Before heading to the airport, I made a last tourist stop at the historic Olvera St. It’s a cramped little street filled with Mexican souvenirs and outdoor taquerias. I picked up a pork taco at one of them, La Noche Buena. The cooks were nice, the taco average. It’s too bad. I was looking forward to the glorious tacos of Los Angeles, but didn’t strike gold.
La Noche Buena Restaurant – 12 Olvera St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
I walked into Hop Woo after wandering around Los Angeles Chinatown in the scorching heat. I definitely needed a beer. I ordered the roast duck on rice with bak choy lunch special for the low price of $4.95 and a Tsing Tao beer.
Now every time I’ve ordered this beer, I’ve always been corrected on the pronunciation. If I say “Sing Towl,” they’ll ask “you mean Ching Towl?” If I say “Ching Towl,” they’ll ask “you mean Sing Towl?” One time, even a white guy corrected. This time at Hop Woo, I got the first part right, but they corrected “Ching Doe.”
The roast duck was good. Great lunch special. Bonus: they have big flat screen TVs playing a Chinese version of the Backstreet Boyz.
Hop Woo – 845 N Broadway (Btwn Alpine & W College St ) Los Angeles 90012
Had to try one of these famous French Dipped Sandwiches. I got the beef. It was a pretty solid sandwich where the au jus made the bread soft and moist. The main turnoff was how touristy the place was. Kind of like the Katz Deli of L.A. Although I was the tourist and I was eating there. So…
Philippe The Original Restaurant – 1001 N Alameda St. Los Angeles, CA 90012
Zzalgern0n took me to his new found favorite restaurant –Paru’s, specializing in South Indian cuisine. The outside looks like a real hole. But once you ring the buzzer to be let in from the gates (that make you wonder if it’s really open), you’re let in to a wonderful outdoor garden and fancy looking dining room. We split a meal (the Queen Peru: Ghee, roast Dosa with curry filling, Idli, Sambar, coconut chutney, Raitha). It was quite enough to satisfy us and tasty. I suppose you can’t judge a book by its cover. …I guess that was a pretty lame and obvious line to close out on. I’m tired.
Paru’s Indian Vegetarian Restaurant – 5140 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027
We checked out the Tofu House menu for the vegetarian in our group. Turns out that just because it’s called Tofu House, it doesn’t mean it’s a vegetarian restaurant like I thought. All the tofu dishes have meat in them and possibly meat broth. They did end up having one vegetarian dish, I assume from all the vegetarians that mistakenly go there.
They brought out the assorted Korean side dishes (kimchi, pickles, fried fish, etc.) and rice in hot stone pots to make it nice and crunchy on the edges. I ordered the Curry Premium Tofu which was sort of bland until I threw in the kimchi and pickles. I was hoping for some creamy curry, but it was very watery …possibly liquefied from the intense heat of the pots. The red sauce tofu dishes looked better but I quite can’t say for sure. It was fun to crack the raw egg into the bubbling hot pot and let it cook. Near the end of the meal, the waiter came by and put water into our old stone pots that had scraps of rice left in it to make soup. I don’t get the rice water soup. I’m sure someone else can explain this better.
Tofu House – 3575 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90010
Tofu House is a chain with locations in California, NY, Seattle, Korean & Japan. Go with a non-pesce-vegetarians. You’ll get bonus fish!
Cracking an egg in the bubbling hot stone pot
I walked around Koreantown LA for lunch. So many choices. I ended up in the Koreantown Plaza Mall which had a big food court with a lot of quality Korean fast food, meaning you get real plates, hot stone bowls for your Bibimbap and silverware. The portions were huge. I was watching these small old Korean ladies eating huge plates of fried cutlet with sides.
I chose Ganji Bawi in the middle. It seemed to have have the biggest line which is a good sign I think. Ordered their Dolsoat Bebeebap (Bibimbap – beef & vegetable with rice in a hot stone pot). I enjoyed it. The rice got nice and crunchy along the edges of the bowl. So much food. I ate about half and was stuffed. How do small old Korean ladies do it?
Looking on Yelp, I suppose it’s not the place to get the best Korean in Koreantown, but sure is interesting. There’s a weird review on there about some guy getting dumped and picking up a chick.
Koreantown Plaza – 928 S Western Ave Los Angeles, CA 90006
Maria and Mike took me to their corner Los Angeles Taco truck. Had to hit one while I’m there, right? Got the pork taco. Pretty standard authentic Mexican style tacos. You know, I never knew that tacos could ever be flat on a round soft tortilla, before I moved to New York. I always thought they were pockets, even the soft ones –growing up in Orlando where the only place you’d find Mexican food back in the day was at Taco Bell. As far as as this truck taco, pretty average if I have to compare to NY tacos …which is all I have –comparisons. I guess it’s more interesting than Taco Bell if you only had that to compare to.
Jocelyn Taco Truck – corner of Oxford and 8th St. Los Angeles, CA 90005
As soon as we entered Los Angeles, Zzalgern0n took us to one of his favorite restaurants, Pure Luck. Vegan food always sounds like a turn-off, especially for a guy like me who loves liver and eats pig ears and blood sausage. However, I gotta say this meal was pretty darn good… for vegan. Zzalgern0n was telling me how instead of using soy based mock meat, which I despise, they use jackfruit for a pork substitute. That sounds odd, right? I’ve never had jackfruit, but I’ve seen it in Chinatown and they’re huge-ass fruits.
I got the vegan BBQ Pulled Pork sandwich made with this jackfruit and I couldn’t believe it. It was a really good substitute. Looked liked pulled pork, although smothered in BBQ sauce and we were eating outside at night. But most importantly, it tasted almost like pork/carnitas …as much as it could for something that wasn’t and was a fruit! It fell apart quite similar to strands of pulled meat. I couldn’t believe it. I have a newfound respect for vegan food. I’m not a hater anymore …although I’m probably not going to be looking for a new vegan restaurant anytime soon. Just saying. I eat cow tongue.
Pure Luck – 707 N Heliotrope Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90029
