Zencu Sushi & Grill (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
319 E 2nd St
Ste 206
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 9/20/13


      I've been coming here on and off for a while now whenever i was in the mood to pig out on Japanese food. Zencu has a vast menu that serves the usual sushi dishes to warm foods (teriyaki, tempura, noodles, etc). And unlike like some places with huge menus, Zencu's food holds up pretty well. On this particular pigging out excursion i felt like having some sushi and some of their specialty rolls.

      This place is a little hidden. Its on the second floor of the Little Tokyo Mall above the popular Jungle anime store.

      One of the best things about places that are kind of hidden is that it doesn't get at crazy during Lunch and Dinner rush services. (I hate Crowds) And once we arrived there were only about 7 other parties there. Since this place was rather big it wasn't a big deal at all. Weekend dinner services on the other hand though may a bit hectic.
     It has been a couple of months since i was last here and i think they've redecorated a bit. It feels like the place is lit up a little better than how it was before. And the sushi bar looks great!
     The service is still very good. We got our drink orders taken as soon as we sat down. She was prompt to take our order but I wasn't ready (I'm can't ever seem to make up my mind). But when we did finally order or food there was a about a 12 minute wait before all the food came flying out at us.

      "Spicy Albacore Roll" and "Scallop Roll" The spicy albacore roll was pretty good. It doesn't stand out that much and is almost just like the other similar rolls elsewhere. The Scallop Roll here on the other hand is pretty awesome. The scallop tastes extremely fresh and light. The overall textures and flavors is amazing from the poppiness from the masago, the softness of the scallops and the slight crunch from the green onions.

      "White Tiger Roll" - Seared White Tuna on Spicy Tuna Roll with Sweet Mustard and fried Onions. I'm going to be honest, I can't taste this sweet mustard they claimed they used. It tasted more like a ponzu sauce. As for the white tuna, it's good. But i can't tell if it was actually white tuna or not. After this whole scandal about how a lot Sushi joints out there mislabel a certain white fish for white tuna, I was a bit hesitant at first to order this. But this place seemed "fancy" enough to go with the real deal... right? All i know is, This roll is quite good.. not great.. but good. 

      A medley of nigiri sushi. We ordered a bunch of nigiri sushi a la carte. Scallop, Albacore, Salmon, and Egg Sushi. The scallop sushi was just as or even better than the scallop roll. Granted i think the ingredients used in both are just about the same. But for some reason this scallop sushi just taste so much better. It was just so delicious and fresh. And it had an awesome rice to scallop ratio. The albacore sushi was alright. It was a bit on the chewy side. The same sauce that was used on the white tiger roll was also used on the albacore and the acidity worked well with it. The salmon was amazing. It just almost melted in my mouth. Just can't get enough of that salmon.

      "Alaskan Roll" - Baked Salmon on California Roll with Eel Sauce. This has always been my favorite roll. Nicely cooked salmon on a warm cali. roll. The creaminess from the avocado mixes well with the cooked salmon texture. The eel sauce may be a bit overpowering at times. It would just mask the subtle salmon flavor some times. But that's never the case with me. Yum.

      "Magic Roll"- Spicy Albacore, Shrimp Tempura. This roll is "alright". It would have been good but the fermented/marinated carrot that was used kind of killed it for me. Because of that one carrot (i'm assuming thats a carrot) it ruined the overall texture of the roll because now i gotta chew harder. And the flavor of it overpowered the albacore and the shrimp.

     I still haven't tried all of their specialty rolls yet. Part of me wants to but Zencu is a bit pricey and my wallet would take quite a hit if keep ordering things at my usual pigging out volume. But this visit most definitely subdued my sushi cravings and left me happy... and somewhat sleepy. The next time I visit again i shall do a post about their warm foods. Until then I gonna have to say this place is pretty awesome. (The sushi side that is)

 

Juicy Lucy (Downtown, LA, CA)

Located at:
735 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Date of Visit: 9/17/13


     

      I've hung around Downtown LA a lot in the past year and found some pretty interesting places in its nooks and crannies. But practically all of them get sent to the "I should try that one day" list without any type of follow-up. This gourmet burger bar was on that list a while back. Heck i even forgot about it if it weren't for my dear friend who reminded me about their "Sriracha Cheese Fries". So I ventured down to "The Taste" located in the "Figat7th" plaza. I'm always here at this area during the weekend when its quite empty. To see it so hustling and bustling is quite interesting. There was a sea of office workers crowding the area. I felt kinda out of place since it felt like i was the only one without a tie. But meh, I pulled opened the doors to "The Taste" and found out... This place is just a food court. I searched for the Juicy Lucy area and there were a smallish crowd which is a good sign right? Plus there is a cow logo on their "store front" so what could go wrong?

     This is the typical food court type of deal. Pay at the cashier and pick up your food when you're called. Nothing that special :P

     I ordered the "Four Horseman Burger" and their "Sriracha Cheese Fries" but told them to leave out the Sriracha since i wasn't in the mood for anything spicy. One thing when we noticed when they were putting the fries together. They were squeezing what looked like A LOT of sour cream on top of fries prior to putting on the Sriracha. Me and my friend gave each other the "OH HELL NO" look. I mean we like sour cream just not to that much. We then learned what the guy was squeezing out was the cheese. We just had to let it settle before it looked like cheese...

     "Sriracha Cheese Fries" (Except without the Sriracha) Not a fan. I maybe should have gotten it as i was meant to have been... with the Sriracha. But if it couldn't hold its own without another of its component then it's just not going to be very impressive since I can't be the only one who will order things without all of its key components. The cheese wasn't very appetizing-looking. Definitely many dirty jokes i could make about how that cheese looked... but I'm not going to go there. And the texture of the cheese was quite unpleasant as well. Whatever kind of cheese they used... I'm not a fan. Should have just scraped it off. The sea-salt fries however were alright. Crispy and thick. Should have just gotten it without the cheese.

     "Four Horsemen" Burger - Gruyere Cheese, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Caramelized Onion, Rosemary Aioli. Granted it may have been a food court burger, it cost 10 bucks and portioned like a gourmet burger (on the smaller size). So I'm going to judge it like i would to other 10 dollar burgers I've had before. Ahem. "It's alright" The cheese, onions, smokiness from the bacon and the aioli worked very nicely together. But the meat patty tasted a bit under seasoned and bland. I thought maybe its purpose there was just for the texture. But if that was the case... oh dear. My meat patty was overdone and kinda dry. So i contributed nothing to the burger as a whole. It's still an alright burger but a 10 dollar burger it ain't. On another note i thought that all their patties would be a Juicy Lucy patty. But they weren't only the original Juicy Lucy burger gets that patty. :(
     I may come back and try their signature Juicy Lucy burger. Which sounds like a cheese grenade in a meat shell. But I won't be back for their cheese fries or pay 10 bucks for this burger again.
     I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the burger, the cheese on the fries or just the overall amount of cheese i had. But i walked away from this meal feeling logy. Luckily nothing else more severe followed later on in the day. During that initial couple of hours though ... my food baby felt funny.

Chego (Chinatown, LA, CA)

Located at:
727 N Broadway
Unit 117
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 9/15/13


     When i heard that they were opening up a Chego in Chinatown i was really excited. I really wanted to see what the fuss was about. Since i never ventured out to their other location at Culver City or chased their food truck around LA. Because well... I'm a lazy ass. And for those of you who don't know, Chego eateries/food truck is associated with the wildly popular Kogi food trucks that has been popping up around LA for quite some time now. Granted I've never tried them either... But I've heard good things! God I'm lazy...

      One thing you may notice when you're trying to find Chego is that you can easily miss it since you won't see it from the street. It's stationed in the middle of the plaza. So unless you're looking for the place or walking by you won't know this i place is here sadly.
      This eatery has got kind of a small space. Though it must be much more space to them since they don't have to work out of a food truck.They could probably seat up to 14 people at the max inside? But there are plenty of benches outside. Unless it's during the lunch/dinner rush or in some cases a Doyer game lets out.

      The staff here were really friendly. Granted you only come to contact with them when you're ordering and picking up your food. Which came out rather quick. (Approximately 6 min)

     

Korean-fried, w/ shaved green onions, sesame and fried polenta patty - See more at: http://eatchego.com/#sthash.9EpiczOi.dpuf

      "3pm Meatballs" - Korean-fried, w/ shaved green onions, sesame and fried polenta patty. Whoa man talk about being loaded with flavor and it has quite a kick to it. Wish i could just get a bottle of the stuff and put it on everything.

      "Ooey Gooey Fries" - Beer-battered, w/ sour cream sambal, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, cotija, chillies, cilantro and pickled garlic. Hands down my favorite. The fries were just so crispy and nicely fried. Even with all that topping sitting on top i expected it to go soggy really quick. But nope. Still crispy.

     "Tiny's Prime Rib Rice Plate" - w/ fried egg, water spinach, Chinese broccoli, creamed horseradish, roasted garlic paste and shallots. Man oh man there was so much going on one plate. Like the other dishes, they served up a lot of interesting flavors. The meat however was just a little tough and overdone for me. But thats just me being nit-picky.
      One thing I noticed while i was there, is that everything is so complex. Every dish had so many elements layered on top of each other. Each layer then added more color and flavor that's just complementing the other. The dishes here came off really rich and tickles the five tastes (salty, sweet, bitter, sour and umami). If this is what Korean comfort food has to offer... then I'm definitely head over heels for it. 
     So as a thumbs up homage to Chego:

Yakitori Koshiji (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
123 Onizuka St
Ste 203
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 9/13/13

      I stumbled upon this place by mostly by accident. My cousins, friends and I originally wanted Korean BBQ at Little Tokyo. But being that it was Friday night it was a suicide mission. Upon arrival we saw that the place was packed and there was a ton of people waiting outside. And my friend isn't very keen on waiting. So we wanted to eat somewhere else in the same vicinity. But no one really wanted anything else since they were in the AYCE mood. After we left we ended up at a sushi joint that did AYCE sushi but there wasn't any available seats. We said we would wait. But once again, they weren't down for waiting. So we left to wander around Little Tokyo to see what else was open and didn't have a line. We walked a few blocks and passed a lot of restaurants but no one could make up their minds. We walked by a few places I would have liked to try but doubt they would have served us since my companions looked like a bunch of urchins. Then there we were, at the edge of Little Tokyo, hungry and out of breath. We looked to see what was around and settled for this place. Once again there was a wait. And my restless and anxious companions were ready to bounce. I wasn't going anywhere else. And so glad that we ended up here because this place was awesome!  

      I've been meaning to try out a Yakitori joint for a while now. And now, i can't stop thinking about it. Now for those of you who don't know what Yakitori is... it's basically skewered food. Any that's on a stick is usually fine by me. :P Before entering we saw that they had their menu outside and noticed that each skewer averaged out to 3 to 4 dollars each. Since i have such a gargantuan appetite (and so does my cousins & friends) this is not going to end up well for my wallet. Logically i should have said... "bad idea..too expensive.. should walk away". However my stomach screamed "GO FOR IT!" and so i did. And so glad i did.

      The service here felt kind of brash. They were quick to take our orders right off the bat. We had to send her away because we were no where near ready. And when they dropped off the food (which came out rather quick) they were nice enough to let us know which skewer was which since some of them came in groups. Throughout the entire time the servers were rushing around constantly. Granted the place was packed when we got there we were going to take it easy on them. However towards the end when there was only 4 parties left (ourselves included) they still had this urgency to them. They're consistent I'll give them that but that kind of made me a little uneasy... just a little. But other than that it's fine. They were still nice and came by to make sure our water glasses were full and if we needed anything else.

      They gave us a complimentary snack to keep our hunger at bay. Totally awesome because given another minute i would have just gone head-hunter status on my company and devour their entrails from hunger. But also for revenge since they hauled me all across Little Tokyo. Anyways, this whatchamacallit consists of a piece of carrot, celery and a chunk of cabbage with an AMAZING dipping sauce. The sauce itself tasted like a blend of miso and horseradish (though i could be wrong). We were all in agreement about how we could have just sat there and kept eating a bigger portion of that all night. I may just try to learn to make that and eat that as a snack from now on since it seems healthier and tastes fresh and light!

      Takoyaki. OCTO BALLS! This dish was amazing. There were so many flavors and textures going on. It just blew my mind. You have the chewiness from the octopus bits and then softer creamier to contrast it... heaven. But be careful, they're very hot. Burned my weenie tongue twice while jamming these suckers into my gullet.

      I forgot which one that is in the foreground closest to us. But it wasn't mine and i didn't try it. So I'm not going to write about it. But the one next to that is the "Duck" skewer. I felt the meat was a little over done and it felt like it could have used a bit more seasoning. The one after that was the "porkbelly wrapped asparagus". That one was amazing. The asparagus was cooked properly and very flavorful. Then to add to that, the pork-belly was very crispy and added additional flavor. A must try.

      "Scallops" I'm a sucker for scallops. When i saw how promising they looked i was rather excited. But i may have set my excitement level too high. The flavor is definitely good. They seasoning didn't overpower the scallops flavor. But the only thing is that it was overdone. Very rubbery and hard.

      "Tori Karaage" Another one of my Japanese favorites. They're fried chicken! I looked really good when i saw it being served to another patron while i was still waiting to be seated. So i was really looking forward to this. So much so that i had no intentions of sharing this with anyone else and they had to get another one (as you can tell from the photo). But it looked better than it tasted. It was overdone and dry. And i feared the fried batter would cut up my mouth something fierce. But glad it didn't. The flavor though was pretty good. But it was a tad bit on the salty side.

      "Beef Tongue" (not mine),"Salmon" and "Shiitake Mushroom" The salmon was cooked and seasoned nicely. It was still moist. I was afraid it would have ended up overdone but it wasn't. Phew. The mushroom was very juicy oddly and enjoyable. But the sauce that they used was very acidic. I still can't decide if i was a fan of that or not...

     "Lamb Chop" My cousin ordered this and it was so... pretty. He claims it was a bit overcooked. But tasted "Ok".
     I'm glad i got to try this place out. I've been coming to this plaza for years now. Mostly for the bookstore or the curry house next door and had always wondered about this place. I didn't know what kind of good food i was missing out on. Though there were some issues with the temperature of the meat the flavors were still there and still really good. Heck, there's so much more here that i would want to try! Though i would have to wait a bit. It would be kind steep if i pigged out here too often. But it wasn't as bad as i thought. If i just had one appetizer and say 3-4 skewers i would be at a good place and not "stuffed". I'd would most definitely be back.
     For this place I'd give it a thumbs up... on a stick!

Carnitas Michoacan (Lincoln Heights, LA, CA)

Located at:
1901 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90031

Date of Visit: 9/12/13

     I've been coming here for a while now. So it may be a bit hard for me not to be bias and be totally objective. So i won't be objective. Bwahahaha. THIS PLACE RULES YO. That is, if you don't mind all the birds that are flying around feeding off scraps. Or the dirty tables, floor and seats. And the fact that they don't have restrooms. If you can overlook all that you would be just fine.
   

      This place would be perfect if you are looking for good "fast Mexican food". Whether it may just be the late night drunken munchies or looking for something to knock you out via food coma this place is it. Like most other establishments like this you order your food at the very small window out in front. Then listen closely to your number being called when your food is ready for pick-up at the window inside the dining area. Which generally is quite fast depending on how crazy it is outside.

   Their Special Quesadilla. This heavy happy camper will knock you out. As soon as you pick up a piece, you would be able to feel the sheer weight of the cheese and meat (carnitas in this oder) that is folded inside. And when you bite into it you can feel that there is a very slight crisp to the tortilla then an explosion of flavor ensues along with a ooey gooey texture to contrast the toasted exterior. You can't see it but there is a salad under there. Which is just two tomato slices and chopped cabbage drenched with an avocado sauce. I love the taste and texture that the avocado sauce gives the salad. But what "kills" this is that the quesadilla itself is usually resting on top of it and it get soggy from the salad underneath and the salad get really warm. However it does get separated (a bit) in the box when you order this to go. But since the quesadilla is so huge it would still manage to cross over onto the salad.

     Special Nachos. Nachos, watery cheese, asada, and jalapenos. I always get this when i go here. This is a must. The beef is sometimes a tad overdone for me but it makes up for it with flavor. But i think what i love most about this is the clash of textures. You have the "crunchiness" from the chips (the ones that haven't gone soggy yet), the creamy and yet watery cheese and the "chewiness" of the meat makes for a weird texture and flavor bukakke in my mouth. Then just like the climax of the bukakke a "kick" from the jalapeno tops it off. It's so satiating. Sorry that got weird.... lord I love this thing.

    Asada Torta. This was my first time trying their torta. I've got to say, I've had better. I liked the beef since it was packing some amazing flavor and wasn't overcooked. But the bolillo bread they used must have been a little stale. I had a hard time biting apart torta because of that issue. But other than that it was alright.
    This eatery may come off as a dive. But they put out really good Mexican food. The lines during lunch and dinner hours are a testament to that. And since they are open 24 hours you can catch a lot of late night sober/drunken munchies afflicted miscreants looking to mitigate their appetites. Definitely will be back for more.

T.O.T. /Teishokuya of Tokyo (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
345 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 09/07/2013

     I had just left an outdoor movie at Grand Park which played Jurassic Park. And i got to tell ya. Watching all those dinosaurs going to town on people and other dinosaurs built up quite the appetite. So from there we ventured down to Little Tokyo. We wandered for a bit checking to see what was still open since it was just about to be 10pm. Turns out a lot of places were open. Except they were rather crowded. Then i recalled that this restaurant MAY be open. Luckily we had an hour before closing... score! There were a few tables with people in them which wasn't too bad. 
     I've been here a couple of times before. Except it's usually with months in between visits. And some of those visits were better than others. But I haven't been back since i started this blog so i figured, why not pig out here?

      The restaurant had a very quaint feel to it. It was very well lit and they displayed some cool art pieces on the walls.

      The service was pretty good. The waitress and waiter we had were rather nice. Even though the waiter had a really stern face and didn't smile at all. He didn't disrespect us or gave us any attitude. And best part was they didn't forget about us like some places. They would come by periodically to check up on us which a plus for me since I've been to places where it's a game to catch the waiter's attention.

      Then the food came. (approximately 10 minutes from the time we ordered) The fried oysters were very nicely done and flavorful. Crispy on the outside and ooey gooey in the center. God I'm such a sucker for these things.

      The potato croquette. That had to have been the biggest potato croquette I have ever seen so far. Just like the oysters it was nice and crispy on the outside and was able to retain a soft and moist potato mash at the center. But it was only "ok" to me when it comes to the flavor. (My friend got this dish and was nice enough to give me a bite... well he had to or else i would have beaten him.)

      Albacore Roll. Very fresh. Very delicious. It was very nicely seasoned and I didn't have to drown it in wasabi and soy sauce. (My cousin's dish.. would have beaten him too if he didn't let me have a piece)

      Ten-don. What went into this box is shrimp tempura, squid tempura, and vegetable with a bed of rice at the bottom and tempura sauce drizzled on it. I inhaled this dish leaving no survivors. It was just that good. They were not too heavy on the batter and everything inside the batter was cooked well overall. Each element inside held their own when it comes to flavor. And it didn't heavily rely on the tempura sauce for flavor. I usually know it's good tempura when my mouth isn't all cut up after the meal. Seeing as how my mouth gets roughed up after unsuspectingly wolfing down heavily overdone battered tempura dishes in the past.

         And of course where would we be without combos? Beef teriyaki & tempura combo. This is my cousin's dish. I asked him what he thought about it. His response: "It's alright." Wow. Just...wow. My cousin talks too much. No point in wasting anymore time adding to his response. 
       Based on my few visits I'd say this place could be inconsistent at times. Though that has something more to do with the service aspect. The food however has been consistently good. So I'd definitely be back to sample something else. (They do have a rather big menu)

Hop Li Seafood Restaurant (Chinatown, LA, CA)

Located at:  
526 Alpine St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Date of Visit: 09/06/2013




     Well the first stop on my trip around my neighborhood and neighboring-hoods is Hop Li. I can't tell you how many times I've passed by this place, by car or by foot. And every time that i do i would (as you've figured) say "Hmm I gotta try that place out.". Although my family have said we've been there before multiple times for multiple occasions, i don't recall much or anything. Which may already be a bad sign. But nonetheless I want to pig out here. I remember it being called "fancy" or just expensive by my family a lot back in the day when they ate here... must have been a long time ago since they're doing lunch specials like all the other Chinatown joints starting at 6 bucks.

      Well it may have been a big mistake to bus it down here and walked 4 big ol blocks without shade on a sweltering hot day. The friend who i dragged along almost had to end up dragging me along to the finish line. But I made it alive. REALLY sweaty... but alive. We went inside and basked in the glory of the air conditioner in the lobby.

       Once inside, I noticed the decor was more modern than what i was expecting. I expected it too look like it came from the late 80's early 90's chinatown era i remembered from some other restaurants. But contrary i think they remodeled not too long ago. Nice, clean and bright.
      There wasn't anyone at the host/hostess counter. So we waited for a little while even though a lot of the waiters saw us waiting there. My initial thought was maybe they didn't want to serve us since I was a big sweaty mess. Eventually someone came and took us to our table. I noticed that a lot of the waiters here were rather... "grumpy looking". And there was a lot of rushing and dashing around. So i already knew what to expect of the service here. I understand the fact that this may be their lunch rush and all but this place is only half full and they got a good number of waiters. It felt like they were rushing to take our order, rush out or food and send us on our merry way. And on top of that i got a bit uncomfortable with all the bad mouthing they do here in Catonese. I speak Cantonese but i ordered in English and spoke in English the whole time since my friend isn't Chinese. But guess they didn't know that about me. So i just heard them speaking a lot of trash about other patrons. Like how prissy some patrons are about their food or how they don't want to put up with that table. Or even how all those "white guys" at the other table drank all your beers.  But the one that kinda made me laugh was when one of them picked up tray and loudly stated how stingy some patrons were (guess they didn't leave a big enough tip) even though those patrons were like 2 feet away. Guess that Asian lady didn't speak Cantonese otherwise some words might have been exchanged. I get how some patrons may be overbearing, but you should have some decency to be able talk smack about them out of sight from other patrons. Other than that its just the typical: take your order, drop off your food, and fill your glass of water with no smile or eye contact type of service. Now onward to the food!

      They started gave us some complimentary Hot & Sour soup. It was actually quite good. It had a good bit of heat to it (I'm a weenie when it comes to spicy foods) and a amazing kick of flavor.

     Sweet and Sour Pork, yea i know super typical Asian dish. The sauce was good but the pork was rather tough to chew. And the batter was soggy and kind of rubbery like as if its been under a heat lamp for a while.

     Scallops w/ Garlic Sauce. It came with some sliced bamboo shoots, mushrooms, and snow peas! This dish was good, but the sauce they used for this dish tasted like the soup they served us at the beginning. Perhaps they used the same base?     

 

    Deep-fried Squid w/ Spicy Salt. I've had this dish a lot at different locations. That being said the one this place served up wasn't bad. The squid here was really easy to chew unlike some places where its like chewing a rubber band. And the batter on the squid was still very crispy and light. However I felt that it just needed more of the "spicy salt" seasoning.
    Overall, I'd say this restaurant is alright and I'd go again if i was looking for a place with pretty good parking and a quick in and out Chinese lunch where i don't want to interact with a waiter. But i definitely would not be coming here if i was looking for atmosphere or a date.