Choza Mama-Closed

Choza Mama 96 E Colorado Blvd. Pasadena 626-432-4692 Is Pasadena moving up in the world? Out with the Hooters and in with a Peruvian restaurant. Or did Hot Wings Cafe drive Hooters out of business? Either way a nice addition to the Old Town Pasadena scene. I've never had Peruvian food before and was excited to try it. I heard that Peruvian food is a fusion of flavors from Latin America and even China. I got the Caufa De Mariscos, $15. A Peruvian version of seafood fried rice with shrimp, fish, calamari, mussels and octupus. Out came a huge bowl with what looked like curry. The sauce was full of spices or too salty, I'm leaning towards too salty. Most of the seafood was a bit overcooked, a few less minutes on the stove would have made this great dish. There was plenty of seafood, you got your moneys worth but the shrimp, calamari, and mussels were overcooked, chewy, and tough. Service by the server was bad. We got seated and it took about forever to be greeted. The busboy was a very nice and hard working person. He got us water and kept refilling them, all night. But the server was terrible. She finally came and said sorry I had a table of eight. Ok, not a problem. But we rarely saw her. We order two drinks and they didn't come until right before our meals came. She never bothered to ask how everything was. We had a tough time tracking her down. We saw another server more than our server. Either Choza Mama needs to have a better table rotation for their servers or need to train their servers better. I understand it is a Saturday night and restaurants are busy. But we shouldn't have had such bad service. I would go back to Choza Mama because a lot of other dishes, especially the Jalea; deep fried seafood on top of a whole sole fish, looked great.

Blue Star Diner

Blue Star Diner
2200 E 15th St
Los Angeles
213-627-2022

I only went to the Blue Star Diner because I had volunteered at the LA Regional Food Bank, earlier that day and was looking for something to eat. Located in a very industrial part of LA, Blue Star Diner doesn't look like much from the outside. Inside there are dogs, who belong to the owner, running around. Doesn't sound like a very clean place, but they did get an A rating from the health department the day I went.



I ordered the oven roasted turkey sandwich, toasted wheat bread, lettuce, tomato and mayo, $8.50, with a side of mac and cheese, $2 extra. The sandwich came out and while it was good, it wasn't outside. The wheat bread was lightly toasted, the veggies fresh, the turkey was a bit dry and they could have put more mayo on the sandwich.

The mac and cheese looked good but there was so much black pepper it just ruined the taste. They put coarse ground pepper in the mac and cheese and it just ruined it. The macaroni was nice and soft but the cheese barely there. I think from the picture it looks like a mac salad, not mac and cheese. Wasn't worth the $2 extra price.

Service was good considering the situation. I was part of a large group and there was only one server and she was overwhelmed. But she worked hard and did the best she could. Anybody who would expect super fast service in this situation is an idiot.

I would not go back to the Blue Star Dinner. The food is average and a bit on the pricey side. There are better ways to spend $17 for lunch.

Fullhouse Seafood Restaurant

Fullhouse Seafood Restaurant
963 N Hill St
Los Angeles
213-617-8382

I came here with eight other people, seven of who were nice and friendly. One person I hope I don't see again. I understand that Full House is owned by the same people who own Master Chef. Golden City is across the street.



Baked pork chop with special sauce, $7.95. This wasn't a good dish at all. The pork chops were so fatty and the sauce was just too sweet. I would stay away from this dish.



Shrimp fried rice, $6.95. Lots of nicely cooked shrimp, some scrambled eggs and very little peas. This was well worth the price since it was flavorful and a had a ton of shrimp.



Whole sole with green onion and soy sauce, with ginger and onions, $22. Maybe my favorite dish. Pricey, yes but nice flavor and well cooked sole.



Beef chow fun, $7.95. I gave up red meat for Lent so I didn't eat the beef. But the noodles, onions, bean sprouts, and the soy sauce was a great combination of flavors. A very good dish.



Chinese brocoli with oyster sauce, $7.25. I normally don't like oyster sauce but for some reason I liked this dish. The brocoli was crispy and just full of flavor.



Whole steamed,cold chicken, $18. Interesting dish. A steamed chicken that is chilled and served cold. I thought it was fine but I couldn't help thinking it would have been great, if this was a hot dish.



Honey walnut shrimp, $13.95. About the same was Master Chef's honey walnut shrimp. Good stuff but a little on the sweet side.



Fried shrimp with spicy salt, $10.50. The shrimp were a bit overcooked but nice flavor.

Service was OK. The hostess is really a bitch. I couldn't believe how rude she was. I made a reservation and got there about 20 minutes before my time. I told the hostess, I am here and my reservation time, but I wanted to meet my group at the door and not at the table. She asked, in a very rude way, "What time is your party arriving?" Hello stupid, I just told you my reservation time, look it up.

The servers were nice and the food came out quickly.

I think Master Chef is still the best between the two restaurants.

Pann's Restaurant

Pann's Restaurant
6710 La Tijera Blvd
Los Angeles
310-670-1441

A few miles from Dinah's Family Restaurant is Pann's Restaurant. A diner style restaurant that opened the same year that the drunk, bastard mick, stole the Brooklyn Dodgers from their rightful home, 1958.

I have heard that Pann's has some of the best fried chicken in LA and I decided to give it a try.




Pann's had a $6 special, two pieces of chicken; your choice of white or dark meat, choice of sides, I got the mashed potatoes, and a biscuit. A great deal, that is offered Monday to Friday only.

The skin had a light batter and was crispy. But I thought the skin lacked seasoning, pretty bland. They need to seasoning to their fried chicken. Inside of the chicken was moist and tender. I did like this better than Dinah's but I don't consider Pann's the best fried chicken in LA.

The mashed potatoes were great!! Creamy with bits of potatoes, so that you knew this was made from scratch, not some damn box. I didn't care for the brown gravy which was made from a mix and pretty bland. I also did't like the fact they gave me a whole portion of mashed potatoes but a small portion of gravy.

Pann's regular fried chicken is half a chicken for $11.95. I don't think the thigh and leg piece is worth the extra $6.

Service was good. The host was very nice. I walked in and he was busy at the register and there were 2-3 other people waiting. Once he was done at the register, he came over and asked "Who was here first?" Great customer service. Some places just go to the first person they see.

I sat at the counter and it did take awhile for a server to come by. But a busboy got me some water and he kept refilling the water, the entire time I was there. Awesome.

My server was nice, friendly and hard working. She had a lot of tables and was attentive as she could be, and anybody reasonable person could expect.

I wouldn't mind going back to Pann's but I wouldn't rush over there. I do think Pann's serves a better fried chicken than Dinah's, but Pann's is a bit expensive, if you order off the regular menu.

Q Noodle House-Closed

Q Noodle House 18930 Gale Ave Rowland Heights 626-810-5108 I found a contender in Battle Xiao Long Bao (XLB), Q Noodle House, in Rowland Heights is better known for their noodles (duh) but they have some great dumplings and Xiao Long Bao (XLB). My standard bearer for xiao long bao is Mei Long Village. I know Din Tai Fung is more well known but Mei Long Village is so much better. Green onion pancake, $2.50. Service hot, with a crispy outside and soft chewing inside. Nice texture, nice flavor with lots of green onions inside, and just a great dish. Well worth the $2.50 price. Potstickers, listed at, $4.95. These pork potstickers were shaped a bit different than other potstickers but these were great. The pork inside is so well seasoned, lots of flavor, and the pork is grounded into a finer, smaller pieces it has a different texture. I really like this, though they could have been a bit larger. Xiao Long Bao, listed at $4.50. WOW this was very good. These xiao long bao were about the same size as Din Tai Fung but had better flavor. The pork was the same as the pork inside the potstickers. The skin was a bit thicker than I'm used to be but a good chewy texture. There wasn't much soup in there but the soup was well seasoned and hot. Service is OK. After writing this review, I think they overcharged us for the meal. The menu price has potstickers and xiao long bao at $4.95. The price listed on the bill was $5.50. That's ok because I didn't tip as much because the server was rude, short and not friendly at all. I would go back to Q Noodle House and get dumplings to go. I don't need or want the bad attitude of the servers. Mei Long Village is still my favorite for xiao long bao, but Q Noodle House is solidily in second.

Sushi Gen

Sushi Gen
422 E 2nd St
Los Angeles
213-617-0552

I have heard so many good things about Sushi Gen, I had high expectations. Sadly they were not met. What I found was a very expensive and not very good sushi restaurant.



Shrimp tempura, $6. Not good at all. The outside tempura batter was slightly crispy but the inside was mushy and just a messy. It's like the fryer was set too high and inside of making decreasing the tempurature, they just put out a crappy dish.





I went to Sushi Gen with a friend. Their suhi menu doesn't include prices.

My friend ordered the eel, spicy tuna roll, and salmon and fatty tuna.

I got the yellowtail, tuna, and crab. For those seven items, the bill was about $46, roughly $7 per sushi order. I didn't try any of her sushi.

But the yellowtail wasn't fresh, mushy and just not good.

The tuna was better but not that much better.

The only good sushi was the crab, I believe a king crab, with lots of wasibi and a nice texture.

Service was a bit lacking. We had to call for water, our server never bothered to come around that often.

The host told me the wait would be 20-30 minutes, when in reality it was about 45 minutes. I realize the host can't force people out of their table but come on.

Again Sushi Gen didn't live up to the hype. It is a small place but is living on it's reputation, not the current (lack of) quality of the food.

The Catch-Closed

The Catch 2100 E. Katella Ave. Anaheim 714-935-0101 What used to be an Anaheim Stadium tradition has returned! The Catch, used to be across State College Blvd, from Anaheim Stadium. With Anaheim whoring itself to the Mouse, the city torn down the old location, in order to build condos. The new location for the catch is the street level of a condo complex, that is now renting, because of the housing market crash. I wanted to try The Catch's happy hour, before thinking of going back for dinner. They have $6 specials for happy hour, including calamari. So I got the calamari. The calamari was a tale of two batches, in one plate. One side was nice fresh calamari, fried in a light batter, that was cripsy and wonderful. The other side had the same crispy batter but the calamari was just a mushy mess!!! Not impressed but for $6, it wasn't that big of a deal. Service was interesting. The first server, was a nice, friendly server who was very attentive. For some reason the server was sent home, maybe because it was slow, at the time but got busy by the time I left. The second server was below average. She didn't come around that often and the worst, she asked if I needed change!!! She didn't even look inside that thing they put the bill in. Very rude. What was also rude was the hostess or somebody. I was meeting about ten other people and found the perfect spot for us, a corner area by the bar. I sat down and all of a sudden this bitch with glasses, comes and places a reserved sign at the other end of the table. She never looked at me, never said anything to me, until I ask what was going on. She said we are reserving that for 3-4 people. I said what about my group. What a stupid bitch. I would never go back to this crappy place again. The service is terrible, the food is terrible, the entire experience was terrible. I don't see this new edition of The Catch lasting too long.

7 Kinds of Smoke BBQ-Closed

7 Kinds of Smoke BBQ
4838 S Eastern Ave.
Commerce
323-786-6519

I first had the BBQ ribs from 7 Kinds of Smoke at Que'n For Kids. I was impressed with the ribs and couldn't wait to try their ribs when they opened their restaurant.

7 Kinds of Smoke BBQ is located in a strip mall that only has a food court. I was hungry and I got the dinner portion of the pork ribs, $10.98, with two sides, double mac and cheese. I'll get to the price later.

The ribs were not as good as the ones I had at Que n for Kids. The meat was too soft, mushy, and pretty flavorless. They also lacked any seasoning and there was little smoke flavor.

The mac and cheese were bland, no seasonings at all.

Service was OK. The girl was pretty friendly but here is what I hate about the restaurant industry; they never tell you about the costs.

After placing my order, she said would you like anything to drink, I asked, 'Is that included?' She sheeplessly said no. Then later I found that mac and cheese are $1 extra. But that isn't clear on the menu board, which is really a vinyl banner. Plus the girl should tell you that when ordering.

I wouldn't go back to 7 Kinds of Smoke. The BBQ ribs are not good at all and the sneeky service leaves a lot to be desired.

Barbie's Q-Closed

Barbie's Q

For some unknown, strange reason people in LA love following these food trucks. Why people would want to chase a truck, then wait 2-3 hours in line for the food is beyond me. Yeah the grilled chese truck maybe cool. The ice cream truck would be cool. But this food truck trend is stupid.

I've reviewed Don Chow, and Kogi Taco Truck. With Kogi, the first time I went I wasn't impressed. I only went he second time because a friend wanted to try it. I still wasn't impressed and I wasted two hours waiting in line. While Don Chow was awesome, I wouldn't wait in a two hour line for the food. I just happened to be in the are where Don Chow had set up.

This past weekend, there was a food truck street fair and it cost $5 to get in plus the cost of food. Lines 2-3 blocks long, people waiting 2-3 hours in line and being denied admission because there were already too many people in line. No way am I dealing with that.

But I did hear that Barbie's Q was going to be in Echo Park tonight and with no traffic because of the President's Day holiday, I drove out to Echo Park to try their ribs. They were scheduled to be there at 8pm. I got there about ten minutes before 8pm and they were already selling BBQ. There were only 2-3 people in line. So almost no wait!! But there were also no tables to eat the ribs. There was a ton of construction going on Beverly and Alvarado, so a friendly concrete barrier provided a place to put the food, so I can take a picture. I went to the nearest McDonald's to eat the ribs and mac and cheese.



I got a side of mac and cheese,$4. Really this was 90% macaroni and 10% cheese. It was so dry and bland. Where is the cheese in this!!! Not good at all and a waste of $4.





Three St. Louis ribs and cole slaw, $2 per rib, buy three or more ribs and get one side. Barbie's only has St. Louis pork spare ribs, so I got three ribs and my side was cole slaw.

The cole slaw had very little mayo, so dry. The cabbage was fresh but man put some mayo on it.

The ribs were OK but overcooked. BBQ should not be falling off the bone. It should have some give to it. If you take a bite and the meat comes off the bone, it is overcooked. This did have a nice smoke flavor and almost no fat.

The BBQ sauce was a tomato based sauce with a mild tanginess and spice. Pretty good sauce.

Service was very good. The man taking orders was very nice and friendly.

I would go back but I wouldn't drive a long way to try it and I wouldn't wait in line over ten minutes.

Jin Jian

Jin Jian
301 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-308-9238

Just a few doors down from Mei Long Village, is Jin Jian; another contender in battle Xiao Long Bao (XLB). I reviewed Din Tai Fung and their Xiao Long Bao, didn't live up to the hype.




Xiao Long Bao (XLB) $5.50, a thicker skin but I thought this was very bland. The pork was OK but nothing great.





Xiao Long Bao with crab meat, $6.50. The first time I've ever had xiao long bao with crab meat. I would say the ratio was about 70% pork to 30% crab meat. Same bland soup and thick skin. What I didn't expect was biting down on pieces of crab shells. Of the eight pieces, there were crab shells in six of them.

Service is pretty good but they rush you.

Jin Jian had a B rating and I can see why. I asked for ice water and there was somethign in it. The xiao long bao with crab meat had crab shells in it. Not a good place.

I will not go back. Mei Long Village still has the best xio long bao.

Pink's- Buena Park-Closed

Pink's 8039 Beach Blvd Buena Park 714-220-5084 Why the OC would want to copy LA, is beyond me. Ok, I know I rip the pretentious, jerk people of the OC but they have their thing. The OC is different than LA. So why they would want a LA institution, is beyond me. As readers of The New Diner know, I am not a fan of Pink's Hollywood. Yes, everybody should go there once to experience it but Pink's isn't a good place for hot dogs. Pink's opened in Knott's Berry Farm Marketplace, around Thanksgiving of 2009. They closed up, in January for some renovation or whatever. They reopened on Jan 30th. You do not have to pay for admission or parking to Knott's, if you want to eat at Pink's. There is a free parking for the marketplace, the same are where Mrs. Knott's Chicken dinners have been served!!! Mrs. Knott's restaurant is actually five years older than Pink's, having opened in 1934, compared to Pink's in 1939. I got the 10" stretch chili dog,$3.90, with chili, mustard and onions. The hot dog is pretty good with a nice snap, good amount of seasonings, and flavor. But the chili is bland, flavorless and they put too much of it on a hot dog, that it overpowers the hot dog. Ok you may ask, why then didn't I order a chili dog. Well Pink's doesn't ahve just a plain hot dog. They want to dress up every hot dog, instead of keeping it simple. Pink's should offer plain 10" stretch hot dogs, instead of the chili, which is a wasted. Service was pretty goood. Since this Pink's is fairly new and many people do not know about it, there are no long lines, like the Pink's in Hollywood. I wouldn't go back to Pink's. But knowing the pretentious, jerk people of the OC, they are going to love this place, since it will be the "in" thing to do.

Flossie's Southern Cuisine-Closed

Flossie's Southern Cuisine
3566 Redondo Beach Blvd
Torrance
310-352-4037

WOW the first restaurant in Torrance, that has been reviewed by The New Diner. I heard of Flossie's about five years ago. But since I'm rarely in the Torrance area, I didn't get a chance to try it. I decided to have dinner there tonight and now I'm hoping it won't be another five years before I go back to Flossie's.





I got the fried chicken dinner, $10.99 with double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy with a drink, sweet tea, ice tea, Kool Aid, or water. They give you a choice of white or dark meat. They lady said the wait for white meat would be about 15 minutes, which was no problem for me. My order comes out and after taking pictures, I dig into the fried chicken. The breast piece was hot, juicy and moist like crazy. The skin was so crunchy, with a lot of seasoning. The meat was cooked to perfection and so moist. Just a wonderful wonderful fried chicken.

The wing piece, though had been sitting under heat lamps for a while. It was good but nothing beats fried chicken right out of the fryer.



The double mac and cheese and mashed potatoes and gravy. The mac and cheese was creamy, cheesy and just great, cooked to perfection. One of the best mac and cheese, I've ever had.

The mashed potatoes were bland and lacked flavor. I'm leaning towards the mashed potatoes being made from a box but I'm not 100% sure. The next time I go to Flossie's I'm getting triple mac and cheese!!

Service is pretty good. Flossie's has a long row of steam tables and you tell them what you want. When I walked in and went to the counter, I wasn't greeted at all, like I was invisiable. I waited for about 3-4 minutes until the lady asked what I would like. It is not asking much to be greeted. A simple "Hi, we will be right with you." is fine.

Other than not being greeted, the service was good. The lady is very nice, she just has to greet people.

I would go back to Flossie's. I want to try their meatloaf, which looked so good.

Bayou Grille- Inglewood

Bayou Grille
1400 N La Brea Avenue
Inglewood
310-673-0824

Who Dat?? Who Dat?? Who Dat??

As most readers of The New Diner know, I love the BALTIMORE COLTS. The New Diner is named after the movie, Diner, where Eddie wouldn't marry is beloved, because she couldn't pass a test about the BALTIMORE COLTS. At the end of the movie the BALTIMORE COLTS fight song was being played at the wedding. I guess Eddie gave his belove a make up test. I loved the movie but Eddie is a douchebag, he should be like me and NOT marry the woman he loved because she failed the BALTIMORE COLTS test!!!!!

I hate with a passion that damn NFL team in Indy. And no, stupid people, it is not the same team or franchise. That beautiful horseshoe and blue uniforms belong to BALTIMORE!!!! Johnny Unitas didn't play in the village known as Indy, he played in BALTIMORE. The NFL Champions of 1958, the BALTIMORE COLTS made the NFL the TV giant it is now, didn't happen in the village known as Indy. How does the NFL repay BALTIMORE? Allowing a jerk drunk owner to buy the team. Then doing nothing when the drunk jerk owner STOLE the BALTIMORE COLTS in the middle of the night, like a common thief. Then screwing BALTIMORE out of an expansion team in 1993.

I was soooooooo damn happy to see the New Orleans Saints beat that NFL team in Indy and win the Super Bowl. Even though I was happy as hell for myself, I was happier for the people of New Orleans. After all the suffering the people in New Orleans went through after Hurricane Katrina, it was great to see that city rebuild and have something to cheer about. Oh, I have never seen a bigger idiot than Michael Brown, FEMA director, who was so damn clueless in his handling of the situation.

As my way to thank the New Orleans Saints for beating that damn NFL team in Indy in the Super Bowl, I wanted to go to a Cajun/Creole restaurant. A quick search lead to Bayou Grille in Inglewood, it also helped that the owner is from New Orleans. This Bayou Grille isn't related to the Bayou Grille in Carson.



I got the tiger shrimp po boy, $7.29, with lettuce, tomato and mayo. The shrimp were huge and there were plenty of them, nice cornmeal batter shrimp in every bite!!! The french bread was nice and soft, with a chewing texture. This was amazing. One of the best po boy's ever.



I also got a small jambalaya, $3.99, with chicken, crawfish, and Louisiana turkey sausage. The jambalaya came in a to go container, so hot, there was steaming coming out. But I put it on a plate and it got cold pretty fast. But this had a ton of tender chicken, crawfish and sausage. It was a bit underseasoned, when I think Cajun, I think tons of seasoning and flavor. It was good, not great.

Service was good. The young man taking my order was nice and friendly.

Bayou Grille has the best shrimp po boy in LA. It is the best best Cajun restaurant I've been to in LA, much better than Gumbo Pot, Uncle Darrow, and the Bayou Grille in Carson. My favorite BBQ place, Phillips in Inglewood, is only about a mile away!!! Who DAT!!!!!!