Monthly Archives: July 2014

The Pecking Order

Chicken Wrapped Okra and Zucchini
In the world of proteins, chicken usually ranks well below beef and pork in the eyes and bellies of carnivores. Seen as the healthy but boring choice, a chicken entree is generally selected by those watching their cholesterol or budget, not the thrill-seeking food adventurers and hedonistic gourmands that read this blog. However one small restaurant in Little Tokyo is challenging this perception of chicken as an inferior meat.

Kokekokko is a traditional Japanese yakitori house. Appetizers aside, they serve basically one thing: skewers of exceptionally good charbroiled chicken. Every part of the bird is used. There are skewers of breasts, thighs, gizzards, livers, hearts, wings (my favorite!) and skin. Each are perfectly seasoned and grilled in the middle of the restaurant on top of special imported charcoal. There are also tasty skewers of tsukune (Japanese meatballs) and uzarago tamago (quail eggs). Even the vegetables (pictured above) are wrapped in thin pieces of chicken. I recommend sitting at the bustling bar surrounding the grill and ordering a five or ten skewer combo so you can try a bit of each.

While the food is phenomenal, don’t expect much in the way of service. Unless you’re a Kokekokko regular, chef Tomohiro Sakata, who presides over the culinary festivities, will not give you the time of day. He reserves his attention and special off-menu items for only his most loyal and sycophantic customers who are served their yakitori on personalized black plates instead of the generic white plates given to the rest of us. This blatant show of favoritism doesn’t seem to have hurt Sakahata’s business; the dinner-only restaurant is always packed.

Kokekokko is located at 203 S Central Ave, Los Angeles (Downtown, in Little Tokyo).

Gyoza

Gyoza


Broccoli Salad Appetizer

Broccoli Salad Appetizer


House Salad

House Salad


Chicken Breast

Chicken Breast


Chicken Gizzard and Chicken Liver

Chicken Gizzard and Chicken Liver


Quail Eggs and Chicken Heart

Quail Eggs and Chicken Heart


Chicken Thigh

Chicken Thigh


Chicken Meatball

Chicken Meatball


Chicken Wing

Chicken Wing


Soup comes at the end

Soup comes at the end


Grilled on a charcoal grill right in front of you

Charbroiled right in front of you


A Little Tokyo hotspot

Chicken rules the roost at this Little Tokyo hotspot



Kokekokko on Urbanspoon

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I’m Going Straight to Bell

House Flan
There are not a lot of reasons to visit the City of Bell, a small working-class neighborhood about 15 minutes southeast of Downtown. But if you’re a fan of amazing Mexican food, a trip to Bell is pretty much mandatory. At the top of your list should be La Casita Mexicana, one of the best Mexican restaurants in all of LA County.

While many people rave about La Casita Mexicana’s Chile en Nogada, a poblano chile stuffed with ground beef, dried fruits, walnuts and candied cactus, and topped with pecan cream sauce and pomegranate seeds, my favorite dish is the Conquista Plate, which features a thin steak over grilled cactus, Oaxaca cheese and chile guajillo sauce. The mole sauces which enrobe chicken or pork are also phenomenal and include a traditional black poblano sauce, red and green pipian (pumpkin seed) sauces, and a sauce made with pistachios, green chiles and root beer leaf. The first three of these are also served on top of the complimentary chips that you are given at the beginning of your meal.

If you’re getting dessert at the restaurant, I recommend either the creamy Flan (pictured above) or the crunchy Churros filled with gooey Mexican Caramel. But another good option, and one that’s a bit more fun, is to go next door to the Los Reyes Bakery, which is open 24 hours. Pick up a silver tray and tongs at the counter and walk though the aisles of tall cooling racks, selecting from a vast variety of super-fresh Pan Dulce and other Mexican cakes, cookies and breads including pig-shaped gingerbread-esque Chochinito and sugary heart-shaped Orejas. Each of these is only 50 cents and my family likes to share several and decide which sweet baked Mexican treat reigns supreme.

La Casita Mexicana is located at 4030 Gage Avenue in Bell.

Chips with Mole Sauce

Chips with Mole Sauce


Queso Fundido con Chorizo

Queso Fundido con Chorizo


Potato Soup

Potato Soup


Conquista Plate with thin steak over grilled cactus, Oaxaca cheese and chile guajillo sauce

Conquista Plate with thin steak over grilled cactus, Oaxaca cheese and chile guajillo sauce


Mushroom and Cactus Chile Relleno

Mushroom and Cactus Chile Relleno


Tres Moles with Chicken and Pork

Tres Moles with Chicken and Pork


Housemade Corn Tortillas

Housemade Corn Tortillas


There's a gift shop!

There’s a gift shop!


Los Reyes Bakery next door

Los Reyes Bakery next door



La Casita Mexicana on Urbanspoon

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Filed under Bell