Finally made it out to Oliboli. Waiting for the goods…
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I am positive they will be the best donuts you ever had!
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Yup, pretty much. Yesterday’s Thanksgiving meal, while excellent, was not the unqualified success I had been hoping it would be. But today is a new day. So I headed south.
Excuse the pics of the partially-eaten donuts. I use very patriotic paper bowls when we eat in the car. 
Shakshuka (!), croque madame, chocolate, filled hazelnut spread, Meyer lemon, bumbleberry (mixed berry icing over blueberry donut).
They were all great. Shakshuka tasted like a pizza donut (I mean that as a compliment), esp I think the tomato sauce might’ve been salsa. The donuts are SO soft and fluffy (although I can’t say that they are “light”). Bumbleberry reminded me a bit of the (sore missed) blueberry muffins from Souplantation. Only criticism is that the filled one has SO much hazelnut spread that you could honestly feed a family of four for a day w/ that thing. Sometimes too much really just is too much. I even liked the cake donuts here! (and I normally detest cake donuts)
Rather glad this place is far b/c I’d be here way too often otherwise. Worth the drive (so little traffic today!) for a taste, definitely.
Since I’m never in the area, I had to stop at Ba Le.
The woman handing me the sandwich was so sweet (holding it aloft until I took it directly from her). The filling is fine, but the BREAD!!! How can something so relatively thin have intensely different textures btw crust and crumb??? Crust is thin, shatteringly crisp. Crumb is soft and there is no mouth scratching!!! (@Chowseeker1999) So yummy.
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Next time you swing by… don’t pass up the Mayo they sell in the fridge. o.m.g.
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And the pâté! Might as well get the pickled vegetables, bi, and cha lua, too.
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Tsujita Ramen Take-out tsukemen - still fantastic
Fat n Flour sweet ginger pie-ettes (the 5”) and chocoloate chess
Cinnamon rolls
The nutter butter
Needle yuchoy
Beef n Onions
Win-dow from American Beauty fried chicken sandwich, burger, and fries; both sandwiches were great, but that fried chicken was quite noteworthy compares favorably to anybody not named Howlin Rays
SM Farmers Market
Dried hachiya persimmons
The colors of autumn in different varieties of radishes
Cindy’s Kitchen pretty good call from Ipse and chowseeker
La Morra x Found Oyster collab - clam chowder pie
Vespertine x Sean Brock not really adding anything beyond others’ excellent posts
Prince Street Pizza Thanks @PorkyBelly!
Pizzette
I rather enjoyed this and think it’s an easier way to get Nancy Silverton’s dough now on the west side. The pizzas are small, but I do think Size to Price ratio is similar to a Mozza pizza. The dough stayed crispy and yet pliable even an hour after pickup.
Didn’t have any uni pieces so iPhone X for scale
Reminded me of eating a sandwich in Italy (except with much more stuffing)
Hotville
Green Acres in Simi Valley - love their tri-tip sandwiches
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Culatello is available at Cortinas in Anaheim. A less salty prosciutto with an almost dry aged steak kind of funk in a good way. From what I understand real Italian culatello is very rarely imported to the USA.
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Yup! Definitely not from one week…
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“Stuffing” Tamales from Taco Maria with mushroom gravy and cranberry salsa (not pictured) . Really reminded of a cornbread stuffing and loved the texture of the Masa.
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Huge Tree Pastry
Had this bookmarked for the longest time and stopped by for Thanksgiving breakfast in the parking lot. The fantuan is fantastic. It’s been a long time since I’ve had one, and this brings back some great memories. The egg and pickles are new to me, but really a game changer combined with the youtiao. We got the purple rice version and I would love to try it with white rice.
The leek pie is so damn good! As good as something I’d get in Taiwan.
And so is the green onion pancake. It is perfectly crispy and travels well, too.
Jim’s Bakery
We went for the Portugese egg tarts and got a piping hot batch. The crust is unbelievably flaky like a croissant. The filling is pretty textbook, although it’s a little runny when fresh. The good news is that it’s perfect after reheating or even cold.
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Big words about their “exclusive” on culatello:
The Culatello import ban ended in 2013.
Eatly and many others carry “di zabello” nowadays.
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I wasn’t sure about this either. Thanks for confirming. I liked the culatello but not sure worth the $75 per lb price tag. The proscuitto de parma at ~1/4 of the price is more my speed.
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I like it, but cannot say I appreciate significant hegemony compared to a very good prosciutto. It is dryer and more expensive for sure. I like Jamon Iberico/lomo more anyway - Viva Espagna!
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Nice! Glad you enjoyed both places those are 2 of my favorites.
I been eating Huge Tree Pastry all my life (they used to be called Yi Mei kinda by where Elite is before a fire moved them further up Atlantic)!! On your next visit be sure to order a shao bing, daikon cake (with a garlicky soy sauce), dan bing and the salty soy milk! I always over order here.
Nice timing at Jim’s for the hot egg tarts!!
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I agree with you on Iberico > Proscuitto. Well everything except the price tag unless you’re treating.
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@JeetKuneBao thank you for those recs! I am dying to go back and try the rest of the menu. While we’re at it, can you point me towards a spot for lu rou fan? 
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Cindy’s
Definitely get some cold appetizers, noodles, and dumplings as well!
Closer? Golden Leaf, Tofu King. There is also Yangs Kitchen which I never got to try.
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Ditto. Except Iberico >> Prosciutto
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Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken Pizza from Rose City Pizza - pretty solid, thought it was just ok needing more flavor at first, but liked it more at night and then air fried the next day
Banh Xeo from Summer Rolls - first time trying this, liked the crispy pancake and everything inside but was kinda surprised by how bland it is without added sauce or seasoning. Of course they give fish sauce on the side, but I’m not a fan of fish sauce.
Super Garlic Bread from Sunmerry - had very low expectations for their version of this trendy garlic bread, and yeah it’s nothing special. I didn’t finish whatever the sweet glob in the middle is.
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