Well, no. I did eat a good bit of Hungarian food. But I also knew that everyone would ask how the Chinese food was so I had to allot some stomach to the Chinese side.
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Good call!
Huh. Do my eyes betray me or do I see medium to long grain rice here? Would explain the extra fluffiness⊠First time seeing that at a Korean place. Always thought long grain didnât play nicely with Korean soups n stews.
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I did not pay close attention but you have good eyes. Certainly does look like long grain to me. Iâll ask around or go back soon.
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I miss Beer Belly 
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Mmmmmmm⊠Dobos Torte 
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lunch at habayit on pico. cute little spot. spartan.
i got the falafel sandwich and a side of fries. pickle plate was gratis.
I liked the falafel a lot. definitely fresh fried. rich, nutty, and herbaceous flavors. texture wasnât dense, wasnât crumbly-- but not homogenized, either.
the pita sandwich felt like a bit of an optical illusion. overflowing with salad and falafel at the top, and tapering rapidly to no fillings, just breading. and the pita was not my perfect pocket. this one was dense and chewy. and it was colder than expected, which was a bummer.
fries were bad. a bit floppy. i think the issue is that there was no textural contrast between the french fry skin and the potato interior.
second pic is after a few bites, because the intro pic is just a pita overflowing with salad, and a small glimpse of brown.
$17 before tip. i donât think iâd go out of my way to get it again, but iâd stop by if i was hungry and in the area to order a falafel plate, hummus, etc.
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Culturas is a new Peruvian / Mexican restaurant at Hope and 11th in DTLA. The wine list consists of unspecified chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet, rose, and Champagne. Weed stank fills the air of the sidewalk patio. All inauspicious.
The website says the menu is a collaboration of two Michelin star NYC chef CĂ©sar Taboado (Artesano) and Ricardo Zarate. Maybe auspicious?
We went tonight. It seemed half open. There was one staff member responsible for everything from reception to bartending to waiting tables. I wouldnât say the restaurant had an atmosphere.
Food evaluations:
Guacamole. 3/5. Pretty good. Too lemony and not chunky enough for my tastes. Looks brown. Served with very good crisped tortillas.
Seabass ceviche. 4/5. Good quality fish, everything was tasty, but didnât seem like a polished dish for some reason.
Mole chicken enchiladas. 5/5. Maybe the best mole enchiladas Iâve ever had. Outstanding mole flavor.
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some bites from last weekish:
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little dynamite, mar vista - iâve had their square and round pies here and prefer the round pies at little dynamite. mozz, provolone, parm, olive oil, crushed tomatoes, the cheese louise is a great pie.
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secret pizza, el sereno - had 3 slices here (sausage/onion, cheese, pep) and they were all real solid. while secret pizza may not be perfect, it hit all the check boxes for me. classic north jersey pizza in LA
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danny boy, westwood - solid thin crust pizza. only downside was the balance where some bites had a nice crisp but where the topping (sausage) was, that area lost itâs crisp and was rather soggy. iâll be back, maybe for a meatball sub as well since the owner was the founder of the meatball shop. also explains how nice and over the top the westwood location is.
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kbella pizza, culver city - rarely do i go with specialty slices, especially one that is over $10, but the halal lamb slice was calling my name. good to try, but back to the regular stuff.
best slice iâve had so far in LA: secret pizza
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dudley market, venice - came here for the burger but left thinking about the fish sando - yuzu slaw, pickled jalapenos, nice crisp, nice everything.
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genghis cohen, fairfax - was in the area and a general tso w/ rice lunch special with a new york egg roll is exactly what i was in the mood for.
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primos donut, sawtelle - that buttermilk though - but wait, canât forget that cinnamon roll too.
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gingers divine ice cream, culver city - raspberry panna cotta and yuzu boysenberry scooped up together was quite refreshing. i will be back here!
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tacos el flaco, mar vista - right in front of mitsuwa, the al pastor burrito here hits the spot and it has a stocked salsa/topping selection.
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Panaderia y Pupuseria Los Cocos, del rey - small mom & pop shop. ordered pork bean and cheese and spinach potato and onion pupusas - pickled red cabbage and salsa on top. threw in a chicken tamale to go. $10 all in.
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Nice pizza adventuring!
For square slices try quarter sheets or if the bar pie looks good. Hot tongue for nyish or bar pies. Pane Bianco for ny style slices
Petramale is also really good only on Fridays though and only whole pies
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thatâs a great roster of dishes and dining.
the folks who set up in front of that mitsuwa are definitely above par for the area. itâs dangerous when coming out of the market with a weekâs worth of groceries and plans to make dinner, then getting hit with the sweet scent of trompo â vegetables canât compete!
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And apparently one of them drives a yellow Lamborghini (I used to get my hair cut at the salon in that strip mall, and the stylist saw one of the purveyors apparently getting out of such a car)!
Iâd be so annoyed by your asymmetrically stuffed pita!
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I really appreciate this list. Itâs my neighborhood and we go to many of these spots, particularly those close to the 90230/Del Rey neighborhood where we live and Westwood where I work.
I wanted to throw out another thatâs broadly in the area that we like quite a bit.
Itâs called âMom, Please.â They serve Ukrainian food at Mom, Please and you (well, at least I) donât see a lot of Ukrainian spots around.
MP started out as more of a take/out counter place specializing in dumplings, You would either buy them already cooked and sauced or buy frozen dumplings to take home and prepare yourself. MP has since evolved into an âorder at the counterâ restaurant serving brunch and an all day menu. (They still do the take out and the frozen take out as well.)
The menu is pretty varied and includes some you-can-get-them-elsewhere items like pizza, which we have not tried. We prefer to order crepes, dumplings, cabbage rolls or specials - what seem to be more traditional Ukrainian dishes. They also have Ukrainian breakfast, though my schedule only allows me to get breakfast there on weekends, so Iâm not sure if the breakfast is every day or weekend brunch.
I wonât comment on everything weâve tried, but I will say we never go without ordering some dumplings, even if they are just to share. We also do take out on the dumplings, which are lightly sauced and come with sour cream. Off the top of my head, what I remember the most is the consistency or mouth feel â just the right mix of al dente on the outside and soft on the inside.
The coffee is good, too.
There arenât that many Eastern European spots on the Westside and the one other spot that comes to mind is Doma â which closed about five years ago.
One comment on authenticity: I actually donât know, Iâve never been to Ukraine. But whenever we are there the majority of other customers are speaking what sounds like it could be Ukrainian to me. Maybe itâs a mix of Eastern European languages and while that doesnât prove anything, I like to think that these fellow customers know more about this cuisine than I do.
Again, thanks for your list. You gave me a few more places to try in the neighborhood, like KBella (which used to be Mega Pizza.)
13151 Fountain Park Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90094
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Love little dynamite square - but never had round
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just looking at pics on yelp, definitely looks like the real deal
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My big disappointment last week end was not being able to pick up the July Peach pizza special at Little Dynamite on Thursday to have after my colonoscopy. They must have run out of peaches that week and decided not to order any more for July 31. I guess this is why slackers never prosper. Hope they have it again next year. 
Oh it would have been square. 
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This looks like some med grain ish to me!
Wow, small world. There was one other guy at the bar with me who had to leave right at 4p like I did. Was that you?
I ended up going back for dinner last night to enjoy some more foie before leaving town.
Started with a special they called MaĂŻs et foie gras (Textures of corn, shaved hudson valley foie gras torchon, duck consommĂ© geleĂ©, cassis.) The corn and foie went very well together. Great dish to start with. Hereâs a photo from IG:
Followed that up with a steak tartare that had a thai spin (Filet Mignon, Green Curry Aioli, Banh Mi Pickles, Shio Kombu, Herbs, Sourdough.) It wasnât a bad dish at all, but I prefer a more classic steak tartare. Photo from IG:
For my main I went with the duck breast (10-DAY DRY-AGED DUCK BREAST* Rohan Duck Breast, Lemongrass Duck Sausage, Green Papaya Salad, Peanuts, NÆ°á»c Cháș„m Gastrique. The duck breast itself was cooked beautifully and could not have been any better. The sausage on the other hand was sitting on the pass too long and was cold by the time the plate landed. Thankfully, they fired another one for me and comped dessert as an apology.
Dessert was a lemon verbena souffle served with blueberries. Lovely finish to the meal that wasnât overpoweringly sweet. It was so airy that it was only about 5 bites in total. Significantly less substantial than any chocolate souffle Iâve had.
Great spot that Iâll come back to when Iâm in town.
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finally got up to north hollywood to try salsa & beer. we pulled up a little after 530 to the sherman way location and were directed to a parking spot by the on-site attendant. based on folksâ past experiences we figured weâd be waiting an hour or so, but instead we were sat immediately for a 535pm dinner. chips & dip were right behind us (the bean-cheese-cream dip is amazing).
service is the fastest iâve had in recent memory.
before my table mate could come back from the bathroom, the server was asking if i was ready to order. we ordered a beer each, an appetizer of potato taquitos, an entree of two tacos with rice & beans, and another entree of zacatecas-style fajitas, half carnitas and half shrimp, with rice & beans.
one sip of beer and a trip to the salsa bar later (the salsa bar is great but, itâs like, salsa), and the food hit the table. i donât know what algorithm or alchemy that have going on in the kitchen, but they knew what we were going to order before we did.
iâve read that the portions were big. i was completely unprepared for how much food we had. i will be the first to admit that these pictures are awful and donât offer a sense of scale.
i ate maybe half of my fajitas, 0% of my rice & beans. my fellow diner got through one taco (they are huge tacos) and 99% of his rice & beans. i have enough leftovers for two more meals.
was the food good? i think it was pretty good. i think the best bites were the bean dip and the grilled zucchini (which looks deceptively like a grilled avocado in the pic) from my fajitas.
how was the price-to-quality ratio? i have no idea. there are no prices on the menu, and my mate picked up the bill. three dishes and three beers-- i reckon we got close to $100.
i wouldnât make a special trip out of going there, but i would definitely sit at the bar and order a beer and an enchilada if i found myself in the area.
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