As I said, I expected static. As gringo-ized as India's Oven may be, the level of commitment one has to make to "travelling for dinner" is going to differ if the choice is driving (or bicycling; that's how close they are to Larchmont!) a mile or so, or driving all the way to Artesia and back, on a weekday, at dinner time.

I don't know what places he has tried and found wanting, and I know this will draw much static from more particular palates, but there's at least ACCEPTABLE Indian food to be found much closer than Artesia.. The successor to one of the oldest Indian restaurants in Los Angeles, India's Oven, is on Beverly, so it's just barely more than walking distance from Larchmont. While not at all revelatory or innovative, it's been VERY consistent for 20+ years.

There's Paru, on Sunset in Hollywood, for old-style vegetarian "hippie" Indian; don't be put off by the outside of the building!

At the low-cost end, there's India's Sweets and Spices, on Los Feliz, which has good dosa, but, like Bhanu, no ambiance.

There's three-four places in the Culver City/Venice/Motor Ave. area which are also pretty good to good.

And then there's the Pakistani tandoori place in Hawthorne, the name of which escapes me, but which J. Gold opined has some of the best tandoori to be had in So Cal...

Fermented bamboo shoots + shrimp paste + fish guts =
" a very non-American palate of flavors. Lots of funk in there. Not recommended unless you get off on that kind of thing"

is a diplomatic understatement.

I've seen that combo of aromas/flavors referenced, even by afficianadi, as "to a Western palate, reminiscent of a horse barn".

While they seem to be contracting in the LA market, they seem to be expanding up north.

http://tinyurl.com/nsp2r6h

Exactly the opposite of what I would have expected...

Just watch out, if your friends are purists about their objections to pork; LOTS of "non-pork" sausages are in fact in pork casings. Aidell's organic chicken andouille, for example:

":ORGANIC CHICKEN, SODIUM LACTATE (FROM BEETS), SEA SALT, ORGANIC GARLIC, DRIED SUGAR CANE SYRUP, ORGANIC SPICES, ORGANIC PAPRIKA, CELERY POWDER, AND ORGANIC DEHYDRATED ONION, IN A NATURAL PORK CASING."

So, is this with or without tax?

PDC is nice, but pricey.

How much ambiance do you want/are you willing to pay for?

The restaurants in the Standard and in the Omni downtown are pretty good.

The Pantry, 9th and Figueroa, is, of course, open 24/7.

Philippe The Original 1001 N. Alameda, opens at 6: http://www.philippes.com/

While Fred 62 is also 24/7, it's a considerably longer trek to USC, and their service is, (ahem) "casually paced"...

Almost any time of day, it's going to be pretty limited. Almost all side-streets off Melrose in that neck of the woods are permit/zone parking after dark, except for the first two parking spots right off Melrose. On Melrose itself, once the rush-hour no-stop zones are done, parking is still at a premium, since, among other things, the valets you just paid to park your car will use those spaces if they're there.

Very nicely done, though I suppose it means you have to adopt a faux-Brit pronunciation, and say "sink-h'le".

Went there for Saturday night dinner, pre-Mom's Day, with the in-laws, who live nearby, and who picked it (Mom-in-law had a coupon; she LOVES her coupons!) Clearly a copy of the Boiling Crab franchise, (and their many imitators in OC) but these folks REALLY need to improve their act, or they'll find Robert Irvine going over their menu and service with them soon.

Place is nearly empty, at 5:30 on Saturday. One waitress running register, seating customers, pulling beer, etc.

Wife and Mom-in-law ordered a Maine lobster. A big one. Waitress brings it out, in "Crab Boiler" type plastic cooking bag, and sets it on the table. With no plates, no forks, no knives, no nut-crackers, no hammers, no scissors, no utensils of any sort. More problematic: waitress seemed genuinely puzzled at the request for any of the above, until we explained that it simply wasn't practical to eat a lobster with no utensils at all.

Wife notices "steamed vegetables" on menu, asks what kinds are included. Waitress: "I'm not sure, Oh, carrots, broccoli....[trails off]" [alarm going off in my head] Wife: "Fresh?" Waitress "Oh, yes!"
Twenty minutes later, veges arrive; unless they'd spent the 20 minutes crinkle-cutting the disks of carrot, and meticulously steaming, flash-freezing, and then micro-waving them and the other veges, I'm PRETTY sure these came out of a freezer bag directly into the microwave.

Rest of the meal sorta went the same way.

I'd thought they had just opened, based on their apparent cluelessness; I see from Yelp that they've been clueless for a year or so...

If you look carefully, there's vegetarian everywhere around, (though not so easy if you're a purist about being a vegan). Almost all the Middle Eastern places around the area have felafel, and the Turkish place at the back of the Jewelry District Alley has good lentil soup, which I suspect (but don't guarantee) is vegetarian. Bottega Louie certainly has vegetarian items, too. I think the newer gringo-mex chains (Chipotle, Ocho, etc.) all have vege options, though they're likely to be pretty uninspired, IMHO.

I'll second the Bouley rec; the prix fixe may now be $58, but it's a hell of a bargain, even at that price. I've eaten there twice in the last six months, and I thought it was worth every dime (and I'm notoriously cheap!) my just-out-of-college-and-working-in-Jersey son, the Chowpup, thinks it's good enough that he's saved his bucks and eaten there four or five additional times in the same period. Some of the best I've had at any price.

I'm wondering if Zankou is now varying pricing by location, even within the two divided parts of the original company, and that's why pricing is not on the websites. Would make sense; the original Hollywood location has GOT to be paying less rent than, say, the Burbank location, and is certainly spending less on their decor, but I suspect that they're moving the same volume.

I've noted the shrinkage of their birds over the last two decades, but the chicky is still a pretty good deal. The sides, not so much any more.

Been a couple of years since I was there, but their duck was pretty darn good, last time.

I've been in Silverlake for 20+ years, and raised a Chowhound kid there.

My thoughts: Italian: Michaelangelo, Cappricio (on Vermont) DiCarlo's Pizza (on Hollywood) and Aroma (Silverlake and Sunset).

Dim Sum: the hot number in the SGV changes, it seems, weekly. Sea Harbor is good, but I also like Elite and NBC.

Breakfasts have long been a weak point, in my view in Silverlake, although Square One is nearby, and I haven't tried the new Diner, (in the spot that was the SL branch of Kojkomo, after it was the SL branch of Eatwell, after it was Seafood Bay, 25 years ago), or "Modern Eats" yet...

Hit some food trucks, and Thai Town.

Dim sum?

So far this month, only a run to Zankou, (Hollywood location) at the Woman In The Hat's request; pretty good, (breast not TOO dry) though not the best that it's ever been. The Pup will be back in town briefly and we'll take another run at the Venice Bl Versailles and report back.

Cucina Rustica, , Wilshire and Figueroa. Quieter than Engine Co., (on the same block!) food's better, too...

I noticed the same thing. Not impossible that I misremembered the name (I'm SURE I didn't imagine the bread; I ate a loaf a week for several months!) , but the last couple of minor facts that I thought I might be mis-remembering, I was remembering accurately. If anyone knows of a local bakery brand that sounds sorta like this (my recollection is that their address was in Industry, or Commerce, or Santa Fe Springs, or some such place)

The "Cara" stuff was not 100% wheat-free, as far as I can tell,, and looked a lot more like a conventional loaf of deli rye, including the cornmeal on the bottom.

Having gotten no response at all to this, and still craving that sourdough rye, figured I'd re-post and see if anyone had any info. Guys?

Most grocers' "ground turkey" is some substantial percentage of dark meat; it's darker, fattier, and tastier than ground turkey breast...

...and, per Dommy's excursion to Antojitos Carmen earlier this month, I'd guesstimate 6.5 to there, and a bunch of other places in ELA, as well.

I like Cacao and Mexicali (the WITH doesn't, so much) but SL's lack of a sit-down place even as good as La Cabanita (which has its supporters, but also its detractors and which is in freakin' MONTROSE, for God's sake) is a little dismaying...

Cam the Man, who could suss out decent tacos even in Columbus Ohio, swore by Taco Zone, Tacos Villa Corona, or Mexicali before he left for points east, but none of 'em's really in SL;

Tarasco's, which had some promise at outset, has been in a downward slide for a couple of years; each time I convince myself to go there (I live within a mile) I'm more disappointed.

Mixto: bring me back Burrito King, please!

We've now got a Tacos Gallito truck that hits the Echo Park/Silverlake borderline (just east of Benton on Sunset) regularly, but their stuff seems wildly inconsistent to me, the few times I've been there.
\The bar places (Compadre, Casita, Conquistador, Chavo) are what they've always been, serving food that's basically a damper for booze.

Malo, Mex City, Allegria? Meh, Meh and Meh.

7 Mares outdoor stand is OK.

How is any Barragans' still afloat?

Wish there was a place to rave about.

Tried Papilles last night, using a BBE code, at the request of the Francophile Woman In The Hat.

1. It is un-atmospheric as heck, and I'm someone who notoriously doesn't think you can eat the ambiance. They need to get their HVAC squared away, since both their (window unit, mounted above the door, like at Spicy Thai BBQ) a/c and their stove hood seemed to be quite anemic last night, compelling them to leave the front door open; front door faces Franklin Bl. at the foot of the on-ramp to the NB 101, so ambient traffic sound at 7:00 pm is substantial.

BUT

that means you're going to have a very hard time finding food of this level, at these prices, in a place which pays substantially more rent.

I'd like a LITTLE more choice on the menu; since WITH and I don't eat mammals, our ONLY choices were as to dessert/cheese and wines.

But with those caveats, definitely worth a visit.

This list of "fusion"ideas is making me kinda queasy, (chapulines soup dumplings, anyone?) but I'm guessing that SOMEONE will attempt the concept....

Not "great" (as in destination resto) but pretty GOOD is the Turkish kebab place at the back of the Jewelry Mart Alley downtown (north of 7th). Someone help me out with the name?

It sounds, so far, like too much "concept", and not enough tasting, went into picking the menu, and not enough thought went into organizing the front of the house..

Notwithstanding the summit on the subject a few years ago, "envelope-pushing" Mexican food is still proving to be a challenge to pull off well, even in Los Angeles, and even more of a challenge to make a successful biz model. (Remember Provecho? Remember the 6th St. location of Chichen Itza?) This is my 'hood, so I wish these guys luck, but maple-fried chicken tacos, with kale? Sounds like the punch-line of a joke about Silverlake...

The Jon's Market on Vermont (just north of Kaiser Med Center) used to stock bread from a "Cara Bakery Co." including a killer sourdough rye. About five or six months ago, they stopped carrying the brand entirely, and no other Jon's I've ever been in had it at all. "Cara"'s label indicated they were local, but indicated no address or website.
Anyone know if they're still in business? Anyone know who else they distribute to?

thanks in advance.

I've just eaten at Suzanne's for the first time, at the behest of the Woman In The Hat, and I was pretty underwhelmed. Fish was cooked competently, but not interestingly, and sides were steamed veges (un-sauced, un-salted, even) and what I can only describe as white Minute Rice. As per emosbaugh, above, can't say if this is par for Ojai, but I hope not.