #1 fried chicken in the Cali. then it makes me wanna go check it out. the place just looks like Denny's, very family style restaurant. i ordered chicken w/ waffle along with mac&cheese, greens, potato salads, and candy yams. to be honest, after having one bite of the chicken, i thinking the rating is off~~~ it's a bit too dry for me and the meat is too hard. i think even Chick-fil-A is better. but i would recommend their sides. i like their chicken liver and giblets. love the giblets!! they had it deep fried and it's yummy. probably the reason that will make me come back. their waffle is just average. it's not as crunchy as i expected. but it got a special taste to it.

Marché Moderne

4.5 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
4.5 ★★★★ for the food
$$$ 50~100
- half star for not having the dessert i want!! i am craving for Canneles de Bordeaux!!! they don't have it on their dessert menu, but i saw somebody ordered it at the other table. but when i ask for it, they don't have it.... urg... i am so sad.... anyway, we came here for our 2nd year anniversary ^^ ♥♥♥ the restaurant is located on the 3rd floors inside south coast plaza at the Nordstorm wing.
they treated us an appetizer, the scallop w/ grapefruit ice at the beginning.
For appetizers,
we ordered lobster & shrimp & oyster. "Great choice!" said our waiter. haha~ it is very good!!
Merguez & Shrimp- very flavorable, gotta a strong taste.
and pan roasted foie gras. it's cooked just right. very soft and chewy paired with pear sauce. and on the left is deep fried doughnut.
babe had the lamb rib. the rib is soooooooo tender and juicy~~~ we love it!! the sauce tasted like carrots & squash. but the meat alone is perfect enough for me.
since i think French cuisine is good at cooking duck, i ordered the duck breast. it's also very good! i love the sauce on the side that goes along with the meat so well. the meal was lovely, but i think this restaurant is too small in turns of seating space. the table is kinda narrow and we don't have much arm space while eatting.

Brunch @ Joe's

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3 ★★★ for the food
$ 30 and below
- half star for having a hair in my entry!!! Joe's has pretty cheap brunch with good selection. The place is beautiful and there were people waiting outside the restaurant before it opens. i ordered a salmon benedict with poach egg. as the waiter bring up the dish, i saw there's a hair laying around the corner of the bendict.... i told the waiter and he just took it off and said sorry, doesn't even have the intending to ask or change a new one. awww... i was being too nice. i should of told the chef and make them give me a new one.

Santa Monica Beach House

it's like a weekend getaway~~ we got to stay at the beach house since our friends booked it for her b-day party. it's right next to the beach and 5 min walking distance to venice. the place is beautiful w/ 2 floors, 3 bedrooms and a pool table.
the room we stayed in
we went shopping at the venich beach in the afternoon & went back to see the sunset outside our patio

Standard Hotel

i luv the view in Standard. there's $10 parking fee which sucks~~ but i guess b/c it's one of the attraction in downtown LA... i got to sit inside the water bed beside the pool. it's so comfy and roomy. there's an event going on the day we went. some kind of fashion show. but we left before it begins.

Wigwam Motel

weirdest motel ever~ i randomly found this while i was surfing online. the motel actually showed up in the movie CARS, they called it cozy cone motel. i didn't know it came from Wigwam Motel that actually exist. You can't really miss it if you drove by, those cones really stood out.

TEA

i love tea~~~~~~~~
i've been drinking Republic of Tea
pretty much most of their flavored tea are good. you can get it in any whole foods market.
but i recently discovered Early Gray Black tea from Lamill Coffee
天阿~~ 我沒喝過這麼香的紅茶~~ 超超推薦
also highly recommend Momo Oolong tea from Lupicia
這也超好喝的!! peach flavor is strong, 冷泡也很棒!!

Panera Bread

breakfast at panera bread~ i was craving for some panini. it got combo for any 2 items for about $7~ bucks. i got the tomato creamy soup and grill chicken panini. they also got all kind of bakery~ love it~~

Lawry's

5 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ for the ambiance and the service
5 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ for the food
$$$ 50~100
♥ Lawry's~ we went during the DineLA week. and it's $44 dollar include salad, prime rib with lobster, and a dessert. the food is prefect, the experience is perfect and the price is perfect. i got the medium rare prime rib and the meat is really soft and juicy. and can't forget their cream corn and spinach!
Dessert-strawberry cake
the meal also came with a coffee or tea at the end. the only downside is that their service is really fast and i felt a bit rushed during the dinner. =S

Royal Khyber

4 ★★★★ for the ambiance and the service
3.5 ★★★ for the food
$$ 30~50
we went try out this restaurant during the OC restaurant week. it was recommended by my friend and i was here for the mango cream brulee. i ordered the chicken Marsala and babe ordered the lamb shark. i like the lamb shark better b/c my chicken Marsala was a little salty. i love the naan bread they have. it came hot and soft right on table which is a plus! $30 meal came with an appetizer and a dessert. i got the mango cream burlee of course. the mango taste was very strong and rich. i just wish it's serve cold, ice cold. the menu is a bit pricy, but the service was really fast and nice. also, it's quite and romantic, a good spot for couples to date IMO.
we went to D&B later after dinner since we had $10 credit. we won 1500 tickets on this game~~~ lucky us~~