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I am a sucker for marketing. I got served an add about the best Korean BBQ places from Thrillest and saw that Mon Ran Gak was close so of course I had to try. With an almost perfect rating, I came with very high yet skeptical expectations – they were met and so much more! Wow. Like most KBBQ spots they don’t take reservations nor do they utilize pre-check in so you kind of just have to get there and try your luck. We arrived around 4 and with just 2 parties ahead of us we were seated very quickly. From the start I was impressed with their level of service. They checked in with our party to ask what type of seating would be best (I come with luggage, two toddlers to be exact) and as soon as our was ready we were ushered to our seats and quickly served our menus and waters. The menu is fairly straight forward – they have several prefix options and stand alone meat platters that you can choose from and customize depending on the size of your party. We got the first option with the marinated short ribs, plus beef tongue and a bowl of their cold noodles. They have two options and sizes of cold noodles but pro tip, if there are two of you just order the regular – they give you an additional bowl of noodles and you can mix between the plain and spicy noodles. The pre fix option comes with your sides, an egg soufflé, bean paste soup and a salad. Seriously it’s such a great deal – there is so much food. There are also many different sauces for you to choose from, on the table is a vinegar/garlic/jalapeño sauce, but also a sesame oil with salt and garlic and then a spicier one. I am a fan of the bean paste but had to ask for them to bring that one out to me. Another thing that stood out to me about this place is the grill placement, instead of the usual circular flag pans these were a slight raised triangular shape that acted as a natural drainage for the fat from the meat – a great added touch. The staff does an amazing job of prepping the entire meal for you, they cook everything in batches and must really keep a close eye cuz every time we were about to be out of our cooked meats they would magically appear and prep up a fresh batch. Let me start with the noodles, they were so delicious. Refreshing and tart, they were a wonderful contrast to the barbecued meats. I really enjoyed the egg soufflé as well. It came nice and fluffy and poofy. My daughter really enjoyed its light filling flavor alongside her rice and meat. You can always tell quality beef when you taste it and it was apparent within the first few bites that we had great meat on our hands. The brisket was sliced so thinly and had beautiful color before being barbecued. It melted in our mouths and paired so nicely with the sauces provided. My personal favorite will always be the beef tongue and this place was no exception. It was sliced the right thickness and cooked just right so it had a slight chewiness to it. I honestly can’t recall the rest of the meats – probably cuz I filled up with the first 2 and then all of the sides and noodles I couldn’t handle any more. The delicious food paired with attentive staff is a win win combo and I can’t wait to come back! A few things to note: – If you pay cash they give you a 7% discount. – They have a small lot that gets filled pretty quickly but you can park on the road on the side as well. – Try to come at off peak times to avoid the wait, seriously we finished at 530 and it was crazy packed with people waiting to feast.

Pho Tre Bien Cafe – Menu with Prices – 12302 Montana Ave #502, El Paso

So i really wanted to give this place 4 stars at least but i both me and my husband agree that the banh mi and the small bowl of pho that comes with the pho and banh mi combo are just not as good. I am however super impressed by their options and based it off a cafe theme with their nice spread of desserts and coffee. I tried their japanese cheesecake to go a while ago and although tasty, it was a bit too dry and thrist inducing for my liking. They also have this nice brunch option of skillets and this is where they offered half a bahn mi and a mini pho bowl option. It can only have the special viet ham banh mi for this option which i can understand why. It wasnt my favorite choice of meats. I was at least able to get the brisket option for my mini pho bowl but there wasnt much meat neither compared to the 5$ mini bowl options at the other locations. My husband stuck to his beef banh mi as usual. He did not like how the bread was prepared here. It was too toasted to the point of stabbing himself on his lips from the bread. Perhaps they needa make sure they dont use bread thats too dried out already. Well they also offer military discounts on Monday at least so maybe if we would be in the area that day, we may go back.

F&F Express – Menu with Prices – 8704 Cypress Waters Blvd suite 160, Irving

This is our new favorite fast grab meal! If you get a regular size bowl, you choose either steamed, brown, or fried rice as your base. On top of that, you get sweet potato noodles and grilled veggies (largely carrot, cabbage, onions that are peppered and salted). I usually opt for half the rice, no noodles, and more veggies! Then you can choose from a variety of meat options like different types of battered chicken, beef bulgogi, and spicy pork. My favorite is the spicy pork, but my husband prefers the bulgogi. Next, you automatically get two delicious and crispy dumplings and a spoonful of sweet corn. Lastly, you choose your combination of sauces: spicy mayo, teriyaki sauce, and spicy teriyaki sauce. I usually get the spicy mayo and spicy teriyaki! They have a $5 bowl option that’s a really good deal, especially if you aren’t super hungry as the regular bowl is way more food than I can personally eat. You only get one dumpling and additional vegetables like the sweet corn are fifty cents extra. You still get all the sauces you want. They have tons of parking and Pepsi sodas. Great delicious and wallet-friendly meal option!

Paik’s Noodles – Menu with Prices – 28124 Newhall Ranch Rd, Santa Clarita

This is a review for lunch to-go order on a cold weekday! What I ordered: Beef Jjamppongbap (no spice) Food: The broth was flavorful and PERFECT for a cold and rainy weather. I ended up slurping the soup after I finished eating the noodles and toppings! As what others noted, it has a peppery taste which might not be for everyone. But works for me!! The actual bowl was full of vegetables, beef, and a couple of shrimps. You would get a good amount for each mouthful of noodle and soup! Price: $ CHEAP for the quality and quantity! Parking: It always has ample parking. This is located inside the plaza. Service: For the TO-GO experience only! I like the fact that they didn’t forget the necessities that comes with the order such as utensils and napkins. Plus points for me! Just like ordering a bowl of noodle soup, the broth and noodles/toppings are separated. The noodles I got wasn’t sticking and the veggies seem fresh and not too wilted. However, I would suggest for a bigger bowl for the broth. I had to slurp the soup before putting in the noodles because the bowl was a little shallow to put everything in. It’d be a mess if I just drop all the contents in!! Not to mention it was also hard to mix it in since the to-go bowl is small. WILL COME BACK!!! I will probably order Jajangmyeon during summer time and get the beef soup for winter/cold days. So many items on the menu I’d love to explore!

BENTO Kissimmee – Menu with Prices – 3254 Margaritaville Blvd, Kissimmee

My husband and I checked this place out the other day with our 1 year old. It part of the new Sunset Walk at Margaritaville. I’ve very much enjoyed Bento on Sand Lake and in Gainesville so I was excited to check out this new location closer to my home. There isn’t a lot of parking immediately by the restaurant though there is pretty big lot behind the gift shop that is adjacent to Bento. It is a pretty small location as well and it was quite crowded when we arrived at 6pm on a Monday. It was also very loud. My husband had never been so we grabbed a high chair, which they thankfully have plenty of and grabbed a seat. As I said it is small and quite crowded so there was literally two options for places the two of us could sit with a high chair. We then looked over the menu and chose accordingly. If you haven’t been to Bento you pick whether you want a Poke Bowl, Rice Bowl, Noodle Bowl, or Bento Box. Then you choose meat, sauce, and any extras. You order at the counter, are given a number to place on your table and then food is brought to your table. Our food came out very quickly which was great. My husband had a salmon poke bowl. He said the salmon was great and for the price he felt he got a great deal of meat. He was less impressed with the rest of the bowl, but said he enjoyed it enough to come back he would just try something different. I had a Mongolian beef Bento Box. The noodles and rice were great. The Mongolian sauce was a bit sweet for me. I prefer PF Changs or Pei Wei, but I have previously really enjoyed the Chicken Katsu and Spicy Korean so I think I just won’t order the Mongolian again. The salad had very little dressing, but they were more than happy to get me more. We ordered the kids bento box for my son which for $6 comes with chicken, rice, and string beans. It’s a nice portion for a nice price though I couldn’t get my son to eat any of the string beans. Finally, I had a taro bubble tea which tasted a bit watered down. Overall it wasn’t bad and some of our issues were of our own making. Other issues could be the newness. We will most definitely try it again.

On+On – Fresh Asian Kitchen – Menu with Prices – 1441 W Knox St #C100, Torrance

On + On is basically Korean Chipotle. You get to customize your bowl, starting with a base, protein, veggies, toppings, and sauce. I’ve been here a few times for lunch because it’s tasty, inexpensive, and fast. For my base, I usually get half buckwheat noodles and half salad with grilled chicken or bbq beef. I prefer the beef because it is marinated and the chicken can be dry sometimes. For the veggies, I get half brussels sprouts (so good!!) and half zucchini. They also have a variety of fresh toppings for you to choose from. For the sauce, the Honey Teriyaki and Hot taste well together. I recommend asking for the sauce on the side so you can control the amount of sauce to your liking. During my first visit, I didn’t get it on the side and it was difficult to finish because my bowl was drenched. One thing is that I wish they had a vegetarian option for the protein. My friend is trying to cut out all meat but had to resort to getting salmon because they didn’t have vegetarian options, such as tofu.

Mian Noodle House – Menu with Prices – 1005 Princess Anne St, Fredericksburg

I was really craving some GOOD ramen yesterday….just moved to Fxbrg from Richmond (lots of options for good noodles there – favorite being Foo Dog). Back to the point – Mian is cute on the inside, cool menu concept too. However, our to-go food was *so* underwhelming. I had the curry broth ramen with pork belly. The broth flavor was decent as were the noodles…but the meat was meh, as were the rest of the ingredients. They should throw some interesting veggies in there for a $13 bowl (I was told I could only choose one veg?) We also ordered the teriyaki chicken bowl which was just awful…the meat was creepy and the whole thing was very boring. Unimpressed.

Marugame Udon – Menu with Prices – 1318 Galleria Way, Glendale

Ugh I can’t get over this place! It’s sooo good. Every time I eat here I leave completely satisfied. Service is usually pretty quick except this one time they ran out of udon so we had to wait about 7 minutes for them to make it. It was definitely worth the wait. Udon noodles: The texture is so great. I love how it’s so thick and chewy. It’s cooked and immediately cooled down with cold water to keep the elasticity. There’s also complimentary tempura flakes, green onions, and ginger right before the register so be sure to load up on those! Then on the side, there’s a small counter with tempura sauce, shoyu, sriracha and extra soup if you need it. #6 bukkake udon (regular-cold) I’m usually not into cold noodles but I had just finished a long hike and wanted something refreshing. I didn’t know something so simple could be so good! It’s literally just udon in the soup base but it’s delicious. The soup is nice and light with a lot of flavor. A little on the saltier side but the noodles are flavorless so they make a great pair. #9 beef udon (regular- hot) This bowl comes with thinly sliced beef and a perfectly soft boiled egg. The soup base tastes meatier and richer than the previous soup. Again, the combination of the noodles and soup is fantastic. And the addition of the meat and egg are just the cherry on top. Tempura: Chicken- This is my favorite! It’s so crunchy on the outside and the meat is so juicy Potato croquette- I don’t know how they managed to make fried mashed potatoes taste so good. The potatoes are well seasoned and the coating is so crispy. Not oily at all. Shrimp- Great shrimp tempura, the panko coating is thin and crunchy. Zucchini- zucchini still retained a lot of moisture and didn’t lose its texture

Taqueira La Coyota – Menu with Prices – 6021 N Claiborne Ave, New Orleans

The best taco truck! Right in front of Winn Dixie on Chef Hwy. I know they have a few other la coyotas around the city and they are just as good. They just upped a few of the prices, but I’m not complaining bc everything is made to order and always delicious. The red sauce is my favorite! Most of the time it’s super spicy and I drench it on everything. The green sauce is more mild and good too. Gorditas – I always get the beef and they are always super juicy. Cheese, meat, onions, cilantro inside of a fried corn tortilla. The red and green sauces mixed together with some lime make it even better. Tacos – tortillas are corn. The meat you choose is usually cooked with onions and topped with cilantro. They’re so simple, so easy to eat, and you’ll always want more. I’ve tried all the meats and the beef and lengua are my favorite. Quesadilla – can’t go wrong with a beef or lengua quesadilla. Beef and Lengua – always super flavorful, juicy, yum as you can tell from above. Lol. Lengua is beef tongue, btw. Really depends on your preference Al pastor – I’ve tried this meat a few times and sometimes it’s a bit too salty.

Thiên Ã?n Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 7304 101 Ave NW, Edmonton

Thien An is a new Vietnamese restaurant to open us in this neck of the woods. Not much is in this area except we did pass Pho & Bun a few blocks west on the way back home. There’s plenty of room to park and they even have a lot in the back. We came on a late Monday afternoon so there were only a few tables occupied. The inside is new and quite spacious. The menu is massive but the southern Vietnamese soup (hu tiu mi) and beef stew (bo kho) caught my eye. – Fresh salad roll with tofu (V2) ($6.00 for four) – these were nicely done. Slightly warmed, freshly made and with a good peanut dipping sauce. – Veggie noodle soup (V9) ($10.50) – O’s converted to partial vegetarianism so it was veggie soup for her. She liked the broth and it looked like a satisfactory amount of tofu, vegetables and noodles. – Hu tieu nam vang (H2) ($13.00) – smelled great. You choose either egg noodles or rice noodles. I asked about it and you actually can get a mix, so I tried both. You get a variety of meat (beef, shrimp, squid and ground pork) but a bit more meat and noodles would justify the higher price point. That being said, the broth was solid and had a sweetness to it similar to what you find in a wonton/egg noodle soup. What I found interesting was the shape of their bowls. The top part of the bowl forms into a square shape. Odd. Good first experience. I’d come back to try their bo koh and other pho options. 3.5 stars.

Bamboo Song – Menu with Prices – 24202 Crenshaw Blvd, Torrance

I stopped by this restaurant on my way home from Torrance. It’s a small restaurant, run by two nice people (I’m sure there’s a cook or two, but I only saw two in the front). There are about 12 tables and parking is difficult as the restaurant is located in a busy strip mall. A key is required to use the bathroom and it’s pretty clean. I quickly glanced at the menu but I already knew that I wanted a bowl of pho. I’ve been craving it and haven’t had it for months. I ordered the #1 which is their Special Pho with all meats and tendons (no tripe). The plate of bean sprouts, sliced jalapeños and a half lime. The bowl came out within 5 minutes – hot and smelled great. I agree with another Yelper that the broth doesn’t have the authentic, boiled bones for hours taste (I grew up with home made pho as my mom made it every other weekend and we ate it all weekend and most of my adult years was spent eating pho in Little Saigon, Garden Grove). I added hoisin sauce, tons of sriracha and squeezed the lime dry. This made it better. The noodles were cooked nicely and there were plenty of meats. Yelp doesn’t allow half a star, but I would give this location 3.5 stars. The service was great – attentive but not overbearing. Restaurant and bathroom were clean. The pho, after I seasoned it to my liking, was tolerable. The bowl came to $12. I’m use to paying $7-$8 in Little Saigon, but I understand this is LA County/South Bay and everything is twice as much. I wouldn’t return because I really enjoy an authentic bowl of pho WITH TRIPE. I would certainly recommend to others who want to try other things on their menu besides pho.

Grand Chinese Hot Pot – Menu with Prices – 6967 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

I wish I discovered this restaurant sooner. I am not one to usually go to AYCE hot pot, but from now on, this is where I will go. For $18.98 per person, you can order an unlimited amount of standard hot pot dishes from their menu. I enjoyed the sliced beef, sliced lamb, yam noodles, bean curd, lettuce, watercress, napa cabbage, tripe, and dumplings. Their meats are sliced super thin, although the beef is a little fatty, the quality is very good for AYCE. For the meat, it counts as 1 plate per order (see picture). The dumplings, despite being frozen, were so fresh and tasty, I think this was one of my favourite items here. I think they had pork and chives inside. The vegetables we ordered were all fresh, crisp, and recently washed. Some other items we ordered included meatballs, chicken liver, squid rings, baby octopus, and wontons. Sadly, a few things were sold out that day, so it may be better to dine earlier. The soup base is an additional charge of $8 for a regular size or $10 for a large. For the 3 of us, the regular was enough, and likely 4 could share too. You can get half/half broth, at half the price each. So for example, we got half a side of satay broth for $4 and half of the coriander & 1000 year old egg broth for $4, totaling $8. It’s nice that they don’t charge for half/half. I also really liked the satay broth. The items cooked in there had a lot of satay flavour after cooking. From the selection of sauces, you can choose 2 per person. There isn’t too much selection here, and weirdly, soy sauce is not an option. We just went for satay and their peanut/sesame sauce. They have some popular combinations as well, which I may try next time. The only thing is, service is a little slow. While we were there, there was just 1 waitress handling the entire restaurant. So, if we wanted to put in extra orders or ask for a soup or drink refill, it can take some patience. But I don’t mind at all, seeing as there is a 2 hour limit and hot pot is a slower style of dining anyway. The restaurant is nothing fancy, very minimal, but it is clean. I wish that air circulation was better, though, because my clothes definitely smelled like hot pot afterwards. For the 3 of us, it came to about $25 per person after tax and tip. That’s after splitting the cost of soup. At this price, and considering typical AYCE quality, I will definitely be back!

Kitakata Ramen Ban Nai – Costa Mesa – Menu with Prices – 891 Baker St B21, Costa Mesa

Kitakata is a popular restaurant that is slowly expanding its locations throughout SoCal, and for a good reason! My friend, Bae, and I got dinner here together at 6 PM Saturday. There was no wait-time, but a line quickly formed behind us. It’s typical that wait-times can go up to an hour, so be sure to check-in Yelp’s waitlist to get in line! There’s limited parking here; there’s a parking lot in front and behind, but it’s extremely small for the amount of popular businesses here. I don’t see a lot of street parking around. I got the Tsukemen with cold noodles; it’s a style of Japanese noodles where you dip the noodles into a concentrated broth. It’s more lukewarm than cold, and the flavors are really strong, so don’t worry about this being too strange of an experience. After having these noodles, I gotta say that I LOVE them. The noodles look and feel fresh; they have that nicely home-made look, but with the professional consistency in thickness and length. They were springy and the right amount of chewiness, so they definitely have it mastered. It wasn’t too cold despite how cold noodles sound. The broth was also light, but surprisingly flavorful. It uses a dashi stock mixed in with some other key ingredients like soy sauce. It has bean sprouts, which wonderfully soak up the broth. There’s an optional lime that you can squeeze in if you would like to add more citrus. I barely used it, but I think it’s great that they provide the option. It adheres well to the noodles and the broth was so good I wanted to take a sip! (Disclaimer: it’s actually that flavorful, so maybe don’t do it!) You only get 5 pieces of char siu, but it’s super delicious. I liked the noodles and broth enough where I didn’t think too much about the amount of char siu they give you. The service was decent. They refilled our waters when we asked and took our orders efficiently.