Los Angeles Times Food & Wine The Taste 2011: Secrets from the Kitchen and Cellar

During the Labor Day weekend, the boyfriend and I decided that we wanted to try something different. So here we are, participating on our first food and wine tasting after learning about a couple of days prior.

Since this was both our first time, we weren’t so sure on what to expect during this event. I was just excited to sample different types of food from different restaurants.

So here we go.

The Green Banana Leaf Restaurant

I love Filipino food, but it’s usually only my dad’s cooking because nothing beats a homecooked meal. And as much as I hate to say this, I find that some Filipino restaurants can be a hit or miss.

Then comes The Green Banana Leaf Filipino Cuisine Fushion. This past Friday, we met up with two of our friends in Chino Hills for another double date dinner. Everyone was craving Filipino food, so they took us  to Green Banana Leaf since we have never been before.

My mind was blown into a millions pieces.

Food

The boyfriend and I decided to share our entreé. And it was a good decision making on my part after we got our order. The serving was huge! Picking which one to eat was a no-brainer… Crispy Kare Kare and Bagoong Fried Rice was a clear winner on the menu.

Bagoong Fried Rice $7.50 – sauteed in shrimp paste topped with fresh mangoes and diced tomatoes: Best fried rice I’ve ever had! By the way, this serving can feed four people. I love bagoong with my kare kare, so a bagoong fried rice was in order. The taste of the bagoong was just right. The slices of dried mangoes on top gave the fried rice some crunch and slight sourness and sweetness to it. It was a great medley of ingredients.

Crispy Kare Kare $15.50 – crispy pork leg flavoured and thickened in a peanut-based sauce with a variety of vegetables: Another big serving! You can just tell in comparison of the plate in the background. I would have never thought of my kare kare served like this. The crispy pork is actually known as “crispy pata” in the Philippines and you’re getting the soup part of the kare kare on the side (in a big bowl). The dish came with the crispy pata sauce and bagoong for the kare kare. The kare kare sauce was just like how my dad makes it! I really like how the meat is crispy and stays crispy even after you drenched it with the kare kare sauce. The kare kare sauce also has a genourous amount of vegetables (bok choy, string beans, and eggplant) in it. Eat it with your bagoong fried rice and you can’t go wrong with that. I think this has to be part of my last meal on Earth.

Inihaw na Bangus $12.50 – Grilled whole bangus (milkfish) topped with eggplant salsa: (my friend’s dish, wasn’t able to try it but it looks really good)

Halo Halo $5.50 – mixture of shaved ice, milk, jackfruit, sweetened beans, gelatin, topped with purple yam, leche flan, ube (taro) ice cream, and rice crispies (pinipig): You can’t really screw up this famous Filipino dessert, but the leche flan definitely stood out. It was really creamy. And they give you a hearty scoop of ube ice cream.

Another must try: GBL Delight $6.50 – vanilla ice cream on banana pies served with warm mango sauce, chocolate glaze and heath toppngs: We were able to try this one out since our friend ordered it. It’s a very unique and delicious dessert. I’m not really too big on chocolate, but I’ll eat it if it’s this.

Ambiance

We came here on a Saturday and there’s a “Tito Boy” singing and playing the piano. I thought that was actually pretty cute. The lights were a bit dimmed inside, but it doesn’t have a romantic feel. The place was kinda small, but clean.

Service

Our server was nice, but not that attentive. I’m not sure if they have a rule of filling up you glass of water by request or something, but I had to flag him down for it. The crispy kare kare had the longest wait, but it was understandable that it’ll take awhile to fry. We lost track of time and ended up staying there way through closing, but we didn’t feel rushed out to leave the place.

Final Thoughts: I checked the review on Yelp on this restaurant after eating here, and I was sad to see that it only has 3 stars. I really enjoyed the food here and the 3 star rating doesn’t do it justice even just basing it on the crispy kare kare and bagoong fried rice. I’d have to say that this is definitely way better than Max’s Restaurant (sorry). I think the silence that hover the table while we eat was enough to prove that especially since we all talk a lot.  This place is quite a drive for me, but I wouldn’t mind driving all the way down here again.

The Green Banana Leaf Restaurant

13089 Peyton Dr
Chino Hills, CA 91709
(909) 465-9541
http://www.greenbananaleaf.com

25 Degrees

Better than your 90’s boyband.

Food

The burger is so good and so juicy (that’s what she said) that every bite is a different level of happiness.

Half and Half (French Fries and Sweet Potato Fries) $6: The fries was garnished with herbs and a bit too salty for my taste, but nothing like a side of ranch couldn’t fix. Both fries and sweet potato fries were perfectly crunchy!

Number One $12 – caramelized onions, prelibato gorgonzola, crescenza, arugula, bacon, with thousand island sauce: The cheese worked really well with the bitterness of the argula and the saltyness of the bacon.

Number Three $12 – mezzo secco jack, green chili, chipotle, and avocado:  The green chili gave the burger a good kick (not so much spicy), but the avocado was kinda barely there since it was overpowered by the chili. The burger as a whole tasted so fresh and definitely has a unique taste.

Ambiance

Not quite your romantic date place but it has a big bar inside with booths surrounding it. It’s cozy inside since the place is pretty small and it feels like a fancy pub where you’ll probably would hang out after work for happy hour.

Service

The servers could be a little nicer. I don’t know if we were just lucky with the one that we had, but she could have a better attitude. Their service was also on the slower side considering that the place was not even packed. So I can only imagine how things are like when things get crazy in there.

Location

25 degrees is located in Huntington Beach and within walking distance to the beach and outdoor shopping plaza. Parking is available on the street (if you get really lucky) or inside the parking structure across the street, but the restaurant doesn’t validate.

Final Thoughts: I enjoyed the burgers so much that I overlooked the not so friendly servers. I’m not sure which burger I liked the most since they are pretty much apples to oranges when it came to to taste. Nonetheless, they were both really, really good. If you want to try it somewhere closer, they also have one in Hollywood.

25 degrees
412 Walnut Ave
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 960-2525

Studio B Show Kitchen Buffet at the M Resort (M Buffet)

Hands down the best buffet in Las Vegas.

M Buffet > Rio Carnival Buffet.

To get a better bang for your buck, try to go on a lunch weekday the all you can eat rate is only $14.99. However, they usually don’t serve King Crab legs during this time though.

Regardless, there’s just so much more to choose from. This is no Hometown Buffet! Their food is actually pretty gourmet and legit. I’ve never seen Kahlua Pork or Beef Panaang served in one place together. Not to mention they’re mighty tasty.

Kahlua Pork, Ahi Poke, Baked Mussels, Thai Noodles, Teriyaki Wings, and Chow Mein

Ox Tail Soup

Oreo Shooter, Tiramisu Shooter, Cookies and Cream gelato, Bread Pudding, and Pistachio Merigue

Flan

Watch another episode of Food Tours:

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen: Your Not-So-Ordinary Grilled Cheese

For the next few posts, I’ll be writing places we’ve ate in San Francisco. One thing we did there a lot was eat. And ate good food we did. When you visit San Francisco, you might want to hit up the places I’m about to mention. You will not regret it. First meal upon arriving from San Francisco: The American Grilled Cheese.

I’m not a big fan of your regular grilled cheese. I like cheese, but I just don’t fancy American cheese too much. I’ve also tried The Grilled Cheese truck here in LA, but it was ok.

But, The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen really showed me how gourmet grilled cheese is done.

Piglet: Tillamook sharp cheddar, artisan cured ham, apple mustard, rosemary butter $8

After visiting the awesome Beautylish team, we’ve asked them for some recommendations for places to eat around their area. Ning has suggested that we checked this place out and has highly raved about this place by pointing out that she’s already had twice within one week. So it must be that good.

The restaurant is in the corner of South Park Ave and 2nd Street. I can imagine parking being difficult in this area (just like the rest of San Francisco), but the parking gods were good to us the whole weekend that parking was almost never an issue while we were there. The restaurant has outdoor and limited indoor seating which can be too close for comfort if it gets crowded. But since we had a pretty late lunch (around 2 pm) that day, there was barely anybody eating at the time, so we didn’t have to worry about waiting to find a seat for two.

We had to order our food first before getting seated.

Mushroom Gruyere: fontina, gruyère, roasted wild mushrooms + gold potatoes, melted leeks, caramelized onions, thyme butter ($9)

I ordered the Mushroom Gruyere. The bread itself was really good. I can eat that alone for days. It was toasted with a perfect crunch at every bite. The cheese is so ooey and gooey and it made a good combination with the mushroom. It wasn’t too overwhelming. It’s also interesting how they incorporated potatoes with it. For some instances, I almost thought that the mushrooms were some sort of meat. The whole thing was just really good and very filling for me for something that doesn’t have a piece of meat included.

While the boyfriend ordered the Piglet Grilled Cheese Sandwich: “The first thing that came to mind upon the first bite…’wow.’ The golden brown rye bread wasn’t over-toasted, but it was enough to make that perfect crunch sound with every chew. Bursting out the sides was the chunky ham contrasted by the melted, gooey cheddar cheese. The mustard added that extra oomph to make you want more after every bite! Delicious is not a good enough word to describe the Piglet; Damn good sounds much better. The apple that came with the sandwich was a good taste to follow up with the sharp cheddar. Everything washed down well with the Empire brand cola from Rhode Island.”

Pretty empty since we went after the lunch rush.

It’s also nice how their sandwiches come with an apple. They have a selection of drinks that you would normally not find in a regular restaurant. The décor of the restaurant is contemporary. Aside from the bar area, the dining area is along the windows of the restaurants which makes your dining experience a little bit more enjoyable looking outside. The staff was nice and friendly, but our food took some time before it came out even though it wasn’t crowded at the time.

Our view from where we were seated.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen is one of those stops you have to make in San Francisco. I’m really jealous that we don’t have this in Los Angeles! But this place is a must try if you’re ever in San Francisco.

The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen
1 S Park Ave
San Francisco, CA 94107
(415) 243-0107
www.theamericansf.com/

What’s for Dinner: Taco Rice

Why hello? It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog. But I have been making my way into the kitchen more often now. I’ve finally have come to a realization that I can’t just survive off microwavable dinners.

Cooking is not really that bad. Half of the time I’m just too lazy, too tired, etc…. etc. But, I’ve been making myself cook at least three nights a week.

So a few nights ago, I stumbled on the Taco Rice Recipe. It’s almost like Chipotle’s burrito bowl, but not. It’s so easy to make that it’s embarrassing, and it’s also very inexpensive to make.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb of ground beef
• chopped lettuce
• 1 tomato
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. of minced garlic
• grated cheese
• vegetable oil
• 1 cup of rice (raw)
• avocado (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare rice.
2. Chop lettuce and tomato then set it aside.
3. Cook ground beef in vegetable oil with garlic until it’s brown. Add taco seasoning for flavor (follow the packet instruction).
4. Once your beef and rice are done cooking, mount the beef, lettuce, tomato, and cheese on top of the rice. Add slices of avocado if you want.

And that’s it. Super easy to make. A no-brainer recipe for those who are just starting to learn how to cook. I mean how bad can you really mess this up. Serve with your favorite ice cold drink and grub.

Chego on my Mind

When it comes to food with me, when I have really, really mean cravings, almost nothing can stop me until I’m satisfied. For example, last year around summer time, my friends from work just had this month long cravings for Korean BBQ that for one week alone we had it three times. After work we would drive from the valley to LA, just to satisfy our belly albeit being unhealthy and expensive over time. If you had seen my credit card bill that month, it was pretty much nothing but Korean BBQ. Ridiculous.

Well, last weekend my latest food craving hit. It was Chego.

Although it wasn’t as bad as my Korean BBQ diet, it was just one of those I have to have it because thinking about it is just not enough. I guess after having all these talk about going a few days before just really stimulated my mind and Chego was all I can think about!!! It was a tad crazy. But how disappointed was I when I found out last minute that the trip to this place cancelled? So I just waited for the next day so I can make the trip to Santa Monica with Jon instead… because I MUST HAVE IT.

My first experience with Chego was with my friend Kristian. He’s probably one of the people I’d go to for recommendations for good food. He took me and the boyfriend one day there to have dinner, and I never thought I’d like the place so much considering majority of their food was spicy. I’ve also taken friends from out-of-state during their recent visit, and they both loved it as much as I did. Nothing warms my heart when people love the places I’ve recommended.

Chego is your place for Korean soul food/fusion cuisine. Fusion food sometimes are either really good or just plain trying hard. The owner of Chego is the same owner of Kogi which made me a bit skeptical about the food considering I am not really a big fan of the Kogi truck (way too salty and all hype). But I was pleasantly surprised once I’ve tried Chego’s food. For someone who hates spicy food, or at least try to stay away from it, I really like it despite of the spicy factor. Mind over matter and lots of water when I’m grubbing. It might have something to do with that it’s different from my usual meals. It was so much flavor, color, and just appetizing. And their rice dishes have fried eggs on top!

Let me back track a bit on the things I’ve tried on their menu:

Chubby Pork Belly: Kochujang-lacquered kurobuta, with fried egg, pickled watermelon radishes, water spinach, cilantro, cotija, peanuts ($8) – I’d probably recommend this if it’s your first time, if you don’t mind eating pork. This was actually my meal on my first visit and has become my favorite. The pork is grilled almost just like a Filipino styled pork bbq. I’m not a fan of cilantro so much so I tend to pick those out (I always forget to mention not to put any on my food). If your pallete is sensitive to spicy food, you might want to request a non-spicy version of it, but sometimes even their mild spice is too hot to handle for the ones who eat spicy food.

Tiny’s Prime Rib Rice Plate: chili-rubbed, with fried egg, water spinach, creamed horseradish, roasted garlic serrano paste, shallots ($9) – Another good yet safe pick for those who are unsure what to get. What I like about this dish is that their prime rib was so tender and juicy!

Ooey Gooey Fries fries:  sour cream sambal, melting monterey jack and cheddar cheese, cotija, chillies, cilantro, pickled garlic ($5) – YOU. MUST. HAVE. THIS. WHEN. YOU. EAT. THERE. Don’t even think twice. Just get it. Just as the name suggests… it’s ooey and gooey. Despite the ooey gooey-ness on top of the fries, the fries stay crispy and fresh. The best spinoff of cheese fries for me (minus the cilantro that picked out one-by-one).

Sour Cream Hen House:  grilled chicken with fried egg, Chinese broccoli, sour cream sambal, Thai basil, sesame, red jalapeño ($7) – For my recent visit, I decided to be a risk taker and try a different dish on the menu. Big mistake. I wasn’t too much of a fan of this dish. I don’t know what it is but I was a bit underwhelmed by the chicken. It didn’t have the same appeal to me as the prime rib or the pork. This just kind of remind me of a Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bol on steroids. It was just way too much flavor going on with the spicy sour cream, onions, and cilantro.

Strong Like An Ox Peasant Soup:  leeks, rice, taro, daikon, chili leaves, mountain herbs, soulful bliss ($9) – This was what Jon had. I didn’t bother taking a picture of it since they had mentioned it was their last day that day serving this. They tend to switch up some of their specials once in awhile. The guy at the counter described this as their version of the Filipino dish called ‘Nilaga’. It did remind me of it, but it looked nothing like it .  It didn’t look too appetizing to me as it looks like random crap has been thrown inside a pot with soup. Just like majority of their menu, it was more on the spicy side. I didn’t really like it much, but Jon seemed to have enjoyed it and cleaned his plate.

My last visit might not have been the best one out of the three. If I didn’t order the Ooey Gooey Fries again, it might have been just a total let down that day. So the Ooey Gooey Fries had saved the day. Nonetheless, I think Chego is one of those you have check out when you’re around the Culver City area. But be warned that this place is located in a small plaza so parking will be a biatch, and they’re also only open for dinner time.

Chego
3300 Overland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 287-0337
Tue-Sat, 5:30PM-11:30PM

Nat’s West Cafe: Breakfast of the Champions

Long Friday nights means a tough Saturday morning. I try not to make it a habit to sleep-in until 1 pm and completely missing breakfast or having a really, really late lunch. It just throws everything off for the day. Despite what the conditions are I have to be out of bed by 10 am the latest (I try to at least). Besides, I kinda feel that sleeping for the majority of the day is a total waste of time.

Breakfast is really not part my regular diet on a work week. I’d rather invest the extra 20 mins of preparing and eating my breakfast into sleep. I wake up and go to work early as it is.

But, weekends are a different story, I suppose.  I kinda like the idea of having breakfast or even brunch. Fresh orange juice, sunny side up eggs, or whatever other breakfast item that comes to mind. Breakfast or brunch just makes the day more official.

This past Saturday, we dragged our butts up for brunch. Since Denny’s wasn’t even an option, we turned in to Yelp for some bombdiggity advice. We were feeling adventurous, so we decided to try something we’ve never tried and headed out to Nat’s West Cafe in Canoga Park.

As most of you know, Canoga Park isn’t one of the nicest neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley, although it’s still no East LA. But like I mentioned, feeling adventurous. So we entered the the diner, and the first thing I noticed… employees looked like gangsters? All were tatted up, mostly shaved head, with that uniform cholo look. Not trying to discriminate, but that was literally the first thought on my mind.

But, do not be fooled. They were all very amiable and welcoming. We were greeted with friendly smiles upon entering. After we got seated, we were joking around that maybe they run this restaurant in the daytime, and then their gang or mafia group at night. Everyone has to pay bills, yo.  

Whether that’s true or not, we were here to see what this place was all about after seeing their 4-star ratings on Yelp.

It took us awhile before we decided on what to order. Jon wanted to point out his order in the picture hence the finger-pointing on the menu. He went for the French Toast (with a home spicy turkey sandwich patty) and scrambled eyes while I got the Home Sausage Omelette with chunky potatoes and a sourdough toast, and we also both got fresh-squeezed orange juice.

So while waiting for our food, I was snapping away when they brought us the jams.

Below, is their strawberry jam. I don’t quite recall whether these were homemade. But, I really like the strawberry jam on my toast. It wasn’t too sweet like those store bought jams. It was just right.

This one was their Apricot Pineapple jam. I was a bit iffy on trying out this one in the beginning, but sticking to being adventurous, I gave it a shot. I ended up really liking it afterwards.

And here’s a shot of the salsa. 

And wow, the orange juice!! It was so sweet, fresh, and pulpy! Just the way I like it.

And then the food came. The guy laid our food in front of us. I didn’t know what to do. The portions were so gigantic! I could probably eat it for days.

So here’s Jon’s French Toast meal. Four big halves of french toast. It almost looks impossible to eat it. I can’t speak for how his meal was. So stay tuned for his blurb which be updated later. But for now, pictures will do.

And here’s my breakfast. Umm… how am I suppose to finish this? This can probably feed two or even three people. Only champions can eat a meal this big. Sadly, I am not. I barely made a dent on my food even after attempting to eat more.

But wow, they hooked it up with the avocados! I love avocados. The potatoes were good, but could use a little more salt. The omelette is almost not an omelette as it’s mostly chunks of patties, mushroom, and spinach. Definitely not the type of omelette you’ll get at Denny’s or IHOP. It was just so hearty, and well huge.

You can tell how many eggs they put in this omelette.

Nicely toasted bread with strawberry jam.

And the aftermath. Last bite of the French toast.

Killed it.

I didn’t snap a picture of my aftermath plate because it was just embarrassing. Like I mentioned early, barely made a dent to it. I was looking at it and felt bad and defeated.

If you have a really, really big appetite for breakfast or brunch definitely check this place out. This place is not for those who eat like a bird. Their portions are really huge. This place is only reserved for those who can eat like a champion.

Nat’s West Cafe
8336 Topanga Canyon Blvd
Canoga Park, CA 91304
(818) 340-4500

Cross-streets: Topanga Canyon and Roscoe

Chicken Tinola: My ultimate comfort food

As most of you might have known by now, my immune system has once failed me again. I don’t know what’s going around right now, but it’s summer time and it’s unlikely for me to be this ill. So sick, that I’ve missed three days of work because of the back aches, flu, fever, and everything else that can stop you from functioning properly.

Since I’ve moved out of my parents house, one thing I miss about living at home is having a home cooked meal. It’s so sad that you actually have to prepare your own food even when you’re sick and crippling. If you don’t make food, you’d just starve to death… which can only make matters worse.

I am no cook. I didn’t really do any cooking activities for the past 23 years of my life. Maybe I’ll cook for special occasions, if I feel like it, or my parents have gone some where and I have to make my own food (oh the horror when that happens). I mean I didn’t really feel the need to cook. My dad, who is 95% the chef of the house, has spoiled us with awesome food with his awesome cooking skills. I’m usually just there to enjoy and devour what ever he serves.  And I was fine with that.

But then upon moving out, reality finally hit me. I was on my own. I actually have to make my own dinner (cue horror music  here)!!! My parents had always encourage me to learn how to cook. But nope, didn’t bother. I always figured I’d learn when I have to. I remember my parents would always make a comment: “We feel bad for your future husband. His own wife won’t know how to cook.” And my response would be along the lines of: “Well, obviously he HAS to be pretty good cook… just like papa. Or else, it’s not even happening!”

Anyway, well I moved out first before getting married (as it should be). But this only forces me to get in touch with my domesticated side.  So here I was, pondering on what to make, and have finally decided to make my favorite Filipino dish: Chicken Tinola!

I know most of you (Filipinos), your favorite food is either Sinigang or Bistek. Nope. Not me. I’ve always looooooved tinola. Especially if it came with liver. Yes. Liver. I can eat liver with Tinola as long as it’s mushed into smithereens with soy sauce mixed with my rice. Nom nom nom. Sadly, I didn’t have chicken liver and driving to the market wasn’t an option.

So here’s some pictures of how I prepared my tinola. Don’t ask me for the recipe since I just guesstimated everything per mi madre’s instruction. Besides, just Google the recipe and I’m sure you’ll find a kajillion results for it. Again, I am no way claiming I’m the best cook in the entire world. I’m merely documenting the painstaking procedure of making my own dinner *cries*.

1. Gather up your ingredients!

2. Peel slice or dice the chayote and the ginger.  I  love chayote so I loaded up on it.

3. Saute the garlic and ginger til the ginger is golden brown.

4. Add the chicken. Let it simmer in medium heat to let the chicken cook.

5. Once the chicken has browned, add water and increase the heat to bring it up to a boil.

6. After a few minutes of boiling the chicken to let it cook some more, add your fish sauce and salt. Let it simmer for awhile then add your chayote and cover your pot.

7. Once your chayote and chicken are tender, add spinach. Let it simmer for about five minutes. And it’s ready!

And here’s the money shot!

And then serve it with rice and you’re good to go!

It actually wasn’t that bad preparing it. If anything, the peeling of the ginger was probably the most tedious part of the whole ordeal. Anyway, I’ve prepared a meal as if I was making dinner for a 4. So I’d be eating this for the next few days for lunch and dinner. I don’t really mind since it’s my favorite.

Food Trucking: WorldFare busTaurant

Ever since this whole food truck/food fusion/twitter chasing phenom that Koji started, food trucks similar to Koji have been popping up left and right. I mean why now? Mexican food trucks always have been around. They’ve always served breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night snacking. But when Koji came into the picture, this whole food trucking became a big craze.

When it comes down to it, it’s the ingenuity of these dishes, whether it be appearance or taste, that makes us want to try and chase these trucks. They’re more on the gourmet side compared to our beloved Mexican trucks. Or maybe, the fact that we have to look for it and wait in line for two hours makes us want it even more.

I finally checked out what the hype was all about with these food truck in Venice Beach, where every first Fridays, all the food trucks congregate in the streets of Abbot Kinney.

Be warned that parking is a beyotch. And yes, the line will still be long for some of them (i.e. Cool Haus, Koji, and that Dim Sum truck). But why go? Because you actually get to see the rest of the food truck business in one area. No need to chase them down because they will stay posted from 6 pm to 10 pm which also leaves you enough of time to try out the other trucks and eat. And, Abbot Kinney Blvd is pretty lively with other bars surrounding the area.

As we walked around to check out what’s available, we finally decided to try on the WorldFare busTaurant (as what they refer to their food truck).  With a myriad of choices, we ended up here because  for the reason that it had the shortest line and we were already starving trying to decide which truck to go to.

World Fare was the first food truck I’ve ever tried (food truck meaning in the likes of Koji) although World Fare is actually a food truck on steriods as it’s a double-decker that provides a dining area on its rooftop.

Neither of us were familiar with what World Fare has to offer. We look at the menu and wonder “wth is a bunny chow?”  Well, a bunny chow is a hollowed-bread stuffed with a filling of your choice (chicken curry, short-ribs, BBQ braised pork, meatballs or vegetarian chili).  The bread is soft enough that you can use a fork to eat it, but you can go ahead and use your hands to pick it up and eat it.

So I’ve finally decided to the get the first combo: Two bunny chows (both with chicken curry), with truffle mac and cheese, and a cookie ($10), and a strawberry basil lemonade ($2.50) to wash it down. While the bf got the third combo with three bunny chows (two chicken curry and one with short-ribs) ($13)  instead (as pictured below) and got the drink of the day which was the blueberry mint tea lemonade ($2.50). We also got a red velvet cheesecake bunny for desserts.

Since they closed the dinning area for the night because they had a band playing there instead, we had to sit and get comfortable on the sidewalk and eat our meal.

OH. EM. GEE. Everyone must try their truffle mac and cheese balls. It was ooey and gooey inside yet crisp on the outside. I think these are the best mac and cheese balls I’ve had to date! I was literally savoring every bit of it. It definitely hit the spot.

On to the bunny chows, I wasn’t too crazy about the chicken curry, but I really liked the short-rip that J got. But, the curry was still warm and fresh. It was pretty easy to eat since the bread was soft.  I just kinda wish they put more chicken on my order.

And to wash it all down, I had the strawberry basil lemonade. I really, really liked the slight basil flavor since it made the drink that much more refreshing. It wasn’t super sweet like how most strawberry lemonade tastes like. If summer had a taste, this would be the drink. As far as their drink of the day, the blueberry mint tea lemonade, it tasted more like cough syrup to me and didn’t really like it, but the bf said that the taste grew on him after having a few sips.

As for the dessert, the free homemade chocolate cookie it came with was soooo good. It was both chewy and crunchy. Definitely get the combo and get it with a cookie! The red velvet cheesecake bunny was also good, but then again, I have SusieCakes red velvet cupcakes as my standards. We got the cheesecake bunny still fairly warm, but it was actually better after it cooled down. The cake part was still moist even after eating it the next day (yes, I saved some of it!). They’re kinda tiny for what they cost though.

Overall, the WorldFare busTaurant is definitely one of the food trucks to try if you’re looking into something more on the gourmet side. And it’s also nice how they do provide a dinning area to enjoy your meal (sadly, not the night we went).  But their truffle mac and cheese ball and strawberry lemonade are definitely worth the try! We were pretty happy that our hunger and impatience led us to the right truck!