Friday Fotos: Food with Friends at Buddha's Belly

It's pretty unusual for me to get to attend a blogger event less than 20 miles from my house on a weekend--or any time, to be honest, since I live in the northwestern outposts of Greater Los Angeles, far from paparazzi-land. Therefore, I eagerly accepted an invitation to join several bloggers for dinner at the new Thousand Oaks location of Buddha's Belly last Saturday night. Tall Paul and I had already been there for lunch a couple of weeks earlier, but I was excited to go back again so soon, and to share the experience with some locals I don't often get to see (plus one NorCal visitor).

It was a lively evening of great food and conversation with Kim, Lexi, Suebob, Jessica, and Margaret, which included sharing of an assortment of appetizers and desserts and some sampling of one another's entrees. (We all kept our drinks to ourselves.)

This is a "Zen Garden" in a glass. Pretty, isn't it?

I drank an "Asian Pear." 

Kim's entree, the Bubu-Arare Crusted Scallops with Okinawan purple mashed potato and grilled asparagus

Green Tea Tiramisu is a signature dessert.

Chocolate fondue at an Asian restaurant? Yes! And yum! (Especially when you dip those little slices of cheesecake...)

I'm not usually a big fan of rice, but Buddha's Belly serves a side dish of "edamame sushi rice" which is super-sticky, a little sweet, and very tasty. A few of my favorite appetizers there are the miso soup, Shao Bing sliders, grilled papaya shrimp, and vegetable egg rolls. In two visits, I've liked nearly everything I've tried, and am looking forward to trying some more good stuff on my next visit.

Buddha's Belly's eclectic "pan-Asian" menu is also available in Santa Monica and West Hollywood (although the sushi menu is exclusively at the Thousand Oaks location in The Oaks Mall). They're on Twitter and Facebook, too.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary meal at Buddha's Belly's new Thousand Oaks restaurant, including appetizers, entree, desserts and drinks of my choice. Blogging about the restaurant and my experience there was not a condition or requirement of my visit. All opinions expressed, and all photos posted here, are my own (except for the picture of the scallops dish, which is courtesy of Margaret Andrews.)