Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Noodle Square - Butter Corn Ramen and MORE

Noodle Square
618 W Main St.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-8030

I know, I know. I know I blogged about Noodle Square before, but I never talked about their agedashi tofu and their butter corn ramen. Oh yes, you heard me. BUTTER CORN RAMEN. Alrighty, to the post.

So, on top of the ramen, we got a few little appetizers/snacks. I shall start with those.

Meduim spiced popcorn chicken
Yes, it is regular spicy popcorn chicken that you can get at any little tea joint, but this one has no basil like Tapioca Express. The spice flavors are the same though. This one was medium on the spice level, but it seemed a bit spicier than that.


Takoyaki
And then, of course, who can pass up takoyaki [old post here]?! I must say, I do like these ones because the are small and bite sized and easy to eat. The ones at Genki Living are HUGE and MASSIVE balls, though I do want to try the kimchi flavored one. The takoyaki at Noodle Square also have the right amount of toppings and the flavors meld really well together.

Me eating a bite-sized takoyaki ball.

And then lastly,

AGEDASHI TOFU!
Oh my, this was absolutely heavenly. Light and crispy batter. Silky smooth tofu. YUM! And the green onion, bonito flakes, shredded seaweed, grated radish, and sauce?! Man it was so good, we accidentally got a second order!

Second order
And NO, I did not order incorrectly. So here is the story. After eating that first agedashi tofu, my sister decided that she wantedto order the takoyaki, so I placed that order, but at the same time we were talking to the lady saying how good the tofu was. She came out later laughing and said, "I am sorry, you wanted takoyaki, but I accidentally made the tofu. Please eat it and I won't charge you. I will make the takoyaki very quickly." So yes, we got another order.

And now, the ramen.

Spicy Ramen
My sister always gets this because she loves it. It is really good, but I decided to get something else. Something different. Something like...

BUTTER CORN RAMEN!
Yes, when I saw it on the menu, I thought it deserved a try. When I saw it in front of me, I have to say I was a little scared. I mean, when you see 2 slabs of butter melting in your bowl, it is a little frightening because you are going to eat that. Alright, I have to admit, it tasted exactly like...buttered corn with ramen. The ramen was really good, but I think the butter really took over the taste because it was the soup base (I do believe that was the point though). Was it good? Well, if you love butter, which I don't, you will probably really like this ramen. I, on the other hand, am glad I tried it, but I don't think I will order it again. I might just stick safe and always order the spicy ramen XD

On a happier note, the green tea ice cream, though not different than other ones I have tried, was served in a very different way that is totally worth mentioning. FROSTED BOWLS

Green tea ice cream in a frosted bowl
Okay, so more like a frozen bowl, but still. You can see the ice crystals on the outside.

Top view of the ice cream

Cleaned out bowl
This was totally ingenious. I mean, the ice cream hardly melted! And it was so easy to eat! None of this melted soupy business at all! I love it. I must do that when I have ice cream at home.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hungry Howie's Pizza, Covina

Okay, so I am back from my hiatus more or less and I will start off with this amazing place.

Hungry Howie's Pizza

958 E. Badillo
Covina, CA 91724
(626) 966-3333

Surprised? I know I was. As I have said before, I am not a fan of pizza at all, but I have to say that this pizza was pretty amazing. Why? The bread. This pizza crust was really really amazingly fresh and crispy on the outside, but soft and chewy on the inside. I have to say the cheese was really good and stringy too because they use 100% mozzarella cheese.

Here what the inside looks like. About 3 2 seater tables and 2 4 seater tables. (not and incredibly large place, but there were many workers delivering pizzas)

The reasons my friends and I tried this place other than the fact that one LOVES pizza...

...why of course it was the COUPONS! AHAH though seeing that mascot made me NOT want to try Hungry Howie's. We got 2 medium pizzas and free bread sticks.


Pineapple and mushroom pizza with a garlic herb flavored bread crust.
I do not like hot pineapples on anything, especially pizza, but I overlooked it because I loved this bread. The bread was awesome and the garlic herb bread crust was pretty amazing too.


Me eating my stringy delicious slice of pizza.


Sausage and mushroom with a Cajun bread crust.
I liked the toppings and the bread and the cheese, but I cannot say that I loved the Cajun seasoning on the crust. It did not seem to go that well together. If it were the garlic herb it would have been awesome though.

Free garlic butter bread sticks. Yum. Too bad the Parmesan cheese makes it smell so bad.

So how good was this place? Well, for someone that does not really like pizza to eat 4 slices, I have to say it was pretty good. But then again, I really like fresh bread and that was the most enjoyable part of the pizza XD This was really the only pizza I have ever really enjoyed that much.

Check out their menu and for a location near you.