Shojin Japanese Vegetarian Restaurant. The best vegetarian place in the world!

I have had this place bookmarked since I first read about it on Yelp last April. We eat this type of food regularly because my brother Paul is a vegan. We came here for his birthday today and immediately I got this premonition that we are going to be spending a lot of evenings (and money) at this place in the foreseeable future. The vegan delights that we tried here had immense flavor, great presentation, and a nice variety. SInce there were four of us, we were able to sample a good deal of the menu. I liked almost everything that we had, and the service and atmosphere were most enjoyable as well. We came at around 2PM, so there were not very many customers and the servers were really attentive but I could imagine that when it is busy here, it must be difficult to get their attention. We ordered the following dishes: 1) Dynamite roll 2) Dragon Roll 3) Shojin Roll 4) Pirates Crunchy 5) Kale Carnival 6) Stuffed shittake 7) Rock Mountain Roll 8) Shiso tempura 9) Gyoza 10) Hot, Spicy Ramen 11) Miso Soup 12) Orange Chicken 13) Pumpkin Chowder 14) Ice Cream The sushi rolls are obviously top of the line. The gyoza, well, these things are pretty fucking good and although I am accustomed to pork and shrimp, I could easily down a dozen of these in a sitting. The vegan ramen was just awesome but everything was five stars. I thought very highly of this place. Great service to boot. Hail seitan!

Kulak's Woodshed

I found out about this place because of the story in the LA Weekly last year about that retarded porn star who was fighting with this poor guy. This place is a true treasure of the City of Los Angeles. Kulak is a noble gentleman, and his fine establishment deserves our widespread support from Yelpers everywhere. It kind of reminded me of some shows that I used to go to at Luna Park over 15 years ago. True lovers of music will have tears welling in their eyes in this place. No have a cigar vibe going on in here. I place the music, atmosphere, and people here very high on a pedestal. I sincerely felt like I was in a different City because most of the venues in Los Angeles have been ruined by Goldenvoice, KROQ, and other corporate weasels. Not the Woodshed. Keep up the good work, Kulak. I tell all my friends about this place, without reservation. I am glad the LA Weekly did that story that led me here.

Pacific Dining Car

If I were reviewing the breakfast exclusively, I would have given them a perfect rating. The banana and pecan pancakes, Eggs Blackstone, fried potatoes, and the muffins are spectacular. The breakfast cooks know how to cook your eggs a perfect over medium or however you desire them and the coffee is first rate. The steaks are just plain hunks of dead, unseasoned cow flesh and that $55.00 price on the menu makes you think surely they must jest. On a brighter note, the creamed spinach is one of my favorite sides anywhere and the fried potatoes are similar but not identical to the ones that come from my own kitchen. If you are alcoholic, you can get a proper but expensive fix here. If you puke on your shirt in the bathroom, nod off on percocet, if the prostitute you came in here with starts to become belligerent and loud, or you and your friends are coming down slowly from acid, they aren't going to mind. Your money is still green here. Lots of high powered attorneys, judges and other assorted assholes routinely clog their arteries with Hollandaise Sauce in this dining room. If you were a fly on the wall, you would find this place very entertaining.

LA Fish Company

I feel very sorry for this company given that a large portion of their wonderful seafood used to come from Japan. But as the other reviews attest, this is one of the finest places for any great chef who knows their FRESH seafood. How fresh is the fish? Pretty fucking fresh. It is because of the confidence they have in the freshness of their product that it is all there on ice for you to inspect, smell, feel, and buy. Having worked at a Japanese restaurant for a few years, I am readily familiar with selecting fresh seafood. You are going to want to look at the eyes, gills, and the color. You are going to want to pick up the fish, if possible, and smell it. If you know nothing about fish, the excellent staff here will be happy to assist you. This is a wonderful place to bring your well behaved children who are interested in cooking. It is truly exciting to see a 200 LB Tuna on the cutting board and something that I would have given an eye tooth for as a child. Keep in mind, though, that this is primarily a commercial place, so don't bring your kids if they are little shit asses. I usually purchase Pacific fish from the closest place possible. Some of my favorites include the various rockfish species, corvina from Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands, Scorpion Fish, California Halibut, Albacore, Mahi Mahi,. and Yellowtail. I have never been disappointed here. When you come in, they will tell you what species of fish are on the ice and invite you to inspect them. There is also a white board in the first room with all the processed fish and frozen seafood in stock and the prices. There is a price/product list on the internet or available at the window. When you are ready, tell the guy what you want and have him cut it for you if you wish. Then go to the window and pay. Your stuff will be placed in a box with ice for the ride home. Keep in mind that you have to buy the whole fish. They will not sell you a pound or two unless you get filets.

Food Network

This critique is for Diners, Drive Ins, and Diabetes. This show is fucking disgusting. While I advocate enjoying good food and patronizing small businesses, this show is preposterous. Many of the children who watch this show and try to mimic this guy are destined for kidney failure before they can legally buy a beer. The host of this program, and anyone else who eats like that on a consistent basis has a mental disorder and/or has no education whatsoever. The Food Network should not be glorifying this lifestyle, it is irresponsible and wrong. Guy is one of the shittiest things to happen to entertainment since the invention of the snuff film, or perhaps the birth of Robin Williams.

San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant

The last time that I was at Pendelton, my friend and I took a long walk on the beach in front of this plant. You can walk right in front and see the intake, and the guard towers. It looks quite ominous. While some people marvel at the engineering and design of this place, I marvel at the stupidity of the people who have lived through Chernobyl and Fukushima and still supported reopening this place. History has proven the myth of harnessing the atom as a safe and efficient means of energy production as a complete and utter fucking fraud. Southern California Edison, the owner and operator of this evil facility should never be trusted with the future of California's coast. Our coastline and the people and animals that live here are far more important than this place and overwhelmingly outweigh its true value. I am so glad this place closed. As a result, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Pfizer

Pfizer manufactures substances which: 1) are not safe for human consumption 2) make tens of thousands of people choke on their own vomit 3) cause physical dependency 4) cause mental anguish 5) get the full approval of the Federal Government 6) generate hundreds of millions of dollars in profits annually This review is specifically for Xanax. While most people that take them will not develop a full blown addiction, others may quickly become zombies and eventually overdose. Most Xanax addicts are poly drug abusers, but Xanax is by far the most insidious drug in their routine. Want to stop? Good luck. Do you want to spin the roulette wheel? This week, another close friend lost her life and I am confident that the Coroner will determine that Xanax was the cause of her death. She probably got her first prescription back in the early 90's. Within a couple of years, her anxiety persisted, the bizarre behavior increased, there were brushes with the law, attempts to dry out, and was always back to taking huge quantities of these pills. Being one of the 10 most popular prescription drugs in the US, it is not a difficult task to get almost any doctor to write you a prescription. She enlisted a lot of unsuspecting doctors in three different counties to get a lot of pills. It was easy and cheap, and ultimately deadly. And her insurance company paid for it all. I want to reiterate that it never worked for anxiety at all but it was the proximate cause of death of a unique person, one who a lot of people cared about, who we have lost forever. If you have anxiety or lack happiness in life, a pill is ultimately not going to help you. Xanax has no medical value whatsoever, and Pfizer knows this. But hey, it sure is profitable. As long as everyone is getting their beak wet, they are going to continue to manufacture this poison.