Return of the Japanese Curry

Yup, you guessed it -- I went back to Coco Ichibanya last night for another dose of their delicious curry.  I couldn't stay away, and now whenever I think of curry, I think of this place.  Rowland Heights should be happy to welcome a new member to their restaurant family as this particular franchise has only been open for six months.  They have more than 1,200 restaurants of the same name worldwide, and this gem may have been the most recent addition.  

Wish they had given me their frequent buyer card on my first visit though.  You buy 10 meals and the 11th one is free with your choice of two toppings.  I could have had six stamps after last night's meal.  

I decided to try the thinly-sliced beef curry at spice level 7.  *GASP* LEVEL VII!!!  Wait a minute, it can't be too bad, right?  It's not a level 10.  That was my thought until I took the first bite.  Wowwweeee!  Level 7 was spicy!!  The curry was delicious and the beef was reminiscent of the kind Yoshinoya uses in its beef bowls, but after the first few spoonfuls my throat was on fire.  My thought: How am I ever going to get to level 10??  You must think I'm crazy.

Thinly-sliced beef curry

What's crazy is they now have a 'Spice Challenge' that I wasn't aware of until last night.  The challenge is to order an XL curry dish at spice level 10 and finish it in five minutes.  The prize: the plate is free and you get to post a cheesy photo of your curry-covered face on their challenge winners' bulletin board.  OK, extra large I can probably do.  Spice level 10 I can work my way up, but to finish ALL this in just FIVE minutes?!  You have got to be out of your mind.  

I'm not a fast eater, and I don't think I'll be drinking my curry anytime soon just to get a free meal.  Where's the joy in that?  All I can think about is major stomach abuse = major diarrhea all through the night.  Umm ... no thanks.  But I guess it would be interesting to watch someone else do it?  Or maybe not.  What do you think?

Anyway, my dining compatriots whose first time at this curry joint was last night, opted for the following plates after having studied the menu for 10 minutes like I did my first time here:

Chicken cutlet curry, spice level 4

Chinese dumpling curry with tofu

Both enjoyed their dishes as they wiped their plates clean!  Coco Ichibanya doesn't disappoint.  Looking forward to going back in two weeks with my sisters!  I'm thinking I'll try fried hoki, stewed chicken, or Keema curry next.  Will I jump up another level and try spice level 8, or maybe even 9?  Stay tuned and find out.  Till then, happy eating!

Java Spice Fails to Stimulate

With our upcoming Indonesian trip just weeks away, my mom and I were craving some Indonesian grub.  There aren't too many Indonesian restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley, and because we are regulars at Merry's House of Chicken, we decided to try something different and give Java Spice in Rowland Heights another chance.  Unfortunately, our original verdict remains intact - what a let down. 

Indonesian food is all about bold flavors.  The mélange of sweet, salty, spicy, sour, bitter and savory all comes together in one perfect entity, and Java Spice just doesn't quite know how to capture that.

The first time I dined at Java Spice was four years ago at the request of a friend and his Vietnamese wife.  They had never had Indonesian food, and were excited when they found this place.  I was too and was delighted when they invited me along to introduce them to Indo cooking.  After all, my mother is a native Indonesian, and I am half Indonesian so I know my Indonesian food.  I had them try the very traditional dishes like gado-gado, nasi goreng, and sate kambing.  And all I remember thinking about that night was how sinfully unspectacular the food was, how embarrassing.  And I never went back ... 

Up until two and half weeks ago when our financial adviser was telling my parents how much he was just loving this new Indonesian place he recently discovered with his wife.  When my parents related the story to me and mentioned Java Spice, I couldn't help but immediately tell them it's not so good.  Our financial adviser, who was within earshot, then couldn't help but immediately feel embarrassed for suggesting such a place that I disliked.  Oops.  I had my parents tell him that I was there years ago, and that things might have changed.  Things can change, right?  The guy was seriously raving about how great this place was, I couldn't deny we were all a bit intrigued.  After all, it was because of him we are all fans of Merry's House of Chicken, another Indonesian joint.  So, what did we all do?  We checked out Java Spice.  

It was a very busy place on a Saturday night.  Lucky for us, we came at the right time as one booth in the corner was readily available for us.  We sat down and studied the menu.  One thing  I do applaud this restaurant for is how vividly visual and varied the menu is.  I normally don't like it when restaurants have way too much stuff to offer, but when it comes to Asian food, the more the merrier.  From fried noodles and rice combinations to stir-fried veggies and seafood with chili, my mouth was watering just reading down the menu and looking at the photos that accompanied most of the listed items.  I couldn't decide what to order, but finally went with the nasi bungkus, a rice combination dish that consists of curried beef, fried chicken, a medley of jack-fruit and tofu with hard-boiled egg and green chili all tightly wrapped in a banana leaf.  

Nasi bungkus just to give you an idea of what it looks like

Once you unwrap the bundle, it looks like one big pile of puke (hey, it's the truth!), but oh my God, it is so robust in flavor, it is the true essence of what Indonesian food is all about in a nutshell.  Sadly, the nasi bungkus at Java Spice lacked any real flavor.  Also the beef satay my mom ordered was really hard and chewy, and the peanut sauce was a tad too thick and devoid of any zing peanut sauces normally encompass.  And my dad's nasi goreng ayam, or fried rice with chicken, was disappointingly bland and overly greasy.  The only good things we had were the drinks, es durian and es cendol, two of Indonesia's most popular, refreshing, shaved ice beverages with sweet condensed milk.  And the other saving grace was how quick and efficient the service was, even on a busy night.  Oh, and the food was easy on the wallet.

Beef satay, but not from Java Spice

Because of friendly dollar signs and an array of dishes to choose from, my mom and I wanted to give it one more shot to see if maybe what we had ordered a couple weeks ago was just done on an off night.  This time we ordered soto ayam, ketoprak, cah kangkung (sauteed water spinach with tomatoes, garlic & quail eggs), and mie ayam bakso (a bowl of dry chicken noodle with beef ball).  The latter two were pretty tasty; the soto and ketoprak just missed the mark.  Again, the peanut sauce on the salad didn't pack a punch like we're used to, and the soto was the world's blandest chicken soup ever!  No hint of turmeric, ginger, or lemongrass at all!  It just tasted like plain, hot coconut milk. 

Ketoprak, mie ayam bakso, & cah kangkung

Cah kangkung, or sauteed water spinach

Earth's flavorless soto ayam, or Indonesian chicken noodle soup

The upside on this visit?  The cooks came out to join us in a conversation on our trip to Indo, where we should visit, what to look out for, and how they liked life in the U.S. compared to their former life in Indonesia.  Despite their mediocre cooking, service was friendly.  But at the end of the day, I'm still looking for scrumptiously, jaw-dropping, finger-licking, I-can't-wait-to-have-that-again kinda food, and Java Spice certainly doesn't satisfy.

Traveling Sushi

Have you ever been to a revolving sushi bar?  It's one where you sit at a bar and watch colorful plates of various sushi go round and round on a conveyor belt before you decide what you want to eat.  You just pick a plate off the belt and start eating and you just keep going until you're stuffed.  The plates, which are typically the colors of the rainbow, each have a certain price tag.  Red may mean $1.50, yellow = $2.25, green = $3.75, etc.  How do you know what you're eating?  Most establishments now have a labeled photo that is plated alongside the featured items, which is helpful.  It's quick, easy dining, not to mention a fun experience, especially for those new to sushi.  You can see what everything looks like before you commit to eating it.  How often can you do that at a sit-down restaurant?  The only downside to revolving sushi bars is that you don't know how long a particular plate of sushi has been sitting there making its rounds.  In other words, freshness may be questionable.  

I went back to Rowland Heights to check out a brand new revolving sushi restaurant called Kula Revolving Sushi Bar.  It's your typical sushi bar with a conveyor belt that interestingly runs around the bar and through a wall before it comes out on the other side to access those seated at booths.  You'd never notice this unless you got up and walked around the restaurant.  It was pretty neat.  

There was a pretty good variety of nigiri sushi on offer from the usual tuna and salmon to more exotic species, like heart clam and conch, all of which I consumed.  The latter two were new to me -- the heart clam was quite big and very chewy.  It wasn't the kind you could easily cut in half and eat in pieces (you're probably thinking, why would you?); you'd have to stick the whole thing in your mouth.  The chewiness was a little overwhelming for me, a bit similar to that of an octopus.  The conch, on the other hand, was slimy but in a good way, and had a nice crunch to it not unlike biting on a chicken bone.  There were also a few rolls to choose from, i.e. Philadelphia roll, caterpillar, spider, rainbow, etc.  The only roll I had was a spicy tuna on crispy rice.  The spicy tuna was spot on, but the crispy rice was a tad overcooked.  

Squid with shiso leaves (leaves hidden underneath squid)

Heart clam

Conch

What sets this revolving sushi joint apart from any other is that all its plates are $2.00.  I have not been to a restaurant where every single plate costs the same.  Don't you just love simple math!  Kula also features $1 udon noodle bowls.  Be forewarned, however, plates pile up fast and it's easy to throw down $20 in one sitting.

Give Kula or any other revolving sushi eatery a try, and see if you enjoy the visual experience.  Enjoy!  Oh, and if any of you have any trouble using chopsticks, just do what this kid does.  He's hilarious!

Who Loves Curry? I Do!

I don't venture to Rowland Heights very often, but I may now just because of this curry house. A girlfriend and I happened upon this place by accident as we were surveying the area for something yummy to eat. It was between shabu-shabu and Kula sushi when my eyes drew me to "Curry House."  I didn't even see the actual name of the restaurant, CoCo Ichibanya, when I yelled out, "Oh my God, there's a curry house! We've gotta check this out!" And check out we did.

The atmosphere is quaint and cute. It's not a big space, but the seating is cleverly placed. The walls are white and a little bare, but perhaps adding color might make the square footage feel smaller. There are a few stand-alone round tables, half booth & chair seating against the wall in the back of the restaurant and to the right, a cute, little, bar seating area as if you were at a sushi bar.  It's actually quite a welcoming space.




We were graciously welcomed and were seated immediately. The menus are on the table, and my God, they had a TON of curry plates to choose from. Calamari? Chicken? Beef? Pork? Fish? Vegetable? They've got it. Not only are there more than 30 entrees, they have a number of salads, lunch combo sets (which are great value, by the way), a section on the menu for "mini curry" (same regular-sized curry choices but in a much smaller portion), a "children's curry" section, and randomly a side order of french fries.

The most interesting part of the menu, however, is the "How to Order" section. 1) You choose what kind of curry you want, i.e. beef curry, 2) then choose your rice size, from small: 250g (the smallest for a regular curry dish [150g is for the mini curry]) to XL, or 550g, and 3) you choose how spicy you want your curry. They have a chart from mild & regular flavors to levels 1-10, 10 of course, being the spiciest. Do know, the more rice you eat, and the spicier you want your curry, the more money you'll pay. No worries though, the most you'll pay to stimulate those taste buds is $1. Oh, and there is also an area on the menu where you can add toppings to your curry. From hard boiled eggs and corn to tuna and fried squid, it's nice to be able to customize your own dish, for a few more dollars, of course.

I opted for the chicken cutlet curry (regular size) at spice level 3 (the standard of truly spicy hot curry), while my friend had the thin-sliced pork curry at mild. The plates came out piping hot with the rice on one side topped with your choice of meat while the curry sat on the other close to dripping off the plate. It was beautifully presented, and boy were we hungry! We had been sitting there studying the menu and breathing in the delicious smell of curry. We couldn't wait to dig in.

It was absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, hands-down the most DELICIOUS Japanese curry that I have ever had the pleasure of devouring!!!  And for the longest time I had been a fan of Hurry Curry in LA. Their stuff is good, but Coco Ichibanya blows them out of the water. The curry isn't too thick nor is it watery -- it's just right. And my friend gave it a thumbs-up as she had lived in Japan for five years, and said it was just the way it should be. I should also mention that the spice level 3 had a good kick to it. I love my foods spicy and am excited to work my way up to spice level 10.

Besides the delicious curry, which is reason enough to come back, I have to say the service was just as delightful. All the servers were friendly; quick; knowledgeable; and attentive (one replenished my friend's glass of water with a new glass of water all together).

In summary: the place is clean and comfortable, the staff is friendly and efficient, and the curry is heaven in your mouth. 

Tofu & okra curry with eggplant

Fried squid & clam curry

Escape to Southeast Asia

It's crazy to think that I could still be in Tennessee right now.  Good thing I'm not.  Everything happens for a reason, and I'm very grateful to be in the comfort and safety of my own home.  AND ... looking forward to a trip to Asia in a month from today!! :)  

My family and I have been talking about going back to visit our relatives in Indonesia for years.  When we were kids, we used to travel to Indo every three summers and we would stay for a month.  But we all grow up, go to school, get jobs, and are out doing our own thing, it's been difficult trying to get everyone's schedule cleared to take such a big trip.  Not to mention the cost of buying airfare alone.  Round-trip tickets to Jakarta on http://www.orbitz.com/ are at the very least $1,500 per person, and at the highest I've seen at well over $7K.  That's just ridiculous.  Fortunately for us, we snagged multi-city tickets for a whopping total of $7,500 for the four of us, and this includes travel insurance.

It's no secret that the US dollar stretches long and far in most of Asia.  Both Indonesia and Malaysia remain one of the best-value travel destinations there.  Thailand can be pretty cheap too depending on where you stay, what you do, what you eat, and how you eat it.  Why travel in luxury when you can spend as little as $20-$50 per day?  All I need is a clean room at a clean, non-smoking hotel in a safe location.  As long as I have a bed, a private bath and access to all the activities outside my door or am within walking distance to public transit to get to all the sights, I couldn't be happier.  Sky train vs. taxi?  Uh, doesn't the sky train sound more intriguing (not to mention cheaper)!  Street food?  Yes, please!  I think the more you live like a local, the less you will spend on money.  And why spend all that cash on a hotel room when you're most likely going to be out all day enjoying the sights, the sounds, and yup, you guessed it, the food and well ... more food!  You can bet that once I get back from Indonesia, I will have consumed 95% of these.  My mouth is already salivating just looking at the photos.  Can't wait!

If you haven't already guessed it, we're going to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.  We'll be gone for 21 days, and tackling three countries in three weeks will be quite a challenge.  Lucky for my family, I've already put an itinerary together much like a tour operator would for a tour group.  Most of my research, hotel and transportation bookings took place before I left for TN, so the hard part is over.  So, where are we going exactly?

We'll fly into Bangkok, spend two nights there before we ride the train down the peninsula to Butterworth, Malaysia, where we will hop a ferry to spend a night on the island of Penang.  We then continue on our train journey south to Kuala Lumpur to stay a night before we fly into Sumatra, Indonesia to visit family and celebrate the end of the Holy month of Ramadan.  From Medan we fly to Yogyakarta, Java to visit the Buddhist temples of Borobudur before we board another train eastward (with a day trip to Surabaya) to the very tip of Java where we will take a 30-minute ferry to the western edge of Bali.  We'll stay in Pemuteran while we snorkel the Menjangan Island off the northwestern coast of Bali before we base ourselves in the artistic and cultural center of Ubud.  It's a pretty packed three weeks, but of course I've left room for spontaneity.  That IS one of the points of traveling, right?

The Grand Palace, Bangkok.

My sisters and I have not seen our family in Indonesia in 10 years, so it will definitely be good to be back and catch up with everyone, and quite possibly meet cousins we didn't even know exist.  I am SUPER excited ... so excited I already packed my bag.  :D  This trip is going to be epic!!