Saturday, April 26, 2008

Taco Factory - Walnut

Taco Factory
368 N Lemon Ave
Walnut, CA 91789
(909) 595-8331
Type: Mexican food / restaurant
Website
Map

I went here with my girl to eat a quick bite. We thought we were gonna eat somewhere else for a full meal later, but we didn't. I should've ordered more here. Anyways, Taco Factory in Walnut used to be located somewhere else-- but in the same plaza. Now it's a lot bigger and nicer than the old spot. It's located on the corner of La Puente and Lemon in the same plaza as Vons and Blockbuster.



bigger and nicer than before


All we got was one mahi mahi burrito ($5.73). It comes unwrapped so you can put your sauces and stuff in there from the salsa bar. Then you ask them to wrap it for you when you're all done. The burrito was decent sized, although I don't think it was humongous. I shoulda put my hand next to it in the picture for a comparison. Anyways, the burrito was good. Fresh-tasting.

boring picture of a burrito


I would go here again another time. It's just that there's so many Mexican restaurants around, I have to be in the area to come back here. The spot for me right now is still Osuna's with their lobster burritos.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant - Lakewood

Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant
2500 Carson St
Lakewood, CA 90712
(562) 496-2077
Type: Soul food
Website
Map

Hours:
Mon-Sun 8:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.

I don't eat soul food that often. I'm still not exactly sure what it is. I thought this was the first place I tried soul food, but then I heard Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles also fit that category-- and I've eaten there a few times back in the day. Anyways, my co-worker introduced me to Venni Mac's M&M Soul Food Restaurant also known as just M&Ms for short. She brought some in for lunch one day. I wasn't interested in the chicken she got, although that's one of their main dishes. She let me try the sides her meal came with. There was some cornbread, "greens", and yams. I tried all three and all three were bomb. I never liked cornbread before, but this was nice. The collard greens are cooked with chicken, so I didn't try much of it. The yams were sweet, which I imagined would go great with some fried/salty entree.

After that day, I was fiending for some soul food from that place. I finally couldn't stand it, and I told my girl, "We're gonna eat some soul food after work." We ordered the red snapper meal and some fried oysters. I thought it was bomb. I was glad I had some leftovers. My girl thought it was good at first, but after she said it was too salty. She always does that. Kind of a good thing though, cuz she let me have all the leftovers for the next day.

The next time I had M&M's, my co-worker got a new job and she wanted to celebrate by buying me some food there. I was like, "I was gonna pay for it, but aight." I got the same damn meal. Some fried red snapper for me please. They have some lunch special where you get one entree and 2 sides for $9.99. It comes with cornbread and a drink already. For the sides, I got some yams and mac n' cheese. Bomb. As always, they give you a good amount, so..... I'm trying to remember if I finished it. If I didn't finish it, there surely wasn't much left.

makes your soul happy, but not necessarily your body. all good though.


I would definitely go back here. I love their sides. The main entrees were always bomb. My co-worker said she likes it better than Roscoe's. As long as I'm working nearby, I'm hitting this place up again.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Buffet at the Wynn - Las Vegas, NV

The Buffet (at the Wynn)
3131 Las Vegas Blvd S
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 770-9966
Type: American dining / buffet
Website
Map



I'll finish off my Vegas trip reviews here. The last place we ate was The Buffet at the Wynn. We wouldn't have eaten here if they weren't having a gambling special. The deal was you get a player's card, and when you get 50 points on the card, you get two complimentary buffets at The Buffet. I think if you gamble 3 dollars, you get one point. Something like that. The price per person might have been $35 - $50 since it was a holiday weekend.

So we were like, "Tight. Let's do this. " My girl got us our points quickly and we made our way there. When we got there, there was an hour and a half wait to get seated. You can't just put your name down either, and come back later. You gotta wait in line for this bitch like you do at Knott's Berry Farm to ride the log ride or something (that's one of my favorite rides for some reason).

So after the long ass wait, there was a little complication with the player's cards, and we had to go back to the card center and get the redemptions there. We got to cut in line at least when we got back.

After we got our seats, we made our way straight to the crab legs. What do we have here? Another freakin line! Probably 15 - 20 people waiting for the crabs. I ain't about to wait right now. I need to eat. So I skip the crabs for now. I get some other stuff which I don't remember. All I remember was everything was pretty good. My girl liked all her stuff, and I liked all mine. We eventually waited in line for the crabs when we weren't starving anymore.



I forgot to take a picture of Crab Leg Mountain til I was done.


The Buffet at the Wynn is waaaay better than Mandalay Bay's in every aspect besides price. For me, I'll spend the money to eat here. I wouldn't mind going back here with friends, but I personally wouldn't request it if I had the choice. I think I'm kind of done with buffets. I'll try the Green Valley Ranch one, but after that, I stick to regular places.

Bayside at the Mandalay Bay - Las Vegas, NV

Bayside - Mandalay Bay
3950 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
(877) 632-7800
Type: buffet / American food
Website
Map



Freakin lazy man! I got a backlog of about 25 restaurants I still have to review and it's hard to get myself to do one a week! It's not like I'm a super busy guy either. Alright. Time to man up and do this. I'll make these quick cuz I wanna mention some restauraunts that I've been wanting to put up.

So I was still in Vegas and it was getting late again. After Sumo Sushi, standards are pretty damn high. I wanted to go to the Green Valley Ranch Buffet in Henderson, but we called and they said they charge for crab legs. What the hell is that? I think we called the wrong place cuz I told my friends who recommended it, and they're like, "What the eff? Nah. Wrong place." Supposedly that place got the bombest crab legs. We were kind of at the south end of the strip, so we called Mandalay Bay to see if they had a buffet with crab legs. They did, so we went. No shopping around that time cuz things were closing and we were hungry.

The place was inside next to the casino. Since it was a holiday that weekend, the price per head was $26.99. I got two, but they don't count the one down below (the bigger one). haha. Now that I said that you know it ain't big. So anyways, I'm not gonna build any suspense and I'm just gonna say this place was wack for me. If you're vegetarian or you just eat seafood, forget this place. There's just not much you can get, and whatever you can get, ain't that great. My family thought it was okay, but not great.

some freakin rice, salmon, and a slice of meat. It's been a while and I don't know the name of meats anymore.


freakin white rice and some steak


freakin crab legs already cut in half


some freakin shrimp cocktail


custom made pasta. The pasta chef was on something or something. He just started talking to us about people stealing food, then he said he's seen a lot of things, then some other stuff, and more random stuff. We didn't know how to politely escape, so we stood there trying to listen to him for about 10 minutes. It was some Asian-looking guy. He wasn't that fat, but not fit. If you read this, and you know who you are.... WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT????!!!!!!!


looks like this was mine. some corn (gotta have the corn for me), mac n cheese, some fish, and maybe there's fried oysters there. The fried oysters were alright. I think that thing in the back is fish.


broccoli and cheese soup?


dry ass steamed crab legs. maybe it was cuz it was late. ....but still


I've eaten here before and that's when I was pure vegetarian. This post is my reminder to myself not to eat here again. Give it for free and of course I'll go. When I say free, I don't mean that somebody else pays for it, cuz that's just a waste of gambling money. Comps, that cool.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Sumo Sushi Bar - Henderson, NV

Sumo Sushi Bar
2861 N Green Valley Pkwy
Henderson, NV 89014
(702) 451-7866
Type: Japanese food / sushi / restaurant
Map



Second day in Vegas and you know I gotta have some sushi. I tried calling my good friend who lives there to see what's some good spots, but he didn't answer his phone. So I had to take matters into my own hands and use the slow ass internet on my slow ass phone. After some researching and debating, I decide the family should go to Sumo. It's in a city called Henderson which is next to Vegas. I think the drive was maybe 10 to 15 miles from the strip. This better be worth it.



I read that this place was where many of the locals go. If that's the case, it should be decent. Sumo is located in a shopping plaza with a Stater Bros. or some kind of large grocery store. It looks like any run of the mill sushi bar in a strip mall. For those in the know though, there's a little bit more to it than that.

The inside of the place has a little bit of a Japanese theme to it. Japanese partitions and those lights with the Japanese characters are scattered here and there. Actually, I might just be imagining things cuz I'm not totally sure how the place was decorated. I know there was an aquarium for sure.

Their menu is what I remember. This place is a sushi roll lover's dream. There's soooo many special rolls that I just took pictures of some of the menu items instead of having to describe them. Fortunately and unfortunately, I didn't pay so I don't know the prices of the items. They didn't have them on the picture menus. I'm not gonna go into too much detail about the food we ordered. All I'm gonna say is that 95% of the stuff we got was really good.

The Cherry Blossom was good. There was crunchy soft shell crab inside the ball of avocados. I probably wouldn't order it again though. I thought it was a roll, but it's one of those special appetizers.



Cherry Blossom


This next item looks like a rainbow roll with a ponzu sauce or something. I think it was good too.

rainbow roll?


My sister ordered the Tuna Karai sashimi. This was really good. It's like the hawaiian poke, but this one's spicy. My sister liked it so much that she ordered another one.

Tuna Karai sashimi(2)


This looks like a volcano roll. Sorry. I was just too busy grubbing that I didn't even want to take notes. I took notes at the end after I was full and sleepy from all the bomb food.

Volcano Roll?




I don't think we ordered this


this one was eh


I think this last one was the stuffed tomato. It's raw salmon wrapped around some crab meat and scallops. It was spicy but very good. It was one of the first things to arrive at the table, and the first to be finished. We couldn't help it.

stuffed tomato without the tomato




we ordered this, but it never came. all good. we were full anyways


My mom also got the teriyaki salmon meal cuz she's not really into all these rolls. I tried some of the dish, and it was good fish. I was also hungry at the time. After all the food arrived and I started getting full, the food was still tasty. That's when you know something is really good. If you don't need anymore but it still "forces" you to keep eating. Holy crap. I just realized how much stuff we ordered, but we didn't need any doggy bags. Fat asses!

The next time I'm in Vegas, I'm likely to hit up this spot if we can't think of anything else. Sumo, in my humble opinion was a very great find. We got lucky and hit gold here. I wish I had that luck at the Bingo games we went to. Oh shut up. Bingo is cheap gambling, okay.