Vaccine and Mandolorian Season 2 Finale (might be the greatest 10 minutes of Star Wars EVER)
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Agreed! We got Chickie Nuggies and Shrimpie Nuggies from Iki Ramen to celebrate!
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Nanbankan
This was one of my pre-pandemic favorites for a classy post-drinking meal. On my first visit I was genuinely blown away by the experience. I found Nanbankan comparable to some of the most amazing yakitori I’ve had in Tokyo, and I’ve been holding out on returning in hopes of dining in. I stopped by for a quick takeout dinner.
The tebasaki (chicken wing) holds up super well, still unbelievably juicy with charcoal flavor and crispy chicken skin. Hit it with a little lemon, and I’ve got one of the best bites of takeout ever. I like the bacon-wrapped okra, but wish it were crispier. Most likely a casualty of yakitori to-go.
Underneath are tsukune (chicken meatball), negima (chicken with scallion) and eggplant. They are all great, although lukewarm from the short trek home. The tsukune is normally one of my favorites when dining in, so I will have to look into reheating these next time.
I had a chance to speak with the owner, and it sounds like things aren’t going too well financially. As one of my favorite spots in Sawtelle, I’m planning to come back more often. Most of the menu is still available, with dinner hours from 5 - 8:30PM.
Bonus: Not sure if it’s available at the moment, but their grilled onigiri is wonderful. Hoping to get an order during a future visit.
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Super tired after work… Made it to Sushi King (Santa Monica) to pick up my omakase order to-go just before their closing time.
Excellent stuff. Though Saito-san’s rice was a bit under-vinegared and the knifework a tad uneven (I suspect a kohai did the cutting on this night), this omakase really hit the spot.
Off to bed for me. Rinse, rest, repeat…
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Orange County day yesterday. No Oliboli Donuts unfortunately because as you’ll see, I got a ton of sweets. Hope my next dentist visit isn’t too traumatic 
Stopped at Honey and Butter macarons in Irvine to stock up (they freeze well). They had a cute Oreo macaron rolled in Oreo crumbs that they called Santa’s “mac-coal-ron” 
Went to Cream Pan in Tustin. Looooong line but it moved FAST. Took about 15 minutes from getting in line to paying for my treats. Some white bread (so fluffy! I like to freeze this to save), egg salad sandwich, fruit roll cake slice, pudding, cream pan bun and a strawberry croissant.
Tried Cococane for the first time. Loved it. Agree with everyone else who recommended it, it’s not as sweet as other sugarcane juice places. Husband got large passioncane (passionfruit, coconut and sugarcane) and I got the large cococane. Got there around 12:30 and there were a few people ahead of me but not a long wait.
I saw that Van’s Bakery was a few doors down from Cococane. Got a slice of pandan coconut cake, chè trôi nước (glutinous rice balls filled with mung beans in ginger syrup) and bánh khoai mì nướng (cassava mung bean cake).
Mini rant about some of these Vietnamese bakeries that I’ve been to (not just in OC, but on the East Coast too). Sometimes there’s no quality control or they try to sell product without checking if it’s gone bad (or worse, they don’t care). I got home, opened the cassava cake and on the bottom was a sticker saying “DEC 15.” I don’t know if that meant “best by December 15” or that it was baked on December 15. Then I took out the cake to slice a piece and there were black and white mold spots on the bottom. I threw it out. It cost about $2; I’m not driving 45 minutes back to Garden Grove to ask for my $2 back.
Yeah, I probably should have checked it in the store, but is it so unreasonable to expect that a bakery should be selling fresh baked goods? If something is about to expire or go bad, why not pull it, or put it in a separate section with a discount as I’ve seen in other places? I’ve bought banh beo chi (Vietnamese-style mochi) from Viet bakeries before that got moldy the NEXT day, meaning they’ve probably been sitting out in the bakery for several days. Sometimes I get so annoyed with my people, lol. I’m not going to go argue with them about their business practices (have you seen Vietnamese customers argue with Vietnamese business owners? I have. It gets intense.) and I know the margins for running a food business are tiny. But come on. I just gotta remember to be more careful next time.
Anyone have recs for high quality Vietnamese bakeries in Little Saigon? I’d love to hear it (@attran99 or @Ns1 ?) I only go down there every few months so I want to make it worth my time.
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I know there is a lot of pressure to keep prices low but charge what your food is worth then you’ll be able to afford to throw away or donate food that is expiring.
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You should try Paderia Bakehouse, (not Vietnamese though).
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Looks great! Can I ask what the pricing is like on the omakase?
$102 for the full spread. Note: I just specified to Sushi King that I wanted 20-piece omakase and 2 handrolls at the time of ordering, so depending on what they have on hand, your price for a 20-piece omakase may be different.
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banh khot lady x pho tau bay x cococane
drove 140 mi round-trip for these and they were worth it. everything from the packaging, khot sauce (nuoc mam), pickles, pristine veggies and the actual banh khot themselves were fantastic, and the best I’ve had. I took @attran99 and @A5KOBE’s advice and warmed these up in the toaster oven for five minutes at 400 and they turned out crispy on the outside and still coconut creamy on the inside.
I keep finding myself sneaking another bite of banh khot straight out of the fridge. even cold, it’s delicious.
banh cuon dac biet
pre banh khot snack. delicious.
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I kinda thought the trend was inevitably going towards this point, and now here it is: Restaurants offering paid monthly memberships. Pasjoli has announced their new subscription program. Expect other restaurants to possibly follow.
Next step - fan clubs with exclusive access to reservations an hour before the general public.
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Yep. You see where this is heading.
I could see a similar model as joining a beer club where for $xxx a year you get a few club exclusive dinners and first dibs on reservations, special take out meals, etc…
First thing this reminded me of is PSLs in the NFL. Good for them if it works
Random takeout eats this months - Apologies for the haphazard presentation; just too damned busy and tired to properly write stuff up.
Mason’s Dumpling House (Highland Park)… OK I’ll admit this is now a dark horse favorite of mine. It was my first time getting food there. Frankly I didn’t expect much, but daaayum they served up some terrific flavors! The XLBs tasted wonderful, even after the car ride. Even their seaweed salad was swoon-worthy. Chive dumplings are addictive as well. This place is solid.
Shunji-san’s aged honmaguro, steamed bafun uni and king crab chirashi was just what the doctor ordered. A supplemental agedashi tomato tofu in dashi and a pearly, pristine ikura don made my night.
Shaherzad (Little Tehran) still bakes my favorite Persian naan and cooks up splendidly marinated koobideh in lubia polo. Truly comfort food in Westwood…
Sushi Masakazu (Westwood) is alive and kickin’! Itamae Shin-san is busy doing private sushi dinners, and is experimenting with ageing techniques, as well as other dishes (which I am not supposed to disclose LOL). The miso nari zosui (miso porridge with seaweed) is a delicious invention I wish I had thought of. At only $48 for takeout omakase, Masakazu represents great QPR as a sushi option. Plus, the dorayaki is still the best in town.
Some kind soul at work bought us lunch from Langer’s (Westlake), but I didn’t have time for lunch that day, so instead I took it home for dinner - Still fantastic!
Got a brief chance to get some fresh air and naturally replenish my vitamin D a few days back. Broad Street Oyster Co. (Malibu) sounded good after my hike.
Service was slow, and the prices high - ah, Malibu… My lobster roll was pretty decent (strangely the bread portion of my roll didn’t travel well). Plenty of crustacean, but I wouldn’t repeat my choice on the uni supplement ($12) again. Two pieces of uni, which didn’t do much to enhance my roll. The winners were the fried clam bellies and their lobster bisque. They screwed up my order - something I did not discover until I had gotten home. But after a very civilized e-mail exchange, the proprietor was very apologetic and offered me a gift card for the trouble. Nice recovery. I’ll try going back again once I get a chance.
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n/naka’s Jubako featuring Japanese Snow Crab was truly a treat this evening! The entire package consisted of a splendid two-layered box, a delightful mushimono cup, and even a lovely Bûche De Noël by n/naka’s Mari Tuttle for holiday dessert!
Every single dish was marvelous, no joke. Standouts included the kishu arugula salad, shrimp and crab shumai, chawanmushi with caviar, wagyu takiawase, abalone ganmodoki, chrysanthemum turnip, kani miso gohan, braised abalone in kimo sauce, and that beautiful mushimono cup (featuring snow crab, kani koura, kani miso, mitsuba, shiitake, quail egg & sudachi). I realize that Champagne is the thing to pair with this, but a nice beer like Asahi Dry really did the trick on this night for me in bringing out the joy in many of these luscious bites.
There is a bit of microwaving involved for the mushimono cup: I recommend 30 seconds rather than the instructed 45 seconds to avoid splatter.
The yuzu meringue and white chocolate log, when accompanied by the egg nog panna cotta and cranberry gelee, transported me back to a similar Christmas dessert I enjoyed in Japan a few years back.
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This isn’t going to win any photo contests… Apologies in advance.
Last weekend, I tried The Golden State for the first time (after @Gr8pimpin posted that they were shutting down). Regular burger (I think?), lamb burger, and fries. Lamb burger was a bit firm, but flavor was excellent. Glad I got to try this b/f they close. 
Nothing says holidays like tamales (rajas y queso from Me Gusta) and The Elusive Chanteuse. I don’t know @PorkyBelly takes such good pics of plate + TV.
Gu Yi for X-Mas Eve dinner yesterday b/c, well, what else are you going to have for dinner on X-Mas Eve? Kung Pao chicken, traditional crispy fried pork (not crispy), and sauteed string beans. Tasty enough. Getting the food was drama. I placed an order on the restaurant’s website. After several minutes, the page still doesn’t update itself to confirm the order. Uh, oh. Called the restaurant several times; busy each time. Thinking that the place might be closed, I try Din Tai Fung. Website won’t take orders, so I call. I’m 15th in line and am still frantically trying Gu Yi and then Northern Cafe (“Sorry, we’re not taking orders right now. Bye.” Click). I decide I might as well just drive over to Gu Yi to see if they might be open. They are! There’s only one guy working the FOH (so to speak) and there’s a line of about 5 people. I guess all the Chinese places in the area must’ve been slammed. I’m elated, b/c I imagine they desperately needed the business. The man at the front tried to decline a tip from the group ahead of me b/c the order took so long to process, but the group insisted on giving it to him anyway. 
Connie and Ted’s for dinner tonight. Delicious, but sometimes too much is actually too much. The prime rib alone could’ve easily serviced 2 (and thus QPR ends up being surprisngly good).
Foot-long ruler on top of prime rib for scale.
Winter squash soup (w/ tumeric?) was delightful but the spiced portion of the creme fraiche was completely unnecessary (the warming spices made it taste vaguely desserty, and the creme fraiche seemed oddly thick to me… almost like ice cream). Used the butter/oil from the potato gratin as a dipping sauce for the parker roll (which smelled wonderfully yeasty). Spinach were more like cream + cheese w/ spinach accompaniment (which is just fine by me).
The prime rib was SO F*CKING BIG (potatoes are a repeat from above). And very smoky. I love smoke, but partner thought it unnecessary. Never knew that a cabbage leaf on top could protect the color…
Unlike other places, C&T give you the bone (@CiaoBob).
I didn’t even try the dessert yet b/c I’m so stuffed (box says “Blondie”).
WW1984 was a mess, BTW. Honestly, I enjoyed Mariah X-Mas special much more.
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Merry Fucking Christmas!
Perfect post for this year
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