Website Dedicated to Food Deals

Right now,  weekends leave very little free time for me. Before I hop in bed to do it all again tomorrow, I thought I would throw a website out there that is dishing out some great deals. Right now, it is in LA,  but it is coming soon to New York.

http://blackboardeats.com/

The deals are good. The restaurants have great reputations. At this point in my life, deals like this really help. I don’t have the money in the bank to eat out too much, and last month, I decided I will live in New York City this coming summer. I love eating in New York, and it was great news to see that Blackboard Eats will be dishing out deals that may help. I might call it a hobby of mine to seek out cheap eats, and even if the deals don’t make the experience cheap, perhaps it might make some out-of-reach establishment affordable. If you are in LA, you do not need to wait. Enjoy it now.

Joe’s Pizza in Santa Monica, CA

New York style pizza in Santa Monica. I went with my dad for a late lunch. I watched the woman in front of us order the last slice of the fresh mozzarella and basil. I was a little happy about this, thinking that I may get a slice fresh out of the oven. I asked the guys making the pizza, and he said one just went in the oven, 7 minutes. So I waited.

I watched as it came out of the oven, and he tore up some basil leaves to scatter around the pie. So it looked like a solid slice of pizza. There was a good balance of cheese to sauce to dough. It was a nice, thin crust, but could actually have been a little crispier on the outside and more tender on the inside (perhaps a result of the lack of a very hot brick oven). The sauce was just okay. It tasted fresh but a little too much like tomato straight out of the can. The mozzarella and basil were great. Fresh and not too much of either one, which is something that is done all of the time. It was solid slice of pizza, and a surprise to find in Santa Monica near the beach. I was really wishing I had gone here the day before for lunch. The Alexandria Cafe was next door, and I would have loved to replace my disappointing falafel with a couple slices of good pizza.

08/16/2009

Hungry Pocket Falafel House in Santa Monica, CA

This was my second stop for good falafel in the LA area, and after reading some reviews, I was excited after my first falafel experience of the trip. I drove to Santa Monica College, and there it was, right across the street. It was cheap as promised, but to my disappointment, I got what I paid for… maybe. I ordered a falafel pita. When I was handed the falafel, it did not appear to be something special, but sometimes at smaller, inexpensive places you don’t pay for that. You pay for flavor. I don’t know what I paid for here. There was some shredded iceberg lettuce, a tahini sauce that was overly acidic, under-seasoned, and hardly tasted of tahini. The falafel was beige all the way through, and honestly, barely tasted of anything. There were three relatively small balls of falafel, and there was a large doughy pita that must have been around 80 percent of the sandwich. This was the first falafel sandwich I have not finished, disappointing to say the least.

08/15/2009

Sushi Roku. Santa Monica, CA

I was in Santa Monica, staying on Ocean Ave., and had a craving for sushi around lunch time. I was visiting my brother with my dad, but nobody was around for the next 45 minutes, so I decided to walk down to Sushi Roku and get some sushi to go. I chose Sushi Roku because it looked nice, there was a decent lunch crowd, and with its location it must do relatively well to stay open and pay rent. It is a little out of my price range, but I wanted sushi and was on vacation, so I convinced myself it was okay. I thought two orders of sushi and a hand roll order would be perfect. I am a huge fan of sea urchin, so I had to get the uni. I also ordered eel, and the toro and jalapeno hand role. It came to 26 dollars, and I had it with a salad from whole foods. The servers were nice, and the restaurant was neat and decorated to my liking at least. It was pleasant. The sushi was good too. Everything was fresh. The toro and jalapeno handroll could have had a little more heat, but the eel was broiled, tender, and dressed in a ood soy based barbecue sauce. The uni was fresh and much appreciated considering the last time I ordered it at home, they were out of it, and the server neglected to mention that until about ten minutes after the rest of my sushi came… I thought this was a nice place to come get some fresh sushi with clean flavors, but as expected, a little pricey.

08/14/2009

Alexandria Cafe in Santa Monica, CA

I had lunch here one day while visiting my brother in Santa Monica. I had rented a bike and spent some time riding around town, but had to come back and meet my dad before we went and got something to eat. Unfortunately, I was about thirty seconds from out hotel when I passed Alexandria Cafe. I was in the mood for a falafel, so I quickly rode by, noting the establishment. I told my dad that there was a Mediterranean place right around the corner, thinking we could walk by and check it out. They serve gyros, falafel, some platters of chicken or falafel or the beef and lamb mixture, etc… We walked over, and after a quick look, I was less than impressed. Their pitas looked grocery store quality at best. That is one of the first things that I take note of when I head into somewhere serving sandwiches in pita bread. I told my dad we should probably keep walking to find something else (we wouldn’t have to walk far). But apparently that wasn’t an option, as he had neglected to eat a real breakfast, worked out for a couple hours, and couldn’t make it any longer. I was disappointed, but ordered that falafel I had been craving.

The woman serving us was very nice. I wanted to like the food. She brought it over a few minutes later to a table outside. My first bite did not exceed my expectations. The pita tasted like it looked, the falafels were bland and overfried, and the tahini sauce was watery and under-seasoned. There was some fairly crisp lettuce and fresh tomato which was suprising considering the rest. My dad got a plate of the lamb and beef mixture, and it came with tabouli, pita, and hummus. The tabouli was edible. The hummus I would not eat again. The woman serving us was extremely friendly, and the food came relatively quickly (it was not busy). The food was definitely a let down, and I can’t see myself heading back here. I will have to spend some more time searching for a good falafel in the Los Angeles area. it has to exist, right?

08/14/2009