i’m more a san gabriel valley-centric person; others are better qualfiied to offer vietnamese suggestions down in orange county.
as for k-town, it’s 3 years old, and gold himself said that he had to whittle it down, but this list for what’s available in k-town can provide a useful yet by no means comprehensive overview of what kinds of dishes korean cuisine can offer:
asian cuisines emphasize balance/contrast of flavors & textures, i’m not saying that that’s not true of korean cuisines but they seem to be inclined to stretch the envelope in a way other asian cuisines do not, if that makes any sense.
Santouka (various downhill alerts for yrs, I think)
Chego (opinion wildly vary, but I thought the place was pretty bad)
A-Frame (the food isn’t bad, but I wouldn’t call it Asian; cramped seating and horrific acoustics might make it a painful experience w/ a little one)
Loteria Grill (I’ve found the food to be very meh)
Bay Cities Italian deli (genuine question: do you not have good delis in Dallas?)
Yes to
Sea Harbour
Ricky’s
Tsujita (just be aware the line will be very, VERY long)
Sqirl
Yes to
luv2eat
I think Korean BBQ at Ten-Raku or Park’s might change your mind about Korean?
I’ve not been to Babita, but it’s gotten good reviews and is fairly close to where you’re staying. Cacao is also very good. 101 Noodle Express might be worth a trip just for the beef roll (SO good). Ipse heavily implied a downhill alert at JTYH since the chef left. I think the okonomiyaki at Gaja was good, but I almost feel like you can make it at home and not have to drive so far… Maybe you could go to Chantilly Patisserie on Sat and go to La Espanola for some paella and bocadillos while you’re in the area.
Glad to hear it’s coming back. I was going to try to go for the first time a few wks ago and was disappointed when I read it has closed!
You’re not going to get tacos at Taco Maria unless you go for lunch. What you will get at dinner is nothing less than a stellar experience, both food- and service-wise. They serve a prix fixe menu with two choices for each course. I’ve been in a handful of times now, and once for a guest chef dinner. Everything I’ve had there has been amazing. Better if you have a companion to share so that you can sample all of the menu items. If you go with an open mind (don’t expect combo plates or anything like them), you won’t be disappointed. We’ve sat at the counter every time we’ve been, and that’s what I recommend. I would also recommend getting the wine parings.
Ok, I’m coming to this late but my thoughts are below, and much of it may duplicate what others have already said and my apologies for that as I have not had the time nor gumption to wade through all of the discussion so far.
Here goes.
You can do better than Cafe Fusion for Taiwanese. And it just depends on what type of Taiwanese you want. I would consider Huge Tree Pastry, Four Seas, SinBaLa, Old Country Cafe, and Why Thirsty.
For XLB, I think you should just go to DTF, if for nothing else than to say you’ve been (assuming you haven’t already). Lots of places in the SGV do XLB well, and there’s nothing wrong with the version that Wang Xing Ji is putting out. But, think about it, if you go back to Dallas and someone asks whether you had XLB at DTF and your response is “yeah, but I went to WXJ” they’re going to look at you like you’re Tony Romo after an interception to the Niners.
Choose one place for dim sum. And my choice would be Sea Harbour.
I would pass on Hunan Mao, and Shaanxi is not all that.
As others have noted, should consider Jitlada, as well as Night + Market (or Night + Market Song), and also the new Khao Soi By Inthanon Thai.
Consider Golden Deli, and Pho Ngoon and Nha Trang
There are others much more qualified than myself to speak on the type of Japanese you’re after, but if udon is a consideration I would look at Marugame Monzo
For the “other Asian” category, might look at Kaya Street Kitchen and Orsa & Winston
Lots of interesting and forgettable choices you have (as others have noted), except for maybe Ricky’s. Might want to look at Babita and Amor Y Tacos, Colonia Taco Lounge, BS Taqueria and Broken Spanish. And if OC is in the cards, then definitely Taco Maria.
No idea of what your criteria is here for the Other Restaurants, but I would consider Father’s Office, Urasawa and Bulgarini.
i am very impressed with the hospitality and generosity of time and information on this thread. Ipsi paranoid sgee weiner and everyone else…these dallas guests are going to come up big…Nice work F’kers.
For Taiwanese try Good Eats in Rowland Heights if you are willing to drive. Don’t let the nice decor fool you, the food is legit. The 3 cups chicken is excellent, so are the braised ribs with scallions, etc.
For XLB, if you’re going to sub, sub with J&J pork crab XLB. They’re still the best in LA for me after all these years and all the new contenders.
As for Taco Maria, go for dinner Wed-Sat when it’s closer to French food (think Spring in Paris with a Mexican influence) than it is to standard taco fare.
Finally when at Tsujita get the tsukemen dipping ramen (side of cold noodles to dip in a bowl of hot pork broth). It’s far better than their standard ramen which I wouldn’t even consider top 5 for ramen in LA. The dipping one is by far the best ramen in town for my tastes.
And if you’re not afraid to drive some more, Torihei in Torrence is superb for yakitori and Izakaya. The newly opened Raku should be fine also if you want something closer.
Really??? I love the regular ramen broth. What would you consider the top 5 (esp since I think you had awhile ago posted a downhill alert for Yamada-ya?)?
+1 on J&J for XLB. Their pork chops are also not half bad.
I still need to do taco Maria for dinner one night. I just don’t get down there then but seems worth a special trip.
Kirikatsu near tsujita satisfied with the pork loin katsu not the layered one and he octopus balls and ramen yesterday. Tho soup not as good as TsujitA or the tsukimen. I still really enjoy hurry curry there. ask for the hot oil and the little pickled things. Sawtelle that is Dallas f’ker. Lots of good food ice cream ices and little chtachki shops for the kinder.
Personally I’ve overdosed on tonkotsu broth so I prefer non tonkotsu broths. That’s the biggest reason I don’t place it top 5 personally not that it isn’t easily top 3 in LA for tonkotsu.
I think the broth is too much for the regular ramen broth and the noodles too starchy so it becomes too thick for me. Almost like a pork broth slurry. Which I understand some people love. For me, the tsukemen is the way to go at Tsujita.
My personal preference is:
-Tsujita tsukemen
-Kitakata ramen
-Ikkousha (Shio)
-Tsujita Annex ramen
-Zetton (for the tan tan men. The special chicken broth that I had raved about wasn’t as complex on a recent visit)
-Torihei/Jidaya
-Tsujita regular ramen
-Santouka (for the miso or shoyu)
Sorry to everyone for going silent for a good while yesterday. I hit my limit of replies for my first day on FTC, yes they do have a limit. I do thank all of you for the great recommendations. I have rearranged my Google map of all the recommendations so that I am generally close to a recommendation at any given time.
I do thank you for the time you have all spent on the recommendations. I do know it takes time to scroll through all the previous recommendations and point us in the right direction.
I will say that dining has changed with a 3 yo. It was much easier with an infant! That said our hours of dining are quite different from that of the general dining crowd. We try to take into account there might be a piece of food fly at any given moment or an impasse as to a dish or even cuisine selection for that time period. We eat with the “Luby’s” crowd at dinner (4:30 - 6), we remove the daughter when she become boisterous in her disapproval, we tip generously, and finally we respect other diners and the wait staff for putting up with us. We understand it is a privilege to even get a chance to dine at a restaurant.
As for questions about which type of Asian cuisines I prefer. All of them really. We don’t have quite the regional variations of Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Korean and Japanese. We have 1-2 restaurants that do dishes really well. Most take recommendations if you want to plan an off menu meal. I can’t give you a clear answer as I do know most of the dishes of say Central Vietnam but they are generally on the same menus here in Dallas. No one restaurant specializing in Central Vietnamese. I will research all of the recommendations you have steered me towards and look to see what dishes they offer if a menu or website is available, cross that with some Yelp pictures, and hope for the best. I am sure I will have further questions about specific dishes that have been favorites for this group over the years for any particular restaurant.
I am skipping DTF b/c I went on my last trip so I would like to fill that meal with a restaurant I have not been to yet, same with Jitlada. I am steering clear of Jitlada b/c of the horrible meal I had last trip. Again, it would have to be a planned meal with a small group and the chefs at Jitlada know we are adventurous and coming at a certain time to return there.
I welcome any further recommendations for ice cream or any other “treats” for the little one. Also we are not big on breakfast but if there is something we need to take a look at let us know. We are not the diner (pancakes, omlet and breakfast meat…we generally make that at home) crowd.
