A few of my friends from NY visited me last December and we jam packed their weekend here!
Holidays at The Grove
A ton of tacos at Mondo Taco
Fun times at Disney California Adventure
And had an epic breakfast at Bea Bea’s
I also treated Lane out for burgers on her birthday at Eden Burger Bar
And Kristine randomly visited so we got $2 ice cream sandwiches from Diddy Riese
And we had an epic brunch at Granville Cafe
Up next – my trip to South Africa (finally!)
A few more eats from the last few months of 2015 in LA!
Ramen, bao buns, spam musubi, and honey toast from Chibiscus
Shave cream ice from Blockheads Shavery Co.
Sushi from Niko Niko
Thai peanut, garlic parmesan, & BBQ wings & Campfire Fries from Lord of the Wingz
Chicken from Cha Cha Chicken
Avocado toast with an egg from Coffee Commissary
Tacos and loaded tots from Komodo
Tacos from Ricky’s Fish Tacos
Blue Hawaiian pancakes form Bea Bea’s
I’ve also been working on some of my own eats!
Lemon zucchini noodles with salmon
I also made my first turkey for Thanksgiving (yes this is a very delayed post)
Which became part of this huge feast!
And we also had time from some shenanigans at the LACMA
And caught the awesome World of Color show in California Adventure
Because my best friend and I were crazy last fall, we went to San Diego and Las Vegas in back-to-back weekends.
Our first mandatory stop was Oscar’s in Pacific Beach.
And had to watch the sunset from the beach.
And had late night carne asada fries.
And somewhere in between the workweek I had more Olive & Thyme and tried their whipped ricotta cheese toast with pistachios and honey.
The next weekend the girls and I shared an epic late night meal at Hash House a Go Go.
And somehow managed to eat breakfast the next morning.
I also never get to have Filipino food anymore so a good “silog” breakfast was perfect.
Hot n Juicy Crawfish wasn’t the best idea before a night out, but I regret nothing.
And we actually dressed up for Halloween that year!
More LA adventures are up next!
Okay. I’m going to lock myself up on in my apartment until I am all caught up on this!
Fried ice cream from a really long line at first Friday at Abbot Kinney.
Also, I officially have a favorite sushi place! Niko Niko sushi in Burbank.
And when when my boyfriend visited last October we ate at a lot of new places. Including my now favorite AYCE sushi place, Sushi by Jin.
I really, really love the sushi in California.
We had breakfast at my favorite place Bea Bea where we shared crab cakes eggs benedict and Thai tea pancakes.
We continued date weekend at the LACMA lights.
And we shared a super romantic~ dinner at The Little Door
Our favorite were the Pine Nut and Rosemary Crusted Rack of Lamb, Madeira, Mustard, and Smoked Garlic Sauce + Green Lentil Ragu and Yukon Gold Potato Purée and the Grilled Marinated Octopus with Capers, Oregano, Lemon and EVOO + Green Beans, Roasted Sweet Peppers, Kalamata Olives, Fingerling Potatoes and Saffron Aioli.
The next morning we waited in a very long (but worth it) line to finally try Eggslut.
We also checked out this cool bookstore downtown and shared macarons at Bottega Louie.
And later walked almost all the way to Koreatown to watch a movie. The highlight for us was the crazy good butter caramel popcorn.
And then shared our last meal together at Olive & Thyme.
5 more months to catch up on . . . 😂
Because I am still catching up to when I last blogged, we are still in summertime 2015 mode :).
After visiting Hawaii for a week, I was off to visit Las Vegas with my grandma for a trip we promised each other we’d go on in case Celine Dion ever came back to Las Vegas (which she did!)
Our huge reunion meal at Hash House a Go Go
Sharing a drink before the concert
Her concert was AMAZING!
It was also very, very hot there.
And there was always time for some late night eats with your best friend at Burgr.
And even managed to eat at a seafood buffet the next night.
But it was all in preparation to see Diplo later that night!
We later drove back to LA and went to Six Flags. Apparently the only picture I took was of our funnel cake and the sunset.
And of course, any great vacation ends with brunch.
Next up – some LA eats!
(A very, very late recap of my last visit to Hawaii in August – can’t wait to visit again next month!)
A few of my friends planned on visiting me when I lived in Hawaii so I had the pleasure of showing them around some of my favorite places on Oahu!
Day 1 + 2 – Eating the favorites
First stop: spicy ahi poke!
Mexican feast from Buho Cocina y Cantina
Day 2 – North Shore and Polynesian Cultural Center
Garlic Shrimp from Romy’s
Garlic Chicken
Waimea Beach
Polynesian Cultural Center
Day 3 – Kailua & Haleiwa Joe’s
My favorite crab cakes eggs benedict from Cinnamon’s
Lanikai beach
The view from Haleiwa Joe’s
The crazy delicious dinner from Haleiwa Joe’s
Day 4 – Poke, hiking, & Hanauma Bay
Poke from Ono Seafood near the Waimanalo side of the island
Day 5 & 6- Kaneohe Sandbar, Manoa Falls, Waikiki Sunsets, & More Food
Kaneohe Sandbar
Manoa Falls
Acai bowl from Diamond Head Cove Health Bar
Waikiki sunsets at House Without a Key
Lilikoi ribs from Holoholo
Last day – Eating all the Things!
Mochiko chicken and waffles from The Nook
The insane tasting menu from Alan Wong’s.
Aloha for now, Hawaii – I’ll be back! 😉
To keep up with this thing!
A summary of what has happened after moving to LA (i.e. a summary of things that have happened in the last 6 months).
July/August
I’ve been eating and cooking a lot – especially when visitors come into town.
Lunch at Olive & Thyme
Cubanos & Potato Balls from Porto’s
Green tea pancakes & loco moco from Be a Bea’s
Dole whip from Disneyland
We’ve also been having a lot of fun at Disneyland!
And this probably takes me up to August of last year. 😅 There’s probably a lot more scheduled posts about to go up soon, but I will get caught up! Coming up: my return trip to Honolulu, Vegas shenanigans, and our trip to South Africa
The last few weeks have been, to say the least, a whirlwind. As fate/luck/the forces that be would have it I have found myself in LA where I’ve been offered my dream job!
In any case, it seemed like #Jessicaloha had a short revival and my last week in Hawaii/one week visiting NJ + NYC was a fun time to have several (actually, many) yolo meals and experiences.
Goat cheese chicken and waffles from Bru’s Waffle in LA
Taco plate from Tacos Por Favor
My first taste at Philz Coffee
The best pastrami sandwich I’ve ever had from Mickey’s Deli
When I landed in New Jersey, I came home to a great welcome home committee – including a lobster dinner from my grandma!
My sister brought home my favorite platter from The Halal Guys
I also jam packed a day in NYC to visit some of my favorite places and see some of my favorite people.
Lox breakfast from The Grey Dog
The view inside Chelsea Market
Delicious lychee ice tea from Takumi Taco
My favorite view of the city from my old office
Froyo with one of my childhood friends
Only in NYC
Had dinner at Shake Shack in Madison Square Park
Good crew at the Rooftop Bar
Treated my dad to his favorite pork chop at Emeril’s Chop House
And with my last 3 days back in Hawaii, I ate my heart out at my favorite places in Hawaii.
Ramen bowl from Lucky Belly
The lobster bake from Shokudo
Oreo honey toast from Shokudo
Tuna crispy rice from Shokudo
My last taste at poke
The last mai tai sunset
The last 4-course supper in #Hawaii: North Shore garlic shrimp with local veggies and avocado, Hawaiian boullibaise with Alaskan crab, lobster, & prawn, loco #foiegras moco with qual egg, and the signature coconut creme brulee with toffee crumble.
Holoholo from Kalesa
My favorite bubble tea (taro, almond, coconut black tea) from T Pumps!
And finally wrapped up my last weekend of funemployment at my first California hike and unlimited Korean BBQ.
And because I passed my written exam for the driver’s exam on the first try, I am now officially a California resident! Excited to share food finds, cheap eats recipes, and more as I start my next adventure in the Golden State!
Also, hopefully I can actually make posting a regular thing 😉
A quick summary of all that was tasty and delicious over the past few weeks. Including that time we had Bubbie’s ice cream before dinner.
Chili moco from Downbeat Diner
Spicy tuna with uni from Maguro Bros.
Sweet chili chicken chicken from Kaka’ako Kitchen
The “What the Pho?” sandwich from Kaka’ako Kitchen: Wagyu beef brisket, swiss cheese, sriracha aioli, on a taro hoagie with pho dipping sauce: “an ode to the Philly cheesesteak, French dip and pho.
French toast with cinnamon apples from Cafe Kaila
Took a quick hike up Diamond Head – starting with the little hikes per my sprained ankle.
And got the ritual shave ice afterward.
Lemon lime and POG shave ice with condensed milk from Waiola Shave Ice
Stuffed salmon
Steak burrito from Oahu Mexican Grill
And because we had some friends in town, we took them to drinks at House Without a Key
Green spaghetti from Goofy Cafe & Dine
Dim Sum overload at Mei Sum Dim Sum
Beer flight and mac and cheese from Honolulu Beer Works
Crab cakes eggs benedict from Cinnamon’s
Shave ice from Island Snow
The view of Kailua on our way back home
Homemade fried rice stuffed chicken and Asian noodles
What a view from Outback Steakhouse (yes, one of my favorite chains) at Hawaii Kai
Cookie butter macaron from Bubbie’s
Mochi ice cream assortment and “Multiple Orgasm” ice cream cake from Bubbie’s
The crazy delicious dinner from Mud Hen Water: yaki o pa’i’ai, grilled he’e (octopus) in luau leaves, cold ginger rabbit and puffed rice, oxtail risotto, and egg white topped kitchen cocktail.
Mochiko chicken and mochi waffles from The Nook
And with that, I am finally caught up!
Our last day in Kona started off at Island Lava Java for brunch. Probably one of the busiest beach side brunches in town (and for good reason). Live music, delicious food, and a view of the ocean – can’t beat that!
Delicious (and huge) cinnamon roll
Beachside breakfast
Matt and I shared the famous cinnamon rolls. I had macadamia nut banana pancakes with Portuguese sausage and he had a kalua pork omelette. Both of us had humongous coffees because #Konacoffee.
We did lots of sightseeing afterwards, but mostly I just wanted to lay out on a beach after driving 7+ hours this whole trip.
Our historic stops included Pu’uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park and the Painted Church.
While we did stop by Kahaluu Beach Park to spend the rest of the day, we decided instead to go up a bit more north to avoid the crowds. We made a pit stop at Umeke’s to share a poke lunch plate and then enjoyed most of the afternoon at Mani’owali Beach (Kua Bay).
Avocado poke, special garlic aioli poke, crab salad, lomi salmon, and furikake brown rice.
Fresh catch being prepared right behind the counter
And because we need to kill an hour before our flight, we stopped by Kona Brewing Co. to try a couple of the beers we can’t get in Oahu.
And that’s it! Maybe next time I’ll get to check out the Hilo side of the island, but I probably need to go on a few other adventures before then 🙂
jessicaannsamson 