March 2023 Rundown

[dvlpmnt]

bay area person visits los angeles.

day 1 lunch: crunch munch at daybird.

a good chicken sandwich but is it a good sichuan sando? I think not

day 1 pre-dinner: bumsan ice cream

day 1 dinner: Here’s Looking at You. recommended by an industry friend as a must visit.

it did not disappoint. probably the most exciting menu I have had in a long long time. pictured: frog legs.

day 2 lunch: gjelina

I had wanted to try their restaurant for a while now as I have been doing quite a few of the recipes from their cookbook. didn’t get to photograph the dish I liked the most, the carrots, so here’s a pic of the duck confit.

day 2 dinner: hayato

day 3 lunch: needle

day 3 dinner: shibumi
bamboo tempura

yep I got the sakura mochi. it was good but not life changing. the bean paste was exceptionally good though.

I talked knives with david a bit. here’s his kiritsuke tip- yanagi-ba.

also nerded out and showed me his natural stone for sharpening.

[J_L]

Soft opening of Meez Persian Cuisine in Calabasas… My goodness, this is one of the juiciest, tastiest beef soltani (barg +koobideh combo) I’ve ever had in SoCal! Lubia polo and ghormeh sabzi with tahdig were all fantastic as well. I hope they keep the quality this high as they move towards Grand Opening. Definitely worth the trek from Westwood. #InBeforeEaterLA

[Ns1]

What is that top left plate?

[J_L]

Ghormeh sabzi with tahdig. Sorry the photo is a bit dark

[attran99]

Oliboli Doughnuts (Tustin) -
Seasonal flavors now are pear-influenced. The yeast one with elderflower and pear glaze with praline crumbles is delish!

Fukuda (Irvine) -
Currently take-out only, but you can eat it in the restaurant due to staffing issues.
Self serve hot tea and water are complimentary.
It’s still a great place for a reasonable lunch or dinner.

I’d probably not get the tempura, again. Batter is on the thick side and gets a touch greasy when no longer piping hot

[Armillaria]

Weekend camping at Sushi I-Naba Manhattan Beach (temporary location in Torrance) with Yasu San to celebrate his birthday today (March 6):

@Armillaria

Small Hotaru Ika alert, in Shiso sauce, with Tairagai (03/04) and without (03/05).

Tairagai on 03/05 has an important business to attend:

[paranoidgarliclover]

There’s never NOT a reason to have Japanese comfort food*, but cold, rainy weather is an especially good reason.

Chicken katsu don from Sawtelle Tempura House. Doesn’t photgraph well but is mighty tasty.

*edit: argh, finally got the double negative right!

[hadarien]

Malama Pono - Hawaiian. Happy Hour Happiness. Flavor was good though the main dish, mahi mahi was a bit dry.

WFT - Warm French Toast is mind-blowingly good

Artelice Patisserie - Fruity ones are a tad sweet to my likings

Sakanaya - hiding from the rain and traffic in this place. Interesting. First time trying okoze. Not sure about the price tag.

Baekjeong - good old bbq, large intestines and cheesy egg

[js76wisco]

The new Rye Goods location in Tustin is in a very odd place even by OC standards. Tucked away in a random commercial area of Red Hill.

I opted for the everything carmelized onion brie croissant. Didn’t get much brie but the caramelized onion and everything spice was very good. The coloring of the inside was different since they use sourdough. The everything layer shattered and broke off after the first bite leaving a mess but I was able to incorporate pieces into each bite. Very good and lots of good options for pastries. This croissant came out to $7.28. If you add OC 7.75% tax there was an extra $0.82 or 13% they charged for employee benefit. There was a hand written note about this charge but I didn’t read it thoroughly or take a picture. I’m not mad about it and actually prefer this to the default 15/18/20 tip screen where you get guilted into the tip. There was no tip option presented when I paid.

[rohto]

I prefer the savory options over the sweet options at Rye Goods so good choice! The pesto twist is still my favorite from them, but it hasn’t been around for a while.

[Mr_Meatballs]

This is my go-to. So so so good.

[J_L]

Random updates: I apologize, for I have been remiss in my posting duties.

Shrimp chahan, from Venice Ramen: Excellent wok hei in all the fried rice dishes here. Even more reason to love this place…

Massimo Bottura dinner at Gucci Osteria Beverly Hills: Yes, Sergio did cook this evening. But no, he did not cook any pasta dishes. The veal ode to Damien Hirst was fantastic, though…

Seafood potato salad, from Tonchin LA (Larchmont): One of the best izakaya-style potato salads to be had anywhere in L.A. Sergio (Sugeno-san) was in da house…

Harry’s Berries sighting, from Eataly (Century City)…

Anticucho, from Rosaline (Melrose): I enjoyed their tiradito and anticucho…

Pastel de Nata, from Portugal Imports (Artesia): Just superb…

Brown sugar & beurre crepe, from Crepes Dusigne (Venice, weekends only)… Monsieur Dusigne is one interesting cat. He’s been plying his crepe trade for many years now. I practice speaking my crappy French with him as my crepes are served up. His latest location is weekend mornings at Alana’s Coffee Roasters in Venice - Outstanding classic and not-so-traditional crepes…

Pi Day double baked cherry pie, from Sprouts: Remarkably delicious!

Fried Cod Sando, from Daybird: Terrific sando, but man, was it messy to eat. Fun, though! The potato bun kept slipping due to the copious yuzu tartar. The only thing holding it all together, believe it or not, was the melted slice of cheese lol. Sergio (Chef Mei Lin) indeed in da house. Fries were fire also. Don’t miss this sandwich…

[hungryhungryhippos]

Back for more schellz

[Gr8pimpin]

@EattheWorldLA

Start with the tamal de pollo en salsa verde ($2), which they have covered with a handwritten “HOT” notice on their board. The sauce is green because of an ample use of jalapeños, and is always made fresh.

Just went this morning. No photos, unfortunately.

The cheese were fantastic, good heat. I liked the red pork the best.

They are priced now at $3.25 out the door.

Edit: Thank you, @robert for moving this post.

[js76wisco]

First time at Connie and Teds in years. Everything was great. We had a very enjoyable meal. Kids enjoyed all the seafood and even the crispy chicken sandwich was well made (my daughter isn’t a huge seafood fan).

Oysters very cold, perfectly shucked (not 1 piece of shell), briny and delicious. @attran99 the Island Creek were a table favorite. The largest of the bunch in the picture at 1-2pm. The other oysters were Kumiai, Kumamoto and Sweet Petite. $3.50 a pop are a pretty good deal in LA.

Uni with crostini. 5 small to medium lobes. My son ate most of these and said this uni was much better than Ohshima a few weeks back. He wasn’t wrong.

Steamers with butter are one of my wife’s favs and these didn’t disappoint.

Fried clams with bellies. The bellies are a must. $49 for the plate. I was reading previous posts where folks were complaining about the $29 price tag a few years back. Haha. Delicious and we’d get them again in a heartbeat. My son asked for marinara on the side for dipping.

Solid chicken sandwich. Onion rings are nicely fried.

Spinach with bacon always a good choice. First time at Ginger’s ice cream for dessert. It’s been on my radar for a few years after a few FTC recommendations. I concur. Very nice variety of flavors and lots of vegan options. Right up there for us with Salt n Straw.

[attran99]

So glad you had a great time with the fam!

There’s magic in those Island Creeks. Perfect balance of salty sea brine, meaty and creamy.

So impressed that your son has an appreciation for uni!

[PeonyWarrior]

I had not been before. I liked it and will go back regularly. Zhengyalov Hatz. Pictured are the only two food items on the menu.

[hungryhungryhippos]

We demolished the holy basil seafood night dinner. Best thing of the night was the curry crab although every thing was very good we had all the seafood dishes plus pad see ew and roast pork. Chef deau said the curry is Indian/Thai inspired since he great up in India. It was not very busy so hopefully word of mouth picks it up more because the food and the pricing are so reasonable and this is drinking food so everything pairs well with some wines or beers. Def worth checking out and he mentioned they are expanding into Atwater and west side so keep a lookout for those places.

Bang bang with Kato bar, best drink program in LA this plus outstanding snacks. Saw caviar influencer @Clayfu enjoying Kato dinner hope it was delicious.

Tried to do a triple bang but Bianco closes kinda early.

[cookiemonster]

Wow. Fried whole belly clams were an inexpensive treat when I was a kid in Rhode Island (although I personally couldn’t stomach them [pun intended] - I was a clam strips only kid). Out of curiosity I looked up the current prices at a few seafood restaurants there and they all say MP.

[Dommy]

They are no longer inexpensive even in ipswitch. It’s all Mkt price there too and when we went last year it was around $30 for a large box. We have had Connie and Teds recently… they aren’t as sweet or plump… but what they charge we feel is fair and does come very very close to the experience…