Cafe Camellia

I've been going to this place for about 20 years. It's a real gem located in old town Bellflower. It's not where you'd expect to find a nice French restaurant, but the food and service rivals the high end restaurants of Beverly Hills and West LA. These folks are so accomodating, I remember a few years ago, my cousin had some folks come in from the Philippines and these guys stayed open until 2AM, even though they closed far earlier.

Jen, Robert and myself had a hankering for some French Cuisine at an affordable price: So we found ourselves at Cafe'Camellia. There's nothing over $15 on the menu during lunch and $27 for dinner. They have a great wine selection and fabulous desserts.

I started off with the Lobster Bisque, both exquisite and hearty.


Jen had the Cobb Salad that she thouroughly enjoyed.


I had the Combination Seafood plate with filet of salmon, scallops, prawns & mushroom in a scampi cream sauce served with vegetables and scalloped potatoes-It was awesome!


Robert had the halibut with spinach. He said it was one of the best he's ever had.


Chef Ken knows his food and his staff knows how to take care of their customers. They also have another location called Arte Cafe in Cerritos. It's great food at a great value. Check out their website for more info: artecamellia.com

Handling our Indonesian Cravings at Toko Rame in Bellflower

Casual Indonesian joint Toko Rame in Bellflower is on the Bite Me TV list of lunch stops for those times when we want something a little out of the ordinary, but quick and pretty inexpensive. It's a hole-in-the-wall nestled in the corner of a tiny strip mall literally just north of the 91 freeway (think 40 feet north) on Bellflower Blvd. There's zero impress factor as far as the look of the place, but Toko Rame serves up some good grub at good prices. Plus all the food is Halal, so you can feel comfort knowing that the meat isn't pumped full of the hormones, antibiotics and other garbage that our food industry has gotten us used to.

I went with their Nasi Rames combo plate. It's a good selection for those unfamiliar with Indonesian food as it has a little of this and a little of that without getting scary with wild ingredients. They start with rice (of course), then add beef rendang (a dark and spicy helping of beef brisket), a bowl of veggie curry, a mashed potato cake, a drumstick of fried chicken, a cool mix of veggies that's sort of an Asian slaw, and a hard-boiled egg covered in chili sauce. The potato cake is easily my favorite part of the dish. It's delicious. The beef rendang is also yummy. It's tender and has a bit of a kick. Overall, the combo offers a good mix of spicy and mild and is a good value at $7.50.

Joel went with the Nasi Timbel Parahyangan combo. It's similar to the dish I had, except that it kicks up the adventure a little.  That's deep fried fish you see in the middle of the plate, plus tofu, a small bowl of tamarind soup, a drumstick of fried chicken and rice wrapped in a banana leaf.

Except for a couple of fish dishes, everything on the menu is priced under $10.  The service is quick, the food is good and the place is casual and seemingly never very crowded.  That's "thumbs up" for a midweek lunch.

Cheers!
Druu