LA Sushi Co on San Vicente next to Matū Kai. Predominantly takeout operation clearly modeled after Sugarfish with a number of “Trust Me” style set boxes. Prices are ~10% less, quality is 30% less. Barely passable knife-work. Cut rolls with pieces falling apart. I’ll stick with Sugarfish for reliable and reasonable takeout sushi.
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I ordered from Dumpling Wei the other day had one of the worst meals in recent memory. The food is under-seasoned, poorly cooked, badly flavored, weirdly reciped (corn in a potsticker?)…I could go on but I don’t want to waste my breath. For this type of cuisine near Brentwood - dumplings, xlb, noodles, soups, entrees - I’ll stick to Dan Modern Chinese in Sawtelle (there’s one in SM too), which is always reliably solid.
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For a person to want to “stick to Dan”, that’s saying volumes about how bad Dumpling Wei is.
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Indeed. I view Dan like a fast casual spot like Tocaya…never amazing but generally consistent and solid enough for a non fussy meal. If I’m willing to brave the traffic/mall, my top pick for this cuisine on the Westside would certainly be Din Tai Fung…
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When did you go? I went again last wk and was going to perhaps try one more time b/f posting a downhill alert.
The food I had last wk was not as terrible as what you had but it was very meh. The rice noodles seemed narrower and limp, the garlic chili sauce wasn’t nearly as potent, and the dry clay pot wasn’t even served in a bowl (and the sauce tasted like something you could get out of a bottle in the supermarket). Not horrific, but it was a stunning comedown, and I actually messaged the business about it on Yelp (no response).
Not sure if it was just a coincidence, but front and back of house were also completely different from my first two visits.
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It’s terrible.
As is the whole dumpling situation on the west side of Los Angeles.
For a while it was a sister restaurant to Northern Cafe on Gayley (RIP) which was solid, though the Wilshire branch was nowhere near as good. Then Gayley closed and Wilshire changed its name. And pretty much went to shit.
And of course Mama’s Lu had a relationship with the decent Cantonese place on La Cienega in BH. That is now dead as well.
I saw signage a couple of months ago for a Luscious Dumpling branch on the North side of Little Santa Monica, across the street from La Ong. So I have hope that things may get improve.
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You, too? Maybe my first 2 times were the exception, then. 
So weird b/c, on my first visit, a manager type said that the overhaul was b/c the parent company thought quality had slipped. I was hopeful that the (vastly) improved quality from those first two visit would be maintained, but….
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Not dead, or even just resting. It is now fully a Mama Lu location but, based on two recent visits, I think it is less good than it was when it was a branch of Capital Seafood .
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Oh thanks. I thought I read that the whole thing collapsed. Cap Seafood was decent.
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So I was looking at toodrickallen to see if I find an answer to what’s replacing Del Taco on Wilshire in Santa Monica. Didn’t find an answer, but I did see this entry:
Here’s the menu:
Is this kind of vaguely fusion-y Indian food common in… India? Or anywhere else? Genuine question.
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There simply can’t be anywhere in the world where a menu like that is common. It’s nonsensical to a laughable degree. Toddrickallen is a fantastic website. Todd is also a lot nicer than I am. He alludes to the “glacial redevelopment” at the property. That is…an understatement. Many commercial properties have renovated over the past few years while vacancy has been high. None have done it worse than this property. It is undoubtedly the single most hideous property in the area. Unusual architectural curves. Eye gouging color changing lights at night that make you feel like you’re in the basement of a college fraternity. The renovation took forever and a half, and I live nearby so I have to suffer seeing it at least once a week. Unequivocally, the property looked better pre renovation.
All of which is to say, it doesn’t surprise me in the least that a restaurant with such an egregiously absurd menu ended up in the single worst commercial property in all of Brentwood.
PS - if I’m wrong - and this type of menu is actually common somewhere in the world - please do chime in.
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The “What Our Clients Say” section of the web site is absurdly bogus.
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“Chef Alex JOHN DOE”
Lmao come on now
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But actually that was the third or fourth redevelopment of this property.
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The new steakhouse where The Brentwood used to be looks like it’s at the finish line. Exterior signage is up. I took a peek inside and they appear to be installing cabinetry. Lots of detailed wood paneling!
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From an internet search:
I think the pics are not “real.”
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There simply can’t be anywhere in the world where a menu like that is common
lots of places like this at the malls in Mumbai/Hyderabad
ex)
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I was wondering why I had never heard of this place at the LA Loves Alex’s Lemonade event. Now I know.
Yea those pics on Culinary Agents are renderings. I only took a quick peek inside but it’s not super far off from what they actually built out - captures the general design aesthetic at least.
Yeah, for some reason, I could see food like that existing in India.
Guess we’ll have to just wait to see if this new place is legit AF….