Friday Date Night

Posted by Hirono

tot

Kevin and I are incredibly disappointed to learn that our favorite curry place in Downtown LA, Fat Spoon, has recently closed its door. 😦 I wish I had known so I could have enjoyed the amazing curry one last time. I almost cried when I saw the closure notice posted on the wall. I really loved this place and I’m going to miss it so much.

We were going to see a show at Ahmanson Theatre that night and needed to find a place real quick, so we went to a nearby TOT (short for Teishokuya of Tokyo) for dinner. Man, I wish we picked a different place because both the food and the service were less than ideal, and everything were overpriced!

I ordered the Tofu Steak with ginger sauce, with French fries, broccoli, and corn on the side. I was so bummed when tofu and corn came out cold (corn tasted like it just came out of a freezer) and the fries were soggy. I was hoping that the food would come out sizzling on the teppan grill but no. Fried squid were okay but nothing special. Kevin said that his Chicken Nanban Bowl Combo was mediocre and not worth the whopping $14.50.

The service at the restaurant was slow but we made it to the theatre in time to enjoy the show, Anything Goes. I watched this with Maya in New York last year and had a blast, so I was really excited to watch it again here in Los Angeles! I thought the cast was great (Rachel York was amazing as Reno Sweeney), and although I didn’t think it was as good as the Broadway version, this production was still incredibly lively and entertaining! Pon Pon was responding to the music, especially during the amazing tap dance sequence in the song “Anything Goes,” by kicking my stomach! 🙂

I must to admit that it’s getting tougher and tougher to sit in a seat over a long period of time. I didn’t feel uncomfortable when I was here to watch Seminar a few months back, but I guess my body is slowing but surely changing, as I enter the third trimester of pregnancy! I’m so thankful for the seats we have for our annual membership here. They are in the nosebleed section but we have two corner seats so we can stretch our legs a little, without landing an accidental roundhouse kick on the people in front of us.

Happy Friday night, everyone!

Say Yes to the Dress

Posted by Hirono

Lunch (11:00 a.m.): Early lunch at Fat Spoon in Little Tokyo with Tiffany and Shannon, before wedding dress shopping. We started out with an order of Fat Spoon Salad, followed by its famous corn dogs. I had beef curry for the main dish.

Dress Shopping: We visited the Simple Bridal showroom in Downtown. Simple Bridal is an online bridal dress shop that has a several by-appointments-only showrooms around the country. We visited the LA showroom near Staple Center, in a building overlooking the entire Downtown LA. It was breathtaking!

The experience was absolutely amazing. The showroom staff was knowledgeable and extremely helpful, and made me feel so comfortable. I was really dreading this process before arriving here but they made it completely pain-free for me. I actually ended up having a wonderful time playing dress up.

We even got to enjoy a few glasses of complimentary mimosas!

I was bummed that Saori (she wasn’t feeling well) and Maya (she lives out of town) couldn’t join in, but big thanks to Tiffany and Shannon for the much-needed moral support and honest feedback. Saori gave me her comments and feedback virtually via our iPhones after I sent her photos with options!

I’m happy to report that I found the perfect dress. And what people say is true – when you find the one, you just know. I knew immediately when I put on it on that this was the dress that I was going to walk down the aisle in!

I tried on a few more, just in case, but nothing came close to the feeling I had when I put on the winning dress.

Dinner (4:30 p.m.): After dressing shopping, we headed over to Daikokuya for an early dinner. I ordered Tsukemen, a deconstructed version of a regular ramen bowl. We walked over to the nearby Pinkberry for a small pomegranate- and original-flavor frozen yogurt with strawberries, kiwis, and chocolate crisps, for dessert.

Late-Night Snack (8:40 p.m.): Imagawayaki from Mitsuru Cafe in Little Tokyo. I ate way too much today. Juice detox to commence next week.

This was a wonderful productive Sunday! Thank you, girls, for everything!

The Best Wafu Curry: Fat Spoon

Posted by Hirono

My lazy scale was at its highest point today. I just didn’t want to do anything and stubbornly refused to leave the warm and cozy bed. I read a few pages of 1Q84 and fell asleep, and repeated that in bed until about noon. I finally peeled myself off from the comforter and ate the osekihan that my mother packed for me last night with some gyoza and squid kimchi. I was so lazy that I didn’t even bother to take pictures.

Kevin came over at night and we went to Fat Spoon in Little Tokyo for dinner. It’s a new restaurant that opened right next to Daikokuya that serves Japanese style pasta, curry, and salad. Kevin discovered this place when it first opened in August 2011 and have been wanting to take me for a few months. He rarely raves about a restaurant but this one is an exception. He seems to like this place a whole lot and I don’t blame him. This place was amazing – the best Wafu curry I’ve ever had outside of Japan. There, I said it. It’s that delicious. I suggest that you check this place out real soon before it becomes so popular, with people lined up out the door like its ramen neighbor!

I had an unsweetened green tea and Fat Spoon salad to start. The salad was so delicious with soy ginger dressing and crispy radish slices.

Here’s the Katsu Curry that I had. If you’re used to Curry House or elsewhere, you’ll be surprised at the depth of the flavors from the curry here. You can tell that the roux is made with flour and butter the old fashioned way and there are gazillion spices to create the flavors that pop. I’m not a curry addict and only crave it once in a while, but I have a feeling that I’ll be dreaming about this one for some time. In fact, I’m going crazy right now just thinking about it.

Kevin ordered the Pasta Bolognese. It’s a total “Itameshi” (“ita” is shortened for Italian and “meshi” means “food” in Japanese), the Japanese interpretation of Italian dishes. No offense to authentic Italian restaurants, but Japanese-style Italian is my absolute favorite.

And there’s nothing better than end the day with some frozen yorgurt with fresh fruits. There are both Yogurtland and Pinkberry a walking distance from Fat Spoon. We brought it back home and ate it while watching some silly Japanese TV shows.

I’m so happy that there is no work tomorrow! Yipee!

Fat Spoon
329 East First Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012
★★★★★