i know the man, not the place. i was just excited to hear he's back. can't imagine (although maybe) it can be anything but excellent. and yes, i'd imagine civilians can eat like i did... almost. i mean that is one reason i'm in the biz in the first place, professional courtesies and all.

i haven't become as well-versed in la as i'd like, but here some things to consider with a grain of salt (i'll need to add the details later).

for vietnamese that is more extensive than san jose in northern california, go to westminster. i like the tay ho location next to the mall the best, good banh cuon and banh uot. there's also a sweets place across the road that gets some crazy local business. have to get a bit more specific info for you.

for indian, hit up pioneer blvd in artesia. lot's of fun stuff to check out, udupi palace is good.

for burritos and cemitas and mexican food, check out boyle heights neighborhood in east la.
elvirita's - cemitas and pretty amazing sopes/thick masa items
la placita de d.f. - cemitas
a taco truck location tba - had really good bread for the cemitas

the street carts outside the church in the olivera street area south of chinatown - mexican style bacon wrapped hot dogs, and "quesadillas" made out of fresh masa and deep fried (haven't been exposed to these these anywhere else but i think they're estilo d.f.).

also, when at sahag's i like the soujouk sandwich possibly more than i like the basturma.

I Love L.A.

Here, more than anywhere else that I know of or have heard of, the daily panorama of human existence, of private and communal folly-- the unending procession of governmental extortions and chicaneries, of commercial brigandages and throat-slittings, of theological buffooneries, of aesthetic ribaldries, of legal swindles and harlotries, of miscellaneous rogueries, villainies, imbecilities, grotesqueries, and extravagances-- is so inordinately gross and preposterous, so perfectly brought up to the highest conceivable amperage, so steadily enriched with an almost fabulous daring and originality, that only the man who was born with a petrified diaphragm can fail to laugh himself to sleep every night.

Mencken was talking about America as a whole, but what is Los Angeles if not America as a whole in one place? Everyone I know who has lived there has hated it sooner or later, but not being caught up in its particular rat races, not being anything but a visitor, I'm free to love L.A., drink in the coffee-nerved ambition that throbs from every resentful resident, admire the rich and beautiful for showing us all so openly and unashamedly what it's like to be them, and not least, steep myself in the ethnic neighborhoods which seem to be complete little worlds. Every ethnic neighborhood in Chicago is Something and Latino mixed together, but even though I understand there are a few Mexicans in Southern California, somehow whole districts manage to be pure, intoxicating outposts of some much more distant mother land.



We had an ideal location in many ways during eight days in L.A.-- staying with friends in Koreatown, then at an absurdly posh old downtown hotel during a work-related event. Not ideal if your idea of fun was shopping Rodeo Drive or lounging at Santa Monica Beach, but ideal if it was eating Asian food and other LTHForum-recommended foodstuffs, which (when I plotted them on a map) proved to be overwhelmingly concentrated in that general area. (I say "recommended," but a lot of these choices, well, life in Chicago was going to be grim for a few weeks after I got back if I didn't hit certain coughtommy'scough of these spots.)

I have some other observations to make about Asian food, and will do so in another thread (which I'll link to when it's up), but in the meantime, here's my report on many of the things we had in L.A., most of them recommended above in this thread.



Pig'n Whistle wasn't recommended but it has sentimental meaning for me. There was once a chain of these, and my great aunt Marg's second husband Earl worked for them as the bookkeeper, and when he retired (in 1952) got a watch which has come down through the family to me. The original Hollywood location, adjacent to the recently restored Egyptian Theater, was a clothing store for many years, but luckily the mock-Tudor interior was not gutted and it has reopened as a bar and restaurant strangely overlooked by the tourists swarming Hollywood Boulevard, searching for the Walk of Fame stars of immortals like Simon Cowell and Ray Romano, and being assailed by panhandlers and Operating Thetans.

Very decent pub grub, movie-set atmosphere, escape from the day of the locusts outside-- even without my personal connection it's hard to see how you could do better in this touristy district (we were there not only to compare hoof sizes with Trigger, but to see Cars in the restored El Capitan Theater, complete with Nascar tire-changing stage show and organist playing Disney tunes with Dr. Phibes-like grandiosity; the boys pronounced it the greatest movie of all time).

Pig'n'Whistle
6714 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 463-0000
www.pignwhistle.com/


Practically the only example on the Walk of Fame where the newer star set in the adjacent new lane isn't an insult to the old star in the original row.



Sahag's Basturma was one must for me, because it's something you simple can't get in Chicago (even though there must be Armenians here, but not enough to have a Little Armenia on the map).



There aren't many choices so unless you actually order a turkey sandwich, in which case God help you, you're going to end up with the stars-- the basturma, which I explained to Myles by saying it was sort of like petrified pastrami, and the soujouk, which is a typical cevapcici-kefta kebab-whatever you call it sausage from that part of the world, but like the basturma, dried to a chewier and more concentrated pungency.



To be honest, the basturma was interesting but I found it too strong to love, not funky like prosciutto but more green-olive bitter than I especially liked. However the soujouk, with the classic kebab flavor dialed up even more intensely, were outstanding, the first great thing I had on this trip.

Sahag's Basturma
5183 W Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90027-5715
323-661-5311

Here's a link to a piece about what else there is to find in Little Armenia.



After we went to the Grand Central Market I mentioned it to everyone who asked what we had done... and nobody, even those from Los Angeles, seemed to know what it was. (At least here people have heard of Maxwell Street, even if they've never been.) Central is right, because one side is the downtown of skyscrapers and financial centers, and the other side is a Latino neighborhood (like a lot of things in L.A., much less seedy than the last time I was on that block, a decade ago); it's like a wormhole between two very different L.A.s. (The main reason to go out the other side is to see the great Bradbury building, of Blade Runner and other movies fame.)

Anyway, this is a great, must-visit stop, and I had no less than three of the best things I ate in L.A. from the shops here. We got stuff from both of the Mexican stands which are side by side, so I sort of forgot whether the taco and birria I had was from the one recommended in this thread, but the steak taco was good and the birria was wonderful, meltingly tender, soupbone-flavorful.



A cheese pupusa from the pupusa stand was also a model of its art; there are TONS of pupuserias all over L.A. now, at least the part we were in, and nobody seems yet to have culled favorites, but talk about a ripe area for exploration.



Finally, we were about to leave when I spotted the fish taco stand (actually, spotted the display lobster above-- a sign says this food is all for display only, don't worry, your food will be cooked fresh for you) and remembered Erik's post above about Baja-style fish tacos "estilo Ensenada."



It too was fantastic, the fish tender and flaky in a cornmeal batter, the crema and salsa and lettuce and tortilla coming together to make a gooey whole even greater than its parts. I'm sure these three delights only scratch the surface of wonders at this market, I highly recommend a visit even if you're not skipping out on a generic hotel breakfast as I was.

Grand Central Market
317 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90013
www.grandcentralsquare.com/
(website makes it look much less funky and authentic than it really is)



I didn't plan it this way, but the same night we wound up at the yuppie version of the Grand Central Market, the famous Farmer's Market, now attached to one of those incredibly lavish, Disney-perfect insta-malls with a Cheesecake Factory and an Apple store and a dancing fountain like the Bellagio in Vegas. (I say now, I have no idea how recently all that happened, my last visit to the Farmer's Market was in 1972. Anyway, it is beyond perfect that though called The Grove, its website is located at The Grovela.)

How that happened was, our friends had gotten increasingly discouraged about suggesting a restaurant they liked after watching me clutch and page obsessively through my sheaf of LTHForum and Jonathan Gold printouts, and had sort of lost the nerve to make me go somewhere they liked which I might trash on the Internet; but then the wife thought of a highly regarded Frontera-like nouvelle Mexican stand called Loteria that had opened in the Farmer's Market, and she decided to use me as the guinea pig to determine if it was really any good or not.

I ordered cochinita pibil from there, and was not that impressed-- soupy, little achiote bite. Citysearch calls it "Mexican pulled pork" and that's about right-- not Mexican enough to be cochinita pibil, not BBQ enough to be pulled pork. I was wondering how to diplomatically ding the place here when she arrived with a sampler plate of mini-tacos:



I'm glad she did, because most of these were better than the cochinita pibil and at least three or four were really first-rate-- a complex mole on one, some excellent birria on another, nopales and farmer's cheese-- all were excellent and so were others I've forgotten.

Oh, and before someone shrieks, you were that close to the Gumbo Pot and you didn't have their gumbo... of course I did. It was very good, not northern-chain-restaurant-pseudbo at all. Better than New Orleans, I have no idea, but better than 98% of what you'd find between there and Louisiana, I don't doubt.

The Farmer's Market
6333 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90036-3109
(323) 930-2211



"Did you go to Tommy's yet?" the voice on the other end of the phone said.

"No, I'm still at O'Hare waiting to take off," I answered. (Got to O'Hare at 6:20 AM for my 8:30 AM flight. Which took off a little after noon.)

Tommy's on Ramparts was a must, in the sense that I'd get crap about it for months if I didn't. But as Thursday rolled around I realized there just weren't that many slots left. So after visiting the tar pits and the Petersen Car Museum with the boys, we stopped at Tommy's for an amuse-bouche before lunch at El Parian.



Here's a special cutaway illustration I commissioned of the Tommy's burger. Onion, pickle, etc., all hiding under a glop of chili. "Don't think of it in terms of its ingredients. You have to look at it as a whole," the voice at the other end said.

"I get it, I get it," I said. "It's like Ben's Chili Bowl in D.C., low-grade ingredients somehow transmute into something better." In neither case was I quite drunk enough, or at all, to fully appreciate it, but I get it. It's good, and the Rampart atmosphere is one of the crossroads of the city, I get that too. But I would try not to make too much of a habit of it.



Then off to search for El Parian, the Pigmon (and Jonathan Gold) recommended taco stand. Alas, after half a Tommy's burger I wasn't in the shape to order a bowl of goat ribs and suck the meat off each one, so I settled for a couple of steak tacos and one birria one.



The birria meat on my taco was pretty good, but the one at the Grand Central Market was outstanding; this seemed like maybe it had been sitting around a bit, drying out, before I had it.

The steak-- clearly a thicker, lusher cut, lomo de res or something-- was very good indeed, worth comparing to the wonderful arrachera I'd had in Playa del Carmen, my greatest beef experience in any Mexican place. Now, the one thing that maybe holds my praise back slightly is that it seemed like it might have been partly cooked and reheated for us. I'm not certain, but good as it was, it didn't quite have that fresh-off-the-grill juiciness, which makes me think that you want to go here when they're busy and you know your order will be fresh. But I could be wrong, it's an estimable place, and worth the search (it's not easy to spot).

Original Tommy's World Famous Hamburgers
2575 W. Beverly Blvd. (at Rampart)
Los Angeles, CA
213-389-9060

El Parian
1528 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 386-7361



Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles was another place I felt I had to go even though I was as dubious about the combination of chicken and waffles as I had been about a big gloppy chiliburger in the middle of the day. As it happened, I had to make two tries-- closed on the 4th of July-- to hit it for breakfast. And once I did, I didn't read the menu carefully enough and got:



But not:



But the kids didn't eat all of theirs so I got to have some. Great malty waffles, pretty good chicken to the extent you can even tell smothered under a Ross Ice Shelf of oniony gravy, lousy grits but I didn't grow up eating them anyway so I'm happy not to start now. A good soul food fix, but again, not entirely sure it'd become a habit for me.

Oh, and where did we go when they turned out to be closed on the 4th? House of Pies, which serves perfectly okay standard breakast and inexplicably does not have pie on its regular menu, even though pie for breakfast is as American as, well, basturma. What are they thinking?

Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
5006 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90019-4126
323-934-4405

The House of Pies
1869 N Vermont Ave
Los Angeles CA
(323) 666-9961

And then finally, there was...



I'm not gaga for In'N'Out, that thousand island style of burger isn't my favorite, but I have to say, whenever you find yourself stuck between somewhere and nowhere in California, like on the road back from Legoland in 5 o'clock traffic, and all your food choices are chains and grim, an In'N'Out always appears just where you want one and it's a welcome friend. In'N'Out is the platonic ideal of the fast food burger joint, everything's just as fresh and crisp and pretty as it ought to be, the staff seem glad rather than resentful to be there (in a city of actor-waiters, where do they find such dedicated teenagers?), the last time (before flying home) we ate at one I saw a clerk practically chase a woman outdoors to make sure she had her number for prompt pickup, when's the last time you saw that happen at McWendee's?



So I started this thread by saying I'd never had anything great in L.A., but I had to believe it existed, somewhere. And I thank you all for leading to me several things that genuinely were great and many others which were enjoyable, distinctively L.A., or at least gave me the opportunity to add to Myles' collection of restaurant shirts (I'll buy him any shirt that has a cool design and is under $15, which works because only places we wouldn't be caught dead wearing, like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., charge more than that anyway). Of course, the great ones I tried only made me wish I had months and months to force the family to eat our way through Little Armenia or determine just which pupuserias really do stand above the rest. Next time, next time...

But first, stay tuned for the second installment of this report-- Asian restaurants in L.A., linked here. Third installment-- SF and Monterey-- linked here.

Mike G wrote:How that happened was, our friends had gotten increasingly discouraged about suggesting a restaurant they liked after watching me clutch and page obsessively through my sheaf of LTHForum and Jonathan Gold printouts, and had sort of lost the nerve to make me go somewhere they liked which I might trash on the Internet

A real laugh out loud moment as I recognize this behavior as well as the reaction of friends. It is up there with Amata lamenting how her son thinks its normal to have your food photographed before it's eaten.

I'm enjoying your vacation. Cannot wait for Asian food to be uploaded.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:I'm enjoying your vacation. Cannot wait for Asian food to be uploaded.

Mike,

I'm enjoying your vacation as well, in particular the cutaway illustration of Tommy's. I see LTHForum posters in our future.

Looking forward to the next installment.

Enjoy,
Gary

Mike, your photos reminded me of my only knock on the LA chix and waffle places, that gravy. Chicken and grits is interesting, too. Having spent considerable time in the South chasing and eating grits from Nortfolk to New Orleans, I'm not sure I've ever seen them as a fried chicken side. They look like cream of wheat.

The Market, well, it's downtowm. No one knows what's down there, even though there are a number of interesting things to check out: the toy district, the library, the modern art museum, the Bonaventure (purely for its sentimental value as the very faded symbol of modernity and glitz from TV and B-movies of our youth), Union Station, old stuff on Olvera, etc. I'm not going to get crazy and say it's the Loop or Wall St., but it has its sights.

My friends from the Palisades/Santa Monica/Brentwood, etc. couldn't find Thai Town or Langer's with a map and GPS, even though they probably drive by all the time on their way to the next secret entrance bar or hotel lounge. I'm not certain that Chicagoans are any better, though. Hard for me to tell. Certainly, Gold has been doing a lot of good work for a long time in a widely read paper, so there are possibly fewer food/neighborhood "secrets" there than here.

Too bad Jay's is closed, probably forever. Now that's a chili-cheese burger

They look like cream of wheat.

They did more than look like it. This was the special at the top of the menu, the Lord Byron or some damn thing. A mistake.

I like downtown, though I understand why Angelenos fear it as a slice of Detroit in their midst, hard to drive in if you don't have the kind of Chicago-honed skills that tell you automatically when to make three rights to equal the left turn you're forbidden to make. We did a walking tour to see the Frank Gehry Disney concert hall, the renovated library (way cool detail: the elevators are decorated with old cards from the card catalog), the Hugo Ballin mural in the old Edison building (kitschy and not up to his work at the Griffith Park Observatory or the Wilshire Temple), etc. (How funny that you should bring up the Westin Bonaventure as a futuristic staple of 70s movies-- just saw it in one last night.) And the Millennium Biltmore, where we stayed, is beyond grandiose. Although downtown is still rather grimy and homeless-ridden at night, on the whole this trip I found most of the questionable areas I visited in L.A. much improved, and I don't think that that's just my tolerance going up, the area around the Bradbury was far healthier and cleaner than it had been a decade ago.

Comments on J. Gold and secrets to follow in the Asian report, but since we're on to LA's general attractions, here's some comments someone might find useful someday:

Legoland-- an excellent alternative to the Disney madding crowds for younger kids, located about 3/4 of the way to San Diego. Fun, kid-scaled rides, some actual activities for semi-older kids who like to make stuff. Very happy we chose this for our amusement park day at this age.

Autry Museum-- actually a pair of western museums (one for cowboys, one for Indians) in Griffith Park, funded by the late cowboy star/Angels owner. Very solid on the history as well as the imagery of the west, with what must be the best collection of such stuff on earth.

Tar Pits-- one of my favorite little museums in L.A., showing off the prehistoric stuff pulled from the La Brea tar pits. Makes a good combo day with:

Petersen Auto Museum-- a block east of the tar pits, a collection of snazzy, envy-inducing Duesenbergs and Bugattis and sports cars. The kids liked the wall of Hot Wheels best, and are now convinced (because I told them I'd had many of the same ones) that my old Hot Wheels are on display there.

Huntington Library-- went over to Pasadena one day (why, to be explained later) and planned to tromp around the handsome grounds here, and maybe see a few works of art. As the temperature rose near 100, however, we slogged out of the garden and into the air conditioned museum as quick as we could. Save this for a nice day...

Kidspace-- children's museum in Pasadena, worth doing only if you're already practically there, as we were.

I am going to be doing a day trip to LA on September 30. I get in around 9:30am, rent a Sebring convertible from Hertz, drive around all day, and return the car in time to catch an 11:20pm flight out. It was a $145 mistake fare on United from the east coast and I couldn't pass it up since I need the miles for next year's "very frequent flier" status.

What does one do in Los Angeles for 11 hours? Eat, of course!

I probably will meet up with local friends at some point of the trip, but I want to define several food events. Over the last two trips and the last four years, I've been to Tito's, Apple Pan, and Phillipe's. I'd like to stay roughly in the square marked off by LAX and downtown on opposing corners, maybe a couple of miles outside of it in any direction.

I'm thinking of three stops, at 11am, 3pm, and 7pm, to allow my friends to catch up with me at whichever place matches their fancy.

11am - Culver City or Westwood. I really liked Tito's, but I feel like Chicago has very good taquerias so it's almost a waste of the stop. If I was here for two days, I would definitely get some Tito's, however. I'd like to try Johnnie's, but Phillipe's is the 4pm stop - is there too much overlap here?

3pm - Phillipe's. There is no doubt here, as long as they are open on Saturdays at 3pm. I got the recommendation from Chowhound (before LTHforum was born) the last time we went to LA, and the lamb sammich was to die for. The only thing we did wrong was get them to go, as we ate them in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium.

7pm - Part of me wants to go to Tommy's, but part of me will want something slightly healthier by this point. [Besides, I feel like I should get to Tommy's at about 2am, the same way I used to like to hit Jim's Original at 2am when I was in grad school in the late 80s.] Maybe Asian, maybe a stew of some sort. I'd like to get into a more residential neighborhood for this choice.

Any guidance?

Thai Town/Little Armenia/Los Feliz/Silver Lake/Chinatown/ Koreatown/short side trip to Langers -- damn near contiguous, best part of LA.

I had a kick ass bowl of Pho on Sunday morning at Pho 54 on Brookhurst in Westminster. The broth was some of the best I have had, savory and acidy from lime at the same time. I couldn't come close to finishing it.

A Huge bowl of Pho with rare beef, tendon, tripe,and brisket set me back a mere $4.95.

My friend and I were the only people in the very crowded dining room not of Asian descent. The service was perfunctory and friendly enough. Our meals arrived minutes after ordering.

The Vietnamese Eggrolls were greasy and luscious wrapped in lettuce, basil, and sprinkled with a bit of the sweet dipping sauce.

Really, there is about a five mile stretch of Brookhurst in Westminster and Garden Grove where one could eat at a different Vietnamese or Thai Place every day for a year. The Little Vietnam neighborhood, as it is known, stretches well off of Brookhurst both east and west. I didn't even make a scratch in what's available there.

Maybe TonyC has some recommendations. He seems to know the area well.

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a peanut and peanut butter (but not peanut oil) allergy, so I'm always afraid of Viet/Thai cooking because I'm afraid that they may have peanut butter in a sauce. But for others, it's good to know.

Langer's or Phillipe's? (Obviously, the correct answer is "both" but if my friends will only put up with one...)

Could I get a copule of street names for Chinatown, Little Armenia, and the Los Feliz areas, so I can figure out a vehicle strategy?

threadkiller wrote:Could I get a copule of street names for Chinatown, Little Armenia, and the Los Feliz areas, so I can figure out a vehicle strategy?

Chinatown: Cezar Chavez Blvd., which is the eastern extension of Sunset Blvd., with intersections at Hill, Broadway, and New High Streets.

Little Armenia: Mainly between Hollywood and Sunset, with the heart situated at Normandie.

Los Feliz: Franklin Ave., mainly around the intersections of Vermont and Hillhurst.

These areas are all fairly easy to navigate.

E.M.

threadkiller wrote:I am going to be doing a day trip to LA on September 30. I get in around 9:30am, rent a Sebring convertible from Hertz, drive around all day, and return the car in time to catch an 11:20pm flight out. It was a $145 mistake fare on United from the east coast and I couldn't pass it up since I need the miles for next year's "very frequent flier" status.

What does one do in Los Angeles for 11 hours? Eat, of course!

Well, first, I would just repeat my suggestions on the first page. Falafal King/Stan's Donuts makes a great 1-2 combo in Westwood.

Then, you are close to the Farmer's Market, so pie and maybe some french toast at DuPars.

My only "new" suggestion, is Guelaguetza. There's a branch very close to LAX off a Sepulvada. Yea, there's plenty of Mexican here in Chicago, but there's really nothing like this place. The depth and the variety of the offerings are (perhaps) more interesting than the actual cooking. Still, it should be a must visit for any eater.

Finally, don't forget that Woody's Smorgersburger is right outside of LAX!

11 hrs + saturday traffic = not enough time. yourpalwill's suggestion is of course, awesome, but... making it down to Westminster on the 605/405 may kill your day.

if you've been to philipe's, skip it for langers. tito's a waste of a stop, much like oki dog + pink's.

for 11am, instead try the sawtelle/olympic collection area and a fun katsu Curry at Curry House. if you get adventurous and don't mind female sushi chef, have lunch omakase @ Azami. otherwise venture further east to sample Daikokuya's sick ramen (but don't bring more than 3 people w/ you).

for dinner, search for Erik M's thai town posts. you can't go wrong w/ any of the suggestions. skip chinatown for chinese food. no one eats chinese in chinatown anymore.

your request really ties into what you WANT to eat that day. one can easily spend a whole day circling Thai Town/NoHo like a vulture, ditto to Sawtelle/Little Tokyo/Monterey Park-Alhambra-Rosemead-El Monte.

One thing I did before going to LA was plot most of the places people mentioned in this thread, and the most interesting things I found on Chowhound and Jonathan Gold's column, on my road map. What I quickly found was, as people said above, the richest area was basically Silverlake to Koreatown to downtown.



The links below go to my map; go to it and you'll have many of the top spots plotted (and can add more to a printed one). I recognize it will be cryptic in spots (eg GCM = Grand Central Market) but with the thread above it should be a good start for anyone wanting to explore the most interesting part of LA (though many things I went to-- eg Chinese in Monterey Park-- are far east of here).

Readable on-screen size.

Big version for printing.

Mike: WOW. Thanks!

I'd definitely forget Johnnie's. The pastrami, in particular, is substandard. I understand your affection for Phillipe's -- I share it. You can get over being beefed out by getting the lamb dip instead of the French dip (if you want to go to Langer's, too).

[To try and save some bandwidth, I've linked in thumbnails for all but the key shot...]

Well, the day in LA didn't go quite as planned, but it was still a very good day. I woke up at 5am in Philadelphia. I had already checked in for my nonstop flight to Los Angeles, and my upgrade had cleared. The flight was very uneventful. I slept for about half of it on and off. United served breakfast on the flight, and as I didn't want the omelet I just took the fruit plate and a cheese pastry. Then before landing, they served a warm chocolate chip cookie with milk. Not a bad cookie, but it crumbled in my hand and parts of it fell in four pieces onto my nice white golf shirt. Aargh!! Nice big chocolate chip stains...

So once I collected my convertable at Hertz, I pointed the car towards Culver City, where my favorite clothing chain store is located. $44 later, I had two more shirts (they had a 2-fer sale...), and I'm ready to go. I'm also about three minutes from Tito's Tacos, and I have 90 minutes until I have to be at Phillipes... sure, let's have a taco:


The shredded beef taco (the only kind they sell) was excellent, but the salsa was a little too mild. Also, why are chips at most authentic taquerias so lifeless?

I made it to Phillipe's but not Langers. It was a very good meal - doubledipped lamb with blue cheese, cole slaw, custard. But the lamb was a bit tough, seconded by another LTHer who was there three days later. My dining companion had chili straight and some pie. If I had realized that I wasn't going to make Langer's, I'd have gotten a beef sandwich to go... it would have hit the spot at about 4pm!

Exterior:


Interior:




My lunch:


Closeup of the lamb sandwich:


As I mentioned, I didn't make it to Langer's. I also had bad luck with my photo-taking, as Dodger Stadium was gated up so I couldn't get near it, the Observatory is under renovation, and by 3pm (sm/f)og had settled in. But it was a beautiful day, I had a cheap Sebring convertable from Hertz, and I had a great time tooling around the northern edge of the city, including time in Griffith Park, Laurel Canyon/Mulholland Drive, Westwood, and PCH from Santa Monica to Malibu. I dropped the rental car back off and got picked up by one of my friends for dinner.

For dinner, we were taken to a place called The Kettle in Manhattan Beach. I was told that "oh, they give you lots of food for the price, and it's good." I had an unoffensive ham/turkey "reuben" and some soup.

After that, it was back to LAX, half an hour in the airline club lounge, and my redeye back to Washington DC. Again my upgrade had cleared, and the nice gate agent moved me to an empty row of two so I had the seat next to me open for the flight. By this point, it was 2am East Coast time, and thus I slept the entire flight.

2 more places for LA:

Azami Sushi Cafe: 2 Japanese female chefs pumping out well priced ($35-$45-$65) omakase smack dab in the middle of Melrose:

7160 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 939-3816

excellent croissants + pastries + brioche french toast from a Japanese French (which is to say, more French than the French) breakfast spot :

Amandine Patissiere
12225 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(888) 669-7785

I'm heading to LA for the first time in July. Any updates? Thanks so much.

I'm gonna keep bumping this thread instead of starting a new one cuz... the title makes me laugh everytime...

J Gold's Essential 99 restaurants in LA - June 20, 07

Kiriko and Tama, along w/ PIGMON's fave Urasawa, are the only 3 sushi restaurants mentioned.

Surprises of the list: 101 Noodle Express and Noodle House. 2 Taiwanese joints, both 1 item wonders.

other perennials: Langer's, Lucques, Campanile, Apple Pan (ick), AOC, Daikokuya, El Parian, The Hungry Cat, etc.


ps jazzfood: Beacon is among the 99 listed.

TonyC wrote:Surprises of the list: 101 Noodle Express and Noodle House. 2 Taiwanese joints, both 1 item wonders.

Tony, any specifics as to what kind of noodles (or stuff to toss into them) to order, or is it blatently obvious when you walk in?

tk: 101 Noodle's house dish is the beef pancake "roll" and the De Cho Chicken. Neither of which tastes interesting. Nor am I impressed with Noodle House as their house dish is the pan friend 'bao', easily obtained elsewhere in SGV (Kang Kang Shau May on Valley is also famous for their 'bao') and their beef noodle soup is merely just 'bleh'.

TonyC wrote:any packed Korean bbq joint in Rowland Heights (off Fullerton & Colima). Rowland Heights is the new K-town. It's also the new Monterey Park.
I don't know the name, but we dig the one behind the Hanmi Bank at 18720 Colima

Dude... Was driving down Colima tonight and saw the Hanmi Bank and remembered your post. Made Mike make a U-turn, but did not go in because of the big "C" in the window... Is it really good? If you give it your stamp of approval, I wil try it next time! Ended up at Furaibo down the street instead...

tony,

i think i may have told you, i knew kazuto the chef/owner of beacon when he was turning the world on to franconaise cuisine @ chinoise on main in the mid-late 80's. he was one of the originators of it. i'd sit @ the bar and he'd just feed me mindblowing food until i couldn't eat anymore, and then he'd come to my place (the sunset marquis) for sunday brunch and i'd do the same to him.

i just know him and respect his talent. never ate @ beacon, but can't imagine him doing anything not wonderful. a couple of years after he left puck he went to paris and opened buddah bar. a few years after that i ran into him again @ the santa monica farmers mkt (the definitive farmers mkt in my opinion, but look both ways for old people driving cars) and he was looking for something to do. beacon was it. i'd love to try it. he's truly a great innovative chef and i respect him immensely . if you go, please report back.

by the way, have you found any stinkier tofu?

C, you shoulda rang. C is a-ok by me. That is still my KBBQ weapon of choice when in the area. Tho others have arisen to the challenge and the locals seemed to have moved on as well...

jazzfood, indeed still remember your mentioning of Beacon's chef. And indeed, I have found stinkier (fresher) tofu:



Good Time Cafe
140 W Valley Blvd., #209
San Gabriel, CA 91778
(626) 288-0149

large chunks, perfectly fried, not too oily, topped with Shanghai-style pickled (not-Nappa) cabbage. very close to the "Real" thing... now I just have to find steamed stinky tofu...

1. Canter's Deli. Wasn't too thrilled about the prospect, as deli food isn't my favorite, and the decor was definitely tired. But I ordered cheese blintzes that were spectacular. Very luxurious texture of rich cheese enveloped by soft crepe, all sauteed in butter. We also had matzo ball soup and a pastrami sandwich. Meh. It's near the Silent Movie theater, where we saw "The Viking", a rare Technicolor silent film.

419 N Fairfax, LA
323-651-2030
www.cantersdeli.com

2. Agra Cafe. We were just driving around, saw the sign, and turned in. We ordered chicken curry and chicken madras. Both were nicely flavored, and both came with a half order of naan, stewed eggplant (very buttery and silky), lentils, raita, and rice -- for $7.95. We also ordered samosa, which were tasty, and came with the usual condiments. The mint sauce was the mintiest and most flavorful I've ever had. I love the bread, so we also ordered a mozzarella stuffed naan. Very satisfying.

4325 W. Sunset, Silverlake
323-665-7890
www.agracafe.com

3. Pizzeria Mozza. Prompted by an article in the New York Times, this was a must-do on my list. It's a trendy, crowded place; we had to wait over 30 minutes for a place at the bar. It's a joint effort by Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali, and Joseph Bastianich.

We ordered squash blossom and salad caprese. The caprese was sublime. It came with tiny on-the-vine tomatoes that had been slightly roasted and burrata with a shower of fresh basil. The squash blossoms were good, but I've now satisfied my desire for them.

Then we had a margherita pizza and a sausage pizza. The pizzas had a thin bread-like crust, with large blisters and good char from the oven. Pizzas were great, but the sausage really stood out, with tender sausage and fresh fennel. It wasn't cheap -- lunch with 1 glass of wine and a coke came to $64 before tip. But definitely worth it. Check out the website -- there are pictures of the caprese and the pizzas.

641 No Highland Ave, LA
323-297-0101
www.mozza-la.com

4. The Crepe Vine. An unexpected gem. We ordered french onion soup (the broth was rich and dark, the crouton and melted cheese perfect), macaroni & cheese (gruyere & emmenthaler), and an organic green salad for appetizers. Main courses were florentine crepe (chicken, tomato and spinach) which was good, but not spectacular. The other entree was unbelievably good. It was a special: maple-glazed venison meatloaf with what I think was a cognac cream sauce. The sauce included mushrooms, and wine-braised onions. Also on the plate was the smoothest, creamiest sweet potato puree. With one glass of wine, the tab came to $59 before tip. Not bad, for a great meal with substantial portions. Way better than I expected.

36 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
626-796-7250
www.thecrepevine.com

5. Cafe Crepe. Yeah, I like crepes. Atmosphere was very relaxed European bistro. We had a ham and emmenthaler crepe that was just perfect. Nice balance of cheese, ham and crepe, which was very light. Also, a "parisian all beef hot dog", which turned out to be 2 "wiener sausages" on a baguette with emmenthaler cheese and bechamel sauce, all under the broiler. It doesn't sound like it would work, but it did. French fries were thin and crisp, but surprisingly boring. Dessert (finally!) was a dark chocolate crepe. With 2 mimosas and a juice, the tab, with tip, was $38.

1460 Third Street Promenade (corner of Broadway), Santa Monica
310-576-0499

6. Also had an In-N-Out Burger (animal style). Wish they were here. And a carnitas taco from the Grand Central Market in downtown LA. It was huge, heaped with carnitas, onion, lettuce and some cheese. Served with lime slices -- had to eat it with a fork. Was about $2.

www.in-n-out.com
www.grandcentralsquare.com

Wish I had a digital camera....