Best onion rings in the Southland!
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Gjusta
Smoked fish platter - a must get for me from Gjusta these days
Cashew Paris Brest. Wow. Wife described it as a “cannolli done right” but that undersells it I think. It was creamy, nutty, savory, and the sweetness was just restrained enough to be good but not cloying.
Holy Basil
Been far too long since I’ve ordered from them - never disappoints
Santa Monica Farmers Market
Clockwise from top left
Donut peaches from Fair Hills Farms - crunchy like an apple, with a refreshing sweetness
White nectarines from Ken’s Top Notch - had this in the dessert course at Hayato a couple weeks ago and had to get some
[I think] July flame peaches from Tenerelli Orchards Softer, more fragrant, more acidic and slightly less sweet than their white peaches
Flavor Supreme pluots from Tenerelli Orchards - these are the bomb
Cherums (cherry-plums) from Murry Family Farms - has the fragrance of a cherry, but the inside flesh and texture is more like a plum
Fat n Flour stone fruit pie, blueberry crumble pie - went back and forth on which one is better, but I think the stone fruit wins; had a friend come over and proclaim that slice the perfect pie
Full Proof Pizza run by the folks who run Lodge Bread in Culver City - it’s a “New York style” pizza, and this was half spicy sausage (with Kale, and yes I know that’s not strictly NY style) and half pepperoni. The crust was substantial enough to keep the slice straight when you held it up, but still pliable enough to fold; the cornicione was sizeable, but had and nice crisp that gave way to chewiness, and there was a touch of sweetness. I was quite impressed with the bread and might go back to check it out.
We preferred the spicy sausage slightly, as there was a nice kick from some calibrian peppers that were added. The tomato sauce had just the right tang, and the pepperoni, though not crisped into chalices had the right amount of spice and seasoning.
All in all, this was a very satisfying kinda sorta NY style pizza, and definitely earns a spot in my pizza rotation.
Aliya Lavaland This is a new Thai pastry place started by a husband and wife team that serves Asian pastries but with a French flair. I am not familiar with Thai desserts whatsoever, but in their coming out Facebook post, they mentioned that they were selling salted yolk mooncakes. HELLO!
So they sell two kinds of desserts - the larger ones are the aforementioned salted yolk mooncakes (plain, matcha (green), taro (purple), ube (white)), which is their own fusion creation, and the smaller pieces are Thai bias, which they mentioned were similar to Indonesian bobias.
The salted egg yolk mooncakes are extremely decadent (they recommend heating in the microwave for 7 seconds to warm up the yolk - I recommend slightly longer), and when you bite into it, you get a taste of this buttery, dough pastry, you get a taste of (in this case with the purple, taro), and then this savory, gooey salted egg yolk. Amazing.
Don’t sleep on their more traditional dessert - the version pictured here was also taro flavored. The ingredients are so fresh, that it’s like biting into a pastry and then a pop of fresh taro underneath.
Pho Hai Kieu had a handkering for banh cuon so naturally reached out to @PorkyBelly and @hppzz for some thoughts. We settled on this place. The crepes were decent enough, but they tore really easily.
Green Zone rice was decent, but chicken was a tad dry. I should have been suspicious given they serve it without the skin
Pho Hue Oi
Shrimp rolls
Pho with beef balls and rib eye - quite delicious
Banh beo - a pretty nice version
Chi Spacca had a feast with friends from out of town so only took a few snaps but we had a bunch of things on the menu - the veal tongue, salumeri, a couple salads, the pork loin chop, short ribs “kalbi” style - everything was great. I can’t believe I don’t go to Chi Spacca more often (though it’s probably because if I’m at the Mozzaplex, my favorite is the Osteria).
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Which menu was that? TIA
I dream of that trotter fritti everyday. 
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the soba and tempura combos were from the alc menu, and then I ordered by the piece off the tempura order sheet.
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Yu Bo x Stanley’s Wet Goods dinner. This was a lot of fun and a nice refined take on sichuan flavors, very approachable. I hope they find a way to get a restaurant concept up and running. Apparently they are doing this popups in different areas of the city to gauge interest.
Appetizer plate was an great introduction to a lot of the flavors of that style of cuisine. The bitter melon was a highlight for me as I normally don’t like it, but it was a great match for the aromatic oil it was coated in.
This was a very creative combo. The crispy rice and jam were as expected. The “Sichuanese hummus” was a blend of fermented tofu and marscapone. A great combo that tamed the fermented funk/blue cheese aroma really well with a great texture. Unexpectedly nice complement to the jam. Some other diners likened it to a foie and berry pairing.
Classic mapo tofu with a slight twist from the addition of avocado in a nod to California. Legitimately spicy, but incredibly favorful. Excellent match with the off-dry Nahe Reisling that actually reminded me more of a Alsatian Reisling. It’s also getting dark so the pictures are starting to look bad.
Lion’s head meatball had great textural. Intentional placed as a less intense course after the mapo tofu. Great flavor in the stock from ham (chinese I think), dried scallop, and abalone.
No pictures of the noodle course sadly. The noodles had a familiar flavor if you’ve ever had the Gwai Mei salad at Nightshade (gwai mei == strange taste in cantonese). This tasted nutty to me, but apparently had no nuts, but did have preserved duck egg. Smoked chili oil was matched well with a smoky Spanish red. One of my favorite dishes of the night that just looks like a pile of noodles with some bean sprouts!
Dessert was a few small cubes of Chinese pear in sichuan peppercorn syrup. Really well balanced usage of the peppercorn, some numbing sensation, but a bigger hit of the citrus you get from the peppercorn balanced by the sweet syrup. Paired well with the Madeira that also didn’t blow out the sweetness of the syrup or vice versa.
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Today is National French Fry Day… also known as Lose More Self Respect Day.
So during the day, I had to partake. Forgive my crappy photos. Should’ve put the food on the dash and taken some glamour shots.
Burger King
Free medium fries with purchase. So I got a double cheeseburger for $1.99, held the mustard added mayo, added extra lettuce extra tomato extra onion extra pickle. Still came to $1.99 for the equivalent of a double whopper junior with cheese. Picture didn’t do it justice. DAMN good. Fries suck. But free so they sucked slightly less.
McDonalds
Most places required a purchase. McDonalds didn’t. But I got a burger anyway. I’m tired of my XXXXXL shirts being slightly loose on me. So $1.99 for a McDouble. Yeah, BK for the same price, that burger was so much better. But these fries kick the crap out of the King.
It’s Tuesday, Tuesday means tacos so…
Jack In The Box
…Tacos and curly fries.
Free medium curly fries (or medium regular fries) with any app purchase. Two tacos for 99¢? Perfect.
Didn’t have any more room to go to Wendy’s for free large fries. Was going to get a frosty.
Yeah, I’m a wimp.
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Little Sister (Irvine) -
After hitting it hard most of the weekend, we needed a fresh and lighter meal at the end of the weekend.
Lychee cocktail
Spent Friday and Saturday drinking…might as well keep going.
Pork, shrimp & crab dumplings - spicy black vin, chives, spinach, peanuts
The wrappers are probably thicker than I’m used to, and they are wrapped well. I find myself not a fan of this dish because the filling flavors were pretty subdued. Even dipped in the sauce, it didn’t really sing.
Forgot to take photos of the rest of the dishes we ordered.
Nem Lui Grilled Lemongrass Pork & Beef Skewers - herbs, greens, nuoc cham
Hands down the favorite item we ordered. It was bright and light and fresh. We could have used more herbs and greens. But this really was a lot like dishes I had growing up.
Nem Nuong Grilled Pork Spring Roll - red leaf lettuce, mint, carrot, cucumber, house sauce
LS take on Brodard’s Nem Nuong rolls. It had all the components…down to the crispy egg wrapper stuffed inside. This was an abundant roll that did not burst at the seams, and my only complaint is that the LS house sauce is nothing like the Brodard sauce. Not even close…rather muted flavors. I used the leftover nuoc cham from the skewers.
Goi Cuon Pork & Shrimp Spring Rolls - coconut/peanut sauce
Like the Nem Nuong, expertly and abundantly filled and wrapped. Very solid and much like the ones I’ve eaten all my life. The coconut/peanut sauce threw me off because I am not a coconut fan. But outside of the coconut, I really wasn’t a fan of the sauce…it wasn’t punchy enough in flavor.
Called it a meal at this point. Thank god it was super late in the lunch hour. My husband wanted to order a short rib banh mi. That would have pushed me way over the edge…and banh mi was no longer available.
We had a good meal. We both enjoyed ourselves and want to come back to try more dishes on the menu. I now want to get on the list for LSXO when it reopens.
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I can’t wait!
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Otafuku
yes it’s still hot inside, sit outside.
nice yoshino cedar chopsticks
bluefin tuna, toro sardine sashimi
kikouchi soba (100% buckwheat)
deep fried shrimp egg rolls w/ plum paste and shiso leaves
thigh
gizzard, heart, skin
tsukune
wild sea eel and vegetable tempura
homemade jidori egg custard w/ vanilla ice cream
and dark caramel sauce
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Damn. That custard looks divine with that dark caramel sauce. I gotta get to Otafuku. Looks like they renovated recently. Has there been a uptick in diners since David Chang blew them up again?
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The cookie from Bristol farms not to be confused with our @TheCookie.
It is worth all the hype rich gooey Belgian chocolate that is in the verge of melting, soft inside and baked outside with some walnuts for texture and added flavor. Never would have thought that a supermarket cookie would be this good. Pricey at 3 dollars but worth it.
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I feel like Kazu Nori is the only “sushi” place I can afford these days.
14 handrolls and a coke for $80 all in is pretty decent QPR imo
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there was about a 15 person line to get in before they opened, so make sure to make a reservation. that custard is so damn good on a hot day, heck it’s good on a cold day too.
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What’d you have after the appetizer though?
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