Brunch at Cooks County: Go Get the Beef Hash with an Egg and the Top Notch Burger, Fluffiest Pancake a Bonus

I finally tried the much-talked about brunch at Cooks County in my hood and now understand what the hype is about. I know they say fancy restaurants use brunch as a way to get rid of leftovers from the week at a premium but whether there's truth in that or not, our party hardly cared. It certainly was a carb overload but it was good, very good. I think we indulged even more because it felt like we deserved it after a long week at work. I know. We always find ways of rationalizing our irrational behavior. But I digress. The beef hash with perfectly diced potatoes and a gorgeous sunny side up was my favorite. It doesn't get more classic brunch comfort food than this. Then again, crack an egg on anything and I'm pretty much sold. The crusty bread was perfectly toasted and charred on the edges.

The burger tied with the beef hash as my favorite dish. To deconstruct the burger, the patty was perfectly cooked medium rare and it was a seriously good patty, at that. The bun was fresh but did not hold up to the patty and the works and crumbled a bit but was still above average. The works included grilled red onions, tomato, butter lettuce, chocolate stout cheddar and aioli. I usually don't like the works to be too fussy but these worked very well together despite sounding quite fussy.

The fries were not the best I've had but good enough. I think by the time the burger came out, we were already carb-overloaded so it was hard to eat much. The burger tasted great later too.

The crab quiche was chock full of sweet crab meat and the side salad of greens, radishes and avocados was just what an egg-y quiche needed. Great execution.

I'm not huge on pancakes -- I'm more of a French toast person -- but these baked babies were so ethereal and fluffy that I couldn't resist having more than a bite. They were a bit thicker than regular pancakes but didn't feel heavy at all. It came with blueberry compote and bourbon-barrel maple syrup although truth be told, I couldn't really taste or smell any bourbon aroma in the syrup. But I do love me some syrup, which I happily spread on the pancake with the not-too-sweet compote.

The cheddar buttermilk biscuit was ok but not the best biscuit I've ever had. It was definitely decent -- hard to go wrong with buttah spread on a biscuit -- but I probably wouldn't order it again. 

The jelly donuts with strawberry rhubarb jam inside were good but again, by the time we got dessert, we could barely even look at more carbs. The donuts had a bit too much sugar so had to dust it off but the sweetness of the jam was just right. They were smallish, which made them easier to consume at that stage of the overload process. 

The mimosas were good and you could get a hibiscus prosecco if you're feeling adventurous. I found it too bitter so had the classic mimosa instead.

I'd like to return for Fried Chicken Mondays.

Little Bear in Little Tokyo: Amazing Huevos Benedictos with Spanish Chorizo + Short Rib Eggs Benedict

Who woulda thunk that a Belgian beer spot could offer such a fabulous brunch? Little Bear in Little Tokyo's up and coming artsy district is that kind of place. By day, it offers standouts like Huevos Benedictos and by night, it's a gastropub with an impressive beer list from all over the world. And there will be hipsters. I had a hard time deciding between this creative take on eggs benedict, the breakfast burger and the waffle burger. Yes, it exists. In the end, the burger fiend in me was defeated by the chorizo lover -- and boy, am I glad it did.

Here's another shot of the dish so you can dissect it any way you desire. It's a beauty, isn't it? The first surprise was that the chorizo was a Spanish chorizo. I was expecting the Mexican-out-of-the-case-loose-spicy-ground-pork kind. I wished the eggs had been more underdone so there'd be more oozing but it hardly mattered when I sliced into the egg, chorizo and English muffin and slathered the trio with the Hollandaise sauce and salsa it came topped with. Ok, the salsa was pretty bland but that didn't matter too much either. Combine the salty, meaty chorizo with a soft poached egg and neutral bread and I'm in brunch heaven. The slice of avocado added a nice touch, although I feel like they should try a Mexican chorizo version just to see how it'd taste. Maybe I should try it at home.

The mimosa we started with seemed like some of the bubbly had gone from the champagne but my brunch companion said it tasted fine. It was ok. But her short rib eggs benedict (must be a chef favorite -- there were a total of four variations. I'm not complaining.) was fantastic. The rib meat was tender and salty and paired perfectly with the soft, poached egg and Hollandaise sauce. What a brilliant idea. Why don't more spots think up of and offer this dish? I also liked that the Hollandaise sauce wasn't so dense and creamy so it tasted lighter although I'm sure butter was still pretty well represented.

The mushroom scramble that had three different kinds of mushrooms including shitake, crimini and oyster mushrooms with bacon, red onion and pepper jack cheese was good but nothing special. I could easily make this at home.

Now for the bad. The accompanying potatoes cut into little cubes were definitely sub-par. They were far too greasy and tasted like they had been fried too many times so they wreaked of oil. It's hard not to crave a good potato side when you're having something like the Huevos Benedictos but alas, I couldn't eat them after a few bites.

I plan on returning for happy hour to try that extensive beer list but more importantly, must return to try the breakfast burger, that comes with a fried egg and potato hash patty. Gotta love that concept. Hope they deliver on the potato next time.

Huge Tree Pastry: Taiwanese Breakfast-style Rice Rolls with the Best Freshly Made Soymilk Ever

I was beyond excited to try Huge Tree Pastry, a Taiwanese breakfast food joint in the venerable San Gabriel Valley, especially after the Taiwanese American friend I went with gave it her seal of authenticity and approval. The item I was most excited to try was the rice rolls, called fan tuan.

I wanted the black sweet rice roll because I love black rice and it looked like the most unusual and interesting. Message boards recommended adding an egg and pickles, so it was a no brainer to add them. They came tightly rolled using clear wrap and sliced into half per our request. It was a bit of a pain to eat because the rolls didn't hold very well but I liked the idea of using a thin layer of black rice to stuff it with shredded fried pork, a well-done fried egg and pickled cabbage. Verdict on the first bite: a bit dry and bland. I wished they had left the yolk uncooked so there would be some oozing going on that would make it less dry (a Taiwanese American friend later assured me his mother made them that way.). Or that the fried pork came in different levels of spiciness as with the pickles, so there is some kick. So I proceeded to add some chili sauce and paired it with the recommended drink of choice, freshly made soy milk.

This is when I had my revelation. The soy milk was fantastic. The only time I recall having soy milk with such strong tofu flavor was when I made cold soy milk noodles in the summer, which requires soaking and grinding soy beans with some water. That soy broth is the closest I've gotten to freshly made soy milk, which is pretty much the same thing. But this "sweet" soy milk (it didn't taste sweet at all) served hot was the bomb. Who knew one could get this excited about soy milk? All I can say is that I stopped by a market next door afterwards and bought myself some freshly made soy milk from a local manufacturer. Some of the milk was sold warm. I was so sold. This VK brand unsweetened soy milk was excellent too although not quite as good (while fresh, probably wasn't as fresh as the one served at restaurant).

Another big breakfast item in Taiwan is apparently you tiao, or very long fried donut. It's not seasoned so has to be consumed dunked in the milk for flavor. I didn't love the donut. I think I'm just not conditioned to have fried donuts as a savory meal.

The rest of the stuff didn't blow my mind but I also think they are an acquired taste. The sesame bread sandwich with beef slices and pickled cabbage was also a tad dry. Even when I dabbed the chili sauce, I wasn't feeling it. I found the quality of the beef slices to be particularly disturbing. The beef was flavorless and rather fatty. Thumbs down.

We also had the scallion pancake with egg, which was good but I found too dry again. Even dipped in the soy sauce that was on the table, it seemed overcooked so the pancake was hard and difficult to chew on.

We also had the pork soup dumplings (xiao long bao), which were decent but ultimately couldn't hold a candle to Din Tai Fung's version (I know there is controversy over whose xlb is best in LA -- let me know what your fave is).

Another excellent milk-related revelation (it's all about the milk in this post) was the sweet peanut milk that I tried. I first had it served cold and found it too sweet and thick, much like a smoothie or shake. So my friend recommended I mix it with the warm sweet soymilk. Oh man. What took me this long to discover this concoction? It was the perfect drink to hold me over between meals as a snack. I'm going to have to try making fresh peanut soy milk at home.

On my way out, I picked up some of the savory buns and pastries sold at the counter. I got the curried beef pastry, shredded radish pastry, a pork belly bun with pickled cabbage and greens, a leek and pork bun and mushroom and pork bun.

Unfortunately, the only one I liked was the pork belly and only the pork belly itself, which was soft and very well cooked. But the bun was too dense even though I steamed it at home. I know things aren't as good when reheated but I think I'm just not into Taiwanese savory pastries.

The curried one was so promising but alas, it didn't quite work for me either.

I'd like to return and have more of that amazing soy milk and try their noodle dishes.

Zacatecas Cafe in Riverside: Chorizo Con Papas Could Use Less Salt, More Egg

I ventured to Zacatecas Cafe in Riverside for a quick breakfast after a meeting and while good, I can't say it was excellent. I got a small serving of chorizo con papas, which was an egg scramble with chorizo and potatoes that came with rice and beans. Wrapping all this goodness into a single sheet of piping hot tortilla did hit the spot. I also liked the two salsas provided that included a red mole called coloradito served warm and a roasted chile salsa.

Now for the bad. My gripes were that there was barely any egg, the dish was too salty and it was slightly overcharred and overcooked.

Louise's Pantry in La Quinta: Corned Beef Hash with Complimentary Mimosas -- I'm Sold!

I was never a big fan of corned beef has for brunch, mostly because there aren't many places that make them from scratch, or not out of a can, that is. It was never my go-to brunch meal. At Louise's Pantry in La Quinta, I was referred to its corned beef hash by foodie extraordinaire FM and I wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of things I liked about this spot. It was one of those local institutions that had been around forever. Like a place a politician may stop at to meet the peeps. Anyway, it started on a great foot when we were offered complimentary mimosas while waiting for our table. By the time we perused the menu and downed our mimosas, our table was ready.

I, of course, got the corned beef hash with three over-easy eggs and it was exactly what I needed after a long drive to the desert. The corned beef was a bit on the salty side and almost overcooked but overall, I liked the crunchiness and the equally well-browned has browns. I'm only going to featured images of the one dish I had because it had several components that deserve their own close-ups.

It was comfort food at its best, washed down with some mimosas that tasted sweeter because everyone loves freebies. The immense portion definitely held me over while driving back into the city again. 

On a side note, we also had delicious pastrami sandwiches on rye at Sherman's Deli that I had been to thanks to another friend, FM, that I've already reviewed in my old blog. We were famished and when we got to Palm Springs around lunch on a Saturday, we encountered Palm Springs traffic and then some more crowds waiting for a table at Sherman's. So we ordered to go and ate at a nearby park, free of congestion and crowds. The pastrami was thinly sliced so it was more tender and easier to bite into than the chunky kind. The rye bread was a bit more fresh than last time although the crust could still have been softer. But the piping hot pastrami hit the spot so badly we were two very happy campers in the middle of a Palm Springs park next to a pickup soccer game.

The Attic in Long Beach: Cheetos Mac-n-Cheese -- 'Nough Said

Behold this beauty. It's a signature dish at the Attic in Long Beach and it's food porn at its best. Mac-n-Cheese with bacon bits topped with crushed spicy Cheetos. Yes, Cheetos. I thought it'd be gimmicky but upon taking a bite of this super creamy concoction, I couldn't stop scooping spoonfuls into my mouth (while daintily wiping the red crumbs off my face).

It isn't exactly what you might want for breakfast, but it's pretty genius. The chopped fresh green onions added a bit of fresh crunch to the dish, not to mention my favorite color combo of orange and green. I got a reality check about how fatty it was when I had the leftovers and the whole thing just congealed in the fridge. Needless to say, this didn't deter me from devouring the leftovers after a quick spin in the microwave.

In retrospect, the pasta could have been a bit more al dente but heck, I was too busy enjoying the richness to notice.

I also liked the restaurant's list of refreshing drinks, like this one that had a gorgeous, bright orange hue and included carrot and ginger. It was a delightful drink to be had for brunch and I relished it.

Funny how the purported main course of a brunch, namely its version of eggs benedict, is getting second class citizen treatment here thanks to the creative use of Cheetos. The Boxty Benedict included two perfectly poached eggs and corned beef atop nicely toasted English muffin slices with a side of potatoes. I would have liked hash brown-y potatoes better but that's me getting greedy.

The kicker was the Guinness Mustard Hollandaise sauce, which sounded better in concept than in reality. I'm no lush but the mustard was so overpowering that I couldn't taste the Guinness at all. I'm not a huge fan of Hollandaise so it was fine. I got my fatty fix from the Cheetos pasta so I was good.

Service was pleasant and most of all, I loved the ambiance. The restaurant is a converted house, so it felt very homey and outdoor seating seemed nice too. The place was very bright and airy, almost like having breakfast at home -- except we got a sizzling plate of Cheetos sprinkled over elbow macaroni. I swear this isn't an indirect ad for Cheetos and no sponsorship deals were made prior to the writing of this post.