Oh yeah, the cheap zazang / zampong specialist near me doesn’t have kimchi either.
Villa’s Tacos, Highland Park
I don’t see/hear much love on FTC for Villa’s but I think these are banging. I would gladly come back. Most of the customers are Mexican and the owner is a local so this ain’t some Highland Park hipster tacos. Estilo Los Angeles. Free parking!
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Sightglass, Hollywood.
Holy crap this place is freaking huge. Also has a full menu of food, produce, and wine. Right next to Tartine too. Surrounded by studios. Plenty of restrooms, tables, and chairs. Sans power outlets you can probably stay here all day lol I imagine some of the writers nearby do this.
Vanilla paste latte.
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Yang’s Kitchen, Alhambra.
Been going to the SGV for 3 decades and I don’t really go to Main St at all lol.
“Hainan” Fish Rice. Fish was cooked to perfection. Ginger sauce was flavorful as well as the rice and butter. Pickles were sweet and slightly tart with a kick. Nicely executed dish. Goofy name.
Are you fuking kidding me? ROFLMAO.
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Is that a drink you ordered? Looks Costco sample size lol
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Catching up on a lot of meals over a few months!
Sakae Sushi, Gardena - Tried after reading the LA Times piece, ordered a little of everything. A lot of attention goes into the food. Inari and kanpyo are both delicate, not too sweet. Saba was my favorite. Didn’t like the others as much because there was too much rice with not enough filling.
Chennai Dosa Corner, Artesia - Onion masala dosa, plain paratha, yum. Ambala in the same strip mall if you can’t get enough dosa.
Bafang Dumpling, Chino Hills - Not bad, better than I expected for the fast casual style of the place.
Holbox - Out of their truck, not the full menu, but everything I had was still great. Not everything pictured - smoked kanpachi tostada + taco, fish taco, ceviche of the day.
Osteria La Buca, Hollywood - Still solid. Spaghetti nero, bucatini carbonara, chopped salad, fried artichokes
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Yes and it was $8. I understand it’s a business and money comes first but is that really about $3-5 worth of material?
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giant hands or small cup?
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BOTH.
Strawberry Amazake ‘Smoothie’
Chavez Farms strawberries, amazake (Japanese fermented rice beverage), almond milk, lime zest
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Geez yeah that’s insane
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It used to be a lot bigger. 
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Sometimes you need greasy chili cheese fries and onion rings from The Hat. Probably the only family of four who doesn’t get pastrami. I grew up in NYC eating the real pastrami not the salty pink LA style (not that there is anything wrong with The Hat or Johnnys Pastrami).
Some of the best onion rings around. Buttermilk brined beer battered whatevs.
Pickles, tomatoes and onions help cut all the greasy bites.
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Yes!!! I LOVE their new location. We have mentioned in Villas quite a bit on the NE LA Thread. Pro-Tip, while waiting for your order, you can pop into Grocery Outlet for a good selection of chilled Mexican Sodas.
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Ate at Loreto last night and the takeaway from the evening was goddamn eating out has gotten expensive. For a nice sit down dinner it’s easily $150pp at most places and I just don’t know how many people can pull that off more than a couple of times a month. I know food costs have gone up and restaurants have probably always been underpriced when considering the labor involved, but at current prices it is no surprise people are cooking more and staying in.
Loved the vibe at the place. Felt like we are were in Brooklyn. We sat inside, but the patio out back looked like a great place to bring kids as there is ample space for them to wander around without being in anyone’s way.
Raw bar oysters, clams, sashimi was good, but nothing spectacular
The seafood tower had great fresh seafood, but the sauce poured over was too overpowering. I have no idea what it was, but it seemed real heavy on Worcestershire sauce.
The torta ahogda was quite good, but a little light on lobster meat.
We had two desserts. One was a good puff pastry with some tropical fruit cream and ice cream. The other dessert was a sort of chocolate coffee cake thing covered in a light cream and it was phenomenal. I believe it was a riff on an after dinner drink, but i didn’t understand what the waitress said when she explained it.
Dinner for 2 w/ 3 cocktails and an $85 bottle of wine was $500 after tip.
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JeetKuneBao, you remind me that aside from a few visits to Hot Red Bus, getting an ice kacang at Yazmin, and a stop at The Dog Haus when Alhambra was just their second location, I haven’t eaten on Main St. either.
Valley, tons. Garvey?, sure. North-South thoroughfares (Atlantic, Garfield, San Gabriel), absolutely. Las Tunas, of course. Just not Main St.
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I’m looking to pig out on All You Can Eat sushi, mostly the Nigiri sushi.
I heard Here Fishy Fishy is a great place for $33 lunch.
What are your recommendations for ACYE sushi?
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Was actually also at Loreto that night too!
It’s pricey, but the food is good and I do agree the space is actually quite amazing. The big open doorways to the patio make the entire space feel airy.
The raw stuff was my favorite, but my dining partners really thought the cooked branzino was one of the best they’d had (it was a big portion and well cooked, but needed a lot of assembly).
Ceviche Magdalena - Yellowtail, Honeydew, Cucumber, Maui Onion, Jalapeño, Cilantro, Basil, Salsa de Calabasa
“Beetello” Tonnato Ceviche - Roasted Beets, Salsa Tonnato, Habanero, Red Onion, Capers, Cilantro, Lemon
Tostada a la Joaquin - Otoro Flameado, Soy Onion, Tomate Tatemado, Avocado, Yuzu Vinaigrette
Tostada Kondo - Half Moon Scallop, Fennel, Maui Onion, Wasabi Aioli, Lemon, Uni
Elote Asado - Uni Aioli, Uni Tongue, Parmesan, Lime, Tepin
Pesca del Dio (Branzino)
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Totally!
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My May…
House special sauteed banana pancakes (with a side of bacon), from Metro Cafe (Culver City)…
Soft-shell crab, from Taberu (Arts District)… Try their delicious skewers also.
Omurice with chashu, from Azay (Little Tokyo)… Glad to see this place getting busy. Sergio (Akira-san) is in the house most days.
Lobster roll, from Connie and Ted’s (West Hollywood)… But what I’m really here to eat is:
Fried clam bellies! These totally hit the spot. The New England chowder here is superb as well.
Bocadillos from La Espanola (Harbor City)… Their airy Galician bread is a marvel, and completely level ups their sandwiches. My favorite is the anchoa y tomate.
Don’t leave La Espanola without tasting their Spanish churros con chocolate!
Salad bar run before doubling down on the meat (mostly the picanha cut lol), at Fogo de Chão (Beverly Hills)…
Rigatoni all’Amatriciana, from Funke (Beverly Hills)…
The Laika, from Layla Bagels (Santa Monica)… These sourdough delights are very photogenic, but unless you have the mouth of Joker, really tough to get the entire cross-section in on just one bite. Damn good eatin’, though!
Fried taro with dried shrimp, from Orange Bistro (Alhambra)… Who says there’s no good food on Main Street in Alhambra? This modern Taiwanese joint is bangin’. The umami is dosed liberally in this appetizer plate (agree completely with @Clayfu that this is basically crack). Also, order the off-menu braised eel with sticky rice. Fantastic.
Braised chicken with chestnuts, from WangJia (San Gabriel)… Yes, it’s more of a winter-y thing, but I’ll order this dish from a Shanghai specialist any time of the year wherever I can find it (paging @Jerome)…
Omakase, at Sushi Takeda (Little Tokyo)… Hiro-san is the main man, and his shari rocks. This piece of aji epitomizes the excellence here.
Chi-ayu (young sweetfish) two ways, from Miki Bar at Shunji Japanese Cuisine (Santa Monica)… Miki-san gives us a glimpse of his own style here. He gently fries the whole fish, and then minces the front half, serves it over rice, and tops that with the intact tail half of the fish. Remarkable texture. Huge bite!
Aged ribeye, from The Arthur J (Manhattan Beach)… Steaks are sometimes tough to photograph, but this one was gorgeous to shoot (AND to eat lol). Wonderful pours on the cocktails here, too.
Corn dog, from the 101st L.A. County Fair… How many of y’all went to the Fair this year?
Mentaiko mazemen (with crab supplement), from Iki Ramen (Hollywood)… Just the thing before catching another marathon set by The Cure at The Bowl…
Sticky rice with extra extra ripe mango, from Bangkok Palace (Echo Park)… To me, Asian mango is the king of fruits.
Special tuna don (akami, chu-toro, otoro), from Wadatsumi (Torrance)… Tetsuya-san may be away visiting Japan this month, but his kitchen here doesn’t miss a beat. Kamado rice is as good as ever.
Nasi goreng with fried egg and beef, from Suka Suka Saya (Pico-Union)… Cute little Indonesian restaurant in a mini-mall on the corner of Western & Pico with very friendly owners. Char kway teow here was on point as well, and it’s all served by a (very polite) robot! Gotta go back to try their Indomie (Jakarta style)!
Chowpup reminds me that there are 31 days in May, so we visited our local Baskin Robbins, and I picked up this little midnight treat to take home. Happy June!
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