The Official Los Angeles Shopping + Dining Thread

[whodini]

Originally Posted by pinoy

I'm assuming you're referring to the Brazilian enclave in Culver City? Some interesting stuff there! Have you tried the brazilian pizza joint? haha!
Bingo. No, haven't been to the pizza place but I can already imagine it sucks. I'm guessing it's a riff off of the chuhascaria-style where you're served 50 kinds of pizza: appetizer, main course, and even dessert. The sad thing is just how f'ing cheap it is in Brazil (let's say $5 USD) compared to the $20 USD I'm sure something comparable would cost in the States. FYI to people in love with churascos in the US, the service ******* blows. If you haven't been offered food twice per minute ( not an exaggeration), then you're being had. That said, if you're going to be had then I'd recommend the place in Burbank. Fogo de Chao is ok, fancy enough, but I feel like I'm overpaying for something someone else does a bit better. Same with Gaucho Village in Glendale. Not a fan.

 

[jet]

Had the niman ranch burger and quite enjoyed it. A couple of aspects about it I preferred to the gs burger (slight charred crust, toasty bun and the pickles/sauce) but with a couple mods the gs burger would be as good if not better. I have to say at almost half the price gs is an excellent value. This one had more complexity since it was more of a gourmet burger. Fries and garlic aioli were good, still prefer the fries sauce at gs.

 

[pinoy]

Originally Posted by jet

Had the niman ranch burger and quite enjoyed it. A couple of aspects about it I preferred to the gs burger (slight charred crust, toasty bun and the pickles/sauce) but with a couple mods the gs burger would be as good if not better.

you hit the nail on the head and that's exactly what makes Rustic Canyon a better burger. GS doesn't do a good of a job charring their crust, and the beef isn't quite as flavorful as RC's. GS makes a good burger (the lamb burger on Thursday is especially good) but at the end of the day, I really think RC wins for best burger in LA.

The thing is, i'm just comparing burgers to burgers, relative cost/value be damned. Of course, i'm not trying to compare a $100 to a $10 burger here.. but as $100 burgers usually have foie and truffles and other $$$ stuff on it, comparison doesn't even make sense regardless of the price.

 

[Xericx]

Originally Posted by whodini

FYI to people in love with churascos in the US, the service ******* blows. If you haven't been offered food twice per minute ( not an exaggeration), then you're being had. That said, if you're going to be had then I'd recommend the place in Burbank. Fogo de Chao is ok, fancy enough, but I feel like I'm overpaying for something someone else does a bit better. Same with Gaucho Village in Glendale. Not a fan.
Yeah, I think its an LA thing though, the service at the churascos I had in Chicago (Sao de Carvao and Texas de Brazil) was much better, as was the food overall, even better than Fogo, which I thought was way too cramped spacewise and too busy. interested to see the brazillian pizza joint, I went to an argentinian pizza joint in mexico which was really good. maybe i should give Cafe Brasil another chance.

 

[mordecai]

I want you all to know that I have been enjoying some great ice cream, that I will not share here.

 

[whodini]

Starts with a "P" and ends with an "s" or starts with a "C" and ends with an "a"?

 

[Xericx]

had lunch at FarmShop in the Brentwood country mart today. outstanding. small menu, but had a great open faced prime rib...sou vide prime rib topped with some arugula and enoki mushrooms atop a toast with some horseradish cream. shoestring fries were quite good as well. nice vibe too in there. http://farmshopla.com/

 

[mordecai]

Originally Posted by whodini

Starts with a "P" and ends with an "s" or starts with a "C" and ends with an "a"?

 

[whodini]

It's cool, I think we're on the pro-tip.

 

[jet]

Originally Posted by whodini

Starts with a "P" and ends with an "s" or starts with a "C" and ends with an "a"?

i'm not a big ice cream guy so i haven't had either but paradis has been discussed here, maybe not carmela though

 

[mordecai]

I've been trying to work out a weight:happiness ratio that I feel comfortable with so I can just eat the **** out of Lavender Honey guilt free.

 

[Xericx]

went to Westside Tavern for lunch today. It was a great burger, but the Bun can't get over the sponginess and it makes the whole burger seem dry when I bite into it. the rest of the burger was fantastic though.

 

[jet]

Do those buns give you nightmares at night? I don't know how you can say it's dry when the FO burger is on a baguette of sorts. In fact if FO didn't use that bread and didn't have that tangy bbq like concoction it would be a great burger. As it stands though I don't think I would go back.

Besides, the braised short rib is the thing to get there.

 

[Xericx]

F.O.'s been inconsistent the last few times I've gone, but the french bread they use isn't so spongy as some of the other burgers recently mentioned. About half the time I go to FO the bread does taste a bit stale-ish. I do like the onion compote on the F.O. burger though and I find the flavors deeper. I'm just nitpicking here though.

I was craving a burger today...disappointed that Stefan's on Montana closed when I tried yesterday, I loved the turkey burger there.

 

[CityHunter]

Originally Posted by jet

i'm not a big ice cream guy so i haven't had either but paradis has been discussed here, maybe not carmela though

I've tried Carmela at the South Pasadena Farmer's Market and that stuff is awesome. More Bi-Rite, less Scoops.
They don't dive into Crazyville with their flavors, but they are still pretty uncommon (salted caramel, buttermilk strawberry, earl grey, etc)