Mr. Sate UPDATE - Los Angeles

I thought I hated sate until I tried Mr. Sate. But make no mistake, Mr. Sate didn’t make me like sate. I’ve always loved sate - I just hate bad sate. 

Up until Mr. Sate, all the sate I had was ordered by someone who didn’t know any better at restaurants that didn’t know any better, and every order inexplicably featured chunks of jerky-dry white meat in a marinade that barely scratched the surface. Dunk that in the peanut butter they called sauce, and you’ll see why I never order sate. 

But there’s that sate and then there’s Mr. Sate. They make a Chicken Sate with marinated dark meat, juicy and melt-in-your-mouth tender all the way through. Topped with slices of glistening garlic and doused in a rich, nutty soy, they make the memorable sate I’ve ever seen. 

It’s rare that I would prefer chicken over beef, but the chicken is THAT good. The Beef Potato is still quite likable, though, if you’re looking for variety. Dry-marinated for a more shredded texture, this one is covered in chili sauce to add some bittersweet sting. 

Perkedel makes a greasy appetizer as it does get soggy en route. That said, what’s not to like about mashed potato patties with a hint of meat and scallion? Just try to get them fresh from the fryer. 

My favorite is the Mie Goreng, a nest of egg noodles stir-fried with medium spice. Spicy enough to tickle the tonsils, egg-citing when salty slices corned beef are thrown in with the veggies.

Soto Betawi is a rich and creamy broth of coconut milk and beef. It’s comfort food at its finest, and adding some tendon is well worth the upcharge.

All Indonesian food is an adventure, but no expedition is complete without a Nasi Bungkus. Cut the strings, unwrap the paper, and let the green-earth fragrance of a banana leaf engulf you. That aroma seeps into the rice, cohabiting with a bold turmeric chicken, sugar n’ spice shreds of beef rendang, and a slurry of veggie curry.

Finish up with some Lontong, sticky dipping-discs of rice cake that come with a thick peanut-and-oil sauce. 

I took a much deeper dive into Mr. Sate’s menu this visit, and what a journey it has been. I already liked Mr. Sate, and now I like him even more!

La Espanola Meats UPDATE - Torrance

This used to be my favorite weekday lunch. I would drive over on my days off when the rest of the world was at work and order a warm sandwich with slices of jamon. I'd shop around, fill a basket, check out when my sandwich was made, and go home to eat or munch on the way to the next place. Errands never tasted so good, as long I remembered to brush off the crumbs.

No more cured meats due to pregnancy, then no more anything due to covid. But despair not, they have delivery. A flat fee for each price range; the more you spend, the higher the fee. 

Dona Juana will do, but I went down the importado rabbit hole and now I am hooked. The Spanish jamon will cost you double, but the Redondo Iglesias is worth the cost. The texture is less moist, and the salinity reaches deep into the meat to draw out the natural flavors of the pork. 

Iberico Chorizo by Palacios. Every box I order has at least four. Beautifully dried, concentrated fat without the grease. Dona Juana's Chorizo Soria and Chorizo Pamplona are more moist if you prefer. 

The cheese. So much cheese. Manchego at every age, the older the nuttier, similar to most humans and pets. I always get a P'tit Basque as well. The sheep's milk has a silky-smooth finish, and this cheese ends with a pleasant, lingering pungence. 

Garnish with Marcona Almonds and Quince Paste. Their most basic paste is only $4.99, with the texture of a fruit jelly dessert and flavor like a fig married to a very sweet lemon. 

Cans of Serpis olives can be stuffed with all sorts of stuff, but I still like the blue cheese best.

When I feel safe, I'll be picking up some preorder-only paella on a Saturday, but until then it's delivery or Doordash for me. Doordash is sandwiches only so I prefer the delivery even with the fee. Plus they always throw in a few free gifts if you order on an empty stomach, with fun freebies like rose (wine) potato chips and just-add-milk packets of flan, as if their food weren't gift enough. 

Tacos el Goloso - Torrance

I come here for...the chips! Yes, that little bag of free fried tortilla chips they give you with your tacos, that show-stealing side dish. I don't know what they’re doing to their chips, but they are next-level. Best chips of my life!

Oh, and there's birria too.

BIRRIA!!! Slow-cooked shreds of tender, spicy, spice n' acid OMG. Their Tacos Dorados special gets you three fried tortillas full of magic meat, melt-in-your-mouth softness encased by crunch. There's a little bit of cheese and cilantro and onion, and a squeeze of lime will do. Just dunk it in the consommé and let the magic begin. 

If LA’s Phillipe's became the South Bay’s Felipe's, the Tacos Dorados would be our Mexican dip. Braised beef in tacos is our answer to roast beef in bread, and I dare say we made an impression.

Bowl Thai - Gardena

Even for Grubhub’s gutting fees, 4.5 Yelp stars and 1115 reviews was worthy of verification. 

I ordered what I liked and what I knew, and I have never been so unpleasantly surprised by a Pad See Ew. I figured Chinese-broccoli-flat-noodles-soy-sauce-stir-fry couldn’t go wrong but apparently it could. The noodles were mush, and they clumped together in a way that noodles never should. 

The Boat Noodle Soup had me excited - I’d only found in one place outside of Thai Town until now. And sure, shrug, this one is alright, but Ubon did it so much better. A little sweet, a little savory, a smooth beef broth that I could probably get anywhere.

Mediocre it is, 4.5 stars it is not. I don’t know if I just didn’t order the right things, but when a restaurant occupies space in Tozai Plaza amongst the Gardena greats, there’s no room for this kind of error.

Oc & Lau - Garden Grove

There's no wrong time to eat at Oc & Lau. You can eat at Oc under the OC sun or have your Lau for dinner in the dark, but you’ll find that there’s not a single hour where Oc & Lac isn’t awesome.

Cool off or start cold with a Mango Squid Salad. A must-try, must-buy, with sweet, firm mango in long, shredded sticks, a texture so supportive yet so similar to a sweet-soy squid cooked so tender. 

Get shellfish to share, but don’t be selfish. Get plenty of plates so you have shellfish to spare. 

Start with Steamed Clams with Tom Yum. Briny little chewies swimming in a sweet n' sour soup. 

Grilled Scallops with Quail Egg and Shredded Pork are interestings, an Asian omelet on the half-shell. 

Escargot is a requirement, and the Grilled Garlic Butter is probably the best. I haven’t had the rest but I can’t imagine anything better. Spiral shells sizzle on a skillet as sweet little wells of garlicky goodness simmer like pools of lava. 

Their specialty is their shellfish, but a simple Shaken Beef with Egg Noodles is a show-stealer. Chunks of juicy steak-beef, as tender as a filet, stir-fried with bell pepper on a bed of egg noodles with the most perfect texture, length, and egginess I've ever seen. 

Dessert is Mung Bean Pudding and I swear it tastes even sweeter because it's on the house. A simple slurry of starchy chunks under a magic layer of milk. It's concentrated sugar that somehow makes you feel less stuffed. 

I love Oc & Lau, that is all. A warm and buzzing ambiance, a little pocket of joy in the middle of a punishing pandemic. I'll take happiness where I can find it, and it's well worth a drive to Garden Grove to find.

Sutadonya - Torrance

Get your rice bowls here! 

The #1 Sutadon is their #1, but get the Karasutadon if you like it a little hot. Plenty of tender, paper-thin pork with red spice and a sweet garlic edge. Add a perfectly poached egg and it’s everything you could want for a cheap and casual lunch. 

Their Karaage bowl is topped with crispy chicken sporting a harder breading and heavier frying than it’s more delicate and golden counterparts, but that helps it holds up under a drench of curry.

Pork over rice, chicken over rice, gravy over chicken. You can find these combinations anywhere in Mitsuwa, but Sutadonya’s starchy staples are fresh and hot. Plenty of options in a food court full of satisfactory stalls, just don’t forget that Sutadonya is one such stall. 

Snow’s BBQ - Lexington, TX

I’m from North Carolina, come on and raise up, and I can tell you firsthand that the barbecue feud with Texas is fierce. Houses divide, families flail, and friendships are forsaken all in the battle between whole hog with sauce vs smoke n’ salt.

It may be sacrelig for someone like me to be praising Texas, but kick me out of Carolina if you must because Snow’s is a national treasure.

I can’t travel to Lexington anytime soon, but even covid don’t mess with Texas. Come hell or high water (or a deadly virus threatening to kill us all), Snow’s still finds a way to overnight ship their smoky magic. The shipping fee is only fifty, and the rate is flat so get all you can. It all comes vacuum-packed so it’s good for 6 months in a freezer.

We started with their Original Sausage, biting into a casing both thin and crisp. There’s an audible pop as your teeth break through, and the ground filling is savory and moist. The meaty bits are myriad and you can see the different colors and textures throughout. It’s made with a shovel-sized scoop of black pepper which adds some attitude, sassy as a southern drawl.

The Brisket is the main event - it’s what made them a legend. To quote a Netflix critic, “something magic happens inside that aluminum foil.” Cut yourself a slice and you’ll see that the smoke makes perfect oval ring, encircling all the marbled morsels of lattice-work fat.

Their brisket may be legend, the Ribs steal the show. The smoke is so thorough, that the inside is ruby-red smoked all the way through. The meat doesn't just fall off the bones, it slides right off like silk. And the meat is so flavorful it doesn’t even need a sauce. 

I’ve defended my beloved Carolina barbecue more than I care to count, but I will always bow to Snow’s. They’re declared the best in Texas, but I wonder if their ribs are the best in the world.

Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ - Torrance

Family meal for one, Family Meal for all. This is how places like Gyu-Kaku make do during unusual times, with whole-family feeders to go. It takes all the guesswork out of ordering, and true-to-claim, this one will feed three hungry adults or parents with a couple of kids. 

They cover all their bases, starting light with a little Edamame. The beans are cooked until soft without making them into mush. There's also a Gyu-Kaku Salad (not pictured) which has a nice mix of veggies, and their sesame dressing is a good one. 

For mains you get two Gyu-Bentos, one with paper-thin, Yaki-shabu Beef in Miso, which is as dry as jerky, and one with Toro Beef in sweet soy which is not very different and just slightly less dry. 

I do like the Sukiyaki Beef Fried Rice, which is moist but keeps the texture of individual grains and tastes like it was soaked in soup. The Garlic Noodles with Chicken are creamy and slick, all buttery with sweet garlic, the best thing by far. They were so good they disappeared before I got a picture. 

Just that is plenty, but you get a few bonus nibbles to boot. The Fried Pork Gyoza have a balanced filling with a crispy wrapper that survives the journey and seals in the juice. 

I love a good wing, and these Black Pepper Wings will do; crispy on the outside, concisely juicy underneath.

I did enjoy most of this meal, but the bbq from a bbq restaurant was dry so I can’t honestly rank them high. That said, their family meal is an affordable no-worries treat if you have kids and don’t feel like cooking. There are other things I’d rather recommend, but I’m far from hating this one.