September 4, 2009 2

Aloha Cafe (Little Tokyo)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA

While I was working at the Art District, I lunched at Little Tokyo everyday. I’m always curious about the Hawaiian restaurant Aloha Cafe, as I know very little about Hawaiian cuisine. Their menu seems to feature mostly meat + gravy based dishes that’s influenced by Japanese and Chinese.

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Inside looks as hole-in-the-wall as the outside suggest. They have a weekday special lunch menu, featuring Braised Short Rib on Friday. The short rib is moist and tender, though a rather basic meaty flavor.

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Oxtail Soup.  Very tasty and tender oxtail. It’s satisfying though also rather basic tasting.

The food here is big portion, nothing fancy but comforting.

Aloha Cafe
410 E. 2nd Street Los Angeles, CA 90012

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September 1, 2009 6

Wood Spoon (Downtown)

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

After finding out their star item was the Pork Burger, We went back to the Brazilian restaurant Wood Spoon on the weekend at once.

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Here it is: The Pork Burger, with roasted cabbage, onions, on toasted potato bun. It is SO delicious! The well seasoned pork patty is meaty but light in texture, very tender and juicy. The onion and cabbage taste light but compliment the pork so well. I savor every bite and didn’t want it to end!

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Fish Sandwich: grilled fish, avocado, tomato, cilantro on french roll and yam fries. Very good too, though the yam fries are too soft my taste (I’d get salad next time).

Even though it’s a hearty meal, we didn’t feel greasy at all. Everybody’s right, the Pork Burger is something to come back here for again and again!

Wood Spoon
107 W 9th St Los Angeles 90015

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August 27, 2009 4

Wood Spoon (Downtown)

//// By in 06: Downtown LA

I drove by the area near the Eastern Building one day and saw a cute wood spoon sign, I knew that I have to check this place out! Turns out Wood Spoon is a Brazilian restaurant. So we have double Brazilian entries today~

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The interior is lovely! Simple, modern homely chic brighten with fresh flowers.

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Mix Plate Appetizer : coxinha, potato croquette, portuguese croquette, pastel portuguese (dumpling stuffed with shrimp, coconut sauce), kibe (bulgur wheat, mint and ground beef). Most of these are popular Brazilian street food, my favorite was the Pastel Portugese.

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Brazilian Chicken Pot Pie with hearts of palm, olives, roasted corn $11. The owner told me it’s from her grandmother’s recipe. The pastry was thin and puffy, and the filling was creamy but light and wonderfully hearty~ I don’t know what they put in the salad but seems like it’s peppered with something sweet (sugar?). The combination of sweet veggie + savory pot pie is addictive.

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Beef Brazilian Grill $13. My friend said the beef was very tender and delicious.

Although the grill dish was not as ‘value’ as compare to what you’d get at Pampas Grill‘s, here you would find lovely, carefully prepared meal that feels like straight from mom’s kitchen instead. Other than the good food, the owner is very friendly as well. The place was quiet (on the weekend), quite hidden and charming, definitely my kind of places. I tried to go back there next weekend on a Sunday, unfortunately it wasn’t open.

Edit: Went back to try the Pork Burger immediately here. 🙂

Wood Spoon
107 W 9th St Los Angeles 90015

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August 27, 2009 1

Pampas Grill (Culver City)

//// By in 13: Culver City

The popular Brazilian BBQ stall Pampas Grill at Farmer’s Market has setup a restaurant at Culver City.

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Like the stall at Farmer’s market, it’s buffet style.  I often make the mistake of loading up the plate with too much cheese bread before getting to the meat part. Once you’re at the BBQ area, it’s a pure wonderful meat feast. Many types of meat (in rare, medium or cooked form) to choose from, and they sliced the pieces off from the grilled rod to your plate. They weight your plate at the cashier. A plate like this cost about $14.

Pampas Grill
3857 Overland Ave Culver City, CA 90232

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August 25, 2009 3

Green Zone (San Gabriel)

//// By in 01: San Gabriel

A friend of mine introduced me to this organic Chinese cafe called Green Zone at SGV. Their under construction website titled itself ‘Fine Organic Cuisine’, though it seems to be their menu is more like casual Hong Kong diner staples (Wonton Noodle, Hainan Chicken Rice, Pasta, Curry), but they were made with a lot of heart and refine presentation.

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The small interior space is simple and wood texture based. My friend is vegetarian and the menu has a pretty good selection for her, such as  Grilled Tofu.

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They offer a good selection of fresh fruit juice and herbal tea. I tried the Lavender Tea (very Lavender tasting, reminded me of bath time) and Apple + Grape Juice.

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The Dumplings (Shrimp and Bok Choy, Shrimp and Chinese Chives) are great! The skin is very thin but hold up well. I like the bok choy filling more.

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Wonton Noodle. The broth is not the traditional Hong Kong style but very yummy nonetheless.

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One of the many vegetarian dishes is the Japanese inspired Sukiyaki. It’s basically a bowl of soup with medley of vegetables in sweet broth. You have the choice to get brown rice to go with it.

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Hainan Chicken Rice. Though the chicken has little chicken flavor but it’s tender, but the highlight is the flavored rice.

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Good, fresh tasting Mango Mousse Cake.

From what I’ve sampled so far, seems like every dish is done well and the flavor is never generic. I feel a lot of heart in this place, and would love to be a regular here. Seems like it’s run by a group of young people.

Green Zone
534 E Valley Blvd. San Gabriel, CA 91776

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