Akasaka - Hacienda Heights, CA

It's possible that this is some of the best sushi that I've ever had.  I had the 8-count spider roll and green tea.  The sushi roll was a cross between a burrito and a sushi roll; hearty like a burrito and had bigger chunks of food but very fresh and fine like a typical sushi roll. One roll was plenty of food.

The atmosphere was very international.  There was lots of Japanese and Chinese being spoken.  The restaurant is relatively small and it was pretty full when I was there for lunch.

Service was very good.  There was one single waiter for the whole restaurant.

Overall, I would rate this place a 9.1 mostly on the food.  

Akasaka

1492 Clark avenue
Hacienda heights, CA
616 336-0871

Coco's Italian Market- Nashville, TN

I loved Coco's.  I'm not sure that I've ever been in an Italian market outside of Italy.  There are so many great foods that come from Italy, I'm not sure why.  It was really a market, bakery and restaurant.

When you first walk in, you are in the market.  The market had all kinds of canned and jarred foods, cakes, cookies, you name it.  They also had huge jugs of Nutella with a sign next to it warning people because people have evidently dropped them before probably making a huge mess.

There are a few cold cases.  One had really delicious looking gelato, another one had meats and cheeses.  Yet another had cakes and another chocolates.  They did entice me to try a slice of one of the cakes.  More on that later.  They also had a bar with all kinds of olives, probably for take-out.

The menu was pretty extensive.  They had all of the pasta dishes that you would expect.  I'm told that their pizza is also really good.

I started with an Italian salad; spring mix, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes red onions, roasted red peppers, topped with a vinaigrette.  They claim that they believe in garden to table.

I ordered the vegetable lasagna.  It was served in a baked dish that was incredibly hot when it was served. There was no meat in the dish but, it was filling like there was.  From their menu, the ingredients were "pasta, mushrooms, carrots, sun dried tomatoes and spinach baked with mozzarella, ricotta and egg mixture, Romano and parmesan."  It was really delicious.

So, I went with the veggie lasagna so that I could really indulge with the godiva chocolate cake.  Wow, that was a decadent indulgence.  You can probably get that at the cheesecake factory, but this place just put me in the mood.

Overall, I would rate coco's 9.3 on a 10 point scale.  Service was also really good.  Our server was really friendly and fast.

There was also a bonus.  They had a bocci ball court outside and signs that look like they must sponsor a bocci ball league.  So, this looks like a fun place.

Coco's Italian Market
411 51st Ave N
Nashville, TN 37209
Phone (615) 783-0114
italianmarket.biz

Diamond Bear Brewery - North Little Rock, AR

I didn't set out to review Diamond Bear Brewing, but I enjoyed it so much that I felt the need to share.  It's not just a brewery bar.  The bar has some really good food to go with their really good beer.  As it turned out, I had a whole afternoon to get to know this place.

The first beer that I tried was the Presidential IPA. Nicely balanced malt taste. Sharply bitter. Not noticeably aromatic. Paired well with the tomato basil soup.  You can read my untappd beer review here.

The restaurant atmosphere was really friendly.  I ended up chatting a long time with the waiter and the cook who were really nice guys.  The restaurant was not a dive but, it was in a dive neighborhood.

The service was really good.  The bartender/waiter was really eager to get samples to me and was very attentive. He hustled like he really cared.

I tried just a sample glass of their southern blonde. I found it to be very citrusy and pleasing but, not quite what I was looking for.  The name implies that this was a blond ale but, it was actually a pilsner.

My next beer was the Dogtown Brown Ale.  I'm sure that there is a story behind the name but, I have no idea what it is.  The thick round maltiness seems to be their style.You can read my beer review here.

I ordered the Fresno Club sandwich. It was surprisingly good.  It had good quality bread, was perfectly toasted and they obviously used other high quality ingredients.  I really didn't expect that in this semi-rough neighborhood.  It was a pleasant surprise.  The potato salad was likewise a pleasant surprise.  It was the vinegary German style; really good.

The brewery was in full operation while I was there.  The brewery workers were having lunch at the bar while I was there then went back inside after a while.  There are big picture windows from the restaurant that look into brewery.  Some of the fermenting vessels had nameplates on them. I read Laverne, Shirley and Larry.  I know that Laverne and Shirley were fictional brewery workers.  I'm not sure what the story with Larry was.

 Strawberry Blonde Nice grapefruit like citrusy bite. Malty ale taste and thick mouthfeel. I don't really taste strawberry but I liked it.

Diamond Bear Brewing Company
600 N Broadway St
North Little Rock, AR 72114
http://www.diamondbear.com/over21.html

Sasquatch Brewing Company - Portland, OR

It was my luck that I happen to pick a great summer day to visit the Sasquatch Brewing Company.  I was able to sit outside and enjoy the evening while sipping some really great Pacific Northwest craft beer.

Sasquatch Brewing was not a triple-D restaurant but, it reminded me of one.  Like so many triple-D joints, Sasquatch was a neighborhood restaurant.  There were lots of kids there during the dinner hour.  People were walking up in flip-flops and riding up on bicycles.  There were probably six bikes locked up as they leaned against the rail.  I was glad to be outside with the traffic because it was relatively quiet compared to the noisy kids inside.

I started with a pretzel with syrup and mustard.  The pretzel was very nice fresh baked bread.  The yeasty bread pairs very nicely with the beer.  The mustard had a really nice texture and smell thanks to the maple syrup.  I had never heard of such a combination but, it really worked.  I'm surprised that I found this in Oregon and not Maine but, whatever...

I tried their Hairy Knuckle Stout.  You can check out my Untappd.com review of that beer here.  I also tried their DB Cooper copper ale.  I'm not sure why I didn't review it on untappd but, I didn't.  Both beers were really very good.

I ordered the quinoa hash for my main course.  I'm not sure what I was expecting.  I've had quinoa before and it was very unimpressive even if it is really healthy.  This was actually really excellent.  It had a thin tomato sauce and some other bits of vegetables mixed in.  I figured that it was one of those foo-foo meals where you want to go out for a burger an hour later.   Surprisingly, I was not hungry at all after the quinoa, pretzel and a couple of beers.

Sasquatch was not a triple-D restaurant so, in the rating we take points off for not fitting the diner, drive-inn or dive criteria even though I do not mean to reflect anything negative about the place at all.   Overall, it was a very enjoyable evening and I highly recommend this restaurant.  My rating nonetheless was 8.9; still very respectable even for a restaurant fitting the criteria.



6440 SW Capitol Hwy
Portland, OR 97239
Phone:(503) 402-1999
http://sasquatchbrewery.com

Stone Brewing Bistro & Gardens Liberty Station - San Diego, CA

The Stone Brewery at Liberty Station next to the San Diego airport is just a great upscale bier garden.  The Stone Brewery is famous in the craft beer community as a really great brewery that is well on its way to going big-time nationally and internationally mostly because of a couple of its high-dollar ales that you find in most grocery stores on the top shelf of the beer cooler.  Their "Arrogant Bastard" is a favorite of mine as is their IPA.  I'd say that it is one of the best breweries in the US.

The beer garden is pretty big.  It is probably an acre and a half outdoors and probably 4,000 s.f. indoors.  It is really beautiful inside and out.  The outdoors area is what I consider to be desert landscaping with crushed stone walkways, lots of desert grasses, waterfalls and koi ponds.  One waterfall is build into a bar.  The tables are all covered by umbrellas to protect people from the SoCal sun. 

The indoors area had a huge beer selection on tap.  Some of the beer is produced on-site and some is brewed at their Point Loma and Escondido locations.  When you first walk in there is a seating area with big glass windows that look in on the brew house.  They were not brewing while I was there.  Unfortunately, they only do brewery tours at their Escondido location.

As far has the beer goes, I had tried two.  You can read my Untappd.com beer reviews on the Sacred Druid here and my review of the Ron Pattinson/ChuckAlek/Stone Liberty Station Colonel Sykes East India Porter here.

The food was every bit as good as beer even if it is not necessarily the focus of this establishment.  I had the chicken schnitzel with spaetzle.  It was as good or better than you would get at any good German restaurant.

The service was really excellent.  The greeter dude actually gave me the big tour of their location before before I had to make the decision of where to sit.  My waiter was equally attentive and knowledgeable about the beer and food.

As awesome as the Stone Brewery is, it is not a triple-D location.  It is also not a diner, drive-in or dive in any way, shape or form.  So, huge points for location, food and drinks.  Points off just for not fitting the triple-D criteria, which is not necessarily a bad thing.  I would rate the Stone Brewery a 9.0.

2816 Historic Decatur Rd #116‎
San Diego, CA 92106
(619) 269-2100 ext. 2000
http://www.stonelibertystation.com

Sharks Cove Grill - Haleiwa, HI

Sharks Cove Grill was not technicaly a triple-D restaurant but, it should have been in my book. I was actually trying to photograph the sunset at Oahu's Sunset Beach on the west side of the island. This place happened to be across the street.

Whoa!  What a find!  It was nothing more than an old panel van, maybe an old ice cream truck converted into a kitchen. There were also some outdoor furniture set up under a tent where you can eat.  That's it!

What made this special was first off the incredible view of one of the most beautiful coasts in the world. Second, whoever was cooking in the van knew what they were doing and was taking it seriously.

I got the mahi-mahi sandwich and some fries. The bread was really good quality and whatever he did with the fish really brought out the flavor. It was absolutely fresh.

I would rate Shark Cove a 9.6. This is an awesome place.

Sharks Cove Grill
59-712 Kamehameha Hwy
Haleiwa, HI 96712
(808) 638-8300
http://www.sharkscovegrill.com