I’m always looking for restaurants to visit and help economically during these challenging times so we headed to Joe’s Crab Shack as its outdoor patio finally reopened. We had 5 p.m. Open Table reservations but waited 30 minutes and later saw on my email that my reservation was cancelled at 5:57 p.m. after we were seated.
On arrival, we noticed that the host and manager weren’t keeping track of who had reservations and who placed their names on the waitlist. One woman who had reservations had been waiting over an hour and had not been called to be seated.
After nudging, we were finally seated at our table of choice. We were initially led to a table that wasn’t next to the marina so we requested to sit at one which had recently been vacated. We watched as the busboy slowly cleaned off the table. It took at least a good 5-8 minutes, demonstrating he had no sense of urgency despite a huge line of people outside waiting.
Once we were seated, there was some confusion as to who was serving us. Initially, we were approached by Stephanie who took our drink order. Then we were approached by Troy who said he was our server.
Once Stephanie was identified as our actual server, we ordered a cup of each of the clam chowder and seafood gumbo. Between the two, the chowder was the clear winner. It was creamy, thick and flavorful. The gumbo had a nice savory flavor, but it was more of a broth and not as rich, complex or dense like the chowder.
After 19 minutes, my husband’s entree of red fish arrived. I was given a plate which was not my order. I sent it back untouched. I had asked for the shrimp sample which included 6 breaded shrimp, shrimp scampi, grilled shrimp skewers, seasonal vegetables and crispy French fries substituted by me for the rice. I was initially served the shrimp trio which was a plate of crispy, coconut and fried shrimp as well as fries. It was a plate of artery clogging fried food.
When my real order arrived, the crispy fries were missing and some stale, crunchy, undercooked rice was on my plate.
When I requested the correct substitution, the runner assigned to our table brought cold, stale fries. Stephanie made it right by bringing piping hot, crispy fries.
For the sake of clarity, our actual server, Stephanie, was super helpful. However, the rest of the service staff needs help and perhaps a tutorial. The hostess stand needs at least 2 other people on busy weekend evenings. They should be trained to understand that reservations should take precedence over walk-ins. The phone should never ring 10-20 times without somebody picking up. There should be sufficient and well-trained busboys and runners who know what orders belong to which tables for the outdoor patio and adjoining tent.
Also, the bartender should be well-versed in the drink lingo and understand that a martini “up” no vermouth with a lemon twist is a martini not a 2 ounce glass of no ice room temperature vodka. We want to be helpful and eat at local restaurants to help them stay in business but the upcharge of the alcohol is nearly criminal (see receipt) and the staff needs to be replaced or be admonished for their failings.
We are very fond of Stephanie and the cooks did a nice job on our dinner, but the host, manager, bartender and singular busboy have all failed to meet the expectations of a $110 meal. I doubt we’ll be returning though the view from the outdoor patio was quite pretty. However, the overall service and value of the restaurant aren’t compelling enough to make the investment in time and money. The receipt didn’t even have our correct server’s name. This restaurant gets an F in my book.
Chiang Mai is known for its abundance of night markets throughout the city. It doesn’t take much effort to find one each night of the week.
There are also plenty of street vendors on the way to the actual markets so supply most definitely outweighs demand. However, unlike in other countries where vendors aggressively try to sell you their goods or wares, the vendors wait until they are approached by a potential buyer expressing his/her interest and even then, the vendors have a tendency to take a more laid back approach.
On our first full day in Chiang Mai, we walked 10 minutes north from our AirBnb to Anusarn Market which is best known for its abundant food options.
We opted for a seafood restaurant based on several reviews on TripAdvisor but unfortunately it was fairly mediocre and frankly forgettable.
However, we had a front row seat to the dancers of the Chiang Mai Cabaret soliciting customers. My husband decided to take a photo with them which resulted in a few good laughs.
After dinner, we walked around and saw a sign for the fish spa. At 120 baht it seemed like a very cheap thrill so we opted to try it. Not surprisingly, it was definitely memorable and noteworthy. It seemed hilariously ticklish and odd at first. After a while, we got used to the rhythmic nipping around our feet. The best part were the people we met who came by to chat with us. Having fish eating your dead skin was definitely a great conversation starter. We met an Irishman with whom we shared the story of my husband’s mistaken belief that he was of Sicilian descent only to discover from 23andMe that he was predominantly of British Irish descent. Our Irish companion on realizing he met a fellow countryman shared a few tales about the Motherland to incentivize him to come visit.
We ended our evening by stopping off to get my husband’s favorite dessert: mango sticky rice.
The next day, we opted to visit the famous Saturday Night Market on Wua Lai Road. It is literally one road with a few off-shoots for food vendors. We took a Grab, which is the equivalent of an Uber or Lyft, and were dropped off at one end of the market. There were some similar wares that we had seen the night before but a handful of a few unique ones. The street was busy but not oppressively packed.
We headed to the first food court and ordered a small bowl of the famous Khao Soi for 50 baht,
grilled fish for 200 baht
and a plate of pad Thai for 40 baht.
We ate our dinner while listening to a guitarist strum some tunes.
After listening to a few more melodic songs, we moved on and walked through the rest of the market.
We fell upon another more diverse food court.
There were 2 sushi roll stalls but one in particular was incredibly crowded as it was selling each piece for 10 baht. I’m not quite sure what the quality and freshness of the rolls since it was oppressively humid and it hardly seemed appropriate to have raw fish exposed to the elements. However, the excitement and intensity of the customers was palpable as they aggressively barked out their orders at a rapid pace and fevered pitch.
Moving on, we looked at the other food options and when we turned the corner to the end of the cul-de-sac of stalls, we couldn’t help but notice the shawarma stand. We ordered a quesadilla from the woman who was teaching her son how to prepare the dish. It was interesting to observe that the teen was being groomed to help or possibly take over the business. She explained each step, how to carve the meat, how much to place on the tortilla, how much cheese to add and how long to cook on each side. Hopefully, he took mental notes as the quesadilla was perfectly crisp on the outside and moist and gooey on the inside.
After our second dinner, we meandered to the other end of the market and opted to take a Tuk Tuk back to Anusarn to check out the Boy Blues Club.
It was located on the second floor above the market offering a nice view and a breeze to boot. The band was pretty good but the alcohol selection was lacking. Still it was a nice chill spot to hang out, relax and listen to some solid tunes.
The next day, we went to the famous Sunday Night Market. To say that market was overwhelming would be an understatement. It was massive with various offshoots on to other streets.
What is interesting about the Sunday market was it actually had some unique vendors, with original artwork, ornate and exquisite inexpensive bookmarks and cards. I enjoyed seeing what was available but one could seriously spend 6 hours before seeing everything that was available. We didn’t stay long as it looked like rain and the aisles were filling up with people, making the browsing and sightseeing less enjoyable by the minute so we retreated and headed back to our humble abode.
Chiang Mai Night Markets provide a place where one could definitely find and haggle for unique souvenirs to remind one of their time in Chiang Mai.
They’re also great for sampling local food at a relatively low price point.
For us, night markets are another entry point into the mindset of the people and what they found to be of value enough to sell to locals and tourists alike.
Day 2 brought an unexpected surprise when I arrived at the school.
I was the only student for the entire day which was a complete departure from my first day where there were 30 Australian tweens and teens in addition to our adult group of 6.
Since I was working one-on-one with Pon, I had the benefit of getting personal feedback on my culinary technique and flavoring and texture of each dish.
Our first course of the day was the Panaeng Muu which was red curry with pork.
It included the use of a mortal and pestle to pound down the spices and peppers into a puréed paste before adding the red curry and pork into the wok.
Next on the list was the Plaa Nin Laad Prik Bai Horapa or fried whole fish with chili and basil. The scariest part of this course wasn’t the whole raw fish sitting in the bowl. It was frying the whole thing in a wok full of oil.
Pon taught me to put salt at the bottom of the cooking oil in the wok rather than adding salt to the fish before frying it.
There we’re minimal ingredients to add to the top of the dish giving it just a bit more flavor.
The third course was the Gaeng Hanglay Gai or Chiang Mai chicken with curry. This was by far my favorite dish because the smell and flavor was reminiscent of chicken tikka masala and Thai curry combined.
He taught me the secret technique of placing the seasoned chicken in a cold wok pan and stirring around in the oil for a few minutes coating all sides before turning on the heat in order to prevent the oil from rising to the top and the dish becoming overly greasy.
For the fourth dish, Prad Prio Wan Phak aka sweet and sour stir fry vegetables, I got additional practice on my chopping and cutting skills and was taught how to make heart shaped carrots. Pon explained that the fruits and vegetables had to be cooked last in order for them to remain crisp.
The fifth dish, Yam Wun Sen or spicy glass noodle salad, hardly took any time at all to make. The noodles cook literally in 5 seconds and what takes the most time is cooking up the pork and cutting up the accoutrements.
The dessert dish was the easiest to prepare provided the rice has been previously cooked. The Khao Neow Dam Piak was a black sticky rice pudding which had 3 ingredients and was unbelievably simple and delicious.
We sped through the 6 courses, with me sitting down and finishing my plate of the panaeng curry with pork served with steamed rice. With the rest of the dishes, I had one or two sample bites and just powered through, saving all of the food for my to-go. No need to go out for dinner tonight as essentially Pon and I had prepared a meal for 3 people so I was quite beside myself at this fortuitous chain of events.
What I learned during the first two days is that cooking Thai food doesn’t have to be complicated or a lengthy ordeal. Some of my favorite dishes were so incredibly easy and quick to make.
Tomorrow will sadly not be a private but I’m looking forward to practicing and learning more culinary techniques and shortcuts that I can incorporate in my day-to-day cooking back home. Ready for Day 3!
Thai Cookery School
San Pedro is not really a destination which has held much interest for Westsiders or even those who live in other beachside communities. It’s been many years, perhaps even a decade since we’ve visited the city other than to board a cruise at the port. However, this past Saturday evening was the exception. Cirque du Soleil had a new show called Amaluna at its port and that was our motivation for our visit.
It took about 40+ minutes for us to get there on a Saturday night. I used google maps to figure out which restaurants were in close proximity to the event and decided on Pappys’s Seafood which seemed very reasonably priced and was walking distance. I called and made a reservation because San Pedro is not quite linked to any traditional online reservations apps like Open Table, Resy or Yelp.
We found free parking half a block away, walked in, checked in with the hostess and were seated immediately. I had read that the building was previously a post office. It was quite beautiful, bright, open and spacious. The restaurant had tall ceilings and two walls had floor to ceiling windows. Our server was fantastic and all of the runners and busboy were equally responsive.
We started with a Titos martini and Moscow mule.
For dinner, we both ordered sea bass. My husband ordered garlic butter, roasted red potatoes and salad while I ordered mine with chimichurri, fries and salad.
My husband also ordered two additional sides of Cole slaw and Mac n cheese. My husband said that my fish was better than his but not having tasted his I cannot personally confirm. What I will say is that the chimichurri sauce was recommended by our server but having eaten at South American restaurants, the sauce did not seem authentic. However, the fish was tender and it was quite herbaceous so I cannot complain. The mac n cheese had a crusty top layer from the breadcrumbs but the cheese flavor was light and not overpowering. The salads, Cole slaw and fries were fine but nothing extraordinary. All in all, it was a fantastic deal for the amount of food with a full bar experience. The prices were comparable to a California Fish Grill but in a much more interesting and lively setting.
From our dinner location, we walked about 10 minutes to the tent for Amaluna. Signs were everywhere. We walked along the path where people can workout on machines of their choosing. As we were walking, we saw swarms of cars stuck in traffic, attempting to find parking for the show. Anticipating the traffic jam, I had planned our arrival so that we could have an enjoyable, leisurely dinner with time to walk it off before the show.
We meandered down the path and made it to the entrance. Embarrassingly, there was a bit of a hiccup when we inadvertently cut in front of a long line of people waiting to take photos under the Amaluna archway. We apologized profusely for our error in judgment and lack of observation.
We entered the tent and looked to see if there was a line for the interior poster of Amaluna and luckily there was not. There was somebody on staff who was volunteering to take our photo so we took her up on her offer.
Afterwards, we headed to the shop as I wanted to buy a shirt to commemorate our visit. We bought a magnet as well and then lined up to our door to head to our seat.
We had been given the opportunity to upgrade a week or so before the event. I’m a Cirque member and perhaps that’s why they reached out to me. We previously had seats in the back section but were afforded the chance to move to the third row for an additional $40 per ticket saving us about $60 if I had chosen those seats initially.
We chatted a bit with our neighbors to the left of us and found out they’re Vietnamese. Since Saigon aka Ho Chi Minh city is on our list of places to visit we picked their brains a bit. During our conversation, I shared that I was born in the Philippines to the husband and he admitted that he was a refugee for a year confined to one of the Philippines’ islands. In that moment, I was whisked to all the horrific war documentaries about the Vietnam war, how they were forced to live in tunnels and how strong and tenacious the Vietnamese people were, living in darkness and in relative silence, surviving the horror that occurred above ground. With that one sentence, I was transported in time and place and though obviously I wasn’t personally responsible for what transpired, I felt sadness and regret for what he and his fellow refugees endured.
Amaluna also offered a similar experience but more along the lines of a philosophical time travel. The storyline was introduced as a coming of age story. As with any tale of the like, there are conflicts, struggles and obstacles to overcome. Though Amaluna whisked you to another time and to another place, it is recognizable but from a distant past. Yet, because history repeats itself, the emotions remain timely and relevant.
Interspersed in the storyline were the standard Cirque du Soleil displays of strength and athleticism, balance and breath. In this performance, the focus was primarily on gymnasts rather than trapeze artists, clowns and anorexic contortionists. Though in one of the last acts, there were 2 women and 1 man who looked severely petite, most of the performers looked muscular and strong which was refreshing.
I had veered away from watching Cirque’s last few offerings because it became as formulaic as a Danielle Steele novel. Fortunately, Amaluna offered much more than the standard template and that is why this performance will stand out amongst the rest, though admittedly “O” in Vegas is still my number one pick of all their shows and I’ve seen quite a few shows in the last 25 years.
On our way out, after making a 3rd stop at the very clean but very tight portal potties, we headed our and followed the path back to our car parked near the restaurant. Walking alongside us was a very petite, 4’8″ girl with slim legs and straight blonde hair, wearing a denim jacket and black leggings. She looked like a mini version of Reese Witherspoon but as I kept looking at her, I had a sneaking suspicion she was one of the main characters on the show. My husband, having no fear of talking to strangers or celebrities, walked us toward her direction and politely asked if she was one of the cast members which she confirmed she was. I commented on how quickly she was able to change and how sensational she was. For those who are curious, the performer we saw is Anna Ivaseva who I now follow on Instagram. She played Miranda and I’ll stop short of sharing her storyline since the whole show was about her and her journey.
All in all, it was a fantastic evening. Sometimes travel isn’t a physical journey. At times like on Saturday evening, it’s a metaphysical, intellectual and emotional journey. It’s the epiphanies and the takeaways from these snippets in time which help us grow, understand each other a bit better.
Thanks for a great and enlightening evening San Pedro!
Pappys’s Seafood 301 6th Street San Pedro, CA 90731 https://www.pappysseafood.com/menus/
Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/usa/los-angeles/amaluna/buy-tickets
I had been wanting to try this casual eats for some time. It’s not quite in downtown Culver City so it’s away from the madness and perhaps that was my hesitation previously. However, on Good Friday, after a long, exhausting week, we just wanted to go somewhere and have some decent, reasonably priced food without any effort of getting dressed up.
Seasalt Fish Grill is located in a building with adjacent free parking. You walk up to the counter, order and they give you a number to place on your table. It’s beer, wine, sake and shoji only. They have a TV where you can watch whatever sports event is in season. The seating is casual and comfortable. The restaurant is not very big but it didn’t seem to be very busy on a Friday night.
We ordered the seaweed salad, half spicy tuna, half salmon poke bowl with mango, corn, avocado, the North Shore shrimp which came with rice, red onions and pickled cucumber and the fish and chips with garlic Parmesan fries.
The poke bowl was the winner though some bites of the fish were tough but overall the flavor combination was varied and enjoyable. The seaweed salad was solid and had remnants of sesame flavor.
The North Shore shrimp had the shell on the breading which was unexpected, and it tasted sweet, unlike the three plates of garlic shrimp we had at Giovannis’s Shrimp Truck on the North Shore of Oahu. The pickled cucumber countered the sweetness of the plate.
The fish and chips were okay. The breading didn’t attach to the fish in 2 of the 3 fish sticks and the garlic Parmesan flavor didn’t absorb into the fries.
Overall, for the quality of the food, we would give it 3 stars. The location, convenience, casualness and service, we would give a 4. I wouldn’t go out of my way to dine here and for casual seafood eats, I would choose California Fish grill but if you’re in the area, about to watch a show at Kirk Douglas and don’t want to spend a lot of money, Sea Salt Fish Grill would be a solid option.
Seasalt Fish Grill
9901 Washington Blvd, Ste. 101
Culver City, CA 90232
https://seasaltfishgrill.com/culvercity/index.html
After a very grueling TRX/Pilates combo class, I was beyond famished and was thinking of healthier eats so as not to complete negate my morning workout. I remembered that California Fish Grill was just around the corner from Yogaworks so off I went.
My favorite is their swai with brown rice, French fry split and grilled zucchini. The garlic butter sauce adds an added layer of fat and flavor which is acceptable in light of my workout. The fish is always cooked perfectly, slightly charred and yet moist. The rice is fluffy and the fries are crispy. The grilled zucchini rounds out the meal which bumps up the health factor a bit.
For a total of $10.17, it’s definitely a bargain on this side of town and is a very well rounded meal where one does not feel deprived. For a healthy budget friendly meal, one can’t go wrong at California Fish Grill.
California Fish Grill
730 S. Allied Way
El Segundo, CA 90245
https://www.cafishgrill.com/
Grace Gambin
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