Ike's Love and Sandwiches - El Segundo vs Long Beach

If sandwiches have a monarchy, Ike's is their benevolent king. A truly inclusive menu scatters largess for all, and their expansive menu promises one veggie or vegan for every two made of meat. 

I've only had the meat, but the non-meat are not to be overlooked. 

My first bite of Ike's was the Adam Richman. It's a chicken cordon bleu but so much better; fried chicken with clinging batter, glistening green pesto and avo coating honeyed ham.

I liked the Damon Bruce less, but I'd eat it anytime. It's a monumental munch with stacks of sliced steak and onion rings.

The Ménage a Trois is good if you like sauce. There's sauce and sauce and more sauce, and a whole lot of dirty sauce. I love their chicken with anything, but I don't have to have it with everything.

What this place needs is MORE MEATBALL. The Super Mario is a marvelous madness with stringy, melty mozzarella sticks with a kiss of marinara. 

Have some chicken-fried and cold beer on a Friday night. The Screaming Eagle is a southern best with bbq ranch and pepper jack.

They capitalize on the colors, honoring Kobe with his black and yellow. Purple slaw pumps up the beef, and I love the bbq on a slice of Swiss. 

It's called the Backstabber because it sneaks up on you. Acidic artichoke creeps up on an unsuspecting chicken-cheese with caesar, sweetening and amplifying something that sounds so boring, making it anything but.

It's so hard to live so far, but when El Segundo can't deliver, at least the Long Beach location keeps up. 

A direct comparison of the Adam Richmans (Richmen?) shows that like most things, they're better served fresh and hot. That said, the Long Beach version doesn't seem as quite as clean in the execution, same with the Super Mario and Menage a Trois. 

The Stephen Hawking is a new one, a stack of tender turkey with bacon, like a club sandwich dripping with orange glaze.

I don't love the Long Beach location like I love the El Segundo, but suffice it to say that I like Ike's. I like Ike's anywhere, and I like Ike's everywhere.

Meet in Paris UPDATE - Culver City

I like it. Not my most profound assessment, but it does capture the spirit of Meet in Paris. A casual, no-big-deal bistro serving up all the French things. 

Keeping it casual for brunch. Good service and they're happy to let you order at the pace of a Parisian cafe; one thing at a time, all things to be enjoyed. 

A Charcuterie and Cheese Board checks all the boxes. Salami, chorizo, prosciutto. Brie and bleu. Little sides of fruit and pickles and olives and nuts, all to chase the cheese. 

Truffle Fries are thin and crisp. Just enough truffle to taste, and a side of garlic aioli is always great.

Try the prettiest French Toast south of LA. Baguette pieces, lightly egged, spattered with fresh-cut strawberries. Syrup if you'd like, but Nutella here is king. 

Sip your wine and eat your cheese. Meet in Paris is a lovely place to hang. Brunch is best, but it's hard to argue with their unlimited mussels. 

The Original Pancake House - Redondo Beach

It started out as a family business but it isn't anymore. Two or three generations begot a bunch of franchises, and it tastes like a chain, albeit a good one. 

The Original Pancake House's Redondo Beach location is far from original, and the only overarching theme I can sense from them is eggs. Everything is made with eggs. So many eggs. Everything tastes like egg, everything is the color of an egg, and everything is dense and heavy like things made with egg.

The Kijafa Cherry Crepes, for example, have a promising cherry glaze, but there is just so much egg. I would not describe this dish as "delicate", though it does not taste bad by any means. Got a side of Sausage as well, and I do like the sweeter undertones and not-overly-salty spice mix. 

The Dutch Baby is a conglomeration of two orders of crepes, a thick slab of dense egg. I would liken it to a very heavy Yorkshire pudding with sugar.

I think a lot gets lost when family fare becomes a chain. Even if the recipe is the same, something about the quality and the consistency changes, and the cracks begin to show. In this case, someone cracked too many eggs into the dough. 

N/naka UPDATE - Los Angeles

 

It's the 10th anniversary of LA's most mesmerizing restaurant, commemorated by a Kaiseki Jubako most enchanting.

A bed of rice cradles a cache of jewels: ruby swirls of tuna, shiny slicks of salmon, pearly scallops in shimmering white. A buttery toro and what I believe is amberjack peek behind a leaflet of wasabi.

There's genuine gasp of delight as the second box is unveiled. Bright little bits dance around an eyeful of uni. A spiked fortress cradles a delicate roe shielded by a snow crab sclera. To the left, a Chawanmushi brims with ikura brine, a fishy flavor most surprising. A liver full of fat succumbs to a scarlet strawberry further south.

To the right is a variety of vegetables, served in simplicity to maximize their majesty. A simple spear of broccoli or a cut carrot flower may sit in modest obscurity, but its flavor is coaxed out in a way that the vegetable bares its soul. Go lower to get higher with the buttery bliss of branzino.

Take a breath between your bites of branzino before moving up to the softly seared wagyu that spreads across a soy-butter rice. Savor a simple shrimp, a most succulent surf to the turf, and let the stewed abalone leave you seduced and stunned.

Even the Lobster Miso Soup is a memory in the making, rich and almost creamy with soft grits of miso and broth of sweet lobster. 

Spring for the sake if you so choose, a single tasting can be split to share. The Manzairoku is crisp and clear, a waterfall sipped with sushi. The Chogetsu lasts a little longer, more acid to amplify your heavier morsels and meats. 

Dessert is not an afterthought - the Sakura Panna Cotta has florals that sweep you away. 

Matcha Cake costs extra, a powdery mix of bittersweet. An acquired taste, easy to acquire. 

Opinions may differ, taste buds may diverge, and critics will split hairs, but not a single person will decry N/naka. Its story is seducing, its menu is captivating, its cuisine is a revolution. 

Bistro Na's - Pasadena

Everyone knows that the taste of the Chinese food is inversely proportional to the quality of the service. If you want to know how good the food from Bistro Na tasted, let's just say the delivery person stood in my yard and shouted "WHO ORDERED CHINESE FOOD?" instead of looking for or knocking on my door. 

As predicted, the food was fantastic. Two warm platters, all the way from Pasadena. The first was classic Pork Belly, roasted red, liquid skin and slippery fat, dripping juices marbling meat. Shiitakes soak up a savory syrup and gush with each chew, texture tamed by firm chunks of braised bamboo.

I love a good plate of pork Intestine, but I understand it's not for everyone. I preferred the pork belly, but the intestine is no-regrets. Sauteed chewy with springy straw mushrooms, it's also crammed with cloves of laba garlic that add a sharp and sour pickled flavor to cut the fat.

Sometimes mother knows best. Mine knew I'd want Chinese comfort as I aged, and she made sure I had it on my birthday. Scheduled to arrive within a 4-hour window, hot food delivered, with flavors that deliver. I need to try more to learn more, but after this little sample, I am intrigued!

Darrow’s New Orleans Grill UPDATE - Carson

What would you like? A Zeek or a Zeek?

The all-fried Zeek is king...or is it? Golden shrimp, catfish encased in a crumby shell, creamy potato salad all in a chewy roll...

Don't decide before you give the grilled Zeek a go. The shrimp are super tender, and the catfish is almost buttery, a feat when working with a bottom feeder that usually tastes like mud. 

Which did I like better? The Zeek or the Zeek? Depends on my mood. My gluttony favors the fried, but my arteries appreciate the grilled. The fried has an extra crunch, but the grilled has so much flavor. Solution: Go halfsies on both. I don’t know much about love, but I know I need someone who's always willing to share a couple Zeeks.

The Pan - Gardena

Location, location, location. My move puts me closer to Gardena, but no farther from The Pan.

Is Gardena so different from Lomita? I'm not sure. My favorite Lemon Dream Pancakes are still the same, and I'm sold on the lemon curd. 

Not feeling pancake? Shaki's Strawberry Nutella French Toast will do. The brioche gets a full coat of egg, and it makes a buttery fluff. Plenty of berries for a berry good time, and there's enough nutella and cream to make it count.

Have The Pan's Signature Scramble is you're looking for the savory - there's scads of sausage, onion, pepper, and potato smothered in peppery jack cheese. 

I think Lomita makes a cleaner plate, but Gardena is consistent enough. Same menu anyway, and it's all part of a complete breakfast or brunch. I'd still do Lomita if I got to pick, but I'd pander to The Pan in any place.