Ojai Trip Day 2: The Tortilla Shop - Ojai, CA

Our day-starting stroll is short, and we pile into the car to get some supplies. 

Rainbow Bridge is where it all start. All-organic, all-natural, a curated collection of basics and a bit beyond, a local Whole Foods, but more wholesome, without the sense of snob.

They have little tables if you want to enjoy the items from their ready-made deli. So far so good - we already have a fan of their banana.

Swing around the corner to Ojai Tortilla House if you can catch them between their narrow window of 11 and 2. 

Their handmade tortillas are top-notch, and the street tacos are just stellar. Here’s one of each with recommended toppings. Chicken is well-seasoned, steak is smoky, blackened bits, and al pastor has just the slightest sniff of citrus. I liked the medium salsa, but try spicy if you can handle the heat. 

Hubby hates onions, so his are mild with cilantro and cabbage, and I don’t think there’s a single topping that isn’t just terrific. 

Take it to the park and wash it down with Agua Fresca or a glass-bottle Coke. Today was watermelon-water, and it goes great with warm weather.

It’s literally a few yards from the center of town, which has a playground found only in dreams. 

 

Complete with multiple play sets, monkey bars, and swings, it sits in a breathtaking plaza. There’s even a sliding hill. 

The day is done quite early as the kiddos turn in for a nap. Dinner is a hodgepodge of all thing delicious, and we relax all night like only vacationing parents can. 

Tsukiji Gindaco - Torrance

It took me a long time to like Takoyaki. I didn’t understand what they were about and resented them for not having more tako, so it wasn’t until recently that these one-tentacle wonders earned my appreciation. 

I can't say that Gindaco was the stall that changed my mind, but they sure did help. Takoyaki is a more subtle street food, and Gindaco does it well, rolling a balance of ginger, scallion, octopus, and dough into fresh, fluffy, batter-balls. 

The Original are the original, and sometimes basics are best. Topped with flighty flakes of bonito sticking to a savory brown sauce interlaced with stripes of mayo, these toppings are the best at fishing out the seafood flavor. 

The original are probably my favorite, but the Spicy Scallion & Sriracha add a stimulating burn. 

Cheese & Mentaiko smell the strongest, but the cod roe is more subtle than the scent would suggest. It's tempered by teriyaki and blends with a melted layer of mozzarella and parmesan.

Even one order will fill you up as the carbs are weighty, but save some room for a croissant Taiyaki. Same lucky fish pressed in croissant dough for an extra layer of addiction. Dense like a pastry, flaky like a cronut filled with red bean or nutella. 

My friend KF is a die-hard fan of takoyaki, notorious for eating them in the Mitsuwa parking lot, lest they lose their freshness on her short drive home. But rest assured, they do retain a little bit of their crispy crust for at least 15 minutes even though they lose value faster than a new car being driven off the lot. A little more crispy or less, they are still worth an order, no matter how far from home you have to drive. 

Chinchikurin - Torrance

If you're looking for a soupless Top Ramen for tired, famished, or imbibing grown-ups who can afford the better ingredients than college kids staving off starvation, say no more. The Chinchikurin okonomiyaki will deliver. 

I love the Hiroshima, love every bite of the chewy pressed fried squid, which despite bilateral breading, is pressed paper-thin. I love how its contrasting chewy almost-jerky texture contrasts the soft noodles and fluffy egg. The bed of cabbage is in balancing the mound of carbs.

The B&C, basil and cheese gets an easy A. The basil. Is everything. The cheese brings the crumbly salt and the fragrant basil is intoxicating. It’s infused into the omelet, it skims the pork and noodles, and it sinks deepdeepdeep into the crumbles of cheese. 

“Omelet” doesn’t quite cover it. "It's like putting an omelet on a pepperoni pizza and calling it an omelet," in the words of my husband. He's the writer. The real writer, obv and he's write on (because I can't let him tell all the dad jokes). The okonomiyaki is a meal on a single grill and more than one if you weigh less than 500 pounds. And have no doubt, it'll be the best three-in-one meals you have all week. 

Lao Tao - Los Angeles

It’s not much of a food crawl when you only make it to two places, but after Lao Tao, we did have to crawl ourselves out.

If their logo isn’t love at first sight, their Oolong Tea Flavored Egg is. 

They achieve a delicate balance within the humble egg; the salty soy, the fragrant tea, the soft-boil that turns the yolk creamy. The oolong seeps so far in, you can taste it down to the very center of its core. 

The egg is a signature side not to be missed, and the Beef Ban Mien is their main event. The wheat noodles are broad and chewy, strips of curling ribbon that torn by a calculated hand. The hot dry option is max beef, a rich broth with tendinous chunks that turn to slow-cooked gelatin interlacing the tender shreds. A fresh sprinkle of cilantro adds refreshment, and pickled mustard greens are a traditional acid to the fat.

It's even prettier when you mix it up.  

For a change of pace, the Chao Shou is an app to be shared. Wontons coddle a soft ground pork in thin al dente wrappers. The homemade sauce is fantastic, a splash of spice bites an oil that numbs. 

They call it Taiwanese street food, but this stuff wasn’t prepared on a whim. Someone spent agonizing hours perfecting these recipes and it shows. The flavors are full and there is polish to their execution, yet these dishes still hold the soul of the street stalls. Lao Taomay be casual, but they take their food seriously and so should you. 

Pok Pok Wing - Las Vegas, NV

Drunk on beer and buzzed on cigars, swaying and screaming our lungs out at Florida Georgia Line as they light up the stage...okay, fine, that last one was just me...we stumble, starving, to Pok Pok Wing.

Last year the decadent Cosmo spawned a delightfully affordable selection of street food, this Andy Ricker legend leading the way. 

There’s a Khao Man Som Tam to start: coconut rice topped with shredded pork reminiscent of Chinese pork sung, delightfully dehydrated and singing a song of savory and sweet. The side of papaya salad is a bright splash of spice and juice, a fruit that acts like a vegatable in the only salad I’ll ever enjoy. 

Ike's Famous Vietnamese Wings, half a dozen winged wonders that gave Pok Pok its place on the culinary list of legends. The meat is tender, and the sugar complements the flashy fish sauce and finishes like a smooth, sticky, fishy caramel. I’ve never had wings like this, and I will never forget having wings like this. 

The Ju Pa Bao could be a dessert. This little sandwich is like meat candy, A fluffy sweetbread Macanese-style bun sandwiching a bone-in pork loin fried in its own fat. They sneak a little sweetness into this one as well, and it amps up the savor. 

I think Andy Ricker was one of the earlier pioneers of street food. Pok Pok was so novel and captivating that it held the attention of the world’s most resistant and indifferent population for years: New Yorkers. It is only fitting for Pok Pok to make a splash in Vegas next, where ethnic food is as rare as affordable food that is edible. All I know is, I’ll be going for the wings every time I’m in Vegas, no matter how far I have to walk to get there. 

Baohaus - Los Angeles

Some of my fondest east coast memories...or lack thereof...are from Baohaus, a complex simple pleasure from the East Village of NYC. A jaunty, late-night haunt in the city that never sleeps, Baohaus has all the qualities of your favorite street food; readily available, easy to eat, prices you can afford, best consumed when drunk and ravenous; while adding its own finesse.

When they opened a branch in LA, I practically flew to the Far East Plaza. 

I start with my favorite Chairman Bao, their clever, practically-cult classic. A fluffy white pillow-skin folds around a slab-chunk of melty, oily, drip-grease-down-your-chin Asian-bacon. The belly is a formidable Berkshire, and a lavish sprinkle of Taiwanese red sugar and nuts makes it sing. 

The Spiceland Bao sounds simple, just a breast of chicken-fried, but this chicken is anything but. A full day of brining softens the brawn, and the batter is meticulously fried to a beautiful golden crisp. The singeing spiciness leaves me wanting more.

My mouth burns pleasurably from the searing spiceland, as the AiYu Jelly Lemonade soothes the scorch with calming gelatin seeds.

Would you like fries with that? You always want Taro Fries with that. Sticks of earthy roots, sauced-up with a cup of hot & sour; this sauce brings down the haus.

I left a lot of good things behind when I transplanted to the west coast. Of all the edible things I lost, I may have missed Baohaus the most. It was easier to find an honest mechanic than it was to find a good bao south of San Gabriel, but thankfully that all changed when Baohaus came to town. 

Night Market – Jinzhou, China

Dalian was a warm-up, and for Justin, this is where China gets real. Leaving a well-run, organized city for a taste of all the chaos. We’re not in Chinatown anymore; here’s what a real night market looks like. Think LA has a lot of people? You’ll never complain about Disneyland lines again.

So many vendors in so little space. There are stalls with t-shirts, sellers of skewers, and plenty of random, discount clothing and household odds and ends. You can buy a necklace from one person and a bottle of bleach from his neighbor.

We’re just here for the food, but we’ll take a kinda-edible souvenir. This guy shapes liquid sugar into a gorgeous koi. I’m told it just tastes like sugar, but real sugar melts and this one doesn’t so I think I’ll just admire it and pass.

I’ve posted pictures of skewers for years, and the stuff on the background plate is just meh. We have the usual lamb, chicken, and squid, but a separate stall is selling Grilled Gluten spirals. Gray balls of nondescript stuff, chewy like a fish ball, tasting as gray as the flour-y starch that shapes it. They’re rolled in a hot sauce and soy that stings and the texture has potential, but despite being dirt cheap at 2 for a yen, I won’t be trying those again.

Dessert is near, and we found the Egg Puffs. These are the best. Soft, fluffy bites, hot off the iron, like a heavy sponge cake but much more satisfying thanks to the rich egg inside.

What could possibly be better than egg puffs? EGG PUFF ICE CREAM. OMG. BEST THING EVER. The egg puffs are more airy and more crisp than the regular ones, but they need a that structure as a roll-up cone for scoops of strawberry ice cream and cookies n’ cream.

I don’t care for the night market crowds, and I’m afraid half the street food will make me sick. The merch is cheaper-than-thou, though it becomes more costly if you don’t watch your wallet. But I will keep coming. As long as they have that egg puff ice cream. 

Smorgasburg LA - Los Angeles

A Brooklyn delight spreads to LA, a transcontinental delight! A bunch of food vendors, a plethora of people selling their crafts. A feast for the eyes and a feast for the mouth, and I'm so eager to go that I stalk every local article and blog looking for which booths to hit up. 

We start at Ugly Drum, the pit-smoked pastrami of our wildest ruben dreams. We split a Quarter-Pound Pastrami, a polite way to say half-sandwich because we don't want to fill up too fast. The photo doesn't look like much, but my cell phone camera sucks. Because nothing that comes out of Ugly Drum is remotely ugly. The pastrami glows deep, velvety red, like the smoldering coals from which it came. The fat is so finely marbled, that it all falls apart in your mouth. 

Nothing ugly at Ugly Drum because all the ugly lives a couple stalls down. Enter Brothecary. Hot on the heels of the bone-broth-fixes-everything trend, they gouge you for ten dollars for a single Bone broth XLB. The broth is mediocre, especially when served watered-down and lukewarm. 

But here's where it gets really ugly. Take a close look at this dumpling. It is RAW. They literally didn't even cook the thing, and they have the nerve for charge ten dollars for a neat little package of food poisoning.

Friends always make me feel better when frauds like Brothecary have me seething. Donut Friend bring some joy; Joy Lavender, to be exact. The dense-yet-fluffy ring of glaze is impeccably balanced, and the lavender adds its fragrance. 

The underrated Apple Fritter is fresh, a fried n' fruity piece of perfection.

Disappointment strikes once again, when we find that the iconic Banh Oui is a big banh NON. The Pork Belly Banh Mi is served on a mediocre not-quite baguette, and the slabs of pork have zero flavor. Their travel grill sucks the savor out of the pork, and it drowns in a full cup of aioli...which tastes like orange-colored mayo.

The donuts were so good, and I wanted to give the desserts a second chance. The desserts don't deserve a second chance if they're served by Paloma's Paletas. Pineapple Mint Mojito is a pop-shaped frozen water with no more than ten drops of pineapple juice inside. The single mint leaf in the middle is the highlight of this paleta, and it overpowers the pineapple-ish water. I like my popsicles to be lighter and not so sweet, but this is straight-up sucking on an ice cube...an extremely expensive ice cube. 

No way something like this would happen in Brooklyn! A street fair of this caliber should have died in an hour and yet Smorgasburg has persisted for seven years. I cannot believe this is what I drove all the way up here for, and I hope it won't be around much longer!

Taiyaki – Tokyo, Japan

They say you can’t leave Tokyo without a Taiyaki. They say you should just buy one off a street vendor. Then they tell you that it’s rude to walk and eat. I’ve never been so confused and conflicted in my life.

My fish-shaped cake is filled with matcha cream. Waffle batter on both sides, sandwiching oozing cream. There’s so much inside that it squeezes out, all around the edges, and all I can do is look at this delicious-looking thing because the light just turned green and I can’t possibly eat it while WALKING, especially not while walking across the street. Even in a foreigner-filled intersection of Shinjuku… Sumimasen I’m eating it on my way to the subway. No way a culture this polite won’t forgive me.

You'll Be a Lot of Things in China, But Hungry Won't Be One of Them! - Dalian, China

Let's keep going with the street food, progressing from snacks to meals.

A whole Fried Flounder looks pretty exciting. This one is salted just right, with a batter that somehow tastes even better when it's soggy and cold. 

The flounder was great, but these little deep-fried saltfish are exceptional. It's some sort of Chinese "Croaker". Dig in if you don't mind spitting out some bones.

Haven't had enough fish yet? There's always someone drying some outside. Maybe they can spare a slice if you ask them nicely...

There are a lot of great sides to go with the entrees, and fluffy, mantou-dough-like Twisty Bread is always a safe option. These are made plain, but you often find a little scallion within the folds.

Too much dough in twisty bread? Try pulling off a layer of paper-thin Egg Pancake, which can be eaten plain or used as mushu wrapper.

I haven't had Sugar Bread in years, but growing up, this was one of maybe three foods I would eat. A firmer pancake-bread is filled with a layer of melty sugar. The sweet filling adds a layer of luxury, and it somehow complements everything else you eat.

Leaving the streets; even the mall stalls have made-to-order dumplings to blow your mind. 

The classic Three Delights of shrimp, egg, and chives is always a safe option, but the flaky fish filling called "Ba Yu" is a northeastern special and probably my favorite by far.

All that bread and salt will make you thirsty, and there are whole supermarket aisles just for drinks. Restaurants are usually BYOB and not just for alcohol. Exactle what part of the peach is the "sac"? Apparently it's the pulp...I hope it's the pulp.

Not from the streets, but from a random restaurant. I think I ate six in one sitting. These taro-filled Green Tea Cakes are edged with sesame and pan-fried so the green tea is crunchy and the taro is sweet and soft.

I do love the nicer things, but I could probably survive on the cheap stuff forever.