Tere's Mexican Grill

Originally I was going to try the Larchmont Bungalow on Larchmont Blvd, since I had heard from my mother that they serve Poutine (a Canadian treat). However upon checking out their menu, I learned that they serve their Poutine topped with shredded mozzarella. Now I'm not Canadian, but I do know this much about real Poutine—real Poutine is topped with cheese curds so fresh that they should squeak when you bite into them. So discouraged I decided to go elsewhere, although it's quite likely I'll go back to the Larchmont Bungalow some other time, just not for the Poutine.

My backup option was Tere's Mexican Grill on Melrose. I had read on Chowhound that they had really good nachos. I find nachos to be the best value on most Mexican menus since you get a usually get a good portion of meat, dairy, fruits, and vegetables all for a decent price.

I ordered the carne asada nachos which came served on a hot plate, a good indicator that the cheese was allowed to melt under the broiler. Now the various comments about Tere's had noted their fresh, homemade chips, double thick and lightly salted. The chips were indeed robust, and there was no mistaking these for an inferior, store-bought brand. They were topped with jalapenos, sour cream, fresh guacamole, fresh pico de gallo, shredded cheese, and beans. The overall portion was quite sizeable, and I would venture a guess that the whole plate weighed about a pound or so. Of course none of this would matter if the product itself wasn't tasty, which it quite favorably was. There's a strong sense of quality in the construction of these nachos. The chips stood out as did the cheese which was quite liberally layered on top. Overall, these were very good nachos.

I also ordered a pork taco on the side. Now the cashier specified that this was not carnitas, so if that's what you're looking for, you're going to be surprised. However that surprise would still be welcome, since this was the highlight of my meal. The pork comes as large chunks of what appeared to be either lean grilled or roasted pork, smothered in a chile verde (green chile). The chile is mild, but has a nice tanginess that pops in your mouth. I plan on having this again.

I liked that the place had a very casual, laid back atmosphere. There were only about 7 or 8 tables accompanied by a soda cooler, a tower of Mexican Cokes, and a soccer game on the TV. So many of the restaurants along Melrose tend to be fancy and overly pretentious as they seek out a bourgeois clientele looking for the next big thing. At Tere's they're really just trying to put out relatively simple food with just a little more care, and that's the type of place I'd want to eat at.

Some other interesting notes about Tere's Mexican Grill:
-While the nachos are good, I'll have to admit that I'm perfectly fine with Baja Fresh's nachos. They're probably about just as much quantity-wise and slightly cheaper, with just some minor drops in overall quality. But then again, this is coming from a guy who also enjoys Lucy's nachos which are little more than tortilla chips drenched in canned steak and red chili.

Tere's Mexican Grill
5870 Melrose Ave. #101
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 468-9345

Sorrento Italian Market

In my quest for Italian cold cut sandwiches, I learned about Sorrento Italian Market from L.A.'s Chowhound boards. I used to pass it all the time when I worked in West L.A. I like small delicatessens and markets like these. They have a local neighborhood feel that is sometimes hard to find in a big city.

The sandwich that I get here has mortadella, cotto salami, cappicola, provolone, lettuce, mayonnaise, mustard, and their special ingredient, stewed tomatoes. I'm still not sure what it's called, since today when I asked the man behind the counter for "that sandwich that has Italian cold cuts and stewed tomatoes," he replied the "three meat combo with mustard and mayo?" I don't think that's the actual name, but more of an expanded description of what's in the sandwich. Whatever it is, it's good.

Compared to the Original Rinaldi's which I had earlier in the day, this sandwich had a fresher taste which is difficult to describe. Perhaps it was the mustard and mayonnaise that made the difference. Because of the combination of meats, this sandwich has a more rounded quality to the flavor, as the mortadella is milder and fattier than the salami, while the cappicola isn't as salty and is spicier than the other two meats. But the key ingredient in the sandwich is really the stewed tomatoes. The stewed tomatoes make the sandwich moister as well as easier to consume, and because they are sweeter and less bitter than raw tomatoes they further add to the flavor mix.

The sandwich is pretty substantial, but what puts it over the top is it's price: about $4. It's too bad that it's out of the way for me now and doesn't have ample parking, as I could see myself going there more often. I would also learn the actual name of the sandwich if that were the case.

Some other interesting notes about Sorrento Italian Market:
-2 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. This sandwich is surprisingly self-contained. I suppose that is owing to it's excellent construction which prevents spillage and meat overflow.
-Currrently ranked #6 on my Italian cold cut sandwich list.

Sorrento Italian Market
5518 Sepulveda Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90230
(310) 391-7654

The Original Rinaldi's: Part 2

This is a quick follow up to my original review to the Original Rinaldi's.

After my first time going to the Original Rinaldi's I wanted to try it again, so on my way to Gardena I made a quick stop in El Segundo.



This time I ordered the USC Trojan, prosciutto, salami, pepperoni, oil & vinegar, lettuce tomato, Italian dressing, and provolone (I didn't get the UCLA Bruin because I don't like ham and roast turkey as much as Italian cold cuts). This sandwich was like a dry, salty, meat bomb. In contrast to the Italian combo which was a little more rounded flavor-wise, the Trojan was very focused as all of the meats were somewhat similar. Again it was very meaty which almost necessitated that it be eaten open-faced.

Between the Trojan and the Italian combo, which would I pick? Well, that's a difficult decision, since both were good, and both were a little different. If I don't order the Godfather next time, I'll probably have to flip a coin.

The Original Rinaldi's

In my ongoing quest to find a suitable replacement for Hoagie Hut and their Godfather sandwich, I took a trip out to El Segundo's the Original Rinaldi's. However a little bit of background on Hoagie Hut might be in order first.

Hoagie Hut was a small sandwich shop on 3rd Street right across from the Beverly Connection. The owner was a real character who used to call everyone "Tiger" or "Babe" regardless of gender. He reminded me of Sal from "Do the Right Thing." From what I understand, he and his wife used to own one of the first strip clubs in L.A. with a mirrored ceiling or runway. I used to go there almost every week to get a jumbo Godfather (thick-sliced mortadella, cotto salami, provolone, lettuce, tomato, and Italian dressing for only $5.40), a bag of chips, and a Yoohoo. Before that, my grandparents used to go there when the restaurant was only half the size. The owner sold the restaurant about seven years ago, and since then it's changed hands and cuisines a couple more times. I have yet to find an Italian cold cut sandwich that fills the hole in my heart and my stomach.

So I must admit I didn't have high hopes for the Original Rinaldi's. The staff behind the counter was primarily Asian which is not who I think of when I think "sandwich shop." I ended up ordering an Italian combo which consisted of thick-sliced pepperoni, salami, cappy (cappicola), oil & vinegar, lettuce, tomato, and provolone. Incidentally the Original Rinaldi's features a Godfather sandwich, but it's made with salami, cappy, pepperoni, steak, bacon, mayo, lettuce, tomato, and provolone cheese and it's served hot. I might have to try that next time. There was no yoohoo so I just had an iced tea.

When the sandwich arrived, it was quite sizable. The large is a 10" sandwich versus the regular 6". It's not much for presentation, but once I tucked the meat in, it was far from being a slouch. I've never been particularly fond of cappicola, but I've found myself enjoying it more and more lately. The Italian combo was deceptively filling, due to its limited but very thickly sliced meats. They use Boar's Head so taste-wise it's not a whole lot different. It's pretty hard to make a really distinguishable Italian sub. The olive oil & vinegar was a nice touch and better than at most other places. All in all, I ended up being pleasantly surprised despite my first impressions.

So the Original Rinaldi's probably won't replace Hoagie Hut (and neither will you delicious Bay Cities), but it has a quality Italian cold cut sandwich that I wouldn't mind returning to.

Some other interesting notes about the Original Rinaldi's:
- 4 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. If you tuck the meat in right at the beginning, you'll avoid a lot of the mess later. Some salad might fall out, but overall you shouldn't require a great deal of napkins. It also helps to have big hands and a big mouth.
- I really should have taken advantage of their abundance of potato chips, but since I was in a bit of a rush, I just stuck to the sandwich. But that doesn't mean you have to.
- If I had to rank Italian cold cuts thus far: Hoagie Hut's Godfather, Central Grocery's Muffelata, Original Rinaldi's Italian Combo, Philly's Best's Italian Hoagie, Bay Cities Deli's Sopressata, Sorrento Italian Market's Cold Combo Sandwich, Which Wich's Italian Grinder, Bay Cities Deli's Godmother, Togo's Italian Cold Cut #16, Quizno's Classic Italian, Subway's Italian B.M.T., Subway's Spicy Italian.

The Original Rinaldi's
323 Main Street
El Segundo, CA 90245
(310) 647-2860

Vietnam House

The airsoft store was having a Wednesday/Thursday Black Friday sale, so I decided to check it out after work, and as it just so happened to be mere blocks away from Vietnam House, that was where I ate. However I should preface this review by saying that my favorite Vietnamese restaurant is a little place called Dakao in San Jose. Whenever I'm in San Jose, which used to be four days every year for the past five years, I would eat there one or two times a day. While a large part of that hinged on its proximity to the convention center, they have a variety of dishes and their food is also good. My favorite thing to get there is the shredded pork and baked egg pie on broken rice. So back to Vietnam House, as there aren't an abundance of Vietnamese restaurants in my area, I know of few options for decent Vietnamese that isn't pho. And of those, I don't know of many that have baked egg pie. But Vietnam House does, and they also have some excellent egg rolls, so onto the meal.

Now read reviews anywhere and people will tell you the service is nothing to write home about. I concur, so don't expect a lot of assistance in that area. Just be pleased if you get what you order, and remember to pay your bill at the register (they don't bring the bill to you so remember your table number). Also it's noisy and they have several Billy Bass on the walls that kids love to play with, so be forewarned.

As for the food, I ordered the egg rolls to start as they are very good. They're grease bombs though, so hold off on taking a bite until they've cooled down a bit. I know it's hard, but better to exhibit patience lest ye suffer a burnt tongue and shot taste buds. From what I understand their egg rolls are atypical of Vietnamese egg rolls which are usually more petite. These are deep-fried, meat, veggie, vermicelli- filling morsels that serve as a substantial appetizer. Accompanying them is a plate filled with lettuce, mint, and beefsteak leaves meant to be wrapped around the egg rolls, but no one should hate you for neglecting the veggies. There are also two dipping sauces, but as I only partook of one, I can only say that the one I had was a light, sweet, fish-sauce based dipping sauce with carrot slices that pairs well with the heavier egg rolls.

For the meal I ate, what else—shredded pork and baked egg pie on broken rice. I also got a pork chop with it. Vietnam House formally calls this plate, "Pork Chop, Shredded Pork & Baked Egg w/ Steamed Rice," or number 77. The dish pretty much says what it is—the pork chop is a soy-sauce-marinated fried pork chop and the shredded pork is that slightly sweet and gelatinous shredded pork mixture used in banh mi. The baked egg is like an Asian frittata, slightly sweet with bits of meat and veggies baked inside. Perhaps it's the Japanese in me that enjoys the baked egg pie which is not too dissimilar from Japanese dashimaki tamago, a layered Japanese scrambled egg seasoned with slightly sweet soup stock. This is what I miss when I'm not in San Jose, so I'm glad I have a suitable replacement for it in L.A. I also enjoy the broken rice, which is less glutinous that Japanese rice but still moreso than Chinese Jasmine rice.

There are plenty of other things on the menu that look good, and perhaps I will try their pho or banh mi at some point. But for right now I'm satisfied with their baked egg pie and delicious egg rolls. And should they ever offer snail soup, I might try that again after a not-so-joyful meal at Dakao. At least I can't complain about them being stingy with the snails.

Some other notes about Vietnam House:
- I really hate those Billy Bass fish. Why would you put any more than one of them on the wall? And why do kids think it's so great to get all of them to sing at once?!

Vietnam House
710 W. Las Tunas Dr. #5-7
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 282-3630

Red Hot Kitchen

Today was one of my coworkers' birthdays, and on days such as these we all usually order out. My coworker wanted to order from Red Hot Kitchen, an Asian-Mexican fusion restaurant nearby. She recommended the kalbi (Korean barbecued short ribs) chimichanga (Mexican fried burrito).

First off, holy crap! That's a lot of food! Each of those four pieces pictured were absolutely massive. I'm a big guy, and I can eat a lot, but I couldn't finish this chimichanga. I managed to eat three of the sections, and even then I overate. So now we know it's generous, but what did it taste like?

If you've had kalbi (or read my earlier parenthetical), then you know it's barbequed short ribs marinated in a sweet soy-sauce base. Short ribs have a little bit of fatty goodness, and on which Red Hot Kitchen didn't skimp. There was also white rice which was also lightly drenched with the marinade, kimchi, and some sweet refried bean mixture. This was topped with cheese, spicy mayonnaise, and hot sauce. That might seem like a strange combination, but it all worked well together. Think of it like fried mushu pork, which is similarly sweet and also wrapped with veggies inside. While it was sweet, it wasn't dessert-sweet, more like Korean barbecue sweet. And it was also decently spicy, enough so that people who have trouble with spicy foods should probably ask for the spicy mayonnaise and hot sauce on the side. It was strange how well the spicy mayo worked with everything, and how the sweetness didn't clash with the cheese.

If there was one thing I could complain about, the chimichanga was a heart-stopper. I could feel my arteries clogging and my heart working harder to keep me alive. Of course I didn't have to eat that third piece.

If the kalbi chimichanga was any indication, Red Hot Kitchen is definitely worth revisiting as their menu has plenty more offerings, all of which sound enticing. Perhaps next time I'll try their Korean BBQ burger with sweet potato fries, or their Teriyaki Torta.

Red Hot Kitchen
4625 Valley Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90032
(323) 222-6900

Some other notes about Red Hot Kitchen:
- 1 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. Use a fork.
- 7 out of 10 on my spice-o-meter. It's pretty spicy.
- Not only was the food good, not only was the portion generous, but it's incredibly cheap. The chimichanga will only set you back about $6. You're practically robbing the place!

Taste Chicago

After watching Conan, Jokekilla and I were pretty hungry, so he took me to Taste Chicago, a restaurant specializing in Chicago-style cuisine. They serve deep dish pizza, Italian beef sandwiches, Chicago dogs, pasta, and ribs. It's a cozy place with perhaps a couple dozen tables and some flat screen TVs so that you can watch whatever game is playing.

The menu was a little bit intimidating because of the numerous options, all of which sounded delicious. Not being able to decide between an Italian beef or sausage sandwich, I luckily didn't have to and got the beef & sausage combo. It was huge! It came with a sizable sausage topped with even more thinly sliced roast beef, topped with sweet peppers and au jus. I was tempted to pick it up and eat it, but it was safer using a fork and knife. It really hit the spot and was delicious to boot. My only complaint was that I didn't have a big enough mouth to get a bit of the bread, beef, sausage, and the pepper in each bite.

On the side I got smothered wedges, potato wedges covered in buttery garlic sauce. It was pretty killer, with a generous amount of butter and garlic. There was more than enough leftover to serve as a dip for other things.

After a night of laughs, a hearty meal was enough to knock me out. Next time I'm obligated to try the deep dish pizza, since the actual Chicago is a little out of the way.

Some other interesting notes about Taste Chicago:
- 7 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter if you try to pick up the sandwich and eat it, otherwise it's a 1 out of 7 with a fork and knife. For some reason I still needed a napkin.
- The restaurant is owned by actor Joe Mantegna's wife.

Taste Chicago
603 N. Hollywood Way
Burbank, CA 91505
(818) 563-2800

Ocean Seafood

For a while it seemed like I was eating Chinese food every other week, then *poof* ... a dry spell. Well Chinese food is back with a vengeance. We're having a family gathering in a couple of weeks so we've already booked a reservation with Ocean Seafood, but we wanted to test some of the dishes in the banquet selection.

My family has been going to Ocean Seafood for years, back when it was stilled called Miriwa. We mostly go there for dim sum, so we weren't sure how the dinner menu would be. We weren't able to sample all of the dishes off of the banquet as some of them are exclusive to that menu, but we were able to try a lot of dishes.

We opened with the B.B.Q. combination platter, but unfortunately I was unable to take any pictures on account of our hunger. I can tell you it contained pickled jellyfish, char siu (barbeque pork), roast duck, and soy beans. The char siu and duck were expectedly good, as we regularly get char siu to go. I don't often eat jelly fish, but it was good, like salty, sour gelatin noodles. The soy beans were a surprise, literally, as they were hidden underneath.

The next dish up was braised shark's fin with shredded chicken. I've only had shark's fin a handful of times in my life, and while it's good, I've never felt it too be worth the value. I find that reconstituted scallop can offer a similar texture, and flavor-wise it pretty much takes on the identity of the stock, which in this case seemed to be chicken or a chicken/seafood blend. The soup was good, but no shark's fin dish will ever compare to the one I had in Japan. I shouldn't be biased, but I judge all shark's fin dishes by that dish (which wasn't a soup by the way) because it was that good. Adding the vinegar did add an extra bit of dimension to the flavors which in turn made it stand out a little more.

Baked crab with ginger and green onion came out next, and was the clear MVD (Most Valuable Dish) of the meal. I find Chinese crab or lobster to be difficult to eat, since it's usually coated in cornstarch and pan-fried with the sauce making it increasingly difficult to eat. But one couldn't deny the wonderful marriage of flavors involved in bringing this dish together. The was the bite of ginger and the roundness of the green onions which came together in a savory blend with the naturally sweet crab meat. We also benefited from an incredibly large crab that itself was meaty and succulent. God bless that crab. I should mention that there were only four of us, but the minute that crab showed up it was a goner. In fact, there was nothing left to take home, and I'm only halfway through describing the meal.

We also ordered steamed cod. We picked one with a disproportionately large head. Or rather make that a disproportionately small body. It was still good, cooked just right so that it was still juicy and just flaking. Where the flavors in the crab were bold and up front, the cod was a more subtle and balanced well with everything else. I also made the mistake of trying to eat the eye (which was chalky) rather than the area around the eye (which was slimy, but in a good way).

The last two dishes out were braised abalone with black mushrooms and house chow mein. After having had mediocre chow mein the last three or four times, I was finally reminded of how good chow mein can be. There wasn't anything particularly different in this chow mein when compared to the others, but the execution was far superior. The noodles were genuinely crispy with a gravy that wasn't thick or goopy so that it consumed the noodles. Both the noodles and the gravy managed to retain their identities while also combining as one, and that's how a good chow mein should be. Once the dish takes on the identity of one or the other completely, it becomes lost, as either a mushy mess or a never-ending chewy, crunch fest. As a house chow mein, it came with the requisite bok choy, char siu, squid, cod, and shrimp, all of which were good and distinct like the rest of the components.

While the chow mein was clearly good, the abalone did not fare so well to put it mildly (which it was). Like with the shark's fin, I guess I'm just not that big a fan of abalone. It's not that I dislike the taste or the texture, but I feel that there a similar things out there that cost considerably less, like clams. It didn't help that the abalone was accompanied with bok choy and shiitake which themselves are commonplace and uninspiring. A good shiitake is a good shiitake, but still when they're in pretty much every other dish, they're not special. And the same goes for the bok choy. Still, abalone is a delicacy and it is different from clams or squid. I'd still eat it gladly if put in front of me, as long as I don't have to pay for it.

Because of our decadent meal the restaurant manager comped us dessert, a plate of gelatin and a plate of coconut and taro gelatin. I especially enjoyed the coconut and taro gelatin, as I am quite fond of taro.

If I wasn't already full (which I was), then the gelatin was the straw that broke the camel's back. After that I was done, and from then on I can't recall much. But I do recall the delicious crab that I'll be looking forward to eating come the actual banquet. Yum!

Some other notes about Ocean Seafood:
- We were probably one of only four or five parties dining that night in the large serving area. However one of those parties was a thirty person Asian tour group that took up 15% of the restaurant. The group brought me back to my youth, as about half of them were wearing plaid over-shirts. Sister C would have totally blended in if she went over. She just needed to feather her hair more.

Ocean Seafood
750 North Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-3088

Samosa House

Today I had lunch with a good friend I hadn't seen in a long time. She's vegetarian (more precisely a starchitarian) so I suggested Samosa House, as it was close to her place and I had never been there. It turned out there are two Samosa Houses, the original Samosa House and Samosa House East, so we met at Samosa House East.

The set up is much like a cafeteria, with steaming trays of various curries behind the counter. The dining area is very open and well lit, with one large dining table in the middle and several smaller tables along the windows. Outdoor seating is also available.

They don't have an expansive menu, but it can still seem daunting with all the choices. I ordered a three item combo, a samosa, and a mango lassi.

For the three item combo, you get your choice of three of the items available at their food counter. I opted for aloo baingan, saag, and the veggie chicken. The aloo baingan was made of potatoes, eggplant, as well as the requisite spices. I like aloo gobi (potato and cauliflower), so I thought I would give the aloo baingan a try, and it turned out I like it just as much as aloo gobi. The potato kind of disappears into the dish, but the eggplant pieces are prominent. It looked as though the eggplants were green rather than purple, but they didn't taste bitter like an unripe eggplant or even a ripe eggplant which can also be quite bitter. For me, the aloo baingan was more about textures than the wonderfully rich spices, and if offered a stark contrast to the other two dishes I got.

The saag was pretty straight forward, consisting of spinach and spices. I prefer saag paneer (spinach and cheese), but that appears to be a dish exclusive to the original Samosa House. It wasn't bad, but the other dishes were so good that it kind of got pushed to the back.

The true standout of the meal was the veggie chicken. It had to be good, since even hours afterward it was still on my mind. The veggie chicken came in bite-size chunks in what appeared to be a peanut-based sauce. It's not that it tasted exactly like chicken or even had the exact texture. The texture was similar to chicken in the way the grain followed a mostly uniform direction, but it was chewier. The closest food I could think of that the veggie chicken most resembled in terms of taste and texture would be an Asian fish meatball. Now bear with me, as I know that might be gross to some people, but if you've ever really had an Asian fish meatball, like in Japanese oden, then it's not at all like, say, an Italian meatball. It's more processed and it doesn't taste strongly fishy. It's difficult to explain unless you've had it, which might also be the case with the veggie chicken. All you need to know was that it was very good. I will go there again just for the veggie chicken.

The combo also came with a choice of white or brown rice (I got white) and plain or garlic naan (I got garlic of course). The garlic naan (which is like a lightly-toasted bread) came hot and buttered and could be used to dip in the different sauces, although I ate it straight.

I also had a samosa, which seemed superfluous in the context of all the other food. It was good, but I'd have to say I actually prefer the samosas from Whole Foods. Weird, I know, but I could easily see it being the other way around for other people. Perhaps it was because I was so involved with eating the other food that I neglected the samosa until it was a little cold.

Complimenting the meal was a mango lassi. I don't really like mangos, but the mango lassi was pretty good. It was a little tart, but not overly so, and only the slightest bit sweet. It did an excellent job of clearing the palate and keeping all the different flavors distinct after each bite.

It was a very good experience eating at Samosa House East, made richer with the companionship of an old friend. If the food hadn't been good, I still would have had an enjoyable experience, but the fact that it was good only made things that much better.

Some other notes about Samosa House East:
- For some reason I'd been thinking of some place I made up in my head called Samosa Hut that I wanted to eat at, when I realized later there really was a place called Samosa House. Subconsciously ("Inception" anyone?) Samosa House got into my head. Then when I took one of their business cards, I realized I had seen it before, as it turned out I already had one. Wherever did I get my hands on it?

Samosa House East
10700 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 559-6350

Skooby's

I find it strange that Hollywood is like my backyard, and that I didn't start hanging out there until I found out about Skooby's.

When most people think about hot dogs in L.A., they think about Pink's. It's a Los Angeles institution, but frankly I find it overrated. And overcrowded. I don't think the hot dogs there are so great that I would be willing to stand on line for a half hour, especially considering that you only have to wait a few minutes for a Costco Polish and it only costs $1.50 and you get a drink. That being said, it's not like Skooby's hot dogs are altogether amazing either, but then it's only a few blocks away from Pink's, you barely have to wait to order and get one served up, and they hafe infinitely better fries. The difference really is their fries and their Arnold Palmers.

I discovered Skooby's because I was hunting for the best fries in L.A., particularly Belgian-style French fries. Researching the Chowhound message boards led me to Skooby's. Skooby's doesn't really serve Belgian-style fries, but they are good, and if they're not the best in L.A., then I don't know who is.

Skooby's uses real, fresh Idaho and Washington potatoes that are generously cut into traditional fry strips and less traditional chip slices. They are double fried (the best way to fry) in peanut oil, then tossed with seasoned salt and served up with an aioli dipping sauce. If the fries only consisted of the fries proper, that would be good enough to distinguish themselves from most other restaurants that serve fries. Add in the chip slices and the aioli though, and you have something otherworldly. Add chili, cheddar, or bacon and you have heaven. The fries would be one of the sides in my dream meal (which would also have Pioneer Chicken).

The hotdogs, on the other hand, are alright. The hot dogs and buns are made specially for them, and are different from the other hot dog joints around town. The hot dogs are somewhat small, especially when compared to the hot dogs at Pink's, or even Carney's. But they have less of a mass-produced feel to them, if that makes sense. The buns are atypical of hot dog buns and are more similar to rolls. They also have a slightly chewy quality to them which may or may not be desirable to some. Of note is their chili dog which they serve with their homemade chili made with Guinness. It is a very mellow chili that has a bit more personality than say Pink's or Tommy's.

They also serve one of the best Arnold Palmers in town, made with fresh lemonade. I find that both their ice tea and their lemonade go well together, neither one standing out more than the other. It's not too tart, not too sweet, and not too bitter.

My typical meal at Skooby's is usually a double bacon cheddar fries, a side of hot dog, and an Arnold Palmer. It's a generous meal, with an excellent proportion of fries to hot dog. I would suggest however ordering additional aioli, since you'll find yourself wanting more.

Some other notes about Skooby's:
- 5 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter, meaning you will need napkins.
- Skooby's is literally a hole in the wall in Hollywood, so don't expect any fancy indoor seating. Or any seating for that matter. Eating space is very limited outside. The Manhattan Beach location is probably roomier (they also serve burgers there), but it isn't the same as hanging out on Hollywood Blvd.
- What you lose in space, they make up for with an awesome soundtrack. They're constantly blasting great punk music, sometimes even foreign punk music.
- If you have the option of choosing between a bacon cheddar hot dog and a double Skooby's fries, or a regular hot dog and a double bacon cheddar cheddar fries, go for the latter. The price breakdown is such that you get more value adding the cheddar and the bacon to the fries rather than the dog. Or better yet, get both bacon-cheddarized.

Skooby's
6654 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) HOT-DOGS

Soot Bull Jeep

I had another lunch date with the three lovely ladies I accompanied to Hong Kong Kitchen a while back. Today we went to Soot Bull Jeep in K-Town. I know, Soot Bull Jeep sounds like the answers to a random fill in the blank game like madlibs (if you're some weirdo who doesn't do what everyone else does and just use some variations on "penis" and "poop"), but it's really a Korean barbecue restaurant. They even use real charcoal!

There wasn't a wait, because there were only two couples in the restaurant when we got there. However there were only two waitress and no busboy ... Dun dun dun, and the plot thickens.

We sit, order a plate of squid, a plate of mino (honeycomb tripe), and rib eye. They bring us our banchan, and one cup of ice. What, no water? But wait, there's more!

Our food comes, but they replace the rib eye with some other meat because I'm not sure why. The other meat is marinated though, so it's not a big deal.

Meanwhile we're cooking and eating, and more and more people come in. We still haven't gotten our water, and we're pretty hot. They do get around to bringing the rice, so we're getting somewhere. I don't know where that is, but it's somewhere with rice at least.

Halfway through the meal we run out of kimchee, which is a problem ... Because it's so good! It's, like, better than regular kimchee. I don't know how to describe it, it just tasted better. The best way to describe it is it's like the opposite of shit. Unless I mean, "it's the shit," in which case it would be like that, awesome. We ask for more. It never comes. But that's kind of a spoiler.

Finally the waitress passes by and we beg for water, because it's so hot, temperature hot, and I'm sweating like a pig. Mostly because I just finished playing basketball and my metabo-rate is all haywire. Plus I got a baby in one arm, so added body heat.

We finish eating, the kimchee never comes and we wait. For the waitress, for the check, for anyone who can come save us. We push ourselves farther and farther away from the table to escape the residual heat from the smoldering charcoal. I toss a few mizu kimchee pieces onto the grill to cool it off, but it does no good. The ice is long gone.

In desperation, Slice Princess and I whip out our DSs and play DQ to show the world that we're done eating, and that we're huge nerds. She beats a super difficult boss, and I wonder why my master is forcing me to give him the fyggs that I worked so hard to gather and that I don't want to part with.

Queen Poo (formerly Princess Poo, but now Popolyn has earned that title) waves her hand in the air wildly always just at the moment the waitress turns her head. Princess Poo has meanwhile given up all hope, and sleeps, resolved to her fate.

Finally, after much arm waving, yelling, and crying, a waitress comes to our aid and delivers our check. Within seconds we burst out of the door into the cool 85+ degree heat.

THE END

And as for the food, the food was good, the service very not much so, and the temperature very, very not much so.

Some other notes about Soot Bull Jeep:
- Not cheap.
- Smells like charcoal.

Soot Bull Jeep
3136 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 387-3865

Tasty Garden

Another day, another Chinese restaurant. I keep forgetting to take pictures when I go to J & J Restaurant, so you'll have to wait for that. But today's restaurant, Tasty Garden in Arcadia, was very good, and holds true to it's name (the "tasty" part, not the "garden" so much).

We ordered five dishes, well beyond what two people should eat, but no matter. The first dish was the glazed walnut shrimp, a favorite of my mom's. Although she claims it wasn't as good as the last time she had it, it was still very good and there were some bites that made me wistful for the days when shrimp was like potatoes and you couldn't go anywhere where there wasn't shrimp on the side. You say that never was? Well, I like to dream it. The shrimp were very large, much larger than the average shrimp found at any seafood restaurant. There was a light coating of mayonnaise, and the walnuts were very fresh and crispy.

The second dish out was green beans. At first I thought there were fried with garlic, but upon further tasting, I would guess that they used some rehydrated, marinated turnip. The flavor was intense, like a shiitake, but the texture was closer to a ground meat. It was surprisingly good and I wouldn't have expected such interesting and profound flavors in such a simple vegetable dish.

We had to have some sort of noodle, so we ordered barbecue pork chow fun. I find noodle dishes rarely stand out, and such was the case here. It was serviceable, but not anything to write home about, which is just as well since there were so many other delectable foods.

The pork spareribs in black bean sauce was another disappointment. While all the other dishes were so generous, the amount of spareribs was rather meager. This isn't the type of dish you should order at a cafe, which is sort of the place Tasty Garden is, although not entirely so. Most of the dishes need to be quick, but you can't really rush the rice in the pork spareribs. There was too much moisture when they made the dish, so while the rice formed a koge (or crust for the non-Japanese readers), it became chewy. The flavors weren't really there either, with a little too much star anise appearing in the aftertaste.

The last plate that came out was the salt and spicy squid, which was done very well here. It's probably better than anywhere else I can get it. The coating was very crisp, but not too heavy or greasy, and the squid was cooked to the right tenderness. I would go there again just to get this. And maybe the frog which is fried the same way.

If there were two dishes that were head and shoulders above the rest, they were the glazed walnut shrimp and the salt and spicy squid. These are dishes you can get at almost any Chinese restaurant nowadays, but few places actually do them well. Luckily, Tasty Garden is one of the few.

Some other notes about Tasty Garden:
- As with most Chinese restaurants, Guan Yu is looking out for you. Trust Guan Yu, because if you don't, he'll kick your ass.
- They have a dessert display, so I got the durian pudding and my mom got the steamed egg and milk. The durian pudding tasted like bread, but the steamed egg and milk? It's like what it says. It's like the vanilla of vanilla. It was like a shitty chawanmushi.

Tasty Garden
1212 South Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 300-8262

Papa Cristo's

I love gyros. It's one of the few things, along with zosui and Italian cold cut sandwiches, that I could eat everyday. And my favorite place to get them is Papa Cristo's. My family has been going to Papa Cristo's and the adjacent C & K Importing market and delicatessen for years. The place has changed a lot over time, adding a substantial dining room and an outdoor patio. I've even seen some of their long-standing deli servers come and go. The place is a well-known Los Angeles treasure, sitting right across from St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

For an appetizer, I got the octopodakia, which is grilled baby octopus. It came served with tomato, cucumber, and lemon slices and a pita. I liked the chewy texture of the octopus, and the grilled legs add a crispiness and crunch. As a dish, it was pretty substantial, but it was a refreshing compliment to the rest of the meal.

Rather than settle for a gyro sandwich as I normally would, I got the gyro dinner plate. It came with a very generous serving of gyros along with pan fried potatoes.

To me, gyro meat is like a magical food. It's ground meat, usually pork but sometimes a mixture of beef and lamb, that is seasoned with herbs and baked on a rotisserie. When it's ready to serve, the meat is sliced into thin strips then grilled. Like the octopodakia, this creates several different textures, as the thick part of the slice is slightly chewy and moist, while the edges are crunchy. There's something about the particular mix of meat and herbs that creates a craving in me.

Their pita was also unlike other pitas in that they don't have a pocket. They're still flat, but perhaps a tad fluffier and thicker than other store-bought pitas. That made them excellent for dipping into tzatziki, a sauce consisting of yogurt, garlic, onion, and cucumber.

I always enjoy going to Papa Cristo's. With the addition of the dining area, it makes for a pleasant eating experience. I've never been to Greece, but I have been to Spain, and the decor is enough to suggest that I could be eating somewhere in Europe, or at least somewhere not in LA. Just as long as you go when the clientele is mostly Greek.

Some other notes on Papa Cristo's:
- 0 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. But if you get the sandwich, expect a 7 out of 7.
- It's not particularly cheap, but it seems a decent value when you consider how much food you're getting.

Papa Cristo's
2771 West Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(323) 737-2970
Closed Mondays

Taqueria Sanchez

I was killing time in West LA, so I went to my favorite taqueria, Taqueria Sanchez. I discovered the place a few years ago while searching through old Chowhound threads.

From outward appearances, Taqueria Sanchez might look like any other fast food Mexican restaurant. However they do a good job with their street-style tacos. In particular, they do very good al pastor (marinated pork), but I've found their cabeza (head) and buche (pork intestine) to be quite good as well.

Today I ordered a minor feast: dos tacos al pastor, dos tacos de cabeza, un taco de buche, y un taco de chicharron (pork rind). Each taco was $1.35, but they're quite generous. When my food was ready a few mintues later, one customer thought it looked so good he asked for the very same thing.

I started with the al pastor, which was one of the reasons I had gone here in the first place. Their al pastor is very moist, which I've found to be exceptional when compared to most other Mexican restaurants, and it is bursting with flavor. Though unusually this time, they served the pork with the pineapple pieces they used to marinate the meat. Surprisingly, the pineapple wasn't overpowering, and was just as good as the pork.

I next had the cabeza, my second favorite at Taqueria Sanchez. The cabeza is tender and sopping with stew. Unlike it's name, cabeza, or head, is more like a stewed headcheese, using the cheek meat and other bits. As such, there's plenty of tender meat and soft connective tissue. Whereas the al pastor is a little savory and a little sweet, the cabeza is savory and more straightforward. It can be a bit messy, but it's worth having the tasty juices from the stew.

Next, I moved onto the buche. Like you might expect, the buche was chewy, but not to the point of being unappetizing. Intestine is always a little funky, kind of like how lamb or goat is a little funky when compared to beef or pork, but it's never off-putting. Compared to the rest of the tacos, it provided a good contrast in texture. Like everything else, it was well-flavored, but different from the rest.

Lastly, I had the chicharron. This was my first time trying it here. I've been to some restaurants that used pre-packed pork rinds, and others that used meaty chunks with a little bit of rind. The chicharron at Taqueria Sanchez appears to be prepared on site, with less meat and more rind. They're quite soft as they're stewed in a smoky, spicy sauce. It's similar to a barbecue sauce, but without the overwhelming sweetness. It was actually pretty delicious.

It turned out to be a good mixture of different flavors and textures. Six tacos was perhaps a little more than I needed to eat, but I don't regret finishing a meal that was so good.

Some other notes on Taqueria Sanchez:
- 5 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. You will need napkins.
- 5 out of 5 on my tacometer. This is seriously good stuff.

Taqueria Sanchez
4541 S. Centinela Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90066

Hoagies & Wings

When I started working at company B many years ago, I would take Venice to work and would pass "Hoagies & Wings, Grand Opening," everyday. Well, about a couple months into their "Grand Opening," I finally got around to trying them. At this point, I liked wings a lot, but hadn't really hunted for good ones. I considered chicken wings a great delicacy, owing to their high skin to meat ratio.

I didn't get too many wings that first time, perhaps about sixteen, and I probably split them between hot and suicide. I was really into spicy foods, still am, but those wings were perhaps the second hottest things I had ever eaten (next to a sole dragon chili I had eaten years before). It was a good, clean hot, owing to copious amounts of chili oil added to the hot sauce. I've since had suicide wings at many other wings joints, including the famous Anchor Bar, but Hoagies & Wings suicide wings are still a notch above on the Scoville scale.

I started going there fairly often, perhaps once or twice a month, to the point that the three founders, a Harvard law grad and two Le Cordon Bleu Culinary grads, knew me by my brother's name, the name I usually gave to restaurants for seating and pick-up orders. Lucky for me, they eventually opened up a second location, two blocks away from my office. They would go on to open another by my friends' place (which is now gone, unfortunately), and another near my house (which is even more unfortunately gone). All in all, they at one time had six different locations, but are now down to two. But that shouldn't be a slight on their cooking prowess.

Before...

Having been to Anchor Bar, I can't say that Hoagies & Wings offers the most authentic Buffalo wing experience, but they're pretty good, and much closer in proximity than Anchor Bar. Their wings are meaty, moist, and flavorful. Like any good chicken wings, they take a good fifteen minutes to cook. They're pretty liberal with their hot sauce, which has a decent spiciness even at just the hot level, which is my preferred as suicide tends to blow all taste out of the water after the eight wing or so.

...After.

My usual meal is about twenty wings split between hot and garlic parmesan (they offer over a dozen flavor combinations), a large fries, and a large Coke. The most wings I've ever had there is thirty. It's not a cheap meal (at least for me), as it runs about $25 for all that, but it's worth it. It sure beats booking a flight out to Buffalo, although if I want to get a beef on weck, I guess I don't have much choice.

Some other notes about Hoagies & Wings:
- 7 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter. I defy someone to make it through the meal without getting messy.
- 0-10 out of 10 on my spice-o-meter. Garlic parmesan is a 0, hot is only about a 6, and suicide is definitely a 10 or more.
- 11 out of 11 on my wing scale. It goes up to 11.

Hoagies & Wings
1544 S. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 360-4800

14552 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 789-4600

Umami Burger on La Brea

After a day of running errands around town, I wanted to eat something delicious, so we ended up at Umami Burger. Umami Burger is a chain of trendy, upscale, gourmet burger restaurants, the type of place where the burger and nothing else comes on a pristine white plate. There are currently four locations, but we went to the one on La Brea.

The restaurant itself is very small, with perhaps 30 seats inside, and another dozen outside. The small area makes for some intimacy, but the sheer volume of chatter almost ensures you won't have any. Oh well, that's not why I went there.

The menu consists solely of burgers and sides, with about a half dozen variations of the beefy offerings. Each burger variation has been carefully crafted with a precise mix of complimentary flavors. Today I ordered their signature burger, the Umami burger. It boasts six different sources of umami, that fifth flavor also known as savory that derives from glutamic acid. I can't name all the ingredients that contributed to the umami, but I do know that they were all good.

After ordering, the burger came fairly quickly. My first impression was that it was rather modest and plain—a lone, single burger sitting in the middle of an expansive rectangular plate. But that tiny burger packed a wallop of flavor.

Now when judging a burger, you really have to discuss the patty, as, after all, a hamburger wouldn't be a hamburger without the patty. Even if the bun, all the toppings, and the sauces are good, it means very little without the right burger patty. I've had quite a few good burgers, but this one is instantly in my top two (sorry, MOS Burger is still my number one), and it's all because of the patty.

I got a little glimpse into the kitchen, so I could see that they grind their own meat, if only I knew what cuts. Their burger patty is like a work of art. It's devoid of gristle, yet still maintains a wonderfully varied texture without the usual annoyances. The patty is loosely packed and as I ordered mine rare (medium rare is their standard, so speak up if you like otherwise), if the meat weren't lean it would be a goobly mess. Despite what must be a lack of inherent fat, the burger tastes wonderfully rich, with the most beautiful caramelization on the outside. It was like eating the best prime rib, but in burger form.

Topping the burger was their Umami ketchup, grilled onions, Parmesan frico, sauteed shiitake mushroom, and roasted tomato. Everything came served on a lightly toasted brioche bun. Thinking about it, it was all quite frou-frou, but after having eaten it, I don't even care. This is not the type of burger you scarf down—that would be an insult (and a waste of your $10). No, you have to take each bite and chew it lovingly and longingly—this is the type of burger you make love to, but only after dating it for a month and getting to know it pretty well.

I could go on and on about how I met the burger's parents, and the proposal, but I should take some time and talk about Umami Burger's onion rings. I also ordered their malt liquor tempura onion rings. They were similar in many ways to beer-batter-fried Maui onion rings, but much more refined. They were lighter in color, but no less greasy. The added touch of sea salt was also a nice surprise. They come in a short stack, but go a long way.

Lastly, to clean my palate between bites (you really wouldn't want to muddle all the wonderful flavors), I ordered a ginger ale. It would have been an Arnold Palmer but they ran out(?) of iced tea. The waiter brought me a bottle of Vavo ginger ale, which was very light and refreshing. The ginger extract gave it a sharper ginger bite, and the light cane sugar didn't make it too abundantly sweet.

I would have to say it was a near perfect experience. Why wasn't it perfect? Well, because some annoying internet blogger who will go unnamed, *cough* Perez Hilton *cough*, was sitting behind me playing "Would you rather..." with his dinner guests. He was so loud, I couldn't even eavesdrop on their answers. Luckily Andy Garcia swooped in with his three lovely daughters, and the annoying internet blogger vanished into the night. Sometimes living in Los Angeles is so weird.

Some other notes on Umami Burger:
- 5 out of 7 on my mess-o-meter, meaning your burger will fall apart and leak juices the closer you get to finishing it.
- 10 out of 10 on my burg-o-meter, meaning that I want to have kids with this burger.
- Perez Hilton: 10 out of 10 on my douche-o-meter, meaning even douches would have to douche after meeting him.
- Andy Garcia: 8 out of 10 on my cool-cat-o-log, because he was sporting an awesome Confederate beard and mustache combo. Plus his daughters were surprisingly attractive.

Umami Burger La Brea
850 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 931-3000

Umami Burger Hollywood
4655 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
(323) 669-3922

Umami Urban
1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd. #7
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 469-3100

Umami Santa Monica
Fred Segal
500 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 451-1300

Umami Burger Website

JR Bistro in Chinatown

Since Sister C was out for the night, the plan was to eat Chinese at Phoenix Inn. But when we got there, it was closed for renovations until June 2. This left us in a quandary as to where to eat, and eventually we decided upon JR Bistro beneath Ocean Seafood.

From all appearances, the interior of JR Bistro resembles a Hong Kong cafe, with a couple of big screen TVs on the walls. However the cuisine is typical of what you would find in most Chinatown restaurants. It took a while for the wait staff to take our order, and they looked undermanned but it could have been because it was a Sunday evening.

We ordered five dishes: mu shu pork, shrimp with glazed walnuts, calamari with garlic spicy salt, shredded pork with preserved vegetables, and house special chow mein.

The mu shu pork came first, and the waitress was kind enough to assemble them for us. These were fairly good, without anything feeling out of place. Without an ample enough amount of hoisin sauce they can be a bit bland, but luckily the waitress left extra sauce on the table.

Next up was the shrimp with glazed walnuts. Unfortunately there was a little too much mayonnaise on the shrimp, but not enough to obscure the naturally sweet flavors of the shrimp. The shrimp were plump, though, and there was a sizable amount. The walnuts could have been more glazed as well.

The calamari with garlic spicy salt fared slightly better. The dish wasn't bad, but I'm not a fan of the tempura-style batter. Still, the squid was cooked just right, and the garlic spicy salt had a little more punch in the flavor department than similar dishes at other restaurants.

I was very disappointed in the chow mein, which was bland. There also seemed to be too much starch in the gravy, which was particularly noticeable when I scooped a chow mein pancake into the take-out box.

The surprise of the meal turned out to be the shredded pork with preserved vegetables. Out of all the dishes, this one seemed to have the most fully-realized identity. The textures were varied, with crunchy strips of bamboo shoot and wood ear mushroom mixed with tender pieces of pork and onions. The flavors were sharp and bold, unlike many of the other dishes which seemed sloppy and undefined.

Overall I would say that I was underwhelmed by the meal. I did see a number of dishes being eaten by other patrons that looked appetizing, though, so chances are I will be back to give JR Bistro another shot.

Some other notes on JR Bistro:
- They didn't serve me ketchup and mustard like some other places I know, so that's a plus.
- When the wait staff did get around to helping us, they were very friendly, which is quite a bit different from some of the other Chinese restaurants I've been to.

JR Bistro
750 N. Hill St. #F
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-0838

Pho 2000 in K-Town

Since I don't live any where near Garden Grove, my choices for decent Vietnamese food are limited. However there is one restaurant nearby that has a better than average bowl of pho: Pho 2000. Pho 2000 is actually a chain of pho restaurants located throughout the southland which started with the Koreatown location. As such, their servers and clientele are primarily Korean, although their ownership and cooks may in fact be Vietnamese.

For the most part, they only serve one thing: pho. It comes in the usual variations found at many of the more authentic Vietnamese restaurants—that means sliced beef brisket, steak, tripe, tendon, fish balls, and the like. The one unusual and particularly tasty variation is their oxtail pho, which comes with plain noodles and a side bowl filled with tender shreds of oxtail meat. Aside from the pho, they offer two appetizers/sides: spring rolls or egg rolls. Today I had the special combo (brisket, steak, tripe, tendon) with a side of egg rolls.

The food came fast, as in the I'll-have-the-oh-it's-here variety. In fact the pho was so fast, it preceded the appetizer, egg rolls.

The egg rolls were pretty good. It looked as though they were filled with pork, carrots, cabbage, and noodles. The flavor was up front, and was complimented well with the sweet and sour dipping sauce.

One thing about pho, I like it like I like my women: hot, spicy, and unhealthily red. Here's a before:

and after:

I even eased back a little on the Sriracha.

The soup had a good flavor, even with the Sriracha, and the noodles weren't too hard or too soft, as long as they don't sit for a while in the soup. As for the meats, they were typical, although today's tendon was especially well-cooked. Unlike some pho places, they only have one serving size (excepting the super bowl) but it's a very filling portion.

I'm glad I'm lucky enough to have a Pho 2000 nearby, since Garden Grove and even Monterey Park are quite a ways away. It's cheap (about $8 per bowl), it's filling, and it's tasty. I couldn't ask for much more.

Some other notes about Pho 2000:
5 out of 5 on my ready-to-eat-o-meter, meaning the food magically appears on your table before you're even finished ordering.
0-10 out of 10 on my spice-o-meter. With no Sriracha = 0. With a level 10 Sriracha = sweating, tears, and moaning in a fetal position.

Pho 2000
215 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323)461-5845

Takoyaki TANOTA

Today I had some business in Little Tokyo (yeah, I've been all over town this week), and there was a takoyaki cart there. It is a fairly common site to see around Japan, but not so much here. For those unfamiliar with takoyaki, it is basically a round, seasoned dough ball with pieces of boiled octopus inside. It might not sound too appetizing from my description, but there is a little more to it. It usually comes piping hot, with a crisp outside and a lava-like center. (I'm really not doing a good job of making this sound appetizing, am I?) It makes for a wonderful street snack, since it's quick to make and served hot.

The cart that I saw was named Takoyaki TANOTA, and they only served takoyaki (other Japanese vendors might offer cheese-filled takoyaki). If I recall correctly, they came in sets of eight pieces for $5. They also offered them plain, topped with otafuku sauce, or special, which came topped with their Tanota original sauce, mayo, nori, and negi (green onion). We tried them with the special sauce.

To be honest, I have had much better takoyaki, even in L.A. I didn't find them particularly flavorful, and the octopus was a bit chewy, which it shouldn't be. Perhaps it would have been better if we had eaten them right when we got them, but they were much too hot then, and they were only about twenty minutes removed when we ate them. Or it could have been that I haven't had authentic Japanese takoyaki in over nine years, and don't remember exactly what they are supposed to be like. Still, I commend them for trying to bring a little bit of Japan to Los Angeles. It's hard enough to even find restaurants that serve takoyaki here, so I'm willing to give them another try somewhere down the line. Their prices were fairly reasonable, and the portion substantial enough.

Since they're a cart, they don't have a permanent address. They seem to appear in or around Japanese enclaves, like Mitsuwa in West L.A., or on Sawtelle. For specific locations and times, check out their Twitter account.

Takoyaki TANOTA Homepage
Takoyaki TANOTA Twitter
(310)497-2829

Shirin in Woodland Hills

I had a lunch meeting today in Woodland Hills, so we ended up eating at Shirin. Shirin serves traditional Persian and Mediterranean cuisine—kabobs and other skewered meats.

The restaurant gives off the air of formality and dignity, and most of the patrons at that hour were nearby business people. But at the same time I could also see casually dressed diners as well, so the restaurant is not particularly pompous or stuffy.

They have a modest lunch menu, but everything is reasonably priced (everything less than $10). I ordered the boneless lamb kabobs. The waiter even asked my preference on how I wanted them cooked, which I always consider a sign of good cooking craftsmanship. Only quality restaurants will ask how you want your meat cooked.

The waiter also offered the option of soup or salad, of which I chose the latter. The salad was rather substantial, with cucumber slices, tomato slices, grated carrot, and corn in addition to lettuce. It was topped with a light dressing, somewhat of a cross between ranch and tzatziki. It was good, and I was especially impressed by the corn which was sweet and added a little more flavor impact.

The rest of the meal came on a rather large, square plate. It might not look like a great deal of meat, but it was very filling. The lamb kabob was cooked just as I had asked, medium, and was very flavorful. The spices presented a blend of the exotic and familiar that danced around in my mouth. It had a strong lamb flavor without being overly gamy as some lamb can be.

The rice was a typical basmati, with some saffron basmati layered over the top, which I consumed along with the pickles, onions, and broiled tomato. By the end of the meal I was very satisfied. Had the lunch meeting not been a success, I could have at least savored the meal which now was just icing on the cake.

Some other notes on Shirin:
- They had a decorative hookah inset in the wall across from me, and I wondered if anyone has ever tried to smoke it.
- They constantly play music throughout the restaurant, and I was tickled when I heard recorder versions of The Beatles "Yesterday" and Nino Rota's "The Godfather Theme."

Shirin
21826 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(818)887-6353