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

Providence - Culinary Voyage

Finally, I crossed off Providence of my list. After several recommendations and hearing some mixed reviews about Michael Cimarusti's restaurant, we decided to give it a try during Thanksgiving weekend. My first impression, bad bad interior. I expect luxurious decor with cozy ambiance. For a two stars Michelin guide restaurant, and it was plain ugly looking decoration and atmospere.

Lingering on the menu for a good 15 minutes, we decided to go all out on the chef's tasting menu. After 4 hours long of 16 hit and miss courses, I feel like Providence is not just a dinner, it's an impeccable dining experience. The savory courses made by Cimarusti's magical hands were spectacularly genius. Complex ingredients that I never thought of were put together and works well together. Food plating and presentation were flawless and rally my visual senses.

greyhound, mojito, gin and tonic gelee - hit

cured sea trout, gougeres, white soy/ wasabi marshmallow, carrot soup/vadouvan - so-so

hokkaido scallop. nasturtium blossoms, fresh grated wasabi, crispy rice cracker - hit

dungeness crab, mandarin, avocado crepe - hit

santa barbara sea urchin. cauliflower parfait - hit

soft scrambled eggs with italian black truffles. served with toasted brioche - miss

unagi risotto with italian black summer truffles, quail egg - hit

niman ranch pork belly. carrot-orange puree, pickled ramps, mizuna, carrot-ginger butter - miss

wild new zealand john dory. matsutake, rosemary - my favorite!

loin of colorado lamb. cauliflower brussels sprouts - hit, cauliflower never taste that good!

cheese platter 

The service was stellar, no doubt, when you pay so much, you'll expect professional and knowledgeable service. Desserts are exceptionally mind-blowing! Exquisite creativity and combination of ingredients melts in my mouth. Fabulous endings!   

kalamansi gelèe. white chocolate coconut soy milk soup, litchi-shisho sorbet - hit

tangerine. ginger granita, vanilla ice cream, basil - so-so

apples in butterscotch, cashews, north star cherries, miso ice cream - hit

milk chocolate-whiskey panna cotta, bailey's ice cream, coconut ravioto - hit

Providence delivers an extraordinary meals of my life, however how much are you willing to pay for good food? I'm not rushing back to Providence any time soon. $400 (for two) a pop, that's why. But if money were no object, I'll be delighted to eat here on any given day.

Providence
5955 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 460-4170

www.providencela.com

Kogi BBQ - Where You At?

Spicy pork tacos & short ribs tacos. Outburst of spicy and sweet flavors so intense and kick-ass.

Pardon me with dark quality of the photos, the parking lot of The Brig at Abbot Kinney was so dark, giving more exposure was not helping *Oops*. Waiting with less than 10 people in line, I felt so lucky that we don't have to wait any longer for these Korean Mexican midnight snacks in chilly weather. I have to say that these tacos are good but not specTACOlar!!

Short ribs sliders. Buttery toasted buns with sweet juicy beef short ribs and stack of crunchy fresh veggie.

Kimchi quesadilla - cheesy + spicy = explicitly lip-smacking.

To all the Kogi followers and worshipers who waited for two hours, calm down people, it's only tacos. But if they were in your area and line is short, bring some cash and give it a shot! It won't disappoint..

Kogi BBQ Truck
(714) 697-4683

www.kogibbq.com

http://twitter.com/kogibbq

♡ Happy Turkey Day ♡

It's that time of the year again when 46 millions of turkey are consumed, commercial flights face their busiest travel week, and massive Black Friday lines are formed in front of your favorite stores. This year, my friends and I celebrated Thanksgiving with huge appetite and the mood of packing some major calories.

Three main chefs + the rest playing sous chefs and we got ourselves a cook fest! Hours of preparation and putting together the perfect thanksgiving meals were paid off. Every single dish was perfectly cooked and seasoned. Butter and heavy cream play significant roles in making the meals memorable and everyone was oblivious of the nutrition fact's existence.

Honey baked ham

Sauteed mushrooms

Mac and Cheese

Corn de la crème

Mashed potatoes

Enormous turkey

Cinnamon apple pies

At the end of the night we all feel it was a successful stuffy dinner and a heartwarming affair to remember. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Mountain Cafè - Feeling Hangover?

  Ginseng chicken soup with sticky rice

Not me, but I was so sick with flu when my friends brought me to this hole in the wall. This super tiny place only has 5 small tables and limited menu, but comforting enough that I feel better after dinner. The cure? Abalone rice porridge and ginseng chicken soup with sticky rice. Both were so mouthwatering and soothing my throat, will also work for your hangover.

Abalone rice porridge with egg yolk

Best side dishes - shredded hot beef stew. Mix 'em and the pickles with the porridge and you get yourself a superb comfort food.

Don't expect some royal treatment 'cos the lady that run this place reminds me of Seinfeld's soup nazi - flat mean and attitudes. I would care less as long as she keeps on refilling our side dishes, which she did. All in all, come to Mountain Cafe whenever you need hangover chaser or immune system booster, as this homefood will give you the cure.

Mountain Cafè
3064 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 487-7615