Late Night Run to Donut Man

How far would you drive for donuts?
Donut Man in Glendora sits on the historic route 66 ... definitely out of the way, both from Westwood or Pasadena, but Pasadena is definitely closer than the time I made a midnight run there from Westwood. But with all the reviews surrounding it, I had to go and try. Luckily they're open 24 hours and the drive is that much shorter late at night - barring any road constructions ...

Donut Man carries all the varieties of donuts you might expect to find in a donut shop:
Your glazed, your cake donuts, your chocolate twists, your apple fritters, your crumbs ...
And yes, those are all good. But their specialty, and why people make this drive, is their
But of course, no late night drive to Donut Man is complete without getting their specialty fresh fruit stuffed donuts:
Depending on the season, they offer strawberries or peaches. So far thought, I have not had the chance to try out the peaches one (when do they offer those anyway? In the fall, I heard. We'll see). A glazed donut stuffed full with fresh syruped strawberries. Truly a heavy duty dessert; there is no way to eat this without a fork.

Sure, sure, it's a loong drive just for donuts, but we're young and foolish :) As I get older I don't think I'd be doing this anymore, but for now, seeing that I enjoy driving late at night ... it's worth the drive for me.

Donut Man
915 E Route 66
Glendora, CA 91740-3608
Phone: (626) 335-9111

Animal Instinct

I tried out Animal last week after reading a Chowhound thread on it. Still unsignaged, we went for a 7.15 reservation and when we got there, only two other tables were filled. But surprisingly it was still loud, probably because 1) there was a table of six men drinking and chatting and 2) what's with the wall, tile floors, and hardwood tables and chairs, harsh sounds tend to reverberate.

At any rate, let's move on to the food.
For appetizers we started with the Pork Ribs with bread and rocket salad:The ribs were kind of fatty, but otherwise they were perfect! Tender meats falling off the bones ... the sauce was also amazing!
I've had the Niman Ranch ribs at Slanted Door but these ribs here surpass Slanted Door's by a biiig margin.

The bread was soaked in olive oil. Besides the arugula, it was definitely not really a healthy plate :P

We also had the Marinated leeks, spinach, poached eggs, serena and bacon:
I really like eggs, and poached eggs, even for dinner. There was a lot of bacon which adds to the flavor of the leeks, although I liked the spinach in this dish better.

I had the quail fry for my entree (unfortunately the picture is blurry, I'm so sorry!)
The sauce was good, but it was too much with the quail fry - together they become too salty. But it was perfect for the grits and greens.
Oh, and great thick bacon. Again, great with the other sides, but for me, the fried quail legs should be eaten in isolation to get the full, unadulterated flavor - and not get salt overdose.

My friend got the monkfish with beans
The monkfish was also pretty good, juicy and the broth is good. But, I was too preoccupied with my quail fry :P If I had to choose ... well no question about it, quail all the way.

One of the desserts we got was what the waitress recommended,
Who would've thought to put bacon on a chocolate cake? (I must say this restaurant puts bacon on a lot of things :P ) but it works surprisingly well. The bacon bits give both crunchiness and a bit of saltiness that go well with the rich, sweet chocolate.

The other dessert we got was the White peach and Mulberry Crisp.
What is the difference between a crisp and a cobbler anyway? I'm not really sure yet, I'm going to have to look this up. But anyway, the crust of this crisp was what I would expect from a cobbler (but I may be completely wrong), but it was very good nonetheless. The combination of the white peach and mulberry went very well, and it was perfect since it would otherwise be hard to decide which one to get! I was missing my ice cream with this though - don't know maybe I'm just too used to it? Pies/cobblers/etc seem to always be too rich and sweet to me not to cut with some cold vanilla ice cream?

My final judgment? I thought all the food was great. Creative and interesting ideas with solid preparation. Reasonable prices, good service. I would definitely, definitely be back, despite the loudness (the only bad point).

Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 782-9225
www.animalrestaurant.com

Nice to Meet You, Charlie Palmer

On Saturday I went to South Coast plaza in Costa Mesa, killing two birds with one stone: 1)visiting Kat in OC who's been complaining that I don't visit :P and 2) trying out the 4 courses for $40 deals at the Charlie Palmer's at Bloomingdale's. This post is kindof late for those who want to try out the deal, since tonight is the last night ... but I thought it was still a good intro to Charlie Palmer's.

They had an eye-shaped window that looks into the kitchen. It was pretty cool to see them at work, and one guy even posed for a picture!
We were seated in the room next to their wine collection, and it was a darker room than the main dining room with brown leather chairs instead of white. I personally liked the brighter room, but it's no big deal ...

Besides the waiter/waitress, one of the sommeliers came by and introduced himself, which I thought was nice (we haven't ordered wine or anything).

So the 4 for $40 meal started with: Tasmanian salmon tartare with passion fruit-lavender, watermelon radish
I really liked the passionfruit-based sauce, both the sweetness and sourness worked well with the salmon and it was also interesting, and the masago on top gave the whole thing a nice kick.

Next is the Roasted Corn Soup with Chanterelle mushroom Ravioli:I think this was my favorite of the night. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in love with corn (or am I?). The soup was flavorful, but not too salty like I was afraid of, and the combination with the chanterelle mushroom ravioli worked very well.

Kat's friend also ordered the Kobe beef burger sliders from the lounge menu. There were 3 mini burgers so she gave each of us one (thanks!)

The burger was pretty standard - the meat was very very juicy, which I liked, but at the same time was a bit 'rough'.


For the entree I got: Pan roasted sea scallops, with sunchokes, sugar snap peas, herb jus
The scallops were pretty big, tender and juicy. The sauce I thought was just okay though, and if it wasn't for the interesting vegetables it would've been a rather boring dish.

Kat's friend ordered the Prosciutto crusted pork tenderloin with salsify, black mission figs
I tried a bite of the tenderloin, and it was pretty good. It was not overcooked so the meat is tender and juicy. I actually liked this better than my scallops ..


The chocolate molten cake for the dessert was not bad. It was not anything special either. Without the ice cream it's a little too rich and sweet. But then again, a rich chocolate molten cake is good.





Instead of petit fours, they gave us 'beignets'. They were tasty, but I think they're more like donut holes. Good donut holes.









All in all I'd say the 4 for $40 was a good deal. As for the restaurant itself, it has solid food, ambiance, and service. It's pretty 'standard' high-end restaurant with all the right components, good for business meetings, taking guests, etc, but not one I would make as a "destination."

Charlie Palmer's at Bloomingdale's
3333 S Bristol St
Costa Mesa,, CA 92626
Phone: (714) 352-2525