I Am – Anaheim CA

440 S Anaheim Blvd

Anaheim, CA 92805

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

Located inside the Anaheim Packing District, i am serves up delightful desserts that are unlike normal desserts. Upon reviewing their menu, we knew there were a couple of things we wanted to try. Today, we decided to order the Chocolate filled Korean/French fusion croissant and the snow ball with condensed milk dipping sauce. The snow ball was ready first, and we were warned not to hold the cup outside the cardboard area and to not drink the liquid at the bottom of the cup. As you eat each piece of crunchy rice puffs, you spew out smoke from your mouth and nostrils. The condensed milk adds some sweetness to the noticeably bland rice puffs. The smokiness of the puffs increase as you work your way into the cup. The coldness of the puffs can get to your teeth a little. Ordering and eating the snow balls was more fun than flavorful, and was definitely gimmicky, plus you can get seriously hurt from the liquid nitrogen. The chocolate croissant took much longer to get ready, but it was very flaky and rich. Each bite tasted very hot, especially in the center with the filled chocolate. Overall, i am serves up some interesting desserts, but the highlight was definitely the croissant fish. Pricing was reasonable for what you get. I would not suggest ordering the snow balls unless you really wanted to breathe out smoke and didn’t care for any flavor.

Sweetbird – Anaheim CA

440 S Anaheim Blvd #107

Anaheim, CA 92805

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Located inside the Anaheim Packing District, Sweetbird serves up fancy fried chicken sandwiches. Upon reviewing the menu above the counter, we knew what we wanted to order. Today, we ordered the zesty fried chicken and a side of smashed potatoes. The order was made fresh, so we did have to wait 10-15 minutes for the sandwich. The Zesty Fried chicken was piping hot and came loaded with cilantro lime aioli, pickles, and coleslaw.Ā  The breading on the chicken was not too thick and was nice and crispy. The white-meat chicken was juicy and delicious. The sauce complimented the chicken perfectly. The smashed potatoes had a combination of a crispy outside and soft inside, but they were not very flavorful on their own. The restaurant serves up craft soda from the fountain, but I couldn’t really find a flavor I liked. Prices are on the high side for what you get, but it is expected for an eatery in the area. Overall, if you are looking for a delicious chicken sandwich and happen to be in the area, you really can’t go wrong with Sweetbird.

Sushi Pier Tahoe – Stateline NV

177 US-50

Stateline, NV 89449

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Located right past the casinos of Stateline Nevada, Sushi Pier serves up a choice of all-you-can-eat sushi or ordering straight from the menu. When our group arrived for dinner, the restaurant was fairly busy, and we had to wait to be seated in an area large enough for us. After 5-10 minutes, we were all seated at the bar. I liked how the restaurant accommodated us by having some patrons choose all-you-can-eat and others order straight from the menu. After reviewing the options, I opted for all-you-can-eat.

Sushi pier all-you-can-eat allows you to order any of the items from the menu unless otherwise specified. There were even certain desserts and appetizers that can be ordered. The Moondog Stars appetizer was crispy and came with decent amounts of seafood inside, but the fried wonton skin was very thick. The order of miso soup came piping hot, but it was not flavorful and tasted grainy.Ā  The Komodo roll arrived first and looked quite appetizing with the avocado and tuna on top, and actually tasted pretty good when dipped into some soy-wasabi. The San Francisco roll tasted fairly bland, and the rice was pretty dense and mushy, but the tempura shrimp was cooked well. The Sushi Peir Long roll was not too big and had a good amount of crab and salmon inside. The roll was flavorful and tasty. The King Kong took a while to make since the roll was deep-fried, but the shrimp, crab, and cream cheese inside with the mushy rice was not very appetizing. For dessert, I ordered the Happy Ending, which was tempura banana with strawberry sauce, whipped cream, and chocolate, which made for a messy sweet finish that had quite the mushy texture.

Overall, Sushi Pier does serve up fresh rolls for their all-you-can-eat meal, but the quality and taste of the rolls are inconsistent. Many of the rolls contained rice that was just too mushy and was not appetizing. Service was excellent by sitting at the bar because you can just order the rolls directly from the chefs. Pricing is a bit high for the quality of rolls received. You generally break even by ordering anything past three rolls for all-you-can-eat. If you happen to be in the South Lake Tahoe area and are looking for sushi, you may just want to wait to go home for sushi unless you are OK with eating mediocreĀ  expensive sushi from here.

Paik’s Noodle – Buena Park, CA

5151 Beach Blvd

Buena Park, CA 90621

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

Located in a busy Buena Park Korean shopping center, Paik’s Noodle serves up Chinese-inspired Korean cuisine. When we entered the restaurant, there were some tables available, but the place was fairly busy. We quickly reviewed the menu board, and we were ready to order.

Today, we decided to order the jajangmyeon, tanksuyuk, and gunmandu. The jajangmyeon had plenty of sauce and noodles, but there was not a lot of flavor. There were bits of pork here and there, but it would have been nice to have some zucchini strips too. The gunmandu tasted pretty bland, but tasted better with some vinegar soy sauce. The tanksuyuk was made with pork instead of beef, and some pieces were not that tender. Many of the pieces were overly-breaded and the sauce quickly made most of the meat soggy and unappetizing. The sauce was missing a fruity ingredient, and again tasted quite bland.

Overall, Paik’s Noodle quickly serves up Chinese-inspired Korean cuisine, but there could certainly be improvements in taste. Prices are reasonable for the amount of food received. Given another opportunity I would want to try some of their other items on the menu, but I wouldn’t have my hopes up. It is definitely not worth making a special trip to eat here.

Churros Don Abel – Los Angeles, CA

5458 Whittier Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90022

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

Located on the side of busy Whittier Boulevard, Churros Don Abel serves up fresh churros to the masses. When we arrived, there was already a long line of people waiting to order. It took a good 20 minutes before we reached the truck to order our churros. While waiting in line, we had already reviewed the menu, so we knew what we wanted.

Today, we decided to order the 6 churros with everything as well as 20 regular churros. There was a brief wait while they packed the churros into bags as well as plate the 6 churros. In less than two minutes, we were on our way with the churros and two cups of free cafe de olla that were dispensed from a container nearby. All of the churros were fresh and crispy on the outside, but the inside was more mushy. The 6 churros with everything tasted delicious with the caramel, milk, and strawberry sauces all over them. The rest of the churros were covered in cinnamon sugar and was also delicious, but eventually, the flavor and mushiness gets to you. The cafe de olla drink went well with the sweet churros, which balanced out the sweetness.

Overall, Churros Don Abel serves up some tasty fresh churros at decent prices, but the mushiness inside was a bit of a downer. If you happened to be in the area and want some churros, you should give them a try, but don’t make a special trip to visit.

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