August 2021 Rundown

[A5KOBE]

Some of the more notable dishes from July/August.

Mr Fries Man - Gardena

Lemon garlic w/ steak and shrimp - pretty damn good, literally thought it was decent at first bite but couldn’t put it down until it was almost gone. Ate it right away in the car cuz A/C and no indoor seating. Gonna go back and try some other combinations.

Coming soon next door, IG pictures looks pretty sexy.

Kareem’s Falafel - Anaheim

Falafel fries, if I were vegetarian I wouldn’t mind eating these regularly. Why haven’t I had this until now.

Los Dorados - Highland Park

Lamb barbacoa ,chicken tinga, and chorizo con papa love these crunchy fuckers.

Darrow’s New Orleans Grill - Carson

Zeke po’boy - shrimp, catfish and creole potato salad Odd combination but the staff/owner assured me it is good. Another case where I couldn’t put it down until it was all gone. Love the savory potato salad. Bread is not notable but serviceable and did not detract from the overall eating experience.

Bayou classic po’boy - shrimp and oyster

Kismet Rotisserie - East Hollywood

Cauliflower - best part of the meal. Chicken is good quality sourcing but nothing special. My chicken from Pollo Norteno in Santa Ana the prior day was significantly more flavorful.

[formersushichef]

Torihei and Torimatsu

[JeetKuneBao]

Jim’s Bakery sold out of Portuguese tarts by afternoon on a weekday! Good for them sucks for
me! They recommend I call in the morning to reserve some. 626-573-5757. If anyone is interested. Went to Big Softee instead.

[mchen]

I too enjoyed some Big Softee this weekend! The hojicha is my fave.

[Starchtrade]

Looks more like a little softee!

[JeetKuneBao]

Ly Family Kitchen, Rowland

It’s inside the food court. Go left of Mian. Also in the same plaza is Newport Seafood. It will be on your right hand side. I also really like the Shanghainese stall that is run by Mom-N-Daughter. You can see Auntie there making dumplings. They are Shandong peeps so they know dumplings, steamed buns, and other carby goodness.

I got vegetarian, fish and leek, and pork and fennel dumplings. They also have dumplings you call ahead of time to order. Plenty of frozen dumplings to take home with you. Of course dumplings for dine in or take out. I like the pork and fennel the most, it’s different from what I am used to. I like the more rustic dumpling skin here. I’ll have to try more of the menu but I’ll probably endorse that to someone else here. Blue face recommended it from another board

[CiaoBob]

@JeetKuneBao

Blue face

LOL!

[PorkyBelly]

@Starchtrade

more like a little softee!

or gigantic hands?

[Starchtrade]

this is why we need uni for scale

[dk16]

Fairfax update: Really enjoyed takeout from Yojimbo. Ordered the sake-don (salmon was a perfect media rare, crispy skin) and gyu-don (tender beef, runny egg with bright orange yolk). Rice was on point for both bowls. Can’t wait to try the sashimi. Definitely a major addition to the 'hood.

Also noticed that construction resumed on Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice at the Farmer’s Market. Took a peek inside and seems to be getting close.

[tailbacku]

Torimatsu

[rlw]

Freedman’s Greekman’s

I really like Greek food (RIP Inotheke) and for one reason or another don’t do a good enough job seeking it out. With one great meal at Freedman’s years ago, I was interested in seeing what they could do flipping to a Greek menu. It was solid–some dishes better than others–but I do hope they eventually are able to return to their original concept.

Zucchini Chips & Herbed Yogurt

There were five of us, so I only got to have a few of these, but they were damn good right out of the frier. The herbed yogurt was dope, and something we managed to keep around for the rest of the meal as we wiped that little bowl clean.

Giganti Beans, Tomato, Honey & Feta

The beans and tomato sauce themselves were okay on their own, but the feta is essential. That charred block of cheese really punched up what would have been a pretty forgettable dish.

Grilled Octopus & Lemon

The absolute star of the night. It was easily the best bite–not only delicious but probably the best cooked octopus I’ve had in my life. The arm was very juicy and tender, while the edges were ultra crisp. This was the dish that we were all talking and thinking about at the end of the meal, wishing that we had ordered another.

Souvlaki Party

We split two orders between the five of us and ordered a few extra pita. The skewers themselves are pretty small, so while we each got to try everything, we probably could have had another full order. The hummus was disappointingly boring and the yogurt and pickles were nothing to write home about. I was hoping this would be a more flavorful dish, but it was a bit of a letdown, especially after that octopus.

A power ranking best to not so best: Lamb & Wagyu Kefta > Prawns > Oyster Mushroom > Ribeye > Chicken

Honey Balls and Olive Oil Ice Cream

These were a great one or two biter to end the meal. It’s absolutely essential to get with ice cream, because otherwise the Honey Balls themselves are just alright.

The patio in the parking lot was pretty nice, and while the service was a bit on the slow side, we all enjoyed the meal.

[bruins]

Tar and Roses stays consistently awesome. The oxtail dumplings were probably the overall #1 of the meal but the flavor of the lamb kebab was fantastic, the cauliflower was lemony crunchy goodness, the artichokes were a great combination of the softness of the artichoke and the crunchiness of the Parmesan, the carrots are good as usual, and the mushroom, while not as awesome as the mushroom toast, becomes a very good bite when you make sure to get the greens, sauce, mushroom, and cheese on your fork.

[js76wisco]

Happy to report that Earthen is still with us and food is delicious as before. They had brand new staff I’d never seen before. The restaurant was about 50% full with seating cut down by about 33%. They use real plates but removed the condiments on the table.

Green onion pancake, house chicken, a choy and jjambbong were as good as pre-pandemic. Surprised that not every table didn’t have the house chicken but everybody had green onion pancake.

[hungryhungryhippos]

Some zam zam market chicken biryani. I ate some and stir fried the rest on the stove the next day fried rice style turned out pretty tasty

[JeetKuneBao]

Tire Shop Taqueria. 3 asadas 1 mixto. I think the mixto is the move here imo

[J_L]

Ridiculously good O-futomaki from Yoshi-san to finish out another huge omakase, accompanied by @chrishei and Mr. Disco Chef @JLee at Kaneyoshi (Little Tokyo)…

… and yes, I did go there and asked if either of them wanted to accompany me for a bangbang siu yeh at Chef Ryan’s place afterwards.

[JeetKuneBao]

Channeling my inner college girl at Blue Bowls. Probably atm the king of açaí bowls in Orange County.

[JeetKuneBao]

Sababa Falafel Shop, Garden Grove.

This is going to be a new Little Arabia classic. Best possible falafel sandwich. Freshly made falafel, fresh veggies, and sauces added to your liking. I got the falafel pita with fried vegetables ($1.50).

Be sure to grab yourself this peach crumble. Just peaches, flour, cinnamon, sugar, and butter.

Check it out!

[tailbacku]

Have you tried the falafel sandwich from Dune?