I think Jamaican food is just flavorful, and even average versions will be tasty.
But LA is not really very good - compared to East Coast. For example, I have never had a decent Jamaican beef patty here, but you can get them all over the place in NYC, especially Brooklyn. The jerk flavors are vibrant but toned down. Curried goat and oxtails, at Wi Jammin on Pico, are pretty solid versions, but I don’t love the jerk chicken there.
Peony: Thanks very much! Hope I can try these restaurants in Brooklyn one day!
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Man I’d kill for a good version like we had growing up. Even some of the pizzerias in Queens would have good versions of beef patties. I distinctly remember some heathens would slice open the beef patty, add mozzarella cheese and pepperoni and put it into the oven for a few mins.
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That sounds like a winner on the drunk stoned and hungry thread
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Rossoblu—DoorDash
Peony: 7.5/10. I like all the dishes tonight. The topping of the pizza has good texture and flavor. The side dishes were all well-made. They are not just simply prepared vegetables; they have a certain level of complexity. For example, the brussel sprouts have several layers of flavor and are mixed with a red, sweet, crunchy vegetable that I could not identify.
Warrior: 7/10. The escarole pizza has excellent flavor and good crust, though I found it slightly too chewy. I preferred the pizza delivery from Mozza. The anchovy salad was good. The roasted brussel sprouts were ordinary. The eggplant is a great dish at Rossoblu, but too small and delicate for delivery. Overall, I think there was a loss of quality from the delivery.
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Kapoor’s (DTLA)
Warrior: 5.5/10. I think Kapoor’s is the best Indian restaurant in or around DTLA. I’ve tried them all multiple times; that’s my opinion. Unfortunately, I don’t think highly of Kapoor’s or of LA Indian food in general. One of the reasons I respected Jonathan Gold is that his 101 restaurants list repeatedly included just one Indian restaurant—Mayura—which I thought was the best Indian restaurant in LA. I digress. Many dishes from Kapoor’s lack the depth of flavor that you’d find from good Indian restaurants on the East Coast. The saag paneer in particular was pathetically bland. The only dish I really liked tonight was the daal mahkani. I will say, however, that Kapoor’s consistently uses good quality seafood. I do see effort, and I appreciate it.
Peony: 5.5/10. I found the spice level for all the dishes almost undetectable, even though I am very sensitive to Indian spices. While the dishes used Indian-style ingredients such as spinach, paneer, etc., none of the dishes tasted like Indian food. Apart from that, there was nothing wrong with the ingredients or cooking procedure.
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TehranRo (Koreatown)
Warrior: 5.5/10. TehranRo is a new Persian restaurant in KTown. I would say it has average Persian food with a basic menu. All the dishes were solid.
Peony: 6/10. The food is slightly above average. The chicken is cooked nicely.
Surawon—UberEats
Warrior: 6/10. Surawon is a soon tofu specialist in KTown on Olympic. We’ve eaten there in person before, and this was our first delivery, I find Surawon’s soon tofu pleasant but under flavored. Although I ordered mine “spicy,” I would describe it as “mild.” I prefer the more flavorful and much spicier soon tofu at BCD Tofu House. Surawon has better banchan, however, and the purple rice is nice. Unlike Peony, I thought Surawon’s grilled mackerel was overcooked.
Peony: 6.5/10. I really liked the grilled mackerel tonight. It has really good flavor. The meat was not tough or dry. Just the right texture. The soon tofu was excellent too. I thought the spice level (medium for me) and salting were just right. Compared with the main dishes, the banchan were not impressive.
Ozi’s Kitchen (Jamaican)—DoorDash
Peony: 6/10. The dishes tonight were good, comforting food. They tasted good overall, but they were not the best delivery Jamaican food I’ve had.
Warrior: 5.5/10. I thought tonight’s food was pretty good, but not on par with abeautifullife. I appreciated that the menu had so many options, including tofu, jackfruit, and several fish dishes. The best dishes tonight were the ackee with saltfish and the curry jackfruit. The biggest disappointment was the jerk shrimp. The shrimp just didn’t taste good quality, and the flavor of the jerk sauce was underwhelming.
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Osteria La Buca
Warrior: 6.5/10. Tonight’s food was all good. Nothing earth shattering, but all quality ingredients and competent cooking. I thought the portions were too stingy (just look at those sad six sprigs of broccolini) and subtracted half a point accordingly.
Peony: 7/10. Good, tasty, healthy food.
Dune (DTLA)—UberEats
Peony: 7/10. I liked the dishes tonight. I find them very tasty. I liked the addition of quinoa into the tabbouleh salad. I find it more crunchy and nutty than bulgur. For some reason, I find the falafel very soft and flavorful. Given that they’ve been incorporating new ingredients in other dishes, I wonder if they added something else that helps with the texture. The chicken is also very tender and juicy, which I like a lot. Overall, good food that suits my tastes.
Warrior: 6.5/10. This is good food that shows effort and creativity. For me, the most impressive thing was the tabbouleh salad that used quinoa in place of bulgur. It worked really well, and I’ve never seen it before, so I give it high marks. I also liked this restaurant’s little touches like sprinkling light cinnamon on the almonds. On the negative side, I’ve never been sold on their chicken, which I find too dry, or their flatbread, which I find too dense and chewy. On the positive side, I did like their falafel more today than in past tastings, where it felt I tasted too raw. Today, it tasted just right.
[Warrior: I screwed up and didn’t take a picture.]
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Agree about the attention to detail at Dune, even for fast casual.
But the bread has always been a source of consternation for me too! Places that accurately translate Israeli food frequently flub the bread/pita. I respected Mh Zh for circumventing that problem, using Bub and Grandma’s instead of mediocre pita.
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Warrior: Thank you for your note. According to the menu, Dune does use Bub & Grandma’s bread for one item: their beet sandwich. I have never tried it.
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Pine and Crane—UberEats
Peony: 6/10. In China, “healthy” food is thought to consist of lightly seasoned food that is cooked by steaming or boiling without oil. Preferably, no frying or sautéing. I feel this restaurant’s food fits the “healthy” criteria, as all the dishes tonight are lightly seasoned and don’t taste oily. I didn’t spot much oil in the liang cai, which are normally generous with oil. The vegetables tasted either steamed or boiled. I personally prefer sautéed vegetables that are more al dente. All the dishes were a little bit on the light side for my liking, except the eggplant.
Warrior: 6/10. Pine and Crane is boring but good. And it’s healthy to boot. So it is a delivery staple for us.
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Himalayan House (Nepalese)
Warrior: 6.5/10. I’ve ordered from Himalayan House seven times or so, and never appreciated anything except the momos (Nepalese dumplings), until this delivery. Tonight, I liked all the dishes. I enjoyed the complex flavors and the interesting main ingredients, which included black eyed peas, bamboo shoots, and jackfruit. We ordered “medium to spicy,” which was plenty spicy for me.
Peony: 6.5/10. The food has very strong and interesting flavors. The black eyed pea, bamboo shoot, and potato stew has a good mixture of herbs and spices. The sauce for the fish curry worked really with the fish. My only problem with the food is “medium to spicy” is too spicy for me, as I am used to mild or medium level spice.
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Dune does use Bub & Grandma’s ciabatta for the beet sandwich (which is a delicious sandwich but difficult to eat logistically), but they also use Bub & Grandma’s house loaf for their toast. 
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Bulan Thai (vegetarian)
Warrior: 4.5/10. I ordered this for Peony because she likes it and she is busy today. Although I enjoy soy meats, I am not fond of this restaurant. Basically, they took real Thai food and removed the fish sauce, shrimp paste, and almost all the chiles, adding nothing to compensate for those losses. My own view is that the life of fish consists primarily of swimming around with their mouths open swallowing other fish alive, the cruelest act imaginable. Accordingly, the most compassionate thing we can do to prevent future generations of fish from suffering is to eat as many fish now as we can. My views on shrimp welfare are more complex. Regardless, one’s compassion for aquatic life doesn’t excuse making such bland, boring food. There were almost no herbs to be found in this food desperately in need of flavor. On the positive side, this restaurant does use good ingredients, tonight’s asparagus being the best example, and the cooking is fine.
Peony: 6/10. Declined to review because she is too busy. But she said “today was not their best work.”
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Kismet
Warrior: 8.5/10. I think Kismet’s chef is one of LA’s most talented chefs. I used to enjoy her falafel and salads at the underrated (and missed) Madcapra, but Kismet is obviously in a different league. I loved the unusual combinations of flavors and ingredients in tonight’s dishes. It’s amazing how well the black cod, corn, sliced turnips, and whey worked together. The meyer lemon broth for the clams was simply delicious; I drank straight from the bowl after we were done with the clams. All three vegetable dishes—tomato-peach, cucumbers, and eggplant—were excellent. I should make note of the great ingredients used in these dishes (e.g., two kinds of Asian cucumbers and delicious heirloom tomatoes). Peony and I complained that the food was too salty when we dined at Kismet earlier this year, but the salt level tonight was perfect. Overall, high-class and unique food.
Peony: 8/10. The food was really good tonight. I liked all the dishes. I liked the clever use of the sauces and the spices. Very good food for delivery.
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Badmaash (DTLA)
Warrior: 6/10. Badmaash has solid Indian food. The best dish tonight was the mushroom vindaloo, which had refined spicing and legit heat. The daal makhani was good, but I prefer versions with lots more butter and smokiness. The fish moilee was decent, but bland compared to more authentic versions. I didn’t like the saag paneer, which tasted too much of dried mango powder. The jeera rice was good.
Peony: 6.5/10. I feel all the food was good today. The ingredients were good quality. Good food for delivery. My favorite was the daal makhani.
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