CALI - Sun Nong Dan

Family bonding time with Christel's aunt and little brother! 

LOCATION: WILSHIRE CENTER, KOREATOWN 3470 W 6TH ST., STE 7, LOS ANGELES, CA 90020

We let Christel's little brother Keith pick the place because he's currently at USC and is pretty social so he knows where the good spots are. He initially picked a cantonese restaurant but later confessed that he made up some excuses to go to Sun Nong Dan because he was craving Korean. Cantonese pushed to a later date, we set off for Koreatown.

Sun Nong Dan is a super busy restaurant in the middle of a tiny plaza so the line to get into the parking lot already wraps around the block but Christel made her little brother get out of the car and put our name down on the waiting list to get ahead of the crowd. It wasn't terribly long but maybe 5-10mins later we got to the valet and jumped out of the car. Luckily, Christel's aunt beat us to the restaurant and put her name down on the list before we even got close so while her brother's name was 18th on the list, aunt Natalie came in clutch at 4th and we were seated not too long after we parked. I feel a little bad for the other restaurants around because theres a huge crowd of people waiting for a table in front of Sun Nong Dan but the rest of the plaza is completely clear with no lines. Good signs for the food though. 

We were seated at a table near the kitchen in a semi small space but food came out fast and they take your order while you're still outside so by the time you sit it's just about ready. 

Keith has been here before and says he and his friends always get the Galbi Jjim with Cheese so that's what we got this time around too. Galbi Jjim is just a braised beef short rib and it comes with rice cakes, potatoes, carrots, onions and a bunch of other stuff all cooked together. The exciting part was that they place this dish on your table and then proceed to light the thing on fire with a hand torch to melt the cheese. I can honestly say, that was the best way to start the meal; who doesn't like fire and melted cheese?

This is the first time I've had galbi and it was really good. I'm not sure what heat level Keith ordered but it was spicy in such a good way. The braised beef was a little chewy and could've been better texture wise but flavor wise everything was great. I had enough rice and loved the potatoes and carrots in the dish. This place was packed and the line outside never seemed to die down but I totally understand the hype because it was pretty good.   

CALI - Mitsuwa!!!!

I've never heard of Mitsuwa before but after going in California, I understand everyone's anger in it being so far away from us in Chicago. 

LOCATION: 3760 S CENTINELA AVE., LOS ANGELES, CA. 90066

So Mitsuwa itself is an asian grocery store which also had a food court, a pastry shop, and a little book store. Christel purposefully took me here for some amazing tempura and another round of ramen because I'm always ready for some ramen. 

SANTOUKA

Since our goal for lunch was to eat some tempura we decided to share a small bowl of chashu hot miso ramen because Christel was saying that Santouka is a pretty famous chain and she wanted to make sure I tried it. I did have to add extra chashu because apparently a small comes with one piece and seeing as we were sharing I figured we could go for a little more meat, especially since I love pork belly. This little bowl of ramen was incredible. The meat was a great texture, the noodles were the perfect amount of chewy and this is one of the best broths I've had. I wanted to drink the whole bowl if only it weren't oily and spicy. I would totally go back to eat Santouka again.   

HANNOSUKE

In all honesty, I haven't had too much tempura in my life but the few times I have tried it in Rochester I've loved it. I like the tempura is crisp and light and usually involves really great vegetables being battered and fried so I was pretty excited to eat this really great tempura that Christel was dreaming about.

Tempura was our main dish for the meal so we each decided to order our own original tendon which comes as white fish, two shrimp, a soft boiled egg, seaweed, pumpkin, broccoli, and a shishito pepper over rice with a side of miso soup. This is the best tempura I've had in my life. The first bite of fish was like an incredible explosion in my mouth. The fish was soft but still flavorful without being too fishy, the batter was crisp and just had a light oily flavor and texture to it that melted across my mouth. Everything after that was just amazing. The shishito was strong and bitter but didn't linger, the shrimp disappeared so fast because it was just so good, and my favorite pumpkin was fantastic. Even the broccoli, which can be mushy when its tempura, was still crisp and had the perfect broccoli texture. By the time I got to the rice and egg I was stuffed and I couldn't finish it in the end so this would be a good meal as a stand alone but I wasn't going to pass up the option of ramen so there are no regrets there. Even the miso was perfect and helped me wash down any lingering oily flavor and feel full but not heavy.

I love every part of this meal and it may be my favorite of the trip.   

CALI - Shin Sen Gumi

Goal number 1 - Check! 

LOCATION : 1601 SAWTELLE BLVD. #101 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025

One of the places my friend Jimmy told me to go to in LA three years ago was Shin Sen Gumi. I didn't make it back then but believe me, I was dedicated this time and Christel was completely willing to help me make this happen. Our own trip ended up being a schedule of where we wanted to eat with places to visit as filler in between meals. As a true city vacation should be. We went and got Christel a haircut at her regular salon nearby on sawtelle and decided to hit up Shin Sen Gumi for dinner and boy was I a happy camper. 

We were very lucky with parking and got a spot on the street right next to the restaurant and only had to wait a couple minutes for a table to be cleaned before we were seated. Jimmy also gave me specific instructions on how to order my bowl of ramen but he's crazy and I'm sure I would've died in the sea of spice and oil he was recommending so I went a little off book. We each ordered 1/2 hakata sizes of ramen just so we could also order arabiki sausage because Christel has had them before and really wanted them again upon seeing several tables with that dish. They were great so I wasn't going to complain. I got my ramen hard/chewy, with medium oil, and medium broth strength, without ginger. I also added a flavored egg because perfectly soft boiled eggs in ramen are life. I also added a little chili oil on top of mine because Christel has turned me over to the spicy side of food and while I was alright with spice before, I love it a little more now.

This food was great. I love the bustle of the restaurant and the servers speaking Japanese to each other. The soup was balanced and had a really amazing flavor to it with a great kick from my chili oil. The half size was enough for us and we each finished the whole bowl (I can't say I drank all the broth but I probably could've if I was hungrier). I love the ability to customize the ramen a little and while I went midway on everything to see what my tastes were, I can see why people go back again and again.  

CALI - In-n-out

When in Cali - In-n-out

I'm not even going to say which one we went to because there are so many in Cali and we went on a whim while we were running errands. So let's just say it was somewhere in Anaheim and call it that. 

Christel and I have both been before, and we were craving burgers and fries so we just decided to look it up and were lucky enough to find one less than 5minutes away from where we were at that moment. In-n-out seems to be like Starbucks; you can be in one and see another one nearby. 

Of course we go for the cheeseburgers animal style, and just order the combo each which comes with fries and a drink. I swear, nothing beats In-n-out prices for this amount and at this quality. I really appreciate it and while I'm a fan of thicker cut fries, these still hold a nice potato flavor while being thinner. 

I'm not a huge fan of burgers, but one stop at In-n-out while I'm in town feels right. 

Snack Drawers

Quick post today, but I just wanted to say - I love my job. 

My co-workers and bosses took a little lunch trip to 'Park to shop' which is just a local asian grocery store and bought a drawerful of snacks. 

I'm so happy I work here and that everyone is so great at sharing with me.