Feng Mao - Olympic - Los Angeles

Are you an introvert? Are you SO introverted that you avoid dining out just to avoid service? Say no more! 

For a weekday lunch at Feng Mao, you can grab a table with minimal eye contact and zero words, scan the code on the wall and order off your phone. Your food will arrive with as little interaction as you desire, though a quick "thank you" might be nice, and you can watch your skewers sizzle on this futuristic self-turning contraption with no further human interaction for the remainder of your meal. 

There's not much to say anyway - the food is just fantastic. The restaurant is Korean-Chinese, and you get the best of both worlds. They comp you all your banchan so there's plenty to nibble, should you need to sate your hunger while your meat-sticks sizzle. You get all the pickles; kimchee, daikon, and seaweed, and you even get a little salad with sesame-ginger dressing. There's a dish of boiled peanuts from the Chinese side, too. 

Apps are optional, but this spicy Shredded Potato serves as a cold and crunchy contrast to the hot meat, an adequate appetite-whetter for what's to come and a palate cleanser as well.

Firm, roasted Lotus Root soaked in garlic serves as another inter-meat intermezzo, ordered with zero necessity, eaten with zero regrets. 

Skewers are the main event, and one only needs the slightest whiff of the cumin clinging to the Lamb Kebab to see how Feng Mao got famous. The fire crispy-crusts the outside, sealing the juices within. 

Other options include Marinated Beef with a sweet sauce, a come-over from the Korean side as northeastern China's food runs salty. 

Beef Tendon is tender and supple, texture adding to taste. 

Chicken Gizzards can be more chewy, especially when you let them overcook (oops...), but a good stick of offal is never truly awful. 

Wider strips of Maitake Mushroom grill into something tender, but require a good dunk in the side of seasoning as they are otherwise rather bland. 

These are the first legit lamb skewers I've seen stateside, and they bring me back to the back alleys of Beijing...if Beijing back alleys were clean and served quality cuts. The best food comes from the most curious places, but despite being a very clean and legitimately-run restaurant, Feng Mao truly captures the best of the street food, especially the stuff on sticks.