Los Angeles: Sun, Food and Tres

I haven't been to LA in years...until last week. For my birthday I decided to purchase myself a gift and that was buying tickets to see Mary J. Blige and Jay Z at the Hollywood Bowl. After a few cocktails one night I mentioned I was going to a friend, who in turn told another friend and next thing you know we all ended up in LA and booked rooms at The Standard.

Well, this is a food blog so lets get started.

Day 1.
After getting off the plane and heading to our hotel we stopped at Los Burritos on Sunset (4929 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles) The "natural juices" sign caught our attention as well as the big outdoor patio. I guess this is a chain spot with close to 10 locations around the city.

I went with a chicken taco and a fish taco. The chicken taco was tasty and fresh and the salsa came right on with just the right amount of heat. The chicken was nicely cooked but it needed a bit more seasoning. I also enjoyed the fish taco which was extremely deep fried making the sour cream so-so necessary to kill the dryness. The fish was coated in what tasted almost like a curry seasoning. We also got some chips, cuz i LOVE chips. This was a nice quick meal before we hit our hotel for some draaaanks.


So we hit the liquor store and grabbed some drinks and then we did this...


After the show we did a mini pub crawl back to the hotel where we ended up eating in The Standard's 24/7 Restaurant. Several of us at the table ordered the chicken sandwich which was pretty damn good, it came on a big spicy jalapeño biscuit. The chicken was fried and the soft biscuit was a great touch. I ended up eating half at the spot and the other half the night before we left straight out the mini fridge in my room. Both times the sandwich was great, if anything it just needed more mayo. Oh yeah, and it also needed to not be like 12 bucks without a side. Welcome to Hollywood.

Day 2.
One thing pretty awesome about The Standard is their pool and with the sun blazing at 930am two of us took advantage of the opportunity. We ordered two cups of coffee and then TWO carafes. Our first carafe was some sort of coconut margarita. This was the truth. It wasnt an overpriced weak ass cocktail it came correct with the alcohol and the coconut flavor was amazing.

By the time we ordered our second carafe we had made a new friend, Bruno, our poolside server. Bruno was amazed at the fact that the two of us were that ready to party on a Thursday morning. He was a good dude and on our last day at the hotel he gave us a hug goodbye. Don't worry Bruno, we will be back.

The second carafe was a watermelon mojito. Again, the drink was nice and the flavor was so natural it did not taste all gross and sugary. I cannot figure out how they got these strong fruit flavors without syrup. I am a fan of the carafe even though they set you back at 40 dollars a piece! The thing is, one drink is $12 so why not make a budget decision and go for the goods.

We waited for everyone to get up and then we all needed to eat. One place on everyones list was Roscoe's. It was a meal we all shared together and it was really chill. All of us were feeling the effects of partying and traveling so a nice meal of grease and carbs was totally appropriate. With 5 locations in the LA area we ended up at the one closest to our hotel in Hollywood.

I went with the SCOES which is basically 1/4 Chicken cooked southern style and 2 waffles. A few others ordered this as well. Someone also ordered an omelet and RB went with some smothered chicken, grits and greens. I tasted all of it except the omelet. This place rules. I loved the chicken and thought it was exactly as I expected = BOMB, and the waffles were perfectly cooked. The tastes really do come together and you need to eat a piece of chicken with a bite of waffle dipped in some syrup. It is the truth, ain't just a gimmick.

We did some shopping then took a nap. Later that night we ended up across the street from our hotel at this strange little place called Cabo Cantina (8301 W Sunset Blvd). This place was everything I imagine Spring Break would be. Girls with half shirts, guys with backwards visors and loud obnoxious music. Earlier in the day we were intrigued by the signs of good cheap tacos and drinks. Apparently we missed happy hour because our tab ended up being ridiculous. Again, welcome to Hollywood. The margaritas we pretty good, a little sweet for me.

I got down on fish tacos. The spicy mayo like salsa sauce was a nice touch. The fish was a bit fishy but the overall dish was pretty good, but the portion was way too much for me considering I ate a basket of chips and downed two drinks.

More drinking ensued and then we hit a club. After the club we hit another mexican spot by our hotel called Pinches Tacos. The outdoor deck was nice because the LA evening weather was super comfortable.

I ate two chicken taquitos which were great and they were on some real budget food because they only set me back $4.50. The guacamole was tasty and fresh, I also liked the flavor of the chicken mixed with the cheese. Damn, I love taquitos...keep reading.


Day 3.
Day 3 included a quick morning stint at the pool with a fruit plate and one drink. Then next thing you know we headed out for some shopping over on Fairfax. After shopping L. and I got scooped by his Dad and we headed over to Pasadena and had a really nice meal at Cafe Santorini. I had a big seared ahi tuna salad which was dusted with a light lime ginger dressing. The salad was really what I needed after all fried food. Then again, the friend wonton chips on top of the greens were quite tasty. While we were eating we got down on a couple bottles of champagne which made the whole meal even more enjoyable.

Once again I will make the announcement about me and dessert and how they just don't mix. HOWEVER, this was no joke prolly the best Tiramisu I have tasted in a long long time. I am not sure if it was the tasty cocoa powder or the fine custard coating on the rum soaked lady fingers. The raspberry sauce that the dessert was sitting on was also amazing, it was fresh and made with real raspberries.

So after dinner we went back to the hotel, drank a lot, celebrated J.'s bday and stayed up til like 430am. This was the night I went back to my room and pounded water and ate the other half of that chicken sandwich.

Day 4.
I rallied the troops so we could get up early because we were hours from having to get on the plane to come home. Before we left we had two things to do. The first was to hit Santee Alley for some shopping. We really wanted to get breakfast first but it didn't seem to work out. (Thanks for nothing A.)

So we ended up in the Alley, had to pay 50 cents to go to the restroom and then stumbled upon some street side mexican food. Once again I went for the taquitos. What made these different from the Pinches taquitos was the dripping cream and the nice hot sauce. The chicken wasn't as good but the sauces more than made up for that.

Because it was our last day we were on a mission to eat and eat and keep eating. I think I was trying to eat off three days of partying. While we were waiting for RB to hustle some jeans and some shirts we ended up getting down on some sidewalk grub. This $2 treat was one of the best things I ate in LA. Corn coated with butter, hot sauce and cheese. Damn.....

Tres

So the very last thing we had to do was hit Venice Beach. This was the perfect end to our trip because we got to walk around and enjoy the last bit of sun. After 2 hours of walking around we got hungry again. We really set out to just get a snack but ended up with more food than a small army would need. You would think that at a place called Big Daddy Pizza we woulda just grabbed a slice....but we didnt.

I went for the chicken chunks and fries. Uh...this was a whole chicken that they blew up and then fried the busted pieces. The chicken was sitting on top of sliced potatoes "fries" which were undercooked and nasty. I am still also not sure why they need to serve this to you in a damn tortilla bowl? Whatever, I ate a few chicken bites covered in the best thing on the dish (RANCH) and then it hit the trash. I do not even know what the hell that chicken was seasoned with.

L. got some fish and fries and also went for the churro. Nothing like some fried fish and some fried dough. He claims it was all good, but damn he got those fries too and they were not whats up. (Wait...hold up, is that t-shirt a picture of MJB and J Dilla!?!??!)


Before I say farewell, I need to leave you with one more picture from our Venice Beach snack time. A. ordered a turkey leg....and boy was it disgusting. What the hell. No comment. Don't worry, she didnt eat it.


Goodbye LA! I didnt eat that many meals but I know I gained 2 pounds! I am gonna bet most of that came from the drannnnnnks.