Hikari Japanese BBQ and Grill - Lomita

A candy store for carnivores. Hikari is a Godiva-store of cook-your-own meats minus the pretentiousness and overpricing. 

Nothing soothes your soul like watching tender cuts crackle on the grill, and this sizzling skillet of Sauteed Beef Intestine & Cabbage is just a warm-up. Watch the savory steam dance around so many tender squares. The texture of beef intestine is so difficult to describe; it's thick but sliced so thin, firm but juicier with every chew, almost rubbery but more supple since Hikari knows how to make it right. The cabbage is a crisp contrast, and it’s pliable leaves soak up the collecting soup as the intestine releases its juices. 

The menu is a long list of every cut of every common animal, an overwhelming Cheesecake-Factory book of meats. Fortunately, Hikari also has the best service, and our table comes with a knowledgeable guy who can describe literally everything on the menu in vivid detail.

Droppin' knowledge bombs, he is. Start with the Beef Tongue in mentai cream, the first of his many right-on recs. This one comes in thin slabs with an emollient fish-cream to soften the already-tender tongue.

The Thick Cut Beef Tongue comes plain, scored for easy cooking and melt-in-your-mouth chewing. It slips in smooth and silky; the thicker cut just adds to the luxury.

Slip me some more Beef Tongue, this one with a flash of wasabi cream. The marinade cuts through with a sharp horseradish, a dash of something different to add a little zing. 

The Hanging Tender is one of their best cuts, says the server...and every single person who's ever written a review on Yelp. It is. The tongue is still tops, but this juicy steak at least ties for first. 

The portions look small, but they're proteinaceous-ly filling. The Stone Roasted Tomato Risotto is our "let's get one last thing", a carb break from the meatmeatmeat. Get it with beef tongue - it changes everything. 

It sizzles and bubbles until you spoon it into your plate. It finishes sweet and simultaneously savory, unexpected and absolutely delicious.

There is something incredibly homey and intimate about Hikari. There's something primal about seeing these red cuts in the raw and something simultaneously civilizing about seeing them sizzle as they cook. Droplets of juice and fat dance to the beat of the flames in the glow of a tiny grill. 

With great service, and fun and casual atmosphere, and lots of fantastic food best washed down with pitchers of beer, Hikari is awesome for any occasion. Bring a date to cook together and connect, bring friends or family to reconnect, or drag whoever you want to spend time with, and take the opportunity to bond over platters of meat and pitchers of beer. You really can't have a bad time at Hikari. 

Sriracha Factory - Huy Fong Foods - Irwindale

"No tear gas made here." Irwindale protested when Sriracha opened its gates, but they all took a tour and fell in love. The cult following formed and grew and continued, and it seems that everything endearing we've heard about this beloved hot sauce is true. 

Bouffants and beard covers on. You're walking through the actual factory, and you see everything on the production line from the barrels to the bottles to the finished product to stock the shelves. 

Here, the use pre-forms to make their bottles.

Watching the bottling and seeing the lines of sauce conveyed to the boxing side is just soothing. The machines hum a steady lullaby, but the slight sting of the chili peppers keeps your mind alert, your eyes awake, and your sinuses completely clear. 

If anything they say in their videos is true, then David Tran may be the only honest businessman left in this modern, twisted world of corporate commerce. "The goal was never to be a billionaire," he says. All he wanted was to let all people eat a rich man's hot sauce at a poor man's price. They don't pay for advertising, and their sales department doesn't exist. They've only adjusted their price once in 35 years, and they don't intend to change it again. There is something to be said about a man making a fortune on his own hard work, and if everything they say is true, David Tran and Sriracha should be an inspiration for all. 

NBC Seafood - Monterey Park

I am so excited. There's a bunch of pouring rain, but I will eat real dim sum anytime, anywhere, and I don't care how soaking wet I am when I eat it! Seriously, there is no place in the world less prepared for rain than SoCal, and there is no place where you can so fully appreciate the unevenness of the sidewalks and parking lots. 

But dim sum. DIM SUMMMM... NBC Seafood has the actual carts and hot tea for every table. We didn't have to share a table with strangers, which would make the experience more authentic, but they did have at least a dozen tables full, which is impressive at 11 AM on a Monday. 

Some of their shrimp dishes aren't even out yet, which irks me a little bit. That means we end up with some dishes that we don't love, like these greasy, cold Chinese Donuts. 

But hey, these Seafood Dumplings aren't bad. I love the thick crystal wrapper, and the artificial crab kind of works with the occasional-shrimp filling. 

They don't even have the shrimp Rice Noodles, and we have to settle for the beef. Okay, fine, it wasn't really settle. The filling is savory, and the rice noodle texture is right on. I may like the beef filling better...GASP!

Springy, meaty pork Shumai. This one never gets old, and these are very juicy. 

So are the Pork Spareribs, in a simple, savory, clear sauce. The meat is super tender on these.

The Pork and Shrimp Potstickers are a surprise. The skin is thin and crispy on the bottom, al dente on top, cooked evenly despite the difficult braid pattern used to close. The filling is really well-balanced, meaty-sweet from the pork and succulent-sweet from the bits of shrimp.

The Soft Brown Sugar Cakes are not for everyone, but they are definitely for me! Air holes make these barely-sweet gelatinous triangles the best kind of interesting. I love the more delicate jelly of the Coconut Milk and Purple Rice Pudding, but I forgot to take a photo. 

The Crispy Taro Gok are my favorite dish to serve to people who aren't familiar with dim sum. Their faces always contort in confused delight, as they crunch through the crispy crust to get to the soft taro and encounter a salty ground pork and veggie filling, soooo not the sweet little cake they expected. The delight comes after the confusion, when they realize their unexpected not-quite-dessert is undoubtedly delicious.

Eggy Egg Custard Tarts. Not the sugar-loaded ones they sell in stores. I like the more-egg-less-sugar approach myself.

Shrimp Hargow for dessert! It's the last thing to come out, and it's worth the wait. I'm almost too full to enjoy them, but I'm not too full .A ball of shrimp, a crystal-clear wrapper, almost too pretty to eat, but good enough to devour!

I LOVE dim sum, and the South Bay is seriously lacking in anything good. NBC Seafood isn't the best I've had, but if you're looking for an authentic experience in Monterey Park, it's there and you should be too!

Pearl's Rooftop - West Hollywood

Hollywood glamour, the old-school starlets in gowns and elbow-high gloves, blowing kisses to their public and press as they step into an awaiting motor coach. Black and white stills, hand-cranked film and giant cameras shouldered by a nimble crew. This was the dream a long time ago, but the times have changed. The modern-day Hollywood dream looks a lot like the rooftop brunch at Pearl's. Their dining area is stunning in its throwback to nature, Instagrammable simple-chic decor, pillows and padded benches instead of glizy furniture, streams of sunlight to light up your social media stream instead of chandeliers.

I like to tell people about how much I hate this kind of setting. I hate anything trendy, and I still think social media is the biggest rotter of brains. But even the crankiest curmudgeon will crack a grin on Pearl's Rooftop, and my grin goes from ear to ear.

For starters, I'm in the best company, brunch with some of my most favorite people. And to start, we have THE KIT. Mimosas add the ultimate glam factor to any setting, and you get three flavors of fruit juice to change it up. The orange is a classic, the mango is my fave, and the guava is too pretty to refuse. They all mix together too if you're in an adventurous mood.

Sipping on an empty stomach is suicide, so make it go with some Steak & Eggs. There's no doubting the quality of the NY strip here, and the side of potatoes and eggs will fill you up.

They have your classics, and the menu is kind to the dietarily limited and the herbivores, but they don't forget to have a little fun with their sandos. The Pearl's Hot Chicken sizzles with scalding, perky cayenne pepper. Add a softer aioli and you have a party on your palate.

The Lobster Press is a bread-bath of butter-poached lobster silk with melty gruyere to fill in the gaps. The spicy-garlic ginger lobster broth is for dipping. It's not truly spicy, but it's concentrated for impact and is undeniably, drinkably delicious.

Pearl's may have some of the prettiest food in Weho. I don't know what they do for dinner, but they know how to throw a good brunch. I haven't been to place this conducive to catch-up and gossip for a long while, and it'll be another long while before I find another place this pretty unless I go back to Pearl's! 

BurgerIM - Torrance

A burger chain of international acclaim...that I know nothing about. Well that's not new. I learned about In n' Out two weeks before uprooting my northeastern life for the west coast, and I had Five Guys for the first time last year. My knowledge of well-known burger chains
is embarrassing at best.

I'm glad I got to know BurgerIM, though. The service is sweet, and the burgers are endless combinations of fun. A Duo of dry-aged beef and lamb check all the boxes, one American and one caliente, which costs a little extra. I prefer my burgers cooked a little less, but that’s personal preference and probably neither advisable nor safe. They do a decent job anyway as the dry-aged beef drips juice, and the lamb has a gamey hint that is pleasing. The caliente condiments are not so subtle, but the pepper and spicy mayo are hot enough to help but not too hot to handle.

Size kind of matters, and I’m not sure how to describe the sizing at BurgerIM. A happy, middling medium between a bar slider and a smaller burger, these are neither/nor. The duo is plenty for a regular lunch, but you might consider the trio if you can afford the food coma to come.

The Half & Half side is an enabler of the indecisive, a way to try a couple things without having to commit. We split the difference with onion rings and sweet potato fries, though the potato disc-fries are just as good.

I like BurgerIM. It quick and easy, quality you can afford. Lots of different patties to try, all halal and plenty of options for all dietary restrictions. I’m all for fast-casual, and for a decent lunch, BurgerIM will do.

Muodu Shanghai Cuisine - Lomita

Welcome to the BEST... ahem...okay fine, welcome to the BEST and the ONLY authentic Chinese restaurant in the South Bay.

I've had at least half their menu at this point, and I can't stop going back. They make Shanghainese staples that translate into the gold standard of what Shanghainese cuisine. The Sheng Jian Bao, for example, is an incredibly difficult soup dumpling to make, and it's even more difficult to make well. Theirs can match anything I've had in San Gabriel and is comparable to Shanghai itself.

Their signature dishes are deceptively basic. Their bowl of Mini Pork Wontons sits in just a clear broth, but these little sachets are meaty pockets of pork packaged in what I can only describe as the most al dente wrapper in the world.

The XLB are a thicker, richer broth. They hold a lot of pork flavor and plenty of savor.

The Sesame Green Onion Pancake is their biggest standout. Their spin on a Chinese classic is crispy on the outside and soft and chewy within. Thicker than I usually see but so much better for it. Sesame seeds a green onion backdrop for a pancake so palatable you won't want for a dipping sauce.

Rarer still are the Lion's Head Meatballs. A treasure of the south, this ground pork is so juicy and tender it's practically pudding. The flavors are smooth with a sweeter finish, and the thick soup clings to the glass noodles in a cozy clay pot.

We always try one new dish to offset our staples, and Muodu's versatility is commendable. They make a solid General Tso's Chicken, for example, like your Christmas Day take-out with a little more finesse.

The Noodles with Scallion Oil are a seemingly neutral, savor-only dish that sneaks up on your palate. You think the first bite is bland, but the scallion and oil open a bouquet on the second and third, creating a finish that is oddly addicting.

They make an impressive selection of hearty noodle soups for sampling. The Spicy Pork Noodle Soup is full of great noodles and a hit of slightly numbing spice at the end.

The Braised Lamb Noodle Soup is almost a stew with roasted carrots perked up with green onion.

There isn't a single thing I've tried that I didn't like, and many things at Muodu I instantly love. You're missing out if you give Muodu a try, but don't dine here if you're in a hurry. All the food is made-to-order, and it takes time to steam those XLB. And be sure to arrive early for both dinner and weekend lunch. It seems much of the South Bay has caught on to this hidden gem, and it didn't stay hidden for long!