Aw, spicy cashews, how I have missed you so

Back in the day (ok, maybe 6 years ago), a group of us went to a South Indian place in the LA area, where Akils ordered us a bunch of different foods. One, in particular, was some kind of rice/bread cup that we were supposed to eat along with a spicy broth-like liquid. When asked how much we should use, he said something along the lines of "it more you use, the tastier it gets". In response to this, and because I do stupid things, I filled it nearly to capacity and then tried to consume it. As a result, some of the spicy broth went down the wrong tube, which ended up with me convulsing it into my nostrils, where it burned a steady fire for the next ten minutes as I tried to clear my air passages in the bathroom.

The good news is, I managed to score some spicy cashews to go from the snack counter, after which we browsed the Indian video rental? store next door. That's all I remember about this place.

Fast-forward to yesterday, when I went to Surati Farsan Mart (on Black Mountain Road), had a delicious and cheap meal, and bought ... more spicy cashews! Remembering that Kirk had mentioned a second location in Artesia, I looked up the address and confirmed, via Google streetview, that yes, it was next door to a video place. In some miracle of coincidence, I had gotten spicy cashews again after six long years.

And yes, they are delicious, with a wonderful spiciness that builds over time, until you realize that you just a whole bag of cashews. Luckily, I am pacing myself so that I have some to bring up with me for the CHMMC on Saturday.

Green St. Restaurant

Over Thanksgiving break, I drove up to Pasadena to hang out with friends from 'Tech. While I first had dinner with a high school friend at Matsuri, I forgot to bring my camera to take pics of the food. (yeah, I know, stupid mistake) Anyway, on my last day there, I went out to eat with some friends since it was Drock's birthday the next day. Due to various conflicts and time issues, we ended up going to Green Street Restaurant rather late (8:30). Apparently their kitchen was closing, so we ordered quick and for one of our friends who hadn't shown up yet.

BTW, Green Street Restaurant is known for their large salads, as you will soon see from the pictures.

Martin started out with a cup of corn chowder. He had originally planned to have the dinner Dianne (a smaller version of the Dianne salad, something of a signature dish) and a cup of clam chowder, but he can't read, so there you go. Eventually he settled for the corn chowder, as the soup of the day was tomato bisque, and there wasn't anything else in the same price range to accompany a salad.

(since the dinner Dianne is the same salad as the regular Dianne, just in a smaller portion, I'm only including the picture of the full-size salad.)


The Dianne salad:


The Cornucopia salad:


All salads come with zucchini bread. (two slices w/ the regular, and one w/ the small)

Drock had the parmesan crusted chicken, a dish I was eyeing until I spotted seafood further down on the list of specials. It looked and tasted pretty good (according to Drock), but he can't focus my camera worth squat, so all I have is this blurry picture:


I had the pasta primavera w/ seafood. It sounded appetizing and looked pretty good, but was overall pretty bland. There was a small pool of olive oil and melted butter at the bottom of my plate that I tried to dip food into with each bite, but I ended up just putting black pepper on everything. The shrimp and scallops were overcooked. (scallops especially, so I wasn't too happy about it)


But it was Drock's birthday dinner, and the kitchen was closed, so what are you going to do. One of my other friends thought that they don't do a good job cooking the chicken (for the salads), which may be true. I wouldn't be too surprised if it were. The last time I came I had a salad that I liked, so I guess the food is hit or miss? I would say the place is somewhat pricey given the quality of food, although the restaurant seems pretty high-class. The food just isn't up to par, even if the plating is quite good.

Green Street Restaurant
146 South Shoppers Lane
Pasadena, CA 91101