A week of lunch adventures

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
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You need to be assertive but not an asshole during dimsum. They are always in a hurry and its always busy so they generally dont have time nor care to be nice or try to guess how you feel or anticipate your needs. You have to tell them. Don’t by shy because if you hesitate other customers who present their needs more vocally will push themselves to the front of the priority line.

It helps to know what you want to drink as soon as you sit down. When I go as a group I sometimes dont even ask my tablemates for their opinions on tea I just rifle off the first thing in my head. If I want water I ask for it at the same time and besure to specify ice or warm.

Dont ask questions about the food LOL. I never do because I know they won’t give me the time of day. Your best bet is to ask questions to the host or manager while waiting for a table and before you sit down. Now you know, formulate a gameplan for the next visit because unfortunately being non-Chinese you will get the shafted in terms of service depending on who is taking care of you.

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Celtics fans and Eagles fans out there, take note lol…

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What?!

$20 is $20, though driving there from OC will take a lot of time and fuel to do so.

Plus my health isn’t the greatest so I’m eating healthy for the rest of the year.

Instead, I’ll be spending my $20 ($18.42 to be exact) at Vietnam later this year at this All you can eat Dim Sum place in a 5 star hotel.

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I meant that dim sum was meant to be something slowly enjoyed with conversations not a pig out session.

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respectfully, take off your hat in restaurants. don’t make me post the Tony Soprano clip. :rofl:

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Oh!

Even w/o the AYCE, I don’t feel like dim sum places (at least in LA, on the weekend) are very conducive to slow eating and catching up. :frowning:

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Oh I don’t know. It strikes me that there are quite a few limitations. If you really want an East Coast style lobster roll, look at Connie and Ted’s in West Hollywood. It’s overpriced but you’re not going to get a real New England lobster shack here. And they do a nice job. You can also have some fun with their trio of clam chowder‘s, New England/Boston style, Rhode Island style(no dairy, some pork actually) and Manhattan

I still like the dim sum at 888 seafood. I don’t remember if they’ve gone back to carts. I think everything is ordered via paper now thanks to Covid

For something a little different, at one of my favorite places now is LAO xi ER on Baldwin in Arcadia. Do you want the one right on Baldwin. Go for the cats ear noodles. (Mao erduo) Stir fried. They have three other kinds of noodles either in the soup or dry — knife cut noodles, hand pulled noodles, and he lao main… he’s just sometimes called housewife‘s noodles, extruded through a type of ricer press
Two other things I like there… They have a dish made with potato starch you’ll see a picture of it outside on the window. And they do a very interesting dish with with your mushrooms and jellyfish. The jellyfish is like crunchy noodles rather than the soggy kind you get at Cantonese places
For dessert go up the street to Sierra Madre to mother moo creamery. Wonderful ice cream. All based on what’s in season. A little off the beaten track. Enjoy. If you go that is

Caveat… Do not get the scallion pancake at this Chinese restaurant. If you really want one there are places like 101 noodle Xpress or Yung Ho both of which do a possible scallion pancake. Anyway… Oh if it’s still open, check out babita’s for Mexican
It is also in the San Gabriel Valley. I don’t know if they made it through the pandemic but it was a wonderful restaurant. Run by a couple. You could get Chiles en nogada in season

El coraloense in Bell gardens I think had excellent Aguachiles (think shrimp ceviche).
There’s an interesting Horchateria it also makes it like ice cream with fresh churros mixed in. I think it’s called horchateria Rio Luna there’s one in Paramount and one in San Fernando

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Yall sleeping on Atotonilco

This is easily top 5 taco spot in LA.

The barbacoa is great but imo the pancita is spectacular. The moronga not for everyone but I enjoyed it. Consommé has incredible flavor and depth.

Juquilita is not mentioned by eater but they are by the entrance of Hollywood Forever. Handmade tortillas, and the al pastor is unlike any I’ve had before. Better than the usual suspects like Leo’s and Tamix.

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X 2 Comedor Tenchita.

I need to go back.

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I just want to echo others’ thoughts that you need to be assertive to get service at many places in the SGV. Sometimes it can feel like a fight with other tables for the servers’ attention, and if you aren’t hailing them they will ignore you.

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Alas, Chef Roberto hung up his toque and closed Babita Mexicuisine some time ago…

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where?
Thanks

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Time moves differently post-pandemic, but it was just a bit over a year ago when Babita closed, June 2023.

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When I read these tales of negative service in the SGV, it always surprises me, because I’ve rarely had to deal with any of it. I’ve gone into places where one could initially sense a bristling, which I get, you know 'cos my people :wink:, but aside from the nominally indifferent, which I get, and don’t take personally or as rude, I’ve literally never had issues. I guess that’s down to my conduct and behavior. Also, ordering the deep dishes seemed to garner respect, even before I knew any Mandarin. Now, I know ipse would always point out on CH “No, they’re laughing at you”, but I’ve had servers approach me to converse at less busy times. The lone exception was a teenage girl at my favorite snack stand, but she was that way to everyone. I witnessed her treating a bunch of young guys the same way. I always chalked her up to just being a teen. She was even nice and polite to me once, and I worried that she might be sick :grinning:

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As a white dude (with a deep passion for Chinese food and culture) I realize that I am a relative foreigner at many, many places I love to go in the SGV. I expect to be treated “differently” than I would be in other situations. That “differently” is not always bad (it is usually more amusing than adversarial, to me), though sometimes it is treatment that I might not put up with in other settings. I also put up with a longer drive, smirks when I order ice water, etc.
It’s just part of the deal that I am willing to make for better food, better prices, and instant access to James Wang’s marketing material.
image

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… and that makes you my homie.

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You get what you pay for. Unlike I think every other seafood place in LA, they source exclusively sustainable products.

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The words “bang bang” and “Glendale” had barely rolled off my tongue before the idea was emphatically torpedoed by my lunch guests :sweat_smile:

A single bang, then, to Mini Kabob.

We timed an online order with a 25 minute ETA to go through the moment Google Maps displayed the same. When we arrived, the food was piping hot off the grill in the process of being boxed up. Perfect timing!

We ordered:
Chicken shish kabob plate
Steak shish kabob plate
Eggplant “caviar”
Shirazi
A la carte falafel
Imported Armenian pear soda

The eggplant caviar was the show stopper. This was possibly the best “dip” I’ve ever had. Luscious and delicious with just the right amount of heat.

Next up, a tie between the chicken shish and the falafel. The chicken was cooked perfectly tender, while still retaining moist juiciness. The falafel, meanwhile, was denser and more hearty than any other I’ve had in LA. The closest in quality and taste to any falafel I have had outside of the Middle East.

The shirazi was fantastic. Super fresh and refreshing with just the right amount of vinaigrette. This place excels when it comes to veggies just as much as meats.

The steak shish was pretty good, cooked to medium rare as ordered, and had good flavor. However, we felt it was a little less tender than desired.

The shish sides - rice, tomato, hummus, lavash, etc., were all expertly cooked, delicious complements to the shish.

The only thing we didn’t like - the Armenian pear soda. In my mind, based on no credible information whatsoever, I was expecting something similar to one of those those Italian fruit sodas. Instead, what we got was a cloyingly sweet artificial “pear” drink. I can overlook sweetness when the flavor is good enough, but I don’t think there was a trace of real pear in it. My gf thought it tasted like double bubble gum. The soda is a pass.

Overall, a fantastic meal that more than lived up to the reputation and praise.

PS - the online ordering system does not note that the shish entree plates come with lavash, so we ordered a side bag of lavash. It turns out that yes, the entrees most certainly come with lavash. We couldn’t finish all the lavash that came with our entrees, and went home with a sky high bag of lavash…oops! There are certainly worse problems to have :slight_smile:

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Hoyt St x Canterbury Ave in Arleta by the DMV. Weekend mornings only, I think 6am or 7am

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Sounds like a great excuse to take home more ikura dip and a couple of more sides and chicken cutlet. That chicken cutlet is a revelation.

Glad you had a great lunch!

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