BlackBoard Bistro

BlackBoard Bistro
1198 PCH
Seal Beach
562-596-9556

Housed in what used to be a school, BlackBoard Bistro is a nice place to enjoy lunch. BlackBoard Bistro and Finbars, an Italian place a few block west, ued to be owned by the same person. But now a different owner bought BlackBoard Bistro.

I've only been here for lunch and it's a great place for fresh sandwiches. I ordered the tuna salad sandwich, $8.29, on wheat, with tomatoes and lettuce. The sandwich is so fresh it seemed as though the tuna was in the ocean that morning. They added the right among of mayo to the tuna. The wheat bread was very lightly toasted and the tomatoes and lettuce was very fresh. The sandwich comes with your choice of fries, fruit, or cole slaw. I got the fruit and the strawberries, pineapple and cantulope was very fresh.

Now service is below average. I've actually went to BlackBoard Bistro twice. The first time I didn't have my camera and we sat down and ate. That was not good. We sat in the patio and they were very, very slow. The server very rarely came around to refill drinks and ask if we needed anything. He also never bothered to clear the dishes from the other tables around us. He was friendly but just wasn't attentive and just gave the impression he didn't care. I understand that the NCAA tourney was going on and everybody has March Madness but damn, do your job.

The second time I went, I didn't forget my camera and the service was good. Maybe because the owner or manager was helping me. He was nice and friendly. I got my order quickly and then I tooked the pictures.

I would and have gone back to BlackBoard Bistro. But I think I would much rather order something to go and then enjoy the sandwich on the Seal Beach Pier. If you can deal with below average service, BlackBoard Bistro serves very fresh food at good prices.

Rocco's Pizza-Closed

Rocco's Pizza
812-814 N Vermont Ave
LA
323-644-0003

What took me so long? That's a very good question, one I've asked myself a few times after goingt Rocco's Pizza. I first had Rocco's at the Feast of San Genaro back in Sept or Oct of 2007. I got a card from Rocco's and wanted to go there but didn't go back until now.

Rocco's is great pizza. Pictured is an x-large pizza with meatballs and pepperoni, $13.21. When I first opened up the box, the wonderful smell was overwhelming, I just had to eat the pizza right away. The gooey cheese, thin, crispy crust was just awesome. The pepperoni is spicy and wonderful. I found the meatball to be very interesting. First they were not shaped like a ball but sliced. If I'm not mistaken it's a combination of beef and pork. It was fine but I wouldn't order meatballs on Rocco's pizza again. I would just stick to the basics like pepperoni and sausage.

Of course the biggest question is, How does this compare to
Village Pizzeria? It compares very well. I still think Village Pizzeria is better but Rocco's comes in a close second.

Service is OK. The guy isn't exactly friendly but he's not rude either. He's just going through the motions. This location is across the street from LA City College and parking can be very tough. I actually parked at the Jack in the Box just north of Rocco's. There is some street parking but that's was taken. But the pizza is worth the hassle.

I would go back to Rocco's anytime.

Chronic Cantina-Costa Mesa-Closed

Chronic Cantina
1870 Harbor Blvd,
Costa Mesa
949-646-BAR.

Want to go to a restaurant that has average food and music blasting, go to Chronic Cantina in Costa Mesa.

Chronic Cantina turns into a club after 9pm on Saturdays. It's very loud and dark in there and it makes it hard to enjoy your food. I would describe Chronic Cantina as a El Torito. Nothing special about it.

I ordered the carne asada chimichanga burrito, $7.99. The burrito has carne asada, rice, beans, cheese, onions, and lettuce. The carne asada wasn't the most flavorful, lean or flavorful. There were plenty of pieces with fat and grissle. Not good. I've had leaner more flavorful carne asada at hole in the water Mexican places for less or the same price. I did enjoy the nice flakey flour tortilla. That was the best part of the chimichanga.

Service was OK. The server was nice and attentive. But she didn't come by often to refill drinks and she never asked how the food was.

I would not go back to Chronic Cantina again. I don't need to drive to Costa Mesa to get average Mexican food. Plus I don't need to have music blasting in my ears while I'm eating dinner.

Legend's

Legend's
5236 E 2nd St
Long Beach
562-433-5743

Former LA Ram offensive lineman, Dennis Harrah opened up Legend's. He eventually sold off his shares. About two years ago fire destroyed Legend's and for whatever reason it took about two years to reopen.

Legend's is a sports bar. There are plenty of TV's to watch the Lackers lose. I ordered the Clipper sandwich, $9.29, charbroiled chicken breast with lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, avocado, and pickles with fresh fruit. I was expecting this sandwich to be a bit dry. But much to my surprise it was very moist and juicy. I think cutting the chicken so thinly really helped. The wheat bun was nicely and perfectly toasted. This was a good sized sandwich and well worth the price.

Service was good. The server was nice and friendly and I wasn't wanting for anything.

I would go back to Legend's anytime. Next time I go, I want to see how their wings compare.

Natraj Cuisine of India

Natraj Cuisine of India
5262 E. 2nd St.
Long Beach
562-930-0930

After going to Pkuket we went to Natraj for entrees. After a bad experience at Diamond Palace, I wasn't thrilled about going to another Indian place. But figured why not? Big mistake.

I got the shrimp garlic, $13.95, sauteed with garlic, bellpeppers, and onions. This is a very spicy dish. The heat of the dish just overpowered any other flavor. The shrimp was tough and overcooked. There were about six medium sized shrimps in the dish. Bastami rich and bread was included in this dish, unlike Diamond Palace. But at $13.95 it's overpriced for the quality and quanity you get.

Service was below average. They are friendly but slow to refill drinks and rice.

I would not go back to Natraj again. People have told me they have a very good lunch buffet but I'm not impressed with the quality of their food, to go back.

Phuket Thai-Closed

Phuket Thai
5274 E 2nd St.
Long Beach
562-433-5859

I've only went to Phuket for appetizers. I got the chicken sate, $8.25. The chicken was charred on too much of the sate. They need to be more careful of the how long the sate sit on the grill. The chicken was a bit tough and wasn't tender. You needed the peanut sauce to add some moisture. Sure they gave you six skewers and each skewer had a lot of chicken. But the chicken was just OK.

Service was good. Nice and friendly people.

I know judging a restaurant just on appetizers is like judging a book by it's cover. I did see many good dishes being served at other tables. I will come back to try some of their other dishes.

Aki's Sushi-Closed

Aki's Sushi
665 Redondo Ave
Long Beach
562-439-4025

Aki's Sushi was opened by the former sushi chef at Aki Sushi. I heard some good things about Aki's so I decided to go there.

I ordered the king crab sushi, $5.75, halibut, $3.50, and the yellowtail, $4.00. The biggest thing I noticed about Aki's is the smaller portions. The portions are much bigger at Aki. The king crab sushi was pretty good. Very fresh and tasty. For the high price they could have put a little more crab on there. The halibut was also fresh and tasty. I didn't like the yellowtail. It wasn't fresh, too mushy and just plain bad.

Service was very good. The servers are nice and friendly and always attentive.

I may go back to Aki's. Again the portions aren't the biggest and the prices are pretty high. But the lack of freshness for the yellowtail really made me wonder if it would happen the next time I go. There are many other sushi places in Long Beach, going back to Aki's may not be worth it.

Old World Delicatessen- West Covina-Moved

Old World Delicatessens
2648 W Workman Ave
West Covina
626-967-6307

As the sign says Old World Deli has been family owned and operated since 1969. I'm surprised I haven't tried this place sooner.

I was very surprised with the variety of items they had. Pizza, broasted chicken, hot dogs, soups, and of course sandwiches.

Since I haven't been to a hot dog place in a long time, I got the NY style hot dog, $3.50 with mustard, kraut and raw onions. The hot dog was all beef, Boar's Head hot dog. A good quality hot dog but they do not have a natural casing around the hot dog, so no snap. But this is a good quality hot dog, even if it's steamed.

I also got the hot corned beef, $6.85, on grilled rye, mustard lettuce, tomato and swiss cheese. They piled high the Boar's head corned beef and topped with the fresh lettuce and tomatoes. The grilled rye added a nice touch. A very good sandwich. Maybe a little high on the price but good quality and quanity.

Service is good. The young lady taking the order was nice and friendly. But it did seem to take a long time to get my order ready. Maybe they were waiting for the sandwich to be grilled. But overall a nice place to go for lunch. I will go back to try their pizza and broasted chicken soon.


Update 4-22




I went back to Old World to try a slice of their Silician pizza with pepperoni, $3.30. This is not a good example of Silician pizza. Yes the crust was thicker and soft. But there was barely any sauce and the cheese and pepperoni weren't anything to write home about. I think Old World should stick to sandwiches.

Update 4-23




Every Wednesday Old World Deli has $2 off on their broasted chicken family dinners. So I got the eight piece family dinner, $15.10, and decided to see how Old World Deli's broasted chicken compared to the Chicken Box, Pittsburgh Chicken and Taters, and Broasters Kitchen. The family dinners, includes broasted potatoes, salad, I got half mac and half potato salad, and 4 rolls. The chicken at Old World is cooked to order, just like the other three places.

Well Old World beats the hell out of it's West Covina competior, Chicken Box. The chicken at Old World is so moist, juicy and tender. After biting into the crunchy skin, the juicies are just flowing out. The chicken is hot, fresh and so good.

For me, I like Pittsburgh chicken the best with Broasters coming in a close second. But I think Old World is now tied for second. Who would have thought that a deli would make such great broasted chicken. I would go back to Old World for their sandwiches and their broasted chicken.

Diamond Palace- Indian Food

Diamond Palace
1241 Grand Ave
Diamond Bar
909-860-2625

I don't have much experience with Indian food. But I decided to try an Diamond Palace, an Indian place that has been in Diamond Bar for over 15 years. Yes there is also a Diamond Palace Seafood Restaurant in Diamond Bar.

I wanted the chicken barra kabab which is chicken breast but they were out of them. So I go the Ginger Kabab, chicken marinated in yogurt and ginger, with rice, for what I thought was $10.95. More on that later.

The Ginger Kabab came in a sizzling hot plate, a very nice presentation and one that smelled wonderful. But the chicken was a bit dry and lacked flavor. Where is the yogurt and ginger marinate? I didn't taste any ginger at all. Not sure why this was so bland. Indian food is suppose to have lots of flavors. The one thing that had flavor was the rice. Most basmati with some food coloring and bay leaves. What I didn't like about the rice was the $3.95 price. I thought the rice came with the kebab. There is nothing on the menu that said the kebab is served al carte. When the server asked if I wanted rice or bread, he never mentioned there would be an additional charge. That is his responsibility.

Service, other than the fact he didn't tell me the rice was an additional charge, was good. I didn't lack for anything.

I would not go back to Diamond Palace. The food is just average and I still don't like the fact they didn't mention anywhere that the rice is an additional charge.

Lamppost Pizza-Fountain Valley

Lamppost Pizza
10130 Warner Ave
Fountain Valley
714-968-6128

Of the chain pizza places, I like Lamppost the best. There used to be a lot more Lamppost but since the mid 1990's they have slowly closed. I went to the Fountain Valley location and with a buy one, get one free coupon, got a large chicken and large pepperoni for $17.35. Not a bad deal at all.

One of the reasons I like Lamppost is they don't cheat out out of cheese. There is a ton of cheese on the pizza, no matter what location you go to. This was the case with the two pizzas I got, just tons of goey cheese on the pizza. I didn't care for the chicken though. There wasn't enough chicken and the chicken was a bit dry. The pepperoni is one of the best pepperoni used by a chain. Nice and spicy. Though they could have put more pepperoni on the pizza.

Service is OK. The young girl who took my order was nice and friendly. But as I waited for my to go, order the must have kept the pizza for about five minutes longer. She was in the other room horsing around with the other workers. She should have been more attentive to the getting the pizza out. Also if somebody would have came into the pizza place, they was nobody to greet them or take their order.

I would go back to Lamppost but only with a coupon or I would get a special. $17.35 for a large one topping pizza is a bit pricey.

Javier's-Irvine

Javier's
45 Fortune Dr.
Irvine
949-872-2101

I've heard so many things about Javier's at the Irvine Spectrum, I decided to try it. What I found was an overpriced, very Americanized, poor service Mexican restaurant.

I got the Chimichanga de maricos, $18, filled with Dungeness crab, shrimp, and cheese in a deep fried flour tortilla. Now this had a decent amount of crab and shrimp but it wasn't worth $18. I realize that crab and shrimp are expensive but the chimichanga could have been bigger. This was good but nothing outstanding.

I hate going to Irvine. It's filled with suburbans wannbe yuppies. I hate the fact everybody looks the same, dresses the same, and acts the same, like a jerkoff from OC. I went to the hostess to get a table, I happened to be with a white girl and she was right next to me. I asked for a table for two. She said "I can seat you right now." Cool I thought. Then she says "Is everybody in your party here, right now?" Hello stupid, she's standing right next to me. Then we sit in the patio but the server is terrible. It took forever to even get menus. Though she took our drink order quickly. She brings us our drinks but still no menus. We finally get the menu and we wait again for her to take our order. Our food comes fairly quickly but we don't get refills on water and drinks, she never bothered to ask how the food was. She even took a long time to get the check.

I would not go back to Javier's again. What a terrible experience with the service. Food is OK but nothing great and not worth the high prices.r

Gaslamp-Appetizers

Gaslamp
6251 E Pacific Coast Highway
Long Beach
562-596-4718


I went back to Gaslamp for their monthly wine tasting event. I didn't have any wine but I did try their appetizers. During the wine tasting appetizers are half off. So I ordered the shrimp cocktail, $6 and the fish tacos, $6.

The shrimp were huge!!! They were pretty fresh. They were tasty and worth the $6. At $12 it's overpriced.

The fish tacos were $9. They were filled with lightly fried white fish, pico de gallo, torn greens & chipotle mayo. The fish was most breading, very little fish. All the other ingredients were fresh. But I didn't think this was worth the price, even at $4.50.

Service is ok. But the more I think about it I think they overcharged me. Oh well, I won't go back there anymore.

Again I won't go back to Gaslamp for any reason. Not worth the prices for average food.

Cisco Burgers-Closed

Cisco Burgers
620 W. Anaheim St.
Long Beach
562-590-5470

Jeese James of Monster Garage fame opened up Cisco Burgers in Long Beach. This restaurant is suppose to be environmentally friendly. While saving the environment is important, I wish the restaurant would pay more attention to their burgers.

I got the Cisco Burger combo, $7.95 on the menu with onion rings. But my total came to $9.74 a very high price for a fast food style burger place. The onion rings was 50 cents more, 30 cents for cheese. So that makes it $8.75 with tax that would be $9.47. Maybe the server put in $9.74? Either way the burger wasn't worth it. At best this burger is below average. Nothing special about this. I would have prefered to go to In n Out or Red Robin. The meat was ok, nothing special and frozen. They had lettuce and tomatoes.

The onion rings were very good. I was impressed. The coating used was crunchy and flakey. The onion was sweet and tender. Whatever batter they use, other restaurants should use it.

Service is good. The lady taking orders was nice and friendly and refilled sodas quickly. The burgers came up quickly too. The burgers are cooked on a grill. Wish they didn't use frozen beef.

I would not go back to Cisco Burgers again. I have no idea who this Jesse James is. Matter of fact when somebody told me Jesse James owned Cisco I asked when did he come back from the grave? I could care less who he is. I wish he would improve the quality of his burger.