Manna Korean BBQ (Little Tokyo, LA, CA)

Located at:
333 S Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Date of Visit: 10/24/13


     I've been going to Korean BBQ joints for a while now and when i found out that there was going to be one in Little Tokyo i was excited and scared. Excited because I love Korean BBQ. Scared because I know i will eat to oblivion. But I guess I was more on the excited part since this means i don't have to haul myself over to Koreatown for Korean BBQ as often now since this place is so much closer to me.

      Even since they were open this place would be very busy. Especially during the evening hours and more so during the weekends. I find myself sometimes coming here during the "late lunch/early dinner" hours just to avoid the masses so i wouldn't have to put up with the hoards of people. Now this place is pretty huge... like... VERY HUGE. And if a place as big as this gets packed and has a line waiting outside you know they've got something very good to offer.

      Depending on when you come here the feel may be very different. Lunching hours its rather chill. But during dinner here sometimes I feel like I'm dining in a night club. They would blast rather loud music and sometimes the people who come here would slut it up like as if they really were going to a club. Then you would get the rowdy Birthday Party crowds at some tables and if you're lucky you'd get to see the Birthday gal/guy get drenched in champagne by the servers. So if you're looking for a more quiet and chill place for Korean BBQ look elsewhere.
      One thing i like about this restaurant is their versatility. Most people would think that this place only does the type Korean BBQ where they bring you plates of raw meat and you'd have to grill yourself. Which is more popular choice. But they do offer Shabu Shabu (which is more a Japanese thing but whatever), where they'd bring you a plate of veggies and thinly sliced meat. And then instead of using the grill to cook your food, they'll give you a pot of boiling broth to cook your food. Of course if you're too lazy to do any grilling and just want to order food off a menu like a standard restaurant you may opt out to do so as well. But in this instance I went for their BBQ.

      They provide you with two different menus for the type of BBQ. The difference between the two is mainly the choices of meat and of course the prices. The more expensive option would of course contain the bigger selection of meats. However, both options comes with the all you can eat sides as well which you can pick our for yourself at the salad bar. And boy do they have a lot of sides. Be careful you may just fill up on sides alone!

      One thing you may notice about the service here and same goes for some Korean BBQ restaurants is that you don't need to wave them down if you need something. All you have to do is push a button that is attached to the table. Which I guess could be a double edged sword. It's definitely a great thing to have since they get hit pretty hard for dinner service and the scale of the restaurant could be overwhelming. So they would not have the time to check up on you every 5 min or even see you trying to flag one of them down if you need something. So having a button would make that a bit easier. But sometimes there are those people who just can't help themselves and love pushing buttons (not metaphorically) cough just drink the wait staff crazy. *cough* not me *cough* And another bad thing would be that the wait staff may grow to be way too reliant on that button. I had a really bad experience here a why back where it was really busy and I was seated at a smaller table without a button. So throughout the whole night I was just forgotten about and it was a real hassle to just get a hold of anyone. So if you can avoid it. Try to stay away from a table that doesn't have a button. Especially on a busy night.

      We usually start it off with their Brisket (left), Angus Marinated Boneless Beef (upper right) and the Angus Marinated Sliced Beef (bottom right). That fatty slugger in bottom mid of the picture is used to grease up the grill a bit so the meats won't stick. And a fun thing to dare each other to eat during the meal. (Please don't eat it) The meats that were not marinated in anything can be rather bland. But usually the condiments on the side usually helps. 

      Ah the grilling process. Could be incredibly fun experience or a dreadful one. Fighting over the temperature of meat with other people in your party. Or overcooking the meat and having no one else to blame but yourself. :)

      Spicy Boneless Sliced Pork (Left) and Pork Belly (Right). The spicy pork usually scares the hell out of me. Not because it's spicy but just the fact that its always red. So i usually have a harder time knowing when its ready. That pork belly is a heart stopper.
     I'm still at a loss as to how to sum this place up. This place is pretty good but at the same time it feels rather impersonal at times. You don't hear or see your server unless you push the button and often times they're just a quick manic blur. I usually see this place as just a facilitator for BBQs since we're mostly we're in our own little world when we're grilling. But when you do get to see your server they're usually nice and will bring you what you ask for in a timely manner. Other than that if you're looking for a place to tickle your meat fancy in this general area this is the place to go. I'd give this place a thumbs up but usually after eating here I'm in too much of a vegetated state to do anything. So I'll just have the smoke give some thumbs up for me. 

The Park's Finest (Echo Park, LA, CA)

Located at:
1267 W Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Date of Visit: 10/3/13


     I live just a block away from this restaurant. I remember back when it was a Japanese restaurant named Matsu. Which i never got to try. Heck i didn't even know it was there. Then it became another Japanese restaurant called The Far East. It was borderline ok. Then that closed. Until one day i saw a banner that read The Park's Finest. I had no idea what that was until I got home and looked it up. Filipino BBQ! Boy was I ecstatic. But it took a while to open up. It may not have been that long but it seemed longer because i really wanted to try it and i was just too lazy to chase their food truck around. Then one day on my way home I saw people inside. Then some friends, my cousins and I made a long arduous block walk to this restaurant. When we got there the waitress told us they had a soft opening not long before. And that first trip just blew us away. Since then we tried going back but it was just packed. there hoards or people. So we just ordered take out. We just loved their food and couldn't seem to get enough of it. But as time went on our visits and patronage just began to dwindle and kinda just gave out. It was just mainly me who would still come here occasionally like every 3 months or so. But i'll get to the reasons why later. But for now i'll just focus on this visit.

      This place can be easy to miss. Especially since they don't have a prominent display of the restaurants name over the actual restaurant. Or at least they use to. But the sun did beat down on his rather harshly and washed out a lot of the color. So I hope another one is in the works. 

     Once inside me and friend were told that it was a seat yourself situation. Which I always loved. But i have a feeling that the whole seat yourself situation goes out the window when there is a ton of people here. And there has been a influx since Diners, Drive-ins & Dives covered them in an episode.  The waitress was really nice and attentive. She got our drink orders swiftly, made sure our drinks were full and made us feel like she didn't forget about us. So kudos!   
      Then our food flew out of the kitchen rather quickly I'd say it only took like about 5 minutes. 
    

      Beef Shortrib. "a smoked, seasoned, meaty beef rib paired with our own cream horseradish sauce." There is a wow factor that goes with this dish. And that its huge! Don't let the picture fool you. These suckers are a lot bigger in person. Whenever I tell tales of these ribs I'd compare it to the Flintstones rack of ribs in the intro. Aside from the wow factor though these bad boys are a bit... lacking. The flavors are very subtle so i can't call it bland. But i give it props for not drenching it in BBQ sauce like the other places however the flavors do need to be kicked up a notch. Texturally, it was a bit tough. It wasn't one of those "fall off the bone" situations. I wanted to try a piece of it and it took a while for me to hack off a piece of it. But it was still alright. And on the plus side you could always just save those bones for your dogs! :D

      Beef Tri-Tip. "tender season-crusted sirloin beef, cut deli thing and paired with home made horseradish sauce." I've ordered this dish time and time again. But this time the meat tasted rather bland. And it was on the dry and overdone side. I had to use a lot of the horseradish and their BBQ sauce to give it some flavor. Shame.

      Ann's Cornbread BiBingka. "a special take on cornbread - cornmeal is combined with rice flour, baked on a banana leaf bringing elements of a traditional Filipino dessert." Hands down all time favorite. I could just eat multiple orders of these things and be perfectly happy. They're incredibly moist and full of flavor. They're more on the sweet side and i love it. A must try.
     So after many visits and takeouts for over a year and a half period i would use the word "inconsistent" to describe this place. The temperature of the meat seems to be the luck of the draw and same goes for their portions. My first visit my tri-tip was cooked a PERFECT medium. Still pink and moist with a very good portion and you could really taste the rub they used. Which is night and day compared to my last visit and a few visits in between recently. Seems like they're dropping the ball a bit. And not to mention that their prices has gone way up compared to what they were. Though i understand you could raise your prices when you're becoming more popular or just to cover the cost of maintaining a more popular establishment. But as long as the quality could match the prices. In this case it didn't. And it's one of the main reasons why my cousins and some friends stopped coming back. They're just happy they got to try it and remember it for their earlier stage. Me? I may just drop in to pick up a couple batches of cornbread. Other than that... I'm rather 50/50 about this place because its served up some of the best and the most disappointing meats...

Patra Burgers (Echo Park, LA, CA)

Located at:
1524 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026

Date of Visit:  9/24/2013


    Ok let me just start off by saying that this place is not for everyone. This place looks like its really run down and gives off a gosh darn ghetto vibe. The food isn't outstanding and it isn't dirt cheap. Heck my cousin and his friends got mugged 2 blocks from this place. So why can't I stop coming here??
     Well I guess everyone has their favorite hole-in-the-wall joints. This just happens to be one of my favorite hole-in-the-wall places. But when i look at everything objectively. I just could not figure out why i like this place as much as I do. It may just be me being sentimental since this place has been around since i was born. Or maybe I like this place because of its ability to satiate my emotional eating habits. I just can't put my hands on what kind of a hold this joint has over me.

     Upon walking up to the ordering window you will notice all these pictures of the food. Most of which are the breakfast items. But their full menu is actually located behind the window at that top. I find myself sometimes just waiting by the window for quite a while before someone rings me up. But playing the waiting game here is quite common.

     Once you get your food order in, you could stay outside or move on inside to wait for your food. Like usual, once your food is ready they'll call out your number. And once again, you would be playing the waiting game. The food here on average may take about 15-20min depending on how stoned the cooks may be.

     Just the standard Patra's meal for me. Burger and fries. The fries are usually very crispy and has very nice color to them.

     Ah my bacon avocado burger. I could feel your awesome heart-stoppingness hugging up against my artery walls. It's generally very sloppily put together and ingredients are unevenly placed which sometimes certain bites would have more or less of something. Though given 20 minutes i thought it would have more finesse...oh well! om nom nom.

     Their chili cheese fries. If you're still hankering for something after the burger you could always just order yourself one of these can send yourself into a deep food induced slumber or just a small cardiac arrest.

     I'm just going to be bias here and give this place a thumbs up... a very .. very guilty thumbs up.