January 7, 2009

• switched to blogger

  So I finally made the switch from xanga to blogger. choke-a-bitch.blogspot.com

  I pretty much like the whole blogger set up a lot better than xanga's. Well, I might keep my xanga updated and all for my old peeps. I'm not sure if I'll keep the sites updated identically...we'll see. Blogging is loads of work and I'm always so fucking busy.  I just think it's a lot easier for newer folks to get in touch with me through blogger. I sometimes think that xanga has a pretty segregated feeling to it.

  On with my blog.On Saturday, I went to the Beverly Center to do some shopping before my 9pm dinner reservation at Matsuhisa's. (pretty much what I was supposed to do on Friday)There's always something funky going on at the Beverly Center. When I got there, they were having some Nip Tuck promotion going on. They basically had 3 adorable Nip Tuck dancers interacting with an audience via chat on computers in front of the glass cages. People could request them to get up and do a dance, vote for their favorite dancer, and ask them important questions like what color panties were they wearing.

  They didn't have what I went there for, and I couldn't really think of anything else in particular that I wanted (surprise), so I stopped by the bar and got a scooby snack shooter and a rum and coke. I finally realized that I wanted some new boots, so I hit up a few shoe stores. When I got to Steve Madden they gave me some scratcher and I ended up getting a 50% off entire purchase ticket! They said I was the first to get that ticket, and I don't know if they were bullshitting, but I was pretty happy. I ended up getting some boots and 2 other pairs of shoes for only $162! 3 pairs for the price of 1, that's fuckin' awesome. I was actually thinking about getting more, but the mall was closing when I walked in, so I felt kind of bad about keeping them open. Anyways,  I was happy about that awesome last minute deal. =)^Dress-Juicy Couture, Stockings-Calvin Klein, Boots-BCBG, necklace-Hot Topic, Bracelets-1928

  Matsuhisa

  Matsuhisa is a restaurant that chef Nobu Matsuhisa's first restaurant which opened in Beverly Hills 1987. I love the Nobu chain (with the exception of the not-so-great Nobu Malibu). The dishes are well balanced, innovative, fresh, and just plain fucking delicious. Nobu really set the bar for lots of the modern sushi joints around. Matsuhisa is one of my favorite sushi restaurants. It's no traditional sushi joint, but it is outstanding.The decor in Matsuhisa is okay. It definitely could use an update, but I think it does have a sort of whimsical flare. I get the feeling that the art and decor was something that Nobu himself chose to keep around. The art is dated and pretty much nothing goes together. Maybe each piece has a meaning or was a gift. I mean one picture behind the sushi bar totally looks like a picture you'd see on a trapper keeper. On the walls there are neat little shadows painted as if they were people sitting at the tables. Not sure if they are shadows of celebrities or friends, but I like them.

  ^Our shadows on the wall. I was sporting my glasses and double chin for dinner.

  The restaurant can feel crowded at times. The tables are pretty close together, similar to a lot of other Nobu restaurants. I swear I was fantasizing about shoving my chopsticks down the throat of the lady sitting at the table next to me. She was loud and she was just a fucking asshole. She was basically talking to her date about how she is embarrassed of her mom for not being educated. "It drives me crazy when she speaks with such bad grammar...how she uses double negatives all the time. It's so embarrassing...she did her best raising me, but she embarrasses me..." I felt disgusted with her. She was such a fucking obnoxious cunt. Bragging about her education while expressing her intolerance for her poor uneducated mom. That bitch is going to have asshole kids who will grow up ashamed of her. The old me would've said something or perhaps walked over and vomited in her food. Some people! Her date sounded like an asshole, too but her loud mouth and big head pretty much stole the show...sorry where was I? haha

  ^From my seat. I'm practically sharing a table with the cunt.

  The food, service, and drinks are top notch. I have no complaints when it comes to Matsuhisa as a whole restaurant. It's simply awesome. I always get the $150 premium omakase, and I'm always in love with what I get.

  My date doesn't drink, so I ordered 250 ml of chilled Dai-ginjo yk5o for myself which is a good amount for the meal.

  The Nobu yk50 is really yummy. It's refreshing, smooth, and has a nice aroma. I like it a lot better than Nobu the sake which is a bit more on the dry side. Matsuhisa also has special sake cocktails, but I think their sake is just fine as is.

  ^Seafood Springroll with caviarCrispy, slightly sweet, slightly salty. The perfect starter.^Oyster in olive oil, salmon egg, kampachi chili jelly, scallop with dried misoSuper delicious and fresh. The scallop was the best.

  Heart of palm salad with assorted sashimiVery refreshing. The sashimi is super fresh and tasty. The sauce is nice and tart-makes my mouth water.^Lobster, shitake, asparagusDelicious. Rich tasty sauce, crisp asparagus fragrant shitake. Buttery lobster with the perfect texture...If you ever go to Nobu or Matsuhisa and you're not sure what to order, get this or the Japanese Kobe.

  ^Japanese kobe beefPerfectly seasoned and prepared. Melts in your mouth like butter. So fucking good!^Assorted sushi.I was pretty stuffed. I didn't eat all of the rice, but I still ate all the meat. Fresh and yummy.^Crab misoI was so full, but  took a couple of sips. It was good, but I wanted to save myself for dessert.^Hot fruit with ice creamThis was good. Not too sweet. Tart fruit went nice with the ice cream. I don't think I would've ordered this on my own. They have much better desserts.^Green tea flanI love flan. This was really good. I liked how they had lots of delicious fresh fruit in our desserts. I was sort of craving chocolate, but this was good enough.

  Little Fat Sheep

  I've been doing the whole thing Shabu Shabu about twice a week ever since my last trip to San Francisco. I really wanted to try Chinese hotpot since I was reading so many comparisons while reading shabu shabu reviews. So on Sunday, I decided to go to Little Fat Sheep in Monterey park as suggested by Marie. I normally wouldn't drive so far to get food, but it's actually on the way to my mom's and I had to drop something off for her, so it worked out fine.This is how I usually dress when I go out. I like to be comfy. Tank top-guess, top- Guess, Leggings-LVLX, Scarf- Badgley Mischka, ugly Uggs (shit if you can find a comfier winter shoe, let me know), Hat from some random SF boutique.Little Fat Sheep is Mongolian style Chinese hotpot. It's in the middle of a bunch of Asian shops and restaurants, and when I got there it was packed with a bunch Asians old and young, which was a good sign. When you walk in you are struck by the strong almost intoxicating aroma of herbs and spices. After partying so hard for so long, I finally felt like I was about to do my body some good. The smell had me salivating like a saint bernard in heat.

  ^Haha. It's like the angel's of the lamb we're eating. Grazing on green pastures in heaven.

  It didn't take long to get our seats which was great. I was ready to grub. The decor was pretty funny. They had a wall with huge photo murals. Huge lush fields with a clear blue sky and of course fluffy almost glowing sheep. I felt like I was in the middle of a good K or salvia trip. haha.

  They have a huge menu with lots of meat, seafood, and vegetable options. They had everything beef, shrimp, pork blood cakes, lamb, seafood dumplings, tofu, a variety of mushrooms, winter melon, bok choy....the list goes on and on. I was surprised at how much they had to offer. We ordered 2 lambs, 2 beefs, squid dumplings, shitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, bok choy, napa cabbage, corn, spinach, and tofu. Okay. Being from West LA, I usually pay a lot for food, so when I was ordering I was assuming that th veggie portions were going to be small at about $3 a pop. haha. I was mistaken. It was just the 2 of us and I think we could have easily fed 4 with what I ordered. haha.

  ^for 2. fuck yeah

  You have the broth choices of spicy, not spicy , or half and half. I got the half and half.

  ^Haha. the sheep peeking at me from behind the plant. I'll honor your brother's death by savoring the feast before me. He did not die in vain, my friend.

  The broth was so tasty. I could not stop eating. I ate till I pretty much couldn't breathe any more. This meal totally hit the spot. I really liked the mild and the spicy. The meat probably wasn't the best quality and I'll probably bring my own dipping sauces since their's weren't the best, but the veggies were fresh and I really liked the squid dumplings.  Plus, all this food was only $52 including drinks! I couldn't believe it. I easily spend about $80+ at Shabu Shabu places in LA for 1/4 of the food. I definitely spend way to much on food where I live, but I know I'm paying for the location. Damn, good. Super satisfying, super affordable, and they close at 1pm and there's plenty of parking. The drive isn't so bad after traffic dies down. I think I'll go back tonight. =) If anyone knows of any other good Hotpot joints, let me know.

  That's all for now. xoxo

  • 12:11 am
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