We took full advantage of our week off and took a trip out to the West Coast! This was our first time in Los Angeles and we had a great trip. We rented a car and had enough time to do some exploring. Keeping with vacation tradition, I got sick with a sore throat, but thankfully half of our agenda was ice cream anyway!
some of our favorite things we did – –
Chinatown // Griffith Park Observatory // La Brea Tar Pits
// Malibu
// Rodeo Drive // Santa Monica // Venice Beach
// Venice Canals
some of our favorite things we ate – –
Afters Ice Cream <– this wins best ice cream of the trip
Brioche ice cream sandwich with cookie monster ice cream and sweetened corn flakes. I couldn’t get a good photo in the sun but this was out of this world.
Filipino dessert bars are the best. I got amazing Halo Halo.
The bottom one was terrible but the top one was a fantastic buttermilk glazed. This was our very first stop on the trip and it was a nice start.
House-made turkey sausage, cage-free over medium egg, cheddar cheese, and honey mustard aioli in a warm brioche bun.
There was so much to do here! We got chicken tacos.
And the best pad see eiw I’ve ever tasted. The noodles were a little bit charred and perfectly chewy. We were both in heaven.
Magpies Soft Serve <– this was the best soft serve we’ve ever had
I got a swirl with cherry cola(!!!) and sweetened cream.
It was adorable in here and we almost came away with some gold pins. California croissant with smoked salmon, ginger, wasabi, and nori.
The mojito iced coffee lived up to expectations. I do have to mention that it makes me crazy that they call this “mojito” though, mojitos have mint and sugar but they also have rum and lime and without the second two ingredients you have a mint iced coffee, not a mojito.
It’s as good as they say. We had salted, malted, chocolate chip cookie dough and almond brittle with chocolate ganache.
Son of a Gun <– this was our best meal of the trip
This tapas-style seafood restaurant pretty much blew our minds. I drank a Ruby Red Julep – Angels Envy Bourbon, ruby red grapefruit, hibiscus, lemon, and mint.
We had the lemonfish poke with black radish escabeche, citrus, and crispy sunchoke.
Maple cream with smoked steelhead trout roe and pumpernickel flakes.
Heirloom tomato salad with avocado, chili, lime, miso, and corn.
Blackened rock cod with tomatillo salsa, fried tortilla, and crema.
And for dessert, Italian Hamburger: a brioche ice cream sandwich with caramel and maldon sea salt.
And now it’s back to work, wish me luck!
Eating Chalk 