Gaby's Express

-
I'm driving back home from an intense workout and I see a decent amount of people inside Gaby's Express, the more fast food version of Gaby's Mediterranean. I remember reading about this place on yelp so I park my car in the 7-Eleven shared parking lot and walk in to pick up some dinner. 

I check out their menu and decide on ordering 2 of the 1/2 chicken valu-meal (why did they drop the "e" in value?) that comes with hummus, rice, house salad for $8.25. Total comes out to around $17 something and I round it out to $19. I never know if I should tip or not if I'm taking it to go but I mean, there is that credit card line...

I already know this is a great deal considering that I spent $9 on a crappy salad from Baja Fresh the day before, which I'm still regretting to this day. When I see the pictures of all the combos, I know that I'm going to get some quality food ala Zankou chicken. I go to the salsa bar and get me some fresh spicy salsa and take the prepared food home to share with the hubz.


At home, we open our plates and look at the sheer amount of food we're about to devour. Perhaps next time we can just order one. The chicken is so tender it melts in your mouth. The sides are pretty good and healthy too. Like Zankou, it has the garlic paste. We heart garlic paste. The half chicken is no joke though. We usually only eat a quarter with our meal when we order from Zankou or California Chicken Cafe. 


Though healthy, the portions are gigantic and I wake up the next day still digesting. This place is cheap enough for me to go back to get take out on a regular basis but next time I'll just get one order of the 1/2 chicken valu-meal to share and cut some calories in the process. 


Gaby's Express Mediterranean

(310) 559-1808
Culver City 
10445 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
www.gabysexpress.com



Gaby's Mediterranean on Urbanspoon

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Black Sesame - the food trend I love

-
Image
Black sesame ice cream, black sesame cake, black sesame creme brulee, black sesame mochi, black sesame mochi ice cream, black sesame sauce, black sesame paste, black sesame soup, black sesame dim sum, black sesame gelato.... Is it just me or is this the new trend in desserts? Especially among Asian (or Asian-inspired) restaurants, the black sesame could be the new red bean! According to Betty Hall from LA Times , not only is the black sesame taking America by storm, it's wildly popular in Europe as well. Growing up, I've always had black sesame in my food. Many Korean dishes call for it, but never had I had it in a delicious dessert until I tried the Sesame Bean Sensation ($7.50) at Royal/T cafe , located in Culver City, CA. It was a layered cake with gray sesame cream filling. The nutty and sophisticated taste of the black sesame with the girly sweetness of the fruity cake got me hooked. Ever since then, I've been on the look out for black sesame anything. When I went to L
Read more

Cuñape

-
Image
"Cuñape" is the best cheeseballs in the world, and it’s from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. These gooey and addictive cheese balls are similar to the Brazilian "pão de queijo" or the French "gougères" or the Colombian "pandebono" but all of these are different from each other as well. Gougères are lighter and more airy while the Brazilian ones are chewier but drier on the outside. I would say the pandebonos are closest in taste and texture to the Bolivian cuñape but it is slight more bready. In Bolivia, we use mennonite cheese (farmer's cheese) for this recipe and honestly without that cheese it will never be exactly like the original but you do what you can. I've been hunting down a similar cheese in the U.S. for ages but the closest I can get to it is to use the queso blanco or fresco and add some more salt (or even mix some feta into it). The history of the cuñape is very interesting. It is a Guaraní word that means "a woman's b
Read more

Making Mocochinchi

-
Image
I get really excited when I can think of a food or drink that is solely Bolivian. I admit there isn't too many Bolivian dishes that are not influenced by the many countries that it borders. Even the Saltena, Bolivia's most famous empanada looking pastry comes from a woman who came from Salta, Argentina, to Tarija, Bolivia.  So when I'm researching Mocochinchi, my favorite childhood and now adulthood drink, made from dehydrated whole peaches, sugar, and cinnamon, and I find that it's a "Bolivian"drink , I get really really excited. Bolivia Bella  goes on to describe regional favorites.  In Santa Cruz, you can buy the dehydrated peaches in the open markets. I snag a pound of dehydrated peaches because you really can't find these in the U.S. except maybe in Miami or Virginia, where there is a huge population of Bolivians. Using sliced dehydrated peaches don't really work for this particular drink because the fun is eating the reconstituted pe
Read more