Viva Madrid | Claremont, CA
After a long short day of skiing, my friend Adam and I decided to meet up with one of his friends on the way home to LA, so we stopped in Claremont. Down town Claremont is very nice, clean, and quaint, but just down this hallway, before the bathrooms, and next to the confessional, there is a set of doors that leads you into a small and very intimate space. She was right when she said that this place was a local hangout and not too many “outsiders” knew about it. I tend not to disagree with her on this one.
When you walk into this one room space, all you notice is tables, tables, tables; pushed into every corner of the restaurant with just enough room for one person to walk through or get in and out of your seat without hitting the person behind you. I tend to like places like this, where they can concentrate on each customer without being overloaded. Needless to say, when we were hungry, our server was right there.
Coming from an Italian family with many italian friends, I have never been a fan of sangria, but I have learned to get into it since I have moved out here, and I would highly recommend their red sangria.
Overall, this place had many tasty things on the menu, such as the bacon wrapped dates.
Bacon wrapped dates
Cmon, we all know everything is better wrapped in bacon!
Their muscles…
Muscles
the chicken empanadas…
Chicken Empenada
And even shrimp in a tasty aioli..
Shrimp Aioli
But I do want to mention a couple of dishes that I could have done without and one that was slightly surprising.
Squid in its own ink:
I have had squid before in many different ways, fried, bbq’d, etc, but whenI saw this on the menu, I had to try it. Its like cooking a steak in milk, kinda seems a little, hmmm.. i have to remember the word my friend used for it, but anyway. This was more of a mental block for my dinner companions, they just couldn’t wrap their heads around the concept. If you didn’t know any better, by first look, its in this fairly thin black liquid, which in all honesty didnt look very appetizing, but for this show, I had to try at least once. And it was nothing like it looked. Although the squid doesn’t really soak up a lot of flavor, the sauce brings a garlic and onion flavor. The ink was surprisingly neutral flavor.
Squid in its own ink
Peach Bread:
I can’t remember exactly what this is called, but you would know it if you read it on the menu. I can always appreciate a new dish, but this was not impressive. I love peaches, and I love blue cheese, but they should really never come together. Our server said some people liked it and some didn’t. Here is my impression: At first bite, the peach is very well done, not too sweet, not too tart, and very tender, but then there is a slight aftertaste that is a little off about it. I won’t use my exact phrase to describe it, but these things should not go together. And while my friends were trying to figure out the flavor, as soon as I mentioned it, they agreed. Needless to say, no bueno.
Peach Bread
Strawberries on a 4 cheese bed:
This was a dessert selection, and wasn’t on any menu, but it sounded like something we had to try. Again, stop with pairing these fruits and cheeses please! Very well marinated strawberries in a little strawberry reduction over these boats of cheese, looked pretty, but again, I don’t know what people think sometimes. They worked well separately, but eating the whole thing was not a good idea. The cheese tasted like something I could have got out of a can. I was not impressed with this dish. Although… get a order of creme brûlée and have that with the strawberries.. that worked out very well!
Strawberries on 4 cheese fondue
All in all, I would go back to this place. Its not a quiet place by any stretch of the imagination, but I will warn you that the clientele has a keen sense to go silent as soon as you are in the middle of a juicy story or punchline. As happened to me a couple times. Great place for something quick to start your night.
Price:
We had 6 main tapas dishes, a liter of sangria, which easily gave three of us 2 full glasses, 2 desserts, and a couple cups of coffee, the total bill came out to about $75. I would highly recommend this type of place as a starter and could probably get out for around $20-$25 for 2 with a generous selection of meals. Not a bad way to start the night!
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Organic food.. Is it worth it?
I have seen a lot of new things ever since moving to California from the East coast, but the not thing that seems to be more available here is organic foods. Whereas there may have been a couple of shelves dedicated to the food, there are now entire aisles and sections of each department dedicated to the food. But is it really worth it?
Recently, I walked to a nearby village main street near my new job. It was nice to get out of the office for a while and take a walk. After exploring the street, I moseyed on into an organic restaurant, which shall remain nameless. I ordered a Paris Ham & Gruyere sandwich, all organic of course. In spite of its $12.99 price tag, I received an open faced sandwich, well you can see in this picture.
Granted it was a great presentation, and tasted great, but I can’t help to think that I didn’t get what I paid for. Was it supposed to be healthier? Taste better? What was the difference?
Here are some excerpts from a WebMD article:
“If a food has a ‘USDA organic’ label, it contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients, and a government-approved expert has inspected the farm where it was produced to make sure the farmer follows USDA requirements.”
“The organic farmers talk about the soil being more alive on organic farms than conventional farms. That life isn’t just insects and worms; it’s loaded with bacteria,”
“Right now, no one can say for sure whether organic food is any more nutritious than conventional food.”
For the full article, check it out here
After reading that article, Im not too convinced that being “organic” is worth the extra money. After decades of regulation from the USDA, now there is a better type of food? I live by the mantra, everything in moderation. Eat healthy and in variety and you will live a healthy lifestyle.
I just think I will save the couple bucks and live on the edge.
Read MoreChin-ma-ya, Los Angeles (Little Tokyo)
Who would have thought that a meal normally associated with poor college students could have deep tasty roots in Chinese culture?
Welcome to Chin-ma-ya located in Little Tokyo in downtown LA. This place serves ramen how it should be served, in giant bowls topped with the most tasty of toppings.
I started, and well didn’t even Gino’s a bowl called a Tan Tan Men. This ramen bowl has a broth with a little heat to it topped with pork. Add some green onions, bambo chutes, and bean sprouts and it’s one hearty meal! Let me rephrase, several hearty meals! This meal is nothing like you find at the store in the pasta section, but, it’s a simple meal to put together at home.
All in all its rehashed my love for the underrated noodle and given my imagination more food to play with.m a definite win!
And for sides, we paired the ramen with a tasty pork goyoza, pork dumplings with vegetables.
Needless to say, I was eating this meal for a couple days. With all the fixins, the ramen bowl ran about $12. Slightly less,nor the half portion.
I love LA!
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