I used to hate the chicken bake but it has grown on me. They’re good when they’re really fresh, but lately I’ve also been buying a few to leave in the fridge for those late night snacks or desperation meals - 350’ on a pizza stone for X minutes = great.
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Thanks for the heads up on this new place! I stopped by to check it out for lunch today, but unfortunately they weren’t open. I ended up getting some Thai food to go from the place next door (since I was there)—the family that runs the restaurant were super sweet, but the food wasn’t very good. Oh well—I’ll have to try Crispy School when they’re out of soft opening mode…
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Delicious Food Corner (MP location)
Ice Lemon Tea
Macau Minchi Rice.
Anyone else in SGV do a Minchi Rice?
How come Macanese food ain’t a thang?
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Zait & Zaatar (Anaheim)
Dropped in for some take out to pair with the GoT premiere. Can I say that I love their fresh pita/saj breads? So light and fresh and idea pita.
Their hummus here is creamy and smooth…I rather like this style of hummus. There are chickpeas scattered throughout for textural contrast. I was an animal and topped it with chicken shawarma and mixed it all to eat with the delightful bread.
We also tried their baked bread pocket pie offerings. The beef and cheese was our favorite and even better with their garlic sauce. The chicken and cheese was also good, but it was a bit more doughy than the European hand pies that we’re used to…still very delicious!
The owner came out to chat with us and we found he also owns CheeSweet a few doors down.
Din Tai Fung (Costa Mesa)
My husband naturally gravitates towards this place whenever we are close by. Our standard order is the marinated cucumbers, garlic string beans, bok choy, pork & crab XLB, shrimp & pork wontons…and the shrimp & pork dumplings.
The service and execution is nearly identical to the OG Arcadia location. My only complaint was that their chili oil was not spicy…like not one bit. The Arcadia location chili oil can sear the taste buds off your tongue if you use too much. I used an entire spoonful into my soy-ginger-vinegar mix and didn’t feel anything…I doubled the amount for my husband and he noticed the same thing…no satisfying heat we are normally used to. The spicy sauce with the wontons was spicier. We were short on time so we didn’t mention it to the staff.
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I’m not sure there is actually another way to eat this. If there is that is a foreign concept to me. We also like the fattoush salad with chicken schwarma on top. Throw some more of the chicken and mix with hummus and garlic sauce scoop up with bread.
If you didn’t try CheeSweets save some room for next time. Great baklava. Our favorite are the pistachio circle ones. Our kids love the little cigar rolled up ones.
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I tried LA Birria, a new-ish stand in front of a laundromat on Adams close to Crenshaw, about a block from Taqueria Los Anaya. These birria de res tacos were pretty good! Good spicing and depth of flavor, and solid crunch to the tacos ($1.75) and quesatacos ($2), thanks to the beef fat from the stew liquid that’s used to griddle everything. But the meat was strangely tough. In the photo, for the taco on the right you can kinda see a little stringiness.
This was definitely a tier below La Unica, which has a deeper flavor and is much more tender. But I enjoyed these much more than Teddy’s Red Tacos, which is perhaps a better apples-to-apples comp because LA Birria only does birria de res like Teddy’s. As others here have said (and I agree), Teddy’s gets a lot of social media love but isn’t that great.
Didn’t try their vampiro or burrito as I usually stick to regular tacos.
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Looks like it’s been stewed for too long.
Hu Tieu Thanh Xuan (Westminster)
I have had a hu tieu dai craving for a long time. More so since my Mom hasn’t made it in years…she’s been cooking banh pho and fresh rice noodles. So when my sister and I were in the neighborhood on errands, we made a point to stop by for me.
I got the large hu tieu Thanh Xuan dac biet with hu tieu dai kho. I have not had this dish in years…the last time I remember my Mom making it was when I was in elementary school…a long time ago. I never asked her why she stopped making it…probably too time consuming. This was everything I remembered about this dish. I love the hu tieu dai noodle. It’s the texture and chew. Pile on the accoutrements and it was the best bowl of noodles I’ve had in a while…this is high praise considering I had my Mom’s bun rieu on Monday. At $6 for the large bowl, I probably would be willing to pay almost twice that amount…it was so good!
My sister got the same bowl, but with hu tieu mem and nuoc. Looked more like the bowls Mom has been making the last 20 years. She said it was delicious, but made fun of me for inhaling my bowl so fast. I don’t care…it was so good.
Thanks, @JeetKuneBao, for the rec!
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i enjoyed their rooftop neorest 750h toto
I have so many questions. All those feet in the background, orange soles. The eating implement looks like a tiny spade. The space is beautiful.
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I can’t tell if that’s supposed to be a small buffet line or a meal for one.
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Place is open, but Sergio (Leo) is on his way (per employees), so no dinner service yet tonight. If we wait enough, I’ll let you know… 
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I just saw that on TV! Maybe I’ll put that on my once a year (okay maybe twice a year) KFC order. 
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Funny!
Where???
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But I guess you have to be in the know to know what it is and where it is?
Of course you did.