How to make a Japanese Style Sweet Egg Roll

So many bentos! Here is my latest creation... On the top: broccoli, sweet egg rolls (tamagoyaki), asparagus, carrots, okinawan sweet potato sandwich with mayonnaise filling.

On the bottom: brown rice sushi, another sweet potato sandwich, raspberries.

Want to learn how to make tamagoyaki? It's really simple. I looked on Youtube and found this informative video on how to make it. The narrator girl is kind of funny ("ghetto brushes are awesome!"). Click here to view the video.

Take A Bao, West L.A.

I did some wedding dress shopping at Century City Mall (I think I may have found a dress!) and then met up with Brad at their food court. "Food court" isn't even the right term for this place, really. When I think of a food court, I think of gross oily food, dirty dishes left on tables, and crying kids. None of that at this mall. I saw ladies all dressed up clutching their Louis Vuitton purses eating at this food court. Ah, West L.A..

We ate at Take A Bao (clever) and I got two baos (hoisin beef and signature pork) with a huge side of salad for $9. It was surprisingly really good. Brad got the fish bao (that just sounded weird to me, but he said it was good) and the miso pork. At Take A Bao you can choose either a white bun or a whole wheat bun.

We also got a yummy side of sweet potato fries that came with a creamy spicy dipping sauce. We both agreed that we will be coming back here for more--the flavors, prices and portions were great!

C-Level Lounge, San Diego

Lobster BLT

To finish our weekend of feasting in San Diego, we had brunch at C-level Lounge which is located near the airport. The view is stunning--you dine right on the water. Besides the atmosphere, I also loved the food and the portion size (generous!) at C-level. I got the lobster BLT and Brad got the Seared Ahi salad with black rice and mango salsa. Our table shared the fried artichoke hearts and we also ordered a Ginger Garden drink (ginger syrup, mint, lime, basil, ginger ale). We left stuffed and completely satisfied. Great choice!

Seared Ahi with black rice and mango salsa

Fried artichoke hearts

Ginger Garden

Click here for more info about C-level.

Lemon Dill Cream Cheese Spread

Our friend Erin made a delicious bagel spread out of cream cheese, dill, green onion, and lemon juice. Just mix everything together! Sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest.

Baseball Food: The Padres Game in San Diego

Our friends got us a great deal on Groupon.com where we got a ticket to a Padres game, a free hot dog and soda, and a free Padres baseball hat all for $25! We had great seats, and the Padres won!

This was actually my first baseball game in California even though I used to live within walking distance to Dodger Field (I know, shame on me!). I realized that I only eat hot dogs when I'm at sports events. This one was good! Makes me want to try a Dodger dog now...

Chuao Chocolates, Encinitas CA

We took a road trip last weekend down to Encinitas and San Diego to visit the newly weds and one of my first food stops was Chuao Chocolates. I always come here whenever we are in Encinitas. The chocolates are a bit pricey at around $2 each, but they are so worth it! The flavors are outrageous. Here are some of the chocolates I've tried:

Roasted Panko Bread Crumbs with olive oil ganache and sea salt (tasted like rice krispies and chocolate! haha)

Caramel and Sea Salt (couldn't really taste the sea salt)

I also tried...

Strawberry caramel with balsamic vinegar (excellent!)

Roasted caramelized almond slivers with pistachios and orange peel (not a fan of the orange + chocolate pairing)

Green tea and Ginger

I already have my next trip planned... I want to try:

Goat cheese, pear and crushed black pepper butter cream

Lemon tequila dark chocolate ganache

Click here to go to Chuao's website.

Buttercake Bakery Take 2, West LA

For the 4th of July, we picked up some festive mini cupcakes from Buttercake Bakery in West L.A. to give to our friends in San Diego--we stayed at their place over the weekend. I tried the red velvet and the vanilla, and both were delicious. Our friends' dog seemed to enjoy the cupcakes as well--she got into the box while we were sleeping and ate three of them (and the wrappers o_O)!

One thing I really like about Buttercake is that their cupcakes are not too sweet. I did a taste test recently comparing Susie Cake's and Buttercake's red velvets, and Buttercakes definitely has a lot less sugar. Another thing I like about Buttercake is that it's such a cute tiny store--it definitely has the feel of a family owned bakery. Oh, and check out this adorable to-go box...

Charlie's guilty look after eating the cupcakes...

Yu Me Ya Sake House, Encinitas

Wow, we ate like kings last weekend--lots of food pics! Our friends treated us to an amazing izakaya meal at Yu Me Ya Sake House in Encinitas after the Padre's ball game. Here's what we got:

Won Ton Cups filled with spicy tuna and avocado

Takoyaki

Scallop croquettes

Black Cod

Crunchy roll

Egg Tofu on hot plate

Mountain vegetable chazuke

Cute place setting

Everything was absolutely delicious and perfectly executed. This is one of our friends' favorite restaurants in Encinitas, and I can see why!

Yu Me Ya doesn't take reservations, so be aware that there may be a bit of a wait if you go when they are busy.

Click here for Yu Me Ya on Yelp.

Purple Flowers Bento

I wasn't able to make this lunch in the bento box so I put it in two tupperwares instead.

The purple flowers are okinawan sweet potato sandwiches with some mayonnaise inside. Sesame seeds are used as garnish. Next to them are Japanese style sweet egg rolls, sausage skewers, carrots, mini red pepper and shishito (Japanese green pepper).

The other tupperware has brown rice sushi with furikake sandwiched inside. Brad said that this was his most delicious bento yet!

Cinnamon Heart Bento

This sandwich is actually a dessert sandwich! It has peanut butter, chocolate, cinnamon and sugar in it. I also sprinkled cinnamon on the surface of the sandwich in a barely discernible heart shape. Next to it are some Trader Joes dark chocolate squares. The second tier has soy mirin beef, broccoli, mini red pepper and lotus root.

Fantastic Mrs. Fox Bento

I'm trying to make dual use out of the cookie cutter that I used to make the sumo wrestler sandwich (see sumo bento), so I turned the cookie cutter upside down and turned it into a fox! The nose is tomato, the whiskers are nori, the eyes and ears are cheese. Next to it is a bunny egg. Since the bunny face is difficult to make out in this picture, I took another photo that's more close up (see below).

The second tier of Brad's bento had sausage skewers, lotus root, broccoli, daikon and carrots.

Octopus's Garden Bento

Brad loves octopuses so I made these silly guys for him out of sausages. Their faces are made of cheese and nori and they are surrounded by a garden of carrots, broccoli, mini bell pepper and cheese. The second tier of his bento held cherries and three pieces of brown rice sushi sprinkled with this really addictive pink powder that's made of fish and sugar.

Dim Sum Truck and Phamish, Los Angeles

Goodies from the Dim Sum Truck

Last weekend after hiking at Wilacre, we headed to Santa Monica College for their Celebrate America Festival. Given the theme, one would think this festival would be on the weekend of July 4th, but "Early bird gets the taco" seems to be SMC's motto.

We got lured to this free festival after doing a quick internet search for L.A. food trucks... Lo and behold, there were six food trucks here and... get this... NO LINES! Loved it. Thank you SMC!

So this was my first time trying an L.A. food truck (yes, shocking I know) and I went straight for the Dim Sum Truck. For 11 bucks, we got the sticky rice wrapped in lotus, 3 pieces of har gow, two lotus stuffed sesame balls and a duck taco. All were excellent, but Brad commented that the duck taco was a bit over priced at $3. In fact, you couldn't find a taco at the festival anywhere for less than $3!

We also went to the Phamish truck and got a pork banh mi. Pretty good sandwich, and $5.

Our friends went to the Lomo Arigato truck and got fried rice. I think it was supposed to be a Peruvian/Japanese fusion fried rice, but they said it pretty much tasted like regular fried rice. Good sized portion for $7.

Other trucks there were:

Fry Smith: Fries loaded with tons of toppings

Flying Pig: Pink truck. Fusion tacos, sliders, etc.

Komodo: Fusion tacos, etc.

Fish Lips: Sushi

Lotus Sesame Balls

Inside a lotus sesame ball

Pork Banh Mi from Phamish

The line of trucks... with no lines!

Flying Pig Truck

Brad outside the Dim Sum Truck

Sugar, MGM Grand, Las Vegas

The MGM Grand has this tiny candy shop called Sugar where you can mix and match your own custom blend of childhood sweets. Our friend got a bag and shared it with the table. Did you ever have those red and black gummy candies that look like raspberries/blackberries? You can make them out in the picture. This was the first time I tried them, and they were soooo good! What are they called?