Mama's Kitchen

The stars were aligned on Monday. As I drove to Alhambra Bowling Center for my fellow church goer’s once a month bowling event, I saw Mama’s Kitchen nearby! Mama’s Kitchen was on Minty’s Beef Roll Crawl list but we had an old address. It’s supposed to have the best beef rolls in town.

This is what Mama looks like..

Mama did not disappoint me. Her beef rolls were damn good. The rolls were not greasy, overly stuffed with scallions with fatty meat.

Unlike the other beef rolls on the previous crawl, hers had eggs in them. I don’t know if that’s what makes her rolls special..

I’ll have to come back next month for the dumplings. She has over twenty different versions, from pumpkin and mushroom to pork with fennel miller. By the way, my bowling team won too!

Address: 1308 Valley Blvd., Alhambra, CA 91803
Phone#: (626) 289-8984
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Minty's Silverlake Fish Taco Crawl

It didn’t take long for me to decide to go on the Minty’s Silverlake Fish Crawl last Sunday since I live nearby, and she only had five taco stands on her list…now if she had seven taco stands…To ensure that I could finish the crawl, I biked it. Most of the taco stands were not more than a mile a part.

The Best Fish Taco in Ensenada was our first stop. I go here when I’m indecisive since they only offer fish or shrimp taco. I am allergic to shrimp. The kitchen is right in front of you with two deep fryers.

Their drinks list is a short list as well. The horchata too sweet for me, and they use brown rice. I prefer their jimica –sweet but it’s not like drinking a sugar cane. Here’s a picture of their toppings bar.

There’s indoor seating but when it’s warm the patio is the place to be. If they just serve margarita it would be like you’re in Ensenada, Mexico.

I am told traditional fish tacos from Ensenada are deep-fried topped with cabbage and salsa on a corn tortilla. Their fish taco is ok. I can’t really complain since it’s only a buck. Shrimp tacos are two bucks.

Ricky’s Fish Tacos was our next spot. Ricky’s is located at Sunset Junction in the “cactus” garden. My first time at Ricky’s was a nightmare. I vouched not to go again…but then since it was on Minty’s list…WOW, what an improvement! Orders are processed much faster since they give you a number when you ordered now; it also helped that he had two helpers. They had two propanes this time so there was no mixing of the shrimp with the fish. The only thing that was missing was the lime. Oh you have to follow Ricky on Twitter to know his hours.

The drink stand is a new thing too. They offered two aqua frescas..

One was some kind of passion fruit…

The other was some kind of orange fresca…

I went with the Passion fruit and it beat the jimaca.

The fish taco tasted much better this time around. It’s amazing how your mood affects the taste of the food...their fish taco was the most expensive - $2.50 but so worth it!

Tacos Delta was our 3rd stop.

There’s an outdoor patio in the back.

There fish taco came with lettuce instead of cabbage. It cost $2.25.

It was too battered for me –like a Van de Kamp’s fish stick.

Our fourth stop was El 7 Mares.



Out of the five stops, this was the only one that has a parking lot.

Their fish taco was the lightest one out of the fried ones. I was surprised that it costs $2.29. I used to live across the street in '98, and I think it used to cost a buck? But then again, the studio cost $400 at the time and it now costs $900/month?

Las Glorias Del Buen Corner was the finale. Their fish tacos are grilled instead of fried like the others. The wait was the longest –yeah, longer than Ricky’s. Fish taco costs $2.25.





I had ordered a fish taco…but instead they gave me a shrimp taco. I took a bite on the verge of swallowing it until I saw the shrimp! Ah!!!!! I just started spitting everything out of my mouth and made a mad dash to outside where I would I rinse my mouth. I don’t know why I didn’t noticed the shrimp earlier…I took several pictures of it too…I guess the orange onxy through me off …

I felt terrible for the poor fella who sat in front of me and had to witness my meal coming out…hmm…yum. Needless to say I didn’t like their fish taco... What a way to end the fish crawl!

So here’s my vote of the best fish taco stands in order:

1) Ricky’s Fish Tacos
4006 Santa Monica Blvdl, LA, CA 90029
Stalk here

2)Best Fish Tacos in Ensenada
Hillhurst Ave, LA, CA 90027
(323) 466-5552

3) El 7 Mares
3131 W Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90026
(323) 665-0865

4) Tacos Delta
3806 W Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90026
(323) 664-2848

5) Las Glorias Del Buen Corner
620 Silver Lake Blvd, LA, CA 90026
(213) 484-9090

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The Ghetto Taco Truck Crawl

My friends invited me to their exclusive food group that meets up once a month. Most of the people who are in the group are in my profession, the biz. I hate networking mainly because I'm terrible at it; I'm just not "Hollywood." I am very good at eating and drinking though, and much rather talk about food, so it just made since for me to go to their February event: a taco truck crawl in the ghetto. Our goal was to hit every taco mark above and to be taco out at the end!

We met up at the Figueroa Produce and walked to taco heaven…or not?

1st Stop: Income Tax Taco @ 6138 York, LA, CA 90042

They offer the best al pastor and asada tacos on York Blvd. It’s ashamed that Income Tax Taco was our first stop. I rather have the best taco stand be our last.
Here are the toppings they provide:

I read that they are closed on Mondays but open from 6-11pm Tuesdays to Sundays.

The tacos cost $1 or $1.25…? It was ridiculously cheap. Well, for the most part, all of the taco stands on York Blvd didn’t cost more than $2/taco.

2nd Stop: Rica! Birria @ 5651 York, LA, CA 90042

Our 2nd stop was supposed to be Tacos Al Carbon but they weren’t there…I think since I don’t have a photo of them. Yes, I am cheating again and writing this post two months after the event…Rica! Birria is known for their goat tacos. They even have a goat on their truck:

The set up is better than Income Tax Taco just because they have more room. I believe it’s right next to the car wash..? Hence they have more toppings:

I’m not that daring so I strayed away from the goat tacos and stuck to al pastor…or was it casada?

Damn, I need to write notes…it looks like a carne asada taco though. I do recall it not being as good as Income Tax Taco.

3rd Stop: La Estrella @ Ave 54/ York Blvd. , , LA, CA 90042

They are known for their lengua tacos but by the time I reached the front, they were out. I guess it was a good thing because for all you non-Spanish people, lengua = tongue. Yeah…I might have thrown up some food on my tongue thinking about eating a cow’s tongue. I went for their al pastor taco.

It was pretty good but still can’t beat Income Tax Taco.

4th Stop: El Pique @ Ave 53/ York Blvd. , LA, CA 90042

At this point, most of the people were being more adventurous and trying the tripas, buche and other random parts of the body…I stuck to what I know and ordered the carne asada. It was dry. I should have tried their al pastor.

5th Stop: Huaraches Azteca @ 5225 York Blvd, LA, CA 90042
Phone#: (323) 478-9572

Our last stop was Huaraches Azteca Restaurant. Jugo’s Juices was closed when we reached Huaraches Azteca and Tamale lady was nowhere to be found. Huaraches Azteca was the only restaurant on our list and boy it felt great to sit down. It’s relatively a clean Lincoln Height’s restaurant. We ordered our food at the counter and the server took our food to our tables. Prior to this crawl, I had no idea what the hell a huarache was and as you can figure out this restaurant is known for their huaraches. I shared a huaraches tripas with a friend. Oh shit, I just looked up what a tripas is…”small intestines of a farm animal.” Yes…sometimes it is best for me not to know what I am eating. I can easily psyche myself out. Well now it all makes sense why I didn’t like the tripas because if it’s not cooked right, the meat is rubbery. The huarache was a bit too burnt and chewy for my taste.

I think I ordered carne asada tacos or al pastor tacos or maybe one of each? I know I definitely enjoyed that much more than the huaraches since I finished the taco.

Huaraches Azteca also offers fresh fruit drinks and horchata. I wanted to get the watermelon juice but knew that it’s not in season so it would probably taste like those sour watermelons. My friend ordered one and I was right. I tried their horchata and it was good. I ordered another horchata on my way out.

We achieved our mission. We were taco out . The ghetto taco crawl is about a mile walk one-way. I need to return to Income Tax Taco soon.
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BANH MI CHE CALI

Shauna D's Banh Mi Crawl: Part 2 of 4

Banh Mi Che Cali was our 2nd stop. I wished I did some research...I found out after the crawl that if you Buy 2, you Get 1 FREE ! Drats! Not that the $2-3 for a Banh Mi was going to hurt me...

I had the BBQ Beef. It was ok...all the BBQ sauce is underneath the meat.


Shauna stuck to her Meatball. Now that's a fully cooked Meatball sandwich, and it was much better than Mr. Baguette's.


Marcus had the Sardines. You have to like Sardines to eat this sandwich; sardines are too fishy for me.


I forgot what Linden ordered...was it the Saigon or BBQ Pork? Since I don't remember the sandwich, I guess it wasn't memorable. I do remember his Marinated Mangos, which were incredibly sour.

Banh Mi Che Cali was the busiest place out of the 4 - I guess this is where all the Chinese/Vietnamese people go to? They also offer other Vietnamese food. I'll have to come back and try their Pork Rice Noodle Rolls.

Address: 647 W Valley Blvd Alhambra, CA 91803
Phone#: (626) 293-8396
Rating: 3 out of 5

MR. BAGUETTE

Shauna D's Banh Mi Crawl: Part 1 of 4

Mr. Baguette was Shauna's Banh Mi Crawl 1st stop...and I wished it was our last stop.

The best part of Shauna's crawl is eating family style. The sandwiches were splint amongst five hungry, hungry, hungry hippos.

I bought the Saigon, which was narly tasting because the liver was dominating the sandwich. I think I spent $4 total?


Shauna D had the Meatball, which looked um...not done. Someone was trying to convince me that it was red food coloring, but I don't think so. Needless to stay it was bland and gross.


Al ordered his #2 Mr. Baguette sandwich - Meatloaf (that's what Mr. Baguette calls it, but it's just Pork). It was bland.

AC ordered some Ham sandwich on a Brioche bun (it's not really a Brioche, but they call it that...). Like most of the Mr. Baguette's sandwiches, I find it to be boring as well.

Marcus had the winning sandwich - Al M.'s #1 Mr Baguette sandwich - the Roast Beef on a Sesame Baguette.


As Shauna D. mentioned, it was annoying that Mr. Baguette did not put the marinated veggies into the sandwiches.

I wished Mr. Baguette was our last stop because it was the most expensive of the 4 joints and the worse.


Address: 8702 Valley Blvd Rosemead, CA 91770
Phone#: (626) 288-9166
Rating: 3 out of 5