Little Sister DTLA
Ma La Beef Tar Tare - no photo and no Sichuan peppercorns - lots of star anise - good not great
Okra Sweet Potato Curry - delicious but very little okra
Banh Xeo Crepe - awesome
Shaky Shaky Beef with great fried rice - great dish
Qin West lunch - certainly the finest Chinese in west la
Liang Pi
Cold beef tendon, pig ears, cukes - fantastic
Cumin Beef w/ jalapeño - excellent
SAT analogy question!
Answer: Tatsu Ramen
Great answer, but was Cup Noodle possible too?
Over a month since first trying it, I still find myself craving the housemade Sawtellini pasta from Restaurant 2117…
Uni pasta:
Wagyu “Au Vin”, served with Japanese wild mushrooms pasta in dashi sauce:
Fantastic dinner at The Ranch in Anaheim.
Bread service started us off with 7 different housemade rolls: jalapeño corn, traditional white, cranberry walnut, pumpernickel, olive, and I can’t remember the rest.
The house red Apple Martini was a refreshing way to begin the night as was the barrel-aged Old Fashioned.
I started with the house crudo…pink snapper with citrus, herbed crême fraiche, and American caviar
Honey had the house chopped salad.
For dinner, I had the best Chilean sea bass I’ve ever had. Perfectly cooked with a super crispy, buttery pan sear. Served with a lovely shrimp risotto with roasted cherry tomatoes and a citrus sauce.
Honey had the short ribs with shiitake mushrooms and polenta…melt in your mouth good.
We shared the twice baked potato and the house vegetables (snap peas, artichokes, and bacon). Both were so good.
For dessert, we had the Milky Way (chocolate, nougat, marshmallows, salted caramel ice cream, chocolate cookie crumble) and the lemon sorbet.
They had a terrific price on a 2011 Justin Vineyards Isoceles cab that our server, Jimmy, recommended to go along with dinner, so we went for it. Apparently, it normally goes for about a hundred more than we paid, but The Ranch was able to get special pricing for it. We were lucky enough to get the last bottle.
Service was great all evening. Jimmy was terrificly attentive and knew the menu quite well. His suggestions were spot on, and it was great to be able to try a new wine at a discounted price. This place is always fantastic and consistent…and great because you can usually get in without a reservation, so impromptu dates are easily done.
That is a great bottle indeed.
There are some gems on that list. 3 years ago I grabbed 3 bottles of a wine they had on their list for $300 under retail.
Kobawoo for lunch today in K-town. Kimchi jun, bulgogi, sanche bibimbap and Wang bosam. Washed the meal down with kook soon dang seng makkoli.
Prettiest Pizza shot I have seen in a long time!
Out of curiosity, what did you acquire?
Iced latte - Alfred Coffee
@farmertomato treated us to lunch at Pine & Crane, which we got to go. Everything was great, particularly the pea shoots, spinach, spicy peanuts, and three cup mushroom. I didn’t try the scallion pancakes or the panfried pork buns.
Sorry about the quality of the photos. There wasn’t enough light, and I didn’t get to style the dishes.
Vegetable potstickers, spicy shrimp wontons, scallion pancakes, and panfried pork buns.
Spicy peanuts and three cup mushroom.
Sweet potato fries and pea shoots.
Dan Dan noodles and Taiwanese spinach.
Lemon meringue pie made by @farmertomato’s missus. And damn fine pie it was!!
O + P
Cocktail, forgot the name but it was the chipotle one, pretty good
Fried mushrooms were pretty tasty, the dipping sauce was odd (in a good way) but couldn’t figure out what it was, perhaps egg whites???
Also ordered the ribs, they were good but I doubt I would order them again. Interesting flavor BBQ sauce, but just not my cup of tea.
Sides we got cauliflower millet and the brussels sprouts. The cauliflower millet was excellent and I think it was made with raw cauliflower?? Either way, very good. The brussels sprouts were average, nothing wrong but nothing special.
The paparadelle with pork belly bolognese was quite good. I don’t think paparadelle can be made any better and the slightly spicy sauce was flavorful and decadent. It came with a hefty portion and for the price.
Tri tip was another hit. The meat was above average, but that bernaise was one of the better ones I have had. The bernaise with broccolini would make any child eat their veggies.
The meal was going great, until an unexpected turn. Dessert came…and pow, highlight of the meal. I did not see this coming, seriously very thoughtful and well balanced desserts. They were a bit rustic, but honestly stole the show.
The apple crostata had an very nice spice blend and the bright apples, warm spices, crunchy topping and rich cream all blended together nicely. This was rec’d by the waitress and it delivered.
Then my personal favorite and order them whenever I see them on the menu, donuts. Or cornmeal ricotta fritters at O + P. Very light fritter, buttermilk ice cream, and strawberry jam? sauce? not sure but it was awesome when mixed altogether.
Little Jewel
Cheese fries
Fried okra with remoulade
Shrimp po’boy
Sqirl jams 
Winner. That paparadelle looks absurdly good.
Saturday and Sunday dinner: partner made chili (Sat) and tuna melt (tonight). No pics b/c too busy eating. 
Partner smears paremsan butter on the toast b/c grilling, which is lovely. 
Inspired by @ciaobob’s thread, I was thinking of Sweetfin Poke for lunch today. Got distracted by Pono Burger. I had the seasonal 'Oli 'Oli burger. It wasn’t bad, but the raclette didn’t have much flavor, and the flavor was dominated by pastrami and sauerkraut. Patty texture was good (alhtough seemed more medium than medium rare) btu was woefully underseasoned. For slightly more $, I prefer Bachi Burger.
Tried making the extra-tangy sourdough from King Arthur tonight. The recipe is deeply frustrated b/c the 2nd and 3rd proofing times are horrifically varied (4-9 hrs total), and there’s no bench rest. I decided to knead the heck out of the dough (I think I normally accidentally under knead) and to reduce the proofing (since I think I overproof). I finally got better oven spring than I normally do, and I’ve never had the seams burst open so well! But the dutch oven consistently seems to burn the bottom, so I took out the loaf (too) early tonight. Deent crumb structure, but a bit gummy. Good flavor and crust, though.
That was the one dish I wanted the most going in and it didn’t disappoint. This paparadelle was a bit thicker which I enjoyed tremendously (compared to thin ones) and it held its own against the bold and rich sauce. The chew was perfect.
@paranoidgarliclover nice. 
I keep meaning to try Pono but never get to it. How are their burgers compared to Golden State and Belcampo?
Guess you have been ignoring my reports about O & P and their desserts? lol
But FUCK…they changed the rictotta fritters to not have the thick creme?!? god damn it… those are my favorite dessert in LA, and the thicket creme + salted caramel was a big part of the enjoyment… =(
The only parpadelle I enjoy. Wish all of it was made to that thickness. There is no more generous pasta dish in all of LA for the price and the quality. Makes me wish they would make more pasta dishes oddly enough haha
