Dono Sushi - West Covina

Dono Sushi
1230 Lakes Dr
West Covina, CA 91790
(626) 919-2750
Type: Japanese food / sushi / dining
Website
Map



Back in my hometown, we haven't covered all the sushi joints around. I think I've been to most if not all of them in my area, but I haven't reviewed them. I've been to Dono Sushi before, but it was a few years earlier. Dono is located in the same area as the Edwards Cinema, Cold Stone ice cream shop, and Fatburger. You can see it when you're driving on Glendora Ave.

Last time I was here, it might have been for my birthday so I got to order whatever I wanted. I remember ordering only the fancy rolls because I didn't eat sushi back then. I really liked the rolls but they were a little expensive. Maybe at $13 or $15.

This time around, it was just my girlfriend and I that ate there. We were on a budget, but we wanted Japanese food/sushi. Not really the best of places to go when you're worried about the price. Unless of course, you go for the lunch special, which is on Mondays - Fridays from 11am - 2pm. It's $1.25 for select sushis, $4.50 for 4 pieces of some sashimis, and $2.50 - $3 for some handrolls. The catch is that you have to buy a drink for each person. (On a side note, we went here for the lunch special a few weeks later, and the hand rolls were good-sized and not bad and the yellowtail and salmon sashimis were good for the price, but we wouldn't get it if the price wasn't hooked up)

So anyways, I couldn't really order the good rolls this time. I had to try to find the best bang for the buck-- the dish that would fill me up the most with the least amount of money. Usually if that's the case, I'll order the combo boxes or the bento boxes. I ended up getting the salmon bowl ($8) because it was cheaper than the combos. It was pretty good. I still think it's a little expensive though. It's just your usual teriyaki salmon on top of a thin bed of cabbage and some rice under.

salmon bowl. fills your stomach for less-- but not that much less.


Still in the cheapskate mind state, I found one of their cheaper rolls which was called the Mr. Kani roll. I don't remember what was in there. Looks like some kind of crunchy roll. Not that great. Maybe after doing the math at $6.95 for 6 pieces, I should've got a better full 8-piece roll for a little more. Oh well.

Mr. Kani roll. I wouldn't want this roll named after me.


My lady ordered the spicy sashimi bowl ($11.95). She and I were expecting a simple bowl of rice with sashimi on top. This thing came in a wok-sized bowl with all this filler. It had some shredded lettuce, daikon with tiny chopped pieces of sashimi. They give you a bowl of rice and spicy sauce on the side for you to mix in. It looks like they had salmon, maybe some yellowtail, tuna, shrimp, and octopus. Straight on the octopus. I felt sorry for her. It just looked like a huge salad with some raw seafood sprinkled here and there. She said it was okay, but she wouldn't get it again.

spicy sashimi bowl. a huge bowl of stuff, and you might find some seafood


Because this place is in my town, I would possibly go here again. I'll go either for the sushi lunch special or if I had more money to spend on the better rolls. Then again, if I had more money, I might be wise to consider a better place to eat. So maybe just for the lunch specials.

Zipangu - Costa Mesa

Zipangu
2930 Bristol St # C
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 545-2800
Type: Japanese food / sushi / fusion
Website
Map

The view from the jungles of Habana


click here to read the first half of our restaurant-hopping journey

So we had our taste of Caribbean food (Cuban to be exact) at Habana. Next door a few steps away was a Japanese sushi/fusion restaurant called Zipangu. Because it's in the same hip shopping area as Habana, it also attracts the hip and cool. Zipangu has a modern design inside. That's all I'm gonna say about that. Ask a girl or a poet to describe the details of the place if you want. Inside isn't as loud as Habana. It's a little more laid back with a loungey feeling.

Over here, we didn't order very much. We ordered one roll and a few pieces of sashimi, but I think we ended up spending more here. One reason was cuz we ordered the Maine Crunch Roll $18. The description stated, "Maine lobster with Cajun tempura, avocado, asparagus, flying fish roe and paprika soy paper topped with tempura flakes and sweet eel sauce. I don't know about you, but that sounded really good. We weren't super hungry anymore, so were hunting for quality. This roll was one of the biggest fucking let-downs in my sushi career. I had to say the F word just to emphasize how disappointed we were. For $18, that better be one damn good roll. To us, it was just weak and you could almost say bland. Maybe our expectations were high and we already ate before, but good lord! Never again.

Maine Crunch Roll. Wack son. That lobster tail is empty-- which is a similar feeling I had after eating this.


In between eating the lobster rolls, we had some sashimi. We got the salmon ($7) and yellowtail ($9). Now these were good. Nice cuts and good color. Great taste. Too bad we wasted our money on the rip-off roll. We coulda got more sashimi.

good sashimi. shoulda got more.


We went to Zipangu another time after this, and it was good-- though pricey. This place is good. I can look past the Maine Crunch Roll cuz I ain't getting it again. The second time we came I forgot what we ate, but we were happy, although sad to spend so much. I don't mind coming back here again.

Habana - Costa Mesa

Habana
2930 Bristol St # A110
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 556-0176
Type: Cuban food / restaurant
Map

Ditched work today to post this review. Not really. My car ain't healthy at the moment. So luckily for all y'all, you get to read about the stuff I ate a few months ago and look at the award-winning pictures I took.

Lately, my girlfriend and I have been doing some restaurant-hopping on occasion. It's like bar-hopping, but fatter. We'll order a little at one restaurant, then go straight to another and order a little there. We got hungry and couldn't decide whether to eat Caribbean-type food or sushi. So we decided to have a little of both. She took me to a place down the street from the South Coast Plaza Mall. It's a trendy shopping area with Urban Outfitters, some artsy stores selling different stuff, a cafe with a gypsy theme where the hip hang out to lounge and eat, and other places I didn't walk into. Now that I think about it, I've been frequenting these kind of places lately. Does that mean I'm turning into a yuppie or am I just cool and hip-- or neither still?

The first spot we hit up was a place called Habana. My girlfriend loves the sangria here. It's a Cuban restaurant that attracts young-ish, probably successful people. "Young-ish" being 30 something. (I'd like to consider myself "young" at the age of 25.) The place was pretty crowded. I forgot what day it was that we went, but we ended up eating outside cuz it was just too tight inside. We sat outside next to the parking lot (which sucks cuz it's so hard to get parking there). From there, I could see our next stop after this place, but I'll get into that on the next post.

The menu prices here aren't cheap. It ain't super expensive but I'm glad we didn't have a full meal here. We ordered the calamari fritas ($8) and the seared ahi carribean rub ($21). The menu isn't that extensive. If I had somewhat good memory, I could probably memorize the whole menu after two visits. We got some free bread that had some good butter/spread. I think I always rave about the free breads cuz I'm super hungry. This case isn't any different. I killed those carbs.

The calamari fritas were very good. The calamari was light and fluffy in a way and not too chewy. The sauce was like a salsa which was very very good. We killed that quickly and painlessly.

calamari fritas in the dark. really good.


The seared ahi caribbean rub wasn't bad. It came with garlic mashed potatoes and fried onion strings. The tuna was nice and rare. The sauce was a little tangy but not overwhelming. It wasn't filling if I remember correctly. Would I get it again? Hmmm. Maybe not.

seared ahi caribbean rub was coo


After all was said and eaten, we still weren't full. Although the calamari was good and the ahi was cool, the prices for the main meals were kind of high. If I got money to spend, cool, I'll go here if I can't think of anywhere else. If I don't, I'd rather not hit this place up. "Well that's an obvious answer," you might be thinking. But even if I'm broke-ish, I'll still hit up a sushi restaurant and spend $20-$30 per head for my meal. At the moment, I'm in the red financially, so I won't be coming back here soon. On to the next restaurant next door.....

Mi Piace - Pasadena

Mi Piace
25 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 795-3131
Type: Italian food / dining / bakery
Website
Map



It was getting a little late at night one day in Pasadena. When I say late here, I don't mean 12 midnight or later. I mean 9 something or 10. My girl and I were having trouble finding a place to eat besides Wokcano. I hadn't updated Club N' Grub for the Pasadena area that much, so we had to drive up and down Colorado Blvd. We passed Mi Piace, but I'm not a huge fan of Italian food, so we considered it a backup if we didn't find anything else. We didn't find anything else.

Fug it. Mi Piace it is. I don't know why I don't like Italian food that much. It's cool, but I never crave it. For me it's sushi, Peruvian, Indian, Caribbean, or Mexican. This place is a little pricey for me-- but I make shit paychecks. It's a trendy spot with outside dining for yuppies. Actually that whole area of Pasadena is largely made of yuppies. Maybe even the whole city itself is. But who am I to judge? My girlfriend's a yuppie. j/k. Inside you'll listen to some dance music while you look at the modern-ish design.

I don't remember much about the menu. Just that if you don't know Italian you better read the descriptions or ask. Oh, if you're hungry and you want something to eat right away, you can order free bread. Free bread is always good when you're hungry or if you don't wanna eat a lot from the menu.

the good things in life are free


For the appetizer we got the torre di tonno ($14.95) which is an ahi tuna tower made with wonton chips and other stuff. I don't know. It was good but I've had similar at other places.

tuna tower


My notes say I ordered the gnocchi di spinaci e ricotta salata. I don't think that was it. I just know I had some juicy salmon with steamed broccoli. The broccoli was good. I think it was cooked with some kind of sauce. Although it was good, I had better salmon at Alpenrose and The Terrace Pointe Cafe at the Wynn. I think it was expensive too.



My girlfriend got the pappardelle con scamponi e gamberi ($19.50). It's a pasta dish with flat, wide noodles with prawns and two large shrimps. Also some celery and carrot slices were included in the mix. The cream sauce was a little sweet for her taste, but I think it was cool with me. It looks small but it could get you full. She said she wouldn't get it again.

pappardelle con scamponi e gamberi. look it up son.


For Italian food lovers, you'll probably like this place if the cost doesn't matter too much. It's not super duper expensive, but like I said, I don't like Italian food that much. It was cool (my homie Marlon hates when I say that) but I would prefer anything else that's cheaper than this place. I would eat sushi that's more expensive than this any day-- when I can afford it.

Sushi Cruise - Claremont

Sushi Cruise
962 W Foothill Blvd
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 398-4415
Type: sushi / japanese food / all-you-can-eat
Map



I heard my friends talking about going to some all-you-can-eat sushi place. They said it was fun with $1 sake shots, and they were flirting with the waitress and all that. How was I left out of this trip? Next time they went, I made sure I was with there.

The place they went to was called Sushi Cruise in the city of Claremont near Upland and the 210 freeway. The place outside looks like a big boat-- hence the name. I was pretty excited and hungry when we got there. If you want the all-you-can-eat deal, fork over $24.95 plus tax, drinks, and other stuff. The way it works is that you get 3 rounds of ordering. You can order as much as you want in any single round but you gotta finish it, or do a great job of hiding it. The items in the deal aren't all the items they have on their full menu. I wanted some rolls that weren't part of it, but oh well.

can you read it?


Aight. So good thing the dynamite appetizer is on the list. That one wasn't bad. I ordered two by the end of the night.

dynamite appetizer.


The rainbow roll was not great. I think the hard rice killed it. It wasn't like uncooked-rice-hard. But it was noticeable for a sushi roll fanatic like myself. By the way, I just noticed I haven't been explaining what the rolls consist of. Tough luck. I'm too lazy to explain every single time. Go to Wikipedia and look it up.

Rainbow Roll. No thank you.


The green mussels were whatevers. I had better at Joe's Sushi in Lakewood.

green mussels.


The Pizza Roll had baked scallops and mayo on top of a California Roll. Rice was supbar again. That was the theme for the rolls and sushi for the night. I wasn't feeling it. It looked really good when it came to the table, but forget about it.

Pizza Roll??? looks can be deceiving


The spider roll was good. I don't know if the picture below is it, but it was cool. I think this one missed the hard rice batch.

could be the Spider Roll


I ordered the usual three sushis: salmon, yellowtail, and albacore. They were decent, but again, the rice was just messing up the flow of things.

salmon, albacore, and yellowtail sushis


The Volcano Roll sounded good. I usually order that roll wherever I go. It's either that or Dynamite Rolls, or both. This one I gave an "eh" rating. It was just not close to what I expected or wanted. Plus, I had to eat most of it cuz nobody wanted any more-- which made me hate it even more.

from front to back: Volcano Roll? Spider Roll, 2 hand rolls, my friend's elbow. bad manners Bub.


So that's all the pics I took. I think I got some miso soup too. As for the drinking, the sake shots or bombs are only a dollar or two during their Happy Hours which you'll have to call them for. I think we had to pay full price for them this time.

This place was probably one of the not-so-great all-you-can-eat sushi places I've been to. It's on par with one I had in Fountain Valley or something off Magnolia and the 405. I found the quality of most of their stuff 2nd rate. The rice made it worse, but that can be overlooked. If you're not picky I guess it's a cool spot. I definitely wouldn't want to come here only to eat. So the next time my friends are going to Sushi Cruise to hang out, will I be there? Hmmm. Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know. We'll see.

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.

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.

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.

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.