hboy's Profile
Any quality restaurants in MDR?
westsidegal, thanks for the comments...still haven't been but the next time the SO and I get a sitter, we're heading over!
Any quality restaurants in MDR?
bulavinaka, this almost perfectly sums up my feelings about the food offerings here in the marina area...would second all of those recommendations, and feel like Mezza is kind of a lesser known CC gem
never been to the tripel though - interested in trying now
One Day Venice Beach & One Day LA
I second the umami manly burger love...I too am from Texas (Beaumont close to Houston), and IMHO that particular burger is one of the best in town though the father's office is damn fine too
Breakfast Burritos in West LA?
Kinda random, and in Culver City which isn't exactly West LA, but a coworker of mine got me hooked on the $3.95 monster breakfast burritos at Tom's #5, at Robertson and Venice...Inc. Eggs, cheese, hashbrowns and choice of meat
Pork Belly on the westside
I don't know if you would consider this westside enough, but my buddy got a big piece of belly from Marconda's in the Farmer's Market...pretty cheap ($6 or under that for the piece he got), quality seemed good to me
2010 list of hot wings
Ye Rustic Inn in Los Feliz. Super dark dive bar, great great wings.
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Ye Rustic Inn
1831 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Cheap, good, with vegetarian options, West LA or therabouts
not a terribly mind-blowing option but most people seem to like Tender Greens, in downtown Culver City
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Tender Greens
9523 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232
Trucks That Suck
just tried Ta Bom, the brazilian truck often on miracle mile...enjoyed it quite a bit, thought the steak burrito was pretty great - could have used a little more kick spicyness-wise...chorizo taco and spicy coxhinas were good too...better than average food truck imo
Trucks That Suck
it's tricky b/c their menu changes weekly i think...when i was there i tried the famed crispy tofu balls which got them a lot of attention at the LA street food fest, but they took those off the menu already...most things people were eating there looked good, not sure if i'd go out of my way to get there, but if you're near moca it's worth a shot
Best Lunch near 3rd Street Promanade?
my wife works down there, it's definitely pretty rough going...Chain-wise Houston's and Wolfgang Puck would work, I think a teenage boy going off to college would probably be into the huge, bar food-centric menu (think burgers, wings, nachos, etc) at Barney's Beanery (maybe not you)...Anisette is good but pricey - if you like sushi, the Sushi Roku down there has some pretty decent lunch specials
Trucks That Suck
i like the frysmith truck too - i had their poutine on Canada Day a while back: though I am not Canadian and I don't have a true reference point, it was pretty great
Agree with the general tone of this thread - I feel like I am desperate for street food so I keep trying these trucks but am underwhelmed over and over again...
however, not a truck but well-loved at the LA street food fest this past weekend: tried Starry Kitchen the other day and it was well worth the hike over to downtown
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Starry Kitchen
350 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90071
what to do with left over roast chicken besides chicken salad
I know it's normally done with pork, but you might try to make pozole with chicken - or am i completely wrong?
chicken tortilla soup should be easy to do with leftover chicken too
the enchilada idea is great too, versatile
what to do with left over roast chicken besides chicken salad
I've never made it, but I wonder if anyone else thinks that you could make pozole with chicken? Usually made with pork, but could be good here too? search pozole
could use to make a chicken tortilla soup, sorry don't have a recipe handy for this one either :)
Moving to West Hollywood
Bahn Mi I think you have to go to San Gabriel or Little Saigon in the OC - there is a vietnamese food truck called Nom Nom http://nomnomtruck.com/ that I have tried and liked, once near a regular food truck convening location in front of the E! studios on Wilshire (lots of food trucks now in LA, another discussion thread)
And don't let the haters dissuade you from Animal - it is worth the hype. They have a foie gras biscuits and gravy that is honestly one of favorite dishes, ever. The poutine is good too, the whole menu is usually very seasonal and yes meat-heavy but worth a visit
Bouchon - what to order?
second the boudin, perfectly paired with creamy potatoes and carmelized apple...the mussels are good (nice saffron broth), escargot solid as well, i had a lamb special there once i did not like
How do I get e-mail notification?
totally agree, just spent 10 minutes trying to get a notification set on a post i just put up
quinoa risotto
big fan of quinoa, cook with it at least a couple times a week...so, thanks to a couple posts on here lately, I decided to make quinoa risotto the other night - I made it pretty the same as regular risotto, sauteed onion then cooked down wine, added quinoa to coat and fry for a bit then added greens, mushrooms and veggie broth etc.
to me, it seemed to produce basically the same result as if I had cooked the quinoa separately and then mixed in the veggies etc. afterwards...my question to anyone with experience with this is: does it make an appreciable difference to cook the quinoa together with the other ingredients, or is quinoa risotto not really much like a (arborio rice) risotto at all? any tips for making it better than i did?
What are the best cookbooks for aspiring cooks
I would add Alice Waters' Art of Simple Cooking - lots of recipes but more instructive for me was the first half of the book which consists of lessons on topics like braising, roasting, stocks, etc...I feel like I learned so much working from her guidance and like Batali she keeps it simple and straightforward
For cooking with local, seasonal ingredients I highly recommend the Santa Monica Farmer's Market cookbook - not only filled with great, simply yet creative recipes (using ingredients I was not as familiar with) but also tips for navigating farmers markets, cooking seasonally, etc.
olive oil help
ok friends - after my (hopefully) last battle with making slightly-rancid olive oil not overpower a dish, can anyone give me any good suggestions for a good brand of olive oil to try...I guess I'm not looking for the most expensive thing on the market, but I'm finally ready to take things to the next level and buy a good quality, versatile olive oil that I can use for a variety of purposes in my home cooking
any good ideas? brands that you rely on? thanks, and happy 4th!
Barbrix: review with pix
went for the first time last night - i like the original assessment here: good, maybe very good...we'll def, go back for further inspection but enjoyed everything we had
our favorite was the farro salad that many have raved about - it really is quite awesome...was excited to try the sweetbreads but wished i had been prepared for the fried calamari preparation - still tasty but i could've been eating anything fried really...
also had the scallops, shrimp/chickpea tortilla, good wine/beer selection - all good to very good...maybe in the end this isn't quite worth driving across town just yet, but it's good above average tapas if you're in the neighborhood, and we'll be back at some point I know
cherries, what to do?
we just made a great salad the other day with bing and ranier cherries, toasted almonds, and a good blue cheese - we also threw in some dried cherries too, I think the recipe came from the Santa Monica Farmer's Market cookbook...it was delicious, a really nice summer salad
Cabbage Patch - secretly awesome
in Beverly Hills, on S. Beverly - they may not have the coolest name, but well worth checking out if you have not already...everything is very fresh and they claim seasonal and local
had their burger for lunch and would put it in league with the best burgers in town - niman ranch ground beef, applewood bacon, tillamook cheese, great aoili on the side...like umami burger, i especially appreciated the size of the burger - more of a medium-sized patty, perfect for the brioce bun, not so much meat that i walk out of lunch feeling like i desperately need a nap from all the heaviness sitting in my belly
also had good fresh coleslaw and everything on the menu/coming out of the kitchen looked like something i would want to try...def. will go back, esp. if in the area
Pico Robertson Area..any local bars/ taverns?
Not sure you need to go all the way to H'wood to find a good bar...Though I wouldn't necessarily argue that where you are is kind of a no man's land
Bergins and Little Bar are fine, and Culver City is pretty close by as well - Father's Office in CC does have great food and beer selection, although you can run up a big tab there fairly easily
Randomly discovered Backstage in Culver City the other day - kind of trying to be a better-than-average dive bar, good beer selection, surprisingly good (bar) food...worth a try
Favorite Sausages for a cookout
I second the Huntington Meats recommendation - I've like every sausage I've ever had there.
Le Saint Amour, Culver City
went for first time last night - love the place, will easily become one of our standbys...great service, we got several visits from the owner, who made several good recommendations and was super friendly
per recommendations here, had the merguez with carrots - great housemade sausage...frisee salad, mussels and frites were all solid and tasty as well...duck confit was my favorite, over a nice oyster mushroom fricassee
like others here, hoping it doesn't get too popular but so happy to have such a solid french option around!
25 DEGREES RESTAURANT COMPLAINT
gotta second cdmedici - I understand that they could do better with their beer list, but you can't argue with the quality of their burgers...never had the burger at blue palms either, but I feel like I would be going there mainly for the beer selection (i.e. not the burger)...i know some people like it but i think lucky devil's is a little overrated (not even close to my top 5 burgers in town) though it's decent..i guess i feel like you go certain places for certain things and i would go to 25 degrees for that burger alone anytime
haven't had the cab/burger combo - thanks for the rec, will try that next time
Lunch on La Brea tomorrrow
i second umami, especially if everyone's in the mood for really great burgers...however, it's not the biggest place - if you go at a non-peak hour you could probably still snag a large table and get some work done
Best kobe beef burgers around Los Angeles ?
I think in general people hold the kobe burger at Lucky Devils on Hollywood in pretty high regard
Spanish or Brazilian recomendation in West LA?
I second Cobras though you will need to be prepared for a loud meal - not sure if that matters to you or not
I don't mean to be a hater but I find Bossa Nova to be pretty lacking if you're looking for anything resembling authentic Brazillian...that said, it's a fun place, and maybe you and your group don't care about authenticity...you might also try cafe brasil or zazumba on the westside - i've never been to either but I know people who enjoy those places
There's also a pretty good all you can eat place churrascaria place on Venice Blvd - I can't remember the name, having trouble googling it...the decor and atmosphere was a little plain, but their food was some of the better Brazillian I've had around LA