June 2026 Rundown

aaqjr · June 21, 2026, 6:20pm

Happy Father’s day to Mr.TheCookie!

PeonyWarrior · June 21, 2026, 11:51pm

Mamani (Dallas)

I recall an FTC discussion on the conflict caused by states paying Michelin to review their restaurants. Dallas’s second one-star restaurant is a prime suspect. It’s good. But the food is in no way better than, say Bavel.
The cheerful Beaujolais paired well with The Smile “Foreign Spies” on loop.
David, Victoria, and Harper Beckham were in the house. Wholesome.
I left crying out my eye unaffected by Bell’s Palsy.
It was surprisingly cheap. Halfway to my hotel I turned around and started walking back. I was sure they had left the wine off the bill. I looked at the menu online and saw it was right.

robert · June 22, 2026, 12:30am

It’s a whole lot Frenchier, as is the chef. Michelin gives extra credit for that.

PeonyWarrior · June 22, 2026, 12:40am

I also wouldn’t say it’s better than Petit Trois. E.g., Petit Trois’s leeks are better.

Omotesando · June 22, 2026, 3:28am

I found myself near Cedars-Sinai last week in the late afternoon. There is a dearth of good restaurants for lunch in the area and the one restaurant I do like, Sushi Tama, closes at 2 p.m. Since I was starving and it was after 2 p.m., I decided to try The Henry on Robertson.

Big mistake. I’m usually not a big fan of The Infatuation, but I wish I had read the review before. The Henry - Review - Beverly Hills - Los Angeles - The Infatuation And it was expensive. Maybe not as expensive as The Ivy across the street where the prices are truly insane, but really expensive for mediocre food. I would say the food is about on par with The Cheesecake Factory, although I haven’t been to The Cheesecake Factory in years because I hate the food. I also would have skipped The Henry if I had realized that the place is a chain.

Anyway, the waiter said the best thing on the lunch menu were the fish tacos, so that is what I ordered. $29. They were highly mediocre – just salty and uninteresting with this unpleasant avocado crema.

The tacos weren’t really filling so I added on a “Molten Butter Cake” dessert ($16) that was huge, but awful.

Total bill with tax and tip was $61. For an awful lunch. The waiter was nice. There are no circumstances under which I would return. I might have been happier at the Cedars cafeteria, although that place is truly awful as well, unlike the cafeteria at UCLA Ronald Reagan, which I find delightful because at least I can get a real baked potato there.

J_L · June 22, 2026, 3:50am

Cafe Angelino is a solid choice for Italian there. Just west of the towers, on 3rd. I’ve been recommending it since my internship year, before Y2K lol…

paranoidgarliclover · June 22, 2026, 8:46am

Midoh (Sawtelle)
Had to go to LADBS (don’t ask), so I thought I’d stop at Midoh. Just delightful. Had no idea that the lemon wasn’t just a garnish until I read on a website that the lemon is actually meant to be used (and to pulverize the sesame seeds and then pour the sauce on top).

JYTH (Rosemead)
Thoughts here.

Rustic Canyon (Santa Monica)
Partner and I have had a stressful few wks, so we wanted treated ourselves to a nice meal. On my last (and only other) trip to Rustic Canyon, the food was incredibly pretty, incredibly tasty, and I wanted to lick the bowls/plate clean b/c the sauces were so, SO good. The same still applies here:

The melon dish was AMAZING. Initial hit was sweet, tart, and salty, followed by the slight richness and roundness of cashew ajo blanco, and then the finish of fantastic herbaceous. They serve it w/ a spoon, and I happily used it. Ricotta gnocchi meltingly tender and the sauce was SO rich and intense. Nice chew to the halibut gave the impression of having more chorizo than was actually there (the amount was still fine), and the corn so summery; it was like the most wonderful fish burrito, minus the tortilla.

Dungeness crab dip was really good, but I think it’s hard to go wrong w/ a crab + dairy.

The dessert was good but that honey was so, SO intense (perhaps a bit too much so for me). Partner and I thought that the cake would have bit of nectarine, rather than having the nectarine added. Vanilla ice cream was a $5 supplement I didn’t feel like adding, but I actually think this very much needed to it to balance out the intensity of the honey.

Thongg Ake (Santa Monica)
Didn’t realize Jade Rabbit doesn’t open during conventional lunch hrs on Saturday until I tried to open the door. Whoops. Partner and I were hungry, so we went a few doors down to Thongg Ake.

The food seemed really good to us. Partner’s pad krapow ($16 lunch special) wonderfully savory, complex, and balanced. My khao soi was good, but I could’ve used more lime wedges and chili oil to counter the sweetness a bit more; I don’t think chili crisp works so well b/c I’d occasionally bite into a crisp, which wasn’t pleasant.

This was our first visit, and we look forward to trying more of the menu (which thankfully isn’t overwhelming).

Pontu (Santa Monica)

No idea what the red/pinkish sauce w/ my arroz chaufa was, but it was really good. I was expecting it to be kind of sweet (b/c of the color, I guess?). It wasn’t really that, and I don’t know how to describe the flavor. Savory, perhaps a touch of sour, and a really nice kick to it. I thought it was quite tasty, and I could’ve used, like, double the portion b/c the rice itself was almost a bit too “clean” (and, dare I say, high-end?) tasting; I personally could’ve used a bit more salt.

Fries remain delightful.

Petros (Sawtelle)
No pics, but this place continues to be very enjoyable (this was my second visit). They actually got my thin-ish hamburger patty pretty close to medium rare, and the spicy feta topping it worked pretty well. Partner wolfed down his salmon bowl. Octopus also very good, although I wouldn’t have minded if they hadn’t cut it up for us.

It’s kind of misplaced on Sawtelle, and I hope they survive b/c the food is really solid, IMHO.

aaqjr · June 22, 2026, 2:07pm

Looks like you had some good eat’n!

PeonyWarrior · June 22, 2026, 11:16pm

A couple of Dallas bib gourmands:

Ngon — I really liked this Vietnamese joint. Good place that I’d go to often if it were at a convenient location in LA.

Nonna’s - I was unimpressed but their signature white clam pie — ordinary crust, bland toppings. The fish was overcooked, the spinach watery. I could have done without the deep fried cheese stuffed olives. Waste of time, waste of a meal.