Jung's Restaurant Reviews

In no particular order, here are just a few of my favorites around town right now:

Margaritaville:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know… It's Margarita Station. It is just still too hard to call it that even after living here two plus years. It will always be the Ville, or just plain Margarita like the locals call it.

Anyway, there are a few good items on this menu but my favorites right now are:

Thursday Special: Mongolian BBQ. This is a great meal. You go out to the courtyard and make up your own bowl (Beef, Chicken, or Pork, or a combination of any) and then hand over your creation of meat, veggies, and sauces to a cook and he fries it up right there for you. It is served with some rice and is one of the best meals you can have all week. I try to never miss a Thursday meal here.

Ville Breakfast: This is a combination plate with a few choices. Two eggs any style, rice (garlic or plain) and some Thai style meats or spicy beef tapa. I always get the garlic rice and tapa. This is a great breakfast/lunch (when I do eat breakfast it is usually around noon so I am not sure if it actually qualifies.)

Mini Chimichangas: These are just awesome! I love these things. Although they are listed as an appetizer you really can make them a meal. Little fried packets of spicy chicken and spices served with a cheese dipping sauce. Heaven on earth.

House Dressing: I just love garlic and this place has a house garlic dressing that is outstanding. Most decent places around town serve a garden salad and they all are basically the same, but I satiate my salad craving here at the Ville because I just love this dressing.

Cottage Kitchen:

If you have a desire for some Cajun cooking, there really is only one place to go. (Although I have heard of another place that is now ‘blackening’ their food but I will go into that place in a bit)

I have tried a lot of items on this menu but for me there really is only one choice now. And that is the blackened chicken. It is so outstanding! Served with some veggies, potato side, and some bread, this meal will literally melt in your mouth. They also serve it with some Jack Daniel's sauce for a little extra, but I would highly recommend it as it is a wonderful topping to the meat. 

Not really expensive but higher than most places, Cottage Kitchen is a true restaurant and not just some fast food place or diner. Expect to have a real dining experience here. A great place to bring a date if one is inclined to the whole wine and dine philosophy in courting. 

Sub Delicious:

This is a VERY welcome addition to the town. In fact as I'm writing this I just had a huge hoagie delivered and am in the process of eating lunch.

Again there are a ton of great things on this menu but here are a few of my favorites:

Buffalo Style Chicken Fingers: These are served mild, medium, or hot. I always get the hot as I really like spicy food. They come about 4 to 5 pieces and are served with some carrots and blue cheese dressing. While you can also order hot wings (they are good but I am a lazy eater) I love the fingers as they are fantastic.

They also have a chicken finger hoagie which is now my favorite sandwich in town. (What I have on my desk half eaten right now.) Served in a VERY large bun with lettuce, onions, and tomatoes and cheese, this is a big meal. Most can't eat a whole so they also offer all their sandwiches in half sizes which is still a pretty large meal in itself.

Pizza Fingers: These are a relatively new item and I think misnamed. They should be called Pizza Lumpia because that is exactly what they are. When I ordered this item I thought I was getting some small French bread mini pizza things but what was delivered looked more like lumpia on steroids. Served with pizza sauce for dipping, these are a very tasty treat and make for a good finger food snack or appetizer. Just need to change the name (and I do want royalties if they do!)

Sub Delicious is located in the old Cyber Sisters building on the corner of Field's Avenue and Raymond Street. Or for you old timers this was the Culture Shack before that. There is now a sports bar being put in up on the second floor where Jade Cool used to be and looks to be a cool hang out for some pool and watching some sports. Sub Delicious is open 24 hours a day as well which is nice for those late night munchies.

Kokomo's:

I still eat here quite often as they have a few items on their menu that are killer dishes and the best in town.

Jalapeño Poppers: These are just fantastic! They are Jalapeños stuffed with cheese and then dipped in batter and finally deep fried. They are 5 or 6 served with a good dipping sauce. I order these things at least once a week as they really are a great appetizer or finger food while drinking. If you don't see this on the main menu just pop into Voodoo or Treasure Island and order off their food menu in there. 

Tequila Lime Chicken: One of my all time favorite dishes in town. This is chicken strips marinated and spicy laid over fettuccini noodles and a nice cream sauce. It is served with some French bread and a side salad as well. All of this for only about 165 pesos or so. Hell of a good deal as this is a full meal and worth every last peso. 

Daily Soups: There is a different soup each day but the killer ones are the Hungarian Goulash, the Chili, and the bean soup. I can't recall which ones are served on which days, but just ask your waitress and she will tell you the soup of the day. It's funny, when I used to work for Kokomo's at King of Diamonds I use to know what day it was (as they all seem to merge into one when you live here) by whatever soup it was. Been away for a while now so I forget, but I believe the goulash is a Thursday? That was always my favorite!

Krung Thai Restaurant:

This place opened across from Gecko's and Wet Seals a while ago and quickly became a favorite of many Expats and tourists in town. Even those Thailand faithful who claim good Thai food can not be found outside of Thailand are soon swayed by this place and admit that this place can serve up some great food. 

A few of my favorites:

Laab Gai: This is some minced chicken in some Thai seasoning that is served as an appetizer. It is a semi sweet, semi tart dish and a fantastic way to cleanse the pallet between other dishes. No matter what else I order when I eat here I always get this or the Laab Nua which is the beef version.

Pad Krapao: I have always liked this dish and ordered it quite often even at home in California when I would frequent the Thai restaurants there. This version of this very famous dish is outstanding! It is basically, for those that don't know, a stir fry with basil leaves and your choice of meat; shrimp, beef, pork, fish, squid, or chicken.

Tod Gratiem Prig Thai: Another of my favorite meals in town. This is fried garlic and peppers over your choice of meats: shrimp, fish, beef, chicken, or pork. This is a great dish and when served with a nice soup and of course the Laab Gai, a great meal.

Some of the old timers might remember the Phil-Thai restaurant a while back. The head chef of that place is now in the Krung Thai and the quality and flavorful food he was famous for has now translated very well to this new place. A great place for lunch or dinner.

Angeles Fried Chicken:

This place is not quite on Field's Avenue and will require a trike ride or something to get there but it is well worth the trip. Located across from Saver's Mall on MacArthur down on Marlim Avenue real close to Marlim Mansions hotel.

As the name implies, this is a great place to get fried chicken. Much better than the KFC located well down the other way down MacArthur. While there are some other items on the menu that are tasty, nothing so spectacular worth the trip out of your way. However, if you are craving some good fried chicken this is the best place in town right now.

Bistro New Europe:

While Sub Delicious is my favorite sub place, they still do not serve a turkey sandwich and I just love a good turkey sandwich! So when I get that craving I go here. Located right next to Rick's Café, they serve a lot of deli style sandwiches and have a wide variety of cheeses as well. Be warned though, the good cheese will cost a bit to add to your sandwich! 

This place also has some fine soups and serve up a good cappuccino as well. I used to eat here about 2 or 3 times a week until Sub Delicious opened and still find myself eating here quite often when I get that turkey craving or for their Texas Firepot soup which is my favorite soup in here. The staff is also quite nice and fun to play with. 

International Shawarma Center:

There simply is no other place in town to go for a shawarma. This place has always served the best no matter what you hear about other places. This place is gold! Probably the best drunk food ever invented, and it's right here on Fields.

Located directly across from Kangaroo Jack's (formally Ayer's Rock) they also serve quite a few other dishes but I have never tried any of them. I only go here (and sometimes walking a great distance) for the shawarma. 

I don't know if it's the pita bread they use or spices they cook their meat in, or the garlic sauce or hot sauce… There is just something close to heaven when they throw all that stuff together and hand it to you all neatly wrapped up ready to eat.

Damn, I am getting hungry for one of these right now writing about it!

Hole in the Wall:

This is relatively a new place and is located across from the now closed Chicago Park Hotel and has an entrance on that side of the building as well as another on A. Santos Street as well.

Also located in this large building are the clubs Secrets and Spanks. Hole in the Wall was opened by the motorcycle club American Steel and is a great little place to eat as well as hang out and have a few cold ones.

Their menu has a surprisingly wide selection and the prices are very affordable. The crème of the crop I believe are their steaks which are very tender and very attractively priced. All imported beef as well of course…

This is the other place that will blacken their food. While it is not listed on the menu if you like your meat cooked like that just tell them and they will serve it up that way. Very tasty!

Another item I like on this menu are the mini tacos. Another great little finger food item to try when you have the munchies while on a bar hop.

Ristorante Verona:

While Salvatore's also serves some good Italian food (and probably one of the best cheese cakes in town as well) I think Verona tops them in over all Italian food. There are a great many items on this menu worth eating and you can't really go wrong in any selection. The portions are very large and quite filling.

I particularly like the bolognaise sauces here. The honey ko ordered a steak here once and I took a bite and found it quite good but when I come here to eat it is for the pasta and find my self in other places for steaks. 

Now if only we could get real sun dried tomatoes some where in town!

Zapata’s Mexican Restaurant:

While this is a FAR cry from the great Mexican places back home in California and even the great Tex-Mex places I used to frequent when living in Texas, it is still a pretty decent place to get some Mexican dishes. 

For I just love Mexican food. I mean love it! From restaurants to fast food to middle of the road dingy dirty shacks that serve up a good taco. I tell you if there ever is a Taco Bell opened up in Angeles all bets are off and I will be eating there 4 to 5 times a week. 

However in the meantime we have Zapatta's here in town and their fajitas actually are not that bad. It is some good food that really fights off the cravings of Mexican fare. When I bring in my own sauce (brought back a ton of Taco Bell sauce from the last time in the states) and use it on these dishes they are quite passable and almost make me think I am in San Jose at one of my favorite mexi joints.

This place also has about 100 types of tequila so all of you who think that Jose Cuervo is actual tequila can come here and get a flavor of what tequila is supposed to taste like!
 

Well, that's just a quick run down of a few places that I hit regularly in town. There are many other places to eat that I also frequent such as Chic' and Ribs, Oasis, Molly Malone's, Rib Eye, Fortune, and the great Mongolian at Holiday Inn, but these are my favorites right now and should keep anyone well fed while in town.