Restaurants I've Eaten At
La Conversation: I picked Meredith up at 5:30pm on a Friday at a Hollywood hills mansion where she was filming her yoga video and after we sat in stand-still traffic for half an hour, we noticed this place on the side of the road in Beverly Hills. So we parked and went to dinner. It was wonderful. The ambiance reminded me of the Parisian Cafe in Arlington and Al's Deli in Evanston (both of which feature super-Francophile decorations) and our tortilla salads were perfect. (2/07, with Meredith)
Wakasan: This is a great omakase place that Ben introduced me to a couple of years ago. I guess LA Erica actually discovered it, but it's really Ben's place. It's great. (2/07, for Ben's birthday)
Tender Greens: Meredith and I continued our exploration of the much-publicized new Culver City scene by going on a date here. I had a salad and Meredith had an assortment of things including a soup. It was really low-key, which I liked. My BBQ chicken salad was pretty good, too.
El Pinto: On the Sunday afternoon of my visit to Albuquerque for an aesthetics philosophy conference, we went here with our host, the conference organizer, and a rather energetic young man from the Univ. of Hawaii. It's an enormous place, supposedly the biggest restaurant in New Mexico. They had a couple fountains inside, but they weren't really turned on. The food was good, if a little bit standard Tex-Mex. They had steamed tortillas, which looked good but which I didn't try because I was so full. (2/07, with Nat and others)
Jinky's: The pancakes here are really good. And if you go early enough (before 10am), there's really no wait. (2/07, with Meredith)
La Cabana: Gotta love this place. It's less than a five minute walk from our new place, the margheritas are great, and the decor is over the top. I had a burrito. I was a pretty standard cheese-covered one the size of your head, the kind you can get at any Chili's. I'm looking forward to taking my Chicago friends here, though, just because of the vibe. (2/07, with Meredith)
Wilson's: This place was mentioned in the recent NY Times piece on the up-and-coming Culver City scene, so when my Dad passed through town for dinner he took Meredith and me here. It was good, not great. My Dad and I shared some sort of wild boar sausage appetizer that the waiter described as very flavorful. It wasn't. My main course was the slow roasted pork, which I highly recommend and which partly redeemed the place. It was the most tender pork I've ever had, and the various sides were all perfect complements. The restaurant's a scene, but not over the top. The coolest thing was a large poster of Dennis Wilson that was hanging near the bathroom. I was hoping there might be a photo of him from "Two Lane Blacktop", but I didn't see one. (2/07, with my Dad and Meredith)
Koreatown Plaza: In the food court at the Koreatown Plaza mall, on Western just south of Wishire, they've got what appear to be a bunch of great places to eat. I say "appear" because I've always just gone to the same place and always gotten the same thing: Bi Bim Bop. It's always good, though, so why change a thing? (1/07, with Ben, Erica, and the Encino Man)
La Super Rica Taqueria: I went here with Ben, en route to Pismo Beach. The eating conditions were far from ideal: it was a cold, rainy day and this is basically a taco shack with an outdoor seating area covered with a plastic tent that leaks. I had a bunch of different tacos. The simple beef ones were the best. Just tasty beef on very, very fresh tortillas. The more complicated tacos were a little disappointing. (1/07, with Ben)
Bravo Pizza: It's on Main St. in Santa Monica. This is the best NYC-style pizza I've had in LA. A little bland, but they've got the crust right. (1/07)
La Playita: I've driven by this taco shack on the side of Lincoln Blvd. a million times, and long been impressed by the line of people outside at almost any time of day or night. As if that wasn't enough of a reason to check it out, a quick search on Chowhound brought up many recommendations. And as if that wasn't enough, a quick look at Google Maps revealed that it is only a couple minutes walk from my new house, so I walked over and had a shrimp burrito for lunch. It was pretty damn good, spicy in just the right way. And cheap: it was only $4.50. I think I'll be back. (1/07)
Mao's Kitchen: The food was good, but the service was horrible. It's BYOB, which we didn't take advantage of. I guess I would go back, but only if I brought something to drink and planned to hang out for a while. In that case, it might be a good time. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
Le Pain Quoidien: Meredith and I have been here several times, and everything we've had has been good, albeit overpriced. I assume this is the future of semi-fast-fresh-chain food. The themed environment is slightly, but not overwhelmingly, pretentious, and the service is well organized. The last time we went the couple sitting at the table next to us recommended the Nutella-like spread, which we tried and loved. It's normally a breakfast item, but we had it for dinner. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
Father's Office: Descending into the depths of the frattiness at the Father's Office is terrifying, but if treated as an anthropoligical study can be enjoyable. The beer selection is great, but the only reason to come here is for the burgers, which are among the best I've ever had. I used to say they were the best, but several recent visits just haven't been as good as my first few times. One thing I've learned is that since the sweet potato fries come long before the burgers, it's best to restrain your intake of the fries, because they'll seriously ruin your appetite if you eat as many as you might want to. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
AXE: Healthy, healthy, heathly, but not quite food as medicine (though some dishes are). And not half bad. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
Wakasan: This is a great omakase place that Ben introduced me to a couple of years ago. I guess LA Erica actually discovered it, but it's really Ben's place. It's great. (2/07, for Ben's birthday)
Tender Greens: Meredith and I continued our exploration of the much-publicized new Culver City scene by going on a date here. I had a salad and Meredith had an assortment of things including a soup. It was really low-key, which I liked. My BBQ chicken salad was pretty good, too.
El Pinto: On the Sunday afternoon of my visit to Albuquerque for an aesthetics philosophy conference, we went here with our host, the conference organizer, and a rather energetic young man from the Univ. of Hawaii. It's an enormous place, supposedly the biggest restaurant in New Mexico. They had a couple fountains inside, but they weren't really turned on. The food was good, if a little bit standard Tex-Mex. They had steamed tortillas, which looked good but which I didn't try because I was so full. (2/07, with Nat and others)
Jinky's: The pancakes here are really good. And if you go early enough (before 10am), there's really no wait. (2/07, with Meredith)
La Cabana: Gotta love this place. It's less than a five minute walk from our new place, the margheritas are great, and the decor is over the top. I had a burrito. I was a pretty standard cheese-covered one the size of your head, the kind you can get at any Chili's. I'm looking forward to taking my Chicago friends here, though, just because of the vibe. (2/07, with Meredith)
Wilson's: This place was mentioned in the recent NY Times piece on the up-and-coming Culver City scene, so when my Dad passed through town for dinner he took Meredith and me here. It was good, not great. My Dad and I shared some sort of wild boar sausage appetizer that the waiter described as very flavorful. It wasn't. My main course was the slow roasted pork, which I highly recommend and which partly redeemed the place. It was the most tender pork I've ever had, and the various sides were all perfect complements. The restaurant's a scene, but not over the top. The coolest thing was a large poster of Dennis Wilson that was hanging near the bathroom. I was hoping there might be a photo of him from "Two Lane Blacktop", but I didn't see one. (2/07, with my Dad and Meredith)
Koreatown Plaza: In the food court at the Koreatown Plaza mall, on Western just south of Wishire, they've got what appear to be a bunch of great places to eat. I say "appear" because I've always just gone to the same place and always gotten the same thing: Bi Bim Bop. It's always good, though, so why change a thing? (1/07, with Ben, Erica, and the Encino Man)
La Super Rica Taqueria: I went here with Ben, en route to Pismo Beach. The eating conditions were far from ideal: it was a cold, rainy day and this is basically a taco shack with an outdoor seating area covered with a plastic tent that leaks. I had a bunch of different tacos. The simple beef ones were the best. Just tasty beef on very, very fresh tortillas. The more complicated tacos were a little disappointing. (1/07, with Ben)
Bravo Pizza: It's on Main St. in Santa Monica. This is the best NYC-style pizza I've had in LA. A little bland, but they've got the crust right. (1/07)
La Playita: I've driven by this taco shack on the side of Lincoln Blvd. a million times, and long been impressed by the line of people outside at almost any time of day or night. As if that wasn't enough of a reason to check it out, a quick search on Chowhound brought up many recommendations. And as if that wasn't enough, a quick look at Google Maps revealed that it is only a couple minutes walk from my new house, so I walked over and had a shrimp burrito for lunch. It was pretty damn good, spicy in just the right way. And cheap: it was only $4.50. I think I'll be back. (1/07)
Mao's Kitchen: The food was good, but the service was horrible. It's BYOB, which we didn't take advantage of. I guess I would go back, but only if I brought something to drink and planned to hang out for a while. In that case, it might be a good time. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
Le Pain Quoidien: Meredith and I have been here several times, and everything we've had has been good, albeit overpriced. I assume this is the future of semi-fast-fresh-chain food. The themed environment is slightly, but not overwhelmingly, pretentious, and the service is well organized. The last time we went the couple sitting at the table next to us recommended the Nutella-like spread, which we tried and loved. It's normally a breakfast item, but we had it for dinner. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
Father's Office: Descending into the depths of the frattiness at the Father's Office is terrifying, but if treated as an anthropoligical study can be enjoyable. The beer selection is great, but the only reason to come here is for the burgers, which are among the best I've ever had. I used to say they were the best, but several recent visits just haven't been as good as my first few times. One thing I've learned is that since the sweet potato fries come long before the burgers, it's best to restrain your intake of the fries, because they'll seriously ruin your appetite if you eat as many as you might want to. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
AXE: Healthy, healthy, heathly, but not quite food as medicine (though some dishes are). And not half bad. (1/07, with Meredith and her dad)
posted by Charles P. Everitt at 5:32 PM
3 Comments:
Goddamnsonofa@)#(*%!@)($*)(*@!$)(*
Envious.
In addition to the three unusually large, malodorous, pre-natal vitamin pills that Erin has been taking for the past four months, she is now taking two fish oil pils twice a day for omega-3 fatty acid. To call them malodorous would be to pretend as though there was a word for it.
Zed didn't mention the truffle pasta I got at Wilson's. A chef, not a waiter, came over to the table to grate an entire black truffle over my decadently rich, perfectly aldente, pasta.
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