eats

Tana Ethiopian Restaurant and Market

Anaheim, CA

I've tried lots of different kinds of foods, but this was something you definitely don't come across very often.

It's located in a tucked away spot in Anaheim, really easy to miss...definitely could be classified a hole-in-the-wall.  From what I understood, it seemed a person would not just casually go in unless they were familiar with authentic Ethiopian food.  I'm not saying that to stop anyone from going! Just describing the very 'at home' feel--when I walked in I thought I was hanging out in someones' kitchen.

So here comes a group of 20 asians sauntering in lol. A sweet lady, who I assumed was the owner, kindly showed us the works of her homemade buffet.

doesn't look too appealing right? But we gave it a go

How it works: you're not suppose to use utensils at all, although she supplied us with some at request.

you take those 'bread' rolls ^^ and place the various dishes on top, so that the bread kind of scoops it up. like this

and although it looks like a bunch of baby food, I'll admit the brown one kind of looks like poop..but ridding of that..it was actually really good! It was kind of a cross between Indian curry and Indonesian curry. If you don't know those types of food either, well, just got to keep an open mind. 

The one thing that was strange was the bread: a spongy texture and slightly sour taste, not something you would eat by itself.  But put together with the curry the flavors complimented themselves.

This was a great experience, but I don't know if I would come back for a meal...rather stick with my noodles haha.  But if you ever have a twitch to try something wayyyy different, and have a tolerance for all different tpes of food check it out sometime!

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Growl Juice Bar

Orange, CA

These juice bar/acai bowl places have become suuuper popular in socal lately...all these California people going for the healthy alternative to ice cream and frozen yogurt.  I'm an avid juice drinker so I love finding these "health nut" places.  I'd say Growl is one of my favorite juice places, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact their juices are served to you in little glass bottles. :)

There definitely that "all natural" vibe in the place: decor-ed with planetariums on the walls, wooden bar and bar stools, fresh fruit and veggies in display.  Customer service is kind of hit-or-miss: sometimes I come and the cashier is friendly, and others they seem a little cold and uncaring of the customer.  Either way, it really doesn't matter because there are always people in their.  Their products are top notch! They even homemake their own almond and cashew milk in the store (If you ever go, there are boxes at the bottom of the glass refrigerator..ding ding ding!)

I've never tried one of their their acai/pitaya bowls before.  From Nektar and those other places I kind of assumed they're all the same in a sense...except the ones from Growl are HUGE...like HUGE. And to no surprise, it wasn't the expected same.  It was just really good--there's no other way to put it.

I got "The Green Room", which had pitaya(or acai), kale, spinach, pineapple, banana and topped with granola, banana (I opted out), strawberries, coconut shredding, and agave nectar.  Championed the entire bowl, which I don't know if I should be proud or extremely embarrassed of the fact that I can finish a bowl about the size of my head.

NOM coconut

it was a jumble of fresh, crunchy, and smoothie sweet goodness :) You can tell how fresh all the ingredients are, although by the end, I felt as full as I would on like a Thanksgiving dinner..but again that's my uncontrollable love for food speaking.

haha well if you're around Orange you should check it out. AND the Circle..cutest place around! I'll probably mention that sometime around :)

Much love

-Maddi