KC's Cafe - Crepêries

Honey, good luck on finding a decent crepe place in LA. After one disappointment to another, those bad crepe days were over. Actually, I enjoyed KC's crepes the first month I got to LA and good grace it was deli-freakin-cious! After my first enjoyment of a great crepe, in the back of my mind thought that this must be the beginning of the pursuit of another delish crepe, but I couldn't be more wrong. So meanwhile, let's just stick with KC's.

croque madame - egg, ham, and cheese

roast beef melt with grilled onion, cheese, and gravy

Their crepe has the right amount of crisp. Their melt is my favorite savory crepes 'cos they got the goods - grilled onion and gravy!! On a sweeter note, any dessert crepe with their custard creme is lusting...

The lame part about KC's is you have to be patient with your orders. The cute Asian crepe makers may look so sweet but after 15 minutes and your crepe isn't ready may cause some temper!

the best of them all. nutella, strawberry, banana, and custard creme 

These picture don't do the justice. So just come by to KC's and enjoy them for yourself!

p.s: cash only and closed on mondays.

KC's Cafe
8320 Lincoln Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(310) 348-9697

Mitsuru Cafe - Pit Stop

Before Shabu Shabu House and after, I can always use some Japanese street food. Mitsuru Cafe is the perfect pit stop for appetizer and dessert at Japanese Village Plaza. Mainly for savory skewers and red rad bean cakes a.k.a Imagawayaki.

fried beef ball skewers with sauce and sesame seeds

takoyaki - three happy little balls which contains fried octopus with seaweed powder, skewed.

imagawayaki in the making. flip those suckas

freshly made imagawayaki - not overly crispy pancake with hot azuki bean center. will vanish within seconds

Mitsuru Cafe

117 Japanese Village Plaza Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-1028

Shabu Shabu House - Dip Dip Hooray!

 shabu shabu medium - lean meat with sesame and ponzu sauce

12.30 pm: Arrive and enter the shabu house, list down my name, # of party, and the plate size and meat preference. you can order medium (10 slices) or large (15 slices). You can also mention how you like your meat... lean or marble.

12.33 pm: Sit in front of ce fiore yogurt because it's right across the shabu house. stomach start growling!

1.05 pm: The grandpa manager walked outside and yelled my name... I stood up and ready to attack, but no..."wait wait....not yet...want to make sure you're still waiting" *ARGHHH*...

1.15 pm: my name was called and OH YEAH.... prepare for shabu galore!

1.16 pm: mix the green onion and garlic to ponzu sauce, put some chili oil on the meat, and DIP DIP HOORAY!! dip the meat into ponzu and then sesame sauce and they will melt in your mouth!

1.40 pm: full stomach...but still more to come, the ice coffee! it's so good!

1.47 pm: pay the bill, get 2 hours validation parking, walk out in full satisfaction..

be aware:
-busy hours may take up to 1 hour and 30 minutes wait
-close on Mondays
-don't text msg while you eat, grandpa will be mad

Shabu Shabu House
127 Japanese Village Plz Mall
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-3890

Skratch - Healthy Never Tasted So Good

slow braised pulled pork sandwich - fig & white grape compote. green apples, organic baby field greens. topped with truffle oil vinaigrette.

Organic, healthy, fast, top-notch ingredients, cheap! wait, cheap is included in making those sandwiches taste awesome? yup. Welcome to Skratch where you have fine selection of healthy alternative of fast food! Yummy? don't ask...

Skratch

3867 Hughes Avenue
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 558-3400

www.skratchbasics.com

Tacos Por Favor

If you're looking for delicious fancy non-authentic burritos, go to Chipotle. But if you're looking for a good authentic Mexican food, Tacos Por Favor is the place for you. I used to come to this place once a week when I worked in Santa Monica, my coworkers easily guess that my lunch was going to be two blocks away.

My all-time favorite - carne asada soft tacos with fresh cilantro and chopped onions. pay attention to their hot sauce and salsa, it will blow your tacos away!

carne asada taquitos with guacamole, sour cream, and fresh pico. crispy tortilla with chunks of asada. cherish the delish!

Not only, they're good with tacos and burritos, but their extensive menu also offers Mexican breakfast. Spinach mushroom omelette with rice and beans. I can eat this all day...

Beware: this place will tend to cause impulsive order. too many good food so cheap prices. So when Mexican craving strikes, I need my tacos please!

Tacos Por Favor
1406 Olympic Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 392-5768

Santouka - Porky Land

Whenever I'm hungry but my lazy ass don't wanna deal with traffic, Mitsuwa marketplace, which is 5 minutes away, is always the go-to place to fill up my tank.

What to love is Santouka Ramen at their food court. Since Shin Sen Gumi Hakata ramen is far far away... Santouka is the best substitute for Hakata. I know for some people their broth might be so rich and overpowering, but I can't helped their tender, juicy, and fat fat fatty chasu pork. But I have to admit on some days, I shred off the fat..

My taste goes to the shio ramen with the pork and toppings on the side. pork fat floats on the ramen bowl

slices of pork, bamboo shoots, green onions, and black ear mushrooms

miso ramen and a small bowl of chasu pork rice bowl. yummness!

Santouka Ramen

3760 S Centinela Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90066

(310) 391-1101

Mien Nghia - Tradition Remains

 wonton egg thin noodle with separate soup. topped with fried shallots, green onions, cilantro

Chinese noodle with separate soup is what my family eat for breakfast almost every morning back home. So, when my friend introduced me to Mien Nghia a year ago, I was hooked and have been a regular ever since. I always order the same thing which is wonton thin egg noodle with separate soup. I can't help the plentiful fried shallots, green onion, and cilantro toppings to compliments the dry noodle, the soup broth is really good. One more thing, the home made chili sauce is to die for! Seriously, I use half of the chili container for my noodle... yup, it's that good!

Mien Nghia

304 Ord St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-2411