March 9, 2010

• Song of the Day
  

  It was a sunny and warm weekend, therefore, we decided to visit a few furry friends at the Los Angeles Zoo. A few interesting tidbits about this zoo. It first opened its doors in 1965 and is home to 1,100 animals from around the world. It is also one of the few zoos worldwide to contain the Mountain Tapir. In the 1971 film, “Escape from the Planet of the Apes”, the characters Zira and Cornelius are briefly quarantined at the Los Angeles Zoo.

  Long queue at the ticket booth, it was a family outing day…..
  

  The giraffe family…..
  

  This exhibit with the monkeys is very popular with the kids…..
  

  I don’t quite remember what this is, but its feet are huge…..
  

  Flamingo dancing…..
  

  My favourite bird of all…..
  

  Before hitting the zoo, we had brunch at Canelé, which is about a five minute drive away. A little intro for this restaurant: Canelé is a small bistro located in Atwater Village. Chef Corina Weibel and her business partner Jane Choi are the two ladies behind Canelé. Chef Weibel previously cooked at two of the city’s very well regarded restaurants, Campanile and Lucques , while Ms. Choi worked the front of the house at New York City’s Balthazar and Pastis . They joined forces to open Canelé in 2006.

  

  

  Duck hash with fried duck egg…..
  

  Breakfast cassoulet, baked with a rich and juicy combo of cooked beans, chopped up sausages, duck meat and bacon….
  

  It was a satisfying meal and the cost was US$15 per person. It was somewhat pricey, since there were not a whole lot of sides (such as fruit or toast) included with the meal. But I did catch a glimpse of their French Toast, which I would love to try on another visit!

  Jitlada – Thai food would never be the same compared with the other countless Thai restaurants in town dishing out the usual pad Thai and tom yum. Jitlada is perhaps the only Thai restaurant in America with a reputation that precedes it, with numerous positive write ups in ‘Gourmet’, two-stars from the Los Angeles Times, and food critic Jonathan Gold’s rave reviews. Jitlada specializes in Southern Thai cuisine. On the menu, there are a lot more seafood dishes than usual. They also do not tone down the spice level for the American palette. So if you have low tolerance for spicy food, do ask for a mild version.

  This place is located in a modest neighbourhood of Thai Town, along Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood…..
  

  Southern Thai-style oxtail soup, with oxtail, lemon grass, shallots, scallions, and cilantro…..
  

  Pan fried morning glory…..
  

  Deep fried garlic/pepper short ribs; the deep fried garlic and spices are so delicious together with rice….
  

  Dessert – pumpkin custard with sticky rice; the custard has a quiche-like texture, balanced out with sweet rice…..
  

  Our dinner was around US$25 per person, a bit on the expensive side. There are still a lot more interesting dishes to try on their menu. I have counted 130+ dishes overall. Until next time, we should bring on a larger party to share the cost with more dishes!

  • 2:42 am
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