El Sushi Loco -- 1542 W Holt Ave Pomona, CA 91768

My Meal Cost: $25.59 plus tip. Health Rating A. Yelp 4 stars

I saw this going up on a recent trip to the Phillips Mansion and my interest was piqued. Then I read about it on Next Door and knew that this would be my next blog posting.

Located in the old Espiau's Restaurant (later El Siete Mares) space on the south side of west Holt near Dudley, this is a large, well appointed sit-down restaurant. The interior has been created with an open kitchen area, much like any sushi bar but, at least on this lunchtime visit, there were no stools.

Upon arrival, I was seated with a menu and quickly asked about a drink preference. The waiter was very pleasant. I took some time perusing the very large menu which includes appetizers including oyster shooters, Edamame's, won tons, and tosaditas, among many others.

Also on the menu are a variety of rice dishes, a wide range of Mexican seafood dishes, tostadas, and a large number of dishes which include ceviches, tenpanyaki, teriyaki options, noodle dishes, and shrimp quesadilla.

Of course what interested me were the various "sushi" options. These were mostly cut rolls, some baked, some "natural" more like traditional sushi but with cooked ingredients, and "Hornados" which I'm not really sure what the difference is but they are also cut rolls. 

The first thing that I ordered was iced tea. I didn't look at it on the menu, it's just my goto when I'm not drinking wine. What I got was a VERY sweet drink that my receipt called Jazzmin Tea. It tasted like some kind of fruit tea, and had a peachy flavor that I couldn't quite identify. It was very good, but I fear that it probably had a deleterious effect on my blood sugar.

I then decided on the relleno appetizer, and the Gratinado De Los Mochis roll. 

The relleno was a very mild yellow pepper filled with cream cheese and in my case shrimp (also available with chicken, beef, or mixed). All of this is wrapped up in a light (tempura) batter which is a golden brown. When you break into it the cream cheese oozes out but the crust remains crusty and didn't get soft at all. A very different take on a chili relleno.

The Gratinado De Los Mochis roll was ordered from the "Hot Rolls" portion of the menu and looked just as you would expect a cut sushi roll to look, except that it had monterey cheese melted all over the top of it. This made it quite difficult to maneuver with chop sticks but fortunately they provided a fork which would be used to pull the pieces apart so that they could be grabbed with the chopsticks. These were made by taking cream cheese, small slices of avocado, beef, chicken, shrimp, and bacon, rolled in nori (seaweed) and then rolled in sticky rice. 

The whole thing was cooked so that the outside of the rice was a nice crispy brown while just under that was a creamy layer of rice with the nori and fillings. Since there was no wasabi, I found that adding a little of the spicy mayo condiment provided went really well with the combination of flavors in the roll. Each dish also included fine carrot sticks which appear to take the place of ginger in a traditional sushi environment and served well as a palate cleanser.

A down side to the way that I ate this was that I came in as a single. With that, I was limited in the amount that I could eat. I found that the relleno appetizer was just right. The roll was a little bit too much of a good thing. While the flavor was initially quite good, by the time I got to cut 5 of the 10 in the order, it was a little heavy and filling. This would be a great place to go with a group where you can order 4 or 5 different rolls and appetizers and share around the table. I think if I go back as a single that I would probably order only an appetizer or two, or go for one of the Mexican seafood plates.

A note about service: The waiter was very friendly on my arrival and helpful in discussing the menu options. However, once I was served, I didn't see him again until it was time for my check. It was not like the place was over crowded as I was there a little late for a lunch rush. My iced tea was empty and I was never asked if I would like more. I didn't even get the always timed so your mouth is full "is everything all right?" Again, he was not rude, just inattentive.

If, unlike me, you're still not full after your meal, they have a variety of interesting looking desserts including banana tempura, tempura ice cream, ice cream in a fried won ton, and homemade flan and cheesecake.

All in all this was a welcome change to the Pomona dining scene. Something different that should appeal to a wide number of diners. I think I'll go back with The Lovely
Mrs. C, who is not really a sushi person but might appreciate some of the dishes offered here.

While I was skeptical, this "fusion" of sushi and Mexican seafood works and makes sense. I'll certainly be back.

The Slummin' Gourmet -- 224 E 2nd St Pomona, CA 91766

My Meal Cost: $50.92 for 2 including dessert.
Health Rating A. Yelp 5 stars

I think I may be the last person in Pomona to write about this new spot. It seems like I was reading about it on every social media site and getting an unusually large number of word of mouth recommendations. But here goes anyway with my take.

The location is on 2nd Street in Pomona in what has been designated as "Antique Row," meaning on the east side of Garey. This shot-gun shaped space was formerly Kaiser Bill's Military Antiques and is next door to the beauty college. It couldn't look different from when it was Kaiser Bill's. The updated space has a hip modern feel, much like a Starbucks. However this is definitely no coffee shop.

Slummin' Gourmet was a food truck that was based in Walnut and this is their "brick and mortar" entry into the scene, a trend in Pomona that started with Mariscos Jalisco (the Jonathan Gold's 101 best restaurants in LA east LA food truck recommendation), and continued with Dia De Los Puercos (both to be reviewed in the future).

Based on all the good things we'd heard, we decided to stop by for a nice Saturday lunch, but were discouraged when we drove downtown and found that we had neglected to take into account that it was Antique Street Fair day. So we ended up having some fast food that day.

The following Monday, as we had an 11:00 am appointment, we thought, why not stop by Slummin' for breakfast. But when we got there, the metal barrier was down despite their posted hours. We asked about that when we finally got there and learned that this is something that can happen if they get a big catering job--beware!)

Finally, on Tuesday, Oct. 2, we made it there for lunch.

First off, don't be scared by the $50+ cost of our meal. There are less expensive items but we wanted to try their "best" items on this visit. Ordering is done at the counter and you pick up when your name is called. Not surprising as this is the model for food trucks.

The menu is on a board and apparently changes periodically. One of the items on the menu was lobster corn dogs. We had sampled a similar item at the Preview Party for the LA County Fair and The Lovely Mrs. C was anxious to try them here. I had a little harder time deciding as everything on the menu looked great. While I was intrigued by the fig and ricotta toast,  I finally settled on the honey walnut shrimp tacos. For a side we decided to share an order of the garlic parmesan fries, while promising ourselves to try the chipotle maple sweet potato tots on a future visit.

As we came up to the counter, the young lady there offered us a small sample of their freshly made strawberry lemonade. Mrs. C loved it and so ordered. While the lemonade was delicious, made from fresh strawberries, it was a little too sugary and I try to not accerbate my diabetes so I decided on my go-to iced tea.

First, the corn dogs. I half expected some kind of flaked lobster meat with a binder (egg and breadcrumbs like a crab cake?), but this was a single piece of lobster meat (a claw?) which was dipped in traditional corn dog batter and deep fried and topped with a mild aioli and a side of sriracha ketchup. The corn outer had a crispy bite with soft inner. The sweetness of the corn meal coating melded really well with the sweetness of the perfectly cooked lobster. While Mrs. C doesn't "do" spicy, so eschewed the sriracha ketchup, I found it a nice balance and did dip a few of our fries in it.

On the fries, Mrs. C is not a big fan of overly garlic'd foods so was skittish about the fries, and tended to scrape the bits of fried garlic off. I however, found that even with lots of garlic on the fires that the predominant flavor that came through was not the garlic but the seasoned salt (paprika?), and the saltiness of the parmesan cheese. A good balances skinny fry, in my opinion.

My choice had been the honey walnut shrimp tacos. First of all, this is in no way a taco! The "shell" is two leaves of lettuce with the fillings nestled between. However! It was absolutely delicious (although I'd call it a lettuce wrap). Not only was there the sweetness of the honey sauce, the sweetness of the shrimp, and the candied walnuts, but there were surprise "pearls" of melon which made the flavors explode in your mouth. 

After finishing our meal, we decided that this will probably be it for the rest of the day so decided to splurge on dessert and get some of their fresh pastries (Mrs. C. had been watching them cook some in the open display kitchen--I had my back to it so missed out on that).

The Lovely Mrs. C. decided she wanted the peanut butter cookie, and I was immediately drawn to the Bombolinis, asking what they were. The counter clerk said that they were small fried "donuts" filled with cream. What they actually were filled with was a ricotta cheese. These small "donut holes" were almost savory even with a very light dusting of powdered sugar. The dough itself was not overly sweet and the ricotta filling was more cheesy than the kind of sweet cream that I had originally envisioned based on the description. It was, in my case, a very pleasant surprise and I'll be happy to have them again.

The peanut butter cookie was very peanutty with cropped peanuts and what Mrs. C. described as having a lot of peanut butter.

Vita Italian Bar & Grill -- 3101 W Temple Ave Pomona, CA 91768

My Meal Cost: $71.18 plus trip. Health Rating A. Yelp 4 stars

One of the nice things about being retired is that we can just "decide" to go to lunch at a nice place on a Monday afternoon. This week, the Lovely Mrs. C and I were doing errands and decided to go to the new restaurant at the DoubleTree hotel on Temple near the Pomona-Diamond Bar border. For those who wonder, this is in Pomona.

I had originally heard that it was going to be a fine dining place and said so in a Facebook posting. In the comments on that post, a snarky commenter suggested that this place would be "basically an Olive Garden." Well it's not. The people, who I know who had been there, confirmed it and recommended it.

Most of Vita's food is sourced locally with produce from Cal-Poly and other local farms. Cheese is from Pomona cheese maker DiStefano, and they try to get as much from local sources as possible.

Their executive chef, David Wolfskill comes with a background of over 30 years cooking in Spain and 15 years of apprenticeships in numerous top restaurants throughout San Francisco. Chef David’s most recent assignment was as the Chef de Cuisine at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles overseeing the iconic Hotel's 5 restaurants, including, Smeraldi's, their tribute restaurant to modern Italian cuisine.

Vita is Italian for "to be alive" or life. The place is an upscale restaurant with a modern look but with warm wood accents. This restaurant was the only Pomona restaurant (and the farthest east) during the recent DineLA Restaurant Week with a prix fix menu during the week of July 13-27. I had hoped the lovely Mrs C and I might be able to do that but things didn't work out.

Upon arriving (without reservations--manageable on a Monday afternoon) we were seated by the maitre d'. Our waiter arrived shortly after with water and asked us about drinks. Again, we had no reason not to, so we each ordered a glass of the house sauvignon blanc. A very nice, cold white wine with a strong citrus taste (Mrs. C suggested lemon, I suggested grapefruit). It was very good on a hot summer afternoon. When the wine came we were also provided bread, both a crispy flatbread and a pillow of soft ciabatta. A dipping bowl of extra virgin olive oil and vinegar was provided. Since the Lovely Mrs. C is allergic to olives and olive oil, she asked for butter and was cheerfully accommodated.

When it came time to order, I had decided to order two items from the "Taste" section of the lunch menu. The first item that I knew I wanted was the Herb Arancini. Arancini are traditionally made from left-over risotto, which is formed in a ball with something in the center (in this case herbs, sometimes it's a small meat, mushroom, cheese, or other "something") then breaded and deep fried. The result should be a crunchy crisp outer coating with a creamy risotto interior. This was served with a Basil gorgonzola and chili oil dipping sauce and lived up to my expectations in all ways.

The second item that I had settled on was the DiStefano's burrata. Burrata is a small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese with fresh cream in the center. Since I had heard of DiStefano's and that they were known for their burrata, I was really looking forward to trying it. Unfortunately, after I ordered, the waiter came back to inform us that they were out of the burrata, major disappointment. Because I had my heart set on that, I really didn't have a fall-back so asked the waiter what he thought would go well with the Arancini. He suggested the crispy polenta--not something I would necessarily have chosen on my own. This was fingers (about the size of steak fries) of polenta which had been fried so that there was a slight crispiness to the outside but the center was creamy corn-meal goodness. This came on a cast iron platter with Wild mushrooms, melted DiStefano's scarmoza cheese, fresh herbs, and a chianti vinegar. The fried polenta enhanced the experience of the mushrooms and cheese which in my mind was the overall flavor profile. While not something that I would have originally chosen, it is definitely something I would have again.

The Lovely Mrs. C decided on the Wild Mushroom Ravioli. This was prepared with thyme, chianti pickled shallots, black garlic, and porcini cream. In addition, there was a pool of extra virgin olive oil surrounding it. The olive oil was problematic and I asked the waiter if we could get it changed out, but Mrs. C not wanting to make a fuss, insisted that she could eat round it, and did so. However, the waiter was fully amenable to redoing it had she not insisted that it was OK. In addition there were shavings of parmesan cheese over the top. She reports that the mushroom ravioli were excellent and the porcini sauce was a perfect complement.

Since we were in such a beautiful locale and had no further obligations for the day, we decided to look at the dessert menu. Usually we look at it and then decide to do something when we get home. But this dessert menu had some real temptations. My recommendation is that you not look at the menu unless you're prepared to order! We were totally drawn to the Chocolate-Dark Cherry Bread Pudding with salted butterscotch, candied balsamic and young mint. This came with a scoop of espresso coffee ice cream drizzled with the candied balsamic sauce. The cherries were on the bottom and had an almost scorched flavor which combined with the sweet/salty caramel and the cinnamon of the bread pudding. With the cool sweetness of the ice cream and chocolate, this was one scrumptious way to end a meal.

Day Day's BBQ and Wafflehouse -- 994 E Holt Blvd Pomona, CA 91767

My Meal Cost: $18.55 plus trip. Health Rating A. Yelp 4.5 stars

It's been a while, but with the Lovely Mrs. C on her annual family camping trip I ventured off on my own to one of the Pomona restaurants that's been on my list of "must visits" for some time now.

Day Day's BBQ & Wafflehouse is a place that a lot of folks have recommended to me. I've had some of their catering at the Library Trivia Bee and the city Holiday Party so was somewhat familiar with their food but what you get from catering is usually not exactly the same as going to the restaurant.

Day Day's is located in a building on Holt just east of Reservoir at the corner of Loranne. They are nestled between the liquor store on the corner, and a Pupusa place. Parking is in front of the building on the street and is somewhat limited. As you can see from the image above, their sign is quite small and is overpowered by the liquor store next door so you might drive past it without really seeing it. You will want to make the effort to find it though.

The interior is very homey and comfortable with brown upholstered booths which would seat four and a couple of larger booths. They are a dine-in restaurant but also do take out if you'd like.

I arrived for lunch at about 11:30 am and it appeared that I was their first customer of the day but over the course of my lunch the place quickly filled up. I was greeted cordially and told to "sit anywhere." The waitress came over with menus right away and asked for my beverage order (unsweetened ice tea) and was back with it in short order.

Looking over the menu I decided that I really didn't want to choose from their "available all day" breakfast menu, which certainly looked good and included their signature chicken & waffles, but would prefer more of a mid-day meal. Their lunch menu included a number of sandwich options, including an interesting looking Po Boy, lunch chicken, hot wings, 'Nique's links, which all sounded good, but I was still interested in making this my "meal for the day" and looked at the dinner side of the menu.

While the full dinners included ribs, combos, gumbo, and seafood among others, I decided that I really wanted to try some of their fried chicken with a couple of sides, so I ordered Grandma Pang's Southern Fried Chicken. For my sides I ordered their greens (which I loved at the catered events) and, a personal favorite, red beans & rice.

The chicken had very crispy skin and moist, tender meat. My meal came with a breast, thigh, and leg. On the breast was a large piece of  "extra" skin (probably from the back which wasn't on the breast) which was crispy and crunchy and tasted a lot like chicharones. The only problem for me with the chicken was that it was a bit on the salty side. This is probably good when you have it with waffles and add in the sweet maple syrup, but bordered on overpowering on its own.

The greens were as good as I had recalled, and were devoured. Unfortunately, for me, the red beans and rice were a little disappointing. When I was in college I worked in the French Market restaurant at Disneyland, and while they didn't serve red beans & rice, I knew about it from our daytime house band, The Delta Ramblers, which featured dixieland jazz legendary clarinetist Joe Darensbourg as the leader. He ended each set with his theme, which he had written called L-O-U-I-S-I-A-N-I-A. The final line in the song was "Eatin' red beans & rice in Paradise, Lou-easy-an-i-a." 

Since in my youth I don't recall anywhere that served that dish it wasn't until I went to New Orleans for the 2000 Mardi Gras, that I was finally introduced to it. Now it is my go-to side at Popeye's and whenever I'm in a creole/cajun restaurant, and I make it at home as well. The best part of red beans & rice is the flavor of the ham hocks or other pork. This was missing in the version at Day Day's which, without it was somewhat bland. I did add some Louisiana hot sauce to it which made it good, but I was disappointed that my favorite was less than hoped for.

Having said all that, the experience was good, the food was overall excellent, and I'm sure I'll be back to try some of their other specialties soon.