Sushi Go 55

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The seemingly deserted mall in Jtown has a couple of popular hidden restaurants tucked away.  Sushi Go 55 is one of them.

A tray of tasty pickled appetizers are presented before your dishes arrive to your table.  From left:  pickled cabbage, eggplant, and cucumber.

The jellyfish was one of the whiteboard specials of the night.  Not sure what I was expecting, but it was very similar to the jellyfish served in Chinese restaurants.  Large cuts of jellyfish tossed with sesame oil and sesame seeds make for a crunchy appetizer.

The tamago was sweet and spongy.  Not sure if they make this in house though.

The sushi combination was fresh and full of salmon, tuna, octopus, hamachi, kampachi and white tuna.

The chirashi presentation was unlike any that I've seen before.  Two boxes, which made me think they had sent two orders of chirashi to my table.

The first box was full of fresh sashimi that included uni, mackerel, salmon, scallop, octopus, hamachi, white tuna, kampachi, and tuna.  The fish was fresh and better than most sushi restaurants in SF, but I think Komasa's (see post HERE) is fresher.

Instead of laying the rice under all the sashimi in the chirashi, its placed in a separate box and topped with roe, ikura, shredded egg, and some pickled cucumbers.  I almost prefer this presentation since I usually end up putting some fish off to the side so I can eat some rice when I'm eating chirashi.

       

Address:                  Sushi Go 55
                                 333 S. Alameda St.
                                 Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                        Japanese/sushi

Popular chomps:      chirashi
                                  sashimi/sushi combination

Chomp worthy:        nothing       

Jae Bu Do

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I've had a lot of Korean bbq in my life, but Jae Bu Do was an eating experience I've never had before.  Korean seafood bbq!  No to mention it doesn't exist in the Bay Area.  Let's face it, regular Korean bbq is delicious, but its more like been there, done that!  Jae Bu Do is all seafood and also challenges your cooking skills since seafood cooks a lot faster than meat.

Jae Bu Do's menu - notice the different prices for cash and credit.

The waitstaff here can get pretty busy helping the diners cook their seafood, but if you absolutely need something, then ringing the bell always helps.

As with all other Korean restaurants, a handful panchans (banchan) are laid on the tables for nibbling.  The kimchee has a ton of spicy kim chee flavor.

Peppers, carrots, and cucumbers make for some fresh veggie noshing between seafood bites.

Just one glove is given so you can open and eat the shellfish without burning your hands.  Its a little Michael Jackson, but its a must do because even with the glove on some of the seafood is still pretty hot.

Whats Korean food without Korean beer?  Hite is the only Korean choice though, but still a must when eating bbq.

A seafood "ceviche" is also brought along with the banchan.  Lots of fish, squid, and shrimp are mixed with hot sauce and cabbage.

This seafood pancake is probably one of the better tasting seafood pancakes I've had.  Not oily at all, but full of flavor and nice crispy edges.

Love cheese corn!  This cheese corn was served in a very shallow pan.  Gloppy cheese mixed with sweet corn kernels.  Not as sweet or rich as others I've had, but still delicious.

The egg custard is a common item at Korean bbq.  This seafood one is no different.  Light and airy, although I've always found most Korean egg custards to be a little bland for my taste.

Believe it or not, this combination B is meant for 3 people.  A seriously large tray of seafood that includes: conch, oyster, shrimp, large clam, ork shell, abalone, squid, mussel, sweet potato.  Its hard to say what was the best seafood, but all of it was fresh and tasty.

The servers put each of the seafood on the grill methodologically and come to check on it every once in a while so you don't have to worry too much about overcooking it.

As always the usual sauce for Korean bbq, but I think the seafood is fresh enough that no sauce is really needed.

A large bowl of noodles and vegetables finished off the meal.  Also, if you had more room the roasted sweet potatoes under the grill make for a tasty sweet snack.

     

Address:                    Jae Bu Do
                                   474 N. Western
                                   Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                          Korean

Popular chomps:        seafood platter                                 

Chomp worthy:           seafood platter     

Mikawaya Mochi

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LA's Japantown is speckled with all types of sweet treats.  Of course, one of them has to be mochi ice cream, although there is a regular mochi store down the street.

Besides the mochi ice creams, Mikawaya Mochi also sells shaved ice and regular ice cream.  The mochi ice cream comes in the regular flavors (green tea, mango, vanilla, chocolate, etc), and they also come in the more exotic flavors for a little extra.

From top, left:chocolate mint, coconut, creme brulee, and plum wine.  Also, on hand were guava, toasted almond, and pistachio.  All were pretty disappointing and nothing close to the fantastic mochi ice cream at Jimbo's back home (see post HERE).  Most of them were much too soft, both the mochi outside the ice cream and the ice cream itself.  The ice cream flavors were bland and didn't have that pop where you could distinguish what flavor it was.

The inside of the mint chocolate chip mochi has mini chocolate chunks.

 

Address:                  Mikawaya
                                 118 Japanese Village Plz Mall
                                  Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                         Japanese/desserts

Popular chomps:       mochi ice cream

Chomp worthy:          nothing  

Bob's Coffee & Donuts

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When I first heard that Bob's Donuts in LA was one of the most famous donut places I immediately thought it was somehow related to the Bob's Donuts in SF (see post HERE), especially when I heard that people raved about their apple fritters.  Well, its not.  Nestled in the maze of shops in the farmer's market in the Grove, this donut shop is quite popular. 

I never get plain donuts and skip right over to the glazed, but their plain donuts were one of the more popular items here.  Even though I don't really care for cakey type donuts, this one had a nice dense texture and was pretty tasty.

Even looking at the outside appearance of the apple fritter, its burnt exterior looks almost like Bob's in SF.  The outside is extra crispy, but it doesn't have much of a fluffy inside like Bob's in SF.  Instead of mixing the pieces of apple inside the fritter, Bob's in LA has a layer of apples on top.  Not really feeling this type of apple fritter, I still prefer SF's version.

The cuteness of these dinosaur donuts are hard to pass up.  They also have kitty face donuts, if that's more your thing.  While they are fun to look at, I found the frosting too sweet for me.

Bob's also sells beignets, which would seem like a good fit, but the beignets here aren't a true beignet.  They lack the light airiness of a real beignet.  It was more like a powdered donut.

Address:                   Bob's Coffee & Donuts
                                  6333 W 3rd St.
                                  Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                         donuts

Popular chomps:        plain donut
                                   apple fritter
                                   beignet
                                   dinosaur donut or kitty donut

Chomp worthy:          plain donut
                                   apple fritter   

Hungry Cat

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Hungry Cat is in the middle of Hollywood, but its location was a little tricky for me to find.  Having literally walked back and forth on the same block at least four times, I finally managed to spot this corner restaurant in an alleyway across from CVS.  Its mostly known for their seafood and their gorgeous raw bar displayed in the front of the restaurant.

Upon arrival to the table, the bowl of salad was huge, but poking around I found it was a wide, shallow bowl.  This seafood take on a cobb salad was filled with fresh shrimp, chunks of crab, bacon, chicken, avocado, eggs, apples, and Parmesan cheese.  Nothing special, but the salad was a refreshing and it had the most delicious citrus dressing.

The lobster roll is Hungry Cat's claim to fame.  Unfortunately, the crispy fries were more satisfying than the actual lobster roll.  The lobster roll is served on fluffy, buttery brioche bread that is lightly toasted, but the chunks of lobsters were few and too dressed.  The lobster was covered heavily in mayo, which overpowered the sweetness of the lobster.  Also, there was at most four bites to this teeny lobster roll.  For $25, the lobster roll was a huge letdown and I should have ordered the raw seafood platter I saw on a nearby table.

       

Address:                   The Hungry Cat
                                  1535 Vine St.
                                   Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                         seafood

Popular chomps:        lobster roll
                                   seafood platter
                                   pug burger

Chomp worthy:          nothing

Oki's Dogs

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I don't even know what to categorize Oki's Dog as.  Is it Japanese?  Is it just hot dogs?  Is it burritos?  Its all the above in pure gluttony status. 

Their menu has a little bit of everything.

Quite a bit of their items is doused with their signature chili sauce.  The beanless chili reminds me a little of Japanese curry both in the consistency and in the seasonings.  Even though chili cheese fries don't look like anything special, the chili and the crunchy fries are addicting. 

The oki dog is one of the signature items here.  Two hot dogs along with cheese and chili are wrapped in a flour tortilla.  The combination is oddly satisfying and makes you wonder why aren't there more of these.

The pastrami burrito is another wildly popular item.  First of all, this is gigantic.  One order can easily feed two people.  Jam packed with slices of pastrami, cabbage and then wrapped in a flour tortilla, this is delicious.  Even better when its cold.

       

Address:                  Oki's Dog
                                 5056 W. Pico Blvd
                                 Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                        hot dog

Popular chomps:      oki dog
                                  chili cheese fries
                                  pastrami burrito
                                  orange bang

Chomp worthy:        oki dog
                                  chili cheese fries
                                  pastrami burrito

Demitasse

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Demitasse is a little slice of home right in Downtown LA.  Its very much like Blue Bottle with its small space that serves up some amazing coffee.  They even have Kyoto iced coffee and siphon coffee here.

Even though it only occupies a small corner, once you step inside it feels quite spacious.

I'm no stranger to siphon coffee.  There was a time when I was visiting Blue Bottle once a week.  The Kenya Kaya siphon coffee was just as fruity as described "fruit punch, black currant".

Address:                  Demitasse
                                 135 S. San Pedro St.
                                 Los Angeles, CA 
 

Type:                       coffee

Popular chomps:     kyoto iced coffee
                                 siphon coffee

Chomp worthy:        siphon coffee       

Father's Office

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The burger at Father's Office is touted as "the best burger in LA".  I had to check it out for myself.  There are two locations, but both are 21+ only.  So even during the day and for food only, its strictly for adults.  Anyone under 21 is pointed to the to go menus.  All orders are put in through the bartender then the food is brought to your table.

A lot of people rave about their sweet potato fries.  They have a nice crust and a sweet fluffy inside.  Not exactly the best ever, but solid sweet potato fries.  Its served with a blue cheese dipping sauce.  It wasn't the most traditional dipping sauce, but even though I'm not a huge fan of blue cheese, I found the flavor to be pretty good.

Finally, the main event - the burger.  The bun makes this burger look more like a hoagie or a sandwich.  Its lightly toasted and layered with arugula, blue cheese, caramelized onions, and gruyere.  The burger is juicy, but not oozing.  The meat is tender and flavorful, but not jaw dropping fantastic.  The taste of the burger is very sweet, which is from the very generous portion of caramelized onions.  While its not the best or most traditional burger, its still a good burger.  Nopa's burger in SF (see post HERE) outshines this burger by far.

Another ho hum dish - the bone marrow.  Again, with the sweet flavors!  The bone marrow, while fatty, was also a bit on the sweet side.  Nothing too memorable about this dish either.

Address:                 Father's Office
                                3229 Helms Ave.
                                Los Angeles, CA
 

Type:                       gastropub

Popular chomps:     burger
                                 sweet potato fries

Chomp worthy:        sweet potato fries