Stonefire Grill

I've always wanted to try Stonefire Grill, ever since I was living in Irvine. Somehow it just never happened until last night. We were meeting friends for dinner and there were factors to decide... no chinese food, no waiting, no expensive stuff... etc. SF Grill popped into my head because I was recently reminded of it by a flyer (those things do work!). So, we decided to try it since it satisfy all categories... no wait, not too expensive (family restaurant), not chinese food, has salad. Yes, so off we went to the one in Pasadena. 

So, first you order your food at the counter and then you get a number and pick your table. Drinks, plates, cutlery, and BBQ sauce are self served. Here's what we ordered: Ribs+lemon chicken combo, ribs+tri-tip combo, a medium Spinach salad, and a small tomesto pasta. The meat combos come with a salad and bread sticks. The medium salad came in a medium mixing bowl that serves 2-3 but I think it can serve up to 4-5 people if this is just an appetizer salad. The small pasta can serve 2-3 people. We loved everything, ribs, chicken, tri tip were really tasty and well cooked. The salad was fantastic - plenty of chicken and avocado in it (mix well). The pasta was great too - large penne with a tomato pesto sauce - very rich and creamy, so a little goes a long way! We definitely ordered far too much for the four of us. 

This is a great spot for BBQ, salad, pasta, and more! Compared with Wood Ranch, I will definitely go to SF Grill for its price and laid back setting. Wood Ranch is more for atmosphere and service... but for a good old weekend meal, SF Grill is perfect. 

Next time I'm definitely going to try their pizza and maybe even the pulled pork sandwich!! 

Medium Spinach Salad with chicken and avocado

Ribs and Tri Tip

Ribs and Chicken

Small Tomesto Pasta 

Duck House/LuDingJi/鹿鼎記

My lovely friend treated us dinner tonight at Duck House in Monterey Park! We ordered their famous Peking Duck and some other dishes. Peking Duck is my favorite dish. It's roasted duck where they slice crispy skin into pieces and the meat also. Then you get a chinese "tortilla" and you place a piece of skin, a piece of meat, some scallions, shredded cucumber, and top it off with hoisin sauce. Wrap it up like a mini burrito and munch away! I can eat a ton of these but usually 2-3 can fill me up pretty well.
I've never really like Peking Duck in L.A. Most of the restaurants get it wrong and makes the wrong kind of flour wrap or they provide little bread pockets. Big time fail. Duck House is not 100% close to the real thing either but it's close enough...

I guess I really have to trek up to S.F or Vancouver for some authentic chinese food without having to fly over the pacific ocean.

Back to Duck House, it's a good restaurant as they serve clean and well cooked meals. I shall return!

and I forgot to take the last dish... "Ants on Trees" - no ants involved... just vermicelli and meat.

Tory Burch Japan Relief T-shirt

Somehow the media has died down about Japan's devastating earthquake in March, but we must not forget people there are still suffering and need help. I just wanted to point that out quickly before I jump into the topic of this post - the Tory Burch Japan Relief T-shirt.

T.B created a T-shrit to help promote aid to Red Cross for Japan's earthquake. It is a white shirt with a simple design of Japan's flag and hearts. It's still available online for $29. Net proceeds will be donated to Red Cross.

I ordered mine when it first came out end of March and only received it yesterday. I was really excited because it was nicely packaged with Tory Burch logos and stuff... but the tshirt was a major disappointment.

The t-shirt itself says 100% cotton and it feels more like raw cotton that's so coarse and thin it's see through when you put it on. If you've seen the model on her website wearing the t-shirt, what I received is definitely not the same. They should have the decency to at least use the same fabric. Unless they are skimping on material fees to boost the donation to Red Cross, then they should at least inform us. When I popped on the t-shirt (in medium) it clung to my body because it was the stretchy thin material causing it looked see through. I don't even need to fall in the pool...

I don't think a large would have made much difference here...

I've never had such bad quality t-shirts, even the free promotional ones were better!