Sagami-Tei 20120824

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20120824:
For the longest time, I wanted to have my dad try out Sagami-Tei for the all-you-can-eat experience. If I recall, my sister also hadn't eaten at Sagami-Tei before. As such, my parents, sister, and I hopped into a car and on over to Sagami-Tei for a family lunch. My mom opted out on all-you-can-eat, so by the end of the meal, my dad, sister, and I ate a combine total of $99.75 (using the prices on the menu) at the cost of about $60.

Our final order for the day: Eel Hand Roll (top left),
Fresh Water Eel (top right), Red Snapper (bottom left),
and Albacore (bottom right).

Unfortunately, the food was bad, especially compared to our recent visit to Sushi Gesshin.

Below you can find the order in which we received food and a running total of the theoretical costs. Some of the pictures turned out hazy, I'm still getting used to taking pictures with my new phone.

3 Green Mussel
$11.85

Three orders of green mussel.

1 Lobster Roll
$18.35

"The lobster roll today was poor. [...]"

Lobster roll.

1 Stinky Roll
$26.85

From what I recall of our visit today, the stinky roll was not as good as when I first had it. Though it did taste better than the last time I came here (20120709) (see the post for why).

1 Caterpillar Roll
$35.80

"And the caterpillar roll looked nothing like a caterpillar. [...]"

Of the entire experience, the caterpillar roll was the most upsetting. The caterpillar roll on the menu most definitely looks like a caterpillar. In contrast, the caterpillar roll we got looked like a mess.

Top: Stinky roll. Bottom: Caterpillar roll.

2 Tuna
1 Salmon
1 Yellow Tail
$46.90

"On the other hand, the salmon slices were cut big and fat. [...]"

Yellowtail (top left), Salmon (top right), Tuna (bottom)

3 Sea Urchin (Uni)
$61.75

"The uni (sea urchin) was also suddenly not as good as it was last time I came. I think it was a little on the watery side." 4:56PM PT

Three orders of Sea Urchin (Uni).

1 Edamame
$64.70

2 Salmon Roe
2 Smelt Egg
1 Crab
1 Tempura Shrimp
$80.10

Smelt Egg (left), Salmon Roe (center),
Crab (bottom right), and Tempura Shrimp (right)

1 Dragon Roll
$88.60

Dragon Roll

1 Eel Hand Roll
1 Fresh Water Eel
1 Red Snapper
1 Albacore
$99.75

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[20120924][20150113 Edit]

El Burro - Tacos & Beer

20120820:
The cochinita a bit dry. It was okay.

Getting the trio is indeed a small portion compared to getting a burrito which the server suggested for when you're hungry.

Chuleta Taquero and Mole Casi Poblano Taquero.

Josh and I asked for some meats which weren't available. I wanted the al pastor.

The barbacoa is a lot juicier. Maybe the juiciness comes from the salsa. I have this suspicious, because the meat itself had a dry texture. Josh liked two of his meat choices.

Shrimp Taquero

The keyword for him was marinated.

In general, sauce choice is important here at El Burro. Josh like his two meat tacos better than his shrimp taco. I was similarly unsatisfied with my seafood taco. My fish tilapia taco was such a small piece of fish. The tortilla, being thick, easily overpowered the fish.

Tilapia Taquero

I'd rather go to Mario's and put down money for higher quality food.

I liked the non-alcoholic Sangria Senorial. It's tasty.

Yelp Review: [***..]

Josh and I came and we each ordered a trio. I was a bit disappointed when I asked for a meat (al pastor) and the server said they didn't have it. Josh also asked for a meat choice which they didn't have.

Sangria Senorial (sin alcohol)

The cochinita a bit dry. It was okay.

The barbacoa is a lot juicier. Maybe the juiciness comes from the salsa. I have this suspicious, because the meat itself had a dry texture. Josh liked two of his meat choices. He felt like getting the marinated meats was the way to go here at El Burro.

If not a marinated meat, then one should really compliment his/her taco with the various sauces available. Josh liked his two meat tacos better than his shrimp taco. On the topic of seafood tacos, I was unsatisfied with my tilapia taco. It was such a small piece of fish. And to rub salt in my wounds, the tortilla, being thick, easily overpowered the fish in flavor.

If you're hungry, get a burrito. If not, get the trio.

[20120830]

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El Burro - Tacos & Beer

Cochinita Pibil Hot Taquero and Barbacoa Taquero.

Relevant Links:
El Burro - Tacos & Beer (Yelp.com)

Saigon Grill

20120819:
This is one of those circumstances where a high Yelp rating warranted a visit, but the visit ended poorly. I prefer the opposite extreme: bad reviews, but restaurant ends up being great.

Actually, I was a little hesitant to come to Saigon Grill despite the four star rating it received on Yelp. Various reviews I read put it on par with Mon Ami, the restaurant next door. I liked Mon Ami the first one or two times I came, but no longer liked it on subsequent visits.

Cha ca thang long.

Yelp Review: (**...)

The bo luc lac sauce is good, but the beef itself is just okay. I don't like how the tomatoes were cut into thick slices instead of small cubes. I skipped out on eating some of the tomatoes. Then while mushrooms were good, the bell peppers didn't seem to fit the dish.

My sister's crab rolls tasted like egg rolls. My aunt ordered the same dish and had the same thought.

The cha ca thang long wasn't colored yellow and wasn't tasty. It certainly didn't compare with the cha ca thang long from Ha Noi Restaurant (?).

This is one of those places that charge fifty cents for ice water.

The restaurant was pretty vacant considering the time of day. Overall my family didn't like it.

Crab rolls.

[20120909]

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Saigon Grill

Bo luc lac.

Relevant Links:
Saigon Grill - Garden Grove, CA (Yelp.com)

Mario's

20120817:
I'm currently craving two types of food: Mexican food and sushi. As such, a slew of places I've been eating at or trying out are Mexican restaurants or sushi restaurants.

Thin, crispy, delicious chips.

While I mention in my Yelp review that my favorite item in the three item plate I ordered was the fish taco, I didn't mention that I could have came and just eaten the chips.

Overall, the place carries a higher price tag than other Mexican places I've been to, but it's also beautiful restaurant and serves great tasting food. In this case, you get what you pay for.

My friends split a three-item plate.

Yelp Review: (****.)

The chips and salsa are great. My friends and I basically got full off the constant supply of chips and salsa before getting our main entrees.

I ordered the three item entree, choosing a beef tamale, a carnitas burrito, and a fish taco. First, the fish in the fish taco was tasty. Unfortunately, the taco shell was a bit too crunchy for me, but at least the fish was great. The fish had a sort of pounded and/or shredded texture.

My friend's plate #1. (20140106)

Second, the beef tamale was also good. I didn't like it much at first, but it tasted better as I had more of it. Third, the piece of burrito I had was dry. The meat was dry, slightly salty, and yet good. I suppose the refried beans inside help balance the saltiness. In any case, of the three chosen items, my favorite was the fish taco.

My friend's plate #2. (20140106)

This place is delicious. I'll have to remember not to eat so many chips next time though. In addition to the abundant chips, the service was good and my water was also refilled regularly.

[20120909]

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20140106:
While I couldn't find any notes to go with this visit to Mario's, I think I ordered the Seafood Chimichanga. Regardless, if I remember correctly, I didn't really like it, perhaps thinking it was too cheesy.

Seafood Chimichanga (?). (20140106)

Menu Description:
Seafood Chimichanga grilled burrito filled with shrimp, imitation crab, mahi-mahi, cheese & ranchero-rojo sauce, garnished with sour cream or guacamole 12.95.

[20140906]

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20140725:
Today I also got a three item entree. However, this time I got a beef tamale, a carnitas soft taco, and a chicken flauta (flautas are softer than taquitas). To drink, I had a Pacífico.

My flauta (bottom left), taco (top left), and beef tamale (right). (20140725)

The tamale is definitely delicious. In contrast, I thought the beef soft taco was just okay and would definitely skip it next time. 10:03PM PT

Of the service, I vaguely remember the waiters being quite busy, and yet we did get a good continuous supply of delicious chips.

As a side note, the mole, which my friend loves getting here, does in fact use peanuts.

My friend's plate. (20140725)

[20140906]

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Mario's

My fish taco (bottom left), burrito (top left), and tamale (right). (20120817)

Due to eating too many chips, I couldn't finish this all and took the leftovers to go.

Relevant Links:
Mario's - Huntington Beach, CA (Yelp.com)

Gesshin Restaurant

Sea urchin (uni) (20150718)

20120814:

Edamame (20120814)

Eggplant (20120814)

I wrote: "Junmai ginjo (sake) smells and tastes great. It is sweet and tasty. The eggplant tasted good. The chef was friendly. We sat at the bar." 8:32PM PT

Salmon (20120814)

Halibut (20120814)

I wrote: "The special with salmon was delicious. The chef suggested we eat it without soy sauce. The halibut carpaccio was also good, but not as good as the special. The use of vinegar was nice." 8:42PM PT

Crunchy roll (20120814)

Sashimi salad (20120814)

I wrote: "Next we got the sashimi salad. It was good. I should also note that it was edible (i.e., thus far the sesame seeds were not adversely affecting me)." 9:04PM PT

Sea urchin (uni) (20120814)

Toro (20120814)

Eel avocado (20120814)

I wrote: "The toro tasted better with the soy and wasabi. I think this is the first time I ever had toro. Oh wow, the final eel roll we got was delicious. It was a great end to the dinner." 9:25PM PT

Orange slices.

[20121229]

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20150718:
I started by ordering some sake: Hakutsuru Sho-une Junmai Daiginjo.

Then the fun begins. First, the uni (urchin) was awesome.

Next up, I tried a piece of my friend's Pokemon Roll. As he pointed out, the use of salad was interesting.

Pokemon roll (20150718)

Then his order of Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna arrived, and while spicy tuna sometimes gives me a stomach ache, I decided to take a risk and try a piece. Luckily for me, I didn't get a stomach ache and it was delicious. In particular, I love the crunchiness of the rice and the mild spiciness of the tuna.

Crispy Rice Spicy Tuna

Next up was the sweet shrimp, which was listed on the wall as live sweet shrimp, but the two pieces of shrimp were very much dead by the time they reached us. As such, while the shrimp had a nice texture (firm, with a chewiness that's a bit like salmon) and good taste (some wasabi plus some sweetness), it would have been a better experience if there was evidence they were once alive. I should note that we ate it without soy sauce.

Sweet Shrimp (20150718)

The eel on the dragon roll tasted fresher than eel at most sushi places I've been to.

But after the dragon roll arrived, we were in for a surprise. The waitress/hostess came out with a plate of fried shrimp heads and I told her we didn't order it. The chef, however, interjected and said it was part of our sweet shrimp order!

Dragon Roll (20150718)

In any case, I ate it starting from the back (the part that connects to the body). It was crunchy, with some soy sauce and/or vinegar on the inside. I also noted that I finished it in two bites.

Finally, we decided to get the live scallop. Like the sweet shrimp, it was killed prior to being served.

Thinly sliced and crisp, the scallop was, overall, a fresh and delicious experience. 9:25PM PT

Sweet Shrimp (head) (20150718)

But, like the sweet shrimp, apparently there's a second part to the scallop. A nearby customer told us that the restaurant has to cook the inside part, because it's not 100% fresh. In contrast, when said when one gets scallop straight out of the ocean, then one can eat the entire scallop raw. He also told my friend and I that salty oceans are good for live scallop, while the Pacific Ocean is good for urchin. 9:32PM PT

Scallop, part 1 (20150718)

In any case, the second part comes out on the other half of the shell and it smells awesome. Tasting a bit like octopus, the scallop has a crunchy, chewy, tendon-like mouth feel. There were also pieces of mushroom among the scallop.

Also among he chopped pieces were "standard" pieces of scallop, that is, what one normally gets served as scallop.

Scallop, part 2 (20150718)

A different part of the scallop tasted like a female fish's egg pouch, except with a finer texture.

After finishing a couple more standard strips of scallop, I sipped the juice sitting in the shell and felt content. 9:39PM PT

[20150816]

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Gesshin Restaurant

Sweet Shrimp (head) (20150718)

Relevant Links:
Gesshin Restaurant - Westminster, CA (Yelp.com)
Carpaccio (Wikipedia.org)

El Nopal

20120913:
I tried to use Yelp to find a good Mexican restaurant around, but it was confusing since the given street addresses can vary significantly from actual locations. Hungry and nearing the expected closing time of most restaurants, we ran into and settled with El Nopal, a Mexican restaurant located in the restaurant area of the Stratosphere.

Sister's enchiladas (one shredded beef and one shredded chicken)

Luckily, the food was pretty good and its hard to imagine finding better food outside our hotel. In that situation, the food would have had to have been better than the outside heat we would have had to endure on the way to finding it.

My carne asada wet burrito.

[20120909]

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20120914:
The next morning, we went to the food court looking for some breakfast. After a glance through the food court, my sister and I were pretty set on going to El Nopals. We figured they were pretty good last night, and so their breakfast food should be pretty good to. However, I ended up ordering lunch/dinner food. In fact, I got two shredded chicken enchiladas, which I had a taste of last night (20120913) and loved.

Someone's taco.

Yelp Review: (****.)

This restaurant is located in the food court of the Stratosphere. Desiring Mexican food and not wanting to venture out of our hotel, my family and I decided to give El Nopal a try.

The horchata here is delicious. I ordered a carne asada wet burrito. My sister got enchiladas and my dad got a taco salad. The menu selection is wide and so there are a lot of decisions to be made. You can help narrow your choices by choosing the form of food (e.g. tacos, burritos, and enchiladas). My sister's shredded chicken enchilada was better than my burrito and my burrito was better than her shredded beef enchilada. The shredded chicken was nice and moist.

My family and I decided to come back the next day for breakfast/lunch. I got the shredded chicken enchilada and again it was good chicken. I was also able to consume the refried beans with the rice quite happily. Finally, I had a taste of my mom's eggs. I liked the taste. The eggs were prepared with cheese and green bell peppers.

My mom's eggs.

[20120909]

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El Nopal

Dad's taco salad

Relevant Links:
El Nopal - Las Vegas, NV (Yelp.com)

Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant

20120813:
Browsing the selection of foods prior to committing, the place seemed alright. But I was less enthused by the end of the visit, mainly due to my sesame allergy. As such, the only great thing I remember having was the red jello. My sister wondered what flavor the jello was and my guess was that it was strawberry. Actually, my original answer was that it was the standard flavor.

Yelp Review: (***..)

I came during the buffet hours (11 to 3:30). I suspect at least one of the food items was prepared with sesame oil and left a bad aftertaste on my tongue. There was a decent selection of Hong Kong style food like noodles, fish, stir-fried beansprouts, vegetables, and clams. I didn't like the orange chicken. The restaurant had a soda machine, but no ice cream machine. Since the place isn't a full-time buffet, having no ice cream machine is understandable, but unfortunate.

[20120907]

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Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant

Relevant Links:
Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant - Fillmore, UT (Yelp.com)

Teton Steakhouse

20120812:
As of writing this post, I was wondering why many of the bus tour's food stops were at buffet locations. However, I thought about how easy it is for a buffet location to accommodate a high quantity of people. A buffet location simply has to keep on cooking and supply items which are running out.

In any case, Teton Steakhouse gives the Sizzler experience. Standard American entrees and an endless salad bar.

Yelp Review: (***..)

The salad bar simply has standard salad options and two soup of the days. I got a buffalo burger and as expected the meat was dry. Though that's probably since it's so lean. The rice was good though. I had a bite of my dad's medium steak and it didn't taste that good.

On a positive note, I love the atmosphere. For example, various signs with meat jokes are spread throughout the restaurant. One such sign reads "Of course we serve vegetarians. (What do you think cows are?)"

From what I can remember, Sizzler has a more extensive salad bar, at possibly a slightly higher price, but Teton Steakhouse has a greater variety of entrees. In any case, I'm not a big fan of Sizzler, and my experience at Teton is more or less the same: average.

[20120904]

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Teton Steakhouse

Relevant Links:
Teton Steakhouse - Jackson, WY (Yelp.com)