Smorgasburg

Goa is great.

I’m really glad they made it all the way out here.

Did anyone have the Raindrop Cake? Looks wiiiild. http://www.raindropcake.com/

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First time I saw a Raindrop Cake, I though it was a breast implant.

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this was probably the most instagrammed item from smorgasbord yesterday. Never tried and not something interested in, but at $8 a pop, they’re making a killing on some water, sugar, and agar agar…

Tried it last year at kimukatsu. It’s a gimmick and not worth 8 bucks or a wait in line. However, it might be worth it if you’re looking for a pair of cheap breast implants.

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sat at a table with several groups who had all waited in the quite long line - each of them said it was totally bland. I did not have a bite, but they were underwhelmed.

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But all of us have better alternatives, aka indoor restaurants. guess i’m waiting until the fall to go

I’m not sure what they thought it would taste like. It’s unflavored jello.

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Raindrop cake was all the rage in Japan. In 2013.

State-side, Kimukatsu (Sawtelle) offers it.

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good to know LA isn’t as dumb as New York. they’re still dumb AF for waiting in line in 100+ weather, but at least they didn’t fall for the stupidity of uncolored jello.

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Looks really cool, i’d pay $8 just to see what it’s all about.

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Yeah I mean, I imagine they would have known sort of what they were getting into, but the hype for this thing was pretty astronomic so I think expectations were high in all regards. The general feeling wasn’t “this is garbage” but was more “meh.”

In other news - I really enjoyed my taco full of french fries (Califa), my hot bowl of congee on a hot ass day (P&P), my watermelon paleta (can’t remember what the paleta bros were called), my pie (rucker), my baguette (bub & grandma’s), and the lack of lines for all of it. I was there in the morning, so it was better heat wise and crowd wise, I think. Fun day, will be back in the morning in a couple weeks.

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omyDAMN, ugly drum’s ($16/whole, $9/half) pastrami sando, pic h/t laist.com

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Dang - I wanna bite that thing through my screen! How was it?

Back in my meat-eating days, I really enjoyed Ugly Drum’s pastrami at their Mendocino Farms pop-up. It was slightly on the sweeter side due to the apple slaw, but the pastrami was rich, tender, and imbued with smoke. It was probably the best pastrami that I’ve ever eaten.

Just judging by the photo, it looks like the sandwich no longer comes with the slaw. And is that guy’s pinky hairy or what?!

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Some things put hair on one’s chest. Maybe… :wink:

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The heat was nowhere near as bad as it has been in some other festivals. There was also a nice breeze blowing most of the afternoon. We were there from noon to a little past two, the height of any summer heat and it was easily tolerable. There was plenty of shade along the walls, shaded tables inside and right outside the entrance gate.

Lines weren’t bad for the most part. Booths were spaced out well and you didn’t have wall to wall bodies. I think most of the vendors went conservative and weren’t expecting huge crowds.

Parking was well handled with plenty of attendants directing traffic at all levels and handling questions. Plenty of spaces, cars moved to quickly.

Overall, I thought this was one of the best run inaugural events I’ve ever attended. All aspects were handled very well.

Surprisingly Guerrilla Tacos was one of the more unorganized ones. The way the truck was positioned, the menu board was at the head of the line, which meant no one could see what was available until they were ready to order. They also had order pickup right in the middle of the line. Finally, the gal taking the order would just fling the ticket behind her at the open window. They lost my order and I finally just asked for my money back. Meanwhile I saw people in the truck picking up tickets off the floor occasionally, filthy with footprints and try to make sense of it while sticking it back up on the ticket queue.

I didn’t take a lot of pics, really enjoyed Ugly Drum’s pastrami sandwich and papaya slushie. Carnitas Momo was tasty. No lines the whole time and they turned their orders fast. Burritos las Palmas was dissapointing. The cuerito burrito was oily and drippy, no where near the heavenly version Momo served with their tacos. Good Gravy Bakes biscuit was very good.

Ugly Drum Pastami
A bit more tang for the mustard and it would have been perfect to cut through the richness of the meat. Really well done…

Good Gravy Bake
Strawberries with the biscuit. I ran out of room to try one of their biscuits with mushroom gravy

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No, it didn’t come with slaw.

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Save your money, not a single person we talked to thought it was any good or worth the price.

Yup, no lines and they turned orders fast. I had two tacos, the buche and cueritos. Both prepared very well, lovely pork flavor and the green and red salsa that came with them complimented perfectly. Only $2 each too for generous portions.