Fat Kid Adventure #130: L'Amour (Palo Alto)

They tried to open another fro-yo joint in Palo Alto. This is almost exactly like Yogurtland, but not as good. Not really worth a try as Red Mango across the street has better fro-yo. I guess the only plus for this place is the large amount of toppings.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/lamour-frozen-yogurt-cafe-palo-alto

Fat Kid Adventure #129: High Tech Burrito (Los Gatos)

Located in the strip mall at the corner of Blossom Hill and Los Gatos Blvd, next to the Bank of America, this joint has some really great burritos for lunch. I've been here several times to get something for a work lunch, and I always get my burrito in bowl form. Spicy Cajun Burrito with Shrimp, Thai Chicken Burrito, and this one BBQ Chicken burrito were all that I tried, and all of them are great. No dry meat up in this one, all were nice, juicy and flavorful.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/high-tech-burrito-los-gatos

Fat Kid Adventure #128: Icing On The Cake (Los Gatos)

Located just off the main strip in downtown Los Gatos, this cute little bakery is quite a bad ass. Neha, Phong, Mike and I used to come here all the time for mid-afternoon cookie breaks. They have a great selection, and I love the triple chocolate and the brownie chunks.

Recently, I took Baby Rar to this place and got the Pink Lemonade cupcake. WOW. In my humble opinion, this place can rival Sprinkles if only they had the exact same cupcakes. The frosty on the Pink Lemonade is not as thick as Sprinkles' but a bit more fluffy. At the same time, the cupcake itself had just the right amount of moisture and fluff. Compared to Kara's in Santana Row, it is more dense. The lemonade flavor definitely came and provided for a nice tang!

Highly recommended for cupcakes and cookies. Holler at it!

http://www.icingonthecakebakery.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/icing-on-the-cake-los-gatos - 4.5/5 on 267 reviews can't go wrong!

Fat Kid Adventure #127: Pedro's (Los Gatos)

Located in downtown Los Gatos, Pedro's is an all-age joint but we usually come down here for Happy Hours once in a while. Service is decent, and if you're just there to hang out order some Samplers from the Appetizer section and you'll be set. The food is great but not phenomenal. Pricing is fair. Come check it out if it's on your way.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/pedros-los-gatos
http://pedrosrestaurants.com/

Fat Kid Adventure #126: Carl's Jr.

Nothing special, just wanted to let yall know that the Kentucky Bourbon burger is NOT all that. I had the $6 Kentucky Bourbon Burger, and uh yeah you can taste a teensy bit of the Bourbon but the burger itself is not all that special. I guess I just let myself get carried away by the delectable commercials with that one surgeon dude that just straight up murder-grubs the Bourbon.

http://www.carlsjr.com/

Fat Kid Adventure #125: Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles (Hollywood)

** SPECIAL EDITION **

It was an epic weekend - the first of the Chiquitas tied the knot. It was an epic dinner - fried chicken and waffles galore for a party of 15 Chiquitas, Chiquitos and good friends.

This was the day before LiMin married Tony, and we all had a nice get-together at Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in Hollyhoooood. Roll call - LH, Jennah, Jasmine, Elise, Tony, May, Florin, his friend, Baby Rar, yours truly - representing West Coast (babay baaaabay!) - Dawn, Jenn, Tina, John - representing East Coast - and Ruth representing that Dirty Souf. Probably the biggest Chiquita gathering since Alum Reunion in Oh-Six. Props to everyone for making it out!!

Special shout-out:
- to Tina for episodic clumsiness which really congeals the entertainment value of this trip. We love you just the same!
- to May for posing the idea in the first place
- to everyone who made the effort to fly in
- and to just everybody for a great time!

Lesson: When you're in LA, you NEED to sit ya ass down and eat some Roscoe's because it is part of the LA culture and identity. One of the fastest ways to make friends in LA is to suggest Roscoe's for a meal. You hearda Pink's? Well now you've hearda Roscoe's. Go ahead, chicken-n-waffle it up a li'l bit and comfort your souuuul. It may just make your day. And if you feel adventurous, Roscoe's got the hookup for those other parts of the chicken which aren't so mainstream.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/roscoes-house-of-chicken-and-waffles-los-angeles-3 - 4.0 out of 511 reviews don't lie.
http://www.roscoeschickenandwaffles.com/

Fat Kid Adventure #124: Uncle Frank's (Mountain View)

Let's do this review Dos Equis style.

His reputation precedes himself. His BBQ precedes his reputation.

Doctors prescribe his BBQ to treat depression.

Cows volunteer to be made into his famed brisket.

This off-Castro Mountain View joint is a local favorite. At the corner of Old Middlefield and Rengstorff and sharing a roof with Francesca's Bar, this little hole-in-wall BBQ joint is plain SICK (in the street sense). Went in for a little Friday lunch a while back, and I wisely opted for the brisket. Juicy, tender, sauceful, smoky. It was half a dozen slices of some of the best beef brisket I have ever had.

http://www.unclefranksbbq.com/ - please pay this site a visit, once you see Uncle Frank's face, you KNOW the man knows how to 'Que.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/uncle-franks-bbq-and-catering-mountain-view

Fat Kid Adventure #123: Palace BBQ Buffet (Sunnyvale)

Ever been high on Korean BBQ? If you haven't, then you should pay Palace a visit.

Why did we go? We've been giving up red meat and pork (as well as coffee and soda) for Lent. I joined in for the nutritional benefit. SO, deprived of those two tastys for 40 days, I HAD to have a feast on the day Lent was over just to celebrate. I've heard about this joint from some Korean friends back in school, and Easter was THE day to do it. Easter is about to lose the letter 's' - THAT, is how I do.

This is a fairly large Korean BBQ buffet, and while similar to Hot Pot City (a Chinese hot pot buffet) in Milpitas, the BBQ marinade and selection is definitely superior. Just to clarify, by BBQ buffet I mean that the meat is raw but marinaded, and you the eater have the responsibility of grilling it (in a grill right in front of you on your table). By the way, if you have a group of 4 or more celebrating someone's birthday, that someone gets to eat for free.

There's a whole lot of BBQ goodness that includes beef, pork, chicken, squid, and baby octopus. Excellent, excellent marinades. From short ribs to spicy pork to spare ribs to pork fat to pork tongue to squid to baby octopus to beef brisket to pork belly to tripe to oh-my-gracious! I couldn't see straight after I was done with the meats. I had to get some non-BBQ items - like fried chicken, chap chae, jellyfish, fried fish, etc. - to get me back to Earf. Yeah I said it, 'Earf'.

1.5 hours, and BOY we did a lot of damage for 2 people. Well it was worth the 20 minute within 30 minutes to closing. Anyway, y'all gotta give this joint a try - it will be worth your night, and YES come with an empty stomach. Oh yeah don't wear a nice shirt, you will be smothered with Korean BBQ scent aftewards.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/palace-bbq-buffet-sunnyvale

Fat Kid Adventure #122: Omogari (San Jose)

This is a highly rated Korean joint on Yelp, and since it was decently nearby in the northern side of SJ, we decided to give it a shot. It's a nice little place with a decent price tag, and the servers were very friendly.

We had this seafood pancake dish (Hae-mul Pa-jun), and as an appetizer it is simply huge. It's kind of like an egg-based pizza - thick with green onions spread throughout, but the stars of the show were the shrimps, scallops, crab meat, etc. Great start!

We ordered the Dol-sot Bi-bim-bab for entree. It comes in a stone pot over open fire, and it is filled with assorted veggies, chicken (you may choose beef, chicken, pork, or tofu), topped off with a sunny side up egg, and served over rice. Excellent dish! I love the crispy portions of the rice.

One thing I love about Dol-sot style dishes is the mixing. For one it makes the preparation pretty simple - you got the rice on the bottom, then you put the toppings in sections on top, and top it off with the sunny side up. For the customers, the appearance of the sectioned colors over rice in a black stone pot is pretty appealing, and then the mixing is a transformation of colors into swirls. As you mix in all the goodies together, you can pretty much guess how good the bowl is going to taste.

Great little place! Give it a shot.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/sj-omogari-korean-restaurant-san-jose
http://omogari.biz

Rachel and I caught a bunch of high school girls flirting with the waiter, doing that write-your-friend's-number-on-a-note-and-pass-it-to-the-cute-waiter's-notsocute-waiterfriend-so-as-to-be-unambiguously-ambiguous business. Reminds me of the middle/high school days.

Fat Kid Adventure #121: Yiassoo (Campbell)

This is sort of a chain Greek fast-food restaurant, and I have been here a couple of times for lunch during the work week. This one is right on Bascom in Campbell, and there is another in Cupertino somewhere.

The lunch specials are great and has enough variety for all appetites and diets. For about $7-$8, you can get a decent meal out of this joint without falling into the Itis back at work. I have tried the chicken souvlaki lunch special, and it's pretty good. The souvlaki comes with pieces of grilled chicken, the white/yogurty sauce, a tomatoey salad, and some fries. I hear the gyros are pretty damn good and filling. Fast and friendly service. Definitely worth a try.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/yiassoo-campbell