Come early.
I was there at 5pm and when I left 20 minutes later with my food to go there was quite a line.
Hotate Kakiage & Ankimo Monaka
Loved the kakiage, especially the sweetness of the corn. Ankimo was luxurious.
Sabazushi
Not peak season saba, but still good.
I expect tomorrow will be even busier.
Iâm not sure if today was busier than yesterday. But by 6PM, they were running out of items. I put in our order at about 5:20 and the scallops and saba were already gone 
. Damn workâŚI was supposed to be in line by 4:30.
We got OOE except the Ankimo MonakaâŚwe got 2 of those because we didnât want to share.
Kamo Negi Ramen
Everyone was telling us that improvements were made to this dish and it was really good. Broth, negi and noodles are everything you could hope for in a ducky soup. Duck was a little chewyâŚmy dining companion wishes the fat had rendered a bit more. Traffic delayed my companion so the duck might look a little over, but it was perfectly medium-rare when it arrived. Would I eat it, againâŚdefinitely.
Kamo Oyakodon
Perfectly seared duck, creamy eggs, sweet onions, and rice. Comfort in a bowl. Due to traffic, this one sat a little tooâŚand honestly, because it did, the mix of it all reminded me of risotto when we got to eat it. All the flavors and components really married with the rice.
Ankimo Monaka
LiverâŚlet me count all the ways that I love thee. I love liver in pretty much all forms. This ankimo is stupendous. It is both salty and sweet. My companion said the pickled greens inside werenât necessary. I wanted to call it an Ankimo Oreo. We both agreed we could have eaten 10 of these.
White Peach Mascarpone Kakigori
Divine. Who doesnât love beautiful white peaches turned into a fruity syrup to top powdery fresh shaved ice? The mascarpone made this dessert rich, and to be honest, we could have eaten or drunk the peach syrup by the gallonsâŚit was so good.
Bravo to Chefs @JLee (and his great team) & Ai Kennedy & Laura Hoang for a fun Friday night.
Bonus round:
It was steak frites night at Amboy. We couldnât help but drop by to split a picanha to go. Came with a house pan sauce and Amboy moleâŚpan sauce was the winner for me. The mole sauce made me want to wrap the steak up in a tortilla with some cheese. Fries continue to be excellent.
Wow those steak frites look incredible
Pearl River Deli chef-owner Johnny Lee plans to open a restaurant this fall in the former home of Vivian Kuâs pop-up Today Starts Here in Chinatown. Lee intends to reformat Pearl River Deli, his Cantonese-leaning restaurant in Far East Plaza, to be more fast-casual and focus the new restaurant on full-service dinners with dishes such as clay-pot rice and whole steamed fish.
Fuck the Iron Chef,
@JLee is our Ironrock Chef
Nice to see someone new writing for LA Times Food. Since the whole Meehan-Escarcega etc meltdown there havenât really been any new voices as far as I can tell.
Breijo started in January.
I wouldnât conflate Meehanâs departure (profound mismanagement) and Escarcegaâs (failed to inform herself about her unionâs seniority rules).
@JLee one very minor suggestion, plate lunch usually always has two scoops rice one scoop Mac salad. Iâll be by to try this out fo sho.
Two bowls rice one bowl mac salad?
Congratulations!
Warrior: Well-deserved! I was disappointed that Michelin didnât give PRD a Bib Gourmand.
Michelinâs not generous with the Bib Gourmands for Chinese restaurants.
PRD moving âdown the streetâ at the end of the month.
Is he not keeping the original open for quick service and the new place will focus on sit down food?
Last day of service at Far East Plaza location will be Oct.31. Spooky.
Good to know! Thank you
