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Eating Since: Nov 27, 2006

mirabell_19

is currently starving...

"I'm taking eating to the next level"

Cuisines:
American, Hamburgers, Seafood, Fast Food, Japanese
Locations:

Stats

Reviews 14
Helpfulness 100%
Friends 10
Fans 13
Profile Views 2277


My Reviews (14)    rss feed

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1 - 10 of 14
****
Santa Monica, CA

The Counter

Feb 21, 2007 Link

Good & hearty burgers, plus they're customizable

This restaurant is unique because you can build your own burger. Meaning you have full control of how large your burger is and what goes on it. When you walk into the restaurant each person picks up a clip board with an order form on it. You can specify the kind of bun you want, the size of your burger, the cheese, and toppings.

The order form is not simple and there are a lot of toppings to choose from. For cheeses you can get gruyere, blue cheese, basic cheddar, and more. Toppings you can get grilled onions, bacon, salsa, cranberries, and even a fried egg. The sauces are really great here and there is a variety to choose from: horseradish mayo or peanut sauce! Check out their site for all the toppings (thecounterburger.com) The hardest part is deciding whether you’re even creating a good tasting burger! But if you’re nervous about that there are some suggestions you can choose from, they have a burger called Old School and they always have a Burger of the Month.

This restaurant is super crowded, we went at 3pm and it was packed, plus you need to find your own table. The service was friendly but getting our burgers took awhile. Good thing we got our fries first to munch on.

Considering other burger places in LA, the price of this burger is reasonable. It costs around $7 depending on what size of burger you get and the extra toppings you order. That’s not bad since I know other places in LA where burgers costs twice as much. Plus waaay better value than a six dollar Carl’s Jr burger. :)

What I ate:
  • ****

    The diameter of the burger is small, but the meat is very thick. It’s very juicy and tasty. The construction of the burger needs some work since the burger falls apart easily and gets messy. But forks help with that just fine

  • ****

    The turkey came out a bit dry. I ordered this with a fried egg, and the egg was cooked perfectly – a bit runny in the center

  • *****

    This comes half and half in a bowl with two awesome sauces. Very good fries and nice thin onion rings

  • *****

    Sweet potato fries that were very crispy and really good with horseradish mayo

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*****
Manhattan Beach, CA

Coco Noche

Jan 28, 2007 Link

Nothing beats Chocolate & Wine

Coco Noche is a very small restaurant in Manhattan Beach that serves chocolate, wine, and tapas. What a great idea!

It is a tiny place but the atmosphere is modern, sleek and inviting. There are many choices of wine and I would recommend trying their flights as its a good way to try different types of wine.

The chocolate desserts are very yummy, but I think most of their desserts are bought and served here. They have Vosges chocolates for example that you can sample with a flight of wine. Delicious :)

I haven’t tried their tapas, but they have a mix of American and Korean inspired dishes which makes it quite interesting.

What I ate:
  • *****

    This dessert is so rich but so good. It looks like a cake but actually a ganache. So smooth and sweet. Definitely one of my favorites

  • *****

    I’ve always liked mochi ice cream but these were actually unique flavors. A set of 3 came with passion fruit, pistachio, and chocolate espresso. My fav was definitely the pistachio soo creamy and nutty and nice texture from the rice. These are actually bought from Hawaii.

  • *****

    At first I wasn’t sure how this would taste, but the tartness from the fig blended well with dark truffles inside. Tasty!

  • ****

    The flights at Coco Noche come in a set of 3 glasses in a tree stand. Nice way of serving! I liked my wine but found a couple to be a little too sweet. But still enjoyable with the chocolate!

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****
Santa Monica, CA

Father's Office

Jan 28, 2007 Link

Worth the wait hamburger

Father’s Office is actually a bar that serves pretty fancy food. The bar is pretty tiny and this place can get so crowded we actually had to wait in line outside but the wait wasn’t too bad.

The most annoying part about going to Father’s Office is fighting for a table. The bouncer is actually a really nice guy and he’ll keep an eye out for a table for you. This last time he could tell i was waiting and when someone got up to leave he flagged me down.

The burger here is infamous for the best burger in town, so that’s probably why this place is so busy. And since it’s a bar you have to get the menu from the bartenders and order from them too.

The burger comes with grilled onions, a bit of blue cheese on a grilled french roll type bun. Not a round one, so you actually get a pretty big burger.

People suggest ordering the burger to go since this bar gets really cramped and loud.

What I ate:
  • ****

    I really think the burger tastes great with the grilled onions and the blue cheese was not overpowering the taste of the meat. My burger was actually a little salty but I think it was because I made the mistake of ordering it well-done. So next time order medium and it’ll be perfect!

  • *****

    These fries are salty and sweet and comes with a side of flavored mayo. Yum yum, the best part is it comes in a miniature shopping cart so you can roll it around the table. Nice touch!

  • *****

    You can get your burger with a side of fries and these fries were really good. They were sliced very thin and not too greasy.

Extras:
I came here for
fun with friends
My meal cost
between $10 and $25
I tipped
no comment
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*****
Gardena, CA

Otafuku

Jan 28, 2007 Link

Tasty fresh noodles

This restaurant has a reputation of freshly handmade noodles and i’ve been wanting to try it for awhile.

From the outside the restaurant is hard to find since there are curtains covering the windows and the sign is pretty tiny.

I came in for a late lunch and the restaurant is very clean and quaint. The staff was very friendly and the menu simple.

I ordered the Seiro noodles which I’ve never heard of before but they look like very thin Udon. These noodles were pretty firm but that’s how I like my noodles and they were very good. I got it with a side of chicken soup, but they have a lot of combinations you can choose from.

I would definitely go back, so good!

What I ate:
  • ****

    The chicken soup was a great dipping sauce for the noodles. It had shavings of green onions which was a nice touch. There was nothing exciting about the chicken and at times the broth was a little salty.

  • *****

    The shrimp tempura was nicely fried and crunchy.

  • *****

    The piece of eel was huge and at a great value. It tasted fresh and very good.

  • ****

    This chicken was pan friend and crispy on the outside. Delicious with the sprinkle of salt on top.

Extras:
I came here for
fun with friends
My meal cost
less than $10
I tipped
between 15% to 18%
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****
Hermosa Beach, CA

Ocean Diner

Dec 5, 2006 Link

Have breakfast all day!

Ocean Diner is the best place to go when you’re craving breakfast but slept in a little too much because they serve breakfast all day!

This place has a 50s diner feel with old newspapers on the wall and a collection of vintage toasters.

The staff here is friendly and it seems like a family owned run place. The portions are huge and hearty, so now you have no excuse to go to Denny’s

What I ate:
  • *****

    Unfortunately, this is not listed on the menu and only occasionaly a special. But these pancakes are heavenly! They are light, fluffy, not too sweet and very unique! You don’t even need to add too much syrup or butter, because these can stand alone

  • *****

    French toast covered with granola and fresh fruit with whip cream. Nice twist on french toast and extremely yummy combination.

  • *****

    I like this omelette a lot but that’s because I looove garlic. It’s filled with cheese, roasted garlic, tomatoes, and spinach.

  • *****

    This has been my favorite to get lately. It’s just a scramble with ground turkey, parmesan, and parsely but it’s awesome with some toast and homefries

  • ***

    These are basic homefries with some added spice. It can be hit or miss with these. Sometimes they are tasty and crunchy and sometimes they are just too greasy.

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*****
Cupertino, CA

Gochi Japanese Tapas

Dec 5, 2006 Link

Gochi rhymes with Mochi

This restaurant is hidden but a great find! Too bad a lot of people know about this place already as it is quite crowded.

I agree with mandeelish. This place was awesome, but the service wasn’t outstanding. I understand it was busy but after waiting 30+ minutes for a table I wanted foood!

Next time i’ll try some of their fusion dishes like their twist on pizza!

What I ate:
  • *****

    We started off the meal with this salad which was excellent! It could have had more seaweed since that was the best part of the salad. Everything else, including the dressing was well balanced out.

  • ****

    These little fried balls were nice and crispy but it had a tad too much mayo.

  • *****

    This was basically a rice ball sitting in dashi sauce with some dried nori. Very simple dish but it was surprisingly very tasty. Gooo dashi sauce!

  • *****

    The waitress warned us that this was a very unique dish, so my expectations were low. Good thing we ordered it because this turned out to be my favorite dish! Juicy cod with a crunchy skin with a bit of sweetness :)

  • *****

    This dish was presented nicely and tasted great. The sashimi was seared and the added flavor did not cover the taste of the tuna.

  • ****

    Few pieces of taro were served in a bowl of some sauce I can’t remember. This was probably the least flavorful dish, but I still enjoyed it

  • ****

    The tofu was crispy on the outside, and very soft on the inside so a perfect fried tofu! The dashi sauce was good, but I agree it needed just a tad more.

  • *****

    Yummy rice ball that is crispy on the outside, will definitely try the other flavors they offer.

  • ***

    Fried chicken wings, you can also request to have these grilled. The batter was a little too thick for me and I had a hard time finding the chicken. I prefer the wings at Furaibo.

Extras:
I came here for
fun with friends
My meal cost
between $10 and $25
I tipped
between 15% to 18%
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****
Culver City, CA

Ford's Filling Station

Dec 1, 2006 Link

Cool hangoutu place

Culver City is beginning to become a hip place, lots of new, trendy restaurants are beginning to open in the downtown area and one of them being Ford’s Filling Station. The chef and owner is Harrison Ford’s son, and it’s pretty good!

There are some interesting items on the menu and some fancy diner items (fish & chips) I was impressed with the flatbreads they offered. I guess the best way to describe them is a type of pizza with a very thin crust. We chose a flatbread with shrimp and hummus and it was really light and tasty. A good snack especially with some beer! I decided to have the burger which was $16, now I dunno if i would pay that much for a burger again, but it was pretty tasty. It didn’t have too many toppings, just fancy cheese and grilled onions, a really nice combo with the meat.

I think this place is a good place to hangout after work with some drinks and appetizers. For dinner I enjoyed it very much, but I think for some entrees it’s a little overpriced.

What I ate:
  • *****

    I wish I could remember what cheese they used with this burger, it was strong one like blue cheese. I remember being impressed with the juiciness and flavor of the burger with only minimal toppings on it.

  • *****

    They had many varieties of flatbread, I had the shrimp and hummus which was crunchy and savory

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*****
Santa Monica, CA

Urth Caffe

Nov 30, 2006 Link

A nice place to hang out

Urth is a chain of cafes around LA. They have a really nice environment and are famous for their organic coffee. They serve all kinds of coffees and teas, and even have boba. I like their fresh fruit smoothies too. They serve soup, salad, sandwiches (which are a little overpriced) but yummy. My favorite part about Urth are the desserts! They have a huge selection and i’m never disappointed when I try a new dessert.

At times, this cafe can be very busy but usually you can find a seat in the outdoor back patio. If you’re lucky you might spot a celebrity too. I think I saw Hilary Swank last time I went and mandeelish said Katherine McPhee was photographed here. So a good place to people watch :)

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****
Los Angeles, CA

Wahoo's Fish Tacos

Nov 30, 2006 Link

Awesome Fish Tacos

I used to live across from a Wahoo’s and I probably went there way too often, but it’s just that tasty! There was also a Rubio’s nearby so anyone who said they loved Rubio’s I had to take them to Wahoo’s and have them compare the fish tacos. In my opinion the Wahoo’s fish tacos dominates the Rubio’s fish tacos. The difference is that the fish used at Wahoo’s is grilled or blackened, not deep fried.

The enchilada’s are tasty as well, I suggest the green sauce. Anyway, this chain is growing because it’s cheap, good, mexican food. Try it!!

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*****
Beverly Hills, CA

Fogo de Chao Churrascaria

Nov 30, 2006 Link

Meatabulous!

Fogo de Chao is a Brazilian Steakhouse which means… all you can eat meat! If you come here be very very hungry because it costs $50/person for dinner on a weekend, plus all the meats are delicious so you need quite a bit of room in your tummy.

When you first walk into to the restaurant it reminds you of a Vegas buffet restaurant. It’s crowded and everyone is walking around, it’s pretty loud but still has a nice ambience and decor.

The food here is delicious! First start out with the cheese bread, which are my favorite. They set 3 sides, and if you’ve eaten half of a plate they replace it with a new one instantaneously! Sometimes I think they’re wasting food, but they’re probably trying to fill their guests with carbs first, so I advise not to eat too many of the sides.

The all you can eat salad bar is awesome as well! I can just eat this and not the meat, but again you don’t want to get too full on the fresh cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, roasted veggies, etc.

The Guacho chefs, the men who serve you the meat are very friendly and ask you if you want a particular meat, and that chef will come almost running to your table! All of the meats are tasty, juicy, and cooked just perfectly. I have to say my favorite is the lamb chop, mmmmm

Also, I have to add the staff is awesome! They are attentive and probably ask you every 5 min if everything is ok. The first time I went there, our waiter walked us out and told us not to forget to grab some mints. Now that’s good service!

This place is pricey, but worth it if you can eat a lot. Try going during a weeknight when the price for dinner is lower.

What I ate:
  • *****

    These little puffs of bread are soo yummy, and really filling! They are filled with a little cheese, so the center is gooey and warm. I need to learn how to make these at home!

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