Four Days in LA

[Fine]

Starving, we sat down in Canter's late-ish on a Sunday evening after our drive from San Francisco. Although I hardly ever touch beef that is not grass fed and/or organic, I succumbed to a pastrami on rye, ordered "fatty." Best such I've had since the late, lamented Solomon's in SF closed many years ago. Cole slaw and potato salad were both above avergae and a side of sauerkraut also worked well. The continually replenished half-sour dill pickles were quite good if not wow. We greatly appreciate that Canter's provides Beaver Russian hot mustard, our choice with deli. BH had herring in sour cream and corned beef on rye, the former quite good, the latter not quite able to compete with the pastrami.

Enchanted by a beautifully written review on this board of Rahel's vegan Ethiopian all-you-can-eat lunch, we tried that the next day. We've been fans of this African food since the first outpost of this wonderful cuisine opened in Berkeley in about '81; its characteristic extreme hotness was as endearing to us as its injera or mead, but alas, this rendition would be--indeed was--mild enough for blond-haired toddlers, something the poster neglected to mention. I won't drag up analogies, but how about just one pun: Ethiopian food without fire leaves me cold. Even the berbere--traditional hot sauce--was about half as strong as customary. The food was fine but way too tamed down for me.

We'd fiddled around till 10 trying to figure which C-hnd Korean rec to follow and so I decided to call nearby Pizzeria Mozza to see if we could get in. Got a 10:45 table and thoroughly enjoyed some cold Brussels sprouts and a tuna panino--though the "bread" was somewhat rich pastry-like dough--followed by two delightful, savory, cheese- and tomato sauce-less pizzas, somewhat like the ones I make at home, though on white rather than whole-grain dough: pancetta, escarole, radicchio, & bagna cauda on one, bacon, Yukon golds, and Bermuda onions on the other, each topped with a sunny-side up egg. Though at a similar restaurant in the SFBA, the eggs would have been "pasture," our server was unable to confirm whether these were or not. Also, the first pizza was called "guanciale" on our bill for some odd reason

One always thinks he'll never eat again, but, as Scarlett said, "Tomorrow's another day." My BH had tuna on rye, I a pumpernickel bagel at dear old Canter's, then, that evening, ended up at Parks porky sibling, Don Gae Gam, where, as is our wont, we ordered far too much: an exceptionally tasty cold noodle dish; pork belly and way-too-tough octopus casserole (I order octopus often, in Chinese, Korean, and Italian restaurants--this seemed almost as though it had been rehydrated). Flavors were nice though. Kim chee pancake was fine once I started squeezing each slice in between paper towels, which ended up soaked through with grease. Best dish was a mackerel stew, the flavor far milder than is often the case with this fish. Pan chan were unexiciting and few. And, for some strange reason, only two long (empty) tables at the far end of the room were furnished with chairs; all the others had stools, though the waiter complied with my request for a real chair. I ate my first Korean meal in San Francisco in the mid-sixties. My BH and I estimate we've had well over a dozen meals at a wide variety of LA spots over the years, starting around '82, and we regularly try both East Bay and SF Korean establishments. The welcome here was not warm, though by the time we were ready to leave, the manager was falling all over us! (It appeared to be a slow evening--we probably made their pc!)

Although they seemed a bit under-risen on this visit, the corn rye bagels at the Bagel Broker (7825 Beverly Blvd). always lure me back: I have never seen them anywhere else. This was the first time in a while I didn't buy some to bring back with me.

Although we thought we'd allowed plenty of time to look around, we found ourselves in the SGV as the early-closing establishments were indeed starting to shut down. After finding little match between the menu and the available items at Lunasia (the goose had our mouths watering!) and the waiter kept expressing apologies for their not having updated the menu, we left and drove till we found something--anything at that point!--open. The "host" grudgingly permitted us to be seated at Monterey Park's Empress Harbor, all the while studying his watch. Fortunately, an old-timer took charge and made us completely welcome as we gobbled up the most ocean-sweet tasting boiled live prawns in memory (I always have to plead for half an order, though I have no idea why!), a different but enjoyable style of steamed pork with dry scallops than we're accusotmed to, mustard greens with nin chih mushrooms and some sort of gravy we had to try but will not make us forget the more traditional prep with black mushrooms, and rich-but-irresistible spicy Taiwan (fried) bone-in chicken pieces. It was a thoroughly satisfying meal. My only small quarrel was with how flavorless the traditional dipping sauce we had requested with our prawns turned out to be--usually tasting of a soy background and plenty of jalapenos (though these once-somewhat fiery chiles are now turning up, along with their serrano cousins, virtually devoid of heat). The version here lacked any detetctable chiles and seemed to be mostly oil and tasteless green onions.

Stopped by Canter's on our way out of town to get some poppyseed strudel, corn rye, and bagels. Was a bit startled to find no one could tell me the ingredients in the pastry and even more so when the person waiting on me had no idea what 2/3 meant. (oy)

Had learned online that Art's Deli served "Great Lakes" sturgeon, though somehow that sounded amiss to me. My BH enjoyed a pastrami sand (though it didn't match the aforementioned one, nor did it come with an unending pickle supply or a choice of hot mustard, but did include at no extra price a choice of sides) and I, my pumpernickel bagel and rich--if not marbeled a la true GL--sturgeon, with Bermuda onion slices. I think cream cheese and certainly items like tomatoes clash with or hide the delicacy of sturgeon, so left them untouched. When I got back home, I emailed Acme, in Brooklyn, Art's supplier, and learned that what Art's calls "Great Lakes" is California farm-raised and my memory that commercial fishing was banned on the GL was accurate.

All in all, a v. enjoyable array of restaurants, for which we as ever owe a debt of gratitiude to our fellow hounds.

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Bagel Broker
8718 W 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036

[mc michael]

Nice report. You ate well. I am a bit surprised with so much deli you did not hit Langer's, but you can do that next time.

It took me a minute to figure you meant 'better half" when you said BH. Around here, that's common shorthand for Beverly Hills.

[Fine]

I don't want to restart the pastrami wars, but our two trips to Langer's--one in the last couple of years and one many years earlier--left us uninterested in returning. Despite following the "rules" and requesting fatty, we were not impressed. Just one of those things. (We really disliked Katz's--LOL)

Thanks for kind words.