I am a Hawaiian food junkie. If there's a Hawaiian restaurant nearby, I will be there, even if it's just a local Aloha Cafe or L&L BBQ. And at the top of the list of items I order: Kahlua pork and loco moco. Very few restaurants can make a good Kahlua pork, and fewer places can make a good loco moco (I've only had two good loco moco's that weren't homemade).So imagine how happy I was to discover that Gardena is a home to quite...

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After blogging about Comme Ca, I confess it's kind of hard to think highly of STK Steakhouse. It's not that STK was bad, per se. It was okay for a steakhouse. But for a high end steak restaurant in Los Angeles, competing with the likes of Mastro's, Lawry's, or even Ruth's Chris, I expected better.I give the place points for atmosphere. The place was trendy, the ambiance was nice, and the place actually was relatively quiet. Because...

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Oxtail jam. What exactly is a jam made out of oxtail? Don't ask. Just eat. Enjoy. SAVOR.I confess, I'm a new convert to bone marrow. All those years growing up, my mom always made pho with an oxtail base, and I never thought to indulge in the bone marrow for the richest flavor. Today, as a glutton for rich flavors, I find myself craving these fatty morsels of love, longing for a chance to scoop those tiny spoons in deeper for...

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In this little hole in the wall restaurant just outside of the Larchmont district, there is a magical Peruvian restaurant that will knock your socks off. The best damn ceviche you will ever have, the best battered fish you will ever have, and the best beef saltado you will ever even dream of. This is Mario's Restaurant.The wait will be crazy and the parking will be ridiculous, but once you get in and manage to get yourself seated...

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I was a huge fan of Water Grill. As one of the most well-known seafood restaurants in LA, it enjoyed a reputation as a fresh, high-end seafood restaurant where you could order a seafood platter that was bigger than your entire upper torso. (Okay, I exaggerate. But not by much.)And the evening did start off well. We were delighted to enjoy some complimentary spicy tuna wrapped in cucumber on a spoon, a palette prep for what was...

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I hadn't been disappointed in a restaurant in awhile. I guess I was overdue. After eagerly anticipating DineLA as an opportunity to eat at fine restaurants for reasonable prices, I decided to go with my Twin to Jer-Ne, a blind stab in the dark based on what sounded like a good menu. What I got instead was food that attempted to be "fusion" and eclectic and modern, and instead ended up being cooked oddly, tasting slightly "off",...

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The second DineLA experience was much better than the first at Jer-Ne. Don't get me wrong--the company was equally enjoyable, but the food was absolutely exquisite and exceeded expectations.This and Gotham in NYC are among the few times I couldn't finish a meal that was absolutely orgasmic because it was too rich. This and Mario's Peruvian Food were the only two times I have ever regretted having even one piece of bread. Yes,...

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Few things get me more excited than leisure trips. I absolutely love the thrill of exploring new places, eating new foods, planning how to get there, where to stay, how to find the best bargains, and how to maximize every waking second of time I get to escape whatever reality my life is in, and simply enjoy another reality for awhile. So imagine my thrill and surprise when DD decided to take a trip with me, hopefully our first...

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Kotteri. Kotteri is the magic word.Before this word, I hardly knew what ramen was. Now, it feels as if my eyes have been opened, and a new ramen has come to rule them all. KOTTERI. You. Are. Beautiful.It all started after a football game, when we all decided to eat dinner together somewhere near the downtown LA area. Our friend AY recommended this place, describing the food and admitting that it sounded disgusting, but it was...

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Eels are scary creatures. They're slimy and slippery and Flotsam and Jetsam from The Little Mermaid used to make me all scared with their yellow camera eyes and smirking faces. Eels are not the prettiest creatures on earth. They give me nightmares when I watch them swim around.But cook them up and slather them in teriyaki sauce? Well then they're delicious!There's nothing quite like a piece of eel, delicately scorched to the perfect...

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Oh Prix-Fixe menus! How I will never tire of thee! Who's in for some good food lovin'??http://www.opentable.com/promo.aspx?m=6&ref=2954&pid=268Last week DD and I caught some Ruth's Chris for the Orange County Restaurant Week, and my, was it good! Nothing like the smell of beef roasted in butter... Like Anthony Bourdain said, "Mmmm. Tastes like it died screaming!"Which brings us to my steak...

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Don't be fooled by this adorable smiley face with his chef's hat and a huge, almost phallic, loaf of bread. Behind this chipper exterior is the face of a beast. A fat-mongering, grease-loving evil mastermind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to brilliance. Brilliance has a name, and it is Mr. Baguette.The fact that he's not named Monsieur Baguette (to continue the French theme) only adds to his rebellious nature....

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"Are you feeling safe or adventurous?"Even as DD asked those words, I was trying to balance whether he would be tired, or whether I was feeling introverted. This particular evening, I was open to anything. Those are usually the evenings that end up with the most potential, because really, anything can happen. So despite the fact that a home-delivered pizza and a Vietnamese roast duck was on the table, I opted for adventurous....

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What to cook, what to cook? I always ask myself what I want to cook, and every time I brainstorm, I come up with all sorts of new options I (1) haven't tried before, or (2) tried before, loved, and want to repeat. So last Saturday, when I tried coming up with ideas, I thought of a few items I wanted to cook, and then realized a theme: Faux Breakfast!The appetizer was the start of the inspiration. I love creating cheese plates...

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Orochon Ramen. From my early college days, pre Man vs. Food, this place was my santuary, making such a delicious version of what is otherwise considered 25 cent college food. As the years went by, I honed in on how spicy I liked my ramen, how much noodle I wanted, which flavor I liked best, and exactly why no other ramen place I've tried has compared to the deliciousness of this bowl of spicy goodness.The concept is simple enough....

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It was like a HOME. And maybe it wasn't really my home, it felt so welcoming and so loving and so delicious that it may as well have been. Yesterday I was invited to join DD to friends' JT and JT's house. They had a cozy house in Chatsworth, CA, and while the drive on the 405 N during rush hour was agonizing, I would do it twice over again if I'd known what was in store.DD and his brother and friends chartered a boat this weekend...

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I confess, I don't remember the egregious offense. Maybe it was him blowing into my face while he was almost drunk, but I can't quite remember exactly what it was that PP did to cause him to ask, "How can I make it up to you?" Before thinking, I kicked off the smart-ass auto-response. Of course! "Be my slave."Before I knew it, we were negotiating the terms, deciding that yesterday at noon was too late to start for a whole day,...

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Yeah, I was expecting more.After hearing so much about Chef Joseph Citron, I was expecting Cache Restaurant to knock my socks off. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't bad.... Probably around a 7.... So "good"..... Just not orgasmic.My list of complaints could go on forever, but the foie gras was bland (but it's seared foie gras, so I can't complain too much), the pork was sort of bland as well with no zest,...

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EDIT (10/2009): This place was just closed. :(The only other time I can remember having food that made me feel like I was in a puebla in the middle of New Mexico (aside from when I was in New Mexico) was at Mesa, Bobby Flay's restaurant in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas. Bobby Flay, from Iron Chef and on Throwdown, is very clearly a lover of all the spices and seasonings and flavors of the Southwest, those zesty combinations that...

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Really, need I say more?For those of you who have the pleasure of visiting the West Coast, make it your Harold and Kumar mission to find an In-N-Out. It will change your life.For those of you familiar with In-N-Out, doesn't just seeing the red palm trees on white cups and wrappers make you drool? That's because they offer fresh meat that's never been frozen, handcut fries, handcut lettuce, and all sort of other tough manual labor...

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These are dangos. Born before we ever saw the first deep-fried candy bars, deep fried ice cream, or deep fried soda, these deep fried balls of dough are a staple of LA festivals like Tofu Festival, Lotus Festival, and Nisei Week. Tofu Festival was cancelled two years ago, after the likes of Tofu Ninja and Tofuzilla, due to lack of a large enough venue. (And I was looking forward to the next tofu mascot.) Lotus Festival this year...

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I have always been a fan of breakfast. Any meal that inherently requires frying foods, using oil and butter, and sizzling on flat griddles is automatically BOMB in my book. The smell of eggs reminds me of Saturday mornings at home, when Mom used to make scrambled eggs with any variety of breakfast foods. Some days it was taco meat for breakfast burritos. Some days it was egg-battered toast with powdered sugar for French toast....

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Let me start by saying what I have always said to my friends and family:New York City is my affair, my mistress, my lover, and Los Angeles is the love of my life. An LA girl at heart, I have been to NYC at least once a year to enjoy not only the atmosphere, but also the 5-star restaurants and the hot dog vendors on the street, who sometimes oh-so-kindly cut me a slice of the lamb rotisserie to top the hot dog. Heaven.Since I left...

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