Tinga

Earlier this year started going to this fairly new Mexican restaurant called Tinga Buena located on La Brea between 1st and 2nd. Great little place. Its seems to be a combination of traditional & authentic Mexican flavors, but refined with wonderfully seasoned dishes that pack a lot of punch.

The Tinga Tacos is their house speciality. Spicy stewed chicken, with lettuce, pickled onions, crema and cheese on fresh made crunchy tostada style shells. Very satisfying dish, great textures and flavors. Its spicy, but not that hot. Just good flavors.

Pechuga tacos, lemon brined chicken breast with, queso fresco, salsa verde and purple cabbage on fresh made soft corn tortillas. This had a much more subtle flavor make up, but was bright with flavors. Also, the other taco orders come with a small side of house made tortilla chips with a nice house made smokey chipotle hot sauce.

Chorizo quesadilla with goat cheese and pickled onions. Very filling and tasty. This makes for a good dish to share with some one if you're wanting to try out a few things on the menu. Great seasoned chorizo with a nice balance of sweet from the goat cheese and tangy crunch from the pickled onions and served with the tasty chipotle hot sauce.

Elote Especial, hands down one of my favorite things there. A must have or a must try side dish. Its grilled sweet corn with creamy lime, chile and a poblano puree. A nice mix of sour tangy, spicy and sweet. The lime adds such a nice bite with a little heat with the sweetness of the corn, yum.

Usually go there about once or twice a month now. Service has always been terrific and pretty quick. Highly recommend checking them out. Great all the way around. You can find out more info as well as their menu here.

Lobsta!!!

Lobster + food truck = LobstaTruck. One of the latest gourmet style food trucks to roll out recently. Based on the crowds it looks like they are turning out to be a pretty popular truck, I mean it is lobster after all. I know they get their lobster flown in, just not sure from where, it's definitely fresh though. They have a simple menu, lobster rolls with butter or with mayo, crab rolls, chowder and a few sweets. The lobster roll is fairly straightforward, cooked lobster bathed in butter (mayo, just not my thing ever) on a lightly grilled/toasted roll. That's it. Its quite good and satisfying with sweet and succulent meat and the roll is quite tasty as well. I've had them twice now, both times, equally great. Since its seafood, you don't feel heavy after eating which is nice, but I did find myself getting hungry again sooner then later though. For the price, $11 or $9 for crab, its not something I can justify to eat at to often (is once a week to often?), makes for a nice indulgence though. My only real grumble is that it seemed to take a while to get my food, first time they were swamped, so I attributed it to that, but the second time there was no line and it still took a while. Maybe they steam/boil and cook to order? I'll have to ask next time, and yes there will be several next times. If you love the lobster, this is definitely a tasty way to get your fix and it's worth the wait.



You can find out more info about them on their site here or follow them on Twitter here.

The Best Fish Taco In Ensenada

Great little taco place in Los Feliz, The Best Fish Taco In Ensenada. Very simple and straight forward. You order fish or shrimp tacos. That's it. The fish and shrimp are lightly battered and quickly deep fried, the corn tortillas are warmed on the grill and the tacos are served naked. On their own, the shrimp and fish are really tender and sweet and with a crunch of the batter are pretty tasty. Where the tacos really shine is with the salsa bar. You dress em' up yourself. There are the basics like cream and shredded cabbage, but what is really great is that they make a bunch of different fresh salsas like mango spicy or mild, or guacamole style or my favorite, the radish salsa which is both a little spicy and tangy. You can load it up as much or little as you're feeling like.

Every time I've eaten here, its been really good. Always satisfying and surprisingly filling. You can't beat the prices either, $2 for shrimp and $1.50 for fish. Very affordable, fresh and tasty tacos. They have 3 locations. You can find more info on their web site.

Ludo Truck!

"Look for the big red coq"

Finally, after many months, the Ludo Truck has arrived, or at least in a soft roll out schedule. Don't think they're doing a regular schedule just yet. For those who have had Ludo's cooking know why its a big deal for the truck to be out and about now. I found them parked on Melrose on a recent Saturday afternoon where a few other trucks have parked recently. I hope more trucks will continue to do so since its very convenient to me a lot of people, plus the city needs some new truck hot spots.

The menu consisted of 3 different chicken styles, slaw, fries, lavender biscuits and crème brûlée and a few other items. Plus they do specials, like a chicken sandwich on Breadbar bread, which I hear is really good. 

  

They have the menu set up in orders of two or three pieces of chicken, your choice, mix or match. I got a three piece order, with two of the Provencal Pepittes, infused with rosemary and herbs de provence and one piece chicken strip style which was buttermilk based and all white meat. Also got a side of the slaw and the honey lavender biscuits. You also get a choice of sauces for dipping. I got the chipotle ketchup bbq type of sauce.

The chicken was fantastic. Just like I remembered, but smaller of course. Super moist and flavorful, with a nice crunch. The seasoning is great, nice and savory. They looked like they are formed from dark meat, not ground, but molded. The chicken strip was terrific as well, great coating and crunch. Well seasoned and almost fluffy like. The slaw was good, but didn't seem that different then other spicy slaws. Not bad by any means, just a good slaw. The lavender biscuits with honey (bathed in it) were quite good. They had more of smell of lavender then taste or just a hint of it perhaps. With the honey though, they were really tasty regardless. More dense then flakey. Good way to finish of with something sweet after a nice savory, fried meal. Plan to try the crème brûlée next time though and there will be other times.

Its great, a food truck with the quality and unique styling of Chef Ludo at prices that are quite affordable. Another truck that raises the bar. I think its hard not to become a fan of him after you've tried his cooking. You can find more about the truck on their website here and follow them on twitter here.

Chinatown Goodness at Via Cafe

Spent a wonderful afternoon wandering and taking photos around Chinatown in Los Angeles with my friend Julia recently. Found it to be rather inspiring. Between all the people and street vendors in the area and all the unique store fronts and different smells and sights, it really did feel like we were transported from the usual L.A. scenes. You can see some more on my flickr page and soon on my film blog as well.



Julia had recommended that we stop off at the Via Cafe afterwards for dinner which is mostly Vietnamese Pho style, but some dishes were a bit more fusion from other countries/regions. I wish I had snapped a shot of the menu, because I can't remember what the specific dishes were other then lemongrass grilled chicken with cold rice vermicelli noodles and the sauce to add to it.



It was really really good and tasty. Just right after a afternoon of walking and shooting. All the flavors blended so nicely. It was almost refreshing do to the lightness of it with the veggies, yet had enough proteins and lots of different textures. Really enjoyed it. This is the second time Julia has taken me for Pho and there is something addictive about it. Served in a large bowl, it almost looks like more then I could eat, but I finished it off practically slurping the bits left over. Didn't leave me feeling overly full or heavy either. Everything was served and prepared rather quickly. Nice little place with funky art and friendly service. I think my dish was under $8, which seemed like a good deal to me considering the quality of the meal. Next time you're in Chinatown, I highly recommend checking them out. They're located in the Chinatown square.

Komodo

Finally got a chance try out Komodo for lunch. I had heard some good things about their menu, especially the shrimp. I got the fish taco and the blazin' shrimp taco.



The fish and grapes taco was really good, fried cod tossed with grapes and pickled onions. Had a bit of that sweet tart/tangy quality to it.



The blazin' shrimp with Indonesian spices and a sour cream sauce on the greens was quite good and pretty damn spicy. The sour cream sauce helped cool and balance the heat of the shrimp.



There was plenty of flavor in items that I had. Would definitely eat from their truck again. Food was done quickly, service was friendly. My only real grumble would be the tortillas, a grilled or even a crunchy option would be very welcome. These were cold and uncooked. Will have to see if I can request that next time. You can follow them on Twitter here or get more info from their site.

The Shrimp Guys

The Shrimp Guys, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

The Shrimp Guys food truck, or trailer, well its towed by a regular truck. Anyways, heard some good things about their shrimp and had a chance to try them out. I ordered the 5 piece garlic and butter shrimp with a scoop of rice for 5 bucks, they have a 8 piece with 3 scoops of rice for 8 I think, pretty good value either way. Their was no shortage of garlic or butter, really tasty. Although you really need to eat them fast, shrimp does not hold heat for long. I enjoyed it though, service was friendly and fast and I would definitely hit them up again. They had a coconut lime dish that I know I'll be trying next time. Follow them on twitter here and check out their web site here.

Breadbar Baguettes

Breadbar baguettes, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Just a quick post today. I go to Breadbar on West Third just about every weekend for croissants and turnovers and quite often get their ham baguette sandwich to go for later. They have the best baguettes, and croissants, in town. They had just put out this stack of baguettes and had to get a picture. I always get great service from Daria and Edi. Even better, its a short 5 minute walk from home. : D - I highly recommend them.

Marked5 - Pork Katsu ***Updated - Spam and Egg

Was feeling adventurous (and after being assured by Luis and Tran) had the special, spam and fried egg with lettuce and tomato and a sauce of somekind of soy reduction plus the rice "buns". I was surprised, I really liked it, a lot. I haven't had spam in a really long time. It was like a breakfast sandwich, sorta. The spam was crispy and salty, the egg was fried and broken up, but not completely dry and the sauce made for a nice mix of bringing it all together. There was seaweed as well, but it was only on one portion of the sandwich so I didn't really get in every bite, not till the end for the most part.

Pork Katsu, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Tried the Marked5 food truck. Had the pork katsu sandwich. It was really good. I was told that its basically like having a rice bowl in your hands, but sandwich-ish. Quite flavorful, I would order it with slightly less sauce, but thats just me. Pork was nice and a little crunchy and it all stayed together pretty well until half way thru or so, but its pretty easy to eat even though it gets a little messy. I'm hoping to catch them again soon. Could go for another one. The chicken curry looks really good as well. They gave me a little sample.

www.marked5.com/

Dinner at Tender Greens

Dinner at Tender Greens, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Dinner at Tender Greens, had my usual, albacore hot plate with yukon mashed potatoes and baby spinach with goat cheese and hazelnuts. We decided to try the soup special, white corn chowder. It was pretty good, had potatoes in it(mashed day old I think). The rest of the meal was great, they were having a bit of an off night though as far getting everything done at the same time. Doesn't happen very often though.


tendergreensfood.com/

Wahoo's

365 2.0/163, originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Shrimp taco and grilled fish taco. The shrimp are pan grilled in this polynesian, garlic, soy sauce that is really great, savory but not to much so you still get the sweetness of the shrimp. The grilled fish are done simply, grilled with some salt and pepper and I think a little olive oil. The rice and beans are really good as well, but if you're watching you're calories, skip them. Wahoo's has great food, they're fast, pretty healthly and at a great price. I eat here almost once a week.

www.wahoos.com/

Tender Greens

., originally uploaded by LeandroF.

Grilled albacore tuna (medium rare), yukon mashed potatoes and a baby spinach goat cheese salad. My usual. The food and service tends to be fairly consistent and good. Depending on the time of day, there can be a line, but it does tend to move along pretty fast. Regardless, its always great and the prices are just right.

www.tendergreensfood.com/