Editor’s note: This post is based on a visit from March 2009

This may just be my favorite Korean BBQ place on the westside. Quality meats, fantastic seasonings, great variety.

Favorites:

Seafood pancake (see top right image). This delightful concoction of egg, starch, seafood and vegetable was fried to surprisingly not-too-greasy consistency. Veggies and seafood bits were tender and savory. This was so good that someone from our group tried to make this at home, with limited success.

Galbi. Galbi is really hard to mess up, but tough to do right. Park’s Galbi was wonderfully flavorful.

Bulgogi “soup”. Literally it’s a “soup” filled with bulgogi and onions. Stellar with rice.

Great ventilation. When you go to a Korean BBQ, you expect to come out smelling like charred meat for at least a few days. Parks is one of the least smokiest KBBQs I’ve been to thanks to its industrial-strength ventilation system.

Parks BBQ
955 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Cheese pupusa on top, pork and cheese on bottom. Both have a nice savoriness to them but are not too salty.

99 Things to Eat in LA Before You Die

On the list:

• Urasawa’s Fugu
• Bulgarini’s Goat’s Milk Gelato
• Shanxi Knife-Cut Noodles
• Newport Seafood’s Spicy Lobster
• Romanesco
• and MORE!

So who wants to go eat??

I only discovered Kyochon Chicken last year, but I’ve been hooked. I get cravings for these delicious little chunks of tender and juicy marinated chicken battered in some sort of special rice coating that crisps up after it’s been deep fried and has just the slightest tinge of curry wafting under your nostrils and over your tastebuds. These are usually nothing short of glorious and I really don’t want to know how bad these are for you.

Kyochon Chicken
Freshia Market
Torrance, CA

Ok, this place is definitely going on the list of “places to check out”. Deep fried skewers! The above is deep fried shrimp, head-on.

Posted via web from pearl’s posterous

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

I’ve never been here, but this looks delicious!

The charming 3rd Street bakery Kiss My Bundt, which we have featured a few times in this blog (since its bundts and cupcakes are so tasty) is in a bit of trouble. Due to the recession and the rising cost of ingredients such as milk, butter, sugar and Belgian chocolate, the little bakery is struggling to stay afloat.

Last week, investor Erin Hill sent out an e-mail saying in part:

Chrysta [Wilson], the owner of the bakery, has been fighting valiantly since things got tough in January, but hasn’t been able to build the business fast enough. So it has come down to the next few weeks, in which she has to sell about 5000 mini bundts to raise the money to keep her doors open into the Christmas season, when business will hopefully pick up.

It’s surprising news, since the bakery has become a favorite with a lot of dessert-loving people I know and is often mentioned on popular blogs. Wilson even has a “Kiss My Bundt” cookbook coming out over Thanksgiving.

– Jessica Gelt

*sigh* standards of living going down means less fancy yummy things available to us. it’s almost like we’re heading back to the days where salt and silk were traded as valued commodities. ok, we’re not going to get to THAT point, but it’s heading down that path. :(

Posted via web from pearl’s posterous

Shinsengumi Hakata Ramen
Gardena, CA

Ramen cooked to your exact specifications in savory pork-flavored broth. You say you want it hard, thick and strong? Done.

Musha
Gardena, CA

A favorite. Izakaya style (Japanese tapas) dining. Favorite menu items: rib eye and stingray fin you grill at the table, cheese risotto served out of a gigantic wedge of cheese, and the sweet tofu/cracker dessert.

Original Pancake House
Redondo Beach, CA

My favorite breakfast place in the South Bay. Best eggs, best bacon, huge and amazing omelettes.

For an area that has so many Taiwanese/Chinese people, the South Bay has surprisingly few good Taiwanese places. So if you can’t make it out to the SGV (San Gabriel Valley), this place is definitely worth checking out. Tucked into a generic strip mall on Crenshaw, the parking lot for this shopping center is super narrow and almost always packed. The place seats maybe 20.

Menu selections are your standard Taiwanese hole-in-the-wall fare. =)

Noodles include: Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, Pork Chop Noodle Soup (above), Shredded Pork and Preserved Vegetable

Cold dishes include: Pig ears, Pickled cucumber, Seaweed, Tofu strips

Breakfast pastries include: Green onion pancake, Chive pockets, Beef pockets (xian4 bing3)

As a side note, I really like their Shredded Pork and Tofu (yummy!)

Overall, this place is a good in a pinch. Good lunch place if you are close by; I usually come here for weekend brunch.

Sue’s Kitchen
23918 Crenshaw Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505-5211
(310) 539-1992

Here’s a test post to get things started. Feel free to use this entry to suggest new places to eat!