Restaurant recommendations, new openings, and highlights from the LA Chowhound community.
Meat is trending in Los Angeles, a fact that lends new luster to Cookin' with Lenny's Smokehouse. Hypnotic23 reports on Chowhound that the Chatsworth BBQ joint is smoking ribs and other ‘cue standards good enough to compete with the area's best.
The chef behind the smoker is Lenny Bent, who earned his chops via years of production catering on movie locations around LA. Hypnotic23 likes the two kinds of ribs (whiskey-smoked and glazed with raspberry chipotle sauce, though both are good enough to eat naked, without sauce). Also noteworthy: smoked maple chicken and fresh salmon, paired with waffle fries and shredded-pork potato skins (other options for sides include chili and mac and cheese). “Pure perfection,” Hypnotic23 says. READ MORE
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on Monday, April 15th, 2013
King Hua's dim sum is celebrated, and for good reason: sticky rice in lotus leaves, pan-fried turnip cake, char siu bao—they're fantastic. But after dropping in on King Hua one night, Chowhound dreamcast18 is rethinking the conventional wisdom about this Alhambra restaurant. Dinner might actually be better than dim sum. READ MORE
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on Thursday, April 11th, 2013
A trip to Switzerland left BobtheBigPig jonesing for high-caliber cheeses, from stinky chunks of aged Appenzeller to mild bites of Vacherin. It can be hard to find some great European cheeses in the U.S. (strict rules about pasteurized milk, for starters), but Chowhounds did point BobtheBigPig to five LA-area shops for scoring a cheese fix.
• Andrew Steiner (pictured) of Andrew’s Cheese Shop worked as the full-time "Maitre d’Fromage" at Patina for years before opening his own store beachside in Santa Monica. On display are more than 200 cheeses—most are straight from the farms where their milk's from. Tasting is welcome. Steiner hosts the occasional Cheese 101 class and has been known to roast his own Marcona almonds. 728 Montana Avenue,
Santa Monica; 310-393-3308. READ MORE
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on Friday, April 5th, 2013
Throw a rock in the San Gabriel Valley and chances are you'll hit a Chinese restaurant that has killer dumplings, beef noodle soup, or fish fried rice. Japanese food is scarcer, though you could seek out Tokyo Ramen, a no-frills place in Monterey Park serving ramen, katsu, and sushi. READ MORE
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on Thursday, April 4th, 2013
It’s common for popular LA food trucks to morph into brick-and-mortars. Culver City’s LA Spice began as a creative catering company. Now it's LA Spice Café, which opened its doors in February on a quiet stretch of Sepulveda Boulevard. The early word on Chowhound is very promising. READ MORE
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on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013
There are many places to grab great Mexican food in Los Angeles, but Chowhound DFox says that Latino Market in Thousand Oaks serves some pretty epic tacos. Not only that, fellow 'hound liu says, but at $1.19 a pop, they're insanely cheap. READ MORE
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on Sunday, March 31st, 2013
For more than 50 years, Silver Lake's Red Lion Tavern has served a long list of beers and a solid roster of German eats like rouladen, schnitzel, and spatzle. After a three-year absence, Chowhound FoodObsessive dropped in and noticed a few changes: A piano player no longer works the ivories out on the patio, the kitschy gasthaus décor looks a little worse for wear, and fewer servers seem to speak German. What hasn’t changed is the food—it’s still traditional, still good. READ MORE
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on Thursday, March 28th, 2013
A torta is only as good as the sum of its parts. By that calculation, Rocco’s Tacos in Pomona is doing its sandwich math right, JeetJet says on Chowhound. On a recent visit JeetJet scanned the long menu and decided instead on an off-menu fish torta. The verdict? It was the best JeetJet’s ever tasted. “Bread is the foundation of any sandwich,” JeetJet says, noting that Rocco’s is fresh and not too thick. Refried beans “just like Nana used to make” (the owner lets you sample them first) are spread on the bread under a fresh fish fillet with a scant amount of light batter, cooked to order. Head for the green salsa at the salsa bar, which by itself “is worth a trip.” READ MORE
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on Wednesday, March 27th, 2013
