Restaurant Review #148: Lucques, West Hollywood

Almonds, olives, butter and fleur de sel (an expensive French sea salt)

Few food lovers in LA haven't heard of Lucques, run by Suzanne Goin (recent winner of two James Beard awards--a massive honor in the culinary universe) and Caroline Styne. Lucques (pronounced "Luke") serves what I refer to as "upscale restaurant food." In Los Angeles, that often means Cal-Italian or in this case,

Restaurant Review #147: Monte Alban, West LA

Mole coloradito with chicken breast

Now that I've been living in Los Angeles for a while, I've started wondering why it's taken me so long to dive into the Mexican food scene. For christ's sake, I speak Spanish. I can comfortably pronounce everything on any menu. I love tortas de pollo and I've only eaten one the entire time I've lived here.

But a lot of times I'm just not in the mood for

Restaurant Review #146: Swan Thai, North Hollywood

Larb-ground meat tossed in lime vinaigrette mixed with ground toasted rice


Driving down Sherman Way, you're unlikely to be enticed to stop at Swan Thai, located across the street from the 99 cent store in a creamy orange strip mall where the mostly empty parking lot is strewn with trash. Swan Thai may do most of its business through delivery and takeout, because the food is very good, but at

Restaurant Review #145: Saladang Song, Pasadena

Taro cakes

Saladang is so popular that they actually opened up a second enormous restaurant next door, Saladang Song. On a Saturday night, both places were packed. There was a 40 minute wait at Saladang, so we hopped on over to Saladang Song ("song" means "two" in Thai, and while we're at it, "saladang" means. . .hmm, I can't find anything. Does anyone know?). I'm not sure why there were so

Restaurant Review #144: Sri Siam Cafe, North Hollywood

Green papaya salad, mixed with tomato, chili and lime juice (and normally, dried shrimp)

You would probably never go to Sri Siam Cafe unlesss someone recommended it to you or you have a great knack for picking out diamonds in the rough. Its location in your average run-down Valley strip mall doesn't conjure images of great dining. But to overlook Sri Siam, or any other restaurants of its ilk,

Restaurant Review #143: Palomino, Westwood

Four cheese penne

Palomino is a big restaurant. I was raised on big restaurants--Macaroni Grill, Chili's, P.F. Changs, Cheesecake Factory, and the like. Unlike some food snobs (and by the way, "foodie" does not mean "food snob"), I don't have anything against these restaurants--I actually like a lot of their food (just don't get me started on how the buffalo chicken salad at Chili's tastes

Restaurant Review #142: Manpuku Tokyo Barbecue, Sawtelle, West LA

Skirt steak

I first tried to go to Manpuku at about 6:30 on a Saturday night, and there was already a thirty minute wait! There were a couple of empty tables outside, but they're only for waiting--in order to barbecue your food, which is the whole point, you need to sit inside, where all the tables have built-in grills. It's better inside, anyway--you won't have to cringe every time the valet

Restaurant Review #141: Finn McCool's, Santa Monica

Bar food.

Every time I told someone in our group that my food wasn't that great, their response was a shrug and "bar food." Is there a reason why food at bars can't be good? True, if patrons are sloshed, the merits of a great sandwich may be lost on them. True, good cooks and good chefs cost more. True, people don't expect to pay a lot for the food that accompanies their beer.

But none of

Restaurant Review #140: Pho 99, West LA

Pho #4, pho with beef brisket

Vietnamese food is not known for being vegetarian-friendly, but I became very fond of its flavors through my experiences at a very vegetarian friendly restaurant in St. Louis called Pho Grand. Pho Grand had at least 10 different tofu dishes, vegetarian spring rolls, and dipping sauce to die for. My vegetarian tendencies have seriously declined over the

Restaurant Review #139: Guelaguetza, Palms

A different take on horchata

What kind of Spanish-speaker, food lover, and aficionada of all things Latin has never tried Oaxacan food, considered by many to be the pinnacle of Mexican cooking?

Me. But not anymore.

The truth is, Mexican food is so heavy--I can hardly think of anything more filling than beans, rice, tortillas, and cheese--that I get full just thinking about it, and off to