Cafe su dua
Phin smith so good
7 Likes
And the taste was…? 
Some Jan eats for/from me…
Belle Vie at The Draycott
Croque Madame + fries. Cedric is missed, but the food was good, and it was lovely to see Vincent again. If anyone is looking to invest, he has an idea for Westwood (south of Wilshire).
Kappo Miyabi (Santa Monica)
Tried to get into Shirubē on a Fri, 1.5 hr wait time. No thanks. Passed by Colapasta; totally swamped (had it a few days later, and it as wonderful as ever). Called Kappo Miyabi; no wait. Yes! Love how close restaurants in Santa Monica are (we didn’t need to move the car!).
This isn’t going to win any awards for innovation, but it was all very satisfying and quite a deal, IMHO (given how expensive dining out in general is, nowadays). It reminds me of Tokyo Lobby, only the food is actually quite good (on top of being fairly voluminous).
Prince Dumpling (Rosemead)
My mom doesn’t participate on FTC but somehow heard about this place (they live in the SGV). We didn’t get the lobster XLB and got the crab XLB. It was… fine. Less porky than DTF and tasted more “homemade” (I don’t mean that as an insult). Scallion pancakes are a skip. Sweet and sour pork ribs (not pictured) looked drenched in sauce but didn’t taste that way (I like easy on the sauce) and were quite tender. Would order again.
The lobster shell of the noodle soup was just for show, but there was plenty of lobster and even 2 pieces of abalone. 
Soup had a nice lobster flavor as well. I think bok choy would’ve made more sense instead of broccoli, but that’s a nitpick. I thought the noodle soup was fantastic and would happily return just for that alone.
Service was very efficient and professional.
8 Likes
the crust reminded me of KFC but more white pepper forward. The chicken was dark meat which I appreciate. The wrap had cucumber and a hoisin type sauce.
2 Likes
Post snack at Everson Royce Bar after seeing Luna Luna art amusement park exhibit. The Keith Haring carousel and Basquiat Ferris wheel! Nice view of the 6th street bridge too.
Tasty patty melt and the side of pickles were great. Cassell’s is probably the best.
But really if I had to choose it would be Pann’s. Love the Googie building and classic diner vibes.
The biscuits and burger at Everson Royce Bar are so damn good. Best bar food in LA. I’ll stand by that!
15 Likes
Quarter Sheets.
The Vodka Pesto is amaazing. I was eating it and thinking: why didn’t I ever order this from the beginning?! It’s my personally favorite and I’m hoarding the entire pizza if I ever order it again.
Tacos Los cholos. Is it worth the hype? Yes to visiting at least more than once.
The most interesting thing about this place? They have like different meat categories. Regular premium and another category (I forgot the name). Plus they have an option of adding cheese, I believe on the outside of the tortilla. It creates like this dark brown cheesy crust. Plus they had multiple sauces, which was also a plus.
10 Likes
Tacos Los Cholo loads up on the meat. At the Anaheim location I parked near the grill out back where they are cooking up all the meats, corn, potatoes and peppers. If you’ve ever been to this location you know what a cluster f this parking lot is. I was happy to get a spot. Any spot. After we finished our dinner my entire windshield and parts of our front driver and passenger side windshield were covered in grease. I don’t mean a splash or so I mean like the whole windshield was covered. I tried to spray it off 3-4 times and it barely made a dent. It was kinda gross. Don’t park near the grills.
If you go back to Tacos Los Cholos I really like the AHM taco. No idea what it stands for but they add a cheese stuffed pepper to the taco. The cheese tacos are good too. They do the trick where they melt the cheese on the griddle then add the tortilla so it sticks and becomes one cohesive vehicle for meat.
9 Likes
I think this place is also coming to the 2nd floor food court above 99 Ranch Westwood?
Is this place any good?
If you go at night, park next to the urgent care. The one on state is next to an urgent care. Their regular lot is a mess so someone told me to park there and now the trips are so much easier.
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I think that one you’re thinking of (with the space on the 2nd floor of 99 Ranch Westwood) is/will be called Noodology.
Ah, yes! Thanks for the correction.
1 Like
I thought AHM stands for Anaheim. At least that is what I say when I order it - hopefully I haven’t been saying the wrong thing all this time.
3 Likes
Wife and I ventured from our SGV cocoon last weekend to try Pho 79, Cococane, and Phin Smith in Garden Grove. Big thanks to FTC contributors for the intel on these spots.
The parking lot was packed at Pho79, so we parked down the street and patiently waited for our table with the nice cross section of other patrons. Normally I avoid waiting for tables, but the tables turned pretty quickly at Pho79 and we were seated with not too long of a wait. Maybe 20 minutes from when I dropped of my wife and hunted for a parking spot. We ordered two bowls of pho, cha gio, nem cuon, and a salty plum soda. I’ll have to say the large bowl is freaking large. I’m better off getting the medium or small bowl to have with appetizers. The broth is beefy without being overly oily. The subtle yet notable difference is hard for me to properly describe. I’ll just say it was darn good. Noodles and meat were plentiful, as was the bean sprouts plus herbs plate. Wife was happy that fresh wide noodles were available. Would go back, but there are so many other places in the area to try.
Cococane up the street was refreshing and busy. $7 drinks weren’t deterring anybody and know I know why. Had the standard cane and coconut mix. Not overly sweet with a few strips of young coconut garnishing the drink.
Last stop was Phin Smith for banana coffee and a green Thai tea. Both excellent. I wasn’t sure if I should have ordered the standard cafe sua da instead of the banana coffee. That leaves an opening for a next visit.
Thanks again to FTCers for posting about these spots. We hope to report back on future exploration to GG and Westminister for the Vietnamese bounty.
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Have you been to Trung Nguyen E-Coffee? I just recently discovered it since they opened another store in GG this time. Know of other coffee favorites in GG? I’ve been to Phin and Da Vien.
1 Like
Hamburguesas Uruapan - Anaheim
Uruapan doble 
was interesting and delicious. Never had anything like it and the more I ate, the more I really enjoyed it. Like a different flavor and surprise on every bite.
Churros Don Abel - East Los Angeles
The GOAT best churros in LA currently. I ate half of a bolsa chica which comes with 10. So addictive fresh out the fryer. I ate the rest later, popped them in the oven and damn near tasted fresh out the fryer.
Lion Fish - Tijuana
Love this place! The ceviche camaron tostadas, culichis, tacos gobernador, quesa lion and cocktails are fire here. They also have caguamas (32oz bottle) here lol
Tacos gobernador😍 sorry, no other pictures because I was hungry and a little drunk
Los Chingones - East Los Angeles
Chilaquiles (red and green) carnitas mixto breakfast burrito
Tam’s Noodle House - Rowland Heights
House lo mein with beef and wontons
Wonton soup
SPAM and egg sandwich
SEN Vietnamese Cuisine - Westminster
Cha nem
Mien Tron Sen (Kho)
Kareem’s - Anaheim
Falafel fries
Tacos Los Martinez - Pomona
Taco al pastor
Prime Pizza - El Segundo
White slice
Bolognese
Sicilian square
18 Likes
What was in the hamburguesa? Jamon salsa?
Double patty, Oaxaca cheese, American cheese, ham, bacon, sausage, onion, tomato, jalapeño, mayo ketchup, mustard, avocado, chili sauce and pineapple
A lot going on but it worked. Very unique, loved getting new flavor bites in each bite like a bacon, Oaxaca cheese, avocado and pineapple bite. Then another bite jalapeño American cheese, ham, sausage ketchup, mustard bite.
7 Likes
19seventy (La Habra)
Formerly Lascari’s, the owners have allowed Chef David Fuerte of La Carniceria Waygu in Brea) to rebrand and partner with them to gussy up the place.
It now looks like a modern steakhouse a la The Arthur J with rich wood paneling and warm and intimate lighting. I don’t know what was here before, but it’s certainly quite nice now. Fridays through Sundays, they welcome you through the door with a glass of Prosecco.
We came by for some drinks and snacks after making an appearance elsewhere.
It was a packed house. Even the spiffy and gorgeous bar was full.
They are really trying to push the envelope here. This place screams don’t go to into the city for dinner and spend your hard-earned dollars locally. I can appreciate that. I think that makes 19seventy more interesting and compelling.
Service is quite good. The team is super knowledgeable about the menu. There are areas of stretch that could bring the level to match the story they are trying to tell. It would have been better for our appetizer to arrive after our order was taken and the menus cleared away so there would be plenty of space on the table. Our dinner entrees arrived at different times…one 5-8 minutes after the other. In my opinion, entrees should be fired so they arrive at the same time for each guest at the table.
Cocktail presentation game is high…cloches and smoking guns are here. There are uncommon combinations of ingredients that make some cocktails more interesting…the kiwi breeze has pairs kiwi with an element of coffee and it works. I am a sucker for cocktails with egg whites and this place delivers…I’m just sad that I missed the smoke bubble from my melontini because we were chatting with our server.
On to the food.
Waygu meatballs & toast - these meatballs are large and tender (and highly recommended by the team). You can see the pan sear they get, but they eat like there’s a high amount of filler in the meatball mix. The accompanying marinara is fresh, bright and fragrant with basil and the whipped ricotta is light as a feather. It does not need the hard and sad piece of toast it sits on. Cutting that bread was a struggle.
Chicken Marsala - I could not tell it was black garlic spaghetti pasta and the Marsala sauce is probably the gloppiest Marsala sauce I’ve ever had…the roux is so heavy. I’m used to non-thickened Marsala sauces. The mushrooms were delightful and the pasta was a touch over al dente, but that chicken breast was plentiful and exceptionally cooked.
Pistachio-crusted salmon - a winner…salmon was delicious and the pistachio crust plus the charred lemon is a terrific combination. It could be more artfully presented on the plate. This has Chef Fuerte’s influence in execution.
Tiramisu - it was explained to us as deconstructed but it’s in a goblet so that’s not really deconstructed. It was fine, the egg yolks and mascarpone are lightened with quite a bit of whipped cream, which is not my favorite way of approaching the mascarpone mixture. There was only a hint of coffee and no discernible rum…we had changed to this option after finding that the pistachio creme brûlée was pistachio-crusted rather than pistachio-flavored.
It’s nice to not have to head out to the city for dinner. It’s nicer that this is about 10 minutes from our house. There is room for improvement if they want to keep pushing the envelope. The potential is there and the team is working hard. I can appreciate what they are trying to do, and hope they can get there.
10 Likes