adobe cantina.

Today's blog takes us to Adobe Cantina in Agoura Hills. It's been a while since I last ate there and a nice Tijuana Cesar Salad sounded like a good choice for the day. This vato loco spin on the traditional caesar salad has mexican cotija cheese and charbroiled chicken breast. Char marks = Mexican in any language.

It seemed like the Adobe chef went a little overboard with the dressing, so it was sloppier than the way I usually like it. But tastewise, it was still pretty good AND it came with two pieces of garlic bread. :::cha-ching::: They also gave me a big bag of tortilla chips with a side of salsa, which my coworker pointed was pretty generous since I'd only ordered a salad. Overall, I think my $12 was well spent.

After today's visit, I googled Adobe Cantina to see what other people think of it. I was actually kind of surprised by some of the comments:

"...Margaritas tasted syrupy..." -I've had the margaritas (especially the pomegranate) and I always liked mine.

"...They ONLY have valet..." -Not true. I've been there a handful of times and I've never even seen a valet there. Maybe it depends on the time you go...? My coworkers and I usually go at lunchtime or right after work for a drink and there's never been a problem with parking.

"...But honestly, all I wanted was a mojito and empanadas..." -Well, since neither of these are from Mexico, I'm not surprised they didn't have them. Next time, try a Cuban or Argentinian restaurant.

Here's the truth about Adobe: The waiters are pretty dull- don't expect to be served by the Rockettes. But they do their job and that's all that matters. The parking is great, the food is tasty, and their portions are also on the larger side. Oh yeah, and they have great outdoor seating, including an enclosed patio and tables with umbrellas. This is a great place to grab a drink on a sunny day.

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i won't be hanging out with brent for a while.

Today I was so busy doing God knows what (my blog.), that I completely lost track of time and didn't eat lunch. Luckily, I had some Gardetto's in my desk. And with the exception of all those GD rye chips, it really wasn't that bad.

Needless to say, I was STARVING by the time I got home from work. Since neither Keith nor I was interested in playing the always-a-hoot "What do you want for dinner?" "I dunno, what do you want for dinner?", I made the executive decision to go with Brent's Deli. Brent's has two locations- Westlake Village and Northridge. The Westlaker is the nicer, newer version, but the Northridger has more character like you'd probably run into Jerry Stiller or Joan Rivers. That's right. I said it.

One thing you should know about Brent's: Their portions are huge. Like seriously wasteful kind of huge. Keith and I ordered a plain (that's how we roll) ham and cheese sandwich to split with a side of fruit and two orders of steak fries.

The sandwich was meh. It wasn't horrible, but I've had better there. And the fries looked a little like they'd spent too much time in the tanning bed. Also not the best. I'm eating the fruit right now and it's actually pretty good- fresh and sweet. Not soggy and onion-tainted like some fruit selections. (Eating fruit at 10:30pm... I'm practically begging for coeur brulee...)

However, there is another item that I usually get that is always a good deal: French toast with a side of turkey bacon. I think that meal is around $9 and always fills the spot. Also, I have two friends who love the cabbage soup. Maybe try one of those two options to get a real appreciation for this place.

The upside to Brent's is that they have large servings. The downside is that it's kind of on the pricey side for what they're serving- which seems to be on par for deli's en generale- and the food is pretty bland. In tonight's case, bland was what I happened to be looking for. Pricey was not. Our split sandwich and two orders of fries came out to $21. And I just about threw a fit when none of the three hosts/ hostesses would acknowledge my presence, despite me being 12 inches away from them. That kind of stuff irritates me. I worked as a hostess loooong enough to know it's not really that hard to smile and say "Hi, I'll be right with you".

Overall, not my best experience with Brent's. Tonight would get 2 out of 5 chins. Next time, I'll stick with the french toast and turkey bacon. Turkey, you see, because I'm on a diet.

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linner at the counter.

Keith and I took our sweet time dealing with the general public today and didn't actually leave the house until 5pm for linner. Linner is obviously late lunch/ early dinner. It was rainy and gloomy and felt like London weather and what meal better says "London" than... Burgers. Well, if you're married to Keith every weather says burgers.

We went down to The Counter in Studio City. We've been to this location once before and both Keith and I really liked it. There are lots of cool shops nearby and there's even a Baskin Robbins next door, for maximum chin supremacy.

I was less than thrilled with our waitress, but since I'm not here to namebash, I will just say that her first name started with a C and ended with a C. Take that, waitress.

I've been to The Counter around 5-6 times and I've been very happy with all of my choices. My initial exposure was to their namesake- The Counter burger- which consists of a beef patty, provolone, lettuce, tomato, fried onion strings, and sauteed mushrooms. Be forwarned: you will feel like you just ate a Mac truck and by the following morning your face will look like a pepperoni pizza- Meatlovers Style. But sometimes, you just have to accept the side effects and eat a really greasy burger. Today, I opted for lighter fare and ordered a turkey patty, swiss cheese, avocado, mixed greens, and a side of tzatziki sauce.

As you can see by the photo, I didn't really go too light on the "lighter fare" as we started out the meal with cheese fries. They could have been melted for a few more seconds, but overall, they were still a deep fried delight.

The bill came out to around $30 for two burgers (both with a $1 add-on topping), one order of cheese fries, and two sodas.

Great place to check out, especially if you're going to spend the night booze cruising. If you're planning on going to spin class, maybe take a rain check.

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you're the first, the last, my everything.

Here we go, world. A blog dedicated to the one I love: Food. The thought came to me when my mom pointed out to my sister, "Have you noticed Sasha is always taking pictures of her food...?" And I was like, "Frack yeah, good idea!" Well, not really. She gets mad when I cuss in front of her. But in my head, I was like, "Hm... I like where this is going...

My plan is to post a pic everyday of at least one meal I've eaten that day. This should be easy since I love eating and I equally love taking pictures. Some days it may be at a fine dining establishment where I am a regular and known by name (McDonald's) and some days it may be good old home cooking (Keith is already grumbling at the thought of this). The way I look at it, if at least one person offers their patronage to a restaurant I've blogged about, I will feel like a food hero. Ok, even if nobody pays attention I'm still blogging.

Let's start with yesterday's meal. We celebrated my birthday by eating at Taqueria Vallarta in Ventura. It's a hole-in-the-wall kind of place, located next to the Coalition Thrift Store and across from the old Top Hat food shack (R.I.P.). Just based on the location alone, this screams "Legit Food", but you have to try it yourself.

I ordered a carne asada torta, an item I've ordered before. Just like last time, my torta didn't let me down. It's just as good in the vegetarian form, but sometimes I like to spice mine up with a little meat. The basic torta comes with: beans, lettuce, onions, and cheese on a toasty mexican bun.







This picture does not do it justice as the torta doesn't really look like a crusty football. The sandwich itself is delicious, but the liquado alone is reason enough to drive from another country. For those of you (white people) who don't know what a liquado is, it's basically a mexican smoothie. THEY ARE THE BOMB. The one I always order is called the Vallarta Special. It has milk, mango, strawberry, orange juice, and magic. Seriously, though. It really does have magic in it.

The staff at Taqueria Vallarta is always friendly, the restaurant is always clean, and the food is more than reasonably priced. If you're smart, you will definitely check this place out next time you're in Ventura.

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