Favorite Restaurants San Fernando Valley (SFV)?

[Gr8pimpin]

I love Salsa & Beer. One of my favorite places.

All of their locations are busy. They’ve opened another one or two on Vanowen Street closer to NoHo, to go with two locations they already had in Lake Balboa and NoHo.

But the big location on Sherman Way in NoHo is IMHO the best of their locations. Two full bars and the grill definitely produces smokier meats than the other location in Lake Balboa (Van Nuys) which also only has beer and wine license.

But that Sherman Way location is also the busiest.

[ElsieDee]

Interesting offerings in Reseda: Egyptian Street Food.

Egyptian Street Food Spot the Original Hawowshi Is a Rare Treasure

Thinking @EattheWorldLA has probably already sussed it out, but didn’t find it on their site nor did I find a FTC post about it.

[EattheWorldLA]

Added this to my list when I saw the article, but have not been yet. It does look fun!

[boogiebaby]

@Gr8pimpin

Sagebrush used to be such a great Sunday hangout years ago. Haven’t been in ages. Food is definitely not the reason to go there

100%. You go there for drinks, not the food.

[secretasianman]

actually, some of us went only for the salsa dancing.

[Gr8pimpin]

Went to Las Fuentes in Reseda for lunch today.

warm smell of mulitas rising up through the air

They put bacon in their mulitas. It’s true what they say about bacon. They serve with sour cream and guacamole.

They really load up their tacos. The asada tacos are about $3.50 each but they are loaded with nuggets of steak that are chopped into larger pieces than most places.

Some fully dressed carnitas tacos…

They really are careful here. They have about 10 spaces set aside for curbside pickup. You can go in and order but it is really distanced. You then exit and wait outside at a designated pickup area.

We ate in the car next to a park.

Oh, and the meal came with free air freshener…

http://lasfuentes.com/

May 2021 Rundown

[gudgud]

@Gr8pimpin

Went to Las Fuentes in Reseda for lunch today.

Speaking of Mexican food is El Taco Llama any good? Trying to get some good Mexican food in West Valley.

[Gr8pimpin]

@gudgud

El Taco Llama

@Ns1 swears by getting hard shell tacos with pastor there at El Taco Llama. Yep, can confirm their tastiness.

Tacos Reyes is pretty good, though not Tire Shop good. So are the El Tapatio locations (Woodland Hills and I think Canoga Park). But I think of these as taquerias.

Personally I’d rather go to the Las Fuentes family of restaurants, Las Fuentes, Senor Sol, Melody’s, and Sol Y Luna.

[Ns1]

@gudgud

Speaking of Mexican food is El Taco Llama any good? Trying to get some good Mexican food in West Valley.

The hard shell tacos are legitimately good and satisfying. I will fight anyone on that.

The rest of the menu? Standard Mexican fare, 10/10 when drunk/stoned ymmv at all other times and also dependent on what is normally near you.

But those hard shell tacos? Yeah I go out of my way to stop here sometimes to pre/post bang.

Convenient bang bang:

NoHo El Taco Llama, Epicurus, then anything on Sherman Way

The other NoHo El Taco Llama x Chiang Mai Thai Cuisine x Tel Aviv Grill

Chatsworth El Taco Llama X NY Chicken & Gyro

In summary: any of gr8pimpin’s recs are better than El Taco Llama, but El Taco Llama never has a wait and has cravable hard shell tacos.

[Gr8pimpin]

Nice bang x2 travel guide!!

[foodshutterbug]

I’m supposed to meet a friend for lunch in the valley next week.

I suggested Baja Subs in Northridge based on glowing reports by J. Thurman and my friend said someone recommended Bombay Frankie’s in Woodland Hills.

I’ve tried neither place and only tried Sri Lankan for the first time at Apey Kade for takeout a few weeks ago (good, but open to exploring other places).

Great palates and minds of FTC - what say you? Baja Subs vs Bombay Frankie for lunch? Which one is worth the drive from the Westside?

[Ns1]

@foodshutterbug

Which one is worth the drive from the Westside?

Salsa & Beer

I did not find Bombay Frankie worth any sort of
drive

[Gr8pimpin]

@foodshutterbug

Which one is worth the drive from the Westside?

@Ns1 are you serious about Salsa & Beer or making fun of me LOL!!

I agree!!

@foodshutterbug , I can’t speak to neither Bombay Frankie nor Baja Subs. I would love to try Baja Subs.

Another possible drive worthy place FOR ME would be Brent’s. When I’m in the valley, I also like koreatowns Myung In Dumplings, they have a location in Northridge too.

[Ns1]

@Gr8pimpin

are you serious about Salsa & Beer or making fun of me LOL!!

Not mutually exclusive

[paranoidgarliclover]

It’s been yrs since I went to Baja Subs that one time.

Are you committed to South Asian? B/c, if not, I went to Peru’s Taste more recently (like 2-3 wks ago) and can certainly recommend that. No outdoor service, but you can sit at the outdoor table, if that’s an important consideration for you.

@JThur01: have you been to Baja Subs recently?

[CiaoBob]

@paranoidgarliclover

Peru’s Taste

second that, FSB, you won’t be sorry

[foodshutterbug]

Thanks to all for your SFV suggestions!

Unfortunately, I won’t be meeting up with my friend in Woodland Hills until a later date, most likely Apey Kade for dinner when they decide to resume Friday hopper night.

Here’s a pic of the Apey Kade takeout I got a few weeks ago on the way back from UCLA Calabasas for my 2nd Moderna Covid vaccine jab

Pictured are:

-Beef lamprais (aka “lump rice”) in banana leaf

-chicken pastry (puff pastry roll with red chili flavored filling)

-pineapple curry and okra curry (a la carte order)

-fish cutlet (croquette ball shaped - yellow curry flavor)

-fish patty (half moon shaped pastry - red curry flavor)

Not pictured:

-Chinese roll (egg roll shaped, crumb crust with fish filling)

-Seeni Sambol Bun (bun filled with spicy caramelized onion)

Provisions for days.

Everything was quite enjoyable and not as as hot as Luv2Eat’s notorious “less medium spicy” but I still had to eat some plain yogurt to cool down my tongue after wiping away some tears but not in a bad way - I’m grateful they didn’t dumb down the spices.

Besides the spicy heat the use of caramelized onions was noticeable - not the sweet jammy kind you’ll find on a FO burger, but more savory.

Also, the short grain rice used in the Beef Lamprais banana leaf dish was quite distinctive - unlike basmati or jasmine rice, the varietal used was a bead-like short grain and not sticky at all. The rice was toothsome and not mushy, even after subsequent reheats at home.

I checked out online photos of other SFV Sri Lankan places and it seems they tend to use basmati rice instead of the short grain varietal used in Apey Kade’s Lamprais dishes.

I can see why @JThur01 and others on the FTC board rec’d AK — looking forward to going back and to also explore other Sri Lankan places such as Baja Subs in Northridge and maybe Kurry Pinch in Van Nuys as well in the future.

[gudgud]

Fina made it to New York Chicken & Gyro - The rice was better than Halal Guys. Actually, everything was better than Halal Guys minus the parking.

Local Peasant the other night:
Can we stop with the vinegar in the spray bottle? Big fries and super fluffy

When you bite the onion rings the onion doesn’t slide out. 10/10

Pork sliders were nice and salty, a nice complement with a v strong Mai Tai

Lemon pepper wings were decent. I never order lemon pepper but it was all they had.

V strong passion fruit & tequila drink and mai tai

IKEA Smoked salmon was $3 so why not? Added it to the garlic bread and now will be doing it next time I go.

Dan’s Super subs
Mama Mia and LA Pastrami.
Both good for what it is. Soft bread and gets soggy in the matter of minutes so not worth ordering and taking it togo.

katsu-ya
Two dinner specials and a couple beers. Got out of there with a tab around $70.

Furn Saj to go then headed to Gillette Ranch to eat in the park

Sol y Luna Pretty good standard Mexican-American food. Wife got the mole, this is the Chile Colorado. Everyone around us was getting the molcajete dish so I’m going to have to try it next time.

Furn Saj massive plate of chicken tarna. The baba ganoush there is probably the best I have had. Super silky and smokey.

zaatar mana’ish

[Sgee]

@gudgud

Can we stop with the vinegar in the spray bottle?

Why? I think it’s brilliant.

[paranoidgarliclover]

Yeah, I haven’t seen it myself, but it sounds like a good idea to me. I just want a little tinge of acidity for my fish.

@gudgud: look like great eating!