Combined weekends (since the start of the month?). Posting from my phone, so text later (edit: now adding text… :))
Pho So 1
We stopped at this place on our way to see the cherry blossoms at Lake Balboa (thanks, @J_L for mentioning the ones in the SFV!). The love the egg rolls here, and you can get a half order so you feel less decadent. I don’t know this compares to other Vietnamese places, but I find it quite respectable.
Smorgasburg Santa Monica
Hot-Star Chicken. The pic doesn’t show just how big this piece of chicken is. Partner said it was the size of a dinner plate. This was actually a small piece b/c we got the last one (bwahahahaha). Not a revelation, but I ain’t complaining for $5.
Mama Musubi. Still have yet to get to Sunny Blue, but I enjoyed these (salmon and eel). What should I be looking for in a well-constructed musubi (other than it tasting good?)
The goa pork tacos were delicious, but I’m still trying to wrap my head around spending $9 and still being quite hungry. Still, they had an army of people working there, so perhaps it’s quite work intensive.
Belle Vie
This place ain’t cheap, but it still remains deeply satisfying. However, they’ve changed the recipe of their beef burgandy tacos!!! Argh. The beef itself is still delicious, but they’ve added picked veggies and a small piece of bacon. It’s too much (both flavor-wise and in terms of folding the taco). Not sure if the change was based on feedback or just b/c they felt kind of bored w/o the original. They have a seasonal cassoulet (available for $30). It’s big enough to share, but you’d still probably want another entree. The cassoulet was lovely, and very subtly seasoned. I was also hoping for crispier skin on the duck, but the meat was pretty good. Sausage was simply perfectly cooked. Dessert was lemon curd + citrus slices w/ a ring of meringue that had been torched. SO delicious.
Happy Noodle
What can I say? I’m a devoted follower of trend. The veggie dumplings are indeed delicious, and the skin is JUST thick enough to have pleasant chew. The lamb dumpling is REALLY gamey (as @Chowseeker1999 said) . I like gamey, but this might be a bit too gamey even for me! Partner loved them, though. Are the orange flecks carrot? For whatever reason, I think the lamb flavor would go better in a shen jiang bao. The beef roll wrapper wasn’t quite crispy enough, but I thought the filling was quite good (and way better than the very flaccid version I had at 101 Noodle Express Culver City this last wk).
Bulgarini Gelato
We were planning to go from Happy Noodle to Me Gusta Tamale. Bulgarini is on the way, and partner had never been there. I had the pear + pistachio and partner had coffee + chocolate. All delicious, as usual. Also sampled the hazelnut (which I love but find too intense for an entire scoop).
While driving somewhere through Sunland, we saw this…
Eating Me Gusta tamales now but too lazy to take a photo.