Happy eating, all!
The default birthday cake of the SoCal Chinese diaspora.
SGV brunner run
Bang x8 today with the almighty @PorkyBelly. This “8 course” marathon was completed in 6.5 hours and we were stuffed to the gills.
I didn’t think that was possible for the preeminent digestive real estate of thee @PorkyBelly.
Dinner at Odys & Penelope. Too busy conversing and eating to take photos, but solid at always. The favorites here tend to be small bites and starters rather than mains for the most part. Old stand bys like Brussels Sprout Fried Rice, Cheese Puffs, Snap pea Caesar with cabbage, focaccia with creamy crab Fresno chiles and avocado and cauliflower with millet hit the spot. Something new from the Brasero menu was terrific and unexpected: smoked lamb in lettuce cups with hummus and pickled onions. Really terrific --the rich lamb flavor cut by the lettuce and onions. (Confession: sucker for smoked lamb --once drove 20 miles out of my way in Kentucky just to visit the small sliver of the state where smoked lamb BBQ is the regional dish.) An old favorite that is good to remember given the many new places that open and draw our attention.
June 7th: National Doughnut Day! Stan’s Donuts (Westwood Village): The Huell Howser (peanut butter & chocolate) brings much joy to the taste buds…
Brodard
Vietnamese Ice Coffee - Ca Phe Sua Da
Grilled Pork Spring Rolls - Nem Nuớng Cuốn
Luna Rice Cakes with Shrimp - Bánh Khọt Tôm
Brodard Crepe Noodles - Bánh Hỏi Brodard
Vietnamese Crepes - Bánh Xèo ~ excellent
Overall, Brodard is pumping out some great food these days. I really enjoyed every dish and those spring rolls are still Did Michelin even recognize them? I saw they threw a bone to Shanghai No 1 which is terrible these days.
The dingy, ass imprinted seat cushions must be what Michelin inspectors look for in their guide.
Tim Ho Wan - Irvine
Baked BBQ Pork Buns to go - these came right out of the oven piping hot, waited about 10 minutes because they ran out. Unsure about the wait times although it did not appear to be too long for seats. FYI, I saw at least a couple former waitstaff from J Zhou here. I prefer the baked bbq pork buns at Sea Harbour although they are the more traditional version.
Coni Seafood
Tacos de Marlin - excellent
Tacos al Gobernador - excellent
Aquachiles - excellent
Langostinos (Baby Lobster) - decent quality and that red sauce they serve with it is really tasty. I took the sauce home and will probably eat it with grilled shrimp.
Connie and Ted’s
Oysters with their lovely horseradish condiment.
Chicken Fried Skate w/ French Fries - the skate had amazingly soft texture and the flavor was great, the breading was a crispy yet a bit excessive. The gravy was very sauce like consistency tasting of fish stock, white wine and butter but I could be totally off. This dish was fuckin enormous.
Sidecar
Churro Donut - excellent, would order again although it was a May special. Ate this one on premises while it was still warm and crunchy
Huckleberry - fresh off the glazing racks, yes. Probably this and the butter and salt are my favorites.
Damn I didn’t know Brodards throw it down on that Banh Xeo!! Look at that crispy exterior!
I have always found theirs spring rolls a bit over rated… but I LOVE Their Banh Xeo! They always have the perfect crispy edges…
McD
Tomato Mozzarella Chicken Sandwich (Canada)
I had a moment of weakness and “bought” this with a canadian penny during their foreign-currency-for-any-international-menu-item-exchange-program. And after eating it, I want my money back #imhatinit
p.s. ill be back for the stroopwafel mcflurry.
Brunch at The Little Door (Beverly Grove)
Brunch with friends.
Solid Moule Frites. The mussels were all cooked perfectly. The broth was okay…albeit a bit too creamy for me and I missed the white wine and garlic/herbs. The frites were done well. My only complaint was that there was a little sand in some of the mussels, so the cleaning could have been better.
The husband had the steak frites with a side of scrambled eggs that was very good.
We had a huge table of 13 on the patio. I don’t know if it was because of our group size or some other issues, but service seemed off. One person in our group ordered a croque madame and didn’t get his until the rest of the table was almost finished eating. Then there were delays in getting pastries and croissants to the table as requested before our entree orders were taken. I abstained from the pasties as Chaumont is not too far away.
Love Blinkies! They make my favorite apple fritter!
Dinner with Outstanding in the Field in Wattles Farm, Hollywood. Some hits and misses with the food though this is more about the experience and meeting cool peeps.
Delicious pizzas at the newly-opened Double Zero in Venice. From the same chef–Matthew Kenney–behind Plant Food and Wine. All plant-based and some of the best crust I’ve had in recent memory. Top left: potato with cashew cream. Top right: Rapini with macadamia ricotta. Bottom: cauliflower dish, and the pizza underside pic. Fantastic.
Plan Check has a refreshed menu so we paid a visit. Left: Fried cauliflower with ranch and buffalo sauce. Very spicy. Get this. Right: their new plant-based burger. Meh…tasted like a typical Beyond burger.
Those are very precision placed chairs!