Tales Of Spain & Japan

I'll start in Spain. No, I didn't go to Spain, but what I did was visit two fabulous eateries that have scrumptious Tapas on their menu.

First off, Mini Bar, located in Universal City. I brought a bottle of wine from home and shared mini plates of sausages, flatiron steak, bayou empanadas, veggies sautéed in garlic and saffrón with Val and Meli. At the end we were stuffed but we were assured we HAD to try dessert so we settled for a delicious coffee brulee. Our food was great and when our server said her name was Lola I felt like I was probably going to walk out and find myself to be in Spain. When the time arrived to say good-bye, my friends were swearing to bring their boyfriends... It's one of those places you know you'll be visiting again. It would be stupid not to do so.

The next day I joined another set of friends for a very late lunch/early dinner (whatever you want to call it). They selected Ciudad in downtown L.A. and I felt very excited because I had been wanting to eat there since I first heard about it. I was disappointed because they were only featuring their tapas menu (I guess that's what they do on Sundays), but I was happy with the food. Many yummy tastes melting in my mouth to create a symphony of flavor! We had plantain chips, saffrón paella, manchego cheese buñuelos and boneless ribs in mistela... Our server appeared to be hung-over, or maybe sad, thus a bit slow, but everything else was great.

I love, love, love Japanese food. Most of my love went straight to the sushi, but now that I've tried Japanese BBQ I have expanded my love and increased it even more. I was taken on a date last night and when I found out I was going to have to grill my own food I wasn't too sure how that would go. Me and grills don't go together. It turned out that I did just fine, it was a lot of fun and the marinades on all meats are so fantastic I could have been there all night. The staff at Gyu Kaku is very helpful, the place has late bar happy hour and the decor is dim and relaxing... Perfect for a date!