Bob's Big Boy Broiler- Downey

Bob's Big Boy Broiler
7447 Firestone Blvd
Downey
562-928-2627

Bob's Big Boy Broiler used to be Johnny's Broiler in Downey. This was a very popular hang out during the 50's and 60's. But as time went on, it lost it's popularity. In 2008 the owner of the property tried to illegally tear down the leftover of Johnny's Broiler. But people who care about preserving history called the police and stopped the illegal tearing down. The owner of the Bob's Big Boy in Torrance, worked out a deal to put up a Bob's Big Boy, complete with car hop service.

I went to the Bob's in West Covina, because I want to support Bob's. While the West Covina location has a modern and not the classic design, like the Bob's in Burbank, it is still nice to see Bob's making a comeback. But I was really excited to go to Bob's Big Boy Broiler since it had the classic old school design. I have heard Bob's will open an classic style restaurant in Pasadena sometime next year.

Driving on Firestone Blvd, you can't miss Bob's Big Boy Broiler!!! They have carhop service daily from 4-10pm. I got there too late for carhop service and the wait for a table was about 30 minutes, so I decided to get a table at the counter.

I got my usual super Big Boy combo, $7.99 and the chili spaghetti, $8.99. Yes, those prices are different than the prices on the carhop sign. Oh well. The super Big Bob combo was great. Fresh and hot, like it should be. The cheese was melted, the meat was cooked and seasoned correctly and the red relish had that tangy flavor. So good.

I love a five way!!! Come on now, get your minds out of the gutter. A five way the way Cincinnati chili is served. You have spaghetti, chili and cheddar cheese, beans, and onions. You can get a three way, no beans or onions. A four way, either with beans or onions. And what I love, a five way!!! Cincinnati chili is much different than chili from other regions.

Bob's does a three way using their own chili. The chili at Bob's is thinner and not spicy. But it has good flavor and taste. The spaghetti was cooked just right. A good dish that I finally tried after all the times I went to Bob's!!!

Service at the counter was very good. The server was nice and friendly and helpful. One thing I did notice, since I had great view of where the food is waiting to be picked up by the servers, the other servers were a bit slow. I saw three Big Boy combos sitting at the counter for at least 10 minutes. The other servers need to move a lot faster. My server was great, the burger was hot and fresh. But other diners that night did not get a hot fresh burger since it was sitting around for too long.

I would go back to Bob's Big Boy Broiler anytime. Such a great sense of nostalgia and good food.

Akbar-Closed

Akbar
1101 Aviation Blvd
Hermosa Beach
310-937-3800

Akbar is suppose to be the top rated Indian restaurant in the South Bay. I always question when a restaurant makes that type of claim. It is like being the tallest midget. Yes, you're the tallest, but you're still a midget. The South Bay could have a bad selection of Indian restaurants.

But I was glad to find that Akbar was indeed very good. I went with a group of ten people. We got the Vegetarian Akbari, $9.95, Chicken Tikka Masala, $12.95, Tandoori Salmon, $14.95.

I loved the vegetarian akbari, a variety of vegetables prepared in mild sauce flavored with mace and cardamom. There were peas and other veggies in this dish. But the seasonings and flavors just worked so well. I didn't even mind it didn't have any meat. A wonderful savory dish.

The chicken tikka masala, tandoor grilled chicken in a tomato sauce, was pretty good but a bit salty. There were large pieces of tender flavorful chicken. The spices were full of flavor but just too salty.

The Tandoori salmon, wild salmon marinated in spices, garlic ginger, tandoor grilled, was very good. The salmon was moist, flavorful and cooked just right. There wasn't much of an Indian flavor, this dish could be served in most other restaurants and people wouldn't have guessed it was Indian. But a good dish.

Service started off slow. They didn't give us a wine list. They didn't take our drink orders for a long time. But after that we didn't lack for anything. Our drinks were refilled. Our food came out quickly.

Akbar has four locations and I would go back to Akbar anytime.

Umami Burger-Hollywood-Closed

Umami Burger-Hollywood
4655 Hollywood Blvd
LA, CA
323-669-3922

Umami Burger is another restaurant in the gourmet burger catergory, that started with Father's Office. Umami is billed as the sixth sense.  Umami  opened a location on La Brea but I still haven't been there.  But, today I found out they opened a location in the Hollywood area with a $5 happy hour burger called the Smash burger.  So I braved the windy weather and made it their new location, which used to be a Cobras and Matadors. Before I review the food at Umami Burger, I wanted to tell readers of The New Diner about something I saw while walking to Umami Burger.

I saw two paparazzi scumbags, waiting outside a costume shop, about 2-3 stores from Umami. They had their camera ready and once that celebrity came out of the store, they were clicking away. What is really terrible was that this celebrity took a child shopping for a Halloween costume and these scumbag paparazzi are bothering them!!  Can't these scumbags leave the kid alone? Yeah, I get it that these celebrities are out in public but that doesn't mean they have to hound this celebrity.  I didn't know who this celebrity was, until I asked one of the scumbags.  I also didn't mention who he or she might be because I don't want to contribute to the paparazzi scumbags.

So I got the Smash burger, $5, that comes with pickles, charred onions and house-made American cheese. I was shocked at how juicy the burger was. There was no need for any other condiments. The American cheese was melted perfectly into each bite. The burger, which was cooked about medium, is a decent sized burger, for $5 is a a steal. But the Smash burger is a no deletion or addition burger. What is on there is what you get.

Since I was at Umami, I had to get the Umami burger, $9 and thin fries, $3.50. The Umami burger is a beef patty topped with Parmesan, roasted tomato (cooking veggies unlocks the glutamate), shiitake mushrooms and onion. But it was too rare for me. I felt sick after eating this. The burger was cooked charred, burnt on the outside and rare on the inside. The toppings was a weird combination of flavors that just didn't work well together.

The thin fries were hot, crispy but very salty. They put too much salt on the fries. Next time I order the fries, I will ask for no salt.

Service at the bar is good. The bartender was nice and helpful.

I would go back to Umami burger for the smash burger but I wouldn't go back for the burgers on their regular menu. If the Umami burger is the signature burger, they missed it. They smash burger is it!!

King Taco- Pasadena

King Taco
45 N Arroyo Pkwy
Pasadena
626-792-0405

I have already reviewed the King Taco in East LA. I went to the King Taco in Pasadena before but didn't review it. Friday night I went back, so now here is my review.

I haven't had a sopes before and I was willing to give it a try. So I got a carne asada sope, $2.84. The sope was topped with refried beans, cabbage, cheese, and their green salsa on the side. The sope was a small round shaped piece of maize that has a tough chewy texture. Again I'm no expert about sope but I did like this. I would say a sope is like a Mexican pizza.

The carne asada is always good at King Taco and the other toppings were fresh. I was impressed with the large amount of toppings on the sope.

Service was pretty good. They can get busy because all the party people go there before or after a night of drinking, but the line moved pretty fast when I was there. The people were friendly and nice.

I would go back to this King Taco before the East LA King Taco.

Benjies

Benjies
1828 N. Tustin Ave
Santa Ana, CA 92705
714-541-6263

Among the many things lacking in the OC is a good New York style deli. It sure as hell isn't the Katella Deli and after my trip to Benjies, I am still searching for a good New York style deli in the OC. Some idiots on Yelp think Benjies is a Kosher deli but it is NOT a kosher deli since it serves cheeseburgers and sandwiches with meat and cheese.

Anyways I ordered the #5 triple decker; corned beef, pastrami, and swiss cheese on rye bread, $11.50 and comes with fries. The sandwich was cut into thirds, piled pretty high and came hot. But the cutting the sandwich into thirds, may make it seem as though the sandwich is big, the sandwich is smaller than other delis I've been to.

But the quality of the meat wasn't that good. Both the corned beef and pastrami was dry and very salty. And I know that both pastrami and corned beef are made from the brisket, which has a lot of fat, it was too fatty for me. The rye bread was standard, nothing special.

The fries were crinkle cut fries of the frozen variety. Again nothing special.

Service was pretty good but our server was gone for a long period of time.

Benjies is better than Katella Deli but that is like saying you're the tallest midget. No reason for me to come back here.