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.