Chez Laura -- fresh albacore tuna sashimi off a boat

Do you have to know how to cut it? No.

Is 2 days old too old? Hell no.

Can I use wasabi from sushi take out and soy sauce from Trader Joes? Yeah, it's got spice.

Can I eat it with my fingers? Why not, I'm at home.

What about with avocado and bread dipped in olive oil? There's nothing like mixing your random favorites from the fridge.

Does it all taste good? Hell yeah.

Who do I thank? Lori, Lori, Lori.

Mexican place on the end of the Santa Monica Pier

Maybe it's just because I was hung over, but this place was bordering on terrible.

Recommendation: Sit upstairs where you can see the ocean, order drinks and guacomole. Watch the sunset. Nice atmosphere on a beach day. But go to dinner somewhere else or just fill up on chips.

I had the seafood enchilada, and maybe someone should explain to me the rules of what to eat and not to eat after a heavy night of drinking. This sounded good. It was not. I don't think any of the seafood (shrimp, scallop, crab, etc) was truly as represented. I think it was just fish. It sure tasted fishy. The special enchilada sauce tasted a whole lot like beer and cheese, which normally may have hit my stomach just fine. Today, no. The rice was dry. I don't like beans anyway.

If you're looking for a laugh. There were no less than 5 people actively waiting on our table. This inevitably led to the screwing up of my friends salmon order (which he said was good). All 5 people apologized. And all 5 people asked how the salmon was including 1 addtitional person we hadn't yet seen. This was probably the best part of the meal because it was so damn funny. And I needed a laugh. My head still hurt....

Barney's Gourmet Burgers

Do not be fooled -- in this place a "burger" can be a chicken sandwich, or a turkey burger, or a veggie burger, or the traditional beef. It was a perfect Friday lunch, out in the sun, pants rolled up, tank top on. The only drawback was that they're not allowed to serve beer outside--which would have made it a perfect two hour break!

But what about the food?!?--at this place the fries come first because the burgers are handled with care. They're well worth the wait. I had a turkey burger with cheddar, avocado, sprouts, and scallions. Moist for a turkey burger, but I was glad that we had ranch on the side for the fries -- a most excellent blend of ranch. Service is rather iffy, we waited a long time for our tab, but the glasses of water are huge and the food is good. Price reasonable.