Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Black Cow Cafe Montrose



2219 Honolulu Ave
Montrose, CA 91020
(818) 957-5282
Black Cow Cafe on Urbanspoon
You will be glad that you read this review. The place opens for coffee at 7am, but doesn't start serving breakfast til 9am on Saturday. Well played black cow. My friend and I arrived a bit earlier, thinking that we'd be the first to go there and not have to wait in a line. The plan totally backfired. Gave us sometime to shoot some footage for our short video clip.

Black cow offers a softly lit interior with brick walls. That matched with the wooden tables and chairs. Works very well for that rustic feel. It's the type of ambiance you want to have in the morning. Generous portions of food, friendly service, and everything decently price. It's one of the better breakfast/brunch place I've tried a while.

We ordered the corn beef skillet, the eggs Benedict, and an order of crunchy French toast to share. And we washed it all down with a large order of their Columbia dark roast French pressed coffee. It was a full-on assault on breakfast.
-corn beef skillet, the sauce on this was delicious. The eggs were perfectly cooked. My only complaint for this dish was that it was slightly too salty. Think they forgot to compensate for the saltiness in the corn beef.
-the eggs Benedict, love the fact that they used a croissant instead of the traditional English muffin. I'm sure you can still get it with an English muffin if you asked.
-crunchy French toast, not the best French toast in town, but it was not bad at all.
-French press, this is the good stuff. Bold in flavor and rich in consistency. Definitely a coffee lover's dream.

Everything came out to be about $42. If you think about it, we ate enough to feed 3 people. Just ordered a bit more because we wanted to try as much as they have to offer. There's metered parking up in front and parking lot in the back. Started to be super busy around 10am. Check out our video for this place. If you want to see more, make sure to subscribe to us on youtube. Leave a common in the section to tell us how we're doing!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Ladybug Tea House Alhambra



1457 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 316-3197

Was looking for a tea house in the 626, hopped on yelp to find one with good ratings, and this was the one that caught my eyes, 200ish reviews and a solid 4 out 5 stars. It was the night's winner for the meeting place with friends.

Seems like your typical tea place. Red walls, beige stripes, black tables and $3ish teas! They do have a $2 milk tea special with your yelp check in. I got the passion fruit green tea. It was fruity and refreshing. I asked for a quarter sweet and it was still a bit sweet. I suppose their syrup or powder already comes sweeten. Nothing really special about the drink though. By that, I mean like little pieces of fruits or something. 

I originally had wanted the barley milk tea. But unfortunately they did not have that. The cashier did not know what that was. The smoothies sounded really good. Too bad I'm not a teenager anymore. Curse you aging metabolism! 

My friend brought his camera, check out the video for a better feel for the ambiance. Subscribe to me on yelp or youtube for more reviews!

Ganache Patisserie & Cafe By Nicol



141 N Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 943-8688
Ganache Patisserie & Cafe By Nicol on Urbanspoon
For almost about a year now that I've always just drove passed this place. Finally had the chance to experience this place. At first, I thought it was just a cafe that mainly served coffee. Then I saw the food menu, then the beautiful pastries and dessert, then the coffee and tea in the back! When we showed up, a couple was just leaving the restaurant. It was pretty much empty for about 20 or so minutes. Right around 9pm, 2 or 3 groups came in about the same time. All of a sudden, the place seem packed. Not sure if it's normally like this.

The restaurant:
The contemporary design with a mixture of simple colors and fixtures and it easy on the eyes. I appreciate the little decors that was paced on the wall, but it's only on one side of the wall. The lamps or chandeliers that hung on the ceiling made a nice effect on the wall that was decorated. I like how the place is designed. Looks modern, its clean, and very efficient for a small space like this.

The goods:
We ordered 2 lattes, large(It was $3.50 for small, $.50 more for large IIRC). One original, one decaf. Both came out fairly quick and tasted good. I really enjoyed the wavy Coaster they used for the mugs. It is a nice touch. To accompany our coffee, I ordered the Ganache Crispy Apple Tile. On the menu, it definitely did not look as interesting as the cakes. However, I figured it's the signature dish, I figured I would take a chance and try it. Seems like I've made the right decision. It was great with the latte. The tiles were nice and crispy. Vanilla sauce and ice cream really brings it together. Just like how the restaurant made me felt when I first walked in, it was clean and simple. That was $10 for the regular size. Both drinks were reasonably priced. I am sure the pastry was too, if it was in LA. But we're not in LA, so I think it was a bit over priced for the portion. It's probably $1 or $2 too much.

The service:
Service was pretty good. Our server was very helpful and courteous. She did make a mistake on the decaf latte, but it was no big deal. Was a little disappointed that there was no internet that night. 

Final thoughts:
If given the chance, the cute aesthetics and award winning pastries would easily win  you over. Just keep in mind that it's not really a bakery, and it's not a coffee shop. It's a place to indulge your sweet tooth. A nice little place for some dessert and drinks. Check out the video that my friend and I have made. It's a better visual presentation for the restaurant. If you like our video, please give us and thumbs up. Subscribe on youtube to see more!

Tea brick Monterey Park



501 W Garvey Ave
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 759-3021


Weird theme.
Hard to find.
Unique drinks.

I've lowered my rating for this place because of one reason, the place is tiny. If you wanted to grab a table here, good luck. The usual customers that dine in are people who stay for hours on end(so it seems). There probably a max seating capacity of 20 or so people. 

However, it makes up for the lack in space with wonderful delicious drinks. The whole brick theme is lost to me. Someone tell me why it's Tea brick! It's not a big deal, because tea shops need character. Seems like a new places are popping up on the daily. The interesting names for the drinks(Girlfriend, Vanessa, Look Sensation). Makes you really wonder how a Vanessa tastes like. Definitely tickles my curiosity. 

On this trip...I had the secret paradise. It's yellow drink with tea, pineapple flavor, some chunks of aloe, a ton of that seed thing. It's not too sweet and everything works magically. Very refreshing and satisfying after a nice hearty meal. My buddy Sam S. had the mango tea. He liked his drink. And I'm going to just ended with that.

Tea Brick is definitely gonna be a go to place for kids, teens, and young adults. They're interesting concepts bring imagination in the "boba scene." Check out our video of this place on the link below. Make sure to subscribe to us on youtube if you would like to see more. Tell us what you thought at the comment section below!