Tocaya Organica, West Hollywood

Tocaya Organica is a fast casual restaurant serving up a modern organic Mexican cuisine. Their ingredients are of the highest quality, organic, and locally sourced. Tocaya Organica only serves meats and fish that are fresh, never frozen, and 100% free of hormones, steroids, and antibiotics.

I was really looking forward to coming here for several reasons. First off, being a blogger, you are exposed to all kinds of food. There is a bit of regret after a really hard work out, knowing that it was just to negate all the bad you've eaten. In order for this blogging thing to be a sustainable thing for me, I realized I need to make better choices when it comes to what I eat. This is why I made a conscious effort to target restaurants that are in line with how I want to eat on a daily basis.

My ideal diet would be to be vegan, but since I'm not there yet, and if I'm going to eat meat, I want it to be good meat. Good news is that Tocaya Organica only serves hormone and antibiotic free, never frozen meat. In addition to wanting to eat high quality meat, I also look for items that are low-carb and gluten free. So it was a plus that they offer lettuce wrapped tacos. 

All the tacos were great, but I already know I'm going back for the fish taco...so buttery and creamy. The chicken tinga came in at a very close second. I recommend doing the tacos "Baja chipotle" style 

From left: baja chipotle fish taco, the everyday carne asada taco, lettuce shell

From left: chicken taco and chicken tinga taco, cali green style

The salad shown below sounded the most interesting...Arugula & honey lime: rocket arugula tossed with tequila-soaked golden raisins, chia seeds, marcona almonds & chipotle honey-lime vinaigrette. 

The burritos were decent, but not for someone like me who is trying to watch my carb intake. But duhh, I still ate it anyway :P

Fajita Burrito

Breakfast burrito

Street Corn En Fuego Bowl

Not pictured, but one of my top picks was the quesadilla with carne asada. I can't say this was healthy, or low carb, or low fat, but, you know what, who cares. It was good! And also totally worth the calories. No regrets.

I tried 3 of their sides, and out of all three, the guac and plantain chips were by far the winner. Mind you, all three were delicious...the corn tamale was cooked perfectly, texturized with pieces of corn, mildly sweet. The Barrio fruit was so fresh and flavorful from the lime with a hint of spicy. But the guac and chips were hands down my favorite. I loved the taste, the texture, and the pop of color from the sprinkle of pomegranate on top. Not to mention, for them to go that extra step and provide plantain chips rather than regular corn chips deserves some points right there. I would definitely order this again.

Guacamole and plantain chips

Barrio Fruit Bowl

Sweet corn tamale

Dessert was also sublime, because well....just look at it! The Waffle ice cream sandwich is made with salted caramel ice cream in between two churro waffles and drizzled with chocolate sauce. Need I say more? But of course, its the chia seed pudding that catches my attention and earns major points because its gluten free and chia seeds are packed with protein. They don't have too much of a selection because, let's be real, I'm sure the people who are going there are the kind of people who prefer to skip dessert. But for the rest of us, they've got us covered ;)

Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

Cinnamon Chia Pudding

To summarize, here are my top picks: arugula & honey lime salad, baja chipotle fish taco, cali green chicken tinga taco, quesadilla, guac with plantain chips, waffle ice cream sandwich. I give them all two thumbs up!

Hope this guide was helpful. Check out the video I made and let me know what you think. 

xoxo,

Nellie Christine

Flower Child, Santa Monica

There aren't too many places that can make you stop and say "wow." There also aren't a lot of places I would go back for a second time. With so many restaurants out there, I feel like life is too short to keep going back to places you've been to....unless they're that good. 

One of my indicators of liking a restaurant is a) would I spend my dollars there and b) do I like it enough to go back a second time. The answer to both of those questions with regards to Flower Child is yes and yes. 

At the very least, I know I'll bring the health nut in my life, my mom. She's always complaining how she can't find good restaurants serving high quality food. And she is not shy to express her disdain if you take her any where that doesn't meet her standards. Sometimes, I dare not recommend a spot out of fear that I will never hear the end of it. I will say though that I am willing to take that chance on Flower Child because I have a gut feeling she'll like it. 

Now as for the rest of us who are not related to satan...

Flower Child is the bomb! Its good for people who eat meat but want the whole farm raised, hormone free ish type meat, vegetarians, or vegans alike. The meal's are usually $10, add an additional $5 give or take to add meat. So for $15 or less, you're looking at a plate with high quality organic ingredients, decent proportions, and tasty as well.

Oh, that's another thing. For being a healthy spot, their food was actually really tasty!! I went with two other people, one of which who doesn't have as open as a palette for healthy food, and even she liked it. 

Their curry was good, not my favorite dish, but still it was tasty. I would first try their other dishes before ordering this one. 

Mix and Match Plate

So for the mix and match, I got the gluten free mac and cheese, the steak, and Indian spiced cauliflower. I would do all three again and would recommend it to others.

Flying Avocado Wrap

For being just a turkey wrap, I thought it was a pretty darn good one and just done right. The wrap itself is house-made with whole wheat, flax, and chia seeds. Now, if you're stopping in for the first time, I'd say spend your money on the bowls, the more exotic, harder to prepare stuff. You might as well get something that is more unique to Flower Child. That's just how I roll, but if the other stuff scares you, then be boring and stick to a wrap. 

The Mother Earth

The Mother Earth plate is the MOTHER of all plates. Just look at it, I betchu can't even recognize some of the ingredients. I mean, there's just so much going on, so many components. From someone who cooks at home, I can appreciate how much time goes into making each of the items you see on the plate from the caramelized onion and shiitake mushrooms, to the chopped cucumber salad. But my FAVORITE component of all was the broccoli pesto. That was enough to win me over. One bite and I was like "wow!" I kid you not, I didn't even eat the meat on my plate, because I didn't need to. Everything else was so good on its own and I think we all know how hard it can be to make vegetables or just vegan food in general taste good. 

This plate would be my number 1 recommendation. OH, and one more must is the avocado hummus. Holy cow I think that was hands down my favorite hummus I've eaten.

This place is near the 3rd street promenade so the next time you're out there, you should totally save your appetite and go here. If you've been, are planning on going,  or go based on my recommendation, let me know! I'd love to hear if you agree with me on the food. Till next time!

Vegin Out: Vegan Meal Delivery Service

A couple weeks ago I received my first shipment of Vegin Out, a vegan meal delivery service. I know that it will take me quite some time before I get to a place where I can call myself vegan (if I ever do), but I believe in taking baby steps and doing the best we can. Right now I'm in my experimental phase where I'm trying different tactics to eat a majority plant based diet. I decided to see what's out there to aid me in maintaining a plant based diet. Naturally, having cooked food delivered straight to your door is by far probably the easiest way to go about it. The question remains is could I see myself eating like this and will it be easy on the wallet...

For starters, the basic meal plan at Vegin out is 3 main courses, 4 sides, 1 soup, and cookies, all precooked and delivered to your door. In my shipment came the following:

4 sides: Vegetables with vinaigrette, Greek roasted veggies, Cilantro lime jasmine rice, Kale with citrus vinaigrette.

3 entrees: Tofu Tikka Masala, Ethiopian Lentil Stew, Chickpea Bolognese

1 minestrone soup

1 package of snickerdoodles

Everything was tasty and there wasn't anything that I didn't like or wouldn't want to eat again. My favorite though has to be the Tofu Tikka Masala. I loved the fact that it came with fresh veggies, especially the Kale salad with had slivers of almond and golden raisins.

I would say that the entire meal lasted me the whole week. I mixed and matched it with other foods. I have to admit though, I did sometimes eat the meals with a side of meat/chicken/fish. When I could resist the temptation to add meat, I did find that it was hearty and I didn't quite miss the meat. 

The total cost of this package was $128, which might seem a little steep but I do want to mention that you can get anywhere from 3 to 4 servings of each entree. So the entire meal lasted me all week. I even had some leftovers that I ended up freezing because I didn't want them to go bad. 

My overall take is that I would recommend this to anyone who is looking to be vegan, especially if you are low on time and want to eat a healthy meal but don't necessarily have the time to cook. Even if you are not vegan, I still believe this can be a great option to supplement your meals so that at least you can cut back on the animal products you consume. Have you ever tried a meal delivery service before, specifically a vegan one? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Market City Caffe - Summer Menu

Market City Caffe has recently been added to my repertoire of go to restaurants because the last few times that I have been there, it was such a great experience. This time is no different. I went in for their Summer Special and it blew me away. I have recently become obsessed with finding delicious salads and their two salads up to bat were absolutely perfect in every way.

Peach salad

The peach salad had fresh mixed greens, goat cheese, grilled peaches, and roasted hazelnut in a delicious vinaigrette. I usually save the best for last but this was by far my favorite.

Watermelon salad

Fried Cod with mango slaw

Truffle and burrata pizza

You could smell the truffle on the pizza from far away as it made its way over to my table. And the burrata cheese, basically mozzarella on the outside, cream on the inside. This completes me. So fresh and light with a beautiful truffle finish.

Verdugo West Brewing Co. Beer

Of course, the best part of lunch is the drinks. They paired their summer special with a flight of beer from Verdugo West Brewing Co., brewed locally in Burbank. Pizza and beer, need I say more? Summer special was amaze balls, here's to hoping they've got a winter special coming up! Check out my video below and to get a good look at Market City Caffe!

The Standing Room, Hermosa Beach

I had the pleasure of visiting an awesome spot in Hermosa Beach that is loved by all the locals. Reason being, its a no-nonsense kind of place. They are totally laid back and you can find people there that are coming straight from the beach or in professional attire straight from work. 

So here are the highlights, they've got an array of creative menu options to choose from, food that is thought driven, and most importantly tasty. It's not your average hamburger joint. I would consider these gourmet burgers. Overall, I found the food to be tasty, fresh, and anything but typical.

Currently, they've got a weekly live bands that play Thursday through Saturday, how cool is that?? AND, they've got 100+ bourbons, whiskey's and gin's to choose from...HELLO!  They're also very close to the beach, so to me, I believe this is the perfect place to go after visiting the beach one day and you wanna grab a drink and an extraordinary bite to eat. Totally worth it. 

Watch my video to get all the highlights of everything I ate and what i recommend. Please leave a comment and don't forget to subscribe! I appreciate all the support!!

Everytable, Santa Monica

I had the pleasure of visiting Everytable last weekend and fell in love with their mission, which is to bring healthy and nutritious food to low income areas and price it according to the location. I strongly support that cause and that's why I went out to see what they were all about. 

The style at Everytable is Grab-and-Go. You pick your pre-made bowl. If its a hot bowl you just throw it in one of their microwaves and you're out the door! It's perfect for a healthy bite on the go without any guilt of eating fast food.

I tried the chicken tinga, the bbq chicken, and the green goddess salad. I would totally go back and buy all three again. Can't go wrong with the BBQ chicken becuase it was very flavorful, had kale which I love, and best part, these little plantains. Deelish. Not your typical meal for that price and for the convenience. I would expect that to cost $13 at some hoity toity place, if not more. Definitely recommend and will maybe even stock up next time I go as lunch for the remainder of my busy week!

Hugo's Restaurant, Studio City

Today I celebrated my step-dad's birthday at Hugo's Restaurant in Studio City. What I ordered, The Cuban, was especially noteworthy because it was a rather unique combination of ingredients for a sandwich, and the result being something delicious and worth mentioning. It consisted of grilled chicken breast (or organic tofu) with slightly spicy honey-chipotle sauce, fried plantains, goat cheese, organic mixed lettuce, a splash of balsamic dressing, tomato & grilled red onions. Served on multi-grain wheat bread. Instead of the wheat bread, I substituted it for their gluten free flatbread, which I thought was going to be rather dull, but I ended up being totally surprised. It was made of cornmeal and flattened like a pancake. Not your everyday flatbread. It was a little on the sweet side, what with the honey chipotle and the plantains, but if you are into having sweet and savory, then you will LOVE this. Not to mention, their sandwiches come with sides, and they have so many sides to choose from. Of course, I went with the tomato basil bisque because I love anything soup-ey

My mom, being the absolute most pickiest eater in the world, chose this place. Trust me, that is saying something. Why did the world's most health conscientious person decide to eat here? Because Hugo's is known for being a healthy option, considering that they really cater to people who have certain food intolerances, like gluten free, vegetarian, vegans, nut allergies, etc. 

It doesn't happen very often that I eat somewhere that I would go again, but this is one of those places that I would go back to, AND I highly recommend going with The Cuban sandwich. 

The Cuban

Yalla Mediterranean, Burbank

Yalla Mediterranean is a fast casual restaurant restaurant that is doing what every restaurant should be doing, and that is making food from scratch, using local produce, and sourcing responsibly raised meat and wild-caught fish. A concept simple enough to understand but not easily achievable. Well, they're doing it.

So how it works is this...

Step 1: Choose Your Style

What that means is you can either choose between getting a wrap, a salad, or a plate.

step 2: Pick your favorite

Pick your favorite meat or topping to go with step one. Some options they had at the Burbank, CA location I went to was falafel, chicken shawarma, shalafel (half shawarma half falafel), grilled chicken, steak shawarma, salmon, and kefta (turkish spiced ground lamb & beef).

Its that simple!

I chose to go with the grilled chicken atop basmati rice with seasoned vegetables. This comes with 3 sides so I opted for the moroccan carrot salad, greek potato salad, beet and kale.

A little descriptions for the sides, from the left:

Moroccan carrot salad: Carrots, cumin, dill, olive oil, golden raisins, honey, greek vinaigrette

Greek potato salad: Yukon gold potatoes, olive oil, red wine vinegar, scallions

Beet and Kale: Roasted beets, feta, mediterranean vinaigrette

Next up is the chicken shawarma on top of their awesome Power Greens salad base (they have two to choose from), Kale, balsamic apricots, feta cheese, lemon vinaigrette. Doesn't that just sound fancy? Not to mention the portion is pretty decent too, this salad could last me easily 2 meals.

Here are some of their other kick-ass appetizers that are really a vegetarian, even a vegans dream. They were all so good, I really couldn't decide which one to eat, BUT my favorite has to be the fire feta! First of all, love feta. Secondly, its spicy. Thirdly, they give you a big scoop of it. Fourthly, I've never even heard of this or hand anything even remotely similar. So it wins extra brownie points just for being unique.

From the top left:

Barley salad:: no description, might be discontinued

Baba Ganoush: eggplant, parsley, lemon, garlic tahini, olive oil

Tabouli: parsley, dill, tomato, cucumber, bulgar wheat, lemon juice, olive oil

Hummus: GMO-free chickpea, tahini, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil

Turkish slaw: red cabbage, cilantro, lime juice, honey, olive oil

Fire feta: Spicy blend of pepper, feta, & seasoning

Falafel is always another good choice for vegetarians or vegans alike, as the tahini sauce is made of sesame seeds, and not dairy. 

I would also like to point out that their "dishware" is compostable! Definitely more kudos to them.

I think I hit the motherload with this one. How appetizing does that look?? This is their 3 option, the wrap. And look, they filled it with fries!

They've also got some premium, hormone free tri-tip steak shawarma. I gave it to a tri-tip expert and we both agreed that it was tender and of great quality. It felt like the kinda meat you only get at a fine dining experience.

Need dessert? Well they've got it! This is their house-made greek frozen yogurt. You can get this with honey, chocolate, or sour cherry sauce. Or better yet, with cinnamony and walnutty baklava!! 

They've also got some yummy original and strawberry house-made lemonade that is worth trying. 

All in all, the reason I love Yalla and would go back is because I like to support other companies that take the extra effort to be socially responsible. I also like that they have a ton of vegetarian and even vegan options to choose from. Thanks for reading Yall' a! If you enjoyed this article till the end, please give it a like, share it, and subscribe to my YouTube channel!  

xoxo,

Nellie Christine