@Alkiegourmand Great list! Five of the ten I consider essential, the others I haven’t tried, but now I will, because I trust you.
When I was in college, I considered Canters essential. Now that I am an adult, Gjusta is essential.
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The best? Huh. I tried and though the room was drop-dead gorgeous - I thought Mori was better. I didn’t take notes, but from my memory (last year or the year before - it was pretty new) - I remember some of the sushi was just not cut right - and a bit chewy as a result. And very good rice, but Mori’s rice was better. (Sorry, I don’t remember why.) My Sushi Nazi friend (whom I went with) concurred. He’d heard great things about it, and though we liked it - we still couldn’t take the flag from Mori and set it at Q.
But I would go back for a second try. If only your other 10 made more sense to me.
Beautiful place though. I might take my new GF there.
Hi @MrFoodiepants,
I think many would agree with you (including me). Mori is way better than Q. Q Sushi has so many problems, not the least of which is the fact that main Sushi Chef Naruke seems to only serve customers he deems worthy (I’ve been 3 times (and I’ve confirmed this with friends who’ve also gone a few times without me)). 2 of the times I went, no one else was there except 1 or 2 other couples, and his assistant chef was serving everyone, while he sat around doing nothing.
The actual Sushi I felt was lacking, and the price is insane for the (lack of) quality you get ($250 per person). Even my most hardcore Sushi friends don’t feel like they want to return.
I’ll never go back to Q sushi for this reason.
Been to Cassia three times. It’s VERY close to me which is great, just wish I loved the food. Wish I merely liked the food. But i don’t.
I don’t get this place.
Food is dull. It often sounds much better than it is. Which means it’s disappointing. Where are the flavors? Boring.
I’ll likely go again as friends have heard great things about this place. Maybe I’ll come around.
I’m with CiaBob on this. I like Issan Station (love their late-ish hours!) but it doesn’t pop for me. (and the beef tastes like cheap meat - because it is cheap meat.)
That said - I find the better Thai restaurants to get a couple things great, but others dishes - not so great. Even mediocre.
If I could put them all together - you’d have one bang-up fantastic Thai restaurant.
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The Vietnamese in the US are wealthier than their counterparts in Vietnam, so they can afford better ingredients.
Many, many VN people who live in SoCal prefer the VN food here vs what’s available in the homeland, due to much higher quality of ingredients (and usually a lot more of it too).
I would also add
Animal
Langer’s
Gjelina
Sea Harbour
Ricky’s Fish Tacos
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This list appeals to my personal biases more than Gold’s list.
It includes both underdogs I love, Hatchet Hall and Love & Salt, which I think of as essential.
OTOH, no Shibumi, which actually might be a more technically “fair” play haha Edit: just realized they have the Freshmen 15 with their new rules of having to have been open for over a year to get on the list, and the first on that celebrated list is Shibumi:
For whatever reason it feels like it has more street food or just more cheap-ish, diverse spots that cover the way many Angelenos actually eat all the time (like including Quesadilla Lady, Leos, El Coraloense, El Huarache Azteca, Elf, Gwang Yang, Isaan Station, Kobee, Revolutionario, Adana).
I think the most surprising thing is that neither of the big lists has Luv2Eat on them.
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I didn’t think I needed to explain this, but this is the essential 99 for this year based on the link above.
ADANA RESTAURANT
A.O.C.
ALIMENTO
ANGELINI OSTERIA
ANIMAL
APPLE PAN
BÄCO MERCAT
BAR AMÁ
BAROO
BEIJING PIE HOUSE
BESTIA
BEVERLY SOON TOFU RESTAURANT
BIGMISTA’S BARBECUE
BILL’S BURGERS
BROKEN SPANISH
BURRITOS LA PALMA
CACAO MEXICATESSEN
CASSIA
CHENGDU TASTE
CHI SPACCA
CHICHÉN ITZÁ
COLOMBO’S ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE & JAZZ CLUB
COLONIA PUBLICA
CONI’SEAFOOD
CONNIE & TED’S
DAL RAE RESTAURANT
DAN SUNG SA
DIN TAI FUNG
DUNE
EGGSLUT
EL CORALOENSE
EL HUARACHE AZTECA
ELF CAFE
EVERSON ROYCE BAR (ERB BAR)
FATHER’S OFFICE
GENWA KOREAN BBQ
GJELINA
GJUSTA
GUELAGUETZA
GUERRILLA TACOS
GUISADOS
GWANG YANG BBQ
HAM JI PARK
HATCHET HALL
ISAAN STATION
JITLADA THAI RESTAURANT
JON & VINNY’S
KOBEE FACTORY
KOGI BBQ TRUCK
LA CASITA MEXICANA
LANGER’S DELICATESSEN-RESTAURANT
LE COMPTOIR
LOCOL
LOVE & SALT
LUCQUES
LUKSHON
MARISCOS JALISCO
MATSUMOTO
MAUDE
MB POST
MÉLISSE
MISKY MISKY
N/NAKA
NIGHT + MARKET
OH MY PAN
PARK’S BBQ
PETIT TROIS
PHILIPPE THE ORIGINAL
PINE & CRANE
PIZZERIA MOZZA
PROVIDENCE
Q
RACIÓN
REDBIRD
RÉPUBLIQUE
REVOLUTIONARIO
RICEBAR
RICKY’S FISH TACOS
ROSE CAFE
RUEN PAIR THAI
RUSTIC CANYON WINE BAR AND SEASONAL KITCHEN
SALT’S CURE
SAPP COFFEE SHOP
SEA HARBOUR SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
SHUNJI JAPANESE RESTAURANT
SOTTO
SPAGO BEVERLY HILLS
SQIRL
SUMMER ROLLS
SURATI FARSAN MART
SUSHI GEN
SZECHUAN IMPRESSION
TACOS LEO
THE BELLWETHER
THE HUNGRY CAT
THE QUESADILLA LADY
TROIS MEC
TSUJITA LA
UNION
WEXLER’S DELI
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Where to begin!!! I guess I’ll begin with lists are shit… and i’ll just stick to J Gold if i want a list
You forgot Pailin and OG Pa Ord and Spicy Thai BBQ and Sri Siam and Siam Sunset and that’s just thai. This is why lists are stupid 
I think you mean “10”.
But seriously - wat?
My turn to say wat? (You included effing Q?!)
No, I copied and pasted the laweekly list so you guys wouldn’t have to suffer through their terrible layout.
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AH!!! I owe you an apology. I thought these were your picks.
Really? Do you just strongly prefer high-end dining? I’d be curious to know what else you like about Gold’s list so much more. Just for curiosity sake, not that it matters in the grand scheme.