soniabegonia's Profile
Cheap Lunch in Santa Monica?
thank you for the Sandwich Spot recommendation. What a fantastic spot! I prefer it to Bay Cities, which i think is overhyped. I do not get the Godmother (it's a fine sandwich but don't think it deserves a spot in the sandwich hall of fame and the unending outpouring of love and devotion) and I do not get the hype over their bread. I loved the dutch crunch at the Sandwich Spot and it's a lot calmer than Bay Cities. Easy parking, too. I value convenience.
Korean cold spicy noodles?
O Jang Dong - best & cheap (but stick to the spicy version, not the soup version, which is bland)
Ham Hung - 2nd best
Chil Bo Myun Oak - terrible & overpriced
Looking For Restaurant With Great Bone Marrow / Marrow-Based Dish
Madame Chou Chou has a delicious (and garlicky) version
Trastevere-hollywood
I would choose Boho or The Grill over Trastevere. They are both slightly closer to parking & Dolby (fka Kodak) Theatre since convenience is an issue for you.
Umami Burgers....Worth the price ??
a bit fat NO for me. Been 3x, all with varying results, but in the final analysis, I'd prefer to spend my money elsewhere.
Lukshon vs Akasha - Culver City
At peak dinner time, it's hard to carry on a conversation at Akasha - it's very loud. Also, they have the most ridiculously uncomfortable chairs for dining... they're the Le Corbusier-like sling chairs with an extreme slant toward the back so you pretty much have to sit right on the edge of the seat to eat & to have a conversation or you just slide back into the seat, then get a decent ab workout trying to get yourself out of it. And the food is not good enough to make up for the inconvenience.
I really like Lukshon and DO think it's quite low-key, especially if you sit outside. It's very pleasant and great for conversation. I've never found it to be stuffy. The banquette seating inside is closer than I prefer, so I always ask to be seated outside. I've never felt rushed there and I've had some lingering meals that stretched close to 2 hours. Maybe it's just timing, but I've never seen the place packed with people waiting, so I've never felt rushed. The food tends to be salty so I always get a side of rice to offset it.
I have never, ever, had a bad meal at ____________and I have eaten there over a dozen times!
one more: Carney's. Snappy dogs in soft warm buns doused with excellent low-brow chili...mmm.... gimme two Carney dogs and a coke, please. Does the job every time.
I have never, ever, had a bad meal at ____________and I have eaten there over a dozen times!
Kagaya
In-n-out
Nanbankan
Santouka
Tender Greens
Kogi Truck Innovator Goes Meatless (in his own eating)
and god forbid it should be "profitable"! oh no, can't have that!!
Sunday night dinner between Griffith Park and Hollywood?
Second Papilles. It's really good quality food at a fair price. I don't know if I'd elevate it to the level of "memorable" but it is certainly excellent. "Memorable" is a tough one...
Loud and louder restos: Maybe I'm getting old, but...
A-frame by a long shot. I couldn't hear myself talk. I couldn't hear myself think. I couldn't even remember what I wanted to say. It was the first and only dining experience where my ears actually ached from the noise.
After that, Comme Ca.
I hate noisy restaurants and I'm not likely to return to these two because of that. There are loud restaurants and then there are unbearably loud restaurants.
Red Medicine, P. Mozza, Rivera are tame by comparison. I'm willing to put up with that amount of noise but not the level experienced at the above 2.
Loteria Grill Now Open in the Westlake Village Promenade
I'm damn serious and i can say it because that is my opinion. The dozen tacos range from utterly flavorlorless to just ok and I find the whole thing rather gimmicky and ridiculous. I"ve been to the Hollywood location 3 times and FM location 3 times and i've been less impressed each time. I think there's a salsa or two that I thought were pretty good.
Loteria Grill Now Open in the Westlake Village Promenade
I've never understood the appeal of Loteria. I think the food is boring and flavorless. Their dozen taco sampler is just silly.
Hollywood Chow-ography!
It reheats well in a toaster oven. Just gotta go low & slow so it heats through and doesn't burn on the outside. Wrap in foil and put in the oven at ~275 for about 25-40 minutes, depending on the internal temperature. if you take a couple of slices out of the fridge an hour or so before reheating, it will be done sooner. I like to poke into the middle to make sure it's heated through. Then remove foil, crank up the heat to about 350 and put it back in for ~5 min to finish.
alternatively, you can zap it in the microwave (1 piece at a time) for 45-60 seconds to get things going first, then finish in the oven. This method works quite well with no real ill effects to the crust. And sometimes you just don't want to wait that long.
I've found that after reheating, it tends to get a bit drier than I'd like, so it's good to have some marinara sauce standing by.
Yes, you can pick up1 small and that should be good for 3 meals, unless you happen to have an unusually healthy appetite.
Best Korean Restarant
Oh, yeah.. Chowhounds, I'm disappointed in you. How is it that so little has been written about this place on this board? I read about Jun Won a few weeks ago on Tasting Table of all places. Excellent place. Very down home, authentic Korean stews, casseroles, grilled fish & such... stuff you would find served on dinner tables in Korean households. Great convivial atmosphere with a been-there-forever look, nice people.... feels like something you might find in Small Town, Korea.
In LA for work Sat - Tues.....where to eat alone?
if i were on a work trip with an expense account and looking for a meal with counter service, i'd look no further than Kagaya. Search the board for it. Expect to spend ~60 w/ tax/tip, with the cheapest option (regular beef) and no drinks. Reservation a must.
Yummy Yummy Seafood Buffet Morphs into a Shandong Style Restaurant
"The Western slant in this response is.. rather interesting." --> then call me a banana if you'd like. And actually, I think quite the contrary - note that I said nothing about Qilu and have nothing against it. In fact I think it's a perfectly fine name.
JTYH (per Gastronomyblog.dom -- Justin Timberlake, You're Hot). --> I had no idea and wish I hadn't seen that
If you have the "opportunity" (requirement) to have an English name, why the hell would you choose such a sorry-ass name as Yummy Yummy? What's in a name? a lot!
Yummy Yummy Seafood Buffet Morphs into a Shandong Style Restaurant
There comes a time when one has to decide on a name for his new restaurant. What would possess him to name it Yummy Yummy? Good god, is that awful. I know "ethnic" restaurants tend to be some of the worst offenders in this regard, espcially when an "ethnic" name is transliterated into the English alphabet, but no transliteration happening here. Doesn't take a marketing genius to spot a gawdawful name like that.
What's that got to do with anything? Not a thing. Just trolling.
La Mirada, La Habra, East Whittier???
Ye Dang
1351 S Beach Blvd, just south of Imperial
Legit Korean
Ultra-pasteurized milk is VILE!
I live in a big city so probably get lots more options. When I went to Maui last year, all I could find was ultra-pasteurized everything. I can always find conventional pasteurized milk products where I live. Organic pasteurized is only slightly harder to find - Whole Foods usually carries at least a couple of brands other than their house brand.
Condolences for your loss of your cows and real milk. I do love the city life and would be hard-pressed to give that up, but there are days when I wish I were living on a farm where I can live off the land and eat foods that taste as nature intended. I also have a tiny obsession with farm animals (no dirty jokes, please.. I just find them really pure and good and endearing),
Ultra-pasteurized milk is VILE!
I'm no scientist but I don't think UHT = ultra-pasteurized. Having said that, I think they're both vile, UHT more so. I won't touch either with a 10-foot pole, at least not on purpose. Why can't we go back to how things were just 10 years or so ago when 99% of milk sold in markets was pasteurized? Ultra-pasteurization is creating a whole generation of people who will not know how milk should taste (not that pasteurized milk is so wonderful, either, but it's vastly better).
Ultra-pasteurized milk is VILE!
Who the hell drinks this crap? I accidentally put some in my coffee at work without reading the label. It is an abomination and a desecration of the goodness that nature provides. This shit tastes like non-dairy creamer. I say it should be banned.
Ok, rant over.
800 degrees --what's with the lettuce stems?
Oh i see. I thought your issue was that they were serving lettuce stems (and that they were dirty, but that was secondary). No, i've never been to 800 degrees and just i found it odd that serving lettuce stems would be considered gauche. The point i was making with the green onion roots is that i like the notion of eating all parts of a plant, such as the roots of green onion and lettuce stems.
800 degrees --what's with the lettuce stems?
what's wrong with lettuce stems? if there's grit, that's a problem but i see nothing wrong with serving (and eating) lettuce stems. maybe i'm just frugal. slightly off topic, but i was served deep fried roots of green onions at ink. and found it rather enjoyable (mostly for the interesting texture).
$500 - Where to splurge?
how about one person gets the wine pairing and the two can share?
Help I've lost my izakaya!
that's Robata Jinya. Yes, SE corner of 3rd & Crescent Heights
Sushi - Kiriko, Mori, or Shunji?
I've been to all three (though only the Melrose location of Shunji) and I would rate Mori > Kiriko > Shunji. I tend to be a sushi traditionalist so Mori appeals to me the most. I wasn't that impressed with Shunji.
Miyata Menji: A photographic essay...
I understand the practical reason for it. I think the noodles could have been served closer to body temperature for better balance. I just found the stark contrast of cold noodles in hot dipping sauce jarring. Rinsing the noodles at, say, 80-90 degree water as opposed to 40-50 water would still stop the cooking process and not cause the sauce to become completely cold less than half-way through the meal. The difference with Tsujita is that they use thicker, chewier noodles for the tsukemen so they are not *as* likely to get mushy by being kept slightly warmer. I do tend to be very particular about food temperature. I don't mind cold noodles, say, in a salad, or cold soba noodles, etc. but this was just about 20 degrees cooler than I would have liked. As I said, not my thing.
Miyata Menji: A photographic essay...
Eh.. this was not my thing. I much prefer Tsujita. My main complaint is the temperature of the noodles: I didn't like dipping cold noodles in hot dipping sauce. 1/3 way through the meal, the whole thing was just cold. I guess that's usually the experience with tsukemen but it didn't help that the noodles were completely cold rather than at least lukewarm to start. I guess I just like certain foods hot. The flavor of the sauce was not bad but the slightly curdly, slightly gelatinous consistency really threw me off and I must say I was slightly grossed out by it. Couple that with the lukewarm to cool to cold temperature of the meal... the experience was not appealing. I didn't bother with the bread as I'm not much of a bread-dipper; the soggy bread thing just doesn't do it for me.. it's a texture thing. My friend didn't seem to be enjoying her ramen all that much either. Afterwards, we agreed that we'll hit Tsujita next time ramen craving strikes. I'm sure it will appeal to some people and I wish them well but it's not for me.
Hollywood Chow-ography!
try Tamarind Deli - http://tamarindavedeli.com/index.html
Delancey next door is a good casual neighborhood Italian
To answer your question upthread, dip ramen is a chewy thicker ramen served with a thicker, richer, saltier broth (compared to regular soup ramen) for dipping.
