Papa Razzi Trattoria

Stumbled upon this restaurant while shopping. Food was actually very good and satisfying. Service was attentive and the atmosphere of the restaurant was cozy and clean. Love it when you are looking for a quick casual meal and it ends up being very enjoyable! Was a great day overall, good food and good shopping with my housemate.

Started off the meal with calamari, one of my favorite foods. The calamari was fried perfectly, the batter wasn't too thick and it came piping hot. One odd thing was that there were various other fried bits in the dish that was not calamari such as peppers and other vegetable bits. The marinara sauce was tangy and complemented the calamari perfectly. 

Lobster and ricotta ravioli in a lobster cream sauce
The ravioli was delicious. The pasta was cooked to al dente perfection and the cream sauce was rich and flavorful. The serving was also quite generous.

We also ordered a eggplant, mozzarella, and basil panini that I didn't get a picture of. Very good lunch.

Simple Pleasures

Sometimes the simplest things can turn out so delicious. This is a quick and simple dish that you can whip up anytime. Honestly, what can go wrong when it's wrapped in bacon?

Made a lot of other dishes for this meal but did not take photos! Will make a post dedicated to some recipes later :)

Toro

I absolutely love tapas, I love the idea of having small plates of food to share with your table, allowing each person to try various different dishes at once. So happy to finally try out Toro. Have been hearing incredibly positive reviews about this place from many people. There are no reservations taken at this restaurant so it is wise to come early around 5 or 5:30 to avoid waiting for hours for a table. I got here at 5:30 and shared a pitcher of sangria with my good friend and had a seat at the bar while we waited for our table. The sangria was delicious, sweet and fruity with still a strong hint of the red wine. We initially asked for the white wine sangria but was told that was only served during summer. The atmosphere was laid back and cozy, dark wood tables with a long communal table in the middle of the restaurant. I felt that the restaurant was a little bit too dim and that the ventilation system could be improved because it was rather smokey and the aromas of the food became a little overwhelming. The food was excellent though and I will go through them under the captions of each dish. 

A view of the bar table 

Red wine sangria 

Roasted bone marrow with radish citrus salad and oxtail marmalade.
Bone marrow was rich and very fatty. The flavor was perfect and the oxtail toast was delectable. Salad was a little bit too sour with the lime slices. Still highly recommended. 

Mini Kobe burgers with smoked tomatoes, alioli, and pickled red onions.
The burger patty was juicy and meaty, all the elements worked well together and the small size of the burger left you satisfied yet not too full to try out other dishes. The pickled onions was a nice tangy touch that wrapped up the entire dish. 

Crispy pork belly with sunchoke and fried potato bites in a cream sauce.
The pork belly was perfectly fatty but not overwhelmingly so. The skin was thin and crispy and worked perfectly with the succulent meat underneath. The cream sauce along with the lightly fried potato pieces all came together into the perfect bite. A must try!

Grilled corn with alioli, lime, espellete pepper,  and aged cheese.
One of toro'st most famous and popular dishes. The corn was sweet and roasted to perfection. The lime gave the entire dish a kick and the creamy cheese smothered over the delicious kernels of corn was absolute heaven.

Rabbit and escargot Paella
The paella was a little more watery than I would have liked yet the flavoring and texture of the rice was well done. The rabbit was cooked well and was tender. Was definitely not the best paella I have had but since I have been to Barcelona this does not mean that it was not a decent one. I would recommend trying their tapas over their paella though.

Other dishes that we ordered and are not pictured are as follows:
Foie gras with pear chutney on toast: so so, typical foie gras nothing special I thought. Very small portion.
Pressed Uni sandwich with miso butter and pickled mustard seeds: DELICIOUS. I adore uni and this sandwich was rich creamy and everything glorious about uni. Only wished the piece was a little larger!
Brussel sprouts: Typical buttery brussel sprouts. Not bad yet not something I would specially try out here since there are so many delicious options.

Overall the food was delicious and the dinner was very enjoyable. I would definitely recommend coming here and I will be back again very soon!

Izakaya by Katsuya

I have heard a lot about Katsuya - the hotspot for celebrities to enjoy contemporary Japanese food. I wanted to try out Katsuya during my stay in LA but my good friend suggested Izakaya by Katsuya, a more casual setting with a menu offering many of the same delicious bites from Katsuya. I definitely want to try out Katsuya another time but Izakaya was definitely worth visiting. The restaurant was in West LA and was small and cozy. Izakaya means a place for people to drink and have quality food in Japan, one level above bars and lounges in terms of food servings. It was definitely more of a restaurant setting than a drinking establishment in terms of Izakaya by Katsuya. Getting a reservation is a must because the restaurant was bustling on a Tuesday night and people were continually entering and waiting for tables throughout my meal.

Seared albacore with crispy onions

Creamy rock shrimp tempura on spicy tuna roll

Spicy tuna on crispy rice 

El Tepeyak!

Man vs. Food is another one of my guilty pleasures. Every time I watch that show I always think that I could finish whatever he was trying to eat. On one of the episodes Adam Richman went to a mexican restaurant in LA called El Tepeyak to try and devour "Manny's Special": a 5 pound burrito. I did not risk my life and attempt that challenge and instead ordered a normal sized burrito. The line was pretty long but it was well worth the wait. Once we got to the front we were greeted by Manny who is the owner of this amazing restaurant. He was absolutely precious and very talkative. He gave us some tequila shots (just like he did on the show!) and showed us to our table. 

I was absolutely famished by the time I sat down. I don't remember exactly what I got but I believe I got the Okie De Machaca which is a huge burrito stuffed with shredded beef, sauteed onions, tomatoes, japapenos, eggs, melted cheese, rice, beans, and cheddar cheese topped with a red enchilada sauce. There were also avocado slices in there. Heavenly. We also got a huge plate of nachos. The servings are HUGE so definitely remember that when you are ordering!

I never really liked Mexican food but El Tepeyak changed my mind about that!

shot shots shots shots shots!  

AMAZING

:) 

Mastro's Steakhouse

Love love love love love steak. I could never ever be a vegetarian. I love eating my veggies and tofu but I also could never live without a nice juicy steak. Have been dying to try out Mastro's since my best friend Christine told me about it the last time she was in LA. Have been drooling over her photos of the food at Mastro's ever since. Finally it was my own turn to try out the deliciousness and I was not disappointed. The  food totally lived up to its hype.

The menu of glorious choices 

Started off with some oysters. Very spicy horse radish  

Lobster bisque. Excellent. 

20 oz bone in rib eye. Medium rare. Absolute perfection.

Colossal onion rings. One was already quite filling but I just wanted to eat more.

Lobster mashed potatoes

Extremely full but of course we had to get the signature butter cake!

extra butter, extra cream. 

The center was gooey and pure buttery heaven. The ice cream didn't hurt either

May have been the best steak I have ever had. Botero in Vegas was pretty great too. Definitely slept very well that night.

Phillipe's

I was in LA for my February break and had the hugest list of places I wanted to try. I absolutely adore Anthony Bourdain and on his LA episode he went to Phillipe's for their french dipped sandwiches. I got the lamb sandwich double dipped with bleu cheese and had potato salad and cole claw as sides. The sandwich was pretty good but I didn't like how the sandwich was a little soggy with the au jus but the lamb was very succulent and the potato salad was delicious. Cole slaw was so so. I can see why some people might love this sandwich but it wasn't my favorite thing in the world. Definitely worth checking out though if you are in the area. The lemonade was pretty refreshing as well. The atmosphere of the place was very old school with communal tables and straw on the floor. The mustard is Phillipe's own speciality and there is a bottle at every table. They serve the food on these plastic trays reminiscent of cafeterias and I found that rather charming. The mustard is pretty spicy and added a nice kick to the sandwich. If you really like it you can buy some to bring home.

The line was pretty long but it moved pretty quickly 

Loving the old school feel

Thick slices of juicy lamb with bleu cheese  

my meal and a coffee 

a close up

had so much amazing food at LA. Expect many many more posts to come about great restaurants in LA!