Frozen yogurt with homebaked pie topping

Newberry Hill Frozen Yogurt - Miracle Mile

- Under $5

The most fantastic place to get a unique sweet to satisfy a craving is a hidden gem called Newberry Hill. Its a lil ma and pa shop that makes their own home baked toppings for their selection of Yocream frozen yogurts. I tried a vanilla frozen yogurt with a banana cream pie topping and blueberries. They also had apple, cherry and pineapple pie plus berry cobbler. The six yogurt flavor offerings change daily. This was one of the most incredible tasting frozen yogurt desserts I have had to date. The best part was that my serving weighed in at a grand total of $3.57. This place is worth the drive to Miracle Mile.

Newberry Frozen Yogurt

5001 Pico Blvd Los Angeles CA 

(323) 932 8888

Shiki has the tastiest chunky fish sushi rolls in LA

Shiki Japanese - Studio City

- Under $15

I am the hugest fan of Shiki. Its one of the best places to get the freshest sushi in the valley at a really reasonable price. I recommend ordering the "Chunk Fish Rolls" for $11.95; sushi is served with a side of extra chunky pieces of sashimi marinaded in a regular or spicy mayo mixture. You get a lot more protein in a meal when you order this way. They offer chunky rolls in tuna, albacore, scallop and salmon. I tried the eel roll $10.95 which was the freshest eel I have probably ever tasted. They grilled the eel in a special ponzu sauce right before they rolled it and topped it with fresh slices of avocado. Their starter menu is a little thin but they make up for it with free miso and bean sprout appetizers. Shiki has a good beer and wine selection. You can usually get a table without a reservation even though its crazy busy on the weekends here. I prefer to sit at the sushi bar and watch the authentically Japanese sushi chef team hard at work in creating all sorts of yummy rolls.  

Shiki Japanese Restaurant

12745 1/2 Ventura Blvd, Studio City, CA

(818) 487-3938‎

Urth Cafe does best peacock in town

Urth Cafe

8565 Melrose Ave West Hollywood CA 90069

Try this tasty coffee substitute at Urth Cafe for $3.95

A mint green tea latte. You will not be disappointed

They will even make it with a peacock if you ask for it :)

Vegan Plate soup cures a common cold

Vegan Plate - Studio City

$ under 10

I came down with an awful sore throat and chesty cough and instead of going to Wholefoods to grab some brothy chicken soup i went in search of a natural cure. 

Garlic works wonders when you have a cold or are coming down with one. The soup i ordered from Vegan Plate is my favorite recommendation for a cold. Its a Won Ton vegie soup with loads of broccoli, vegetable dumplings filled with sweet corn and rice noodles. The reason its so good is its made with a heap of fried garlic. It really soothes the sore throat and feels somewhat medicinal without tasting or smelling strange. It was $8.95 but it made me feel a whole lot better and that made it worth the extra effort.  

And for the non sickie... Vegan Plate does Thai as good as any traditional Thai restaurant. my partner ordered the dinner special for $11.95. It blows my price limits on this blog by just a little but is very reasonable for a vegan three course dinner. It was a Thai green curry with soy chicken that comes with miso soup, brown rice, a salad with a miso vinegarette and vegie egg roll. I tasted the curry and it was amazing. It was made with delicious chunks of fresh eggplant and bamboo shoots. Because of the delicacy of the soy meat, you could really taste the fresh coconut milk and lemongrass. The miso served with it was one of the best misos ive ever tasted outside a japanese restaurant. Our waiter, Mitch was so sweet and kind to us. We loved this place. 

Vegan Plate 

11943 Ventura Blvd

Studio City CA 91604

(818) 506 - 9015

Wins Thai 2

Wins Thai 2 - Valley Village

$ - under 10

I was starving and a little too excited to dig into my $6.95 lunch special that i completely forgot to take a photograph of my tasty meal. Here is the remains...

This place is quaint and unassuming. When i dined there it was a Sunday. My date and I noticed we were the only people in the restaurant. The ambience felt a little strange but it was nice and peaceful all the same. 

I ordered the Satay chicken lunch special which is four grilled sticks of chicken marinated in yellow curry served with spicy peanut sauce, rice and a crispy vegetarian egg roll. My partner ordered the beef kra pow which also came with rice and egg roll. Kra Pow turned out to be a knock out chilli mint stirfry. I think the satay sauce was pretty average and a little too smooth for my taste buds. I enjoyed the kra pow because of the spicy sauce. The egg rolls were fantastic. No fortune cookies after the meal. I hear the pad thai rocks here so i will try it next time. If you can go without the bells and whistles this place is a simple, quick thai best to go for $6.95.  

Wins Thai 2

11688 Magnolia Blvd

North Hollywood, CA 91601

(818) 763 4463

Kung Pao China Bistro

Kung Pao China Bistro - 11838 Ventura Blvd Studio City 91604

www.kpbistro.com $ under 10

Kung Pao is one of my favorite places to eat chinese food in the world. Because im part asian, I am very picky when it comes to eating Chinese. Im telling you that this restaurant is legit. 

One of the things i dislike about most Chinese restaurant food is the amount of excess oil they use to flavor dishes. Kung Pao isnt that way. They prepare their dishes flavorful sans oil slick. You can trust this place doesnt use MSG and still achieves a homestyle flavor. My favorite items are affordable and come in enormous portions. One meal is definitely enough to feed two and i like to choose this option with my dining partner when we're trying to be easy on our wallets. 

They have a lunch special for $6.95 that gets you piping hot Kung Pao chicken or beef, stirfried with vegies, rice and soup. I tried the Moo Shoo chicken at dinner for $8.95 which was a chinese version of a crepe. Its a pancakey wrap (similar to what you wrap peking duck with) surrounding a mushroom chicken stirfry with bean shoots and onions in a tangy soy sauce. It looks weird and tastes incredibly novel. The Studio City won ton soup is fantastic here for $8.95.  This restaurant serves vegetarian style "soy meat" upon request.

Kung Pao China Bistro

11838 Ventura Blvd

Studio City 91604

(818) 788 1689

Chutneys Indian Fast Food

Chutneys Indian Fast Food $ under 5

2406 S Barrington Ave, West LA 90064

I was starving for a substantial and healthy lunch. And craving spicy food. I just love Indian and i stumbled upon this place by accident. It doesnt look like a popular joint from the outside but inside its busy. This place does a lot of its business in take out or delivery. I can now see why as its the freshest fast food indian ive ever had! I think its the best kept secret for a cheap meal in West LA. 

I ordered a $2.99 lunch special which is a quarter tandoori cooked chicken and naan, salad and yogurt raita sauce. Because they told me white meat was extra i upgraded my quarter chicken to a breast piece and paid a total of $4.98 for the whole meal. It was huge! The chicken was hot kinda spicy, freshly cooked to order and not oily. The meat was juicy and cooked crispy on the outside. The corn, carrot and coconut salad it came with was sweetly delicious and the iceberg lettuce and fresh onion slices fresh and crunchy. They made my naan fresh to order and i got to watch them grill it on the stove. It was crispy and doughy in the middle. Mint yogurt raita is self service dont forget to grab a container for some to pour over your naan and chicken. 

This place also serves kick ass mango lassis too. I will try one next time they are $4.99 which is not bad for a yogurt based mango smoothie. The perfect thing to grab before you commute the 10 or 405 in peak hour traffic.