Gastro Monkey // 美食家

Eggslut. Los Angeles Famous, now available in Las Vegas. Super hyped and widely talked about - it had a lot to live up to.  Located in the Cosmopolitan hotel with a ton of other great restaurants, Eggslut is easy to find. Just follow the long line of people. I got there in the afternoon, maybe around 1:00pm. The line wrapped around the corner past the bathroom. As I waited, I could hear people get discouraged and walk away to eat somewhere else. If you hate lines, go later in the afternoon around dinner time when it dies down. If you want a normal breakfast, lunch, or brunch time meal here, be prepared for a wait.  Here is my "gaucho" - a seared wagyu tri-tip steak, cage-free over medium egg, chimichurri, red onions, with arugula on a brioche bun. The meat could stand to be thinner (to make it easier to bite without chunks falling out - the quantity is perfect), and cooked a bit more rare for my taste. The egg, arugula, and chimichurri were a great combination. L...

If you haven't noticed by now, I like trying places that Bourdain recommends. While I don't take his word for gospel, he does recommend quite a few good places. If you're interested in watching the episode, it's from Season 3, episode 2 of Parts Unknown .  Raku is located in Chinatown in a tiny strip mall. The parking lot was pretty full when I got there (around 10:30-11pm). Also, there are two Raku restaurants in the plaza - one is a dessert bar, the other, further back, is the grill. It is super dark and warm in there. We had no reservation, but it didn't take long to get seated. The menu is simple, the way I like it. While perusing the menu, they also bring out the specials menu. They also let you know  break your heart with which items are already sold out for the evening. 俺の豆腐 Raku’s Tofu I would like to try coming back again earlier in the evening to try more things (the teba wings sounded delicious). But, as it were, some of these items pret...

At some point, I knew it would get to the actual day of the Spartan Race. Since this is a food blog first and foremost, I will spare the details of that soul crushing race (glad I finished, should have trained more, and wouldn't want to do it again!). But, I will let you know how the food worked out for that day! Figured it would be too much effort to go too far to find food so we just stocked up on musubis from Iyasume Musubi. I am a big fan of the original spam musubi, but I also really like the spam, egg, cheese, and bacon. Or even just spam and egg. Or spam and cheese. They have a ton of combinations. They have other items aside from musubis, but of course, it's what they're known for so be sure to give them a try! Musubi Cafe IYASUME 2427 Kuhio Ave Honolulu, HI 96815 Website The race itself took a good portion of the day. Not to mention the hike from the parking lot to the starting line. That had to be at least 1.5km! It would have been better...

For my very brief visit to Scottsdale, I ended up going to Roka Akor. It is yet another selection based on Instagram. The boyfriend follows  Kai Torcuato , the executive chef at said restaurant, and said if it's in the area that I'll be staying I should pop by. Looking through his Instagram pictures I could not help but salivate. Wide varieties of fresh fish, incredible knife work - of course I had to give it a try! Located in what looks like a strip mall, the interior of the restaurant looked almost like a night club. The sushi bar is immense compared to what I'm used to. I took a seat in the middle of the bar, and Kai introduced himself. He asked if I had any questions with the menu. I told him I trust him and that I would like to get the omakase. Note to those who are used to more traditional Japanese restaurants - the omakase here is very different. Since Roka Akor is a restaurant that specializes in sushi and steak, you'll get a combination of the two. Had I...