rice cake confessional

Warning: If you are one of those people who doesn’t like it when their food touches, do not read this post. This is by far some of the randomest food I’ve put together on one plate. I suppose it’s what happens when you eat at a buffet. Even so, it deserves a warning.

I found myself in Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey’s old hood after the LA shenanigans at Ritual the night before. I later saw this place on an episode of Rock of Love. Pretty classy right? For real though, Sagebrush is a pretty neat place. Laid back with sawdust on the floors, friendly servers, lots of champagne, and completely unpretentious food it’s a nice way to spend a Sunday brunch.

My first plate included country style potatoes, a tamale, a slice of pizza, and lasagna. The lasagna and pizza shared the same sauce which was tangy and good. It was like some doctored canned version, the kind of lasagna your mom would make. (Not my mom, she doesn’t make lasagna but you get what I mean.) The masa in the tamale was nice and soft but still had that nice mealy texture.

Check out this shot of Jesse hacking away at the largest rib I’ve ever seen.

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Still sick at home for the third day in a row. Too lazy to rummage through the picture archives to dig out something totally new. I do, however, have a few posts teed up and ready to go. This one is another from LA/Disney weekend about 2-3 weeks ago.  Off to peruse those new templates again, stay well!

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Whenever I hear the words ‘California Chicken Cafe’ I recall a particularly funny Jane story where she repeatedly demands California Chicken Cafe until she drives her brother insane. Hah. Imagine my delight to finally get a taste of the famous chicken.

We went to the CCC in the Valley after Thai massages at Pho Siam (no, not a pho place). I recommend both the chicken and the thai massages. Can you tell I had a good day?

I’m a white meat person and my piece was moist and tender inside with a nicely roasted and seasoned outside. Warm tortillas, mashed potatoes, and chopped Chinese cabbage salad rounded out the meal. They have lots of different dips and sauces you can choose from – everything from sweet and sour sauce to tapatio, and pico de gallo. I can’t remember the exact price but it was reasonable given the quality of the quickie meal.

Tasty shot of the salad as a parting gift.

Yet another chain that has yet to make its way to the Bay. 4****

California Chicken Cafe: 18445 Nordhoff Street Northridge, California 91325

I unexpectedly found myself at famed Taiwan-based dumpling house Din Tai Fung last Monday night – in Arcadia of all places. Long story short, I was at Disneyland with no dinner plans and tagged along with JenLui and her college friends. One Mini Cooper ride and 40 minutes later -> soup dumplings in Arcadia.

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Everyone has one of these. That place they go to after a night out on the town. Generally, you don’t visit these places unless you (or your friends) have been drinking a bit and it’s sometime in the middle of the night already. For the Bay Area homies, it’s Yuet Lee. For my LA homies, it’s good ol’ Big Tomy’s.

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So if you’re a snobby sushi eater than Sushi Mac is not the place for you. However, if you’re a broke ass college student then haul ass over here. Where else can you get a no frills sushi meal for only $2.75 a plate?

When I was in college (do I sound ancient yet?) we went to Sushi Mac about once a week during my junior year. Back then we had to make the trek from UCLA to Sherman Oaks for our sushi fix. Back then the plates were $2.50 each! They got wise to their demographic and opened one not far from campus on Sawtelle near Olympic in the Ross shopping center about a year or so after I graduated. Nice timing, Sushi Mac. During a recent romp in LA I was stumped as to where to eat and decided on Sushi Mac – partly for the convenience, partly for the memories, mostly for the spicy mayo.

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