Hello! The other day, I went to this restaurant/patisserie for dinner with my family and it was called Bottega Louie. It was my second time dining there, but I hadn't been there in so long that it felt like it was my first visit! It has a candle light dinner type of feel, but leans toward the casual side. There's a bit of a wait before you can get a table (no reservations), so it's basically a time where you can chat with whoever you go with for a while, or crack open a book to read as you wait.
Being an Italian based restaurant, the menu consists of, obviously, Italian food! There are salads, pizzas, pastas, soup, steak, and multiple other sides and dishes.
Here's what I ordered:
Because I don't have a very big appetite, I skipped the salads and soups and went straight to the main course. I'm fairly sure this dish above was called the trenne pasta (but don't quote me on that!). Basically, it's a pasta that's cooked until it's nice and crispy, and while people think it's overcooked, it really isn't. There's some spinach and short ribs hidden within the dish, and a very light tomato sauce coating it. I wouldn't exactly recommend this dish, mostly because the pasta texture didn't appeal to me, but that's just my own personal opinion. Who knows? Maybe you'll enjoy it ^^!
This lovely dessert above is the chocolate soufflé! It takes about 20 minutes to make, so the waiter recommended ordering it at the same time as we ordered our entrees. As you can see, the milky syrup was poured onto the soufflé to add a slightly sweeter taste, but I would skip that part if the chocolate is sweet enough for you. This wasn't the best soufflé I'd ever had (perhaps I'm just too picky), but it was definitely worth a try.
And of course, because Bottega Louie has an amazing selection of desserts, I just had to buy a few to take home.
The packaging they use is absolutely adorable! Above is a small box they use for cakes (and depending on the sizes, the boxes have different colors).
Here is the princess cake. The outside is, of course, chocolate (did I ever mention how much I'm in love with chocolate?) with little chocolate flower decorations. The red is icing just to add a bit more decor. Inside is chocolate mousse and at the very bottom is.... a macaron cookie :o! I'd never had anything like this before and was surprised at the unique touch they added. The chewy texture of the macaron went perfectly with the soft and smooth mousse. It's a little bit too sweet, so I wouldn't have too much at a time, but I loved every bite of it!
Last but certainly not least, we have a box of thirteen macarons! Bottega Louie has a selection of twelve different types of macaron flavors. Unfortunately, they were sold out of a flavor, so I only managed to get eleven, but I got an extra of the earl grey and vanilla macaron to fill up the box. Along with those flavors, they have raspberry, strawberry, rose, chocolate orange, lemon (I believe), espresso, lavender, pistachio, and... well, there's definitely one that I can't remember >< but, they're all amazing! The cookie part is nice and chewy, and the cream on the inside is just as delicious. What's also unique is that the earl grey macaron has edible glitter on it~
And that pretty much sums up my second visit to this wonderful restaurant and patisserie! If you're into sweets more than you're into the actual meal itself, I would give this place a visit.
Here's the address: 700 S Grand Ave, Lost Angeles, CA 90017
Thanks so much for reading my post, and I hope to see you guys again next time :)!
I went out for an early birthday dinner with Cherry c:
We went to the chain Benihana, a Japanese restaurant that is mostly circled around Tepenyaki-style dining.
*Cherry and I are actually not fans of greasy/buttery foods, so we each ordered a Sashimi Plate. (We both love sashimi btw.)
The starter was a mushroom/chives soup, and honestly it was really salty and tasted like soy sauce mixed with water.
There was also a salad, that had a good amount of greens and tomatoes. That was good, but I always say that starters can take away the real taste of the main dish.
So the sashimi plate had 5 different types of fish with 3 slices each. The fish was not of GREAT quality that day, but it was alright and wasn't too fishy.
Cherry enjoyed it X)
The presentation was really pretty, and there was a good amount of wasabi and ginger.
You can see the fish has a nice color, but it didn't taste as good as it looked.
I would reccommend getting a smaller plate of sashimi/sushi if you wish to get raw fish dishes, but it is pretty pricey (1pc -- $3.20+).
The others enjoyed a nice tepenyaki dinner, where a chef stood in front of us and cooked different meats, rice, and veggies.
They ordered a fried rice, filet mignon, and lobster/shrimp combo.
They really enjoyed it, but it is really buttery food, so I wouldn't reccomend it for a light meal.
Onions
Lobster and Shrimp
As you can see, the grill is right in our table! :D Cool, right?
For dessert, they gave me a free ice cream! (Left is mine, right is Cherry's.)
Green tea flavored.
Rate this meal: 7/10 *^^*
Thank You guys for reading! c:
(Sorry I missed last week ; - ;)
- Krispy
P.S.I'll post my second b-day dinner later this week! And how about a new vanity tour? c;
Hello, everyone :)!
Lately we've been having a lot of food posts, huh? Did they make you hungry? Well, we're going to change paths a bit today. I'll be making a super quick post about a haul I just made a couple days ago!
Let's start, shall we :D?
From Bath and Body Works
Personally, when it comes to candles, I would rather buy small ones because I often get tired of something once I have it around for too long, so I stuck to these little guys. As you can probably tell, I love sugary, sweet scents (and they surprisingly don't make me hungry!). But I also decided to try out a more tropical scent ("Coconut Leaves") as this is a new line they started selling recently. I've tried out each of them once so far, and although it takes a while for the scent to fill up the room, they're absolutely amazing!
The last two things I got from Bath and Body Works were the "Beautiful Day" mini body spray and lotion. It has just enough of a floral and sweet, sugary smell to suit my... taste(?). I decided to get these mini sizes because I'm about to travel very often in a few weeks, and I know I won't want to drag around giant bottles of perfume and lotion, so I picked these up just to make traveling with my favorite scent easier!
Next, I went to the Bobbi Brown stall/cubicle/area in Nordstrom:
Reason behind this purchase? Simply because I was in dire need of a new concealer (break outs are my worst enemy), and my previous concealer wasn't cooperating with my combination skin ><! If you'd like a review on this, leave a comment down below :)!
Lastly, I stopped by Abercrombie & Fitch (on a last minute whim)
I have some negative feelings toward that controversial statement released by the CEO, but their clothing is still great quality, and sometimes have fairly unique styles. I won't let negative statements steer me away from high quality clothes.
I love Abercrombie's summer dresses, mostly because they're probably the only ones that don't look like giant, long bags on my body and actually fit. And since the only summer dresses I have are in my bad luck colors of the year (feng shui for the win...), I decided to get this cute, little sundress (my pictures do these pieces no justice... not my forte hahaha).
Last but not least, I got a denim jacket and a blue circle skirt. Reasons? Denim jackets are so diverse and I've been wanting one for who knows how long! Caught sight of this little one and thought it was absolutely perfect. For the circle skirt, I've had an obsession with circle skirts for quite a while (even though I only have one because most circle skirts are too big for me ><), and the soft, almost velvety texture really drew me in.
That's about it for this times haul! If you have any questions or comments, leave them down below in the comment section. Thank you so much for reading, loves :) Hope you liked this post, and I'll see you all next time!
SPICA is my favorite girl group. So, warning -- this will be biased. Their new MV deserves a lot more views than it currently has. I mean, the teaser has 6 million+ views and the MV has less than a million. How does that work? I don't understand -.-". Back to the tribute. I'll just be posting videos about why I like them. And maybe you'll start liking them, too. ^^
Their vocals are amazing! Even Juhyun, their rapper, has a pleasant voice. Below is a video of them singing "You Don't Love Me" on a radio station. No autotune. Credits to PDK MR Removed Official Channel.
Surprised? I was, too, when I heard it. Sure, their choreography may not be as complex, but their singing asdfghjkl. I personally first found them singing "Cups" from Pitch Perfect.
And individually....
If you've ever watched their variety show, you'd know that they walked miles up a mountain in heels, because Hyori told them to, only to find that Hyori was no longer waiting for them. Sure, it may have been variety, but still. They climbed the mountain :P (ahem, metaphor, referring to fans).
Anyway, I hope you guys will consider watching these videos :3
Hi loves!
A couple weeks ago, I went to a Korean café that my friend recommended for me: Cafe Maji! It was my first time going there, so I was definitely confused when I arrived at a gym. Yes, a gym. But, because Yelp is so helpful, I found out that you have to go inside the gym, sign in on a clipboard pinned up against the wall, and walk up a flight of stairs. Once you're up the stairs, you'll see a huge room that's basically separated into three compartments: two dance studios and the café (this part was about the size of two and a half dance studios).
There were three parts to the café: one was the kitchen where they made the food, another was behind a large "L" shaped bookshelf where there were several small tables set up, and the third was a more open sitting area with bigger tables for bigger parties of people (from what I could tell, the biggest was probably for six to eight people).
Now for the food!
The menu was absolutely adorable as you can see below.
I... definitely do not understand what's written on the cover, but if you guys can let me know, please comment below!
Once you open the menu, there are a couple of pages with cute pictures and quotes (take the time to read them, as they really add to the charm of the little café).
After the pictures and quotes, you'll finally see pictures of the food and drinks they offer.
Above, you'll see just a few of the drinks they have. They have a great varieties of flavors for lattes, and even have non-coffee (a.k.a. non-caffeinated) lattes! If you flip the page, you'll also see a series of cold/chilled drinks for warmer weather or if you just prefer colder drinks to hot.
After the drinks come the food! Now, like many other cafés, Cafe Maji offers a series of sandwiches. But what's unique is that they also offer quesadillas; not just any quesadillas either! They have bulgogi quesadillas! If you don't know what bulgogi is, it's basically a type of korean beef that's soft and easy to chew.
And, after the main course, there's of course desserts! The signature desserts of Cafe Maji are basically waffles with whipped cream, different types of fruit, and syrup. There are different options on the menu for different combinations of fruit on the waffles.
Here is what I ordered below~
This is the taro, non-coffee latte. All of their drinks come with a delicious cream puff on the side. It's kind of like a sweet appetizer. As you can see, the latte art is just as adorable as it is in the menu. You may not get to choose what type of art you get, but it's so cute I don't think you'll mind ><!
There's a creamy, fluffy layer of cream before you actually get to the flavored drink. This part may not appeal to many people. However, I have to say that this drink is really great after the cream layer. Usually, the taro flavor in a lot of drinks is either overwhelmingly sweet or way too starchy. But this latte was a great balance. I would definitely recommend it if you guys are into taro.
Next came the bulgogi quesadillas. So, one down side is that it takes half an hour before they serve you your order. I'm not quite sure why it takes so long (as there weren't that many guests when I was there), so if you're a bit impatient, I would suggest maybe bringing homework or a book to read to occupy your mind for a bit. But the food definitely made up for the time waited. The bulgogi was very soft and easy to chew and actually tasted really good with the classic quesadilla cheese. I have to say that there was definitely a little too much cheese for me, so I could barely finish two (I was more than glad that my mom decided to share with me). If you have a small appetite, bring someone to share with you :)
Now for the finale of the meal! I ordered a waffle with strawberries and blueberries (I'm allergic to bananas, but if you're not, I suggest trying it out :) it looked really yummy in the menu!). The waffle looks kind of small, but trust me, after the quesadilla, you'll barely be able to finish it (and again, I shared)!
The fruit was very sweet, though obviously sour once you had a taste of the syrup and the waffle. The cream was a bit excessive, but you can always scrape it off to the side. The waffle, to my expectations, became a bit soggy after a while because the plate is hot and the cream melts. All in all, I was a bit disappointed with the waffle, but the rest of the meal was absolutely great!
If I'm in the mood for a twist on café food, I'll make sure to stop by again! I wouldn't recommend visiting too often as you might get tired of always having the same type of food, but definitely check it out, and if you like it, come maybe once or twice a month for a treat!
Here's the address for you guys:
56 E Duarte Road, 2nd Floor, Arcadia, California 91006
Thanks for reading my first food post! Talk to you guys next time :)
So recently I went to a restaurant called Chosun Galbi, a place in Korea Town LA that focuses on (as you can guess) galbi! :D
I've gone there before; it's a great place to go with bigger parties (4+), and there's a great enviroment. It's a pretty spacious restaurant and all the waiters and waitresses are very polite.
They have valet parking!
The valet are quick and efficient in getting you in and out the restaurant. Inexpensive, and saves you the time looking for a parking space!
So let's get on with the food.
I'm not much of a meat-eater myself.
I prefer noodle and veggie dishes when it comes to barbecue (I'm not vegetarian).
First things first: the menu!
So the menu is written in Korean mostly, but there is an English description next to the korean, and it's pretty easy to get by just pointing at the words when ordering.
Menus are clean. You would think I wouldn't have to say that but trust me, I have seen some nasty stuff in menus.
Next: the grill!
The grills are always clean.
Don't worry about the hygiene because as usual, they will switch the grills between every 2-3 meat dishes, depending on what it is.
The next thing that arrived was the banchan (side dishes) and starter salads.
The banchan is good, man.
They have fish cake, pickled radish, the obvious kimchi, and just things from all over the rainbow.
These things all come out before meals and are usually complimentary.
So along with the banchan, a salad is also handed out to each person. The salad has a very small amount of dressing, which I believe is ponzu sauce, a type of Japanese soy sauce that is a bit tart. I think the salad is delicious, but theres is too little dressing to the point where all you taste is the spring onion mixed in with the lettuce.
Now on to my personal favorites: the noodle and soups!
So the first thing that was ordered was a Spicy Ox Bone Soup, which contains different veggies and some glass noodles (chapchae).
The soup comes in a large stone pot and is usually handed out in bowls by the waiter.
I would say it is pretty spicy, but we also ordered the Non-spicy Ox Bone Soup, and it is just as delicious so don't be afraid if you can't handle the spice! You aren't left out! :)
Next is Naengmyeon (cold noodles).
Hey, so you're probably wondering, who eats naengmyeon in the winter time? So weird.
But for me, having naengmyeon while eating bbq is bliss.
The meat is salty and hot, and the naengmyeon is a great cooler after the initial devouring of the meat.
Now to the main attraction: the meat!
This is beef.So this is a dish of raw beef that is traditionally eaten raw along with strips of radish. It is served cold, almost frozen, and is easy to eat. It is not chewy or bloody.
I was not used to eating raw meat straight-up, but after trying this dish several years ago, I'm not so scared to try! XD
Now for the real stuff.
Pictured is short-rib, and is served with the onion slices and mushrooms.
Delicious.
It takes no more than ten minutes to cook thoroughly, and is delicious when dipped in sauce.
We ordered other types of meats as well, and I personally liked the bulgogi, which is good for kids and is delicious with rice.
Beverages!
My family ordered a beer and shared it, and it was not too strong and our table of 9 cleaned off two bottles without one person getting tipsy whatsoever.
Sojuis usually the drink you would have with bbq.
I love this restaurant, but it is a high in fat meal so I wouldn't reccomend more than 2 times a month. (But you know, I probably won't follow my own advice.)
Thanks for reading my food posts! ^^*
Have a great weekend/week, everyone!
And if you ever visit Korea Town in Downtown LA, be sure to go to this restaurant for a good time! c:
Located just a few minutes away from Boiling Point is Jazz Cat, Krispy and my favorite restaurant.
I have to start out this blog post by saying that they have great customer service. The people are nice and the environment is good.
The food is delicious.
I recommend the spicy miso hot pot. It's not too spicy (like Boiling Point's Taiwanese Spicy >.<), so I still recommend trying it even if you can't take too much spice. The picture above shows the spicy house special, which is a seafood base. Krispy usually gets Korean Kimchi.
If you like meat and not vegetables, I recommend getting the T-rex, in which they give you more meat and less vegetables. And if you don't like rice, get the extra cellophane noodles for a few extra cents. I also recommend getting the squid ball appetizer :3.
Location: 121 E Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776
~ Nikki
Hello! It's Cherry, back with another quick review! This time, I'll be sharing with you all my reaction to B.A.P.'s new MV "1004 (Angel)."
First off, can I just say: ASDFGHJKL. I first saw the teaser, and literally, was drawn in so much that I couldn't wait for the MV and just kept watching the teaser on loop for like three days or so. And when the MV came out, I nearly passed out because I couldn't breathe (I am not exaggerating here)!
Now, onto the real review!
The MV starts out with a slightly haunting instrumental and Yongguk running through a deserted area with the bones of some massive creature sticking out of the ground. Because the instrumental was different from the one in the teaser, I thought that maybe they'd just teased us with an instrumental that wasn't from "1004." And when Yongguk was running in such an exasperated manner, I thought the song would be a downbeat, depressing ballad of some sort. And to be honest, those bones sticking out of the ground were just plain creepy to me, but held no sort of significance to me at first.
Then, the MV moved onto Daehyun in the living room with all of the antique-like objects, all prim and shiny. And that's when the actual instrumental started.
Oh my lord, that instrumental is absolutely beautiful! Immediately after hearing it (in the teaser and in the MV), I knew this would probably be literally my favorite song of the year (ask Krispy and Nikki, I already wanted B.A.P. to win best song, album, and artist of the year because of that instrumental, which is saying something). I hadn't even heard the vocals or raps yet, and I already knew I would love it. There was a great balance between the slower, gentler parts of the song and the intense, passionate parts, enhancing the song and bringing the appeal up. I think a wide range of people will find at least one part of this song they like.
Back to the actual MV, the slow motion affect really played well into this song. It matched the theme of the song, as well as the scenes each member was in, giving the overall MV a melancholic, sentimental mood. Himchan and Daehyun seem to be in the same room, but at different times. Yongguk is obviously in that gray desert with the bones protruding from the ground. Youngjae is in a mirror maze; Zelo's at an old amusement park; and Jongup's in front of a stone wall with an angel's wings engraved upon it.
Daehyun opened up the vocals to the piece, and his voice is so soft and gentle that it was as if he was afraid to sing the line too harshly. Yongguk then says a quick line in his husky voice, and that jumpstarts the passionate electric guitar. During this part in the instrumental, Jongup and Zelo break into a quick dance sequence which is just breathtaking! They're moves are so sharp and clean, they just make me crave for a dance version. The only down side to that one dance break was the Zelo, because of his long legs, looked as if he was slacking in terms of the dance moves when he really wasn't. The reason is because, since Jongup is relatively shorter than Zelo, it gives the allusion of Zelo not bending his legs enough or jumping high enough. That's where the choreographer should've worked out the uneven kinks. Otherwise, amazing dance intro! Continuing quickly with the choreography here, I think the choreographer really heard the music not only with his/her ears but with his/her heart because the dance to this piece (from what little I've seen) just seems to fit the song so well, and helps with the breathtaking quality of the MV. The members execute each move well (but again, because Zelo is so much taller, I think the choreographer should've warned him to make his jumps higher or bend his knees more), and they know exactly when to go all out, and when to tone it down. All of them were fairly in sync. But of course, there's always that one funny dance move in every music video, and I think that was during one of Yongguk's intense raps where basically every body was thrusting their hips in an awkward fashion. Let's just say, that wasn't one of my favorite dance moves.
Now I'll just go through the MV sort of out of order and a bit more broadly here and there. There was so much quiet, hidden passion emitting from the MV that I was so speechless at first. I had no idea how I was going to express everything through a review, but I'll try to be as precise as possible! The vocals and raps were so beautiful, both gentle and passionate, evenly balanced throughout the song. Every lyric, every line was so enchanting, so hauntingly perfect, it was like I was under a trance while listening. You could feel the passion each member expressed and the song was so powerful, so touching that I nearly cried just listening to it (let's not talk about how I sobbed like a baby after focusing more on the MV rather than the vocals and raps).
Everything in this MV is basically chocked full of symbolism. In each scenario, the love that once existed for each member has disappeared, and their desperately trying to find it, look for it, grasp it, but they can't. Below is just my interpretation. Some people might have different interpretations and find a different story within the MV, but this is how I analyzed it.
For Daehyun, he looks around at all of the trinkets in the living room, hoping for a sign of his love, a souvenir to help him find and retrieve his love again. Although you may think that the silver piece he holds towards the end and the knocked over merry go round toy may be the most important items, it is actual the sand dial (timer... thing) that holds the most significance in his scene, because the silver piece appears in Yongguk's scene, and the merry go round is in Zelo's scene. However, that also shows a form of connection between these three members. The sand dial has stopped flowing, and no matter how much Daehyun stares at it, turns and flips it, he knows that his love has stopped, and that the sand in the dial just pours around without a meaning, without any certain time being kept. This also cross the bridge between Daehyun and Yongguk and Zelo. The time has stopped for Yongguk and Zelo; they can't turn back the time, and they can't move forward to try to find the love they've lost. Basically, their romances have all come to a stop in time.
In Yongguk's scene, he's in an empty desert, accompanied by the protruding bones in the ground and his shovel. And he constantly digs around, creating dirt crater after dirt crater. He basically keeps digging, despite his exhaustion, looking for a remnant of his love. Frustratedly, he continues until he finds the silver figurine in the dirt. Yet, when he finds it, he doesn't rejoice. He collapses in the dirt, staring up at the sky, with a very resigned look on his face. It's as if, although he's found a symbol of their love, he's also found the confirmation that, yes, it's all over. This scene is very bittersweet, as it shows that he has strived to find such a valued piece, but knows that it will only bring him heartbreak.
Himchan is in the same room as Daehyun, though filmed at different times, and Himchan focuses on the film roll. He plays it and watches it throughout the MV, and the film is a reminder of his love for the girl, their romance. Their story plays out on the film roll and he watches it, at first happy to be reminded of the times, but then becomes bitter, hurt, and desperate to leave it behind. After watching half way through the film, he looks for something in the room, opening drawers and such. We don't find out till later that it's a gun. Towards the end, he holds the gun towards the mirror, but his reflection has his gun pointed at his head. This symbolizes that he wants to kill the part of him that was once happy, and the part of him that was happy is his reflection. His reflection holds a gun to his own head, and this shows that when he kills his happiness, it will kill him (his soul). There are tears in his eyes because he knows that once he kills that part of himself, it'll be gone forever, and he'll walk around as basically a body without a soul, without a spirit. His hesitance shows that he still values the memories, and that he knows he'll just basically become an empty shell afterwards. But in that last moment, there's a "do or die" feeling running through him, and he can't bear to hold those memories because he feels as if they're now hurting him more than they're doing any good for him, and he shoots, killing his happiness and his soul.
Youngjae is in a mirror maze, looking for the girl who holds his love. But when he thinks he's found her, he just slams into a mirror, facing himself, and it's an endless search all over again. The mirror maze is probably the most symbolic part of this MV. It shows that, no matter where he thinks he'll find love again, it'll never be the real love he craves that he lost. Every time he thinks he loves someone, it'll disappear and never prove to be the same as the love he had for the first girl, the angel that's left him. And when he finally punches the mirror, piercing his own skin, it's like a thrust into reality, and he knows that he can't continue on. He gives up on trying to find another love, but knows that he won't even be able to experience his first love again.
Jongup stands in front of a wall with angel wing engravings. On the other side is light, which represents his angel. And he's trying to find a way through the walls. The wings represent the angel that he'll find (his love) behind the wall. He eventually has to smash through the wall, and break the wing engraving just to see her. This represents him having to tear down his love for her in order to simply catch a glimpse of her. The second twist here is that, once he breaks through, he'll see the light, but it'll fade, representing how, once he sees her again, she'll leave him and disappear, rendering his work useless. The hole he creates in the wall is her escape from his life completely.
Zelo is in an amusement park, specifically in font of the merry go round. Though this scene doesn't have as many hidden messages, it still relates to the central theme of lost love. The merry go round reminds him the most of his love, and he tries to relive it by starting up the merry go round. There are flashbacks of him with the girl, and shows that this was probably one of the last and most memorable places he saw her. When the merry go round refuses to start, his heart breaks because he knows he can't grasp his love again and that his romance is now as dead as the merry go round.
That is basically my interpretation of each scene (though I had to try and condense them all because this is just getting way too long). All of them had such heart breaking stories that were expressed. Perhaps one of the most deep and meaningful MVs I've ever watched, I was literally swamped in the symbolism. And I loved all of it. Although it was so heart wrenching and pain staking, B.A.P. was successful in expressing the passion and loss through their acting, singing, rapping, and dancing. "1004 (Angel)" is a huge step away from B.A.P.'s previous work, but it's just as amazing and definitely worth it to check it out.
Well, this is definitely getting way too long, but it's basically a summary (only a summary o-o) of my interpretations and opinions of the MV, song, and brief dance clips. Again, this is all just my own opinions and interpretations, and I'm not forcing anyone to accept them. If you guys want to add to what I've already said, please feel free to comment down below! Hope you all loved the MV and song just as much as I did! Thanks for reading my review and I'll see you guys in my next post! -Cherry
