Awesome, that's a bunch of places I can put on my to-try list, thanks! BTW, I'm the random girl who was with Jack & Amy last night at Haus. :D

I think Ay Chung IS what I'm looking for - I ate there in Taiwan! The "o-ah" you're referring to is oyster, right? Not that I mind oysters, but does Huge Tree have non-oyster versions? Are the noodle soup dishes at Old Country served with the thickened broth? I guess what I'm really craving is the combination of the thin noodles with the thickened broth.

Mian xian is a Taiwanese noodle soup dish with thin rice noodles in a goupy soup that you add vinegar to.

I've had it at Sinbala in Arcadia, but does anyone know where else one can find a good version of this dish?

YES! That would be awesome! It's not like Old Town needs drive-by traffic. They rely on foot traffic anyway. It would be nice if it could eventually then extend to encompass the Paseo. I used to live there and while it was an awesome place to live, the empty storefronts were depressing. Maybe the Night Market could take over the Paseo? Vendors would be spread out and they've got lots of underground parking.

You might wanna check out the Nijiya Market. They might have pre-prepared dango. I haven't noticed any other place on Sawtelle that might have it. The Nijiya also has an outdoor grill where they make fresh okonomiyaki for real cheap!

For breakfast - definitely EuroPane Bakery (the one at 345 E Colorado Blvd, which is only a couple blocks away from your hotel).

Noodles are often rinsed in cold water after being cooked in order to stop the cooking process so they maintain a firm consistency. If the noodles are allowed to stay hot, then they could become mushy and defeat part of the purpose of having them separate from the broth. Textures are definitely a personal preference thing, but I just thought I'd add that there's a practical reason for the temperature.

I went to the newly opened Miyata Menji yesterday with the bf (http://la.eater.com/archives/2012/03/...). We ordered both the tonkotsu ramen and the tsukemen. The flavors were not "traditional" but we enjoyed both of them a lot! I liked the contrast between the rich tonkotsu broth and the acidity of the tomato chunks. The tsukemen dipping broth/sauce was very thick and packed lots of flavor - so much so I had to be careful not to bring up too much with my noodles.

The noodles were cooked perfectly and a great chewy consistency, although portion sizes were not big. It was a good size for me (I usually order half-sized bowls of ramen), but my boyfriend was inclined to order another bowl or two. The free bread for dipping makes sense, but their bread was rather dry and flavorless. Service was decent, but they seemed a little surprised at us being there. They asked us a few times how we found out about the place since they just opened.

Ah, and the other major plus for tsukemen - your noodles don't get soggy from the broth!

haha, noooo! It's not too bad! I think usually you have a soup spoon to help you too. It's great for hot summer days when you want the ramen but don't want a huge bowl of hot steam blowing in your face.

"Dip ramen", aka tsukemen, is a style of ramen where the noodles are served separate from the broth. You dip the noodles into the broth, and then eat, one mouthful at a time. Usually, the broth is made extra rich and flavorful (compared to a normal ramen broth), since the broth flavor you get is whatever is able to stick to the noodles.

Across the street from the Kyoto Grand is Cafe Demitasse, which I highly recommend for delicious coffee. They also carry pastries from Jin Patisserie and chocolates from a local chocolatier. In the neighboring Weller Court is a Marukai (Japanese supermarket) which carries desserts from Mammoth Bakery, including delicious Japanese-style tiramisu and egg custard puddings. If you like spicy, I'd recommend Chin Ma Ya on the 2nd floor of this plaza, which serves an interesting sesame-chili ramen.

I'd also recommend Spice Table for their bahn mi at lunch. Hama Sushi has great fish and is just a sushi bar (only 2 tiny tables, all other seats are at the bar). At the Woori Market building, there's a 'Lette which sells French macarons. Next to that is a Beard Papa's, if you like large custard-filled cream puffs. On the 3rd floor of this building is Honda-Ya, which serves great izakaya food.

Going towards central downtown, there's Big Man Bakes, which I like for their moist and tasty mini-cupcakes. Across the street from that you've got Baco Mercat with some really flavorful food (I like the original baco - pork belly & beef carnitas!).

Welcome to L.A.! :D For a start, you can check out these threads for the results of the "2011 Ultimate LA Restaurants Poll," as well as the results for previous years linked to within:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/839271
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/839272

I tried writing out a suggestion on how to start, but it was getting way too complicated and wordy. You may want to try to break it down by location, cuisine, and/or specific foods.

Previously, it was held at the LA Center Studios, and that was pretty cramped. I think spreading things out at the Rose Bowl will make it less of an ordeal. Long lines will probably depend on how many vendors they have.

+1 for Hama! The only reason the bf and I reach $50 pp there is when we start ordering uni, toro, salmon belly, etc. Everything else is delicious and will keep you full under $30.

Sometimes for lunch, I go totally ghetto and go to Marukai - $2.50 for random salmon trimmings, $1.50 for an avocado, $3.00 for a box of seasoned nori, and I've got my own deconstructed sushi (no rice cause I'm going low carb).

I don't know if it's a regular agua fresca, but they've got a deliciously nutty barley horchata, aka horchata de cebada.

In no particular order, here are the places I've been to:

Wood Spoon (9th & Main/Spring) - Brazilian chicken pot pie

Umamicatessen (Broadway between 8th & 9th) - recently opened, not sure what's good yet but may be worth checking out

Silo Vodka Bar (7th between Broadway & Spring) - vodka bar with an "ice lounge"

The Varnish (6th between Main & Los Angeles) - small bar with a "speakeasy" vibe, had a great cocktail here after telling the bartender I wanted something citrusy

Perch (Hill between 4th & 5th) - two-level rooftop bar with a nice view

Syrup Desserts (Spring between 6th & 7th) - coffee drinks, teas, ice cream from Scoops I think, Belgian waffles, crepes, sweet grilled cheese sandwiches

You could also walk a little further down to the Little Tokyo area for more...

The Edison
Lazy Ox Canteen
Cafe Demitasse
The Spice Table
Daikokuya
Cafe Dulce
The Escondite

I've usually gotten my food pretty quickly, maybe they were having issues that day? I also like Ragin Cajun! The owner is really friendly too and gave us generous samples.

You are awesome for all the work you put into this! Would it be possible for the mods to sticky a post that compiles the links to these lists?

I like the Flatiron Truck, Jogasaki Truck, the Lobsta truck, the Global Soul truck, and the LudoTruck. I haven't tried many dessert trucks so I can't help you there, but I really really like the grilled donut holes with spiced creme fraiche that the Flatiron Truck serves (although I haven't seen it on their menu the last 2 times I ate there at Fig & 7th).

Heh, we got there a little after 2pm on the Saturday after both the LA Weekly and the LA Times published favorable reviews. They were swamped, and we pretty much got the last table before they had to turn people away because they close for the afternoon at 2:30pm.

Service was a little slow, but they were very apologetic. Initially they told us that they'd comp our appetizer, but then they decided to comp the rest of our meal as well. I wouldn't say the wait time was excessive either, but maybe we were just really good at entertaining ourselves. :D

Hm, I've only been for lunch twice, but had great food and service both times (the first time they were so busy they decided to comp our meal).

Baco Mercat!
Spice Table!

After training myself to drink my coffee black, as well as trying a bunch of the current generation of coffee places, I disagree that coffee is bitter and espresso needs sugar. Done in the right way, coffee can be bursting with flavors.

I took some friends to a cafe I liked and facepalmed after they poured tons of milk and sugar into their coffee and then proceeded to say it wasn't anything special.

Heh, I thought Sable sounded familiar... turns out that's where we ended up last year for one of our dinners! :) Even as a huge walk-in group, we were able to get a large table after a bit of waiting by the bar.

Mercat a la Planxa looks nice too, I'll look into getting reservations there. Any idea how packed they would be if we just showed up?

Additional suggestions would still be appreciated - can't have too many options!

I've had lots of Taiwanese popcorn chicken, and Ludo's balls are nothing like popcorn chicken. The balls are battered whereas popcorn chicken is "breaded" with sweet potato starch. The spices used are also completely different.

Awesome, I'd like to go try that quiche! Most of my experience with quiches has been of the Trader Joe's mini-quiche kind. However, I did have a slice of a thick quiche (not one of the small whole quiches) from Urth Caffe in DTLA that was a revelation.

Did you try them before or after they changed their menu?

Pasadena & Sherman Oaks - http://hamburgerhamlet.com/index.php?...

Hi, I'm gathering ideas for dining options for a large group, likely up to 10 people. We went to the NRA show the past 2 years as well, but dinner planning was non-existent. I'd rather avoid the fiasco of just picking a random restaurant that is able to accommodate a walk-in party of that size, especially given all the delicious food I know Chicago has to offer.

I don't have any criteria at the moment besides good food/drinks, and able to accommodate a large party. Any suggestions?