Brazil: Fogo de Chao

Fogo has blown me away twice now. So far their Beverly Hills location is the best place I have eaten in Los Angeles. The first time I ate here was for a work Christmas party. I came away raving about it, but part of me wondered if my last chocolate martini had left me with an overly jazzed perception of the actuall food. Nevertheless, I knew this place was a carnivores dream and that Tyler would appreciate the Churascaria dining experience. When our two year anniversary rolled around, I had my excuse to take him out. The food was once again awesome (and not at all less delicious without that chocolate martini). In preparation for the night out, Tyler didn't eat all day!

You can read more here, but basically you can expect rodizio service where there is a set fee (Fogo's is $55) and meat waiters called, passadores come to your table with knives and a skewer on which various types of meat are speared, see here for Fogos offered meats - both Tyler and I favored the house special Picanha (Top Sirloin). It was a little on the salty side, but for lack of a more unique explanation, it just melted in your mouth. Diners signify they want more or are taking a break using the provided red or green side of a card. I might add at Fogo on a Saturday night, if your card is green, you can feel nearly bombarded by passadores trying to give you their cut of steaming meat. All the passadores work together for seamless service.

There is also a salad bar, that Tyler didn't waste much time on, but is actually really tasty. They even had my favorite cheese (emmental), which I feasted on for dessert! I won't spend anymore time talking about the different meats/salad bar options, because you will have an opportunity to try them all!

A piece of advice for those more budget minded, Fogo is expensive, for two people, with a little wine you won't get out of there for less than $150. However, for a special occasion it is well worth it! If you want to keep your bill minimal, just avoid valet - park on the street, booze before you go and eat cheese for dessert. Voila!

Fogo de Chao's Fork Rating:

Accessibility: 4 Forks

Ambiance: 4.5 Forks

Authenticity: 4 Forks

Service: 5 Forks

Taste Factor: 5 Forks

WARSZAWA

I felt like one of those characters from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe upon entering this place. One moment Tyler and I were struggling to find parking on Broadway and the next - we were stepping into the elegance of antebellum Poland.

As it turned out we completely dug Warszawa. The staff was the best either of us has ever encountered both our hostess and waitress were completely sweet people. Not only was the decor a trip, but we were surrounded by seventy something Polish couples and a big group that resembled the Godfather's family with a patriarch who sported more bling and chest hair than I have spotted outside of Venice for a while.

We liked this place because of the food too. Despite my worry that everything would be related to the potato family, the food was exceptional. I ordered something I probably shouldn't have (white fish salad with creamy dressing, which was a little on the fishy side), but made up for it by ordering plum brandy. It came in this mini vase-like vestibule that proceeded to get me pretty warm and fuzzy inside.

Tyler's dish (pictured above) was more traditional, and well tasty too, which is why I say the food was exceptional. He ordered the nights' special, which was pork loin baked with plums and apricots. It came with a few sides, but the one that I liked the most was this carrot puree (a probable puree recipe here) that tasted to me like carrot cake.

Anyway, highly recommended and a fun place to experience.

Warzsawa Fork Rating:

Accessibility: 3 Forks

Ambiance: 3.5 Forks

Authenticity: 5 Forks

Service: 5 Forks

Taste Factor: 4 Forks

Tara's Himalayan Cuisine

I had a friend visiting from Portland that I wanted to get out and introduce to some of my Los Angelino friends. We wanted to meet somewhere between Culver City and Santa Monica. Thus - Tara's surfaced on Yelp and acclaimed by one of my friends for having good beer - we settled. I had Karma beer (a two-row barley), another friend had Lhasa beer (my favorite) and Tyler had some sort of crazy Monk beer that had super high alcohol content.

Food wise, I had the lamb skewers... they came out sizzling and were delicious. I really enjoyed this place, a good one to go with friends! Good luck finding parking - we were lucky, but there are a lot of apartments near by so just be aware it might be a small issue. Oh and next time I will go for the Eggplant curry - it looked really good!

Tara's Fork Rating

Accessibility: 3 Forks

Authenticity: 3.5 Forks

Ambiance: 3 Forks

Service: 3 Forks

Taste Factor: 4 Forks

Sushi Roku

"We can seat you now, but the table is reserved for another party in an hour and a half, is that enough time for you guys?"

~Sushi Roku hostess

And what I heard: "Though your party also has a reservation, the group coming after you is more important."

Boom, I know, I know, quite possibly an over reaction on my part, but maybe you just had to have been there.

We settled on Sushi Roku because it seemed to be the ultimate LA experience for my friends visiting from Bean Town. Sushi, beach, Santa Monica - that was our thinking. Only this place fit all of the other parts of LA's bill a little too well. We even left a little hungry because our waitress kept forgetting we were one of her tables.

All that aside, the food was pretty good and the company rocked. We ordered edamame ($4.50) and seaweed salad ($7) as appetizers. Actually, they both were really good. My girlfriend and I loved the seaweed salad and both agreed that without sushi we would be pretty happy with just another order of seaweed. Oddly enough we are both Kombucha-holics and the seaweed for some reason fed.

Tyler and my friend's boyfriend felt differently so we did of course order and everything that showed up (and probably would have liked the Crab Dynamite, if the waitress had not forgotten to bring it, x 2) was good. My only qualm specifically food related, was how small the sushi menu was, but again the sushi we did consume was all delicious. In fact, I haven't had sushi this good since eating at Saburos in Portland, OR.

Sushi Roku Fork Rating:

Accessibility: 3 Forks

Ambiance: 3 Forks

Authenticity: 2.5 Forks

Service: 0 Forks

Taste Factor: 3.5 Forks

Jitlada: a restaurant that is packing

A serving of Poh Tok

Tyler and I had been dying to go here for over a month. Our plans kept getting foiled, but last night (Saturday) we made it happen. And what an experience! The several recommendations leading up to our journey out to Sunset Blvd., profusely warned of the heat Jitlada packed per dish, but amidst my dying of hunger, I guess I forgot to adequately warn Tyler - or maybe at all.

We didn’t arrive until pushing 10PM and as I just mentioned we were both famished. Beforehand, we found ourselves having a great time at a friends’ birthday gathering downtown at Takami Sushi and Robata Lounge.

Quick Sidenote: The lounge’s view was fabulous – located on the 21st floor it overlooked all of downtown, including The Standard (without that annoying 20 bone cover) and my house special cocktail x 2, a lychee sake with fresh lychee juice and two juicy lychee fruits, was absolutely divine.

Parking at Jitlada could have been bad, but after driving around for a few minutes, Tyler spotted a spot across the street from the sunburnt strip mall where Jitlada hides. The wait could have been bad too, but we arrived just as several big parties were packing up. What a relief, we were seated moderately quick, despite the crowding and two parties waiting ahead of us.

I was feeling pretty wan after two sweet cocktails on an empty stomach. Tyler looked decidedly less pouty, but equally as hungry. We skipped the appetizers and drinks so as to close our menus and increase our luck of attaining our main dishes at optimal speed. Ordering this fast was tricky though because the menu has over 300 main courses to choose from. There was also a Southern Thai section with chef specialties which have only recently been translated into English (see here). The story goes that in 2006, when the restaurant changed hands to Sarintip “Jazz” Singsanong and her brother Suthiporn “Tui” Sungkamee, they kept the old menu and added on some spicy family favorites (the portion that was just recently translated). Coincidentally, both menu's adhere to the same Southern Thai flavors as both owners were from the ancient province of Nakhon Si Thammarat, near the Malaysian border.

In the end, I ordered from a photo. I believe it was called the "Poh Tok", a moderately spicy chili, tomato and lemon grass based soup - containing fresh assorted seafood, including mussels, scallops, some type of unidentifiable fish, crab and shrimp

The flavor of the fresh mussels was especially amazing, but I could have handled a little more heat. Next time I will order the Green Curry Mussels.

Tyler, as I mentioned at the beginning, felt otherwise. Despite onset starvation, he could not eat his dish slow enough. He had ordered a barbequed spicy beef with “Thai spices”. Tyler’s face just became redder and redder as he took bit after bite – all the while chasing with generous portions of white rice. I would generally say Tyler was being a baby, but I must say that results from my taste test revealed Tyler's beef dish was indeed insatiably hot.

He defended his order today by telling me “thai spices” had made him think of spices like cardamom and cinnamon rather than hot chiles, hot chiles, hot chiles. I would continue to roll my eyes at his spice logic, but I am confident he won’t forget the punch of “thai spices” anytime soon.

Too bad we crammed down so much food because I couldn’t help, but overhear the happy murmurs of the party next to us as they consumed sweet mango sticky rice. I am now planning my own time to make this with the recipe I found here.

I am so excited to come back here with a group so we can all eat family style. Look here to see more photos of Jitlada’s Southern Thai dishes! Also, Jitlada has quite a few foodies crazy about them. Follow Jitlada on Twitter here.

Jitlada's Fork Rating:

Accessibility: 2 Forks

Ambiance: 3 Forks

Authenticity: 5 Forks

Service: 2.5 Forks

Taste Factor: 4 Forks

Nyala

Tyler, my mom, who was visiting from Portland, and I went to Nyala in Little Ethiopia after hiking around Griffith Park. We didn’t descend until dark and were pretty hungry upon finally arriving. For a Saturday night the place wasn’t packed, but we did have a hard time finding parking in the area. Thus, bare in mind the time you would have spent waiting for a table may very well be spent parallel parking.

Yelp is not a clear indicator on which Little Ethiopian restaurant is best – but I did recall general acclaim for Nyala (I did some research for some possible Tyler birthday plans a while back), so we labored past also highly rated Mesob and Merkato, until reaching Nyala.

My mom and Tyler each ordered beer and I decided that by not ordering my own I could just steal drinks from theirs. Your choices are these: Harrar, Hakim and Tusker. My Mom, Celia, ordered the Harrar, my favorite of the two. It was bitter with honey undertones and like nothing I have ever tried before or have had since. Really interested in beer? I found a great review of the Harrar on Beeradvocate.com (thanks dkachur) that I wanted to share for those into trying international beers

“Pale amber color with a thin head. The last pour from the bottle was brown and murky... odd for a pale lager. Aroma is strong honey notes with some raw barley notes. Taste is grain, honey, light bitterness and something stale and musty in the finish. Thin-medium bodied.”

I thought Tusker was a bit more mainstay, but also good. Click here for reviews.

Now for the food! Along with the beers came a breadbasket full of spongy sourdough crepe (aka Injera) cuts. The basket is mostly for scooping purposes (hopefully you go with mostly clean handed friends), but is also excellent to munch on – keep in mind that the food also comes on top of the crepe (kind of like separated toppings on a pizza), so hopefully you like sourdough!

We ordered the Meat Combination Plate and the Vegetarian Combination Plate; a brilliant plan for all hungry/adventurous eaters. There wasn’t really a dish that I didn’t like, the vegetable dishes are mainly different types of beans/lentils, but my favorite was the Yabesha Gommen Collard greens which were balanced with hints of ginger and garlic (see the other 5 samplers that came with the vegetarian combination plate here). On the meat dish front, there was lamb, beef and chicken. My favorite was the Yebeg or Yebere Wot (we ordered this as lamb, but you have your choice of lamb or beef - see other two sampler meat dishes here) because it was more on the spicy side and oh so good.

Towards the end, the crepes became so saturated with the juices that we had to give up on our scooping - which was good because the crepe kind of expands in your stomach and by the end of the meal we were really feeling it! A great adventure, I can’t wait until my plans take me back to Little Ethiopia!

For Next Time: I will have to try the honey wine – but I will certainly get the sampler plates again, that is the way to go!

Nyala Fork Rating:

Accessibility: 1 Fork

Ambiance: 2 Forks

Authenticity: 3.5 Forks

Service: 3 Forks

Taste Factor: 4 Forks

Juquila Taco Truck!

A couple Sundays ago (reports of eating promised in a more timely fashion soon), Tyler and I went on a low speed chase after a Juquila look alike. You can imagine our heartbreak when the truck turned out to be a highly questionable produce-mobile. We were pretty bummed, but decided to stick to our guns and return for dinner Monday – after all it would be my first real taco truck experience and according to Tyler’s best friend, Juquila was the taco truck of all taco trucks.

We were able to walk to the truck from our apartment - which added to the experience. We didn’t know if it would be parked on Bundy (location of truck) or in front of Stoner Park, but around 7PM we spotted it in front of Stoner Park. Excellent. The tacos were just a dollar and you had your choice of carne asada, cabeza, lengua, pollo or carnitas. I ordered three, two with just beans (they were out of pollo) and one with lengua in an effort to be adventurous

The two kids working there looked to be about twelve, but they sure did make a mean taco (and actually an accidental fourth in my case)! And for a dollar each, with no added cost for guac – the experience was really never in danger of being a bad situation. We sat in the shade at a picnic table and there I scarfed down three of my four tacos. The cilantro and onions gave the tacos a very fresh flavor and the tasty corn tortillas, which were two thick reminded me of ones that I have had homemade. I was going to go for my second lengua, when the picture of someone sautéing baby cow tongue made me reconsider my full-ometer. (That’s just me thinking too much and had nothing to do with the actual taste). The whole mini event was a load of fun. I would certainly make the trek back to Stoner Park again – but next time further along in the summer with a couple Coronas, your tacos come with the limes!)

Lastly, because it was an interesting point for me, Tyler on top of his tacos, ordered a mandarin orange pop (aka Jarritos Mandarina). At first we both thought it tasted funny, but upon reading the label we realized that was just because the drink actually had real sugar in it. There are a bunch of different flavors to try and perhaps next time, on top of my Corona, I will go for the mango or watermelon.

Fork Rating for Juquila Taco Truck

Accessibility: 4 Forks (nearby our apartment … walkable!)

Ambiance: 2 Forks (the ambiance came more from the feel of the park)

Authenticity: 5 Forks (the taco makers didn’t even speak much English

Taste Factor: 4 Forks (fresh, fresh, fresh!)