November 2018 Weekend Rundown

Kaju Tofu > BCD
Young Dong > Kaju Tofu

If you haven’t been to Young Dong give it a try. It’s our go to.

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Thanks for the tip, @js76wisco! Going to bookmark it now.
P.S. The one on Beach Blvd.? Initial Yelp photos indicate a much smaller menu and no soon tofu soup.

We usually go to the one in Diamond Bar in the H-Mart plaza. There is one in Arcadia with the same exact menu. The one on Colima in Rowland Heights shut down.

The Young Dong on Beach Blvd is not affiliated and a sullongtang place. Looks good but I’ve never been.

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Thanks for clarifying!

“Heavenly” karaage and spicy tonkotsu ramen from Ikkousha in Torrance. Both were great as always, but the egg was too overcooked for my liking this time.

Scallion & ponzu and original with takoyaki sauce at Gindaco in Gardena. We don’t have very good takoyaki in the South Bay so I had high hopes for this place. They were tasty and had a decent amount of octopus but unfortunately weren’t as crispy as I would have liked. My favorite are still at EAK Ramen.

I unapologetically love LA street dogs and these were from a cart outside Staples Center after a Kings game.

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Good report @thechez5.

Is that ham in your spicy tonkotsu ramen bowl?

Good to know.

:ramen:

Copper wood oven-baked Maple Leaf duck & polenta casserole, with garlic tomato sauce, from The Rooster (Santa Monica)…

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Shuck Oyster House (Costa Mesa) -
Started my weekend early. Hopped over to SoCo at the OC Mix for a Yelp charity event supporting Barks of Love with a friend. Various vendors were offering specials in conjunction with the event. I wanted to end the night at Shuck with a glass of champagne and some oysters.
Shuck is one of the few places that have access to Island Creeks from Duxbury, MA (Providence/Connie & Ted’s are other places that can source them). Those are my absolute favorite oysters…a really nice balance of salty, creamy, and meaty. While Shuck did not have Island Creeks today, they did have other varietals from the same farm. They had Row 34, Beach Point, Ichabod, and Nook Creek. The Nook Creek was super salty, but somehow, rather meaty and satisfying. I also enjoyed the Beach Point.
I also tried a BeLon from Maine for the first time tonight. It was delightful. Very well-balanced…and a touch sweet. It was a bit smaller than what I was expecting (the ones Tony Bourdain had in France were humongous!) but I would definitely try them, again. The Sun Bonnets from British Columbia were also great…a touch creamier than I usually like, but another great surprise.
What I will not try again are Kiwi Cups from New Zealand. Those things are okay upfront, but then turn real bitter, real fast. This is my third time trying them, so I’m pretty sure that my palate is just not fond of them. From what I understand, they are quite popular because they are on the menu here often.
I chatted with one of the managers about oyster varieties that I’ve tried and loved while I was at the counter. Turns out that in addition to the over 20 varieties they have on hand, they also carry at least half a dozen off menu oysters that you’ll have to ask for. Tonight, they had oysters from the Rappahannock farms in VA…that’s right…the same guys at the Row DTLA. This is super cool for me because while I live closer to DTLA, I actually spend more time in the OC so this is easier to get to.
They were slammed tonight, so service was a touch slow. My friend and I were not in a hurry, so we just enjoyed a leisurely evening. The team rewarded us with pours of sake and sochu. I was quite fond of the sochu as it had been aged in whiskey barrels for 9 months leaving it with a bourbon-esque finish.
I love that I can always try new oysters everytime I come in.

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Love that spot. It’s on our regular rotation. They have free corkage, so we’ll often take a bottle with us, but we often order a second. The whole crew there is great.

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I really love it, too. I’m always impressed with their selection of oysters. My local oyster place carries about half a dozen varieties at the most…and I’m getting to the point, where I’m familiar with them all.

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Gut bomb of a very early breakfast at Le Roy’s in Arcadia. Spinach and cheese omelette with cottage fries, bacon, and a giant pancake. The people who work there are the nicest and the interior is super kitschy which makes me want to go back even though I’m not the biggest fan of “diner-style” food.

Late lunch/dinner was right up my alley, though. Remembered that Mariscos Jalisco has a truck in Gardena on Fridays. Excellent Poseidon tostada and tacos dorados de camarón. Just as good as the main truck.

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I had Marisco Jalisco too since La Unica sold out.

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The air quality wasn’t great for going out, so I whipped up a batch of matsutake gohan at home…

… and some crab (& crab roe & crab tomalley) fried rice with stir-fried garlic string beans…

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Damn they sold out? What time was this? I was hoping you get to try them out!

3:20PM. I’ll try again next weekend!

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East Borough (Costa Mesa)

Saturday and Sunday Brunch Only, 11-3

Kaya Toast

Kaya-Lychee Jam, Egg with Maggi, Cafe Sua Da

Delicious! If I could split hairs the egg yolk was slightly over and I would like more jam. The coffee…it’s a Vietnamese place so you can’t expect coffee from Singapore/Malaysia regional.

Damn my nails are dirty

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Whenever I walk by those carts (auto show in Nov/Dec), I’m so tempted to buy b/c they smell SO good. Maybe I’ll finally get one this year. :slight_smile:

That’s what we thought, too, but we ended up getting, um, PIzza Hut delivery. ::sigh:: Bad, bad Dobby…

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I know I know I can just go to the market and buy a can of Yeo’s kaya, but I don’t eat the whole can in a week.

The handful of Sing/Malay joints in LA/OC won’t sell it because it’s too damn simple. Kaya Street Kitchen closed and when I asked Simpang if they have it I got a look like I was speaking Swahili

LA Street Dog >>>>> Dirty Water NYC Dog

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Hell yes and it’s not even close.