Weekend trip to LA, 12/09

Posted on | December 9, 2009 | 1 Comment

On a recent trip to LA to attend the LA Auto Show, I went to a few places that I hadn’t been to in awhile. The first was Santouka Ramen in the Nijiya food court in Torrance. This place is often cited as the best ramen-ya in Los Angeles (and possibly the US). I’d been here a few years ago, and while I thought it was good, it certainly wasn’t my favorite ramen in LA. This time, however, I ordered the shio ramen, which is their specialty. Much better! I still don’t think it’s my favorite ramen, but the noodles are nice and firm, the broth is incredibly flavorful and full of umami. Perhaps TOO much for me, though. I find the broth to be just a bit too ‘porky’ for my liking, although I’m sure I’m in the minority with my opinion there!

santouka

Along with my ramen I had a nice bowl of negi rice, basically a bowl of rice with shaved bonita, nori, and TONS of green onions! Quite delicious!

rice

Cost: $

21515 S Western Ave, Torrance, CA 90501
Phone: 310 212-1101

After the Auto Show, we drove over to Philippes the Original. I hadn’t been here in years, and it was Adam’s first time. We both ordered double dipped roast beef sandwiches. Good, but for some reason not as good as I remember, although I’m sure the recipe hasn’t changed! Adam commented that it would’ve been better with more meat, and with some extra au jus on the side.

frenchdip

I’d never had the pies here, so we ordered a slice of boysenberry, which was delicious, and banana cream, which was good, although a bit too creamy for my liking.

boysenberrypie

bananacreampie

Cost: $

1001 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
Phone: 213 628-3781

That night, we had dinner at Outlaws with some friends. Adam loves the burgers here; I like them okay. They’re HUGE. The beef is good; juicy and flavorful, but a bit on the greasy side for me. We actually split a burger, and I still felt stuffed when we left!

burger

Cost: $$

230 Culver Blvd, Playa Del Rey, CA 90293
Phone: 310 822-4040

Category: Restaurants elsewhere

Comments

One Response to “Weekend trip to LA, 12/09”

atdleft
December 9th, 2009 @ 6:30 pm

Hope you had a good time in LA… At least it sounds like you found some good eats! Unfortunately I didn’t have a chance to make it up the 5 or 405 that far north when I visited the family for Thanksgiving last month, but hopefully next time I’m in OC I can try some more of your suggestions for LA.

Thanks for doing all that “research” for us over there.

Contact

Kristi

Vegas Musings

Food adventures in Las Vegas and Los Angeles

Weekend trip to LA, 12/09

Comments

Contact

Categories

Archives

Meta