Thanks for the report! What seafood places have you enjoyed out here?

Most of their "local spotlight" seems to be on places around the westside, so I'm guessing that's where most of their services are available now.

San Gabriel & Alhambra, not available.

Rustic Canyon is currently my favorite & go-to restaurant. I think the menu really shines in the veggie department. Things are on and off the menu, but if they're available, I would recommend the double-shucked peas, whatever veggie soup they have, the clam & mussel pozole, sugar snap peas, and the pork terrine. If I had to pick one to recommend, I think most people enjoy the pozole.

I wonder if this will be the restaurant theme of LA 2013... casual seafood eateries. So far, Littlefork and Fishing with Dynamite.

I really enjoyed my first few visits to De Café Baristas, but a situation occur that kinda rubbed me the wrong way: I walked in around 9PM on a week night, and there were still a lot of people hanging out inside. I went in, the guy took my order (cappuccino for here), I headed towards the register and paid. He poured the cappuccino in a paper cup and I interrupted and told him I wanted it for here, and the guy said, "Well, actually we're closed."

Sounds like a dumb thing, and really nothing to get up in arms over, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. I thought to myself, "Well, you had no problem taking my money..." There were still a lot of people there, and if I dilly-dallied with my coffee, you could have easily just asked me to leave. Which wouldn't have actually been an issue since I usually just finish pretty quickly and leave; not that they know that, but at least let the situation play out.

The coffee is still solid. I was planning on supporting it, but I just don't feel inclined to make a special trip for it. I'd still go if I were watching a movie there. A little disappointing considering I live a short 3 miles from them.

Sorry for my vent, but to add something to the thread: Taza in Arcadia is also worth checking out. Same requisite single-origin coffees from well-known roasters and fancy machines and attention to and respect for the quality of the beans, etc.. They also bring in pastries from Semi-Sweet Bakery, which happens to be one of my favorites.

Jeremy Fox is a whiz when it comes to veggies, and I think Rustic Canyon might be worth looking into. As he takes over more and more of the menu, it just keeps getting better.

I've been to Lukshon. It's not one of my favorites, nor is it in my regular rotation, but I would say that I find the food at Lukshon more interesting than Hinoki and the Bird. A lot of the dishes at Hinoki, particularly their SE Asian dishes, were very straight-forward; which could be fine if everything was executed well.

I enjoyed the cocktails at Hinoki much more than Lukshon. I feel the Lukshon cocktails aren't as thoughtful... more along the lines of, let's take this exotic, Asian ingredient and throw it into whatever. The cocktails at Hinoki made more sense to me.

I did not enjoy the restaurant at all. The food was okay, but the prices were probably more reflective of the location and clientele than the quality of food.

Unlike Bob, I really disliked the Southeast Asian dishes. To me, they lacked an understanding of what make the dishes great. For example, I thought the heat on the dishes was very superficial. I just got a touch of heat up front, but not really that warmth that I would associate with other versions of those dishes.

I was also disappointed in the way the bok choy, mushrooms, and pork belly were cooked. Enjoyed the lobster roll and the cocktails.

Here is the version of "Popcorn Shrimp" we had. Spot prawns on grits with a chermoula sauce and a fried prawn head. Awesome.

Sorry about the poor lighting. We sat outside.

Just wanted to chime in that I went to Scarlett Begonia for dinner on Saturday and had a great time. The menu may have been more or less the same as when PattyC went, but if that first image is the popcorn shrimp, it looks very different now.

Anyway, I had oysters, scallop ceviche, earth and sea, popcorn shrimp, the east coast lobster, and the coconut pot de creme. I was hoping to have the risotto but they had run out for the night. The only thing I didn't enjoy so much was the rice mochi that came in the earth and sea dish.

I was so impressed with Julienne last year that I was worried that I would regret trying something new on my annual trip to Santa Barbara, but Scarlett Begonia really hit it out of the park on so many levels.

http://thisisnotapopup.com/tinap.html usually has something going.

I agree with you. This felt more to me like: Here is what Roy Choi and David Choe want to tell you about themselves.

I don't know about the accommodating part, but I don't think ink. belongs on the same tier as gjelina, pizzeria mozza, red medicine, etc... on the noise front. And I don't know why it would be classified as uncomfortable. Maybe if you have a large party and have to sit in the middle, it's a little tight; but with a small party, you can usually sit along the sides.

Could you elaborate on "no tea service"?

I like the one they do at Duck's in San Gabriel. A little pricey, and I may be a bit biased (being a local), but I think everything they do is quality.

This has been quietly spreading into every consistently trafficked area, and is one of the reasons I don't support food trucks. IMHO, they don't really care how their presence affects the community, and if a certain neighborhood became less popular, the truck would just pull up stakes and head to wherever is hotter.

Also, the food sucks.

+1 on whatever it is about that spot that dooms whatever restaurant dares occupy it.

King Hua is our go-to for dim sum when we don't feel like dealing with large crowds and long waits.

As an active CHer, I'm kind of surprised you would end up at Acme Oyster House, let alone go there to order a shrimp/catfish po-boy, and a roast beef dish.

All those places are tough.

With the recent Twitter/Red Medicine hullabaloo, people have been claiming that there are plenty of empty seats there, so maybe you could move RM to Saturday, and try one of the other places on your list on Monday.

i'm a bit cynical when it comes the person's story (which sounds kinda f'd up on my part), but I doubt anyone would just admit to SeriousEats, "Well, I'm an inconsiderate ass and didn't feel like going and didn't bother to cancel." Which may be why SE only got 1 response.

Just a word of caution regarding RM... I think the Birch Ice is the best dessert on the menu atm. Maybe the current plum/pear thing is worth trying too. RM is my favorite spot in the city for dessert, but since you're just visiting, might be more worth it to try another spot.

Doesn't seem to have a lot of love on the board, but maybe ink. for the apple pie-ish dessert? Alma has some tasty desserts, but man is everything tiny there.

I would still go. They got fined, so the governing body came in and said, this is how much you owe, now pay it. To me, they should now be in good standing. I imagine that a good number of restaurants (particularly Chinese and Japanese restaurants) operate this way and might owe a lot of workers $, but Urasawa has gone through the ringer and is being forced to repay their debt.

In my mind, it's akin to would you hire an ex-con to work for you

I think dumplings at Dean Sin World are about $4, and across the street at Qing Dao are $5. Just in case you're ever looking for some cheap dumplings. If you're really looking to save some money, you can pick up frozen dumplings that may get you down to $2/10 or so.

Not exactly the epitome of Chow-worthy, but I think one of the most romantic spots would be the Restaurant at the Getty. Great way to experience a lot of what LA has to offer: great view, great museum, and horrible traffic.

Your other options do have better food, but their ambiance and experience is confined to the restaurant itself. If you go to Providence, you go there, eat, and you go home. You can't really walk around outside, and you would just hop back in your car right after dinner.

Definitely would NOT recommend Water Grill as mentioned above. The new space is cold and more appropriate for business lunches.

My 2 favorites in Beverly Hills are Kiyokawa and BierBeisl

If it's not too far for you, it's still a nice place to get some ceviche if the mood ever strikes you. I think the only things worth getting are the ceviches... They usually have 4-5 in the window, and you can just sample all of them before you purchase.

I just went to Taza on Santa Anita and Huntington and had a pretty good experience. They carry Handsome, Intelligentsia, Blue Bottle, among others, and also have Semi-Sweet pastries. Dunno if you've tried it, but may be worth a shot if you're in that neck of the woods.

Has New Mandarin Noodle Deli experienced any changes since the swap 2 years or so ago? I ask because I went after it was sold, and I haven't been back since, preferring House of Mandarin Noodle.

I don't know of anything new on the way, but quite a few things rotated in and out over the last 2 years due to the economy. I think the LA Times did a pretty good write-up on it at the start of the season:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/dec/...

I didn't think Toomey's was great, but a solid meal.

Just wanted to post my experience for people that plan on going in the future...

Tried to go to the event at Haven Gastropub in Pasadena at 10:30. They started at 11 and there was already a long line. Waited around til about 12 and then was told they ran out. My first experience trying to get a taste, so if you're planning on trying it in Pasadena, be sure to get there a few hours ahead of time.