September 28, 2009 1

Osteria La Buca (Melrose)

//// By in 07: Mid-Wilshire

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An old entry we forgot to put up. I haven’t been to Osteria La buca for a long long time since 3 years ago. The place has changed a lot since. It was renovated from a small hole-in-the-wall to a nicer upscale space. The interior is a lot larger and we got a table up on the 2nd floor.

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A special of the night: beef carpaccio.

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Pappardelle Fumé – pink sauce with oregano, bacon and Scamorza cheese $15.25
This was amazing, the best dish of the night.

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The Gnocchi dish was a special of the night. Unfortunately I already forgot what was the sauce.
Ravioli Burro e Salvia – spinach and ricotta cheese in butter and sage. The sauce was so good.

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Linguine Carbonara – bacon, parmesan cheese, egg and black pepper
Simple and delicious.

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Tiramisu and Cheesecake for dessert.
The food is just as fantastic as before, the handmade pasta were all fresh and delicious. It was a Tuesday evening and the restaurant were fulled, reservation is a must even after their expansion.

Osteria La Buca
5210 Melrose Ave, Hollywood, CA 90038
(323) 462-1900

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September 23, 2009 6

Kappo Ishito (Little Tokyo)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA

This authentic and low key Japanese restaurant Kappo Ishito specialized in Kaiseki (traditional pre-fixed haute cuisine). It is tucked away on the 3rd floor of a plaza, overshadowed by the very popular ramen joint (Orocho) next door.

We heard about their limited bento box (only 15 are made everyday) during weekday lunch, but we arrived too late.

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The interior is quiet and low key, a huge contrast with the young crowd from next door .

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I got the Sashimi Lunch Set ($13). The sashimi were very fresh and good quality. Simple, light and tasty!

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Kurobuta (Black Pork) Katsu Set ($18). Both of my friends got this and they said it’s excellent! I tried a piece of the black pork and it was very tender and tasty.

The food is finely made with delicacy. I’m still interested in their bento box and hopefully I could try that sometimes. I wonder how their Kaiseki course dinner ($$$) is like?

Kappo Ishito
123 Astronaut Ellison S Los Angeles, CA 90001

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September 22, 2009 5

Frances Bakery and Coffee (Little Tokyo)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA, Favorite Food Entries

Being a lover of Japanese style French patisserie, I never knew about Frances Bakery, even though it’s been around in Little Tokyo for a long time. The exterior is very non-descript and dated looking.

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The interior is very hole-in-the-wall as well, despite the attempted rococo molding.

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My crappy photo doesn’t do the cake justice: they’re dainty and pretty~ My favorite pastry: Mont Blanc is rather good (especially impressed with the Ladyfinger pastry at the bottom). The cakes are not too sweet. And unlike general American cakes, they taste more light, fine and delicate. I’d love to go back to try everything.

Frances Bakery and Coffee
404 E 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012

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September 22, 2009 2

Focus Cafe (Little Tokyo)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA

Just for fun, we lunched at a Japanese Karaoke joint that offers typical Japanese western dishes. Focus is hidden away on the 2nd floor of a nobody-goes-there mall building at the Japanese Village plaza.

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We had the choice to dine at the individual karaoke room, the manga reading main room and a closed patio for the smoking patrons. The smoking area was surprisingly packed with Japanese businessman.

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Hamburg steak Lunch set.

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Napolitan. Taste like childhood, I like it in a guilty pleasure way.

The food is diner quality, homemade feel but quite tasty. The whole experience felt a little surreal as it’s felt like I’ve time traveled to Japan back in the 80s (mainly due to the decor). The place has a mom n’ pop feel, hidden, quiet and authentic. They have a UCC (a Japanese coffee brand) coffee maker that is in Bunsen Burner style.  I gotta come here to try their karaoke sometimes!

Focus
102 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Los Angeles, CA 90012

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September 21, 2009 1

Mishi’s Strudel Bakery & Café (San Pedro)

//// By in 18: Greater LA

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We went to San Pedro one weekend for some antiques hunting. We came upon this Hungarian Cafe Mishi’s Strudel. It was kind of unexpected to find such a “European” place, it was playing classical music and there were Hungarian newspapers lying around. The interior was homey and borderline Euro-kitsch. I could tell their studels must be authentic and good!

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I got the European coffee which has whipped cream in it. I think it’s basically a Melange. This brought back memories from Vienna!

They have 18 something different kinds of sweet studels and 3 kinds of savory studels which I never tried before. The menu also has sweet and savory crepes, pasta and goulash (!). We were still full from lunch so we only got desserts and drinks.

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Apparently the homemade strudels are made from a family recipe. We got the blueberry Strudel.  It taste wonderful! The skin is paper thin and layered, it was light and fresh tasting. The blueberry fillings weren’t too sweet either. It’s quite large too so we shared it. Should have got another one! The poppy seed one seems really good. Again this brought back fond memories of the wonderful cakes I had at Vienna. Though the studel I had at Vienna had thick skin, Jon said he had thin skin ones like this when living at Austria as a child.

Typing this made me want to go back soon and try the others! I’m really curious about the goulash too.


Mishi’s Strudel Bakery & Café
309 W 7th St, San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 832-6474

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