beXnlog

CA: Los Angeles and Joshua Tree

1/23/06: The drive from Cambria to Los Angeles was quick. After dropping off our things we had a late dinner at Swingers with Nancy and Darian. It's a popular late-night diner that sure sounded good to our hungry stomachs - french fries always hit the spot - but unfortunately the food was terrible! Portions were huge, sodas huge, service good, nice booths, many vegetarian options, but bad food! The fries were overcooked and although edible, not satisfying nor crisp nor delicious. Our grilled cheeses were filled with waxy strange cheese and somehow dry. D, however, seemed to enjoy his large dish of fries coated in chili, cheese and other stuff i can't recall. Maybe we just ordered the wrong stuff but i think fries is something a place must get right.

1/24/06: Nancy, be and i started the day at Real Food Daily, aka LA's premier organic vegan restaurant. We shared an order of the lentil walnut pate, which was very tasty and much better than the version at Angelica Kitchen in New York. To drink, be and Nancy had "juice cosmopolitans" made with chilled tea and triple berry juice: surprisingly refreshing and good, while i had an espresso. It didn't automatically arrive with sugar but upon requesting, i was presented with a sort of brownish crystalline sugar i'd never seen: good but it took a lot to get it sweet enough. For the main course be had the Cesar wrap, N had the Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes plate while i had the taco plate. Everything was extremely tasty and filling with good sized portions. My tacos came with a generous serving of rice and beans which were really yummy, while N's plate was humongous! And as you know, i don't like wraps but be's was really good. I'd definitely go to RFD again.

Next we met Arjuna at the Apple Store at the Grove Mall. We walked around the "farmers' market" which was really more of an outdoor county-fairish gourmet set of food stalls, where we had a smoothie and got the East Coaster-turned SoCAL opinion of things. He took us to the 8th floor parking lot where we got an incredible view of LA; nothing is really tall so you're able to see quite far. For the rest of the day we did some random things, like: driving up to the Hollywood Hills to Morrissey's house on Sweetzer and feeling like stalkers, going to the LA Amoeba for even more CDs, and another Trader Joe's for more supplies.

For dinner we took JR's advice and went to Hide Sushi on Sawtelle, which was only a few blocks from N's house. When we got there it was already packed. You have to add your name to a list and wait for seats to open up but for a table for 3, it was only about 15 minutes. The three of us ordered A LOT of food: shrimp and vegetable tempura, the nigiri combo, Catalina maki, inari, ume-shisho maki, yasai maki, beef teriyaki, eel roll and tuna sashimi. The fish was very fresh and everything was so good and tasty! I loved the busy, friendly atmosphere inside which reminded me a bit of Go! on St. Mark's in the East Village - when someone started joking with Nancy we assumed it was her friend, when she really had no idea who it was! Overall, we had a lot of fun at Hide and would definitely go back. N says she's so happy there's a great sushi place so close to her house!

After accidental naps, we ended the night at the Velvet Margarita cantina. I was told that the food was good but we were so stuffed from earlier! It was fun meeting some of N's friends at this red-walled, striking place.

1/25/06: Up early, we got some coffee and headed east on I-10 towards Joshua Tree National Park. I won't deny that be and i are both huge U2 fans (especially albums pre-1988) but it is true we always visit some national parks and landmarks when possible. Unfortunately, we didn't have time for Death Valley this trip but Joshua Tree is only a few hours away from LA.

We stopped in the strange Floridian-like city of Palm Springs for lunch. Neither of us knew anything about Palm Springs but we sure saw a lot of retired folks and the color pink. There seemed to be numerous food options but we stuck with Mexican, which hadn't failed us in CA yet. We sat outside on the patio at Las Casuelas. For starters, the two fresh salsas and tortilla chips were tasty. Unfortunately, be's fish tacos were "not so good" and my spinach & cheese enchiladas we "eh." The food reminded me of American-style Mexican food: too cheesy, too oily, too much tomato, cooked down into mush - stuff like we used to eat at Chi Chi's in the mall.

Finally at the park, we checked out the visitors' center, walked around the oasis, drove around the main loop, used 4-wheel drive on the Geology Tour, stopped at a lookout (where one can see into Mexico on a clear day!) and pulled over at a stop to wait for the sun to set. A quick dinner of hummus sandwiches and an hour later we're craning our necks up for stargazing. It was incredible seeing so many stars but honestly, the night sky in Cambria was better. There it was pitch black while at Joshua Tree, you see a 360 degree glow from the other side of the mountains all around you.

be did the drive back and since it was our last night in LA, we ended up also driving down Sunset Drive, to Morrissey's house again (where we saw some lights on!), through Rodeo Drive and then ended up at Norm's Restaurant, a 24/7 diner in SoCAL. The grilled cheese and fries were much better at Norm's, plus our waitress was hilarious! I liked the way our food came with an automatic bottle of hot sauce, too.

1/26/06: Our last day on the West Coast meant we had to pack it in! Our first stop was the La Brea Tar Pits and Page Museum which was very interesting although a bit dated. We liked the dire wolf skulls display and it was fun seeing just how thick tar was. be bought some sort of "popcorn rock" that he's currently soaking in a bowl of vinegar to make crystals form.

Next, be needed a good fish taco to cancel out the bad Palm Springs one, so we found La Playa Siete Mars, a Mexican seafood/taco stand off Sunset. I had a large horchata while be filled up on 2 fish tacos. He thought they were "very hot" and although good, not as good as his first ones in Cambria at Medusa's. He preferred the fish grilled over battered and fried. I ended up getting an order of pad Thai from Ocha Classic a few blocks away. The serving was huge, filling up an entire styrofoam container! It was super flavorful and the noodles were cooked just right, not too soft. I liked how my take-out came with a small container of chiles in vinegar and hot sauce. be had the Thai iced tea which really hit the spot.

We then did some touristy things: Venice Beach (where we tried some kettle corn), the Walk of Fame and Grauman's "Chinese Theater" where be found his handprint twin, Johnny Depp. A quick stop to get our bags, say goodbye to N and her sister and off to the airport...

Except first a huge dinner at Atlacatl Salvadorean restaurant on N. Berendo, which N's friend's friend recommended to us. be was trying to see if Salvadorean food on the West Coast was really that much better than on the East, and the food did not disappoint at Atlacatl. I was one of two non-Salvadoreans in the entire place full of families and couples. We gorged ourselves on giant pupusas (be had queso while i had queso con loroco, a sort of vegetable in little bits), two deep fried tamales de elote with crema and black beans (we both agreed that pan fried is preferable to deep fried, although it's still good), another horchata and be had atole - this thick milky corn drink. I LOVED the fact that the curtido (vinegared shredded cabbage and other vegetables with chiles) came in a giant plastic jug so you could eat as much as you wanted; i ate about half the jug! Very filling and good.

Taking the red eye back to New York, we arrived in time for the morning rush crush but it was sure great to be home. In sum:

Number of Trader Joe's visited: 3
The best Amoeba Music location: San Francisco
Surprise favorite town: Cambria
Times we drove by Morrissey's house: 2
Number of blood oranges consumed: 26

posted by beXn @ 2:18 AM