October 2018 Weekend Rundown

Have I mentioned how happy I am to be home? :yum:
Din Tai Fung, Century City.

Cucumber Jenga.

Little shu mai aliens. “Come into the chili tub! It’s great!”


The shu mai are soup dumplings, isn’t that interesting? They are layered with soup at the bottom, then pork, then shrimp on top.

Shredded pork fried rice. Worth going to a mall on a beautiful Sunday morning. :slight_smile:

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Where have you been???

Welcome back.

Setting the over-under at 24 hours until @Bookwich gjoes to gjusta.

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Sham Tseng BBQ

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Weekend eating included a stop at NBC Seafood in Rosemead for a friend’s wedding banquet. I was pleasantly surprised that dinner was better than I thought it would be. The honey walnut shrimp wasn’t coated in a thick cornstarch batter and the honey-mayo mix wasn’t rich and overwhelming
it was a lighter approach. They offered whole wheat bao buns for the Peking duck
a delightful surprise. And I’m a sucker for braised sea cucumbers and wild mushrooms with steamed bok choy. Haven’t been to a restaurant Chinese wedding banquet in ages
and we had a great time.

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Lunch at Brent’s Northridge

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Bought like 8 asian pears at the Brentwood farmers market yesterday. Already down to 3.

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Also! The Rose Bowl finally has a beer garden that you don’t need to pay extra for at UCLA games on the North end of the concourse (I believe for all non-UCLA events you can buy beer wherever you want). Dodger Stadium pricing on the beer, but hot dogs were $3 and tvs were large and plentiful.

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What is that enticing bowl of cabbage?

Went to corner beef noodle house the nui rou mien with tendon is amazing and stronger in flavor and spice than the usual broths that I’ve encountered. I would say that this is my favorite NRM spot in los angeles only downside is that it is in el monte. Tendon was silky fall apart and their hand made noodles had great q. Also their pork chop rice is great. Fried pork chop that is super crunchy with rice doused in pork drippings and served with and sweet tofu skin and broth infused vegetables.

Definitely go there and try it out

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That is Brent’s wonderful sweet & sour cabbage soup.

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you should probably have one of their name sake dishes
an oc (mollusk) dish and a lau (hotpot).

As for which mollusk to order, there’s so many to choose from it’s a bit of a challenge. We’re not super fond of the typical preparation drizzles hanh mo (scallion oil), sriracha, peanuts. Perhaps the ones in coconut braise might be a better choice. We typically choose a hot pot, the thai seafood one is riff off a tom yum. The lau mam is a more funky one with fermented fish broth common in the delta region of Vietnam.

We do enjoy their goi salads, but portions seem to have gotten smaller–tends to be overdressed, which would a problem if their fish sauce dressing was not so good. But it is. We like the shredded morning glory salad and green papaya.

The fried red talapia is always a popular choice with our oot guests. It’s lightly battered and perfectly fried. Comes with a nuoc cham dipping sauce that is fantastic. They actually even sell their nuoc cham in jars.

There was a sweet prawn braised in young coconut dish that we really wanted to try but they didn’t have, but it looked pretty amazing.

Garlic and Chives has some similar items and would be an interesting bang bang :slight_smile:

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Tacos Los Carnales (Whittier)
They make their own corn tortillas fresh to order, and they are like light, fluffy (and flat) pillows in which a ton of great protein will lay on. Their al pastor is on a proper trompo and is seasoned and cooked so well
crispy charred bits with moist juicy chunks. While they may use pineapple juice to marinate the pork, pineapple pieces are not part of the meat mix (for inquiring minds that may be interested). Carnitas and cabeza are also solid. Their salsa bar includes a spicy rojo, a mild verde, and a nice avocado salsa. Also part of their salsa bar
grilled onions and jalapeños and beans. Everything is monitored and replenished on a regular basis. They even take plastic
so win-win for all.
I would advise that their Asada Nachos and Asada Fries are good, but they load it up with both nacho cheese sauce and melted, shredded cheese. Our order was swimming in the cheese sauce, and while this may be great if you’re drunk or sharing with friends
it was not that delicious stone-cold sober. Ask for no nacho cheese sauce, so you can really enjoy your nachos or fries.
Pricing is super reasonable. $1.50 for tacos, $6-7 for burritos, $6 tortas, $7 fries/nachos, $4 mulitas,
@TheCookie This is a worthwhile stop the next time you head out to Whittier to see the family.
I had suggested it as a dinner option to my oldest and mentioned that they make fresh tortillas
he told me I had him at fresh tortillas. He’s been enamored since our last jaunt to Burritos La Palma
and those are now his favorite flour tortillas.

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That looks like a great spot!! Not even Leo’s or Tamix does handmade tortillas.

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Great report @attran99! I want to “head out to Whittier to see family” right now!

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11434 Whittier Blvd?

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11428 Whittier Blvd. Whittier, Ca

Thanks. This place looks legit. But why does it have to be so far away
 I’ll make it one day before the end of the year.

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this weekend we revisited Finn McCool’s a spot we used to love drinking at way back. Sad to report the shepherd’s pie and the soda bread are shit now. they’re half assing it. guinness was great though.