For rather obvious reasons, neither partner nor I felt like cooking last night. Can you believe that Sampa’s in Santa Monica was still doing delivery??? Bless them.
Pie was tasty, too (no pics of that).
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Lived here almost all of my life and going to SGV for decades.
I just learned about this spot! Apple fritters is goated for donuts and a hot fresh apple fritter must be out of this world good.
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What do you like at Sampa’s? MDR location is a block away from us yet we’ve never tried it. I have both fond and not so fond memories of Brazilian pizza from trips to Rio.
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I actually stopped by last night before closing… Not familiar with Sampa and it was my first time. I thought my car was going to fly away so not the wisest move on my part but I was on my way home from picking up Ginza and in desperate need of a sweet. Was going to try the guava pizza but the girl at the front was lackluster in her response so I went with her rec of the Nutella cookie instead. Have you tried the guava pizza there and if so, is it worth trying?
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This is only our 2nd try w/ Sampa’s.
We had the Neopolitana. Lots of cheese on a very thin crust. Not much tomato sauce. A few thin slices of tomato distributed throughout. My vague memory is that last night’s crust was softer than when we had it in the store (maybe the result of the delivery).
For me, it’s somewhere btw a flatbread and a pizza (but much closer to the latter).
I like it b/c it’s indulgent w/o being disgusting so (and b/c I don’t love tomato sauce). We each ate half the pie ourselves, and I felt fine. 
I liked the Rio de Janeiro slice I had on my first visit, but it is HEAVY. Very rich. So I can see why one could have varying memories of Brazilian pizza, depending on the topping.
Have not tried the guava pizza! Wonder if that’s a bit like a guava roll that’s been… unrolled.
*Edit: flatbread isn’t the right description. Maybe I’ll try more of their pizza so that I can think of the right word…
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I think sometimes that the relatively mundane can be a nice distraction? My post is certainly not meant to minimize the horrible loss and tragedy suffered by so many right now. 
La Talpa
Had this last weekend (which seems like eons ago). Thanks to @yogachik for the rec. House salsa was ?tomatillo-based and tasted distinctly of roasted peppers. Veracruz fish was absolutely wonderful (that sauce)!!! Partner said his drink was good, even w/o the added “Royal.”
Kojima
Had a pre-existing haircut on Sawtelle yesterday (as in, booked b/f the fires), so I thought I might as well keep it. Mochi-dochi has been replaced. I know nothing about this place. I assume omakase and then made some lower price a la carte sandwiches? Maybe some of our more well-known posters know of this person?
Ban Ban Burger
It was a bit surreal to see people (customers) simply sitting around eating and talking as you’d normally expect on a Saturday night.
Grapow burger lovely (and quite spiced), but I think I liked partner’s katsu sandwich better. The pork they use is luscious.
Churros cart in Brentwood
I’ve long wanted to try this place b/c how many people live across the street from a churros cart???
Not sure if the oil temp was supposed to be very low; it took several minutes to fry, and the color was still quite blond. I could smell the oil a bit in the finished product, but the churros themselves weren’t oily. Partner didn’t like how chewy they were. I think they were a decent mix of crunchy exterior and softish interior.
You can’t complain about $5 for 6 churros (maybe 8 inches long) w/i a few miles of a firestorm (I mean that in earnest).
Petit Grain lovely as always. Not pictured: the dynamite raisin roll. One bite was satisfying enough for me, but those w/ a sweet tooth might be able to eat a whole roll themselves.
Hope all are staying safe.
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It is with great sadness that I report Ramen Ochi (Century City) has closed. RIP.
This January cannot be over soon enough.
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Partner was asking about it just the other day.
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Mitla Cafe - San Bernardino
Tres tacos dorados
La Cabana de Guerrero - Pomona
Pescado Zarandeado
Mariscos 4 Vientos - East Los Angeles
Dos Tacos Dorados de Camaron
Tostada Chacaloza
Yigah - Irvine
Banchan
Fried Mandu
Spaghetti Cheese Pork Cutlet
Ba Le - Westminster
Banh Mi Ga 
Matiki Island BBQ - Anaheim
Sam’s Plate Beef Back Ribs
Cafe Cultura - Santa Ana
Cafe de Olla
Breakfast burrito add carna asada
Tres leches pancakes
Pola’s Mariscos - Montclair
Menudo
Tacos Los Cholos - Anaheim
Tacos de pollo y costilla
Papa loca con arrachera
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That is some amazing eating! I’ve always wanted to try Mitla.
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You should, the tacos dorados are amazing and the taco sauce is next level. The birria place across the street is always packed too and that’s all they sell, birria de chivo.
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Amazing! Thanks for sharing, adding several of these to the list 
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Lunch at Sogno Toscano.
$29 sandwich with bresaola, parmesan, tomatoes, and arugula on focaccia. Expensive but fuck it’s good; the focaccia is perfect consistency for a sandwich and all of the ingredients play super well off each other.
Bruschette sampler. All great, but the one that looks like hummus is actually parmesan + truffles and fuck it is awesome.
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Bresaola sandwich is really good, but the Bufalina sandwich is better. It subs bresaola for prosciutto, and those tomatoes for a tomato confit. It’s unbelievable. And unbelievably expensive, like you said.
Still a little bitter at Sogno Toscano though for not fixing a labeling mistake months after I kindly alerted them (they have a sandwich called the “Pata Negra”, which even lists “pata negra” as an ingredient, but in reality it’s not pata negra but a 50% Iberian ham product).
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Partner is out of town, so I had actually been planning to just do some frozen food. But, if restaurants might be hurting, I’m happy to go out.
Supporting local restaurants is easy when the food is good.
Veg (maybe vegan?) kofta at Agora (Turkish grocer in Brentwood/WLA).
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This was seriously one of the weirdest things I’ve ever had in my life. Having said that, it was actually rather interesting, and I would have it again.
The kofta was maybe made of bulgar (the dried bulgar in their store looks totally different from what I get at US markets). Highly spiced.
Does someone know what the sauce is? I thought by appearance that it might be balsamic. It isn’t that. Very viscous and, on its own, very little flavor. Combined w/ the kofta, it has a VERY strong tang and maybe some bitterness and sweetness? The combo was kind of wild, and it all felt very healthy.
Master Ha. That marinated crab is so, SO good. I could do w/o the add of uni, but friend loves uni.
Colapasta for lunch. Corn soup and the bucatini. So comforting and lovely.
The recent posts about Doner Corner inspired me to go tonight. Can you believe they had run out of doner by 8PM??? And they had apparently made an extra large batch today, too. Argh.
The wrapped item is the falafel wrap. I think I like the sandwich version better (something about the distribution of ingredients in a sandwich vs. long cylinder). I learned today that one puts the tomato, parsley, and onion on top of the lahmajoun and then you fold.
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I think that’s cig kofte and the sauce includes pomegranate molasses.
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Yes, that does familiar! (I think the sign next to dish did have that written)
And pomegranate molasses makes a lot of sense.
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Zzamong
JJM but honestly I liked the japchae more. Sorry no pic. Never had fresh piping hot japchae. Veggies had some great wok hay to them. $3 valet fyi right across from Jun Won.
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Anybody been to Kinrose in Pasadena? Middle Eastern ice cream. I went for first time last night and loved it.
Did a sour cherry and sweet cream then a pistachio brittle situation .
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Yes, Kinrose is a highlight of Old Town…
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