WHERE: Los Angeles (DTLA) / What happened to NoHo??

THE MENU: (2/13 - 2/17)

HOW+WHY: Our Story / LQ@SK

LQ @ SK / PARKING / CATERING / ARCHIVES

Contact us (anytime!): info@starrykitchen.com

One “BALL” to rule them ALLLLLL!!

(aka the CRISPY TOFU BALLS are BAAACK just today ONLY on this last day for the Fan Fave/”Best Of” week for you to enjoy in your “oral food consumption receptacle” also know as… “yo’ MOUTH!” for LUNCH and/or Din-DINS!!!)

And before I continue onto the tomfoolery that are our “precious” balls, quick reminders:

1. today is the last lunchie-munchies day for BOTH the BRAISED VN BEEF & the belovedly+delicious SPAM FRIED RICE!!!
2. tonight is the last night for the nom-liciousness-tastic…ness that is the NOM NOM PORK
3. We will always love you (even when you think you don’t love us! ;D)

…

Alrighty, back to the REAL bidness folks.

No dish in the LOOOOOOOONG (i.e. SHOOOOORT) history of SK has conjured up as much imagery, laughter, confusion, amusement, horror, conversation, secret “school-like” letters of offense, embarrassment (not for me!) and… BANANA SUIT PICTURES (woo HOO!) as the CRISPY TOFU BALL. But rather than talk too much jibba-jabba as I usually do, let’s take a quick trip down memory lane why don’t we…

ahhhhh… that was fun!! (and yeah, that VERY last picture of me licking my FAVORITE Abita Root Beer has nothing to do with balls… I just wanted slide it in there for good measure LOL)

And with that, I bid you adieu (not from life, just from the blog post, m’kay!) with this CRISPY TOFU BALL “Bye-Bye” (AGAIN) video I created back in the day (i.e. “last year” LOL)

Thanks for everything chockos! Love y’all!!!

Much love (and “balls in yo’ mouth”),

TEAM SK

New Wave Weds QUICKIE (‘cause @Dine_LA ‘s been BUUUUUSY and we gots to prep for it this AM). Above a slightly lesser known (here in the US at least) New Wave request… BRONSKI BEAT! (see Joseph, I DO take requests and NO it’s not too gay for us… pfffft! it’s New Wave, a lot of it is gay! ^_^ haha)

Otherwise, here’s your Daily DINE LA reminder (click the link on the left for the menu OR just scroll to one of the previous posts for descriptions and PICTURES!!):

And here’s a slightly prettier pic of the BRAISED VN BEEF (just in case you were like “HUH??” with the last pic like I was! LOL):

And there you have it.. enjoy.

Much love,

TEAM SK

PS- PANDAN CHICKEN ROOOOOOOCKS! (I’m just sayin’, thas all ^_^)

Okay okay… so it’s the last (lunch wk) for the LEMONGRASS TOFU, Dinner (aka Din Dins) is back on tonight (Th-Sat/6-9.30p folks!), coming back w/ tasty companions BRAISED VIETNAMESE BEEF (aka BO KHO) and we’re bringing back the SK Mac+Cheese(+Bacon) with all it’s shitake mushroom, jalapeno, fried shallots and did I mention BACON goodness. Ya got that? I’m sure you do…

With that outta the way, you mighta noticed this large light blue pic above (thx for letting me steal it from your site Shawna.. please!?!?!).. that didn’t happen by accident (maybe). And if you didn’t know it, we’re one of the 60 BEST vendors attending this BADASS event. (and we might be at the bottom of the barrel, but being the worst of the best… is still one of the best.. right??? ^_^).

I’m sure you’re asking yourself, “Now that I’m bored, what kind of other nonsensical funny stuff can I find on YouTube since Team SK has nothing interesting to say.” But then you (pause) for a moment and I’m sure you THEN ask yourself:

“Why Team SK (who is o’ so wise and will never stop with the bloggin’ hilarity) should I go to this wonderous and magical event?”

Well fans (an average of 6.25 of ya out there now… YES!), here are a couple of my favorite reasons why:

• we’re there (can I get a internet geek… w00t w00t!!)
• it’s ALL-INCLUSIVE, so no more pesky fees once you get in (and pay for the tix online!)
• we’re (as in the par-TAY) taking over the EFFIN ROSE BOWL BABEY!!! (yeah, we’re on the field!!!)
• food, drink, ice cream, music and SK… what more could you want? (don’t answer that Chuck Norris… I’m warning you!!! ^_^)
• and here’s my last reason for those of you that are craving, wanting or dying to have these…

Or in other words, “CRISPY F’ING TOFU BALLS my friends!”

We’re making 2,000+ of these crispy green bad boys (betta recognize ya’ll!), and if you ever wanted to gorge on a tofu ball as child or sometime in your very strange life span… now’s the TIME CHOCKOS! LOL

We’re not making these again at the restaurant until around September (maybe even OCTOBER), so if you want ‘em… come and GET ‘EM! (and enjoy the other food while at the fest too, and feel free to show the other vendors your SK love… please?!?!).

If you’re interested, get your tickets online HERE!

Unlike the last event (yeah, yeah… they and WE ALL know what “some” of the comments were from the last one), this is VERY limited too (let’s just say it’s a fraction of the reported 15-20k that went to the last one).

So what are you waiting for? No REALLY?!?! WHAT are you waiting for!!! Come get ‘em, eat some tofu balls, and let’s get SMASHED together (and by “SMASHED” I obviously mean let’s eat a lot of ICE CREAM, LOLLIPOPS…. and BOOZE it up together MWAHAHAHA… hey, it’s ALL-INCLUSIVE SUCKAS!!)

And if you don’t get your tickets soon (btw, NO DOOR SALES neither folks), THIS could happen to you:

That’s right, you could be like me there falling asleep (drunk I might add LOL) on the Metro (aka the train and/or subway) and have your friends take pictures of you while putting funny fake eye glasses on you for continued internet/Facebook hilarity. And we don’t want that to happen to you, right? ^_^

Good! I’m sure that convinced you now.. and thanks. ;)

Much love,

TEAM SK

Happy Post-4th O’ July ya’ll! WOO HOO

So now that we got all those hot dog, hamburger, BEER and fireworks shenanigans outta the way (and let’s be frank.. those “shenanigans” never really “go away” they just go on a short hiatus LOL), it’s back to the grind.. for all of us!

Speaking of coming back, we’ve decided to rotate in another fan favorite today. This one I actually had someone tell me, and I quote, “It speaks to my soul!” WOW That was such a profound statement that we were like WTH, let’s do it (and it was also time too):

HI-HI:

• “NOM NOM” PORK (aka Vietnamese Nem Nuong)

When we first introduced this dish a couple of months ago, this kinda settled it for us on something: you guys LOVE pork! I mean, Chicken may be the meat of preference in the Greater Los Angeles area, but you guys DEVOUR pork.. and this one was no exception especially since it’s covered in a meat sauce too! :)

While not big news, we’re also welcoming back plain and simple:

• SK Chopped Side Salad

It was bound to happen, and it’s back now. So for those of you that want a lil “salad” on the side for your meal… here it is again. It’s a mini-version of the SK CHOPPED SALAD w/ the lime vinaigrette dressing

BYE-BYE:

Let’s start with the obvious once (since you can actually see it on the menu)

• BRAISED VN BEEF

Looks like this new dish was welcome w/ open arms too… well be prepared to let go as we rip this from your loving arms and take it away (I know, that’s cruel, but that imagery works, right? ^_^).  You have one more week before it leaves the lunch menu!

And let’s not forget the fan favorite people want to act like they don’t wanna love, but they love it more than they would like to admit

• SPAM FRIED RICE

So you like it, and that’s… ALRIGHT! We do too.  And after this week… *POOF* it’s gone.. or maybe it’s *POOF* you ate it all before you know it… either way, one more week!

JAPANESE GARLIC NOODLES??

So if you’ve actually read this far, you’re obviously INCREDIBLY bored and don’t want to go back to work (I dun blame ya ^_^), I just wanted to take a quick moment to make a quick statement:

“If you don’t LOVE garlic, do NOT get the JAPANESE GARLIC NOODLES!”

Got a recent comment that it tasted like there was a strong garlic flavor (pssst- there’s only granulated garlic AND garlic infused oil… not even any garlic cloves in it!!!), and guess what.. that’s RIGHT! We LOOOOOOOVE garlic, and that’s not a bad thing at all. ^_^

That’s it, I just wanted to point that out just as a matter of fact. :)

Okay, gotta get ready to head “into the office!” Til then, enjoy this KFC musical commercial (man, I needs to make me one of these soon… no REALLY! ^_^):

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

Buenos dias (or whatever greeting is appropriate for the time of day you actually decide to read this post ^_^),

We hope everyone had a fun and relaxing weekend (we also hope part of that weekend involved us… maybe?!?!). If you didn’t know, ours was CRAZY with us finally opening on Saturday night, catering a Los Angeles Film Festival party AND also contributing/helping with the Eat My Blog charity bake-sale this weekend too.  All that on 2 hours sleep the night before too (I still can’t believe I survived all that ^_^).

Okay, enough rambling because it’s week… ah heck, I don’t even know anymore (that’s a good sign, right?) so here’s what’s coming in, going out and doing whatever they feel like this week:

BYE-BYE:

• SAVORY SAKE TOFU

This one’s pretty frickin’ delish. I dun care if you don’t like tofu, get a sample and see what you’ve been missing out on my meat-eatin’ friends!

HI-HI:

• VN BRAISED BEEF (from “Bo Kho”/Beef Stew)

This one was REALLY hard to name because the literal translation of this dish ain’t so creative as well.. just know this, it’s SUPER flavorful, SUPER classic and SUPER DUPER good with the stew/au jus so EVERY form (well, except maybe the salads) will be served w/ Au Jus goodness

• SPAM FRIED RICE (most definitely NOT veggie-friendly side)

If you don’t know what this is, can’t fathom it or think this tastes like crap (you’re WRONG I tell ya… WROOOOONG)… don’t worry about it.  More for us (and all the other people that like S-P-A-M too!)

Alrighty, that’s it for me right now.  No funny/nonsensical video from me today (you could easily just hit YouTube yourself after you read this post ^_^).

Enjoy, and come get this beef… it’s really… BEEEEEF-TAAAAASTIC! ;)

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

Happy Anniversary week SK (is that weird that I’m saying it to myself, for myself?!?!)

… and oh yeah, Happy Valentines Day too (if you’re into the lovey dovey thing ;D)

And just in case you were wondering (a lot of you were), we unfortunately do not have a special Valentines Day menu and/or we’re not open tonight either… maybe next time considering we got a LOT of requests for this!

Before we get into the “Best Of” and/or “Fan Favorite Week” mumbo-jumbo, couple of quick things:

• last week for the BRAISED VN BEEF and SPAM FRIED RICE!!!
• the CHINESE HOISIN HAMBURGER makes it’s return (for a double beef meat week!) along with the JAPANESE GARLIC NOODLES… HOORAY!

Alrighty, enough of that stuff because I’m OUTTA time and wanna give you the pretty picture breakdown w/ my advance internet technologies (i.e. blogging) for our “BEST OF”/”FAN FAVORITE WEEK.” Here’s the schedule below (that I’ll strike-out periodically with the most advanced of internet technologies… i.e. pressing the strike-out button ^_^)

NOTE: remember quantity is LIMITED! We cannot guarantee that we’ll have a lot (nor do we know if anyone will want any of this stuff too!?!?!)

…and since the LEMONGRASS TOFU is on the menu too, the battle wages on! :D

And there you have it. Hopefully we see ya this week…

And I lied, one more thing actually. Since one of my favorite bands ARCADE FIRE won a Grammy last night… enjoy this lil song in their honor ^_^:

Xoxo,

TEAM SK

DineLA, PANDAN CHICKEN and/or possibly even more important.. SPAM FRIED RIIIIICE!

While the rotation IS important, DineLA Restaurant Week starts (for us) TODAY and that is the exception to the rule (i.e. we’re gonna be keeping the same menu for the next two weeks.. BUT the CRISPY KIMCHI RICE is the next one to go… when it DOES go ^_^)

Btw, we got new drinksies (Honest Ade/Teas & the Collectors Coke Aluminum Bottles) too, but more on that later!

With that said, enough mumbo-jumbo! Here’s a (for the most part) pictoral representation of what kind of tastiness we have to offer for DineLA (that you should partake in ^_^):

(and if you want the FULL & REALLY LONG menu descriptions, you can click HERE and/or the DineLA pics above too ^_^)

Choice of APPETIZERS:

• PANDAN CHICKEN <-DineLA Menu ONLY

• SK MAC+CHEESE (+BACON!) <-DineLA/Din-Dins Menu ONLY

(One w/ the veggies)

(One w/ out but with a much CLOSER color to what the cheese is not, just in case you were judging based upon color ^_^)

• CRISPY KIMCHI RICE CAKES (aka Game Changer #1) <- For our Veggie and/or fans of this dish in general: you CAN have this AS an entree too. :D

Choice of ENTREES:

• SPICY KOREAN BLACK PORK BELLY <-DineLA Menu ONLY

• LEMONGRASS TOFU <-DineLA Menu ONLY

• BRAISED VIETNAMESE/VN BEEF (from “Bo Kho”/Beef Stew)

(until I take/find a “tastily sexier” picture, cause it is VERY good…)

Choice of DESSERTS:

• PANDAN FLAN

• YOUNG BANANA & TAPIOCA IN CARAMEL COCONUT MILK <-DineLA Menu ONLY

OOOops, I still don’t have any pictures of this dish (yet), so I guess you’ll just have to live with my tantalizing description! ^_^

This was our TEST KITCHEN dessert: very traditionally Asian, the name is almost verbatim of what you should expect. Delicious (also carmelized) young banana cooked and served in a rich & creamy mixture of caramel and mouth-watering coconut milk. uh huh huuuuh (I mean, if you like this kinda thing ^_^)

• DURIAN FLAN CHEESECAKE (aka “Stinkylicious”) <-DineLA Menu ONLY

(Look how it smiles at ya LOL)

(phew) That’s a LOT of food. And again, if you want descriptions ‘cause the pics are still not convincing enough (damn!), feel free to click HERE!

Happy Restaurant Deal Huntin’ y’all,

TEAM SK

“Buh-BYE” Bo Kho (aka in English the Braised Vietnamese Beef) AND SPAM.. FRIED..RICE!

(sorry the pic of the Spam rice is not sexy nor sexified.. I still don’t have a replacement camera… ARRRRRRGH)

I’m not sure if I have any more to say than that (okay, I REALLY do but I’m running outta time again). Oh well..

COME TO DIN DINS tonite or tomorrah/Sat (6-9.30p) and get some TAIWANESE FRIED PORK CHOP fixin’s befo’ it’s too late ya’ll (I’m originally from TX so I can type and talk like that, at least that’s what I tell myself).

Toodles folks,

TEAM SK

Damn, that late night karaoke session is gonna kill me today… with that said, HAPPY NEW WAVE WEDNESDAY! And how can you not love TRUE by Spandau Ballet! (I still don’t know what a “Spandau” is, but I’m down just because of this song)

So if you didn’t know already, we gots some SPAM FRIED RICE (ya know, we wouldn’t be Asian if we didn’t like Spam! LOL) along w/ this BRAISED VIETNAMESE BEEF dish going on this week. Oh man, and they good too! (I promise!)

You know what my FAVORITE question is that people ask me, “Well, is it good?” LOL I tell people, “Well, I’m the F’ing owner. If I didn’t F’ing LOVE it, I wouldn’t F’ing SERVE it!” :)

Alrighty, gotta head to work and sing more songs in my head… wish I had more to say, but who cares when you got SPANDAU BALLET in your head!

Enjoy,

TEAM SK ^_^

HAPPY FRIDAY! Oh man- it’s been a crazy week, and we’re so sorry we haven’t been able to update the blog very regularly this week. Are you enjoying the pics? Well, we’re enjoying the food in the pics we take.

You might look at all these pics and wonder, “What is all this stuff, and why are you teasing me with all these culinary delights?” The quick answer to the last half of that question is “because we can CHUCK… because we can!”

The answer to the first part is that the soupy stuff you’re seeing is also a Vietnamese regular, bo kho! It’s basically a Vietnamese beef stew made with a lot of spices that give it that thick red tint, and it’s oh so delish with the beef tenderly stewed with carrots and potatoes in this pic. And it’s most commonly eaten with french bread dipped into the soup. I like to add a tad bit of tobasco (YUP) to the soup to add a nice little kick, and a ton of basil to balance the flavors. THere’s also a chinese cilantro chicken fried dumpling in those pics too!

And of course, the rest of the pics are from our Wed nite service where we served THIT KHO. Me thinks we have this dish down. Especially with that hard boiled and thit kho flavored egg…YUUUUUMMY

SUNDAY SERVICE UPDATE

KALBI CHIM

“What is THAT?” you might also ask (what’s with all the questions anyway? be resourceful… you have the internet… it’s YOURS!) - well, the QUICK answer to that is braised Korean Beef short-ribs. We made these once before, and it’s time to bring it back out and refine the flavors of this dish to make it not only better… but UNSTOPPABLE! ^^

So come out this Sunday, from 12 - 3p. And if you don’t know where we’re at, check out our Yelp review HERE for more info.

Have you ever seen the White Stripes video for the song, ‘Fell in Love with a Girl’? No or you don’t remember… man, this is friggin’ sweet. No relation to anything here. It’s just cool. Have a great weekend!

TEAM STARRY KITCHEN