Soon Tofu that lifts up the spirit - So Kong Dong

So Kong Dong is my favorite soon tofu place in Los Angeles. It serves the best-tasting soon tofu, is pretty easy to go to and the parking situation is usually not bad. Last week, I was in a poor mood and didn't want to eat any dinner, but my wife suggested So Kong Dong and I ended up eating way more than normal, and was very happy afterwards.

The banchan is great and comes with spicy raw crab. Good stuff.

Their soon tofu is so hot it's like lava in a stone pot. I like the dumpling soon tofu because the dumplings are good and taste even better after soaking in the tofu soup. Their tofu has a unique flavor that stands out from other soon tofu places. Their soup is also more flavorful, not just filled with jalapeno taste.

The people's omakase - Wakasan

Wakasan has been the gold standard of omakase dining in Los Angeles for many years. They serve only the chef's choice menu of traditional Japanese dishes. I always want to eat there but it's difficult to get a table without reservation, and I don't like making reservations :P Finally today I made the reservation because I tried Morinoya and really missed this place.

First course was a cold chawanmushi with egg and mushrooms. The egg custard is silky smooth with good salty flavor.

The sashimi appertizer is of kampachi, albacore, halibut and salmon. The soy sauce is just the right amount of sour and saltiness to bring out the best flavor of the sashimi.

Try it before it's gone - Ramen Iroha stages a temporary ramen invasion

For a limited time, famous ramen chain Menya Iroha from Toyama is setting up shop inside the Gardena Marukai food court until 9/16. Menya Iroha is known for their black shoyu ramen and has set a record of selling 14,585 bowls of ramen within 5 days at the Tokyo Ramen Show. Head chef Kiyoshi Kurihara has come personally to oversee operations for the first week. You just know it's going to be good.

Unexpected find at Ramen Hayatemaru - awesome fried rice!

We went back to Ramen Hayatemaru to try the rest of the menu. See my comments about the first time here. We got the Red Miso Ramen and the Jigae Ramen this time. The red miso has a more subdued taste compared to the white miso, with weaker fermented taste. I like the white miso better because that has a brighter taste (if miso can even be described that way), but this would be good for people who prefer a regular miso taste. This ramen is topped with fried tofu skin to absorb the miso goodness. It's really impressive that every ramen they serve has different toppings. 

Ojiya Restaurant - izakaya style from Niigata

I kinda struggle when I write this post, because I don't want to make this restaurant more popular. Ojiya is one of those hidden gems known only to the local Japanese, and it's always crowded because the restaurant is tiny. There are many izakayas in Los Angeles, but most of them serve pretty much the same stuff. Ojiya stands out because they serve specialties from Niigata, and they constantly come out with new menu items. There is something new to try every time.

This time I got all three specials from the menu. The first was slow poached egg, Chinese broccoli, plum bits on top of natto sauce with bonito flakes. The whole plate is on the salty side and it's perfect with beer.

Jeannine's American Bakery Restaurant

Jeannine's is a famous bakery restaurant in Santa Barbara with more than 25 years of history. We stopped by on the way to some wineries. The Montecito location is very nice, reminds me of the Montana area in Los Angeles. Everyone there look like they walked out of a A&F or J.Crew catalog. The restaurant was pretty small and crowded but the very friendly hostess Nancy helped us find a seat quite quickly.

I read on Yelp that the lobster Benedict is famous. It comes with a generous amount of lobster bits. The sweetness of the lobster meat goes very well with the slightly spicy hollandaise sauce and the salty hash browns. It's not cheap but it's a really nice guilty pleasure to be eating lobster for brunch :)

A second visit to Tea Lane - good cheap eat

Went to Tea Lane again to try their lunch and yakitori. Their lunch combos are only $6 and it comes with a bowl of rice or noodles, a plates of steamed veggie and two sticks of yakitori. I picked minced meat over rice and my wife picked plain noodle. We got a total of two plates of veggie (same thing) and four different sticks of yakitori.

I was expecting minimalist minced pork and sauce over rice, but it came fully loaded with flavor egg and dried meat flakes. I like how many different things they try to put onto the bowl of rice. Every bite was never boring.

Il Posto Trattoria - amazing Italian in wine country

I was in Napa Valley for Mother's Day. We noticed that this restaurant next to our hotel was full of locals so we decided to have lunch there. There are a lot of good Italian restaurants in Los Angeles, but nothing came quite close to this new restaurant in Napa.

The gnocchi was the most amazing gnocchi I have ever tasted. Light broth with salty pork and pan fried gnocchi. I am quite used to gnocchi in creamy sauce but this version is so refreshing and perfectly balanced. You just can't help but keep eating it.