Tag Archives: los angeles food blogs

December 31, 2024 · 1:09 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2024

This past year was a phenomenal food year in LA. So much so that it was quite a difficult task to pick just ten things for this list. But after much mulling over and agonizing, here’s my annual list of the ten best things I consumed and posted about during the past year. I suggest you make it your New Year’s resolution to try them all!

Maizhongo with Mushroom Mix, Hoja Santa, Chochoyotes and Huitlacoche

10. Maizhongo from Carnal Cocina Artesenal. Carnal serves the best Oaxacan Mexican food I’ve ever consumed, and this vegan mushroom dish is a particular stand-out.

Edna’s Sour Milk Cornbread with White Cheddar, Hatch Chile, Cultured Butter and Honey

9. Edna’s Sour Milk Cornbread from Dunsmoor. This Southern-inspired restaurant is one of my favorites in the city. Their cornbread is served hot in a cast iron skillet and is spectacular.

Beef Short Rib with Chili & Tamarind Dressing and Roasted Peanuts

8. Beef Short Rib from Cobi’s. I love this Southeast Asian fusion restaurant and their buttery short rib is in a league of its own.

Dan Dan Noodles with Sesame-Peanut Sauce, Chili Oil, Cucumbers and Crushed Peanuts

7. Dan Dan Noodles from Pine & Crane. If you’re not ordering this bowl of vegan awesomeness at my favorite uber-cool Taiwanese joint, you are massively missing out.

Dosa Onion Rings with Urad Lentil Batter and Mango Chutney

6. Dosa Onion Rings from Pijja Palace. There are many things to love about Silver Lake’s own Indian-Italian fusion hipster sports bar, but these insanely good onion rings are at the very top of the list.

Spicy Fusilli with Vodka Sauce, Basil and Parmesan

5. Spicy Fusilli from Jon & Vinny’s. This consistently excellent local Italian eatery with multiple locations (includiung a new one in Studio City) and its signature dish of perfect pasta have been around for a while, and for good reason. These spiral noodles in spicy vodka sauce are mouth-wateringly sensational.

Lechon Kawali Rice Bowl with Twice-cooked Pork Belly, Java Garlic Rice, Tomato Cucumber Salad, Pickled Green Papaya and Vinegar

4. Lechon Kawali from Kuya Lord. Chef Maynard Llera just won a prestigious James Beard Award for his exceptional Filipino cuisine, no doubt due in part to this juicy, crispy-skinned magnificence.

3. Sushi from Sushi Gen. People often ask me what my favorite sushi bar is in LA. This is it. Make sure to order the Albacore and Fatty Tuna. You’re welcome.

2. Pork Hui Tou Dumplings from Hui Tou Xiang. These are my favorite Chinese dumplings in the city. And if you don’t want to drive to San Gabriel for them, a second location of this incredible dumpling and noodle joint recently opened in Hollywood.

Wagyu Cheesesteak with Grilled Onions and Roasted Long Hot Pepper on a House-baked Sesame Roll

1. Wagyu Cheesesteak from Matū. At night, it’s a posh Japanese steakhouse. But at lunchtime (and only at lunchtime), at the bar, they serve a ridiculously amazing version of a cheesesteak on a fresh-out-of-the-oven sesame seed roll. It’s the best thing I consumed and posted about in 2024.

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Downtown, Glassell Park, Highland Park, Hollywood, Koreatown, Mid-City, San Gabriel, Santa Monica, Silver Lake, Studio City

Tagged as best dumplings in LA, best dumplings Los Angeles, best Filipino food in LA, best Filipino food Los Angeles, Best Los Angeles Restaurants, best onion rights LA, best onion rings los angeles, Best Restaurants in LA, best restaurants los angeles, best sushi in LA, Best Sushi Los Angeles, Cheesesteaks in LA, Cheesesteaks in Los Angeles, los angeles food blogs, must try food in LA, must try food los angeles, Oaxacan food in LA, Oaxacan food Los Angeles

December 30, 2017 · 2:48 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2017

As we bid adieu to 2017, let’s just focus on the good stuff. And by “good stuff,” I mean the food we consumed to tantalize our taste buds, lift our spirits and provide a bit of pleasure in these ever-changing and uncertain times. Keeping with tradition, here is my annual list of the ten best things I ate and wrote about during the past year:

Shul Lung Tang (Korean bone broth) from Han Bat

10. Shul Lung Tang from Han Bat. Is bone broth a miracle elixir that will cure all your ailments, align your chakras and balance your chi? Probably not, but there’s nothing better than a hot bowl of this soup on a cold rainy day.

Pork Chop “Niman Ranch” from Salazar

9. Pork Chop “Niman Ranch” from Salazar. The penultimate dish on my top ten list is smoky, fatty and juicy. As excited as I am about this pork chop, I’m equally excited about using the word “penultimate” in my post.

Flaky Bread with Labneh, Preserved Lemon and Honey from Kismet

8. Flaky Bread from Kismet. The servers at Kismet are flaky and so is the hipstery restaurant’s best dish: a melt-in-your-mouth pan-fried bread served with labneh, preserved lemon and honey.

Banchan from Genwa

7. Banchan from Genwa. We all like free things, and the ridiculous amount of complimentary banchan (side dishes of fermented vegetables, fishcake, seasoned peanuts, braised beef, scallion pancakes and other Korean delicacies) at this Korean BBQ joint has the additional benefit of being exceptionally tasty.

Ceviche Tostada from Holbox

6. Ceviche Tostada from Holbox. How do you make an octopus laugh? With ten-tickles. The Ceviche Tostada at Holbox is a lot better than that joke.

Macarons from Ladurée

5. Macarons from Ladurée. The French know a thing or two about creating incredible baked confections. I know a thing or two about eating them.

Marinated Short Ribs from Chosun Galbee

4. Marinated Short Ribs from Chosun Galbee. I know what you’re thinking: Where’s the beef? It’s right here at #4 and it’s amazing.

Fresh Uni in the Shell from Jolly Oyster

3. Fresh Uni in the Shell from Jolly Oyster. Fun fact: uni is actually a sea urchin’s gonads. These gonads are especially delicious when eaten right out of the shell at the Jolly Oyster stall at DTLA’s weekly Smorgasburg.

Pastrami Sandwich from Ugly Drum

2. Pastrami Sandwich from Ugly Drum. “Oy gevalt!”…is something you will not be saying when you eat this pastrami masterpiece (which is also found at Smorgasburg).

Carrot Mole Enchiladas from Trois Familia

1. Carrot Mole Enchiladas from Trois Familia. You haven’t really had carrot mole enchiladas until you’ve had the ones from Trois Familia. They are insanely good and the best thing that I consumed and wrote about in 2017.

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Frogtown, Koreatown, Los Feliz, Mid-City, Silver Lake, South Los Angeles

Tagged as best la food blogs, best la restaurants, Best Los Angeles Food Blogs, Best Los Angeles Restaurants, Best Restaurants in LA, best restaurants los angeles, los angeles food blog, los angeles food blogs

December 28, 2016 · 12:20 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2016

As we prepare to say so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye to 2016, it’s time to look back at the LA gastronomic highlights of the year. If you haven’t tried all of these things, I’m sure they’ll still be around in 2017 for you to stuff in your pie hole. Here is my annual list of the ten best things I consumed and wrote about during the past year:

“Big Mec” Double Cheeseburger from Petit Trois

10. “Big Mec” Double Cheeseburger from Petit Trois. The “Big Mec” is the only burger to make my list this year. It has foie gras in it, so basically they’re not playing fair.

Maguro and Toro from Sasabune in Beverly Hills

9. Sushi from Sasabune in Beverly Hills. Sushi is an expensive habit. If you’re looking to save some money in the new year, don’t even try the insanely good and addictive sushi at Sasabune in Beverly Hills.

Bossam from Kobawoo House

8. Bossam from Kobawoo House. If you read this blog regularly, you knew there was going to be some awesome Korean food featured on this list. This is it.

Noorook from Baroo

7. Noorook from Baroo. There are a lot of o’s in the name of this vegetarian dish and also a lot of ingredients, including something called “Job’s Tears,” which I’ve never heard of before but am going to start eating regularly.

Hot Chicken from Howlin Ray’s

6. Hot Chicken from Howlin Ray’s. I know what you are saying: enough with the healthy stuff on this list. So, here’s some deep fried awesomeness.

Foie Gras Funnel Cake from Otium

5. Foie Groas Funnel Cake from Otium. This is what carnies eat when they’re trying to act all sophisticated.

Nona Elvira’s Lasagne Verde from Angelini Osteria

4. Nona Elvira’s Lasagne Verde from Angelini Osteria. This is the best lasagne ever. No exaggeration. It’s made with beef, veal and chopped chicken livers — each of the three major protein groups.

Garlic Cheese Bread from The Smoke House

3. Garlic Cheese Bread from the Smokehouse. I updated my best restaurant bread list this year, and guess who came out the winner again. Yes, it’s of a color that doesn’t exist in nature, but don’t let that stop you from experiencing garlicky, cheesy nirvana.

Butter and Salt Doughnut from Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee

2. Butter and Salt Doughnut from Sidecar Doughnuts & Coffee. Is it “donut” or “doughnut”? I don’t know. Does it really matter? Go to Sidecar and prepare to be blown away.

Tempura Uni from Tempura Endo

1. Tempura Uni from Tempura Endo. I dare you to find anything better in this town to put in your mouth. It’s my favorite thing that I consumed and wrote about this year.

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Jewish Deli Meets Pork Paradise

If UMAMIcatessen was the punchline of a joke, it would begin “A rabbi, a donut-maker and a pig walk into a bar.” Grand in scope and extremely ambitious, this highly anticipated deli adaptation of the uber-successful Umami Burger chain opened Downtown over the weekend and one cannot help but be impressed. Although you order at your table from a single menu, UMAMIcatessen is essentially four restaurants in one (plus a coffee bar and a cocktail bar), each with separate counters around the perimeter of its large industrial-chic dining room. These sub-restaurants are:

The Cure, whose name is no doubt a reference to the alleged medicinal qualities of its matzo ball soup. It features Kosher-style deli sandwiches such as pastrami on rye and turkey on challah. Other noshes include bagels with smoked fish, potato knishes and chopped liver.

Umami Burger, which features the restaurant chain’s awesome signature hamburgers. I almost always go for the amazing Truffle Burger made with housemade truffle cheese and truffle glace, or the equally excellent spicy Hatch Burger made with four types of green chiles and housemade American cheese. However, UMAMIcatessen has some burgers that you can’t always get at the other Umami Burger locations. These include the yummy Shrimp Burger with Yuzu-Kosho and burgers which are on the “Secret Menu” such as the delicious Spicy Bird, a turkey burger with hatch chilies, crispy onion strings, beer cheddar cheese and a spicy diablo sauce.

P!GG, which is a tribute to pork all around the world from San Francisco celebrity chef Chris Constantino, the Overlord of Offal. It features high-end prosciutto and other charcuterie, as well as lard fried snacks such as Crispy Pig Ears with parsley and lemon, Pork Corn (popcorn) with juniper and rosemary and tasty P!GG Style Fries with pickled peppers, ham puree and “brainaise,” a scrumptious sauce made with mayonnaise and pig brains! I also highly recommend the Little Gems Salad with pork cracklins and an incredible nduja vinagrette, made with Constantino’s famous spreadable pork sausage.

& a Donut, which serves six different varieties of gourmet donuts fried to order, including an amazing soaked Tres Leches Donut with cajeta and ceylon cinnamon and the sinfully delicious “FG&J,” a playful spin on a jelly donut, made with foie gras mousse, forest berry jam and crushed peanuts. They also have homemade soft serve ice cream and sorbet.

With so many great things going on, UMAMIcatessen is an incredibly fun experience; one that I will no doubt repeat often. It’s located at 852 Broadway, Los Angeles (Downtown).

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