Diddy Riese (Los Angeles)

Diddy Riese in two words: Cheap and (orgasmically) delicious.

Located just blocks away from the UCLA campus, this cookie & ice cream shop always has a long line-up of students waiting to grab a treat. You'll see most people getting their dirt-cheap ice cream sandwiches ($1.75) which features two of their fresh-baked cookies with a sizable scoop Dreyer's ice cream sandwiched in between.

There was a relatively short line-up when we showed up around 2pm on a weekday; we must've missed their lunch rush. I've seen that line go half a block down the street post-dinnertime, so try to avoid it around that time if you can.

Front of the store: waiting in line to place our orders

We were served after only about 5 minutes. I went with a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie + chocolate with white chocolate chip cookie + cookies & cream ice cream. IT WAS SO HARD TO DECIDE. But it was a solid choice. (Side note: Diddy Riese has a sandwich builder on their website... which is pretty cute and awesome at the same time)

There isn't a whole lot of seating, just a couple of chairs out front. We ended up snagging a seat there to people-watch while inhaling our ice cream sandwiches.

YUM. The cookies were baked to perfection; a little crunchy on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside, just the way I like them. I was glad I picked one chocolate cookie and one "plain" cookie to balance the flavors and to get a chance to try one of each.

Custom Ice Cream Sandwich ($1.75). My picks: chocolate with white chocolate chip cookie + cookies & cream Dreyer's + white chocolate macadamia nut cookie

The texture of the cookies were perfect for ice cream sandwiches in the sense that they were firm enough to hold up the sandwich during the 15 minutes (er..2 minutes?) while you devoured it, but not too firm such that ice cream squishes out the sides when you bite. They were just right.

The Dreyer's cookies & cream flavor went really well with my cookies too... such a great combination! I was actually very (and in hindsight, disproportionately) pleased with myself for making those picks -- haha.

The guys who worked there were friendly and very efficient. My server told me that he knew that all the ice cream sandwiches were good, but he really thought he made the best. I laughed and could not contest. There was a ridiculously large scoop of ice cream in my hand: Yup, looks like the best to me!

By the time we were finished eating, we were already thinking about buying some extras to-go. Unfortunately ice cream does not travel well. But we were happy to just pick up some cookies, so we lined up again.

Lining up again to buy some cookies. Friendly and fast workers!

Cookies!

Dirt cheap: $0.35/cookie, $1/three, $4/dozen. No brainer. We picked up a dozen. Lots of other great choices, which I was delighted to try later in the day. The best in my books was still the white chocolate macadamia nut. Honorable mention to the chocolate-based cookies and the somewhat underrated sugar cinnamon.

Diddy Dozen for $4(!)

Then I saw it. Brownies for $0.75 a piece. I looked at our bag of cookies. Then at the menu board. Then considered my waistline. And then I made the most reasonable judgement call. Could not pass that sh*t up. One brownie, please.

Brownie ($0.45)

Awesome! Best call ever. I ate a bit of this immediately, on the way back to the car (see: bite mark). Moist, fudgy, delicious. The brownie was definitely very sweet and very rich but really just what you want in a brownie. The nuts were a nice addition too.

And with that, I concluded my sugar-coma-inducing adventure to the infamous Diddy Riese. After visiting this place, I can see why it is so popular and why it has become a landmark eatery of LA. If you are in the area, you must stop by for an ice cream sandwich. Must.

---

TL;DR
Food 5/5 - Perfect ice cream sandwiches! My pick: white chocolate macadamia nut cookie incorporated into any sandwich form. Chocolate with white chocolate chip is a close second.
Value/Price 5/5 ($1.75 per ice cream sandwich)
Ambiance 3/5 - Casual.. it's an ice cream joint! 
Service/Wait 3.5/5 - Only downside is the possibly very-long wait during peak hours. Staff are efficient and friendly
--------------------
Overall 5/5

---

Diddy Riese Cookies
926 Broxton Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 208-0448

Montreal Bagels (Calgary)

Montreal-style bagels are a wonderful type of hand rolled, wood-fired bagel that don't seem to have gotten to be popular quite yet in Calgary. The flavor of the bagel is usually sweeter than your typical grocery-store bagel, as they have been boiled in honey-sweetened water. They are also comparatively chewier and denser than your typical bagels, which give the bagels a bit of a bite and an interesting texture of crunchiness and chewiness after you toast them.

Sesame Bagel ($0.90)

Cut over to Montreal Bagels, a fairly hidden gem of Calgary. Having loved the famous St-Viateur and Fairmount Bagel bakeries in Montreal, I'd thought that bagels of equal quality would be hard to find elsewhere (especially Eastern Canada)......WRONG. These folks make some amazing bagels in this small shop. The owner apparently used to work for St-Viateur, and sure enough, the quality of the bagels at this Calgary establishment up to snuff.

It is a pretty inconspicuous place with just a few parking spaces out front, it's not really the kind of joint that you drive past, press your face against your car window, and demand to try sometime because of a flashy sign or exciting menu board. It just says Montreal Bagels. And damn straight that's what it is. Once you walk inside, you will see their wood-fired oven in the back, a small display case in the front, a few straggling tables and chairs for sit-down customers (that you never see used), and their plain-jane menu board.

Front of Montreal Bagels

Wood-fired oven and workers in the back

Your options are: plain, sesame, poppyseed, and multigrain. 90 cents a piece, or you can get them by the half dozen ($4.25), or dozen ($8). Tuesday special gets you a dozen for $7. There are also a few other "prepared" sandwich options on the board (with butter, cream cheese, lox, etc), but I don't think I've ever seen a single customer seated at the few tables that are at the front of the store. This is more the type of place where you pop in and out of and enjoy your goodies at home, or in my case, enjoy in the car on the way home (more on that in a second).

Simple Menu Board (Tuesday Special is $7 for a dozen, at the bottom there)

If you show up at the right time, you can snag a bagel that is still hand-searingly-hot-out-of-oven. Yum. And that's exactly what has happened a few times now when I've gone early in the afternoon. The folks that work there are very friendly and they will offer to make up a fresh batch for you if they have just run out of a certain flavor and you are willing to wait 20-30 minutes. Side note: this place is cash-only.

My favorite is the sesame bagel, with the poppyseed as a close second. Whenever I get a superfresh batch, I can't help but eat one immediately in the car because they smell so damn good and are nice and crunchy-chewy and warm. My recommendation for once you get them home is to toast them, smear them with herb & garlic cream cheese (Boursin is amazing) and top with smoked salmon. Delicious!

In the car, tearing into the bag for a fresh-out-of-the-oven bagel

---

TL;DR
Food 4/5 - Authentic Montreal-style bagels -- such a surprising find in Calgary! Steady supply of fresh-out-of-the-oven bagels available frequently throughout the day. My pick: Sesame Bagel
Value/Price 5/5  ($0.90 per bagel)
Ambiance N/A
Service/Wait N/A
--------------------
Overall 4/5

---

Montreal Bagels
103 8408 Elbow Drive SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 212-4060

La Cevicheria (Los Angeles)

I discovered La Cevicheria while browsing Yelp for the highest-ranked seafood restaurants of Los Angeles. This casual eatery scores some high praise from many online reviewers, so it was naturally a must-try when we were in the area.

The restaurant is located in the east end of LA (Mid-City area) on an unsuspecting street complete with metal gates to secure the front entrance and the front windows. There is parking along most of the side streets, but most of the spots were full when we got there. There is also a grocery store across the street with a private parking lot which I guess you can use at your own discretion.

We went during lunch on a Wednesday, and while there were a few other patrons at the other tables, we had no wait time at all and were seated immediately. The staff were extremely friendly in greeting us, and explained the menu while making a few recommendations: the Concha Negra and the Chapin.

Concha Negra Ceviche ($15)

I went for the mixed Concha Negra ($15) which is a Guatemalan style mix with blood clams, shrimp, octopus (which I subbed with imitation crab), tomatoes, onions, avocado, mint, lime juice, and Worcestershire sauce. This is served up with soda crackers, corn tortillas, and if you like, a house-made habanero sauce (by request) and other commercial hot sauces (just on the table). I quite liked this -- it was very fresh and the flavors had a good punch. The fresh mint is really nice, but I would've liked less lime juice in mine as I found the lime a bit too sour and overpowering. Nonetheless, this was really delicious with some soda crackers crumbled into it and scooped up with the corn tortillas. Finished every last bite, including eating many bites from my brother and boyfriend's orders. Yum.

Chapin Ceviche ($10)

My brother ordered the Chapin ($10) which is very similar to the Concha Negra mix, except it has a mix of imitation crab meat, shrimp, and octopus. It's basically the same thing but with imitation crab substituted in the place of clams. The clams were good, but they really don't change the flavor profile that much; I don't think they are really worth the extra $5, unless you A) are a tourist like me and want to try it for kicks or B) happen to be some kind of blood clam enthusiast. My brother agreed that he thought the lime juice was a little too strong for him too, but he seemed to enjoy the dish overall.

Tacoes De Pescado ($4.50 for two tacos)

The boyfriend is not a huge fan of shrimp, so he opted for the Pescado ($10) which is a mix of fish, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, avocado, and lime juice and the Tacos De Pescado ($4.50) which gets you two (deep fried) fish tacos. I did get to try a bit of both his dishes and they were both excellent. The ceviche was good, and I enjoyed the freshness of the fish, but I liked the Guatemalan style of my ceviche better. The fish tacos were notably delicious as the fish was just out of the fryer (super crispy) embedded in mostly cabbage, and wrapped in a soft taco shell.

This was overall a really great lunch spot and we did not leave disappointed; it is wonderful if you are looking for a light, inexpensive, sit-down lunch with some good (but casual) service.

---

TL;DR
Food 4/5 - Fresh ingredients, flavor has a lot of punch. My picks: Chapin ceviche, Tacos De Pescado
Value/Price 4/5 ($10-15)
Ambiance 2.5/5 - casual seating, nothing fancy
Service/Wait 4/5 - no wait time, friendly staff
--------------------
Overall 4/5

---

La Cevicheria 
3809 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 732-1253