Baker’s bench’s new digs. Cute complex, love it!!! Great garden for pastries and coffee. Idyllic. Do worry about parking. Thinking about joining silver lake track club now
Surely not the most cost effective $17 sandwich in the area but not the worst offender. Really good, quite crispy, a little salty. Would have loved some lemon on this but the pickles + hot sauce packet helps. Also tried the sour cherry ice cream cake special: good, not Quarter Sheets level, but a nice refreshing bite afterwards. Dada market is such a new wave “Shoppy Shop” (Why Every Boutique Grocer Looks the Same) but they have some useful specialty stuff.
An Eater article inspired me to get a bean and cheese burrito at Al & Bea’s in Boyle Heights. In a good way, it reminded me of an upgraded Taco Bell bean and cheese burrito. I liked it.
La Guerrerense @ Damian. They seem to not publicize their pop ups, or maybe I’m oblivious. Ironically, given the shit I give him on here, I saw this via Esparza’s instagram.
Si! Mon in Venice just had their first Sunday brunch/lunch service on Jun 16th. Took my dad for Father’s Day. First time visiting Si! Mon, so I can’t speak to their regular menu. Our server explained that all food on this menu is new and not on the regular menu.
Service was friendly and attentive. Decor and music was loud, but enjoyable, even for 60 year old parents. I would definitely come back.
Highlights
Tasajo Marinated Burger: One of the better burgers I’ve had on the westside in years. Bun was soft and homemade and the overall flavor of the meat is close to Mexican chorizo (I guess technically it would be Tasajo flavored?)
Pupusa: Perfect and huge. The LQH sauce was drinkable.
Lowlights
Hojaldra: tasted like avocado toast on fried dough. nothing special, but not bad.
Porchetta: might be a personal preference, but there was too much fat to fully enjoy. Might need to be using meatier pieces of pork belly, but I’m not a chef . The corn cake was delicious though.
Wasn’t able to get the Fish & Chips (whole fried snapper), because they ran out of 1.5 lbs snapper and only had $100 2 lbs snapper left. Next time.
Only the skin on the porchetta was crispy. You can see it separated from the first layer of fat. The rest of fat was chewy and didn’t melt in your mouth. Not sure if this is normal for this style of porchetta, but it was definitely different from the fat I’ve had in Italian porchetta and chashu.
What a gem - a little under the radar on FTC, I think.
We had a newer dish this weekend - Cashew Miso Aged Duck // cashew butter miso, cabbage and herb salad, Fresno chili vinaigrette
One of the best bites/dishes of 2024 so far - the duck was aged so well (just a bit of funk) and the Miso was a fantastic sauce. The salad was also a terrific pairing. It was a pricey dish at 80 bucks but large, and we had a lot of leftovers - HUGE BITE!
Tacos 1986 has a newesh menu item, a burrito. It wasn’t bad, but it was wrapped terribly and inferior to the corn tortilla items. Makes Burritos La Palma seem worthy of a Michelin star, which isn’t so outlandish come to think of it.
Open Market sandwiches deliver on the deliciousness. Looks like they removed the veggie sandwich since I’ve been there last, but can confirm the Olympic rules.
Liu’s Cafe. Exceeded expectations. Their jiayi chicken tasted perfect to me and changed my impression of this dish. I’m not much into Chinese baked stuff, but the matcha bun was tasty too.
I just went earlier today (Wednesday). They open at 10:30, I got there at 10:30, and there was a line of about six parties ahead of me. It moved quickly. By around 10:45 they were putting people on a waiting list because the tables were full.
Bee Taqueria in Culver City. Spacious outdoor seating. The tacos, while decent, were outclassed by those of another Michelin guide selection we went to recently—Lola Gaspar in Santa Ana.
Maitiki Island BBQ has a Fullerton location much closer to my house. I ordered poorly. Thought the kalbi and beef combo came with the beef rib. The combo is kalbi and beef which was a little dry. The pork bun tasted good but the bun was a little dense. The beef ribs look great. I think the right order is kalbi plate with beef rib on the side for $3. Or two on the side. Peter’s Gourmade Burgers is in the same plaza.
Only had room for 1 burrito at Los De Juarez Burritos. Unfortunate bc these burritos are great. Had the chili relleno on @attran99 recommendation. The salsa is similar to BLP but thicker and spicier. More my speed. Love the grill on the burritos. Excellent tortilla. 3 tacos and a soda for $20 seems like a great deal.
It had been a while so decided to check in on the old friend Anajak.
She was doing well, as presumed, with cylinders up to par and firing across the board.
I always forget that I like a Riesling, but having it with fried chicken helps me remember. Ribs too.
And I appreciate the healthy amount of brisket in the Massaman. I can inhale the first few bites and still have enough left to properly savor when I realize I should have been savoring all along.
. The corn cake was delicious though.
