Kat's 9 Lives

The time has finally come that I put up this post. HW has been raving about Jack's Bakery since I met her and I never had the time to check this place out. So on a Saturday afternoon, just for HW, I got up to meet her there. Later on that day I had plans with PK for sushi, so I phoned her up to see if she would like to join us and I'd pick her up. So it turned out to be a girl's day out. HW was already there and in the kitchen! She took this really awesome video of how their Kuftes are made. Once she loads it, I will link it on my site too ^_-.
Since this is like a second home to HW, we were all given a nice piping hot cup of tea. As many of you know, I am not a big fan of teas nor hot drinks. Still, I can't be rude and I am always willing to try new things out so I kindly drank the whole thing. Of course I added tons of sugar, but the tea was very flavorful and packed a heavy cinnamon flavor. Jack was very sweet and didn't charge any of us for the tea since we were guests with HW. =)
They have very colorful menus allowing you to see which dish looks most appealing to you. HW knew what she wanted and has been there many times, it is like a second home to her. lol She chose to order 2 Kuftes. You can order them by the piece. Inside was well-seasoned ground meat and other ingredients. They make the dough into a hollow shell, fill it, and then fried. It goes great with fresh limes.
Another favorite of HW was the Lahmajun, which was like an Armenian Pizza. PK and I tried a bite and we both really enjoyed it. The crust was very thin and had just the right texture. Everything was very well-seasoned and covered the entire crust. The best part was that it only costs $1.50! So of course I added an order after we tried it. Why not!? lol
Last but not least, HW ordered the Spicy Cheese Boyreg. It's a nice thing layer of dough folded to envelop the spicy homemade cheese. This was nice and flavorful. It was much better than the cheese bread we ordered because there were more levels to taste. I also liked that it wasn't as buttery. Did I mention that I love cheese! lol
For our cheese bread, we got the Cheese Manaish. When I saw the photo I had to get it because it seemed like there would be a ton of cheese on it. The dough was a lot thicker on this and there was a good amount of cheese. It was more of a buttery taste that overpowered all else. I wished it was a little more saltier or spicy to give it that extra kick. Still, it was good.
PK and I shared the Shawarma Sandwich. This was different from the regular shawarmas I have had in the best. There are a lot of pickled vegetables inside that give it a different texture and a bite to the whole thing. The meat was flavorful and well-seasoned.
As a pair we tend to try almost everything, haha. We also decided to share the Adana and Chicken Combo. This comes with their homemade Hummus that was very flavorful and packs a great kick. Adana reminded me of a Beef Koobideh, but with a slight different taste since this is Armenian cuisine. The chicken was very tender and flavorful. Everything went great with the Armenian Rice. I mixed in the fresh slices of Purple Onions and roasted Tomato to give every bite a special kick. They give you bread on top that goes great with the hummus.
All in all the food was delicious and Jack is very sweet. He gave all of us free Baklava at the end and asked if we wanted more. I wished they were made with pistachio but they were made with Walnuts. Still, they were flaky and good. Did I mention that they photograph beautifully! ^_- The prices are very reasonable and so much more to try. It's a very cozy and warming environment. Jack is always fun to talk to and I love coming with friends. Did I mention that I have been back another 2x already with HW? haha Keep checking for more about those trips! lol

Jack's Bakery
10515 McFadden Ave
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 775-6773

I am switching it up between the cities, but don't worry I am nowhere NEAR done for the Bay Area so keep tuning in! When I came back from SF I flew into LAX and met up with Burumun for lunch. We were going to try this sushi place on Westwood but they were not open yet! LAME! The website said they'd be open at 11:30AM apparently they weren't open until 12:00PM. We were only early 10-15 minutes and were kicked out. Maybe I will try it out in the future but they are starting out with minus one point so they better make it up to me! lol So as for Bella Pita in LA, can we say rude and dilapidated! We were looking for a quick bite and this place was close by so we debated for a while on whether to go in or not. I wished we didn't in retrospect now!
So it's a pretty run down place. If you look in the photos you see no sign atop the roof. It's a pretty small space and a small menu to choose from. So of course I do my normal routine of snapping photos for my readers and the guy was like no pictures half way through. They have a sign outside that says they are loved by Yelp and I was shocked at such rudeness. This place is nothing special or all that great for photos. The guy was like no photos here! So I stepped outside to take photos of the food! Burumun and I were both really annoyed and just took the photos outside. He can kiss our @$$! They also have NAZI signs on the condiments bar. What an uninviting place!
I don't know what people are talking about it being cheap for LA. The Lamb Pita was $6.50 and the Steak Pita was $5.75, which is normal at most. For the size it's not that great. To be fair, they do put a good amount of meat in there. You basically get the meat in the pita and add everything yourself, but only ONE visit. The lamb was a little dry and tough for my taste. I actually really enjoyed the steak. It was much more flavorful and juicy. The pita was nothing special or out of the ordinary. DON'T BE MESMERIZED BY THE PRETTY PHOTO! As I have warned people many times that I make it prettier than it seems! Read the review first. I am appalled by their attitude and I would not recommend this place. The steak pita was good but not good enough for me to go back. Besides, it's not that great of a deal. In that area it seems that I can get tons of Middle Eastern food for the same price and probably more food! Also a better dining area instead of this little hovel.
Bella Pita
960 Gayley Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 209-1050

We were soooo running late on time that day because we added another bakery to our list to try in LA, which I will get to posting soon! ^_^ Parking is always tough to find so Ms. Lin dropped me off and I went for the grab and go! lol I called to tell her the menu at Arde's Bistro and made the executive decision on what to order. The store is small and quaint. They have a wooden interior with a red vibe that pops. The girl working there was very cute and sweet. I chatted with her while I was waiting for the food. Too bad we couldn't eat there. =*(
Everything was take out so we had to think convenient because we might be eating it while standing in line. Little did we know that you could sit and wait. I am sure we frightened all the people around us as we gobbled all the food down in a flash! ^_^ Hey we had to get bustling to be ready for the show! lol More on that later... All the dishes come with their Healthy No Mayo, No Eggs Potato Salad and Peppercini? I am not sure since I didn't eat it. Looks too healthy for me. =oP lol The salad was a little too sour for my taste... I think I would have enjoyed it more with the unhealthy mayo and eggs. Yummm... unhealthy... Mmm Mmm goodness! lol
My favorite of the 3 dishes was the Grilled Garlicky Chicken Wrap. You had me at Garlic! I am always leaning towards any dish that is garlicky! YUM YUM! All the wraps are rolled in Fresh Lavash, Flatbread. We also asked for no bell peppers in any of the dishes. It's Garlic Sauce, Shredded Romaine, Tomato, Onion, and Charbroiled Marinated Chicken Breast pieces. The garlic sauce was tasty and the flavor the chicken was good. They went great together and every bite felt flavorful and fresh. I would order this dish again for sure.
As many of you know, I love my filet mignon! So of course we had to get the Shish Kebab (Filet Mignon) Wrap. It's Hummus, Shredded Romaine, Tomato, Onion, and Charbroiled Marinated Chunks of Filet Mignon. They really loaded this wrap with lots of meat. The meat was tender but under-seasoned. I wished this was more flavorful and then it would be great. If I were eating there I think it would be better because I would ask the sweet girl to get me some Garlic Sauce! That makes anything better! ^_-
For the last dish we chose to get The Gyro. Served in special Gyro Pita, Shredded Romaine, Tomato, Onion, Grilled thin slices of Lamb and Beef Gyro Meat and side of Jajik, Yogurt Cucumber Sauce. I thought the meat was very tasty and the gyro was nicely presented. This dish was not bad. They are really generous on how much meat they put on each dish. The yogurt sauce helped the flavors pop from the gyro.
All in all the food was not bad. I think Ms. Lin enjoyed it less than I did. After reading more reviews online I realized I should have got myself some of their Baklava!!! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME! Booo! I love baklava. Hmm come to think of it... I blame Ms. Lin! She should know that I love baklava and if people raved about it online we should have tried it. Darn it! Now I might have to go back sometime soon to get some. Maybe the next time we go to see Jay! ^_^

Arde's Bistro

If you're ever out by UCSF, the Sunset, you have to stop by this place for some yummy and filling Shwarma. Whenever I am up here in SF I have to stop by Yumma's. Every time that I have been up here with a friend, Ms. Lin and I always bring them here. They are always very friendly, diligent, and good food. One good thing is that they are very clean, the worst thing is the parking in that area. Luckily, I have great parking karma so we found an awesome spot on Sunday.

We always get the Shwarma Deluxe. This time we only shared one because we were STUFFED from our dinner down the street. We chose the lamb and beef with seasoned onions, pickles, hummus, grilled vegetables, & garlic yogurt wrapped in lavash. It's filled with many components that perfectly compliment each other. I love the hummus that adds the gratier texture to the bite. The meats were very flavorful. One thing I have to say is that it wasn't as good as I remembered, but I do think that the reason could be that we were full or that they were closing. Based on their past performances, I will definitely come back.
An example of how much leniancy I have for them is that I've tried their Baklava before and don't remember much about it except that I didn't like it. I still ordered a Baklava because it looked yummy. Even though they were quite expensive, $1.85 per, I still gave it another try because it looked delectable. It's pure and simple, I like their food. The Baklava was super flaky! I don't really like the filling because it has walnuts and not much pistachios. If it didn't have walnuts, it would be great. All in all I like this place. It's quick, simple, and tasty!

Yumma's
721 Irving St
San Francisco, CA 94122
(415) 682-0762