Maria's Italian Kitchen

                Established in 1975 by Maria Alfano, this Italian Kitchen is a blessing to LA. The owners were actually from Hoboken, NJ, but then fell in love with CA on a visit, and opened Maria’s Italian Kitchen. It is now open in 10 different locations in and around LA, serving fresh pasta, breads, pizza, salad, and much more! Here are a few of their lip smacking dishes.

            Like most Italian places Maria’s serve complimentary garlic bread. But these are not like any other you might have tasted. Drizzled with oregano and garlic and eaten with olive oil, the bread gives you an intro to what you are about to savor.

Garlic bread

Cheese fries

              As appetizer we tried their formaggio fritti. We weren’t familiar with what to expect but once we tried it, I am sure its something we will always have! Formaggio is a chewy kind of cheese, which is fried with bread crumbs to make it a fritti. The portion had just two rectangular pieces served with fresh marinara sauce and arugula leaves. Oh! What do I tell you about the sauce!! It was the best I ever tasted. You can taste the freshness, the juiciness and the sweetness of the tomatoes and when combined with the frittas, the combo is heaven! We also had cheese fries. These potato fries were drizzled with cheese and had just the flavor to tell you they were different. Frankly, I wouldnt say they are great. They were well done, tasted good but not extraordinary.

Formaggio Fritti

                For the main course, we tried three different varieties just to get the taste of the place. And oh! I forgot to mention, we had a guest this time. You will hear about her in the next few posts too, ‘cause we are having a holiday together. That is why we could try 3 entrees instead of just 2.

                One of them was vegetarian lasagna. This lasagna had spinach, portabella mushrooms, grilled zucchini, smoked mozzarella and sautéed broccoli. And of course their fresh marinara too! It was such a mouthful, and so yummy, I am waiting to try it myself some day. It was a large portion though, so unless you are very hungry, you might end up with a doggy bag.

Vegetarian Lasagna

                The other entrée was the Spicy shrimp and Roasted corn Risotto. For those who do not know, Risotto is simply rice cooked in broth of meat/ vegetable till it gets a creamy consistency and served with any kind of meat. The kind we tasted was accompanied by shrimp, corn, and red chilli flakes, sun-dried tomatoes and cream. It’s a treat for those who love seafood and its distinct flavor cause this dish is loaded with it!

Spicy Shrimp and roasted corn Risotto

                The third was ravioli a la marinara. The description on the menu reads “Delicious paper thin pasta pillows of Ricotta stuffed pasta. Light and delicious” And yes, it was just that. Inspite of being just the basic Italian combination, it tasted so special on my palate when the ricotto just melted in my mouth blending with the marinara. Hmmmm… I need to have it right now! And since it was just the right portion, you can enjoy it all you want, just until you can. It wont get too much into you.

Ravioli a la Marinara

                So maria’s Italian Kitchen is my best choice for fresh marinara, and cheese. I bet you will not leave unhappy after eating at this place! Enjoy yourselves….  

Useful links:

http://www.mariasitaliankitchen.com/

Christmas Lights 2010

@Bellagio, Las Vegas

@Bellagio, Las Vegas

@Candy Cane Lane, LA

@Candy Cane Lane

@Candy Cane Lane

@Candy Cane Lane

Americana Mall Glendale

Grinchmas @Universal Studios, Hollywood

@Universal Studios

@Rodeo Drive LA

@Universal Studios(without lighting)

@Grove Mall LA

@Grove Mall LA

Pookie's Thai

           A small place amidst offices, by a pond with ducks swimming in the sun, kitchen busy to keep up with its loyal customers, and Mrs.Pookie flashing a smile at all her guests taking orders and serving the most delicious thai food in Westlake Village. That’s the Pookie’s Thai. The place was started 7 years ago and today its our favorite here in LA. The first thing you notice here is the way its hidden amongst offices at The Water Court. Next, the welcoming nature of the place makes you return every week!

Pond at Water court in front of the restaurant

                Our favorite appetizer is ‘Kra Thong Thong’. Wonton cups filled with chicken, peas and carrots served with a hot n sweet sauce. It’s a great way to start your journey into the enticing flavors of Thailand.

Kra Thong Thong

Another popular appetizer is the Wow! Westlake Roll. It looks like salad wrapped in rolls. Tofu, cucumber, basil, cilantro, carrots wrapped in rice sheets and served with a special sauce. It’s a lovely combination that is so refreshing to the palate. The flavor of the basil simply pops out amongst the veggies dipped in the sauce.

WOW! Westlake Rolls

                To accompany your meal try thai iced tea. A pink drink with a hint of tea.

Thai Iced Tea

                On weekdays you can have lunch specials with duck, beef, chicken, everything. But otherwise, here are a few that we relish. Spicy monsoon noodles are my choice for a nice hot and sweet delight. Made of flat noodles, basil, bell peppers, mushroom and beef, chicken or pork it was a splash of flavor for us in this monsoon weather.

Spicy Monsoon Noodles

            Hi, Yo! Silver is a milder choice made of fried silver noodles, shrimp, chicken, sprouts, tomato and egg.

Hi, Yo! Silver

                Now for the fun part. You must be knowing about the famous red and green curries of thai cuisine. Well here, its definitely the best. They are served with white or brown rice, and you cannot stop eating it. We got a special treat when we ordered the green curry last time. Its called jade curry here, and as you might know the curry is made of coconut milk. But what if it is served to you in a coconut itself with fresh coconut floating in the gravy!! Yumm.. I have had nothing so exotic and yummy!

Ruby Curry(red curry)

Jade Curry(green curry)

                Now coming to the rice, my choice is Prapan’s rice. The rice is full of spice, meat, bell peppers, onions and loads of flavor. Try it with one of the curries, it is heavenly!!

Prapan's Rice

                So the next time you go to this place, don’t be scared of trying anything, I guarantee everything is going to be superb!! Enjoy yourself!!

Ducks in the pond

Useful Links:

http://www.pookiethai.com/home.html

Bellagio Buffet

You can go without food in Vegas that is if you are soo much into gambling! But most of us like food more than anything else don’t we? So WE, cannot go without trying out one of the plentiful buffets in all the hotels of Vegas. Today I am going to introduce you to the Bellagio’s famous buffet.

                It costs $26 per head and an additional $5 if you want a champagne buffet. Needless to explain they have everything from bread to steak, sushi and cakes. Frankly I couldn’t decide where to start! At the breakfast section that included 2 kinds of pancakes and waffles and omelets and oat meal and various kinds of homemade bread, muffins, danish, coconut macaroons, omelet, eggs benedict, or with fruit and salad! Sorry I don’t have the complete list of items on the menu, but I can give you a pretty good picture of how many kinds of food were available to eat. And I am sure you will love the pics too.

   So I guess I have given you an idea about the breakfast. Moving on, for lunch there were four kinds of soup, a wide variety of seafood like seared bluenose, seared halibut, Chilean seabass, Smoked Scottish salmon, Roasted Salmon, Smoked trout, Scallops and Prawns !! Phew!!
 Then there was the meat section. Steak of all kinds, with 4 kinds of mashed potato including pesto along with gravy was spread. The Sushi bar was good too, I cant really name all of them but they were about 6 in kind. I am not a person who relishes sushi really, so I skipped it, but it was looking good!

                Whats the point of having a buffet and not having dessert? You are in for a treat with nearly 8 varieties of cake, vanilla and chocolate ice cream, sorbet, fresh fruit like watermelon, strawberry, and honeydew, oh god it was heavenly.
 Although, I would have to point out here that I preferred the dessert section at the Ceasars buffet better.

I'll tell you about it some other time though. They had Tiramisu, Strawberry, Key lime tarts, Napolean, Pudding and eclairs too!!

Strawberries were yummy to say the least!!

     

Aloha Maui!! -Day5

          Our last day in Maui! It was saddening for us… We tried to extend the trip but could not. This morning we were supposed to catch the sunrise at Haleakala. But, we were so tired after our adventures in the weekend that we just could not move a muscle. So instead we decided we would catch breakfast at the Gazebo today! We missed it a couple of days earlier due to rain and the waiting, but this time we decided we will make it. It is located on the banks of Napili bay in the Napili surf beach resort. There was a long wait as usual as expected, but luckily no rain (I didn’t take the umbrella again). After waiting for nearly 45min checking out stuff at the small stall adjacent to it and watching the line behind us grow longer and longer, we were seated at a fairly sunny spot. The menu had only breakfast and lunch! Yes, they close at 2pm. They had all kinds of omelets, combos of pancakes, waffles, salads, burgers and lunch plates. Price was okay for a place so very popular, but the space was sadly small. My suggestion to you all is, please eat quickly and let the waiting customers enjoy this awesome food too! Its not a place where you can afford to sit relaxing and finish your breakfast. I mean you could, but do be considerate of those standing in rain and shine trying to get a seat. The food at this place has no adjectives. It was amazing!! We realized Maui has so many amazing places to eat, we didn’t want to leave!! We shared a shrimp Omlette and a stack of pancakes. This was the best breakfast ever! Not too filling, and too good. And last but not the least was the coconut syrup served for the pancakes. Yummmm….you can also buy some at the restaurant and bring it home! It was a breakfast we can never forget!

The Gazebo

Macadamia Nut Pancakes

           

Napili Bay view from the Gazebo

              We got back to the hotel, and took one last walk on the ka’anapali beach. Just sat there staring into those blue waters, watching kids, parents everyone having a wonderful time… It was heaven!

Ka'anapali Beach

                We checked out of the hotel and made one last visit to Lahaina. Had one last Maui Na Ka Oi Shave ice at Ululani’s and browsed some more stores before we headed towards the Tropical Garden of Maui. The Hilo Hattie is one souvenir store you must not miss. This is a huge store with all kinds of souvenirs from Hawaiian dresses for couples to pearls out of an oyster shell right in front of your eyes. Its going to take a while to browse through the whole store, so be patient. I liked the bamboo bags they had. Pretty colours and shapes. The clothes were good quality, and they also had chocolates and all such confectioneries. Tropical Garden of Maui is a botanical garden on the way to Iao Valley. This is a garden that also sells some of its plants but has a larger area dedicated to growing plants for research and other purposes. They do have a large variety of flowering and non-flowering plants and trees. The walkthrough takes about 30min and the entry fee is $5. My husband had a field day here taking pictures of all the flowers! And he got very good ones too! Check out the post Hawaiian Tropical blooms to see the colourful side of Maui. If you are planning to go to a place like this, please make sure you are wearing something that covers your body completely and keep some bug spray too. There are a lot of mosquito like insects in the garden, obviously due to the moist weather, which could give you a rash for days!

                Haleakala is a volcanic mountain that last erupted in the 17^th century. The road to the summit where the observation deck is located is very curvy and has numerous hair pin turns. Please take a good driver with you. The drive takes about 2 hours from the bottom. The volcano is the reason why the Haleakala national park was started and has the usual entry fee but open 24hours. As you drive uphill, the weather gets colder, and once you drive past the clouds, its sunny, but cold and windy! You will see many ranches, freely walking cows all over below the clouds. There many trails that you could hike if you like and camp too! At the top when you reach the observatory it is so windy you might just get carried away! So hole on to your hats and dress and carry a good sweat shirt. It wont take long to see the whole valley and you can leave soon, but I can imagine how amazing the sunrise might be! They have a sunset watch too, but we had to leave to grab some dinner and catch our flight back!

Just below we passed through the cloud above us

After we crossed the clouds

The Haleakala crater

View from above the clouds while returning

Flatbread Company in Paia

                We went to Paia for our dinner. This time we tried Pizza at the Flatbread Company on Hana Hwy. This place also seems to be a local youngsters favourite. As it is Paia seemed to be a place for the younger lot to stay. Its right next to Hookipa beach and has lodges too. Everyone there looked like locals. This place has this huge clay oven in which they bake their pizzas. You can watch them make it and bake it in front of you! We tried a Coevolution pizza with chicken. It was okay, not something Maui could boast about, and expensive! Yes, this place is expensive and is probably more popular for its drinks. And I forgot to tell you. It is an organic restaurant, that is probably the reason for its price range. Well it was a filling meal, noisy night, and kind of a sad one because we were going to the airport after this. Just five days in Maui it seemed like months. We loved every bit of it and cant wait to go back!!

The Clay Oven

The Coevolution

Paia Town Square

                Finally! Mahalo(Thank you) for reading, and Aloha from both of us…. Maui Na Ka Oi!!!


Useful Links:

Tropical Gardens of Maui
Haleakala National Park
Flatbread Company