Mao's Kitchen

What other way is there to eat Chinese food if not in a communist fashion? Mao's Kitchen boldly declares their red roots serving up Chinese comfort food in Hollywood and Venice Beach. So far, I've only been to the location on Melrose and it's very stark with white walls, sparse Chinese art, and a video installation playing near the front door. There is also a side patio, but I'm yet to come here in good enough weather to sit outside. It is, however, a great place to come with friends and you'll often find groups of friends enjoying some drink and conversation over large plates of food. The food is definitely different than what you'll find at most other Chinese places, with things like peasant's onion pancake, sesame & yam beef, and model citizen soup. Another thing that sets this place apart from your run-of-the-mill fast food Chinese is the prices. Most dishes are $9+, unless of course you opt for the $1 salad (house salad). I've tried the hot & sour soup, which I have to say I didn't really enjoy that much since it had tomatoes in it, something I'm not used to in this variety of soup. I've also tried the sweet & sour pork and the chicken chow mein, which I have to admit was pretty good. Every time I come I am always curious to try the peasant onion pancake and the curry rice-stick, but I am yet to try either. Something to know before you go would be that Mao's is BYOB, but I don't believe there is any corkage fee. Due to location, the clientele can at times be interesting. The last time we were here there was some really weird guy that had a sex toy on the floor in the bathroom when Chase went in there. Truly bizarre. On the bright side, they do have their own parking lot and it's usually pretty easy to get a spot in there.

http://www.maoskitchen.com/

The Waffle

After waiting about an hour to get a table at Katsu-ya Hollywood (with a reservation that is), my family and I abandoned the pretentious Hollywood hot spot and wandered down the street to Hollywood's new breakfast shop, The Waffle. Like a gourmet diner, we had no complaints, and they even serve alcohol! Since we were there at dinner time, there was a pretty even split of people having dinner food and those having breakfast fare, but no one was disappointed. I tried the mac n' cheese with fontina, cheddar, and gruyere all with baked breadcrumbs on top. I also tried a bit of my sister's whole grain waffle with fruit and it was also pretty good, but very healthy tasting. Griffin had the eggs and bacon and my brother had the burger and everyone seemed pretty impressed. It wasn't too costly either, about $10 a person. The atmosphere was really casual, a nice change for Hollywood, and reminded me a bit of my old pediatrician's office with the varying shades of orange and the oversized booths. The servers were all really nice and happy to offer up suggestions of what to eat. Though we didn't get dessert, the table next to us got a hot chocolate concoction with whipped cream and berries on it that looked really good! Overall it was a really relaxed dinner and we got to enjoy each other's company and some good food without spending a fortune (which we defintely would have at Katsu-ya). My only complaint is the limited parking in the area, but it's close enough that you could park at the Arclight and walk.

http://www.thewaffle.us/Site/Menu.html

Doughboy's

Despite the love/hate relationship I currently have going with Doughboy's, I've decided to blog on it anyway. When I first went here a couple of years ago, I fell in love with the place, but lately it's more like I love it, but I'm not in love with it. The dish that became the apple of my eye was the after school special, comprised of an outstanding grilled cheese sandwich with fontina, emmenthal, and white cheddar on two slices of buttery French bread with a creamy tomato soup. Time after time I went back and was impressed by the breakfast, sandwiches, and pizza. Particularly enjoyable on the breakfast menu was the breakfast quesadilla. I'm not sure what's in the salsa they give you with this, but it's a little sweet and absolutely delicious. Also good are the fiber-packed blueberry flaxseed pancakes and Griffin loves the breakfast sandwich. They also have a rice krispy pancake with a marshmallow sauce that sounds delish! Additional sandwich highlights include the french dip and the roast beef. The pizza's are good too, and the extra soft crusts are like only a bakery could make. The meals are quite large so plan to share or take half home for later. If you are just going for bakery goods their bread is great and their red velvet is supposed to be fantastic (it's Ellen Degenerous' birthday cake of choice). Here's the problem, however. The 3rd St. location closed down once they opened the Hollywood location (I think the cross street is Willoughby?). The Mid-city shop closed reportedly due to a rumor of rats, but El Carmen, the tequila bar that shares a kitchen, is still open so I either they are dealing with the rats, or the rumor isn't true. Unfortunately the Hollywood location hasn't lived up to it's predecessor so far except in decor (think industrial chic) and the degree of difficulty to find street parking before having to wait for a table on a busy street corner. The last time I went to the Hollywood location I had my usual after school special, but the sandwich was all different and the tomato soup was far too chunky with huge pieces of tomato and onions. I wouldn't say it was bad, it just wasn't as good as what I was used to. It looks like they are finally making some progress on the 3rd St. location, so hopefully it will reopen soon and I'll give it another try.

http://www.doughboys.net/

Pace

It's hard to say exactly what part of town the Italian restaurant Pace is in, but their slogan, "Peace in the Canyon" somewhat gives it away. On the strip of Laurel Canyon between Sunset and Mulholland you'll mostly only find residences (and pricey ones at that), but those residents are blessed with having one amazing restaurant reserved almost exclusively for them. Pace is a small little place underneath the Canyon market store on Laurel Canyon. It's really best to go with a reservation, but if you don't mind waiting for a spell, then stop by any time. There's really no cheap way to do Pace, but there are definitely frugal ways to spend here. Griffin and I like to order a pizza (the Aphrodite pizza with potato and green beans is the best!) and then we'll have a second dish, something like the filet mignon, to share. The pizzas are relatively inexpensive (about $15) and filling, so they help balance out the expensive entrees (the filet is the most expensive at $43). As far as appetizers, the steamed mussels are delectable. I don't believe we've ever had dessert here, but based on the quality of the rest of the food, I'm quite sure it'd be terrific. As I mentioned, the space itself is pretty small, but there is a cozy outdoor patio with space heaters that provides a few extra tables. If you'd rather not wait for a table, I've seen the Pace delivery car driving around the area, though I'm not sure the parameters they'll deliver to. Even if you're just having pizza, it's hard to leave Pace spending less than $30 a person, and depending how much you are going to drink, that price just gets higher.

http://www.peaceinthecanyon.com/main.html

BOA

Up on the Sunset strip amid bars and restaurants for the stars is BOA, a steak house where the food is great, but if you are not one of those celebrities for which this place lives, anticipate to be treated as such from the wait staff. As to be expected from a steak house, the menu is largely meat driven, but there are also some great fish options for those pescatarians out there. I was here with my family, and it was a great spot for a big crowd. As an appetizer we all shared an oyster platter. For the most part, this was great, but there were a couple of shucks in there that were just awful. It was literally like licking a dead fish. Being hypochondriacs, everyone worried for the rest of the night about whether or not we'd all be stricken with the awful afflictions one can get from eating oysters. Needless to say, no one was feeling the effects of the oysters as an aphrodisiac after that, but luckily we all survived. Looking back, I wish we had instead tried the Kobe beef corndog and the truffled nachos. Most other appetizer items were seafood dishes like prawns and Ahi tuna tartare. My sister ordered a BLT salad as a starter and that was actually quite good. Moving on to the main course, it was pretty much steaks all around. BOA is unique in that you choose the cut of steak you'd like and then you select a rub and/or sauce to pair with your it. For those who don't do well with options, you might have a little trouble here. It can be overwhelming to choose because you're out almost $40 if you don't like what you get. In our case, however, everyone was more than pleased with their plate. Four people at the table tried the Kansas City bone-in filet with various rubs (options include peppercorn, herbed butter, blackened, blue cheese, and fois gras). I myself tried the petite filet (about 5 oz.) with the herbed butter, served medium rare. It was phenomenal. Truly the best steak I've ever had. But I guess butter makes everything better, right? Since we were such a large party and most everyone was eating steak, we had the waiter bring us a spread of the six different sauces (peppercorn, cabernet, bearnaise, chimicurri, creamy horseradish, and BOA's signature J-1, with peppercorn being the most popular). Those not having steak tried the short ribs and the lobster and both were quite impressed, though the 3lbs. of lobster was a little much for my 110 lb. sister. Not to worry though, the rest of us ate it right up. For sides we ordered family style, getting the sauteed spinach, which was good, but mostly just tasted like salt, the mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms, and my favorite, lobster mashed potatoes. We were all pretty full by the time we got to desert, but we ordered 2 anyway. We opted for the "adult s'mores" and a bananas foster. I'm not much into bananas, but everyone raved about this dish. I instead stuck to the s'mores, with charred melted mallow, a crispy slender homemade graham cracker, a dense chocolate cake, and dulce de leche ice cream, all with a subtle hint of cinnamon. BOA also has a location on Ocean in Santa Monica which offers cotton candy far better than what you'll find at any fair or Staples center event. In terms of atmosphere, BOA on Sunset is hip, but relaxed. It's a small space, but they did with it what they could. Rich dark woods are accented by natural elements like a twig woven screen and a glass insert in the floor with pebbles inside. To contrast, brightly colored lamps hang from the ceiling and cut the room in half. I will say that considering the design elements of the restaurant, the restrooms (which are in the Grafton Hotel) feel dirty and cheap with their sponge-painted orange walls and stalls. The sommelier was very friendly (which could have something to do with us ordering upward of $70 bottles of wine, 4 times), but the waiters here were uppity and inattentive. There were multiple times that we waited more than 10 minutes for our water glasses to be filled and when Griffin had his red wine glass taken off the table, our waiter never replaced it, despite our request. We had to ask 3 other people working in the restaurant before someone finally took care of it. One of the waiters I asked for the glass said "Do I look like your waiter?" instead of something more helpful like "How may I help you?" There's at least 3 or 4 waiters working at a time and there can't be more than 20 tables here, not to mention food runners, etc. so that kind of service when you are paying that price is inexcusable. The poor service continued to the valet, though at least BOA validates, so parking was only $8. I have been to the Santa Monica location and don't recall poor serivce being an issue there, though the interior design is not quite on par. Regardless of the bad service, we all still had a great time and a great meal, so I would still recommend going here for a fancy dinner, but like I mentioned before, entrees are $30-$40 each so either share or go for a really special occasion, or in my case, when someone else is paying. Thanks, Dad.

http://www.boasteak.com/balboa/

Katsu-ya

Being that this is my favorite restaurant in LA, it's a little surprising that I didn't blog on Katsu-ya first. In fact, I could probably keep an entire blog on Katsu-ya and their franchises with their magically delicious cuisine. With new Katsu-ya locations popping up everywhere, it's important to note their distinctions. The original Katsu-ya lives in a strip mall in Studio City and has a sister store down Ventura in Encino. Their red-headed step-sisters are the Brent Bolthouse owned, Philipe Starck designed locations in Brentwood and Hollywood (with more locations to come). The Michael Jackson of the group is Izakaya in mid-city. Why is Izakaya the best you ask, because it takes the ideas, philosophies, and menu from the original location in its entirety and adds on, without becoming pretentious, a la $15 valet at the Hollywood location. The Encino and Studio City locations are the most low-key with the Brentwood and Hollywood locations being really glitzy (think glam rock sushi) and Izakaya living somewhere in the middle. No matter which location you fancy, fan favorites span the franchise. First and foremost is the sushi crack, the crispy rice with spicy tuna. It's that little hashbrown looking thing that EVERYONE around you has ordered. And the crispy rice does taste a bit like a hashbrown, only with spicy tuna and jalapeno on top. There's no sauce, but it's a little greasy, so you don't really need any. Next up, cut baked crab roll. They offer this in a hand roll as well, but it's not nearly as good as the cut. This one is served warm (naturally because it's baked) with real shredded crab and rice wrapped in soy paper. This comes with no sauce on it, but it's good with just regular old soy sauce. Third, you've got to get the crispy sesame tuna, which somewhat resembles tuna tartare with avocado on a crispy chip all topped with a creamy sauce. Unfortunately there's only two to an order, but it's definitely worth everyone at the table getting at least one. Other popular favorites include the yuzu peppers (only about 1 in 10 is spicy), spicy albacore with crispy onions (seared albacore under fried onions with ponzu on top, what more can you ask for?), fried mozzarella tempura, creamy rock shrimp tempura (the last two are great for people who don't like sushi, and both are served hot). The traditional rolls are good too, but that's not why people come back in droves. If you have a hankering for a more traditional sushi experience, go for the yellowtail sashimi tasting, the red snapper sashimi with yuzu, the albacore sushi (melts in your mouth), and the Robert roll (tuna, crab, and shrimp roll - very popular, and delicious!). Katsu-ya is a great place to try to coax people who say they don't like sushi into liking it. Most items are cooked, so there's no being weirded out by raw fish. At the Hollywood and Brentwood locations the menu also includes a robata grill. Izakaya's menu boasts some unique extras like Katsu-ya fries served with 3 different kinds of ketchup and mayonnaise. If you don't have a reservation expect to wait at least 30 minutes at any location and don't plan on leaving without fishing out about $30 a person - AT LEAST. Proof that the great things in life aren't free. Valet is the best parking option for any location, and they all get their fair share of celebrities, if that kind of thing is important to you.

http://www.sushikatsu-ya.com/home.html