A Girl’s Night Of Craves & Savors

Don’t girls just wanna have fun? If fun means eating good food with the most entertaining company possible, than we definitely had a ton! It was a girls rule, boys drool night, but I have to admit I did a little bit of drooling… over some good eats at Baco Mercat and Syrup Desserts in downtown Los Angeles, where I ate with my girls Face, Jax, and Di. Normally a completely booked restaurant, we tried our luck and walked in into Baco without reservations. We put our name on the wait list and were told we would have to wait 45 minutes for a table. After a pointless 10 minute walk to get some tea before dinner and just as we walked into Syrup to order something, the restaurant texted that our table was ready… It may have been a blessing in disguise because while looking at Syrup’s menu, we were all on the verge of ruining our appetites (if that’s even possible), but we vowed that we would return after dinner.

At Baco, we ordered and ate the modern Spanish tapas that we’ve heard so much about. We ate family-style and shared the “caesar” brussels sprouts, squash blossoms, spaghetti squash with corn puree, the “double mushroom” Coca, which is a flatbread that Baco is known for, and my favorite of the night, the hamachi crudo. While the food was great, Jax commented that with all of the hype she’d heard, she expected “a miracle” in her mouth. Well, what I found that most of the magic happened at Syrup Desserts, which is an expresso bar and dessert cafe that offers a variety of pastries, signature iced teas, famous waffles, and more. We were super anxious to get back to Syrup and when we returned after dinner, we ordered two of the Syrup Signature Belgian Waffles, which is also a Syrup favorite, which has strawberries, bananas, Nutella, and French Vanilla Bean Ice cream (one without bananas), the Dulce & Banana Belgian Waffle, which as bananas and blackberries, caramel sauce, Vanilla sauce and instead of the Dulce de Leche ice cream, we substituted for the Blackberry Jasmine ice cream, and the Banana with chocolate chip Sweet Liege Original. We definitely savored our desserts there and time spent together.

Since it was such an awesome night to savor, full of cravings and QT, we agreed that “Girls Night” will be implemented on a regular basis, preferably and at least monthly. Any suggestions?

Craving Halo-Halo

What is Halo-Halo? Halo-Halo is a Filipino dessert consisting of Coconut Gel, Red Mung Beans, White Beans, Sugar Palm Fruit, Jackfruit, Macapuno (Gelatinous Coconut Strings) mixed with shaved ice, ice cream, and milk. Instead of buying the ingredients separately, there are bottles of Halo-Halo mixtures that can be purchased at a local Asian market (hopefully) along with an ice shaving machine, which is needed for making shaved ice, an other key ingredient. One bottle serves two. Finding this bottle in a market where its workers may not understand what you’re saying is the hard part, making the Halo-Halo is the easy part. First we add the Halo-Halo mix, then the shaved ice, then the ice cream, then milk. If you’re like me, I prefer good ol’ fashioned vanilla ice cream; however, coconut, cantaloupe, mango, and ube flavored ice cream are all other great choices to give this dessert a more tropical taste. Regular, soy, almond or skim milk makes this treat plenty sweet, but adding condensed milk is also an option. While this dessert looks a like a drink, it’s eaten (and usually devoured by cravy individuals) with a spoon. Soooooo gooood!

Craving For Hot Fudge Cake At Bob’s Big Boy

Don’t significant others contribute to many of our cravings? Spending enough time with some one, we often start developing a taste for and an enjoyment of specific things that our favorite guys or gals crave. Even if we may not love something as much as the other (if at all), we can always be good sports and take one for the team, knowing that if going somewhere or doing something makes our honeys happy, we’re happy too. My boyfriend was craving to go to Bob’s Big Boy, a drive-in burger joint in Burbank, like the ones you see in the Greaser movies with a full service “Car Hop” on Saturday and Sunday nights, where All-American meals get delivered to the cars of patrons. On Friday nights, the parking becomes a classic car show. Since it’s been a little chilly-willy in SoCal lately (well, for SoCal), we opted to eat inside the 50’s style diner and waited a while to sit at the first-come-first-serve counter. Although I don’t and probably won’t ever share in my boyfriend’s craving for the Bob’s Big Boy’s Famous Original Double Deck Hamburger, we did share the Decadent Hot Fudge Cake, which he said I had to have. My bf is originally from the Los Angeles area and growing up his Mom used to take him and his sister to a Bob’s Big Boy, and he decided to take me to the oldest one in America, knowing I’d love their dessert. The Decadent Hot Fudge Cake is delicious vanilla ice cream between two layers of luscious devil’s food cake, smothered with creamy hot fudge and covered with whipped cream and a cherry. Mmmmm Mmmmm. That cake had no chance, it was over before it began.

Craving Tutti Gelati

Doesn’t the word gelato sound so much more appetizing than ice cream? When I recently went to Tuttil Gelati in Old Town Pasadena, I got a scoop of coffee gelato and a scoop of hazelnut gelato in a sugar cone and learned that gelati is plural for gelato. That means two scoops qualifies as officially having gelati. After many times of passing by this place and finally trying it, I’m pretty sure I’ll be going back once the craving kicks. We can’t ever go wrong with having this dessert after dinner, or on a warm sunny day, or at a birthday party, or as a bribe for children to eat all their food (which would mean we get some too). Actually, the time is always right, even when it’s wrong… like after a bad breakup, when we’re sick, even after a failed bribe when children don’t eat all their food. Doesn’t it seem like ice cream is the universal problem solver and is usually associated with happy times regardless if it’s of the Italian kind or straight from a pint of Ben & Jerry’s? It’s like the taste of it adds to an already blissful occasion or wipes away all of the problems of the world, even for just a split second. Ok, are our mouthes watering yet? Now’s the time to check the freezer and see if there’s any pistachio gelato waiting to satisfy our taste buds.

Craving Some Good Hawaiian Eats (Part 2)

Les get togeddah an’ talk story (chit-chat) ’bout da ono grinds (tasty food) dat brok da mout (tastes delicious)? In my last post (http://cravensavor.com/2013/01/28/), I mentioned how Hawaiians spoke Pidgin, but I forgot to mention that tourists are NOT allowed to speak Pidgin (only type 😉 yeah?) unless you want to get beat up. That is no joke, and neither is how incredible the food has been on my trip. So, I’m continuing Part 2 of my Framavings (Freakin’ Amazing Cravings) in Hawaii:

Day 4

Iyasume Musubi: For satisfying Musubi (Rice Ball wrapped in seaweed) cravings
Ordered: Egg Musubi, Salmon Rice Ball, Spicy Salmon & Roe Rice Ball, Seaweed Salad

Side Street Inn: For Delicious Family Style Hawaiian Eats
Ordered: Farmers salad (so good, had to order another), Fresh Steamed Manila Clams, Crab Legs (not pictured), Steamed White Rice topped with shredded dried seaweed

Bubbie’s Homemade Ice Cream and Desserts: For satisfying Mochi and Ice Cream Cravings
Ordered: Multiple Orgasm Ice Cream Cake: Oreo, Espresso, & Chocolate Ince Creams layered on an Oreo crust and topped with fudge and chocolate sprinkles, Mochi Ice Cream: lychee, salted caramel, azuki bean, and a Sundae with Macadamia Nut, Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream
The Ice Cream Cake was Incredible!! And although I didn’t get to try any other flavor like the Smud Pie, Knock Me Up on the Blower, More than a Mouthful, Prisoner of My Mind, Functioning Prostate, Buffy’s Aural Massage, or Come Here Little, they looked and sounded pretty appetizing.

Day 5

Royal Hawaiian Hotel Breakfast Room Service: For In-Room Breakfast Cravings
Ordered: oatmeal with dulce deleche sauce (they found a way to make oatmeal unhealthy), fruit platter, guava juice

Orange Julius: For satisfying your thirst while shopping
Ordered: Original Orange Julius

Marukame Udon: For satisfying Udon and Tempura cravings
Ordered: Ontama Udon (Udon Noodles with sauce and a soft boiled egg) and Tempura: Shrimp, Asparagus, Mushroom, Eggplant, Sweet Potato, and Pumpkin.

Craving Tasty To Go

Have you ever talked about a craving that made you sound like a crazy person? I was told by my best friend, Dreams, that when I told her about Tasty To Go, I sounded like a lunatic. Well, if I’m crave crazy, than call me Cravy. I’m Cravy for Tasty To Go, the best snow I’ve ever known.

I took Dreams and her husband, who were visiting from Las Vegas, to let them in on what all the fuss was about. We had a double dinner date at BJ’s in Pasadena and before watching 007, I recommended we get some shaved ice. We drove to Tasty To Go in Arcadia and ordered the strawberry, mango, pudding with caramel, and new strawberry snow flavors. This dessert consists of fine shaved ice with a combination of the following side toppings: fruit, ice cream, mochi, boba, red bean, caramel, chocolate and pudding. I don’t think I could name a favorite flavor, each flavor is so delicious. It’s nice to go with friends and share a few in order to taste a variety of flavors. We didn’t just taste four different flavors, we annihilated them. We all went Cravy!