Last night I had a sleepover with my good friend Eliza after tennis camp. Once she arrived we hung out until my dad got home and we could go to dinner. We ate at a restaurant on Sawtelle called Plan Check. Eliza's parents told us about Plan Check and we decided to try it. It was super crowded, but we managed to score a table outside next to the door. The only downside to this table is that the door next to it was opened constantly when people came outside. Our party decided to look at this positively, and gazed down at our menus. The menus were slipped onto clip boards, and did not have too many choices. Soon our waiter Adrian G. came outside, opening the annoying door, and helped us through our confusion about the menu. We learned that 'ketchup leather' was ketchup that was hardened into a fruit roll up and placed on the bun. Once the ketchup leather was exposed to the heat of the patty it would slowly melt. I knew immediately that I wanted to try that! Then Adrian told us about the two types of bacon and cheese, the pig candy and the specials on the menu. Eliza and I knew what we wanted, so we moved on to the back and looked at the non-alcoholic beverages. There was homemade soda, but since Eliza didn't like soda I didn't want to get it. She soon convinced me, and I said I would get a glass IF she promised to try it. There were many different house made sodas, cream soda, tangerine, lemonade and yuzu. This last one surprised me, I love yuzu sauce on my sushi, but in a soda? I decided to be adventurous so I went for the yuzu soda. My parents ordered a couple of appetizers. My soda came first, it looked just like the sparkling Lemonada that I drank on the Italian Riviera. As promised, Eliza took a sip and loved it. I don't know how to describe the soda, if anyone has ever had yuzu sauce on their sushi they will know the taste. A yuzu is a Japanese lemon that grows on trees, it tastes almost exactly like a lemon except it has a sour and a saucier taste. If you ever want to know what it tastes like, then go to Plan Check or a sushi bar! Soon Eliza ordered her own soda just as the appetizers came.
There were cucumbers, dill pickles, a spicy cucumber, bread and butter pickles, pickled egg, jalapeno escabeche, and chorizo. My parents tried some of each, Eliza had bread and butter pickles, dill, and a pickled egg. I tried everything except for the jalapeno escabeche. The dill pickles were what you might expect from a deli, dill pickles are only dill pickles. The spicy cucumbers were definitely not spicy, or at least not to me. There was a tiny kick, a measly bite, but the full extent of the flavor I picked up was that of sesame oil. I was hoping that the bread and butter pickles would be more like Vlasic bread and butter pickles, I can eat those right out of the jar. These pickles weren't as heavy on sauce, and weren't as soft, but they had a nice crunch and they were a light start to the evening. Finally I tried the chorizo sausage. Whenever I hear the word chorizo I think of my mom, she never likes them. But these were different because the meaty sausage part was chewy and just a little hot. I liked these sausages immediately until I bit into a rather crunchy bit in the middle, and I couldn't figure out if it was fat or garlic. During this sensation of appetizer tastes we ordered our main courses.
My mom and dad have not eaten any red meat for over three months, so this was their big treat as they ordered a blue cheese burger and a chefs special. They turned their noses up at Eliza and I, Eliza ordering a Plan Check Burger with just cheese and ketchup leather. I stuck with a Plan Check burger and their "special" cheese which is a combination of cheddar, garlic, fish sauce and parmesan. Just as we finished enjoying the appetizers my father decided to order some beer nuts. The moment he ordered these nuts out burgers came in pretty black skillets. With our order of sweet potato waffle fries there was some peach ketchup and with our regular fries there was ketchup that tasted like liquid gazpacho.
I tried every burger except for Eliza's. My burger looked great, and I tried a piece of the ketchup leather alone. As Alice said, "Curiouser and Curiouser!" It tasted just like ketchup but looked like a fruit by the foot roll-up! After sampling the outlandish leather I picked up my medium rare burger, which was cooked to perfection. I was about to take a large bite when I picked up the scent of truffles. My mind kept hopping around saying, Truffles? Truffles! The menu never said ANYTHING about truffles! I could have been allergic to truffles and then die because I didn't know that they were in the burger. I quickly brought this to the attention of my parents and Eliza, but my dad insisted that there weren't any truffles in the burger. Though my truffle radar kept beeping I took a bite of the luscious burger. The truffle taste was gone, and the juicy meat and rich cheese filled my mouth.
While I was mixed up in my flavor mix, Eliza had some of her, "Medium rare, but on the rarer side" burger. She said that it was great, and continued to munch happily.
My mom's Chefs Special burger reminded me of a breakfast muffin and it tasted like a gourmet one too. It had an over easy egg and bacon.
My dad's, the Blue Burger was loaded down with bacon and........you got it! Blue Cheese. It had an overwhelming aroma, and a taste that was even more so. When you bit into it you thought, "WOW! Blue cheese! But whats that crunchy stuff, maybe bacon but I don't know." Maybe my dad didn't think that, but I sure did.
After we payed we walked along the streets heading for Brian Shave Ice. There were so many flavors, fillers, toppings and more! Eliza knew exactly what she wanted, mango, strawberry, blue raspberry, filled with vanilla ice cream, and condensed milk on top. I didn't try hers, but she gets it every time she goes there so it must be good!
I tried green apple, strawberry, watermelon, filled with vanilla ice cream, and then condensed milk on top. The watermelon part was light and refreshing, the green apple was sour and sweet, the strawberry was very yummy and sugary. The 'snow cap' (condensed milk) wasn't very good at all, it tasted sour (not in a good way) and way to sweet!
After that we drove home, and Eliza and I went upstairs to watch an instant movie on Netflix. We knew we could watch The Addams Family movie, my favorite movie. And I almost screamed when I saw that Netflix had taken it off the instant list. The sheer nerve of those people, I mean how could they take away MY favorite movie? I mean really!!!!!!!!!!
After watching some Americas Funniest Home Videos episodes we went to sleep.
The Watermelon Radish
