Torrance Farmer’s Market… Hayashi strawberries. Since we moved down here in late 2021, I’ve been hearing about the strawberries in SoCal. For some reason we didn’t start hitting the farmers markets until fall of 2022, by which time the berries were ok but not amazing. But last weekend, I picked up a 3-pack from Hayashi and OMG, they were amazing. Big, red strawberries, super juicy. Probably not peak in terms of flavor but the sweetness was off the charts. I’ve actually never had strawberries like this. Of course, this week, I picked up 2 3-packs because they still looked great, but have not tried them yet!
Oh yeah, I never see this mentioned but I’m a huge fan of the malasada vendor there as well!
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Just wait until May. 
The strawberries can be amaze-balls then.
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Hayashi has good value and is very consistent. I like their green beans especially. I’ve found that strawberry season really doesn’t pop off until after the year’s first heat wave.
The dude from Ramones Family Far was selling some really nice plum branches a few weeks back. Had them at the Culver City downtown FM too.
That Prime Pizza looks… prime. Easy bang bang to Chubby Rice or Zam Zam too.
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I’m very excited. Have finally seen the light re SoCal strawberries. Their blueberries were also excellent, fwiw. For a while, I thought all you all were just crazy bc the strawberries I had were ok not great. Can’t wait to see what peak season is like - hoping the rain doesn’t limit hte supply too much.
And yeah, @mrgreenbeenz , they have some of the best prices at hte market.
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I was craving Tendon Tempura Carlos Jr on Saturday, but their line was so long. So I settled for Kagura. It was absolutely amazing and just as satisfying. I hadn’t dined there in a while and they have great Katsu. I had the Loin Katsu.
Last weekend, I was in the El Segundo area so I stopped by Prime Pizza for dinner. I purchased several slices so that I can try a variety. I wish they were closer to Torrance. I will definitely be back if I’m in the area. They are the best Pizza I’ve had in the South Bay. I want to compare them to Pizzeria Bianco, so I booked a reservation there all the way in June. It looks like they open reservations up around 3 months out and book up almost immediately.
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I’ve had a lot of success walking into Bianco either at opening or close to closing.
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Is there a time they cap their walk in during closing?
We strolled in at 8:30ish on Saturday. They close at 9PM.
I saw that they turned away a group that walked in after 9PM.
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Awesome thx for the info!
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Nice. Thanks for the tip. I might try their early walk-in.
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Not sure what’s going on but the owner of Full House Plus in Torrance was gone today. Staff said he “has gone back to Korea to take care of his mother” and the other partner is taking over. The chef hasn’t changed and today’s meal was still mostly on point; however, they’ve entirely changed the decor, the pre-meal salad is gone and the shrimp in the spicy noodle soup was clearly frozen and not fresh. Hopefully the chef sticks around and they don’t start skimping on ingredients, otherwise, one of my mainstays in Torrance will be on the inevitable decline.
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Choriman. Took some bc it’s a bit of a trek but man, this is the best breakfast burrito in South Bay. We got a tri tip one. Runny egg, crisp potatoes and garlicky steak with chimichurri. All the flavors meld together, the textures complement each other and it is chock full. Also did a breakfast quesadilla with pulled beef… Delicious. This is now on our rotation!
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Full House Plus… I can’t be sure, but feel like the sad, predictable slide is starting… We got the fried sweet and sour garlic chicken a couple nights ago. What’s always stood out to me is how expertly fried everything is. But this time, the fried covering was too thick, not crisp and too gloopy. Maybe it was an off night. I hope so.
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Hayashi strawberries. Again, were fantastic. Aromatic, sweet with slight tartness and juicy. God, I never knew there was such a difference between Norcal and Socal strawberries. But there is.
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I’m pretty sure they spray their strawberries if that matters to you
Hmm, I’ve always wondered about this… A lot of the vendors say they “are not certified organic, but farm organic.” Which seems sketchy to me. But that’s what Hayashi says they do. Although how trustworthy is that?
It’s, of course, vendor dependent, but my understanding is that farms will have organic practices but not be certified b/c there can be a considerable cost to formal certification. So it isn’t necessarily dishonest.
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@hungryhungryhippos I’d be curious what you’ve heard specifically re Hayashi. They say they farm organic, but I’ve only ever asked once…
I asked them today and also bought the strawberries from them too (which were delicious) because I didn’t love the selection at smith farms and tamai farms was sold out of their no sprays.
I asked “do you guys spray”? And there was a like a long pause and he kinda gave me a weird look and mumbled. Also based on how the berries are priced I would be surprised if they don’t because the berries were huge and it was 5 dollars for a small basket. Tamai charges much more for their no sprays.
My wife has asked them in the past too and she reported getting a really hesitant “no”.
So I dunno.
Hmmm, interesting. I will have to ask them again. I usually ask if they are organic, but I may have to change my questioning a bit…
Dumb question… could it be that they are grown organically (though not organic-certified) but still use organic sprays? Not a farmer so just trying to reconcile all this in my head!
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