April 2018 Weekend Rundown

Good birria at Birrieria Tepechi in Long Beach. The goat meat was very tender and the broth was nice and hearty.

5 Likes

Triple Beam slabs of the pepperoni and the asparagus with mozzarella, fontina, and ricotta.

Great bread, the crust is fantastic, crispy and chewy. Still not what I had in Rome but this place was excellent. The salami or pepperoni, was OK. The other was fantastic just a little touch of heat. They did not have the potato pizza that I was really looking forward to trying.

Someone complained theirs was cold. Mine they gently warmed and then called my name to pick it up.

The other thing I like is they have a tap that dispenses free water either still or carbonated.

imageimageimage

7 Likes

Cold Noodle Bowl at The Getty Center. Not bad.

4 Likes

Check out Toko Rame in Long Beach. Try the rice combos and lontong.

1 Like

Thanks @Sgee!

Little Jewel

Their fun, hand-written menu on the wall:

Spicy Creole Jambalaya (Chicken, Shrimp, Andouille Sausage, and House Corn Bread):

This was zesty, a bit spicy, but not overwhelmingly so, with plenty of chunks of Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Sausage.

Little Jewel Fish ‘N Shrimp Po’ Boy (Golden Fried Catfish, Shrimp and House Remoulade Sauce):

Their Fried Catfish had a nice subtle crunch, and their Bread was sturdy enough to stand up to all of the Remoulade, Catfish and Shrimp without disintegrating.

Their Fried Shrimp also had a bit of a crunch to it, and was pretty well seasoned. Overall a tasty Po’ Boy. :slight_smile:

I still need to go back and try their Red Beans and Rice next time.

The Little Jewel of New Orleans
207 Ord St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: (213) 620-0461

Boston Lobster

I remember @Sgee @Ns1 @chandavkl @J_L talking about Boston Lobster a while back and we’ve been meaning to try it once to see how it compared to Newport Seafood. As @chandavkl mentioned (and 2 different friends of ours from the SGV (one who knew some of the staff at Newport)), Boston Lobster is made up of some former Newport Seafood staff (chef and servers) that left and opened up this place.

As Newport’s wait time is still ridiculously long at most times of the day, we took a chance here. First, luckily we had reservations because when we showed up there was a line out the door (maybe 10 - 15 people waiting around).

Walking inside, it is as @Ns1 said: It’s a hole-in-the-wall, very simple white walls, and the overall decor is definitely below that of Newport Seafood.

Glancing at the menu, it looked really similar to Newport Seafood.

Braided Crab Meat and Fish Maw Soup:

This was fine, a slightly thicker Fish Maw Soup, and the Fish Maw and Crab Meat went well with a bit of the Red Vinegar they served with it. :slight_smile:

French Style Beef Cubes (Bo Luc Lac):

One of the most popular dishes from Newport Seafood, Boston Lobster’s version of Bo Luc Lac (French Style Beef Cubes) is tender, peppery and delicious. :slight_smile: This was definitely better than our last visit to Newport Seafood (which was so awful, we no longer want to return).

Boston House Special Lobster:

And here was Boston Lobster’s version of the famous Newport Seafood Live Lobster. They also have the ridiculously large Live Lobsters and will ask you how many pounds you want.

It looked just like Newport Seafood’s version. But there was something off about the taste: There was a strange mineral-y, weird aftertaste. :frowning: The meat itself tasted fresh, but perhaps this was due to their fish tank / water condition? Or that this Lobster might’ve been too old? Just guessing at this point.

The actual Sauce and flavors outside of that were pretty close to Newport, but Newport Seafood’s Lobster is definitely better on this night (even with our downhill / bad last experience there).

They give you an option for Noodles to soak up the Lobster Sauce, which sounded great, but ultimately it felt like an unnecessary addition for us.

Steamed Whole Fish:

This was fine. It was better than Newport Seafood’s version from our last visit, but nowhere near as good as the best HK / Cantonese versions at Sea Harbour (or Elite).

Sea Cucumber with Black Mushrooms:

This was also OK. Nothing too special, but the Sea Cucumbers were sufficiently soft while still having some body, with tender Bamboo Shoots and Mushrooms.

Sauteed Pea Shoots with Garlic:

This was nicely sauteed and delicious. I loved the Garlic and Spring-like flavors of these Pea Shoots. :slight_smile:

Yang Chow Fried Rice:

This was pretty mediocre. Especially in comparison to the strong breath of the wok from places like Dragon Beaux, and even our recent visit to Sam Woo BBQ.

Boston House Special Crab:

This was delicious! :slight_smile: The Live Crab had a natural sweetness to the meat, and the additional wok-fired flavors came through in each bite, nicely seasoned with Green Onions and Salt, without being too salty. This was better than our last visit to Newport Seafood.

One huge difference between the current iteration of Newport Seafood and Boston Lobster is that Boston Lobster’s staff (our SGV friends recognized a couple of the servers from Newport) is much more friendly. Our last visit to Newport Seafood was a major disappointment: The food was worse, the staff was almost all changed out (a few of our SGV friends pointed that out) and the new staff was downright rude to us, refusing even the most basic Tea refills or coming over when we needed something.

Boston Lobster really does seem like a toss-up in terms of food when compared to Newport Seafood, although we all thought Boston Lobster’s French Style Beef Cubes, House Special Live Crab and Steamed Fish were better than Newport Seafood’s version (from our last visit). Newport Seafood’s Lobster was better though, but perhaps it was a fluke (a bad Lobster) that we got on this visit.

But Newport Seafood still has the decor and ambiance (although with the new staff it was filthy in the dining room (floor was oily / slippery(!), chopsticks and napkins on the floor, etc.).

Also with 626 Lobster opened up (one of our friends said they also have former Newport Seafood staff), I’m curious if that’s even better?

At this point, if we’re in the mood for this type of food, we’d rather go visit the OC location of Newport Seafood, or try 626 Lobster once, or just go to Sea Harbour and enjoy HK / Cantonese style with much better execution.

Boston Lobster Seafood Restaurant
727 E. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
Tel: (626) 288-4388

Jopok Topokki

Thanks to @selfish_shellfish for pointing out that Jopok Topokki served the Korean dish known as Jumeokbap, which is a “make your own Korean Rice Ball” dish.

Ever since having Jumeokbap at Majordomo (one of our favorite dishes there!), we’ve been obsessed with finding out where they might serve it around L.A. (it must’ve existed before Majordomo obviously). :wink: So off we went to try Jopok.

Topokki:

The restaurant is named after this Korean dish, made up of cylindrical Rice Cakes cooked in a very spicy stew! This thing was spicy! Wow. :open_mouth: The heat grows on you and after a few bites, I couldn’t stop sweating and my mouth was on fire. :frowning: :laughing: It had a bit of sweetness to the savory, super spicy Soup.

Jumeokbap (Hand-Crafted Rice Balls):

And then the dish we came here for: Jopok’s Jumeokbap arrives in a metal bowl just like what we experienced at Majordomo, except here it was much more simple, with it mainly being Steamed Rice, Seaweed, Sesame Seeds and Yellow Pickled Radishes.

You mix it all up with your hands(!) (they provide a plastic glove for you) and…

You form your own Rice Balls out of the mixture. It’s very tasty and fun. :slight_smile: I really liked the crunch from the Yellow Pickled Radishes and the Nori (Seaweed) provided a nice umami flavor as well.

But now that we’ve experienced a “normal” version at a place in K-Town, the version at Majordomo was much better. The ingredients, subtleties in flavor and the elevated execution helped (whereas it failed for Majordomo’s other offerings like their Galbijjim (Short Rib Stew) or their Bossam).

Jopok Topokki
3407 W. 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90020
Tel: (213) 908-5500

Quan De 7 Mon

Thanks to @ipsedixit for mentioning this place that served Vietnamese Goat dishes(!), we were curious and wanted to see what it was like.

If you’re craving Balut (:face_vomiting:) there’s a store selling it in the same plaza:

Glancing over this menu, it definitely had some exotic menu items that would make Andrew Zimmern feel right at home with his “Bizarre Eats” TV show. There were items like Goat Testicle and Chinese Herbs and Goat Chitterlings, and Rooster Testicles. :nauseated_face: :grimacing:

De Xao Lan (Stir-Fried Goat Meat):

While the menu said “Stir Fried Goat Meat,” this was actually Goat in Curry Sauce. This tasted… OK. The Yellow Curry reminded us of a very basic Chinese Yellow Curry (mild, even, simple), which is OK. The Goat was very tender, but tasted a bit lukewarm for some reason.

Oc Huong Nuong Bo Toi (Grlled Snails with Butter and Garlic):

These were rather bland. They arrived on a sizzling metal plate and the Grilled Snails were lightly chewy, but really underseasoned. The bit of Garlic and Butter Crumbs on top helped, but there was no Salt.

Suon De Nuong (Grilled Goat Ribs):

This sounded great. Unfortunately the Grilled Goat Ribs were really chewy, with lots of sinew / connective tissue and they were just gristly. :cry:

They were very well seasoned though, and if the Goat Ribs were more tender / the connective tissue cleaned / removed, this might’ve been very good.

I had no idea there was a whole sub-cuisine for Vietnamese Goat dishes. :sweat_smile: @Ns1 @attran99 do you have any recommendations on places?

Quan De 7 Mon
9663 Garvey Ave., Suite 209
El Monte, CA 91733
Tel: (626) 401-9999

9 Likes

Did J & L Produce have any sushi?

See what I did there?

Topokki lol ever since a Korean friend told me the hidden slang of Topokki I can’t look at it the same

1 Like

I was at Little Jewel, on Sunday, I didn’t want to admit to a bang bang with Triple Beam Pizza.

The only thing I’ve had there that I didn’t really care for was the crawfish mac & cheese. Mine was an absolute pool of soup.

The roast beef Po Boy is killer. It’s like pot roast meat.

1 Like

Little Fatty post-Farmers’ Market shopping:

Wonton Noodle Soup

Best part? Exploding fish balls!

The fish balls have a spongy exterior and a molten center of gooey liquid that tastes like sweet flavored with shrimp paste. I loved these.

Also, look how many noodles there are, I filled a plate (breakfast tomorrow) and still had plenty left in my bowl. Very good noodles, springy, thin, curly, just how I like them.

4 Likes

I am so hungry after seeing your posts, @Chowseeker1999.
I didn’t eat a lot of goat growing up…it was too gamy for Mom, but later in life, she found a goat curry from somewhere in Little Saigon that she liked enough to order take out. I’ll have to ask her which place it is. I didn’t know De 7 Mon even existed until @ipsedixit mentioned it. I love this board…it opens my eyes to new things all the time!

2 Likes

We hoped that Boston Lobster would be a good sub for Newport - nope. We had similar experiences with our food.

We have noticed Newport being somewhat inconsistent. We went a couple of times during the slack periods - after the lunch crowds - and felt it wasn’t as good. Could be the second or third stringers or reduced crew are doing the cooking at that time?

1 Like

Happy hour at Seven Grand. St. George “Baller” whisky (designed for highball cocktails, aged in umeshu casks). About half the price I get it for in SF now that it’s discontinued.


Afternoon Manhattan
image
A5 Miyazaki-gyu shabu shabu at Kagaya

Strawberry sorbet

brunch at Connie & Ted’s, a go-to every time I visit.
Ginger cocktail
image
Belon and wellfleet oysters, topneck clams
image
Daily 1/2 dozen. Black duck salts or kumiai were probably my favorites; they didn’t have Coromandels that day.

Steamers

Hot lobster roll (cold lobster roll not pictured)

Pineapple-basil sorbet

Eataly - impressive selection, but a zoo. We picked up some Ligurian olive oil, Modenese balsamic, 3 yr. prosciutto, olives, and some dry pasta to take home.

Dinner at Shiki Beverly Hills. The first few courses were made by Nao Sugiyama (of the former New York kaiseki restaurant, Sugiyama), and the sashimi and sushi was prepared by Hiro-san, as usual.

Snap pea with yuzu flower, Shizuoka wasabi, edamame, and dashi. We liked the slight crunch from the interspersed bits of snap pea. A cool and refreshing start with subtle sweetness.
image
Hassun plate, with 9 kobachi all highlighting a different classic preparation. Clockwise, from top left: tai no nanbanzuke (cold, vinegared fried snapper with onions and carrots, “nanban” style); nasu no nibitashi (eggplant braised in dashi); simmered celeriac; edamame in dashi; ocean trout wrapped in pickled radish, with su-miso sauce; whitefish and myoga nikogori; hotaru ika with pickled kelp and cucumber; bamboo leaves marinated as hijiki; kumquat yokan.


Sashimi - tai no konbujime, aji, akami, otoro, kamasu no aburi torigai, tako with sakura salt, mizudako

Owan - suimono (clear soup) with takenoko (fresh bamboo), goldeneye snapper curled like a flower, and yuzu flower

We had about 15 nigiri and a couple of maki rolls. Rice was very good - well-packed, just loose enough and body temperature, good nebari. Here are a few:
Kohada

Otoro lightly touched with charcoal just on the edges

Kinmedai, just kissed with the coals. Silken!
image
Ebodai - highlight of the night!

Mirugai
image
Ikura marinated in dashi

Anago with nitsume sauce

Pickled daikon nigiri - very refreshing!

Ume and myoga maki

Gjusta takeout the next morning, at a friend’s place. I had the prime rib butcher with extra horseradish, some classic lox, cold-smoked kanpachi, salmon belly, and marinated anchovies (they were out of my favorite oil-cured sardines). The sandwich was very good; the salmon belly was my favorite (nicely smoked and almost reminiscent of brisket!); the lox and kanpachi were a little firmer around the edges than I remember from my last visit. Still, an enjoyable meal; also snacked on the prosciutto and some some pate de campagne from Eataly.


Dinner at Izakaya Hachi in Torrance
Kampachi sashimi - creamy, not as firm as kanpachi, but good.

Batteira - awesome saba (I think they render the oils slightly first), and overall a great dish. I prefer I-naba’s rice a little more on their batteira, but Hachi’s juicy saba was well worth the drive.

Thick-cut beef tongue. Great, not chewy.

Negima with tare sauce
image
Grilled pork with yuzukosho
image
Anago kamameshi
image

Sashimi plate and bento box lunch at Aburiya Raku. The kanpachi and shimaaji sashimi were great. I also liked the tororo with uni, ikura, nameko mushroom, and okra - “neba neba” in a cup.


image

Dinner at Torimatsu in Gardena.
Toriwasa - rare chicken with wasabi, mitsuba stems, and nori in dashi sauce. Beautiful texture and I’m glad we got to try this!


Some of the ~15 skewers we had. Negima (left) was my favorite; heart and liver were also quite good.

image
image
Cha-soba. Cold, green tea-flavored soba to end.

Hot pastrami sandwich at Langer’s. Really good sandwich. The bread is key - love how it’s double-baked and the crust isn’t too hard, but the crumb is soft enough without falling apart.

My visit was slightly longer than a weekend…

Napa and New York next in the coming weeks.

10 Likes

Always call first to make sure Sergio Nguyen is cooking.

4 Likes

It’s Sergnio.

1 Like

cannot wait for some of the ID’s

1 Like

Hi @bulavinaka,

Thanks for the report back as well. Yah, Boston Lobster is not a good substitute for Newport. But even the current Newport isn’t a good substitute for Newport as it used to be. Our bad experience happened during prime dinner hour (6 p.m.) on a weekend. :frowning:

I haven’t been back to the OC Newport in a long time. I’m hoping it’s still great. Has anyone tried it recently?

Thanks @attran99. Let me know if you find out where that goat place is in Little Saigon. :slight_smile:

Thanh Mai has goat curry, the same strip mall as Le Crossiant Dore/ Ba Le

1 Like

Never had a problem at the Rowland Heights location.

1 Like

French Fry poboy too.

1 Like