The Official Los Angeles Must Eats thread

[RobinFinderson]

Enough of us live in SoCal, and enough of the rest of you come through the neighborhood often enough to merit an official Must Eats thread for the greater Los Angeles region. I realize that DDD could probably fill this thread up pretty quick, so I am going to suggest that folks only write about places where they have eaten recently, and that they report about what they had and why they liked it. See if you can follow a format where you offer a Google map link to the restaurant in question. For example:

Faith and I have been exploring some of the exquisite Asian restaurants in Gardena. When one of our local favorites was closed, due to a freak power outage, we decided to explore some of the other local restaurants. This is how we discovered Tofu Village, down on Western Ave. Tofu Village specializes in soon tofu and hot-stone bibimbap, and both are delicious! For ten dollars, you get a heaping portion of either dish served with a little baked fish and an assortment of kimchees, glass noodles and other small delicacies. We've never had to wait for seating, but the joint is usually very busy, with an all-Korean clientele. After dinner we typically visit a small Korean bakery, two doors down in the same complex, where we satisfy our sweet tooth. The baked goods are unusual, not overly sweet (like so much American and Mexican baked goods) and really delish. Faith and I have become regulars at Tofu Village, and we can't recommend it highly enough. The same plaza (Seoul Plaza) has what looks like a fantastic Korean BBQ joint as well, but Faith's vegetarianism means I won't be trying that place out any time soon. But if you are in the neighborhood, try out Tofu Village, for authentic Korean comfort food, excellent service and extremely reasonable prices.

Cheers!

rf

[Fiyero]

I've only been to the well-known joints that everyone knows of, like Phillipe's, Pink's, Johnnie's, and Tito's. If I find a gem that's off of the radar, I'll fill you in. I can tell you right now that the sushi places next to Pantages and the Little England in Santa Monica are not worth a return trip.

[FMCoug]

I haven't been in years so I'm breaking your rule but no LA eatery list would be complete without mentioning the Original Pantry.

[SeattleUte]

My favorite LA restaurant:

http://www.mrchow.com/

[Katy Lied]

I used to go to Mr. Chows a lot back in the day. I also loved Dr. Hoggly Woggly's Tyler Texas BBQ in Van Nuys.

[Hazzard]

My favorite LA place to eat is Sante La Brea on La Brea in West Hollywood.

http://www.santecuisine.com/

I was just about to write that it's a great place for meat eaters and vegetarians alike, when I found this LA blog titled, "7 Restaurants Where Vegetarians & Meat Eaters Can Both be Happy."

http://laist.com/2009/12/28/7_restau...arians_mea.php

Agreed.

I love the brunch menu. The chili cheese omelet is great. So are the blue corn banana (vegan organic) pancakes with organic maple syrup.

And if you're a vegan or vegetarian, there are a bunch of fantastic items that I don't like at all but you will love. My wife always washes her meal down with the Sante Green Aid (chlorophyll, lime juice and alkaline water sweetened with agave nectar), which again, I think is disgusting but those with more open minds will probably find tasty.

[MarkGrace]

If I was an Angelino (or found myself in LA for that matter) and had some extra cash, I would be in hot pursuit of Jose Andres' new restaurant Bazaar. That place has created quite the buzz.

[TripletDaddy]

If I was an Angelino (or found myself in LA for that matter) and had some extra cash, I would be in hot pursuit of Jose Andres' new restaurant Bazaar. That place has created quite the buzz.

That place is delish and is definitely the top spot on Restaurant Row right now. It isn't overly new though (although relatively, so, I guess).

It is rivaling Church & State for local buzz.

[MarkGrace]

That place is delish and is definitely the top spot on Restaurant Row right now. It isn't overly new though (although relatively, so, I guess).

It is rivaling Church & State for local buzz.

Didn't it just open within the last year or so? That's new enough for me.

[TripletDaddy]

Didn't it just open within the last year or so? That's new enough for me.

Sounds about right. I agree, it is relatively new, I guess. I think one of the reasons I think it has been open for much longer is that they were doing stuff to the facade for awhile before it ever opened, so it made it seem like it was already in existence. Restaurant Row is a part of La Cienega that has some very good (and some very average) eateries. It also is the location of one of LA's hidden Space Invader tiles.

I enjoy driving Restaurant Row now and then.

[TripletDaddy]

Time to start adding to this thread. I noticed in today's LA Times that there was a write up on a local quirky hot dog joint that is worth checking out. Located in Pas, it is called The Slaw Dogs. COntrary to the name, each dog is not covered with slaw.

It is almost like a Puck concept, with all sorts of eclectic toppings ranging from gourmet to local ingredients.

Slaw Dogs subjects America's humblest food to the free play of the imagination. Where else can you get a chicken Caesar salad dog, with a snappy chicken sausage covered in crisp lettuce, Parmesan and croutons? Where else can you get a Oaxacan dog, with a thick layer of black mole and crumbled bits of tortilla chips for a bit of sharp textural contrast? Or a Thai slaw dog, with bits of cilantro and peanut for extra pizzazz?

This is hot dog as avant-garde art; this is the hot dog surreal. What else would you call Slaw's picnic dog, a hot dog topped with potato salad, two onion rings and a pickle spear, childishly arranged into an ever-so-slightly terrifying happy face?
...

There are 10 different sausages, including Vienna beefs and spicy Calabreses, and an enormous menu of ingredients from which to customize your dog, including truffle oil, kimchi and house-made chipotle mayo. There are salad bowls, topped with sausage. "We just basically sat around with some beers for, like, 36 hours, and thought of every possible thing that would be fun to eat on a dog," Byrne says.

One sleepy afternoon, Byrne was happily pushing his newly invented kumquat chutney dog on customers. It turns out to be unexpectedly magical, the marmalade-like bitterness of the chutney playing against the spice of a Polish sausage. He's excited about the coming spring and summer because of all the specials. "I'm going to make fried green tomato dogs," Byrne says. "I'm gonna make everything."

Always check the specials board for his latest experiment. That's where the Oaxacan dog showed up, and that's where you'll find his market dog, improvised from fresh local produce. He wants the place to be a hangout for locals, a place where you can prod him for the day's new invention. "It's like having friends over for a dinner party every night," Byrne says.

Here is a link to today's article

http://www.latimes.com/features/food...,2228015.story

LOCATION: 720 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, (626) 808-9777

PRICES: Dogs, $3.50 to $8; salad bowls, $8; sides $3 to $5

DETAILS: Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday to Wednesday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday to Saturday. Soft drinks. Credit cards accepted. Street parking.

[The_Tick]

DDD,

They featured this guy on your favorite show.

Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.

Looked good.

[Indy Coug]

Wuap has a new avatar

[Jennerstein]

I don't eat in LA much, since I live in Orange County, but here are a few places I've run into:

About a year and a half ago, I was in West LA for business. There's a wonderful hole in the wall Indonesian place, Ramayani, that's real close from the LA temple. It's run by an older Indonesian couple. I highly recommend it, I think I had their pork noodles which was really close to cantonse Beef Chow Fun.

While catching up with a friend attending USC film school, we went to this tiny hole in the way place, called Dean Sin world. They're xiao long baos are really good, better than Ding Tai Fung, but with more MSG. The sign is in Chinese and we found it extremely hard to find since we were going off Chowhound post. I think the place is run by two old Chinese women, one who you can see out front wrapping dumplings. They don't speak much english at all, so that might be a deterrent for any of you non-Mandarin speakers. Really good food, but lots of MSG.

My favorite sandwich place in downtown LA is Mendocino Farms, located in the Wells Fargo Water Court. High end sandwiches are expensive (like $10), but they taste really really good. I had some sort of pork sandwich with pear chutney once. The menu can be seasonal, although there are staples that are always on there.

[TripletDaddy]

Move over Kogi.......meet The Dim Sum Truck.

http://www.thedimsumtruck.com/Index/Home.html

Just started rolling a few weeks ago and has turned some heads.

http://losangeles.grubstreet.com/201...this_week.html

we are checking this one out today for lunch, as we were spending a chunk of the day on the West side. Allegedly very good and has buzz, so it will be fun to do something new.

The pics on the website look promising, esp the peking duck w/sweet cucumber taco



and tofu mulita.



yum!