1st Fridays at Venice Beach

First fridays is a genius event involving food, art, and alcohol. On the first friday of every month tons of food trucks gather along Abbot Kinney Boulevard at Venice Beach, art galleries and stores also open up till late to cater to the massive amout of people who flock here every month. The most popular food trucks are the Kogi food truck, dim sum truck, and the grilled cheese truck amongst many others. The atmosphere was buzzing with excitement and lively, the only downside was that there were just too many people and many of the more popular food trucks had an obscene line that stretched down the entire road. A lot of the food trucks were in a parking lot but there were so many trucks that many were parked all along the entire stretch of road. We were able to try two food trucks tonight (Kogi and Tornado Potato) and left with full bellies and happy faces.

Busy busy

Waiting for the Kogi truck

Kogi Menu

Pacman Burger
The pacman burger is the everything you ever wanted burger. 3 meats (short rib, spicy pork, and chicken) along with sesame mayo, lettuce, jack and cheddar cheese, and god know what else. The burger was heavenly (especially since we waited so long for it). The meat was juicy and seasoned perfectly with a nice smoky char on certain smaller pieces. The lettuce had a nice crunch and the mayo and spicy juices from the meat was soaked up by the slightly toasted bun. It was falling apart but it was so delicious that after a few gluttonous bites it was already devoured.
  

YES.

Lining up for Tornado Potato

Beef Polish Sausage Tornado 
This is basically a fat juicy sausage wrapped with an entire potato sliced thinly then deep fried. Basically this is amazing on a stick. The sausage was salty and delicious and the potato was sliced to the perfect width for maximal crunch. Since the potato was sliced in such a interesting manner, each bite maintained the crispy exterior along with the soft insides. This probably not something I would want to eat everyday (or even every week!) but it was definitely a worthy indulgence. 

First Fridays

Abbot Kinney Blvd

Los Angeles

CA 90291

Wurstküche

After a super long hiatus I am back!!! Will definitely try to post more recipe posts too because a good friend told me that they learnt how to make carbonara from this blog and it made me really happy :) Was having trouble posting because I was in Beijing and the internet firewall was giving me some problems. Back in Hong Kong now though so expect many many new posts!

Wurstküche is known for their exotic sausages and quality beer. You can tell that it is a place that takes its food seriously once you glance at their menu. The menu features a large range of very interesting creations from familiar names such as bratwursts to alligator and pork sausage. Their double dipped fries are also raved about along with their homemade gourmet dipping sauces (and a truffle oil glaze - hello). And lastly who can forget the beer, or bier. Wurstküche has an impressive beer collection and boasts over 24 imported beers on tap.

Duck and bacon sausage with sweet onions and peppers
The sausage was bursting with flavor and you could tell from the first bite that it was made from high quality ingredients with care. I love my Johnsonville sausages in all its artificial glory but this was definitely a delish sausage. It was also cooked perfectly with a nice crunchy char on the outside. The onions and peppers added a nice sweet textual element to the hot dog and the bread was crusty and satisfying. 

Fries with Pesto mayonnaise 
I made a huge mistake and didn't get the fries with truffle glaze... good thing my friend got some so I could nom off his. The original fries luckily were also scrumptious. The outsides were perfectly crispy and fluffy on the insides. I love dipping my fries in mayonnaise normally so pesto mayo was a special treat! The creamy mayo was a great balance to the crispy salty fries. 

There is also a great selection of mustards to go with your sausage. 

Sadly I forgot to take pictures of the beer and will not be able to give a better review of them. But I got the pretty pink one in the foreground which was really refreshing and sweet.

800 East 3rd Street

Los Angeles 

CA 90013

Urth Cafe

Imagine your ideal cafe, filled with fresh wholesome foods, delicious organic drinks, and the best green tea latte ever... welcome to Urth Cafe. Urth Cafe is an organic coffee company serving only the highest quality coffee and food with various locations in LA. This is not the first time I've been to Urth but since my last visit I make sure that I pop by this amazing cafe each time I visit LA. They have both indoor and outdoor seating, I always prefer the outdoor seating.

Japanese Green Tea Latte
Best green tea latte ever. The flavor of the green tea is very strong and aromatic and you can tell that its high quality tea. The milk is rich and creamy along with the right amount of foam on the top. The drink is delicious and comforting. Another great this is the beautiful patterns and artwork they do on top of the drink with the foam. 

Mixed Berry Fruit Tart 
My friend and I have been eyeing this fruit tart the last time we visited Urth but we decided we were too full to try it. This time we were shamelessly staring at it again and decided we had to try it. The crust was delicious and the custard was sweet and creamy. The fruits on top were very fresh and looked lovely. Delicious! 

Sprout Sandwich with Sprouts, Onions, Avocado, Cheese, and Hummus 
This sandwich is the perfect example of how incredibly simple ingredients can result in an amazing meal. That is as long as the ingredients are of high quality and fresh! Essentially spring on a plate! The only complaint was that they ran out of the bread I wanted and this bread was a bit large so it was slightly difficult to eat. Other than that I loved it! 

Urth Cafe

267 S. Beverly Drive 

Beverly Hills 

Los Angeles

California 90212

How romantic...

I got these delicious garlic fries in Venice Beach. I joked to my boyfriend about whether he would kiss me even though I just devoured garlic smothered fries... he said he would. What a sweetheart :)

Curry House

Continuing with my mission of pigging out in LA my next destination was Curry House in Little Tokyo. Many of my friends who go to school in LA have raved about this cozy restaurant and after eating there it has become a new favorite of mine!

Deluxe Menchi Katsu Curry
Menchi katsu is a hamburger patty encrusted with panko and deep fried. It is then plopped on top of rice wrapped with scrambled eggs and smothered with a rich curry sauce. The hamburger patty had a great meaty flavor and was also very juicy. The panko was deep fried just right without being overly oily or mushy. The curry sauce had that tradition japanese style of being slightly sweet and not spicy at all. The egg covering the rice was slightly running which was perfect and smooth. Everything worked well together to create an amazing balance of taste and texture with the creaminess and smoothness of the egg to the bolder flavor of the curry and the crunchiness of the katsu. Delicious! 

Amazingly cooked egg wrapped around the rice

Curry House

Weller Court Shopping Center

123 S. Onizuka St. #204

Los Angeles

CA 90012

大黒家 Daikokuya Ramen

Daikokuya has the reputation as having the best ramen in LA and I have been dying to try it but there was always such an obscene wait that I never got to until this summer. Orochon ramen is also thought of by some as having the best ramen but I have been to both and I definitely prefer Daikokuya over Orochon. The depth of flavor and quality in Daikokuya's ramen is just far superior to that of Orochon. This time I was determined to eat at Daikokuya and my friend and I stayed strong and finally got a seat. It was definitely worth the wait and I was so glad I finally got to slurp on that glorious bowl of goodness.

Homemade Pork and Vegetable Gyoza 
The gyoza was super crispy and I loved how there were scallions scattered all over the top. Simple, well made, and delicious 

Salmon Roe Bowl The menu had a clever combination option where you could pair the famous Daikokuya ramen with a small rice bowl with choices such as pork cutlet, chicken teri, and tuna sashimi mini rice bowl. I chose the salmon roe rice bowl and it was very fresh and delicious. The rice was flavored with just the right amount of vinegar and cooked to the right texture. The salmon roe was savory and fresh. 

Daikokuya Ramen 
Finally!!! The infamous ramen is before me, ready to be consumed. The original soup already sounded incredibly rich and flavorful but my friend and I decided to be disgusting and go for the extra fatty "kotteri" flavor in which extra soup extracted from the pork back fat is used. Oh yes. The aroma was amazing and the noodles were chewy and had great texture. The soup was a dream come true and was everything I had wanted and more. The extra "kotteri" flavor definitely lived up to its promise and it was liquified pork glory. It was so rich that we could see globules of fat immersed in the soup. A tad disgusting but delicious none the less... just not a daily thing unless you want to become an actual pig. All the condiments in the ramen were also delicious. The bamboo shoots were crunchy and fresh, the cha siu melted in our mouths, and the egg was... also yummy. Overall it was a ramen dream in a bowl. 

Daikokuya Ramen

327 E 2st Street 

Little Tokyo

Los Angeles 

CA 90012

Crab House at Pier 39

It has been a very long time since my last post and I will definitely make an effort to get all the posts from summer completed. If I drag it on anymore it will be difficult for me to make accurate and detailed reviews of the food I enjoyed. The Crab House is a famous establishment at the popular Pier 39, its most famous dish is its "World Famous Dungeness Killer Crab". I am usually not a huge fan of eating crab because it take quite a lot of effort to get the meat out but with all the positive reviews I couldn't wait to dig in!

Excellent. What a cute and fun drink list :) 

I'm a sucker for bloody marys 

Ready to get messy with my apron on!

Clams in a Garlic Shallot Sauce with Linguine 
The clams were extremely fresh and sweet, it was cooked perfectly with a tasty garlic shallot sauce that did not overpower and mask the flavor and freshness of clams. The linguine was cooked to a perfect al dente and the leftover sauce was happily soaked up with bread.

Fish and Chips 
... of pretty epic proportions. A humongous slab of fish battered and fried to crispy perfection. The batter was not too thick and the fish was not overly greasy. The fish was well made but nothing creative or particularly memorable. The fries on the other hand was absolutely amazing. They were smothered in aromatic garlic bits that made the fries irresistible. 

World Famous 2+ lb Dungeness Killer Crab
The crab was drenches in the restaurant's "secret garlic sauce" that brought out the flavor of the crab perfectly. It was super tasty and the crab shell was cracked already so it was very easy to get the meat out and into my mouth :) The crab definitely lived up to its hype! Everyone should pop by here to try this amazing dish if you are in San Francisco! 

Conquered. Noms 

Crab House

203C Pier 39

San Francisco 

CA 94133