LA/Norwalk

[boar_d_laze]

knoxy,

I was at Fora once. Very good. Excellent even. It was $50/person for the prix fixe with wine on a week night, and $40 without. Worth the money, but outside of Tammy's price range and I don't know if it's worth taking the 710. I'd rate it about even with "Joe's" in Venice, or maybe a hair better if value for money counts. It's not quite as exciting as 561 in Pasadena, the restaurant run by Le Cordon Bleu students. Actually, I'd send someone from out of town on her way to Norwalk to Joe's before Fora -- because they're more likely to celebrity spot at Joe's, plus the whole Abbot Kinney Blvd scene is so L. A., plus Venice is more accessible. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Like Fora's, 561 is too expensive (more expensive than Fora, actually), and too out of the way. But considering it's association with Le Cordon Bleu ...

I haven't been to Fringale since it was "Bacchus." Also very good, and more reasonably priced than Fora. For the money, one of the better Euros in greater Los Angele, but still a Euro and not "world class" or uniquely Southern Californian. Plus (or minus) it's in Long Beach. Getting there isn't bad, but getting out can be miserable.

Perhaps I was too glib in dismissing Long Beach's gustatory delights -- which are many. And I hope you don't think I'm being pompous or snobby. Fora and Fringale are great suggestions. They're moderately sized French restaurants owned and operated by talented chefs. That's a good thing, but not particularly Southern Californian.

I tried suggesting restaurants that were more or less en route, easy on and off the freeway, reflected the uniquely Los Angeles characteristic of "as far away as you can get, without going anywhere," and served cuisine of a type and quality which a Tammy would be unlikely to find anywhere else for under $40/person including drinks and tip.

Rich

Edited October 8, 2006 by boar_d_laze (log)

[knoxy]

I hope you don't think I'm being pompous or snobby. Fora and Fringale are great suggestions. They're moderately sized French restaurants owned and operated by talented chefs. That's a good thing, but not particularly Southern Californian.

Not at all!

I just wasn't sure if you had a chance to check out the restaurants mentioned.

Fringale is pretty good - been there twice now. I used to frequent Mistral in Corona del Mar and it's the same chef/owner (before Patty and Ed took the place over). The menu is Prix Fix and about $25 per head (without wine). I had a Boeuf En Daube that knocked my socks off there.

I look forward to hearing more of your suggestions!

Take care,

K

[tammylc]

This has been a treasure trove of info. Thanks, all.

I'm going to have a few other opportunities for good Mexican food in November, so I'm leaning towards checking out some Chinese or Indian if I decide to go ethnic. There are one or two specific Chinese recommendations above - anything else I should know about, or any specific recommendations for Indian?

[boar_d_laze]

I don't get to "Little India" in Artesia very often, but can recommend Ashoka, Updui and India Restaurant as very good. I like New Delhi Palace in Pasadena. My personal favorite(s) are the Akbar's of Marina Del Rey, Pasadena, and Santa Monica which serve a sort of nouvelle Indian that's a lighter take on the normal. Simla Pinks in Rosemead (near all the great Chinese restaurants on Valley Blvd) is wonderful, but was closed for remodeling last time I went by. Call them before you go. Don't take their word on their website for anything but their phone number.

There are so many opportunities for Chinese food here, if you could supply some guidance as to what you do and don't like it would be helpful. For instance, do you like small, cheap and funky? Do you have a hankering for dim sum at dinner? Want to try Chinese halal (moslem kosher)? Best xiao loon bao outside of asia? Huge dim sum palaces holding half of SoCal on a Sunday morning? Or the best dim sum? Just going for the lobster? Best fried fish (alas, no chips)? Lots of Hong Kong, Chinese, and Taiwan money here, not to mention 2d generation, Chinese are major foodies, and its reflected in the restaurants of the San Gabriel Valley. Lots of choices, and the competiton is fierce. It's hard to find a bad place.

Of the small, funky and quirky there's one place, "Dumpling Master" that does some of the best pan fried dumplings anywhere. If that's not enough their hand made noodles are tied for first with "Heavy Noodling," another Monterey Park hole in the wall. And if that's still not enough, how about the best scallion pancakes anywhere? Plus if two of you can find a way to spend $30 you're entitled to some kind of overeating prize. About three minutes off the freeway on Atlantic Blvd., and only open from around 11 to around 6 depending on how they feel.

Mexican food possibilities are an endless treasure trove here. Even richer than Chinese. Come November, I'd like to see you plan for El Mercado del Este de Los Angeles (East L.A. Market, on East 1st, just west of Lorena) for a weekend lunch. 4 or 5 little restaurants, all very good, around the mezzanine of a huge indoor market. Several mariachi groups going at the same time. Big time flea market outside and in the basement. Much seeing and being seen. Spanish and English, but mostly Spanglish spoken. Talk about an experience! Very East L.A. Orale! (Bring a friend as most women wouldn't be comfortable unaccompanied.). You won't run into a lot of tourists, or for that matter many other gabachos. Olvera Street this ain't.

Also, on your Mexican food pilgramage you'll want to try a few of the varied moles and clayudas of Oaxacan cuisine and don't forget to drop in on a Salvadorean place for pupusas.

Toto, I don't think we're in Ann Arbor any more.

Rich

Edited October 9, 2006 by boar_d_laze (log)

[tammylc]

All I have time for is one dinner, maybe two, depending on when I finish up on Monday and how close wherever I end up might be to LAX (I'm going to be flying out on the red-eye at 10 pm). Just dinner - no lunches or dim sum. I won't have the time or opportunity to drive all over the place to find the best - I'm just looking for something better than the hotel restaurant, which is what my travelling companions would no doubt default to if I weren't there.

Rich, I appreciate your enthusiasm for your town and its food, but I think you'd be surprised - we have some great food here in the Midwest and Ann Arbor in particular. You don't have to dis my area to pump yours up! There's a great Salvadoran place just down the street from where I work, for example, and a world-class Hong Kong style Chinese restaurant.

My other Mexican food opportunities are going to be in El Paso and Chicago, maybe Miami (although I'm leaning towards Cuban), not LA.

[boar_d_laze]

Tammy,

I'm sorry if you felt I dissed Ann Arbor. I meant no disrespect, but only to say that the possibilities here are far wider. The Chinese population of Los Angeles, 400,000+, is greater than three times the total population of Ann Arbor, 120,000, and almost half of Detroit's total pop. It doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of the culinary possibilities. But it's suggestive.

Chicago, with the second largest population of Mexicans in the U.S., about 3/8 the size of L.A.'s has some very good Mexican possibilities. But, the one actual dis I made was in the direction of Rich Bayless -- not because I don't like his food but because his sensibility is not the pure native experience. It's "cuisine." Worth the money, worth a special trip perhaps. Just different.

Haven't been in El Paso for years. But how bad could it be?

Rich

[russ parsons]

i have solved the problem. if you want mexican, that is. right off the 105 freeway, just before you get to the 710, directly between lax and norwalk. go to la huasteca in the plaza mexicana. ate there again this weekend (probably 4th or 5th time) and it is very, very good. i had a quesadilla with rajas (charred poblano peppers), queso fundido with mushrooms (basically melted cheese with sauteed mushrooms and homemade tortillas) and probably the best chile en nogada i've ever had (poblana stuffed with a beef/raisin mixture, fried, served with a pounded walnut sauce dotted with pomegranates). dinner for 3 was about $70. as you can tell by the price, it's not at all a taco stand kind of place ... and there are great mariachi bands playing.

in the same complex there is another mexican restaurant that is much dressier and more experimenetal called malverde (think of them as frontera grill and topolobampo ... in fact, the malverde chef cooked there). i've had good food there, but it's a little more hit and miss than huasteca.

[boar_d_laze]

Russ,

I've driven by the plaza on the way from my Monrovia home to my (ouch!) dentist in Torrance, but have never stopped there. The dentist in question is also a cousin, serious foodie, and moderate chile head -- may have to do lunch with him there. Too bad we missed 9/14 for the en nogada, but will definitely give it a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Speacing of recomendations, where do you like for mariscos? Especially ostiones (oysters)? Always on the lookout for a good bivalve.

Rich

PS Have you ever been to El Mercado del Este de Los Angeles? The food is fine, but it's not the food. It's the everything else. It's a place that could only exist here in SoCal, I think.

Edited October 9, 2006 by boar_d_laze (log)

[tammylc]

i have solved the problem. if you want mexican, that is. right off the 105 freeway, just before you get to the 710, directly between lax and norwalk. go to la huasteca in the plaza mexicana. ate there again this weekend (probably 4th or 5th time) and it is very, very good. i had a quesadilla with rajas (charred poblano peppers), queso fundido with mushrooms (basically melted cheese with sauteed mushrooms and homemade tortillas) and probably the best chile en nogada i've ever had (poblana stuffed with a beef/raisin mixture, fried, served with a pounded walnut sauce dotted with pomegranates). dinner for 3 was about $70. as you can tell by the price, it's not at all a taco stand kind of place ... and there are great mariachi bands playing.

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That sounds great, Russ. Thanks for the recommendation. Will they be open on a Sunday night?

[russ parsons]

tammy, i do believe they are open on sunday--they advertise sunday brunch--but you might want to check to make sure.

la huasteca website

remember, it's the lynwood location.

rich: i have to confess, i am not a big marsicos fan, though i do eat ceviche. this may not be fair, but i lack confidence in the sourcing for most of the little mariscos stands. if you like oysters, in that area, i'd recommend king's fish house in long beach, which usually has 3 or 4 varieties, and very well-handled. most of their cooked stuff is just ok, but the oysters are usually very good.

i have been to el mercado, but not for years. it is a real only in la place. i have vivid memories of sitting in the upstairs dining room, eating tacos with two competing mariachi bands on either side of me. it was practically hallucinatory.

[Maison Rustique]

Those of you closer to that area than I, aren't there a couple of Ethopian places not far from there?

And BTW, I second the recommendation of Fora!

[russ parsons]

i don't know of any. the ethiopian restaurant row is on fairfax, just north of the 10.

[boar_d_laze]

Can't help on the Ethiopian.

I like Kings, okay. The oysters are a little pricey though, as with most places. And for that matter I like 555 across the street -- owned as you no doubt know by the same folks. 555 might have a claim as one of the best steak restaurants in SoCal. Speaking of which, we had a very disappointing meal at Taylor's (near downtown) the other night.

If you're like Mexican food and fish I can definitely turn you on to a few mariscos restaurants well above the "stand" level. At least in decor and price. One of them, "La Sirena" on Peck is just a few blocks from the 605/10 intersection. Good food, good bar. Also, a nice selection of antojitos. Unfortunately, I'm not all that conversant with this type of food in the South Bay.

If you're very tolerant to spice you must try the mojarra frita a la diabla at El Jacalito on Valley in El Monte. It is moist, flavorful, and more incendiary than any recent nuclear test. All the food there is extremely well prepared. Decent selection of bottled beers, but the margaritas are made from some sort of mix legal on a beer/wine license. My wife likes them, though. Even so, the place is an absolute treasure. The Sunday brunch buffet with pancakes, etc., against the backdrop of that spicy fish and live Mexican music is, as you say, hallucinatory.

Meanwhile, back at the rancho ... some of those stands and catering trucks have the most incredible food. There's something odd about eating a truly memorable menu off a paper plate leaning against the fender of your car, isn't there? Or, maybe not. There's a guy in LA who foodblogs Mexican taco carts, and he's found a few beauts.

"One never know, do one?"

Rich

Edited October 10, 2006 by boar_d_laze (log)

[hzrt8w]

Tammy:

In the event that your original quest for Thai food is still on...

I used to go to this small Thai restaurant when I worked in Cypress years ago. It's been around for many years. Family run. Very good food. It's called "Thai Place", on Ball Road near Moody St.

Thai Place

I asked a former coworker who still works in the area. He believes Thai Place is still in business. He also recommends a new one:

Sweetie Thai, on the corner of Cerritos and Valley View

Quote: I think it’s absolutely excellent. They have good food, a large menu, friendly wait staff and it’s nicely decorated with a pleasant ambience. Unquote.

You can locate them on a Google map. They are not that far from Norwalk, about 10 minutes driving on local streets.

If you like seafood, I would recommend a really good place:

The Fish Company

11061 Los Alamitos Blvd

Los Alamitos, CA

The Fish Company

They have charboiled fresh fish with great selections and reasonable prices. Long lines often, but worth the wait.

[Carolyn Tillie]

If you like seafood, I would recommend a really good place:

The Fish Company

11061 Los Alamitos Blvd

Los Alamitos, CA

The Fish Company

They have charboiled fresh fish with great selections and reasonable prices.  Long lines often, but worth the wait.

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I wonder if this is similar (part of a chain?) of a fish restaurant I used to eat at in Gardena - on Artesia Boulevard, caddy-corner with the 99 Ranch Market in the restaurant strip mall that has Peruvian, Japanese, Chinese, and Bobba shops. Yes, they were great - always had a line, and was always worth it! I just don't remember the name...