Three Bowls of Soup in LA

1 / 24 / 17

Trump is President, it’s cold for us California babies, and everyone I know is sick. We need soup, y’all. Here are three places to get a bowl of soup in the Culver City/Palms area in LA.

Sunny Blue

For a quick healthy-ish snack in the neighborhood Sunny Blue is my go-to. The staple here is the omusubi, rice balls with different fillings wrapped in nori. Balls run $3 to $4, are made to order and can be made with over ten different fillings, plus specials. I like the spicy salmon (cured salmon and spices), eggplant chilli miso, and the shiso ume (japanese pickled plum with shiso leaves). This is a quirky place (their homepage greets visitors with “This Little Place Has Balls”), but the food is interesting and consistent, which makes it all the more lovable. The menu depicts omusubsi as cartoon rice balls with eyes and personalities, while the rest of the whimsical orange chalkboard menu can be overwhelming. Apart from omusubsi, the menu is full of inexpensive sides: noodles, fresh salads, pickled veggies, kimchi and— one I couldn’t stop eating other day— fried burdock roots.

The pork curry udon comes in a small bowl for $5, less weighty than a typical bowl of udon, and more like what I would imagine is a quick street food meal on some corner of the earth. The curry flavors are bright, the broth glimmers with golden spices and fat, and the pork piles like a little tower of bacon on top of bouncy udon noodles. Don’t miss the outside seating and complimentary cold barley tea.

Phorage

This casual spot in Palms offers mostly standard pho joint fare with a twist: produce is sourced locally and proteins are sustainable. The chef here worked at the Slanted Door, so not surprisingly the food is solid. We had the pho with Washugyu beef brisket and the eggplant claypot, a bowl of peppery, caramelized eggplant and onions over broken rice. A big communal table is the focal point of the restaurant, with friendly hanging plants everywhere. There are rice plates, vermicelli, banh mi, and rolls. I hear the oxtail pho is the way to go. Prices run a little more than average pho (which makes perfect sense considering the ingredients).

Ramen Yamadaya

This ramen chain advertises its tonkotsu broth as being cooked for 20 hours, and after tasting it I would believe it. A ten hour boil extracts all the good stuff from the bones, resulting in a milky, thick broth that is as mouth to brain tingling as a bite of pork belly. There are several types of ramen here, most building off the basic pork broth base and adding spice, black garlic oil, soy, or super sized toppings including a thick, dangerous-looking slab of the tender kakuni pork belly. And while the broth is boiled forever, the chashu is not, retaining flavor and texture. The thin little egg noodles, bamboo, and half an egg are fine supporting actors. The broth here is the star.

Two Spots for Ramen in Los Angeles

11 / 4 / 16

Is it ever ramen weather in Los Angeles? Not like I really need an excuse. Here are two ramen chains in L.A. to get your slurp on.

Shin Sen Gumi Hakata Ramen
Shin-Sen-Gumi is a chain from Japan offering a specific style of ramen from Hakata— with a lot of flexibility to add ingredients and meet your preferences. Expect thinner noodles, a rich milky broth, and a few toppings: chopped scallions, pickled ginger and sesame seeds. When you order you can choose to add more toppings and select the firmness of the noodles, the strength of the soup base, and the oil level. We added spinach, soft seaweed, an egg and fried onions, with firm noodles (I like my noodles resilient). Definitely play with the chili oil and vinegar condiments sitting on the table.

There are a number of locations in the L.A. area, we went to the one in West L.A. The space is bright, with painted brick walls and a bar right outside the kitchen windows. When we came on a Sunday night around 7:30 there was a 20 minute wait but the hostess handed us an order form while we were waiting, which sped things along. Our starter, fried potato rice cakes with cheese and cod roe inside called potemochi, came out quick and went nicely with a cold beer. A regular ramen is $6.95, with each extra toppings from $1 to $3. Note the happy hour: $1 Kirin beers 2-5 pm Mon through Thurs.

Modan Artisanal Ramen
Traditionalists will probably roll their eyes at the crispy kale toppings at this little LA chain but don’t knock it til you try it. The tonkotsu broth here doesn’t have as much depth as I wanted but it had some good flavor. There are just a few types of ramen and we tried two. The spicy ramen isn’t harsh but it lingered nicely and the black ramen’s roasted garlic played with the truffle oil nicely. Decor is minimalist, comfortable, and etsy-hipster: mason jars, edison lightbulbs, chalkboards, mis-match wood, you know it well. Plenty of non-ramen bites here including poke bowls, rolls, seaweed salad, and their signature brussels sprouts. I loved the green iced tea. Ramen runs about $9. Locations in South Pasadena and Eagle Rock.

Oaxaca Raw: Mexican Food at the Mar Vista Farmers Market

9 / 23 / 16

I usually roll my eyes at anything advertised as raw food or vegan. Neither of those labels indicates that a meal will be balanced, healthy or taste good. In LA “healthy” food trends have arrived to the point of ground goji berries and activated cashews being considered a full meal. No mames.*

But of course I like eating raw vegetables, and sometimes I don’t feel like eating meat, so I appreciate finding unique options to eat that way on a hot day in LA. In this case, I found Oaxaca Raw Living Food at the Mar Vista farmers market. Oaxaca and raw foods don’t naturally align in my mind. Oaxaca is definitely the spot for food markets, and when I was there I bought all kinds of produce and ate tropical fruit every morning. But it’s more known for hearty, laborious dishes like mole that definitely happen over the stove. I was curious what Oaxaca Raw would mean.

Sergio is from Tlacolula, home to one of the Oaxaca central valley’s biggest outdoor markets. I’ve been twice and loved it. “It’s today in fact!” he reminded me on Sunday. After moving to LA he worked for years in raw food restaurants. He changed his diet, and liked the way it made him feel and look. Eventually, he decided to put his own spin on raw foods.

The menu is not necessarily more Oaxacan than it is Mexican inspired. There are nut and veggie tacos, a veggie burger made with seeds and nuts with tumeric jicama sticks on the side, and a few sweet cacao treats. I ordered the enchiladas, made with a flax seed & coconut tortilla and covered in a mild dried chile salsa with cashew cream. Inside it was filled with a mixture of nuts, raisins, green olives, parsley and lettuce. The tortilla was a little flimsy, but overall there was spice to balance the sweet, a nice crunch from the lettuce, and for the first time ever, I found an enchilada to be refreshing.

Oaxaca Raw products are sold at a few grocery stores in LA and at the Mar Vista farmers market every Sunday 9 am to 2 pm.

My Favorites From Tacolandia

6 / 17 / 166 / 17 / 16

With 140 taqueros I was officially overwhelmed at LA Weekly’s Tacolandia event last weekend. Luckily, there was a lady handing out shot glasses and I always have something to put in one. This was the fourth year of the event curated by food writer Bill Esparza, with the most vendors ever. While it does require some strategy, Tacolandia is dope for bringing together chefs from Mexico, Los Angeles, and other areas of Southern California to celebrate our favorite food group, tacos. I wanted to prioritize the chefs visiting from across the border, but seeing how with traffic it takes me almost as long to get to Boyle Heights, I just went for as many as possible. Here were my five favorites.

Fried Shrimp Taco from Mariscos Jaliscos

This taco is filled with a mix of shrimp and potatoes, fried and topped with tomato salsa, cabbage, and avocado. It’s crispy, soft, tangy and comforting. Despite its fame, I hadn’t tried this truck yet because it’s such a mission from the westside of L.A. Now that I know what I’m missing I’ll be spending an hour in traffic for a meal I’ll eat in less than a minute. Find them in Boyle Heights.

Carnitas from Galaxy Tacos

I tried a number of carnitas tacos (still, it was likely only a small percentage of what was there) and Galaxy had the most flavor, layers of texture, and well, the most meat, seeing how it was the end of the day and they were loading up the blue corn tacos. Find them in La Jolla.

Al Pastor from Tacos Tamix

I just went to Mexico City, so I feel like my pastor palate is more precise than usual and I liked this pastor. Granted, it was also right next to the booth I was working so the convenience helped. But still, the slices off the trompo were meaty, the ratio of pineapple was perfect, and the avocado-tomatillo salsa never overpowered a bite. Find them on Pico Blv.

Octopus ceviche from Ceviche Project

The most well-dressed man at the event was plating tostaditas in a beige suit and a top hat. The ceviche was thoughtful as well, with clean flavors and a nice composition of octopus, avocado, tomato, and laced with habanero oil. Find them right now at a long-term pop-up in Silverlake.

Black Harder from Kokopelli

Inky and bright, this sole ceviche marinated in squid ink on a bed of roasted tomatoes with pickled onions and avocado salsa was the most beautiful plate I saw all day. A messy, dark, surprising dish that made me miss Baja immediately. Find them in Tijuana.

And of course, an unofficial mention of the Mex Samosa from Tacos Punta Cabras: lamb, peas in a masa and potato samosa with tamarind adobo and hierba salsa. No, it’s not a taco, because we can always rely on my punk chef boyfriend to bend the rules.

Almost 24 Hours in Downtown LA

4 / 21 / 155 / 4 / 15

We started with a juice and a tumeric-ginger shot at Crafters, and then armed with the make-believe nutritional permission to eat and drink mostly things that are bad for us, we walked into Spring Street. Here are a few recommendations to eat and drink your way through a night (and morning) in downtown LA.

Hamburguesas Punta Cabras
One of my favorite things to eat in Morelia was a hamburger out of a tiny hole in the wall spot near the centro. There’s something different about a Mexican hamburger, it’s smaller, well done, and usually covered in toppings. Punta Cabras is rocking an LA version of the Mexican burger with lettuce, tomato, house pickles, charred green onion and 1,000 islas salsa. Don’t miss out on the green curry guacamole or the mexican ranch. There’s a black bean and a turkey version, plus some fries (and chorizo and cheese-smoothered dirty fries). This is a new tiny place that doesn’t have a sign yet, so just use your nose. From the same owners/chefs as Tacos Punta Cabras in Santa Monica, who gave up their fine dining careers to feed us messy and good affordable things.

Ace Hotel Upstairs Bar
My favorite rooftop bar downtown makes for a great place to watch the sunset. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House meets Morroccan pillows, tropical drinks, a steadily head-nodding DJ in all beige, and lots of cute people working.

The Little Easy
Think of a faded Disneyland New Orleans set (weathered french doors, a porch swing, a stuffed alligator) and you’ve pictured The Little Easy, with just enough faux grime to make it feel like a place you can get goofy. Don’t stop at the front bar, go through a twisting hallway until you’ve found a dark French Quarter-esq courtyard brightened by chandeliers, an illuminated fountain, and very happy bartenders. I don’t remember what I drank here, but I would hope you could find a good sazerac.

The Continental Club
This is a fun place to dance, especially on Saturdays, when DJ Maple Syrup is there. Funk, hip-hop, soul, a little salsa and not so many sleazy dudes. The low lighting and red walls are sexy, waiting in the line while you watch girls in terrible tiny outfits waltz in, not so much.

Historic Core Farmers Market-Sundays
There’s not so much to eat here, but this little stretch of market makes for a fun stroll on your way to brunch on Sunday mornings. There’s a woman selling $6 juice (I grabbed the one with bee pollen, papaya, orange and aloe vera), another with pan dulce, and several non-food vendors. Flor sells hats from South Africa and makes sandals, and Juan sells hand-picked records, which is an excellent thing to pick in the heart of LA.

Perch LA
The kind of place that doesn’t need to do anything interesting in the kitchen because you just want to eat the view. French bistro meets downtown LA in this 15th floor rooftop. It could be annoyingly posh but it’s inviting: I want to curl up with a latte on the plush art-deco couches, trace the patterned tiles in some ballerina slippers, and kiss a boy next to the fireplace and glittery views of downtown. The upstairs cocktail lounge opens at noon, and if you want to get in for brunch before definitely make a reservation.

In between meals: Head to The Last Bookstore and there’s always a stroll through Grand Central Market with a coffee at G & B.