Shakey’s

$6.99 lunch buffet. All the pizza, fried chicken, and Mojos you can eat for only $6.99. I’m not too crazy over the fried chicken at Shakey’s but their pizza and Mojos? Man oh man. Lunch buffet aside, I really like the pizza at Shakey’s. It’s nothing special really, pretty simple. I really like the crust on it as it’s nice and crisp. And do I have to go on with the mojos? Potatoes are cut along the width, not the length, and there’s this batter on there and it’s deep fried.

So I enjoy the food here to begin with. Imagine having as much as you want of it for only $6.99. What makes the buffet even better is that you can sample all the different kinds of pizzas they have, not just stick to a certain kind if you were to have ordered a whole pizza. And then all the Mojos you can handle. So they have several pies of assorted pizza, other food, fried chicken, Mojos, and a salad bar. I can’t stop mentioning how great a deal this is.

A little warning though.  I realized the importance of moderation after my lunch.  It took skipping dinner, a couple of hours of basketball at 7PM, and a can of coke afterwards at 10PM for me to feel normal.  So too much good may not be so good after all.  Whatever, for $6.99, you can eat in moderation and still walk away with a deal.  Pizza and Mojos, mmm mmm mmm!

Go find a Shakey’s near you.  And here’s what some haters have to say.

Shakey’s Pizza Parlor
6052 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323.937.4234

The Gumbo Pot

Who would have thought a baseball game could be more exciting than going to a USC football game?  My voice is gone.  My fingers are cut up from clapping excessively.  I can play a full round of golf without a glove and my hands don’t get cut up.  I was very sad that Korea lost to Japan but I am very proud that the Korean team left everything on the field.  And I’m damn proud to be Korean.

I had a lot of time to eat whatever I wanted for lunch today.  Usually, after I finish my volunteering at a public elementary school in Koreatown, I eat a quick lunch and head on to my basketball class.  Eh, screw that.  I went to The Gumbo Pot today.  I remember the days when The Grove used to be a huge parking lot for Farmers Market.  Looking for parking was much easier.  My mom would take me on a weekly basis and I always ordered the Oyster Po’boy.  I came so often that the people there knew my order before I even said anything.  After the sandwich, my mom would buy me some Gummi Coke Bottles from the candy stand.  That definitely kept me happy.

I have since tried other things, not much though.  Their Gumbo-Ya-Ya is pretty good.  It comes with corn bread and a side of your choice.  Get the Collard Greens.  It’s heaven on earth.  Their breakfast is bomb.  But it’s been a while since I’ve had their breakfast.  It’s on the heavier side but man oh man.  The Shrimp Po’boy is great too.

But for old time’s sake, I had the Oyster Po’boy.  The oysters are covered in a corn meal batter and then deep fried.  Then it’s placed on a roll with some good ol’ mayonaisse.  You got your shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and thin slices of lemon.  When you get your sandwich, make sure to ask for their cocktail sauce and spread it about.  It gives it a little kick.

This is a great treat to have.  The problem is the parking situation.  But I guess that’s typical of Los Angeles.  Then after you resolve the parking issue, you have to deal with the crowd.  Go there during lunch or the weekend and you can’t really avoid it.   And then maybe finding a table might be difficult too.  But don’t fret.  Walk towards The Grove and before you even exit Farmers Market, you’ll notice a stairway leading up.  Go up and you’ll find a nice quiet and clean area minus the crowd to enjoy your Oyster Po’boy.

The Gumbo Pot
6333 W 3rd St Ste 312
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323.933.0358

Susina Bakery

I have never seen so many things at a bakery before. Cakes, tarts, cookies, baked goods galore. I’m all for a variety, but man, talk about variety. I feel you could be left standing there for a while just wondering what to get. There’s just so much to take in.

Good thing I called Susina Bakery ahead of time and asked them to save a Berry Blossom cake for me. Otherwise it would have taken me forever and a day to choose what I would want. And you know what, they didn’t even have half the cakes on their menu. Imagine if they did… “Cake? Cookies? Tarts? Pastries?!!”

There’s also a Starbucks next door. I don’t understand why a Starbucks would want to be next door. Starbucks is so sterile. I’d rather sit at Susina Bakery and enjoy some baked goods. Maybe Starbucks has better coffee… not that I care. I don’t drink coffee. Whatever the reason is, Starbucks is doing well enough to be there.

I don’t go goo-goo-ga-ga over cakes either. But the Berry Blossom cake was pretty good. If there’s an occasion where I need to get a cake, I wouldn’t mind coming to Susina Bakery again. The Berry Blossom is supposed to be Susina Bakery‘s most popular cake. As you guessed, it has berries in there. “Three layers of vanilla sponge cake brushed with orange liqueur; filled with white chocolate mousse and fresh berries. Decorated with crumbled meringue and white chocolate shavings.” I thought the crumbled meringue on the outside was pretty neat. It was a good cake. But I’ll stop short of that. I’ve had a better cake at everyone’s favorite cake shop, Sweet Lady Jane, but it’s expensive, and I don’t get too excited over cakes.

I guess I’m not making too fair of an assessment of Susina Bakery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but it looks like I have to go there again some time to try other things!

Susina Bakery
7122 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: 323.934.7900

Jack n’ Jill’s Too

(3/12/08 – “Creperie” has changed it’s name to “Jack n’ Jill’s Too.” They’re still serving crepes though. An explanation for its name change is on their website: http://www.jacknjillstoo.com/)

For some reason, I just had this urge for crepes. The funny thing is, I don’t even eat crepes. Not that I don’t like it, but it usually just doesn’t register into my mind. It’s good stuff, but I don’t think about it. Today was different. I checked out Creperie. It’s from the guy who owns Jack n’ Jill’s in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica. Jack n’ Jill’s is nice too, long wait to get a table, long wait for the food to come out, but the food was good. But that’s for another entry, if I decide to go there again that is.

The place is small, cozy if you will. But there were a lot of seats considering how small the place was. I guess that means smaller tables. But none of the restaurants in the area look that big anyway. Whatever. Crepes. Let’s talk about crepes. First of all, how are you supposed to pronounce this? Is it like… “crep”? Or like… “crayp”. Or is it two syllables? I know, I know, you’re probably thinking, who is this ignorant fool? But to be fair, it’s spelled out like “creep” and don’t tell me you know how to pronounce all those symbols over the letters! Please bear with me and my expensive USC education.

About Creperie. Let’s start out with this Peach Lemonade. Wow. To me, when I hear peach and lemons in the same sentence, I’m not too thrilled. I love peaches and I love lemons. But you know what? Peaches and lemons together ain’t so bad either. It was a good drink. There was this hint of lemonade and some peach tea and it was just sweet enough and refreshing. Too bad it was raining and it was chilly today, because on a hot summer day, a Peach Lemonade would have been perfect. This was some good stuff.

But I came here for the crepes not a drink. But then again, I never knew about the drink before I came here. I digress. Creperie does many things with the simple crepe. There’s quite a bit to choose from the menu. But I wasn’t exactly daring today and I ordered the “Lafayette.” It was a crepe with ham and mushrooms in a cream sauce. It was pretty rich. But the portion was just enough so I wouldn’t get sick of it and enough so I would be satisfied. My mom had the “Cadeville.” The Cadeville had chicken breast and asparagus in a garlic cream sauce. Both crepes were good but just be aware of what garlic can do. I love garlic, but it sometimes does give you the case of unpleasant breath.  So you’ve been warned.

We ordered a dessert crepe afterward. Too bad I forgot to take a picture. We had the “Lucky Number Seven” a la mode. Some cooked pears, some almonds, some chocolate syrup, and of course a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ok, it was more than some pears. It was pretty big. If the scoop of vanilla ice cream was from Milk, I probably would have been laughing with joy after every single bite, but the ice cream was not from Milk and I wasn’t laughing after every bite. But I was smiling. I have to say, ’twas some good stuff.

So the food here was great. And I have to add that the service here was very friendly as well. Now I really want to come back and perhaps be more daring next time. The staff was friendly and the food came out so fast. Creperie is small so I guess the fast service compensates for waiting to get a seat, if you ever have to do that. Then again, how long does it really take to make crepes? Whatever, I’ll be back. Oh yeah, and don’t forget that Homemade Peach Lemonade!

Jack n’ Jill’s Too
8738 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 310.858.4900