Thanks for the Baroo Canteen rec! That was excellent.

Okay, some more that haven’t been mentioned, at least recently.

Porridge & Puffs is for sure hipster-bait, but the food quite fantastic and their Thursday night dinners are an amazing value for $20pp (cash). But even if you can only make it to lunch, go. The (J.) Gold porridge is astoundingly good.

Speaking of Gold, Guerilla Tacos is a B&M now. Hey, remember when everyone got mad at $3 tacos a few years ago? Hahaha, good times. Allow me to introduce you to the $6 taco... and it’s vegetarian. Actually, that butternut squash taco was the one dud in our order — kind of bland and uninspiring. The rest was more than worth the price, though: Pork terrine taco, hamachi tostada (go for the uni add-on), and steak quesadilla were all memorably delicious. I wouldn’t hesitate to order all of these again, if available.

No one eats ramen anymore*. Tsukemen is over**. The new hotness is mazemen and the place to get that is Mogumogu. Nice fat noodles and very tasty sauce ingredients. I might even try the cheese version next time.

I’ve never made it to Chichen Itza, because Holbox is right there and so damn good. Very, very, fresh seafood, expertly prepared. And since as everyone knows fish > meat, I might not ever get to eat at CI.

If you’re in LA, you should eat lots of Thai food. The new place that everyone’s really excited about is Northern Thai Food, and it is indeed really good for khao soi, sai ua, jackfruit salad, plus whatever’s good from the steam table. Super cheap, too: pretty much everything is $7. But! It is a seriously tiny mom & pop place — I don’t think they even have a bathroom — and they’ve gotten a lot of positive press. If you’re upset about having to wait a long time to get your food or the check or can’t deal with a language barrier, this may not be the place for you. (Just putting that out here, since I saw two displeased, truculent customers on two distinct visits.)

By the way, has anyone here mentioned the weekend food festival at the Wat Thai Temple? This is a lot of fun and there is a wide variety of food, most of which is great. I’d probably even recommend it over Thai Town, especially on a nice day — where else can you feast on a delightful nam khao tod while a group of Thai singers belts out Hava Nagila? (Note: The latter may be a seasonal offering.)

Okay, SGV. So much great stuff (e.g., Chengdu Taste is so reliably good, although I’m sure all the locals are like, “Chengdu Taste, yaaawn” I’ve yet to have a mediocre let alone bad meal there, though I’m sure it’s possible, don’t @ me, etc.), but I want to highlight the Big Plate Chicken at Northern Cafe in Monterey Park (I’ve seen reports that other locations don’t have it). Not very spicy at all and I’d like more cumin, but otherwise pretty wonderful, especially with the delightfully thick knife-shaved noodles. Not as big as it should be but probably enough for two people with an appetizer, although it could also feed a single hungry slob (it me ).



*Everyone still eats ramen.
**Not really.

cilantro wrote: Speaking of Gold, Guerilla Tacos is a B&M now. Hey, remember when everyone got mad at $3 tacos a few years ago? Hahaha, good times. Allow me to introduce you to the $6 taco... and it’s vegetarian. Actually, that butternut squash taco was the one dud in our order — kind of bland and uninspiring. The rest was more than worth the price, though: Pork terrine taco, hamachi tostada (go for the uni add-on), and steak quesadilla were all memorably delicious. I wouldn’t hesitate to order all of these again, if available.

Seconded. That pork terrine taco is legit. (And the vegetarian taco had in early December, a play on baigan bharta, was the weak link, too.)

Just want to note that Tijuana-style tacos are having a major moment in LA right now. Tacos 1986, which has a brick and mortar in DTLA and a stand at the LA version of Smorgasburg, hyper focuses on grilled meat, doing just al pastor and carne asada styles at the market stand; both are pitch perfect, the carne asada especially. Teddy's Red, a truck parked south of DTLA, focuses on birria de res--i.e., beef. Tortillas are dipped in chile-stained beef consomme prior to hitting the griddle, hence the "red"; consomme is served with the tacos, and many dip their tacos in it. Got a "deluxe" plate, which featured a taco, tostada, quesadilla, and mulita--all with birria, all dipped. Here's where I'm still scratching my head: all featured almost exactly the same ingredients, and all that beef fat neutralized the flavors on three out of the four items. But, for whatever reason--the cheese? having two crisp tortillas?--it all comes together in that mulita: pure meat genius.

Tacos 1986 @ Smorgasburg LA
777 S Alameda St. (in The Row LA)

Teddy's Red
731 Slauson Ave.,
Los Angeles

cilantro wrote:Thanks for the Baroo Canteen rec! That was excellent.

Okay, some more that haven’t been mentioned, at least recently.

Porridge & Puffs is for sure hipster-bait, but the food quite fantastic and their Thursday night dinners are an amazing value for $20pp (cash). But even if you can only make it to lunch, go. The (J.) Gold porridge is astoundingly good.

Speaking of Gold, Guerilla Tacos is a B&M now. Hey, remember when everyone got mad at $3 tacos a few years ago? Hahaha, good times. Allow me to introduce you to the $6 taco... and it’s vegetarian. Actually, that butternut squash taco was the one dud in our order — kind of bland and uninspiring. The rest was more than worth the price, though: Pork terrine taco, hamachi tostada (go for the uni add-on), and steak quesadilla were all memorably delicious. I wouldn’t hesitate to order all of these again, if available.

No one eats ramen anymore*. Tsukemen is over**. The new hotness is mazemen and the place to get that is Mogumogu. Nice fat noodles and very tasty sauce ingredients. I might even try the cheese version next time.

I’ve never made it to Chichen Itza, because Holbox is right there and so damn good. Very, very, fresh seafood, expertly prepared. And since as everyone knows fish > meat, I might not ever get to eat at CI.

If you’re in LA, you should eat lots of Thai food. The new place that everyone’s really excited about is Northern Thai Food, and it is indeed really good for khao soi, sai ua, jackfruit salad, plus whatever’s good from the steam table. Super cheap, too: pretty much everything is $7. But! It is a seriously tiny mom & pop place — I don’t think they even have a bathroom — and they’ve gotten a lot of positive press. If you’re upset about having to wait a long time to get your food or the check or can’t deal with a language barrier, this may not be the place for you. (Just putting that out here, since I saw two displeased, truculent customers on two distinct visits.)

By the way, has anyone here mentioned the weekend food festival at the Wat Thai Temple? This is a lot of fun and there is a wide variety of food, most of which is great. I’d probably even recommend it over Thai Town, especially on a nice day — where else can you feast on a delightful nam khao tod while a group of Thai singers belts out Hava Nagila? (Note: The latter may be a seasonal offering.)

Okay, SGV. So much great stuff (e.g., Chengdu Taste is so reliably good, although I’m sure all the locals are like, “Chengdu Taste, yaaawn” I’ve yet to have a mediocre let alone bad meal there, though I’m sure it’s possible, don’t @ me, etc.), but I want to highlight the Big Plate Chicken at Northern Cafe in Monterey Park (I’ve seen reports that other locations don’t have it). Not very spicy at all and I’d like more cumin, but otherwise pretty wonderful, especially with the delightfully thick knife-shaved noodles. Not as big as it should be but probably enough for two people with an appetizer, although it could also feed a single hungry slob (it me ).



*Everyone still eats ramen.
**Not really.

The entire post pleases me so much. Especially on Thai Town. We go so much. Northern Thai Food (they renamed) is very good but I still prefer Pailin and Spicy bbq now that northern toned down their spice level.

For mazemen you’ve got to try Iki. Their ramen and other offerings are killer too. Opened by the GM at n/naka.

Chichen Itza is fantastic, I just get a plate and eat it at Holbox with whatever I get there , they’re related businesses so they don’t care.

On the topic of Los Angeles I see that we’ve got some serious work put in on this board. Kudos.

But are you guys hip to 106 underground? Our food has been emancipated and some of the best food is found away from restaurants.

It’s the best Mexican seafood I’ve ever had and done out of the chef’s backyard in Inglewood.

Click at your own risk of drooling

Our last visit

https://foodtalkcentral.com/t/sergio-s- ... 0?u=nemroz

WhyBeeSea wrote:.

pizzana west Hollywood - fantastic neapolitan style pizza here. The neo margharita was a modern take and that was great. Pepperoni was also tatty but was lacking a little acidity. But just being a little nitpicky. One of the best crusts on a pizza I've tasted.

Your whole post was fun to read, I live and work right by KTown

On pizzana you’re right. Crust is crazy. That’s because the dude is an obsessive 3rd generation baker who brought the mother dough when he moved here. We all hate the space in West Hollywood location, original is better.

Eat With Gusto wrote:
But are you guys hip to 106 underground?

That was our first stop after landing. Ceviche, marlin tacos, and langostinos were all amazing and very reasonably priced. Next time, snook (we wanted to try more stuff). Anyone who goes, there is 0 identifying signage other than the house number, so ignore Google Maps and just boldly stride into the back yard — don’t pace up and down the block several times like a pair of idiots I know.

Love Pailin too. Learned about Iki way too late; will try next time. LA has too much good food.

Eat With Gusto wrote:

WhyBeeSea wrote:.

pizzana west Hollywood - fantastic neapolitan style pizza here. The neo margharita was a modern take and that was great. Pepperoni was also tatty but was lacking a little acidity. But just being a little nitpicky. One of the best crusts on a pizza I've tasted.

Your whole post was fun to read, I live and work right by KTown

On pizzana you’re right. Crust is crazy. That’s because the dude is an obsessive 3rd generation baker who brought the mother dough when he moved here. We all hate the space in West Hollywood location, original is better.

Do you by chance have a forum like this for LA that you leverage? If so, I'm hoping it'd be a great resource for future trips.

See FoodTalkCentral (linked in above post). I believe TonyC first plugged it here; it’s very active and the best resource I’ve found for LA eats.

cilantro wrote:See FoodTalkCentral (linked in above post). I believe TonyC first plugged it here; it’s very active and the best resource I’ve found for LA eats.

Fantastic. Thanks!!

WhyBeeSea wrote:

cilantro wrote:See FoodTalkCentral (linked in above post). I believe TonyC first plugged it here; it’s very active and the best resource I’ve found for LA eats.

Fantastic. Thanks!!

Yep, that’s us. Enjoy. Get at me for any questions, normal or weird.

Thai, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican we do like nobody else in LA.

Current favorite is probably Jun Won

cilantro wrote:

Eat With Gusto wrote:
But are you guys hip to 106 underground?

That was our first stop after landing. Ceviche, marlin tacos, and langostinos were all amazing and very reasonably priced. Next time, snook (we wanted to try more stuff). Anyone who goes, there is 0 identifying signage other than the house number, so ignore Google Maps and just boldly stride into the back yard — don’t pace up and down the block several times like a pair of idiots I know.

Love Pailin too. Learned about Iki way too late; will try next time. LA has too much good food.

Cilantro knows! Have you tried Spicy Thai BBQ? It’s probably our best northern Thai for me. Grab a beer at the liquor store next door

Eat With Gusto wrote:Have you tried Spicy Thai BBQ?

Nope, never. Will try next time.

Northern and Pailin are the only two Northern places I’ve tried, but I’ve also had multiple meals at Sapp, Luv2Eat, and Jitlada (obviously), all of which I’ll be happy to repeat. Oh, and various Night + Markets, the Silver Lake location of which has predictably execrable service, but I can’t argue with the cooking. This last time, we also checked out Bhan Kanom Thai, which is a lot of fun (especially when your insides are burning from dinner).

cilantro wrote:

Eat With Gusto wrote:Have you tried Spicy Thai BBQ?

Nope, never. Will try next time.

Northern and Pailin are the only two Northern places I’ve tried, but I’ve also had multiple meals at Sapp, Luv2Eat, and Jitlada (obviously), all of which I’ll be happy to repeat. Oh, and various Night + Markets, the Silver Lake location of which has predictably execrable service, but I can’t argue with the cooking. This last time, we also checked out Bhan Kanom Thai, which is a lot of fun (especially when your insides are burning from dinner).

Yep, all of that is fun. But the Night Market original in West Hollywood where his parents ran Talesai is the best. Spicy Thai bbq maybe the tastiest northern. Certainly coziest.

I miss going to Bhan Kanom, not sure why we stopped.

Original Pa Ord next to Club is amazing as is Siam Sunset for congee etc

Oh duh and the Crab Curry at Noree/Luv2eat

Bummer food news out of LA. The world's greatest donut shop is no more.


Stan Berman is 90 years old and he's been running his donut shop for 55 of them. The man has definitely earned his retirement. I just hope the pandemic only sped up the timeline on a decision he had already made and was comfortable with.

I like Chicago's Stan's and may well swing by tomorrow since it's on my mind, but the gussied up versions just don't satisfy like the original in Westwood.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Stan Berman is 90 years old and he's been running his donut shop for 55 of them. The man has definitely earned his retirement. I just hope the pandemic only sped up the timeline on a decision he had already made and was comfortable with.

I like Chicago's Stan's and may well swing by tomorrow since it's on my mind, but the gussied up versions just don't satisfy like the original in Westwood.

This makes me so sad. Glad I was able to get one last PB & Banana this past December. Fortunately, Donut Man is still going strong (although the downtown location seems to be on hold), but this one really hurts.