hard to find a great cuban in LA
many average, few rise above
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Café Cuba in Hawthorne is pretty tasty
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Rieras only small gripe is that it’s not medianoche bread but I think that’s hard to find here.
Eat it there because Cubanos do not tend to travel well
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X 2 for Cafe Cuba in Hawthorne.
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Cafe Cuba !
Along with the cubano, they also have excellent papa relleno that is garlicky deliciousness and the most addictive yuca frita con mojo. Their mojo is really fuckin good.
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Went to cafe Cuba, had the media noche. Very solid
I like rieras Cubano more they make the pork leg in house and overall the fillings are much more flavorful. The bread tips in cafe cubas favor.
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Went to Rieras… Reviews here were spot on. Delicious fillings. Juicy, tender, flavorful. But the bread was meh. In fairness, we took them to eat at Tokyo Central for a bang-bang, so it may have gotten a bit soggy.
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Yeah you gotta eat it right away it will definitely steam in the wrapping!
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It’s such a bummer that Brouwerij is probably going to be closing soon. It’s a great spot that really feels like San Pedro’s official watering hole. Bonus that it’s really family friendly - and right across from the always interesting Crafted. I stopped by today for the thousandth or so time and hopefully not the last. Grabbed a Popfuji and a very good pizza from Ciao Bella. Shady Grove was also there. They always seem busy but in the post Covid landscape it sounds like keeping up with their rent is really hard.
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So sad they always seemed busy enough, sounds like it’s too hard to run a food/bev place these days
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I don’t drink but I love their bottle art
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You don’t drink and eat vegan - becoming a monk ? 
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Brouwerij West makes solid beers especially their IPAs. Never been to the tasting room but always heard good things about the food program, the space and family friendly environment.
Sad to hear
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Slip Bar. Good place for a quick cheap weekday meal and beer. Lots of specials revolving around solid burgers and tacos/burritos. Their crispy tacos are actually quite delicious… tortillas are pan fried not deep fried, so they get a bit crispy without being too oily. The asada isn’t amazing, but it goes well enough with some crema, salsa and cheese. Went tonight for Taco Tuesday, and got 4 tacos and a beer for $17 before tax and tip and left stuffed!
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Had redwood again definitely best pizza in South Bay.
Also a great meal as usual at tempura tendon Carlos jr
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Did a weekend getaway to Laguna Beach and was stationed out of Irvine. A lot of top notch Japanese restaurants out here, perhaps the most interesting being Habuya in Tustin. It’s the first Okinawan restaurant I’ve ever tried. I’m hesitant to call it an Izakaya since they didn’t have skewers. Think Daichan on steroids. Really good katsu and hybrid soba/udon noodles (apparently a specialty in Okinawa).
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Sugo. New resto at Pen Center. If I have to describe it one word, it would be “soulless.”
The space is massive and the interior looks nice. Yet, it feels weird. The entrance is long and empty, save for a table for 8. Then the middle of the resto feels like the spacing of a cafeteria with round tables for 3-4. Finally the main room begins to feel like a nice restaurant with nice booths and tables.
The menu is a mishmash of Brazilian / Asian influences.
- Brazilian popovers: these were great. Chewy, airy and cheesy.
- Pizza: decent. small for the price but nice airy crust. Not amazing pizza and can’t describe the style but the kids liked it.
- Brick oven chicken: nice marinade. really tender. but the skin was flabby which is a pet peeve of mine. And the side salad was also weird… just a huge pile of greens with a sweet-ish dressing
- Bibimbop: my wife didn’t like it. it came in a stonepot but the rice was warm, not hot and certainly not crisp. bulgogi was overly sweet.
Overall, i think it’s a place we’ll go to in a bind but won’t make our regular rotation.
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Cloud Naan, a new Pakistani restaurant on Carson, east of I-110, has higher flavor and ingredient quality compared to most Indian/Pakistani restaurants. The chef/owner mentioned that there would be a 30-minute wait since everything is cooked from scratch. The Chapli Kabab (grilled beef patty) was tasty with a mix of flavors, though a bit over-charred. You can request it with a lighter touch as shown on the menu.
The Chicken Karahi was well-cooked with juicy, tender meat. I asked for mild spiciness, which made the flavor less intense. This dish might taste even better the next day. The Pink Tea (Kashmiri Chai) was soothing and more indulgent than typical Masala Chai. One order yields about six cups (~Chinese teacup).
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Name?
Ha Ha, sorry. Cloud Naan.
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