awwwyeah206's Profile
PK, Metrovino, Clyde, or Andina?
Managed to squeeze in Pok Pok dinner, Nong's Khao Man Gai early lunch, Clyde Common late lunch, and Toro Bravo dinner. Amazing meals they are all and I do believe TB was the best overall but not by far. Yes, long waits, PP 1.25 hours but we spent the entire time at the food stands across the street and at their sister bar which had an AMAZING fried papaya salad. TB was also a 1.5 hour wait but we had less than stellar food at the upstairs bar waiting. The Clyde Common lunch was great and their grits with rabbit and fried egg is probably the most memorable dish of the weekend.
PK, Metrovino, Clyde, or Andina?
you're killing me. i looked at food pics from those restaurants and they look amazing. it's only 5 of us so you are right, cab will not be a big deal. I'm assuming those places you'd take over clyde? so Aviary and TB would be your top 2? Castagna looks unique and I'd have a hard time turning down the paella and squid ink pasta at TB.
PK, Metrovino, Clyde, or Andina?
We'll do Clyde Common on Thursday. If we get time for a second dinner would you say Andina or Metrovino? And was thinking Pok Pok for lunch.
PK, Metrovino, Clyde, or Andina?
hi all, in town for a few nights but may only have 1 night available for a nice dinner. Otherwise will be bogged down by a large group. Staying downtown and based on research it looks like Park Kitchen, Metrovino, Clyde Common, and Andina are the best bets. Would like a unique, contemporary, and inventive dining experience: ie no steak or traditional foods. Any thoughts on which one I should go with if I only have 1 night? or am I missing a restaurant?
thanks!
attention pho aficionados....good pho in the south bay...anyone?
+1 pho ever. not great pho but best in the south bay... and i been to a lot of em... pho so 1 will get u by as well
Major props for Beachwood BBQ in Seal Beach
+1 on the blue cheese grits! and their pretzel bun is awesome as well.
From LAX to Santa Monica - Where's the best place to eat?
+1 Tripel Burger all the way
Cut or Melisse?
I'm sure this will get deleted cause it's about LV:
I took 5 clients to Cut in the Palazzo after raving about the BH location and go figure... everyone thought it sucked. I have been to the BH location a handful of times and IMO it is far beyond LV so if you didn't like BH then don't step inside LV's.
Now the Mastro's at City Center was excellent.
It sucks you had to go through that @ BH CUT. I've never had a cooking temperature issue there. I've only been to BH Mastros twice and once had an issue with my Med Rare being too close to Med but I was hungry and it was valentines day so I didn't complain. As with everyone and everything YMWV
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Mastros Restaurant
2087 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Cut or Melisse?
well an overcooked steak will kill the entire experience. I would have sent it back or left altogether if they didn't agree to make it right. you're paying premium price you should demand premium product. just my thoughts that mistakes do happen and your experience was probably impacted by that.
Copper River salmon at CostCo now
They've freshly jumped out of the ocean into the Marina del Rey Costco. Forgot how many lbs but it was only $15 for the filet I chose. Chopped them in to 5 steaks and pan seared them with salt, pepper, brown sugar, soy sauce, minced ginger, garlic and they came out insanely good! Only 4 minutes each side for medium-well. You could seriously charge $30 for each steak.
Are they still good after frozen? I want to stock up.
SGV Seafood specials
anyone have an update of the best, current seafood specials in SGV (free/cheap lobster/shrimp/crab)? headed there tonight.
thanks!
Does crawfish season matter here in LA?
Just wondering now that we're hitting crawfish season if anyone good ones actually make it to LA. I've never enjoyed the mud bugs at Boiling Crab or The Shack but I've also never gone there while in season. Does anyone know if they get good sized ones over these next few months? thanks
AYCE Crayfish in Covina. $10.
are they in season right now? I've had some pretty horrible mud bugs at BC.
Best Ramen?
Wherever you go you can always request less oil. Saltiness and MSG go together and I don't think you can avoid, unfortunately.
Take any of the recs here except Ajisen and Naga Naga. Both would get massacred in Tokyo. Aren't they both Chinese owned?
CUT v. Animal - Goodbye / Birthday Dinner
Great point he should get both out of the way before leaving. I would say Cut but a landslide.. but it also depends where he's moving. if by chance he's going to some steak lover's paradise like TX or KC, then maybe Animal would be something he can remember LA by. Cut does have dishes that are unique but their steaks are the main event and you can get comparable in many cities. Animal is very LA-ish.
ISO Chinese restaurant w/ cheap/good live seafood after splurging at Newport Tan Cang
Last night I took the 35 mile drive up from the Westside to Newport Tan Cang in San Gabriel. On the way I passed Blue Ocean on Garfield and Valley which always has specials such as a free lobster or chicken. I saw a bunch of banners with "2.99" which I can only guess is per lb for live shrimp or lobster. I'd been to Blue Ocean before and thought their lobsters were anorexic and non-seafood dishes were very below average... so on to Newport I went thinking if I'm driving 70 miles round trip I better be satisfied and I can't miss on their house special crab.
Well now looking back on the $120 I just spent for the lady and myself I am wondering if there is something in the middle between Blue Ocean and Newport. Don't get me wrong. I love to splurge and do so all the time but Newport really took me to the bank for dishes that really don't require that much work:
Live shrimp: $30/lb (total of 4 large and 5 small shrimps, although one was filled with roe so maybe 9.5 total)
Small Tilapia: $15 (anorexic maybe 2 Tbsp of meat on this skinny minnow. the large was $19)
Ong Choy: $13 (ong choy is usually the cheaper of veggie dishes)
One dish worth the price was the 2.5lb dungeonous crab @ $14/lb. Definitely reasonably priced for a restaurant. It was scrumptiously deep fried and tossed with their house special sauce which was the crab guts stir fried with scallions.
If anyone has recommendations on a middle ground between Blue Ocean and Newport I'll take them. I guess it just comes down to a place that doesn't charge as much for their live shrimp and tilapia and has better non-seafood items than Blue Ocean. Or maybe next time I'll just bring another Benjamin to Sea Harbour....
Best Ramen?
@ Mottainai I didn't like the Freaker (pork shoyu). it had a weird consistency and sort of tasted like ketchup. But the miso was interesting and didn't taste like other miso broths. they run out of gyozas way too quickly. get there early.
Fun Izakaya Style in L.A.
For drinking, party atmosphere, and above average food I second Musha in SM and FuRaibo on Sawtelle. I think Honda-Ya and Musha Torrance has better food.
Also check out Katsuya Izakaya in Manhattan Beach. Food is decent but in a great area and you can head to the neighboring bars within a block away for more partying or a night cap.
It just depends on what's closer.
Best Cantonese dinner
I'm from Seattle so I'm with you on Vancouver having the goods (they even have Sea Harbour!). The SF and East Bay (Pleasanton, Dublin) have better Canto food than LA IMO. Sorry to be redundant to my other reply but all I'm saying is considering the amount of Chinese restaurants in SGV it really comes down to Elite and SH for the good Canto stuff and that just seems odd for me. and I'm pretty bitter that we don't have good wontons. Even Seattle has better wontons and their king crab or live shrimp is only $10/lb.
Best Cantonese dinner
I agree it's about the freshness but there are still different ways to cook. For example, live dungeonous crab can be cooked with ginger scallion, steamed with garlic, or deep fried with garlic. My favorite is steamed w/ garlic and I haven't had a good one in LA. Geoduck (non-sashimi) can be sauteed a couple different ways. Most fish should only be steamed, but some like sturgeon and ling cods can be prepared across 3 dishes (soup with head, fried rice, steamed meat). SH and Elite both do a pretty darn good job I would just expect more considering how much competition there is with the number of restaurants in SGV.
When referring to traditional Cantonese I am just surprised that SF has so many more wonton and congee houses than LA does. If May Mei, Sam Woo, and Har Lam Kee are supposed to be the best then that's sad. For example, Fat Wong's in San Bruno beats all three and they are a hole in the wall.
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Sam Woo Cafe
727 N Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Har Lam Kee Restaurant
150 E Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755
May Mei Restaurant
639 W Duarte Rd, Arcadia, CA 91007
Best Cantonese dinner
ahhh yes... I feel your pain. I worked in DC and lived in Arlington for a 6 mo time period. How can a big city have a chinatown that has no good chinese food? oh wait, that's LA's chinatown. ;+) Mark's Duck house and Full Kee were the only places that kept me sane. well, and the blue crab.
So I think your post highlights a huge problem with LA Chinese food. There is a serious lack of quality Cantonese food. Of all the Chinese restaurants in SGV it really only boils down to Elite and Sea Harbour. Newport does have their lobster but everything else falls short. SGV seems to be more interested in opening cafes and XLB joints. And don't even get me started on the lack of quality won ton mein and jook.
The post really should be: Who Beats Elite and Sea Harbour. Whether traditional or innovative, I would love to see better preparations of geoduck, live king crab, and live fish (ie: sturgeon, ling cod) cooked 3 ways. Elite and SH do a pretty darn good job at these. and it's not such a bad thing to keep going back every visit back home.
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Sea Harbour Seafood Restaurant
3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead, CA 91770, USA
Hide Sushi visit...
I wonder if you just had a one-off experience at Sugarfish. I've eaten there 5 times so far and haven't experienced the connective tissue you mention. Might've been bad luck and I would have sent it back for a replacement. Sugarfish is my favorite casual sushi spot.
Their maguro is some of the best I've had and it can compete with Sasabune (although completely different ball game).
I never pay for salmon sushi unless it's wild which basically rules out salmon everywhere.. but their salmon has changed me.. melts in your mouth.
Over doses of ponzu I would agree with you. But the sashimi has surprising small chunks of tuna fat which makes up for it.
I prefer to order a la carte rather than Trust Me because I'd rather order more maguro, sake, and hamachi than the snapper, halibut, and shrimp they give you.
I've actually experienced the connective tissue you mention at Irori. Never at Sugarfish.
SGV recs before I move to the westside!
I have been a Pasadena resident for 4 years and regularly dine in SGV Asian restaurants. There are a handful of restaurants that I will always go to but I can't help but think as I drive to my destination there has got to be some other gems out of all these other restaurants that I'm passing. I will be moving to Playa del Rey in a week and have vowed to eat SGV Asian every day until I move. So I'm looking for some recs on cuisines that I may be missing. Please don't recommend places that may offer better than what I mention below. For example, if you have an XLB better than DTF, I have probably been there. I am looking for eats that I am missing out on completely! Ideally the recs would be Chinese or sino-Chinese (eg. Golden Deli)
Places I frequent
Elite - for dim sum and dinner
Savoy - hainam chicken and snails
Golden Deli - for pho and hu tieu (soup separate)
Mien Nghia
Din Tai Fung
Baccali
Tasty Garden
Little Sheep
Off the top of my head what I don't have:
Beef brisket wonton mien - I am Cantonese and am very particular about my wonton soup. I haven't had any acceptable which is disappointing since I think SGV is unmatched as far as Chinese food in the US. I used to frequent Wonton Time. Went to the Congee the other day and it was nowhere near as good. Sam Woo and Har Lam Kee also disappointed. standards would be soft brisket, al dente noodles, and good not too salty soup base.
Hunanese or Sichuan - I've been to one place I believe Hunan Seafood and it was decent but nothing extraordinary.
I am not moving too far but far enough where I won't be eating quality Chinese food every day.
thanks!
Pasadena Recs
Lunch - Lovebirds
Dinner - Akbar, Gus's BBQ, Shiro, Gyu Kaku... .not much else worthwhile. search Alhambra recs which you can do in 10 minutes and it will be worth the drive
Pasadena Taco Trucks
El Chavo is not near California. El Chavo is on Holly/Fair Oaks and beats out Gallito and Taquito.
Something (sorta) new this way comes: in beloved Las Ruinas space
Yes that is the El Chavo taco truck (the best in Pasadena). I always order tostadas con al pastor and tacos con lengua. occaisionally a burrito. they have since moved a block down to the Holly/Fair Oaks parking lot. Don't know if they've opened their small concrete location yet on Green St. and Chester. When I spoke to them at the truck they said they would have the same menu but fish tacos once a week and breakfast burritos in the AM.
