Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 - recap

Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 recap on Oh-SoYummy

If you think Taste of Hillcrest is spread out, then you haven't been to Taste of Adams Avenue! Luckily, this event includes complimentary trolleys to get you around. We had media passes for this year's event but the usual price is $35/person or $40 the day of. There's four hours to sample and you get one taste per location. More official event info is here. I'd consider this taste to have three main areas, west of the 805, east of the 15, and the big section in between! Let's explore!

CENTRAL ADAMS AVENUE part 1

The majority of the restaurants are located between the two major highways. We started our journey at the closest restaurant to ticket pickup.

The Rabbit Hole at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

The Rabbit Hole wasn't ready on the dot like we were but at least we had first dibs over the growing line! Soon wing samples came out with crispy skin beneath a "spicy" marinade. Lucky for me there was more flavor than heat!

Burnside at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Next door was Burnside with a banh mi version with pork belly and pho broth for dipping on the side. We didn't use the dip but found the sandwich tasty other than a little too much hoisin sauce.

Jyoti Bihanga at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Jyoti Bihanga provided a great vegetarian meatloaf with a tangy sauce plus mango lassi to drink. They called it a 'neatloaf' and it contains grains, soy, eggs, and ricotta cheese. Dennis didn't even realize it was missing meat!

Lestat's Coffee House at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

At Lestat's Coffee, we enjoyed a red velvet cheesecake, surprising if you consider that we're generally not cheesecake or red velvet fans. We also had a blood orange tea that could have brewed a little longer but I was still sad when I lost my cup within 10 minutes... must have set it down accidentally. =/

Dao Fu at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Dennis was very impressed with the Dao Fu noodles, scrumptious curried flavor without being oily. Even the tofu from here had soaked in flavor though the sesame ball was typical.

Viva Pops at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

I just love the brightness Viva Pops brings! The blood orange flavor was fierce and fresh but the strawberry lemonade was a little more icy and watery in comparison.

El Zarape Mexican at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

The El Zapare taco was strangely chilled but otherwise, a nice combination of fish, pico de gallo and a complementing guac sauce! They also had a chicken version.

Liquid Eden Water Store at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 Incredible Cheesecake Co. at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Liquid Eden Water Store provided two flavored waters. The basil strawberry flavor worked well as an light enhancer but the jalapeno garlic was a bit too odd due to the garlic bite.

Across the street was the Incredible Cheesecake Co. which let each person sample 2! We tried lemon, raspberry, baileys creme, and coffee.

WEST ADAMS AVENUE

We caught a trolley and crossed the 805 freeway to the west area of the taste.

Sabuku Sushi at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Our next stop, Sabuku Sushi experimented with a new creation that day, breaded squid karaage on a skewer with wasabi cilantro aioli and unagi sauce. Dennis thought the taste was similar to dried squid inside with a overfried oily exterior.

Senor Mangos at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

We were super excited about Senor Mangos and they did not disappoint with their vast selection of samples: mango pineapple smoothie, strawberry banana smoothie, acai with strawberry and granola, chopped up fruit with sweet cream coconut and almonds, and fruit salad with cottage cheese on top. The hardest part was picking just one! I got mango pineapple and Dennis picked the acai.

Soda and Swine at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Soda & Swine was serving their banh mi meatball, one of the flavors we didn't try at a previous visit. The smoky meat didn't seem very Vietnamese though, only the addition of the pickled veggies and cilantro made it that way. BBQ sauce doesn't seem to go with this meatball flavor for us.

Chris' Ono Grinds Island Grill at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 Chris' Ono Grinds Island Grill at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

A  few blocks from the main street was Chris' Ono Grinds Island Grill. This longest wait of the taste got us crisp tacos - the smoked salmon combo'ed well with the slaw and sauce. We actually came back at the end of the event with our friends and their sample had changed to another meat (second picture).

Hanna's Gourmet at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Hanna's Gourmet sampled a curried meatloaf that was a bit eggy mixed with rice and topped with almonds. I found it interesting but wouldn't have minded a little more spice to it.

Twiggs Bakery at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

The next place was Twiggs Bakery. The pulled pork had a rub of coffee, cumin and smoked paprika but tasted too peppery and charred. The desserts were a super sweet passion fruit cake and a white velvet cake with a strong frosting.

Cafe 21 at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Cafe 21 served a decent strawberry crepe, but the rest were less than favorable: the portobello was way too salty, the gluten free fries were somewhat soggy and the handmade potato chips weren't too special

Chi Extraordinary Kitchen at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Chi Extraordinary Kitchen was still under construction but they still served a yummy sole filet with tamarind and ginger sauce, red rice, steamed veggies, and a three mushroom thai salad. When they officially open (if not already), it's going to be a pescatarian thai restaurant! Probably one of a kind!

Circa at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

We decided to walk to the last place, Circa... it ended up being almost a half mile distance! I should have labeled it FAR WEST haha! The mousse dessert here was light and airy but we were feeling super thirsty after our long walk! I recommend the shuttle for next time!

At least we caught the shuttle back to the opposite side of the map. Brilliant idea!

EAST ADAMS AVENUE

Kensington Cafe at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

We hit Kensington Cafe first on this side. The vegan chili with crema and green onions was fantastic with a thinner consistency that wasn't too heavy. The baked french toast with mixed berry compote was probably good but I was not in the mood for dessert anymore... we were getting so full!

Clem's Tap House at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Clem's Tap House gave a few options to try. Good for beer lovers.

Moosie's Ice Cream at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

I was ecstatic to see a place called Moosie's Ice Cream on the map... I'm not much on desserts but I LOVE ice cream! I was in heaven with their chocolate dipped strawberries, especially on a hot day!

Village Vino at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Village Vino sampled tomatoes on crostini plus a kale salad.

Vida's Juice House at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 Vida's Juice House at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Vida's Juice House was a refreshing stop with drink choices of Jamaica, Horchata, and Pineapple Water. Dennis's jamaica disappeared instantly! The pineapple water was too light for me and not sweetened. They also had a yummy pineapple salsa with chips.

The Haven Pizzeria at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

I grabbed both pizza flavors from The Haven Pizzeria. Even though I was pretty full, I was content with the veggie pizza and enjoyed the roasted brussel sprouts with bacon on the other!

Ponce's Mexican Restaurant at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Everyone said Ponces Mexican Restaurant was the best but we found the shrimp taco with honey-chipotle sauce to be disappointing... it had been sitting out on the table for a bit.

CENTRAL ADAMS AVENUE part 2

We were already heading toward the center area so continued walking to the next location.

Cafe Cabaret at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Cafe Cabaret had this unique drink with ginger and lemon that was potent but sweetened with honey. The mediterranean pizza was standard fare.

Backyard Cafe at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

For the coffee drinkers, Backyard Cafe sampled their iced coffee.

Subway at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 Tam's Thailand at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

We noticed Subway was on the map and we got a chocolate chip cookie from them. Nearby was Tam's Thailand with fishcakes that were a bit overcooked and not as fresh, possibly since it was less than an hour til the event ended?

Dimille's Italian at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015 Dimille's Italian at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Dimille's Italian was the buffet of the event. The pastas were ok but I liked the sweet marinara lasagna best. The pizza was quite thick though, and maybe better described as a breadstick!

Blind Lady Ale House at Taste of Adams Avenue 2015

Our last and final stop on the map was Blind Lady Ale House. We made sure to wait for the fresh pizza batch and were rewarded with delicious thin crusted pizzas with excellent toppings!

CONCLUSION

There's a lot of distance to cover (it stretches 2 miles total) but there were some great samples for this taste. It's also possible to hit all 31 (we heard another group nearby claim victory as well) but it did take 3.5 hours for us! I'm always happy to discover new restaurants so definitely recommend exploring the neighborhood through events like this!

Disclaimer: We were provided tickets for this event but the opinions are our own.

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Comments

Soo's picture
Submitted by Soo (not verified) on Sun, 07/19/2015 - 6:46am

Impressive! That was alot of eating and walking! I think the wings and the ice cream would have been my fav eats. :-) Good job trying everything!

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Fri, 07/24/2015 - 10:10am

i agree... wings and ice cream can't be beat! :)

Mary's picture
Submitted by Mary (not verified) on Mon, 07/27/2015 - 8:34am

Those tiny viva pops are SO CUTE. I'm always impressed with how much you can eat (though I know your tricks hahaha) :D

lynn's picture
Submitted by lynn on Mon, 07/27/2015 - 12:24pm

Perfect snack size pops! Tricks and tips are how we get around in this crazy world! :)

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