Welcome to Type Appetite! A blog about all of my dining experiences and adventures in Los Angeles, Seattle, and wherever else I may end up. Check out why they Call me Type A.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Sunday Sandwiches

Spencer needed a ride home from LAX after his quick weekend trip to the University of Georgia.  I offered to pick him up with procrastination from homework on my mind.  I worked up quite an appetite after circling the arrivals gates a few times and decided to take us into Venice to one of my favorite lunch spots.

I posted about Gjelina Take Away a couple of months ago when I went on my dinner date with GuGu.  The pizzas were fresh, hot, and delicious.  This Sunday morning, actual Gjelina was packed.  Probably around 15 people were standing outside.  This is most likely the case every Sunday, for the late brunch crowd.

The GTA open restaurant layout is awesome.  I love how it is casual and quick, but still classy. The displays of the salads and cookies are always fresh and appealing.  And the wood burning pizza oven brings a modern feel to the small kitchen.

Turkey Reuben
Roast turkey, russian dressing, gruyere cheese,
and house-made sauerkraut on rye bread.  Pressed
to order.
The first bite
Instead of getting a pizza, I decided to go for a sandwich for lunch.  The Turkey Reuben immediately caught my eye.  I've always been a big fan of rueben sandwiches, but thought that this one might be a little bit lighter.  Although the ingredients themselves may have been lighter than the average corn beef combo, this sandwich probably weighed about 3 pounds.  I picked up my order from the wooden counter and wondered if they accidentally wrapped a brick instead of my sandwich.

Spencer in his natural hipster habitat.
All of benches and crates outside the restaurant were taken, so Spencer and I decided to walk around the corner and find some stumps to sit on.  I unwrapped my sandwich and was instantaneously excited for the grilled thick rye bread.  The sandwich steamed and smelled delicious.  The first bite was a perfect combination of sauerkraut, melted cheese, crunchy bread, and roast turkey.  The meat reminded me of sliced turkey leftover from thanksgiving.  Not that deli sliced, think and floppy meat.  Piled high, the thick pieces were moist and just what I was craving.  The sauerkraut had the perfect amount of pickling, and the cheese almost tasted like an aoili.  It was flavorful and dense.  I finished probably 4/5 of the ginormous sandwich before I was stuffed.

Tuna Melt
Olive oil poached tuna, caper aoili,
cucumber pickle, gruyere cheese, and arugula
on toasted rye bread. 
Spencer posted up on his bench, while eating his tuna melt.  I thought it was an interesting choice after just telling me that he was having some stomach issues earlier that morning.  It looked really good! But he said it was just ok.. I blame his disliking of vegetables (as he pulled the cucumber pickle out).  That's what gives it all of the flavor!

Well my lunch was great.  Only complaint is the price.  $15 for a sandwich is quite a bit, but the ingredients are top notch! And coming from Gjelina, I wouldn't expect it to to be the cheapest lunchtime feast.  I'll definitely still be back for more!







Friday, April 19, 2013

Bananas for Beating the Bruins

Friday was a big day for all of my besties on the Women's Varsity Tennis Team.  The women of troy defeated cross town rival, UCLA on their home courts to finish up their PAC12 tournament.  The killed them 6-1 and ended the tournament with a 10-0 record.  That's right, they're beastly.  Of course I went to the match to show my support.  I even brought my sign that I made for them!  I love cheering for Sabrina (my freshman roommate) and GuGu!  They are both amazing players to watch.  They've inspired me to want to play on the club tennis team next year.


My signs! 
As mentioned before, Gugu loves sweets.  She is also a big fan of pancakes.  Her favorite restaurant is Jacks N Joe, the "Breakfast All Day Kind of Place" right on Figueroa by campus.  When the owners and staff know you at the restaurant, you know you're a regular.  GuGu is usually joined by Michael Tang, a member of the boys tennis team, for their love of the most important meal of the day.

To celebrate her victory, I met both of them at Jacks N Joe early friday morning.  If you visit this restaurant Saturday or Sunday you can have a wait up to an hour and forty five minutes.  It's very popular with SC students.  It is also one of the top restaurant that comes up when you searching for breakfast on Yelp in DTLA.

Even though we showed up around 8:45 on a Friday, we still had a 30 min wait.  When we were finally seated at the counter, I noticed that a lot of the tables were actually empty.  The food is always delivered quite quickly, they must just have a really slow turnaround for the seating.  People like to talk a lot over their breakfast, and I think they are a little understaffed in waiters/busboys.

The second the waiter came over to ask for our drink orders, we already knew what we wanted.  Michael ordered the  Combo #1.  He is usually Gluten Free, but thought it would be ok to celebrate with some pancakes, just for GuGu's sake.  GuGu ordered The Pudgie Elvis.  A lot of the pancakes are named after the owner's dogs, but this one is dedicated to the King and his love for peanut butter.  She also asked for some chocolate chips to be sprinkled in the batter.  Who doesn't love the chocolate peanut butter combo?  I've had it before and I must say, it's pretty delicious.  Very rich and heavy, but if you're in the mood for peanut butter, it is definitely the way to go.


Jack's Banana Pancakes
3 pancakes with banana puree topped w/ fresh bananas, walnuts & powdered sugar.
I ordered Jack's Banana Pancakes, without the walnuts.  I've never tried this dish before, but was intrigued by the banana puree inside the cakes.  I must say that I really enjoyed them.  The puree adds some sweetness to the dish, making it not require much syrup.  I usually get the Chloe's Blues dish, with blueberry puree and sweet lemon butter, but I wanted to mix it up.

Besides the Pudgie Elvis, some of the favorite dishes on the menu are the "Fight On!" pancakes (containing bacon in the mix) and the 7 minutes in Heaven French Toast, sweet hawaiian bread covered in Nutella and fresh fruit.  I know a lot of the boys also like to order the Loaded Hash Browns (actually not on the menu).  Which is some potato mix with bacon, sausage, egg, and cheese (I believe?).
Michael, GuGu and I at the counter!
It's really nice having a good breakfast place close to campus.  Because we are mainly surrounded by fast food chain restaurants, Jacks N Joe is a fun and family owned nice establishment.  The service is always very friendly, especially because we are regulars.  I'd really like to try some breakfast/brunch places downtown, in Beverly Hills, and Hollywood, but Jacks N Joe is great for meeting up with school friends!