Friday, September 14, 2012

A Foodie's Vacation: Part 2

So last week we left off in San Francisco at Kara's Cupcakes. The cupcakes actually went with us as we began our drive to Los Angeles along the coastal highway (aka 1/Highway 1/California State Route 1 etc.)...


It's a long drive made longer by the frequent stops you cant help but make because the views are gorgeous. 

After an almost seven-hour drive, we stopped in a place called Santa Maria and then were on our way again the next morning. 

As we got closer to LA, we stopped for a while in Santa Barbara...


... and in Santa Monica (below, Santa Monica Pier)...


...before finally reaching Los Angeles...


In LA, I was mostly interested in going to the Farmer's Market, however, without really planning to, I found myself at the first ever Yum Festival in Ontario CA, led there by a search for the Jogasaki sushi burrito, and it was so much fun! 

The Yum Festival is a food truck festival held at the Ontario Mills outlet mall and the event benefited the McKinley Children's Centre



Los Angeles has a particularly vibrant food truck scene so it's a great experience and you get to sample so much amazing unique food. There were so many trucks though, about 50 according to the website, so it's impossible to try everything. 

Here are some photos of a few of the trucks...


My priority was still the sushi burrito so that's what I got in line for first...


It was divine! It was so so good! I got the Jogasaki 4A which has spicy tuna, shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber, BBQ eel and sushi rice, all wrapped up in soy paper. One of the best things I've ever eaten! Ever!

We also got a huge delicious fish sandwich (chargrilled salmon topped with garlic basil aioli and a deep-fried tomato) from Just for the Halibut with thick Dirty Chips...



You can gauge the popularity of The Grilled Cheese Truck by the length of the queue...


For dessert: a big fluffy waffle topped with English Toffee ice cream from Waffle de Liege...


The next Yum Festival is on September 29 2012. Ontario is about an hour's drive from Los Angeles but it's well worth the trip if you're in the area around that time.

Next day around lunchtime we headed to the Farmer's Market...


The Farmer's Market is a historic landmark and tourist attraction which has been around in some form or another since 1934. It's open seven days a week but we went on a summer Sunday afternoon, so I'm assuming it was busier than usual, crowded with locals and tourists alike. It's a charming and almost maze-like space. You could spend all day strolling around, browsing the stalls of fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood, spices, teas, pasta, baked goods, ice cream, sweets, and of course, the restaurants. 




In terms of what to eat, there was so much to choose from. I think I walked around the market twice before finally deciding what to get...


... I settled on Seafood Gumbo (a Creole stew made of shrimp, crabmeat and okra, with bell peppers and onions, in a thickened, spicy, intensely flavourful stock), served with Creole mustard potato salad and corn bread, from The Gumbo Pot...


... and we also got some really good fish curry and mee goreng from Singapore's Banana Leaf...




Towards the end of our trip we traveled to Chicago, which was mostly about meeting old friends (my parents' medical college friends rather) and getting some shopping done. There was an afternoon of sight-seeing but not much local 'food tourism'...


One morning we loaded up on an IHOP breakfast before heading out for a day of retail therapy...


... CINN-A-STACK® pancakes (My sister said I wouldn't be able to finish them but I believe I proved her wrong)...


... and the stages of consumption of New York Cheesecake pancakes (Unlike me, my sister did need help, as you can see in the third picture another fork and knife have appeared on the plate)...


Our flight back to Islamabad was via New York and the day I was leaving I managed to squeeze in lunch with my friend Maria, who I used to work with. She suggested an Indian-Latin fusion restaurant Vermilion on Lexington Ave and I'm so glad she picked this place. I ordered the Caldeirada de Peixe, a Brazilian seafood stew served with tomato rice, and it was amazing, with a thick, rich, spicy, intense broth packed with strong flavours. It was a big serving though and I was really upset I couldn't finish it...


This is kinda random, but on the way to the Chicago O' Hare airport I stopped at this coffee place, Caribou Coffee. I hadn't had my morning tea and I needed to preempt a withdrawal headache. Anyway, I really loved their cups and their slogan...


"Life is short.
Stay awake for it."





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