Just finished watching the Weekend Morning Movie at the AMC Theater and saw "Wanted" starring Angelina Jolie. Yes, it's a action thriller with plenty of CGI and action. For peeps that like that kind of movie, I highly recommend this one. Oh, if you do go to the AM AMC movies... SIX BUCKS!
After the movie, I didn't remember where the heck my car was so I wandered around for a long time trying to find it and along the way, I saw lots of restaurants that I'll have to bring the Foodies to check out. Chadaka Thai and Flavor of India are a couple I passed by. The great find of the day was the Dollar Book Store on San Fernando Rd, right in Old Town Burbank. What a great store! I could spend days there! It reminds me very much of Pasadena.
At 11 a.m. the parking garages were packed already causing me to be very late as I actually wanted to see Iron Man before it goes off the air. "Wanted" at the 11am showing was about 3/4 full! But this was opening weekend so it's understandable. I actually don't like to go to the movies until they've been out for several weeks so I can sit in a nice quiet, empty theater. I know, I'm weird, but I hate being packed in like sardines and some big slob with a horrible cold spewing all kinds of infectious diseases into the air... well, okay maybe I'm a microbe-phobic crazy. It's just that I caught 3 horrible colds/flu/viruses this year and I usually only get sick maybe once a year at the most.
During the summer it's way cool to do your walking around in the morning before it heats up. And I like $6 movies over the Arclight $14 movies and the horrible traffic and parking.
I was so knocked out about how great this area of Burbank has now become. I used to work in Burbank about a mile away and it was a sleepy, boring community and the hot restaurant was Gimela's Sub sandwich place... which is still there I believe with great sandwiches still.
Gotta run, Peace out.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Baracoa Cuban Cafe - Atwater Village
3175 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 665-9590
www.baracoacubancafe.com
I decided I needed to find a replacement Cuban restaurant for Versailles as I really enjoy the food there, but hate the wait, the tough parking and in pursuit of a new Cuban place I found Baracoa.Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 665-9590
www.baracoacubancafe.com
Baracoa Cuban Cafe
Category: Cuban
My Arroz con Pollo was delicious. A super bargain at $7 which includes a small but great salad and a few slices of plantains! The plantains were oh so good! Fresh hot bread before the dinners hit the spot although no butter with the bread was a glaring omission and even the salad was noteworthy as well. No iceberg here. Everything I tasted here was great! Oh... do not miss the Tres leche (3 milk) cake... that was incredible. One of those cakes where everyone who tried it was moaning primal utterances in sheer rapture! Lisa's Cuban Sandwich was also tasty!
The chef is apparently an upscale chef so his more expensive dishes look very tempting for next time here and yes, there will definitely be a next time.
I now read the flan is a must try here as well. Ha! Another excuse to return! Oh yes, corkage is a very reasonable $5. The biggest booth/table is for 10 peeps. When I return, there's many dishes I want to try but for first timers, I say try to get the Arroz co Pollo as it is a super bargain and delicious. It's a little different that the Mexican version as it comes with plantains and it came with a whole leg quarter on the bone whereas the Mexican versions I've had were boneless chunks of breast meat with a lot of tomato salsa kind of sauce. Here, you get a LOT of rice and it really filled me up. This place could handle up to 10 people together, but when I come back I'll do a table of 4 plus a table of 8 and that should be cool.
Oh it was pointed out by a Yelper that to snag the single table in the back that can accomodate 8-10 you should call a couple hours ahead as they don't take reservations. Ha! That's exactly what I did, but I didn't know that's what I was supposed to do... Love when a non-plan comes together like it was a plan.
Monday, June 23, 2008
El Tepeyac Cafe - Burritos as Big as Your Head!
812 N Evergreen Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 267-8668
Los Angeles, CA 90033
(323) 267-8668
El Tepeyac Cafe
Categories: Coffee & Tea, Mexican
Joe's Pizza - Welcome to L.A.!
111 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 395-9222
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 395-9222
Joe's Pizza
Category: Pizza
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
4 of us met at Joe's to try out New York's finest and it did not disappoint. Our group shared a taste of each type so we got to sample many different slices. We ate here on the 1st official day open which was Sat. 11/10/07.
Pizza slices were delicious. We tried various slices. Fresh Mozzarella w/fresh basil & EVOO generously drizzled. Slice of Pepperoni, slice of Sicilian w/sausage, regular slice w/Anchovy, one with mushroom and a slice of Margherita. Joe was there tossing pies. They are very generous with the toppings. The crust is crispy compared to most LA pizza's. Not cheap at $17-20 per pizza plus $3/topping.
The service was excellent, but disorganized as this was the first day open. They don't have a system yet for which customer gets what slice or who paid for what slice and was on the honor system and they'd ask me what I ordered. When I saw I wasn't getting the 2nd slice I'd ordered, I reminded the cashier what I ordered and Joe jumped in and made up my slice for me and would signal me 1 minute to go and again signal me when it was ready and handed it to me personally. Joe gets 5 stars for customer service. When ordering toppings on slices, they basically take a cooked cheese slice add the toppings and then bake it again to heat the toppings.
My favorite topping was the sausage and I had that with a slice of Sicilian (square) and loved the sausage that had nice flavor of fennel. Not nearly as bold as Mozza's fennel sausage which bowled me over but Joe's sausage was sliced and if I recall, Mozza's sausage was crumbled, but I could be mistaken, I just remember that Mozza's sausage was fantastic. But I'm not comparing the two places, sorry for the tangent.
I've never been a fan of the anchovy and this slice proved no different. The slice came with 3-4 whole fillets of anchovy so again the toppings ($0.75 each topping) are quite generous and my friends that ordered them loved them.
The crust is what I noticed is much different than all other pizzas I've had and being a poker player, believe me... I've had a lot of pizza including Casa Bianca which I felt is so overrated. Casa Buono in Echo Park, is delish and much preferred over Casa Bianca. Back to the crust, sorry, the crust is very crispy and it is delicious. However, I think I'd rather have a slice from Johnnie's Pizza in MdR or S.M. but haven't had a slice at Johnnie's for a long time, so I better grab a slice there before I make that definite call. I think my L.A. Foodies Group (www.LAfoodies.org) will have to have a Pizza taste test between the two pizza joints.
My favorite style of pizza is Chicago deep dish pizza and my fav place used to be Chicago Pizza Works which is no longer in biz unfortunately. I just loved that sweet crust and the gigantic slices. 1 slice you were full, two slices and you are a glutton. One slice was a full meal.
The place is tiny, maybe 600s.f for the entire restaurant and there's 3 inside tiny tables that seat 2-3 people and one outside table without chairs, but I guess you can grab some empty chairs from inside. This is basically a pizza to go joint and if you want to go together as a large foodie group, I'd recommend you buy a few pizzas (they call them pies) and bring some blankets and your own wine and drinks and walk 1/2 block West towards the beach and dine picnic style on the lawn and it would make for an awesome group pizza outing.
I'll probably organize a bigger group outing like described above and will to do a taste off between Johnnie's and Joe's. Should be fun!
Joe's is sure to be a success because during the summer, there's a bizillion beachgoers that will walk by the place every day. I live in Hollywood and I ask myself, would I drive all the way from Hollywood fight the traffic and parking (park at Colorado Place Mall free 3 hr parking) to eat at Joe's. Probably not unless I was meeting a group of my foodie friends to share the experience. It's not a date place, it's a eat and go place or pizza to go. I will certainly go back again, but only if convenient or with a group.
I gave it a moderate $$ rating as 2 slices of pizza and a drink cost me about $9 which is a $ rating, but for pizza, that's on the high end as my slice of sausage pizza was $4.
So, if this NY pizza is as good as it gets in NY, then the LA pizza joints have nothing to fear and the New Yorkers who proclaim that NY is the pizza capital of the universe, get over it. LA has many excellent pizza joints. I've never been to NY so I cannot compare the other pizza joints to Joe's but from the written reviews of Joe's and the constant NY fans proclaiming NY pizza is best, I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. LA kicks out some fine pizza as well.
I give it 4 stars as it is excellent pizza, but it didn't give me the "OMG, this is the best ever" tingling feeling. I'm sure some of the the NY'ers will probably blast me, but so be it.
Welcome to L.A. Joe! I wish you much success.
Pizza slices were delicious. We tried various slices. Fresh Mozzarella w/fresh basil & EVOO generously drizzled. Slice of Pepperoni, slice of Sicilian w/sausage, regular slice w/Anchovy, one with mushroom and a slice of Margherita. Joe was there tossing pies. They are very generous with the toppings. The crust is crispy compared to most LA pizza's. Not cheap at $17-20 per pizza plus $3/topping.
The service was excellent, but disorganized as this was the first day open. They don't have a system yet for which customer gets what slice or who paid for what slice and was on the honor system and they'd ask me what I ordered. When I saw I wasn't getting the 2nd slice I'd ordered, I reminded the cashier what I ordered and Joe jumped in and made up my slice for me and would signal me 1 minute to go and again signal me when it was ready and handed it to me personally. Joe gets 5 stars for customer service. When ordering toppings on slices, they basically take a cooked cheese slice add the toppings and then bake it again to heat the toppings.
My favorite topping was the sausage and I had that with a slice of Sicilian (square) and loved the sausage that had nice flavor of fennel. Not nearly as bold as Mozza's fennel sausage which bowled me over but Joe's sausage was sliced and if I recall, Mozza's sausage was crumbled, but I could be mistaken, I just remember that Mozza's sausage was fantastic. But I'm not comparing the two places, sorry for the tangent.
I've never been a fan of the anchovy and this slice proved no different. The slice came with 3-4 whole fillets of anchovy so again the toppings ($0.75 each topping) are quite generous and my friends that ordered them loved them.
The crust is what I noticed is much different than all other pizzas I've had and being a poker player, believe me... I've had a lot of pizza including Casa Bianca which I felt is so overrated. Casa Buono in Echo Park, is delish and much preferred over Casa Bianca. Back to the crust, sorry, the crust is very crispy and it is delicious. However, I think I'd rather have a slice from Johnnie's Pizza in MdR or S.M. but haven't had a slice at Johnnie's for a long time, so I better grab a slice there before I make that definite call. I think my L.A. Foodies Group (www.LAfoodies.org) will have to have a Pizza taste test between the two pizza joints.
My favorite style of pizza is Chicago deep dish pizza and my fav place used to be Chicago Pizza Works which is no longer in biz unfortunately. I just loved that sweet crust and the gigantic slices. 1 slice you were full, two slices and you are a glutton. One slice was a full meal.
The place is tiny, maybe 600s.f for the entire restaurant and there's 3 inside tiny tables that seat 2-3 people and one outside table without chairs, but I guess you can grab some empty chairs from inside. This is basically a pizza to go joint and if you want to go together as a large foodie group, I'd recommend you buy a few pizzas (they call them pies) and bring some blankets and your own wine and drinks and walk 1/2 block West towards the beach and dine picnic style on the lawn and it would make for an awesome group pizza outing.
I'll probably organize a bigger group outing like described above and will to do a taste off between Johnnie's and Joe's. Should be fun!
Joe's is sure to be a success because during the summer, there's a bizillion beachgoers that will walk by the place every day. I live in Hollywood and I ask myself, would I drive all the way from Hollywood fight the traffic and parking (park at Colorado Place Mall free 3 hr parking) to eat at Joe's. Probably not unless I was meeting a group of my foodie friends to share the experience. It's not a date place, it's a eat and go place or pizza to go. I will certainly go back again, but only if convenient or with a group.
I gave it a moderate $$ rating as 2 slices of pizza and a drink cost me about $9 which is a $ rating, but for pizza, that's on the high end as my slice of sausage pizza was $4.
So, if this NY pizza is as good as it gets in NY, then the LA pizza joints have nothing to fear and the New Yorkers who proclaim that NY is the pizza capital of the universe, get over it. LA has many excellent pizza joints. I've never been to NY so I cannot compare the other pizza joints to Joe's but from the written reviews of Joe's and the constant NY fans proclaiming NY pizza is best, I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. LA kicks out some fine pizza as well.
I give it 4 stars as it is excellent pizza, but it didn't give me the "OMG, this is the best ever" tingling feeling. I'm sure some of the the NY'ers will probably blast me, but so be it.
Welcome to L.A. Joe! I wish you much success.
Musha Restaurant - Izakaya
1725 W Carson St
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 787-7344
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 787-7344
Musha Restaurant
Categories: Japanese, Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Torrance
Ate here a few weeks ago with about a dozen of my L.A. Foodies (www.LAfoodies.org) and this was my first experience with a izakaya joint. A few of the dishes were delicious as Yelped such as the Ebi Mayo, cheese risotto, braised pork belly but surprisingly the Udon noodles were way overcooked and bloated. The fried rice was bland and quite small for the money. All the dishese were quite small portions but we were making a dinner out of the dishes, not here late after partying. The Kirin draft was excellent and cold a big plus. The mackerel sashimi was surprisingly good though they torched it before serving. If the Udon noodles were cooked properly, I would have given it 4 stars.
While the cheese risotto was delicious, the cheese block that it's served in looks very scary as they've probably been using that block for months or years to serve their risotto. How sanitary can that be? Price was reasonable and the place was good, but it didn't hit a home run for me, unfortunately.
If I really wanted to correctly experience an Izakaya joint, I guess I'll have to be there late and close to home but this is in Torrance and I dined here before a poker game as I wanted to try a new style of Japanese food and play poker so I could multitask and save gas.
Maybe it's me or maybe I'm overly critical, but it's tough to find a perfect meal in L.A. without spending a fortune.
While the cheese risotto was delicious, the cheese block that it's served in looks very scary as they've probably been using that block for months or years to serve their risotto. How sanitary can that be? Price was reasonable and the place was good, but it didn't hit a home run for me, unfortunately.
If I really wanted to correctly experience an Izakaya joint, I guess I'll have to be there late and close to home but this is in Torrance and I dined here before a poker game as I wanted to try a new style of Japanese food and play poker so I could multitask and save gas.
Maybe it's me or maybe I'm overly critical, but it's tough to find a perfect meal in L.A. without spending a fortune.
Giamela's Submarine Sandwiches
3178 Los Feliz Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 661-9444
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 661-9444
Giamela's Submarine Sandwiches
Category: Sandwiches
Neighborhood: Atwater Village
I can't believe that the first time I give a 5 star rating is to a sub sandwich joint. Back in the 70's I worked in Burbank a few blocks away from Giamela's and that's where I ate at least once per week. I don't recall ever trying the pizza, but I used to love my beef pepper steak, meatball and pastrami sandwiches, I'd load up on the jalapenos and would be in hog heaven. Fast forward to a week ago, I was semi hungry and was trying to decide whether to eat at Giamela's or at India Sweets and Spices both on Los Feliz Blvd and very close to each other.
My choice is obvious and I was pleased to see that their excellent sandwiches were basically unchanged from my memories of the 70's. I ordered a large beef pepper steak which is a hot sandwich loaded with coarse chopped dill pickles, onions, cooked green bell peppers and lots of jalapenos. It was just like I remembered it. A ton of food, I barely managed to finish the thing but regretted it as I was overstuffed. I should have eaten half and the other half the next day. The hot pastrami sandwiches are also excellent but I'd guess there's a better one out there somewhere. I've eaten at Langer's which is also a good pastrami as well as Canter's but I'm not ready to say who makes the best pastrami.
But for a beef steak and peppers sandwich, I don't know of a better place. So, I give them my first 5 star rating for a restaurant.
My choice is obvious and I was pleased to see that their excellent sandwiches were basically unchanged from my memories of the 70's. I ordered a large beef pepper steak which is a hot sandwich loaded with coarse chopped dill pickles, onions, cooked green bell peppers and lots of jalapenos. It was just like I remembered it. A ton of food, I barely managed to finish the thing but regretted it as I was overstuffed. I should have eaten half and the other half the next day. The hot pastrami sandwiches are also excellent but I'd guess there's a better one out there somewhere. I've eaten at Langer's which is also a good pastrami as well as Canter's but I'm not ready to say who makes the best pastrami.
But for a beef steak and peppers sandwich, I don't know of a better place. So, I give them my first 5 star rating for a restaurant.
Pizzeria Mozza
I ate here a few months ago and really enjoyed the pizza with the fennel sausage. That sausage has a very distinctive and delicious fennel flavor. I loved it! Probably for that sausage alone I give it 4 stars. I haven't been back since, but if the other dishes are just as good, I might be willing to bump my review up to a 5 star. The salad we shared was good as was the wine. My friend was not impressed with the pizza as she felt it was too greasy, but I didn't mind, it was good.
Casa Bianca Pizza Pie
1650 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 256-9617
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 256-9617
Casa Bianca Pizza Pie
Category: Pizza
Neighborhood: Eagle Rock
This is about the most over rated pizza I've ever eaten! We had a reservation for 12 and it still took over an hour of waiting. I booked this place based on J Gold's review and expected more, much more. It was about the only time I've ever NOT liked the way the crust tasted. Maybe I'm missing something, but the crust just didn't taste good to me and our group ordered 4 pizzas and I tried them all. I will say the smoked eggplant and sausage and onion pizza was decent because of the toppings and if I had liked the crust, I'd give the place about 3-4 stars as the wait is crazy. They need to get a better handle on their scheduling.
Fortunately, we brought several bottles to share and that took my mind off the pizza and the long wait and we all managed to have a good time as our group of foodies www.LAfoodies.org are a fun loving, jovial group of people.
To be honest, I'd rather get a Papa John pizza or even Dominoes, although I'm boycotting Dominoes for other reasons which I'm going to give them a very harsh review separately from this one.
The garlic bread was very good, but that's hard to mess up. I would not make this a destination restaurant but if someone asked me to go here, I'd first try to convince them that we should go elsewhere, hence only 2 stars.
Fortunately, we brought several bottles to share and that took my mind off the pizza and the long wait and we all managed to have a good time as our group of foodies www.LAfoodies.org are a fun loving, jovial group of people.
To be honest, I'd rather get a Papa John pizza or even Dominoes, although I'm boycotting Dominoes for other reasons which I'm going to give them a very harsh review separately from this one.
The garlic bread was very good, but that's hard to mess up. I would not make this a destination restaurant but if someone asked me to go here, I'd first try to convince them that we should go elsewhere, hence only 2 stars.
Din Tai Fung Dumpling House - The Gold Standard for Chinese Dumplings
This is a 5 star dumpling house. NOT dim sum as they don't serve several of the traditional dim sum dishes. But for dumplings, I can think of none better. I've eaten here twice, the first time with my www.LAfoodies.org group and once with my GF. This place is much better with a group of 10 people as several of the dishes come with 10 dumplings so it's ideal for a big table. The cooked to order dumplings cannot be beat. About the only way to get better is to have my departed grandmother come back and make me some dumplings. Yes, I'm Chinese and while my granny didn't make a wide variety of dumplings, the one's she made of course were the best.
But for a restaurant, I've not had any better dumplings so I'm compelled to give it 5 stars. Our group of 11 arrived 15 minutes before it opened and got seated promptly but the line was huge and we were thankful the early birds got the worms or dumplings as the case may be. I was honestly blown away with how wonderful everthing tasted.
Dining with my GF wasn't as fulfilling an experience as we could only order 3-4 dishes so we didn't get the variety as with a big group. What we order was excellent, but I love more variety of a larger group.
But for a restaurant, I've not had any better dumplings so I'm compelled to give it 5 stars. Our group of 11 arrived 15 minutes before it opened and got seated promptly but the line was huge and we were thankful the early birds got the worms or dumplings as the case may be. I was honestly blown away with how wonderful everthing tasted.
Dining with my GF wasn't as fulfilling an experience as we could only order 3-4 dishes so we didn't get the variety as with a big group. What we order was excellent, but I love more variety of a larger group.
Santouka Ramen
What's up? Am I the only one that has tried the Spicy Miso Ramen? The ramen my GF got was tasty, but I cannot remember which one it was... But the Spicy Miso is unforgettable. So people, if you like your food with a little heat, you gotta get the spicy miso ramen. I got the spicy miso ramen despite the objections of my GF to get the regular miso ramen. It was EXCELLENT! We got a side order of roast pork which was good and the ramen was cooked to perfection, the cost reasonable and the flavor was delicious! I haven't been to many ramen houses excepting Orochon for their super hot bowl of ramen which I could eat, but not in under 30 minutes to make the wall of flame. I ordered the hottest Orochon ramen and while I could eat it, it was too spicy to be able to taste the food.
I highly recommend Santouka. Their ramen is better than what I can make so it must be excellent.
I highly recommend Santouka. Their ramen is better than what I can make so it must be excellent.
Tommy's Original World Famous Hamburgers
2575 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 389-1682
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 389-1682
Tommy's Original World Famous Hamburgers
Categories: Burgers, Fast Food, American (Traditional)
Neighborhoods: Westlake, Silver Lake
Some might call the chiliburgers gross, others call it heaven. I'm in the heaven camp... when I was a kid, my parents used to bribe me by promising to take me to Tommy's after going to church, if I'd agree to go to church. Deal. I'd go to church. Fast forward 40 years, I still love this place. The burgers seem smaller than when I was 8 years old, but I guess I've grown. But the burgers are the same greasy heaven that I've always enjoyed. I will always get a bunch of jalapenos and eat every one of those yellow peppers that wreak havoc with my digestive tract the next day, but I don't care. Oh, I enjoy their fries, but usually skip the fries and just go for a double chili cheeseburger. Woohooo!
I eat at the Hollywood Blvd. location 99 percent of the time as I drive past that one almost daily. But I don't eat at Tommy's too often as I've been in search of the best burger lately. Fathers Office is the best gourmet burger I've found so far but I think we are going to try the Japanese Kobe burger at Boa for $16.
I eat at the Hollywood Blvd. location 99 percent of the time as I drive past that one almost daily. But I don't eat at Tommy's too often as I've been in search of the best burger lately. Fathers Office is the best gourmet burger I've found so far but I think we are going to try the Japanese Kobe burger at Boa for $16.
Father's Office - Best Burger You Can Buy?
Okay, I'm giving this place 5 stars reluctantly. I thought the burger was about the best I've had at a restaurant, but I think my burgers are better. However, I loved the sweet potato fries so that made the 5th star. I had the burger, one beer and 1/2 order of the fries and with tip it came to $22.00. It's in a very hip location right on Montana in S.M. so rents are sky high.
This was the first time I've ever spent anywhere near that kind of money for a burger. I should knock it back down a star cause I think it's a little pricey, but I admit it is delicious, so my 5 star rating will stand.
We got there before it opened so no problem getting a table or service.
This was the first time I've ever spent anywhere near that kind of money for a burger. I should knock it back down a star cause I think it's a little pricey, but I admit it is delicious, so my 5 star rating will stand.
We got there before it opened so no problem getting a table or service.
Park's Korean BBQ
I had high expectations as my friend, super foodie Erica raved to me that THIS is THE PLACE for Korean BBQ, bar none. She turned me onto Suhrabal and we dined together at Soot Bull Jeep so the girl knows what she's talking about. However, with rare exception I have to definitely disagree with her on thiis place.
The food: Pricey yet average at best. 12 in our group dined on 7 meat orders and that was enough food for all.
The Meats: We ordered the beef tongue which was very good, 3 orders of Prime Kalbi, and 2 orders the pork belly and 2 orders of seasoned Kalbi. We also tried one of their hot casserole dishes. I was surprised that the meat was not all that tender considering it was supposed to be prime meat. I didn't like the fact that we couldn't really cook for ourselves and I actually like my meat slightly charred whereas the server would only cook the meat until just done. THEY TOOK AWAY THE BONES BEFORE WE COULD GNAW ON THEM!!! WTF! The pork was tough and had bones in them. Surprisingly the beef tongue was excellent, no complaints here. All the meat dishes were very tasty, don't get me wrong, but none of the dishes floored me.
The panchan was sparse and uninspiring. To get napa kim chee costs $3 extra per order. Rice was extra as well. WTF!!! There was not enough of the spicy Korean hot bean paste, had to request more. They had Thai Chili Garlic sauce on the table for Pete's sake!
The service was average at best. While our server was affable and friendly, I had to ask him several times for items before receiving them. I asked for the bones back and he said the kitchen was cutting the meat off and will be returning the meat which never happened.
We dined upstairs in a private room which was sparse. Good ventilation and stoves. The stoves used whole wood coals and gas but for some reason, I didn't get the smokiness flavor like Soot Bull Jeep. I just don't know... it was well below my high expectations.
Pros: Cold beers, good ventilation, friendly place.
Cons: meats were not tender for the price, not able to cook for ourselves, napa kim chee and rice cost extra! Service average or below average. Average or below average in taste. Good, but nothing to rave about.
One of my dining friends, a Korean, also concurred with my opinion so I wasn't crazy. With beers, tax and tip, it cost about $30 per person for each of the 12 in our group.
I award this place 3 stars as the flavors and taste were fine, but nothing extraordinary. I should really only give it 2 stars when you consider the prices of the meat dishes at about $27-30 and supposedly they are prime cuts of meat. They looked like it as the meat was beautifully marbled with fat.
$2 valet parking.
The food: Pricey yet average at best. 12 in our group dined on 7 meat orders and that was enough food for all.
The Meats: We ordered the beef tongue which was very good, 3 orders of Prime Kalbi, and 2 orders the pork belly and 2 orders of seasoned Kalbi. We also tried one of their hot casserole dishes. I was surprised that the meat was not all that tender considering it was supposed to be prime meat. I didn't like the fact that we couldn't really cook for ourselves and I actually like my meat slightly charred whereas the server would only cook the meat until just done. THEY TOOK AWAY THE BONES BEFORE WE COULD GNAW ON THEM!!! WTF! The pork was tough and had bones in them. Surprisingly the beef tongue was excellent, no complaints here. All the meat dishes were very tasty, don't get me wrong, but none of the dishes floored me.
The panchan was sparse and uninspiring. To get napa kim chee costs $3 extra per order. Rice was extra as well. WTF!!! There was not enough of the spicy Korean hot bean paste, had to request more. They had Thai Chili Garlic sauce on the table for Pete's sake!
The service was average at best. While our server was affable and friendly, I had to ask him several times for items before receiving them. I asked for the bones back and he said the kitchen was cutting the meat off and will be returning the meat which never happened.
We dined upstairs in a private room which was sparse. Good ventilation and stoves. The stoves used whole wood coals and gas but for some reason, I didn't get the smokiness flavor like Soot Bull Jeep. I just don't know... it was well below my high expectations.
Pros: Cold beers, good ventilation, friendly place.
Cons: meats were not tender for the price, not able to cook for ourselves, napa kim chee and rice cost extra! Service average or below average. Average or below average in taste. Good, but nothing to rave about.
One of my dining friends, a Korean, also concurred with my opinion so I wasn't crazy. With beers, tax and tip, it cost about $30 per person for each of the 12 in our group.
I award this place 3 stars as the flavors and taste were fine, but nothing extraordinary. I should really only give it 2 stars when you consider the prices of the meat dishes at about $27-30 and supposedly they are prime cuts of meat. They looked like it as the meat was beautifully marbled with fat.
$2 valet parking.
Soot Bull Jeep - Love This Korean BBQ Place!
I've only eaten here once with a party of 14 and we took over several tables. The food was excellent, the flavors divine. It was the best Korean BBQ I've ever eaten (having been with/married to a Korean for 8+ yrs) and eating Korean BBQ countless times. So, this was my fav until I dined at Suhrabal which is my absolute KBBQ favorite place.
That said SBJ is certainly worthy of 5 stars. The cons are well documented... smoky inside, poor ventilation and sparks could ruin a ladies nylons or silk dress, so ladies... wear jeans as burning embers do leak out of the stoves. But the flavors.... yum, yum, yum!!!
For Korean BBQ, many consider this one to be the best. I wouldn't argue with them, but Suhrabal happens to be my #1 fav and SBJ is my #2. I haven't tried Chosan but I used to love the restaurant that was there before Chosan.
That said SBJ is certainly worthy of 5 stars. The cons are well documented... smoky inside, poor ventilation and sparks could ruin a ladies nylons or silk dress, so ladies... wear jeans as burning embers do leak out of the stoves. But the flavors.... yum, yum, yum!!!
For Korean BBQ, many consider this one to be the best. I wouldn't argue with them, but Suhrabal happens to be my #1 fav and SBJ is my #2. I haven't tried Chosan but I used to love the restaurant that was there before Chosan.
El Parian Restaurant - Great if you are a Birria Fan
1528 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 386-7361
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 386-7361
El Parian Restaurant
Category: Mexican
Neighborhood: Pico Union
After reading a J Gold review of the place, I thought I'd give it a whirl. 3 of us ventured here... my excuse was that I was working on a project a few blocks away, so it would be a convenient place to check out.
The goat tacos were supposed to be to die for and it was... okay. Didn't knock my socks off. One of my dining companions ordered a burrito that was cheap and huge. I didn't know her well enough to ask for a sample but she said it was excellent. My other diner ordered the the same carne asada taco and goat taco.
I liked the carne asado taco better, but then I prefer beef to goat. So, while the food was good, I would not drive over here specifically for a meal here. It was fine as I was in the hood.
1/15/08 Update: I just had their frickin burrito with carne asada, rice and beans inside for about $5 and a Pacifico to wash it down and it was superb. Not being a goat/birria fan the birria tacos didn't thrill me. Back to the burrito, the thing was delicious, beers cold and while I wouldn't drive 15 miles to go here, I have no problem stopping in for their big ole burrito if I'm in the hood.
The goat tacos were supposed to be to die for and it was... okay. Didn't knock my socks off. One of my dining companions ordered a burrito that was cheap and huge. I didn't know her well enough to ask for a sample but she said it was excellent. My other diner ordered the the same carne asada taco and goat taco.
I liked the carne asado taco better, but then I prefer beef to goat. So, while the food was good, I would not drive over here specifically for a meal here. It was fine as I was in the hood.
1/15/08 Update: I just had their frickin burrito with carne asada, rice and beans inside for about $5 and a Pacifico to wash it down and it was superb. Not being a goat/birria fan the birria tacos didn't thrill me. Back to the burrito, the thing was delicious, beers cold and while I wouldn't drive 15 miles to go here, I have no problem stopping in for their big ole burrito if I'm in the hood.
Suhrabal Restaurant - My Absolutely #1 Favorite Korean BBQ Place... Today
100 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 388-1975
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 388-1975
Suhrabal Restaurant
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Wilshire Center
My favorite Korean BBQ place. I've been a fan of Korean BBQ for 25 years. I've learned to make my own kim chee and cook KBBQ at home, but this place does it better than I can do myself or any other restaurant so far. The cuts of meat were superb, the cost though not cheap is quite reasonable. The bbq uses some sort of special briquettes but still gives a nice smoked flavor. The panchan was amazing. The place is very nice. I dined here a few days before the shooting and a few days after the incident.
The second time, we dined in one of the private rooms which I didn't like. I would much prefer to dine in the main restaurant in the future. But none the less, the food is amazing. I could go on and on, but my 5 star rating should speak for itself. Yes, I've been to Soot Bul Jeep, Park's BBQ and dozens of other KBBQ places. Haven't been to Chosan yet, but used to be a regular customer of the restaurant that was there before Chosan.
12/19: Went to Chosan for the lunch special. It was good, very good but to be fair, we had the lunch special which is cooked in the kitchen not at the grills so I cannot give a fair review of Chosan at this time.
The second time, we dined in one of the private rooms which I didn't like. I would much prefer to dine in the main restaurant in the future. But none the less, the food is amazing. I could go on and on, but my 5 star rating should speak for itself. Yes, I've been to Soot Bul Jeep, Park's BBQ and dozens of other KBBQ places. Haven't been to Chosan yet, but used to be a regular customer of the restaurant that was there before Chosan.
12/19: Went to Chosan for the lunch special. It was good, very good but to be fair, we had the lunch special which is cooked in the kitchen not at the grills so I cannot give a fair review of Chosan at this time.
Mayflower Restaurant - Best Value Chinese Food
685 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-0116
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-0116
Mayflower Restaurant
Category: Chinese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
This is your typical family Chinese restaurant. Excellent taste, some surprisingly tasty gravies/sauces and flavors and great prices on Lobster, crab and clams, I think shrimp is reasonable too. You cannot go wrong with any of the seafood dishes and most all the dishes are great. Event the tourist dishes are good... you know, sweet and sour, fried rice etc. Okay, I've eaten here at least 30+ times and I'll tell you my favs. Lobster with ginger/green onions, simple clean flavor so you can truly enjoy the sweet lobster meat. I'll order the crab the same way as well, but not at the same time. Clams in the black bean sauce. The sizzling beef is very tender, peppery and loaded with flavor. Beef with the XO sauce. Not my fav, but most of my family adore the spicy peel and eat shrimp. I'm lazy and I'll just rip off the legs and head and not even bother peeling off the skin most of the time. I'll also eat the shrimp heads... just like at the sushi bar. The pea leaves are excellent as is all the veggie dishes. I believe there is a spicy eggplant with tofu that my veggie friends really enjoy. I never order fried rice preferring simple white rice as all the dishes have lots of gravies and bold flavors so fried rice is just a waste of money to me. Yes, love the chow fun, the duck, chicken... most of the dishes are excellent and at about 20-35% cheaper than Empress or Ocean and about 60-65% cheaper than the Westside Chinese places. Never a wait and they now have opened both spaces more than doubling the size of the place.
Dine at the larger of the two spaces as they seem to only have one kitchen and they have to take the dishes outside the front door and back in to the smaller space which is bizarre.
No dim sum but that shouldn't be considered a negative. Awhile back, when they used to have the daily specials hand written and posted on the walls, that was when the food was the best.
I give it 5 stars because it's food is excellent and a bargain price. It's not the best, but it's the best for the money in LA's Chinatown. Not a place to impress a date, but for everyday family dining, this is the place to go.
Dine at the larger of the two spaces as they seem to only have one kitchen and they have to take the dishes outside the front door and back in to the smaller space which is bizarre.
No dim sum but that shouldn't be considered a negative. Awhile back, when they used to have the daily specials hand written and posted on the walls, that was when the food was the best.
I give it 5 stars because it's food is excellent and a bargain price. It's not the best, but it's the best for the money in LA's Chinatown. Not a place to impress a date, but for everyday family dining, this is the place to go.
Family Pastry - Great bake Char Siu Baos
715 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 622-5255
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 622-5255
Family Pastry
Category: Bakeries
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Surprisingly this is the first time I ate here today having walked by it at least 100 times. Just finished eating dim sum, walnut honey shrimp, chow fun and Peking Duck at ABC Seafood. That will be next review.
I was surprised they sold dim sum, I just thought it was a bakery/pastry shop. I bought a couple of sticky rice/chicken wrapped in lotus leaves a mere buck apiece... Yum! Excellent again. I zipped in the microwave for 1 minute but it is so big it should take about 1.3 minutes to get it hot. However, if you are a snob, to properly heat it, you should steam it for about 20 minutes. But the baked Char siu baos were surprisingly delicious, but unique. The bread was very light, slightly sweet like Hawaiian sweet bread, larger than average and very generous bbq pork filling. The filling is slightly dryer and not as gooey as most other places, but I kinda liked it and I'm sure many who prefer a less sweet filling will be rocked. They were excellent. Not quite as sweet as most of the other places, but the bread... the bread is exceptional! If you want the Bao's to really taste great, you should put it in a paper bag and zip it for about 40 seconds and then you will fully appreciate the excellent taste. Most of the items I bought would also benefit greatly if I microwaved them. The tart should just be slightly warmed, not hot.
I just finished tasting their giant 65 cent Almond cookie! Excellent! The curry beef filled pastry is like an empanada sized pastry except the pastry is really light and flaky and delicious! This is the best of class for those curry filled meat pastries. Seriously. They are way better than empanadas and 1/2 the price! The egg custard tarts were fantastic! As good as any I've ever had and being Chinese, I've had 50 years of egg tarts. The only way they could be better is if I was able to pop them into my mouth just after they've cooled off enough from the oven so they won't burn the roof of my mouth. The custard filling was perfection and the pastry was delicious and they just melt in your mouth. Holy smokes for 50-65 cents each!!!
Sorry I just ate dim sum at ABC before stopping into this place on a whim so I didn't try out the dumplings, siu mai, har gow, pot stickers and the like, but I'm definitely going to do so at a later date. I completely filled a big pink box for under $8. Those that gave the place below average ratings, the trick is to go early in the morning when they just finish cooking the dim sum... not in the afternoon or end of the day when they've been sitting around all day. This will make a huge difference with the taste, texture and flavors of the dim sum.
A few of the items were the best in my opinion at any price and all that I tried would probably be at least 4 stars but because of the bargain price, I've got to bump them up to 5 stars because of the bargain prices. Take out only.
1/24 Just went back for the third time and I'd now rate the baked dim sum at 4.5 stars and the steamed ones at 2.5-3 stars. I went there around 11am and the har gow and siu mai was from the day before and a bit dried out and cold. The baked char siu baos were cold. Very Average this day. So it really makes a difference if you get them fresh and hot that day.
Update 1/16: Went there again yesterday at 5pm or about an hour before closing. Tried the dim sum, the har gow and siu mai which costs only 35 cents per piece and they tasted good and no funny smell that is sometimes found with dim sum for some unknown reason. This time, the egg tarts looked like they've been sitting around all day as opposed to getting them fresh out of the oven. Makes a HUGE difference. Ditto with the dim sum, fresh out the steamer also makes a huge difference. Every thing was very good, but I am going to trim it back a bit to 4 stars. It is still an excellent place to go to for low price dim sum but go early and it will be better than at the end of the day.
I was surprised they sold dim sum, I just thought it was a bakery/pastry shop. I bought a couple of sticky rice/chicken wrapped in lotus leaves a mere buck apiece... Yum! Excellent again. I zipped in the microwave for 1 minute but it is so big it should take about 1.3 minutes to get it hot. However, if you are a snob, to properly heat it, you should steam it for about 20 minutes. But the baked Char siu baos were surprisingly delicious, but unique. The bread was very light, slightly sweet like Hawaiian sweet bread, larger than average and very generous bbq pork filling. The filling is slightly dryer and not as gooey as most other places, but I kinda liked it and I'm sure many who prefer a less sweet filling will be rocked. They were excellent. Not quite as sweet as most of the other places, but the bread... the bread is exceptional! If you want the Bao's to really taste great, you should put it in a paper bag and zip it for about 40 seconds and then you will fully appreciate the excellent taste. Most of the items I bought would also benefit greatly if I microwaved them. The tart should just be slightly warmed, not hot.
I just finished tasting their giant 65 cent Almond cookie! Excellent! The curry beef filled pastry is like an empanada sized pastry except the pastry is really light and flaky and delicious! This is the best of class for those curry filled meat pastries. Seriously. They are way better than empanadas and 1/2 the price! The egg custard tarts were fantastic! As good as any I've ever had and being Chinese, I've had 50 years of egg tarts. The only way they could be better is if I was able to pop them into my mouth just after they've cooled off enough from the oven so they won't burn the roof of my mouth. The custard filling was perfection and the pastry was delicious and they just melt in your mouth. Holy smokes for 50-65 cents each!!!
Sorry I just ate dim sum at ABC before stopping into this place on a whim so I didn't try out the dumplings, siu mai, har gow, pot stickers and the like, but I'm definitely going to do so at a later date. I completely filled a big pink box for under $8. Those that gave the place below average ratings, the trick is to go early in the morning when they just finish cooking the dim sum... not in the afternoon or end of the day when they've been sitting around all day. This will make a huge difference with the taste, texture and flavors of the dim sum.
A few of the items were the best in my opinion at any price and all that I tried would probably be at least 4 stars but because of the bargain price, I've got to bump them up to 5 stars because of the bargain prices. Take out only.
1/24 Just went back for the third time and I'd now rate the baked dim sum at 4.5 stars and the steamed ones at 2.5-3 stars. I went there around 11am and the har gow and siu mai was from the day before and a bit dried out and cold. The baked char siu baos were cold. Very Average this day. So it really makes a difference if you get them fresh and hot that day.
Update 1/16: Went there again yesterday at 5pm or about an hour before closing. Tried the dim sum, the har gow and siu mai which costs only 35 cents per piece and they tasted good and no funny smell that is sometimes found with dim sum for some unknown reason. This time, the egg tarts looked like they've been sitting around all day as opposed to getting them fresh out of the oven. Makes a HUGE difference. Ditto with the dim sum, fresh out the steamer also makes a huge difference. Every thing was very good, but I am going to trim it back a bit to 4 stars. It is still an excellent place to go to for low price dim sum but go early and it will be better than at the end of the day.
Haru Ulala - My Fav Izakaya place
368 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(213) 620-1120
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(213) 620-1120
Izakaya Haru Ulala
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown
Six of us dined here last night on a Wed. and it was not busy at all. There was a problem with traffic for some unknown reason. Two of us arrived just before 7:30pm and we got several happy hour $2 beers and $3.50 sake with edaname.
Pechanga - Spicy tuna stuffed in a pepper - Awesome!
Okonomiyaki seafood - Great - Large portions
Okonomiyaki pork - almost as good, excellent
Grilled squid - Very good just a little over cooked but still delish
Spinach - okay, wouldn't reorder
Black Pork - Delish
Braised beef short ribs w/daikon - Awesome and tender
Salmon collar - delish, but I'm not really a Salmon fan but it was good
Soft shell crab 0 deep fried - Heaven!
Squid lips fried - good, but what deep fried food doesn't. Very chewy texture, almost tastes like fried chicken.
We ordered lots more dishes, just can't remember them all. For six of us, we could have eaten up at the bar but we chose to eat at a table so we could better chat with each other.
Happy Hours $2 Kirin drafts w/edaname or $3.50 sake w/edaname from 5:30-7:30pm. I sure got my money's worth last night! LOL
Service, a little slow, but friendly and attentive. They gave us happy hours prices on a few drinks past 7:30pm... so that was a big plus to the service. Friendly and cute young waitresses that didn't speak english very well, so obviously this is a place for the Japanese and not the tourists.
There's so many dishes on the hand written menu, I have to go back to try some more dishes. We grazed there for about 3 hours for about $25/person including one beer tax and tip. Two of us drank a lot more than the others at about 4-6 drinks and so we paid $35 including tax/tip. So it was surprisingly moderate in price.
A nice clean place, excellent food, moderate price, cold beer and sake and happy hour specials. This place rocks!
Pechanga - Spicy tuna stuffed in a pepper - Awesome!
Okonomiyaki seafood - Great - Large portions
Okonomiyaki pork - almost as good, excellent
Grilled squid - Very good just a little over cooked but still delish
Spinach - okay, wouldn't reorder
Black Pork - Delish
Braised beef short ribs w/daikon - Awesome and tender
Salmon collar - delish, but I'm not really a Salmon fan but it was good
Soft shell crab 0 deep fried - Heaven!
Squid lips fried - good, but what deep fried food doesn't. Very chewy texture, almost tastes like fried chicken.
We ordered lots more dishes, just can't remember them all. For six of us, we could have eaten up at the bar but we chose to eat at a table so we could better chat with each other.
Happy Hours $2 Kirin drafts w/edaname or $3.50 sake w/edaname from 5:30-7:30pm. I sure got my money's worth last night! LOL
Service, a little slow, but friendly and attentive. They gave us happy hours prices on a few drinks past 7:30pm... so that was a big plus to the service. Friendly and cute young waitresses that didn't speak english very well, so obviously this is a place for the Japanese and not the tourists.
There's so many dishes on the hand written menu, I have to go back to try some more dishes. We grazed there for about 3 hours for about $25/person including one beer tax and tip. Two of us drank a lot more than the others at about 4-6 drinks and so we paid $35 including tax/tip. So it was surprisingly moderate in price.
A nice clean place, excellent food, moderate price, cold beer and sake and happy hour specials. This place rocks!
Komasa Sushi Bar
351 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-1792
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-1792
Restaurant Komasa
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown
Dined here last night with the LA Sushi and Asian Foodies. I set the time for 6:15pm figuring this early on a Thursday it might not be a problem getting a table. Wrong. It was still packed and we didn't get a table until around 8:15pm but as others said, they were very good about taking my cell number and they did call me when our table was ready. While not waiting we walked around and found an empty sake bar called Joy Mart Sake Bar and while it looked scary empty we thought it to be a perfect place for some conversation without having to raise our voices. We ordered one Dragon roll and two orders of soft shelled crab for the six of us to keep our stomachs from growling while waiting for our table. The Dragon roll is fresh water eel and shrimp tempura roll and about 10 pieces or more per order which cost about $13. It was yummy as was the deep fried SS crab. They have various sake samplers and lots of beer and people ordered a sampler, plum wine and I ordered a few unfiltered Nigori cold sakes which cost $6.25 each 4 oz or a 750ml bottle is $30 which if we had planned to stay here the whole night, I would have ordered that. The food was surprisingly excellent and the drinks were too as well as the service. Sorry, I'm reviewing the wrong place... LOL
Komasa, okay we got seated finally and 2 friends and part of our group got seated earlier at the sushi bar and they gave us their spider roll (soft shell crab roll) that was of course tasty. We ordered uni with quail egg and it was only okay, but I knew that it didn't look exceptionally fress before I ordered it as my friend insisted that it was delicious and that I order it so against my better judgment I odered it but it wasn't bad, but not the freshest. We had salmon roe, good, yellowtail collar, very good, ama ebi very good (if the shrimps were bigger, I'd rate it excellent) salmon, very good, hamachi good and we ordered the hamachi belly which was excellent and the star of the evening. But it wasn't as cheap as we were expecting nor as good as we were expecting and I wouldn't wait 2 hours to dine here again. There's free parking if you know that it's around the corner on Central and you can make reservations mid week which I failed to do, hence the 2hr wait. When we left, there were empty tables, so this place might be best to go late as most typical Asians like me like to eat early. It cost us $38/person and that is after eating and drining at the other place first. They didn't itemize the bill so I couldn't tell if the bill was correct or not.
The food is decent, but surprisingly I felt it didn't live up to the high ratings of the other Yelpers.
Komasa, okay we got seated finally and 2 friends and part of our group got seated earlier at the sushi bar and they gave us their spider roll (soft shell crab roll) that was of course tasty. We ordered uni with quail egg and it was only okay, but I knew that it didn't look exceptionally fress before I ordered it as my friend insisted that it was delicious and that I order it so against my better judgment I odered it but it wasn't bad, but not the freshest. We had salmon roe, good, yellowtail collar, very good, ama ebi very good (if the shrimps were bigger, I'd rate it excellent) salmon, very good, hamachi good and we ordered the hamachi belly which was excellent and the star of the evening. But it wasn't as cheap as we were expecting nor as good as we were expecting and I wouldn't wait 2 hours to dine here again. There's free parking if you know that it's around the corner on Central and you can make reservations mid week which I failed to do, hence the 2hr wait. When we left, there were empty tables, so this place might be best to go late as most typical Asians like me like to eat early. It cost us $38/person and that is after eating and drining at the other place first. They didn't itemize the bill so I couldn't tell if the bill was correct or not.
The food is decent, but surprisingly I felt it didn't live up to the high ratings of the other Yelpers.
Joy Mart - Crazy Name, Great Sakes & Izakayas
137 Japanese Village…
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-9868
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-9868
Joy Mart
Categories: Sushi Bars, Japanese
Neighborhood: Downtown
We were waiting for a table at Komasa and while not waiting we walked around and found an empty sake bar called Joy Mart Sake Bar and while it looked scary empty we thought it to be a perfect place for some conversation without having to raise our voices. We ordered one Dragon roll and two orders of soft shelled crab and a simple order of spicy tuna roll for the six of us to keep our stomachs from growling while waiting for our table. The Dragon roll is fresh water eel and shrimp tempura roll and about 10 pieces or more per order which cost about $13. It was yummy as was the deep fried SS crab the spicy tuna while tasty was very plain as I usually like mine jazzed up with some smelt egg on the outside at the very least. They have various sake samplers and lots of beer and people ordered a sampler, plum wine and I ordered a few unfiltered Nigori cold sakes which cost $6.25 each 4 oz or a 750ml bottle is $30 which if we had planned to stay here the whole night, I would have ordered that. The food was surprisingly excellent and the drinks were too as well as the service. This place gets one more star over Komasa.
This place would make a good date place. We sat at the huge 8 seat table that is just massive and just inside the front doors After just reading the other reviews, I guess our experience was a bit nicer than average? The service was actually outstanding and they were very attentive. But it was pretty empty on a Thursday night. It is right across the way from the Shabu Shabu house that was completely packed. We spent a total of $100 for several sakes and our appetizers for the six of us. They validate parking, but we parked in the wrong lot, of course.
This place would make a good date place. We sat at the huge 8 seat table that is just massive and just inside the front doors After just reading the other reviews, I guess our experience was a bit nicer than average? The service was actually outstanding and they were very attentive. But it was pretty empty on a Thursday night. It is right across the way from the Shabu Shabu house that was completely packed. We spent a total of $100 for several sakes and our appetizers for the six of us. They validate parking, but we parked in the wrong lot, of course.
K & L Wine Merchants
1400 Vine St
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 464-9463
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 464-9463
K & L Wine Merchants
Category: Beer, Wine & Spirits
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Love K&L Wine Merchants. Great wine selection, very good Scotch and Tequila selections as well as sakes too! I also attended the sake tasting and a few others as well. The Thursday night tasting are only $10 and members of my www.LAfoodies.org group get 50% off on the tastings as well. Such a deal! Super knowledgeable staff makes it a joy to shop here even though I am not a big wino. But I do kinda drool when I peruse the Scotch selections.
Saturday 1/12/08 from 2-5pm they have a Port and Sherry tasting which I think costs more on Saturday, not sure but I'm definitely going to check it out.
Saturday 1/12/08 from 2-5pm they have a Port and Sherry tasting which I think costs more on Saturday, not sure but I'm definitely going to check it out.
Bollini's Pizzeria Napolitana - Incredible Pizza & Pasta
WOW! There's few places that I'd be willing to drive 15 miles for pizza or pasta and this is place I'd drive even further being I'm in Hollywood. The Porco (2 sausage pizza) and the Fungi E Tartufi which is a mushroom pizza and both are slices of heaven!
I'll admit I've been a big fan of the now defunct deep dish pizza of Chicago Pizza Works and I've panned Casa Bianca pizza and the new Joe's NY Pizza but this super thin crust wood fired oven pizza is the bomb!
The owner Chris Bollini I was told was trained as a chef at Pasadena's CIA and then worked in Italy for over a year and then worked at high end places such as the Water Grill in SM. He prepared a tasting for our group and our group of 11 from www.LAfoodies.org were treated to a gut busting lunch.
Arugula salad - superb, mixed greens salad excellent, Wild mushroom fetticini a must try, seafood pasta (honestly my least fav dish of the meal) which included shrimp, clams and mussels lightly dressed in sauce, an apple tart dessert with a rasberry sauce that was yummy, but it was simply too much food! The meal was so good though we kept eating. Chris wanted to prepare a prime rib dinner for us, but we were already too full to even consider that.
He will be expanding his restaurant as he will be taking over the space next door to build a dining room and then this place will be the IT place to go for pizza or pasta. As it is now, the dining area is woefully small and cramped and not a good date place. Also, not a place I'd want to dine on a $27 prime rib dinner... I can pay that much for a fine hunk of cow and have a swank atmosphere at no extra charge and closer to my home. That said, perhaps he's got an amazing twist on cow and I should try it.
In Summary: Of the two salads, I definitely loved the arugula salad best but both excellent. Loved both pizzas. Love the charred super thin crust. The mushroom fetticini was fabulous and is a must try. I'd pass on the seafood pasta next time. Because this was a tasting menu, we got way too much food and it cost about $24/person before tip which is pricey for a pizza/pasta place. If I came here with a couple of friends, I'd just order the mushroom fetticini a pizza and a salad and it would only cost about $12 plus tax/tip which is much more in line with the pizza world.
There's many other pizzas on the menu that I'd like to try and I'm still thinking about the prime rib as a curiosity. With his setup, he might offer steaks instead, but hey, I'm just the patron.
Is this my favorite pizza place? Hmmm... well, I'll reserve judgement right now as I'd have to eat here a couple more times before I make a decision like that, but it is definitely worth the trek out here for this fantastic food.
I think there's free corkage and you can byob so this could be great low cost dinner place with your own bottle of wine.
I'll admit I've been a big fan of the now defunct deep dish pizza of Chicago Pizza Works and I've panned Casa Bianca pizza and the new Joe's NY Pizza but this super thin crust wood fired oven pizza is the bomb!
The owner Chris Bollini I was told was trained as a chef at Pasadena's CIA and then worked in Italy for over a year and then worked at high end places such as the Water Grill in SM. He prepared a tasting for our group and our group of 11 from www.LAfoodies.org were treated to a gut busting lunch.
Arugula salad - superb, mixed greens salad excellent, Wild mushroom fetticini a must try, seafood pasta (honestly my least fav dish of the meal) which included shrimp, clams and mussels lightly dressed in sauce, an apple tart dessert with a rasberry sauce that was yummy, but it was simply too much food! The meal was so good though we kept eating. Chris wanted to prepare a prime rib dinner for us, but we were already too full to even consider that.
He will be expanding his restaurant as he will be taking over the space next door to build a dining room and then this place will be the IT place to go for pizza or pasta. As it is now, the dining area is woefully small and cramped and not a good date place. Also, not a place I'd want to dine on a $27 prime rib dinner... I can pay that much for a fine hunk of cow and have a swank atmosphere at no extra charge and closer to my home. That said, perhaps he's got an amazing twist on cow and I should try it.
In Summary: Of the two salads, I definitely loved the arugula salad best but both excellent. Loved both pizzas. Love the charred super thin crust. The mushroom fetticini was fabulous and is a must try. I'd pass on the seafood pasta next time. Because this was a tasting menu, we got way too much food and it cost about $24/person before tip which is pricey for a pizza/pasta place. If I came here with a couple of friends, I'd just order the mushroom fetticini a pizza and a salad and it would only cost about $12 plus tax/tip which is much more in line with the pizza world.
There's many other pizzas on the menu that I'd like to try and I'm still thinking about the prime rib as a curiosity. With his setup, he might offer steaks instead, but hey, I'm just the patron.
Is this my favorite pizza place? Hmmm... well, I'll reserve judgement right now as I'd have to eat here a couple more times before I make a decision like that, but it is definitely worth the trek out here for this fantastic food.
I think there's free corkage and you can byob so this could be great low cost dinner place with your own bottle of wine.
So Kong Dong
716 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-3737
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-3737
So Kong Dong
Category: Korean
Delicious! Cheap! Good Service! To be honest, I've not eaten much Soon dubu before but I've eaten at Beverly Soon Tofu across the street as well. I had a group of LA Sushi & Asian Foodies in tow and about a dozen of us braved the rain and cold night to enjoy a hot, spicy bowl of Soon dubu. It was the perfect weather and night.
Spicyness: I ordered in as hot as they make it and I thought it was about right for me. Spicy yet not flesh searing heat (besides the temp heat) and I could taste and enjoy the soon dubu. One diner, a Korean said the medium was too spicy for her, the wimpy little girl! If you love hot/spicy food, I say go for the hottest, it's not that hot. It's mild compared to the hot dishes of places like Orachon or Jitlada.
Service: None of the staff spoke much English and I had a tough time when I called the place to let them know we have about 16 Foodies coming over. They did set up the tables for us when I arrived and were very efficient and polite. We were lucky to have several Korean speaking ladies in our group so we could get our needs attended to without a problem, but I can see that the English only diners could have a problem. They replaced our empty pan chan dishes without asking and they were all very tasty. Not as big a selection as the more expensive KBBQ places but we're only spending $9 and not $20-40 per person so the raw crab pan chan is actually pretty expensive free pan chan so that's a big plus.
Parking is free and there was space available. There's about 40-50 seats at the restaurant and it was fine for our group of 12. It was suppoed to be 16, but I guess the rain/'traffic scared off several of our group. This was a Wednesday night and we met at 7pm, but by 8-9 it was almost full, so Koreans eat a bit later than the Chinese.
Really this place ROCKS! If it had booze or let us bring in booze, I'd definitely rate it 5 stars.
I'm going to have to return and try the kimchi bowl and next time toss in some of the raw crab into my soup... didn't think of it until just now.
Highly recommended, especially during these cold winter nights in LA.
I ordered the Mushroom Soon dubu with beef and all our casseroles arrived absolutely furiously bubbling hot and we all immediately cracked a raw egg into the soup to cook the egg. After a minute or so, you should stir it around to break up the egg and then dig in.
Spicyness: I ordered in as hot as they make it and I thought it was about right for me. Spicy yet not flesh searing heat (besides the temp heat) and I could taste and enjoy the soon dubu. One diner, a Korean said the medium was too spicy for her, the wimpy little girl! If you love hot/spicy food, I say go for the hottest, it's not that hot. It's mild compared to the hot dishes of places like Orachon or Jitlada.
Service: None of the staff spoke much English and I had a tough time when I called the place to let them know we have about 16 Foodies coming over. They did set up the tables for us when I arrived and were very efficient and polite. We were lucky to have several Korean speaking ladies in our group so we could get our needs attended to without a problem, but I can see that the English only diners could have a problem. They replaced our empty pan chan dishes without asking and they were all very tasty. Not as big a selection as the more expensive KBBQ places but we're only spending $9 and not $20-40 per person so the raw crab pan chan is actually pretty expensive free pan chan so that's a big plus.
Parking is free and there was space available. There's about 40-50 seats at the restaurant and it was fine for our group of 12. It was suppoed to be 16, but I guess the rain/'traffic scared off several of our group. This was a Wednesday night and we met at 7pm, but by 8-9 it was almost full, so Koreans eat a bit later than the Chinese.
Really this place ROCKS! If it had booze or let us bring in booze, I'd definitely rate it 5 stars.
I'm going to have to return and try the kimchi bowl and next time toss in some of the raw crab into my soup... didn't think of it until just now.
Highly recommended, especially during these cold winter nights in LA.
I ordered the Mushroom Soon dubu with beef and all our casseroles arrived absolutely furiously bubbling hot and we all immediately cracked a raw egg into the soup to cook the egg. After a minute or so, you should stir it around to break up the egg and then dig in.
Sa Rit Gol - Yet Another Excellent Korean Restaurant
A brief review. Food excellent! Service adequate. Overall a 4 star place for me. This was the second time dining here. First time we all mostly had the black cod casserole that many Yelpers were raving over. It was good, but just to me... it was not to die for, but it was quite tasty and a good item to share amongst the 11 of us foodies.
We had the spicy pork which was tasty but hard to cook as the marinade was a bright orange and it was difficult to tell when the meat was cooked. The galbi(short ribs) was good but the bulgoggi was a bit unusual. Well it was called something else, sorry can't remember the name, but it came to the table frozen and in very thin rolled up slices. The Korean pancake was great and the panchan was all good. Loved the soybean paste and this place served red leaf lettuce to go with our meat dishes. The kimchee was delicious as well and I appreciated at they give us a ton of fresh garlic to throw on the bbq and peppers panchan.
Eleven of use were a bit cramped in one big table, but it made for a cozy experience. Foodie Extraordinaire Erica was out guide and ordered all the dishes for us and it was great. Oh, they do not sell chap chae which astounds me. I had a little more fun the first time I came here, but there it was dinner and we drank copious amounts of sake and KBeers.
Good street parking and there is a parking lot. Good for groups of 10 to use the table we sat at. They also have a private room where you sit on the floor using a low table, I guess we should try that sometime.
We had the spicy pork which was tasty but hard to cook as the marinade was a bright orange and it was difficult to tell when the meat was cooked. The galbi(short ribs) was good but the bulgoggi was a bit unusual. Well it was called something else, sorry can't remember the name, but it came to the table frozen and in very thin rolled up slices. The Korean pancake was great and the panchan was all good. Loved the soybean paste and this place served red leaf lettuce to go with our meat dishes. The kimchee was delicious as well and I appreciated at they give us a ton of fresh garlic to throw on the bbq and peppers panchan.
Eleven of use were a bit cramped in one big table, but it made for a cozy experience. Foodie Extraordinaire Erica was out guide and ordered all the dishes for us and it was great. Oh, they do not sell chap chae which astounds me. I had a little more fun the first time I came here, but there it was dinner and we drank copious amounts of sake and KBeers.
Good street parking and there is a parking lot. Good for groups of 10 to use the table we sat at. They also have a private room where you sit on the floor using a low table, I guess we should try that sometime.
Hop Li Seafood Restaurant - Great value and Great for Groups
I decided to host an early Chinese New Year dinner banquet with our LA Sushi & Asian Foodies group and originally figured 10-20 of our group would like to step out and fight the mid week LA traffic and join me in sharing a Chinese Banquet . Hop Li's is not a big place, but it's off the beaten path and so tourists will never find this place. My family (I'm Chinese) has been coming here for MANY years. I been here and dined at countless banquets celebrating birthdays, weddings, nieces/nephews Red Egg and Ginger (1 yr old) parties and there's always been a couple of dishes I didn't like so I thought this would be a great opportunity to order all the dishes I wanted so it was fun!
After I posted the event, it filled instantly within minutes, so I add another table of 10, filled, another and another table until finally we had about 60 RSVP! Figuring on the flake out factor, I went to the restaurant a day in advance to give them my menu and the order I want them served and negotiated with them free corkage. We had a total of 50 Foodies attend this event and about 8 brought wine or champagne so that was a great savings! See the menu below
Sizzling Rice Soup
Peking Duck
Minced Squab with bamboo shoots & lettuce
Sizzling Beef Steak * with black pepper sauce
Pacific Red Snapper rock cod Whole - Steamed w/special sauce
Crab With Garlic And Black Bean Sauce*
Shrimp with honey glazed walnut
Hot & Spicy Eggplant *
Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
Steamed rice
House Special Pan Fried Noodle With Sizzling Platter shrimp, chicken, beef, b.b.q. pork, baby scallop and vegetable
I thought they did a great job. The service was excellent, food was great and they were all very accommodating. The total cost including tax and tip was only $20 per person! I'm thinking of doing it again and as a joint event with the www.LAfoodies.org group and maybe jam the place up with about 100 of us! This is a great place for groups. The parking can be a bit tough but they do have a free parking lot across the street for about 15-20 cars and free street parking within a 2 block radius and there's plenty of paid lots for $3-5. If you host a big group and want to have an early weeknight dinner, I think the hot tip is to tell people to arrive at 6:01pm and the street will be completely wide open for free street parking because before 6pm it's No Stopping everywhere.
I kept the menu price down by avoiding the high end dishes such as Shark Fin or bird's nest soup or lobsters, but I think that the dinner we got for the money was a real deal! This is the kind of food I'm used to (Cantonese) so it tasted really good to me. Others used to Mandarin or other styles or regions of Chinese cooking may not have enjoyed it as much as I did. Example: The Peking duck here was cooked exactly the way I like it and used to it. Whereas others are used to the style like Lu Din Gee's Peking Duck which I wasn't bowled over, so we all have our taste preferences and no restaurant or meal will ever be the best of the best to everyone.
I'm planning another major banquet and we'll probably try to jam 100+ foodies in here.
After I posted the event, it filled instantly within minutes, so I add another table of 10, filled, another and another table until finally we had about 60 RSVP! Figuring on the flake out factor, I went to the restaurant a day in advance to give them my menu and the order I want them served and negotiated with them free corkage. We had a total of 50 Foodies attend this event and about 8 brought wine or champagne so that was a great savings! See the menu below
Sizzling Rice Soup
Peking Duck
Minced Squab with bamboo shoots & lettuce
Sizzling Beef Steak * with black pepper sauce
Pacific Red Snapper rock cod Whole - Steamed w/special sauce
Crab With Garlic And Black Bean Sauce*
Shrimp with honey glazed walnut
Hot & Spicy Eggplant *
Chinese Broccoli with Oyster Sauce
Steamed rice
House Special Pan Fried Noodle With Sizzling Platter shrimp, chicken, beef, b.b.q. pork, baby scallop and vegetable
I thought they did a great job. The service was excellent, food was great and they were all very accommodating. The total cost including tax and tip was only $20 per person! I'm thinking of doing it again and as a joint event with the www.LAfoodies.org group and maybe jam the place up with about 100 of us! This is a great place for groups. The parking can be a bit tough but they do have a free parking lot across the street for about 15-20 cars and free street parking within a 2 block radius and there's plenty of paid lots for $3-5. If you host a big group and want to have an early weeknight dinner, I think the hot tip is to tell people to arrive at 6:01pm and the street will be completely wide open for free street parking because before 6pm it's No Stopping everywhere.
I kept the menu price down by avoiding the high end dishes such as Shark Fin or bird's nest soup or lobsters, but I think that the dinner we got for the money was a real deal! This is the kind of food I'm used to (Cantonese) so it tasted really good to me. Others used to Mandarin or other styles or regions of Chinese cooking may not have enjoyed it as much as I did. Example: The Peking duck here was cooked exactly the way I like it and used to it. Whereas others are used to the style like Lu Din Gee's Peking Duck which I wasn't bowled over, so we all have our taste preferences and no restaurant or meal will ever be the best of the best to everyone.
I'm planning another major banquet and we'll probably try to jam 100+ foodies in here.
Sapp Coffee Shop - Thai Noodles Free Corkage
5183 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-1035
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 665-1035
Sapp Coffee Shop
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Boat noodles good. Check. Prices cheap. Check. Service good. check. Lots of food. Check. Parking. Check. An excellent place for our little group of 22 Foodies who descended upon this place.
2/26 Update: 11 of us dined here last night. The service was again excellent. We ordered many menu items that were non noodle dishes and everything was good/tasty but to be honest nothing rocked my world. It cost us about $15/person w/tax & tip so it was still cheap, but not a bargain if you just order a bowl of their noodles. To be fair though, we had 3 shrimp dishes, duck, chicken, pork and beef dishes and we had at least 1.5 dishes per person and add some Thai ice teas and boom your at $15/head. However, it was still a bargain as we brought several bottles of sake and I brought a bottle of my beloved Chivas and there is no corkage fee. I drank about 4 shots which in a bar would have cost me about $50 and a friend also had 1 or 2 shots. Plus we drank a couple bottle of sake so we cannot complain about the prices. The meal to be honest was about a 3... nothing special, however the extra great service I am willing to continue to give it the 4 star rating. But I think many Yelpers overrate this place.
2/26 Update: 11 of us dined here last night. The service was again excellent. We ordered many menu items that were non noodle dishes and everything was good/tasty but to be honest nothing rocked my world. It cost us about $15/person w/tax & tip so it was still cheap, but not a bargain if you just order a bowl of their noodles. To be fair though, we had 3 shrimp dishes, duck, chicken, pork and beef dishes and we had at least 1.5 dishes per person and add some Thai ice teas and boom your at $15/head. However, it was still a bargain as we brought several bottles of sake and I brought a bottle of my beloved Chivas and there is no corkage fee. I drank about 4 shots which in a bar would have cost me about $50 and a friend also had 1 or 2 shots. Plus we drank a couple bottle of sake so we cannot complain about the prices. The meal to be honest was about a 3... nothing special, however the extra great service I am willing to continue to give it the 4 star rating. But I think many Yelpers overrate this place.
Ondal 2 - Great Korean Casseroles
4566 W Washington Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(323) 933-3228
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(323) 933-3228
Ondal 2
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Mid-City
Okay per Yelpers recommendations, we ordered a Large #2 Spicy Crab and I think the #3 non-spicy Crab soup in a Medium and a Extra large Beef short ribs which I think is #12. So we also ordered the Mama Bear, Papa Bear and Baby Bear sized dishes for 9 adults and one baby bear. Many of my fellow Yelpers might blast me, but I gotta say that we loved the spicy beef short ribs the best! That was the only one of the three dishes that the X-large pot was totally licked clean! We had the fried rice with the Beef too and every little rice kernel was devoured. But, there was lots of leftovers of both crab pots.
As other Yelpers have mentioned, you get a lot of food per order and lots of the side dishes including clams, veggie pancake, kimchee, potato salad, brocoli, raw spicy crab and many more.
We had the fried rice with our beef soup and the secret ingredient we added to the rice when the owner's son James was making the rice was the sweet nori seaweed panchan that really kicked up the fried rice a notch. I would have loved to have an egg tossed into the fried rice, but I didn't bother asking.
We had a couple bottles of rasberry wine $10 and soju $7and someone ordered a large Hite beer and our bill worked out to be $36/person including tax and tip. We ordered way too much food however for the nine of us, we could have gotten just the XL bee and the Large spicy crab, but one of our diners can't handle spicy nor her son which is why we ordered the non-spicy crab soup. I think 5-6 people could simply order the XL beef pot and a pancake and be full and we could have cut our bill down substantially.
Don't get me wrong, the crab was delicious, but I dunno, it's a lot of work for me to eat the crab and the beef is so easy and filling!
Personally I thought the pasta soup at the end was just okay, the real star in my book was the fried rice with the beef.
This would be a great place for a big group of LA Foodies as James said we could use the entire patio that will hold about 50-60 people and we could do a buffet with off menu items such as chap jae, buloggi and several menu items as well. I'm thinking we'll do this during the Spring, but James said with the outdoor heaters, we could do it any night or season. Great service, friendly, family owned single restaurant, excellent food. Thank you James!
Parking... Valet parking in back, or if you arrive at 7:01pm you can park free on Washington after the no parking time has ended.
As other Yelpers have mentioned, you get a lot of food per order and lots of the side dishes including clams, veggie pancake, kimchee, potato salad, brocoli, raw spicy crab and many more.
We had the fried rice with our beef soup and the secret ingredient we added to the rice when the owner's son James was making the rice was the sweet nori seaweed panchan that really kicked up the fried rice a notch. I would have loved to have an egg tossed into the fried rice, but I didn't bother asking.
We had a couple bottles of rasberry wine $10 and soju $7and someone ordered a large Hite beer and our bill worked out to be $36/person including tax and tip. We ordered way too much food however for the nine of us, we could have gotten just the XL bee and the Large spicy crab, but one of our diners can't handle spicy nor her son which is why we ordered the non-spicy crab soup. I think 5-6 people could simply order the XL beef pot and a pancake and be full and we could have cut our bill down substantially.
Don't get me wrong, the crab was delicious, but I dunno, it's a lot of work for me to eat the crab and the beef is so easy and filling!
Personally I thought the pasta soup at the end was just okay, the real star in my book was the fried rice with the beef.
This would be a great place for a big group of LA Foodies as James said we could use the entire patio that will hold about 50-60 people and we could do a buffet with off menu items such as chap jae, buloggi and several menu items as well. I'm thinking we'll do this during the Spring, but James said with the outdoor heaters, we could do it any night or season. Great service, friendly, family owned single restaurant, excellent food. Thank you James!
Parking... Valet parking in back, or if you arrive at 7:01pm you can park free on Washington after the no parking time has ended.
Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant
2717 W Olympic Blvd Ste…
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-1113
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-1113
Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant
Category: Korean
Mini Review: Food VG-EX. Service: Fair-Good (for Korean Rest) Alcohol: YES and very cold!
We dined at So Kong Dong across the street last week and here at Beverly to compare. I ordered the pork kimchee soon dubu and got the seafood kimchee instead. So I didn't send it back, but it wasn't what I ordered. But I sat right next to the refrigerator with all the booze 5*!
Service was friendly and with my tofu I ordered the combo with bulgoggi and it was good, but nowhere close to Suhrabal or Soot Bull Jeep and for $16 for the combo dish, it is a very good price.
We had a group of 12 which is the max size for the whole middle table. So if you want to bring in a group, 12 is the number and you should call to reserve the table if a party that size.
To be honest, I preferred So Kong Dong's tofu, but perhaps that's because I didn't get what I ordered. Also SKD is a little bit larger. But SKD doesn't serve booze nor allow us to bring it in, so that's about the only con to SKD.
The star dish was the grilled squid! It was cooked to perfection and it was a nice size, not the small bait size squids. I wished I'd ordered it as I kept asking my fellow diner who did order it for another bite.
We dined at So Kong Dong across the street last week and here at Beverly to compare. I ordered the pork kimchee soon dubu and got the seafood kimchee instead. So I didn't send it back, but it wasn't what I ordered. But I sat right next to the refrigerator with all the booze 5*!
Service was friendly and with my tofu I ordered the combo with bulgoggi and it was good, but nowhere close to Suhrabal or Soot Bull Jeep and for $16 for the combo dish, it is a very good price.
We had a group of 12 which is the max size for the whole middle table. So if you want to bring in a group, 12 is the number and you should call to reserve the table if a party that size.
To be honest, I preferred So Kong Dong's tofu, but perhaps that's because I didn't get what I ordered. Also SKD is a little bit larger. But SKD doesn't serve booze nor allow us to bring it in, so that's about the only con to SKD.
The star dish was the grilled squid! It was cooked to perfection and it was a nice size, not the small bait size squids. I wished I'd ordered it as I kept asking my fellow diner who did order it for another bite.
Super King Markets
2716 N San Fernando Rd
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(323) 225-0044
Los Angeles, CA 90065
(323) 225-0044
Super King Markets
Categories: Grocery, Beer, Wine & Spirits, Ethnic Food, Delis
Neighborhood: Glassell Park
I decided to check out this place after reading all the Yelper's reviews and to visit on a busy Saturday no less! I got lucky and found a parking space about 6 cars up from the doors on my first pass thru. Grabbed 6 avocados fro $2 and one Chilean pineapple for $2. Passed on the rotissiere chickens as they looked small and not too fresh. Costco rotissiere chickens still rule.
Excellent deals on produce and lots of varieties of cheeses, salamis and olives. Gotta come back again and check out the other goodies they sell here.
Me loves cheap/fresh produce!
Excellent deals on produce and lots of varieties of cheeses, salamis and olives. Gotta come back again and check out the other goodies they sell here.
Me loves cheap/fresh produce!
Woodlands Indian Cuisine
11833 Artesia Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 860-8690
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 860-8690
Woodlands Indian Cuisine
Categories: Vegetarian, Indian/Pakistani
I was disappointed in this place. Oh, the food was good, but the variety was lacking for a $10 vegetarian indian buffet. A few blocks down the street is the India Restaurant and their lunch buffet is cheaper at $8.95 and has a much bigger variety of dishes AND has several meat dishes including Tandoori Chicken and a lamb dish or two. That's my next visit to Artesia and they were packed too. Woodlands is a large restaurant and the Owner kept telling me my party of 50 wouldn't be able to sit together, we might have to wait... to sit together we have to get there at 11am blah blah... So okay, I moved up the meeting time to 11am. A lot of my group are no shows so we only have about 25-30 in our group. I didn't arrive untill about 12:00 or so the traffic was awful. But the restaurant was pretty empty excepting our big group. But that's not the restaurant's fault. Well, maybe because they made me move the time up to 11, perhaps a lot of people dropped out or turned around because of the traffic. Frankly if I didn't organize the event, I'd have given up.
Sorry, Food good, nothing really knocked me out, but nothing foul. Service okay... it's a buffet. Value just okay, there's better deals down the street.
By the crowd at the other place, that's the Artesia hot spot.
Sorry, Food good, nothing really knocked me out, but nothing foul. Service okay... it's a buffet. Value just okay, there's better deals down the street.
By the crowd at the other place, that's the Artesia hot spot.
Paru's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
5140 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 661-7600
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 661-7600
Paru's Indian Vegetarian Restaurant
Categories: Vegetarian, Indian/Pakistani
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Wonderful Veggie Indian restaurant. Great beer selection. Excellent service. Fabulicious breads! Eaten here many times and it's always been good. Usually eat outside patio with a large group but the space heater kept us warm even in winter.
I recently ran into the owner of Paru's while dining at another Indian place. He is a very affable man. I'm going to have to return to Paru's as it's a great place to host a large group. I will wait until the fall when the weather cools down so we can comfortably sit ouside in the patio.
I recently ran into the owner of Paru's while dining at another Indian place. He is a very affable man. I'm going to have to return to Paru's as it's a great place to host a large group. I will wait until the fall when the weather cools down so we can comfortably sit ouside in the patio.
Jitlada Thai Restaurant - The Hollywood Rock Star of Thai Restaurants
5233 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104
Jitlada Thai Restaurant
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Hollywood
My review is pretty much a footnote to Juma's excellent 3/7 review and I also attended the same Yelp event which happens to be my FIRST Yelp event. I also didn't care much for the mackerel/cod roe soup, but I'm sure true Thai's would probably love it as our American taste buds usually don't like/appreciate the heavier/fishy/salty flavors.
The fried chicken dish was a bit less than okay for me as I felt it was overcooked and very dry, but I'm not sure if that was the texture they were going for. Also with the bits of bone, I dunno, I can easily see people choking on one of those bits so if I was Jazz, I'd make this dish boneless or the pieces bigger with the bones whole to avoid possible problems. The frog legs were okay... tasted like amphibian.
LOVED the grilled shrimp with fried basil! That was the star of the evening for me. Lamb curry was also excellent as was the soft shelled crab which I heard was fresh not frozen. They were about the most tender SS crabs I've ever had and absolutely delicious.
Next time I go to Jitlada, we'll do a group of about 24 but keep the tables separated so each table can order as they please. I've been to enough tasting events here so I want to eat more of the dishes I like instead of one bite of a lot of dishes. Also I'd like to have one fiery dish to clear out the gastro-intestinal tract! LOL
What was up with the tiny serving of sticky rice? Sticky rice or regular rice I want rice! You gotta have a heaping of rice to soak up all those delicious and precious juices/sauces of the dishes.
Drinks: The Chang beers are great and the Iced coffee was about the best I've ever had. Both highly recommended.
Our group was supposed to be about 14 but about 20 showed up. So, unfortunately the service was slow. But of course Jazz is a great host and the servers did the best they could.
The food is five stars, but on this night overall I should give it a 4 stars but it was not the fault of the restaurant that we had way too many people show up.
I was craving for their mango-sticky rice dessert. That dish truly rocks! Thanks Tony for doing an awesome of hosting the event and the gracious host Jazz.
The fried chicken dish was a bit less than okay for me as I felt it was overcooked and very dry, but I'm not sure if that was the texture they were going for. Also with the bits of bone, I dunno, I can easily see people choking on one of those bits so if I was Jazz, I'd make this dish boneless or the pieces bigger with the bones whole to avoid possible problems. The frog legs were okay... tasted like amphibian.
LOVED the grilled shrimp with fried basil! That was the star of the evening for me. Lamb curry was also excellent as was the soft shelled crab which I heard was fresh not frozen. They were about the most tender SS crabs I've ever had and absolutely delicious.
Next time I go to Jitlada, we'll do a group of about 24 but keep the tables separated so each table can order as they please. I've been to enough tasting events here so I want to eat more of the dishes I like instead of one bite of a lot of dishes. Also I'd like to have one fiery dish to clear out the gastro-intestinal tract! LOL
What was up with the tiny serving of sticky rice? Sticky rice or regular rice I want rice! You gotta have a heaping of rice to soak up all those delicious and precious juices/sauces of the dishes.
Drinks: The Chang beers are great and the Iced coffee was about the best I've ever had. Both highly recommended.
Our group was supposed to be about 14 but about 20 showed up. So, unfortunately the service was slow. But of course Jazz is a great host and the servers did the best they could.
The food is five stars, but on this night overall I should give it a 4 stars but it was not the fault of the restaurant that we had way too many people show up.
I was craving for their mango-sticky rice dessert. That dish truly rocks! Thanks Tony for doing an awesome of hosting the event and the gracious host Jazz.
Gui Rim Korean BBQ - Good Food, Service Bleah
3977 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 387-5459
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 387-5459
Gui Rim Korean BBQ
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Koreatown
I hosted an event here for the LA Sushi & Asian Foodies last night as I haven't been to an AYCE Korean bbq place in forever... like 15 years ago. The price is $16.99 for AYCE meat and in general it's decent quality. It cannot hope to compete against the high quality of some of the top KBBQ places such as Suhrabal or Soot Bull Jeep but then it doesn't try to.
Logistics: Parking really sucks as it took me 10-15 minutes to find a parking spot on the street as I had some stuff in my car than I couldn't trust leaving it with the valet which I hear is a bargain at only $2. I was next to last to arrive at our scheduled 7pm time and without making reservations, we managed to snag the only 8 seat table in the place. All the other tables are basically for 4 and you can squeeze 5 in but not recommended. This was my first time at this place.
Ventilation was okay for me but my back was to the window and there was a light breeze so people across the table from me might have been getting smoked out more. The grills are gas powered and some charcoal is added, but it ran out well before we were done with our 2.5 hour carnivorous orgy. Service was very spotty, but that might have been our fault as we didn't know to use the service button to request service. I know now.
Our table of eight ordered most of the normal dishes... Kalbi, bulgoggi, tongue, pork belly, spicy pork, chicken, brisket and the rib eye steak which is NOT on the menu. They brought out the usual panchan (Korean side dishes) and they were all good. I liked that they added some apple to the regular potato salad to give that jolt of sweetness of the apples from the regular potato salad. They also give you the rice wrappers and a lightly dressed green salad instead of whole lettuce leaves to eat with your meat and were good about keeping the salad bowl full. The chicken was boneless thigh meat which is a flavorful, juicy dark meat and when cooked it was tasty. It was somewhat semi frozen when it arrived at our table which sorta turned me off at first, but it tasted fine. They also brought out the raw chicken together with the other meats which I don't like as I much prefer to have raw poultry on a separate serving dish from the other meats in case we want to cook the beef rare... But everyone wanted the meat well charred like I do so it was no problem. That un-brined pork belly was delicious too and my second fav dish behind the rib eye.
Service: It was a constant battle with the wait staff as a couple of us liked the meat charred instead of rare and the servers would come over and turn down the stove and then I'd turn it back higher, LOL. I presume this was to reduce the smokiness as the breeze would push the smoke beyond the ceiling vents adding to the smoke in the restaurant. We asked for another steamed egg dish and were surprised that the server replied with a loud and stern NO! Fine... give me another order of the much more expensive rib eye steak please!
We were almost always out of water and it would have been great if we'd had rice. I don't understand why they don't give everyone a big bowl of rice... way cheaper than meat! Ditto with the water... fill up the customers with cheap rice and free water instead of expensive steak! Give us the soup without asking as well. Broth is cheaper than meat!
If the management was smart they'd give better service to our group so that we'd be full and leave... we dined there for 2.5 hours because the service was so slow... again didn't know about the buzzer so I cannot completely blame the servers. This was a Thursday night so there wasn't another big group, that needed our table, but they were lucky for that. Many Yelpers gave high marks for the service... We were getting dirty looks by the servers towards the end of our meal as we kept ordering more meat! It was almost hysterical! This might have been avoided if we'd had a Korean speaking member with us, so in the future, I would be happy to go back but we'd definitely need a Korean to help out with the ordering and service.
In summary only 3 starts because of the poor service, but I'd certainly be willing to give the food 4 stars. I'm willing to go back again and see if I could rate it higher in the future.
Logistics: Parking really sucks as it took me 10-15 minutes to find a parking spot on the street as I had some stuff in my car than I couldn't trust leaving it with the valet which I hear is a bargain at only $2. I was next to last to arrive at our scheduled 7pm time and without making reservations, we managed to snag the only 8 seat table in the place. All the other tables are basically for 4 and you can squeeze 5 in but not recommended. This was my first time at this place.
Ventilation was okay for me but my back was to the window and there was a light breeze so people across the table from me might have been getting smoked out more. The grills are gas powered and some charcoal is added, but it ran out well before we were done with our 2.5 hour carnivorous orgy. Service was very spotty, but that might have been our fault as we didn't know to use the service button to request service. I know now.
Our table of eight ordered most of the normal dishes... Kalbi, bulgoggi, tongue, pork belly, spicy pork, chicken, brisket and the rib eye steak which is NOT on the menu. They brought out the usual panchan (Korean side dishes) and they were all good. I liked that they added some apple to the regular potato salad to give that jolt of sweetness of the apples from the regular potato salad. They also give you the rice wrappers and a lightly dressed green salad instead of whole lettuce leaves to eat with your meat and were good about keeping the salad bowl full. The chicken was boneless thigh meat which is a flavorful, juicy dark meat and when cooked it was tasty. It was somewhat semi frozen when it arrived at our table which sorta turned me off at first, but it tasted fine. They also brought out the raw chicken together with the other meats which I don't like as I much prefer to have raw poultry on a separate serving dish from the other meats in case we want to cook the beef rare... But everyone wanted the meat well charred like I do so it was no problem. That un-brined pork belly was delicious too and my second fav dish behind the rib eye.
Service: It was a constant battle with the wait staff as a couple of us liked the meat charred instead of rare and the servers would come over and turn down the stove and then I'd turn it back higher, LOL. I presume this was to reduce the smokiness as the breeze would push the smoke beyond the ceiling vents adding to the smoke in the restaurant. We asked for another steamed egg dish and were surprised that the server replied with a loud and stern NO! Fine... give me another order of the much more expensive rib eye steak please!
We were almost always out of water and it would have been great if we'd had rice. I don't understand why they don't give everyone a big bowl of rice... way cheaper than meat! Ditto with the water... fill up the customers with cheap rice and free water instead of expensive steak! Give us the soup without asking as well. Broth is cheaper than meat!
If the management was smart they'd give better service to our group so that we'd be full and leave... we dined there for 2.5 hours because the service was so slow... again didn't know about the buzzer so I cannot completely blame the servers. This was a Thursday night so there wasn't another big group, that needed our table, but they were lucky for that. Many Yelpers gave high marks for the service... We were getting dirty looks by the servers towards the end of our meal as we kept ordering more meat! It was almost hysterical! This might have been avoided if we'd had a Korean speaking member with us, so in the future, I would be happy to go back but we'd definitely need a Korean to help out with the ordering and service.
In summary only 3 starts because of the poor service, but I'd certainly be willing to give the food 4 stars. I'm willing to go back again and see if I could rate it higher in the future.
Ord Noodles - Bargain Thai Food
5401 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 468-9302
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 468-9302
Ord Noodles
Category: Thai
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Hot Damn... This is a great find for the Cheap Eats diners. I scheduled a dinner for 18 here last week but I couldn't attend... So I just went by myself tonight as I was driving right past it.
Duck Noodles! Perfection! A surprisingly lot of duck meat complete with the skin (which contains the most flavor) and I ordered it spicy for all of six bucks. Then I dumped a load of the dry chili powder and a couple of spoonfuls of the tiny sliced Thai chilies... woohoo! That'll put anyone's mouth on fire. I had ordered a Thai ice coffee which is only a buck and it's loaded with sugar which suppresses the burning mouth a bit. I'm gonna have to go back with a group of the LA Sushi & Asian Foodies so we can sample a lot more dishes together!
Update: I didn't know that I could have requested egg noodles so next time I have their duck noodles, I think it would be even better with egg noodles!
So my 5 star rating is based solely on one bowl of noodles so hopefully the other menu items don't disappoint.
The bathroom is small but clean and the whole place is nice and clean and orderly. Not a date place, but certainly an excellent place for a quick, cheap bite to eat.
Can't wait to go back.
Update 6/5: Thurs night, the place was packed at 7pm. They were out of Thai ice coffe/tea because they ran out of the condensed milk. Bummer. The price went up to $1.50 and the top price for dishes is now $6.50 still a bargain. They were out of the roast duck, so no duck noodle soup. Bummer. I had the chicken pad thai and it was quite good. But being out of duck at 7pm and they closed early as they ran out of a lot of food, they closed early... So I have to knock them back to 4 stars. Still bargain priced and I will be happy to return.
Duck Noodles! Perfection! A surprisingly lot of duck meat complete with the skin (which contains the most flavor) and I ordered it spicy for all of six bucks. Then I dumped a load of the dry chili powder and a couple of spoonfuls of the tiny sliced Thai chilies... woohoo! That'll put anyone's mouth on fire. I had ordered a Thai ice coffee which is only a buck and it's loaded with sugar which suppresses the burning mouth a bit. I'm gonna have to go back with a group of the LA Sushi & Asian Foodies so we can sample a lot more dishes together!
Update: I didn't know that I could have requested egg noodles so next time I have their duck noodles, I think it would be even better with egg noodles!
So my 5 star rating is based solely on one bowl of noodles so hopefully the other menu items don't disappoint.
The bathroom is small but clean and the whole place is nice and clean and orderly. Not a date place, but certainly an excellent place for a quick, cheap bite to eat.
Can't wait to go back.
Update 6/5: Thurs night, the place was packed at 7pm. They were out of Thai ice coffe/tea because they ran out of the condensed milk. Bummer. The price went up to $1.50 and the top price for dishes is now $6.50 still a bargain. They were out of the roast duck, so no duck noodle soup. Bummer. I had the chicken pad thai and it was quite good. But being out of duck at 7pm and they closed early as they ran out of a lot of food, they closed early... So I have to knock them back to 4 stars. Still bargain priced and I will be happy to return.
Taix French Restaurant - Filet Mignon $21 Monday Special
24 LA Foodies went here to try out the Filet Mignon Monday night special and then across the street was a free concert at The Echo. I think the kitchen was overwhelmed with 20+ orders of the filet. First, a French member did an outstanding job of selecting a great bottle of wine that only cost $40 and tasted great.
My vegetable soup was hearty but very bland/unseasoned... This was the first time in years that I had to add salt to a dish in a restaurant as most restaurants season to taste. Once I added enough salt and some pepper, it was fine. The prix fixe Monday dinner special costs $20.95 and the filet mignon included a very nice large baked potato, a vegetable compote of sorts. The meat was correctly cooked as I requested and the bernaise sauce was tasty, but my only complaint was my food was barely above room temperature and I like my beef hot off the griddle. Again, this was the function of 24 other orders of the filet and trying to get everyone served at the same time, so I'm sure if dining for 2-4 there'd be no problem. The service was slow, but our group virtually took over the restaurant.
Bottom line I think the restaurant could be better but not for the situation this time. This experience was really only 2 stars, but I'll give them the benefit.
My vegetable soup was hearty but very bland/unseasoned... This was the first time in years that I had to add salt to a dish in a restaurant as most restaurants season to taste. Once I added enough salt and some pepper, it was fine. The prix fixe Monday dinner special costs $20.95 and the filet mignon included a very nice large baked potato, a vegetable compote of sorts. The meat was correctly cooked as I requested and the bernaise sauce was tasty, but my only complaint was my food was barely above room temperature and I like my beef hot off the griddle. Again, this was the function of 24 other orders of the filet and trying to get everyone served at the same time, so I'm sure if dining for 2-4 there'd be no problem. The service was slow, but our group virtually took over the restaurant.
Bottom line I think the restaurant could be better but not for the situation this time. This experience was really only 2 stars, but I'll give them the benefit.
Ono Hawaiian BBQ - Great Plate Lunch in Hollywood
5539 W Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(323) 461-3688
Los Angeles, CA 90189
(323) 461-3688
Ono Hawaiian BBQ
Category: Hawaiian
Neighborhood: Hollywood
Hey Bradda, you wanna get some plate lunch? In Hollywood, dis is the place. Okay, I'm not from Hawaii, but when in the islands the locals think I'm a local too. I was roughing it in Hawaii and stumbled across a group of locals on the shore who simply thought I was one of them and they handed me a fishing throw net and told me to go catch some fish for our lunch. Then they put me to work cleaning the fish and we shared a great meal... Oh, back to the review.
Ono's food is good... not the best but it will remind you of the islands. A somewhat limited menu compared to some of the other Mainland joints, but for the most part, what they offer up is decent. My favorite is the BBQ Mix with the chicken, Korean BBQ short ribs and their potato mac salad is good too. They got lots of sauces as well. The place is not big, but it's clean and modern, more so than most places in Hawaii. When I get the urge for a plate lunch, I go here. I don't know of another Hawaiian place in Hollywood.
Ono's food is good... not the best but it will remind you of the islands. A somewhat limited menu compared to some of the other Mainland joints, but for the most part, what they offer up is decent. My favorite is the BBQ Mix with the chicken, Korean BBQ short ribs and their potato mac salad is good too. They got lots of sauces as well. The place is not big, but it's clean and modern, more so than most places in Hawaii. When I get the urge for a plate lunch, I go here. I don't know of another Hawaiian place in Hollywood.
Mae Ploy Restaurant - Good Thai Food in Echo Park
Tasty food, reasonable prices, decent street parking, excellent service and cold beers served with iced mugs. 9 of us dined here family style... we had duck noodles which were good, but not as good as Ord Noodles, the green curry w/chicken was the star of the meal and it was ordered Thai spicy but was quite tame by Jitlada's heat standard. The tofu/veggie dish was excellent and the red curry was also very good. The service excelled and the dishes were delivered to the table more quickly than expected, too quick in fact. This is a solid choice for Thai food in the Echo park area.
Tokyo Table & Sake Nights ROCK!
50 N La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 657-9500
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 657-9500
Tokyo Table
Categories: Japanese, Asian Fusion
Neighborhood: Beverly Hills
Sake Nights! AYCE and AYCD for $35. This was a special event and I was joined by 45 of my foodie friends. Max room capacity is 146 so we were a large part of the party. Food and sake pairings that were wonderful. Some of the sake's cost upwards of $200 a bottle, so this was a bargain! Lots of rolls, spider, california, tempura rolls. Lots of fried dishes such as chicken, rock shrimp to go with some of the sushi, sashimi and other dishes. It was great. Next we'll have to check out the Happy Hour deal. Oh, the sakes were fab, the saketini's were superb as well and of the four we tried, my fav was the lychee saketini. But the red grape, yuzu and sour apple saketinis were all delicious!
June 18th Sake Nights returned. The new price was $45 but they gave our Foodies group a $5 discount. So $40. Still an excellent deal. I didn't attend so I cannot comment about this night's event. If you can go to this event in the future, DO IT!
Parking good as mentioned elsewhere, but if you arrive to the area right at 7pm, you can park free on Wilshire and walk a couple of blocks. Otherwise, I recommend the self park.
June 18th Sake Nights returned. The new price was $45 but they gave our Foodies group a $5 discount. So $40. Still an excellent deal. I didn't attend so I cannot comment about this night's event. If you can go to this event in the future, DO IT!
Parking good as mentioned elsewhere, but if you arrive to the area right at 7pm, you can park free on Wilshire and walk a couple of blocks. Otherwise, I recommend the self park.
Tara's Himalayan Cuisine
10855 Venice Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 836-9696
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 836-9696
Tara's Himalayan Cuisine
Categories: Indian/Pakistani, Himalayan/Nepalese
I used to love Katmandu Kitchen's buffet. Tara's food is also a worthy replacement but no buffet however their lunch specials are an excellent deal. Spoke with Tara and she will do a buffet for a group of us if we want to set one up. We didn't byob, but I believe it is allowed without corkage, forgot to ask.
The naan was da bomb especially the garlic naan. I had the chicken tikka and it was good as well as all the side dishes that came with the $7 lunch special I ordered. Everyone else also enjoyed their lunches as well including the vegheads in our group.
The naan was da bomb especially the garlic naan. I had the chicken tikka and it was good as well as all the side dishes that came with the $7 lunch special I ordered. Everyone else also enjoyed their lunches as well including the vegheads in our group.
The Boiling Crab - Good Food, Too Small
742 W Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 576-9368
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 576-9368
The Boiling Crab
Categories: Cajun/Creole, Seafood
Neighborhood: Alhambra
Food good. Service good. Spicy is real hot. Waitresses also hot. Wait time for table of 8, no hot... we waited for about 1.5 hours and they were out of the blue crab, dungeness crab and lobster. Only had shrimp, king crab and mudbugs (crawdads, aka crayfish). The shrimp was excellent as was the king crab and the mudbugs, well, not much meat on dem bugs, but that's to be expected. I'd skip the bugs and stick with the shrimp and hopefully the crab will be available. I enjoyed the cajun fries and the buffalo wings and my party also enjoyed the oysters on half shell. The cold beers at the bar made the wait bearable. If you order the extra hot, it is quite hot. I can take the heat, but medium is more enjoyable and is what I'd recommend for 95% of the people dining here. Reasonable in price. Just the wait is a bummer. I'm gonna have to find a place or a park nearby where we could buy the food to go and avoid the wait. Very popular and it closes surprisingly early, I think 10pm and last service is at 9:30pm or so.
4493 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 661-1985
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 661-1985
Jaragua
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Wilshire Center
Great place. Couldn't attend the Yelp Pupusa Crawl so I hosted one of my own. We had 24 foodies in attendance and Jaragua was our first stop. The pupusas were excellent, the restaurant is new and clean perhaps a bit stark but the service was also excellent. A good Salvi place to bring a date. Excellent parking as well. Only drawback is no beer or booze. Otherwise great place and low prices. Will be revisiting this place 7/24/08
Great Pupusas, Good for Groups & Cold Beers!
01 N Berendo St
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 663-1404
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 663-1404
Atlacatl Restaurant
Category: Latin American
Neighborhood: Wilshire Center
Pupusas and beers! Food good, beers cold, check! 5 stars! After Jaragua, several members of our foodies group bailed as they were already full. So the remaining 15 members showed up at Atlacatl and we asked if we could sit in the large space immediately on the right of the entry. They said NO. But after asking about 4 times, they said okay as there was really no space big enough for all of us in the main dining room. To be honest, I cannot decide which place is better Jaragua or here, but this place has booze and Jaragua doesn't. Parking lot small but I did manage to grab a spot. Has a solid latin clientele. If you need beers to wash down the pupusas... this is my top pick. Gotta come back and try more of their menu items.
Former Pollo a la Brasa is now El Dorado
730 Vine St
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 962-5065
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 962-5065
El Dorado
Category: Barbeque
Neighborhood: Mid Wilshire
The old sign says Pollo a la Brasa which is the same name as the famed Koreatown rotisserie chicken place which has wonderful chicken and a busy clientele. I occasionally shop at Pavillion's across the street or use the laundrymat in the same mall and I've wondered about this place and Patty's burger joint, but I've never been hungry when doing my laundry. Anyway, El Dorado has the same oven as Pollo a la Brasa in Koreatown and the same green sauce which was much like a Indian cilantro chile chutney sauce. But without many customers and frequent turnover of the chickens, the 1/2 chicken I ordered was dry, basically meaning it was done roasting long ago. The fries I ordered were good, piping hot fresh out of the fryer. So, don't expect the best chicken unless you maybe go on a busy weekend night... that is if they get busy, otherwise, if you are after good chicken, go to the Vermont Pollo ALB or even the Costco roasted chickens are more moist.
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A great place for those with huge appetites and the curious.