ThaiBruin

If you like Spanish tapas, you would love Cobras. The one I went to is near the Grove/Farmer’s Market, a very trendy restaurant in a trendy neighborhood. I highly recommend getting a reservation on-line, otherwise expect to wait a while for a table. The restaurant does get noisy. It is a fun, very lively atmosphere. There is no corkage fee, so make sure to stop next door at the wine shop to pick up a wine to go with your meal.

We started with Bacon Wrapped Dates stuffed with Cabrales cheese and almonds. They were served in some kind of sweet wine/rum sauce. They are simply the most divine dish at the restaurant—sweet and savory all at the same time. I would go back just for the dates alone! Then we have the Spanish style barbequed skirt steak marinated in orange juice & paprika. The steak melted in your mouth with marvelous flavors. Next we had patatas fritas with aioli & mojo picon (potatoes fried in garlic sauce and truffle olive oil). The truffle oil was subtle but it gave the dish a specially unique taste. The waitress convinced us to order the Bacalao Salt Cod Cakes, and they were pretty tasty. We finished off with Churros laced with sugar and cinnamon and served with a chocolate dipping sauce.

All in all, a very satisfying and enjoyable meal. Compare to the tapas places in Miami, I would say Cobras holds it own very well! I would go back with more people so we can sample a variety of dishes because they all sounded great. Expect to spend $25-40 per person depending on how many dishes you order.

I have heard so much about their soup dumplings that my expectations were high. When my non-Asian friend finally took me to eat there, it was everything I expected and more. There is no word to describe adequately what I felt when I first bite into my first steamed pork dumpling. The minute the dumpling wrap is punctured, the delicious warm juice came spilling out to tantalize my taste buds. I think that is the best part of the dumpling although the meat and wrap were pretty flavorful. We also tried the pork and shrimp dumplings, and they were not as tasty as the pork ones.

There were 10 dumplings in the bamboo steamer, and we had to count them out evenly between the two of us. No one was to cheat the other out of their share. LOL

Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait for a table, it was a Friday late morning. Parking in front was available. I heard that there is usually an hour wait to eat on the weekends, especially during brunch time.

This Honey’s Kettle fried chicken beats KFC any day! Their chicken is oozing with flavors, and when dipped in their hot and sweet sauce (reminiscent of Thai sauce), you want to go on eating. The coating was just right, not too oily but light and crispy.

Their soft, buttery biscuits must be smeared with lots of honey to be appreciated properly. They even sell the biscuit mix, so you can take it home and bake them fresh yourself.

We also tried the fish sticks, and find them to be bland but they are cooked well, though.

The chicken and biscuits are a little more costly than your average fast-food fried chicken, but it is worth it.

Free parking is available on the streets and nearby public lots. There is even a movie theater complex across the street, so take the family there after the meal! A great and affordable family outing.

This is one of my favorite Thai restaurants outside of Thailand, if not the best in LA! Being a native Thai, I can truly say that the food served here is authentic, and it tastes fantastic without having to pay for the ambiance. The place is kind of a hole-in-a-wall, located in a small strip mall with 7-Eleven and a donut shop. So, if you can ignore the lack of white table cloth, the rundown location, you will be happy with the food and service. Mostly, the patrons are Thai. Don’t expect a Thai Elvis to sing while you eat, though. :-)

One of their specialties is the steamed seafood curry, which should be ordered as soon as you sit down since it takes a while to prepare. Make sure to tell them how spicy you want it to be—mild, medium or super hot! It is served wrapped up in a giant foil, and inside you’ll find a variety of seafood (shrimps, crab, squids, fish, clams, mussels, and scallops) in a red curry sauce over collard greens. It is the most expensive dish there, everything else is about $7-10, and the portions are big. Must do family-style at this place to sample as many dishes as you can. Try their noodles for lunch as well.

This food is so good that many of my out-of-town friends would not complete their visit to LA without eating at Yai! I highly recommend this Thai restaurant to Thai food lovers. It does get busy during lunch time and dinner on weekends. Luckily, they open up a bigger Yai restaurant on Hollowood Blvd., just east of Western.

This restaurant is just a few blocks from where I live, so I’ve been there several times. Whenever I have friends visiting from out of town, I would take them there to try the famous Versailles Garlic Chicken. Its unique garlic and citrus taste is addicting. Don’t like the overabundant of onions, though. Make sure you get the complimentary butter toasts.

This place is very casual and can get noisy and crowded over the weekends. It’s a fun place to celebrate group birthdays. The service is fast and friendly. Free parking is available out front.

This is another great find in LA! Considering the long wait (averaging 30 minutes), it is no longer a secret. The portion is good, fish is fresh, and the price is reasonable, so worth the wait. Besides, the Chefs are actually Japanese (not so easy to find nowadays)! Friendly staff will help you choose the food, whether you’re a sushi expert or novice. You’ll have to find parking on the street.

We had toro (fatty tuna), Spanish Mackerel, Shrimp Tempura, Spicy Tuna roll (got a nice kick to it), and we finished it off with unagi (Fresh Water Eel), which the Chef recommended eating last since it is sweet like dessert. We sat at the counter to enjoy watching the sushi preparation and talking with the Chef.

All the sushi was very fresh and full of flavors. We also had the Oyster shooters, and I have to tell you that I never have them like these before. There must have been 3-4 oysters served with a raw quail egg, wasabi, soy sauce, sake, and other unidentified ingredients. This was all served in a hefty glass, and it took a while to shuck it down.

My friends took me to this cute French Bistro and wine bar, right off of Colorado Blvd. in Old Town Pasadena. My first impression of the place is its intimate and very artsy setting, and I thought to myself, this looks like an expensive restaurant. I was totally wrong. The price was very reasonable for the quality of food we were getting.

I ordered this highly-touted Duck Confit Crepe, which is served with Garlic Cream, Wild Mushrooms, Boursin cheese, Truffle Oil, and chives. It was the most mouth-watering dish I have had in a long time. I look forward to going back for some more! I also saved enough room for dessert—Nutella & Banana & Strawberry Crepe. Actually, it came with either bananas or strawberry but not both but since my friends are regular diners and the manager knew them, they made an exception. I had crepes at many places before, and I have to say the Chef didn’t hold back on the fresh ingredients, even the strawberries were sweet (not in season) and the Nutella was rich and dark.

This is definitely a date place, but can be fun with a group of friends as well. They had a singer there playing his guitar sfotly in the background, very Parisian!

I have to add my 2 cents on this restaurant because it brought back some fond memories of clubbing era. This tiny restaurant in Hollywood opens until 3am everyday! You have to go family style at this place, almost like a tapas place. Late nights, they are known for their “kow tom”, which means rice soup/porridge and all the wonderful, flavorful dishes that go with it.

For those adventurous, you have to try the Papaya Salad with raw black crabs and lime juice—you can make this dish as spicy as you want with those tiny Thai chili. Yes, the crabs are raw but with the lime juice, they are very tasty. Another dish to have with your porridge is morning glory sauteed in soy bean sauce. You must have a fish dish to go with the bland rice soup, Salty Fish Salad.

There are many more dishes from the menu you can order from, depending on your tastes. Try this place late at night with a group of people and order a bunch of dishes to eat with your rice soup. Most of these accompanying dishes are salty, sweet or tangy or combination of these flavors. The best part is the food is cheap and authentic! yes, parking could be a pain on the weekend, but they do offer valet parking.

I have to say I was pleasantly surprise at finding the food very tasty with a unique style. Being a native Thai, I have high standard when it comes to Thai food, so when my friend picked this restaurant for her birthday, I didn’t have much expectations of its food. Naturally, I was delighted to find their food delicious and quite different. The restaurant has a cute, intimate setting.

I was astounded by the “Crying Tiger” dish, which is literally translated from Thai, word for word. It’s a grill marinated beef traditionally served with a sauce so spicy it makes a tiger cries or so the saying goes. :-) At this restaurant, the dish has no dipping sauce, the beef is marinated already in a spicy sauce. It was quite flavorful and the meat was super tender. This one was definitely a favorite with the group. We also had Pad SeeYou, pan-fried rice noodles with beef, eggs, and broccoli. True, authentically, collard greens would have been used instead of broccoli, but it works. The yellow chicken curry was not too bad with enough coconut milk to satisfy you. The garlic chicken came unexpectedly with bell peppers and onions and basils—very good combination. One appetizer that stood out was the “The Big Surprise”, which is Shrimp, scallop and crabmeat in homemade curry sauce served in very cute mini-muffin tray. It’s not spicy at all, so everyone can enjoy it. The smoked lamb was the most disappointed—quite chewy and dry.

This is definitely a cute date place if you want to try innovative Thai-inspired dishes. The staff is very friendly and the ingredients are healthy and fresh.

I love Korean BBQ, and this place came highly recommended by a Korean friend because of its high quality USDA Prime and Kobe style beef. A group of us checked it out one night. Our Korean friend helped us order and we were served first with the fresh Prime Beef Short Rib. We also got side dishes of kimchee, pickled daikon, salty fishes, nuts and other assorted traditional Korean sides. What stood out was the mashed sweet potato with raisin. As soon as we smelled the tantalizing aroma of the short rib cooking in front of us, we just knew that the meat would be full of flavors. The meat was tender and fell right off the rib.

We also tried the Seasoned Prime Beef Short Rib, marinated with sugar, soy sauce, and other spices, but we thought it was too sweet and not as good as the natural short rib flavor. Don’t bother with this choice unless you have a sweet tooth.

The food is a little pricey but you are getting quality meat. Be prepared for a meat coma! The staff cooked all the meat for us, so we didn’t waste our time turning the meat or worry about overcooking it.

They have valet parking in front of the restaurant, and most patrons are Koreans.