sidwich's Profile
First time to Fig---what to order?
I like the mussels, the pastaless lasagna and the tongue.
In search of fantastic baby greens/lettuce
There's a small stand further up (past Selma) on the right which also has excellent greens. When I have Sunday dinner parties, I try to go there for the greens because they're always delicious.
Simple food which you love
I'm with everyone on the hot, buttered bread. During the summer, a sliced tomato, hot buttered toast and a couple of eggs are my go-to breakfast.
For salad, just some good greens, a drizzle of olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and a bit of sea salt and pepper.
I also like simple muesli. Just quick-cooking oats soaked overnight in milk. Adding just a bit of sliced apple and/or roasted nuts makes it quite heavenly!
Dark chocolate chips/ coating chocolate
Trader Joe's sells blocks of dark chocolate which I've nuked to coat both fresh and dried fruit. If you actually need dark chocolate chips, Whole Foods carries the Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips. Ralphs does sometimes, but WF carries them all the time.
Afternoon Tea - where is most similar to Langham, Pasadena?
I haven't been to the Langham's tea, but the afternoon tea at the Montage Beverly Hills is a very old-time classic kind of tea. Lovely service, very relaxing, and the food is fine. My grandmother loved it, so it might be something your mom would like.
Rose Tree Cottage is very classically British. It most reminds me of actually going to a tea house in England, completely with doilies and cats. It's very nice, but it's not really the hotel afternoon tea experience I think you're looking for.
I used to really like the London's tea, but it went through a management change a few years ago, and I don't think it's been the same.
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Rose Tree Cottage
801 S Pasadena Ave, Pasadena, CA 91105
Who's The Best (Old School) Bartender in LA?
Tyler Dow used to be at Checkers, and he was excellent. He's since moved over to Eveleigh, but I haven't had a chance to visit him at his new digs.
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Eveleigh
8752 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
Quick Question about Sea Harbour in Rosemead
It's not a totally ridiculous comment, but you'll be fine. Most of the big dim sum houses will call your number in Cantonese, Mandarin AND English (really, they want you to claim your table).
And yes, Sea Harbour has a very complete picture menu with both characters and English, and the order sheet has one side characters and one side English. As i recall, it's also keyed to numbers in case you're unsure. I call it "dim sum for dummies." It's really virtually impossible to screw up, even if you don't speak a word of Cantonese or Mandarin.
The servers at Sea Harbour are also quite helpful and as ipsedixit said, their English is actually more than serviceable if you need assistance.
Returning to LA, need help planning a food-tinerary
For lunch and dinner in the Hollywood area:
My favorite fish tacos are Ricky's: https://twitter.com/#!/RickysFishTacos. He's not open every day so you'll have to check his twitter, but the fish tacos are superb, and it's always a fun and friendly, block-party atmosphere. Good choice for lunch.
Koreatown is just a bit east of Hollywood, and there are plenty of good choices. Three of my favorite Korean barbecue joints are Parks, Chosun Galbee and Gen-Wa, which are all also clean and appropriate for bbq beginnners (if you're into that kind of thing. :))
Food Truck Wedding - Would Like Advice (moved from L.A. board)
I strongly suggest that you rethink your plans. Having organized events with trucks, I can tell you that it is very hard for any truck to handle feeding 100-120 people at once. Most trucks that I have seen can only serve a few people at once, so unless you can seriously stagger feeding your guests, you will have some guests waiting a loooonnnnngggg time for their meal. I can see something like a midnight snack working or having the company cater and bring the food in from off-site, but no way could one truck cater the whole thing.
Afternoon Tea at Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills
I haven't been to the Langham tea, but the Montage is lovely, very peaceful with a harpist and all. "Civilized" is a good word to describe it.
I took my grandmother for tea there about a month ago, and as described above, the tea selection is excellent. I can't recall the exact sandwich selection, but from what I remember the sandwiches, scones and sweets ranged from good to excellent. It is a very leisurely experience, so I'm not sure how well 3 11-year olds will take to a 2+ hour tea, but it is very well done and service is very gracious and first-rate.
It is on the pricey side. I think it ran us close to $50 each with tax and tip.
New Yorker in LA looking for the best Indian, Chinese, and Pizza! Where do ex-NYers eat??
Get on the 10 and/or the the 60 and get off anywhere in the San Gabriel Valley. Throw a rock in any direction and you'll find better Chinese food than in NYC (yes, I lived in NYC for 1o years, I have a very good handle on the quality of Chinese food available there). If you let us know exactly what kind of Chinese food you have a yen for (dim sum, dumplings, soup dumplings, hand-pulled noodles, knife cut noodles, etc.), we can direct you to specific places.
THE COUNTER IS COMING TO MIRACLE MILE!!!
I like the Counter in Santa Monica, which I think was the first one, but I haven't been as impressed with any of the offshoots. I'm still hopeful about this one since it would be so close ot me, though.
Do you feel guilty when dinner doesn't include a vegetable?
Not as much as I used to. I've realized that lifetime sometimes gets in the way, so I'm afraid that sometimes I'll just grab some frozen dumplings and make do. However, I do like to keep some kind of vegetable soup on hand for an easy veggie fix. Even if I can't seem to pull together the time or energy to pull together a "vegetable" per se, I can always nuke a vegetable-heavy minestrone or pull some gazpacho out of the refrigerator.
mother's day - we need dumplings
Have to agree with raytamsgv and bulavinaka. I usually see tons of kids of all ages at dim sum, of all volumes and attention spans. Dim sum wouldn't be dim sum without kids (and adults) running around at high volume.
Any good dim sum places that take reservations?
Sea Harbour definitely takes reservations. The last time I did it, the minimum was 10, so I'm sure they'd do it for a large group.
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Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770, USA
Where to lunch with my fellow young lawyer ladies?
When I was a young lawyer lady, I liked to meet friends at Five Points for brunch. I don't live in NYC anymore, but from what I remember, they have eggs benedict, delicious drinks and good atmosphere.
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Five Points
31 Great Jones St, New York, NY 10012
Bite Bar & Bakery - seriously good croissants
We also stopped by Bite, and had a lovely time. I will say that I think the chicken pot pie might be somewhat inconsistent at this point. The one we got had a crust that frankly was rather grey in color and rather gluey instead of flakey. The filling was excellent, and we loved the mushrooms but the pastry was not very good at all.
The crab sandwich was absolutely superb, though, and we really enjoyed the croissant and all the cookies we tried as well. My grandmother loves chicken pot pie, so we'll probably try it again as they settle in more.
Green Tomatoes in LA area?
Just a note that a few stands had green tomatoes this morning at the Hollywood Farmer's Market.
Green Tomatoes in LA area?
I buy them on Sunday mornings at the Hollywood Farmer's Market.
Basic Kitchen Skills
Using a can opener. Seriously, my brother called me one night a couple of years ago asking how to use a can opener, and he was almost thirty.
Best places to bring your dog to eat with you?
I've met friends with their pooches at Amandine a number of times, and it's always worked out very well.
Further East, Cafe Midi on La Brea always seems to have a bunch of dogs and their people at the tables outside. I think Midi will even bring water bowls for the dogs while they wait for their people. :)
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Cafe Midi
148 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
Gan Bien Su Ji Do?
Yes, this is a pretty common dish in Chinese restaurants. I recently had a fab version at Tasty Noodle House in San Gabriel, but as I recall Hop Woo at Sepulveda and Olympic does a pretty good version as well.
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Hop Woo
11110 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064
Tasty Noodle House (Yi Pin)
827 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, CA 91776
Should a great Shanghai soup dumpling / xiaolongbao contain oozing soup from the pork filling (directly), or via a congealed gelatinous spoon of soup inserted?
For what it's worth, the way my grandmother used to explain it to me, XLB is made with chips of frozen soup wrapped in with the filling. I've never tried it, and my grandmother's days of making XLB by hand are long-over (arthritis), but according to her, the pork filling itself is not sufficient to get the "soup" effect.
Good brunch place where we won't have to wait 45 minutes for table and feel rushed?
Joe's in Venice has a very nice brunch. Food is good, atmosphere is nice, it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and they take reservations(!), a huge plus if you don't want to do the crazy weekend brunch wait. When I have an out-of-town guest on the Westside, I usually make reservations and we walk right in past the crowds.
Veg Puree Soup at Blue Plate Diner on Montana Avenue, help Chef Violet!!!
I can't think of anyplace off the top of my head that has this all the time, but this kind of soup is really easy to make, especially if you have a hand blender. Melt some butter, and add a chopped onion and garlic. Sweat with some salt until soft. Add whatever vegetables you are using, and let this cook for a few more minutes. Add stock and let this simmer for half an hour. If you have a hand blender, puree the soup in the pot. If you like a creamier soup, add some cream or low-fat soup cream and blend it in off the heat. In warmer weather, this works really well as chilled soup also.
Anybody's been to Tasty Noodle House?
Don't worry. I visited a friend of mine out there on Saturday, and after feeding her toddler, we were running late for lunch. We didn't get to Tasty Noodle House until about 1, and there was quite a crowd waiting by then. They were clearly overwhelmed by the line of waiting to get into the restaurant, and a tussle between waiting patrons almost erupted at one point. It was almost like being in the Old Country. :)
Food was very, very good. One pork/leek/shrimp dumpling, one tianjin baozi (light and fluffy!), one beef noodle soup, and one green beans ran about $30 before tax and tip with enough for leftovers the next day.
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Tasty Noodle House (Yi Pin)
827 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel, CA 91776
Your answer to 'What can I bring?'
Depending on the season, I often bring chocolate-dipped strawberries or apricots. It's simple and impressive-looking, but can be easily served to the side of the host/hostess' main dessert.
dao xiao mian: JTYH, Ma's Islamic Chinese, or elsewhere?
JTYH is excellent, but China Islamic's dao xiao mian is very good as well. If JTYH meant having to brave the 405 during rush hour, I don't know if even my Chinese carb-loving heart could do it.
Dog friendly restaurant in WLA
Almondine on Wilshire is very nice for breakfast/brunch and light lunches. They have outdoor tables, and I've often met a friend of mine and her dog there for a light meal.
Dumplings. Where do I find the best
My favorite fish dumplings are at Earthen Restaurant in Hacienda Heights. Their other dumplings and potstickers and all things carby (scallion pancakes, noodles, etc.) are also excellent.
