Well, it turns out I am at least 6 months delinquent in my posts. I'm just going to combine 2 LA posts into one.
This LA trip was back in January. I think I posted a bit from that trip, maybe restaurants, but here are a few random ones.
I can't remember where I first saw this place, I think someone I knew posted it on Facebook. Bottega Louie. Prettiest little cafe in crappy little downtown. Big windows, lots of light, pretty pastries, and they had these Argo teas that we loved to get back in Chicago - green tea ginger twist, mmmm mmmmm. I never ate anything here, since I stopped by during a run, but they also do sandwiches and stuff, great place to meet a friend if you have the afternoon off in downtown LA.
I ran past Grand Central Market, also in downtown. This market was a mix of food stalls and artisan foods, very cool vibe, with a very old school feel. Also did not get to eat there, but I just might the next time I am in the neighbourhood.
I feel like most people think downtown is pretty dumpy, and for the most part it is, but it has these little treasures here and there. Maybe some day downtown LA will be cool.
Our second trip to LA happened in June. On our way down, we stopped at an old place I used to go to, Yaki's in Burbank, which is famous for its bulldogs. They are really quite disgusting. Sausage wrapped in cheese and deep fried to a crisp. The cheese is all melty and gooey, and they give you a side of teriyaki sauce to dip it in, and it's oh so heaven. But after that you feel like you shouldn't eat for months.
This time we stayed at the SLS, which we have stayed in before. We got a regular room, which was nothing special, but the problem is our room smelled like weed and cigarettes. On day 2, even after they came in and had fans blowing in the room for hours, the weed and cigarette smell did not go away. So, I called and complained, and we got upgraded to a room that was one tier below the presidential suite. WOW! The room was enormous, and had a large sitting area and a long dining table for... the 20 friends I was planning to host. Haha. It was great. Quite honestly, not needed, but super cool being able to live in style. ;-)
The first night we were there, we went to Night + Market. This was the other Thai place on the Travel and Leisure list. Things we got:
1) Nam khao tod (crispy rice salad) - really really good, the sour and spicy blended really well
2) Pork toro (grilled fatty pig neck) - also really yummy, with the spicy sauce giving it a nice kick
3) Special pad thai - no idea what so special about it, it really was the worst dish by far
4) Basil pork (I think) - good
5) Ice cream sandwich with home-made coconut ice cream atop coconut rice in a sweet bun - reminded me of Asia and really nice cooling end to the meal
Lingon met some Thai folks who said this place was for tourists. He got some "authentic" recommendations but I think at this point had drank too much to remember. Oh well. We had a good experience here, and I would come back for sure!
With Lingon's Starwood Platinum status, we get free continental breakfast. The SLS provided a buffet at the lobby. Everyone raves about the yoghurt, which is really good, but I'm not certain is like super duper special. Goes back to the point that I'm not that discerning in food, but I would definitely eat it again and again! Anyway, every morning, here is where we would eat. Berries, pastries, meats, granola, I had to be careful not to eat too many of those raisin rolls. I love having breakfast here. One can be as healthy or unhealthy as one wants, and I think this time I was decently healthy (I did not eat all the pastries in these pictures!).
We had one dinner at Bazaar, the restaurant at the SLS. I've been wanting to eat here for a while, since this is probably the third or fourth time we have stayed at this hotel. We had been to an event before so we were not that hungry, and Lingon really just went along with me so I did not have to eat alone. Honestly I had done poor research on this trip, so a few hours before I just did some Yelp reviews and ordered the popular items. We got:
1) Philly cheese steak sandwich - so this thing looked like a roll with some steak bits on top. When you bite into it, cheese oozes out.
2) Uni buns - now I love uni, and this was very very high quality uni.
3) Olives - there were the innovative olives, which looked like real olives but were really gooey olives with a concentrate of olive tasting liquid inside, so once one bites into it the kind of burst in your mouth with an intense flavour. Then there were the traditional olives.
4) Foie gras cotton candy - foie gras on a stick with cotton candy around.
So, I feel like two of these 4 dishes, the Philly cheese steak sandwich and the olives, really reminded me of Tickets in Barcelona. Exactly the same. Which are genius, really. I just feel like, they are copied. And that's all I will say about it. The food was great, and the restaurant has a very hip, cool vibe, and I would probably recommend it if someone asked me about it.
In other news, I learned about the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM machine. Intrigued, I decided to take a run to the cupcake ATM to get a cupcake! When I arrived, the damned machine was being reloaded and the screen said it would be 30 mins. Since I ran all of 1 or 2 miles to get here, I decided to stay put. I just HAD to have my cupcake from the machine! So I waited. And while I waited, other people showed up trying to buy cupcakes and I had to tell them they had to wait and I was in line. 30 mins passed, and nothing happened, so I went in to check and the folks in the store said the machine was being reloaded. I was sad. I kept waiting in the store. Store lady feels sorry for me and gives me free cinnamon cupcake. I was happy. Thank you, Sprinkles! Then the machine got working again, and I bought my cupcake, and my excursion was complete. YUM! Woohoo!
I also decided to go back to my old stomping ground, the Westside. In the morning, I went for a run by Santa Monica/Brentwood/Malibu. Did not really know exactly where. It was cloudy but kind of muggy and not too cold, and I made it from wherever I parked with all the hot mums doing boot camp down to the beach. I saw some really weird house with trailers in it, like a playhouse, and I thought it was so cool. How does one get a trailer in the house, even if it was a small one?!
I had been meaning to try 800 Degrees Pizza, because so many people have recommended it to me. The concept is simple, yet genius. It's like a Chipotle pizza, where you build your own pizza. I chose the white pizza with mozzarella and garlic and added sausage to it, and DAMN was it good. I think it was less than $8 too. Crazy. At 800 degrees, the pizza is supposed to cook in about a minute. They did not have normal chili pepper but some kind of chili sauce. I highly recommend it. They had a thousand toppings and the sky's the limit!
Then I went to Diddy Riese for the standard UCLA fare - ice cream sandwich!! I used to get strawberry shortcake ice cream, but for some reason this was not available. I got a white chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookie. So, back when I was at UCLA, I used to get the ice cream in a cup, and the cookies separate, and the price was the same. The guy making my sandwich said if I wanted to do that, it was 50 cents extra, WTF? So of course I just say gimme the sandwich and a cup, and then I scooped the ice cream from the cookie myself. Lol. Back then, which was a very long time ago, this thing cost $1. I remember when they raised the price by a quarter. This time, June 2015, it was $2. Ohhh inflation haha. It was still super yummy though.
I guess this kind of sums it for my 2 LA trips. Man I love LA, but everytime I go back I feel like I want to kill all the mean testosterone-filled drivers there who refuse to let you change lane when you signal. Seems like a certain Singapore. And everyone looks so fake. And traffic sucks. OK maybe I don't love LA that much, but I do have huge nostalgic lovey dovey feelings when I think about it.
This LA trip was back in January. I think I posted a bit from that trip, maybe restaurants, but here are a few random ones.
I can't remember where I first saw this place, I think someone I knew posted it on Facebook. Bottega Louie. Prettiest little cafe in crappy little downtown. Big windows, lots of light, pretty pastries, and they had these Argo teas that we loved to get back in Chicago - green tea ginger twist, mmmm mmmmm. I never ate anything here, since I stopped by during a run, but they also do sandwiches and stuff, great place to meet a friend if you have the afternoon off in downtown LA.
I ran past Grand Central Market, also in downtown. This market was a mix of food stalls and artisan foods, very cool vibe, with a very old school feel. Also did not get to eat there, but I just might the next time I am in the neighbourhood.
I feel like most people think downtown is pretty dumpy, and for the most part it is, but it has these little treasures here and there. Maybe some day downtown LA will be cool.
Our second trip to LA happened in June. On our way down, we stopped at an old place I used to go to, Yaki's in Burbank, which is famous for its bulldogs. They are really quite disgusting. Sausage wrapped in cheese and deep fried to a crisp. The cheese is all melty and gooey, and they give you a side of teriyaki sauce to dip it in, and it's oh so heaven. But after that you feel like you shouldn't eat for months.
This time we stayed at the SLS, which we have stayed in before. We got a regular room, which was nothing special, but the problem is our room smelled like weed and cigarettes. On day 2, even after they came in and had fans blowing in the room for hours, the weed and cigarette smell did not go away. So, I called and complained, and we got upgraded to a room that was one tier below the presidential suite. WOW! The room was enormous, and had a large sitting area and a long dining table for... the 20 friends I was planning to host. Haha. It was great. Quite honestly, not needed, but super cool being able to live in style. ;-)
The first night we were there, we went to Night + Market. This was the other Thai place on the Travel and Leisure list. Things we got:
1) Nam khao tod (crispy rice salad) - really really good, the sour and spicy blended really well
2) Pork toro (grilled fatty pig neck) - also really yummy, with the spicy sauce giving it a nice kick
3) Special pad thai - no idea what so special about it, it really was the worst dish by far
4) Basil pork (I think) - good
5) Ice cream sandwich with home-made coconut ice cream atop coconut rice in a sweet bun - reminded me of Asia and really nice cooling end to the meal
Lingon met some Thai folks who said this place was for tourists. He got some "authentic" recommendations but I think at this point had drank too much to remember. Oh well. We had a good experience here, and I would come back for sure!
With Lingon's Starwood Platinum status, we get free continental breakfast. The SLS provided a buffet at the lobby. Everyone raves about the yoghurt, which is really good, but I'm not certain is like super duper special. Goes back to the point that I'm not that discerning in food, but I would definitely eat it again and again! Anyway, every morning, here is where we would eat. Berries, pastries, meats, granola, I had to be careful not to eat too many of those raisin rolls. I love having breakfast here. One can be as healthy or unhealthy as one wants, and I think this time I was decently healthy (I did not eat all the pastries in these pictures!).
We had one dinner at Bazaar, the restaurant at the SLS. I've been wanting to eat here for a while, since this is probably the third or fourth time we have stayed at this hotel. We had been to an event before so we were not that hungry, and Lingon really just went along with me so I did not have to eat alone. Honestly I had done poor research on this trip, so a few hours before I just did some Yelp reviews and ordered the popular items. We got:
1) Philly cheese steak sandwich - so this thing looked like a roll with some steak bits on top. When you bite into it, cheese oozes out.
2) Uni buns - now I love uni, and this was very very high quality uni.
3) Olives - there were the innovative olives, which looked like real olives but were really gooey olives with a concentrate of olive tasting liquid inside, so once one bites into it the kind of burst in your mouth with an intense flavour. Then there were the traditional olives.
4) Foie gras cotton candy - foie gras on a stick with cotton candy around.
So, I feel like two of these 4 dishes, the Philly cheese steak sandwich and the olives, really reminded me of Tickets in Barcelona. Exactly the same. Which are genius, really. I just feel like, they are copied. And that's all I will say about it. The food was great, and the restaurant has a very hip, cool vibe, and I would probably recommend it if someone asked me about it.
In other news, I learned about the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM machine. Intrigued, I decided to take a run to the cupcake ATM to get a cupcake! When I arrived, the damned machine was being reloaded and the screen said it would be 30 mins. Since I ran all of 1 or 2 miles to get here, I decided to stay put. I just HAD to have my cupcake from the machine! So I waited. And while I waited, other people showed up trying to buy cupcakes and I had to tell them they had to wait and I was in line. 30 mins passed, and nothing happened, so I went in to check and the folks in the store said the machine was being reloaded. I was sad. I kept waiting in the store. Store lady feels sorry for me and gives me free cinnamon cupcake. I was happy. Thank you, Sprinkles! Then the machine got working again, and I bought my cupcake, and my excursion was complete. YUM! Woohoo!
I also decided to go back to my old stomping ground, the Westside. In the morning, I went for a run by Santa Monica/Brentwood/Malibu. Did not really know exactly where. It was cloudy but kind of muggy and not too cold, and I made it from wherever I parked with all the hot mums doing boot camp down to the beach. I saw some really weird house with trailers in it, like a playhouse, and I thought it was so cool. How does one get a trailer in the house, even if it was a small one?!
I had been meaning to try 800 Degrees Pizza, because so many people have recommended it to me. The concept is simple, yet genius. It's like a Chipotle pizza, where you build your own pizza. I chose the white pizza with mozzarella and garlic and added sausage to it, and DAMN was it good. I think it was less than $8 too. Crazy. At 800 degrees, the pizza is supposed to cook in about a minute. They did not have normal chili pepper but some kind of chili sauce. I highly recommend it. They had a thousand toppings and the sky's the limit!
Then I went to Diddy Riese for the standard UCLA fare - ice cream sandwich!! I used to get strawberry shortcake ice cream, but for some reason this was not available. I got a white chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin cookie. So, back when I was at UCLA, I used to get the ice cream in a cup, and the cookies separate, and the price was the same. The guy making my sandwich said if I wanted to do that, it was 50 cents extra, WTF? So of course I just say gimme the sandwich and a cup, and then I scooped the ice cream from the cookie myself. Lol. Back then, which was a very long time ago, this thing cost $1. I remember when they raised the price by a quarter. This time, June 2015, it was $2. Ohhh inflation haha. It was still super yummy though.
I guess this kind of sums it for my 2 LA trips. Man I love LA, but everytime I go back I feel like I want to kill all the mean testosterone-filled drivers there who refuse to let you change lane when you signal. Seems like a certain Singapore. And everyone looks so fake. And traffic sucks. OK maybe I don't love LA that much, but I do have huge nostalgic lovey dovey feelings when I think about it.
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