Mastro's Steakhouse for my B-Day

246 N Canon Dr Beverly Hills, CA 90210



Very good breadage-- the pretzel bread with butter was yummy.



Started with some oysters rockefeller.



Continued ...to the lobster bisque.



The dinner plate comes to the table extremely hot with butter and chives.
The aroma of butter and chives hit your nose instantly; makes you want
to jump on that steak.



Do I look excited ...or what??



We shared the "Chef's Cut" Ribeye Chop (33oz), along with
sauteed mushrooms and steam asparagus.



The aftermath. We barely touched the mushrooms and
asparagus. Two slices and a bone left for snacking on the next day.



Dessert was on the house. =)

Morimoto Napa

Checked out Morimoto Napa over Memorial Weekend, after
hearing how good it was from Daniel W.

We weren't able to get reservations, so we settled for the
sushi bar. The wait was about an hour. It was definitely worth
the wait. The restaurant is located in Downtown Napa,
so there are shops nearby to keep busy.


Walking by the open kitchen on the way in.




toro tartare
with a palette of nori paste, wasabi, sour cream, chives,
avocado, crispy rice balls, and dashi



morimoto sashimi
four layer sashimis of seared toro salmon, eel, tuna,
hamachi, with five sauces in pipettes



wagyu beef carpaccio
yuzu soy, ginger, and sweet garlic



rock shrimp tempura
(left) wasabi aïoli, (right) spicy kochujan sauce



(left) uni on shiso leaf (middle) uni sushi (right) wagyu sushi



clam miso
white miso broth with manila clams



sea urchin carbonara
smoked bacon, peas, udon noodle, nori, egg yolk,
and crispy shallots



ishi yaki buri bop
yellowtail with assorted veges+mushrooms on rice, in a hot stone bowl,
served table-side.
(Japanese version of bibimbhap.)



The entire meal was amazing, never have I experienced such explosion-of-flavors. My two top dishes would have to be the morimoto sashimi and the wagyu beef carpaccio. The flavors that came from in each of those dishes left my mouth wanting more. I was really sad that I had to share the wagyu beef carpaccio dish with Vicky. Looking back, I should of gotten one all to myself. In my opinion, it's a dish that you definitely don't want to share, lol. The toro tartare came in a close 2nd--I recall this was a dish Chef Morimoto made on one of his iron chef battles, pretty cool. The sea urchin carbonara was also delicious, very rich and creamy. You can taste the "uni-ness" all in between the noodles. The portion was just enough; the richness makes this a good dish to share. Overall, a wonderful dinning experience worth trying if you're a fan of Japanese cuisines.

Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve

Visiting the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve in Lancaster.

Downtown L.A. at Night

Some night shots of Downtown L.A.

Traveling Taiwan

First Day in Kaohsiung.

Getting ready to go to breakfast.


Driving to the ferry Station.


Took the Ferry to QiJin District in Kaohsiung.


QiJin District Market.



CheCheng City Market.


Pentong Harbor.



KenTing


Second Day in KaoHsiung (Sunday); going to breakfast.


Stopping at DongShan Rest Area ...on our way to ChiaYi City.


In the town of FanLu; where I ate the best chicken in Taiwan (my opinion, of course.) This restaurant is setup along the side to a road, next to the owner's house, in front of his farm. This place is famous for smoking their chicken with Longan Wood. The bowl of noodles below is served with "drippings" of the chicken collected in a pan at the bottom of the large clay-pots. The noodle was so simple but oh-so-good!


The owner was a friend of Vicky's parents; gave us a tour of his backyard garden. And offered us some "grapes", that grew on trees.


LuGang Township.


Eateries in Lugang.


ChiaYi City






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Heading to Taipei for 4 Days

ZuoYing High-Speed-Train Station.


Yoshinoya; they serve pork.


Yang Ming Park.


Sliders at Mos Burger.


Taking the metro-rail. Taiwan's metro-rail system is very clean.


Chinese graffiti on metro bus.




2nd Day in Taipei.


Brunch at Din Tai Fung. So much better than the one in Arcadia, cheaper too.


On the metro-rail again.


SOGO Mall.


Flavor Field Bakery.




Taipei 101.


World's Fastest Elevator; 89 floors in 37 seconds.


Wind Dampener.






3rd day in Taipei.


Junk food at 7-11.


Tried a lot of teas at 7-11, and these two were my favorite. The carton is a sweeten black tea. The bottle is Oolong tea (unsweetened).


Going to Danshui via Taipei's subway.


Danshui.






Eateries at Dan Shui.


Lover's Bridge at Dan Shui.




The Famous Shilin Night Market in Taipei.




4th Day in Taipei.




National Palace Museum. All the artifacts in this museum were "taken" from China.


鮮芋仙 (xiān yù xiān)
Grass jelly with taro and yam Mochi. This is one of the best things I ate while in Taiwan.




Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall.


Another night market in Taipei.


Brunch before heading back to Kaoshiung.






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Back to KaoHsiung


Mangoes in Taiwan are tiny but soooo juicy and sweet.




Delicious Salty Duck.



Smoked Meat.


The best tofu pudding ever.


Shrimping at a night Market in Tainan.


Bento Lunches.


A really cool Japanese Store.


Night Market in Kaohsiung.






Bento Lunches.


Heading to the lighthouse at Kaoshiung Habor.

BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH.


Final Breakfast in Taiwan.


Costco in Kaohsiung.


Pasadena Bakery: The chef from this bakery won some World Competition a while back, with his "Walnut-Longan Round Loaf Bread". There is so much hype, to try his winning bread, customers must pre-order 2 months in advance because he only makes a certain amount per day.


View from the Tuntex Sky Tower; very hazy day.