Summer night out at Tanino Ristorante Bar

After surviving the first week of my internship, I went out with Sophia, Julieta, and Alyssa for a night of fun at Tanino Ristorante Bar in Westwood. We had two conditions when we were deciding where to eat at: (1) we wanted Italian food, and (2) we wanted eat at a restaurant that had a pretty setting. Tanino was a perfect match!

 

Upon opening the door, I was instantly stunned by the interior. Everything from the black and white floor tile to the intricately-patterned ceiling made it feel like I was dining in someone's mansion. Very classy.

We were shortly seated and greeted by a friendly staff of servers. Within minutes of glimpsing through the menu, the waiter came by to see if we were ready, but being our first time at Tanino, we needed much more time. But after just asking for a few more minutes, another waiter comes up and asks if we were ready to order, as if we were taking way too long to order. We spent a few more minutes deciding what to order with the eager waiters hovering over us, and finally came to a decision.

I ordered the Spaghetti ai ricci di mare, which is a spaghetti with sea urchin dish. When I told the waiter my order, he questioned me a few times (more than three!) as to whether I really wanted to order that dish. I was a little taken aback, because I am always instantly drawn to anything with sea urchin, but yet the waiter almost seemed like he was discouraging me from ordering it. So I asked him whether the sea urchin was bad that day or something, and he told me that the sea urchin was fresh, but that the taste is a little strange and wasn't sure I would like it. I guess he didn't know that I'm actually a big fan of sea urchin! Regardless, I thought it was a little weird that he would discourage someone from ordering something off their menu.

Spaghetti ai ricci di mare from Tanino Ristorante

I ended up ordering it anyway, and was so glad that I did because it was so fulfilling! Although the portion wasn't huge (a good thing), it was packed with more sea urchin than I could have imagined. Very impressive. I also liked that even though the description said that it was made with olive oil, that the dish wasn't too greasy at all. It was a very good dish, and I might end up coming back frequently to order this despite their amazing selection of dishes!

Alyssa ordered the Tortelloni di zucca e salvia, which is a tortellini stuffed with pumpkin and ricotta. It sounds super yummy, and by the looks of it, I'm sure it tasted amazing. Moreover, it's one of the recommended dishes, according to the waiters.

Tortelloni di zucca e salvia from Tanino Ristorante.

The Gnocchi was also another recommended dish, and so both Sophia and Julieta ordered the Gnocchi al pesto. That also looked positively tasty. Needless to say, the four of us happily left our plates empty and had the time of our lives!

Gnocchi al pesto from Tanino Ristorante.

Once we finished our main entrees, we asked for the dessert menu and were caught in a dilemma deciding what to order. We all ended up ordering a flourless chocolate cake. I was so glad that our entree portions were a little smaller, so that I could fit in dessert without feeling overly stuffed.

Flourless chocolate cake from Tanino Ristorante

The cake was dense with rich chocolate flavor, and eating it confirmed that we did in fact choose the perfect dessert to finish the meal!

Me and Alyssa at Tanino Ristorante

Julieta and Sophia at Tanino Ristorante.

Overall, the environment really set us up for a fantastic meal! It felt like we were eating like kings, when really, we paid like we were the poor college students we were receiving our small paychecks from our part-time jobs. I also loved that they were incredibly quick in serving our food (maybe only about 10 minutes from ordering our entrees to receiving them), but maybe that's because we arrived at about 9:00 p.m. The only thing about the service was that the waiters kept on trying to tease us and make conversation with us. It was fine at first, but I personally felt a little like they were crossing the line a bit and were a little too talkative. But with my girls with me there tonight, it was pretty entertaining. So I will just end this post and say that I am waving my thumbs up for Tanino! (Just be bold and order that sea urchin spaghetti regardless of what beef they may give you~)


Tanino Ristorante Bar
1043 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Neighborhood: Westwood
(310) 208-0444

Flawless Fun at Kiyosuzu

It's always a good time going to Kiyosuzu in Arcadia for some solid and authentic Japanese food. Although a humble little restaurant, the service and quality is impeccable. What really makes this restaurant one of my all-time favorites is that for the premium quality of the food served, the prices are actually very good and affordable. Here's a run down of what my sister and I usually order when we come here.

We like to start off with an order of salmon sashimi, because we can never go wrong with that.

Salmon Sashimi from Kiyosuzu.

Look at that generous portion size! Our other regulars include their super fresh uni sushi, sweet shrimp, and yellow tail hand roll. Compared with other generic sushi restaurants, Kiyosuzu puts their best foot forward not being stingy with their portions.

Sweet shrimp sushi, Uni, and Yellow tail hand roll from Kiyosuzu.

Huge shrimp head that comes with the sweet shrimp sushi from Kiyosuzu.

We also tried their albacore sashimi for the first time. I love that even though we usually stick to salmon or yellowtail when we go to sushi restaurants to ensure that we get super tender and melt-in-your-mouth fish, we can be more adventurous at Kiyosuzu.

Albacore sashimi from Kiyosuzu.

Lastly, we like to end all our meals here with their amazing tempura ice cream (as expected!). I love that their layer of tempura has bits of pound cake in it. Yummy! Not to mention, as with their other dishes, their scoop of ice cream is HUGE.

Green Tea Tempura Ice Cream from Kiyosuzu.

BONUS: Also, if you have not tried it before, be SURE to try out their one dish that is a soup with rice and uni. I'm not really sure what it's called, but we just ask the waiters for their uni soup rice every time and they know exactly what we're referring to. Their soup is incredibly tasty without tasting like it's infused with MSG. Also, the chunks of uni everywhere make the soup even more delectable.

So what I'm basically saying is that, you're missing out if you're not frequenting Kiyosuzu, especially after this post! My only warning is to maybe avoid this restaurant if it's during conventional dinner hours on weekends, because it does pretty packed.

Kiyosuzu Restaurant

921 S Baldwin Ave, Ste B

Arcadia, CA 91007

(626) 445-4756

My 5 Food Weaknesses

When you think of one of your family members or friends, I'm sure you can list a bunch of things that you associate them with. For me, there are five distinct foods that I think define me.

1. Salmon

Grilled salmon image from myrecipes.com

It takes very little to make salmon taste good. Heck, eating it raw in sashimi form is one of my favorite ways of consuming salmon. My roomies can find me cooking salmon about twice a week as well. I just simply pop it in the oven for about fifteen minutes, and come out an hour later feeling completely satisfied.

2. Green tea

Green tea image from schlafied.tumblr.com

From the simple hot cup of freshly brewed green tea, to the extravagantly-flavored green tea desserts, green tea in any shape or form makes my day! I love that it can taste so simple, and especially in desserts where it balances the sweetness.

3. Lamb shank

Lamb shank from Le Petit Chateau in North Hollywood

Lamb shank is definitely one of my favorite types of meat. I think it's from my mom's years of cooking it for my siblings and me to enjoy! Contrary to popular opinion, I like the gamey taste of lamb. Whenever I spot it in a menu, I can't help but order it nine out of ten times.

4. Sea urchin

Uni sushi from Sushi Imari in Costa Mesa

You probably knew this would be on the list if you read the last entry! Even though it is not necessarily the healthiest food to order often, I have never regretted eating sea urchin. Similar to salmon sashimi, I love how it melts in my mouth. I'm always impressed by foods that do not need any seasonings to taste good, and sea urchin is definitely on the list.

5. Nutella

Nutella image from helenista.tumblr.com

Need I say more? Nutella absolutely goes well with anything. Even alone. It is the best feel-good food, and I love how when I dip fruit in it, I can feel somewhat healthy (Hey I COULD be eating unhealthy junk food instead).

...And that concludes my list. What are your food weaknesses? What defines YOU?

Currently Craving: Blue Marlin

What I am having for dinner tonight:

As a poor student, I can't afford to eat out every single meal, so here's a nice pack of leftovers from a few nights ago to mend my starving stomach!

What I wish I was having for dinner tonight:

Sea Urchin Omurice from Blue Marlin.

My sister and I have been frequenting the Blue Marlin restaurant in West Los Angeles recently. I was first introduced to it from my sister, who told me that I had to try it being a lover of sea urchin (or uni). She recommended the sea urchin omurice, which is flavored rice, topped with fluffy omelette and a creamy sauce of sea urchin and mushrooms.

Disregarding my sister's recommendation, the first time that I followed her to Blue Marlin, I actually tried their sea urchin and spinach spaghetti. This dish was very delicious as well (but of course, that is true with most things coupled with sea urchin...). However, if I had to compare the two uni dishes, the spaghetti would rank second, as it lacks that extra melt-in-your-mouth creaminess from the rice dish.

So afterwards, I've returned to ordering the sea urchin omurice since then. It is honestly so delicious, it is worth driving out miles just to taste it! I can say this with confidence, as I am in Orange County most of the week, and driving up to Los Angeles for dinner is no small deal...

And if you go to Blue Marlin for dinner, don't forget to order their dessert! The chocolate souffle is amazing. Even when my sister and I find ourselves very full, we can't help but order the souffle to top it all off. Simply irresistable :)

Well, that's me and my fantasizing. Back to finishing my leftovers I go...

Blue Marlin
2121 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025