Beso

Just like when I was in New York earlier this year, I tend to like to go for at least one fancy meal when I visit a new place. LA was no exception to the rule. After a bit of googling, I stumbled across a restaurant called Beso. Part owned by actress Eva Longoria, and celebrity chef Todd English, the restaurant is situated on Hollywood Boulevard.

The website describes the restaurant as follows....

"Beso is a desired location for a romantic, eclectic, contemporary dining experience. Our menu is a fusion of classic steakhouse and authentic Latin dishes. The dining room features wrap-around booths and overstuffed chairs in front of an open kitchen with a white oak wood burning oven. You can listen to the baby grand piano at our main bar with the sounds of contemporary and current hits as you enjoy cocktails made from muddled fruit, unique tequilas, sangria, and an extensive wine list."

Everything about that description, pretty much had me sold on this as our restuarant of choice for our fancy meal. A telephone call later, and we had a reservation for 7pm the following night.

A quick look at the menu and it didn't take me long to decide what to order.

For starters I had Eva's Avocado Guacamole, pico de gallo & crispy tortilla chips. As well as this, they served us a complimentary flat bread with a red pepper tapenade. Both went down quite happily with my glass of Californian Red Malbec.

 

For mains, I went for Pistachio-Encrusted Halibut, roasted red pepper puree & white wine sauce. The fish was cooked to perfection and the puree was flavoursome enough without overpowering the delicacy of the fish.

 

My favourite course is always pudding. This restaurant didn't let me down. I chose Mexican Baked Cheesecake, with a salted pistachio crust & raspberry compote. Whenever I've had cheesecake it's usually been sweet, however this cheesecake was bordering on savoury. I don't know if it's an LA thing, as people have crazy no wheat/gluten/vegan/sugar/whatever diets over here or if it was purposefully done by the chef. Strangely enough I liked it though. The sweetness from the raspberry compote and the saltiness from the base of the cake made the experience of eating a cheesecake a new one for me. It took me till the end of the cake to decide whether I liked it or not. But by the time I put down my spoon, I decided I was a fan.

 

The meal worked out at $60 per person and that included 3 courses, a large glass of red wine, bottled water & tax/service charge. Converted into £35, I thought it was a pretty darn good deal at such a fancy restaurant. I was expecting small portions and ridiculous prices, however this place managed to fill my belly to the point where I actually said I was full when I left. The interior of the restaurant created a cosy and intimate meal for 2 and it's definitely a place I'd recommend to anyone visiting LA.

 

 

 

Everybody Comes to Hollywood

After the weekend in Vegas, it was time to do a bit of exploring round LA. The last time I was in LA was over 4 years ago. I was underage and only spent a few days in the city so I didn't really get to see a lot. This time I had a week free, I was definitely no longer underage and my girlfriend has a car so getting around the city we had no problems with.

One of the first things we did was take in a baseball game. LA Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants. When I was in San Francisco a few years back I went to see the Giants play at the AT&T Park. However now I was in LA, at the Dodger Stadium, my allegiance had to tactically change to supporting the Dodgers.

 

To get the evening going, I purchased myself one of these beauties...

 

Demolished one of these badboys...

 

And therefore was a happy chappy.

 

Unfortunately the Dodgers lost with 3 runs whilst the Giants were able to get 4. I knew I should have stuck with my original allegiance.

 

Next on the list of things to do, was the Hollywood Sign hike. I'm glad the dangers were pointed out to us at the beginning of our hike.

 

As the weather was pretty damn hot, and our hike was progressing at quite a steep incline,my shirt had to be removed more for health reasons of nearly passing out, than vanity reasons.

 

We decided to take this, off the path cheeky shortcut.

 

 

The terrain started getting tricky and appeared nearly vertical.

 

However it wasn't enough to stop us as we made it to the top!

 

You can't physically go up to the sign due to security reasons, but it was still cool to get as close as possible.

 

Plus, the views from the top were pretty spectacular.

 

On the way back down you could see the sign in all it's full entire glory.

And of course, get that holiday memento style photo.

 

After burning all those calories we then took a trip to get a hot dog. Not just any old hot dog may I add. We went to Pinks. It has been in business since 1939 and they serve the most amazing hot dogs which are loved by celebrities and the public alike. I ordered the "America the Beautiful Dog - 12" Jalapeno Dog, pastrami, bacon, lettuce, & chopped tomatoes". It was beyond beautiful to say the least. First you see it....

Now you don't.

 

Following on with the food theme (my favourite kind of theme), whilst in LA I had an amazing grilled fish burrito.

 

The fact I was able to eat my lunch on the beach, probably helped towards the amazingness of this particular burrito.

 

I think they put something in the salsa, as I then proceeded to frolick in the sea and jump around instantaneously.

 

Whilst near the Santa Monica Pier I also felt that it was necessary, and the given time for me to get over my irrational fears of ferris wheels. Having a bad experience as a kid, I would rather jump out of a plane or bungee jump than ride on a ferris wheel.

 

However I think the beautiful view helped to calm my nerves.

 

I actually look like I'm enjoy myself! Mr. Worldwide 1, Ferris Wheel 0.

 

Each day of sightseeing usually ended with this sunset. When your normally working and too busy to watch a sunset, seeing this several times whilst I was in LA was a perfect way to end my days.

Welcome to Vegas

"How bout that ride in. I guess that's why they call it sin city. Ha ha ha. You guys might not know this but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one man wolfpack." - Alan, The Hangover.

I could continue to quote Alan's wise words from The Hangover when it comes to Vegas, however unfortunately I didn't wake up with a tiger in my hotel bathroom so my vegas experience was slightly different.

The drive from LA took us just over 4 hours and for most of the way it was traffic free. To pass the time we played the licence plate game and ate cookies. It was a fun road trip.

 

Once we arrived in Vegas we headed to our fancy schmancy hotel of choice. Encore at The Wynn.

 

 

Our suite had one of the most, if not THE, comfiest beds I've ever slept in. It was a struggle to get out of bed in the morning to say the least.

 

On those rare occassions I did manage to drag my arse out of bed, I usually just shuffled a few feet to our couch to have a sit down and admire the famous Strip down below.

 

Not once did I get bored of this view.

 

The downside of staying in a fancy schmany hotel is the cost of in-room amenties. If you took anything out of the fridge for more than 30 seconds, before putting it back, then it got charged to your room. If you wanted to put your own stuff in the fridge, then you had to pay a storage fee. Crazy right? With that being said, we had to leave the room to go grab drinks and food. However the in-room snacks were very tempting and I struggled to resist.

 

I've already informed you, in quite some detail, in another post about what food I consumed, therefore I will spare you the detail again. The first night we were there we decided to check out the club, XS which was located in the hotel. As one of the best nightclubs in Vegas we thought we'd give it a go.

 

Following the club we took a late night stroll down the strip to see some of the other hotels with their bright lights and over the top decor.

 

The following morning I rolled over on to my side and was able to open the curtains, or drapes as the americans like to call them, from the comfort of my bed.

 

And I was able to witness a beautiful sunrise over Vegas.

 

Not long after the sun had risen, did it decide to get ridiculously hot. Over 100F hot.

 

The only answer to cool down was for me to order one of these frozen badboys.

 

And then enjoy a couple of hours lounging by the pool with my frozen margarita, taking in some glorious sunshine.

That night we took in a Cirque du Soleil show at New York New York called, Zumanity. After the show we spent a couple of hours in the casino and I managed to win myself $25 on the roulette. Every little helps.

I also got a bit carried away taking photo's of hotels at sunset, because the sky had amazing colours in it.

In the morning we took full advantage of the comfy bed and lay in till it was time to check out. After packing up we then hit the road back to LA.

Of course, no road trip would be complete without food so we stopped at this amazing gourmet burger restaurant just outside the hustle & bustle of the vegas strip. At Bachi Burger I had the Green and Black Burger which consisted beautifully of American wagyu grass fed beef, sautéed mushrooms, spinach, bacon and roasted garlic. The burger was accompanied with fresh french fries with sea salt and a pineapple ketchup. This meal put my mind and belly in a happy place for the 4 hour ride back to LA.