Adventures in eating

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One of my favorite things in life is eating well.

This love for eating is a product of growing up Filipino. It is als a product of being raised by parents who saw to it that we were able to experience gustatary delights so that we wouldn’t be ignorant of certain things.

From my dad’s end, he made sure that we were equipped with the social graces necessary to dine well. That meant a mandatory sit-down for the whole family during dinner from Monday to Friday and over the weekends if we were at home. It also meant that we had to eat properly, using the right utensils (the spoon was only used for soup), napkins, knowing how to set the table, what utensil to use with what food, how to eat properly basically.

He was a strickler for dining etiquette, he even knew if one of my legs was on the chair folded discreetly, no matter how hard I tried to not make him catch me doing it.

From my dad I learned to eat the good stuff and looking back, I’m amazed at how his taste buds knew what the good stuff was considering that he has never travelled abroad. Contrary to stereotypes, my dad was the whiz at the kitchen, whipping up or overseeing dishes that I realize just now were mostly Spanish-influenced (more on my dad’s cooking in future posts).

From my mom’s end, she made sure that we were familiar with the local taste. When my dad wasn’t around or wasn’t looking, we’d sneak in eating with our fingers. Food at home always tasted good eaten with fingers.

From my mom, I learned how to eat what I now remember as the taste of being in the Philippines, the taste that no matter how hard I try to replicate I can’t find where I am simply because that particular food cannot be had here. Our shared favorites include the greenest mangoes with the sweet-salty bagoong (ginamos, in the dialect); ripe Philippine mangoes that have no equal anywhere in the world; senorita bananas; chicaron; boiled or salted peanuts (mani) with coke; small fried native fish; balut; and dried fish that drove my dad mad because cooking it even in the outside kitchen would make the whole house reek.

Thinking about food and eating is enough to make me homesick. Which brings me back to my reality here and now regarding food. Eating well is still one of my favorite things in life and eating well usually means eating out whenever I can afford to. I am not a picky eater. I will try anything at least once, my two deal breakers being unable to eat anything spicy (but mild I will try) and anything really weird (like frog). I’m also an eat and go kind of customer. I don’t have lots of specifications when I order and normally just order how food is on the menu, no on the sides, no if or buts.

Having said everything above, it is rare that I get disappointed with the dining out experience, especially here in LA where you can find anything you want to eat and where even the holes-in-the-walls, especially the holes-in-the-walls are the true gems.

I’ve had two very bad experiences with two LA restaurants the past two days and here are the reviews I wrote for an online review site on the Pig and Whistle, a landmark restaurant along Hollywood and Zen Sushi along Hyperion in the Los Feliz area:

Pig’n Whistle Pub

Category: Pubs, American (Traditional)
District: Hollywood

6714 Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 463-1473

If I could give no stars, I would.

We were treated shabbily, from the receptionist, to the bartender, to the gay waiter who was extremely sarcastic and condescending.

The staff seemed to have problems communicating with each other. Receptionist told us to sit at the bar while waiting for a table. We did and while waiting ordered drinks and an appetizer. A table opened, we wanted to transfer. We were told we had to close bar tab. We did but they said we couldn’t bring appetizer to the table. Since we wanted a table, we cancelled appetizer. Even if we just ordered it less than 5 minutes, it took forever to cancel it and close the tab.

When waiter saw my friend carrying her beer bottle, he made a sarcastic comment and seemed to create the impression that she wasn’t supposed to have it at the table (Is there a rule against bringing your drink from bar to table? Other restos don’t have this complication.)

Our food took forever and when it arrived, the calamari and shepherd’s pie, supposed to be the house special, wasn’t even that good. One thing that irritated me was the automatic addition of the gratuity to the tab. I’ve been to a lot of high end restos and they don’t add the gratuity to the tab automatically.

We should have raised hell but we didn’t. It wasn’t worth it. It was our first time at Pig and Whistle. The place looked like a good one to try. We were extremely, extremely disappointed and obviously not coming back.

Zen Sushi

Category: Sushi Bars
District: Silver Lake

2609 Hyperion Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-2929

Hmmm.

Second bad resto in a row for me, the first was Pig and Whistle.

We came here to watch a band perform and the gig area was alright, no major complaints.

The resto though was disappointing. I didn’t order sushi because I wanted to eat something heavy. Checked the menu, wanted donburi. the waitress took the order and then came back and said she didn’t understand what we ordered. Huh? what did she mean, I asked. She said that she “thinks” they don’t have it in the kitchen. Then she told my friend who ordered iced tea that they were still boiling the water and when my friend asked if they had any other iced tea aside from the one they were boiling water for, she said she didn’t understand why they had to boil water for her iced tea either.

I was starting to get really pissed at this point, so i asked her if she was sure she worked at the place. and she said it was her fourth day.

In terms of presentation, they get high points. I ordered beef teriyaki and the only thing okay about it was the scoop of mashed potato on the side. The beef was tough and chewy i didnt dare finish what i ordered. The miso soup was salty and wasn’t even hot anymore.

Would I go back? Nope.

My friend said she misses the service in the Philippines. I remember people who worked at the restos there as being friendly. They’d smile a lot and they’re not even tipped 15%!

More posts and possibly photos of my adventures in eating in the future.

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