happy august
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Fake news this was Tuesday july 29! Also where are the rest of the pics?
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Some recent eats 
:
Bar pie from Hot Tongue
Butcher’s feast from Jeong Yuk Jeom
SĂ Mon: surf clam ceviche, tuna carpaccio tostada, & uni shooter
Tacos La Carreta: Asada & adobada chorreadas, and an asada torito 
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Jeong Yuk Jeom is great, that’s my go to KBBQ spot when people are visiting from out of town.
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I’ve heard that Jeong Yuk Jeom is one of the favorite spots for Samsung execs when they come over from Korea.
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Memelas de tasajo and de chorizo at Charcoal Tlayudas on Pico just east of La Brea.
Masa was super flavorful, earthy beans, tons of flavor from the meats and asiento.
Can’t say enough nice things about the folks working this stand. Warm, friendly, and putting in tons of work with walk-ups and phone orders.
I’m solo dining otherwise I would’ve gone for the eponymous tlayuda, but I’m looking forward to coming back soon.
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This looks incredible, thanks for posting, added to the list 
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I’m a sucker for pate en croute and this really hit the spot today at Obelix in Chicago. Didn’t snap a photo, but the soft shell crab sandwich made for a great lunch.
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Over the years I have worked on numerous international commercials (I am pretty much retired now). Worked on a lot of German and Norwegian Burger King commercials. While Burger King’s European menu was far more interesting than it’s domestic one the foreign ad agencies were fine with American catering - catering on commercials is top notch.
However both Korean and Japanese agencies wanted Korean or Japanese meals despite the American catering origin.
It was curious to me as when I travel abroad I want to taste the local cuisine. Even here in the US when I was working across America in the south and Texas I wanted bbq, in New England seafood, in the midwest German (I had an incredible Dutch Baby on my 50th birthday in Lemont, IL).
I don’t really understand why Samsung executives would want to go for Korean cuisine here instead of all the manifold choices available.
Not that Jeong Yuk Jeom isn’t a great restaurant, but if I were in Seoul I would never opt for Texas bbq.
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Multiple possible reasons: Not everyone is culinarily adventurous on a business trip (travel which is often demanded of them despite their preference otherwise), or maybe there is longing for a taste of home. Or perhaps they want to see how their home cuisine is prepared and presented in other countries…
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I’m not sure if this is cultural but I know several Korean people who bring instant ramen, packs of nori, microwave rice and resealable kimchi when they travel to Mexico and Europe. When I travel to far off places I’m like you and want to try the local cuisine.
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Love Hour - for the Olds here, it’s in the same spot as Beer Belly. We split a honey hot chicken sandwich, single cheeseburger, onion rings and a Mineragua. $30 before tip.
The restaurant is set quite far back behind the parking lot, and has an order booth set up front. There’s a eating area set up in the parking lot where you order off a kiosk, and after you order, you either pick up your food, or eat in a different patio area, or the restaurant/bar inside. I believe all initial food orders happen at the outdoor kiosk - and you can order beer there as well. Inside there’s a full bar set up and a bartender, so it’s very easy just to bypass the food ordering kiosk in the parking lot, and walk in and get a beer.
The photo shows the food, but not the best part of the food; the pickles and the dipping sauces. Their noteworthy pickles are super sour and crunchy, and you can purchase them separately. The onion rings were kind of bready and not worth it. The “Love Hour” dipping sauce was though. It was smoky and had the coloration of being a dirty mayo/ketchup mix. However it tasted like a not sweet BBQ with maybe some curry? It was good.
Not pictured - my friend got a chili cheese dog and 6 piece chicken nuggets. The hot dog was exactly like you’d picture. The chicken nuggets made him happy as “they look just like McDonalds” which he meant as a compliment. He got two dipping sauces - the hot mustard and the red chili. I tried the mustard, and the heat was from wasabi. Really good.
It was an easy, quick spot to meet people before a show at the Wiltern.
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I think a lot of this is a byproduct of our echo chamber within ftc. Everyone here by any metric is at least somewhat culinarily curious, otherwise we wouldn’t be posting or reading about food. I think we forget that there are large swaths of ppl who could care less about food, don’t want to go through the effort/risk of trying soemthing new, or their idea of adventurous is trying a chicken sandwich instead of a burger or ordering a root beer instead of coke.
But also you see that in Americans traveling abroad too, that’s why there is such a proliferation of pizza, steak, burger, pasta joints near touristy thoroughfares in Europe, they cater to Americans that don’t want to stray very far off the beaten path or their idea of trying something new is a buying an almond croissant from a bakery.
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Not just Americans, as Evan Osnos hilarious New Yorker piece on Chinese taking in Europe makes very clear!
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Top Sot in Buena Park. Newish Korean place that is known for its rice. The rice in the metal pot is hot n fluffy and the nurungji is excellent. Great little spot with a focused menu. The food was delicious. Very good fast service. Not a lot of ban chan but all very good especially the chive kimchi. We especially liked the ssam, denjang jigae, spicy octopus and spicy pork. My son loved the beef tartar. My sister liked the yubu (fried tofu) skin rice that came with the tonkatsu which was fine but nothing special. We got there at 11:30 and by the time we left pretty much every table was occupied.
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Elephante: scene-y to be sure, but we liked this restaurant. Vegetables were fresh and colorful; pasta was reasonably al dente and very flavorful; scallops were nicely cooked. I would say Bestia is a close comparison (recognizing that I’m lower on Bestia than board consensus). We both preferred Elephante to Bestia.
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Kind of similar to what @hungryhungryhippos wrote, but I wonder if Koreans also have Chinese Stomach (which I think @chandavkl wrote about in the past?).
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You mean this? (Strangely though both times I went to Hungary, I DID eat some Chinese food.)
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Gross over generalization but in my personal experience older generation Koreans and Chinese ppl whether living in the US or overseas definitely seem to prefer their food or something close to it.
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You passed up on palacsintas, gulyas, langos, chicken paprikash, and stuffed cabbage ( Töltött Káposzta)? Not to mention Dobos torte?
Okay too much paprika is too much…although langos rubbed with garlic and dipped in gulyas is a pretty perfect combination - close to red-cooked pork in lotus buns with scallions, cucumbers and cilantro.
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