The Official Los Angeles Shopping + Dining Thread

Looking for a proxy for the barneys ware house sale in LA if anyone might be interested

Originally Posted by jet

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Going to westside tavern this weekend.

That's the one under the Landmark, correct? I keep hearing good things about it, but it just seems so 'meh'...located next to a mediocre mall/Barnes Noble. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover though.

I've been in LA for 4 days, i've eaten here so far:
Langers
El Cholo
Tar Pit
Animal
Umami
Tinga

Still another 4 days to go.

Originally Posted by kiya

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I've been in LA for 4 days, i've eaten here so far:
Langers
El Cholo
Tar Pit
Animal
Umami
Tinga

Still another 4 days to go.

Not a bad list.

Try to get into Pizzaria or OSteria Mozza, Angelini Osteria, and though I loathe the scene at Katsu-ya, it still has amazing sushi. Or Nobu.

Osteria Mozza was fantastic, one of the top meals I've had in my short life.

Everyone needs to check out the Mike Kelley exhibit at the Gagosian Gallery. Pics and stuff in my tumblr.

^green pasta with the lamb ragu was incredible

Originally Posted by CityHunter

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That's the one under the Landmark, correct? I keep hearing good things about it, but it just seems so 'meh'...located next to a mediocre mall/Barnes Noble. I know I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover though.
A great burger, flatbreads, oysters, veggies etc. Going to check it out this weekend. Had golden state this past sunday for pickup to go to watch the superbowl and it was great as usual and consistent, fries sauce is the best.

Originally Posted by Spencer

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Not a bad list. Try to get into Pizzaria or OSteria Mozza, Angelini Osteria, and though I loathe the scene at Katsu-ya, it still has amazing sushi. Or Nobu.
Pssshh...drive to little tokyo. Go to Restaurant Komasa, Hama sushi, or Sushi-Gen. I live near Isakya by Katsu-ya, close to Nobu. The real deal is in Little Tokyo right downtown. Hands down. What you mentioned is pretty good, but not authentic. Sushi Park on sunset is in a strip mall and is great as well, though twice the price of sushi downtown. Real deal, no americanized rolls.

I enjoyed my meal at Hide Sushi on Sawtelle. Red Snapper sushi, Hamachi toro, etc.

Originally Posted by MSSneaker

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Pssshh...drive to little tokyo. Go to Restaurant Komasa, Hama sushi, or Sushi-Gen. I live near Isakya by Katsu-ya, close to Nobu. The real deal is in Little Tokyo right downtown. Hands down. What you mentioned is pretty good, but not authentic.

Sushi Park on sunset is in a strip mall and is great as well, though twice the price of sushi downtown. Real deal, no americanized rolls.

I don't much like traditional sushi places it gets a bit boring. For the best I go to asanebo.

The four of us ended up dropping over 900 with not much alcohol for my birthday so we're still trying to recover from that.

Speaking of Sushi, has anybody been to R23? I pass it every morning to get coffee (on the way to Novel Cafe) and it looks interesting, if only for the cardboard chairs

Originally Posted by jet

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I don't much like traditional sushi places it gets a bit boring. For the best I go to asanebo.

The four of us ended up dropping over 900 with not much alcohol for my birthday so we're still trying to recover from that.

I was going to say Asanebo or Sasabune.

The quality at Nobu, any of the Katsu-ya resturants, Noazawa, etc is as good if not better than anywhere in LA.

Speaking of Japanese, anyone ever been to Nan Ban Kan in W. LA on Santa Monica and basically Sawtelle? AMAZING Yakatori spot, they import their charcoal from Japan, great dishes and excellent quality. Highly reccomend it.

Originally Posted by Spencer

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I was going to say Asanebo or Sasabune. The quality at Nobu, any of the Katsu-ya resturants, Noazawa, etc is as good if not better than anywhere in LA.
The quality at Katu-ya is not up to par with any of the Little Tokyo sushi places I mentioned. It's good, but not the same. I really don't see that. There is something to be said for every component of sushi: rice, seaweed, fish... Katsu-Ya makes their rolls with rice on the outside of the seaweed, which is an instant red flag to me. Don't get me wrong, Katsu-Ya is decent if you are near one and don't mind the scene...but it's not great. I'm just not much for the pretentious scene a lot of these sushi places attract. I guess I like the humble authenticity of the places I mentioned. But I really only go for nigiri and sashimi, so I guess I have different tastes. In my opinion you get better fish downtown for less $$. Sushi Park on sunset is really good. If you want to drop a lot of change, I think the best place I've been that's not downtown is Sushi Sushi in Beverly Hills. No trendy rolls, just authentic sushi in a low-key but still very high end atmosphere. And a great Omakase menu. http://www.sushisushibh.com/ I'm not impressed with Nobu or Katsu-Ya. Sasabune and Asanebo look great, and I can't say I've ever been. Those will be on my list. Thanks.

Originally Posted by MSSneaker

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The quality at Katu-ya is not up to par with any of the Little Tokyo sushi places I mentioned. It's good, but not the same. I really don't see that.

There is something to be said for every component of sushi: rice, seaweed, fish...

Katsu-Ya makes their rolls with rice on the outside of the seaweed, which is an instant red flag to me. Don't get me wrong, Katsu-Ya is decent if you are near one and don't mind the scene...but it's not great.

I'm just not much for the pretentious scene a lot of these sushi places attract. I guess I like the humble authenticity of the places I mentioned. But I really only go for nigiri and sashimi, so I guess I have different tastes. In my opinion you get better fish downtown for less $$.

Sushi Park on sunset is really good.

If you want to drop a lot of change, I think the best place I've been that's not downtown is Sushi Sushi in Beverly Hills. No trendy rolls, just authentic sushi in a low-key but still very high end atmosphere. And a great Omakase menu.

http://www.sushisushibh.com/

I'm not impressed with Nobu or Katsu-Ya. Sasabune and Asanebo look great, and I can't say I've ever been. Those will be on my list. Thanks.

I hear you and agree with the bullshit Katsu-ya crowd. But I actually go to either the Encino or Studio City ones, not the SBE ones. Also, the Katsu-ya offshot on Ventura in Studio City, Kiwame I think it's called, awazing, excellent quality fish and no bull **** scene. Best Blue Fin ive ever had.

Originally Posted by MSSneaker

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Sushi Park on sunset is really good. If you want to drop a lot of change, I think the best place I've been that's not downtown is Sushi Sushi in Beverly Hills. No trendy rolls, just authentic sushi in a low-key but still very high end atmosphere. And a great Omakase menu. http://www.sushisushibh.com/
This is hilarious, I just drove down sunset and stopped at a light to see sushi park (cramped little space across from the gas station or some **** on north side right?) and I joked to my buddy that the place was good. He said really? I said nah just kidding made it up lol. I've been to sushi sushi and was going to recommend it. A little boring for me but great quality. We went with my japanese friend which is actually his favorite spot. After that we went to Mori which is my 2nd fav, then we went to asanebo all on different nights of course. My buddy was very impressed though it's not a traditional nigiri/sashimi place and liked it a great deal. You need to order the house specialties or you won't get the best experience. Anyway, very impressed with westside tavern. I've grown tired of the hillstone spots and this is a good alternative. Fried green bean app was good, mac and cheese w/crispy onions had a delicious sharp cheese profile, flat breads nice, burger is excellent if you like arugula/caramelized onion type of burgers. The egg bun is from la brea bakery, ***** on comme ca. The juiciest burger I've had and very tasty. I would say quality of the burger is the best I've had with gs a notch below, but flavor profile of gs is one notch above for me since I prefer bacon and not grilled onions. The lamb dip was excellent according to my buddy. Highly recommended and very reasonable pricing. Had some lagavulin with the meal, perfect. Oh yeah, the bar is ******* very impressive, scotch guys take note. No flavored vodkas here.