Beverly Hills, California

Mako Contemporary Asian
225 South Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA
310.288.8338
http://www.makorestaurant.com

Lunch – Wednesday – Friday 12PM – 2PM;
Dinner – Monday – Saturday 6PM – 10PM
Closed Sundays

Mako celebrates its fifth year, and refines its menu of small dishes called Ippin-Ryouri (individual sized portions) allows you to tour the menus and build your own meals.

Mako’s menu serves Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert. They have a wine and Sake menu as well as a Cordials menu.

New – Mako Bento boxes on the GO! Bento boxes (your choice of two styles – red lacquer with Japanese cranes in flight or the splendid black with autumn leaves) are Japanese style picnic baskets . These baskets are preciously packaged with multiple courses in separate compartments. The boxes are three tiered bento box contains a gourmet meal of Mako’s signature assortment of appetizers, delicately prepared seafood, grilled meats, and desserts. More than enough food for two. Bento boxes to Go are $65.00. You can save your boxes and reuse them, just drop them off in advance (24 hours) all advance orders are $55.00.

Boxes are available for pick-up Tuesday – Saturday from5:30PM – 6:30PM call 310.288.8338

Recommend trying the Grilled Seafood Salad made with shrimp, octopus, calamari, scallops; olive oil and yuzu soy sauce from the Seafood menu no price is indicated; definitely sounds good.

(If anyone has dined there let me know of your recommendations as well as what are the price ranges of the meals served there.)

On the Poultry and Meat menu what caught my eye is the Peking Style Duck; made with crepes, julienne vegetables and homemade miso. I can imagine how good this one is, homemade miso.

Happy Eating!

Malibu, California

Cholada – Thai Cuisine
18763 Pacific Coast Hwy.
Malibu, CA
310.317.0025
Open Monday 4:30PM – 9:30PM Tue – Fri 11:30AM – 9:30PM Sat – Sun 12:00PM – 10:00PM
http://www.choladathaicuisine.com

Prices are subject to change without prior notice

What caught my attention is the Gulf of Siam Salad for $12.95 on the Authentic Salad menu. It is a combo of stemmed seafood served with green salad in a ginger lime dressing with a hint of chili. I assume it is not too spicy, usually some Thai foods are but to me, Thai foods are not that hot.

Also on the Salad menu is the Papaya Salad for $7.95. I have had this in most all Thai restaurants and it is truly one of my favourites, however I can not say for Cholada, but my motto is if one Papaya Salad is good, then are all good. Papaya Salad is made of shredded green papaya topped with a spicy garlic lime juice and peanuts and shrimp. Note if you have any allergies to peanuts than best advice is to order something else. Perhaps try the Larb; Lemongrass with exotic spices blended with finely ground chicken for $7.95. I have had Larb at other restaurants and it is delicious.

I have to mention the Squid Salad, steamed squid with fresh ginger, tomatoes, red onions, and scallions in an authentic Thai dressing; usually the dressing is slightly spicy but not too hot. It is a medium salad for $9.95.

On the Curry menu, Mao of Initial Ink emailed me and suggested trying the Sapalod; exotic red pineapple curry with shrimp, tomatoes, basil and coconut milk all for $8.95. Very filling and good nutritious . Her band recommended the Fancy Duck Curry for $10.95 again, red pineapple curry made with roasted duck, basil, tomatoes, coconut milk, and bell peppers.

Happy Eating!

Brentwood, California

Literati Café California-Mediterranean
12081 Wilshire Blvd.
Brentwood, CA
310.231.7484
http://www.literaticafe.com

Open Monday – 7AM – 11PM
Saturday – Sunday 8AM – 11PM
Parking available in rear

Recommended on the Just One Plate http://www.justoneplate.com
Note–There is a listing for Literati restaurant however, if are wanting to eat café style this is the place to be.

Literati Café is a family owned favourite restaurant serving locally sourced, farm fresh California-Mediterranean cuisine from renowned Chef Chris Kidder.

Quoted on site – “We don’t have a single formula but rather a simple idea: bring our customers the freshest, healthiest and best-tasting food we can find.”

The menus change seasonally and with farm fresh availability.

Too busy to come in to sit and eat, order via phone or fax they will take your order and have it ready for you to take-out to your office or home. If you need special delivery services, please ask for the manager on duty to see if they can work it out. With two days notice they can prepare food for that special event.

The Breakfast Burrito caught my eye first on the breakfast menu. It is made with fresh eggs, cheddar cheese, apple wood bacon, sweet Texas onion, Roma tomatoes, wrapped in a warmed flour tortilla; served with sour cream and house-made guacamole and salsa… all of that for just $8.95 what a bargain!

On the Sandwich menu you can not pass up the Veggie Melt Sandwich. Made with roasted red peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, sprouts and melted Swiss cheese on a warmed focaccia bread all for $7.95.

I have to give a shout out for the Shrimp Linguini for $14.95 you will get tender linguini sautéed with olive oil, white wine, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and tiger shrimp found on the Entrée menu.

If you are a soup person, all soups are made fresh daily; check their blackboard. Their soups are accompanied by fresh artisan bread & mixed organic greens or Caesar salad.

Drinks – they offer organic coffee, beans harvested from shade-grown trees as well as their premium quality teas, fresh squeezed lemonades, juices, soft drinks and smoothies.

Happy Eating!

Santa Monica, California

TOI On Wilshire
Opened in 1994 on LA’s West Side in Santa Monica.
1120 Wilshire Blvd.
310.394.7804

The head chef, Pat has been at TOI since day one. The restaurant has a real cool atmosphere inside–the wall-to-wall rock paraphernalia is amazing.

The Wilshire menu differs slightly from the one at Sunset. The popular dish at TOI on Wilshire is the Brown Rice; however my favourite is Tom Yum Goong on the Soup Entrees menu section. It is Shrimp, mushrooms and spices blended in a lime juice broth; for $9.95.

If you have a taste for a good pasta dinner, I recommend the TOI Pasta on the Pasta and Noodles menu section; it is pan fried rice noodles garnished with fresh bean sprouts, quite filling for $8.95. My second choice is the Pad Ciw – pan fried flat noodles with broccoli in black soybean sauce another filling meal for $8.95 Note – on the pasta and noodle menu you have a choice of chicken, beef, or pork. Shrimp add $2. All dishes can be made for vegetarians.

Happy Eating!

Los Angeles, California

TOI On The Sunset – Thai Food (2 location –Sunset and Wilshire).
7505 ½ Sunset Blvd – at Gardner
323.874.8062
http://www.toirockinthaifood.com
Open 7 days 11am until 4A.M.
Beer, wine and sake is served (until midnight) and major credit cards are accepted.

TOI On Sunset (The original TOI!!) opened in 1986 at Sunset & Gardner in the heart of Hollywood’s music store district. The food is Bangkok Home-style Cooking. This kitchen is the fastest in town – run by head chef Suporn who has been with TOI for over 10 years.

TOI pioneered an eclectic variety of vegetable Thai food and special tofu dishes to satisfy the vast crowd of vegetarians in LA with something “more” than just a typical dish.
Dishes are reasonably priced and orders may be placed To-Go or ask for free delivery.

The menu offers an array of choices everything from appetizers to speciality. One of the popular dishes on the menu is Eggplant, Pumpkin and Tofu on the Vegetarian entrees menu section- Light soy and garlic sauce with bell peppers and mushrooms for $9.95. Quite filling! They use only vegetable oil and vegetable stock for the soups. No eggs upon request, also they can make almost anything vegetarian, just ask.

If you want something a bit lighter, like a salad; I recommend the Yum Yai on the Salad Entrees menu section- Chicken and shrimp, lettuce, tomato and cucumber with peanuts in a sweet spicy dressing all for $8.95. If you have allergies to peanuts, I think you can tell them to leave them off your order. If you do not want to bother with that, my second recommendation is Yum Thai Noodles – Shrimp, chicken, onion and silver noodles seasoned with chili paste and lime, definitely delicious all for $8.95

Happy Eating!