Harold & Belle's

2920 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90018

A Creole restaurant recommended by a fellow foodie, Ginger.


Post game dinner with takeout from H&B's. Tip: make reservations!! We went without one and they told us the waiting time was around 2 hrs!


THE BEST CATFISH EVER! It was crispy (even after the ride back home), not a bit greasy and oh so flavorful. H&B's menu might run a bit steep, but it's worth the price (and wait) because their portions are gargantuan. The fried catfish came with crispy garlic toast, clam chowder, and corn on the cob - enough to feed 3 people.


Corn on the cob with its own special holder

Pinot Bistro

12969 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City, CA

A night of fine bistro cuisine with my friend Allen and his work colleagues.


I started out with the Belgium endive salad with Roquefort cheese, caramelized walnuts and champagne vinaigrette. I'm not much of a salad fan, but I did like their play of the salty and sweet with the cheese and honey.


My entree, the grilled bistro steak with potato puree, crispy onions, and broccolini. Fabulous cut of beef with a light sauce and the fried onions provided a nice texture contrast. The potatoe puree was a bit jarring however with unmelted chunks of blue cheese that overpowered everything on the plate.


Allen's entree, a grilled fish dish with amazing polenta and haricot verts.


Desserts was definitely not Pinot's specialty. I had some stale profiteroles filled with generic tasting vanilla ice cream.


Allen's lemon tart was no better. It was heavy and sour but lacked lemon nuanced flavor.


Allen with Jeff and his wife Ginger (a fellow foodie!)


Allen and me, dressed to the nines


Overall, I loved Pinot's ambiance and main plates, but desserts? Better head over to Pinkberry for a green tea yogurt *i mean* iced dessert with raspberries.

Bombay Cafe

12021 W Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Behind a fairly inconspicuous storefront lies a wonderfully delicious and colorful experience. If you like Indian, you have to try this place. Their delictable dishes are decently priced and are served family style, so everyone gets a bite. I recommend their eggplant deva, basically sauteed eggplant layerd with fennel infused tomato sauce and ginger-flavored yogurt. (I love anything with fennel in it!) Their lamb naan and all of their curries were also very, very good. I didn't try anything that I didn't like. Oh and make sure you try the ginger margarita. It is incredible. My grandfather tasted the one my Aunt Vickie ordered and wouldn't give it back.

Formosa Cafe + ArcLight Theater

You guys are wonderful :)

yumm!



Cheekies + guest cheeky

The *official* fellowship pose

Doughboys Bakery

Tsz and I had dinner at Doughboys Bakery on Highland Ave. I think you could pass by this restaurant and miss seeing it because it's nestled between several entertainment companies like Crew Creative and Point 360. They have tables outside or inside and they let you choose wherever you want to sit. The place is open and airy. They have a pretty substantial menu and breakfast served all day which is a plus. I ordered the pumpkin pancakes because I'm a sucker for anything that has pumpkins or is seasonal. They served it with a huge dollop of cream cheese frosting which was delicious and I'm sure incredibly fattening and probably the worst choice for someone looking to eat healthy, but if you're planning to splurge then it's a good choice. The pancakes had walnuts in it which was nice. The syrup came in a bottle that looked kind of like a shampoo bottle, which we both liked. Tsz ordered clam chowder soup that came in a bowl as large as a bucket. Definitely come to Doughboy's hungry!

The service was a little slow, but I couldn't tell if they like to give you time to have actual conversations without a waiter hovering over you, or if they just weren't attentive. The prices for the amount of food you get are very reasonable. Another downside was that the tables are so close together that on a busy night you can't help overhearing everyone's conversations around you. Luckily no one was sitting directly next to us so I felt better.

Pazzo Gelato

Sarah, Tsz and I went to Pazzo Gelato in Sliverlake after Cha Cha Chas but before the Harry Potter event at Skylight Books. It was delicious! I had 2 scoops: one of the Madagascar Vanilla and one of the Jack Black Chocolate. Tsz had the Passion Fruit and the Strawberry Champagne. We all definitely recommend this tasty treat. Thank god it wasn't just a dream!

For all you Harry Potter fans, here is a little remembrance from the first book.


" It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. "

-Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone

Skylight Books

I've been itching to find a small, independant bookstore in LA that I liked for a long time. Not that I don't enjoy the bigger bookstores like Barnes and Noble; they have a wide selection of books and good coffee but there's something much more charming about a small, unique bookstore where you can have an experience you can't find anywhere else. Whenever I'm in a big chain store I always think of that quote from the movie You've Got Mail "Oh, I see, and we're the Price Club. Only instead of a ten-gallon can of olive oil for $3.99 that won't even fit into your kitchen cabinet, we're selling cheap books."

So when I heard mention of Skylight Books in Los Feliz, I knew I wanted to check it out. Tsz, Laura and I decided to go there for the release of Book 7 of Harry Potter. When we got there the line was already wrapped around the block and everything was pretty much whipped into a Potter frenzy, but even with all that going on I could tell the bookstore was really cool. Amongst the chaos, the employees stayed really calm and friendly. You could tell they were enjoying all the festivities which included a Sorting Hat where you could choose what amongst Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff and wear a house badge, a Wizard duel where peoples' knowledge of various spells were put to the test, and fun trivia quizzes that you could play on your own.

The bookstore itself is really cute. It's bigger inside than it appears from the small storefront window. They have a wide selection of self-published zines that locals have created. They also have artsy magazines like Tokien and Paper, and unique greeting cards and postcards in the other corner. Amongst their collection, I noticed they had a good sized cinema, travel, and children's section. Occasionally you'll see staffer's recommendations for various books if you're stuck trying to find your next read. They have a side patio with some chairs, although the area could have been cozier with the addition of some plants and twinkle lights. But I think every place looks better with twinkle lights. From their website, it says they have book groups and tons of book signings by local authors which sounds like a lot of fun. I'd like to go back to the store and browse at more leisure when there's not a slew of Potter fans crowding the whole store, but from what I could tell the bookstore is a wonderful place to go back and spend an afternoon browsing.

They describe themselves as : "located in Los Angeles' unique and eclectic Los Feliz neighborhood, We're a general bookstore with strengths in literary fiction, cinema, books on Los Angeles, as well as alternative literature. We often have a number of autographed copies of books by authors who have recently spoken here. We opened November 1, 1996 on the former site of another local bookstore landmark, Chatterton's."

Check them out here!
http://www.skylightbooks.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp