April 15, 2011 · 10:38 am

Gastropub Greatness

Gastropubs (bars that serves high quality fresh and seasonal cuisine) are popping up all over LA.  The best Gastropub, and one of my favorite restaurants in the City overall, is Lazy Ox Canteen.  It’s located downtown in Little Tokyo and if you don’t live there, it’s definitely worth the drive.  The atmosphere is dark, boisterous and urban.  Minimal and cozy at the same time.  The bar is stocked with great craft beers and esoteric wines.  The food, which is mostly small plates, is across-the-board excellent and some dishes I would say are perfection.

Like most Gastropubs, Lazy Ox Canteen has a nice selection of gourmet fried foods.  The Pig Ear “Chicharon” (sliced and fried pig ears) with Radish Salad and Yuzu Aioli is a must-have.  The Crispy Surf Clams with Caper and Pickle Aioli, which is seasoned to perfection, is also a dish you want to make sure to order.  The many non-fried items on the menu are equally delicious and inventive.  If available, definitely order the Poblano Soup with Grapes & Crispy Pork Belly and either the Dashi Marinated Yellowtail with Avocado, Hash Brown & Tonburi or Yellowtail Crudo with Szechuan, Mint & Celeriac.  I also love the Caramelized Cauliflower with Pine Nuts, Chile Flake & Mint.  The menu (much of which are blackboard specials) changes often so there is always something new to try.  Don’t forget to order their excellent Rice Pudding for dessert.

Lazy Ox Canteen is located at 241 South San Pedro Street in Los Angeles (Downtown/Little Tokyo). UPDATE: Lazy Ox Canteen has unfortunately closed. It will be missed.

Pig Ear "Chicharon"

Yellow Tail Crudo with Szechuan, Mint & Celeriac

They play great music too!


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Lazy Ox Canteen on Urbanspoon

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April 12, 2011 · 4:15 pm

Killer Ramen!

The best ramen in LA is served in food courts in Mar Vista and Torrance. Seriously. Of course, they are probably the nicest food courts in all of LA. Santouka Ramen is a Japan-based chain with its two LA branches each located in a Mitsuwa Marketplace, a large indoor space with Japanese supermarket, multiple food court restaurants, gourmet coffee and dessert counter, Japanese bookstore, video store and a store called “Trendy” selling Japanese tsotchkes.

The ramen at Santouka is stellar. You have your choice of four kinds of broth (salt, soy sauce, miso or spicy miso) and your choice of chasu (regular pork) or toroniku (special pork). Toroniku is braised pork from the cheek of a pig; the equivalent of toro to regular tuna in a sushi bar. My favorite ramen is the spicy miso with toroniku. The savory broth is perfectly seasoned, the noodles are firm and delicious and the toroniku, which is served on the side with vegetables for you to add to your soup, is so tender and yummy. I could eat a bowl of this ramen every day! Where to find it: Mitsuwa Marketplace, 3760 South Centinela Avenue in Los Angeles (Mar Vista; just south of Santa Monica) and 21515 South Western Avenue in Torrance.

Santouka Ramen

The toroniku (special pork) and vegetables are served on the side

Hard to believe such amazing food can be found in a food court!

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Santouka Ramen on Urbanspoon
Santouka Ramen on Urbanspoon

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April 4, 2011 · 11:00 am

Bread Winners

Amazing signature bread served warm to your table soon after you are seated and order.  Is there any greater welcome gift that a restaurant can bestow upon a hungry patron?  Great bread is often the reason for choosing a restaurant (or if you’re watching your carb intake, a reason to avoid a restaurant where you simply can’t control yourself).  Here’s my list of the top 5 winners in the category of best signature bread in LA:

Garlic Cheese Bread from The Smokehouse

1. Garlic Cheese Bread at The Smokehouse (442 W. Lakeside Drive, Burbank).  This is hands down the best garlic bread you will ever eat.  It’s salty, cheesy, garlicky awesomeness.  Enjoy it with dinner and martinis at The Smokehouse, the iconic dimly-lit, red boothed throw-back which has sat for the past 65 years across the street from the Warner Bros. lot.

Pizza Dough Bread at Angeli Caffe

2.  Pizza Dough Bread at Angeli Caffe (7274 Melrose, Los Angeles).  These are small round loaves of piping hot perfection.  If you’re dining with a hungry group (or kids), once this incredible bread is brought to your table, propriety will be abandoned, burns will be risked and this right-out-of-the-oven treat will be ripped apart and devoured instantly.

Garlic Knots at Caioti Pizza Cafe

3.  Garlic Knots at Caioti Pizza Cafe (4346 Tujunga, Studio City).  Hot, buttery, garlicky, soft and chewy.  The garlic knots at Caioti Pizza Cafe, a small rustic neighborhood eatery, are extremely addictive.  The one drawback:  they sometimes run out.

Grilled Pita at The Great Greek

4.  Grilled Pita Bread at The Great Greek (13362 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks).  This is not the free (and good) bread they give you when you arrive at the Great Greek.  You have to actually order the amazing grilled pita bread here and it would be a Greek tragedy to not do so.  The pita is exclusively flown in from Chicago. Eat it with fresh whipped Hummus, tangy Tzatziki, or my favorite — Tarama, Greek caviar dip.

Popover to Neiman

5.  Popovers at Neiman Marcus (9700 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills in their Mariposa restaurant; also 6550 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Canoga Park in their NM Cafe).  Who doesn’t like popovers?  The ones at Neiman’s are consistently perfect. Light, cripsy and flaky on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside.  Served with strawberry butter!

That’s what I call WINNING!
Angeli Caffe on Urbanspoon
Great Greek on Urbanspoon
Caioti Pizza Café on Urbanspoon
Mariposa on Urbanspoon
Smoke House on Urbanspoon

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March 30, 2011 · 11:00 am

The Wurst is the Best

If you have been to Germany, you have no doubt had Currywurst, sliced sausage in a curry-ketchupy sauce with curry powder sprinkled on top. It’s one of the most popular street foods in Deutschland, and my second favorite after Doner Kabobs. Berlin Currywurst is a tiny new restaurant serving its namesake on the ultra cool strip of West Sunset in Silverlake.

The menu at Berlin Currywurst is a great example of German minimalism; they essentially serve just one dish, Currywurst, although you can get it in a multitude of ways. First you pick your sausage. Choices include Pork Bratwurst, Veal & Pork Bockwurst (which is my favorite), Paprikawurst and various Beef, Chicken and Tofu Wursts. Next you pick the spiciness level of your curry sauce. Finally, you select an added flavor for your curry sauce (the choices are fruity, garlic, jambalaya and chipotle). The Currywurst is served with a tiny wooden fork and two slices of German Farmer’s Bread, which are great for sopping up the extra sauce. The whole plate is pretty small so I recommend getting a double portion or ordering two, which gives you the ability to sample two different combos of sausages and sauces. The only other thing on the menu besides drinks are homemade fries, which are exceptionally good, especially if you order them with minced onions. My only complaint with Berlin Currywurst is they don’t serve beer. Otherwise, I thought it was Wunderbar!

Berlin Currywurst is located at 3827 W Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles (in Silverlake).

Fritten (Homemade Fries with Minced Onions)

German street food comes to Silverlake!

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Berlin Currywurst on Urbanspoon

 

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March 25, 2011 · 10:00 am

Don Draper Ice Cream!!!

This food truck was a real find!  Lake Street Creamery is a Gourmet Ice Cream Truck with really delicious and unusual flavors.  The regular menu includes such flavors as “Pancake Breakfast” (made with flapjacks, maple syrup, bits of real bacon and a sprinkling of fresh-ground Peaberry coffee; “not for vegetarians or the excitable”); “Donut” (tastes just like a cake donut), “Aztec Sacrifice” (spicy chocolate made with chiles and cayenne pepper), “Black Jack” (“It’s Black Licorice.  Deal with it.”)  and “Holiday Chocolate” (made with cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger).

The Ice Cream is served in tasty waffle bowls (“in a futile attempt to save the planet”) and they serve you really generous scoops as well as very generous tastes of any flavor you want to try.  I tried them all!  They also make special Ice Cream Floats such as “Jelly Donut” (Donut Ice Cream with Black Cherry Soda) and “Coffee and a Donut” (Donut Ice Cream and Iced Coffee).  When I visited the truck recently, they had a special flavor called “The Don Draper.” Its ingredients include vanilla, caramel, bourbon and smoke.  It was great to be able to enjoy my favorite tv show about mid-century ad execs in the form of a frozen dessert!   How to find the Lake Street Creamery Truck:  they post a calendar on their website www.lakestreetcreamery.com.

UPDATE: THE LAKE STREET CREAMERY TRUCK IS SADLY NO MORE. I WILL HAVE TO MAKE MY OWN DON DRAPER ICE CREAM AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET “SMOKE” FLAVORING.


Lake Street Creamery on Urbanspoon

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