Amandine – Koreatown, LA, CA

Another day, another UberEats delivery. Well Amandine had so many options in terms of food, and that Killer Shrimp Pasta really was key in getting me to order from here in the first place.

So two orders later, and a good sample of items on the menu. Ordered the Killer Shrimp Pasta, Classic Fettuccine Alfredo, Baby Back Ribs, Grilled Chicken Wrap, Gateau Triple Berry, Strawberry Nutella Croissant, Éclair and Mango Smoothie.
Killer Shrimp Pasta ($15.95) – It was super delicious, the shrimp was tender and yes it did have some spice which was exactly what I wanted. It’s a bit cheesy, but in a good way.
Classic Fettuccine Alfredo ($14.95) – This was a bit of a let down, it lacked flavor and was bland.
Baby Back Ribs – Half Rack ($17.95) – Tender but flavor again wasn’t the best.
Grilled Chicken Wrap with Fries ($13) – Something was off with the greens in the wrap, maybe not that fresh? Not sure, but the fries were decent.
Gateau Triple Berry ($6.50) – Really, really good. The whipped cream in this tasted so fresh. I usually hate cream, but this was completely different to the standard.
Strawberry Nutella Croissant ($3.95) – This was good too, fresh fruit and delicious.
Éclair ($3.25) – Filled with whipped cream – no chocolate, but still good.
Mango Smoothie ($6.95) – Loved this, it was so refreshing.

Quantity 4/5 – Good portion sizes.
Delivery 3/5 – Most items were packed well, except for the extra sauce for the Classic Fettuccine Alfredo, some sauce spilled out and onto the other items.
Taste 3/5 – Cakes and pastries were good, but overall the dishes are not too memorable – apart from the Killer Shrimp Pasta.
Spice 2/5 – The Killer Shrimp has some spice but not hot in any way.

Overall, this place is mainly good for cakes and sweets, but not so much for the other food items. So it’s a 3 overall, but a 4 for the cakes and pastries – which I’d definitely come back for.

Killer Shrimp Pasta

Classic Fettuccine Alfredo

Baby Back Ribs – Half Rack

Grilled Chicken Wrap with Fries

Gateau Triple Berry & Éclair

Strawberry Nutella Croissant

For The Win

What kind of saucery is this? No but seriously, I really, really love these burgers. I was literally dreaming of a burger like this and I found it.

Our usual order for two is the Hamburger, Fried Chicken Deluxe and 3x Fries.
Hamburger ($7 + $.75 + $.15) – I get this with jalapeños (+ $.75) and extra fry sauce (+ $.15) – in the burger, not on the side! It is literally my favourite, so delicious, saucy and oniony goodness!
Fried Chicken Deluxe Sandwich ($10 + $.75) – Mayo, pickles, lettuce & tomato – simple, but super tasty and the chicken is always perfect.
Fries ($3.75) – It’s plain salt, no seasoning, but the fries are so good. It’s like how McDz is in NZ, but better. But only when it is fresh and hot. You have to have them as soon as they’re made and it is pure heaven. I usually get 2 of them, pretty much for myself.

Quantity 4/5 – Good quantity for the burgers – the hamburger might be a bit small for some. The fries are like a small size fries in McDz so they usually end up finishing pretty quick.
Pickup 5/5 – So I usually order once I’m 5 mins away and yes still need to wait for a bit. But that’s ok and kind of planned as I want to make sure that everything is super hot when I get it. And yea it annoys my husband, but it’s totally worth it.
Delivery 3/5 – I’ve ordered through ChowNow for delivery when I was too lazy to drive, and it was not worth it. It took ages for the driver to get there and the food was just sitting there and by the time it got to us it was really cold and needless to say, I was not happy.
Taste 5/5 – Super, super good. I really love the burgers here. And finally a meal which I can finish in one go and with no leftovers. It is that good! All the sauces are yum too – especially the fry & BBQ sauce 🙂

Honestly one of the best burger places in LA – for smash burgers this is definitely #1. The fry sauce and grilled onions and meat – everything is epic. I’m already a regular here so goes without saying that I will be back again & again & again…

Hamburger with Jalapeños and extra Fry Sauce

Fried Chicken Deluxe Sandwich with Jalapeños

Fries

Michelangelo Ristorante

Every now and then I get this pasta craving and need to try a new place till I find that special spot – that delivers in my area. So that search is ongoing. Last night I tried this place.

Ordered through UberEats and went with the Beef Lasagna, Fettuccine Alfredo, Vegetarian 18″ Pizza and Semifreddo for dessert.
Beef Lasagna ($19.95) – Very basic. Not much flavour and honestly nothing to rave about. We ordered Lasagna from Pasta Sisters a while back and that was much better.
Fettuccine Alfredo ($19.45) – Kind of bland. Again, no flavour. I was really expecting at least this would hit the mark. But no. I actually added some stuff to it to kind of help me digest it.
Vegetariana 18″ Pizza + Mozzarella Cheese ($26.45) – This was probably the best out of the lot – not tasty but healthy. The veggies were good quality. But the sauce and pizza, again just basic. But one good thing about it, was that it didn’t make you feel heavy because it is pretty healthy. Not that I care about that though.
Semifreddo ($10) – Very rich and decadent. Bit too much for me, I’m not really a chocolate person. But my husband loved it.

Quantity 3/5 – Small portions with the pastas and the dessert. Pizza was massive, but we got an 18″.
Delivery 5/5 – Everything was packed well.
Taste 3/5 – It was quite average with not much flavour..

Really expected this to be more than what it was. Very underwhelming and disappointing. I am kind of glad we just got delivery and didn’t waste coming here in person. Overall it was bland and lacked flavour and the prices don’t justify the end result.

Beef Lasagna

Fettuccine Alfredo

Semifreddo

Vegetariana 18″ Pizza + Mozzarella Cheese

Vernetti

Came here by chance while searching for a place on OpenTable with outdoor dining & dog friendly – Vernetti ticks both. We had such a great time, that we ended up back here two weeks in a row since then. So I guess now is a good time to finally write a review.

There’s a pretty good selection of dishes and each time I’ve tried to get something different. Although one dish in particular keeps calling out to me…

Here’s the list of what we’ve ordered, so far: Ravioli Special App ($32) – The sauce on this dish was delicious, the beef was slightly bland and fully packed into the Ravioli. But the sauce was the real winner here.
Pappardelle Con Funghi ($24) – My absolute favourite. The first dish I tried here and definitely the one that is my benchmark against all the other dishes I plan to try. I highly recommend this, it’s so delicious!
Chicken Parmigiano ($31) – Very good quality and enormous! As in it was a very generous serving. Literally had to take half of it home. Super tasty!
Bucatini Bolognese Special ($42) – Another delicious treat. This one is a special so they don’t have it all the time. So if you happen to have the server mention that this is one of the special’s for the evening – give it a try 🙂
Tortelloni Quattro Formaggi ($22) – Total cheese overload – I mean, but the good kind of cheese. The sauce is so yummy and creamy. I think I actually enjoy the white sauce based pastas more here for some reason, the flavour is just too good. I’m not really a big cheese fan, but willing to overlook it for the sauce in this dish.
Bucatini Pesto alla Genovese Con Gamberi ($32) – Fresh and great ingredients. But a little lacking in flavour. Rigatoni Con Salsiccia ($29) – Super yum and yes a little bit of spice. I have been pushing my husband to try it lol and he finally did and loved it. And so did I – sharing is caring!
Chocolate Budino ($6) – Chocolate mousse, good but not out of this world. I definitely need to try the Tiramisu next time.
Pio Cesare Cortese di Gavi 2019 (HH $52) – Not so much a fan of this one.
California Pinot Noir * Challen ‘Scarlett’, Santa Maria Valley 2016 ($66) – Loved it, perfect balanced wine and pairs well with any of the dishes. Usually go for this one.

Quantity 4/5 – Good portion sizes.
Ambience 5/5 – Super casual with a really nice ambience. We always sit outside and it’s great in the evenings with the cute lights. It’s the perfect dinner spot, super cozy and good vibes. We always have a great time here.
Service 5/5 – All the servers are very friendly & accommodating and never have to wait long to be seated. We’ve always had really good service each time we’ve been here.
Taste – 4/5 – Everything is made with excellent quality ingredients and super delicious.
Parking – There’s two public parking lots, one next door and the other is across the road from the first. There’s also metered street parking, but we usually park in the spot next door and haven’t had any issues so far.

Super homely, neighbourhood Italian dining with great atmosphere. Love the location! The highlights for me are the the Pappardelle Con Funghi (absolute fave), Bucatini Bolognese Special and Rigatoni Con Salsiccia. And there are definitely a few other items on the menu that are on my list to try next. I’m literally dreaming of when I can visit here again!

Ravioli Special App

Pappardelle Con Funghi

Chicken Parmigiano

Bucatini Bolognese Special

Bucatini Bolognese Special & Tortolloni Quattro Formaggi

Bucatini Pesto alla Genovese Con Gamberi

Rigatoni Con Salsiccia

Chocolate Budino

Pio Cesare Cortese di Gavi 2019

California Pinot Noir * Challen ‘Scarlett’, Santa Maria Valley 2016

Outdoor Dining

Ruam Mitr

Booked through OpenTable for lunch with outdoor seating. Found parking on the side street. Again with last minute searching, but really happy to find a dog-friendly Thai spot!

We ordered the Cashew Nut Chicken, Pad See Ew with Shrimp – both spicy and Fresh Coconut.
Cashew Nut Chicken ($13) – By far the most amazing dish. Totally out of this world, it was so good. The flavours reminded me of this little Thai spot I used to go to in New Zealand, super authentic.
Pad See Ew with Shrimp ($13 + $3) – Very tasty, good quality ingredients and delicious.
Fresh Coconut ($6) – When I saw this on the menu I just had to have it. Great for a sunny day and sitting outside and chilling, eating yummy Thai 🙂

Quantity 4/5 – Good portions.
Ambience 4/5 – Very casual, relaxed vibe. Good for a laid back lunch/dinner.
Service 5/5 – Awesome service!! Kwan is super lovely and chatted with us for some time, showing pics of her dogs and even gave our puppy a soft toy. She was super sweet 🙂 Definitely went above & beyond on the customer service!
Taste – 5/5 – Delicious Thai food, excited to try the other items on the menu!
Parking – Street-parking, can be tricky depending on timing.

Overall a lovely, family-friendly & dog-friendly place. Good, quality food and great service, what more could you ask for? It’s super chilled & relaxed. Proper home-style Thai. They also have a vegetarian menu if you’re into that, so something for everyone 🙂 Love this place and a great location – will be back!

Cashew Nut Chicken

Pad See Ew with Shrimp

Fresh Coconut

V. Sattui, St Helena, Napa Valley, CA

Visited the V. Sattui Winery over Memorial Day weekend and had an amazing time. Definitely has been one of the better wineries I’ve been to in Napa Valley in terms of quality, taste of the wine as well as the overall experience. Staff were super helpful and welcoming and the winery is very family-friendly and dog-friendly too 🐶

Wine Tasting – $45 Premier Indoor
You get to choose 5 wines from the list. These were my selections:

• 2018 Chardonnay, Los Carneros, Estate
• 2017 Zinfandel, School House Creek, Dry Creek Valley
• 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Preston Vineyard
• 2018 Muscat, Napa Valley
• Madeira, California

Bonus Wines

• 2018 Bacci, Napa Valley
• Angelica, California

My Favourites

1. Angelica: I love dessert wines so this was a recommendation from our guide and not on the menu list. Made from the Muscat of Alexandria grape and enhanced with brandy, really smooth and fruity – apricot, vanilla, peach and nut flavor. Perfect with dessert or as an apéritif.
2. Bacci: Great red blend – fruity, well balanced and smooth with some sweetness to it. Perfect to serve for lunch/dinner parties.
3. Muscat: Another dessert wine. I saw the lychee in there and had to try it. Citrus undertones and not as sweet as the Angelica with balanced acidity. This would be great with spicy Asian/Indian dishes – anything spicy 🙂
4. Maderia: I did say I like dessert wines and I love port. Brandy fortified and very rich, caramel, hazelnut and toffee flavors. A full-bodied dessert wine.

Food-wise, recommend the deli over the BBQ. My ribs and garlic fries ($16.95) were not tasty. The ribs were dry and lacked flavour and the fries were drenched in garlic oil maybe – or just oil. It was super oily. BBQ is available only on the weekends from 11.30am – 3.30pm.

Overall a great experience, and we managed to get a reservation two days before which was lucky. We were also exceptionally late, but still managed to keep the booking. It was a great Memorial Day.

Premier Indoor Tasting

2018 Chardonnay, Los Carneros, Estate

2017 Zinfandel, School House Creek, Dry Creek Valley

2016 Cabernet Sauvignon, Preston Vineyard

2018 Muscat, Napa Valley

Madeira, California

2018 Bacci, Napa Valley

Angelica, California

Menu

Outdoors

Gracias Madre – West Hollywood, CA

We were looking for a dog-friendly place to have a late lunch and I found Gracias Madre. Made a reservation through OpenTable for the outdoor patio and didn’t really look into the menu, or the fact that this place is completely vegan. Nothing wrong with that, but if you’re not expecting it and haven’t had breakfast or lunch and usually eat meat, then it might be a bit of a surprise.

After finding out it was vegan food only, we searched for some good dishes that would make us feel less like passing out. It was happy hour so we ordered some items from the HH menu. Got the Crispy Taco, Al Pastor, Coliflor, House-Made Chips & Salsa and the Chocolate Brownie for dessert.
Crispy Taco ($8) – This was definitely the favourite for both of us. It was slightly sweet but still the tastiest. The taco has eggplant, plantain, habanero salsa and crema.
Al Pastor Taco ($8) – Found the Al Pastor to be a bit bland in comparison.
Coliflor ($14) – The pics of this looked great but it was another bland dish. Healthy, sure – it’s cauliflower which is supposed to have habanero sauce, so I was looking forward to a bit of spice. But there was nothing.
House-Made Chips & Salsa ($7) – Pretty good house-made chips and salsa was good too – not out of this world but definitely better than the Al Pastor and Coliflor.
Chocolate Brownie ($12) – Total star of the show. It was amazing – pretty much made up for the other dishes. Comes with coconut whipped cream and caramelized plantains. I usually don’t even touch whipped cream but this was something else and we totally finished it. This is one super tasty dessert and I would come here just for this.
Purista Margarita (HH $8) – These were delicious and are their signature margarita. Had a few with HH pricing 😉

Quantity 4/5 – Good portions for HH.
Ambience 5/5 – Outdoor patio dining is the best and the ambience is really nice, especially in the early afternoon. Service 5/5 – Service was good and food came pretty quick as well as the drinks. Our server gave some good recs as well.
Taste – 4/5 – It’s healthy food and the quality is good, but as for taste on some of the items it’s a bit lacking. The standout was the Chocolate Brownie, that was amazing.
Parking – Parking is crazy. This is a super busy spot and had to drive around a bit to find a space.

Overall with all glowing reviews I suppose I expected a bit more. But I guess it might be more for the ambience than the food, and this particular time I really needed food more than the ambience. The HH is great though and I’d come back for that, the drinks and that Choc Brownie. It’s definitely more of a snacks and drinks place than dinner. The outdoor patio is really nice and plus points for being dog friendly 🙂

Crispy Taco

Al Pastor Taco

Coliflor

House-Made Chips & Salsa

Chocolate Brownie

Calidad Beer & Purista

Zafran Pot

Searching LA for a good biryani spot and came across Zafran Pot. That too in Culver City and not all the way in Artesia/Anaheim so really was hoping this place would be good.

Placed an order over the phone for the Organic Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani, Boneless Chicken Dum Biryani and Goat Dum Biryani as obviously had to sample all 3. I’ve also tried the Chicken Tikka Masala, Gobi Manchurian and Malai Kofta curries – different days, same week…
Organic Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani ($12.95) – The rice is good but the spice and masala seems less and a bit plain.
Boneless Chicken Dum Biryani ($13.95) – This is the best honestly out of the three. It had the most masala and tasted the best. I usually hate boneless, but this one had really good flavour.
Goat Dum Biryani ($14.95) – Rice again was good, but not that great masala and the goat meat was a bit dry. It needs to be more tender, spicy and flavourful. But beats the masala rice dishes I’ve tried so far from other places claiming it’s biryani.
Chicken Tikka Masala ($12.95) – Good curry and flavour, curry size is a bit small but it comes with either rice or a naan.
Gobi Manchurian ($7.95) – Home-style gobi manchurian, which was pretty tasty.
Malai Kofta ($11.95) – Tasted good but smaller size curry and the koftas are pretty big so you don’t get much.
Garlic Naan ($2.50 ea) & Plain Naan ($1.99 ea) – Naans were good but so small. These are the tiniest naan’s I’ve ever seen, apart from the time I tried to make them myself.

Quantity 4/5 – Biryani portion is large, the curries are slightly smaller than usual and the naans are super tiny.
Pickup 5/5 – No delays and quick pick up. We order ahead and it’s usually ready in 20mins.
Spice 3/5 – Curries had good spice and so did the Boneless Chicken Biryani. I do ask for spicy but maybe I need to stress on it more next time.
Taste 4/5 – Tastes good and it is proper biryani rice, the flavour and dryness of the goat and organic chicken is the only thing letting down these two dishes.

Overall, this is a good biryani place. The Boneless Chicken Biryani is the most flavourful. I still get the goat as it’s my fave biryani in general but I probably need to find another place which does a better goat biryani. Curries are pretty good, I recommend the Chicken Tikka Masala. It seems to be really hard to find a good biryani place in LA unless you travel for an hour plus. This is the closest and best one I’ve found so far.

Organic Hyderabadi Chicken Biryani

Goat Dum Biryani

Boneless Chicken Dum Biryani

Chicken Tikka Masala

Gobi Manchurian

Malai Kofta

Garlic Naan

Plain Naan

Organic Hyderabadi Chicken Dum Biryani, Goat Dum Biryani & Boneless Chicken Dum Biryani

India’s Restaurant

Still searching for ‘the one’ when it comes to Indian restaurants and where better to start than a place called ‘India’s Restaurant’ right? But oh how wrong I was.

Ordered through UberEats the Chicken Tikka Balti, Chicken Tikka Masala, Chicken Tikka Biryani, Rice Pellow, Plain Paratha & Alu Parathas.
Chicken Tikka Balti ($14.95) – This was probably the only halfway decent curry from this place. Tasted more like a Vindaloo but anyway, it was the only thing that saved this order somewhat.
Chicken Tikka Masala ($12.95) – This was some kind of bitter and over buttery concoction which tasted nothing like Tikka Masala. Complete disappointment.
Chicken Tikka Biryani ($12.95) – When I saw this on the menu it was an immediate sign of hell no, but my husband was craving biryani and really wanted to try it. And of course, it turned out to be masala rice, not biryani.
Rice Pellow ($6.95) – Standard yellow rice, nothing special.
Plain Paratha ($3.95) – Oily.
Alu Paratha ($3.95) – Barely there potato in the paratha and very oily. Not great.

Quantity 5/5 – Good portion size.
Delivery 5/5 – Everything was packed well.
Spice 3/5 – The Chicken Tikka Balti had good spice.
Taste 2/5 – Below average. I’m not sure how you can get Chicken Tikka so wrong. Nothing tasted authentic.

This has to be one of the worst ‘Indian’ food I’ve ever had – I am not being OTT seriously, it’s bad. How on earth does this place have so many good reviews? I don’t know, but it’s not getting one from me. I knew the biryani was going to be a miss but the curries at least should have been decent, but they weren’t even close. Not even someone trying to cook for the first time could get Chicken Tikka tasting this bad. Let’s be clear, this is NOT India’s restaurant.
So no, I will not be back to give this place another chance to waste my money. Alavidā.

Chicken Tikka Balti

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Biryani

Plain Paratha

Alu Paratha

PUMP Restaurant

Round 2 of my birthday celebrations – this time dinner. And why wouldn’t I celebrate twice, especially thanks to Covid I had UberEats for 2020, sigh…Hubby surprised me with this one, I am a bit of a fan of Lisa Vanderpump and yes I have been watching RHOBH (thanks to 2020). So good pick on his part.
We were again running late. But it was ok because they mentioned they were a bit behind as well so we pushed the reservation out by half an hour. When we got there they were still behind I guess as we had to wait around 10-15 minutes before we got seated.

Seating was pretty good, especially when my husband noticed that none other than LVP herself was sitting behind me having dinner with her husband. What a coincidence lol. We were pretty hungry so got straight to ordering and went with the Spicy Arrabbiata with Sausage, Vanderpump Fish and Chips, Old Fashioned and a Gin & Tonic.
Spicy Arrabbiata with Sausage ($23) – My husband enjoyed this – it’s not spicy at all but the flavours were good.
Vanderpump Fish and Chips ($29) – I enjoyed the fish and chips. The fish was lightly battered and the tartar sauce was good. The chips were nice and thick. Overall very good, and it’s been a while since I had some decent fush n chups.
Lava Cake ($12) & Ice Cream ($3) – I liked the cake and ice cream, they brought it out with a sparkler for my birthday and it was a tasty treat.
Old Fashioned w Maker’s Mark ($16) – The Old Fashioneds weren’t that flash to be honest, I preferred a simple Gin & Tonic I had instead.

Quantity 5/5 – Good size portions, very filling.
Ambience 5/5 – Ambience is ah-mazing. Really loved the garden setting it’s perfect for a special occasion, date night or girls night. Very dim and cozy with good heating.
Service 3/5 – Service was a little slow, drinks took a while and had to check in to see what was happening, I know they were busy and just opening up after covid so keeping that in mind.
Spice 0/5 – Not spicy but tasty.
Taste – 4/5 – Really liked the fish & chips I had so I’d be back for that for sure.

Overall it was a lovely celebration and perfect setting. I also managed to get a pic with Lisa who was very sweet. Food was good quality and I would return especially for those fish & chips. The ambience is really beautiful and it’s very dog friendly too – after all, it is LVP dahling!

Old Fashioneds

Vanderpump Fish and Chips

Spicy Arrabbiata with Sausage

Lava Cake & Ice Cream

With Lisa 🌸