2019 Rogue 99

@KatherineSpiers and tien nguyen’s rogue 99:

https://www.lataco.com/restaurant-guide/

All Flavor No Grease
Angelini Osteria
Animal
Apple Pan
Asanebo
Baco Mercat
Barrel and Ashes
Beverly Soon Tofu
Black Market Liquor
Boiling Crab
Broken Spanish
Carnitas El Momo
Casa Vega
La Casita Mexicana
Cassia
Cena Vegan
Chengdu Impression
Chichen Itza
Colonia Publica
Coni’Seafood
El Coraloense
Dal Rae
Dan Sung Sa
Din Tai Fung
Dulan’s on Crenshaw
Father’s Office
Felix
Gardena Bowl Coffee Shop
Gjelina
Grand Central Market
Guelaguetza
Guerrilla Tacos
HaiDiLao
Ham Ji Park
Hawkins House of Burgers
Here’s Looking at You
Honda-Ya
Howlin’ Rays
El Huarache Azteca/Jugos Azteca
Jitlada
Karina’s Catering
Kobee Factory and Syrian Kitchen
Kogi BBQ
Lalibela
Langer’s Delicatessen-Restaurant
Longo Seafood
Los Molcajetes
Lucques
Luv2Eat
Majordomo
Manhattan Beach Post
Mariscos Jalisco
Meals by Genet
Mercado Olympic
Michael’s
Misky Misky
Musso & Frank Grill
n/naka
Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa
Neptune’s Net
Newport Seafood
Night + Market Song
al-Noor
Oaxacan Quesadilla Cart
Oh My Pan Bakery & Tea
Omar’s Halal
Otafuku
Otomisan
Pann’s
Park’s BBQ
The Park’s Finest
Philippe the Original
Pho 87
Phnom Penh Noodle Shack
Playa Provisions
Providence
Raffi’s Place
Republique
RiceBar
Rocio’s Mexican Kitchen
Ruen Pair
Rustic Canyon
San Pedro Fish Market
Sapp Coffee Shop
The Serving Spoon
Shunji
Sichuan Impression
Simply Wholesome
Sonoratown
Spago
Sqirl
Super Tortas DF
Surati Farsan Mart
Sushi Gen
Sushi Katsu Ya
Tacos Leo
Tacos Quetzalcoatl
Tsujita
X’Tiosu Kitchen

Removed from last year
Adana
Badmaash
Beijing Pie House
Bestia
Bigmista’s Barbecue & Sammich Shop
Everson Royce Bar
Isaan Station
La Mascota
Ladyface Ale Companie
Little Sheep
My Two Cents
Newport Tan Cang Seafood
Pho Filet
Salazar
Sea Harbour
Steak 'n Stein
The Serving Spoon
Thien An Bo 7 Mon

New
Cena Vegan
Dulan’s on Crenshaw
Felix
Karina’s Catering
Lalibela
Longo Seafood
Los Molcajetes
Majordomo
Nem Nuong Khanh Hoa
Newport Seafood
Otomisan
The Park’s Finest
Pho 87
Raffi’s Place
San Pedro Fish Market
The Serving Spoon
Simply Wholesome
X’Tiosu Kitchen

4 Likes

Has Dan Sung Sa come back from the dead? Last time I was there it had gone way downhill, full of tourists.

Everyplace else on the list I’ve been to I’d go back to.

Someone was drunk while eating the food there and mistook being busy for being good.

1 Like

You mean Sun Nong Dan, right? Still great, and yes swarmed by tourists (though food quality has not suffered). You’ll hear far more Mandarin spoken in that K-town plaza (at 6th & Alexandria) than Korean lol.

It’s not on the list. Dan Sung Sa is, as the “quintessential Koreatown pub.” Though just as well the author is steering people there.

Speaking of Sun Nong Dan:

Thanks for posting!

2 Likes

Nah. If you read the blurb (and the list introduction, if you have time) you might understand why it’s on the list.

2 Likes

Nice for including Boiling Crab, which needs to be given more credit for its place in food history. I don’t think many people realize that Viet-Cajun may have started in Louisiana/Houston, but the current iteration of the crab boil broth that we know it as today arguably was invented by Boiling Crab in Little Saigon.

2 Likes

With all due respect, so what?
As you say, it was invented on the Gulf Coast…period. Should Evan Funke get credit for inventing pasta? That broth is the same as I’ve had at Cajun-Viet places in Louisiana…

Good list :+1:

1 Like

What was Boiling Crab’s historic innovation? Cajun garlic-lemon butter?

Thank you!

Andrea Nguyen once argued this point at Southern Food Alliance, which did not go well in Dallas. But I’ll leave it at this:

Early versions of crawfish served at Vietnamese-owned restaurants resembled Louisiana boils but with more spices in the water; the crawfish came with squeeze bottles of condiments to create dipping sauces. When garlic butter entered the picture can’t be pinpointed. Walsh wrote that the trend started in Houston but noted a story in the Los Angeles Times that claims it began with the Boiling Crab restaurant in Orange County, Calif., in 2004. Food historian John T. Edge has placed the origin of boiled crawfish finished in a buttery blend of garlic, lemon pepper and Cajun spices with Boiling Crab in the early 2000s.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/life/food/article/Viet-Cajun-crawfish-gaining-culinary-fame-12729134.php

2 Likes

Sun Nong Dan has definitely gone downhill, not recently but prob around the time David Chang blew it up.

I remember when I use to live down the street it was never packed and the short ribs in it were thick cut. Nowadays its mostly thin cut so that it braises faster.

I never went before Chang but when we went this was our experience. We mostly got thin cut slices not attached to the bone. That is not galbi jjim. It’s brisket.

Aww that’s a shame if they are not using short ribs. I wonder if it’s the case for Sun Nong Dan’s Rowland and San Gabriel location. Not as busy as Ktown

Interestingly, in this article written by John T. Edge…

A similar, but more expansive, ethic applies at the Vietnamese-owned crayfish restaurants that began opening in Houston around 2000, and a few years later in Southern California.

Interesting. I’m still not on board with a strong SoCal influence/relevance but I appreciate the information you posted.
Thanks

1 Like

Glad to see Carnitas El Momo on the list since their mixed taco/mulita is my go-to.

Third bang with @PorkyBelly after Chinatown After Dark and Ricebox


carnitas/buche/chicharrón taco - free sample


carnitas/buche/chicharrón taco - My actual order…meat is quadrupled that of the free sample…all for 2 fidy…deeply savory and wonderful texture variations from the meat and organs.

4 Likes