The Chippy Fish & Grill

The Chippy Fish & Grill
440 S Anaheim Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
714-603-7865

Located in the Packing House and across the complex from Umami Burger, is The Chippy Fish & Grill.  They are in the main Packing House, which is really a mall food court on steroids.  They are all kinds of food inside the Packing House.  It can be very busy and parking is a nightmare!

I originally went to the Packing House to go to Hans’ Homemade Ice Cream, so I didn't want to order a ton of food.  So, I only got a piece of fish and shrimp.  I skipped the fries!

Cod fish, $3.35 and jumbo shrimp, $1.99.  My tastes buds have evolved, so now I can tell if fried fish and shrimp, is frozen or made fresh.  Without a doubt this is from a frozen batch.  While the batter for the cod was light and there were a lot of cod, it was way too oily and greasy.  I'm guessing the frozen fish was placed into the oil before the oil was hot enough.  The jumbo shrimp was huge, frozen but for some reason not nearly as oily as the fish.  This was fine, and actually a good price for the size of the shrimp.

Service was OK.  The cashier knew his stuff.  There have been so many times when I've asked what kind of fish they used for the fish and chips, and the person had no clue.  That is bad training by the management.  When I got my food, the guy was ok, but he could have said sauces are over to the right.  Instead he just gave me my order.  I would think management would tell him to tell customers, many like me we are first timers, that the sauces are on the end of the counter. 

I wouldn't go back to The Chippy.  Frozen, greasy fish?  No thanks!

The Luggage Room Pizzeria-Closed

The Luggage Room Pizzeria
260 S Raymond Ave
Pasadena, CA 91105
626-356-4440

Luggage Room Pizzeria is next door to La Grande Orange Cafe, and the space was actually the luggage room for the train station!  It's been on my list of places to try for almost three years! 

It's a fairly small area, with the bar being the center focus.  The kitchen, with a pizza oven, is to the left as you walk into the restaurant.  There have an outdoor dining area out front.  It's very dark inside, as there isn't much natural lighting. 

Our margherita- $13. roasted tomatoes, housemade mozzarella & basil.  The crust is very good, a good solid texture and cooked perfectly.  The toppings were fresh, but the tomatoes were too tangy!  Not a fan of the sauce.  Of the eight slices on this pizza, two had no or very little sauce and cheese!  Spread out the topping better!

Service was good.

Frankly, I was expecting more from The Luggage Room Pizzeria.  The pizza overall was good, but their prices are high.  If I wanted to build my own pizza, spinach would be $2, but mushrooms would be $3 plus the $11 base price. This pizza isn't worth $16!  I waited almost three years to try this place and was disappointed.  I won't go back.

Pomona Valley Mining Co

Pomona Valley Mining Co
1777 Gillette Rd
Pomona, CA 91768
909-623-3515

The Pomona Valley Mining Co has been around since at least the 1970's, overlooking Pomona and the 10 freeway.  It's outlasted it's other hill top restaurant, Castaways, which is now Coco Palm.  There may have been another restaurant between Castaways and Coco Palm.  If you remember the name, email me.

David Allen wrote about Cask N Cleaver's 50th anniversary, and mentioned they still have a self service salad bar; something which gained popularity in the 1970's, but that fad slowly went out with bell bottoms and shag carpets!!  I got to wondering what restaurants still have a self service salad bar and remembered the Pomona Valley Mining Co.  I was surprised David hasn't written about it in his blog.  Then I checked the Dining in Pomona blog, and since he expanded his dining adventures from Garey Ave, he may have reviewed Pomona Valley Mining Co.  But, to my surprise also didn't have a review.  Dining in Pomona's review has been posted!

I decided to invite both David and Dining in Pomona for a dinner at Pomona Valley Mining Co.  We agreed on a day, and luckily David drove his own car and not his rental truck!

The decor of Pomona Valley Mining Co hasn't changed since the 1970's.  It's suppose to look like a mining shaft, and the mining equipment is suppose to be from the actual nearby mines.  The dining area is mostly along the top to bottom glass wall, that gives you a great view of Pomona, the 10 freeway and elephant hill!  Above the dining area is the salad bar, sorry I forgot to take a picture.  

Shrimp and scallop scampi, $26, with salad bar and rice pilaf.  The salad bar comes with all entrees ordered.  The salad bar itself is $18.  The salad bar is fresh, with lettuce and other veggies, but nothing outstanding and not many choices.  They did have three different soups available too.  I got the corn chowder, which was too sweet for my tastes.

The rice pilaf was ok, a bit bland, needed more seasoning.  What they call scampi, I call a cream sauce.  I have never seen such a white cream sauce on seafood.  The shrimp were pretty good, medium size, and well cooked.  The scallops, I bet are frozen and were too chewy and mushy for my tastes.  Overall this dish was ok.

Service was good.  Our server came around often, she could have refilled drinks both water and other drinks, more often, but I thought she was good overall.

I should add one thing.  I always find it weird when a hostess of an nearly empty restaurant asks if I made reservations!  I mean, the night we were there if you added up all the people that were there for the 2 hours or so we were there, only about 70% of the dining area would be filled.  

Pomona Valley Mining Co is a place you have to try at least once, even if the food is just average.

Burgerlords-Closed

Burgerlords
943 N Broadway Ste 102
Los Angeles, CA 90012
323-405-4012

Burgerlords was listed in the Top 9 best veggie burgers in LA by Discover LA.  I already tired and loved The Park's veggie burger, so I was looking forward to trying other veggie burgers.  But, when I read that Burgerlords is owned by the sons of the owner of Oinkster, I had some doubts.  Why? About 3-4 years ago I tried the veggie burger at Oinkster and found out it was a veggie patty they bought at a store!!  Not home made!  But, I was near Chinatown and figured I would give them a try.

Located a few feet east of the Bruce Lee statue, Burgerlords is trying to copy In N Out or trying to be the hipster In N Out.  The Chinatown location is a to go place, but there are a few tables.  I don't know who is responsible for cleaning the tables, but they needed a good cleaning.  So much trash on the ground nearby!  You would never see that at In N Out!

Fries, $2.25.  Their website says shoestring private reserve, Kennebec potatoes.  I have a feeling there are frozen.  But, they were cook very well and seasoned.  I liked the fries, and the portion size is huge!

Vegan cheeseburger, $6.50.  At least Burgerlords makes their own veggie patty!  From their website:"made fresh, in house everyday.  It consists of a custom blend of vegetables, grains & spices that includes nuts, gluten & soy. "  I could taste and see barley, roasted mushrooms, eggplant, leeks, chickpeas, and cashews as Discover LA mentioned.  This burger is very dry and flavorless.  I wasn't impressed.  Maybe if there were more of the vegan thousand island dressing.  Hell, maybe just some salt and pepper.  I wasn't impressed and thought the $6.50 price tag is way too high!

Service was fine.  They were nice and the food came out quickly.

But, just as I was finishing my meal, I noticed they put this sign up in the window.  WTF is that?  What business worth a damn does that?  There were three people working.  Unless there is an emergency, then there is no reason to close the restaurant!   There were at least six people waiting while this sign was up.  I don't think this burger is worth the wait!

I wouldn't go back to Burgerlords again!  If douchebag hipsters want to spend $6.50 for a veggie or beef burger, basically 50% higher than a double-double at In N Out be my guest.  I'm not going back to Burgerlords!

Slicetruck-Closed

Slicetruck
1523 S Bundy Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-444-9550

I am working my way through the 2016 16 best places to get a slice pizza according to Eater.  The link goes to the 2017 17 best places to get a slice of pizza.  They took out Slicetruck from 2016, added Delicious Pizza and NY & C Pizza-which maybe closed now!  Gjelina Take Away is the last pizza I need to try from the 2016 list.  Debating if I should go to Delicious.

While I order a whole freshly baked pie, it should be good, right? I haven't been to six places from that list before, so I went and loved all of them;  Pie Life Pizza in Pasadena, Pizzanista, Pellicola-which is now closed, Joe's Pizza, The Coop, and Prime Pizza. The other places on the list I've been to before I saw the list are; Abbott's Pizza Company, Lamonica's New York Pizza, D'Amore's Pizza, Vito's, Village Pizzeria, Town Pizza, Tomato Pie, and Mulberry Street Pizza.  Then last week I tried Barone’s The Pizzeria Express, which was terrible!

Slicetruck, as the name suggests, started out as a food truck about five years ago.  They opened a store on Sawtelle, then relocated to their current location on Bundy.  This is a small restaurant with beautiful tile work on the walls.  There are about 8-10 seats along the counter, otherwise this is a take out location.

12in with spinach and mushrooms, $18.53 with tax.  I noticed later the menub price for a 12in pizza is $15 plus $1.50 for each veggie topping.  That would be $18 and tax on $18 is not 53 cents. 

The first thing I notice was the wonderful crust!  Maybe the closet thing to New York City crust here in the Los Angeles area!  Firm, with great texture, but chewy. The sauce was fantastic, not overpowering, just full of flavor.  The toppings were fresh!  You can tell they use quality ingredients on this pizza.

Now people are going to complain about the high prices, but this isn't a cheap pizza with with cheap ingredients!  I believe the sauce is made with canned tomatoes, but everything else is quality fresh ingredients!!

Service was very good.  Nice people who care about customer service and are willing to talk about their restaurant and pizza!

I'm not sure why LA Easter took out Slicetruck from their 2017 list.  This is great pizza and considering one of the three new places listed for 2017 has already closed, NY & C Pizza; and Pellicola has also closed, it's stupid not to include Slicetruck!

If Slicetruck was closer I would go much more often.  It's a great pizza place.  Don't complain about the high prices.  Enjoy the quality ingredients in your pizza!!  

Umami Burger - Anaheim- Closed

Umami Burger
338 S Anaheim Blvd
Anaheim, CA 92805
714-991-8626

I recently found out about the Impossible Burger, a 100% plant based burger that is suppose to taste just like beef, and it bleeds too!  I guess after a ton of research and money spent to finding a plant based burger that tastes like meat, the Impossible people found that heme is the key ingredient for the burger.  In the back of my mind, I'm thinking this is engineered food, you know the GMO's that has every company putting Non GMO on their labels.  Something that came out of a science lab! 

Now, I'm not a fan of fake meats!  I'll try it but if I wanted to eat meat I would just eat meat.  I understand some restaurants are trying to attract people who maybe trying to eat healthy or if they are a vegetarian restaurant they will want to offer something to appeal to the meat eater in the group. 

I've tried the veggie burger made with mushrooms and edamame patty, at the Umami in Costa Mesa and it was terrible. I noticed that they have replaced that veggie burger with a falafel veggie burger. Umami burgers are not vegetarian or vegan.  They use a fish sauce in all their burgers, thus making it pescatarian.  I have heard they use that fish sauce in the ketchup, but I can't confirm that.  The bun contains eggs, which would prevent vegans from eating.  They do not have diary-free cheese. But, they can make a vegan Impossible Burger.

Impossible burger $16, two Impossible Burger patties, caramelized onions, American cheese, miso-mustard, house spread, dill pickles, lettuce, tomato.  The patties did taste a lot like beef, but there was a weird texture to the patty.  A bit chewy and even if I didn't know this was a plant-based burger before, the first bite would have told me it wasn't a meat burger.  It's ok, nothing great and I certainly don't think it's worth the price.

Service is ok.The hostess was nice, but when I walked in there were plenty of tables open but she went off to set up table and didn't come back for a few minutes.  Then a guy, who turned out to be my server, asked how many, and I was seated right away.  WTF was that hostess doing??  The server was nice, friendly, knowledgeable about the mean, and really helpful.  When I ordered the Impossible Burger, he told me it is not vegetarian or vegan.  Since, I'm pescatarian, I was fine with that.  But, many servers have no idea about the menu.  That's very poor training on the part of the management!  Have the chefs tell the servers what is in the dishes!  I don't care if the servers don't remember all the ingredients, and they need a "cheat sheet," just give me the damn correct information.

I only went to Umami to try the Impossible Burger.  I won't return to either Umami or give the Impossible Burger another try.

The Park-Closed

The Park
1400 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
213-482-9209

I found a listing of the best veggie burgers in LA by Discover LA, and noticed that The Park was listed.  Hole in the Wall Burger, that I reviewed their beef burgers was also on the list.  Since I've passed by The Park many times, I decided to give them a try!  I was lucky to go on a Wednesday when it's Burger Night, when all burgers are half priced.

The Park is a small restaurant with some seating outside.  I like sitting outside but since the restaurant is right on Sunset Blvd, it can be very busy!

Home-made veggie burger, regular price $11.  Wednesday Burger night, $5.  with lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickle with fries.  WOW, what a great veggie burger!  The patty is made with lentils, sweet potato, bulgur, mushrooms, and breadcrumbs; and is just great.  Nice texture, full of flavor.  I did add some mustard and ketchup!  I could tell this was really home made and not some store bought process crap.  The patty held together pretty well,  but you could see it almost break apart.  I think that's a good sign because processed patties are held together by all sorts of crap.  While a homemade burger has very few ingredients!

Service was friendly but a bit slow.  I realize the sorry LA dodgers were playing that night, and many fans dropped in before the game.  But, it took awhile for them to come and take my order, to bring the check, and to get change.

One thing though, the my total came to $5.45.  I paid cash, a $20 bill, and got no coins as change.   So I left $1 as a tip when added to the 55 cents, that's more than fair.  But, when I counted my change later that night, I found that received $15 in change.  I feel bad and the next time I go to The Park, I will make up for leaving a bad tip.

I would go back to The Park for their veggie burger anytime!  It's a steal at $5 and a great burger at the $11 regular menu price.