5 Dudley
5 Dudley Ave.
Venice
(310) 399-6678
In a tiny storefront restaurant just yards off the Venice boardwalk, two young chefs named Michael (Wilson and Brown) cook their own style of robust, Cal-French seasonal comfort food. The menu changes weekly; all the bread and pasta are made at the restaurant. That friendly, loquacious old cuss at the door is the owner, Burt. Tues.-Sun. 6-10 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking. AE, DC, MC, V. Entres $20$32. California French
MH
	

A.O.C.
8022 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(323) 653-6359
Lucques impressive and astute partners, Suzanne Goin and Carolyn Styne, have now opened their second venture, a wine bar with terrific food in a serviceable space whose spare dcor amplifies the fireworks on the plate. Goin cooks only small dishes, from cheeses and olives to wood-roasted chickpeas and octopus salad with preserved lemon  all of which showcases her rustic heart and sophisticated abilities. Styne built the wine list by focusing on high-quality wines from small producers for reasonable prices  between $30 and $50 a bottle  and many are available by the taste or the glass or the multiple-tasting flight. Mon.Fri. 611 p.m., Sat. 5:3011 p.m., and Sun. 5:3010 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, DC, MC, V.  la carte, $4$16. Mediterranean
MH
	

Alegria
3510 Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake
(323) 913-1422
The best food here revolves around the extraordinary mole sauce: sharp, thick, sweetly complex, with top notes of smoke, clove and citrus, lashed with dried-chile heat, black enough to darken the brightest Pepsodent smile. (It takes two days to make, a million steps, and has something like 20 ingredients.) Dobladitas are corn tortillas folded around melted cheese and moistened with mole. There is also chicken mole, and sometimes a Oaxacan-style special of chicken, pork and plantains cooked in mole. And you can get a side of mole sauce to put on your burrito. Open Mon.Thurs. 10 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. till 11 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $5.75$14. Mexican
JG
	

Alex
6703 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 933-5233
This newcomer in the former Citrus space has some mighty shoes to fill. But first, the remodel: Citrus bright solarium whiteness has been replaced by the clubby dark wood of the Craftsman revival and old mens clubs. The once cutting-edge open kitchen has been partially scrimmed by green and yellow stained glass. New chef-owner Alex Scrimgeouer is talented, careful and hard-working; his Cal-French cooking hits most of the right notes, and the service is attentive. Its fun to order the $58 four-course pick-your-dishes menu. Overall, Alex gets a sturdy A-minus, the minus for the simple reason that we want more  more passion, more risks, more flourish and even more mistakes. I mean, hey, this is a place where the live piano player stops playing midsong when his cell phone rings. Lunch Tues.Fri., dinner Tues.Sat. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $29, plus $58 prix-fixe dinner. California French
MH
	

Alto Palato
755 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 657-9271
The main dining room with its sky-high ceilings and roomy tables has the lofty ambiance of a European railway station  and the service can be European, too: maddening. But the cooking is authentic regional Italian; try the deep-fried artichokes, roast pork on cabbage with polenta, wafer-thin pizza and the best gelato outside of Rome. Every Wednesday night features a special, reasonably priced regional dinner. Dinner seven nights. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $12.95$22.95 Italian
MH
	

Ambala Dhaba
1781 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 966-1772
On a stretch of Westwood Boulevard thick with student coffeehouses and Iranian hair salons, Ambala Dhaba is an outpost of the Punjab, a branch of a restaurant noted on Artesias Little India strip for its fiery goat curries and the boiled-milk ice cream called kulfi. Its probably the only thing resembling traditional Indian food on the Westside. Ambala Dhaba exemplifies the time-honored side of meaty northern Indian cooking: basic, direct food almost Islamic in attitude, Pakistani in intensity of flavor, but wholly Indian in its attention to fresh vegetables, crunchy snacks, and breads. But my favorite part of a meal at Ambala Dhaba may be dessert, several flavors of house-made kulfi-on-a-stick available by the piece and by the bag, kulfi shakes made with pistachio, almond and mango, and even a mysterious dish known as kulfi-cut-in-bowl. Open daily 10:30 a.m.10:30 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Takeout. MC, V. I Food for two, $12$20. Indian
JG
	 

Ambala Sweets and Snacks.
18433 Pioneer Blvd. 
Artesia
(562) 402-0006
One of the smallest and certainly one of the busiest snack shops in Little India, this Ambala would be at home in Bombay proper. Savory snacks, ordered at the counter, include a papri chat whose near-psychedelic beauty  bright-green mint sauce, burgundy-red tamarind and white yogurt on crisp golden crackers  is surpassed only by its flavors. A glass case displays sweets in such vivid colors and generous portions that theyre as compelling as jewels or toys (depending on the age of the beholder). Dont resist  try golub jamun (milk balls in syrup), kalakan, and milk cake (sweets made of cooked-down milk). Wash down these sweets with the good, peppery chai. Lunch and dinner seven days 10:30 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only.  Entres $7$10. Indian
MH
	

Ammo
1155 N. Highland Ave. 
Los Angeles
(323) 871-2666.
The little storefront caf is almost harshly minimal, white and noisy; the service is intermittent at best, and the clientele is often predominantly stunning models of every gender (Herb Ritts studio is just around the corner). But Ammos food tastes as if its been made to order by a fabulous home cook with her own organic garden (or at least one with access to a farmers market)  and for that, well brave anything, even sitting in a room with multiple examples of physical perfection. Try the French lentil salad with roasted root vegetables in a Dijon vinaigrette; penne with fresh tomatoes, olives and anchovies; and the ice cream sandwich. Lunch Mon.Fri., dinner Mon.Sat., weekend brunch. Beer and wine. AE, MC, V. Entres $11$16 (lunch), $14$26 (dinner). California
MH
	

Angelini Osteria
7313 Beverly Blvd 
Los Angeles
(323) 297-0070
The great Italian chef Gino Angelini has fulfilled a lifetime dream to open his own casual osteria that serves simple, hearty, home-style food  from a home rife with genius cooking genes. The classy, clattery urban caf is lively, fun  and very kid-friendly. (The three-course childs menu is a fine way to introduce the squirts to the pleasures and pace of fine dining.) Angelini may have downshifted his culinary ambitions, but his abilities are entrenched, and theres unmistakable haute in the homiest braised oxtails or codfish stew. Beer and wine. Valet parking. Lunch Tues.-Sat. noon-2:30 p.m.; dinner Tues.-Sun. 5-11:30 p.m. AE, MC, V. Entres $16$30. Italian
MH
	

Anglique Caf
840 S. Spring St.
Los Angeles
(213) 623-8698
Down in the garment district, where Spring and Main streets converge, under an enormous Rampage billboard a stones throw from the Fashion Institute, theres a two-story caf with a mansard roof and a patio that would be at home in any French town. Owner Bruno Herve Commereuc and his wife, Florence, make their own charcuterie  excellent rillettes, jambon persillade, pt, andouilette  lancienne. Anglique is open for traditional French breakfasts (bread and pastries from Commereucs brothers bakery, Pain du Jour) and for lunch, featuring a great selection of salads (try the cured salmon), hot entres (try the roasted chicken) and vegetarian dishes (try the summery eggplant-and-tomato casserole). A homesick Frenchman I know swears that Anglique is the only place that eases his malady. Breakfast and lunch Mon.Sat. 7 a.m.4 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. MC, V.  Entres $6.45$8.95. French
Michelle Huneven
	

Antequera de Oaxaca
5200 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 466-1101
Antequera de Oaxaca specializes in botanas  bar munchies, more or less. The botanas are assembled into a big combination plate for one, two or four people: crunchy balls of chorizo, dried beef, professional-strength slabs of fried pork rind, a tangle of shredded string cheese, Oaxacan-chile relleno stuffed with a sweet-sour chicken stew, chunky, rustic guacamole. The pace is just right. The dining room is pleasant. And the plate is enough for two or three hungry people. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days 9 a.m.8:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. MC, V.  Lunch for two, food only, $9$15. Oaxacan
JG
	

Antique
3465 W. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
213-383-4994
The last time we visited Antique, we felt as if the only antiques in the room were us: Its a good place to scope out 22-year-olds with unbelievably fashionable hair.   Korean
JG
	

Arts Delicatessen
12224 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 762-1221
Arts has been the best deli in the Valley since late in the Eisenhower administration, and its dense, tasty chicken soup, puddled around matzo balls the size of grapefruit, is justifiably renowned. Among the local cognoscenti, Arts is well-known for the succulence of its knockwurst, the creaminess of its chopped liver, and the particular garlicky smack of its house-made pickles. Lox and eggs? Matzo Brie? Kreplach soup? Crisp-skinned cheese blintzes? Well-cured salmon on fresh Brooklyn Bagel bagels? Got em. And as it says on the menu: Every Sandwich Is a Work of Art. Sun.Thurs. 7 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 7 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $18$36. Deli
JG
	

Asanebo
11941 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 760-3348
For a while, Asanebo was famous as the No-Sushi Bar, an establishment that served only sashimi and tiny portions of proto-Japanese cooked foods  grilled salmon with mashed potatoes and salmon eggs, fried squid with asparagus, steamed catfish with miso and ginger  and all Hollywood seemed to flock to the place, eager to visit a restaurant that had come up with an entirely new way to deny satisfaction to its customers. Still, it is a pleasure to pull up a stool to the bar, to utter the magic word omakase  Feed me until I burst!  and to sit back and wait for the food to arrive. Soft, oily salmon, mounded in a bowl, is garnished with caviar; fillets of kanpache, a tiny cold-water tuna imported from Japan, are arranged into a little fishy Stonehenge. The ankimo, cylinders of molded monkfish liver in a sharp ponzu sauce, is fine. Lunch and dinner Tues.Fri. Call for times. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V.  Dinner for two, food only, $25$90. Japanese
JG
	

Axe
1009 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice
(310) 664-9787
At Axe (pronounced ah-shay), simple and gleaming as a Zendo, the clear ocean air is practically a design element. Some find the austere aesthetic refreshing; others find the seats uncomfortable, the overall effect harsh. The wait staff does tend to be more physically attractive than efficient, but this restaurant marches to its own beat, or rather, to that of the chef-owner Joanna Moore, whose breakfast, lunch and dinner menus are seductively eclectic. Try her meal-sized whole-grain pancake, a composed salad, her masterly spaghetti aglio olio and any dessert. Lunch Tues.-Fri., dinner Tues.-Sun., brunch Sat.-Sun. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $11$28. California
MH
	

Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle
140 W. San Gabriel Blvd., No. 208
San Gabriel
(626) 280-7099
The most popular of the new Taiwanese noodle shops is probably Ay-Chung Flour-Rice Noodle in San Gabriel Square. The cold appetizers are nice: slivers of pressed tofu or sliced pigs ears drizzled with thick soy sauce. I like the rice plates, which include a fried chop or luscious stewed belly pork with two different kinds of Chinese pickles, half a tea-steeped egg and a bowl of soup. But Ay-Chung is all about the mien hsien, skeins of superfine vermicelli made of wheat, rice or bean flour, tossed into a glutinous broth flavored with soy sauce, bonito flakes, vinegar, chile and plenty of garlic, a big bowl of pungent goo that hits your palate like a slap. Open daily 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Food for two: $4$12 Chinese
JG
	

Badiraguato
3070 Firestone Blvd.
South Gate
(323) 563-3450.
This converted hamburger stand, named for a patch of Mexico notorious from narcocorrido ballads, traffics in the coastal cuisine of Sinaloa  tacos stuffed with marlin and salty cheese, chicken gorditas fried to a delicate crunchiness, and a great, crisp version of the roast-beef hash called asado estilo Sinaloa that would probably be as popular in Nebraska as in Culiacan. And, of course, theres the famous machaca  all salt and smoke and heat  smashed into powder with a stone pestle, and fried to a frizzle with bits of onion. Open daily, 9 a.m.8 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Lunch or dinner for two, $12$25. Mexican
JG
	

Bay Cities
1517 Lincoln Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 395-8279
The Italian deli Bay Cities makes a decent turkey sandwich, a loud, greasy meatball sandwich and a very respectable hero, but the sandwich of choice here is a monster sub, straight outta Brooklyn, called The Godmother, which includes a slice of every Italian cold cut on Earth. Fully dressed with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, mustard and a few squirts of a garlicky vinaigrette, a Godmother feeds a couple of people at least; the guys behind the counter will look at you quizzically if they suspect youre planning to eat a whole one yourself. Mon.Sat. 7 a.m.7 p.m., Sun. till 6 p.m. Beer, wine and liquor for takeout only. Lot parking. MC, V. Sandwiches $2$15. Italian deli
JG
	

Beacon Cafe
3280 Helms Ave.
Culver City
(310) 838-7500
Beacon marks the triumphant return to form of Kazuto Matsusaka, who was chef for almost a decade at Wolfgang Pucks Chinois in the 80s. His current versions of miso-marinated cod, vegetable nabemono and grilled shisito peppers are all fine. Grilled-chicken skewers are powerfully flavored with the herb shiso and the tiny Japanese apricot called ume. Youd probably never find anything like Matsusakas salad of perfectly ripe avocado dressed with toasted sesame seeds and minced scallions in Tokyo, but the salad follows classical principles, and it is luscious. The hangar steak with wasabi is so successful, the searing tang of the horseradish doing something wonderful to the tart, carbonized flavor of grilled meat, that you might wonder why nobody thought of the combination until now. Lunch Mon.Sat. 11:30 a.m.2:15 p.m. Dinner Tues.Wed.&Sun. 5:309:15 p.m., Thurs.Sat. 5:3010:15 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. D, MC, V. Lunch for two, food only, $18$35. Dinner for two, Japanese
JG


Beadle's
825 E. Green St.
Pasadena
(626) 796-3618.
When I was a child, my grandmother took us to Beadles, and it seemed a province of the elderly, a world buffered by wallpaper and carpeting, and piped-in organ music. Wed join the line in a long, wood-paneled hallway that had the feel of a tunnel or chute and led us to the trays and napkin-wrapped silverware, and the snow-packed salad bar with its gleaming stainless-steel and rainbow array of gelatin salads. Beadles has since moved to a new location in Pasadena. But the food, 1950s all-American cafeteria, is just as good. Some of my favorite things: the macaroni and cheese; the turkey with dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy; corned beef and cabbage; beef stew; spare ribs. The confetti Jell-O, a fantasy aggregate of different colors of Jell-O cubes sunk in a lemony gelatin made opaque with sour cream. And, of course, a bottomless cup of coffee. Breakfast Mon.Fri., 7 -10:30 a.m. lunch and dinner seven days 11 a.m.7:45 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V.  American
MH
	

Beaujolais Boulangerie
1661 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 255-5133
One result of Eagle Rocks ongoing shift toward the hip is Beaujolais Boulangerie, a cheery bakery and lunch spot with both inside and al fresco seating, and affable French servers with whom you can parlez franais without fear of sneers. Breakfast is a Continental affair: coffee, fresh baked items (croissant, brioche, pain), juice. Better yet is lunch: the rich trembling quiche, hearty meal-size salads (try the warm goat cheese with thin strips of grilled eggplant) and Boulangeries immediate cult favorite, an enormous bchamel-drenched Croque Monsieur. Breakfast and lunch Tues.Sun. 7 a.m.6:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $6.25$8.95. French
MH
	

Beaujolais Boulangerie
1661 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 255-5133
This charming bakery and lunch spot is the offspring of Caf Beaujolais, a small French restaurant that opened several years ago on the south side of the street. The bright, cheerful Beaujolais Boulangerie is delightful  or, as one friend happily sighed, paradise. Breakfast is a Continental affair: coffee, baked goods, juice. But the lunch menu, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers an appealing selection of soups, quiches, sandwiches and meal-size salads. The cult favorite appears to be the croque monsieur. A central display case of desserts lures you in with jewel-toned fruit tarts, miniature cheesecakes and glassy-topped crme brle. In another case are baskets of pain au chocolat, pain aux raisins and croissants. The service is French and good-natured  so good-natured that the waiters let me practice my rudimentary Berlitz French on them. Breakfast and lunch Tues.Thurs., 7 a.m.4 p.m.; Fri., 7 a.m.6:30 p.m.; Sat.Sun., 8 a.m.6:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. Nothing over $10. French
MH
	

Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant
not available address
Los Angeles
(213) 380-1113
My friend Caryl has always maintained that So Kong Dong was the best tofu restaurant in Koreatown. I have always plumped for Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant across the street. So Kong Dong seems almost Soviet in its appearance, a low-ceilinged dining room bathed in a singularly unappealing fluorescent glare. Beverly looks as if its proprietor went overboard on the burl-log furniture for sale by the side of the road in Topanga. So Kong Dong serves its rice in superheated stone pots that give it a subtly smoky flavor. Beverlys rice is served in the same stainless-steel bowls you find everywhere in Koreatown. So Kong Dong includes briny pickled clams among its panchan. Beverlys panchan is pretty much by the book. So Kong Dongs signature tofu casserole, soontofu, is a marvelous thing, bubbling and sputtering in its red-hot bowl, robustly flavored with shrimp and clams and oysters and beef, walloped with chile and garlic. Beverlys soontofu is a little tamer, the broth more briny than complex, like an austere French bouillon as compared to a concentrated California-style stock fortified with tomato paste and fistfuls of herbs. So Kong Dong would seem to win on points. Yet the tofu itself, freshly made every day at both restaurants, is smooth and supple at Beverly, barely gelled blocks of pure, subtle flavor that melt into an elusive milkiness in your mouth, where at So Kong Dong the tofu tends to be kind of . . . curdy. Youll still find me at Beverly. But I wouldnt blame you if you ended up across the street with Caryl instead.   Korean
JG
	 

Blairs
2903 Rowena Ave.
Silver Lake
(323) 660-1882
Blairs is an adults restaurant for people who dont really consider themselves to be grown-ups even in their 40s, a civilized redoubt of caesar salads and crab cakes and shrimp cocktails that are served with a side of deviled eggs, a sort of roadhouse where the pepper steak comes with farmers-market vegetables, the salmon comes with lentils, and the roster of artisanal beers is nearly as long as the wine list. I would be surprised if anybodys parents ate this well at Rotary Club meetings. Or if the dinner music rocked nearly this hard. Dinner Mon.Thurs. 610 p.m., Fri. 611 p.m., Sat. 511 p.m., Sun. 510 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V.  Entrees $14$32. American
JG
	

Bliss
650 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 659-0999.
Once you find it, Bliss looks like a place the devil might like  a vast, cavernous club with womb-red walls, gas fires, and enormous sculptural paper lanterns that look like licking flames. (Theres no outside signage or address, but its just south of Melrose Place.) There are two bars, and curtained boxes where you can have both privacy and a great view of the goings-on below, which are mostly dressed-up people drinking and eating. The New American club fare is a mix of comfort food, fusion and meat. The showstopper is a $39 veal porterhouse, a gorgeous, thick bone-in steak with pale-pink, almost translucent flesh. Dinner Tues.Sat., from 7 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. Entres $25$39. American
MH
	

Border Grill
1445 Fourth St.
Santa Monica
(310) 451-1655
The Santa Monica flagship restaurant of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger has become a prime tourist destination, but the regional Mexican cuisine still comes out vivid and strong  fat juicy tacos, refreshing ceviches, spot-on chile verde. The wall graphics are loud, the prime-time dinner din deafening, the bar often impenetrably crowded. The dessert case, with Aztec chocolate cakes, huge pies and brownies, is simply dangerous. The new Pasadena Border Grill is more visually and aurally subdued, and the food is more eclectic pan-Latino, but the dessert case still means trouble. Lunch and dinner seven days. Full bar. Valet parking (Santa Monica), validated parking in underground lot (Pasadena Paseo). AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $13$25. Mexican
MH
	

Border Grill
260 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 844-8988
The Santa Monica flagship restaurant of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger has become a prime tourist destination, but the regional Mexican cuisine still comes out vivid and strong  fat juicy tacos, refreshing ceviches, spot-on chile verde. The wall graphics are loud, the prime-time dinner din deafening, the bar often impenetrably crowded. The dessert case, with Aztec chocolate cakes, huge pies and brownies, is simply dangerous. The new Pasadena Border Grill is more visually and aurally subdued, and the food is more eclectic pan-Latino, but the dessert case still means trouble. Lunch and dinner seven days. Full bar. Valet parking (Santa Monica), validated parking in underground lot (Pasadena Paseo). AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $13$25. Mexican
MH
	

Brasserie Vert
6801 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 411
Hollywood
(323) 491-1300
Wolfgang Pucks new brasserie, in the Hollywood & Highland mall, may be his most delightful, demographically democratic offering yet. The room isnt distinctive  its not even green  and the stark mall outside the windows offers no interesting vista (except that of tourists taking pictures of the ultimate L.A. vista, the Hollywood sign), but who cares? Youll want to eat everything on the menu  fat black mussels, cracker-thin pizza with pancetta and paper-thin potatoes, Lee Hefters bolognese sauce and perfect veal meatballs, steak frites with a stunning barnaise. Also, you get to see Wolfgangs youngest brother, Klaus, whos the general manager. Make reservations: Vert is small and its mobbed  as it should be. n. from noon; dinner from 5:30 p.m., seven days. Full bar. Limited takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $16$24 French/Italian
MH
	

Brodard Restaurant II
647 W. Valley Blvd.
Alhambra
(626) 281-1840
If you have eaten most of your Vietnamese meals in Chinatown pho joints, the menu at Brodard may seem a little unfamiliar at first. You can get pho, of course. But many of the best dishes here are process-oriented in the manner of a lot of Vietnamese food, savory ingredients grilled or fried or baked, served ready to be wrapped in romaine into little green burritos with handfuls of fresh Vietnamese herbs, marinated carrots, chiles and bean sprouts, little essays in the crunch of fresh vegetables and the sharp pungency of Asian herbs; small studies in the keys of mint, garlic and spice to be dipped in bowls of sweet nuoc cham, Vietnamese fish sauce. You will probably want to try the banh khot here, baked rice-batter cakes shaped like tiny fruit tarts, stained yellow with turmeric, dusted with powdered shrimp and studded with a single fresh shrimp apiece, crunchy on the outside, gooey at the center and absolutely addictive. Lunch and dinner Wed.Mon. 8:30 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Takeout. AE, MC, V. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $8$14. Vietnamese
JG


Bruddah's
1033 W. Gardena Blvd.
Gardena
(310) 323-9112
The Spam-fueled Hawaiian aesthetic of Pacific Rim cuisine contrasts fairly radically with Wolfgang Pucks, especially at the old-line Gardena caf Bruddahs. And the breakfast dish known as loco moco could be entered into evidence as Exhibit A: a close-encounter tableau of rice topped with two well-done hamburger patties, in turn garnished with two fried eggs and drenched in a thick, viscous, dark-brown goo that shares certain characteristics with mushroom gravy. Looked at objectively, of course, a loco moco is a culinary Chernobyl, but the disks of meat are oniony and extra-crisp, and there is a certain stark beauty in the composition, especially when you scrape off most of the sauce. The man who faces down a loco moco at breakfast time is a brave man indeed. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days Tues.Thurs. ,8 a.m.8 p.m., Fri.-Sat 7 a.m.9 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.8 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. MC, V. Lunch for two, food only, $10$14. Pacific Rim
JG
	

Bu San
203 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 871-0703
Korean-style raw sea cucumber is like nothing youve ever tasted before, and Korean-style sashimi, which you wrap in a lettuce leaf with raw garlic, sliced chiles and bean paste, is a revelation. The chefs are fond of converting live fish from the tanks into a meals worth of demonstrably fresh sashimi. Raw squid, luxuriously creamy, with a small bit of crunch at the center, only tastes alive. Although almost alarmingly so. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Beer and wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $25$30 Korean
JG
	

Caf Atlantic
53 E. Union St.
Pasadena
(626) 796-7350.
This Cuban caf from Xiomara Ardolina serves authentic, gently priced Cuban cuisine with a high-quality sheen that may provoke some Versailles die-hards to quibble with the term authentic. But Cuban cooking in general, and this menu in particular, are a rhapsody of garlic and onions, sofrito (sauted aromatic vegetables), and mojo. Here, the flavors are as bold and spirited as the Cuban jazz on the tape deck. Try the arroz con pollo, pungent with excellent saffron; the ajiaco, a stew of chewy jerked beef and Cuban vegetables; or the thin marinated, sauted bistec topped with startlingly green fried parsley and lazy threads of onions. Dont miss the fufu de platanos con chicharrones, the rich mash of semiripe plantains and crunchy pork rind. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days, 6 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $11$14. Cuban
MH
	

Cafe Brasil
10831 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 837-8957
Mostly, youll find grilled animals at Cafe Brasil: pork chops, lamb chops, steak, shrimp and fish, all profoundly salty and resonant with garlic, charred at the edges, fragrant with citrus and a little overcooked. With all this protein come truckloads of rice glistening with oil, sweet fried plantains and spicy black beans. Cafe Brasil also serves wonderful feijoada on weekends, less offal-intensive than some versions but meat-fragrant in the best possible way. Open daily 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. BYOB. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $7$16. Brazilian
JG
	

Cake Town Garden
551 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 480-1010
Near the cash register at the bakery Cake Town Garden is a glass warming case, filled with what look like the most beautiful jelly doughnuts you have ever seen: expertly fried, a gorgeous golden brown, and flat as a stack of CDs. They smell great, too  the folks at Cake Town are nothing if not masters of all things doughy. But when you finally get one of them out to the car, you may be in for a surprise. Because despite their appearance, these babies are not filled with jelly, custard or even sweetened beans, but a cabbagey vegetable stew. Oddly, this is not disappointing.   Korean
JG
	

Cali Viejo.
7363 Van Nuys Blvd.
Van Nuys
(818) 994-2930
Come here for the picada, and come hungry: Cali Viejo serves one huge ceramic platter heaped with grilled lengths of thumb-width Colombian chorizo, peppery nubs of fried beef, pungent blood sausage, crisp chunks of fried pork, and the peculiar though typical Colombian chicharrones, which are more or less grids of fried pork fat anchored to sweet, ultrachewy pigskin. Though the picada is ostensibly served for one, the $10 platter will probably serve three, augmented by an order of the wonderful corn-crusted empanadas or a batter-fried plantain stuffed with cheese. Lunch and dinner Sun.Thurs. 10 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 10 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $12$18. Colombian
JG
	

Camilo's
2128 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 478-2644
Camilos started out as a catering company on York Boulevard in Highland Park  the small attached caf was added almost as an afterthought. But the good Cal-Mex food and neighborhood-friendly prices caught on with everyone from starving artists to thriving yups; and in no time, the caf had outgrown its venue. Owners Camilo and Amelia Gonzalez have since moved their operations to a large building smack on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, and theyve reclassified it as a California bistro  though to us, it still looks and feels like a friendly indie coffee shop. There are chilaquiles and eggs Benedict for breakfast, cobb salads and Cuban sandwiches for lunch, Tropical Grilled Breast of Chicken and pasta for dinner. Breakfast and lunch Tues.Sat. 8 a.m.3 p.m., dinner 510 p.m. Sunday for breakfast and lunch 8 a.m.3 p.m. Beer only. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V Entres: $8$22. Cal-Mex
MH
	

Campanile
624 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 938-1447
The basic premise of Urban Rustic cuisine is the perfection of Mediterranean peasant dishes, often in ways that may be incomprehensible to the Mediterranean peasants in question. Campaniles Mark Peel reinterprets this sunny cuisine by using really good ingredients, assembling them with chefly skill, and illuminating the spirit of each dish as if from within. A nioise salad, a fish soup, a grilled steak under Peels direction is like a Velzquez painting of a horse as opposed to the horse itself. Lunch Mon.Fri., dinner Mon.Sat. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $25$38 California Italian
JG
	

Caribbean Treehouse
1226 Centinela Ave.
Inglewood
(310) 330-1170
Caribbean Treehouse is perhaps the only local restaurant that currently dishes up the spicy food of Trinidad and Tobago. Service is casual to the extreme  if you want another bottle of pop, you walk over to the cooler and take one out yourself. Roti, sort of a Trinidadian burrito made of chicken-potato stew or a handful of curried beef wrapped up in a grilled Trinidadian flatbread, can come pumped up with the restaurants fiery homemade sauce. On Saturdays, theres the sparrow special, an enormous plate of food that involves jerkylike strips of salt cod, boiled cassava, sauted onion, tomato and a certain quantity of dense, chewy dumplings. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. 11 a.m.8 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $8$18. Caribbean
JG
	

Carlitos Gardel.
7963 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 655-0891
The most famous dish here must be the baked-garlic appetizer, a naked halved bulb on a plate, ready to smear onto the houses quite decent bread. Theres also melted provolone cheese, laced with tomatoes and pungent Mexican oregano, for eating with the almost Vermont-style Argentine crackers in the bread baskets, and an appetizer of butter-smooth roasted red peppers brushed with garlic and oil. The fried squid are the tender, delicate kind, hardly crunchy, tasting more of the sea than they do of oil. As with almost any Argentine restaurant, Gardel revolves around its parrillada, a cavalcade of grilled meats  sweetbreads, blood sausage, skirt steak, short ribs, Italian sausage  served on a smoking iron grill, accompanied only by a small bowl of well-garlicked chimichurri and a large plate of mashed potatoes. Lunch seven days 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m., dinner Mon.Sat. 611 p.m., Sun. 510 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet and street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $30$50. Argentine
JG


Carnival
4356 Woodman Ave.
Sherman Oaks
(818) 784-3469
The whole human comedy  or carnival, as it were  flocks to this relentlessly popular Middle Eastern restaurant in a Sherman Oaks mini-mall for big portions of mezze and kebabs. (A buck seventy-five adds soup or salad and rice or fries to any entre.) Never mind the harassed, overworked waiters racing around on their last nerves. Try the daily specials  lamb shanks, lamb and okra stew. Hummus meat  chopped, deeply seasoned lamb and pine nuts in a nest of good hummus  is the dish to order. Seven days 11 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $8.25$12.95. Middle Eastern
MH
	

Carousel Restaurant
5112 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 660-8060
There are two Carousels, and the Glendale branch may well be the best, most interesting Lebanese-Armenian restaurant in Los Angeles. The big, brash room, bedecked with scimitars and other Middle Eastern antiques, accommodates large parties and dating couples alike  but theres also a more intimate patio. The food sparkles with freshness  and lemon. Go for the meze (cheese borek, muhammara and houmous sojouk) and kebabs (try the yogurt lula kebab), and also for hard-to-find delicacies such as frogs legs, roasted quail and lambs tongue. Check ahead to see if theres live music. Tues-Sun. 11:30-9 p.m., no alcohol. Lot parking. DC, MC, V. Entres $7.50$20. Lebanese-Armenian
MH
	

Carousel Restaurant.
304 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale
(818) 246-7775
There are two Carousels, and the Glendale branch may well be the best, most interesting Lebanese-Armenian restaurant in Los Angeles. The big, brash room, bedecked with scimitars and other Middle Eastern antiques, accommodates large parties and dating couples alike  but theres also a more intimate patio. The food sparkles with freshness  and lemon. Go for the meze (cheese borek, muhammara and houmous sojouk) and kebabs (try the yogurt lula kebab), and also for hard-to-find delicacies such as frogs legs, roasted quail and lambs tongue. Check ahead to see if theres live music. Tues.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-1 a.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m., Full bar. no alcohol. Lot parking. DC, MC, V. Entres $7.50$20. Lebanese-Armenian
MH
	

Casa Bianca
1650 Colorado Blvd.
Eagle Rock
(323) 256-9617
Of all the neighborhood pizza parlors out there, each of them touted as the best in the Southland, one of them actually has to be the best. And our vote goes to Casa Bianca, especially if the pizza happens to include the fried eggplant, the sweetly spiced homemade sausage  or both. The crust is chewy, yet speckled with enough carbony, bubbly burnt bits to make each bite slightly different from the last. Dinner Tues.Sat. Beer and wine. Street parking. Cash only. Entres $8$12. Italian
JG
	

Castle BBQ
473 N. Western Ave., No. 1
Los Angeles
(323) 467-3813
Food fads sweep like brazier-fed wildfires through Koreatowns barbecue scene, which may be one of the most competitive restaurant environments on Earth. A few years ago, nobody could get enough of coconut-shell charcoal on which to grill their bulgogi. Last year saw the rise of the rice noodle wrappers called dduk bo sam. The year before, I think it was all about the Canadian black pigs. The new meat of choice these days seems to be deckle, that fatty cap of beef that nestles up to a steers brisket, and the cut of choice for pastrami. In Korean restaurants, deckle is shaved into thin, pale curls and cooked on a custom-purposed tabletop grill shaped like an inverted iron cone. Deckle sizzling with onions gives off one of the great cooking smells of all time, a distillation of what could be thought of as Philadelphia-diner funk, and when you dress the meat with chiles, wrap it in a rice noodle and drag it through a dipping sauce, youve got one of the great all-time mouthfuls of food. The venerable Soowon Kalbi does a decent job with deckle, and Shik Do Rak includes deckle in most of its combination dinners. Still, Castle BBQ, a fine edifice built on the twin virtues of deckle and Seagrams Crown Royal, is a veritable palace of fatty meat  and dduk bo sam. Pop an extra Lipitor or two and try the combo of deckle and pork belly, a cholesterol feat for the ages.   Korean
JG
	

Cheebo
7533 W. Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood
(323) 850-7070
Why arent more restaurants like Cheebo  a smart, fun, clattery caf where the food is mostly organic, very fresh, modestly priced and prepared with inarguable flair for flavor? Try the halibut on smoky white beans, the slow-cooked pork, the chewy, thin-crusted pizza topped with house-made sausage and fennel. Sandwiches are assembled with  or, for you carb-a-phobics, without  house-made bread. Salads are diverse and luscious (try either chopped, the citys best caesar type, or a hippie-dippy sprout mlange, to name but a few; all of them are composed, like the restaurant itself, of countless small intelligent details). Lunch and dinner, seven days, 11 a.m. 11 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entrees: $12-$18. American
MH
	

Chez Mimi
246 26th St.
Santa Monica
(310) 393-0558
Chez Mimis is surely the loveliest patio dining spot around, where the vine-entwined gateway alone makes it hard to remember youre in California and not some gentrified country stable yard in southern France. Inside, in charming low-ceilinged rooms that, if we didnt know better, we might assume were built for our far shorter 18th-century ancestors, fires snap on cold nights and Mimi herself (who for years labored under another womans name at Chez Helene) checks in on her customers. Try the excellent bouillabaisse and the rich, soothing cassoulet. Lunch Tues.Sat., dinner Tues.-Sun. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $9$29. French
MH
	

Chichn Itz
In Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 741-1075
Chichn Itz is probably the most serious Yucatecan restaurant in town at the moment, its menu a living thesaurus of the panuchos and codzitos, poc chuc and papadzules, banana-leaf tamales and shark casseroles that make up one of Mexicos most thrilling cuisines. From the delicious turkey tostadas called salbutes to the cinnamon-scented bread pudding called caballeros pobres, Chichn Itz, named for the vast temple complex near Mrida, is indisputably the real thing. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Sun.Wed. 8 a.m.6:30 p.m., Thurs.Sat. 8 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Food for two: $12$22. Yucatecan
JG
	

Chili Johns
2018 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank
(818) 846-3611
This is wonderful chili, dense and comforting, lean and hearty, with a cumin wallop and a subtle, smoky heat that creeps up on you like the first day of a Santa Ana wind, flavoring your breath for half a day even if you dont pile on the onions. It also goes strangely well with a cold glass of buttermilk (which is good, because Chili Johns serves nothing stronger than near beer). The beans are nice, too, firm and smooth, with a rich, earthy bean taste clearly perceptible even through the pungency of the chili. Lunch and dinner Tues.Fri. 11 a.m.7 p.m., Sat. till 4 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Lunch for two, food only, $9$12. Texas-style Chili
JG
	

Chin-Go-Gae
3063 W. Eighth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 480-8071.
Oddly enough, the best part of a meal at Chin-Go-Gae is not the goat soup, a bubbling orange cauldronful of kid meat, chile and as many fresh sesame leaves as you can stuff down into the broth. Just after the meal, the waitress enriches the dregs of the soup with an egg and some rice, and cooks it down to a thick, goaty porridge seared black and crisp at the edges. Incredible.   Korean
JG


Chosun Galbi
3330 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 734-3330
For decades, Woo Lae Oak on Western was the favorite Korean restaurant of people who didnt like Korean food all that much, a fancy place where they could convince themselves that galbi wasnt all that different from an ordinary steak dinner. (Mostly because it wasnt: The restaurants pallid galbi very much resembled the London broil at any number of steak houses.) Now that the Koreatown Woo Lae Oak is on hiatus for a year or so, the conservative Koreatown choice is probably Chosun Galbi, which has the patio-side glamour of a Beverly Hills garden party, granite tables, gorgeous waitresses, and expensive, well-marbled meat that glows as pinkly as a Tintoretto cherub. Make sure to throw some shrimp on the barbie, too  the pricey little beasties crisp up like a dream.   Korean
JG
	

Chung King
206 S. Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park
(626) 280-7430.
Chung Kings fried chicken with hot peppers is the red of silk pajamas, the red of firecrackers, the red of the Chinese flag, a knoll of crunchy dark-meat cubes subsumed under a blizzard of fried chiles. If Chuck Jones had ever decided to draw something spicy for the coyote to injure himself with, it probably would have looked a lot like Chung Kings chicken. Ive been finding myself at Chung King  part of a minicorridor of Szechuan restaurants in Monterey Park  a lot lately, for the pungent, cured Chinese bacon fried with leeks, for the little eels stir-fried with fermented peppers, for the cold, hacked chicken with chile, for the great, multiflavored beef casseroles that are so spicy they attack the nervous system like a phaser set to stun. Lunch and dinner seven days 11 a.m.9:30 p.m. BYOB. Lot parking. Cash only.  Dinner for two $13$22. Chinese/Szechuan
JG
	

Chung Moo Kim Bop House
3030 W. Olympic Blvd. #108
Los Angeles
(213) 382-8277
In a quiet, almost deserted mall at midday, you walk past fancy dress shops, bridal salons, an herb shop and a bakery. In the small, rustic restaurant at one end of the gallery, Chung Moo Kim Bop House, you slide onto a bench. Seconds later, a waitress sets in front of you a bowl of pickled radish, a bowl of spicy broth, a bowl of crunchy tentacles in a sweet chile sauce, and an oblong dish on which 10 slender sushi rolls  kim bop  line up like so many laver-green soldiers. The rice is significantly less seasoned than Japanese sushi rice, if at all, and the sticky seaweed wrappers are not particularly well toasted. You might fail to see the point of the dish. Still, 10 minutes from now, after you have experienced every possible permutation of tentacle, kim bop and broth, you may well worship the stuff. If you are honest with yourself, raw sea urchin eggs werent that appealing the first time around, either.   Korean
JG
	

Cinch
1519 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 395-4139
Like so many of the restaurants designed by Dodd Mitchell, Cinch looks like the archvillains lair from a Sean Conneryera James Bond movie, sleek luxury fitted into a nuclear-hardened concrete bunker: dark woods, flickering candlelight, booming music and burnished chinoiserie seemingly concealing a darker, edgier function. The proto-Japanese cooking may be a perfect fit for the vaguely sinister architecture: things like fried oysters wrapped in shiso leaves; raw salmon subsumed into spring rolls; raw Kobe beef flavored with rosemary, shiso and olives  everything fashionable enough to function as a lifestyle signifier as well as an appetizer or entre. Cinch operates, more or less, as a swank lounge that just happens to serve bang bang chicken alongside its mojitos, and chef Chris Behre may occasionally be a little loose with the details of his cooking. As with a lot of cross-cultural chefs, the fireworks come in his small courses; big slabs of animal find him at a loss. Dinner Sun.Thurs. 610 p.m., Fri.Sat. 611 p.m. (bar food available one hour before and one hour after dinner). Full bar. Valet parking. All major credit cards.  Entres $12.50$28.50. French-Japanese
JG
	

Ciros
705 N. Evergreen St.
East L.A.
(323) 267-8637
Stylistically, flautas can range from the greasy taquitos your college dorm used to serve, to the giant, tasteless roll-ups served by certain upscale Mexican chains. Located just down the street from El Tepeyac, beloved by local families and cops, Ciros is known across all East L.A. for its flautas, tiny things that come six to an order, tightly rolled and very crisp, sauced with thick, chunky, fresh guacamole and a dollop of tart Mexican cream. Tues.-Thurs. 7 a.m.-8 p.m., Fri.-Sun. 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Beer only. Street parking. Cash only.  Mexican
JG
	

Ciudad
445 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles
(213) 486-5171
The design of Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Millikens downtown restaurant is bold  those yellow chairs, those retro drinking glasses, those seed-encrusted vertical-standing crackers! The menu is a Pan-American pastiche, complete with Old World footnotes. This means Peruvian arepas and Spanish Merquez sausage and pineapple upside-down cake. Days see lunching office workers; at night, its conventioneers and an arty Silver Lake/Echo Park crowd. Lunch and dinner daily. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $17$28 Pan-Latino
MH
	

Clementine
1751 Ensley Ave.
Los Angeles
(310) 552-1080
Annie Miler, a food-historian-turned-chef, makes delicious versions of great American regional favorites at her sunny breakfast, lunch and takeout caf across from the Century City Shopping Mall. Rediscover the Southern ham biscuit, the Midwestern kolache (in the form of a sweet-dough apricot bun), and the all-American grilled cheese sandwich, in this case a crusty, buttery version made with marinated onions in an Italian sandwich press. Milers best invention yet may be a peanut-butter cookie with a layer of peanut butter piped inside. No alcohol. Open Mon.Fri. 7 a.m.7 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.5 p.m. Parking in rear lot. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $7-$10 California
MH
	

Clementine
1751 Ensley Ave.
Los Angeles
(310) 552-1080
Annie Miler, a food-historian-turned-chef, makes delicious versions of great American regional favorites at her sunny breakfast, lunch and takeout caf across from the Century City Shopping Mall. Rediscover the Southern ham biscuit, the Midwestern kolache (in the form of a sweet-dough apricot bun), and the all-American grilled cheese sandwich, in this case a crusty, buttery version made with marinated onions in an Italian sandwich press. Milers best invention yet may be a peanut-butter cookie with a layer of peanut butter piped inside. Parking in rear lot. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $7$10 California
Michelle Huneven
	

Cobras & Matadors
7615 W. Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 932-6178
Despite its name, this is, finally, a good tapas restaurant  and who knew how convivial a series of shared small plates with walloping flavors could be? Crimson walls, a hearthlike wood-fired oven and swinging jambons create a hip, Barcelona-style coziness. C&M is strictly BYOB, but the adjacent liquor store has a smart, hand-picked selection of South American and Spanish wines, and corkage is $5. Dinner Sun.-Thurs. 6-11 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 6 p.m.- midnight. BYOB. Valet parking. MC, V. Tapas $3$15. Spanish
MH
	

Coles P.E. Buffet
118 E. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 622-4090
Seventy-five years before anybody thought to dress a squab salad with raspberry vinegar, Los Angeles was known across the country for French-dipped sandwiches, sliced roast meat layered on a French roll that had been sopped in meat juice. Dank old Coles, which is the oldest restaurant in Los Angeles and looks every week of it, has the best French dip: roasted brisket, prime rib or pastrami, carved to order, dipped and served on a crusty roll. here for full review. Mon.Sat. 9 a.m.7 p.m. (bar until 11 p.m.). Full bar. Street parking. AE, MC, V. Sandwiches $5.29$7.29. American
JG


Coras Coffee Shoppe
1802 Ocean Ave.
Santa Monica
(310) 451-9562
This tiniest caf, a former favorite hang of surfers, pier fishermen and idlers, has been annexed by owner Bruce Marder to the high-end Capo and transformed into a smart little patio caf. Inside are glass cases packed with pastries and frittatas, a couple seats and about enough room to turn around in. More likely youll eat on the pretty patio, under a bougain villea arbor overlooking Capos parking lot. The food is fresh, shares Capos excellent ingredients and is, according to the menu, "organic whenever appropriate." But not cheap. A short stackll run you seven bills. Steak and eggs, 14 (tho it is a prime N.Y.). Try the "rotis serie tacos de carnitas," huevos rancheros, orange-flavored pancakes and daily specials  short ribs with porcinis, perhaps. You cant get a better pickle  a fresh half-dill  except at the Broadway Deli (of which Marders a part owner), where theyre made. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, 7 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Meal-sized dishes, $5$14 American
MH
	

Dae Sung Oak
2585 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 386-1600
On weekends, the line to get into Dae Sung Oak usually winds out onto the sidewalk, and the tabletop barbecue, the kimchi stew and the naengmyon, cold buckwheat noodles with raw stingray, served in the posh upstairs dining room are pretty good. Unusually for Koreatown, where restaurants tend to be inward-looking fortresses, there is a view out onto the busy street below. The panchan includes little bowls of spicy pickled crab. But the soups here, the mainstay of the downstairs dining room, are even better than the upstairs galbi, especially a version of sullongtang that fixes the specific mellowness of beef brisket with the loving exactness Raphael once applied to memorializing his lovers smile.   Korean
JG
	

Daikokuya
327 E. First St.
downtown
(213) 626-1680
The hub of the ramen cult at the moment is Daikokuya, a long, narrow lunch counter that has been around for a couple of years but feels as if its going on 50, a center of steam, noise and garlic at the heart of Little Tokyos noodle-shop district. Most ramen shops offer an endless list of possibilities; at Daikokuya, the choice is taken out of the equation  you will have the house style of ramen, thin, curly noodles in pork broth, or you will have no ramen at all. But the pork broth is a formidable liquid, opaque and calcium-intensive, almost as rich as milk. Floating with the noodles are plump slabs of simmered pork, slices of seasoned bamboo shoots and a boiled egg per bowl. Daikokuya feels just like Japan. Lunch, Mon.Sat., 11 a.m.2:30 p.m.; dinner, Mon.Sat., 5 p.m.3 a.m.; Sun., noon8 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Street parking. AE, MC, V.  Food for two, $13$25 Japanese
JG
	

Dansungsa
3317 W. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 487-9100
Dansungsa is one of those glitches in the time-space continuum that makes us glad to live in Los Angeles, a keyhole to an alternate universe that is almost certainly better, richer than the one we happen to inhabit at the moment. To those of us who cannot read Hangul, the bar is recognizable mostly by the blown-up posters of golden-age Korean movie stars posted outside as well as papering the walls within. If you are not Korean, the valet will give you a quizzical look as you step out of your car. Inside the close quarters of the wood-paneled tavern, a squad of aunties in the open kitchen prod and poke at whole grilling squids and smoking cookpots whose rattling lids can be heard even above the din of the Korean dance music. The walls are streaked with graffiti. The untranslated menu, such as it is, is laminated onto a block of wood. It is as if you have ducked out of Sixth Street into a smoky bar in Seoul. This place is supposed to be themed after an old movie theater in Seoul, says the guy sitting next to you at the counter. In my opinion, it attracts too many old people. But then again . . . look at these girls! Yet Dansungsa may be the friendliest place in Koreatown. In no time at all, a waiter will have you set up with platters of the bar snacks known as anju: maybe that barbecued squid, thick fingers of rice cake glazed with a lip-searing chile sauce, or skewers of grilled shrimp, grilled garlic cloves, or something that looks and tastes very much like a grilled Ball Park Frank. With your soju or beer comes painfully rustic turnip kimchi and a bowl of spicy cabbage soup. Before you leave, you probably will have toasted to the health of the people at the tables on either side of you and eaten a massive, crisp seafood pancake laced with scallions, a plate of steamed baby octopus, or some truly wonderful grilled pork ribs, the bars specialty. But dont aim too high on the food chain: You want chap chae? a waiter sneered. Not here  thats restaurant food.   Korean
JG
	

Din Tai Fung
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia
(626) 574-7068
It took Din Tai Fung to transform the soup dumpling  thin-walled spheroids filled with pork, seasonings and teaspoonfuls of jellied broth  into high-tech industry. The soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung are incontrovertibly engineered to be the state of the art, elastic, ultrathin wrappers bulging with the steamy weight of the soup within, served 10 to an order in bullet-shaped aluminum steamers that look like relics of the Taiwanese 50s. Pick them up carefully, garnish simply with a shred or two of fresh ginger and a few sparing drops of black vinegar, and inhale. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. 11 a.m.2:30 p.m. and 59:30 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Takeout. MC, V. Lunch for two, food only, $8$14. Chinese
JG
	

Doa Rosa
577 S. Arroyo Parkway
Pasadena
(626) 449-2999
Behind one counter at Doa Rosa are racks and racks of freshly baked pan dulce, the pink-frosted conchas, the gingery puercitos and the crunchy, sugar-glazed orejas. Near another is a sort of superheated turntable on which lumps of dough bubble and bake into fresh tortillas. Taquitos fry. Shrimp steam. Thick chocolate burbles happily in a heated vat. The air outside is perfumed with the smoke from grilling carne asada, which is chopped and folded into tacos, stuffed into gorditas, or layered onto huaraches with great rivulets of Mexican crema and cheese. The Doa Rosa burrito is a majestic creature, a stretchy tortilla stuffed with rice, black beans, avocado and an oozing, orange mass of beef fried in chorizo grease, the sort of burrito that will coat your teeth for a week and live in your insides like a frisky pet. Open Mon.Sat. 8 a.m.mid., Sun. 6 a.m.11 p.m. Wine, beer and margaritas. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $10$15. Mexican
JG
	

Donut Hole
15300 Amar Road
La Puente
(626) 968-2912
La Puente may not be on the way to anything in particular, but it is home to the renowned Donut Hole, a drive-thru doughnut shop anchored by a giant hemi-doughnut at either end, a 1947 architectural triumph. From a couple of blocks away, the place looks like the chocolate-brown coils of a sea serpent wriggling its way toward Hacienda Heights; in the belly of the beast, it is more of a doughnut diorama, a living doughnut museum that includes Tiger Tail Twists and baroquely frosted French crullers. Open seven days, 5 a.m.12 a.m. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. 10  90 Donuts
JG
	

Dos Arbolitos
9034 Woodley Ave.
North Hills
(818) 891-6661
Dos Arbolitos  behind a bank in a North Hills shopping center, a scant mile from its first location  is a little swankier than the original, but mostly its the same menu plumped out with various seafood cocktails and the like. Sure, the sopes are uninspired; the pozole is too funky and rich. But the new chef, Mauricio, continues in the best Dos Arbolitos tradition. Campestre, involving long-braised pork steaks, rubbed with a smoked-chile paste and topped with fried green pepper and a swirl of blackened strands of onion, is tender enough to cut with a plastic fork. Costillitas are wonderful, tiny little chewy ribs blanketed with a salty, grainy sauce of chiles and tomatillos that stains the soft meat the color of an Ensenada sunset. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.Sat. 7 a.m.11 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $12$18. Mexican
JG
	

Drake's Venice
23 Windward Ave.,
Venice
(310) 450-7055.
The big old brick St. Marks building, a former famous jazz club just a stones throw from Venice Beach, has been completely gutted and refurbished as a clubby new dinner house espousing or aspiring to the ideals of Decadence, Desire and Indulgence. The music gets louder and the crowd gets younger as the hours pass. Chef Christian Shaffer has an admirable take on New American chow  terrific sand dabs, fresh shucked oysters, short ribs, pork chops and, most importantly, steak. Try the trendiest new steak in town, the flat iron  a well-marbled, tender, big-flavored, generously sized and reasonably priced ($22) piece o meat. Dinner Tues.Sat. 610 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $20$30. American
MH
	

El Caserio
309 N. Virgil Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 664-9266
The cornerstone of the Ecuadorian kitchen is the fresh chile sauce aji (pronounced ah-hee), which has a tart, fiery taste. El Caserios aji is spicier than most, juiced up with onion and fresh tomato, one of the best salsas imaginable, spooned straight over big, puffy white-cheese empanadas, or over the fresh-corn tamales called humitas. The shrimp dish sango de camarones revolves around a strange, thick sauce made with green plantains and peanut butter  probably unlike anything you have eaten before. Lunch and dinner Thurs.Tues. 11 a.m.9:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V.  Dinner for two, food only, $12$18. Ecuadorian
JG


El Cholo
1121 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 734-2773
Even in the 20s, Angelenos vaguely remembered that the area used to belong to Mexico, and there have always been Mexican restaurants here that catered to American taste. The emblematic cuisine of these restaurants is embodied in the Number Two Dinner, the eternal combination platter of chile relleno, enchilada, rice and beans bound together with cinctures of orange cheese. And El Cholos green-corn tamales have been a rite of spring in Los Angeles since the days when Bob Hope was actually funny. Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. to 11 p.m., Sun. to 9 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $6.95$13.50 Mexican
JG
	

El Loco del Pollo
230 N. Brand Blvd.
Glendale
818) 956-5888
The tastiest roast chickens in the Los Angeles area, if not the Western Hemisphere itself, are the smoky rotisserie fowl beloved by the Peruvian community, the shotgun marriage of plump birds, roaring wood fires, and a sharp marinade made with citrus, chiles and immoderate amounts of garlic. And the best chickens of all may be a couple blocks from the Glendale Galleria at a restaurant named El Loco del Pollo. With the chicken comes a small crock of aji, the doctored chile pure that serves as a universal Peruvian condiment, and maybe some hand-cut French fries, stewed beans, or the mayonnaisey potato salad that is for some reason a Peruvian standard. It is enough. Lunch and dinner Mon. 11:30 a.m.3 p.m., Tues.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11:30 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout and delivery. Lot parking. MC, V. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $10$22. Peruvian
JG
	

El Pollo Inka
15400 Hawthorne Blvd.
Lawndale, and 3 other location
(310) 676-6665
Beyond the roasted chicken that earned the chain its reputation, El Pollo Inkas menu is filled with the seafood dishes typical of Limas industrial port suburb, Callao: hotly spiced ceviche; crisply fried catfish fillets garnished with a sort of Peruvian pico de gallo; and noodles tossed with various tentacles. The fish soup parihuela is close to the classic version, dark and pepper-hot as a superior Louisiana gumbo. Lunch and dinner daily (some locations close late on Fri. and Sat.). Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $5$17. Peruvian
JG
	

El Sazon Oaxaqueo.
12131 Washington Place
Mar Vista
(310) 391-4721
Where many of the other Oaxacan places on the Westside interpret mole as a mandate to serve fairly incidental segments of reheated chicken, the chicken at El Sazon Oaxaqueo is fresh, full of juice, tending toward old-bird chewiness rather than dissolving into mush under your fork. The mole negro is impeccable, but it is the extravagantly hot coloradito de pollo that is El Sazons greatest dish, a red sauce that almost sings with roasted chiles, with sauted spices, with ground, charred bread. Open daily 7:30 a.m.9:30 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $6$15 Oaxacan
JG
	

El Tepeyac.
812 N. Evergreen Ave.
East L.A.
(323) 267-8668.
The burrito is a symbol of abundance, the humble taco transformed into a plump, overstuffed creation. At El Tepeyac, the legendary East L.A. stand whose name has practically become synonymous with the burrito, the Hollenbeck, named after the local East L.A. police division, is more or less an old-line Mexican restaurants entire menu wrapped into a tortilla the size of a pillowcase  rice, beans, stewed meat, guacamole and lakes of melted cheese. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Wed.Mon. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. Entres $3.75$12. Mexican
JG
	

EM Bistro
8256 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 658-6004
EM Bistro  named for the owners daughter  is a soft, gull-colored room with comfortable off-white armchairs where a Beaujolais spill would seem a disaster. Executive chef Anne Conness holds to a standard of cooking that well exceeds your average bistro fare. Her food is more nouveau American, at once robust and refined  but bistro is certainly part of the conception. Start with the hearty heirloom bean soup, enhanced with cumin-scented crme frache. And Conness makes great, juicy composed salads. Short ribs, slow-cooked to an almost candied intensity, come on soft, cheese-rich polenta and strands of al dente broccolini. King prawns, unassailably fresh and lightly grilled, crown some of the most beautifully cooked risi e bisi (sweet pea risotto) Ive ever had. Dinner Mon.Sat. 611 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $15$28. Bistro
MH
	

EM Bistro
8256 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
323) 658-6004
The room is gull white and moderne, the service excellent and the food robust and refined  an inspired mix of classic bistro and new American cooking. Chef Anne Conness cooks halibut with a light touch and short ribs to a near candied intensity, and she evinces the rare ability to present vegetables in their most perfect form. Pastry chef Natasha MacAller hews to the same high standards  dont miss her organic strawberry shortcake gilded with Meyer lemon curd. Dinner Mon.Sat. 6 p.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres, $15$28. American
MH
	

Empress Pavilion
Bamboo Plaza, 988 N. Hill St.
Chinatown
(213) 617-9898
I cant think of a better way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday than meeting friends here for dim sum. Pace it out, so you wont risk missing the little short ribs in a glorious black-bean sauce, or any of the exquisite and varied steamed dumplings, so transparent you can easily read the contents: shrimp and greens, chicken and mushrooms. My favorite is a boiled water dog, a birds-nest-soup dumpling the size of a small bowl; break into it with your spoon, and youll find a broth so concentrated it tastes as if 10 chickens have been boiled down to get one cupful of soup. Lunch and dinner Mon.Fri. 9 a.m.10 p.m., Sat.Sun. 8 a.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Validated parking. AE, DC, MC, V.  $1.85$4.80 per plate; $12$15 per person. Chinese
JG
	

Enoteca Drago
410 N. Caon Drive
Beverly Hills
(310) 786-8236
In New York City, Italian wine bars are multiplying like the Ebola virus, spreading house-cured head cheese and wines like Romitorio and Cannonau through neighborhoods that had barely seen a jug of Gallo just a year or two before. In Los Angeles, the first serious Italian wine bar is probably the posh Enoteca Drago, the latest outpost of Celestino Dragos pasta-driven empire, where you can chase a plate of prosciutto, a mess of baby octopi, or even the elusive lardo  cured pig fat in the style of northwestern Tuscany, melted onto a slab of fried bread  with a glass of crisp Verdicchio from the Marches. Some of the wines are served in flights  sets of small pours of vintages arranged by grape or by region. For about $20, you can taste Grenache from four different parts of the world or four different whites from Italys Austria-adjacent Alto Adige, which are designed to make discussions of Alpine terroir flow as easily as last weeks argument about Michael Moore. Almost incidentally, Enoteca Drago does function as a full restaurant, although it is occasionally hard to remember, when youre floating in the middle of a Brunello reverie, that you will also find great pasta with pesto and one of the few proper versions of spaghetti carbonara in town. Mon.Sat. 11 a.m.11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entrees $16$33. Italian
JG
	

Europane
950 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 577-1828
Pastry savant Sumi Chang, once the breakfast chef at Campanile, runs this inspired bakery/caf. Her croissants are like crispy butter, her chocolate biscotti a study of cacaos dark, sweet depths. And the egg salad sandwich  soft-center boiled eggs in homemade mayo on sourdough toast smeared with sundried tomato paste  is worth a drive from any corner of the county. Europane recently doubled its seating capacity, thank goodness, since more and more regulars  soccer moms, Caltech profs, Art Center students, chefs, writers  seem to live there part-time. Mon.-Sat. 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sun. to 2 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. Pastries and sandwiches $5.75$7.50. California Bakery
MH


Flossies
3566 Redondo Beach Blvd.
Torrance
(310) 352-4037
Flossies, located on the eastern edge of Torrance, a couple of blocks from El Camino College and a two-minute drive from the sushi bars and poi slingers of Gardena, is the closest you can get in Los Angeles to Mississippi boarding-house cuisine. What Flossies serves is mostly daily specials, except for the perfect  and I do mean perfect  Southern fried chicken, which is always on hand. Wednesday is soft, sweet mountains of meat loaf; Thursday is long-smothered pork chops cooked so they fall apart when you look at them. Come hungry. Lunch and dinner Tues.Thurs. 11 a.m.8 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.9 p.m., Sat. noon9 p.m., Sun. noon6 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Food for two $12$18. Southern
JG
	

Globe Venice
72 Market St.
Venice
Venice
Globe Venice has replaced 72 Market Street, and its perhaps a promising sign of the times that the formerly hard-edged haute-cool celebrity magnet has morphed into a homier place. Chef-owner Joseph Manzare is a veteran of Spago and Granita, and the first restaurant he opened, The Globe in San Francisco, is noted as an off-hours hangout for other chefs. This new Globe has outsize art and smart, cheerful waitresses  and one of the best roasted chickens in town. Dinner Tues.-Sat 6-midnight, Sun.-Mon. 6-10 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $16$24. California
MH
	

Grub
911 Seward St.
Hollywood
(323) 461-3663.
Grub. Grub is a charming incongruity in the concrete heart of postproduction country. The coffee is a lot fresher than Charbucks, and they serve a homemade ginger ale with fresh lime wedges in a tall cup rimmed with raw sugar. Try the Mt. Olympus, a platter mounded with wild-mushroom couscous, lemony hummus, a mash of sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled feta, artichoke hearts, and an unseen but powerfully present mass of garlic  all to be scooped with warm, soft, oily pita chips. Or the decadent After School Special, a grilled cheese sandwich made with Cheddar and Swiss, on sourdough and fried in, oh, maybe a half-stick of butter. Lunch Mon.Fri. 11 a.m.3 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout and delivery. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $3.95$10.95. American
Nancy Rommelmann
	

Grub
911 Seward St.
Hollywood
(323) 461-3663
Grub is a charming incongruity in the concrete heart of postproduction country. The coffee is a lot fresher than Charbucks, and they serve a homemade ginger ale with fresh lime wedges in a tall cup rimmed with raw sugar. Try the Mt. Olympus, a platter mounded with wild-mushroom couscous, lemony hummus, a mash of sun-dried tomatoes, crumbled feta, artichoke hearts, and an unseen but powerfully present mass of garlic  all to be scooped with warm, soft, oily pita chips. Or the decadent After School Special, a grilled cheese sandwich made with Cheddar and Swiss, on sourdough and fried in, oh, maybe a half-stick of butter. No alcohol. Takeout and delivery. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V.  Entres $3.95$10.95 American
Nancy Rommelmann
	

Guelaguetza
3337 W. Eighth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 427-0779
Oaxacan restaurants are flourishing at the moment, and at the best of them, Guelaguetza, youll find the sort of Oaxacan dishes youve only read about in magazines. Of the classic seven moles of Oaxaca, dark, complex sauces flavored with seeds, nuts, herbs and chiles of every description, you will usually find at least three. The black mole, based on ingredients the restaurant brings up from Oaxaca, is rich with chopped chocolate and burnt grain, toasted chile, and wave upon wave of textured spice  its as simple yet as nuanced as a great old Cote Rotie. Open daily 8 a.m.11 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $5 to $8.50 Oaxacan
JG
	

Hak Heang.
2041 E. Anaheim St.
Long Beach
(562) 434-0296.
In the Little Phnom Penh neighborhood of Long Beach is Hak Heang  all glowing neon, elaborate live-seafood tanks and yawning seas of tables, waitresses whipping around the room with endless streams of Tsingtao, boiled crabs, fried fish and sputtering skewers of Cambodian shish kebab. The anchovy beef, a small, marinated steak grilled medium rare, sliced thin, and served with a relish of shaved raw eggplant, fermented fish, garlic and a little vinegar, is a rare Cambodian dish that would make almost as much sense at a country restaurant in southern Piemonte as it would along the banks of the Tnl Sap. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days 7:30 a.m.9 p.m. Full bar. Lot parking. Takeout. Cash only.  Dinner for two, $18$28. Cambodian
JG
	

Ham Kyung Do
955 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 388-2013
In this part of town, the word sundae on a menu refers less often to a banana split than it does to the famous Korean blood sausages, mildly seasoned links of ox gore shot through with transparent vermicelli and served fried or boiled. Ham Kyung Do serves nothing but this Korean sundae, usually floating in a rich, extremely livery soup salted with chunks of assorted cattle organs. And as at an ice cream social, sometimes nothing but sundae will do.   Korean
JG
	

Hamjipark
4135 W. Pico Blvd.; also 3407 W. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 365-8773
Its amazing, it really is, the sheer number of Koreatown restaurants devoted to one hangover remedy or another, until you consider the torrents of makkoli and Crown Royal that course through the streets every night. Also, Korean hangover remedies happen to taste really good. Among the best and most restorative of these, as unfortunately we have reason to know, is gamjatang, a sort of thick soup made with potatoes, chile and meaty pork neck bones. Hamjipark, a sticky-table dive down on Pico, does a rather spectacular version of this soup, simmered until the meat has turned almost to jelly and thickened with a brick-red pure of chiles  if you werent nursing a hair-of-the-dog shot of soju, you might almost mistake it for a Oaxacan mole colorado. The barbecued pork ribs are not sad to eat either. Hamjipark has a gentrified branch up near the Chapman Market, with the ambiance of an outer-arrondissement sidewalk caf, but on Sunday morning, when the roof of your mouth is a killing floor, the grungier Pico restaurant is where you want to be.   Korean
JG
	
	
Han Bat
4163 W. Fifth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 383-9499
Han Bat, hidden on a side street of the Western Avenue drag, is a shrine to the cult of Korean beef soup, sullongtang, to the extent that there is barely no other food served, no other food needed. Good sullongtang, which is completely without fat, is an incandescent, glowing white, the result of long, patient cooking and the essence of many bones. Before it was largely supplanted by Vietnamese pho in Koreatown, sullongtang, which also carries a payload of thin noodles, sliced brisket, and various organs if you want it that way, was as locally popular as ramen is in Little Tokyo. The soup is unsalted: You season it to taste with a half-teaspoon or so of coarse salt from a container on the table. You also add loads of freshly chopped scallion greens, which soften quickly in the hot broth, and possibly a spoonful of the chile paste, which tints the soup flamingo pink. Flamingo pink: the color of victory.   Korean
JG
	

Han River
2561 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 388-5999
named after the waterway that cuts through Seoul, is a nice place, with inexpensive lunches, a delicious panchan of fried fish cake, and an urbane roster of sophisticated dishes that go especially well with soju or even bekseju, which is soju flavored with ginseng. The monkfish sauted with bean sprouts and a pickled kiwi-like Korean fruit is compelling; the iced baby octopus noodles are fine. But what brings in the crowds is Han Rivers truly wonderful version of bossam, a dish of steamed, pressed pork, flanked by lightly pickled leaves of cabbage, a fiery root-vegetable kimchi, and an amazing dipping sauce that involves vinegar, chiles and what appear to be highly salted fish hatchlings no larger than the period at the end of this sentence.   Korean
JG


Heavy Noodling
153 E. Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park
(626) 307-9583.
A hundred generations of Chinese chefs have probably regarded this restaurants specialty with horror  thick, clumsy, utterly delicious noodles that run somewhere between spaetzle and pappardelle, self-consciously rustic things that taste of themselves whether immersed in a deep, anise-scented beef broth or sauted with what must be the authentic antecedent of mu shu pork. But the shaved-dough pasta  the Chinese name of the place is Shanxi Knife-Cut Noodle  has that good, dense bite you find more often in Bologna than you do in Monterey Park. Lunch and dinner daily. No alcohol. Lot parking in rear. Cash only. Entres $5$12. Chinese
JG
	

Heidar Baba.
1511 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 844-7970
Heidar Baba may be the first halal Iranian restaurant in the Los Angeles area, a redoubt of extreme cleanliness, meat slaughtered according to Islamic law, and cooks who wear the hijab even in the heat of lunch rush; of strong tea served in glasses; of direct flavors and unmodulated herbal tartness. One end of the restaurant is taken up by a kind of caf selling espresso, boba tea and exotic, rosewater-intensive house-made ice cream. The menu is pretty basic  kebabs mostly, various combination plates of grilled beef and grilled lamb, grilled chicken and grilled lengths of koobideh, lightly seasoned ground beef or chicken, all flanked with charred tomatoes and grilled hot peppers, lined up like soldiers around lofty drifts of saffron-gilded rice that go on forever. Lunch and dinner Mon. 11 a.m.8 p.m., Tues.Sun. 11 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V.  Food for two: $14$28. Halal Iranian
JG
	

Hi Thai Noodle
5229 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
323) 465-4415
Both a collegiate hangout and a serious noodle shop, Hi Thai is a bright, noisy shotgun marriage between a fast-food restaurant and a high-style caf. The menu is basic, a few different noodle dishes from the Bangkok street-food playbook assembled a few different ways; but this is a pretty good place to experience the offhanded excellence of real Thai cooking: vivid flavors, fresh ingredients and luscious textures, put together with something like love. Lunch and dinner seven days 24 hours. No alcohol. Street parking. MC, V. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $10$14. Thai
JG
	

Hodori
1001 S. Vermont Ave., No. 102
Los Angeles
(213) 383-3554
Koreatown is blessed with more all-night restaurants than the rest of Los Angeles put together: noodle parlors and soup dens, greasy spoons, unremarkable grills and after-hours joints where soju sometimes mysteriously makes its way into teacups. But at 4 in the morning, Hodori, named for the dweeby cartoon tiger that was the mascot for the 88 Seoul Olympics, may as well be the only place in town: brightly lit as any McDonalds, hazy with steam from the kitchen, and jammed with young people who sit 12 to a table, sobering themselves up with kimchi fried rice. For better or for worse, Hodori is the Canters of Koreatown.   Korean
JG
	

Hong Kong Low Deli
408 Bamboo Lane
Chinatown
(213) 680-9827
Open in time for early breakfast, Chinatowns Hong Kong Low Deli serves what dim sum used to be back when everybody called them teacakes, i.e., dumplings without the parboiled geoduck and jellyfish salad and mango mousse with a cherry on top. Baked bao, browned and hot and brushed with sticky syrup, are filled with barbecued pork in a sweet, garlicky sauce. Turnoverlike pies are made of flaky pastry, egg-washed to a deep, burnished gold, stuffed with chicken stew, barbecued pork or a truly fine pungent mince of curried beef. Lunch and dinner seven days 9 a.m.6 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout only. Cash only.  Food for two, $3$5 Chinese
JG
	

Hot Dog on a Stick
In malls citywide.
Los Angeles
No phone
Its a hot dog. Its on a stick. Its fried in a sweetish corn batter and served by pretty college girls who wear tall, multicolored caps. Frankly, as regional hot-dog styles go, Hot Dog on a Stick may not rank with Nathans Famous in Coney Island or the elaborately garnished franks of Chicago, but the stands in those cities have no spectacle that even comes close to the sight of a short-skirted Hot Dog on a Stick chick pumping up a tankful of lemonade Mon.Fri. 10 a.m.9 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.7 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.6 p.m. No alcohol. Parking in mall. MC, V. Hot dogs $1$2. American
JG
	 

Huas Garden.
301 N. Garfield Ave.
Monterey Park
(626) 571-8387.
The aftermath of a dinner at Huas Garden is like a Francis Bacon painting splashed across the tabletop in shades of red  gory puddles of scarlet juice alive with Sichuan peppercorns, scraps of scallions, and frog bones stripped clean of their meat. We have seen many of these dishes before  the pornographically delicious ma po bean curd, the Sichuan dumplings, the Chungking hot pot, the fantastic hacked cold chicken sluiced with chile oil  but the Hunanese and Sichuanese cooking found at Huas Garden is presented with a depth of flavor, a brutal frankness that has rarely been seen around here before: eel with pepper, twice-cooked pork, boiled fish with Sichuan special sauce. There is an entire array of dishes stir-fried with fermented hot chiles  beef, squid, splinters of firm-fleshed fish  that amplify severe vinegar tartness with a truly terrifying level of heat, and the result is not unlike a refined version of what might happen if you were to eat an entire jar of the hot peppers at a Thai restaurant, spooning them right out with their juice. You might think this food would go well with beer, and you would be right. Lunch and dinner daily. 10:30 a.m.9:30 p.m. Budweiser served. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $15$25. Chinese
JG
	

ice kiss
3407 W. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 382-4776
No discussion of Koreatown cuisine would be complete without mention of bingsu, an overwrought construction of sweet beans, canned fruit cocktail, ice cream, whipped cream and crushed ice, just to mention the basics. A properly made bingsu, which will often be larger than your head, brings casual conversation to a halt. Practically every caf in Koreatown has bingsu somewhere on its menu. But the version served at Ice Kiss, a bingsu specialist near the Chapman Market, is garnished with a handful of Technicolor confetti that look and taste an awful lot like Fruity Pebbles. If youre going to eat like a 6-year-old, you might as well go all the way.   Korean
JG
	

Il Moro
11400 W. Olympic Blvd.
West Los Angeles
(310) 575-3530
Nestled in a hidden crook of corporate office buildings, this spinoff of the esteemed Locanda Veneta has good fresh fish, pastas in unusual shapes (try the popes hat) and an artichoke-and-arugula salad bright with lemon juice. The patio creates an unexpected urban refuge; its filled with palms, ??[has] its own small lake, and a tall gushing waterfall of a fountain literally drowns out the roar of traffic on Olympic. Lunch and dinner daily. Wine and beer. Valet parking. AE, DC, MC, V. Entres $10$19 Italian
MH
	

Il Pastaio
400 N. Canon Dr.
Beverly Hills
(310) 205-5444
This was Celestino Dragos first caf spinoff, and its original concept  carpaccio, salad, pasta and risotto (no meat-centered entres)  remains sound. The window-walled room on the corner of Canon and Brighton fills with sun and Beverly Hills types; dont expect a lot of elbowroom or romance, but the food is reliably delicious. Try the chewy garganelli with broccoli and sausage, and spelt spaghetti dressed simply in butter, ricotta and lemon zest. The remarkable black squid ink risotto looks like asphalt and tastes like heaven. Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. 5-10 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $16.50$24.50 Italian
MH


Julianos Raw
609 Broadway
Santa Monica
(310) 587-1552
At Raw there is no cooking  at least no cooking with heat. There is slicing, chopping, grinding, mashing, juicing, soaking, dehydrating, rehydrating, fermenting, sprouting, extruding, wrapping and saucing aplenty. The dining room features a poster of the chef, Juliano, an impossibly long-waisted, shirtless, surfer-tanned human spectacle. Like their employer, the waitresses also bear witness to the benefits of the raw life. I have sampled raw-food preparations and was anticipating a different realm of textures and food combinations. What I did not expect, and was thrilled by, was Julianos level of flavor. By the end of each meal, however, I found myself wearied by the excessive remaking of everything. Juliano, with all his talent, may be trying too hard. A few islands of simplicity might have gone a long way to relieve the unabashed fussiness of his non-cooking. Lunch and dinner daily 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol served. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $9.95$12.95 Raw foods
MH
	

Julienne
2649 Mission St.
San Marino
(626) 441-2299.
Beethoven scherzos skitter through the plant-strewn patio, and regulars park their dogs just outside it. You would expect a place like Julienne to serve genteel luncheon salads, and it does: The Chinese chicken salad sprinkled with crunchy noodles is renowned. But the basic currency of the restaurant seems to be the sandwich, including soft chicken-salad sandwiches of a sort many of us havent tasted since the Bullocks Wilshire tearoom closed down. Breakfast and lunch Mon.Sat. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $8.95$15.95. California
JG
	

Kagaya
418 E. Second St.
Los Angeles
(213) 617-1016
Shabu shabu is pretty basic: a slice of prime meat swished through bubbling broth for a second or two, just until the pink becomes frosted with white. If youve done it right  and if the quality of the ingredients is as high as it is at Little Tokyos superb (and expensive) Kagaya  the texture is extraordinary, almost liquid, and the concentrated, sourish flavor of really good beef becomes vivid. Mon.Sat., 6 p.m.10:30 p.m. Sun., 6 p.m.10 p.m. Wine, beer, sake. Lot parking. D, MC, V. $35 fixed price. Japanese
JG
	

Kobawoo
698 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles
698 S. Vermont Ave.
Kobawoo, which started out as a greasy spoon almost two decades ago, has mellowed into a Koreatown institution, a polished, respectable destination restaurant with some of the best food in the neighborhood at prices almost unbelievably low. Kobawoo has a decent chicken soup, and it is a great place to try the standard called bossam, a sort of combo plate of oysters, sliced pork belly and ultraspicy kimchi. The funky communal pot of bean-paste chigae, or stew, which follows the entre at a lot of restaurants, is spicy and delicious. The pigs feet have their fans. But its still the home-style pindaeduk, mung-bean pancakes, that keep drawing me back to Kobawoo  the pancakes are ethereal beneath their thin veneer of crunch, melting away almost instantly in the mouth like a sort of intriguingly flavored polenta.   Korean
JG
	

Koffea
610 S. Berendo St.
Los Angeles
213-427-1441
is a classic Korean coffeehouse, with beautiful chinaware, a ton of hidden rooms, and a wide selection of syrupy, freshly brewed Korean fruit teas  we like the ginger.   Korean
JG
	

Kokekokko
203 S. Central Ave.
downtown
(213) 687-0690
The ritual at Little Tokyos Kokekokko is to order one of the set menus, either five or 10 courses of grilled chicken flesh and innards: loosely packed chicken meatballs, faintly scented with herbs; grilled skin, threaded onto the skewer in accordion pleats; marinated slivers of thigh, separated from each other by slices of onion. Grilled hearts, served with a smear of hot Chinese mustard, are a little tough, but intensely chicken-flavored. Wisps of breast stretched around okra and Japanese chile provide just a smidgen of residual sliminess that works to intensify the texture of the meat. Dinner Mon.Sat. 610:30 p.m. Beer, wine and sake. Takeout. Street parking. D, DC, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $30$50. Japanese
JG
	

Kuala Lumpur
69 W. Green St.
Pasadena
(626) 577-5175
Ronnie Ng is the maestro of Malaysian cooking in Los Angeles, and his Pasadena restaurant is a great introduction to one of Asias most pleasant, most accessible cuisines. Here, youll find the pungent, spicy salad known as rojak; crisp coriander chicken; and an epochal nasi lemak, rice boiled with coconut milk and pandan leaves, then mounded in the middle of a platter and surrounded by little heaps of exotic garnishes. Be sure to order a bowl of the rich, chile-stained curry laksa, bathed in a rich coconut broth. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. Beer and wine. Validated lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $4.95$12.95. Entres $4.95$12.95. Malaysian
JG
	

L.A. Chicken Center
3400 W. Eighth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 380-0256
Samgyetang is yet another in the long line of Korean tonic soups: a small hen, usually stuffed with sticky rice, jujubes and maybe a little ginseng, simmered in a mild chicken broth. You could consider it the Korean equivalent of Jewish chicken-in-a-pot, if you could imagine a matzoh ball actually stuffed into a chicken. Its pretty easy to find samgyetang in Koreatown  Kobawoo and the genteel diner Matinee have good versions. But almost everybody in the neighborhood will point you to the chic, new L.A. Chicken Center, an all-chicken restaurant that has practically made a religion out of its clean-lined, classic rendering of the dish. L.A. Chicken Center also serves a take on the roasted Zankou-style bird as well as jang dori chang, a sweet, spicy chicken stew flavored with citrus peel and what must be a double handful of finely minced garlic. Cock a doodle doo.   Korean
JG
	

La 27th
1830 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles
(213) 387-2467
The fritanga plate, in all its magnificence, is a crunchy tower of protein and shaved green bananas reaching almost halfway to heaven. You will find the well-marinated Nicaraguan-style carne asada on the plate, slivers of pork, and perhaps a few spareribs, rubbed with chile and deep-fried to a spurting crispness. At La 27th, a family-owned Nicaraguan restaurant, there are also chorizos, a skein of plump, peppery sausages that half encircle the plate like a retaining wall, the requisite pickled cabbage, and fried bricks of salty cheese that squeak like Wisconsin Cheddar curds when you bite into them. But La 27ths fritanga is a formidable plate of food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.Fri. 9 a.m.10 p.m., Sat.Sun. 8 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Food for two: $12$22. Nicaraguan
JG
	

La Buca
5210 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 462-1900.
La Buca is a tiny Italian caf on Melrose, just east of the studios, crowded with poster-size movie stills from Italian comedies and dramas. Though the cook hasnt exactly thought outside the box, La Buca does make its own bread, pizza dough, gnocchi and ravioli  and all of these are worth eating. The pizzas are thin but not too thin in the Neapolitan style, and traditionally topped like the Margherita (tomato sauce and mozzarella) and the Napoli (tomato sauce, mozzarella, anchovy and capers). House-made gnocchi has a fine, soft-to-melting texture and good potato flavor. An impromptu complimentary bruschetta made with sauted peppers and garlic is the best appetizer we ate there. Lunch Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.3 p.m., dinner Mon.Fri. 5:3010:30 p.m. and Sat. 5:3010:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $7.95$18. Italian
MH


La China Poblana
3527 E. Whittier Blvd
Los Angeles
No phone.
In the auto-repair district of East Los Angeles, La China Poblana  a weather-beaten truck parked in its own lot  may be the best place in East L.A. to find the cemita, the classic street food of Puebla, a multilayered sandwich on a dense, toasted sesame-seeded bun, a crunchy thing that softens under the oily heat of its filling. The cemitas roll is sliced, crisped on the stove and crammed full of good stuff: thin slivers of avocado, slices of ghost-white panela cheese, and perhaps a tangle of pickled onions, carrots and jalapeo peppers. But the most popular filling by far is the milanesa  beef pounded to the thickness of a playing card, dredged in flour, and fried in clean oil to a sort of bronzed, leathery crispness that is closer in every way to a really large Maui potato chip than to anything you might call steak. Open daily for lunch and dinner. No alcohol. Cash only. Takeout. Sandwiches $3 to $4. Mexican
JG
	

La Luz del Dia
1 W. Olvera St.
Los Angeles
(213) 628-7495
The last place youd expect to find a real Mexican joint is among the maraca vendors and befuddled German tourists on Olvera Street, but there it is (and has been for decades), La Luz del Dia, serving cactus salad to the hordes. Whatever you think you ordered  tacos, burritos, tostadas  youll probably get at least one helping of picadillo, the chunky Mexican beef stew that, with its carrots and potatoes, looks like a stew somebodys mother might have made . . . provided that the mother in question has an industrial-size garlic press and a Thai tolerance for chile heat. 1 W. Olvera St., downtown, (213) 628-7495. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. Beer only. Parking in nearby Olvera Street lots. Cash only. Entres $3$8.75. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. Beer only. Parking in nearby Olvera Street lots. Cash only. Entres $3$8.75. Mexican
JG
	

La Luz del Dia
1 W. Olvera St.
downtown
(213) 628-7495.
The last place youd expect to find a real Mexican joint is among the maraca vendors and befuddled German tourists on Olvera Street, but there it is (and has been for decades), La Luz del Dia, serving cactus salad to the hordes. Whatever you think you ordered  tacos, burritos, tostadas  youll probably get at least one helping of picadillo, the chunky Mexican beef stew that, with its carrots and potatoes, looks like a stew somebodys mother might have made . . . provided that the mother in question has an industrial-size garlic press and a Thai tolerance for chile heat. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. Beer only. Parking in nearby Olvera Street lots. Cash only. Entres $3$8.75. Mexican
JG
	

Langers
704 S. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles
(213) 483-8050
The best pizza in America may be in New Haven, the best hot dogs in Chicago, the best espresso off Pioneer Square in Seattle. But the best pastrami sandwich is right here in Los Angeles, slapped together by the truckload at Langers Delicatessen. The rye bread, double-baked, has a hard, crunchy crust. The meat, dense, hand-sliced, nowhere near lean, has the firm, chewy consistency of Parma prosciutto, a gentle flavor of garlic and a clean edge of smokiness that can remind you of the kinship between pastrami and Texas barbecue. Mon.Sat. 8 a.m.4 p.m. Beer and wine. Validated lot parking (on corner of Westlake Ave. and Seventh St.). Curbside service (call ahead). MC, V. Entres $8.95$12.95. Jewish Deli
JG
	

Langers
704 S. Alvarado St.
Los Angeles
(213) 483-8050
The best drive-thru food in Los Angeles? If you remember to call a couple of minutes in advance, somebody at Langers Delicatessen will be standing outside for you with the finest pastrami sandwich in the nation, steaming hot, hand-carved to order if you specify it that way, and odiferous enough to fog up your windows in a flash. Why settle for a hamburger when you can have Langers pastrami? Lunch and dinner, Mon.Sat., 8 a.m.4 p.m. Wine and beer. Lot parking. MC, V.  Pastrami, $9. Deli
JG
	

Las Ruinas
Corner of Chester Avenue and Green Street
Pasadena
No phone.
This genteel, whitewashed shack, a few blocks north of the Caltech campus, is barely large enough to contain the movements of two minimally stressed cooks. But a Las Ruinas taco is a taco of the bourgeoisie, a delicious taco that its well-heeled customers might have made for themselves if they had the patience, the talent and the skill, a taco of cheerful abundance, of good quality tortillas heaped with sizzling slices of pork loin, of steak, of mushrooms sauted with herbs. The variations include mulas, which are basically those tacos transformed into griddled sandwiches with the addition of a few grams of cheese, and gringas, which are mulas made with flour tortillas instead of corn. Recommended dishes: tacos, mulas, gringas, alambres. Hours vary, usually open Mon.Fri. noon3 p.m. and 69 p.m.; Sat. noon3 p.m. Cash only. No alcohol. Lot parking. Takeout.  Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $8$14. Mexican
JG
	

Lawrys the Prime Rib
100 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310) 652-2827
When restaurateur Lawrence Frank misconstrued in the 30s something hed heard about the famous roast beef at Londons Simpsons-on-the-Strand, he inadvertently came up with American prime rib as we know it: big, pink roasts glistening from silver carts, carved to order tableside and served with Yorkshire pudding, a baked potato, and salad from a spinning bowl. Lawrys prime rib is as archetypally Angeleno as the Tudor mansions and yawning Norman cottages of Beverly Hills Mon.-Thurs. 5-10 p.m., Fri. 5-11 p.m., Sat. 4:30-11 p.m., Sun. 4-10 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $26$42 American
JG
	

Le Pain Quotidien
9630 S. Santa Monica Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310) 859-1100
This chain bakery and caf, which originated in Belgium, has since spread to France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and, most recently, Beverly Hills. Owner-creator Alain Coumonts rigorous, winning aesthetic consists of a refined, even streamlined rusticity; he seems intent on promulgating precisely the small, daily pleasures that make Continental life so beguiling. Coffee is served in cunning footed bowls. Each establishment has a bakery, featuring huge disks of artisanal breads, crusty baguettes and straightforward pastries. Antique pine shelving holds Le Pain Quotidien products  olive oil, olive paste, sun-dried tomatoes, sea salt, capers and so on, an almost complete Mediterranean palette. Lunch and dinner seven days, 7:30 a.m.7 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Street parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $6.50$18, pastries $3$6. French
MH
	

Le Petit Caf
2842 Colorado Ave.
Santa Monica
(310) 829-6792
Its a modest neighborhood mom-and-pop  or should we say mre-et-pre  caf nestled among several industrial buildings in east Santa Monica, and it happens to be one of the most authentically French restaurants youll find in Southern California. You squeeze into your little wooden table, read specials off the chalkboard and parlez franais with the waiter. Where else can you get sand dabs, pt with cornichons, and cold poached salmon, all for a relative song? Lunch Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.3 p.m., dinner Mon.Sat. 59 p.m. Beer and wine. Parking next to restaurant. MC, V. Entres $10$22. French
MH


Le Saigon
11611 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Los Angeles
(310) 312-2929
An itty-bitty, gloriously inexpensive Vietnamese caf just west of the Royal movie theater, Le Saigon is an ideal place to huddle over big bowls of pho or bun (rice noodles), charbroiled meats and glasses of sticky sweet caf sua da (iced Saigon coffee). The tables are tiny, the turnover is swift, and the air is scented by grilling meat and freshly cut cucumbers. Tues.-Sun. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. Entres $58 Vietnamese
MH
	

Lincoln Steakhouse Americana
No address
Santa Monica
(310) 828-3304
I would have bet there was nothing new under the sun when it came to steak houses, that every possible permutation of the Rat Pack lifestyle, every $120 Kobe-beef fillet, every conceivable tomato salad, cigar station and vodka martini had been explored. This steak-house thing has been going on a long time, after all, and even the most Atkins-crazed Robb Report subscriber could hardly want for variety. But its not the braised turnip greens that make the difference at Lincoln Steakhouse, owned by the people who run Paladar. The profoundly charred Angus-beef porterhouses are fine, but no better than youll find at a dozen other places in town. What Lincoln has that other steak houses do not is young women, in packs and in pairs, on dates, on business dinners and dining alone. And these arent young women nibbling salads or sipping white wine, or hanging around the bar waiting for you, but women ordering big steaks and eating them. I would credit the well-known charm of the antler chandeliers for this phenomenon, but I would probably be wrong. Lunch Mon.Fri. 11 a.m.2 p.m. plus bar menu until 5:30 p.m. Dinner Mon.Sat. 511 p.m., Sun. 510 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. $20$30. New-fashioned steak house
JG
	 

Little Sheep
120 S. Atlantic Blvd.
Monterey Park
(626) 282-1089
If cumin were as toxic as VX gas, the atmosphere at Little Sheep could be used as a weapon of mass destruction. Little Sheep, a newish restaurant in yet another Monterey Park strip mall, is a specialist in the Mongolian hot pot, which is to say the severely aromatic hot pot of Chinas extreme north, stocked with more medicinal plants than an herbalists shop and fairly intensive in lamb, a meat many Chinese people tend to dislike. There are juicy steamed lamb dumplings, lamb fried rice, a sort of crunchy pan-fried lamb bun and lamb chow mein. And the walls are papered with gauzy, room-size photomurals of grazing sheep and giant Mongolian shepherdesses. Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.3 p.m. and 5 p.m.midnight, Sat.Sun. 11:30 a.m.midnight. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V. Food for two: $14$24. Mongolian
JG
	

Lotria
Farmers Market, Stall 322, 6333 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(323) 930-2211
Lotera is a Mexico City taquera in the Farmers Market, and is plastered with enlarged, charmingly anachronistic images from Mexican lottery cards. The flavors here are as bright and vibrant as the dcor. Vegetarians will be thrilled to find four kinds of meatless fillings, the best of which is champignones con epazote, a dark, peppery mushroom mix. Meats include a smoky tinga de pollo with chorizo, big soft albondigas (meatballs) and a subtly sweet cochinita pibil. For a textural epiphany, try the chicharron in salsa verde, pork rinds stewed in tomatillo sauce so that they turn into big flappy, slippery things, all cartilaginous and gelatinous: truly fabulous. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.Sat. 9 a.m.9 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.7 p.m. No alcohol.Takeout. MC, V. Tacos, two for $3.85. Mexican
MH
	

Lucky Duck
672 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 931-9660.
he food at Lucky Duck is predominantly Chinese, but the menu reads like a pan-Asian greatest-hits list: There are also Japanese chiles, Vietnamese fried spring rolls and pad Thais. The green-papaya salad is crunchy and quenching and at just the right level of sneaky hot. Yushiang eggplant with soy and chile sauce is big-flavored and alluringly soft. I have yet to taste a bad version of miso-marinated sea bass, and Lucky Ducks is as good as any. For dessert, have the hot sauted bananas with coconut sorbet, or a rich chocolate-pistachio cake. Lunch Tues.Fri., 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.Sat., 5:3011 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $9$16. Chinese
MH
	

Lucques
8474 Melrose Ave.
West Hollywood
(323) 655-6277
Named for a nutty brine-cured French green olive, and rarely pronounced correctly, Lucques (leuk) has quietly and surely joined the small pantheon of great Los Angeles restaurants. Lucques has a quasi-historic setting (it was once Harold Lloyds brick, wood-beamed carriage house), a patio, adept service and, best of all, Suzanne Goins earthy, intelligent, somewhat indefinable cooking. Call it Cal-French-Med with welcome guests from North Africa, Spain and Berkeley, California. The crowd looks smart and arty  Oliver Peoples glasses and more Dries Van Nooten than Armani. Go for Goins fish dishes, in particular, and check out the appealing bar menu. Also, Sunday nights feature three-course prix-fixe dinners. Lunch Tues.-Sat. noon-2:30 p.m.; dinner Tues.-Sat. 6-11 p.m., Sun. 5:30-10. Limited bar menu available 10 p.m.-midnight. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $21$30 French
MH
	

Lucys Drive-In
1373 S. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 938-4337
As you power down toward the Santa Monica Freeway from Hollywood, the Mexican-American drive-thru institution Lucys is a logical place to go; carnitas tacos, wet chile verde burritos, enchilada platters and really crisp French fries that have picked up an intriguing, toasty sweetness from being fried in the same oil as the tortilla chips. Lucys may not have the best Mexican food in Los Angeles, but it may be as well as you can do without actually getting out of the car. Open daily, 24 hours. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only.  $6-$6.35. Mexican-American
JG
	

Luscious Dumplings Inc.
704 W. Las Tunas Drive
San Gabriel
(626) 282-8695
There are the usual kinds of dumplings and noodles here. But the pan-fried pork dumplings at Luscious Dumplings Inc. can be absolutely magnificent things  flattened hemispheres blackened to a luminous, carbon-edged crunch, heavily caramelized, then exploding in the mouth with a blistering, onion-scented pop, a primal flood of juice, of heat, of flavor. Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.2 p.m. and 58 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.2 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only.  Lunch for two, food only, $10$16. Chinese
JG
	

Ma Dang Gook Soo
869 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
213-487-6008
Ten years ago, there were maybe two or three places to get great gook soo, the thin, handcut, wheaten noodles customarily served in a stock based on dried anchovies and garnished with seaweed, kimchi or bits of meat, maybe a few chunks of boiled potato. Gook soo may be the ultimate Korean comfort food. For years I satisfied most of my gook soo yearnings at Ma Dang Gook Soo, where the texture of the noodles resembles perfect Italian fettuccine. But recently, my loyalties have begun to shift toward Wang Simri Noodle House, where the noodles have a firmer bite, the broth has a delicacy it is hard to believe derives from dried anchovies, and it is possible to order the noodles tinted with green tea, which softens their texture but adds a subtle bitterness that is not at all unpleasant. The mandoo, herb-stuffed Korean dumplings, are pretty good too.   Korean
JG
	

Madre's
897 Granite Drive
Pasadena
(626) 744-0900
Jennifer Lopezs new restaurant in Pasadena is old-fashioned and charming, with lots of ruffled shabby-chic linen, damask and crystal chandeliers. The place will make you sentimental for that rose-loving, big-hearted grandmother you never had  not to mention the heirlooms you never will inherit! The service is terrific, the food similar to what youd find at a fancy Cuban wedding: fufu, yuca, roasted pork, oxtails, mojo-drenched chicken and shrimp  all in great heaping portions. Dont miss the splendidly simple avocado salad, the citrus-marinated filet mignon or, for dessert, the tres leches and firm, deeply caramelized flan. Open Tues.Sun. 11 a.m.3 p.m.; dinner 510 p.m. Full bar. Bar open 11 a.m.11 p.m. Valet parking. Major credit cards.  Entres $10$30. Cuban
MH


Malo
4326 Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake
(323) 664-1011
Okay, right off the bat: Malo is not malo. Its a decent, stylish Mexican restaurant that inhabits the former Cobalt Cantina in Silver Lake, and the menu is a taut, well-devised little list of small, shareable items by executive chef Robert Luna. The food has the hearty heft and flavor of good, home-cooked Mexican food. Soups tend to be meals unto themselves. Id also make a whole dinner from the iceberg-and-grilled-steak salad; the long-marinated meat comes well-charred and sputtering on the lettuce, which is flecked with grated cheese and olive slices. And in keeping with todays small-dishes, share-everything, anti-starch, Atkins-friendly ethos, entres come unaccompanied; beans, rice, guacamole and sauted squash are offered as side dishes. Dinner Fri.Sat. 6 p.m.midnight, Sun.Mon. 610 p.m., Tues.Thurs. 611 p.m. Full bar open until 2 a.m. Valet parking. AE, MC, V.  Entres,  la carte, $7$14. Mexican
MH
	

Mamas Hot Tamales Caf
2124 W. Seventh St.
Los Angeles
(213) 487-7474
At the edge of MacArthur Park, there is a line of elegant wooden tamale carts along Alvarado, each run by a vendor from a different part of Latin America, each selling its own particular kind of tamales, one better than the next: banana-leaf-wrapped Oaxacan tamales oozing black mole sauce, wet chicken tamales from Honduras, green-chile tamales from Acapulco, densely sweet little torpedos from El Salvador and grainy tamales from Michoacn. The driving force behind the vending district is Mamas Hot Tamales Caf, a sprawling, brightly painted complex across the street from the park that provides the kind of curatorial services and logistical support to the districts tamale masters that in a better world MOCA would be providing to Los Angeles artists. The vendors are trained here as professional cooks; the tamales are prepared in the kitchens; the technical aspects of food preparation are closely monitored. Mamas brings Los Angeles together, one tamale at a time. Breakfast and lunch seven days 8:30 a.m.3:30 p.m. No alcohol. Coffee bar. Takeout. Validated parking around the corner on Lake Street, in the Unified Parking lot. AE, MC, V.  Breakfast or lunch for two, food only, $7$14. Mexican
JG
	

Mandaloun
141 S. Maryland Blvd.
Glendale
(818) 507-1900
It is hard not to be a little awestruck by the Lebanese restaurant Mandaloun. Because while the local Middle Eastern restaurant scene is no stranger to grandeur, there has never been anything like this place, a gilded gastrodome of massive kebabs, pita made to order, and outdoor terraces devoted to the baking of Lebanese flatbreads and the smoking of apple-flavored tobacco. And its all tucked away on the second floor of a complex that from the outside looks better suited to a parking structure. Lunch and dinner Sun.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11:30 a.m.11:30 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $12.95$22. Lebanese
JG
	

Mandarin House
3074 W. Eighth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 386-8976.
Hand-pulled noodles are immeasurably better than the machine-made kind: stretchy yet supple, irregularly shaped, veritable magnets for sauce. For some reason, the vast majority of L.A. chefs skilled in noodle pulling seem to own Chinese restaurants aimed at a Korean clientele, and perhaps the best of these is Mandarin House, right in the heart of Koreatown. The kung pao shrimp may be pedestrian, but the chachiang mein, in a dense, black sauce of fermented beans and pork, is out of this world. 11:30 a.m.mid. seven days. Beer only. Lot parking. Takeout/delivery. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $11$12. Chinese
JG
	

Marouch
4905 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 662-9325
If you wanted to imagine you were in Beirut, you could stop by this  place a few times a day, easy  midmornings for a piece of baklava and a thimbleful of Turkish coffee, lunch for a kebab and a bottle of Lebanese beer, late afternoons for a bowl of dense lentil soup. At dinner, the combination meze includes essentially everything on the left-hand side of the menu: hummus; the thickened-yogurt cheese labneh; veal and bulgur-wheat kibbeh; the toasted-bread salad fattoush; and the grilled makanek sausages. To begin with. Open Tues.Sun. 11 a.m.11 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, CB, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $8.50-$11.50 Middle Eastern/Lebanese
JG
	

Marstons
151 E. Walnut St.
Pasadena
(626) 796-2459
At breakfast, Marstons serves exactly the sort of food a missionary might crave after a stint in rural Peru: thin, buckwheat-based blueberry pancakes, nut-crammed macadamia pancakes and thick, applewood-smoked bacon. Marstons may be a little Calvinist in its hours (it closes on Sundays and Mondays and stops serving breakfast abruptly at 11 a.m.), perhaps guided by the notion that laggards dont deserve to eat anything as good as its golden, cornflake-breaded French toast. Breakfast and lunch Tues.-Fri. 7-11 a.m., 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $5$11. American
JG
	

Mastros
246 N. Canon Dr.
Beverly Hills
(310) 888-8782
One of a small chain of Scottsdale-based steak houses, Mastros has the look  volcanic rock work, blackout curtains, black-leather banquettes  of desert resorts, supper clubs, casinos and other booze-filled refuges where the dreaded sun dont shine. Eat downstairs for more intimate dining, or upstairs if youre up to walking the gauntlet of a long bar, where serious drinkers swivel on cue to watch you pass. The excellent service staff is adept, adaptable and good-natured, even when their customers  Beverly Hills carnivores  are not. Meat dominates the menu; steak to be exact. Order the Kansas City bone-in, the porterhouse or the bone-in rib-eye (the latter, ordered charred rare, is a glorious, rich, big, big-flavored piece of meat with a crusty char oozing juice). Here, rare means rare, i.e., cold inside  yes. Start with the horseradish-spiked caesar salad, or the traditional iceberg wedge with blue cheese. Sides  fried onions, creamed corn, sugar snap peas, potatoes gratin  are fresh, enormous, delicious: Split em. Finish with a paradigmatic Key lime pie. Sun.Thurs. 511 p.m., Fri.Sat. 5 p.m.mid. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $20$47. American
MH
	

Matsuhisa
129 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310) 659-9639
Nobu Matsuhisa was the first sushi master to introduce Americans to yellowtail sashimi with sliced jalapeos. Playing with tradition has made him an international star. Locally, you can try his food at the modest Ubon noodle house at the Beverly Center and the high-end Nobu in Malibu, but his original, stunningly uncharming location on La Cienega is still, to our mind, the best bet  especially if you sit at the sushi bar and give your chef free rein. To this day, despite many attempts, nobody has improved on his innovations. Reservations are a must and, at times, a pain. Lunch Mon.Fri., dinner nightly. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $15$50 Japanese
MH
	

Max Restaurant
13355 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks
(818) 784-2915
I have always been fond of chef Andr Guerreros food  he likes big, clear flavors, and is one of the few Cal-Asian fusion chefs who doesnt muddle the mix. Though he really grasps the purpose of appetizers  which is to pique the taste buds, drum up interest and excitement for the meal  nothing else really measures up to the trio of pork for sheer interest  its smart and precisely prepared. My second-favorite entre is the Indian coriander-masala-crusted cod, which comes with pakora, or chickpea-battered vegetable fritters, and lemon-cashew basmati rice  Guerrero amps the flavors and nails the textures. Lunch Mon. Fri. 11:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m.; dinner Sun.Thurs. 5:30 p.m.10 p.m.; Fri. and Sat. 5:30 p.m.11 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $14.50$24. Cal-Asian
MH
	

Meals by Genet.
1039 S. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 938-9304
Situated on Fairfax Avenues Little Ethiopia strip, Meals by Genet is more or less an Ethiopian bistro, which is to say a homey, soft-lit dining room that looks at least as French as it does African. The menu is short: crisp-skinned fried trout, half a dozen stews, and Genet Agonafers delicious version of kitfo, a dish of minced raw beef tossed with warm, spiced butter, as well as a few of the requisite Italian entres. And their doro wot is a serious one, vibrating with what must be ginger and black pepper and bishops weed and clove, but tasting of none of them, so formidably solid that the chicken, which is well-cooked, becomes just another ingredient in the sauce. Lunch and dinner Wed.Sun., 11:30 a.m.10:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Catering. Street parking. MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $19$27. Ethiopian. www.mealsby-genet.com
JG


Mei Long Village.
301 W. Valley Blvd., No. 112
San Gabriel
(626) 284-4769
Even if Mei Long Village served nothing but dumplings  steamed bao stuffed with sweet red-bean paste, flaky pastries filled with root vegetables, flying saucers of Chinese filo dough surrounding a meager but intense forcemeat of sauted leeks  it would be worth a visit. Mei Long Village is also the perfect place to try any of the famous Shanghai standards: sweet fried Shanghai spareribs dusted with sesame seeds, garlicky whole cod braised in pungent hot bean sauce, big pork lions-head meatballs, tender as a Perry Como ballad, that practically croon in the key of star anise. Open daily 11:30 a.m.9:30 p.m. Beer only. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $5$25. Entres $5$25. Chinese
JG
	

Mlisse
1104 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 395-0881.
Its so French, this fancy, formal restaurant owned and cheffed by Josiah Citrin in Santa Monica. The room is sedate and a tad fussy  trs authentique, from the massive chandelier down to the little footstools designed to keep your Gucci bag off the ground. (And if you dont have a Gucci bag or its equivalent, youre out of your price range.) Citrin gives his classical French training, high-end purveyors and farmers-market produce a real workout. Dover sole baked with the bone in Hudson Valley fois gras and beautifully roasted chicken are showstoppers. Bring a big appetite and a credit card and let this restaurant have its way with you: The great service, comfortable seats, course after course of carefully prepared fresh ingredients all add up, plate by plate, element by element, to a complete, pleasurable and singularly French experience. Dinner Mon.Fri. 610 p.m., Sat. 5:4510 p.m., Sun. 6-9 p.m. Lunch Wed.Fri. noon2 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $27$38. French
MH
	

Mi Ranchito
12223 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 398-6106.
When migrs to the East Coast miss Mexican food, Mi Ranchito is what they think theyre nostalgic for. And though the place has everything youve ever wanted in a neighborhood Mexican restaurant  wonderful chiles rellenos, decent No. 3 Combination Dinners  it really specializes in such regional Veracruz seafood dishes as mixed-seafood parrillada and the intricately spiced fish soup chilpachole. Mon.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.9:30 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m.10:30 p.m., Sat. 10 a.m.10:30 p.m., Sun. 10 a.m.9:30 p.m. Full bar. Lot parking. Takeout. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $4.95$7.95. Mexican
JG
	

Michaels
1147 Third St.
Santa Monica
(310) 451-0843
California nouvelle cuisine may have been born in this art-infested restaurant where the Diebenkorns are real, the patio swarms with Robert Grahams, and media barons sup on pretty little salads of quail with pansy blossoms and sherry vinegar. Beyond the sauted shad roe, the bacon-and-egg salad, and the piles of arugula that reach halfway to the moon, the steak is the real thing, a prime New York strip dry-aged halfway to infinity, with an alarming mineral pungency bred out of most steak-house meat around 1952. But make sure somebody else is paying. Lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.-Sat. 6-10:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $28$36 California
JG
	

Mimosa
8009 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 655-8895
Now that chef Jean Pierre Bosc has dissolved his former partnership and taken full control of this elegant, relaxed bistro, the menu has been reconfigured to placate regulars and provide new delights. You can still get tomato tart tatin, a sterling macaroni-and-cheese, hangar steak frites and veal daube . . . but theres also the Mimosa Maintenant menu, a rotating series of such earthy dishes as skate with brown butter, veal sweetbreads, quail stuffed with chestnuts and foie gras, pork cheek and ear en cocotte, veal onglet, grilled whole pork trotter, and chicken-liver gteau. These full flavors and textures distract the brain from its ditherings and make eating a pleasurable, in-the-moment, physical act. Can the Los Angeles dining public handle such brash gastronomic sensuality? Hmmmm. Dinner Tues.Sat. 610:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Reservations recommended on weekends. Entres $11$26. French Bistro
MH
	

Mission 261
261 S. Mission Drive
San Gabriel
(626) 588-1666
In a Chinese-restaurant scene thick with bargain rock cod and two-for-one lobster deals, Mission 261s banquet menus range upward of $1,200 for a table of 10, although a decent dinner can be arranged for about a third of that. The cognac is old, the sharks fin ultrafine, the Burgundy premier cru. The suckling pig, a house specialty, is made from an animal so young it is practically prenatal, brined and roasted and roasted and brined until its skin is as thin and crisp as the burnt wisp of caramel that tops a really good crme brle and the meat, nourished with the pigs fine layer of fat, is as rich and tender as an infants first coos. And the dim sum is already extraordinary, easily the best in California at the moment. Lunch and dim sum Mon.Fri. 10:30 a.m.3 p.m., Sat.Sun. 9 a.m.5 p.m. Dinner seven days, 5:3010:30 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Dim sum lunch for two, food only, $22$38. Chinese
JG
	

Monsieur Marcel
6333 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(323) 939-7792
Imagine one of a thousand small Parisian cafs or wine bars with sidewalk seating and classic plats du jour, then plunk it down in the southeast corner of the Farmers Market on Fairfax and Third, and you have an excellent idea of Monsieur Marcel. Though the food veers from lovely and heartening to, well, not so good, you can drink wine with friends, nosh on cheese, eat several courses and, when so inclined, even smoke. The pain is from La Brea Bakery, the vin is French, by the bottle or glass, and the fromage is served, with typical Farmers Market informality, pre-cut on cellophane-wrapped plates. And Monsieur Marcel may employ the most charming French waiter in Los Angeles. Lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 10:30 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 10:30 a.m.10:30 p.m., Sun. 10:30 a.m.8 p.m. Wine only. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Plats du jour $6.99$10.99 French
MH
	

Monsieur Marcel
6333 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(323) 939-7792
Imagine one of a thousand small Parisian cafs or wine bars with sidewalk seating and classic plats du jour, then plunk it down in the southeast corner of the Farmers Market on Fairfax and Third, and you have an excellent idea of Monsieur Marcel, an establishment subtitled Pain, Vin et Fromage. (The modest restaurant is only one component in M. Marcels small empire, which also includes a French gourmet shop and a grocery store.) Grab a stool in the bar area, or stake out the one communal table; or, for a more self-contained dining experience, plant yourself on one of the markets typical folding chairs at a wobbly table. An added bonus: Monsieur Marcel may employ the most charming French waiter in Los Angeles. Mon.Thurs. 9 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 9 a.m.9:30 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.7 p.m. AE, MC, V.  French
MH
	

Montecarlo
3450 W Sixth St., No. 111
Los Angeles
213-389-4553
Open 24 hours, is popular with USC students and insomniacs.   Korean
JG
	

Morangak
3377 Wilshire Blvd., No. 100
Los Angeles
(213) 381-8243
If you are nostalgic for the days of old-fashioned Communist hospitality, you could do worse than to visit this Los Angeles branch of Morangak, a North Korean restaurant popular in Seoul. Nobody will bother to seat you, and one suspects that the waiter who does eventually show up at your table has just lost a game of rock, paper, scissors. You wouldnt think it was possible to disdainfully toss down a heavy bowl of lava-hot kimchi stew without actually injuring anyone at the table, but these guys are pros. Still  there are those pheasant dumplings. And the complex fragrance of the wild mushroom soup. And the severely attractive bibimbap. This could be one of the best meals youll never love.   Korean
JG


Morels First Floor Bistro.
189 The Grove Drive, Suite 110
Los Angeles
(323) 956-9595
Morels, the Groves French-themed restaurant, is brought to you by the Market City Caffe folks. Cleverly set-dressed with the requisite wall of paintings, zinc bar, dark wood, wrought-iron work and sidewalk seating, its a good-natured cartoon of Frenchness. The food is Americanized, with the more palatable and charming French elements magnified and the earthier, ruder aspects of French cuisine downplayed or eliminated. Try the Mediterranean fish soup. Morels version, sublimely pasteurized, smooth and silken as baby food, very mild  what Campbells would make of fish soup  has nevertheless captured an essence of the soup without exposing us to its fishiness. But the best thing Morels has to offer is a cheese bar; stop in en route to a movie for a glass of wine and a selection of hand-picked imported cows, sheeps and goats milk cheeses. Open seven days for lunch and dinner. Full bar. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $7.95$16.75. Franco-American
MH
	

Mr. Coffee
537 S. Western Ave., No. G
Los Angeles
213-389-6767
is decorated like a 20s Paris salon, with faux Magrittes painted on almost every wall surface, and absurdly oversize chairs.   Korean
JG
	

Musso & Frank Grill
6667 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 467-7788
The warm scent of wood smoke spreads across the room. You push away the remains of a perfect caesar salad. A red-jacketed waiter comes over and pours a clear, cold martini, Hollywoods best, from a pony into a tiny frosted glass, then carefully spoons Welsh rarebit  rich and warm, if a little grainy  from a metal salver onto crustless toast. Here in these worn wooden booths beneath the ancient hunt-scene wallpaper, this seems very much the perfect gentlemans lunch. Open Tues.Sat. 11 a.m.11 p.m. Full bar. Validated parking in rear. AE, DC, MC, V. Entres $15$32 American
JG
	

Nandarang
3811 W. Sixth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 388-8513
A particular version of postmodernism is being played out at Nandarang, which, in its indoor-outdoor architecture, its video screens and its neo-retro-futuristic furniture, is more or less a California take on the Korean version of a Japanese update of the sort of midcentury Scandinavian design that was probably riffing on California to begin with. Tables are crowded with both French fries and plates of kimchi, fizzy soju drinks and frothing vats of Bud. But as the Koreatown answer to Pops Chocklit Shop in Betty and Veronicas Riverdale, what Nandarang mostly has is mobs of teenagers out way past their bedtime, grooving on dance-club records and consuming dangerous quantities of the cafs signature coffee-banana shakes.   Korean
JG
	

Natraliart
3426 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 732-8865
This is real Jamaican food, you understand, not the stuff you find on cruise ships or at Ocho Rios resorts; strong, direct, sometimes nastily spicy cooking without a mango or a spicy lobster in sight; no prime rib, no sweet sauces, no fresh flowers posed on the plate. This is a place of tough, spicy curried goat, practically vibrating with the taste of ground cloves; of stewed oxtails zapped with spice; of starchy dongo-bean soup thickened with ground legumes. And half the dreads in the city drift in and out over the course of a lazy afternoon  for flagons of carrot-lemon juice, for to-go cartons of vegetarian food, or to buy tickets to any of the half-dozen concerts that the guys behind the counter happen to be selling at any one time. Try Natraliarts jerk chicken  it is among the best versions in town. Open for lunch and dinner Tues.Sat. 11 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. MC, V.  Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $16$26. Jamaican
JG
	

Nick & Stefs.
330 S. Hope St. (Wells Fargo Center)
Los Angeles
(213) 680-0330
Joachim Splichals downtown steakhouse pushes the genres envelope. The dcor is sedate enough  banquettes wear bankers gray  but annexed to the dining room is a climate-controlled glass case filled with slabs of darkening, crusting, dry-aging beef  a library of meat. The  la carte menu features 12 kinds of potatoes, 12 sauces and at least as many other side dishes. The outside patio  a sunny clearing in a forest of skyscrapers  may be the best urban dining spot in town. Lunch Mon.-Fri. 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; dinner Mon.-Thurs. 5:30-9:30 p.m., Fri. 5:30-10:30 p.m., Sat. 5-10:30 p.m., Sun. 4:30-8:30 p.m. Full bar. Parking in Wells Fargo Center. Entres $19$37. American Steakhouse
MH
	

Nicks Caf
1300 N. Spring St.
Los Angeles
(323) 222-1450
The best ham in L.A.? Probably the one at Nicks Caf downtown. A plateful of thick slices is fried to smoky denseness, ribboned with sweet fat and blackened crisp at the rim. If the world were just, Nicks  a noir-worthy lunch counter owned by a couple of homicide cops  would be as renowned for ham n eggs as El Tepeyac is for burritos. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only.  Entres $4.25$6.50. American.
Jonathan Gold
	

Nicks Caf.
1300 N. Spring St.
Los Angeles
(323) 222-1450
The best ham in L.A.? Probably the one at Nicks Caf downtown. A plateful of thick slices is fried to smoky denseness, ribboned with sweet fat and blackened crisp at the rim. If the world were just, Nicks  a noir-worthy lunch counter owned by a couple of homicide cops  would be as renowned for ham n eggs as El Tepeyac is for burritos. Open Mon.Fri. 5:30 a.m.2 p.m., No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $4.25$6.50. American
JG
	

Nicole's Gourmet Imports
921 Meridian Ave., Unit B
South Pasadena
626) 441-9600
Nicole Grandjean wants people to know about French food. To this end, she offers her gourmet imports to the public at the same prices she sells them to restaurants. Her pretty, spacious shop in South Pasadena also contains a sandwich counter and a small number of tables  a perfect secret lunch spot. But dangerous. You might stop in for a croque monsieur (ham, Gruyre and bchamel melted together on a baguette) and walk out having bought a Lagioule knife set, a Provenal tablecloth, some frozen porcinis and a big chunk of fresh fois gras. A meal-sized salad (the authentic Greek, or the one with smoked duck breast and dried cherries) could cost you the price of any number of European and domestic cheeses, kilos of chocolate, and a gallon of olive oil. The good news is, you wont spend a fraction of what you would elsewhere. Nicoles is a great resource to those of us Francophile gastronomes who dont have the wherewithal to keep a pied  terre in Paris; and with Grandjeans public-friendly prices, shes taken great foodstuffs out of the realm of sheer luxury and turned them into affordable, simple pleasures. Open Tues.Fri. 9 a.m.6 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m.5:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Sandwiches, $4.95. French
MH
	

Northern Chinese Restaurant
8450 E. Valley Blvd.
Rosemead
(626) 288-9299
Northern Chinese Restaurant specializes in the food of Shenyang  basic, hearty stuff, probably better suited to long, hard winters than to California summers: The casserole of pickled sour cabbage is a neat Chinese version of Strasbourg-style choucroute, a full quart of soupy sauerkraut garnished with slabs of stewed duck or fat house-cured pork belly. It also serves that other Shenyang specialty, fake dog meat, which is actually a low heap of cold, shredded pork, gritty with ground cumin and strongly scented with vinegar and garlic. Lunch and dinner seven days 10:30 a.m.10:30 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Dinner for two, food only, $12$22. Chinese
JG


Nyala
1076 S. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 936-5918
The central fact of Ethiopian cuisine is injera, the sour, pale, platter-size pancake that acts as plate, utensil, condiment and bread, and also as an ingredient in about half the stews. At the vegetarian-friendly Nyala, there is a fine version of the chicken stew doro wot, thick with hot spice and glistening with butter; minchetabish, which tastes like a fiery Ethiopian take on Texas chili. Mon.Sun. 11:30 a.m.11 p.m. Full bar. Street parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $7$12 Ethiopian
JG
	

O-Dae San
2889 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 383-9800
O-Dae San is undoubtedly the best fish restaurant in Koreatown, a vast, sleek space with a Korean-style sushi bar running the length of the dining room, waitresses in traditional dress, and a parking lot filled with more $150,000 Mercedes sedans than youll find anywhere this side of Stuttgart. There are subtleties to O-Dae Sans long menu that we wouldnt even try to address. Because, peasants that we are, we can never tear ourselves away from the ever-fascinating al bap, a big bowl of sushi rice frosted  frosted!  with a half-dozen different kinds of fish eggs, laid out in contrasting streaks radiating from the center of the bowl like rays from the sun. Plus, you get to say: al bap. But still, we know nothing goes better with a brimming glass of soju than something like O-Dae Sans hwe do bap, which is to say bits of impeccably fresh sashimi topped with vinegared slivers of cucumber, strips of toasted seaweed, black sesame seeds, tossed at the table with sweet bean sauce and a raw egg. We may be peasants, but were not crazy.   Korean
JG
	

OB Bear
3002 W. Seventh St.
Los Angeles
(213) 480-4910
There are many reasons to fall in love with OB Bear, a venerable Koreatown tavern across the street from Southwestern Law School. You may admire the spicy squid served with noodles, the kebabs, or the roast chicken. You may be intrigued with the bars charming version of buffalo wings, which are as sticky and peppery and oily as the original, only more so. Something about the setup of the place seems to encourage the intake of intoxicating liquids, and it is easy to find yourself ordering frankly unwise amounts of whiskey, or personal kegs of beer so large that they dwarf the rather small tabletops, which can make any evening more entertaining. We are shallow and easily amused. To us, it is enough that this cheerful den of inebriation is located directly below the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous.   Korean
JG
	

Oki Dog
5056 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 938-4369
Immortalized by the Descendents, beloved by the Germs, the original Oki Dog, long since closed, was to the original 70s punk-rock scene in Los Angeles what the Brown Derby was to 1940s filmdom. The most famous creation here at the stand that remains is the eponymous dog, a couple of frankfurters wrapped in a tortilla with chili, pickles, mustard, a slice of fried pastrami and a torrent of goopy American cheese  a cross-cultural burrito thats pretty hard to stomach unless youve got the tum of a 16-year-old, but strangely delicious nonetheless. Open seven days 9 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $4$5.50 American Cross-Culture
JG
	

Orean The Health Express
817 N. Lake Ave.
Pasadena
(626) 794-0861
Anchoring a strip of drive-through restaurants more extensive than even the fabled business district of Baker, Orean is a bastion of veganism in the midst of rainforest despoilers, battling the corporate fast-food hordes with its vast agglomerations of textured vegetable protein, sprouted clover and soy cheese that concede nothing to a double chili-cheeseburger in sheer, trashy, sloppy bulk  the so-called African burrito is as big as a tahini-dripping Sunday Times. And if you dont want to be seen eating anything so vulgar as a vegan pastrami dip in public, you can wash it down with a ginseng slush or a no-dairy root beer float without leaving the safety and comfort of your Hummer. Open seven days, 9:30 a.m. 9 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. $7-$9. Vegan
JG
	

Orso
8706 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(310) 274-7144
The West Coast branch of New Yorks Orso has fully embraced Southern Californias resemblance to the Italian countryside; the high-walled garden bursts with Mediterranean plants and grasses. The wood-paneled interior has its own rustic, candlelit romantic allure  and a cozy bar. If, for some reason, celebrities enhance your appetite, you can often spot a film star of some ilk on the Orso premises. To our mind, the fresh Italian cooking  grilled trout with cockles, seasonal risottos  is incentive enough. Lunch and dinner daily. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $18$27 Italian
MH
	

Out Take Caf
12159 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 760-1111
From won tons to lamb shank, theres something for everyone at this too small, often packed eclectic caf. And you can order a terrific meal of vareniki (sturdy Polish dumplings topped with caramelized onions and sour cream) followed by a bowl of beefy, vegetable-rich hot borscht. Lunch and dinner seven days. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. $11$16. Polish/ Eclectic
MH
	

Pace
2100 Laurel Canyon Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 654-8583
Its pronounced pah-chay and means peace; certainly this quiet Laurel Canyon nestler is peaceful and cozy. Both the small, leafy patio and cavelike dining room are ideal for an intimate dinner with friends. Chef-owner Sandy Gendel has a Northern California fondness for all things fresh, organic and flavorful as well as impressive Northern Italian credentials (he spent two years cooking at Vissani in Umbria). The pizzas are superb and the Bolognese sauce is big-souled. Dinner 5:3011 p.m. seven nights. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $12$28 California Italian
MH
	

Paladar
651 Wilcox Ave.
Hollywood
(323) 465-7500
When it comes to food, Paladars kitchen is as allusively postmodern as its dcor. Id call the cuisine Cubanesque  food that starts out from a Cuban idea and then is embroidered, expanded, refined, if not always improved upon. In the best cases, the basic sensuality of Cuban cooking  the broad lash of garlic, the clarifying douse of citrus, the luscious sweetness of plantains and caramelized milk, the savory saut of flavor-enhancing, aromatic vegetables, or soffritto  makes it through the translation to trendy Hollywood dinner item. Try the long-marinated skirt steak, the Caribbean roast chicken or the soffritto rock shrimp: shrimp, chiles, plantains, soffritto  Cubanesque at its best. Lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.11 p.m. and Fri. 11:30 a.m.midnight; dinner Sat. 5:30 p.m.midnight and Sun. 5:3010:30 p.m. Full bar. Street parking. AE, MC, V.  Entres $13$22. Cuban
MH
	

Palm Thai
5273 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 462-5073.
Palm Thai may be the most famous Thai supper club in Hollywood  with Thai tour buses often parked out front. The food is first-rate. Bar snacks include crisp-skinned Thai sour sausages served with fried peanuts and raw cabbage and beef jerky, fried to a tooth-wrenching chaw. There is a proper papaya salad, the unripe fruit shredded into crunchy slaw, with taut chile heat, sweet-tart citrus dressing and the briny sting of salt-preserved raw crab. And Palm Thai prepares the best version in town of suea rong hai, northeastern-style barbecued beef. You can request a second menu, which includes most of Palm Thais best dishes: fiery salads, Isaan-style bar snacks and elaborate soups. But much of the restaurants exotica is confined to a third, untranslated menu tucked inside the second one, and if you ask nicely, a waitress may translate a few items for you. Lunch and dinner seven days 11 a.m.1 a.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $18$40. Thai. Thai
JG


Papa Cristos
2771 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 737-2970
At Papa Cristos, tucked into a corner of Los Angeles oldest Greek market, eight bucks buys a whole grilled fish, or a plate of spaghetti plus half a garlicky, crisp-skinned roast chicken. Eight bucks will also buy three lamb chops, four if youre lucky, steeped in garlic and oregano and grilled quickly over a hot fire. These arent the thick, prime loin chops youd find at Michaels or Campanile, and they are usually cooked somewhere on the far, far side of rare, but it is hard to imagine more flavorful meat. Lunch Tues.Sun. Beer and wine. Lot parking in rear. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $6.99 to $9.99. Greek
JG
	

Pastis
8114 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 655-8822
Pastis is more country-French than its nearby rival, the urbane Mimosa. Despite the constantly changing chefs  the good ones have been plucked like grapes by bigger restaurants  the kitchen turns out reliably good, quality French food. The tables are a little tight, but Ive made friends with people sharing the banquette. Look for the comforting, traditional roast leg of lamb with flageolets, a classic deep-bowled frise aux lardons and lavender-scented crme brle. Dinner Mon.-Fri. 6-10 p.m., Sat.-Sun. to 11 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking on weekends. AE, MC, V. Entres $12$20. French Bistro
MH
	

Pattaya
1727 N. Vermont Ave.
Los Feliz
323) 666-0880.
This modest Thai restaurant, in a mini-mall on Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz, has a number of things going for it. First, it has a parking lot, a true boon in this bustling, ever-hippifying neighborhood. Second, it opens daily at 11 a.m. for lunch, and stays open nightly until 4 a.m., which means that you can get an excellent curative hot pot of chicken soup before you call it quits on a long evening out. Finally, it has a kitchen full of good Thai cooks, so that whenever you come, you have a solid chance of getting something delicious to eat. The pad kee mao, pan-fried flat noodles with chile, fried basil leaves and, in our case, chicken, was alarmingly delicious. And the green curry, with its thick coconut-milk sauce, well-balanced heat, tender chicken (or beef) and slippery, plump chunks of eggplant, is sensuous and haunting. Open seven days 11 a.m.4 a.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $10 & up. Thai
MH
	

Pepes No. 2
9020 Telegraph Road
Downey
(562) 869-7045
(as far as we know, there is no Pepes No. 1) is as renowned for the lousiness of its burritos as it is for its spectacular taquitos, fat, meaty things, overstuffed even, with frizzled, blackened strings of beef hanging out at the ends, and a cool, chunky guacamole spiked with diced onions and tomato. Lunch and dinner, Mon. Sun., 7:30 a.m. 9 p.m.; Fridays, 7:30 a.m. 10 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only.  $1.70-$7. Mexican
JG
	

Philippe the Original
1001 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles
(213) 628-3781
The place is so much a part of old Los Angeles that sometimes it feels as if it isnt really a part of Los Angeles, as if it belongs to an older city without chrome. The French-dipped sandwiches of lamb or beef are wet and rich, with something of the gamy animal pungency of old-fashioned roast meat. And if you enjoy the sight of eyes bulging and nostrils flaring as people encounter depth charges of ultrahot mustard in their sandwiches, theres even something of a floor show. Open daily 6 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. Cash only. Sandwiches $4.25-$4.55. American
JG
	

Philippe the Original
1001 N. Alameda St.
Los Angeles
(213) 628-3781
The place is so much a part of old Los Angeles that sometimes it feels as if it isnt really a part of Los Angeles, as if it belongs to an older city without chrome. The French-dipped sandwiches of lamb or beef are wet and rich, with something of the gamy animal pungency of old-fashioned roast meat. And if you enjoy the sight of eyes bulging and nostrils flaring as people encounter depth charges of ultrahot mustard in their sandwiches, theres even something of a floorshow. Beer and wine. Lot parking. Cash only.  Sandwiches $4.25$4.55 American
Jonathan Gold
	

Phillips
2619 S. Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 731-4772
For many of us, Phillips is a Saturday-night ritual: the called-in order, the drive to the south end of the Crenshaw strip, and an hour in line outside the restaurant, trash-talking the Lakers, guzzling off-brand soda pop and admiring the bootlegged Reverend Shirley Caesar CDs somebody always seems to be selling from the trunk of her car. A small-end slab from Phillips can hold its own with any barbecued spareribs in the world. The extra-hot sauce, tart with vinegar and so crowded with whole dried chiles that the ribs occasionally look as if they have been embellished with Byzantine mosaics, has tempted better men than you and me to gnaw the flesh right off their fingertips. Several years ago, Mr. Phillips expanded his empire to a second store, in Inglewood, and now there is another Phillips, in the chalet-style Crenshaw building that until recently housed the well-regarded Leos Bar-B-Q, and it seems as if the supply of great barbecue in Los Angeles has exponentially increased. Mon. 11 a.m.8 p.m., Tues. Thurs. 11 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m. mid., closed Sun. 1517 Centinela Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 412-7135. Tues.Thurs. 11 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.mid., Sun. 11 a.m.6 p.m., closed Mon. No alcohol. Lot parking. MC, V.  Barbecue
JG
	

Phillips Barbecue
4307 Leimert Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 292-7613.
Crusted with black and deeply smoky, the spareribs here are rich and crisp and juicy; the beef ribs are meaty as rib roasts beneath their coat of char. They are the best ribs in Los Angeles, perhaps the only ribs that can compete on equal terms with the best from Oakland or Atlanta. And the extra-hot sauce is as sweet and exhilarating as a classic OJays LP. Tucked into a mini-mall between a liquor store and the local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous, Phillips might be a little hard to spot from the street, but if you keep your window open, you should be able to sniff it out from half a mile away. Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Thurs. to 10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. to midnight. No alcohol. Parking in lot. Cash only. Entres $4.75$10.50. American
JG
	

Pho 2000
215 N. Western Ave. and other locations
Los Angeles
(323) 461-5845
As delicious as a bowl of sullongtang can be, it is incontrovertible: The sharp mineral smack of long-boiled beef bones is distinctly not to everybodys taste. Gently spiced Vietnamese pho, on the other hand, may be the greatest beef-bone soup in the world, mellowed with cinnamon and star anise, roundly meaty from long simmering, and garnished with a lavish variety of cattle parts and a salad bowls-worth of herbs. So it was probably only a matter of time before the Korean community clasped pho to its bosom, and more than a dozen Vietnamese noodle shops, most of them operating 24 hours a day, speckle the boulevards of Koreatown. None of these pho shops is quite up to the standards of Golden Deli or Pho 79, but there are worse places to end up at 4 in the morning than at one of the various locations of Pho 2000, soaking up the excess soju with a warm bowl of noodles.   Vietnamese
JG
	

Pho 79
727 N. Broadway, Suite 120
Chinatown
(213) 625-7026
If you like noodles, you might think Pho 79 serves the perfect breakfast: light, tasty and just exotic enough, inexpensive and filled with vitamins from beef soup. The strong, dark-roasted coffee, dripped at the table in individual stainless-steel French filters, is among the best Ive had anywhere. And in an area  Chinatown  thick with Vietnamese noodle shops, Pho 79 serves the best noodles. But the place does have one drawback: it hasnt changed its one Vietnamese easy-listening tape since it opened. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Seven days 8:30 a.m.6:30 p.m. Beer only. Takeout. Validated lot parking. Cash only. Food for two, $7-$10 Vietnamese
JG


Pho 79
727 N. Broadway, Suite 120
Chinatown
(213) 625-7026
he perfect breakfast is hard to find. Soul food is too fattening, diner food too bland, Japanese pickles just too weird before noon. If you like noodles, you might think Pho 79 serves the perfect breakfast, light, tasty and just exotic enough, inexpensive and filled with vitamins: beef soup. The strong, dark-roasted coffee, dripped at table in individual stainless-steel French filters, is among the best Ive had anywhere. And in an area  Chinatown  thick with Vietnamese noodle shops, Pho 79 serves the best noodles. Lunch and dinner seven days 8:30 a.m.7 p.m. Beer and wine. Validated parking. Cash only. Food for two, $7$10. Vietnamese
JG
	

Pho Bac Huynh
11819 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 477-9379
Until recently, the Westside was as lacking in pho (pronounced fuh)  the northern Vietnamese dish of slithery rice noodles, fragrant beef broth and leafy herbs  as it is in certain other necessities of 21st-century Los Angeles life, such as soup dumplings, natural-charcoal Korean barbecue or really great taco trucks. So I was fairly ecstatic when I wandered into Pho Bac Huynh, a slick, cheerful place tucked into a Brentwood mini-mall next to the Japanese soba house Mishima. Plates on most tables were heaped with cilantro, bean sprouts and a few different varieties of Asian basil, the classic Vietnamese garnishes for pho. Cinnamon, anise and the funk of simmering beef, the soups unmistakable signature, perfumed the air. This is the real thing, in a location where you would be more likely to find a Subway. Lunch and dinner seven days 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout and delivery. Validated lot parking. AE, MC, V. Food for two, $10$15. Vietnamese
JG
	

Phong Dinh
2643 N. San Gabriel Blvd.
Rosemead
(626) 307-8868
Phong Dinh is located just where you might speed up on the way to a little catch-and-release at the lakes in Whittier Narrows, probably untempted by the restaurant's neon promise of "World Famous Baked Fish." But when the fish lands on your table, mouth agape like Aaron Brown deprived of a Teleprompter, it is a sweet-smelling thing, still sizzling, lolling on a platterful of mixed greens as if it had just happened to belly-flop onto a passing salad. And the fish couldn't be better, crisp-skinned and steaming with a pleasing feral muddiness that five generations of scientific aquaculture have completely eliminated from American catfish. Lunch and dinner 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Beer and wine. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $15.95-$35 Vietnamese
JG
	

Picholine
3360 W. First St.,
Los Angeles
(213) 252-8722
Almost three years ago, Patrick Milo, who once managed Say Cheese in Silver Lake, opened this elegant storehouse of temptations on an unlikely corner in Los Angeles  First Street and Beverly Boulevard (two otherwise parallel streets that meet just east of Virgil). The gourmet specialty store and sandwich shop sells nine tried-and-true sandwiches, which you can eat at one of the stylish small tables  if youre lucky enough to find an empty one  or carry out. (You can fax in your order, too.) Sandwich Number One (grilled chicken breast with pesto, arugula, shaved Parmesan and oven-roasted tomato on a rustic roll) is the biggest seller, with Number Four (smoked turkey, Monterey jack cheese, barbecue sauce and red onion melted on rosemary bread) a close runner-up. One of the waiters and I, however, share a penchant for the Number Nine, the quintessentially simple Madrange ham and Brie cheese on a La Brea Bakery baguette. All sandwiches come with a choice of salad (pasta or mesclun), but youll also be tempted to buy a Valrhona chocolate bar, some flower-scented berry sorbet, and (as long as youre there) French rhubarb jam, rustic Italian pastas of startling porosity, Dean and DeLucca herbs de Provence, not to mention a mind-bending selection of European cheeses (dont miss the cows-milk truffle cheese). Click here for full review. fax (213) 252-8723. Tues.Sun. 10 a.m.6:30 p.m., closed Sun.-Mon. No alcohol. Street parking. AE, DC, D, MC, V. All sandwiches $7.50. Sandwiches/Bakery
MH
	

Pie N Burger.
913 E. California Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 795-1123.
This is the best neighborhood hamburger joint in a neighborhood that includes Caltech, which means the guy next to you may be reading a physics proof over his chili size as if it were the morning paper. When compressed by the act of eating, a Pie N Burger hamburger leaks thick, pink dressing, and the slice of American cheese, if you have ordered a cheeseburger, does not melt into the patty, but stands glossily aloof. When the fruit is in season, dont miss a cut of the epochal fresh-strawberry pie. Mon.Fri. 6 a.m.10 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. 7 a.m.9 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking. Cash only. Entres $5$10. American
JG
	

Pinks
709 N. La Brea Ave.
Hollywood
(323) 931-4223
Consider the Pinks dog, uncouth and garlicky, skin thick and taut, so that when you sink your teeth into it, the sausage . . . pops . . . into a mouthful of juice. The bun is soft enough to achieve a oneness with the thick chili that is ladled over the dog, but firm enough to resist dissolving altogether, unless you order it with sauerkraut. And why wouldnt you? Open Sun.Thurs. 9:30 a.m.2 a.m., Fri.Sat. 9:30 a.m.3 a.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Takeout. Cash only. Dogs $3$6. American
JG
	

Pollos a la Brasa
764 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 382-4090.
Peruvian-style chicken  pollo a la brasa, chicken on a spit  is the stuff to turn to when youre looking for roasted chicken with lots of taste. The meat is remarkable, well-garlicked, slightly spicy, permeated with that pungent smoke. The flesh is juicy, the herbal flavor clear, the skin caramelized and crisp. With the chicken come a salad and little plastic cups of aji, a smooth, mint-green cheese-and-chile pure that is almost hot enough to sear the skin off your lips. Lunch and dinner Wed.Mon. 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Food for two $5$10. Peruvian
JG
	

Pollos a la Brasa
16527 S. Vermont Ave.
Gardena
(213) 382-4090
Peruvian-style chicken  pollo a la brasa, chicken on a spit  is the stuff to turn to when youre looking for roasted chicken with lots of taste. The meat is remarkable, well-garlicked, slightly spicy, permeated with that pungent smoke. The flesh is juicy, the herbal flavor clear, the skin caramelized and crisp. With the chicken come a salad and little plastic cups of aji, a smooth, mint-green cheese-and-chile pure that is almost hot enough to sear the skin off your lips. Lunch and dinner Wed.Mon. 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Food for two $5$10. Peruvian
JG
	

Prince
3198 1/2 W. Seventh St.
Los Angeles
(213) 389-2007
Imagine a Korean pub shoehorned into the fanciest restaurant in Los Angeles circa 1953, complete with the lawn jockeys at the top of the stairs and oil paintings of earls above the oxblood leather banquettes. The food, you understand, is not exactly the point at the Prince, which seems to specialize in sugary stir-fries and American dishes that might have been inspired by Quad Cities Rotary banquet menus. The basic unit of currency here is the kimchi pancake, a thin mass of egg batter laced with fermented cabbage, lashed together with scallions, then fried to an exquisite, oily crispness. Kimchi pancakes come free with your drinks, which makes sense, because the greasy heat of the things is enough to power you through an entire double-size bottle of Korean Hite beer.   Korean
JG
	

Raffis Place
211 E. Broadway
Glendale
(818) 240-7411
You go to Raffis for its enormous, affordable plates of Persian-Armenian food, but you also get canaries singing in the trees, a heated brick patio, quick service and a location close to Glendales best movie theaters. Everyone comes for the grilled kebabs served with whole charred tomatoes and peppers, plus mountains of aromatic basmati rice  try the shishlique, or lamb chops. Also recommended: the lemony hummus and a smoky eggplant dip (baba ganoush) scooped up with supple, paper-thin lavash. Tues.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Sun. noon-9 p.m. Beer and wine. Validated parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $8$14. Persian/Armenian
MH


Rambutan Thai
2835 Sunset Blvd.
Silver Lake
(213) 273-8424
Rambutan is hip enough for designers and artists, romantic enough for dates, and authentic and passionate enough in its cooking for ethnic-food lovers. Many Thai restaurants cater to timid American palates, playing down the chile heat, eschewing the fish sauce, and sweetening dishes. But the Rambutan kitchen refreshingly and correctly assumes that its hip Silver Lake clientele has the sophistication and ability to appreciate the full Thai flavors. But more timid eaters will find plenty of accessible, Americanized crossover hits on the menus from the grill section. And theres a lengthy list of Thai tapas that should not be ignored. Lunch and dinner Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.10:30 p.m., dinner Sat.Sun. 510:30 p.m. Beer, wine and sake. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $8$14. Thai
MH
	

Reddi-Chick
225 26th St.
Santa Monica
(310) 393-5238
In the exalted reaches north of Montana Avenue, the Brentwood Country Mart is synonymous with Reddi-Chick, whose roaring fire and golden-skinned roasting fowl exude an aroma almost powerful enough to smell at the beach. The basic item here is the chicken basket, half a roast chicken buried beneath a high mound of fries. It is probably not the best chicken youve ever had, but its real good, like the best conceivable version of the chickens that spin in supermarkets. Mon.Sat. 9 a.m.7:30 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. Sandwiches and dinners $4.10-$15.75. American
JG
	

Renu Nakorn.
13041 E. Rosecrans Ave.
Norwalk
(562) 921-2124
Renu Nakorns food is spicy, but what makes it wonderful is the fresh play of tastes, a fugue of herbs, meatiness and citrus that is quite unlike anything at your corner Thai caf. Theres a blistering larb of finely ground catfish; the thinnest sour strands of shredded bamboo; great Thai beef jerky; and an extraordinary version of steak tartare that is so delicious it could sear the hairs out of your nostrils. Lunch and dinner daily. Beer and wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $5.95$19.95. Thai
JG
	

Restaurant Halie
1030 E. Green St.
Pasadena
(626) 440-7067
This is a meat-and-potatoes menu, literally and figuratively. The lamb loin is an astonishingly good hunk of meat: tender, deeply flavorful, usually delicious. The charred-rare rib-eye may have been ordered rare and delivered closer to medium, but who cares? The flavor and juiciness transcend that. And the pork chop, if anything, is even more delicious: big, sweet pork flavor and succulence. Never mind that the accompaniments are sometimes indifferently cooked and heaped on the plates  the meats are extraordinary. Lunch 11:30 a.m.2 p.m., dinner 610 p.m. Tues.Sun. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $15$32. American
MH
	

Restaurant Josie
2424 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica
(310) 581-9888
Never mind, if you can, that Josie has one of the chilliest doors in town  the hostesses act like bouncers for the DAR. Once youre seated, life improves; the waiters are real pros, and the dining room manages to be sedate yet hip, and quite cozy in a WASP-y, old-money kind of way. Chef-owner Josie LeBalch, formerly of the Saddle Peak Lodge, Remi and the Beach House, cooks her own mix of Cal-Med dishes with an emphasis on game. Try the wood-roasted quail, pappardelle with rabbit or the wild boar. Dinner Mon.Sat. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $18$32. California
MH
	

Rincon Hondureo
1654 W. Adams St.
Los Angeles
(323) 734-9530
There are perhaps a couple of dozen Honduran restaurants scattered around Westlake and Huntington Park; but nowhere, except at Rincon Hondureo, will you find sopa de caracol as good, or curry-tinged arroz con pollo, or coconut-infused fish soup that revolves around a whole, fresh rock cod as highly peppered as pastrami. For breakfast, there is hash fish, finely minced whitefish sauted with onions and peppers, served with red beans, plantains and the square of salty, white cheese that seems to come with everything here. This is an easy place to spend an afternoon. Lunch and dinner Mon.Fri. 7:30 a.m.9:30 p.m., Sat.Sun. 8 a.m.9:30 p.m. Beer only. Takeout. Street parking. Cash only.   Lunch or dinner for two, $12$18. Honduran
JG
	

Rocca
1432-A Fourth St.
Santa Monica
(310) 395-6765
Don Dickman, formerly of Trumps and Daily Grill, finally opened his dream restaurant in Santa Monica, a rustic Italian bistro with the look of a neighborhood New York eatery. Dickman does the lions share of cooking  all the stewing and braising  but he also has brought in an ace pasta maker, Maria Gomez. Id go back for the flattened half-chicken al mattone, an excellent-quality, juicy bird with beautifully seasoned skin. For dessert, try the bittersweet-chocolate polenta pudding cake. One night, a friend looked up and said with a slightly startled air, Is this, uh, like a major restaurant? In some ways, Rocca is simply too modest for that  too neighborhood, too underdressed. But for those of us who crave authentic Italian cuisine, Rocca is definitely a major restaurant. Dinner Sun.Thurs. 5:3010 p.m., Fri.Sat. 5:3011 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking across the street at Border Grill. AE, DC, MC, V.  Entres $11$17. Italian
MH
	

Rod-Ded
5623 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood
(323) 464-9689
Rod-Ded is well-known in the Thai community for its pungent bowls of duck noodle soup, as well as for a delicious dish of stewed pork leg with homemade pickles and the crustiest, most delicious fried bananas you have ever tasted. And Rod-Deds version of pad kee mao, rice noodles stir-fried with basil, is usually pretty good, slightly charred from contact with a really hot wok, and brought up to breathtaking heat with fresh and dried chiles. Lunch and dinner Wed.Mon. 11 a.m.8 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. Cash only. Lunch for two, food only, $10$14 Thai
JG
	

Roscoes Chicken N Waffles
1514 N. Gower St.
Hollywood
(323) 466-7453
Why chicken and waffles? Is it a time-honored combination? Is there a particular methodology at work? Or do they just happen to coexist on the same plate, allowing for the occasional serendipitous splash of maple syrup on a succulent fried wing? We may never know. Drawing weekend crowds that spill out onto the sidewalk, Roscoes is the Carnegie Deli of L.A.s R&B scene. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Beer and wine. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $6$9 American Soul
JG
	

Rosen Brewery
400 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 388-0061
Through the streets of Koreatown, foaming, unchecked rivers of OB and Hite beer flow. So it is only fitting that Koreatown play host to a brewery of its own, a brew-pub sporting enormous vats of Koreatown Ale and Sunset Red, as well as concert-volume Madonna videos and enough spinning, flashing lights to make Disco Stu a happy man indeed. The menu of fried calamari and cheeseburgers could make Rosen Brewery more or less the T.G.I. Fridays of Koreatown, except that as far as I know, T.G.I. Fridays has never served much in the way of spicy sea snail salad.   Korean
JG
	

Ruen Pair Thai
5257 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 466-0153
At Ruen Pair Thai, there are actually two menus: one the standard pad Thai/cashew-chicken sheet that non-Thais are pretty much automatically given, the other a yellow four-page menu that lists the preserved-egg salad, the pork fried with Chinese olives, and the simmered goose that made the restaurant famous. At 2 a.m., everybody is eating more or less the same thing: flat, crisp Thai omelets, and morning-glory stems fried with an immoderate amount of garlic. 11 a.m.-4 a.m. daily. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $4.95$7.95. Thai
JG
	

Sa Rit Gol
3189 W. Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles
(213) 387-0909
To connoisseurs, a restaurant is best judged by the quality of its panchan, the little dishes of kimchi and other preserved foods laid out at the beginning of a Korean meal. And panchan rarely come any better than they do at Sa Rit Gol  the candied dried fish, the crisp water kimchi of radish, the chile-marinated squid, even the ordinary cabbage kimchi, are admired by the kind of old-line Korean traditionalists who insist on making their own kimchi, miso, and soy sauce, at home. But even if your own exposure to panchan extends no further than a couple of excursions to Soot Bull Jeep, you are still likely to recognize the focused tanginess and the careful, freshness-preserving fermentation of the kimchi at Sa Rit Gol as extraordinarily good. Sa Rit Gol is indeed one of the best restaurants in Koreatown, a rustic joint still decorated with raw wood and Korean beer posters, full of two-fisted drinkers, locally famous for its spicy pork barbecue, grilled belly pork and grilled pike  classic drinking food  as well as bubbling crab casseroles, black-cod soups and braised shiitake mushrooms with spinach.   Korean
JG
	

Safety Zone Caf
3630 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 387-7595
More than a dozen years after its opening, the Safety Zone Caf is still a Smithsonian-quality masterpiece of bad 1970s restaurant design, down to the distressed bronze-look plastic, and the frothy colored drinks that look alarmingly like Brandy Alexanders . . . all thats missing is an engraved Oly mirror or two. A hidden club within the restaurant supposedly borrows its motifs from the lower-school Korean classroom. A tent in the back, the hip place to be, is home to fair-to-middling codfish stew, very decent dumpling soup, and okay bulgogi. A dozen years later, the specialty is probably steak and potatoes, done more in the style of a Midwestern roadhouse than a charcoal pit in Seoul. But youve got to give the Safety Zone some props: In Paxton, Nebraska, there is just no way youre going to be able to order a platter of sauted octopus on the side.   Korean
JG
	

Saladang and Saladang Song
363 & 383 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena
(626) 793-8123
For a long time, Saladang was Pasadenas most beautiful Thai restaurant, with its stark, chic, aluminum-gray good looks and refreshing, inventive Thai cuisine. Saladang became so popular, in fact, the owners built an annex one door down. The new Saladang Song trumps its parent for sheer beauty; its architecture alone  high concrete walls with insets of cutout steel that hearken simultaneously to Angkor Wat and Frank Lloyd Wright  is worth a visit, and its more traditional (than Saladangs) Thai cooking is worth any number of returns. These are flexible-budget restaurants  you can have a big bowl of soup and an appetizer for around 12 bucks, or a multicourse feast for five times that. 11 a.m.9:45 p.m., seven days. Saladang Song: (626) 793-5200. 6:30 a.m.9:45 p.m., seven days; beer and wine. Lot parking. Takeout. AE, MC, V. $10-$20. Thai
MH
	

Sanamluang Caf
5176 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 660-8006
Sanamluang is a Thai place to duck into and out of at 3 a.m. after the clubs close for vast plates of rice fried with mint leaves, seafood and chiles; for big, comforting bowls of chicken soup flavored with toasted garlic; and for wide noodles fried with Chinese broccoli and shiitake mushrooms. Truly extraordinary is the generals noodle soup: thin, garlicky egg noodles garnished with bits of duck, barbecued pork, crumbles of ground pork and a couple of shrimp, submerged in a clean, clear broth. Open daily 9 a.m.4 a.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only.  Entres $5$10. Thai. Thai
JG
	

Santa Fe Station
4101 Lakewood Blvd.
Lakewood
(562) 429-8700
For four and a half years, the faithful have been going to Santa Fe Station, just north of the Long Beach Airport and which supposedly goes through Hatch chiles the way McDonalds goes through McNuggets. You will find fajita platters on the menu, and fried zucchini, and Cajun shrimp. Stacked enchiladas, tortillas piled on one another like LPs on an old phonograph spindle, are awash in chile and molten cheese, and garnished with a couple of fried eggs in case the bulk of the dish isnt quite enough. But the green chili, a fairly magnificent bowl of earthy, pungent, roasted Hatch peppers, coarsely pured, stewed down with pork and thinned with a little broth, and served with a couple of sopapillas, is the real stuff. The musky, gravylike red is fine in its way, but Santa Fe Station is all about the green. Lunch and dinner, Mon.Fri. 9 a.m.10 p.m., Sat.Sun. 7 a.m.10 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Food for two: $14$30. New Mexican
JG
	

Sapp Coffee Shop
5183 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood
(323) 665-1035
There is nothing at first glance to distinguish Sapp Coffee Shop from any of the other restaurants in Thai Town. But Sapp may be the best lunchroom in Hollywood, a bright Thai restaurant, unrelentingly yellow inside, sharing a small mini-mall with a video shop and a place to get griddled Thai desserts; crowded at noon, not with revelers but with people who have come to Thai Town to shop and eat noodles, tripe soup, and pork curry stinky with slices of sour bamboo. Sapp is the Thai equivalent of the Apple Pan, remarkable for its unremarkableness, a lunchroom where the virtues of homeliness become extraordinary when put in context with the shiny, glittery surfaces against which it might compete. Lunch and dinner 7 a.m.8:30 p.m.; closed Wednesdays. Cash only. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking.  Lunch for two, food only, $8.50$14.50. Thai
JG
	

Satang Thai
8247 Woodman Ave.
Van Nuys
(818) 989-5637
One of about a trillion Thai restaurants near North Hollywoods big Buddhist temple, Satang looks like any other mini-mall establishment. But Satang has a minor specialization in the ultra-exotic cuisine of southern Thailand. And if you ask nicely, a waiter may describe the three or four southern dishes available on any given day  and probably hover around your table while you eat the stinky, awesomely hot bamboo curries and peppery soups and such to make sure you dont do yourself any real damage. Wed.Mon., noon10:30 p.m. Closed Tues. Full bar. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. $12$25. Thai
JG
	

Say Cheese.
2800 Hyperion Ave.
Silver Lake
(323) 665-0545
Silver Lakes Say Cheese, a dual storefront with a gourmet store on one side and an espresso caf on the other, is now owned by Glenn Harrell. Again, waiting for your sandwich, youll be tempted to load up on pt (try the exquisite duck mousse with port wine or the real McCoy, duck foie gras, at a dizzy-making $106 a pound), olives and, of course, the handpicked selection of French cheeses, including exqui lor, a cows-milk cheese washed in white wine. But back to the sandwiches. The menu offers 14 of them  all served with a mixed green salad  and the Cranberry Turkey (roast turkey breast with tomato, melted Monterey jack cheese and cranberry sauce on country bread) is the best-seller. The second favorite is the Almost Vegetarian (turkey, hot-pepper jack cheese, alfalfa sprouts, tomato, lettuce, avocado spread and Russian dressing on a rustic roll), and the fabulous, hip newcomer is the Barcelona (with Jamon Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, roasted red peppers, capers and olive oil on toasted rosemary bread). fax (323) 665-6465. Open seven days 8 a.m.6:30 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Sandwiches $8$9.50. Sandwiches/Bakery
MH
	

Shamshiri Grill
1712 Westwood Blvd.
Westwood
(310) 474-1410
Lovers of the Persian dishes tah dig and karafs  a thin, crunchy cake of fried white rice with a delicious green stew on top  will find good versions of both at Shamshiri, a well-mannered restaurant on Westwoods Iranian restaurant row. Lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.10 p.m., Fri. 11:30 a.m.11 p.m., Sat. noon11 p.m., Sun. noon10 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. $9.95$16.95 (lunch $5.95$7.95) Persian
JG


Shiang Garden
11 N. Atlantic Blvd.
Monterey Park
(626) 458-4508
Shiang Garden is a clean, bright place, spare of ornament, with fresh tablecloths and formal service. It is also the most serious Hunan-style restaurant in Southern California. At lunch time, theres an assortment of cold hors doeuvres: tender young bamboo shoots cooked in a sweet chile sauce; marinated cubes of jicama; parboiled snap peas brushed with sweetened sesame oil. What youre going to want next is the house-special bean curd, the smoking casserole that ends up on every table, sputtering and spitting like a volcanic hot spring: delicious. Lunch and dinner seven days 11:30 a.m.  2:30 p.m; 5:30 p.m.  9:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V Lunch for two $8.50$13; dinner for two $15$30. Hunan
JG
	

Shik Do Rak
2501 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 384-4148
The current fad in Korean barbecue restaurants is the style of service called dduk bo sam, which means that along with your heaps of raw short ribs and piles of foliage, you are issued stacks of oiled rice noodles, about the size and shape of beer coasters, with which you can wrap grilled meat into plump little tacos with slivered scallions, raw garlic, chile paste, or a bit of the leftover kimchi from the next table. Shik Do Rak pioneered dduk bo rak in Koreatown, and at dinnertime its tables are filled with diners industriously constructing fancy noodle wraps that would probably be a big hit on Chinese dim sum carts. The main dining room is decorated, incongruously enough, with gnomes, faux trellises and vast photomurals of what look like the flower gardens outside West Virginias patrician Greenbrier Hotel. Because after all, nothing stimulates the appetite like grainy pictures of rhododendrons.   Korean
JG
	

Shiro
1505 Mission St.
South Pasadena
(626) 799-4774.
Deep-fried catfish are almost as inescapable around here as personal trainers or Chevy Suburbans, but Shiro, a Japanese-French bistro unaccountably tucked into a Midwestern-looking South Pasadena streetscape, serves so much of this ponzu-steeped stuff that it might as well rename itself after the fish. Its version of the dish  imagine a whole catfish the size of the shark from Jaws, stuffed with ginger and fried to a crisp  is everything you could want from a bottom-feeder. 1505 Mission St., South Pasadena, (626) 799-4774. Lunch Tues.-Thurs.; dinner Tues.-Sun. Beer and wine. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $16.50$24.50. Japanese-French. Lunch Tues.-Thurs.; dinner Tues.-Sun. Beer and wine. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $16.50$24.50. Japanese-French
JG
	

Simpang Asia
10433 National Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 815-9075
With a huge selection of Japanese candy and boxes piled neatly to the ceiling, this small Indonesian grocery, with a Web site, is what Id imagine a 7-Eleven in Sulawesi might look like: immaculate shelves of chile peanuts, dried squid and juice boxes of starfruit drink, kilo bags of fried shallots, and more flavors of instant noodles than you may have known existed. Neighborhood kids drop in, carefully counting dimes for their rations of Pocky sticks or Japanese bubblegum. UCLA students haul off caseloads of ramen. Simpang Asia is almost exotic in its nonexoticism. Lunch and dinner, Mon.Fri. 10 a.m.10 p.m., Sat.Sun. 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. D, MC, V.  Food for two: $10$13. Indonesian. www.veryasia.com
JG
	

Skys Tacos
5408 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 932-6253
Skys are not the tacos your mother used to make. Or rather, they probably are the tacos your mother used to make, unless you happened to grow up in a Mexican household: two thick corn tortillas molded into the bottom of a red plastic carhop basket, mounded with turkey or chicken, shrimp or beef, gilded with orange cheese, buried under shredded lettuce and doused with a sweet-hot house salsa. Soul food pops up in the oddest places sometimes. Lunch and dinner Mon.Sat. No alcohol. Street parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $3.60$10. Mexican-American Soul
JG
	

So Kong Dong
2716 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 380-3737
My friend Caryl has always maintained that So Kong Dong was the best tofu restaurant in Koreatown. I have always plumped for Beverly Soon Tofu Restaurant across the street. So Kong Dong seems almost Soviet in its appearance, a low-ceilinged dining room bathed in a singularly unappealing fluorescent glare. Beverly looks as if its proprietor went overboard on the burl-log furniture for sale by the side of the road in Topanga. So Kong Dong serves its rice in superheated stone pots that give it a subtly smoky flavor. Beverlys rice is served in the same stainless-steel bowls you find everywhere in Koreatown. So Kong Dong includes briny pickled clams among its panchan. Beverlys panchan is pretty much by the book. So Kong Dongs signature tofu casserole, soontofu, is a marvelous thing, bubbling and sputtering in its red-hot bowl, robustly flavored with shrimp and clams and oysters and beef, walloped with chile and garlic. Beverlys soontofu is a little tamer, the broth more briny than complex, like an austere French bouillon as compared to a concentrated California-style stock fortified with tomato paste and fistfuls of herbs. So Kong Dong would seem to win on points. Yet the tofu itself, freshly made every day at both restaurants, is smooth and supple at Beverly, barely gelled blocks of pure, subtle flavor that melt into an elusive milkiness in your mouth, where at So Kong Dong the tofu tends to be kind of . . . curdy. Youll still find me at Beverly. But I wouldnt blame you if you ended up across the street with Caryl instead.   Korean
JG
	

Soda Jerks
219 S. Fair Oaks Ave.
Pasadena
(626) 583-8031
The ice cream served at Soda Jerks, an old-fashioned soda fountain in Pasadena, is Fosselmans  an excellent local brand thats been made in Alhambra by the Fosselman family for the last 80 years. Soda Jerks is a kid-friendly place, with cheerful college-age attendants behind the counter. You can order lunch (great hot dogs!) before your ice cream, or you can cut to the chase: unwieldy scoops of toasted almond, coconut-pineapple or rocky road in a sugar cone. I love cones  cake or sugar  but coming to one always makes me sad; it means the end is in sight. Open weekdays 8 a.m.10 p.m., weekends till 11 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Parking lot.  $3$7. Ice Cream
MH
	

Soot Bull Jeep
3136 8th St.
Los Angeles
(213) 387-3865
Soot Bull Jeep may be the best of L.A.s 100-odd Korean barbecues, noisy, smoky, with all the bustle youd expect in the heart of a great city, a place to cook your own marinated short ribs and baby octopus, pork loin and tripe, above a tabletop heap of glowing hardwood coals. If you are new to this sort of thing, a waitress will return periodically to make sure that your ignorance of cooking times injures the meat no more than absolutely necessary. Open daily 11 a.m.11 p.m. Beer and wine. Street parking. MC, V. Entres $15$30 Korean
JG
	

Spago
176 N. Caon Drive
Beverly Hills
(310) 385-0880
The flagship restaurant of the Wolfgang Puck empire, Spago in Beverly Hills replaced the original Hollywood Spago  and then some. Barbara Lazaroffs dining-room design is lavish yet, for her, restrained: large-scale ceramics and bright paintings, warm wood, comfy seating, a general homage to California sunshine. A large courtyard patio is the place to sit, at least until the cigar smokers light up. The kitchen is a small village unto itself with its own butchers, bakers, cooks and candy makers. Chef du cuisine Lee Hefter produces classically rigorous, lyrical Cal-French food with a strong Asian edge. Pastry chef Sherry Yard offers Austrian specialties, seasonal fruit desserts, and the citys most nuanced and pleasurable chocolate concoctions. Puck himself, ever cheerful and outgoing, is often on the premises. Stars, moguls, tourists, lunching matrons and serious suits fill the tables. The service is a well-tempered hybrid of warmth, humor and strict professionalism. Some complain that regular customers get better treatment than the rest of us, but then, sometimes life is like that. Lunch Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.2:15 p.m.; lunch Sat. noon2:15 p.m. Dinner seven days, from 5:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $19$36. California
MH
	

Spark Woodfire Cooking
11801 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 623-8883
What happens when a sophisticated regional-Italian restaurant like Alto Palato marries a mass market Cal-Ital coffee shop like Louises? Well, Spark  a cheerful Cal-Ital Valley girl with corporate polish and flickerings of soul. Thin-crust Roman pizzas and pressed Italian sandwiches share a menu with creamy coleslaw, and rotisserie meats, including porchetta, a fabulous herb- and pepper-encrusted pork leg. Sparks second, larger, more thoroughly Italian incarnation is seaside, at the Pierside Pavillion in Huntington Beach. Lunch Mon.-Fri.; dinner seven nights. 300 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach, (714) 960-0996. Lunch Sat.-Sun.; dinner seven nights. Full bar. Valet parking. Entres $8.95$22.95. California Italian
MH


Spikes Teriyaki Bowl
1530 San Gabriel Blvd.
San Gabriel
No phone
Hawaiian food, as we all know, is a triumph of street-level multiculturalism, a three-ring wango tango of American abundance, Asian technique and the genius of Polynesian flavors. But sometimes, just sometimes, Hawaiian cooking, the drive-thru kind at least, also means things like drippy teriyaki bowls, grilled pork on sticks and chicken sauced with stuff sweet enough to slop over pancakes. Gentlemen, start your engines. Open seven days, 10 a.m. 12 a.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. ATM cards and cash only. $6.50-$10. Hawaiian
JG
	

Starbucks
3020 Lincoln Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 392-0134
What could be better than an iced double-tall decaf caramel soy macchiato with double foam? Plenty of things, actually. But even a few minutes in Westside traffic can lead to all kinds of inappropriate yearnings, and a caffeinated visit to the drive-thru window, the only one of its type in the 310, can suddenly seem like the most rational thing in the universe. WiFi access, too, although were not sure how well it works when youve locked yourself into your Scion. Weekdays, 5:30 a.m.9 p.m.; weekends, 5 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. $2 and up. Coffee
JG
	

Stevies on the Strip.
3403 Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 734-6975
On Fridays, if you arrive before they run out, Stevies has an extremely good gumbo, dark and rich, salty and blisteringly pepper-hot, with shreds of smoked chicken, plump shrimp, a couple different kinds of sausage, and crab legs cut so that you can get at the meat without spattering your shirt with the viscous black goo. The flavor is equally earthy and marine, heightened by the murky herbal complexity that only fil can lend, full of garlic from the sausage, smoke from the chicken. Lunch and dinner Sun.Thurs. 11 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. For two, food only: lunch $7; dinner $18$20. Cajun
JG
	

Strohs Gourmet
1239 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice
(310) 450-5119
Since its inception, Strohs (a small corner shop on Abbot Kinney) has had a following. In addition to the cheese case, a cold case of drinks (including large glass bottles of Badoit water, which are rare here and price-controlled in France) and a small selection of high-priced, premium groceries (chestnut honey, organic coffee, rustic pasta, anchovy paste, that sort of thing), theres a third refrigerated case, displaying a large array of big, shaggy sandwiches, all freshly made and wantonly stacked in preparation for the hungry hordes  who do indeed come. Breakfast, lunch and dinner Mon.Sat. 7:30 a.m.7 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m.6 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Sandwiches $6.44 each. Sandwiches
MH
	

Sugarplum Bakery
7122 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 934-7900.
The smell of cooking sugar  surely the scent of fairy dust  greets you as you enter the perfect, twinkling world of Sugarplum Bakery. Candies! Cakes! Cookies! Tarts! The art nouveau woodwork, the dripping chandeliers, and the assortment of house-made and imported sweets will make anybody a kid in this candy store. If you want to eat real food first, there are very good grilled sandwiches  especially the tomato with Cheddar or the prosciutto with fresh mozzarella. Other must-haves include the croissants, the berry-blossom cake, and the bite-size fruit tarts  try the one with pomegranate seeds. Open Mon.Fri. 7 a.m.7 p.m., Sat. 8 a.m.7 p.m. and Sun. 8 a.m.6 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. AE, MC, V. Sandwiches $7. European Bakery
MH
	

Surya
8048 W. Third St.
Los Angeles
(323) 653-5151
Suryas tall walls are painted saffron yellow, chile red, mint-chutney green, and the owners of this nouvelle Indian caf are as warm and cheering as the dcor. The chef, born in Nepal and trained in Japan, prepares his own healthful and imaginative kind of Indian food: Try his tandoori-seared tuna sashimi, tandoori lamb chops with rosemary, low-fat aloo gobi. Both service and kitchen (and even the valet) flounder during weekend dinner rushes, but Suryas virtues bloom in slower, quieter times. . Lunch weekdays 11:30 a.m.3 p.m., dinner seven nights, 5:3010:30 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $7.95$15.95. Indian
MH
	

Sushi Tenn
2004 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 473-2388
The basic sushi platters at Sushi Tenn are pretty good, and a decent value. The first pass at an omakase menu is also good (though quite expensive), a run through the selection of fish, including their extraordinarily mellow yellowtail, aged like a fine steak, the very decent chu-toro, tuna belly, and the crunchy, briny wedge of pale-yellow herring roe. But the crab sushi is probably the best Ive ever had  a single, uninterrupted slab of meat laid across a faintly sweetened lozenge of warm sushi rice, no soy sauce, no yuzu, no wasabi, garnished only with a single lentil-sized glob of pea-green crab innards, possibly a sweet bit of liver, possibly the esteemed kanimiso, or crab brain. Lunch Mon.Fri. noon2:30 p.m., dinner Mon.Sat. 610 p.m. Beer, wine and sake. No takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V.  Lunch for two: $20$60; dinner for two: $50$150 a Japanese
JG
	

Tacos Baja Ensenada
5385 Whittier Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 887-1980.
Entire religions have been founded on miracles less profound than the Ensenada fish taco. In most of Mexico, the words estilo Ensenada signify just one thing: fish tacos, specifically the fried-fish tacos served at stalls in the fish market down by the docks. In East L.A., you will come no closer to the ideal than these crunchy, sizzlingly hot strips of batter-fried halibut, folded into warm corn tortillas with salsa, shredded cabbage and a squeeze of lime, sprinkled with freshly chopped herbs and finished with a squirt of thick, cultured cream. Lunch and dinner daily. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $3.99$10. Mexican
JG
	

Tahoe Galbi
3986 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 365-9000
Natural-charcoal barbecue, which is to say the atavistic pleasure of grilling meat over live coals, is traditionally kind of a cheap thrill. Such barbecuing as practiced at fancier Korean restaurants is usually done over well-ventilated gas grills, which are much less likely to leave your favorite blouse perforated with tiny holes like a silk colander. The newish, marble-encrusted Tahoe Galbi, another of those Koreatown restaurants that seem to be all patio, may be the first place in town where it is possible to enjoy both the superb meat characteristic of the best Korean restaurants and the smoky kick of live-fire cooking  and when you bite into the galbi, Korean short ribs, they flood your mouth with sweet juice.   Korean
JG
	

Taipan
1025 Baldwin Ave.
Arcadia
(626) 294-9228
Taipan is one of those Chinese restaurants that you could walk by 100 times without slowing down  a nice, clean-lined caf plopped down among the convenience stores and fast-food outlets in an Arcadia mini-mall. I had been expecting, you know, mall food: General Tsos chicken and sweet n sour pork. But Taipan is a serious if casual Hong Kongstyle restaurant, with congee in the morning and bargain-priced lunches, a wide range of clay-pot dishes and a decent selection of seafood, plenty of vegetarian dishes, great noodles, steamed pork flavored with fresh anchovies, and enough exotic innards to fill a small edition of Grays Anatomy. Lunch and dinner, Mon.Thurs. 11:30 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.11 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Dinner for two, food only, $18$24. Chinese
JG


Talesai
9198 Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills
(310) 271-9345
The owners of Talesai on Sunset Boulevard brought all their experience and many of their best dishes to this chic, glassed-in fishbowl of a caf situated at one end of a Beverly Hills mini-mall. Friendly service and beautiful Asian statuary mitigate the industrial spareness of the room, but nothing tempers the boomeranging noise during dinner. Through it all, the refined Thai cooking sings with freshness, quality and flavor  try crisp corncakes, chicken curry, rib-eye salad, all the desserts. Lunch Mon.Sat. 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m.; dinner seven days 510 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $7.95$12.95. Thai
MH
	

Tama Sushi
11920 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 760-4585
Whats fresh and good in sushi bars these days? We spoke with Michite Katsu, who has spent the last 40 years slicing sushi  30 of them in Los Angeles  and asked what hes bought at the fish market recently for his newly reopened restaurant in Studio City, Tama Sushi - named after his wife. Katsu, who trolls the wholesale fish markets for four hours every day, said hed picked up some good-looking skipjack (or bonito) from Hawaii, soft-shell crab from Maryland, Maine lobster, and three members of the yellowtail family: shima agi (island mackerel), kampachi (amberjack) and hamachi (yellowtail). "I like to say that if yellowtail is the Toyota of sushi, kampachi is the Ferrari, and shima agi, the Rolls-Royce." Katsu laughs, then adds, "This refers to quality and price." (Prices at Tama, Im delighted to report, are quite reasonable.) Katsu also laid in a supply of clams, aoyagi (orange clam) and hokki (soft clam), which he cuts for sushi, then sprinkles with lime juice and Italian sea salt. Live scallops  hotate  will be pried open to order; theyre sweet, pillowy, almost buttery. And finally, Katsu couldnt resist some shira ebi, a tiny, delicious white shrimp from Toyama. An added pleasure at Tama Sushi is eating off ceramist Jun Kanekos beautiful, handmade plates. Lunch Mon.Sat. 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m., dinner Mon.Thurs. 59:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 510 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Sushi and sashimi $1.50$15. Japanese
MH
	

Tama Sushi
1920 Ventura Blvd.
Studio City
(818) 760-4585
Formerly known as Katsu (until a fire closed it for a year), Studio Citys Tama Sushi is owned and run by veteran sushi master Michite Katsu and his wife, Tama. Katsus first restaurant, which opened on Hillhurst in the 80s, was seminal for its beauty and art, both on and off the plate; subsequent establishments (Katsu on Third, Caf Katsu) upheld his aesthetic standards. Now, theres only Tama Sushi, a spare, understated yet charming piece of architecture, with Katsu himself expertly carving up fish at the bar  its both educational and joyous to watch him at work. Start with a plate of assorted sashimi, and youll find he cuts fish as a gem cutter works with rubies, accentuating inherent virtues. And dont miss his live scallop sushi, dressed in lime juice with a sprinkle of Italian sea salt. Open for lunch Mon.Sat. 11:30 a.m.2 p.m.; dinner Mon.Thurs. 59:30 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 511 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Sushi and sashimi, $1.50$15. Japanese
MH
	

Tanino
1043 Westwood Blvd.
Westwood
(310) 208-0444
The high, decorated ceilings, marble floors, impressive woodwork and sparkling chandeliers all conspire to form one of L.A.s loveliest restaurants  an unlikely, urbane, sophisticated European refuge in a trafficky neck of Westwood. The service is charmingly warm and professional, and the earthy-yet-refined Italian cooking is most often excellent  were thinking of the lemon-drenched raw-artichoke salad, Tanino Dragos fine hand with fresh fish, and a delicate panna cotta that trembles rather than bounces. Lunch Mon.Fri. 11:30 a.m.3 p.m. Dinner Mon.Sat. 5:30 p.m.11:30 p.m., Sun. 5:30 p.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $12$25. Italian
MH
	

Taquera Sanchez
4541 Centinela Ave.
Culver City
310) 822-8880.
There are at least 5,000 taqueras in L.A., but almost every taco in Mexico is superior to practically every taco in Los Angeles. However Taquera Sanchez, a clean, spare taco restaurant just a bit south of Culver City and a short walk from some of the most inauthentic foodstuffs ever to be served under the name of tacos, is deeply authentic itself. Its not what youd find in Guadalajara or even Tijuana, but its not bad  even if it does feature a Baja Freshstyle salsa bar, even if it is possible to get plates of short ribs in spicy green chile sauce, marinated shrimp tostadas, and decent tortas, toasted French-bread sandwiches laden with fried beef, mayonnaise, white cheese, sliced peppers and avocados, in addition to the essential tacos. Here are the small, simple tacos of rich stewed tongue, and dryish pork loin, and gooey tripitas that you may have been yearning for, the slippery organ-meat crunch of hog stomach, the sauce-saturated sheets of fried pork skin. Here too are definitive tacos of carne asada, and baked cows head, and even spicy chicken. Sanchez is helping to close the taco gap on this side of the border, one taco at a time. Open daily for lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 9 a.m.7 p.m., Fri.  Sun. 8 a.m.9 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Street parking. Cash only.  Mexican
JG
	

Tasty Q
2959 Crenshaw Blvd
Los Angeles
(323) 735-8325
Around Thanksgiving time, this barbecue emporium may be best known as the home of the deep-fried turkey, a crunchy-skinned Louisiana delicacy that you can order here with a couple days notice even when it doesnt happen to be November. Believe us: Turkey is not something you want to deep-fry at home, even if your cousin Lambert happens to think its a good idea. The rest of the year, Tasty Q functions as a genuine drive-thru barbecue stand  but trust us on this one too  Armor All is of absolutely no use against the sauce. Open seven days, 10:30 a.m. 10 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. $9.25-$15.50 Barbecue
JG
	

Taylor's Steak House
3361 W. Eighth St.
Los Angeles
(213) 382-8449
The two Taylors are everything a steak house should be: dark, clubby, with red booths and frosted glass. The drinks are strong, and the menus long suit is meat, specifically steak, at very delicious prices. Never mind that you might be the only Democrat or Jew or nonwhite in the room. Get a culotte, the rib-eye, or the big filet. And dont miss the Molly Salad, a variation on the lettuce wedge, invented by a former waitress. Lunch seven days, 11 a.m.3 p.m.; dinner seven days, 4 p.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $12.50$24.95. American
JG
	

Taylor's Steak House
901 Foothill Blvd.
La Caada-Flintridge
(818) 790-7668
The two Taylors are everything a steak house should be: dark, clubby, with red booths and frosted glass. The drinks are strong, and the menus long suit is meat, specifically steak, at very delicious prices. Never mind that you might be the only Democrat or Jew or nonwhite in the room. Get a culotte, the rib-eye, or the big filet. And dont miss the Molly Salad, a variation on the lettuce wedge, invented by a former waitress. Lunch seven days, 11 a.m.3 p.m.; dinner seven days, 4 p.m.10 p.m. Full bar. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $12.50$24.95. American
JG
	

The 101 Coffee Shop.
6145 Franklin Ave.
Hollywood
323) 467-1175.
Visually, the 101 is a loving, non-ironic paean to the coffee shops of the 50s and 60s  right down to the wood-grained Formica, terrazzo tile, glittering cottage-cheese ceilings and efficient, genial waitresses. The kitchen, under chef Brandon Boudet, surprises us with Cajun offerings (blackened catfish and eggs; red beans and rice) and some smart, healthful alternatives (No Huevos Rancheros); but the coffee-shop basics are also in place: good joe, eggs, big old layer cakes. No wonder its both a canteen for the struggling set and a power lunch spot for the arrived. Breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days 7 a.m.3 a.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $6.25$13. American
MH
	

The Counter
2901 Ocean Park Blvd.
Santa Monica
(310) 399-8383
The Build Your Own Burger idea behind the Counter, a fashionable new dive in Ocean Park, makes it a universe of possibilities centering around the hamburger and its matrix of 40-odd fixings, a restaurant where a thick, rare, organic-beef hamburger with herbed goat cheese, dried cranberries and roasted chiles seems not just the fancy of a celebrity used to flexing his whim of iron but almost an imperative. Ranch dressing on the side? Done! There is a wine-bar aspect to the place (very decent, if obscure, vintages from California), a selection of microbrews, and waitresses who do not, to put it mildly, look as if they are part of the regular hamburger-eating demographic. Open Mon.Thurs. 11 a.m.10 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.11 p.m., Sun. noon9 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres $13$22. American
JG


The Griddle Cafe
7916 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood
(323) 874-0377
On a Sunday morning, the Griddle is really loud: clattering pans, a hundred shouted conversations, amplified rock & roll bouncing off the high ceilings. Coffee comes to the table in squat plunger pots, and the jumble of bottled condiments on each table could stock a supermarket shelf. And the woman next to you at the counter is eating a stack of berry pancakes so large that it looks like a movie prop, like three large pizzas piled on top of one another and smothered in powdered sugar. The enormous pancakes are available blanketed in cinnamon streusel, or spiked with Kahlua and Baileys, or smothered under an improbable mass of whipped cream and crumbled Oreos, and they are not the best pancakes in Los Angeles, but they are good enough. Breakfast and lunch, Mon.Fri. 7 a.m.3 p.m., Sat.Sun. 8 a.m.3 p.m. Beer. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V. Food for two: $12$18. American
JG
	

The Hillmont
655 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Feliz
(323) 669-3922.
With the Hillmont  a new communal dining hallcum steak house  Steve Arroyo (who gave us Boxer, and more recently created the lively, fun tapas restaurant Cobras & Matadors) proves once more that hip and charming is not an oxymoron, but a sound and inviting concept. The Hillmonts seating is composed of long, sleek, picnic tables made of steel and wood with comfortable upholstered benches, and for a moment, Im back facing the pergola of my elementary school. Who to sit next to? Who to avoid? But the whole staff, from the host to the busboy, is personable and helpful, a pleasure. The food could be called rethunk steak house: The menu leans heavily to meat and vegetables. The steaks are dry-aged for a month, and each cut has its own distinctive deliciousness. To start, try the spinach salad  a heap of leaves, strips of bacon and one boiled egg drizzled with salty-sweet bacon dressing that packs a real wallop. And though there are several platters and mixed grills for two people to share, three of us protein-hounds happily split a seafood platter with small, fresh, cold Kumamoto oysters, meaty Dungeness crab legs and sweet, cold shrimp as an appetizer. The prices, I might add, compared to most other steak houses, are extremely reasonable. Open for dinner Tues.Fri. 611 p.m., Sat. 6mid., and Sun. 610 p.m. Reservations for parties of six or more only. BYOB. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $15$21. American
MH
	

The House
5750 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles
(323) 462-4687
A hard-used, still-handsome Craftsman home has been transformed into an industry canteen-cum-fine-dining room. Chef Scooter Kanfer, the local food worlds equivalent of a high-end script polisher  she spent the last decade perfecting dishes in many other chefs just-opened kitchens  here serves her own seasonal remakes of Americana, including spoon bread, macaroni and cheese, the lettuce-wedge salad, steak, pan-fried chicken and even cocoa. Check out the $30 Sunday-night prix-fixe dinner. Lunch Tues.-Fri. noon-2 p.m.; dinner Tues.-Sat. 6-10:30 p.m., Sun. 5-9 p.m. Beer and wine. Valet parking. AE, MC, V. Entres $16$30. California American
MH
	

The Hump
3221 Donald Douglas Loop South, Third Floor
Santa Monica
(310) 313-0977
This little crows-nest sushi bar, named for a difficult Himalayan airway, sits atop Typhoon at the Santa Monica airport. Eat kampachi sashimi off Mineo Mizunos ceramics and watch the planes pop on and off the runway. Much of the fish comes directly from the famous Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, and the chefs can go as simple or sophisticated as you like. Try the Yaki-Jimo-style sashimi, sauced with cilantro, ginger, garlic and ponzu, and the chopped Tataki-style sashimi. Lunch Mon.-Fri., dinner seven nights. Full bar. Lot parking. AE, DC, MC, V. Entres $35$150. Japanese
MH
	

The Ivy
113 N. Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles
(310) 274-8303
The patio here is a New Yorkers perfect dream of Los Angeles, splashed with sunlight, decorated with amusing American kitsch, populated with lunching actresses, agents, and New York magazine editors in town to take the pulse of the city. The food  crab cakes, corn chowder, New Orleansstyle barbecued shrimp  is acceptable though expensive, down-home food at uptown prices. But the Ivys definitive corn chowder, concocted by a practically teenage Toribio Prado before he decamped to found the Cha Cha Cha empire almost 20 years ago, sizzles with gentle chile heat. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $25$39 American
JG
	

The Kitchen.
4348 Fountain Ave.
Silver Lake
(323) 664-3663
Here is the quintessential Silver Lake canteen. Its former subtitle  Lunch to Late Night  reflects the circadian rhythms of its neighborhood clientele. The interior is Early East Village  deep colors, battered tables, crumbling cement, loud music. The service tends toward the casual and offhand, which belies the big-hearted, darn good food  try a bowl of quite viable cioppino. Open Mon.Fri. 5 p.m.mid., Sat. noon2:30 a.m., Sun. noon10 p.m.. No alcohol. Lot parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $10-$18. American
JG
	

Toad
4503 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 460-7037
The basic unit of consumption at Toad is the combination meal for two, a sort of porcine tasting menu designed to take you on a tour of the tiny black pig and all of its constituent parts: red-cooked trotters, sauted pork skin with vegetables, maybe a simmered innard or two. But you are here for barbecued pork belly, the meaty, streaky, especially succulent strips of fat meat that you sizzle into crispness yourself on a tabletop grill. When they are crisp, you roll the squares of belly into a slippery square of rice noodle with scallions, swab the bundles with what appears to be an elegant dust made from powdered beans, and dip them into a chile-spiked Korean ponzu sauce. The little belly rolls are fantastic things, spicy and sweet, soft and crisp, and crammed with enough vegetables to make even Dr. Dean Ornish smile.   Korean
JG
	

Toad House
4503 W. Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 460-7037
This Korean pork-specialty restaurant  no beef, no fish, no oysters  has a pleasant bamboo-screened patio where the locals put out more smoke than the barbecue pits, and the walls are decorated with adorable photographs of tiny black pigs. The basic unit of consumption at Toad House is the combination meal for two, a sort of porcine tasting menu  including a bottle of the low-powered sweet-potato hooch sojuk  designed to take you on a tour of the tiny black pig and all of its constituent parts. The centerpiece of the meal, Toad Houses reason for being, is undoubtedly the barbecued pork belly  the meaty, streaky, especially succulent strips of fat meat brought out to the table looking like nothing so much as a pound of uncured bacon that you sizzle into crispness on a tabletop grill. Dinner seven nights 611 p.m. Beer and rice wine. Lot parking. MC, V. Combination meals for two or three, $25$50. Korean
JG
	

Tommys
5873 Hollywood Blvd.
Los Angeles
(323) 467-3792
Theres no way around it: Eating a Tommyburger is an aggressive act. You cant stop at Tommys and expect to go back to the office; you cant inhale a Tommyburger at 1 in the morning and expect your spouse to kiss you when you finally stagger home. A Tommyburger is an uncouth thing, a sloppy, stinking mess, oozing chili and raw onion, that takes over your system for the better part of a day. Tommyburgers cant really be considered car food, unless youre okay with orange grease spots on the upholstery and an aroma that lasts longer than most warranties, but the Hollywood branch, a drive-thru exquisitely positioned right off the Hollywood Boulevard exit of the 101, makes it possible to coast in off the freeway, load up on chili burgers and cruise back toward downtown in a scant minute. Open daily, 24 hours. No alcohol. Lot parking. ATM cards, cash. $4.20-$5.50 American
JG
	

Tops
1792 E. Walnut St.
Pasadena
(626) 584-0244
The drive-thru hamburger is generally a sorry proposition, a junkyard of unhappy Happy Meals, of unstellar Famous Stars, of charnel-house malteds and grisly lumps of gristle, of TV-slick cheesy things and other restaurants so terrifyingly off-brand that you fear for your intestinal fauna. And then there is Tops, where the bacon-avocado cheeseburgers are grand, goopy things; the onion rings are pleasingly crunchy; and the shakes are as dense and sweet as a life well lived. Lunch and dinner, Sun. Thurs., 7 a.m.11 p.m.; Fri. and Sat., 7 a.m. 12 a.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. ATM cards and cash only.  American
JG


Tung Lai Shun.
140 W. Valley Blvd., No. 118C
San Gabriel
(626) 288-6588
The flagship Islamic-Chinese restaurant in San Gabriels immense Great Mall of China, Tung Lai Shun is notorious for the enormous rounds of freshly baked sesame bread that seem to be on every table, wedges of which you drag through sauce, or stuff with terrific chopstickfuls of beef fried with green onions. While youre waiting for the bread to come  it can take 20 minutes  you nibble on cool, slippery slices of ox-tendon terrine, or thin, cold slices of delicately spiced beef, or the best green-onion pancakes in town. Lunch and dinner daily. No alcohol. Parking in mall lot. MC, V. Entres $9.95$28.95. Chinese
JG
	

Udupi Palace
18635 Pioneer Blvd.
Artesia
(562) 860-1950
This reasonably priced, Southern Indian vegetarian restaurant in Artesia isnt our favorite for curries, or even for most dosas; but we return again and again for their special rava dosa, a rice and wheat-flour crepe with onions, chiles, cumin and cilantro cooked into a batter thats crisp and chewy and impossible not to adore, crave or even obsess about. Though the kitchen can be woefully inconsistent, when the rava dosa comes out right, nothing else matters. Lunch and dinner Tues.Sun. 11:30 a.m.10 p.m. No alcohol. Takeout. Lot parking. MC, V. Entres: $6$9. Indian
MH
	

Vermont
1714 Vermont Ave.
Los Feliz
(323) 661-6163
Anchoring the ever-new-hip-commercial corridor of Vermont Avenue north of Sunset, Vermont (always lowercase) is like a stalwart, reliable friend. The owners often wander through the dining room, with its palmettos and pillars and gentle lighting, and they always like to chat. The reasonably priced dinner menu reads like a Top 10 of recent hits, from frise aux lardons salad and onion soup to seared tuna and pork loin. You may not be bowled over by anything you eat, but youll be back. Plus, the stylish new bar is one of the neighborhoods few upscale spots for cocktails. Click here for full review. Lunch Mon.Fri., dinner seven nights. Full bar. Parking in rear. AE, MC, V. Entres $13$18. California
JG
	

Vida
1930 N. Hillhurst Ave.
Los Feliz
(323) 660-4446
If you were to imagine the kind of elegant restaurant Mrs. Howell might have designed using the materials available on Gilligans Island, you might come up with Vida, an improbable combination of goofball Polynesia and pitch-black James Bond cool. Fred Eric is more or less the official chef of L.A.s club-going demimonde, cooking the kind of highly conceptual L.A. food that never seemed to exist outside of vintage Johnny Carson monologues, and his customers seem to thrive on his diet of elaborate cross-cultural puns. Dinner seven nights. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, CB, DC, MC, V. Entres $16$28. California
JG
	

Vietnam House
710 W. Las Tunas Dr.
San Gabriel
(626) 282-6327
Almost as a public service, Vietnam House prepares bo bay mon, the fabled Vietnamese seven-course beef dinner that was a specialty in this dining room when it was still called Pagode Saigon. The dinner is a well-worn ritual, honed in country restaurants before the war and served in an unbending succession of courses whose composition probably hasnt changed in 30 years: sliced raw beef that you cook at the table by swishing it for a few seconds in a pot of vinegar broth boiling merrily on a brazier; steamed pt studded with clear noodles and served with shrimp chips; gristly grilled meatballs; tightly rolled slivers of steak; charred beef tucked inside vaguely narcotic la lot leaves; marinated beef salad; beef porridge. This is food that was made for beer. Lunch and dinner Mon., Wed., Thurs. 10 a.m.9 p.m., Fri.Sat. till 10 p.m., Sun. till 9:30 p.m. Beer only. Takeout. Lot parking. AE, MC, V. Dinner for two, food only, $14$24 Vietnamese
JG
	

Vim Restaurant
5132 Hollywood Blvd., (323) 662-1017. Lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 11 a.m.11 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.mid. Beer. Lot parking. Cash only.
Hollywood
(323) 662-1017
Vim may not be the best place to find eggplants the size of pingpong balls, jungle curries of venison or bubbling clay pots filled with fermented bamboo. But when youre in the mood for pad Thai noodles or mint-leaf chicken, oyster omelets or prik king spicy enough to strip the enamel off your teeth, you cant do better. And Vim is cheap: Most of the dishes cost less than $5; a whole fried fish less than $10. Lunch and dinner Mon.Thurs. 11 a.m.11 p.m., Fri.Sat. 11 a.m.mid. Beer. Lot parking. Cash only.  Dinner for two, food only, $9$17. Thai
JG
	

Wabi Sabi
1635 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice
(310) 314-2229
In a neighborhood where artists once rented studios for pittances, a sleek new commercial district of antique stores, design offices and high-end restaurants has evolved  including Wabi Sabi, a skinny storefront refashioned into a Matsuhisa-derived sushi bar/Pacific Rim dinner house. Drop in for a big bowl of Cal-Asian style bouillabaisse, or linger through a multicourse meal of small plates (including standbys like miso-marinated bass or eggplant). But sushi, here, is the real stunner  which, given the prices, it should be. Dont miss the lobster roll. Dinner daily. Full bar. Street parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $12.50$18. Cal Japanese/Pacific Rim.
MH
	

Wang Simri Noodle House
474 N. Western Ave.
Los Angeles
323) 467-2900
Ten years ago, there were maybe two or three places to get great gook soo, the thin, handcut, wheaten noodles customarily served in a stock based on dried anchovies and garnished with seaweed, kimchi or bits of meat, maybe a few chunks of boiled potato. Gook soo may be the ultimate Korean comfort food. For years I satisfied most of my gook soo yearnings at Ma Dang Gook Soo, where the texture of the noodles resembles perfect Italian fettuccine. But recently, my loyalties have begun to shift toward Wang Simri Noodle House, where the noodles have a firmer bite, the broth has a delicacy it is hard to believe derives from dried anchovies, and it is possible to order the noodles tinted with green tea, which softens their texture but adds a subtle bitterness that is not at all unpleasant. The mandoo, herb-stuffed Korean dumplings, are pretty good too.   Korean
JG
	

Water Grill
544 S. Grand Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 891-0900
Created and owned by the King restaurant group, the Water Grill is a big, big-city, downtown restaurant. The vast dining-hall-bar-lounge, with its fat faux pillars and seaside murals, has a slick, corporate gloss  which clearly appeals to the corporate suits who fill the booths. Chef Michael Cimaruti buys the best fresh fish and more than does it justice  and customers are charged accordingly. Desserts are erratic. Impersonal professional servers get the job done. Lunch is far less impressive and almost as expensive as dinner. Still, slurping down a dozen shucked kumamotos at the bar may be as close to New Yorks Grand Central Station Oyster Bar as any Angeleno can hope to get. Lunch/dinner weekdays; dinner weekends. Full bar. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. $25-$50. American
MH
	

White Lotus
1743 Cahuenga Blvd.
Hollywood
(323) 463-0060
The kitchen at White Lotus, a lavishly designed, Asian-themed Hollywood restaurant-club, began as a collusion between Hiroji Obayashi, of Hirozen (Brian Ueno has since taken his place), and Andrew Pastore, formerly of Granita, the Pig n Whistle, and various New York establishments. If their credentials make White Lotus sound like a serious, even innovative, food-focused dining establishment, this would be misleading: What you eat here is essentially a fusion-inflected version of familiar club comfort fare . . . plus sushi, an already well-established combo in this town. For appetizers, theres dim sum. For steak and potatoes, its steak and rice. But food and dining are not necessarily the featured attraction; as the evening deepens and the throng thickens, the noise level rises, the martinis flow, sushi flies from the sushi bar  its a locus, a scene  and a pleasant one at that. 1743 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 463-0060. Dinner Tues.Sat. 6 p.m.10:30 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V.  Entres $14.50$32. Asian fusion
MH


Xiomara
69 N. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena
(626) 796-2520.
Funny, extroverted restaurateur Xiomara Ardolina now serves big-flavored Nuevo Latino cuisine with a Cuban accent in her long-lived Old Town digs. Try the sea bass on a spicy corn guiso (stew), the long-marinated leg of pork and its lovely byproduct: pork hash. The dining room is calm, elegant, even sedate but all the liveliness and spirit youd want arrives on the plates  and in the housemade mojitos, the classic Cuban rum drink made with cane juice thats extracted, fresh, at the bar. Mon.-Thurs. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 5-11 p.m. Full bar. Valet parking. AE, D, MC, V. Entres $20$25. Cuban/Pan-Latino
MH
	

Yai
5757 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywod
(323) 462-0292
The sort of thing you dont really find in garden-variety Thai places is what Yai  located in the rear of a dingy Hollywood mini-mall, and as authentic a Thai restaurant as they come  calls roast pork with Chinese broccoli: fatty, crispy chunks of pigskin on a dark-green pile whose vegetable bitterness cuts through the richness like a knife. It looks something like a spinach salad, and fully half the customers here seem to have an order on their tables. The dish is bound together with enough garlic to induce a sweat in some people that will stay with them for days. Theres a pungent, searing chile dip on the side. This dish is kind of a walk on the wild side for the Western palate. Lunch and dinner daily 11 a.m.10 p.m. Beer only. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash only. Lunch or dinner for two, food only, $8$20. Thai
JG
	

Yongsusan
950 S. Vermont Ave.
Los Angeles
(213) 388-3042
Korean cooking, at least as it is presented in Los Angeles, is not an especially refined cuisine. Korean restaurants here tend to be either homey or raffish, Moms cooking or sophisticated bar snacks. Nobody seems especially concerned with royal delicacies from the Koryo empire: Korean restaurants, even the expensive ones, serve peoples food. The Kaesong-style restaurant Yongsusan may be in a class by itself, an elegant warren of discreet, private dining rooms, a redoubt of what seems very much like Korean haute cuisine. I have never tasted anything like the bo sam kimchi here, a green, round cabbage that has been hollowed out and stuffed, then wrapped up again and left to ferment whole. Roast pork is almost Italian in its voluptuousness, noodles are light as air, and the oyster porridge is divine.   Korean
JG
	

Zabumba
10717 Venice Blvd.
Culver City
(310) 841-6525
Zabumba is less a center of xinxin and jungle-fish stews than a place to gulp a shrimp pizza and a glass of passion-fruit juice between band sets. In fact, its the center of expatriate Brazilian life in Los Angeles; headquarters of the local samba club; a hive of Brazilian karaoke; and a steady venue for all forms of Brazilian entertainment this side of Xuxa look-alike competitions. In the evenings, Zabumba seems more bar than restaurant, with a long list of exotic cocktails and a blender that seems to go nonstop. Dinner Tues.Sun. 5 p.m.2 a.m. Full bar. Takeout. Street parking. AE, MC, V.  Dinner for two, food only, $14$25. Brazilian
JG
	

Zankou
5065 Sunset Blvd
Hollywood
(323) 665-7842
The chicken sandwiches are good at Zankou; so are the falafel and the shawarma carved off the rotating spit. But the spit-roasted chickens, golden, crisp-skinned and juicy, are what you want. Such chicken really needs no embellishment, but a little bit of Zankous fierce, blinding-white garlic sauce couldnt hurt. 10 a.m.-midnight seven days. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $2.25$7.50 Middle Eastern/Armenian
JG
	

Zankou
5658 Sepulveda Blvd.
Van Nuys
(818) 781-0615
The chicken sandwiches are good at Zankou; so are the falafel and the shawarma carved off the rotating spit. But the spit-roasted chickens, golden, crisp-skinned and juicy, are what you want. Such chicken really needs no embellishment, but a little bit of Zankous fierce, blinding-white garlic sauce couldnt hurt. 10 a.m.-midnight seven days. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $2.25$7.50 Middle Eastern/Armenian
JG
	

Zankou
1415 E. Colorado Blvd.
Glendale
(818) 244-2237
The chicken sandwiches are good at Zankou; so are the falafel and the shawarma carved off the rotating spit. But the spit-roasted chickens, golden, crisp-skinned and juicy, are what you want. Such chicken really needs no embellishment, but a little bit of Zankous fierce, blinding-white garlic sauce couldnt hurt. 10 a.m.-midnight seven days. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $2.25$7.50 Middle Eastern/Armenian
JG
	

Zankou
1296 E. Colorado Blvd.
Pasadena
(626) 405-1502
The chicken sandwiches are good at Zankou; so are the falafel and the shawarma carved off the rotating spit. But the spit-roasted chickens, golden, crisp-skinned and juicy, are what you want. Such chicken really needs no embellishment, but a little bit of Zankous fierce, blinding-white garlic sauce couldnt hurt. 10 a.m.-midnight seven days. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Entres $2.25$7.50 Middle Eastern/Armenian
JG
	

Zax
11604 San Vicente Blvd.
Brentwood
(310) 571-3800.
The new 60-seat brick-walled Zax in Brentwood has quickly become a neighborhood favorite and is a promising aspirant to L.A.s best-restaurant lists. The often organic, seasonal New American cooking by 23-year-old Brooke Williamson is complemented by owner Chris Schaefers praiseworthy wine list. Try roasted figs stuffed with cabrales cheese, the dry-aged New York steak or oven-roasted chicken. Lunch Tues.Fri. 11:30 a.m.2 p.m.; dinner Tues.Thurs. 5:3010 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 5:3010:30 p.m., Sun. 59 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Valet parking. AE, D, DC, MC, V. Entres $18$26. American
MH
	

Zip
3855 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles
(213) 365-6677
There is something about sitting outside by the roaring fire pit at Zip, which is one of the grander examples of the breed, admiring the parade of tight dresses, glancing at the film clips that flash across a sort of architectural fin above the roofline, and nibbling on perfect fried calamari, giant slabs of grilled freshwater eel and California rolls that are only slightly less formidable than softball bats. The real surprise was the ghastly sounding kimchi pancake with cheese  a crisp, tangy, mozzarella-glazed Korean simulacrum of pizza that was in no way inferior to a decent pizza itself.   Korean
MH


Zucca
801 S. Figueroa St
Downtown
(213) 614-7800.
Named for the humble pumpkin, and brought to us by Joachim Splichal (of Patina and the proliferating Pinots), Zucca is the Helen of Los Angeles restaurants  it has the face to launch a thousand SUVs. The dining room has the shape and majesty of a basilica, the sophistication of downtown New York, and antiques plundered from all over Europe  doors to a French cathedral, antique wall tiles from Italy, and four graceful, heart-stopping Murano chandeliers. The staff is smooth and impeccable. The menu is "Italian Country," with an obvious motif: pumpkin pizzetta, cream of pumpkin soup, pumpkin-filled tortelloni, pumpkin gelato. The food tends to richness and portions to hugeness. House wine is poured to the top of big, heavy heres-to-you-buddy goblets (for proper stemware, order a bottle). Try the fritto misto with surprise chunks of preserved lemon; gnochetti, a coiled shell pasta with sausage ragout and crunchy toasted fennel seeds; and the rotisserie pork. Lunch: Mon.Fri, 11:30 a.m.2:30 p.m. Dinner: Mon.Thurs., 59:30 p.m., Fri.Sat., 511 p.m. Closed Sun. Full bar. Valet parking. Takeout. AE, D, MC, V. $13.50$26 Italian
MH

