CALI - Marugume Monzo

Marugume Monzo was our intended lunch destination for the day but seeing as we were hungry in the moment and 40minutes was too long of a wait for out hungry stomachs we stopped by TaNoTa for a quick appetizer. This takoyaki break killed about 25minutes so we rushed back across the street in the hopes that we might be called early. 

LOCATION: 329 E 1ST ST., LOS ANGELES, CA. 90012

We managed to find a nice semi shaded spot in line outside of Marugume and waited for our name to be called. When we got back from TaNoTa we only had about 4 more people in front of us so we were seated in about 10 or so minutes which wasn't bad; just enough time to digest our takoyaki and get hungry for some udon. Christel and I both love udon and seeing as it's not as popular as ramen don't get to eat it as often. Of course thick chewy noodles are where its at so udon is perfect. 

Christel has been here before and knew she wanted the Miso Carbonara Udon. Marugume is famous for their Sea Urchin Cream Udon but I've only had sea urchin once and wasn't a huge fan so I didn't want to risk my one treat at udon on something I was unsure of. Christel doesn't like sea urchin either so there it would be a dish wasted if I didn't like it so I aimed for something a little safer. I decided to try the Mentai Squid Butter Udon because she said one of her brothers tried it before and enjoyed it. It comes with seasoned fish eggs butter sauce with squid and onions and I also decided to add some green onions for a few cents to add some fresh green lightness to a pretty heavy dish. I'm not saying the green onions did a lot but I like to pretend.

The bowls that they serve the udon in are huge which is comical to see but also fun to eat out of. My udon's were a little fishier than I was craving and the texture of the squid was smoother and softer that I'm used to but I ate every bit of that handmade noddle till I was ready to burst. We each ordered sprites to help wash down some of the heavy creaminess which was a smart move for us. All in all, I would go back again. Marugume has a ton of crazy flavor combinations that all sound pretty delicious and the texture of the noodles is perfect for me. The line moves pretty fast and everything was really great; definitely a great way to mix things up from the flood of ramen everywhere. To me, udon is the true unsung hero of noodles.  

CALI - TaNoTa

LOCATION: 350 E 1ST ST, LOS ANGELES, CA 90012

My first go at takoyaki comes from our dire need for food. Christel and I spent the morning at The Broad and it was a fantastic morning at that; very lucky meeting super nice women in line and an incredible experience with The Broad architecture. We finished up at the museum earlier than we expected because things went so smoothly and went to get lunch but our wait in line was an estimated 40minutes so we decided to go get an appetizer ASAP while we waited! Luckily Japanese Village Plaza was right across the street from us so we ran over to TaNoTa.

I've never been to TaNoTa before nor have I heard about it but they had a perfect 'to-go' walk up window and you could see a worked making takoyaki in the window as you order on their take out iPad right outside. Visually, this is a great thing to see to get people hungry and ready to order. I'm always fascinated by open kitchens and I love watching people cook in windows.

Since I've never had Takoyaki before, Christel decided it would just be best for us to order and original so I knew what the basics were and next time around I can order fun fusions like Parmesan. Takoyaki is a light batter thats cooked into a little ball form with other ingredients mixed in. Original comes with octopus, green onion, and some crunchies mixed in the batter. It's topped with bonito flakes, seaweed, kewpie mayo and tanota sauce. 

It came out pretty quickly (5mins) after ordering so we didn't have to wait out in the sun too long and was ready to travel in this little boat. TaNoTa gives you chopsticks instead of skewers which I enjoy cuz I have more control. These suckers are HOT too. Takoyaki teaches you that looks can be deceiving because the outsides look great and ready to eat but as soon as you bite into them, hot lava octopus scorches your mouth and you can't feel anything for days. However, we were prepared for this and poked holes into all of our takoyaki balls to air them out and took turns passing the boat back and forth to give our selves a rest in between steaming hot batter. I honestly am in love with Takoyaki now though. I'm already craving it and can't wait for my next chance to eat some more of these guys.     

CALI - Sul & Beans

Family time part II with shaved ice at Sul & Beans.

LOCATION: 621 S WESTERN AVE., LOS ANGELES, CA. 90005

Even though Christel's little brother Keith said he had homework to do, he still got pretty excited to take us out for dessert after Sun Nong Dan so we met back up at Sul & Beans not too far away for some shaved ice. 

Sul & Beans does a Korean shaved ice with a variety of toppings and each can be a little pricey (about $10) but for the four of us we decided to share two flavors. After Sun Nong Dan it might not have been the best idea because we only finished about one and a half but it was still fun to try a couple different things. 

We all decided to get the strawberry cheese bingsoo which was basically a strawberry cheesecake shaved ice and Christel was gunning for us to try the injeolmi bingsoo which is a ground nut and mochi shaved ice meaning it tasted a lot like powdered peanut butter. 

We're all so asian, the fruit bingsoo was a big hit and we scooped that bowl clean but the injeolmi was a little trickier for us and we ended up only eating half of it. For those of you interested in it, beware because I'm pretty sure Christal almost died accidentally inhaling the powdered nut mix upon her first spoonful. It was all pretty good and I love different textures of ice cream and shaved ice that I keep coming across. I'm pretty happy that Keith brought us to this place and I had a whole night of new dishes.  

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.