August 30, 2026 · 11:06 am

The Best LA Soft Serve Spots to Cool You Down

It’s hot outside! As we’re all trying to survive this record-breaking heat wave, here’s a special summer edition of Consuming LA featuring a ranked list of the twelve best places to get amazing frozen soft serve treats in Los Angeles. Please stay cool and consume responsibly!

12. Bumsan Organic Milk Bar (Koreatown). This little pink shop on Western Avenue serves super premium soft serve from the leading organic dairy producer in Korea. Pro tip: get the Croffle SoulMate, which combines your choice of soft serve (I love the Taro Milk Tea flavor) with a crispy, caramelized croissant-waffle hybrid.

11. Honeymee (Downtown, Little Tokyo, Gardena, Koreatown). This small chain serves creamy goodness served with a yummy chunk of honeycomb. It’s the bee’s knees!

10. Magpies Softserve (Tarzana, Silver Lake, Highland Park). As a soft serve specialist, Magpies makes some of the best ice cream in town. Their rotating flavors include Thai Tea, Roasted Strawberry, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and my favorite, Corn Almond.

9. Pressed Juicery (multiple locations). This soft serve is vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free, and made with healthier ingredients like fruit and vegetable juices, almonds and coconuts. It’s also incredibly delicious. I recommend the vanilla or chocolate flavor draped with almond butter.

8. The Bigg Chill Frozen Yogurt (Westwood). This is one of the very best yogurt shops in town, with lots of great flavors and even more great toppings, including several different kinds of cookie dough.

7. Indigo Cow (West LA/Sawtelle, Echo Park). This newer addition to the LA ice cream scene serves high-end Hokkaido-style soft serve. Get the Yaki Imo Brulee, which is topped with brûléed sweet potato puree (or pumpkin puree in October!), or the M.B.R., which is topped with mochi, brown sugar syrup and roasted soybean powder.

6. Humphrey Yogart (Sherman Oaks). Located inside Gelson’s Market in Sherman Oaks is another one of the best frozen yogurt shops in LA. They offer something for everyone (including low carb options), but their speciality is custom-blended frozen concoctions exactly per your specifications.

5. Lupaba (Koreatown). This not a frozen dessert shop, but rather an awesome new Italian/Korean pasta bar. If you’re lucky when you eat there, they will have a dessert offering of “BTS,” which is Black Truffle Soft Serve with Brown Butter, and if you love truffle like I do, it will blow you away.

4. Milk Bar (Mid-City). If you’ve never had this dessert shop’s Cereal Milk Ice Cream, you are missing out big time! The soft serve itself tastes like the milk remaining in the cereal bowl once you’ve eaten the cornflakes.

3. Go Greek Yogurt (Studio City, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Mid-City/Larchmont, Brentwood). There’s no hotter food trend right now than protein-rich, high quality, frozen Greek yogurt. The yogurt at Go Greek is pricey and the lines can be long, but it is phenomenal and highly addictive.

2. Hokey Pokey LA (Century City). Three brothers from New Zealand brought their homeland’s famous toffee-infused soft serve ice cream to Century City Mall, and we are the incredibly lucky beneficiaries.

1. Yoga-urt (Santa Monica, Echo Park, Glendale, Granada Hills). It’s vegan and a healthier option, but that aside, it’s the best tasting soft serve in the city. The Chocolate Bliss, Strawberry Serenity and Pistachio Passion flavors are all incredible, but the Peanut Butter Prana is truly to die for.

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Century City, Downtown, Echo Park, Gardena, Glendale, Granada Hills, Highland Park, Koreatown, Larchmont, Mid-City, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Tarzana, West LA, Westwood

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December 31, 2025 · 10:43 am

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2025

Caring is sharing so it’s time again to share my annual year-end list. With the new year about to begin, I wish you all a year of good health, personal and professional fulfillment and, of course, next-level eats. So without further ado, here is my list of the top ten things I consumed and wrote about this past year.

Squid Ink Xiao Long Bao

10. Squid Ink Xiao Long Bao from Little Fatty. If you’re not eating at this super cool Culver City eatery with amazing craft cocktails and awesome Taiwanese soul food, you’re doing it wrong. I love everything I’ve had there, especially this version of soup dumplings.

Basterma Brisket Sandwich with hand-carved Basterma Brisket, Pickled Persian Cucumber, Chaman Spread and Swiss Cheese on freshly baked Pita Bread.

9. Basterma Brisket Sandwich from Iii Mas Bakery and Deli. Until they open their planned brick and mortar space serving their insanely good Armenian brisket sandwiches, you can only order to go, drive to a parking lot in Glendale and wait at a bright red door until someone emerges from their ghost kitchen to bring you your sandwich prize. But definitely worth it.

Uncle Tetsu Original Japanese Cheesecake

8. Original Japanese Cheesecake from Uncle Tetsu’s. Japanese cheesecakes are way different from their American cousins. They’re much lighter, fluffier and delicate. I’m obsessed with the ones from Uncle’s Tetsu.

Charcoal-grilled Pork Spareribs

7. Pork Spareribs from The Mulberry. With its hip and cozy vibe, cool cocktails and elevated Korean dishes, The Mulberry on Sawtelle is my favorite new restaurant in LA. When you go, make sure to order these perfectly grilled and mouthwateringly delicious pork spareribs.

Scallop Crudo with Hokkaido Scallops, Cilantro Vinaigrette and Persimmon

6. Scallop Crudo from Budoknoki. This modern and intimate Japanese Izakaya does everything right and has incredible food. My favorite dish is their perfect scallop “snack.” It’s one of the best crudos I’ve ever consumed.

Mama Chang’s Marinated Bone-in Ribeye SteakC

5. Mama Chang’s Marinated Bone-in Ribeye from Super Peach. David Chang (of Momofuku fame) is my favorite chef in the world and has recently opened Super Peach, his second LA restaurant after Majordomo, in Century City Mall of all places. This phenomenal juicy ribeye steak is my favorite thing on the menu.

Shawarma Rubbed Oyster Mushrooms

4. Shawarma Rubbed Oyster Mushrooms from Mazal. With a good friend who is vegan, I’ve had to up my game on finding vegan fare for the past couple years and have made many awesome food discoveries. The Israeli vegetarian cuisine at Mazal is across-the-board excellent, but the best of all is their phenomenal air-fried Shawarma Rubbed Oyster Mushrooms.

“The Prent” Sandwich with Pastrami, Swiss Cheese, Cabbage Salad and House Dressing on a Roasted Jalapeño Bagel

3. “The Prent” Pastrami Sandwich on a Roasted Jalapeño Bagel from Uncle Stevey’s Bagels. There are many impressive bagel joints right now in LA, but none are on the level of Uncle Stevey’s. Their thoughtfulness and attention to detail is staggering. The Prent, which is only served on weekends and only from 10:30am until they close at 1:30pm and is made on your choice of bagel (I highly recommend the Roasted Jalapeño), is unbelievably delish.

Mala Lamb Sausage Pizza with Lamb Sausage, Kendall Farms Creme Fraiche, Red Bell Pepper, Smoked Provola, Cilantro Flowers, Shaved Shallot, Tomato Pulp, Pecorino Romano, Black Pepper, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon and XXHEAT Mala Spiced Chili

2. Mala Lamb Sausage Pizza from Pizzeria Sei. This is a pizzeria for foodies and my current favorite in the city. They serve individual-sized Neopolitan-style pizzas on some the best chewy crust I’ve ever tasted. The spicy Mala Lamb Sausage Pizza is especially extraordinary and a must-have if it’s on the menu when you go.

Meat Jun Plate Lunch (Egg-Battered Ribeye Beef Slices with Meat Jun Sauce) served with Purple Rice and Potato-Mac Salad

1. Meat Jun Plate Lunch from Broken Mouth. Three things to know: 1. This Korean-Hawaiian homestyle food counter is in a low-rent food court downtown; 2. Ordering should ideally be done online in advance to avoid a long wait; and 3. The Meat Jun is transcendent and will change your life. It’s the best thing I consumed in 2025.

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Filed under Century City, Culver City, Downtown, Echo Park, El Segundo, Glendale, Koreatown, Mid-City, Virgil Village, West LA

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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.

Albacore Sushi

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.

Pork Hui Tou Dumplings

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

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December 30, 2023 · 1:09 pm

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2023

It’s that time once again for my annual list of the 10 best things I consumed and posted about during the past year. I hope one or more make your to do list in 2024. Happy New Year!
Uni Toast with Avocado Crema, Onion Aoli, Jang-a-jji Cucumbers and Smoked Trout Roe from Tokki

10. Uni Toast from Tokki in Koreatown. One of my favorite newer restaurants is this modern Korean tapas spot in the heart of K-Town. I’ve loved everything I’ve tried on the menu, especially their thoughtful spin on Uni Toast.

Chicken Shawarma Plate with Tahini, Red Cabbage, White Cabbage, Israeli Salad and Pickles from Tel Aviv Grill

9. Chicken Shawarma Plate from Tel Aviv Grill in Encino, North Hollywood and Woodland Hills. This is my favorite Middle Eastern place in the City and their shaved-to-order Chicken Shawarma is metzuyan (excellent)! Pick out your sides when your order is ready and don’t forget the phenomenal fresh baked pita bread, crispy french fries and fried eggplant.

Soon Tofu (aka Soon Dubu) with Beef Dumplings from Seoul House of Tofu

8. Soon Tofu from Seoul House of Tofu in West LA. This is my regular go-to; my ride or die; the dish I eat the most when I dine out. I order this Korean tofu stew medium spicy with beef dumplings, but it can be customized many different ways and ordered as a combo with Hot Stone Bibimbap, Galbi or Bulgogi. It’s a good choice in any weather, but nothing beats it on a cold or rainy night.

Trio of Shellfish including Baked Mussel, Clam and Shiitake Scallop from Sushi Sasabune

7. Trio of Shellfish from Sushi Sasabune in Brentwood. This has been one of my favorite sushi bars for decades and, along with its sister restaurants in Beverly Hills and Glendale, serves one of the best omakase in town. Your adventure starts off with this glorious trio of clam, baked mussel and shiitake scallop.

Duck Leg Bread Pudding at Pasjoli

6. Duck Leg Bread Pudding at Pasjoli in Santa Monica. I love a savory bread pudding and this one at Chef Dave Beran’s elevated French Bistro is incredible. However, you’re going to need to splurge and get (via pre-order) his signature pressed duck meal for 2 in order to get the bread pudding. But it’s worth it.

Pizza with Lamb Sausage, Asiago, Confit Tomato, Rapini and Pecorino from Gjelina

5. Pizza with Lamb Sausage, Asiago, Confit Tomato, Rapini and Pecorino from Gjelina in Venice. This Abbot Kinney mainstay bakes some of the tastiest pizzas in town, and this meaty pie is my favorite of them all. That’s amore!

Babka Pie from Winston Pies

4. Babka Pie from Winston Pies in Brentwood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica and Marina del Rey. Custard pie meets chocolate babka and the result is to die for. Unfortunately, it’s only available around the Jewish High Holidays which occur in September and/or October. Here’s hoping they add it to their permanent rotation.

Dirty Chicken from Citrin

3. Dirty Chicken from Citrin in Santa Monica. This amazing signature dish of Chef Josiah Citrin is juicy baked Jidori Chicken coated in Panko, Preserved Lemon and Confit Garlic. Formerly only available at fine dining establishment Citrin, you can now also get it at their new fast casual joint, Augie’s on Main.

Black Sesame Bingsoo at Sul & Beans

2. Black Sesame Bingsoo at Sul & Beans in Koreatown. This Korean dessert of shaved creamy ice, red beans and house-made chewy rice cakes is all the rage in K-Town these days. My favorite of the 14 flavor combos offered at Sul & Beans is the Black Sesame one. It’s sweet and savory perfection.

Queso Relleno with Edam Cheese, Ground Pork, Olives and Capers at Chichen Itza Restaurant

1. Queso Relleno at Chichen Itza Restaurant in Downtown LA. This is my favorite Mexican restaurant in town and it specializes in Yucatan cuisine. They make their own corn tortillas and are famous for their Habañero hot sauce. The insanely wonderful Queso Relleno is my favorite dish there and the best thing that I consumed and wrote about in 2023!

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Filed under Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Downtown, Encino, Glendale, Koreatown, Marina del Rey, North Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, West Hollywood, Woodland Hills

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December 30, 2022 · 12:46 am

The 10 Best Things I Consumed in 2022

My New Year’s resolution is to post more in 2023, but for now please enjoy my annual year-end list. Here are the 10 best things I consumed and posted about this year. Have a happy, healthy and delicious New Year!

Pretzel Bread and Mustard Butter

10. Pretzel Bread with Mustard Butter at Catch LA in West Hollywood. These incredible rolls are served hot-out-of-the-oven with a sweet mustard butter, and prove that sometimes the best things in life really are free (or, at least, complimentary with your meal).

Assorted Bourekas, Hard Boiled Eggs, Pickles and Tomato Dipping Sauces

9. Borekas at Bo-re-kas in Sherman Oaks. These savory Sephardic Israeli pastries with fillings such as potato & brown butter and cultured cheese & za’atar are one of the best things you can nosh on in the Valley.

Bahn Mi

8. Bahn Mi at Bahn Mi My-Dung in Chinatown. This perfect version of the classic Vietnamese sandwich is made and sold in a tiny, unassuming grocery store.

Brisket, Pork Ribs, Pulled Pork, Korean Sticky Glazed Pork Belly Burnt Ends, Jalapeño Cheddar Sausage, Mac n Cheese, Slaw, Red Potato Salad, Pickles, Onions and Tres Leches Strawberry Bread Pudding

7. Barbecue at Moo’s Craft Barbecue in Lincoln Heights. It’s hard to pick just one menu item for this list from my new favorite Texas-style barbecue joint in town, so I’m just going to recommend all of them.

Green Slice with Caciocavallo, Spinach-Cream Sauce and Parmigiano Reggiano

6. Green Slice at Pizzeria Bianco in Downton. Believe the hype.

Double Cheeseburger

5. Double Cheeseburger at The Win-Dow in Venice and Silver Lake. Smashingly delicious!

Prime Beef Bulgogi

4. Prime Beef Bulgogi at Woo Hyang Woo in Koreatown. This Korean BBQ staple is elevated to a whole new level at a great, new-ish, high-end eatery in the heart of K-town.

Cacio e Pepe Bagel

3. Cacio e Pepe Bagel at Belle’s Bagels in Highland Park. Jewish meets Italian and the result is possibly the best bagel ever.

Lobster Hand Roll

2. Lobster Hand Roll at Kazunori in Westwood, Studio City, Downtown, Mid-City, Santa Monica, Downton and Marina del Rey. Shello, uber-delicious hand roll. You are clawsome!

Banana Leaf Flan with Sesame and Caramel

1. Banana Leaf Flan at Damian in Downton. Upscale Mexican restaurant Damian is one of my favorite new places and this dessert is flan-tastic! It’s the best thing that I consumed and posted about this year!

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Filed under Chinatown, Downtown, Highland Park, Koreatown, Lincoln Heights, Marina del Rey, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Silver Lake, Studio City, Venice, West Hollywood, Westwood

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