Taco Bell
Mori
Shunji
GCM Burger Joint
Chengdu Taste
Little Jewel
Tana’s
Giorgio Baldi
Roma Deli
Guerilla Tacos
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What no Langer’s?
you talking to me ???
hmmm
roma deli can be swapped out with langer’s easily.
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Good dishes at Jitlada:
Southern curry with anything. I would say this is their flagship dish.
Jungle curry with anything. Try jackfruit and pollock roe. Jackfruit is great in the curries.
Fish kidney curry.
Tea leaf curry.
They used to have a dried mudfish curry but I’m not sure they still have that. Anybody know? The menu is bewildering.
Coco lotus soup.
Black sea soup with baby squid.
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I wasn’t particularly impressed by the Isaan dishes at Night Market. I prefer Lacha Somtum, Yai’s (especially the one on Hollywood Blvd), and Isaan Station. I also enjoyed the catfish larb at Wat Dong Moon Lek Noodle.
I think Yai’s is underrated.
yellow soft shell crab curry.
egg-yolk stuffed fish ball soups.
jazzer coffee.
whole seabass with turmeric and mango spicy sauce, sided on the fucking side.
fried snapper fillets in mango sauce.
slices of ultra-ripe mango.
mussels in lemongrass broth.
the jazzy burger.
kua kling beef.
egg noodles with sator beans.
the list goes on and on and on and on.
it’s tied with fucking luv 2 eat thai bistro for me, but both majorly fuck up my poor stomach.
and that’s no fucking joke.
What are the good dishes at Yai’s? I had an incredible seafood curry cooked in tinfoil there, and by far the best crispy pork and broccoli version of anywhere in LA there. It does seem super underrated. If it was open later, I would go far more often (as of now, default is Ruen Pair, my perennial favorite).
I like their fermented bamboo salad and their larb or larb-like fish and shrimp dishes.
I like all of their variations of whole deep fried seabass dishes. And anything with sator beans
Stumptown is, of course, from Portland, Oregon, and should be out of the running for an “essential LA restaurant”. Jones is a Pasadena institution and many other roasters and cafes use their beans, so probably a better substitute.
Other places I’d have to claim are essential:
Chichen Itza - there is no other place like it for Oaxacan meets Yucatan cuisine, and anything that comes close probably costs twice as much.
Mama’s Tamales - the best tamales on the planet. Period.
Shibucho - the original (and still best) sushi restaurant in LA. The owner/chef is a piece of work to be sure, but his knife skills can’t be contested.
Pho Filet - the Vietnamese food in LA is better than the Vietnamese food in Vietnam, and the cloven pho here is unique and special.
It really is so interesting how good the southeast Asian food in LA is. And it really is a testament to the better quality of LA ingredients and the fact that there are entire immigrant communities that are cooking food for themselves and only for themselves. Therefore, they are not going to sacrifice taste/quality etc.
What else even comes close to Chichen Itza?? I’d pay twice as much for food of the same type that is better than they produce, as their foods is astounding.
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Yes, Chichen Itza is a good place.
J. Gold put Din Tai Fung on his list, so I can put Stumptown on mine. The more I think about J. Gold’s list the more I like his culinary sensibilities. He doesn’t shy away from gritty, authentic ethnic restaurants, but he leans toward refined, or others would say sterile, more upscale restaurants.
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DTF has been a long time favorite of J Gold. I still remember him discussing his first and subsequent visits there on Good Food a long long time ago. He was completely enamored by the whole experience. I think at that time, the vast majority of his ethnic food experiences weren’t nearly as refined. DTF’s whole XLB experience, along with some other worthy dishes there and the relatively smart decor hit a home run in his book.
It’s different, of course, but La Serenata de Garibaldi is what I had in mind to compare to Chichen Itza. It’s a completely different dining experience (more upscale and more Yucatan than Oaxacan), but the dishes–especially the sauces, are excellent and you can get beer and liquor with your meal. No panuchos, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had salbutes (though not on the menu), and they add mini quesadillas to the normal table dish of corn chips and their salsa is one of the best condiments in town: more of a musky pepper puree than a standard salsa.
This place?
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-serenata-de-garibaldi-los-angeles
Because holy shit, I have never seen Yelper’s tear a place a new asshole like the ones reviewing that place…
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The Pico location gets hammered for service and atmosphere. I prefer the East 1st St. Location in Boyle Heights.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/la-serenata-los-angeles-3?utm_campaign=yelp_feed&utm_medium=feed_v2&utm_source=bing
I think either location is piss-ass poor. Especially the Boyle Heights location, as I’ve been taken there more often than I care to remember as it’s a favorite of my co-worker’s. Ex co-worker.
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I just fucking cracked up. This is the fucking joint people in the know would hit the fuck up when they were slumming it or rather attempting to do so. The Boyle Heights Mariachi plaza is what I’m talking abouts.