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.

shin-sen-gumi

los angeles, ca

website

you would think that there would be a limit to the amount of ramen that i can eat and the number of ramen restaurants that i will try. but you would be wrong. this is shin-sen-gumi, which is one of many ramen shops on sawtelle. this place gets crowded, but not as crowded as tsujita annex. my new ramen buddy w and i decided to try shin-sen-gumi for lunch one day. broth was tasty, noodles a bit too thin. i liked that i could customize my ramen - choose whether you want your noodles al dente, choose how much pork fat you want floating in your soup, choose your toppings (corn!), etc. but since tsujita annex makes it perfect every time, why mess with perfection?

aeronuova @ jfk

queens, ny

link to yelp

as far as US domestic terminals go, jetblue's terminal 5 at jfk might be one of my favorites. (seattle's redesigned central terminal is definitely up there as well). jetblue's terminal 5 is a huge open space that rarely feels overwhelming despite the crowds. decent food. nice shopping options. since i was early for my flight back to la, i decided to enjoy a glass of red wine and a bowl of rigatoni bolognese at aeronuova. pasta was okay - i liked that it was al dente, but the sauce was a bit bland. wine was excellent. service was very friendly. a nice comforting meal before a long flight.

bubby's

new york, ny

website

solid spot for brunch in tribeca. biscuits are good when fresh out of the oven. cheesy grits are nice and cheesy. there's a tantalizing menu of pies that i have not tried yet. jenny and i came here the morning after we arrived back from paris. bubby's is always packed, but what was interesting about this visit is that i was so happy to be at an american brunch. lots of food, cheerful friendly waitstaff, no cigarette smoke, and a boisterous crowd talking and laughing. paris was wonderful, of course, but it was nice to be home.

food court & laduree @ CDG

paris, france

website

sadly, our too-brief trip to paris was over. jenny and i had our last french meal at charles de gaulle airport. man, even the food courts here were amazing. the ready-made chicken tikka masala was excellent. i also picked up a small chocolate macaron at the airport outpost of laduree, the famous paris patisserie. i normally don't like macarons, but turns out the ones in paris are delicious. while the laduree macaron was good, the best macaron i had in paris was a freshly baked raspberry macaron from maison georges larnicol. softer and with more concentrated fruit flavor than the ones in the US. yum. can't wait to go back to paris and try more!

bistrot vivienne

paris, france

website

being the american tourists that we were, jenny and i couldn't leave paris without getting steak frites. sure, nearly every restaurant and bistro in paris serves the dish but we wanted the best steak frites we could find, no matter the distance. we spent the day shopping in the marais district in northeast paris - tons of cute boutiques. but the restaurant that caught my eye in my time out paris guide was la bourse ou la vie in west paris. so we hiked a mile and a half across the city, but the restaurant was closed! c'est la vie, i guess. tired and very hungry, we stumbled into a nearby restaurant, bistrot vivienne, and ordered steak frites anyway. and it was incredible! giant slabs of steak perfectly cooked and served with a creamy bernaise sauce. an excellent carafe of red wine. then an elegant and completely delicious dessert - brioche toast with homemade hazelnut ice cream. quite possibly the best dessert i've ever had - so simple, buttery, rich, and perfect. yes, it's the life.

l'avant comptoir

paris, france

website

love this place. super busy spanish tapas bar in the saint germain district in paris (apparently anthony bourdain featured this bar on his show). pigs decorating everything everywhere, which is usually a sign that the food is going to be excellent. menu items are helpfully hung from the ceiling with pictures. a small chalkboard lists two wines - one red, one white. my glass of red (arbois 2011 pascal et evelyne clairet) was an amazing complex wine - almost savory in flavor. my favorite dish is pictured - the ouef au plat champignon with a rich red wine sauce which only got richer with the warm yolk mixed in. we also ordered jamon croquetas and a slice of spanish tortilla. when i asked for the check (in french!) the bartender laughed and told me no. which just confused me, but eventually i got a check and he let us leave. although jenny and i would have been happy to stand there all day in the crowded bar drinking fantastic french wine and eating small plates of porky goodness.

la petite chaise

paris, france

website

m is a much more efficient blogger than i am - her post on la petite chaise was up months ago! hop over to her site for better pictures and her take on our lovely meal. here on my site, i have a grainy photo of my soupe à l’oignon gratinée (translated as french onion soup, but obviously just "onion soup" in french). unsurprisingly, i suppose, the best french onion soup i've ever had. cheesier and richer and more flavorful than anything i've had stateside. the thick broth balanced perfectly with the pungent cheese. not a lot of bread here, mostly just soup and cheese. incredible. also quite impressive at this restaurant was the perfectly behaved child having a fancy dinner with his grandmother. the kid, maybe about 6-8 years old, sat and had polite conversation for about 3 hours. i can't even sit quietly for that long - m, jenny, and i were happily getting raucously drunk over our decadent parisian meal.