Zagat does it again

By now you probably know that I am quite a fanatic about Urasawa. Yesterday, I went to see Spiderman 3 and I walked into Barns and Nobel as I waited for the movie. I picked up a Zagat survey 2007 and sought out Urasawa out of curiosity. It didnt even make it into the top 5 Japanese restaurants. It got 27 out of 30 for food, while Matsuhisa got a higher score as well as Sushi Nozawa (which I thought sucked altogether, as I blogged before). As fanatic as I am, guess how I must have felt then. What's wrong with these people?

One of America's top 50

Remember when I blogged that Urasawa and Spago were two of three restaurants from LA that got into the America's top 50 chart? The last one, now that I remember, is the providence. It's basically a high class seafood restaurant (I believe just opened?). The chef was the former chef at the Water Grill in Downtown. No wonder the food tasted a lot worse at the Water Grill last time I went there. I have not been there yet but it looks pretty good from what I've heard and saw on their website. Hiro also said this place is good. Better check it out.

Address: 5955 Melrose ave. LA, CA 90038 Phone (323) 460 4170
Website: http://www.providencela.com/

Shinsengumi Lunch

Shinsengumi ramen during lunch time sucks. The meny shrinks to one page. Basically, they only serve ramen (with much fewer topping choices), a few rice bowls, gyoza, and rice cakes. I went there today during lunch and they already sold out the rice cakes (supposedly real good), so I only had ramen and a gyoza. It was a disappointment. I would not go there during lunch again if I dont have to.

Restaurant Myth

I talked to the chef at Urasawa (Hiro Urasawa) and he told me about an interesting story. He said a few of his customers told him of a sushi restaurant in LA that is supposed to be super high class and expensive. They say the restaurant charges over 500 dollars a person. It's supposed to be a small place that is very exclusive. But he said, people hear about it but he have never actually met anyone who have gone to the place. So, I guess it's a myth then. Anyone know about this place? He also added that his restaurant is one of the 3 restaurants from LA that make it in the top 50 ranks in USA (the others are Spago and another one I cant remember). Then, he had two thumbs up and smiled.

Shabu Shabu: Shinsengumi

Shinsengumi (remember the Ramen and Yakitori restaurants ?) also has a Shabu restaurant. I just found that out this past week from my friend. He said it's very good too. I will force my friend to take me this coming Tuesday and promise to blog about it.

Address: 1695 W. Artesia Blvd. Gardena Ca. 90247 (310) 532 0728

Ps My friend told me they also opened another ramen restaurant near the original one. It's supposed to be the same stuf though. I guess they are doing pretty good.

Shabu Shabu: Mizu

Another of my favorite place is on Sawtelle. It's called Mizu 212. It's on the same line up as Orris, on the corner of the street with parking in the back. They only have 2 to 3 tables. Most of their seats are counter seats. This place is more contemporary looking with contemporary music, usually Jazz. And their shabu is as good as the place looks. You can order beef or chicken or seafood or combination I think. They have 3 kinds of beef: beef, vintage, and wagyu. Their seafood isnt bad too (the salmon is fresh), so you might wanna try combination of beef with seafood if you are not a beef eater like me. The order comes with rice (white or brown) and vegetables. You can order side beef or chicken or others if you want. In doing the sause, they hide Thai chilli in the back too; so if you like spicy, go for it. On the menu, their ice cream is supposed to be award winning or something. Dont believe them, they are just normal ice cream.

2000 Sawtelle Blvd.West Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310) 478-8979

Shabu Shabu: still in little Tokyo

There's a prestige shabu place in little Tokyo too. It's called Kagaya (I think). Next to Sushi Gen (which is not that good of a sushi place). This restaurant has only about 5 to 6 tables with a few more counter seat. They will give you a course menu with appetizer (which is absolutely great) and deserts. You can choose for a variety of beef and seafood. You can beef quality from US prime to Wagyu to Miyazaki (?). The price increase respectively too. The prime cost about 40 bucks (including the set menu) but they only give you about 9 pieces of sliced beef. You are gonna have to order additional sides if you eat like me. The soup in this restaurant is great. They use soup not just water like other places. And the pot isnt too hot so the soup isnt boiling. This is good because when you dip the beef into the soup, you can actually make it medium-rare or how cook you like. This is the way shabu is supposed to be. Other places, the beef just curl up when it gets into boiling water. The sause is great too. It's dense; not like watery stuff other places serve. They also serve a variety of vegetables too. After the shabu, they will ask if you want them to cook rice or udon with the soup. I always choose udon, and its superb. Dont forget the desert because they also superb (this is unsual coming from a person who doesnt eat desserts). Do get the green tea moose. Oh, absolutely do not forget to order, raw beef. It's not on the menu but it's one of the best.

I would recommend reservations if you are going more than 4
418 E. 2nd St., Los Angeles213-617-1016

Shabu Shabu: little Tokyo

There's another place arcoss the street from Zakuro. I dont know its name but its fully packed everyday. The wait is around and hour no matter what time you go. And I'm surprise people would wait that lng for this place. It's not that good. It could be because it's cheap. The place is so fucken arrogant too. They wouldnt give their customers too much green onions (which I use a lot). They dont care about their customers. If you go and put down your name for a certain number of people, that cant change. If more people come, they will have to put down their name and wait. If less people show up than what you've wrote, they scold at you. I dont get that shit. I'm not there begging for food. So I went there once, and never went back again. The food isnt that great either.

It's in the little Tokyo complex. On 3rd street. You cant miss it; there will be a lot of people waiting in front of the place.

Shabu Shabu

There are some good Shabu Shabu places in LA. The first that I recommend and the one that I used to go all the time is Zakuro. This one is in little Tokyo. It's a small place with 3 tables on Tatami and a bunch of counter seats. It's a cheap and it's worth the price. There is usually a short line each night; you will have to go and put your name down and wait. This is the only place I know that serve Sukiyaki. It is eaten with raw eeg as a dip, vegetables, and rice. The shabu itself is pretty good too. I used to eat there quite a few times a week. It costs no more than 20 bucks each visit. But the place has been closed for about a year now. I dont know what happened. They have a sign on the front door saying its for renovation but I dont see any thing going on. Not sure when its gonna open again. I'm waiting for it.

356 E 2nd StLos Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 680-0003

Pho: on Sawtelle

There's another Pho restaurant that I go to. This one is on Sawtelle. It just opened this year I believe. It's right next to Manpuku (a Japanese bbq restaurant blogged about earlier). This place has a more variety of dishes including rice bowls, rolls, and various pho. I went there only once mainly because it's far from my house and when I'm around the neighborhood, I usually go to other restaurants instead. The pho in this restaurant is better than Pho LA mainly because the beef in the bowl is raw (how it supposed to be). Other than a more variety in the menu and the beef, the two Pho restaurant I go to are quite similar. They are interchangable for me.

Address: I dont know the exact address because I dont even know the name of the restaurant. But it's on Sawtelle and Olympic. Right next to Manpuku across the street from the Nijiya market.

Pho LA

I have not been to many Pho restaurant yet, but there is a place I visit regularly. It's on the corner of 6th street an Alexandria called Pho LA. They serve pho with different toppings and three kinds of rolls. Their sumer roll is pretty good but they dont have it most of the time. Pho toppings include various seafood, meat balls, and beef. You can choose from different choices on the board. I always get pho with beef. It's the simplest one and because I love beef. The food is not that extravagant but they are alright. Their biggest problem that ticks me off is that the beef was supposed to be raw, but they are not. Overall, it's a good restaurant. It's best for the morning after a heavy drinking night, and it's good when you are hungry after a party because it opens 24 hours.

Wako

The restaurant specializes in Donkatsu (fried meat with rice). They offer pork donkatsu, chicken donkatsu, steak donkatsu, lobster donkatsu, etc. They also serves Udon and cold Soba. Everything is good in this restaurant. Depending on what you order, they will give you sesame seeds in a bowl for you to crush. Then you will fill will the bowl with sause for you order. The best thing about this place is that the Donkatsu are perfectly fried -- making them very crispy. The soba is good too. So I recommend that you order a combination in which you can order a meat (pork or chicken I think) with a smaller portion of Soba (this does not come with rice but you can order it separately). I used to order the combination with steak but they dont offer it anymore. But I still think the steak is the best so get my friends to order a combination and steal their soba.

There are a few branches but I one I go to is on Olympic. It's not listed on the internet. They are on Olympic a few blocks west of Vermont. If you are driving from USC, take Vermont north, turn left on Olympic, and it will be on your left on the corner of some road. Another location that I know of is in a plaza on Wilshire. The address is 3377 Wilshire Blvd. The plaza is on the corner of Wilshire and Alexandria.

Teppanyaki: New Otani Hotel

If you want to get a decent teppenyaki, you would have to go to the new otani hotel in little tokyo. On the garden level there's a teppanyaki restaurant that has about 6 pans. This place has Kobe beef (the greatest beef) from Japan. They offer various course menus. The one I order had salad, raw Kobe, lobster, sea bass, Kobe beef, and fried rice. The restaurant was the best Teppanyaki i've had here and one of the best ones i've had in my life. I would highly recommend this place. They open for lunch and dinner. But I was told that while the menus are the same, the price is much higher in dinner time. So go try it during lunch.

Address: 120 South Los Angeles St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 Phone: (213) 253-9263

Aod

There a Thai restaurant I just found out about and have been going there regularly since. The place is called Odd (I think). It's perfect for lunch because tey serve mostly noodles, some rice dishes, etc. The food are popular mostly for lunch. The duck rice is the best I've had here. It's as good as the ones in Thailand. I would also recommend their noodles. They as ones of the best here in LA. I thing I like about this place is that the dishes they serve are very similar to the ones in Thailand in terms of its portion. Most of the servings in the restaurant here are very big, but Aod offers an option of large and small. This is great because you can try a variety of their dishes in one visit.



Address: 5401 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles CA. 90027 Phone: 323-468-9302

Teppanyaki: Benihana

I just found out some days ago that Teppanyaki is not originated from Japan -- it was created here in USA ! I was quite surprised to learn this so I thought I would Blog about teppanyaki restaurants. The first Teppanyaki I've had here is at Benihana on La Cienega. To tell you the truth, they should not have even called the stuff they make food. It's all for show. They cook in front of you and do all these elaborate tricks like in the circus. It's more of a show going experience than a dining one. They throw their knives and shrimp tails in the air and play with them. I mean, it's fun to look at but the outcome of those acrobatic cooking is absolute shit. If I was to sum up the restaurant in one word: inedible

I wont even give you the address of the restaurant because it would just be a disgrace.

Sea Habour for Dinner

I went to Sea harbour for dinner a couple of nights ago. The food was phenominal ! This is definitely not a normal chinese seafood restaurant. The pigeon was absolutely delicious (dont forget to eat the head too). I was surprised that there werent that many people at the restaurant but perhaps because it was on a weekday night. Nevertheless, we really enjoyed the food. We got the Alaskan King crab steamed and stir fried with chilly and other stuff. Everything was perfectly made. We complimented them and the manage told us that they are one of the three best chinese seafood restaurant in the United States! No wonder their food is so great.

Address: 3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead Phone: 626-288-3939

The Cut

Finally I got to go to The Cut. Even though we had a reservation, when we got there we still had to wait for about 20 mins. As made obvious on their menus, the expertise of the restaurant was beef. They had dried aged beef of about 25 years and 35 years. Other than that, they had American Kobe beef and Japanese Kobe beef. I ordered a beef sashimi which was absolutly excellent. My friend had a beef tartar which was also great. Then came the main course. I ordered a Japanese Kobe Filet mignon. The dish was excellent. It was perfectly cooked and the quality of the beef was superb. Overall, this restaurant was probably the best steak house I have ever been to since I got here.

Address: Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel9500 Wilshire Blvd. (N. Beverly Dr.) Beverly Hills, CA 90212 Phone: 310-276-8500

Ps. I recommend that you reserve your table at least 2-3 weeks in advance or 1 month if it's a big party. I reserved the table through the peninsula's concierge and was lucky enough to get a table.

Dinner at the Penninsula

For the second night of my family visit, we had dinner at the hotel where they are staying: The Penninsula. It was a french restaurant I believe. The dishes were mediocre -- I had duck liver for the first course, the langostine for the second dish, and the rib eye steak for the main course. We opened champaigne and good wine. Although the food isnt worth a revisit, it was overall a nice experience.

The Cut

There is a new restaurant that is growing in popularity right now called The Cut. I believe its a steak house in the Regent hotel beverly hills. It's another restaurant by Wolfgang Puck. The reservation is very hard to make -- you have to make it at least 2 weeks for a small party. Since I have the funding from my parents during their visit, I tried to make a reservation. But there are too many of us that they could only serve us at the end of the month at the earliest. Knowing that Hiro (the chef at Urasawa) knows the owner, I called him wondering if he could help. He promised to try and we are waiting for the reply anxiously. I hope that we get it.

Urasawa

My family came to visit me for the following week. So now that I have the funds, I will be going to the number one sushi restaurant in Los Angeles: Urasawa. We couldnt get a reservation at first because there are a lot of us so the chef will need to close the whole restaurant for us. But he was nice enough to push other people's reservations to another day so that he could serve us. I am thrilled to be visiting the place and really looking forward to it.

The Original Pantry Cafe

I drive by this pantry almost everyday on my way home. I heard it's one of the best in LA. Unfortunately, I've never been there but I will some day soon. Last time I went snowboarding (which I had to wake up real early) I saw loads of people standing in line around the corner just to eat breakfast at that Cafe. The place looks promising because of that. Plus, I believe it opens 24 hours a day everyday or almost everyday. I have been meaning to try it for so many times but never got the chance. I will blog about it more when I get to visit the place. Anyone been to that place ?

877 S Figueroa StLos Angeles, CA 90017(213) 972-9279

Korean Barbeque: Buffet

If price is your concern, I would recommend that you go to bbq buffet. My first choice would be a place called Manna. It an open air place. The place serves two kinds of beef and I believe, two kinds of pork. The price per person is around 14 to 20 (not really sure). But the food tastes pretty good, although the decorations isnt fansy. You can order all you can eat or you can order ala carte (most people would order all you can eat).

3377 W Olympic BlvdLos Angeles, CA 90019 (323) 733-8516

Las Vegas

At dinner last night my friends and I were just talking about our last trip to Vegas over the spring break. Among laughter and mockery about our journey, we came aross the topic of food. We stayed over for two nights but we only had a chance to eat 3 meals (2 lunches and 1 dinner) because we got there at 4am on the first night. We had buffet at the Bellagio for lunch on the following day. It was horrible and not worth the 40 bucks we spent so I'm warning you not to eat there. The other two meals we went for quick meals at the Asian cuisine at the hotel we stayed in, the Venetian. The reasons that we went there 2 times is because the place was quick, it was in the Casino, and most of all because it was good. I had chinese spicy beef noodles which I thought was quite good. I know it isnt the best place for a meal, but I would recommend it for a quick one.

Korean Barbeque: Gyukaku

This place is equally good as Manpuku. The only difference is that they dont have raw dishes. (well, I think they do have yukke now, but they are not good anyways). The beef are as superb as Manpuku. And they also offer pork and seafood. Like Manpuku, this place also serves other non bbq dishes such as bibimbab and soups. Their spicy beef soup is one of the best I've had. After the meal, dont forget to order desserts. They have great desserts including japanese pancake (grilled youself; dont burn it) with ice cream and red bean.

There are different franchise in LA (I dont know about others). The ones I know are on Pico and La cienega

Address: 10925 W Pico Blvd (Cross Street: Westwood Boulevard)Los Angeles, CA 90064
Phone: (310) 234-8641

Address: 163 N La Cienega Blvd (Cross Street: Drexel Avenue)Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Phone: (310) 659-5760

Korean Barbeque: Manpuku

This is my favorite korean bbq restaurant (actually it's japanese bbq but its no different from korean bbq). This place offers everything you want in a korean bbq experience: they serve raw meat including yukke, sliced raw beef, even raw liver. A side from raw dishes, they offer non bbq dishes such as bibimbab and a variety of soup. For bbq, they serves all kinds of beef including kalbi, diced beef, beef outskirt, etc. In addition, they serve beef tongue, pork, and seafood. For many of these bbq dishes you can order them as marinated or salted(?). The place is fully packed everyday especially on weekends. You can make reservations or you can sign up at the restaurant and wait in line. But this place is definitely worth the visit.

Address: 2125 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025-6249.
Phone: (310)473 0580.

Korean Barbeque: Chosun

Last night I went to a Korean bbq place called Chosun. This is quite a fansy bbq place compared to others. They have an outdoor section and an indoor section. They serve a lot of food in their menu. They have glass noodles, soup, korean pancakes, sea food, and of course, beef. There are various selections of beef including Kalbi and Steak. They are cooked slightly different so you can try out different kinds of beef for variety and see which kind you like. Each portions is considerably large so dont order too much. Not only that their food is not worth revisiting, they have no idea how to celebrate birthdays. it was my friend's birthday last night. The cake was supposed to be a surprise. But the waitress came into the room and ask if we wanted the cake ! totally ruined the surprise. Then instead of lighting the candles and bring in the cake. They brought the cake, still in the box, onto the table and light the candle there. They totally ruined the mood.....

If you insist on trying, here's their address: 3330 W. Olympic Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90019. and phone number: (323)734-3330

Story of Ricky

I ran into the video of the movie Story of Ricky. It's the most ridiculously gory movie I've have ever encountered. It was banned in the US and other countries around the world for its violence. I have not watched the whole movie yet, but it will be interesting just to see the bloodiness and how gory it is. Watch it before dinner. It will be interesting. hahaha.....

Yakitori continued

There's another Yakitori place that is really good also. It is a branch under the brand of Shinsengumi (the brand that owns the ramen and chanko-nabe restaurants i mentioned before). Unlike Kokekokko, this place serves a variety of skews, not just chicken. They also have a bigger list in their menu. It is right next door to the Chanko-nabe restaurant. Although it's always packed, you should try it out. I'm not sure if they accept reservations because I just found this place and havent got the chance to go there a lot. But I dont think they do.

Address: 18517 South Western Avenue Gardena, CA 90248

Phone: 310 715 1588

Funny Beer Commercial

It's now a trend in Thailand to produce funny commercials. There's a beer commercial that is very funny and its posted on YouTube. I found it, so here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx0fy-9NWFg

Yakitori

There's a good yakitori place in Little Tokyo in Downtown called Kokekokko. It serves Japanese chicken barbeque on skews and everything else chicken. Their menu only list a number of their servings such as chicken thigh, breast, wings, gizzards, quail eggs, and liver. But they have many 'specials' as well. For some reason, they always try to hide their specials and they only offer about one skew of each special per person. I could never figure out the logic of that. In the special (that I know off), their are 'special hearts,' 'special special hearts,' 'skin,' 'okra,' and 'duck.' Other servings on their menu are great too like chicken dumplings, roasted duck, and chicken soup. Usually there is a short wait during dinner time.

Address: 360 E 2nd St Los Angeles, CA 90012 Phone: 213 687 0690

North Hollywood Shoot Out

My friend told me that recently (about a week or two ago) was the annerversary of the North Hollywood shoot out. The story was very interesting the way he told me so I looked it up on YouTube. This is what I found: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bijFwHuvl-0

ps. Anyone kind enough to teach me how to post YouTube video ?

Chanko-Nabe

Shinsengumi also owns a Chanko restaurant in Gardena. So I tried it out. Chanko is a like a hot pot stew for Japanese (not the same as Shabu Shabu though). It's mostly known as Sumo food. It's a very healthy and nutritious balanced meal containing various vegetables, mushrooms, glass noodles, tofu, and your choice of meat. This place offers 6 kinds of soup (and meat): Seafood, Chicken, Duck, Miso, Shio (soy based), and another one I cant think of. The best part of this meal is the broth, which requires one day to cook. So reservation is needed at least one day prior to the visit. There are only limited rooms too because they all have Tatami floors and divided by sliding doors.

Address: 18519 S. Western Avenue, Gardena, CA 9024. For reservation call (310) 715-1201
You can also visit their wesite which is the shinsengumi website.

Shinsengumi Ramen

I have tried many ramen restaurants here in LA. I best that I found is Shinsengumi. The place lets you customize your own ramen bowl. They let you choose the toppings, the level of hardness of the noodle, the stength of the taste of the soup, etc. Other than ramen, they also serve excellent gyoza, fried rice, takowasa (wasabi squid), and soboro (minced prok over rice), etc. Many of their dishes come in small portions and they taste good with their draft beer. By the way if you like natto (fermented soy beans) you should order Stamina Natto. It's natto with cut mountain potato, green onion, okra, and raw quail egg. Mix them with a little soy sause. Tastes great !

There are many branches, and the brand extents to other kinds of Japanese such as Shabu Shabu, Chanko Nabe, Yakitori, even Togos. Check out their website: Shinsengumiusa.com

Best Dim Sum: Sea Habour Seafood Restaurant

I did go to try the Dim Sum at the Sea Habour Seafood. It was, by far, the greatest. The Dim Sum at most places have very think outter/wrapping layer which makes them taste bad. But the Dim Sum at this place is really good -- the leyers were very thin and the inside is very rich. The beef stew was really good too. It isnt too oily so it doesnt give you too much of the sticky feeling in your mouth. I also had the Shark fin soup which was served in a papaya. It was alright, not so much of an outstanding plate. The chillie sause was the bottled kind that is popular in most Asian restaurants so it wasnt that good; I like the one at NBC better. Although some of the Dim Sum dishes at NBC taste better, Sea Habour has the upper hand overall in my opinion. The only down of this place is that the line is ridiculously long; you'll have to wait an hour so get there early....

Address: 3939 N. Rosemead Blvd., Rosemead Phone number: 626-288-3939

Dim Sum: NBC Seafood

The best Dim Sum I've had so far in LA is at NBC Seafood. They serve Dim Sum during lunch (I dont know from what time to what time but around noon to 2pm is the safest bet) and serve seafood for dinner (although their seafood isnt that good). Like other Dim Sum places, they serve Dim Sum from carts that their waitress pushed around the restaurant. The place is quite large but it is crowded everyday, you shouldnt go too late for lunch because many of the dishes will be finished. The price is moderate. It's a great place for Dim Sum overall.

Their address: 404 S Atlantic Blvd (Cross Street: Harding Avenue)Monterey Park, CA 91754. Phone number: (626) 282-2323

Tomorrow, I'm going to another Dim Sum place called Sea Horbor. Many argued that it is much better than NBC Seafood and it is, by far, the best Dim Sum in town. I will check it out.

Pizzaria: Mulberry and Lamonica's

There are tons and tons of pizza places in LA. But there are two that I like the best. One of them is on Canon drive in Beverly hills. Its called Mulberry Pizzaria. It's a small place that serves pizza by the slice and other dishes like spaghetti and salad. Their sause has known to be very good, and they have a few tables outside of their restaurants and they are great for chilling on a sunny evening. Another place is Lamonica's New York Pizza in Westwood. Their pizza has crunchy crust and the toppings are just about right, not too much. The decoration isnt that attractive -- inside is kinda dark. But their pizza make every visit worthwhile.

Mulberry Pizzaria: 347 N. Cañon Dr
Lamonica's NY Pizza: 1066 Gayley Ave

Ps. I just saw a pizzaria called Village Pizzaria on Larchmont. There were tons of people, and they have to have a waiting list for customers to sign their names on. Pizza seems pretty good. I'll taste it when I get the chance and I'll post some comments here.

French

I just went to Melisse the other day. Personally, I think it is the best French cuisine in LA. The chef continually creates new wonderful dishes every once in a while. Their appetizers are great. This time I went, the chef had a special menu of Kobe beef. There were several items, but unfortunately on the day I went, they only had the Kobe tartar. So I had that; it was really great. For entree, I had lamb loin, but I didnt like it that much because it is dominated by a sweet flavor. I remember, though, that last time I went, their lamb chop was certainly superb. Although it is a French-American restaurant, I think their pasta is one of the best I've had in LA. They have a special menu of truffles which are prepared with pastas -- absolutely divine. Another highlight was their desert plates. I ordered the Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate plate. It was a combination of Souffle, ice cream, and another chocolate which I forgot. Overall, I think this place is the best French I've had in LA.

Their address is 1104 Wilshire Blvd.(at 11th Street), Santa Monica. Phone number: 310-395-0881. And they are closed on Sunday and Monday.

Thai Food

Authentic Thai food are not hard to find in LA since there is a Thai town and all.....Thai food has been receiving a growing popularity, but unfortunately most of the commercialized Thai restaurants such as Thai Dishes and Chan Dara. Personally, I consider those restaurants disgraces. Thus, to find authentic good Thai food, you would have to go to Thai town. Although Thailand is a considerably small country, we do have different kinds of food in different regions. So each restaurants have their specialties. Ruen Pair, on Hollywood, is a famous place for porridge with other side dishes. If you want Duck noodle soup, a place to go is Rod Ded (on the corner of Hollywood and Gramercy). The Rad-Nah (noodle in sause shown on the right) is even better than most of the places in Thailand. Siam Sunset is famous for their Chicken Rice (although I dont think it's that good), their Pork Blood Soup, and their Kra-Pao Ped Yang (stir fried basil with duck), as well as their breakfast Pa-Tong-Koh (Fried bread). Their address: 5265 W Sunset Blvd. For an authentic taste of the northeastern food including the famous Som Tum (papaya salad, on the left), Larb (Minced pork), Tom-Sab (Spicy Soup, not Tom-Yum-Goong though), etc. you will have to go to Khun Dom: 4681 Melrose Ave.

Moving on to other food: Dai Ho

Dai Ho is a small Taiwanese food restaurant in Rosemead. From what I've heard (not sure myself), the restaurant only opens 3 hours a day from noon to 3 pm, and some of their food usually run out. Those information are enough evidences to prove that the place must be real good. So I went. I ordered one of their attraction menus, Spicy Beef Stew Noodles along with other appetizers. The noodle soup was simple and consists of stew beef, spinach, noodles, and spicy+oily soup made from certain kinds of herbs. It was the best I've had since I came to LA, but it was mediocre compared to what I've had in Taiwan or other places. Nonetheless, it was worth the trip. There are other menus in the restaurant that are famous as well. For example, I've heard the cold noodles and the dan dan noodles are pretty good too. I will definitely go back and try those.

Directions: Get off from the 10 freeway toward San Gabriel. Turn right on Las Tunas. It's a small place on the corner of a street (drive slow so you can notice). And there's parking spaces in the rear.

A little side note

As I watched the movie The Last Emporer, there's a scene that portrayed a sample of the difference between the Western culture and the Eastern culture. (All this is not to say which is better. It is just a simple observation, which I think is still applicable to today's world):

The scene involved the young emporer and the Western tutor. The tutor was invited to ride on a carriage carried by servants. One of those servant asked for a tip which the tutor gave. So the emporer ordered that servant to be punished. And another servant apologized to the tutor while giving back his money. Now here's the point: the tutor said he was not offended, but the servant said "It was the emporer who has been offended."

Still on Japanese restaurant

I mentioned URASAWA as the best Japanese restaurant in LA. Now I would like to recommend the second best Japanese restaurant: Kiriko Sushi. An essential criteria that I use to judge a sushi restaurant is the quality of their Toro (best part in Tuna). Urasawa had HAMA TORO which is the very best kind of Toro. (it melts in your mouth!) With this criteria, I think Kiriko is worthy to be the second best. They also serve great Toro that completely melts in your mouth. You dont even have to use your teeth to chew it. They also have other great stuff such as Seared Toro made to perfection with outside seared and inside raw. Their meat is superb also. Absolute must try.

It's located in the plaza on the cross street Sawtelle and Olympic. It's a small place with a sushi counter and a few tables and one Japanese style table with TATAMI floor. The food is needless to say, superb. And it wont cost as much as Urasawa too. I think, for a full stomach, you would need about 100 to 150 dollars without Sake. Here is their website: http://www.kirikosushi.com/

Arrogant Sushi Chef

Have you ever been to sushi places that the chef is just so fool of himself ? I've been to a few sushi restaurants where the chef is so arrogant despite the fact that the food is only mediocre or even bad. I would have guess that some of the arrogance derived from the nobility of being a sushi chef, and from observing the ignorance and idiotic behavior of a few customers. These customers, as I have witnessed, would express disgust to some of the food that might have been unfamiliar to them, and sometimes they would struggle to eat their food. For example, I have seen a few customers, at different times, struggle to eat sushi by hand and dropped all the rice into the soy sauce. Then they tried to eat the rice with their fingers and palms. It wasnt a pretty sight for my appetite. Being arrogant toward those inexperienced are fine but from my observations, most of the customers are civilized and smart enough to properly eat sushi. Whatever the reasons are, regarding the arrogance of some sushi chefs, I can deal with the ones that actually makes good sushi. I believe that they have a right to be arrogant, only if they are good enough to be. The ones that doesnt have the skills but still are egotistic should be called Cocky instead.

An example: Sushi Nozawa is a small sushi restaurant near The Universal Studio. The place is poorly decorated and the food is very mediocre. Yet, there are cocky signs all over the place saying something like "Trust us." Despite of what I think, the place is still full pacted every night and the Zagat Survey still ranked them number 1. I could never understand why......

Zagat Survey

A while ago, one of my friends recommended a Zagat Survey pocket book to me after she found out that I like to explore the restaurants and good food in LA. In general, it gave me an idea of the restaurants through its ratings, but I found after a while of using it that it isnt entirely reliable, at least to my tastes. In the case of Japanese restaurants, Zagat rated Sushi Nozawa as the best in LA which I think is absolutely unacceptable. Urasawa, as I posted before, is the best, but Zagat dont even have ratings for it. The second best that I have had is a small place on Sawtelle in Santa Monica. These places, including a lot more, are not rated in the booklet. Another example of food that Zagat misrepresents is Thai food (I would know about this since I was born and raised in Thailand). The booklet ranked the commercialized Thai restaurants that dont even serve authentic Thai food as their top Thai restaurants while the authentic and good ones in Thai town are being ignored and left out of the list.

Although Zagat gives you a general guide of what a restaurant might be like and helped me discover many good restaurants, I found that I cant rely on it entirely to find good places to eat. Even though it is pretty inaccurate in its rankings on Asian food, their tastes on Western food are still reliable to a certain extent.

Best Japanese !!!

The best Japanese restaurant and my most favorite of all restaurants in LA is URASAWA. It is an exclusive VIP restaurant where you have to make a reservation at least a day prior to your visit. The restaurant will not take their customers in a walk-in basis. It is a small artistic place holding no more than 15-20 people a night (I believe they open for lunch now too). There is only one head chef, Hiro Urasawa, one assistant, and one or more waiter/waitress depending on the number of customers each night. Hiro is an artist. He created his dishes thoughtfully from a combination of traditional Japanese and fusion Japanese. Anyone who watches him while he create his dishes will agree that he really cares about his food. He once said to me that he doesnt smoke or drink because he's afraid that it will desensitized his tongue and he wont be able to taste his food accurately. In this restaurant, you wont be given a menu; the chef will prepare a set of food for you, but you can certainly make requests. The food is, needless to say, absolutely divine!!! He will start will a few small appetizers such as cold steamed egg with salmon roe on top. Then he will continue on to serve larger portions of food such as toro for you to grill on hot stone and shabu shabu with foie gras, lobsters, and kobe beef. After that, he will start with his sushi made to perfection by extremely fresh fish from the fisherman's market in the morning, skillfully prepared sushi rice, and wasabi freshly scraped from its plant (not the fake ass ones from the tubes in supermarkets). Finally, he will serve great Japanese deserts with traditional green tea and oolong tea to help digest the food. The price would range from 250 minimum to 300 per person. By the way Sake here are top class too.

Pardon me for the length of this post but I must describe this restaurant and the food in deatil since it is the best restaurant I've been to so far in Los Angeles.

I dont think the restaurant has its own website but you can search further in Google. Here's one website I found: http://www.gayot.com/restaurants/features/urasawa.html

Food Fanatic

I have always been a food fanatic. I enjoy eating delicious food and, although I have my dislikes, I like trying out new tastes. I will eat anything that is eatable and is eaten by people. This includes anything from insects (by the way, taste great with beer) and oxes' genitals to anything as ordinary as steaks and sandwiches. Three years ago I moved from Thailand to Los Angeles and that was when I started exploring the city for good food. In the course of these years, I would say I have been considerably sucessful. In this blog, I'm looking to share my discoveries with you all and would greatly appreciate your discoveries as well.

Ps. I just started posting blogs so please bear with me as I learn how to use it