Decent old fashioned at happy hour at Mortons on Canoga. They do a late night happy hour too from 9-11pm.
Would add Augustine Wine Bar to this thread of SFV spots.
New chef Simon Tan is ripping it up
1 Like
Skewers Halal in Chatsworth has a surprisingly good chicken and rice. It’s no halal guys, but it’s a lot better than the old chicken and rice food truck.
Surprisingly decent wings and pizza too - certainly a lot better than uncle Ernies.
1 Like
Never heard of this place – will have to check it out.
conveniently right next to Woodlands.
1 Like
Glad to hear that. I really like drinking there but haven’t eaten there yet. Any standout items?
here’s what I recall:
Weiser Farms Fingerling Potatoes – Crispy Fingerlings, dill crème fraiche, everything bagel spice $8
The everything bagel spice is a brilliant idea
Wild Caught Sockeye Salmon Tartare – Pickled fennel & turnips, fe nnel pollen, nori chip $16
Excellent on the night I was there
Peads & Barnetts Pork Belly in Broth – Crispy Pork Belly, Dashi broth, Japanese vegetables $18
Fantastic
What’s in the last pic? Looks delish.
Bun rieu + snails. Kind of stingy on the snails but for ~$8 all in I can’t really argue.
Basically a Vietnamese tomato based seafood soup featuring crab, served with rice noodles.
1 Like
Perfect!
Bale Valley in Canoga Park 
Wow. If 12 weeks ago somebody told me there was vietnamese this good in the valley, I would’ve called them a liar to their face. I now believe that anybody who says there is no good vietnamese in the valley has not driven far west enough (I was clearly in this camp).
I’m not going to say that Bale Valley or Song Phat are destination worthy restaurants by any stretch of the imagination, but for Little Saigon/626 ex-pats, these 2 stores remind me of the food back at home (meaning, Little Saigon). They certainly offer some of the best VN food I’ve tasted in the SFV
2 Likes
Song Phat is worth a trip from the Westside, for sure.
what are your favorite items @ Song Phat?
Have you made it over to Vinh Loi Tofu in Reseda yet? If not, add that to your short list.
It’s been on my list for a while, but the consensus I got here was “good for vegetarian food, not necessarily life changing”. Thoughts?
I do want to stop by Vinh Loi for their tofu w/ honey/ginger syrup though.
The veg food is good. For meat based banh mi, I head over to Sandwich Express, which is right by Vinh Loi.
1 Like
hah, the wife was eyefucking that dish last time - fried quail definitely brings back my childhood.
The fried cornish game hen @ Bale Valley is fucking amazing
Did a prop64 inspired bang^3 over the weekend.
Started off @ Bale Valley in Canoga Park. The yelp reviews are totally spot on - great food, incompetent service. I thought speaking in native tongue would help but alas, this was pretty bad even by Vietnamese standards. This place reminds me of my Little Saigon childhood, which is the best possible compliment I can give a restaurant not located in 714/626.
Fried or hella roasted cornish game hen
Bun Oc - vermicelli noodles in tomato based broth with escargot snails and aftermath
India Sweets & Spices for their pani puri, mango lassi, and unfortunately named zyka snacks. I’ll give the pani puri a pete wells’ satisfactory stamp. The stale shells definitely did not help.
Why is this so hard to find? 
The following pic from a chaat place in mumbai:
Crossed the street for JG’s Nipa Hut. We ended up getting the halo halo, intestines in pig blood, fried intestines. The halo halo is actually not my preference…too much of too much. I prefer Red Ribbon’s TBH. The offal stuff was for the wife, not really up my alley. That said, many of the steam tray items actually looked decent (probably because we came before the lunch rush), but nothing besides the combo meals are priced. How much does this anything cost??
Went back home, passed out for a few hours, then woke up for the 4th round: Bale Valley to-go. Got (another) order of the cornish game hen, and then this bad boy: egg noodles w/ vietnamese style beef stew. HOLY SHIT this was so fucking good. Insane portion for the price. You eat the noodles in the stew, kinda like a vietnamese beef stew khao soi; this pic was before/after I poured the stew onto the noodles.
11 Likes
Regional differences. 
Mumbai has it’s own unique street foods, which you can’t really find in other parts of India. Keema Pav and Vada Pav are 2 examples – they are Mumbai specialties. Pani Puri in the North doesn’t come with mung sprouts and lentils, whereas the pic you posted above does. I looked online and those appear to be something unique to Mumbai pani puri.
I’m shocked that you got stale puris though – I’ve never experienced that there. Are you sure they were stale? Puris are usually fried ahead of time – they are supposed to be cool/room temp, not warm. Noticed the styrofoam container though – did you get the pani puri to go? Usually they put the potato mix on the plate with the puris and the pani (spiced water) in the cup. I’ve never seen them serve it like that before, but we always eat chaat there, not take it to go.
Had no idea about the halo halo place across the street. I usually find halo halo too sweet, but I’m always up to try another place!
Those Bale Valley noodles with stew look amazing. We make Burmese khao swe at home (my dad is from Burma) so this is right up my alley!
2 Likes