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Son of a Gun | Mid-City Los Angeles

one of our favorite restaurants in la right now is son of a gun. we went there a year ago not thinking much about this place since we had to wait two hours to sit at a communal table (didn’t eat until 9:45pm. one word – hunger). after this incident, we learned our lesson and made a reservation this time.

our absolute favorites:

lobster roll, celery, lemon aioli – delicious! (pictured below)
shrimp toast sandwich, herbs, sriracha mayo – i’m pretty much in love with the shrimp toast. its very small (smaller than my palm)… so i would recommend ordering at least one for yourself. (pictured below)
fried chicken sandwich, spicy b&b pickle slaw, rooster aioli – when we tried it the first time, we thought “is this the best fried chicken sandwich ever?!” second time we tried it, we thought “yep, this is the best fried chicken sandwich ever!” (pictured below)

other things we have tried:

linguine and clams, uni aglio-olio, chili, breadcrumbs – i wasn’t too excited or impressed with the linguine…sorry.
oysters on the half shell – these were okay. i have had better oysters before. (pictured below)
dungeness crab, daikon, apple, yuzu – good but very, very small. its on the sweet side. (pictured below)

ambience: small, nautical-themed. gets pretty loud (especially at the communal table at dinner time) but then again, i loved the vibe.

service: very knowledgable about the food and have really good recommendations.

thoughts: son of a gun has pretty outstanding dishes (i.e. shrimp toast, fried chicken sandwich, and lobster roll). we compare a lot of what we eat to these dishes because they are that good. (yep) the other dishes we have tried are okay but because they have such a relatively large menu, we continue to be excited about trying all their other dishes (lobster blt and peel and eat shrimp). this place is on the pricey side and plates are small…but discovering the most delicious thing ever? all worth it.

tips: there are no substitutions.

Son of a Gun
8370 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Neighborhood: Mid-City West

By vivilinh | November 24th, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 2 Comments

Komodo Cafe | West Los Angeles, CA

our awesome friend stella visited this past weekend. obviously being the food addicts that we are, we took her on a food adventure (after football, of course). our destination: komodo!

kyle had been raving about this place for a week now since he discovered it while at work.

what we ordered:

komodo 2.0 bowl – seared top sirloin with jalapeno aioli and southwest corn salad
blazin’ shrimp bowl – spicy singaporean-style shrimp with sour cream salad and cilantro
loko modo bowl – hawaiian-style grilled ground sirloin with island sweet sauce and eggs
fountain drinks – citrus mango drink and lychee lemonade ($2.50)

so everything on the menu you can order 3 ways: taco ($3), burrito ($8), and rice bowl ($9).

this small restaurant started off as a food truck. cool, eh? you can see pictures of the food truck on their wall as you walk in. we came at the perfect time on that sunday since there were only a couple of people in line. after we ordered, the place was packed. so just keep that in mind.

food: so delicious. we were huge fans of the komodo 2.0 bowl! if you eat in, they have this special komodo sauce (in an unlabeled squirt bottle) available. between the five of us, we devoured 85% of a full bottle! is it weird to be in love with a sauce you know nothing about? all i have to offer you is that it looks like a salsa…but does not taste like it. trust us (all five of us), your taste buds will thank you for the introduction.

the blazin’ shrimp bowl was also very good but it is very, very spicy. the loko modo bowl according to my friend was also good!

on top of the food being great, two things that definitely stand out about this place: (i) their presentation is really nice! all our ordered looked amazing! the pictures taken with my iphone do not do it justice. (ii) their drinks are delicious and are a must get! we got the citrus mango and the lychee lemonade. so good.

service: pretty good. 4 people working at the time we walked in. all orders went in and out pretty seamlessly.

location / parking: it was a little difficult to find parking on a sunday night. its all street parking so good luck. the restaurant itself is small with an oddly shaped eating area. i want to say there are only two normal 4 seaters and the rest of it is wall stool seating.

verdict: i am excited to come back here and try more things on their extensive menu! they have a bunch of sides on the menu that i eyeballed. food is good, prices are good, and service is kind and efficient. this place impressed us and we hope it impresses you.

tip: no substitutions allowed.

Komodo Cafe
8809 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
Neighborhood: West Los Angeles

By vivilinh | November 18th, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 1 Comment

Chick-Fil-A | Philadelphia

the situation: i’ve been dying to see what the craze is all about with chick-fil-a. everyone and their mothers was so excited that one opened up in hollywood (relatively close to me). however, it seems as though every time i want to try it, it’s been a sunday…they are closed on sundays. darn.

i never thought that my first time would end up being at the philadelphia airport after missing a connection by 5 minutes…ahem…after arriving 30 minutes before my flight left (i thought this was enough time. foolish me.) and running through the airport with all my luggage (note to self, go to the gym more often…for situations like this). oh, and did I mention that it was the last flight out of phili to los angeles that night? thank you, corporate travel.

good thing every story has a silver lining. my silver lining was chick-fil-a for dinner! don’t judge, I have been wanting to eat here for a year now. i normally would not review a fast food chain but given the cult following to this franchise, how could i not?

as a side, personal note, i am a huge fan of fast food. my favorite is the big mac. yep, i said it.

i ordered a chicken sandwich meal (look at me, what a baller) which included fried chicken sandwich (apparently has pickles), crisscut fries, and a medium dr. pepper. sauces chosen: chick-fil-a sauce and polynesian sauce.

thoughts: when ordering, the cashier was nice enough to sympathize with my situation (we bonded) and she suggested chick-fil-a sauce, which in her opinion was “like honey mustard, but better.” exact words. i also opted for the polynesian sauce due to recommendations from friends and because i thought it was like a sweet chili sauce. to my surprise, i loved the chick-fil-a sauce! i’m not really qualified in any way to tell you what is in it so i will just tell you to go try it. the polynesian sauce (you will laugh) tastes to me like honey mustard.

my sandwich came out piping hot, which to someone traveling alone, eating at an airport alone and just missed the last flight out home was the greatest thing in the world. it could be because i was exhausted from traveling but the sandwich…ehhh…was just a chicken sandwich? nothing too mind blowing. i would come back to eat the sauces, but then again i’m a sauce lover.

well there you have it. my long-awaited adventure to chick-fil-a.

have a good weekend!

By vivilinh | November 16th, 2012 | Food, Travel | 0 Comments

La Cabanita | Glendale, CA

it was one of those days. we didnt know what to eat for lunch so decided to let our restaurant wish list lead the way. we ended up at la cabanita in glendale (montrose). based on the reviews we read, a ton of people raved about this restaurant having the best mole (i’m a huge fan of mole despite not liking chocolate. weird, i know) and excellent home made tortillas!

lucky us, there were lunch specials! for $8.50 each, we got:

enchiladas de mole plate and horchata – everyone was right, excellent mole! perfect combo of sweet and savory. i got my enchiladas with chicken, which was very moist.
carnitas tacos plate and horchata – again, everyone was right! tortillas are homemade and very yummy! these tacos came with a habanero salsa (pretty spicy. good thing we had horchata).

great deal right? we really liked the chips and salsa. the roasted salsa was our favorite.

service: very helpful. we told our waiter it was our first time! he was uber excited and made excellent recommendations (he recommended the lunch specials which was the same size food for a fraction of the price. i love informative waiters).
location / parking: we had no trouble parking on the street. we came at lunch time on a monday. it was packed but were seated right away.
verdict: for sure we are coming back here…especially for the mole and the price!

La Cabanita
3445 N Verdugo Rd
Glendale, CA 91208
Neighborhood: Glendale

By vivilinh | November 13th, 2012 | Food, Restaurants | 2 Comments

Porto’s Bakery | Burbank, CA

porto’s bakery & cafe. i really dont have to say much here. this family owned restaurant is loved by thousands and thousands of people who come from far and wide to enjoy some cuban sandwiches and pastries. my family has been going to porto’s for years (when the glendale store was the only one). even when the burbank and downey ones opened up, these locations are still crowded (this is not an understatement). we like to go to the burbank one pretty early so that we beat the crowds but even at 7am, there are a hundred or so people in the lines. a few things we always get:

potato balls – amazing
cheese rolls – we buy this by the dozen since there is a discount. these are delicious when they are warm and melt in your mouth.
cuban sandwich / midnight sandwich – my favorite is the midnight sandwich since its on a soft sweet roll.
guava cheese roll – my mom’s favorite

we barely get the food and eat there since we like to buy the pastries in bulk and eat it all week for breakfast. one nice thing about eating the sandwiches there is that you get plantain chips! (see below) they are pretty awesome.

porto’s is a must visit. i recommend the burbank location since its bigger and just has more seating.

tip: there are two lines. one express line (left) if you dont want any cake. in this line you can get sandwiches and the potato balls/cheese rolls. the right lane, you can order anything you want.

expect lines but again, its worth it in my opinion.

Porto’s Bakery
3614 W Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, CA 91505
Neighborhood: Burbank

By vivilinh | November 12th, 2012 | Coffee, Tea, & Bakeries, Food, Restaurants | 0 Comments

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