Hi @Google_Gourmet,
Why must you tease us so?! 
Looks so fun and delicious! 
Thanks for sharing.
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Yeah, the kettle calling the omelet pan black!! 
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Love the photos
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WAGYU BEEF. It’s What’s For Dinner.
NO English menu. NO picture menu. NO plastic food replicas.
A helpful diagram of parts of a steer. You pick ‘em.
Started from the head. Wagyu Tongue sampler. Very good. Doubled downed.
Threw caution (and budget) to the wind. Started on the left, worked our way to right. Ordered every slat with A5 written. If it was particularly “WOW”, repeated. We repeated often.
We were hitting the sweet spot in eating nirvana.
Finally, some Black Pig Horumon (offal) to finish. Happy Year of the Pig!
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Nice!
At Baco Mercat for pre LA Opera Sunday matinee brunch. The eats: Rosemary-Berry shrub; The OG Bäco sandwich (pork belly and beef tongue); caramelized cauliflower; and yogurt pannacotta for dessert.
First time ever, took me so long ‘cuz I thought prices were high when they opened 7 years ago, but now it’s quite standard. I’d def go back, but will probably try the dinner snacks menu at Orsa and Winston or Bar Ama HH next.
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I’m dying.
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We tried Rasselbock, the biergarten place that replaced Louie’s in Mar Vista. Great beer selection (I had a Tripel Karmeliet on tap) and the food (German pretzel, brats, chicken schnitzel) was quite tasty. It looked like there were a bunch of families there. I think there may finally be some competition in the area for Little Fatty.
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Good! More space in Little Fatty/Accomplice! 
Also, it looks like LF is expanding?
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Went to Fishing with Dynamite for the first time in a couple years last night and I feel like it’s a lot better than it used to be.
Cocktail: Antigua Raza (moscow mule + smoked adobo and some other stuff). Probably my favorite cocktail I’ve had this year (note: all pics are from yelp because I forgot to take pics)
Raw bar: Peruvian scallops. Actually our first time getting them here despite them being a favorite among FTCers, and man had we been missing out.
Citrus Salad: Fine, though it’s got some spiciness too it that is perhaps a little much. The blood orange and whatever kind of tangerine they had was perfectly sweet with no bitterness though.
Roast Carrots: Flavor of the carrots + yogurt worked very well, but I wish the carrots were a little more roasted to get some crunchiness in them.
Hamachi: Probably our favorite dish. The fish combined with the bite from the serrano and the citrus tang of the ponzu was just great.
Steelhead trout with beets and charred green onion: legitimately tasted like an everything bagel with lox! Second favorite behind the hamachi.
Key Lime Pie: Fantastic. Wife definitely has stronger opinions on dessert than I do and she says this may be her favorite Key Lime Pie. The crust was fairly loose but that’s because it was basically just sugar and butter–not a bad thing
30 minute wait for a table was basically a plus given the beautiful Manhattan Beach sunset.
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Go Bruins!
Great writeup.
Quite a decent weekend of eating for me.
Fri lunch at Lunetta all day. Fried chicken sandwich isn’t the same style as Howlin’ Ray’s, but it was perfectly fine for what it was. Relatively delicate w/ a thin coating of batter.
Lemon ricotta pancakes were a bit short on flavor and a bit dry. 
A nice place to catch up w/ a friend, and the clientele there is so pretty that they all just seem to… waft. Like a Rolls Royce.
Dinner at Kanpai in Santa Monica. We had noticed lots of people eating there over the last few wks, so we decided to try it ourselves. Not pictured are the agedashi tofu and the tempura. Normally, fusion Japanese w/ a LOOONG menu (as this place has) kind of scare me, but the food here was quite pleasant. For the same price, I’d rather have the Bara-Chirashi Platinum at Sushi Tsujita, but Sushi Tsujita doesn’t serve that at lunch. And, if you like ikura, you’re gonna get a WHOLE BUNCH of that w/ the chirashi. It also comes w/ soup and ice cream (Maeda-en; I’ve decided that the brand is too gummy for my tastes, and that the black sesame isn’t strong enough).
Miso cod was also fairly sizeable for the price. Partner very much liked the agedashi tofu.
I had just eaten some of the sunomono b/f eating the uni (which seemed to be the same size as the one @PorkyBelly brought w/ him to Roberta’s)… The uni seemed to have no taste, aside from perhaps a slight sweetness? It was also fairly firm. What am I looking for in decent uni?
Not at all a destination place, and the cooking here is not refined or delicate, but it’s a totally respectable neighborhood joint, and I’m happy to have it nearby.
Partner was saying this weekend he had a hankering for German food, and I said I didn’t know of one on the westside… Will need to try this place. Is it related to the one in Long Beach (just wondering if they have the same menu)?
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Quick weekend road trip. Lunch at Santouka in Mitsuwa Torrance (small salt ramen combo with natto bowl), dinner at Taix in Echo Park (my first time trying this L.A. classic, and likely my last-pricey and just OK), breakfast at Pann’s by Ladera Heights/Westchester, afternoon refresh at Cafe Tropical in Silver Lake, and dinner at El Buen Gusto on Glendale Blvd in Atwater Village.
Our dinner on the way in was a miss after a 40 mile detour on a foggy two lane mountain road to avoid the 5fwy Grapevine shutdown. We settled for Wendy’s in Santa Clarita.
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It is related. Smaller menu in Mar Vista, though, at least during their opening. The big winner for us was the chicken schnitzel, which comes with sauerkraut and spaetzle.
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We went to Kanpai on Friday and I echo your sentiments: I was worried by the length of the menu but actually thought everything was pretty solid. Not quite as interesting as Takuma down the street, but that’s a plus for some
I was kind of surprised to see they have all sorts of ramen and soba and udon dishes, as well as battera (mackerel/shiso) sushi.
So, I tried to battera lunch special - not bad.
I’m afraid of the ramen - will wait for other more intrepid souls.
That’s so funny that you mention that! I was originally thinking of adding to my “review” that the place is perhaps less idiosyncratic that Takuma, so there’s a purpose for all 3 Japanese restaurants in that area (Kaido has a nice, homey feel and quite decent tempura and katusdon).
Gomen (Stanton/Cypress)
Tucked in a random strip mall is Gomen, a ramen shop next to a sushi place. During peak meal times, there will be a ton of people waiting outside…all waiting for a seat inside Gomen for piping hot bowls of ramen. This place is Japanese owned and operated, though there are some kimchi items on the menu. There’s also curry and rice bowls, but the ramen here is the popular one…almost everyone has a steamy bowl in front of their face. My brother’s been going here for years and suggested that I try it.
I had the Kakuni Deluxe that comes in a tonkatsu miso broth with charsu, kakuni (braised pork belly), vegetables, corn, hard boiled egg…I added green onions and bamboo shoots. Gomen makes the thin noodles in-house daily. All the other noodle options are made for them specially. There’s regular, thick, spinach, and kale…still noodles but made with spinach or kale. Our server suggested I try their spinach noodles. For about $13 (base price before the $1 add-ons), it’s not a bad bowl of ramen…it’s pretty good without having to travel too far from my house or if you’re in the neighborhood and want some ramen. We also tried the karaage chicken…it was fantastic fried chicken that was crispy, seasoned well, and super moist. They served it with a spicy kewpie mayo.
I would come back here.
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