If you're ever in Orange County, the poke at Bear Flag is memorable for the freshness, texture and flavor.

In addition to the ones you mentioned, the following places in Newport Beach are on the water with waterfront views. You can check their websites to see which one you might like.

Rusty Pelican
Chart House
Billy's
Newport Landing
Ruby's
Bluewater Grill
Villa Nova
Balboa Bay Club
Lido Bistro (sometimes a boat is parked in front blocking view)
Joe's Crab Shack

I've had a few good meals at Newport Landing.

Tried it tonight, and had a nice meal.

Scallion pancake was layered and not too greasy. Maybe they changed the recipe since Liu found it mushy. I didn't get any mushy at all. In fact it was quite firm.

A better dish imho was the radish cake. This was mushy, but far more flavorful due to the spare use of Chinese sausage.

Sauteed bok choy had garlic, ginger and red pepper. It was cooked through, but still crunchy. This was a nice vegetable to go with the other dishes, with good flavor and not too oily (my biggest complaint about this dish at other restaurants).

Chicken flatbread was great on paper, but difficult to eat. Large chunks of chicken were wrapped in flatbread, but then it was cut into fourths. This made it impossible to keep the chicken inside the wrap. So it devolved from chicken flatbread to chicken AND flatbread. The wrap itself was quite tasty, and the chicken was moist with a flavored sauce. But it was a little salty.

Oddly, and very unusual for me, I liked the dishes the more I ate them. Usually I tire of the flavors, but here I didn't have that problem.

Thanks Ciao Bob, I enjoyed it.

Matteo's makes a good version.

Picked up baked goods for breakfast this morning, both delightful after the Hollywood Farmers Market across the street.

Bran muffin with blackberries had a moist cake-like interior, without the whole bran except on the top. And the top had a nice crust to it, which served to keep it from being too mono-textured. The fresh blackberries added flavor and even more moisture. This was a delicious bran muffin.

Cream cheese coffee cake was also moist, with a slightly crunchy, flavorful crumb crust. It was nicely flavored, with a cream cheese layer to make it rich and creamy.

I was disappointed they didn't have the morning buns we saw when we had dinner the other night. They looked awesome. But the bran muffin and coffee cake were both winners in my book.

It’s been written before that the restaurant occupies an inauspicious location on the ground floor of an office building about two blocks east of the Helms complex in Culver City. But what’s lost on the location is found in the food.

It’s well prepared, and fresh tasting. And the flavor profiles just work, which is notable given the variety of ingredients.

They make their own non-alcoholic drinks including a lemon-lime pomegranate, which is a tart eye-opener, and a lemon-lime ginger which will clear out your troubles (it’s got a strong ginger taste). We really enjoyed both of them.

A special starter this night was a porcini ragu atop garlic bread. This set the pace for the evening, with what could have been a messy proposition. But thankfully chef used bread that was easily cut so the dish was eater-friendly. The ragu was rich, with a slight acidity and interesting texture atop the lightly garlicked, and slightly sweet bread. We were off to a good start.

Next was the leek and egg appetizer atop a quarter inch flat puff pastry, which was also slightly sweet. The leeks were in a sauce that served to bind the dish together with the sunny side up egg hidden beneath a nasturtium sabayon. The presentation was quite sophisticated, and the flavors lived up to it. This dish went fast.

Chicken liver mousse atop toast was a bit off-balance. The mousse was piled high to the point that it was like we were eating it without anything else. Thankfully, on top was a vinegar-laced fig compote that served to relieve the earthiness of the liver, if spread across the entire top of the mousse. This dish could use a little re-thinking... like reduce the amount of mousse, apply the compote under the mousse, and find another element for the top to add some variety.

Rounding out the main meal was the flatiron steak, served with garlic flan and asparagus. The meat was cooked to a medium well, although we requested just less than medium, however it was so tender that there was no reason to be disappointed. And it had a rich meaty flavor that we quite enjoyed. The garlic flan was light and airy, a little too airy for my taste, but I chalk this up to preference. And the asparagus was very fresh and cooked perfectly. This was another very enjoyable dish.

For dessert, we had to try both the donuts and the blackberry lemon verbena pie. The donuts were fresh and served with a blueberry compote and lemon curd sauce. The sauces worked perfectly together, and complemented the cinnamon sugar coated donut holes well.

But my favorite was the pie. It was a personal pie, a tart of sorts, with a delicious sweetish soft crust, filled with whole blackberries and a light lemony cream sauce with almonds over the top. I loved this dish.

All in all, this was a nice meal for about $100 for two, a bargain for the quality of food.

Muddy Leek
8631 Washington Blvd. (2 blocks east of the Helms building)
Culver City

Spinach and Kale salad is well-presented with dark green spinach, purple kale, red and white radish slices, cream-colored pecorino and brown dates. And there’s a nice balance of flavor and texture with the salty cheese counteracted by the sweet dates, whose chewiness offsets the crisp kale. The mustard vinaigrette dressing is applied sparingly to preserve the flavors of the ingredients. This was a nice starter.

A pizza can feed two, and we ordered one to share (we also shared the salad). The crust is not thin (although you can order Roman style thin crust), and puffs up in places where the air bubbled while cooking. It’s got a good bite, and a faint yeasty flavor, demanding the next bite. It’s a very good crust.

We ordered the porchetta and fennel version, a red pizza which featured meaty porchetta slices and good-sized pieces of shaved fennel. It had a very slight spiciness to it, provided by “calabrian chiles” which I’d never tried before. It also had paprika and a cheese called caciocavallo, which is similar to mozzarella. The flavors worked well together, and the crust was perfect for it.

The salad was $10 and the pizza was $16. Including a diet coke, we (two people) got out of there for $32 before tip. There are also cocktails, beer and wine, but we didn't have those this time.

Other items on the menu, in addition to a variety of red and white pizzas, are various other salads and starters ranging from burrata to baked goat cheese to an antipasti plate to organic meatballs.

Service was outstanding. The place is enormous (I forgot Boho was so large), and has several seating areas, including a section with normal tables and a large section of high bar top tables with tall chairs. I don’t like this kind of chair as it’s uncomfortable. Next time I’ll ask for the normal lower tables. There’s also a large bar, and two counters. One counter is at the chef’s kitchen, with only six seats, and another large counter is toward the front.

They’re serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, and there’s a different menu for each meal. There’s also a baked goods case with a variety of cookies, morning buns (which looked delicious), muffins and homemade English muffins… and an espresso bar.

For lunch, in addition to the pizzas, there are paninis and other items. And for breakfast, in addition to the baked goods, there is a breakfast sandwich and an Italian version of a breakfast burrito. And you can also order the prosciutto, Gruyere and egg pizza.

There’s a lot going on here. I hope they’re successful, as based on the quality of the first meal it’s a great addition to the neighborhood.

Stella Barra
Sunset & Ivar (in the Arclight complex)
Hollywood

They must have updated the menu as there were about seven sandwiches, including the corned beef and a falafel sandwich.

Before today, my favorite corned beef sandwich was the Brooklyn style at Victor’s Restaurant in Hollywood. It’s piled high with sliced corned beef, with about an inch of meat at the center, and has coleslaw and Russian dressing in the sandwich. It’s served on fresh rye bread. The flavor and texture combination harken back to the Langer’s #19, but with corned beef instead of pastrami. Yum.

But there’s a corned beef contender in the neighborhood: The Bowery.

It weighs in with corned beef that’s not thin sliced; but rather with a single lean half-inch thick slice, it’s a different experience. Like a steak versus sliced roast beef. There’s actually less fat on the Bowery version, despite it being a single piece. Somehow the version at Victors ends up with fatty pieces. Surprisingly given the thick slice, the Bowery version is quite tender and is not a problem to eat.

It comes with similar Russian dressing, but on top you get sauerkraut, as compared to cole slaw on the Victor’s version. The other difference is that the Bowery version adds bread and butter pickle slices, and there’s a slight spiciness to it. And it’s served on grilled, deliciously sour bread.

It’s not a true comparison, as they’re not the same sandwich. I still put the Victor's version way up on the list, but my next corned beef sandwich will be the version from The Bowery.

Oh, regarding side orders, the cabbage slaw alongside the Bowery sandwich was difficult to eat as it was hand cut and the dressing was too sweet for my taste. You can get either the cole slaw or potato salad as a side at Victor’s. Both are excellent, imho.

APPLE PIE

Since Mother's Day is in May, and apple pie and mama go together, how about apple pie?

The distraught look on the Korean woman’s face was enough to get up and open the front door as she turned to walk away. She was obviously troubled, and almost burst into the front office “We bring lunch,” she blurted out in a heavy accent. “We’re across street.”

Well, there’s nothing across the street from that office, and for that matter the closest restaurant is a half mile away.

“No. The building. Go in the building. If we don’t get customers my boss will fire me. I bring you lunch. What do you want?” she insisted as she pushed paper menus into our hands.

Well, it was enough for us to order lunch and instead of having her bring it over, we saw the address and decided to check it out. It was about a block away.

Let’s just say that if you didn’t know it was there, you’d never think to stop. It’s on the ground floor of a three-story office building, completely blocked from the street. You have to actually enter the driveway to see the hidden signs. Then you need to enter the building itself, and the entrance to the restaurant is off the interior hallway, like one of the other office suites.

Inside is very clean, and in the four visits since that day, there has never been more than one other customer in there. She was right….they need customers. But it’s now been about five months since the original visit. So apparently they have a little staying power.

The sandwiches are so-so, and the bulgogi plate is nothing special (in fairness, the owner told me that since it was Monday, it hadn’t marinated long enough yet). But the chicken teriyaki plate is a show stopper.

I know…chicken teriyaki. It’s like “Wow, did you taste the peanut butter and jelly sandwich?” But really, this is a very good version of the dish. The chicken is white meat, but it’s pounded or something, because each piece is very tender and moist. And, get this: He makes his own teriyaki sauce in-house. He mixes various fruits and it takes three days for each batch. And it shows. The sauce does taste fresh, not syrupy. He puts way too much on the rice, but you can avoid it. I think next time I may ask for it on the chicken only, and a little cup on the side to put on the rice. The lunch (medium) size comes with a salad and cold steamed vegetables with another special sauce he makes himself. It’s too much food for me to finish, and yesterday I brought home about half the chicken and rice and made a sandwich for dinner. I think it was $7 or so. With a drink and tax it was about $9.

They say the hamburger’s good, too. I may try that next time.

As described above, it’s in a totally random place in Pomona. Just off the 57 Freeway at Temple, about 300 yards west of the freeway. It’s on the south side of Temple in an office complex, across Temple from the Shilo hotel.

Blue Angel Deli
3191 West Temple Avenue (just west of 57 Fwy)
Pomona
(909) 595-1297

1. Phillip's BBQ - Sliced beef with 1/2 hot and 1/2 regular BBQ sauce.
2. Langer's #19
3. Tamarind Deli - #1, Hot brisket with horseradish
4. Vinny's Pizza - Meatball sandwich
5. Victor's Restaurant - Corned beef, Brooklyn style

Update: They have abandoned the thick steak in favor of thinly sliced steak. It's still tasty and moist. It's just pre-sliced when it hits the grill.

We recently tried the pizza flavored cheesesteak, which was fine but I like the original version described above better. Fries still outstanding.

Tried the Fish Grill on Beverly (I just learned online that they have several locations), and was pleased.

It's kosher, and on a Sunday night it was patronized by the tribes wearing various traditional headgear and outfits. So it had a very eclectic, worldly feel. And this environment added a sense of something new to my first visit.

The grilled ahi is about a half inch thick and about four inches wide. It's marinated, so you get more flavor than simple fish. It was firm and fully cooked, but the marinade kept it from seeming too dried-out. The cole slaw that comes with it was perfectly tart to add a sour element to the dish. It's easier to dump it out onto your plate, as the little cup it comes in is a pain to eat from. You can also choose between french fries, baked potato or rice, and the fries were the kind I like. Not too greasy, but not too crispy, either.

The fried fish sandwich was also tasty, with the inside of the fish being cooked to a tender white flakiness and the outside crunchy, which gave the sandwich a nice texture. The onions and sauce provide a counterpunch to the light flavor of the fish, and altogether this was also a winner. It also comes with cole slaw and the same choice of sides. The baked potato is as expected, but together with a main, this is a lot of food.

This location has an outside patio, which is large but too cold for a chilly evening. This would be perfect for a nice lunch.

Fish Grill
7226 Beverly (2 blocks west of La Brea)
Mid-City
(323) 937-7162

I went to that Cuban place a few times, and I also liked it. I think there was a nightclub attached to it, which seems like the only way that location is going to draw the necessary traffic... although apparently it didn't work for the Cuban place either.

Drove by today, and it's closed.

It's a horrible location. If you're going to be at that location on Wilcox, you need a serious draw..... not hot dogs.

After a one year absence, I tried it again and it's still tops. VERY fresh ceviche mixto with squid, shrimp, octopus and what seemed like sea bass. Served with corn on the cob with those huge kernels, as well as boiled white and sweet potato. Sprinkled with crunchy baked corn and topped with thinly sliced red onion. This is a refreshing dish that's filling but healthy. I need to work it back into the rotation.

I got it with the chicha morada (purple corn drink), which was also refreshing, with a slight spicy flavor... like faint cloves or something. I liked it.

I liked the version at Littlefork in Hollywood. Nice curds, and they put the gravy on the bottom so it doesn't immediately get soggy.

To celebrate National Pancake Day, we trotted over to US Egg for the vaunted Protein Pancake.... And my oh my, this is a mighty fine cake.

It's moist, with a slight crunch from the whole grain oats. There's no need for butter but I put a little bit on just to add some creaminess. And there's also no need for syrup, as the oats provide a faint sweetness. This pancake is a delight.

And it's offered as a Half and Half, with a half order of pancakes and a half order of one of the potato skillets. I got the Santa Fe skillet, with shredded potatoes, chicken, tomatoes, very flavorful chorizo and green chile sauce, topped with an egg. The savory bold spiciness and chunky texture of the skillet perfectly offset the sweetish creamy cakiness of the pancakes. Whoa nellie, this was a great breakfast. And plenty of food without being overwhelming.

+1 on Praying Monk. The Left Coast Asylum is a great beer on tap. And they also have a delicious coffee beer on tap. And they have an interesting menu, too.

Another "Right Off the Boat" place is the dory fleet in Newport Beach. I know it's not in your target area, but it's a fun outing to watch the boats come in through the surf and set up shop.

http://www.doryfleet.com

I went there about two weeks ago precisely because I saw the sign; and I must say, it's a damn good burger. The best in memory. I've been craving it ever since. The sweet potato fries were so so.

I also tried Slaters 50/50 yesterday, and the burgers there are all show. Size is obviously the objective, with the typical burger 5-6 inches tall. Show me a mouth that's 5-6 inches tall..... Anyway, two of the four burgers at our table came out with the wrong toppings (perhaps a function of 50 or so topping options). And there's nothing special about any of them. This is a case where quantity (1 lb burger, 50 toppings, 100 beers) overshadows quality. Service was good, though.

There was no crowd. I walked in and made a reservation the previous day. We were almost the only ones in the restaurant, but we went early. The waiter said they expect more of a late crowd, which kind of makes sense as it's Hollywood...

On their third night open, we visited for dinner. They've remodeled from the old Shin design, lightening-up the space considerably. Gone are the dark woods, replaced by light woods and a wood theme in general... but more like pine, not mahogany.

Since it's so new, I'm only going to focus on the hits and allow that the misses will work themselves out.

First, the oysters are deliciously fresh tasting, served nice and cold to great effect. There are three types to choose from.

The next great dish was the poutine. The curds were creamy, and the meat was thankfully not the "smoked meat" you would get in Montreal, for example. Rather, the meat had a smokey flavor, but tasted braised. I wasn't a big fan of Quebecios smoked meat, but I really liked this. Gravy is thoughtfully on the bottom, so the fries don't immediately get soggy.

Clam chowder was thick, chunky and flavorful as I like it.

And for sure save room for the Whoopee Pie dessert. The cake is a decadent devil's food, and the cream is fresh and not overdone.

Littlefork
1600 Wilcox (corner of Selma)
Hollywood

I loved La Esquinita, but hadn't been there in quite a while. But today I drove by and saw it's got a new coat of orange paint, and a new sign: Guisado's.

I'll try it soon.

1261 W. Sunset Bl (btwn Elysian Pk. Ave. and Downtown)
Echo Park

“It’s not fusion. You get Mexican and Chinese food.”

Mexican is well prepared, and I agree with previous comments that the barbacoa tacos were better than the cochinita pibil. But the cochinita tacos come with a nice piece of fried pork skin to give them a crunch.

The fundito was served in a warm skillet and the chorizo added nice flavor. You also get four very flavorful warm tortillas. This dish really needs more tortillas. But when you ask for more, they charge you another $4 and bring out six, which is too many. They should serve it with six. Ah well…

The dan dan mian consisted of soba noodles, and had the cherished Sichuan peppercorns that make this dish distinctive.

Jose Andres got it right again. These two cuisines are very complementary.

Further to the cucumber salad comment, they cut the cucumber with some kind of rotating cutter, so you get foot-long pieces that are all tangled together. And as it's impossible to cut with the plastic utensils they provide, you're stuck with long pieces of chunky cucumber that are impossible to eat. You can basically lift the entire salad out of the little bowl and it sticks together. You can't pick out smaller pieces to eat.

To Local: We looked at the poke and ceviche, and also wanted those. We'll get them next time.

Starving, we stumbled on Bear Flag in Crystal Cove.

They have a fresh fish counter, and a counter showing prepared fish. We had the smoked salmon plate and the cucumber salad.

The smoked salmon is not the lox or smoked salmon you get in a grocery store. The whole salmon is presented in the case, and the plate we got is a piece of that salmon. It was cut into one inch square pieces for easy eating. This was a new taste for me, and I loved it.

The cucumber salad sucked.

They opened in early 2012 in the old Drago space. They’ve toned it down, removing the white tablecloths, exposing brick walls, introducing more browns and wood. It’s much more relaxed.

It’s run by the people who run Malbec over in Toluca Lake.

Homemade aji sauce, thick with chopped cilantro was flavorful spooned over bread.

The Lomito Completo sandwich exceeded expectations with the complementary flavors of the perfectly cooked steak, ham and roasted pepper. The fried egg added a creaminess, offset by the tomato, and lettuce gave it a little crunch. The ciabatta bun was very fresh, and held the whole thing together (not a small feat). This is a lot of food. Not obscene, but plenty for an appetite.

In Argentinean fashion, the Estancia salad does not have a few morsels of meat mixed in. Rather, there is a whole steak, juicy, tender and perfectly seasoned along one side of the dish. The goat cheese is balanced by the bitterness of radicchio hearts and the Boston lettuce, cucumber and avocado give it body and texture. It’s well-dressed with a vinaigrette and the size was perfect for lunchtime.

This is my new go-to place for business lunches in West LA/Santa Monica.

Ushuaia
2628 Wilshire Blvd. (1/2 block east of 26th Street)
Santa Monica
(310) 315-5457

I tried the house-cooked lamb roast at Beachwood Market, and it's a very welcome change to the pre-packaged (Boars Head, etc.) turkeys and hams at the Beachwood Market, and most any deli counter, They use a delicious garlic and rosemary rub, and roast it on a spit in-house. They'll cut or slice it to order, and they'll use it to make your sandwich if you ask for it.

It's very flavorful, and is a nice change from the ordinary sliced ham, turkey and roast beef.

Beachwood Market
2701 Belden (Corner of Beachwood)
Hollywood