Trade Foodhall

There’s a new foodhall in Irvine that’s offering up some delicious grub. I was fortunate to attend a tasting of most of the locations and I didn’t taste anything that I didn’t like. Located on Michaelson right off Jamboree, Trade is a great place to enjoy lunch with co workers or dinner with friends. 

Okay enough chatting, let’s get to the food! 

Two Birds

Downtown LA has Howling Rays, Irvine has Two Birds. This place delivers their version of the new trend of Fried Chicken sandwich  to great reviews. I was able to try this special sandwich, the Two Birds in One Hand,and boy was it messy but in a good way. I was sharing this with other people and we still didn’t put a dent in it. We also tried the Cottage fries and had the perfect pairing. 

Gyro Kings  

If your into gyros this is the place. Gyro Kings is the only original location of the previous foodcourt that was here before it was renovated to become Trade. I’m happy it stayed because it is a gem. These Gyros Fries were everything I didn’t know I needed.

Butterleaf

This delicious eatry is right up my alley and their motto is Vegetarian food for Non Vegetarians. I got to try the yummy Scratch Made Black Bean Burger and it was delicious!

Portside 

I saw soo many yummy things coming from this location and I wanted to try all of them! I did get to try out the Fish and Chips platter which was amazing and also the California Shrimp Burrito.


Pig Pen Delicacy

When I’m really in a cheat mood, this has been my new place to go. Even though I’ve been here before (but at another location), I still enjoyed some of the food items and even tried some I never had yet. We got to try the Infamous Mac Attack Burger (which is great after a fun night out with friends) and standard Tater Tots..

Megadon 

If your into Poke bowls, this is the place for you. This was my fried time having a Poke Bowl and it was enjoyable. I enjoyed the Shrimp Poke Bowl the most. 

Sweet Combfort

The new take on waffles and I’m here for it. Get a Belgium Liege waffle on a stick and made your own creation using the various toppings available. My favorite is the fruity pebbles with cheese cake bites. Nice and Sweet!!

CenterHub

And don’t forget to grab a cocktail while there. The Trade Market has a mini bar called Center Hub that serves up great drinks. You can get whatever fits your fancy like this special Flaming Hor Cheeto Bloody Mary 

Or this delicious Blood Orange Mojito. I’m not normally a Mojito fan but this one just might make me a fan. 

I will defientely end up a Trade regular especially since it’s 10 minutes from my job. There’s so much more food I want to try form each location. So if your looking for somewhere new to dine this weekend, Trade Foodhall should be your destination! 

Trade Food Hall is located at 2222 Michelson Dr. Irvine, CA. 92612

*all opinions are my own* 

Broken Spanish

Recently I joined some friends in Downtown LA to celebrate one of my good friends birthdays. We met at a restaurant called Broken Spanish.  When I found out where we was dining, I scanned their IG and Yelp reviews to get a better feel for the place. Clearly this place is the new go to spot for foodies so you know that alone sparked my interest.

 This definitely isn’t your average Mexican restaurant where your going to have chips and salsa for a pre-dinner snack. This is very upscale and very authentic restaurant. If your someone into seafood, this is definitely the place for you. When I saw that the Carne Asada plate was $42, that alone made me realize that we were truly dining out that evening. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for paying high prices for good quality food (when I have the funds to do so lol) and that night I definitely wasn’t going to be able to spend that much money on food.

Since the Carne Asada plate was the only item on the menu that caught my interest, I decided to just browse the dessert menu and have dessert for dinner. After doing more IG and Yelp research I chose the dessert I was going to try. I wasn’t driving all the way from Irvine to Downtown LA to just sit especially at a restaurant I’ve never been too. I had to try something. So dessert it is. No dessert wasn’t super cheap but it also wasn’t $42.

So when I arrived, I felt that I was kinda underdressed. Coming from work I had on some jeans, slip in flats and tank with a sweater and walking into the restaurant, I felt like I needed to be dressed a little more upscale. Nonetheless I loved the interior of the restaurant. The dim lighting of the restaurant definitely gave you an intimate feel while being surrounded with various Latin artifacts throughout the space.  When I was arrived, I was relieved that my other friends weren’t as dressed up and relaxed.

By the time I arrived, they already ordered oysters and a salad as appetizers. I’ve never had oysters and I’m not sure if I can eat them. I am allergic to crab and lobster but able to eat clam and shrimp. I wasn’t in the mood to find out if I have an allergy or not but I will admit that the plate of oysters looked good. However, I did have some of the salad which was delicious. It was a simple green salad but tossed with a delicious Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. They also tried the Carnita fat before I arrived and told it wasn’t exactly pleasant to the taste buds.

 They also ordered the Queso Fundifo which has Bacalao and Roasted Tomato in it. I didn’t try it because I’m not a fan of cod but it did look good.

After perusing the menu and large amounts of laughter, we decided to order. I stuck to my decision of dessert for dinner and ordered the Baked Oaxaca. Lets talk about this baby for a minute. It is a work of art!! I mean look it at. I just let it sit for a while because it was way to pretty for me to eat. 

The Baked Oaxaca is a Lemon Curd with Chocolate Sponge, Meringue Vanilla Gusano Powder and Mole Ice Cream. It has a little kick because of the Mole but the kick wasn’t that bad. I can’t eat spicy food but like I said it was tame.

The plates at Broken Spanish are large so you can definitely share. The birthday girl and her husband go the duck (I wasn’t fast enough to capture a picture before they digged in). The plate was large and looked tasty. My other friend ordered the Chile Rellano which was on my maybe list. The Rellano was filled with poblano, potato, kale, lemon and soubise). I sampled this and it was delicious. I knew I should’ve went with that.

 My other friend ordered a Veggie Tamale that was filled  with endive, poblano, quest Oaxaca and béchamel. It wasn’t bad neither.

 

And of course a celebratory dessert was requested for the birthday girl which was flan. I’m not a fan of flan and neither is she but her husband is a fan and gladly devoured it for her.

 

Would I recommend the Broken Spanish to people? Yes. It is definitely a nice experience and the food is good. Oh and did I mention how impressive their bar was? Broken Spanish is also a Mezcal bar.

 

So if your looking for someone nice to take someone for a special evening out, Broken Spanish is your place. As for parking they do have valet ($15 with validation) or you can find a lot and walk over (which is what I did. $8 two blocks away).

 

Broken Spanish is located at 1050 Flower St. L.A., 90015

 

 

*All opinions are my own*

Disney California Food and Wine Festival 2017

I’ve been wanting to attend this festival since it first started and finally I got a chance to attend. The Food and Wine Festival is so much better than the Festival of the Holidays Disney has during their Holiday celebration. 

If your an Disney Annual Passholder, the Sip & Savor food pass is the best way to go and only available to APs. It’s $35 with your AP discount and comes with 8 tickets that can be used on food items and non alcoholic beverages. My friend and I just bought one and split it which worked out perfectly. 

In addition to the food kiosks, for an additional fee, you can also attend private seminars for different wines, beers, spirits and food demonstrations. We attended a Wine seminar with a tasting from the Edna Valley wineiries in San Luis Obispo. We sampled a Sauvignon Blanc, Albariño from Tangent wines and Chardonnay from True Myth Wines. Albariño has sort of a salty taste to it but it’s not that bad. 

As for the food, everything we had was delicious!! We didn’t sample every kiosk available but stuck to the ones that appealed to us. We started at the Bacon Twist and Seafood…. Sustained Kiosk. From Bacon Twist we got the Smoked Bacon Mac & Cheese and from a Seafood Sustained we got the Verlasso Sustsinable Salmon Tataki. 

Next was the Garlic Kissed kiosks where we got the Grilled Beef Tenderloin sliders and next to it was the Uncorked kiosks where I got the super yummy Mimosa  flight which consisted of Apricot, Pear, and Mango flavors. 

In the Hollywood Backlot was the LA Style kiosks where we got the Chicken Teriyaki Slider with spicy DOLE pineapple jam and the Korean Barbecue Beef Short Rib Tacos. 

And we ended our food adventure at the Onion Lair enjoying  Braised Wagyu Beef on Creamy Polenta and the French Onion Mac & Cheese. 

The Disney California Wine and Food Festival runs from March 10- April 16th. For non Annual Passholders, you will need to purchase a regular admission ticket ($124) into the park to attend this event. 

*all opinions are my own*

Luna Grill- Huntington Beach

Myself and a guest was invited to a private soft opening of the new Huntington Beach Luna Grill location. I was excited because this place is on my must try list since my co workers rave about it. I love Mediterranean food as much as I love Mexican food and since I am kinda on a health kick right now, this came at the perfect time. The new Huntington Beach location is on Beach and Utica in the Newland Center. There’s also a lot of other goodies in this shopping center that I would like to try.

 So when we arrived, we signed in and was escorted inside. Once inside, we were invited to try out whatever appetizer, entrée, beverage that we liked and the staff was walking around with a platter of desserts to try.

 We ordered the appetizer platter as our starter and decided to try one of the sparking organic sodas available. We decided to try the Mojo Berry by SIPP. 

OMG this organic soda was so so good. We wanted to ask if we could have another bottle of SIPP but decided not to be greedy lol. Our appetizer platter was the first to come out and it was huge. This platter consists of four rounds of falafel, four stuffed grape leaves, hummus with pita bread and couscous medley. I’m happy I had another person with me because this was a lot of food and there was no way I could take this on alone. 

Then for my entrée, I ordered the Norwegian Salmon and my cousin ordered the Lamb Tenderloin Kabobs.

 Everything was so good. We both debated on trying the dessert because we were full but after watching the tray walk by again, we both said YOLO and waved the staff over. On the platter was three dessert samples: Mini Baklava, and Mini Chocolate, Red Velvet and Vanilla Cupcakes. I got the Vanilla and my cousin got the Chocolate. Those mini cupcakes was perfectly sweet and moist.

 At the end of our experience, we filled out a survey and gave the restaurant all high marks. My cousin and I can not wait to go back to the Luna Grill and try more of their food. If you’ve never been and love Mediterranean, I highly recommend this place.

 

http://www.lunagrill.com

 

 

 

 

*all opinions are my own*

 

 

 

 

 

 

NAACP Image Awards After-Party

I attended the NAACP Awards and After-party that was held in Pasadena at the Civic Auditorium. The entire event was a lovely celebration of African-American who work in the Entertainment industry. But always a grand awards celebration is the after-party where everyone can led down their hair, eat some good food, enjoy some cocktails and dance the night away. Hosted by Hyundai, there were some live performances from Raheem Davaughn, Melanie Fiona and BBD. I was there for BBD personally. Been a huge fan of New Edition since I was a little kid. But while I waited for BBD, I did enjoy the nice buffet style spread the after-party provided. 

There was a lot of food which seemed to be more of a Caribbean theme. There was yellow rice, plantains, lots of fruit like pineapples, watermelon, strawberries, etc, fried fish, Caribbean style grilled chicken, turkey, and regular favorites like macaroni and cheese, garden salad, and grilled cheese with tomato bisque and so much more. 

  

And for the grand finale, a table was switched out and turned into a dessert bar. I convinced myself that one night wouldn’t hurt lol and indulged in the dessert bar. I’m happy the desserts were more of the bite size portions so I didn’t feel to guilty about breaking my diet. My favorite was the apple pie tart and the lemon meringue tart.

 

 If your looking for a nice sized ballroom to host an event with delicious food, I recommend inquiring about the Pasadena Civic Center ballroom. There’s plenty of room and the catering is delicious.

  

 Pasadena Civic Auditorium, 300 East Green Street, Pasadena CA. 91101

 
*all opinions are my own*

Gratitude

Since I’m on my health kick right now, I’ve been fighting back and forth with my conscience about whether or not I should do Newport Beach Restaurant Week. After browsing the menu, I decided to try out Gratitude which is a vegan restaurant.  I felt like dining here wasn’t really going to destroy the health kick I’m currently on right now.

I’ve heard about Cafe Gratitude in LA from a few of my friends. They told me it was good but pricey. When I saw that Gratitude was on the Newport Beach restaurant week list, I decided to try it.

Gratitude (as it goes by in Newport) is located right off Irvine Blvd and Westcliff in a little cute shopping center. I love the ambience of this restaurant.

I was happy to learn that they have Happy Hour until 6 but I ordered from the pre  fixe Newport Beach Restarant Week Menu. I’ll do Happy Hour next time I go. 

Their Dine Week menu was great. You got a cocktail, appetizer, entree and dessert for $30 plus tax. I went with the skinny margarita which was delicious and boy was it strong 

For my starter, I got the Brussels Sprouts which was a great choice 

For my entree, I order the Mole Abuelita Enchiladas which was hands down the most delicious thing I’ve had in I don’t know how long 

And for dessert, I enjoyed a yummy macaroon treat 

This was hands down the BEST vegan meal I’ve ever had. Hands! Down!. I left wanting to go back there the next day. But again Gratitude is pricey so it’s going to become my new I feel like splurging on myself spot. I can’t wait to go back! 

Cafe Gratitude also has three locations in Los Angeles. 

*all opinions are my own* 

Bossanova Brazilian Cuisine

I’m not going to lie. I forget about Bossanova because I don’t live in L.A. But when I’m in L.A.  with friends and they mention it, I’m all for dining there. Bossanova has some delicious food but their artisan pizzas and plantains is what I’m a fan.

Bossanova has three location in the L.A. area: one in West Hollywood, West LA and Hollywood and they all stay open as late 3:30am.

You can enjoy some delicious Brazilian cuisine here but as I mentioned earlier, I come here for the pizza. Their artesian pizzas are the best. I always get the Quatro Formaggi Pizza which consists of homemade Tomato sauce, Mozzerella, Grana Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, andGorgonzola  Cheese on top of garlic infused crust. My mouth is watering just typing all this. If your a true cheese lover like myself, trust me, this pizza is life.

I also ordered a side of plantains because Bossanova makes great plantains and they are delicious. 

My friends I was with ordered Salmon 

And Sea Bass 

I had a taste of my friends Sea Bass. It was so good. I’ve never had Sea Bass before. Whenever I go back to BossaNova, I’m definitely  getting that next time.

So if your in the LA area and your looking for a late night eatery to enjoy some delicious food, I recommend BossaNova and don’t forget that side of plantains! 

Festival of Holidays

Recently, Disneys California Adventure just ended their holiday food festival, Festival of the Holidays. I attended this event and got to try out some of the vendors while there. I will admit I wish they did more of a ticket system than pay for each food item from each vendor. I didn’t get to try as much as I wanted too ( the food was kinda pricey for the size samples they gave out) but I did get to try the items I had my eye on.

There was also alcohol vendors along with the food. You can choose between beer, wine and speciality made cocktails from each booth. 

Abuelitas Kitchen 

This was my favorite booth. I enjoyed this delicious open Chicken tamale with a Pomegrante Margarita (not pictured). The tamale definitely had a kick to it.

Southern Home Holidays 

I’m a Macaroni and Cheese lover so I was excited that they had this on their menu. However, I will admit. It was just okay. Being Disney, I excepted something sensational and it wasn’t nothing special. 

Mistletoe Morsels 

The Eggnog Cocktail from the Mistletoe Morsels was highly recommended to me. I finally got to try it and Boy Oh Boy am I happy I did. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Let’s just say I’m happy I had the mac and cheese before I drank this because this was strong and delicious!

Treats for Santa

The last booth I tried was Treats for Santa. Their Bourbon Cider took me to that level lol. It was so good but I definitely had to go get a compete meal and find a place to sit after this.

After that eggnog and Cider, the perfect meal to soak up all the goodness is always a burger and some onion rings. So I walked over to SmokeJumpers Grill near the entrance of the park , got a Bacon Cheddar Burger with Onion Rings 😋 to go and ate this food inside the Grand Californian in front of the fireplace 😌.

So as you can see, I enjoyed Festival of the Holidays. Nothing like going to the Disneyland Resort to do everything BUT get on rides. I will definitely be back this spring for the Disney California Adventure Food and Wine Festival. 

Portfolio Coffeehouse

Okay so this year I finally decided to accept who I am and let everyone know it. I’m coming out and letting everyone know… that I’m a Hipster! And the one thing we hipsters love most is an low, key chill vegan Coffeehouse with Wifi. 

Portfolio Coffeehouse is located along Retro Row in Downtown Long Beach and is a popular spot with the locals. I exercise in this area often and I love coming here to enjoy a semi-healthy breakfast or lunch. I also like to come here to enjoy a nice mocha and write material for this blog. 

The atmosphere inside is perfect for bloggers. In the front of the cafe, is communal style seating but towards the back is more of an intimate library look that I adore. This is where I usually like to sit when there’s seating available.

If I’m here early for breakfast, I like to get the Vegan Croissant with a Almond Mocha. Did I mention there’s Avocado on this sandwich 😋.

If I’m here for lunch, I like the oven-roasted turkey sandwich and a side salad with a Columbia Gorge organic Lemonade. 

So if your in the area, bring your laptop or a nice book, order some food, enjoy a yummy vegan friendly dessert or a nice mocha and enjoy. You can also check out their other location in Long Beach in the East Arts District called Berlin Bistro. 
Portfolio Coffeehouse is located at 2300 4th (at Junipero) Long Beach, CA. 90814
* all opinions are my own* 

Urban Plates

Urban Plates came to the Irvine area last year and the reviews from my coworkers were all positive. So I met up with a coworker for an after work dinner there and became a fan. Since my first time there, I’ve enjoyed various fresh meals. 


There’s stations that offer different meal options sort of like a cafeteria.




 My favorite entree is their Salmon. It’s perfectly prepared and their sides dishes are also delicious. I could just order sides as my main meal and be content. 

I’ve had the salmon entree with roasted potatoes and Brussels sprouts. I’ve also had the Salmon ceasar which was very enjoyable. 


 I’ve tried out their pizzettes which are just okay. I’ve had better flat breads. 

And the little al la carte mozzarella salad I added as a side went well with the pizzette. 

Urban Plates has a great dessert selection but I was excited to find out that they have hummingbird cake. I love hummingbird cake and it’s not a dessert you can find often. 

Urban Plates has a few locations in Orange County, one in Playa Vista and one in Carlsbad. I recommend checking out this place if your in either of these areas. 

*opinions are mine only*