coolhaus

culver city, ca

website

jenny in LA! when jenny and i get together, there's a lot of good eating. this time we went to lukshon, a fancy asian restaurant from sang yoon - the father's office guy. (forgot to take a picture!)

when cindy c heard that we would be in culver city, she told us to go to coolhaus. and jenny and i generally do everything that cindy c tells us to do. so we walked down the street from lukshon, past a gelato shop, past a lot of closed shops, and eventually found the brightly lit coolhaus. very interesting flavors. with jenny, i got a scoop of the fried chicken and waffle ice cream. weird, but a nice salty sweet mix with flecks of fried chicken skin and chunks of maple waffles. when i brought derek, we split an ice cream sandwich made with a double chocolate chip cookie, a smores cookie, and coffee and donut ice cream. everything is very sweet, so half of an ice cream sandwich was the perfect size. yum.

lares

santa monica, ca

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there is so much good food in los angeles and its usually found in really random spots, sometimes on stretches that are otherwise unremarkable. w brought me to pico - a street i've driven on many times and i had no idea i was driving past a great mexican restaurant each time. lares is very unassuming - even though it was my destination, i nearly walked right by it. ordered the chicken mole enchiladas (as i always do). solid. the mole could be a little spicier, but still very good. lovely spot for a workday lunch.

shophouse kitchen

santa monica, ca

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from the brilliant minds at chipotle ... a southeast asian version of "slow food, fast." one recently opened up on the 3rd street promenade and they cleverly sent coupons for free bowls to nearby residents. you can't beat free. no tortillas here (although i think tortillas would be great with these ingredients). instead, you get a huge bowl and can choose 5 main ingredients and then some toppings. my bowl: half brown rice and half lettuce, a couple of pork/chicken meatballs, charred corn, green curry sauce, pickled vegetables, and crispy garlic on top. everything was surprisingly flavorful and even a little spicy. the meatballs were a little too salty - next time i'll get more brown rice to balance that out. good food, super fast, reasonably priced - i'm definitely a fan.

fritto misto

santa monica, ca

website

i absolutely love this place. it helps that it's around the corner from my apartment. great for takeout, particularly since the restaurant itself gets packed at dinner time every night. but eating there with a friend is even better because then we can share a plate of fritto misto as a first course - a heaping plate of fried veggies, shrimp, and calamari. well seasoned and served with a tangy mayo dipping sauce. i then usually share a plate of their homemade pasta with cream sauce. every pasta on their menu seems to be served with cream sauce. sure, you could ask for them to make it "light" but their cream sauce is so good. pictured is my favorite - mushroom ravioli in marsala cream. not light. but delicious!