Please share info! Thx.
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These look gorgeous. Whats the best way to get these? Any stores carry them? (ideally on the Eastside)
I believe I’ve seen them on occasion at Bristol Farms, if there’s one near you.
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Golden Mongolia, Westlake.
[ COVID-19 UPDATE : Currently Golden Mongolian is open for pickup orders and can execute delivery orders through Postmates. Please keep up to date through their Facebook page. This meal took place in February.]
If you have ever found yourself traveling through Mongolia, by train, bus, or even inside your own car, your most vivid memories probably all have the lingering scents of lamb dusted over them. The animal is a part of almost every meal, and is in various stages of being cleaned and cooked wherever you go. Opening the door of Golden Mongolian Restaurant is a pathway straight back to the country, starting with the aroma of lamb that hits your nose with that first step inside.
Your chance to travel (back) to Mongolia is on Wilshire Blvd. a few blocks east of Koreatown and right on the border with Westlake, a tangle of construction sites and Southwestern Law School buildings. By the time you find parking, the area will seem very familiar.
On the walls of Golden Mongolian are portraits of horses and nomadic life, as well as advertisements from a law firm attempting humor with the tagline “Fierce as Genghis Khan” on their poster. The Mongolians at about half of the tables are not worried about this though, they are sipping bowls of soup and slurping stir fried noodle dishes at one of the only real Mongolian restaurants in the entire country.
Before your orders come, a complimentary egg drop soup and crunchy fried dough noodles will arrive at the table for each customer. While probably meant to be eaten separately, the combination of these two seemed to be a fantastic match, especially when some drops of the spicy and sour sauce from the table are added.
One dish that is a true mashup of Mongolian culture is tsuivan ($11.50, above), a stir-fried mound of handmade noodles. The texture is extra hard as they are cooked al dente and the chewiness contrasts well with the crunchy fresh vegetables. This is accomplished during cooking by using as little water as possible with the wheat flour.
Mongolian kitchens are not places that go through a ton of spices while cooking, so do not expect the flavors to overwhelm you. Instead, that sauce and another bottle of soy sauce are waiting on each table for those that want more kick.
A dish that should probably be a part of any meal here is also listed first on the menu. The traditional lamb soup with dumplings ($12.50, above) arrives with about eight of the dumplings (beef is also available) floating in a cloudy rich broth. Shaved pieces of lamb mostly sink to the bottom and should be scooped up by the spoonful. Recommended.
As lunch crowds from the area fill the place to capacity each weekday and pickup orders seem to be neverending, returning through the wood latticed windows and back onto the street in Los Angeles can bring back another sensual memory from Mongolia: an air thick with pollutants. In towns the vistas can be blocked by the aftermath of coal being burned for cooking and heating, well-simulated by all the vehicles in LA.
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Saw them last week at Bristol Farms in Yorba Linda. Waiting another week or two for the gaviotas if I’m paying $15.
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Nature’s Produce is a wholesaler in Vernon that opened its doors to retail. I haven’t bought from them yet but I made a mental note of it because 1) they seem very conscientious about safety and 2) they’ve posted about carrying Harry’s Berries before (albeit almost a year ago).
When you go the the online shop it shows strawberries but doesn’t specify brand- might be worth calling and asking what they’re carrying.
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Woah, awesome tip! Just logged in to their online ordering system and saw they have a bunch of stuff. Prices aren’t bad either. Thanks!!
Glad someone else is interested- if you use them please report back! I’m curious about all these wholesalers-now-open-to-the-public.
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Bravo that is one nice mashup!
In case you missed this post I put up last week, not sure how many people saw it
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I did, thank you! I thought about posting the two below places also, but didn’t want to distract. Not sure if it might be worth a new thread:
Rocker Brothers
West Coast Prime Meats
I posted about West Coast Prime Meats elsewhere and I’ve bought from them previously. Rocker Brothers I’ve not been able to buy from before but I’ve wanted to as purveyors of Beelers pork and Japanese A5 wagyu. I’m a bit full up on meat for the moment, though, so hopefully someone else will give it a shot!
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Continental Sausage and their retail brand CharcutNuvo now doing free shipping to Western states on any orders over $65. They also supply Costco.
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Papilles (Hollywood) is offering lots of beer and wine by the bottle, as well as a damn fine (and at $20, very reasonably-priced) takeout rendition of the classic coq au vin! You must heat it up at home, but it’s so easy and delicious… Just solid ingredients and great cooking. You get two Jidori chicken thighs braised in red wine with bacon lardons, mushrooms, confit fingerling potatoes, caramelized cippollini onions, and glazed carrots. Pandemic be damned - this was one of THE most satisfying dishes I’ve tried so far in 2020. The baguette is $4 extra, and comes par-baked (I recommend finishing it at 400 degrees in the oven for 11-12 minutes). On a cold rainy night, the freshly finished bread, along with a warm serving of Papille’s cauliflower velouté ($10/pint) make a wonderful prelude to the main star that is their coq au vin. Quel magnifique!
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Wow that sounds amazing
Sushi Yoshizumi’s latest iteration of the bara chirashi has improved drastically, as Akira san iterates and had time to get more comfortable with this format in the past month to see what works best for it. Detractors unfortunately nit picked it for the pricing during these times (nobody is forcing people to buy them) or did so out of other personal petty vendettas… (aka people being people), but those willing to persevere are treated to heaven in a bowl that is super versatile with not just sake, but also with White Burgundy (which normally is not a good pairing for dine in), and doing their best to help keep a small business afloat which is the main goal at the end of the day.
This time round that I didn’t have last time: Hokkaido uni, nama ikura, ni tako, botan ebi konbu jime, straw smoked sawara, ebi oboro, Japanese saba, ni hotate and something that had the texture of tairagai. Contents depend on availability. It’s a downsized extended omakase in a bowl for sure but the satisfaction level is still very high.
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Haven’t been to Papilles since chef Tim Carey left (yes a long time ago). Used to be one of our favorite spots. Good to hear they’re still putting out good food. I may have to give this a try as I love me some coq au vin and haven’t really been able to find a good version in LA.
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A few items of note over the last few days:
Partner and I have been watching “Confucius Was a Food” (a bit of a strange show, but generally enjoyable), and the host had “squirrel fish” (representing Jiangsu [?] cuisine) in one episode. We were looking to get diff dishes than we’ve had at Gu Yi previously, and we saw “squirrel fish” and ordered it on a lark. Not the greatest idea b/c deep fried fish smothered in sauce isn’t going to travel well (although it was excellently packed). Would be willing to try it when we can dine-in (and ask for sauce on the side?).
Finally tried Pearl River Deli. Drive time was literally 16 mins (!) from eastern Santa Monica. Just as delicious as everyone says. And, yes, the bowl really could use a few more squirts of the great sauce on the rice.
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Finally got a chance to get the Shunji Deluxe Bento. Fantastic!
Tried the Kokuryu Kuzuryu daiginjo to go. Drank it out of a burgundy glass cold and heated up - thanks for the advice @beefnoguy I think I need to try more of this warm sake drinking (with the right ones) to keep expanding my palate.
Also hit the Dialogue pie fest - the hunters pot pie was outstanding, as @PorkyBelly mentioned. I couldn’t resist taking a bite of the cheese cake before taking a picture.
Iki Ramen this is their tai ramen with scallops to go, also got a yuzu shio ramen along with two bentos (one kakuni and one miso cod). Delicious and generally reasonably priced.
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Looks great.
I would like to show the Iki team a little love during this time.
Does Iki have a To-Go COIVD menu posted anywhere?
TIA
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