Ultimate Restaurants 2006
Time again for LA hounds to vote for your favorites in our annual Ultimate Los Angeles Restaurants survey. The concept is simple: everyone is asked to list, in rank order, your top 5 restaurants in LA County that you would recommend to houndly out-of-town visitors or to chowfriends for a special occasion. Since we worship at the altar of deliciousness, your ranking should be based 75% on food and 25% on everything else.
To join the fun, reply with a list of ONLY your top 5 choices. Responses with more than 5 choices will not be included. Replies with fewer than five choices will be tabulated. Your entries will be weighted arithmetically, 5 points for your #1 choice; 4 for #2, & so forth. A simple list will suffice, but any & all explanation is welcome.
More than 100 hounds responded last year. The more replies we receive, the more useful are the poll’s findings, so please do reply. We’ll keep the polls open until December 22 & publish the results shortly after the new year.
For openers, here’s the Grubmaster’s top 5:
1. Providence – #1 last year; clear #1 this year
2. Spago – still the reigning champion of the Champions Tasting Menu League
3. Babita – Who knew Mex could make your taste buds tingle?
4. A.O.C. – mellower, but just as tasty
5. Hungry Cat – doing what they do perfectly
Last year's results:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/76226...
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re: carter
I'll agree with Mozza as disappointing but certainly not the most of 2006. It couldn't have possibly lived up to the hype and rave it initially got.
What didn't you like about Providence? Overpriced, food quality just didn't cut it? I was just there last night and while it wasn't as excellent as my 1st experience, it ranks right up there in my top 10.
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Tom P
Dec 21, 2006 08:18 PM
Granted I have yet to try Jiraffe (I keep trying to get there, but have been sidelined a couple of times), here are my picks for this year:
1. LUCQUES - always dependable, always wonderful.
2. BLAIR'S - for being a very consistent neighborhood place, and in particular for their
Lamb T-Bones, perhaps my favorite current dish in LA. Wow.
3. DAN TANA'S - Controversial I know, but if you order the Garlic Bread, the Caesar, The
Dabney Coleman medium rare and a side of the Diavalo Pasta, it is the perfect
meal. I had it four times this year and it was excellent every time.
4. CUT – The meal was very good, the service great but what puts this on the list for
me is the sommelier, Dana. She lifts the restaurant into the stratosphere.
5. PHILIPPE’S – they do what they do and it is amazing. Pork with Blue Cheese is my favorite,
with a large dollop of the spicy mustard. And where else can you get
incredible wines by the glass for such ridiculously low prices?›1 Reply -
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Of the places I've eaten this year:
1. Grace
2. La Cachette
3. Melisse
4. Patina
5. Saddle Peak LodgeGrace gets number one for overall consistency, and multiple visits over multiple years. La Cachette utterly blew me away with their tasting menu. Melisse was a first visit and a very close third on this list. Patina was a repeat visit after several years, and I loved it. Saddle Peak is an old favorite that is still going strong.
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1. Whist at the Viceroy - nails on the entire tasting menu
2. Opus - the previous posts speak for themselves
3. Jitalda - the most consistent and friendliest Thai restraurant in Thaitown
4. Honey Pig - very underated K-town star
5. Jiraffe - consistency deserves rewardAnd may I commend the above posters...nary a mention of Campanile, the most over-rated restaurant on earth.
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The Chowhound Team
Dec 18, 2006 06:36 PM
Just a reminder that this is a fun activity driven by one of our members and is not an officially sanctioned Chowhound survey. Nobody is expected or obligated to participate.
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re: cvc
SauceSupreme
Dec 18, 2006 07:42 PM
I'm hoping that's the case with all of these lists, otherwise it's a bit disingenious.
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mikeop34
Dec 16, 2006 12:06 PM
1. Spago
2. Jar
3. Harvest Inn
4. Locanda Veneta
5. New ConceptHarvest Inn is my favorite Chinese restaurant in the LA area. It's located in Glendale, so it doesn't get the same Chowhound action that SGV places do. Relatively upscale, and their chef uses much finer technique and ingredients than most SGV and Chinatown places.
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foleydog
Dec 16, 2006 03:47 AM
1. Providence
2. Sushi Zo
3. La Buca
4. Pupuseria del Valle
5. My Secret RecipeI'm so glad to see that folks are going to Monte Alban. New Times LA reviewed it about 5 years ago, and it's always great, and cheap.
I don't understand the Hungry Cat and AOC. No matter how hard I try I just don't get it. I can't leave these places without a faint feeling of nausea. And all those new H'Wood places (Citizen Smith/Magnolia - aarrggh).
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re: foleydog
Reeter1
Dec 16, 2006 05:41 PM
I'm with you here. I've been going to Monte Alban for the past five years and am always wowed by their moles! And I've tried Hungry Cat a couple of times, but never ate anything that really stood out. The food is good -- no doubt about it -- but no better than a dozen similar places around town.
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meganinlosfeliz
Dec 14, 2006 08:39 PM
1. Providence
2. AOC
3. Angelini Osteria
4. Azami Sushi
5. The Hungry Cat -
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pleasurepalate
Dec 14, 2006 05:29 AM
1) Golden Triangle
2) Alejandro's
3) Babita
4) Sa Rit Gol
5) La Casita -
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Mine is weighted primarily toward the more recently opened places--not that I haven't had wonderful, memorable meals at older favorites but it was the discovery of the new that, this year, really made me go, AHH! I briefly debated reversing the order of Providence and Hatfield's but decided not to skew the results of the poll just for the sake of a Chowish acronym (and if we were to throw Mozza into the mix in just the right place. . . .).
1. Cut
2. Providence
3. Opus
4. Hatfield's
5. Sushi Zo -
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Maxmillion
Dec 13, 2006 07:09 PM
1. Lucques - for when we want a top notch, superb dinner out;
2. Ortolan - haute cuisine for special occasions;
3. A.O.C. - for good wine, excellent late night snacks and a lively scene;
4. Ruth's Chris (Bev Hills) - for consistently fantastic steak, great service and celeb spotting;
5. Mozza -- my new fave Italian joint (their pizza trumps Mama Buca's, and those stuffed, fried zucchini blossoms -- oh my!!) -
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I must paraphrase here LA's restaurant scene with something a professor once said, after a PhD candidate defended his research paper:
"I can see here a lot of good work, and a lot of new work. Unfortunately, the new is not good, and the good is not new".
Well, as far as I'm concerned, even the old trustworthy is becoming worn out. Too many disappointments this year. Places that used to be very reliable, being abandoned or disregarded to shift emphasis on the flashy showy brand new.
Too many excellent reliable kitchens going out of business. Unrelentless pursuit of hype, entire disregard for the soul.Sorry folks, this year I must abstain.
›4 Replies-
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re: RicRios
OK, at the risk of appearing depressed, and after much thought, 2006 is a year that I, too, cannot offer much in the way of "great" in LA. First time in 8 years on this board. Now, ask me about New York or SF and I can provide a list with the only difficulty being limiting it to 5. Spago's tasting was great in 2003, 4, and 5, but it's hard to for me to get excited after the first four times. Providence is a little too far out for my taste; Sona is way too wierd. AOC too frenetic and under delivers. Maybe the Ritz Huntington in Pasadena, but irregular service and not quite ready for prime time vibe. Will try Cut soon.
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russkar
Dec 12, 2006 07:32 PM
#1 PROVIDENCE (best meal of 06',Lunch 12-7-06)
#2 URASAWA (what else can be said about the finest Japanese cuisine in the land?)
#3 SPAGO (TM twice last month, absolutely amazing)
#4 MELISSE (should be a One Star Michelin)
#5 VALENTINO (best Alba White Truffles) -
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Reeter1
Dec 12, 2006 07:28 PM
These are not ranked in order of preference, it's just five:
1. Bistro K - South Pasadena
2. Opus - midcity
3. Din Tai Fung - Arcadia
4. Phong Dinh - Rosemead (where else can you eat ostrich or snake?)
5. Sushi Gen - Little TokyoThere's so many great places to eat in this town, but we are regulars at these five!
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kingkong5
Dec 12, 2006 06:36 PM
Mr. Grub,
Great idea and I see that this is a great chowhound tradition. Would you mind if I set up a similar poll for those of us in Orange County?
We don't have as many nice places or unique experiences as you do up in LA, but I think it would serve as a great resource not only for us in the OC, but also for you Angelinos if you ever come down this way.
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re: kingkong5
Professor Salt
Dec 12, 2006 07:03 PM
Somebody usually does. If you're handy with Excel and willing to take on the work, why not you this year?
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jcwla
Dec 12, 2006 06:35 PM
1. The Grill on the Alley -- the epitome of consistent excellence and superior service
2. Urasawa -- L.A.'s one world-class restaurant would be #1 if Hiro replaced some of the starchy early courses that weigh you down too soon
3. Peppone -- the dark, homey, always delicious Italian perennial that will make anything you want however you want it
4. R-23 -- the one place in town that has consistently surprised and impressed my jaded East Coast friends
5. A.O.C. -- one of the few truly innovative restaurants in town, the original and the best in "small plates" -
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Schweinhaxen
Dec 12, 2006 06:21 PM
1. Sushi Zo
2. Spago
3. Mastro's Beverly Hills
4. BLD (Breakfast Only)
5. Langer's Deli (#19 Sandwich) -
David Kahn
Dec 12, 2006 06:15 PM
1. Langers Deli
2. Lucques
3. Mi India Bonita
4. Providence
5. Tacos Baja Ensenada
