Hugo's (West Hollywood)

After a couple of days on the road with Liz, we came to the city of Los Angeles.  I hadn't been down this way since February, and Liz had just never been to the city.   I knew exactly where we had to go, though.  Remember how I said that I deleted a backlog of old entries a little while back?  Well, it just so happens that one of those places was in West Hollywood, and it was good enough for me to want to return.  With that, I introduce you to Hugo's (West Hollywood).  Located at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and Kings Rd, Hugo's has been around since the 80's.  Originally opened in an old butcher shop (which had been run by a guy named Hugo, thus the name), Hugo's now sports a few locations in the Greater LA Area.  The West Hollywood location has always been the one that I'm close to, so it's the one that gets the review.  As I said, I was here in February with my girlfriend, Eliza, so I already had a bit of an opinion on Hugo's.  I remember having an egg-white omelette and being fairly disappointed with the lack of flavour and whatnot.  That said, I wanted to give it another chance, since we all know my history with omelettes.  Plus, I remembered the service, coffee, atmosphere and other parts of my plate being great.

On this fine day, Liz and I rolled into town around 10am and were hungry campers.  We parked the car and headed into Hugo's.  We were immediately greeted and given a spot on the outdoor patio, since the sun was shining and we wanted some sunlight.  The overall atmosphere was as I remembered it; bustling and busy, with people of all walks eating and conversing.  There was only one other group of people on the patio, so we were treated to peace and quiet.  We were brought coffees and waters to drink while we looked over the menu.  Liz was stoked on being at a place that had a multitude of vegan options.  I hadn't seen her eat much of anything on the road, minus a veggie sub from a Subway in the middle of nowhere, so I can imagine how exciting this menu must have been.  I decided that I was going to go for a protein scramble (broccoli and asparagus in a scramble?  Sure!) while Liz made the decision of vegan Huevos Rancheros.  For the next 10 minutes or so, we drank coffee, figured out our day and awaited our food.  We weren't disappointed...

Protein Scramble!

Huevos Rancheros!

Look at that food!  Seriously!  These people are not messing around with portions, that's for sure.  I have to say, I was very pleased with the tastes that I experienced with my dish.  The vegetables were cooked just right, the chicken was flavourful and juicy, and the eggs were also great.  The fresh fruit was a bit bland, but nothing to really scoff at.  Liz dug right in and consumed more than enough food to keep her going for another few days.  She was also very pleased with her food.  The service was also great, and realistically, the price point wasn't all that bad either, especially for the amount/quality of food.  The only thing keeping me from giving 5 Bacons is my previous omelette experience.  That said, most places have their ups and downs in terms of dishes, and Hugo's is no exception.  That said, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone that happens to be in the area!

Stay sharp, kids

Jesse

The Wallflower

It's always good to have a long weekend that you didn't expect.  It gives a person time to do a few things that they're normally too busy/tired to do.  In my case, that means time to have breakfast at a new place!  This week, I chose The Wallflower. I was accompanied by Tomas and our Swedish friend, Carolin.

Located on Main Street, just off of Broadway (2420 Main Street), The Wallflower was opened up in 2009 with the idea of having an eatery that was appealing to omnivores, vegetarians and vegans alike.  I've been meaning to try it out for quite a while, but today was the day that it finally happened.  We arrived around 9:30am, meaning that the place was pretty barren, thus we had our pick of spots to sit.  We chose a cozy, little booth by the door that fit all three of us without having to use a plain ol' chair.  We were brought waters and menus by a cheerful, young lady and each ordered a coffee ($2.50 each).  The menu was straight-to-the-point, yet varied enough to appeal to everyone.  It only took a few moments for each of us to make up our minds and place our orders.  I went with the Crystal Benny, since I was craving a benny and bacon at the same time, along with a Gin Blossom (yes, booze in the morning).  Meanwhile, Tomas chose the Super Breakfast and Carolin opted for a (non-breakfast) Tofu Peanut Wrap.  While waiting for the food, we took in the surroundings of the joint.  The walls were spotted with various art pieces from local artists and were otherwise plain but inviting.

Soon enough, the food arrived...

 Crystal Benny ($12)

 Super Breakfast ($12)

 Tofu Peanut Wrap ($10)

As always, I started with the potatoes.  The seasoning on them was perfect, though I did come across a couple of under-cooked ones.  That's something that I can generally overlook.  The dressing that was used on the salad was awesome and the benny was delicious on all counts.  The hollandaise sauce was tasty, and the bacon was cooked to perfection.  Both Tomas and Carolin were very impressed with their choices, as well.  The presentation and overall quality of all three dishes was excellent, and totally matched the flavours of them.  I don't see why I've never come to this place before!

So, with all of that in mind, I have to give The Wallflower 4.5 Bacons overall.  The underdone potatoes were a bit off-putting, and a bit more potatoes/salad would have brought it up to the $12 that the dish cost.  At the same time, I can't stress how it was definitely quality over quantity.  Try this place out!

Stay sharp, kids

Jesse

The Naam

For the last Monday Breakfast of 2009, as I'll be out of town next week, The Team decided to go with a completely vegetarian/vegan joint. Say hello to The Naam, a 24-hour diner (open 7 days a week, only closed on Christmas Day) located on West 4th Avenue, between MacDonald and Stephens Street (2724 West 4th Ave). As of this week, we'll also be welcoming our friend, Cam "Ass Bag", as a full-time member of The Team.

Probably one of the best known vegetarian cuisine-serving restaurants in Vancouver, The Naam has been around for about 30 years. Upon entering, we were greeted by a warm and cozy, wooden interior. After only a mere minute or two, we were seated at a round table, near the rear of the restaurant. The unfortunate part of sitting at this table was that it was right by the washrooms, and was in a narrow part of the place. Consequently, I had the joy of getting a(n) hand/arm/bag to the rear of me every so often. That being said, we were quickly served glasses of water and each of us ordered a mug of coffee ($2.50 each, with free refills). While I wasn't a huge fan of the coffee, my teammates seemed to agree that it was quite good. Within a couple of minutes, the server came to take each of our orders.Jesse - #2 Super Special. 2 whole wheat pancakes, 2 eggs scrambled and 2 veggie sausages. ($4.99 // $8.40 total bill)Kimmy - Croissant Witch Melt. Open-faced, organic croissant, topped with melted cheese, scrambled eggs and veggie sausages. ($4.99 // $8.40 total bill)Rozi - Breakfast Quesadilla. Organic corn tortilla, stuffed with scrambled eggs, sambits, red onions, cilantro, jalapenos and cheese. ($8.50 // $12.02 total bill)Cam - Tempeh Benny. Eggs benny, on top of a pita, topped with a Tempeh burger patty, spinach, melted cheese and miso gravy, along with a serving of home fries. ($9.95 // $13.39 total bill)

With our orders placed, the four of us proceeded to read newspapers, converse and do crosswords. About 15 minutes and 2 coffee refills later, our plates of food arrived. All of the food looked delicious and appetizing. After Cam snapped a few pictures of the food, we all dug in. It was at this moment that I noticed that the server had forgotten the syrup for my pancakes. I chose to pick away at my eggs and sausages until our server came back around. I must say, as a man that loves meat, the veggie sausages were amazing. At the same time, I was disappointed to find that my eggs, which were scrambled, were runny and under-cooked. It may just be me, but I have a really hard time figuring out how someone screws up cooking scrambled eggs. Regardless, I continued munching on my meal until syrup arrived for my pancakes. Once again, I was met with disappointment, as I was served a meager amount of syrup; barely enough to flavour my two pancakes. This lack of syrup was a contributing factor to the relative dryness of them, as well. That being said, the pancakes were still quite tasty, and were of a good size, especially for the price.

Meanwhile, Kimmy and Cam both raged on about their dishes. From the looks of their food, I didn't blame them. "Are you sure that there's anything under all of that cheese?" I joked with Cam.

"Nope! Nothing but cheese and awesome in here!" he responded.

As for Rozi, she was quite pleased with her quesadilla, up until she got a big chunk of raw onion in her mouth. It stopped her dead in her tracks, as she tried to wash the taste out of her mouth. As she made her way through the rest of it, she came across a few more chunks of raw onion. As with my scrambled eggs, I really have to wonder how a person manages to cook half of the onions, but leave the other half raw, or mostly raw. I imagine that it was a matter of the cook being in a hurry to catch up on orders, as the restaurant was quite busy at this time in the morning. Either way, it was a bit disappointing to know that such minor things could be overlooked.

By the end of the meal, The Team was full and prepared to face the rest of the day. Overall, The Naam still gets props from The Team. While not A+, at least from my perspective, it was still much better than a number of places that I've been to. If you're in need of some tasty food at any hour of the day, I would still suggest The Naam to most anyone, vegans and vegetarians included.

Stay sharp, kids
Jesse

Bandida's Taqueria

(Sorry for the late update. A delicate combination of being totally sick and totally lazy has hindered my ability to do much of anything this week. Please don't hate me.)

So, this week I switched things up a bit by doing a brunch instead of a breakfast. A few factors played into this decision:
1) I'm sick. I wanted to wake up a bit late.
2) The joint that I wanted to hit didn't open until 10am.
3) I promised a friend brunch, and she had errands to run.

Now, I must admit, the whole "being sick" thing didn't bode well for this adventure. Not only does it dampen my ability to taste things, but it also just makes me generally bitter, which could skew my opinion of the eating experience. I also made the mistake of waking up early, eating breakfast at home and, therefore, being a bit full when I headed for brunch. Keep these factors in mind while reading this week! (haha) This week, you can welcome our friend Kimmy back and a new friend, Amanda, to the blog/team!

Brunch, this week, took place at Bandida's Taqueria, located just off of 12th Ave and Commercial Drive (2781 Commercial Drive). It's a fairly new cafe, having only been open for about a year or two, but has fared quite well seeming that it's always busy when I walk by. Previously, I had been to Bandida's for vegan nachoes with a couple of friends and I remembered them being really tasty (considering I'm not vegan/vegetarian) so I had high hopes for the brunch menu.

As always, the place was bustling with people when we arrived. Kimmy was waiting for Amanda and I at the bar, so we were able to get a table immediately. We all ordered coffees ($2, includes free refills) and water was automatically brought to the table in mason jars, which is definitely a nice touch. The coffee was hot and tasty, thank goodness, since it was pissing rain that day and all of our feet were soaked. (It's a JJ Bean roast, if you're wondering.) Soon enough, the server (whose accent I couldn't, for the life of me, pick out!) came to take our orders. I went with the Breakfast Burrito (beans, eggs, veggies wrapped up in a soft tortilla) since I wasn't overly hungry and it was the cheapest brunch item, clocking in at $7. Kimmy chose the Jamie's Benny (eggs benny with a yam/potato combo) which came out to $11. Finally, Amanda settled with the Vegan French Toast, also clocking in at $11.

Considering how busy the place was, the food arrived relatively quickly, so about 10 minutes by my count. I must admit, when the server set my plate down I thought to myself, "What have I gotten myself into?" The burrito was seriously massive. It came with a nice-looking little dabble of salsa and sour cream, both of which proved useless in the end. Kimmy's plate was loaded to the max. Seriously, I was surprised that it didn't just overflow into her lap. (Though, honestly, that would've been freakin' hilarious.) This leaves us with Amanda's French toast... which was probably the biggest flop of the meal. It didn't even really look like toast. More like hashbrowns from McDonald's made out of bread with some syrup on them. Yes, $11 got her enough food to feed a 5 year-old child this morning. Anyway, so yes, we all dug into our respective plates. My burrito was a bit soggy on the bottom and messy as hell, but it was quite delicious.

When I asked Kimmy how her eggs benny was, she said, "I was just at the dentist, so my mouth is still frozen. But, from what I can taste, it's really good!" That was followed by a drink of water, some of which didn't make it into her semi-paralyzed mouth. Yes, this event would occur a few more times during this outing. Seriously, I think that I bring Kimmy out for breakfast just for the entertainment factor.

Kimmy aside, this brings us to Amanda's French toast. She said that it was tasty and enjoyable, but not quite enough to make up for the sheer lack of, well, French toast. On that note, she ordered a side of yams & potatoes to make up for the lack of substance. Luckily, Kimmy and I are slow eaters, so we weren't finished before they came out for Amanda to enjoy.

All in all, I'd have to say that Bandida's gets my thumbs-up, along with my teammates. A filling meal for under $10 generally gets my approval, let alone when it tastes as good as my burrito did even though I was sick and not all that hungry at the time. I might avoid the French toast, though....

Stay sharp, kids.
Jesse