If someone were to treat me to a single meal at just one of these three places (schlep notwithstanding) I’d choose Kinjiro > Otafuku > NanBanKan.
But it’d be a close call, and honestly I’d be happy at any of them.
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I’ve not been to Kinjiro yet!
We didn’t get NBK’s non-skewer items, but I’d want to come back and still explore the yakitori options more.
Otafuku’s soba is tip-top for me, and the rest of their menu is very, very strong. I’ve not been disappointed with their yakitori (though it might be weekend’s only still?), nor with their other cold and hot dishes.
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the QPR at Nanbankan is very good.
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Horrible photos, this iPhone just does not take good close-ups.
So I did a taco bang x 3 last Saturday.
Birrieria San Marcos
Personally I like the tacos dorados the best. They have taco Tuesday, $1 soft tacos. I really love this place. I’m grateful that it’s so close to me. When I’m doing keto, I’ll get a keto taco from them take it home and slap it in one of my 1 gram net carb tortillas put some sour cream and some mashed avocado. It’s incredible.
Next went to Villa’s. The guy puts on a great show while you’re waiting in line and he explains everything welcomes you and really interacts with the crowd.
The two best things were the lamb barbacoa taquitos and the cucumber lime agua fresca. A lot of hype but to me not worth the drive to deal with the line. By the way, the man working the line, I assume one of the owners, mentioned they were opening a seafood location the next day (last Sunday) very close to this one.
Taqueria Frontera. THIS was worth the drive.
The pastor is not only super flavorful but they spice it up. Great heat. Wifey couldn’t eat it (but she’s a lightweight.). I Could eat pounds of this stuff. The asada was OK. Personally I don’t like when places overly chop up the meat into extra tiny bits. To me the al pastor is the play.
Sorry I’m not being super descriptive. Long day.
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Have you ever tried using Chat GPT to clean up your blurry photos?
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No. Just not important enough to me 
I would just assume go back to my old iPhone 5 to take photos. Used to take great foodie photos. As soon as I got an iPhone that had two lenses total crap for close-ups. All of them. The 3-lens ones are fine.
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please don’t do that. it isn’t worth melting a glacier for.
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I’ve only uploaded 1 picture to Chat GPT but I hear you. I know people who use AI all day long. I’m too old and I just use Google.
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or you can just use photoshop or any photo editing software
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Carnitas La Chingona (Whittier)
A few minutes from my house, there exists a Stater Bros grocery store with plenty of vendors set up outside of the parking lot along the sidewalk. The vendors shift out throughout the day and week, but there’s always a solid selection. The vendors range from tacos, ceviches/aguachiles, tlayudas, crepes, donuts, fruit cups, drinks, candy, et al.
Carnitas La Chingona takes the 8AM - 2PM shift everyday except Mondays and Tuesdays. They specialize in fresh carnitas and chilaquiles. They’ll even shove chilaquiles, mixed carnitas and eggs into a burrito if you need a handheld.
For about $16, you get a 6 lb box laden with a giant layer of chilaquiles (red, green or both), beans, 2 kinds of cheese, crema, 4 eggs (cooked your way), and carnitas (I prefer the mixed carnitas). No one is going to be hungry after this meal. In fact, I’m pretty sure this can be split 5-6 ways and still be plenty of food for a group.
It’s pretty delicious and filling. The carnitas are luscious and porcine. The chilaquiles are fresh and bright…I opted for verde because I wasn’t feeling the need to go spicy with red…knowing I’d have leftovers my lot at home won’t touch spicy offerings. The eggs were perfectly cooked to an over easy.
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My last NY trip for quite a while but…
Penny - I’ve previously professed my love for Claud and its consistency and lack of pretension and can confidently say they’ve done it again with Penny. What I wish Found Oyster was a biiiiit more like. Vibe and service and wine were great, but some inventive dishes like razor clams done a la baked clams at a red sauce joint, or seafood sausage and beans were delicious.
Corima - did the tasting again with my sister. All but one dish different than my December visit, love to see it. Still a fucking steal for 110 in NY. Pairing was also delightful and dynamic. Highlights were a veal brain char siu taco, a rabbit terrine, and a uni and corn flan.
Bar Kabawa - bummed I missed the opening of Kabawa proper by a few days in the old ko space. But the bar was jamming, amazing playlist. Solo dined with a few rum cocktails, amazing fried patties and coco bread (the short rib, conch one holy shit). Pig head and blood pudding app also rocking. Paul Carmichael is one of my favorite chefs (Ma Peche in my early NYC days was formative, seiobo in Sydney was singular) and I’m excited to try the pre fixe next door eventually.
Other bites - radio bakery (spring pea and feta sandwich), the usual lindustrie drop in, broccoli Reuben at S&P, digestives at Amor y Amargo.
Dishonorable mention - Coqodaq. Terribly loud, awful space, unremarkable Korean fried chicken and bland banchan
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What’s the deal with radio bakery? See posts about the huge lines? Was it worth the wait?
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It’s solid. I don’t think the laminated pastries alone are worth the wait , but the seasonal specials are quite good, especially anything bread/focaccia-y. I had a pal to meet for lunch that lives above the new prospect heights one so we avoided the line, but I’d been to the OG a bunch before the TikTok blow ups.
Pastry wise I also liked the sweeter ones at Hani’s on this trip. A very tasty pistachio halvah rice crispie, and a rhubarb tea cake. Good little hot dog-croissant with a slightly sweet glaze and mustard was fun too. And no line.
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Sugo Costa Mesa. Been on my list for a long time but didn’t want to be disappointed it wasn’t Il Romanista.
15 choices. Lot of traditional and fun options for everybody.
I opted for the pepperoni. Nice charred cups of roni. Much more cheese than Il Romanista. Similar light airy crunchy crust. Would definitely come back.
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It’s not as thin as Il Romanista. It’s more focaccia-y.
Did they have the slice is lap cheong? While the traditional is pretty good, I like the fusion plays they have there. It’s different, but good.
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Yup more focaccia like. No lap cheoung. The most interesting ones they had today were Japanese with mushrooms/bonito flakes and a spicy chorizo pizza
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Just left Feld in Chicago. This was the best meal I’ve had in years. More when I am not drunk and have had time to process. What a beautiful expression of hyper seasonality and an antidote to overly fussy, dots on a plate fine dining.
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San and Wolves. 4th St. LBC. Filipino vegan bakery. Come early. My favorite is the cinnamon rolls all 3 of them! Ube, pandan, black sesame. Vintage aesthetic. Cool people.
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Almaya Lincoln Heights
Shakshuka, it’s good, but will try something else next time. Chicken Shawarma Plate, really good. The meat flavor intesified notably overnight. Cauliflower side dish. Good concept and it’s fine. But the (sweet and sour) sauce drowned out the ingredient. I would ask for sauce on the side next time.
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I just went to a dinner that was catered by Almaya this past weekend. They had an interesting mix of Mexican and Mediterranean dishes like hummus, guacamole, chicken kabab, salmon kabab and Mexican rice. The kebabs were cooked perfectly and were very good the next day. Their brussels sprouts were really good too.
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