Pork Belly Filipino Kitchen - Lawndale

The first thing 5 year-old me thought when my family moved to suburbia was, "How do I get out of here?" I've yearned for big-city life for as long as I can remember, and lazy little Lawndale is not where I thought I'd settle down. It's a curious place, both square miles of the smallest South Bay city, but it has a concentration of spectacular southeast Asian cuisine, the newest being Pork Belly right off Hawthorne Blvd. Brother-sister just might be the new mom-and-pop as these sweet siblings are among the South Bay's more formidable chefs. The food here is cafeteria-style, but don't be fooled by the glass-guarded kitchen trays. Everything is hot and fresh and even more delicious than it already looks. 

In a world incapacitated by inflation, it's refreshing to find that only $10 buys a bowl of rice with a hearty entree and 4 little lumpia. A good deal for a sensible lunch, and it's only $2-4 more for a 2-entree plate (without lumpia).

The food is so good it's impossible to pick just two, but make sure one is Pork Adobo. Tender chunks of browned meat melt in your mouth, with a just-right ratio of salt to fat to a dash of vinegar to make it lift, not sink in your stomach. Jam some rice into the puddle of leftover juice - don't waste a single drop. 

Jackfruit Curry, omg. Coconutty-milky all the way. Mild flavor, creamy with a lovely shredded-meat texture, slightly sour, faintly fruit. 

They comped us a bowl of what I fondly refer to as their "pork and sour soup", and it's a lovely, simple broth with a savory and sour finish. 

I think this was called "Sweet Pork" or something. The meat looks dry, and I expected basic barbecue. But it's tender right under, plenty juicy, and the sauce it's soaked up has a lovely balance of sweet with a sour surprise. 

There are moments when you’re just so proud of the person you married, and my husband got all my adoration as he ripped into the tail-half of his freshly Fried Pompano. With a spoon in one hand, a fork in the other, he severed every sliver of light white flesh from those spiky bones with all the precision of a surgeon and the casual enthusiasm of an Italian twirling pasta. I dare say he’s stripped it bare, a feat even I struggle to accomplish.  

I thought I was meh on Longanisa, but it turns out I've never had a good one, not until I had one here, at least. These are salty but also sweet, super savory, love how the casing pops. There's also simple strips of steak with onion that are so juicy, with that acidic uplift that makes you keep eating. 

Lechon literally pales in comparison next to the more colorful pork adobo. The skin is chewy and crisp, the meat is tender enough, but it's unseasoned so it relies on sauce. It's made well, but compared to all the other amazing things they make, this one can be skipped. 

Hello, Halo Halo, the best I've had. Big bits on the bottom range from red and white beans to chunks of jelly and jam. A sweet square of flan hides in the freshly blended, milky middle, and a  dense scoop of ube ice cream sits on top. I imagine there's an art to eating this, a critical speed of eating slowly enough not to get an ice headache but fast enough before it melts. I haven't found it yet, but I'm happy to keep eating this until I do. 

Their Flan is also the best flan I've ever had. It's a flying saucer of a perfect solid cream. 

The food is heavy, make no mistake. There will be a coma to come, and you're not coming here to eat a modest meal. A good chef can make a delicious and heavy meal, a great chef can fine-tune filling food to make it not so heavy. Here, the chefs are exceptional. I can eat so much of this stuff and feel full but never gross, and every bite is just pure joy.

Yu Cake - Costa Mesa

My first taste of mille-crepe cake.

Matcha doesn't miss, and I can't imagine how they make this. Layers of cardstock-thin spongy sheets softly soaked in matcha cream alternate with with a firmer matcha cream almost-frosting. The cake is so cohesive, but the feel of sinking teeth through so many silky layers creates an unparalleled feeling of luxury that no other cake can match. 

Rose-Lychee is the same, but the cream feels colder, the overall effect so much subtler with lychee like ice water and a lighter-than-air floral finish. 

A Mochi Mango Grapefruit Jar glows irresistibly, all orange and neon, a layers of so-soft cream contrasting stringy mochi and slippery chunks of mango that dance with grapefruit pulp. The circle of cake feels a bit dry in comparison, and the contrast, though welcome, could be a bit less stark. Dig deep to let a little of each layer on your spoon so they can dance in your mouth all at the same time. 

I've never met a cake I didn't like, and I like you, Yu Cake, maybe more than most. These cakes are crafty and not as sweet as the heavily-frosted works of western-style bakeries. They're a welcome break from luxury shopping but continue the theme of luxury that permeates this Costa Mesa mall. There's something to be said about a rich dessert that doesn't make you feel gross, and to that, I'm saying yes. 

El Otro Amigo - Torrance

Mexican food, the regular, recognizable kind. The kind that you think you can get anywhere, except here they do something to it to make it so good you can't stop eating. 

Stick to the staples, like Ricardo's brick of a Super Burrito. This one is teeming with chopped bits of tender pastor, brimming with bits of beans and rice. It comes wet but get it wetter and drag every bite through that mild tomato sauce with a few shreds of melted cheese. I have always loathed things that swim in sauce, but I thoroughly enjoy eating an entire one of these in a single sitting.

Bravo for the Quesadilla de Birria. The beef is tender, dripping with juice. Slurp before you start to chew. 

Even a plain crunchy taco is surprisingly good. The filling is a juicy shredded beef, which tastes like it’s been slowly stewed, and the shell is super-crisp for contrast. 

The Shrimp Ceviche is a starter I would skip. A generous portion with plenty of avocado atop a sea of firm, fresh-enough shrimp, it sits but doesn't hit. It's bland and lacks the tongue-sting of a lime well-squeezed.

The Flan is their only fail so far. Totally gelatinous in texture, it also has the aftertaste of artificial sweetener. Whatever it is is rather unpleasant. But if you pay $3 for something, you usually get something worth $3.  

The Torta Cubana is probably the best thing they make. A paper-thin milanesa hams it up with some pork - a salty slice of ham to enhance the savor, chopped bits of pastor to add more flavor. Just skip the side of fries - they're stale or soggy.

And then there are the Steak Fries. When even Mr. Fries Man failed to impress me, I lost all hope in the not-quite-nachos-but-equally-disappointing dish called loaded fries. This one changed my mind. It's not just that they add enough toppings to reach every fry, they also make this grill-kissed steak that tastes great with fresh onion and guacamole, and there's just the right amount of gooey cheese to glue a few toppings to every fry. Usually eating loaded fries means there's an untouched layer underneath, but with there there's nothing left. 

I know there's probably "better" Mexican food elsewhere, but I love El Otro Amigo. The food is no-fuss, no-frills, but it's sublime in its straightforwardness and simplicity. It's approachable, easy to eat, recognizable, and at the end of the day, it's just delicious. 

Starbird - Marina Del Rey

Cute little wings, sweet sandwiches, juicy meats, fresh and fried. Everything clicks at this fast-casual chicken counter with its clean aesthetic and cheery character. 

The Starbird 2.0 is SoCal in a sandwich, a noisily crispy cutlet covered in fresh slaw and a green glob of guac. A brioche-y bun is shiny and sweet, toasted inside to give firmness to the fluff. 

For best results, pair with Truffle Fries. 

I love a good wing, and they make those here. Garlic Parmesan is really good, plenty of punch between the pungence and the parm. 

Nashville Hot isn't hot, but the paste is a good one, with just enough pepper and paprika to add flavor with minimal heat. Any dipping sauce will do, just pick what you prefer. 

The food was good but my experience was literal sh*t. Because a bit of bird poop dropped directly on my head as I dined on their patio despite not seeing a single bird in sight. FFS this has happened at least 4-5 times in my life and I'm starting to think I may be the unluckiest person in the world or that I've somehow offended all of bird-kind. But still, I'd eat at Starbird again...because their napkins work well for wiping bird poop. In all seriousness, though, (and all sh*t jokes aside), this Cali chicken chain does serve some pretty good sh*t.

Back Home in Lahaina - Carson

Inflation sucks. I feel it most when eating out, as my beloved restaurants can barely feed a family of four for under a hundred bucks, and even a modest meal at McDonald's will cost more than the just-in-case purse-twenty that's tucked next to my phone. 

Affordable food exists if you know where to look, and Back Home in Lahaina has it. $10-15 will get you a meaty Hawaiian combo with generous portions and so many sides. 

Small island, big food. The Back Home Sampler is an appetizer-meal for two, a full platter with perfect pieces of crunchy fried chicken, meaty balls of Kalua Lumpia, crispy triangle wontons, sweet grilled beef on sticks, and even a dense Spam Musubi, cut into thirds. Delicious, all of it. 

Loco Moco has two big beef patties, salty brown gravy filling every nook and cranny, oozing with two egg yolks into a bed of rice. 

Fried Saimin with Hawaiian bbq beef is island chow mein, wok-kissed with chunks of meat and shreds of cabbage.

The Luau Platter marks my first Lau Lau, and I really enjoy this taro-leaf meat-ball. Pulpy green cradles shreddy, fatty pork, a bit of smoke, and a savoriness more subtle than its juicy Kalua Pork neighbor. This iteration is plenty pleasing, but it has a more braised-in-broth flavor than a buried-deep one.

There are so many sides, and all of them are awesome. A traditional chicken long rice is a cup of comfort soup, a simple chicken-based broth holding thin noodles which have coaxed the flavor out of the shreds of chicken breast. 

The ramen cabbage salad has some snap, the mac salad is always my favorite, and although I still don’t love Lomi Lomi, theirs is the first one in which I can see the salmon. 

That platter comes with a square of Huapia Cheesecake, which may be the most uniquely delicious dessert I've had this year. Haupia coconut flavors the gelatinous cream, a texture and taste as light and uplifting as it is sweet and surprising. I've never cared for coconut but this one makes me a convert.

Incredible place, irresistible island fare. Every bite is a spoonful of sandy beach and swaying trees, ukulele strings strummed to the setting sun. The South Bay has plenty of good Hawaiian, and this one competes with the best. 

Azucanela - Hawthorne

Churros? Say no more. 

Still warm when they arrive, crispy crunch in every bite. The Churro Frambuesa comes with a homemade raspberry dipping sauce that has the texture of Hershey's syrup with a much better flavor. 

The Churro Rellenos are awesome, the same great churros stuffed with a thick and creamy cajeta, a glowing brown dulce de leche rivulet.

Wash it down with the Chocolate Abuelita, a rich hot chocolate spiced with cinnamon. The cacao is most prominent, smoothed by milk. It's sweet but the sugar is more highlight than main event, and it pairs surprisingly well with the already-rich feast of churros.

There's not much to say. They're churros and they are awesome.