Redbird:
Grilled tripe with salsa verde. Excellent!
Rabbit sausage cavatelli with spring peas
Paccheri with uni and monkfish. A bit of a dud.
Lamb belly. Excellent.
7 Likes
The Curious Palate (Santa Monica Place). We were persuaded to try it by the very charming co-owner after wandering in here after going to the Arclight (â10 Cloverfield Laneâ is great; the Arclight itself is⊠meh).
The co-owner informed us that they make everything in house (incl their own mayo) and that the products all come from local farmers.
Pictured is the cesar salad, the fish and chips, and the steak frites.
Cesar salad was really small for $10 (although our server had warned us about that ahead of time). Tomatoes were kind of a strange addition (although the tomatoes themselves were very nice), and the romanine hadnât been split apart, meaning that there was grit (!) btw the leaves toward the stem. Cesar dressing as perhaps too light; I wouldâve liked a far more intense anchovy flavor.
Steak frites were a mixed bag. Sauce on its own was entirely overwhelming. Small amounts of it went nicely w/ the steak, but the bottom slice was drowning in the stuff. I also donât think the person prepping the dish cut the steak the right way (and def didnât cut it all the way through), and the steak was VERY sinewy. My partner was actually rather upset about this last part b/c he felt that it was a âcheapâ move (for a $25 dish that wouldâve really only fed one person). I disagree w/ partner and this point; I think the cut of steak was fine but was (heavily) marred by poor prep. Fries were also a bit underdone on the inside.
Fish and chips were much better. Crust was soggy where it was sitting on the fries, but it was otherwise light, crisp, and the fish was PERFECTLY cooked and very flavorful. Fries here were well done, and the small salad was also good (esp the golden beets).
There were some service issues (service is super sweet, but I think they could really hire 2-3 more people).
I want to love this place since I like the idea behind it, the people running it, and the casual vibe. But, given that execution was a touch off of nearly every dish (theyâve been open for 5 yrs, I think), I can only respect it.
1 Like
â(theyâve been open for 5 yrs, I think)â
Add two or three more years at their original location on Venice in Mar Vista and I think theyâve proved to show a complacency in their kitchen. I tried to support them in their fledgling years, but I also experienced certain flaws or shortcomings.
The last straw for me was when I ordered breakfast. As I waited for my order, I was able to see the work performed in the kitchen. I noticed the cook slicing onions, then using the same knife to slice oranges -? Guess where those orange slices ended up? As garnish on my plate. I could smell the raw onions on the orange slice (along with a waffle and bacon). Itâs certainly not life-ending but it exemplified to me how unattending they were to basic processes.
1 Like
Yikes! Thanks for the additional info @bulavinaka. Wonder if the owners are paying too much attention to sourcing and not enough to prep/execution in the kitchen. Thatâs too bad. 
Partner and I also had the strong impression that servers were actually family and friends. To paraphrase you, not life-ending, but not really what we were expectingâŠ
I also think that the move to SM Place was a bad idea. The ingredients themselves must already be quite expensive; I canât imagine how much their rent is adding to that. A place like Cheesecake Factory can afford the overhead. What essentially amounts to a mom-and-pop place, not so much (I imagine).
1 Like
I agree on the move idea. It might have been good exposure for them, but along with the majority of other businesses that opened this âmarketplace,â mediocrity was standard there and nothing really pulled me back after a few visits.
1 Like
Stopped by Long Xing Ji because of the wonderful report by @PorkyBelly.
Got the crab and pork XLB and the crab and shrimp XLB. Crab and pork XLB was good but not as good as J&J across the street. The shrimp in the crab and shrimp one was a bit too salty. Tasted brined and not fresh/freshly unfrozen.
The spicy beef noodle soup was okay. I would have preferred chewier noodlesâŠ
The Wuxi pork ribs were meaty but way too sweet.
The gluten puffs stuffed with meat were interesting but not memorable.
Sautéed pea leaves were good.
The pork belly fried rice was excellent. Best thing here
Pretty average overall. I would take J&J 10/10 times.
5 Likes
Been eating Vietnamese stuff.
Saigon Bakery in OC is pretty nice, egg about as good as the SGV one, and managed to get some meatballs on this one for $.50 extra. I think I like the thin baguettes better as well compared to the round french bread.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEF40YXk0O0/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Pho at Pho 86 had pleasant, clear broth, but awful quality of meat. Really sad. I only really ate here because I needed pho at 5 amâŠthe ladies running the place seem super nice, but I canât see myself ever bothering to return.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEF47yok0O5/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Pho 79 across the street has far better pho with fatty brisket that has the fat actually rendering into the pho, and their broth is much more powerfully flavored. Fat + intense flavors are more my style. (Found my photo)
Most recently, I went to Pho Quang Trung. This place seemed to be very well-regarded years agoâŠit is very popular with white people seemingly, like this is the place Vietnamese people take their caucasian friends? Kind of funnyâŠ
I actually realized I wasnât sure what to order once I got there as the basic beef pho didnât sound super interesting and they mainly advertise their free-range chicken pho. I decided to try their Pho Kho, which is dry pho with broth on the side + chicken thigh, gizzard, liver, and skin and blood cubes, onions, garlic. Thighs maybe couldâve been juicier, but chicken seemed pretty decent quality. Mostly mellow flavors, but amped up with chili sauce on the side, a pretty enjoyable noodle dish, with bits of offal making it exciting. The actual noodles were perfectly chewy, which was a highlight for me honestly. I donât know how to feel about the place, but if you like eating noodles with chicken parts this seems like a good option. Also, they are open until Midnight, which is a huge bonus since so many of the best places close at like 9 pm in Lil Saigon.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEF4q3zk0Ok/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
We really need more of a thread about Viet places in Lil Saigon.
Hopefully soon Iâll finally get to Ngu Binh for mi quang soon, but sadly, another place that shuts down real early.
1 Like
So there are many different kinds of meats in pho. Some of them deliberately fatty and with chewy gristle parts. I actually like the fatty brisket at Pho 86 and like their clear broth better than the heavy handed broth at pho 79.
If you want good quality meat try the filet mignon pho at Quan Hop. Also try the Bahn it ram (pictured in link).
Up a block and a half from Pho 86 is Com Tam Thuan Kieu. There are two and I prefer this one. I get the grilled chicken, meat pie, and fried shrimp cake in bean curd. A whole lot of food for $8.
Speaking of whole lot of food for $8, try Trieu Chau. Get the house special noodles. Add wontons. Start with small white noodles. The broth is awesome. You can see them boil vats of bones in the back. Once you try it with broth try it dry with egg noodles. After that try the beef stew there. Itâs the Langers of Little Saigon. An institution. Open7am-5pm. Cash only.
Welcome to the best Vietnamese food in the US @Aesthete
1 Like
Hey, if you like chewy gristle, more power to you. That seems to be the type of brisket that the vast majority of pho places use. Pho 79 was the first time I ever had brisket that had fat like good American BBQ brisket. Also there was almost a 1:1 ratio of brisket to noodles (not counting the rare meat on the side as well). So to me that was revelatory, and extremely unusual, and awesome. I also like a more heavily spiced pho broth, but could see the appeal of a clearer one. Actually, if a really pure, clear pho broth is something you are after I would strongly recommend the pho at Number Nine in Long Beach. I was under the impression that âbetterâ pho was more intensely spiced, more âdirtyâ, so I always refrained from recommending the pho there, but knowing itâs more of a style choice thing, if someone is actively seeking a clear broth, Iâd say they are insanely good at it. Now that I consider it, reminiscent of Pho 86âs style, but even better. I would also say higher quality meat. Of course it does cost like $1 more though. I doubt many people will drive out to LB for pho, but worth thinking about.
I went out and finally got the Mi Quang at Ngu Binh for lunch though. I have been thinking about trying to dish forever for some reason so was super happy to finally try it out. Words fail me⊠the dish really is halfway between a salad and a soup, and itâs pretty incredible. It almost has a bit of a numbing spice to it, and so many elements going on, from fresh shrimp and fish cakes to fatty pork and peanuts and crackers onions, fresh lettuce⊠it doesnât taste like anything else Iâve had before really. Incredible dish. Also finally glad to try something that gets a bit more on the spicy side in Vietnamese cooking. I feel my only criticism was the noodles couldâve been more al dente, or chewier or something, but they werenât bad per se, just felt like they couldâve been better. Also, portion is huge, which you could order a smaller portion like with pho, but thatâs only because I have no self-control and couldnât stop eating it =P
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEHEsVuE0NQ/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Great cafe sua da as well, realllllll thickâŠmmm
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEHEv0uk0NU/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Will maybe check out Trieu Chau next.
You ever have the bho kho (beef stew) at Le Croissant Dore? It is supposedly definitive in Lil Saigon Iâve heard. I had bho kho at Little Sister and it was a pretty great dish.
Le Croissant Dore video of bho kho:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/le-croissant-dore-westminster?select_video=GBWNlKCpswJ1UzSkDLp-gA
To clarify, I like a clear flavorful broth as opposed to a clear flavorless one.
I find the broth at Pho 86 to be clear and flavorful.
You can request different cuts of meat depending on what you like. If you donât like gristle get flank and filet. I usually like like brisket, tripe, and filet mix +/- flank. More textures that way.
There are like another 20 pho places to go try (well, realistically probably like 200âŠlol) I think Iâd have to be in the very specific urge for pho at 5 am to end up giving it a second shot haha.
Number Nineâs broth is quite flavorful, I just, for some reason, thought pho broth was supposed to be more âcloudyâ I guess, Iâm not really sure why reflecting on it.
You ever have the goi bo at Quan Hop?
Went to Little Sister in Manhattan Beach for lunch. Ordered duck congee and lemongrass chicken.
The congee was delicious and an enormous portion. Very expensive for a congee, but as good as any Iâve had. Chalk full of herbs, served with perfectly fried, appropriately neutral doughnuts. Good stuffâIâll be back for this when Iâm hung over.
Lemongrass chicken was interesting. My initial reaction was that it was an overly americanized, deep fried sweet chicken, not unlike orange chicken at panda express. As I kept going though, the flavor profile deepened, and I was really enjoying it by the end of the dish. My one critique is, a few of the pieces were overly fried and resulted in dry chicken. Others were perfect.
Iâm in a food coma from eating these two rich items, but I enjoyed it. The price, after tip, was $40, so itâs steep for what it is, but it was an enjoyable lunch.
1 Like
Now that I live on the Westside, I hardly go to SGV anymore. My default is usually Gardena or Torrance on weekends. I decided to make a special trip to Monterey Park since I was really curious about laphet thoke (Burmese tea leaf salad), especially after watching Emmymade in Japanâs YouTube video of Burmese cuisine. You can watch it here: Emmy Eats Burma (Myanmar) - YouTube. The laphet thoke section begins at 3:13.
Iâve had Burmese food at Jasmine Market in Culver City, but they have a very limited selection. I intended to go to Yoma Myanmar, but after circling around the neighborhood for a while I couldnât find parking. There was plenty of parking by Daw Yee Myanmar Cafe, so I went there instead.
Hereâs their specials.
I ended up ordering the laphet thoke and the tofu thoke. The tea leaf salad exceeded my expectations. It had incredible textural contrast with the crunchy cabbage, crispy seeds and nuts, and unctuous tomato. And the flavor was incredible with the salty pickled tea leaves, hits of chili, and pungent dried shrimp. It was incredibly refreshing and satisfying. I definitely envision eating this pretty frequently in the summer.
The tofu thoke (salad) was a little harder for me to love. The tofu was a bit mealy, and the dish is more homogenous. You donât get the occasional bright wallops of flavor or bits of crunch. However, the more I ate it, the more I began to appreciate the subtlety of the chickpea tofu. Thereâs a nice, mellow burn from the dried chiles, and the slivers of cabbage added some lightness. I might try eating the leftovers with some rice or add some sambal matah to it.
Loqui is on my way home, so I picked up a mushroom taco. The mushrooms had good flavor, but I was hoping it would be imbued with a mesquite smokiness. Sadly, it was not. I thought the guacamole was a tad underseasoned, but the flavors melded well overall. I liked their restraint with the cheese, so that the mushrooms were the real focus of the taco. I thought the flour tortilla was nicely prepared. Was it the best taco Iâve ever eaten? No, but it was suitably executed. I would probably go to Revolutionario for their vegetable tacos instead, but Loqui is fairly close to my home.
5 Likes
Hey, I was just at Loqui too. I think you summed up the mushroom taco pretty well. It was decent, much better than the carne asada, of which the latter I found to have a prechewed texture that was unappetizing. The meat itself lacked any real beef flavor nor smokey qualities. The salsa was boring and trending towards the bland side with decent heat. That being said, the flour tortillas were above average with a nice crunch.
Also to note, the corn tortillas came from a bag. I guess the flour tortillas are their only saving grace IMO. I felt like I could make the mushroom taco at home.
1 Like
Ha ha, we should have FTC tattoos on our wrists, so we can identify ourselves!
Sorry to hear about your lackluster carne asada. I too felt that I couldâve made the mushroom taco at home, but it was pretty well executed - satisfying, but not soul satisfying. Maybe the mushrooms should have been seasoned with paprika or soy sauce to give it some extra oomph, but mesquite smokiness wouldâve significantly improved the taco.
Iâm surprised to hear about the pre-bagged corn tortillas. I didnât get to watch them cook the food since I grabbed an iced cappuccino at Blue Bottle during the wait.
1 Like
Went Republique for breakfast and Mexicano for dinner on Saturday.
The selection of pastries at Republique is crazy. If at least a few things donât catch your eye, you either donât like baked goods or youâve been seriously spoiled elsewhere.
Aside from ordering a couple of tasty breakfast sandwiches, shakshouka, adobo fried rice and mushroom toast, we seriously edited down our pastry choices from the the lap pool-lengthed pastry counter.
While everything was delicious, I personally prefer Sycamore Kitchen just up the street. With that said, I felt the donut was exceptional.
7 Likes
Thanks for the report @A5KOBE, @MaladyNelson. Real bummer on Loqui. I guess theyâre more like the 2nd visit (which I noticed their back of the house looked different than my first visit), and they had nothing on their grill in the entire time I was there. If they pulled a bait-and-switch like what weâve seen from Ramen California with Chef Nakamura (disappearing after helping to open the shop), and Mottainai, thatâs just lame.
1 Like
Thanks to @Chowseeker1999 I am enjoying the amazing pho ga at HP Pho Ga Bac Ninh today. Sooooooo f-ing good
6 Likes
