Friday, April 30, 2010

Islands Turkey Kilauea Burger



We have a turkey burger today for our random meal. This burger is actually normally served with beef but I decided to have a change of pace today. We start with a seasoned jalapeno and black pepper crusted ground turkey burger. We then add to the turkey burger a slice of pepper jack cheese, chipotle aioli, lettuce and tomato. We finished the burger by topping it with a mountain of Island Reds. This turkey burger is a colossal mouthful.
Found at Islands in Glendale, CA.

(Olympus Pen E-PL1, 20mm, f2.0, 1/20, iso 1600)

You can also choose to have an order of the Chicken Sandpiper bunless.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Popeyes Fried Chicken



Today we have some crunchy spicy fried chicken from Popeyes.
Found at Popeyes in Los Angeles, CA.

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f2.8, 1/250, iso 200)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The Original Rinaldi's Matt Man Sandwich



The "Matt Man" is our random meal sandwich for the day. The "Matt Man" starts off with some seasoned ground turkey and mixed together with some egg whites. It feels like it is halfway between a hamburger and a Sloppy Joe. You then add two layers of prosciutto to sandwich the ground turkey together. You then finish it off with a fried egg. Lettuce, tomatoes and peppercini are finally added to provide color to the picture. This is the first time I ever had a sandwich here that had a fork in it. Surprisingly, I did not need it as the sandwich stayed together and maintained it's shape. Yummy!
Found at The Original Rinaldi's in El Segundo, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f4.0, 1/125, iso 200)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Thai Dishes Kang Karee Chicken



Our random meal cuisine choice today is Thai. This is a unique lunch special. We get both an appetizer and main dish on one plate. We start off with two pieces of the chicken satay. Then we added the main entree. This is the Kran Karee Chicken curry. This is a yellow curry that has a nice blend of spices.
Found at Thai Dishes in El Segundo, CA

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f2.8, 1/125, iso 200)

This is a lunch size order of the Tum Yum soup.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Hawaiian BBQ Express Chicken



Today's random meal brings us some magical chicken. There are rare occasions when you are able to find a magical meal at the mall. This is one of those occasions. What we have for today is a wonderfully deliciously marinated flame grilled BBQ chicken. The red color of the chicken is from the marinade and it is with this distance seasoning the makes the chicken shine. I can never get enough of this chicken. The serving size is huge and I always end up overeating this random meal.
Found at Hawaiian BBQ Express in Glendale, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 2500)

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Hamada-ya Bakery Chocolate Ring Donut



Our random meal today brings us some fabulous donuts. This is not just any plain donut, this is a donut with a Japanese style twist. This donut is not covered in just chocolate glazed, it is actually a decadent dark chocolate that is so fantastically dense that it feels like you are biting into a chocolate candy bar instead of a donut. It is chocolate covered donut very much like a gourmet chocolate covered dipped strawberry. The difference is the thickness of the chocolate on the donut. It is exponentially thicker and is comparable to thick sliced bacon vs regular sliced bacon. At first this was my breakfast, but it swiftly became an early morning dessert. Yummy!
Found at Hamada-Ya Bakery in Torrance, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso 1250)

We also have a Chocolate Twist Donut.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Miyabi-Tei Beef Curry



For our random meal today we have beef curry. This is a Japanese style curry. It is rich enough to fulfill your hungry stomach without being overly thick.. We have tender pieces of beef mixed throughout the curry. I bends together with the rice extremely well.
Found at Miyabi-Tei in Torrance, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f4.0, 1/80, iso 5600)

Friday, April 23, 2010

Santouka Shoyu Ramen



We have ramen for our random meal today. Today's ramen flavor is Shoyu or soy sauced flavor ramen. It gives the broth a different twist.
Found at Santouka in Torrance, CA

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 640)

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Mifune Nikuudon



Udon is the theme of our random meal of the day. This is a simple yet delicious bowl of Udon. We have the Nikuudon. We have a wonderful broth that is filled with sliced beef and udon noodles. This is great when the weather turns cold.
Found at Mifune in Torrance, CA

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 500)

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Dino's Burgers Breakfast Burrito



Our random meal brings us a wonderfully delicious breakfast burrito today. This breakfast burrito is awesome. It starts with a large flour tortilla that is layered with crispy hash browns for the base. You then load a layer of fried eggs along with layer of sausage for all the protein goodness. You finally finish off the breakfast burrito with a fresh layer of salsa that tastes like it was freshly picked from the gardens. The only problem with this random meal is that you are so contently full that you end up skipping your next random meal.
Found at Dino's Burgers in Torrance, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 500)

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Katsuhana Pork Tenderloin Cutlet Combination



Our random meal today brings us various Katsu battered treats. The funny thing about the display of food was that almost everything was labeled pork cutlet combo. What they don't describe on the display is what other items comes with the pork cutlet. The ladies manning the ordering station had a cow when I decided to take a picture of the the menu with my iPhone. I guess they really like the mystery of the pork cutlet combo with extra mystery meats. LOL. Well to be fair, before I started my random meal of the day food blog, I really did not pay too much attention to the finer details of the random meals. I strive to be accurate with my postings.

We have for today the number 13. This combination plate starts with a mini pork tenderloin cutlet. We then add 2 pieces of fried shrimp with the same delicious batter and finish of the meal with crab cream croquette. The croquette is holding up the shrimp. I ended up ordering this after the person in front of me picked up his meal. The extra shrimp with the meal sold it.
Found at Katsuhana in Torrance, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/100, iso 200)

Monday, April 19, 2010

El Segundo Fish Co. Bowl of Clam Chowder



We have clam chowder for our random meal of the day. This bowl of clam chowder is definitely different from the typical chowder bowls. The reason is that this is a regular bread bowl and not a sourdough bread bowl. This dramatically changes the flavor of the dish. You end up focusing less on the bread bowl and more on the clam chowder. There is also a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese on top of the bread bowl to give it an extra twist. The bread bowl is also freshly baked at the restaurant.
Found at El Segundo Fish Co. in El Segundo, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f5.6, 1/80, iso 900)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Happy Clover Crepe Stick Frozen Wheat Cake



Today's random meal dessert treat is from a Japanese Market. I first saw this treat from a magazine AD. It looks really interesting so I decided to be on the hunt for it. What I failed to notice is the word "wheat" in the title. This in turn made the treat a bit too healthy tasting for me. It comes prepackaged and ready to eat in the semi frozen isle in of your local Japanese market.
Found at random Japanese markets in Los Angeles, CA.

(Nikon D700, 60mm, f8.0, 1/80, iso 560)

Saturday, April 17, 2010

BJ's Buffalo Chicken Mini Pizza



How do you decide between pizza and buffalo wings without breaking the diet? You combine the two to create today's random meal. We have the Buffalo Chicken Mini pizza. We have everything here combine into one. We start with a wonderful mini deep dish style pizza and load it with grilled chicken breast that is marinated in a hot and spicy buffalo sauce. The pizza is then topped with diced celery, red onions and finally drizzle with more buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. The flavors explode in your mouth.
Found at BJ's Restaurant in Culver City, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f4.0, 1/80, iso 6400)

Friday, April 16, 2010

Open Sesame Grill Chicken Tawook Pita



Our random meal today brings us a Chicken Tawook Pita. You get four bite size pieces of chicken coated in a powerful lemon sauce and wrapped in a pita bread.
Found at Open Sesame Grill in Manhattan Beach, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 250)

Thursday, April 15, 2010

China Grill Sesame Chicken Special



Today we have sesame chicken for our random meal of the day. Sesame chicken is similar to orange chicken but is slightly less sweet. It mixes well with rice. The special is also served with soup and an egg roll.
Found at China Grill in Manhattan Beach, CA.

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f2.8, 1/50, iso 1600)

We also have an order of the Garlic Chicken with Wild Mushroom special.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Quiznos The Traditional Sandwich



We have the Traditional Sandwich for our random meal today. This sandwich consists of roast beef, turkey and ham. The sandwich is then topped with lettuce, tomatoes, and red onions. I held the olives but left the cheddar cheese. One day I am going to ask them to run the sandwich though the toaster twice to get it nice and crunchy.
Found at Quiznos in El Segundo, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f4.0, 1/800, iso 200, +0.30ev)

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Carl's Jr Grill Cheese Bacon Burger



Funny thing about this sandwich is that it really doesn't look anything like the picture in the gigantic ad in the window. We have for today the Jr Grill Cheese Bacon Burger. After watching the commercial on TV again, there was a small disclaimer that the picture is of the $6 burger and not of the Jr variety. If the bacon is so thin that you can see though it, is it then consider a healthy meal? ;)
Found at Carl's Jr in Los Angeles, CA

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f4.0, 1/100, iso 320, +0.67ev)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Subway Egg and Cheese Flatbread



Our random meal consists of flatbread filled with eggs and cheese. This is a light enough breakfast to tide you over until lunch. The flatbread is suprisingly very good. I may have to try my next subway sandwich with the flatbread instead of the regular bread.
Found at Subway in El Segundo, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso 200)

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Hilton Universal City Brunch Buffet Desserts



We move on the desserts portion of our brunch buffet for today’s random meal. The best part of a buffet is when you finished sampling the main courses and get to the desserts. One day, I think I am going to start with dessert. Dessert is the featured picture for today. We start with the bottom right and corner; there is a wonderful piece of cheesecake topped with a hard sugar ladybug. Moving to the left we have a tiramisu warped in dark chocolate and topped with a butterfly sugar candy. To the top right we have a rich and fluffy chocolate cake wrapped with the same wonderful dark chocolate and topped with cream and coco powder.
Found at the Hilton Universal City in Universal City, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/80, iso 800)

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Hilton Universal City Brunch Buffet



A brunch buffet is today’s random meal. There are times when you just feel like sampling a bit of everything. A buffet is perfect for those times. A brunch buffet is a double bonus as you get to sample breakfast along with lunch items. I choose to start off the meal with breakfast. We have here an egg benedict, a light and fluffy mini croissant and finally some crispy bacon. The key to buffets for me is to not fill up the first plate as there are always more items to try. This keeps you moving and enables you to sample more. Tomorrow we will feature the desserts.
Found at the Hilton Universal City in Universal City, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso 640)

We also have a plate full of King Crab legs.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Bristol Farms Cobb Salad



Today we have another salad for our random meal. It is the continuation of the more leaf less beef random meal. The problem of always trying to get a meaty meal is that the shape of your stomach takes a toll. It becomes just a tad bit more round. So to counterattack that this tread, we are adding more leaf to our random meal of the day assignments. Today we have a ready made cobb salad. The meal weighs in at 12 ounces. We have start with a bed of lettuce and then top it with tomatoes and blue cheese. We then add marinated chicken, a chopped whole egg and some finely grinded bacon. Bacon is the great equalizer that enhances the flavor of the salad.
Found at Bristol Farms in Manhattan Beach, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/1600, iso 200)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Foo Foo Tei Torikara Ramen



Today our random meal takes us on a journey for some ramen. It was a cold and rainy day so the choice was either Japanese fried chicken or ramen. I know, sometimes I crave odd opposites. So we decide on ramen and it was off to find a tasty ramen spot. Good thing for the GPS because all of the sudden we turned into this hybrid industrial and partially residential area. Hmm, strange place to open a restaurant but lets just follow the GPS. Then we speed past the restaurant and had to make a rapid U turn. When we arrive, there was a large closed sign on the door but there were quite a bit of cars in the parking lot. I hopped over some large puddles of water and try the door. Yes it opened and I took a peek inside. We score, the restaurant was open and there were plenty of people eating inside. The wind must have blown the side the other way to make it face the closed side instead of the open side. We waited patiently before we were seated at a table. The menu had countless types of ramen that it made you dizzy with awe. Ohh, do I try a classic ramen or something unique to this restaurant? I was eying the curry ramen, and then I saw it, a ramen with fried chicken wings! OMG, 2 cravings solved with one single random meal. What luck!

We have for today the Torikara Ramen. This is “noodle soup w/ fried chicken wings”. You start by choosing your soup base from Shoyu, Shio or Miso. I choose the delicious Miso flavored broth. Then you get some wonderfully cook ramen noodles to base in the broth along with bean sprouts, a half egg, some green onions, bamboo and a slice of fish cake. The ramen is then topped with 3 pieces of this savory tasting chicken wing drumsticks. The key here is to pull your chicken wing drumsticks out of the ramen soup right away and place it in the blue bowl that that give you with your spoons. This will give the wings a nice Miso flavor on one side while keeping the other side nice and crispy. I found this out by watching one of the other regular customers do this. Next time my wings will stay crispy. Yummy!
Found at Foo Foo Tei in Hacienda Heights, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/60, iso 200)

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

The Flame Broiler Chicken Bowl



Today we have flame broiled chicken for our random meal. Yes, a healthy and relatively light meal. It starts with a bed of rice and then topped with the flame broiled chicken. This is chicken is marinated in their special sauce and it gives the chicken a good flavor that mixes well with the green onion and rice.
Found at the Flame Broiler in El Segundo, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f2.8, 1/400, iso 200)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

McDonald's Southern Style Chicken Sandwich



Today we have the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich for our random meal. This at least feels health as it is a simple chicken sandwich not covered in mayo.
Found at McDonald's in Los Angeles, CA.

(Nikon D5000, 35mm, f2.8, 1/100, iso 640)

Monday, April 5, 2010

Noah's Bagel Yogurt Parfait



Today we have a healthy random meal start for the day. We have a blueberry yogurt parfait. It is a tart and tasty breakfast. At 220 calories, you can't really go wrong here. Yummy.
Found at Noah's Bagel in El Segundo, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f4.0, 1/2000, iso 200)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Aux Delices Napoleon Pastry



Once again Sunday rolls around and we have another dessert for our random meal. We have for today a Napoleon pasty. This was an interesting pastry as it was both crispy and soft at the same time. You bite into a layer of puffy crispy pastry and then you hit a rich layer of cream and then you hit another layer of crispy and so on. The Napoleon pasty crumbles in your mouth while the sweet rich cream engulfs the pastry and becomes one Delicious blend. Today's picture was an experiment as i shot the pastry with a zoom lens handheld. It helped melt the background away.
Found at Aux Delices in Pasadena, CA.

(Nikon D700, 200mm, f5.6, 1/125, iso 1100)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Hooters Buffalo Chicken Sandwich



Today our random meal today is from Hooters. Let me start by stating that I am not here for the wings. I am here instead for the awesome Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. This is one of the rare meaty chicken sandwiches left. It also comes with a mound of fries.
Found at Hooters in Costa Mesa, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f4.0, 1/60, iso 6400, -0.33ev)

We have a 20 pieces of the naked Cajun wings.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Salad Creations Florida Sunshine Cobb Salad



Today we complete the 3 salads in 30 days random meal of the day goal. We have the Jr sized Florida Sunshine Cobb salad. The salad starts at with a bed of iceberg lettuce in a nice shinny bowl. You then add some more veggies such as black olives, tomatoes and carrots. A whole hard-boiled egg is then chopped up and added to the salad. A ice cream size scoop of all natural chicken is then added to the salad to provide some extra protein. Gorgonzola cheese and croutons are added for some additional spice. I topped off the salad with a cucumber wasabi dressing. The entire creation was then chopped up and blended together to "get more taste out of every bite."
Found at Salad Creations in El Segundo, CA.

(Olympus E-PL1, 20mm, f4.0, 1/500, iso 200)

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Giamela's Pepper Steak and Egg



Today we have Pepper Steak and Egg for our random meal. Ohh the pepper steak and eggs. The pepper steak by itself is delicious. You combine some fried eggs to the wonderful pepper steak and it just brings it over the top. The regular is huge, the large is will feed you for a whole day. This sandwich is loaded with tomatoes, pickles, and onions.
Found at Giamela's Submarine Sandwiches in Los Angeles, CA.

(Nikon D700, 50mm, f8.0, 1/80, iso 900)