brick + mortar

santa monica, ca

website

a cool restaurant on main street in santa monica - more successful as a bar/nightclub in the late evenings than as a restaurant. although the chicken and waffles were pretty to look at, the chicken was overcooked and the waffles were bland and tasteless. derek, however, likes the atmosphere at brunch - loud music, fun & boisterous crowd. but the food is definitely lacking. for fried chicken and waffles in santa monica, go to bru's wiffle. for a pint on a saturday night? brick + mortar is a great option.

plaza inn @ disneyland

anaheim, ca

website

visiting disneyland for derek's birthday - he elected not to wear the birthday pin, for fear that everyone saying "happy birthday" to him in an overly cheerful voice would get annoying. but he did elect to get fried chicken. we shared a plate (so as to save room for more disney snacks) - green beans were decent, the mashed potatoes were ridiculously buttery and delicious, and derek was very happy with the fried chicken - surprisingly moist and tender.

naples ristorante

anaheim, ca

website

surprisingly good italian food in downtown disney, just outside of disneyland and california adventure. derek gets the chicken parm, i get the eggplant parm. thinly sliced eggplant, lightly breaded, topped with a very good red sauce and served with spaghetti cooked perfectly al dente. i recommend reservations if you want to dine here during dinner hours - it's a nice break from the craziness of the parks. or you can wait in line at the takeout option next door for an excellent neapolitan pizza, fresh from the oven.

aussie pie kitchen

santa monica, ca

website

meat pies! ever since jenny and i went to pie minister in oxford, england, i've been trying to find a similar spot stateside. these meat pies are australian, but i can't tell the difference. it's hard to go wrong with meat wrapped in pastry. my favorite is the classic aussie - ground beef marinated in red wine, braised in mirepoix, herbs & spices. placed on top of mashed potatoes and covered with gravy. these pies are also great to take home - reheat in the oven until the buttery crust gets brown and flaky. so good.

ludobird @ staples center

los angeles, ca

website

sports arenas have gotten fancy with their concessions. i was just excited to see jeremy lin play for the lakers at the staples center. (i was possibly the only person in the stands hoping that kobe would get out of the way so i could snap a photo of jeremy). i wasn't expecting to also be wowed by the food. wandering around the various concession stands, i noticed ludobird. could it possibly be related to celebrity chef ludo? i had no idea if his food was any good - i only knew him from anthony bourdain's show. turns out his fried chicken is damn good. seriously. crispy, herbal, juicy fried chicken will help you ignore how poorly the lakers are playing.

lawry's

beverly hills, ca

website

girl's night out with cindy c, g, and L. L has a special "in" at lawry's because she got married there! brilliant. we had a great wisecracking waitress who had a lot of fun with us girls. smart wine recommendation, reasonably priced. dinner started with lawry's famous original spinning bowl salad. is it really necessary to start with salad? does the bowl really need to spin? who knows, but it's amazing. gives you a nice base in your stomach for the roasted prime rib. the meat is served off of a push cart - like meaty dim sum. for me, the redder the slice, the better. side of creamed corn. mashed potatoes. and yorkshire pudding which is like a deflated creamy popover. eat until it starts to hurt a little. waddle home. success!

morinoya

los angeles, ca

website

i had no idea that this japanese restaurant was hidden away on the 2nd floor of the olympic collection at the corner of sawtelle and olympic until m directed me there for dinner after work. their specialty is inaniwa udon - i'm not quite sure what it's made of, but it looks like thinly sliced udon. the broth was flavorful and warm. it's a lot lighter than the ramen that you get elsewhere on sawtelle. but my favorite part of the meal was the warm plum wine drink that m ordered - extremely comforting after a long day.

r+d kitchen

santa monica, ca

website

hillstone restaurants are generally reliable for good american food and excellent wine lists. r+d kitchen is no exception. on a lazy afternoon strolling along montana avenue, i sat by myself at the counter of r+d kitchen. lovely glass of crisp chardonnay. nice fresh chicken salad. solid.

b sweet

los angeles, ca

website

this is my latest dessert addiction. bread pudding in all different flavors. pictured is my absolute favorite flavor - the bread pudding made from chocolate chip banana bread topped with gooey caramel. lightly sweet banana flavor pairs perfectly with rich bittersweet chocolate and super sweet caramel. derek's favorite flavor is glazed donut. yes, you read that correctly, they make bread pudding out of DONUTS. genius. derek gets it with a scoop of ice cream on top. it's such an intense dessert that i can usually only finish half in one sitting. but it freezes nicely and after a minute in the microwave, it tastes just as moist and amazing as a fresh serving.

bao dim sum house

los angeles, ca

website

cindy was visiting and we really wanted to get dim sum but didn't have time to drive out to the san gabriel valley. so we ended up at bao dim sum house in the beverly grove area. dim sum is decent, but with a lot of fancy touches that you wouldn't get at a normal dim sum joint. for example, the fried luo bo gao is gently served on a nice plate garnished with chopped scallions rather than getting a quick squeeze of hoisin sauce before being thrown on your table. everything was okay, but i'd much rather have a more authentic dim sum experience in the SGV.

bachi burger

los angeles, ca

website

new burger spot on sawtelle in west LA. of course we're usually eating ramen when we're on sawtelle, but this time we decided to try a burger. bachi burger is one of those fancy burger places that put a lot of interesting toppings on the burger. i can't remember which toppings i got, but i do remember that the meat itself did not have a lot of flavor. not a fan - i'd much rather go to plan check down the street. or eat ramen. i know others love this place, but it's just not my cup of tea.

a cut above

santa monica, ca

website

what comes to mind when you hear the phrase "hipster butcher shop"? whatever is in your mind's eye is probably a pretty accurate representation of a cut above. they sell beautiful meat - the kind that is marbled in all the right places and has a rich color that you know will taste good no matter what you do to it. but they also sell sandwiches - very popular sandwiches. pictured is the bbq pulled pork - slow roasted pork shoulder with secret sauce, pickled carrots, red onions, served on a brioche bun. i've tried nearly every sandwich on their chalkboard menu - grassfed roast beef, roasted turkey club, italian salumi, chicken salad ... all delicious. i've heard the salads are good here, but unless you're a vegetarian, i recommend a meaty sandwich or their beef chili.

yabu

los angeles, ca

website

one of our go-to lunch spots, a quick drive from the office. solid and dependable japanese cuisine - great lunch specials. i usually get the chirashi with a side of hot udon, although pictured is their tempura lunch special. there are some days when the fish is spectacular - a fresh shipment must have just come in. on other days, the sushi is still very good. one tip that i learned from mohan - you can ask for your noodles to be topped with crunchy tempura flakes for free! why not.

sushi tsujita

los angeles, ca

website

being a huge fan of their noodle shops - tsujita la and tsujita annex, i was very excited to try the new tsujita sushi restaurant. unfortunately, it didn't live up to my high expectations. some early dishes were very good - the starter pictured had amazing flavor - each ingredient was delicious. but the later sushi courses were underwhelming - while good, i think you could get sushi just as good for half the price down the street.

huckleberry

santa monica, ca

website

extremely popular brunch spot in santa monica. there's always a line, quite literally out the door. so no surprise that the food is great. pictured is my fried egg sandwich with bacon, gruyère, arugula and aioli on country bread. a little messy when the yolk breaks, but so delicious with really fresh ingredients. and save room for dessert - the baked goods are out of this world. my favorite is the blueberry cornmeal cake. cindy raved about their caramel walnut bread pudding. there's also maple bacon biscuits ... one thing to remember - order your baked goods before you get to the register. otherwise you'll throw off the whole ordering system, delay the line even further, and annoy some impatient brunchers.

shawn cafe

arcadia, ca

link to yelp

anthony was visiting so i decided it was worth traveling to arcadia to get good chinese food. it also helped that anthony drove the whole way. we met g and cindy c at the restaurant and let cindy c order the best options from the menu. and what a spread! generally my favorite taiwanese dish is a meatball covered in glutinous sticky gooey stuff and unnaturally red-orange spicy sauce. trust me, it's delicious. but this time, cindy c introduced me to a new taiwanese favorite - xiang chang (chinese sausage) sliced with sticky rice sausage. chinese sausage is great with everything (shout out to my mom's signature sticky rice with chinese sausage and mushrooms) but this was a nice twist, serving it with sticky rice in a similar sausage shape. grab one slice of each sausage, stuff whole into mouth, and enjoy.

three twins ice cream

santa monica, ca

website

yet another picture of my sister's hand holding food. and my peeling nail polish. anyway - cindy was visiting, so i took her to main street in santa monica to check out some boutiques and the new muji store. couldn't resist stopping at a little scoop shop. can't go wrong with gourmet ice cream. my strawberry ice cream was creamy and delicious. cindy's lemon cookie ice cream was "really really good." a perfect treat to eat while shopping along main street or walking along the ocean. gotta love southern california.

tsujita la

los angeles, ca

website

more ramen! before tsujita annex, there was the original tsujita la. it's rare to see this restaurant without a crazy line outside. it serves a different type of tsukemen (dipping ramen). the noodles are similar to the annex, but the broth is completely different. the broth comes in a small bowl with small pieces of pork. there is a bit more oil in this broth, which can throw some people off. but i just mix it all together and it puts a nice coat of porky goodness on the noodles when you dip. there's also a slight sour flavor which pairs nicely with the noodles and a hefty squeeze of lime. both tsukemen are amazing yet completely different. try both and see which one is your favorite!

big thunder ranch barbecue @ disneyland

anaheim, ca

website

for derek and myself, a trip to disneyland is as much about the snacks as it is about the rides. and the cheerful disney music accompanying your every step. and the mental gymnastics of determining the optimal allocation of fast passes. but this past june was our first time visiting big thunder ranch barbecue. turns out, it's all-you-can-eat! if we had known that in advance, we would have prepared to be hungrier. sadly, we only had the stomachs for one extra bucket of ribs and chicken. meat was decent. beans and coleslaw were both very good. cornbread was completely tasteless. still, a pretty good option if you've managed to avoid snacking on corn, churros, frozen bananas, corn dogs, or popcorn throughout the day and can actually eat enough ribs and wings to justify the price.

capital seafood

arcadia, ca

link to yelp

met up with michelle and cindy c for dim sum in arcadia. so far! but it's worth the drive to see my far-flung friends and to eat yummy chinese food. the dim sum was pretty good, better than anything that i can get near my apartment in santa monica. but the best part of capital seafood is the fact that there was no wait at 12:30 pm on a weekend. incredible. plus, service was super friendly - they let me sit down and served me tea before the rest of my party arrived.