September 2021 Rundown

Yes and supposedly Sergio has been making the pizzas. Good reports so far. I’m headed back down in the next few weeks for sure.

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Excellent news! I’ll be down there next week too!

And they now offer 12" pies

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Hey! What are you doing on Friday? Live the life I want, and go take a cooking lesson led by African Chop Truck at the Fowler Museum.

PS to anyone from Fowler or African Chop Truck who is reading this. Neither of you have the event on your respective websites. I followed an IG post from African Chop Truck to Fowler Museum, clicked on the correct link and post, and got to the eventbrite page.

I’m so sorry I can’t attend.

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I am glad you got to try it! Definitely get those jugs for home next time! I always had nice pieces of coconut meat. Sometimes there is a lot and sometimes not so much.

Tara’s Himalayan (SaMo branch)…
My first and only other taste of Tara’s was the Venice branch a few yrs ago. I found it kind of bland then, so I wasn’t sure what to expect this time around… I actually rather enjoyed it this time around, but partner did not (didn’t hate, but isn’t particularly interested in having it again).

We had the chicken momo, lamb shank, okra, and and spinach naan. Chicken momo looks like a cross btw a jao-zi and a vareniki. Was homey and comforting to me, but I think partner doesn’t have the same association w/ dumplings that I do. :wink: Accompanying sauce is described as “achaar,” but I got more coconut w/ only a tiny sour flavor (and wouldn’t have minded more of the sour). Also not sure if they’re grinding the meat in-house b/c there was a tiny piece of cartilage in one of the dumplings.

Loved the sauce for the lamb shank (which was surprisingly sweet, although not unpleasantly so). Partner thought the lamb could’ve been cooked down much more, and he had a point. For whatever reason, though, I didn’t mind the slight chew.

Okra was probably my favorite dish. Partner thought it was too “dark” tasting. I get the dark part, but I really liked the complexity.

Spinach naan was kind of dull. Not much in the way of flavor, and the dough itself was quite pale. I do wonder if it might’ve been better eaten at the restaurant.

Rice is included w/ each entree, which is a bit excessive, IMHO (nothing we ate was that “saucy” to require a starch).

The place is a bit too pricey for a regular-rotation place for me (I probably could’ve easily eaten another app or small entree), but I’d happily return otherwise.

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I’m so with you on the okra. Easily my favorite dish there.

Grilled quails over Maggie’s Farm lettuces.

Quails from Sweet1 Bakery and Kebab in Van Nuys, $1.99/each - marinated.
Picked up some Basturma from the deli case.

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What else do you like there? :slight_smile:

I like Tara’s quite a bit for takeout Indian in the B’wood area (not like their is much competition) - it is pricier than the norm, but I think the quality of the proteins is commensurate with the higher price and their rent. I cannot imagine it will last - the demand and the overhead aren’t gonna have a meeting point (hope I am wrong on that).

Really great samosas, and pretty good everything else (curries , saag, and okra)
Vindaloo isn’t very hot.
Indian bread, as a takeout, is always hard for me to evaluate - if it’s not piping hot, I’m not too happy.
I will take Chinese dumplings any day over chicken momo.
Never tired the YAK!

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Tanakaya (Tustin) -
Fresh soba and udon. I think I like the udon here more than the soba. For cold noodle folks, the have a set that gives you a serving each of soba and udon. I also found a Tsukemen-style curry that comes with either udon or soba…I chose udon and it was delightful dipping cold noodles in hot curry broth/sauce.

Honda-ya (Tustin) -
I did not know that the Honda-ya was a good skip and a jump away. We put our name down at Honda-ya and waited it out at Tanakaya. Noodles followed by yakitori…which we both hadn’t had immediately fresh from grill in a long time, was fantastic.

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Certainly good points.

I should’ve made it clear that I didn’t think the place was a bad value; the absolute price is just higher than I “want” for a regular take out joint. And, also, I am a total pig and need to eat a lot. :slight_smile:

There were 2 parties eating there when I did pick up, and I saw 2-3 other people leaving w/ takeout (not sure if they were coming from Holy Cow, though). So hopefully they do enough business. I do wonder if rent would much cheaper for them along Santa Monica Blvd., though…

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Etta (Culver City)… Chef Danny Grant in the house; solid cooking in a big space, across from PlatformLA.

Sweet corn: With lime, cilantro, cotija, pugged grains & seeds. This was a bougie ode to the street elote. And it works! Delicious.

Rack-Roasted Oysters, with smoked-tomato, lovage & lemon: Nicely shucked. The tomato and lovage overwhelm the oyster’s brininess by a tad, though…

Bubbling Shrimp, with ginger, chiltepin chile & mint, served with “bing”: Highlight, and a Huge Bite. This bing is even better than Majordomo’s. Ask for extra bing to sop up the shrimp stew.

Orecchiette, with crispy sausage, cavolo nero, tomato jus & fennel pollen: A really good plate of pasta…

Clam Pie (smoked potatoes, marjoram, parsley & lemon): Pretty good, but not greater than the sum of its parts. Still better than the clam pie from U Street, though.

Casarecce Bolognese, with parmesan fondue: Quite tasty.

Corn Cake with Peach Ice Cream: Huge Bite! Outstanding dessert in every facet.

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AWAN: I gotta admit, I was a total skeptic about this concept before I tried it. It’s a vegan product, using coconut milk as base which, to an ice cream traditionalist like myself, sounded already like a bit of a turnoff.

But then I tried it - Oh man, this is some really, REALLY marvelous stuff! AWAN’s silky soft serve consistency, and its ability to hold flavor notes without becoming too sweet nor too dilute represents some sort of mad creamery genius in my book.

I ordered online. Pickup is from AWAN’s literal tiny hole-in-the-wall located next to Dayglow Coffee in WeHo. During the pickup, I noticed they had also Weiser Melon on scoop that day - I HAD to try it.

AWAN Weiser Melon: Whoa! Superb. Creamy like cow’s milk, and a gorgeous mouthfeel, with the melon flavor lingering as if it was sorbet. Crazy.

AWAN Harry’s Berries Gaviota Strawberry: Just incredible. It tastes as if Harry’s Berries opened a creamery and made soft serve. I want to put this on my Liège waffle tomorrow.

AWAN
enjoyawan.com

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Liked everything about etta (cocktails, space, food, service, QPR) save for one very dry Pork Chop. We let it go as an aberration rather then returning it.
Did I mention the service? Everyone was really fucking nice AF, and efficient, from the greeter to the bussers…just a great staff.

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Thanks for the review! If you order ahead for pickup, do you have to wait in the (rather long) line?

They said my order was available for pickup at noon, but since they open til 6pm, I went at 4:30pm. There was only one other person in front of me.

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Pizzette - Culver City

Ugly Drum pastrami pizza was surprisingly awesome. The pastrami was so unctuous and provided a nice smoke flavor along with the nice Mozza crust. Just excellent. :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

Tam’s Noodle House - San Gabriel

#79 combo with shrimp egg flat noodle was as good as advertised. The wontons were perfection and the noodles has a nice bit and gailan? was still crunchy. My only gripe is the brisket was a little tough. But the wontons are so fucking good that I bought some frozen ones to take home. :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:

Angry Egrett Dinette - Chinatown

Short rib banh mi and the biryani burrito were a pleasant surprise. Not going to dethrone any of the heavy hitters in its respective genre, but still tasty nonetheless.

Da Vien - Little Saigon

Ice coffee with egg is good but not nearly as good as FTC favorite Phin Smith.

Bánh Cuốn Lưu Luyến - Little Saigon

Bánh cuốn đặc biệt

Bánh cuốn thit nuong

WeHo Sausage Co - Culver City

The marquis - lamb merguez burger and fries, the ranch here is extra tasty. Fries were decent, some crispy and some a bit limp, which I actually enjoy crispy and limp fries.

Bageloo - Diamond Bar

Mochi twist donut is still my favorite here. I also had a Basque cheesecake which rivals the one at Republique.

Maccheroni Republic - Downtown Los Angeles

Still slinging excellent pastas. Grab a tiger tail from DonutMan across the street after.

Agnolotti di osso bucco

Bianchi & neri

Yang’s Kitchen - Alhambra

Strawberry smoothie was awesome :heart_eyes:

Lynda Sandwich - Little Saigon

Grabbed a dac biet banh mi and it was pretty damn tasty, if they used better bread this might one a top contender for best banh mi. I had Ba Le right before and they are hands down the best so far and I haven’t found one better.

Ba Le :raised_hands::raised_hands::raised_hands:

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Maccheroni Republic is so underrated. Probably because of its stupid name.

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I thought that banh mi was pretty great. Flavors in mine were just explosive.