January 2021 Rundown

ChineseChou · January 28, 2021, 7:09am

Nearly risked my life driving to Spoon by H in the torrential rain on Saturday to pick up the family combo meal. I preordered it from Tock a week before. For $150, you get enough food to feed 10. We had leftovers on leftovers and I ended up giving away an intact order of spicy beef ribs to my neighbor because I couldn’t handle all the food. This is what’s on the menu.

Salad with sesame oil dressing
Kimchi fried rice
Tteok galbi fried rice
Spicy Beef Ribs
LA Galbi
Galbijjim (braised beef short ribs) & Braised Oxtail
Beef short rib miso ramen
Beef short rib rice cake soup

Everything was good to great except we never even touched the spicy beef ribs so I’ll just have to assume it was good. Favorite was the short rib rice cake soup. Miso ramen was a close second the next day. Kimchi fried rice third. Finally finished it yesterday. The weather was a factor in the rankings of course.

We definitely got more than what’s listed.

J_L · January 28, 2021, 10:57am

Wow that is great QPR.

J_L · January 28, 2021, 11:12am

The Siu Yeh pop-up at Needle on January 26th gave me some of the best bites in this nascent 2021 thus far. Authenticity-wise, I think Chef Ryan’s sensibilities were dead on in terms of selection and flavor. Every bite was a winner.

Grilled Cheung Fun Skewer… Best cheung fun I’ve had so far in Southern California. The smokiness, sauce, sesame, bite… All spectacular.

Roasted Young Chicken Wings… This dish is ubiquitous throughout the Chinese-speaking world, but if it’s prepared improperly, it’s easy to spot. Well, fear not, ‘cuz Needle nails it here. Frickin’ finger-lickin’ great!

Ground pork Skewer… Pardon the crappy photo, but THIS was just so fragrant and mouthwateringly heavenly to eat. I should have ordered 2 more of these.

Congee with ham, mushroom, runny egg, scallion, peanut, wonton skin crisp, and yeotiao (supplemental)… This anchored everything. Solid, solid juk-ology. Even the pickles were bomb.

Grilled Duck Breast, Beef Filet, King Oyster Mushroom Skewers… Beef filet proved to the star in this trio - just right, and reminded me of the incredibly tender solomillo one would encounter during pintxo crawls in Basque country. The duck pieces were cut a tad large for its fattiness. The mushrooms did not disappoint.

Almond Tofu with Local Winter Citrus and Goji Berries… IMHO this was the best iteration of Chef Ryan’s almond dessert thus far!

This pop-up offered me food which transported me to another time, another place. I hope some of my fellow FTCers had the same experience as well.

Starchtrade · January 28, 2021, 7:44pm

Great report! Everything looks so flavorful.
Are there any plans for another Siu Yeh pop-up night in the near future?

J_L · January 28, 2021, 8:02pm

Thank you! I’m not sure if they’ll do it again; hopefully they will. I haphazardly found out about this Siu Yeh pop-up on Needle’s Instagram. I think future announcement will be similarly handled.

PorkyBelly · January 28, 2021, 8:17pm

they’ve been doing it every tuesday for a few months now, I don’t think they have any plans to stop. you’ll need to order online.

moonboy403 · January 28, 2021, 9:42pm

I believe it’s every other Tuesday.

Gr8pimpin · January 28, 2021, 10:06pm

Had lunch at Cicek’s Chicken in Chatsworth. Always wanted to try this place (and House of Bread in the same center). It was featured on KTLA a few years back.

Pretty tasty rotisserie chicken. Reminds me of Zankou.

Falafel plate with pretty large falafels. These were super light, I do prefer them denser, but really nice flavor with just the right amount of spice.

All this grub for $18 out the door.

They have a huge menu of shawarma and kabob. They even had branzino.

Ns1 · January 29, 2021, 1:36am

Cicek’s is awesome. I miss that place.

Gr8pimpin · January 29, 2021, 2:09am

We really liked it!

Is there something in particular that you recommend?

Ns1 · January 29, 2021, 2:18am

When I lived in the hood…

bruins · January 29, 2021, 8:36pm

Rainy day lunch from A Cut Above. Chili cheese fries, roast beef, and turkey. I think the turkey is best, and we didn’t even get it with the bacon it usually comes with. Baguette is soft and chewy, which does a lot better with these sandwiches than it did with the banh mi.

Gr8pimpin · January 30, 2021, 2:28am

Bang - half bang

Win-Dow at American Beauty

Awesome burger and perfectly cooked fries.

Stolen crappy photo since my crApple phone screwed up my shot.

Wifey got fries there, not knowing I ordered fries from Wurstküche Venice. Just fries so it’s a half bang.

Wurstküche sells Nesbitt’s peach soda… so Fn good!!

J_L · January 30, 2021, 3:22am

I like how the soda is the only item to get the photo lightbox treatment here.

Gr8pimpin · January 30, 2021, 3:24am

LOL, stolen baby!

J_L · January 30, 2021, 7:45pm

Tempura Endo (Beverly Hills) is currently offering nice “Ten Chirashi” and “Ten Maki” takeout options.

As high-end tempura pieces are meant to be enjoyed right then and there (#ERTAT), piping hot, just out of the fryer, tempura ryori represents one of the most difficult formats to prepare for take-out. Having said that, I think my chirashi and maki were delicious. I was the only customer doing takeout on the night I went, sadly.

JLee · January 31, 2021, 6:37am

dang that looks good, too bad its out of my way.

TheCookie · January 31, 2021, 9:15am

James?.. Sugishita?

TheCookie · January 31, 2021, 9:40am

Was thinking about trying the Red Ribbon Chicken, but didn’t even know they had closed, because after so many chances we told them to piss off a while ago… way before Covid. Careless, inconsistent and just meh.

TheCookie · January 31, 2021, 9:42am

Really thoughtful.