The Wallace UPDATE - Culver City

Bottomless Mimosas. I don't need another reason. 

The pomegranate tastes like a spiked San Pellegrino, and the strawberry is my fave. It comes with strawberry concentrate/mush so the juice is rather sweet but finishes more like a fresh fruit. Orange is standard, and all are equally strong. 

The Biscuits n' Gravy are part of a complete breakfast, and despite the bowl-of-mush appearance, this is a delicious dish...of mush. The house sausage has a perfect, sweet-finish seasoning to it, and it jives with creamy layers of gravy. Plus runny fried eggs on top make everything that much better.

Classic Carne Asada & Eggs but better. The carne asada is crusted with an incredible mix of cilantro and herbs, like a dry chimichurri but ten times better than any chimichurri I've tasted. Potatoes and rice as the Spanish-themed starches, with a small side of carrot salad cool-down.

Brunch or dinner? I've had both, and I would have either here again. The bottomless mimosas are extra motivation, but I don't need much more of a push to revisit The Wallace!

Pasta e Pasta by Allegro - Los Angeles

Japanese-infused Italian and some Italian-infused Japanese. WINNING.

The Jidori Chicken Gizzard Confit says it all. The Japanese organ-ic influence asserts itself on this impressively varied menu, and this sizzling dish is a rare find, even in diverse LA. But my grandma always made gizzards a bit chewy and firm, sliced up in a stir-fry. The Pasta preparation sits in a soothing oil spa, rendering the flavor fatty and the texture soft and impossibly tender. The meaty integrity is there, but in a tender, melty manner that feels like practically pate. 

Uni Pasta: the riches continue. The fresh uni on top is impressively fresh, especially for a restaurant that doesn't serve sushi. The uni cream sauce is dense and assertively thick, a hot cloak of sweet briny roe on every al dente noodle. The spaghetti is extra-thin, giving the sauce more surface cling for some extra wow.

I only have Miyabi Uni and Spoon House to compare this to, and Pasta e Pasta is a strong contender. Theirs is a little different, and I love the gentle in-your-face quality of this pasta. The sauce captures the star quality of its key ingredient, and if Pasta e Pasta weren't so far away, I'd go there every day. 

Lacha Somtum - Los Angeles

Any excuse to revisit Thai Town. 

Lacha Somtum is known for their somtum (shocking), and their regular Thai Papaya Salad doesn't disappoint. The green papaya is exactly the right ripeness, and each fine shred is soaked all the way through with citrus, spice, and everything nice. Ordered Thai medium-spicy and got Thai medium-spicy. They don't play with the chilis here, and the burn is delightful. 

Esaan Sausage is the hubby's new obsession, and the "sour" pork style carries a soft fragrance.  

The Steamed Mussels hit the spot. The mussels themselves are just mussels, but the spicy dipping sauce is bomb.

The Jungle Curry is a non-creamy, almost-earthy comfort bowl. We order it mild, but that's a lie. Jungle curry is the most amazing of all the curries, but it only comes in three strengths: hot, hotter, and death. The "mild" is the most delicious slow death I'll ever suffer, and it's worth every penny to pay extra for the crispy pork on top. 

The food seems so simple, but the spices are so varied, and the flavors dig deep. Despite the variety on this table, I know we've barely begun to see what kind of great things Lacha can do. There will be a lot of somtums in my future, Lacha, and I'll be back for more before you know it.

Killer Noodle Tsujita - Los Angeles

Killer Noodle is a bit like Indian food. In order to have Indian food, you have to WANT Indian food. But when you want it and it's good, there is no satisfaction like the kind you get from a spicy tikka masala, and nothing hits the spicy-noodle spot like Killer Noodle.

Prepare yourself. The Szechuan spice creeps up, first a spreading numbness, followed by the sweet, sizzling burn of Szechuan chilis that you can't quite perceive. You feel the burn through the numb, the numb through the burn; pins and needles, alternating dull and sharp. It messes with your mind, and it hurts so good. 

Pair it with the yogurt drink if you're weak like me because my Downtown Style Dan Dan Noodles with numb and spice at a 3 are bringing out the sweat.

Downtown style is more peanut-strong while the Tokyo Style is more about sesame and pork. The server said the opposite, but my tastebuds said otherwise. Both different, both done equally well. Noodles al dente, and they miraculously don't get soggy in a take-home box. The sauce does soak in for an extra numbing burn with time, and it only gets better. 

The Tokyo Style with soup is more like a very spicy, slightly denser ramen, and it's the perfect thing on a winter day. Let the burn soothe the throat as the spice numbs your core to the cold. 

The Chashu Bowl is a fun little guilty pleasure to get on the side. The pork fat melts between the grains of rice, and there's a nice chargrilled taste to it. 

One of the newest additions to Sawtelle, Killer Noodle manages to be both comforting in its familiarity and exciting with its novelty. Make sure you have a spicy noodle craving before you go, but TBH, I think I'll be craving it fairly often. 

-8℃ Ice Cream - Gardena

My first and long-overdue encounter with rolled ice cream, a Thai dessert taking the world by storm:

I can see why. Ice cream in neat layers scratches the deep-seated itch of OCD, and my Red Matcha comes with a winning pair of grainy red bean and not-so-sweet matcha. Bonus: the toppings are unlimited, and I'm drowning in my favorite bits of fruit-flavored mochi and a guilty-pleasure strawberry egg roll. 

The Mango Go has a tropical theme puree, and coconut flakes and nutella are perfect toppers. 

And this is where the good stuff ends. Terrible service at the register to start.The credit card limit is $15, and refused to run $14.74. We both added a condensed milk mix-in for a 50-cent charge, which diluted both the matcha and mango and likely caused them to melt almost immediately. Still, ice cream is ice cream, but the rolls are crudely thick, nothing like the glamour promised by Instagram photos. My photos were taken seconds after we got our toppings, and the rolls were turning to slush before my eyes. I love the idea of rolled ice cream and will gladly give this place another try, but better service and a little more skill would get me back sooner. 

Howlin' Ray's - Los Angeles

Nashville hot chicken has seen a popularity spike in the past couple years, a southern art finally getting the recognition it deserves. Well Howlin' Ray's has an hour-long line at 5 PM on a Saturday, recognition be damned. This chicken better be worth it - the line has limited seating. 

Worth it. Nashville Hot is a tricky chicken, and Howlin' Rays does it well. Apparently it's fried chicken with a spicy paste on top, and at the spice level determines how much paste the apply. Spice-wimp me gets brave and I try the Quarter Bird medium. The dark meat is tender, the crispy batter sticks to the skin, and the cayenne paste sticks to it like a layer of sandy loam. The paste adds in-your-face flavor and a grittier texture. So satisfying and so different from any other fried chicken. Pickles break up the burn, the sauce-soaker white bread is boss, and I'm quickly learning not to inhale while biting into my chicken.

My husband is wiser than I, and he orders his Sando mild. I love the medium burn, but the mild does have less paste so you can taste the batter better and is much easier to finish. The comeback sauce is a bit like a garlic mayo, and it wets down the drier paste for a creamy finish. The mild and medium hot both have their merits, but I don't think I'd go any hotter. That said, my friends loved their chicken hot so maybe I'm missing out. 

I haven't had hot chicken in Nashville yet so I don't have a basis of comparison. What I do know is that Howlin' Ray's makes fantastic hot chicken and that's enough for me. But if their Collared Greens are any indication, their southern cooking is legit. These greens are steamed to goopy greatness, and the pork adds all the savor. They're exactly how they should be, and just like everything else at Howlin' Ray's; they're done exactly right. 

Poki Stop - Simi Valley

We needed something quick on our way to the Reagan Library, and I figured you couldn't really mess up poke, especially custom poke. Well Poki Stop didn't really mess it up, but it also didn't go too well. 

The poke bowls are assembly-line style, pick-your-poison. We both go with rice base, and if you need to ask why, you need to eat more poke. We got salmon and tuna, both of which are acceptably fresh, but won't be wowing anyone anytime soon. The sauce is on the bland side, really just soy splashed onto the fish with varying amounts of sriracha depending on your spice preference, and here is where our bowls start to differ. Mine is minimalist, mostly cucumber and masago with a side of seaweed salad. I asked for spicy mayo as well, HUGE mistake. Rather than mixing it in, they douse the top with literal rivers of flavorless goop. It's just mayo - there's really not much spice or other flavor to speak of, and I'm really annoyed that they covered my seaweed salad. 

I don't get a lot of toppings. They have some of the regular stuff, but literally half their items come with an extra charge. I get that avocado costs more, but we paid more for edamame, and they even charge for artificial crab so WTF.

So it's not Torrance's Pokebar, and it sure as heck isn't Jus' Poke. It's a generic create-your-own fast food-ish poke bar, and it's edible, but they need to get it together. Charging for half your veggies/toppings and drowning seaweed salad in mayo is not cool. So if you're craving poke, don't stop at Poki Stop. Keep driving until you find something better.