Returning To The Counter

Yesterday after a failed attempt at another place Cam and I headed to The Counter over on Wilshire. I had stopped going for a while after going all the damned time because the service had dropped considerably but the last few times I've gone its been really good. We started with the Allagash White's because we're grown ass adults. She got the original style burger in turkey form I believe and I got the Korean BBQ burger. That thing is so damned good. We also got fries but we started plowing into them before I thought to even get a picture. It was President's Day so the place was filled with families and children. Like, an exorbitant amount of them. I was telling my cousin about this and how when I was little Taco Bell and McDonald's were a big deal. My parents never would have taken me to a place like this. No kid can appreciate a $10 burger I don't care what you say. We still enjoyed ourselves and had fun catching up.  

Spare Tire On Wilshire

So after the nightmare of eating Hiatus and buying plants we parked and I asked Cam where that other food place she mentioned was. She pointed across the street to Spare Tire and I said “Let's go!” So we went there with no reservations because we G's like that. Immediately seated new the brick pizza oven. 

Order an Allagash white because that drink is the shit while Cam got some weird coconut beer thing. She liked it. I ordered the chicken and waffles plate which you can see looks crazy but tasted great. It had basel butter on top and the chicken was awesome. She got a prawn meal but didn't like them that much but enjoyed everything else on her plate. This place definitely picked up our moods after the last place. There are quite a few other things on their menu that look good that I'll have to try out. The waiter was cool and not pushy at all. The food was good. The music was cool. I liked this place a lot. For anyone wondering how we could eat two meals in less than an hour, fifteen minutes after eating the first place it was like we had nothing.

Project Taco

Today me and my cousin JP went to this place called Project Taco over on Wilshire near Crescent Heights. This place is bigger than it looks from pictures I saw online. We had to park around the corner which makes sense when you consider its off of Wilshire. That street is a nightmare. So we get there are translating the street signs and head inside. 

The line moves pretty face and there are some long tables with Jenga games on them. I suck at that game so I didn't even try and touch it. We got there during their lunch special which had two tacos, a side, and a drink. JP got the apple kale coleslaw but didn't like it that much while I got the chips with a salsa that was great. Forget what kind it even was bit it was really good. JP ended up getting the same which they replaced for free which was cool of them. I must say that the staff there was really cool as well. Now on to the tacos.

Tatsu Ramen and El Diner

I got to go to two new food places last week. The first place is a ramen spot over on Melrose right before La Brea. It is called Tatsu and we went on a Friday night and the place was packed. I'm talking line to the door packed. Thankfully the food is made pretty quickly and you order your food in line through a few tablets. The place clears out as fast as it fills up so we were able to get a seat at the window inside. Each of us got soul ramen. Koko got the one with an egg in it while I did not. You can pick how much garlic, the type of broth, and how spicy or strong you want it. There are even vegan options if you want. I'm gonna try this place again for sure and since they deliver that makes this more likely.

The next place I went to was El Diner with Cam. This place is right next to the El Rey theater on Wilshire. We went here before a show and since she had been here before and said they were good I wanted to try it. Again. You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find good Mexican food in Los Angeles. Everyone has their favorite but most are not that good. This place was good but if I could suggest anything it would be more of everything. I got a chicken burrito that was good but just needed more everything but rice. The cheese, salsa, and sour cream were all on one end and not much. It was good but I would've liked more. The guacamole and chips were really good and I'd love a big ass plate of those.  

Two Weeks Of Food

A few weeks ago I went to Il Trammezino with Jen-Jen. This place was on Ventura and even though there is one near me in Beverly Hills I'd never been there or heard of it. She says its one of her favorite places and if I am eating somewhere for the first time and you tell me its one of your favorite places I'm gonna try it for sure. So we get there and even though it looks packed there is a table for the two of us. We sit down, she gets coffee, me a Sprite. I almost always get this or an Arnold Palmer when I try something new or if I don't want what I'm having to be messed with by the taste of something stronger like Coke.

I got the turkey avocado sandwich and when I took that first bite I damn near slid out my chair. It was so damned good. The bread was incredible. Most times you have a fancy sandwich the main difference is that the bread is harder or you have to put up more of a fight when eating it. This one was perfect. I'll definitely be heading back here and trying more things.

Itis Causing Burgers At The Counter

Me and Coco went to The Counter on Wilshire after a show at LACMA because as she put it “Jazz makes me hungry.” I had sworn off this place for a while because the service had dropped considerably and the food wasn't as good anymore. Thankfully the last two times I've gone its improved. It was a Friday night an very busy on the inside and outside but after about a five minute wait we were seated at a both like I requested which was nice. We started off with an order of fries and I got a lemonade to drink.

For my order I got a burger with bacon, grilled onions, garlic sauce, avocado, and cheese. The avocado slid off immediately so Coco just took it along with any onions that fell off. By the way, that is something only women can get away with. The burger was good and I finished every bite. The Itis began almost right after my last piece.

Coco got this monster. It had crispy onions, boiled egg, cheese, lettuce, garlic sauce, tomato, and pineapple. She couldn't finish this beast. She got halfway through before tapping out and taking hers home. I feel better knowing that this place is back to being good again.

Numero Uno Solo

Last Saturday I had Numero Uno delivered to my place. I wasn't even sure that they delivered to West Hollywood and when I called the guy that answered didn't sound sure if he knew either. It took a lot of back and forth between him and the driver before he decided that they would bring it. Last time I had this was with Cam and that was when we found out they even did deliveries. I decided that since I was making them come all this way I had to make it worth it.

I ordered the garlic puffs and realized that for one person this is way too much. I'm used to having my best friend eating them with me so from the start I was getting full. I also got the lemon chicken with pasta. If I knew how to make chicken like this at home I would always smell like it.

And you cant go to Numero Uno and not get pizza. I got a medium sausage pizza which was way too much for me. After the pasta I couldn't even touch this until the next day. I have had it two days for lunch at work now and it still tastes great. This place is a bit pricy for one person because when you have a friend you can go halfsies on every meal and be very full. Thankfully they brought this to my home though. I will now blame them for the it is I've been suffering from all night long. 

Five Guys One Dante

The other day I went to Five Guys on Wilshire before work because this past weekend I was being a fat ass. Three days three different food places. When I was walking there I knew I had pizza but pizza ain't Five Guys. This was my first time going alone so I knew not to get too many fries since a regular is enough for two people. I know I've said it before but this place is the only one where when their fries get cold I will still sit there all happy and inhaling them. The fries always come from a different place and they post where but I never remember. I have been here I think three times now and each time they are good so who knows how important it is. Some farmer just spit his potato coffee at his screen because of me saying that.

I got a double cheeseburger which was awesome. Their burgers are real burgers. Not some glued together patty that looks the same going out as it did in. It was good and hot and the cheese just melted all over the place. I'm sure some got in my goatee but I didn't care because I was eating it at work in the privacy of my bay where no one can judge me. Go to Five Guys on Wilshire. Nice staff, decent prices, and a Black chick that has a beautiful smile. 

At Bangkok

A couple of weeks ago Cam and I went to King & I again. They have changed their name but its in the same spot. I don’t know what its called now. I should probably check. Okay. Its called At Bangkok. I first went here years ago with Cam and we’ve gone once in a while ever since. They’ve changed the way the place has looked and some of the dishes. I got this lemon sauce and chicken dish while she got a soup and papaya salad that was really good. I also got the cream cheese wontons but they were a bit too sweet. It tasted like they were made me strawberry cream cheese. A bit too sweet when combined with the sauce. Next time I go here I’ll try a new dish in my small attempts at expanding my horizons. Its located on La Cienega just past Wilshire.

More Numero Uno

About two weeks ago me and Cam went to Numero Uno. I forget how good this place is and each time we've been its been nice. I have been trying different things there so while Cam got her single pizza I tried the lemon chicken linguine. I expected chicken, like, cut up in the pasta but it was next to it. I also didn't expect it to taste so lemony! This is not a complaint. It tasted amazing but I thought maybe a lemon squeezed over it or maybe some juice on it. Nope. This was cooked in lemon or something and was so damned good. We also got those sweet dough balls as well. I took the rest of it home with me and as always it tasted just as if not better the next day.

Burger's At Calendar's

Went to Calendar’s the other day while on a mural tour. Cam, her mom’s friend, and I all sat down and had a very good meal. We never think to go to this place which is weird. On either side is Johnny’s (good food angry service) and The Counter (still on double secret probation for being asshats). I got a cheeseburger and fries with Sprite. They gave me four refills! Four! I’m like Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs where I need a certain amount of refills to make me happy. Cam had to explain that I will drink a ton and then not have to use the restroom for hours. That’s how I roll. I have trained my bladder well. Anyhoot, go to Calendar’s on Wilshire. Its good.

Johnny's On Wilshire

Cam and I have now for some reason made a habit out of starving ourselves before finally eating somewhere. Between watching a documentary at the African American History Museum, shopping at multiple places, and screaming at people in cars while singing, we managed to go to this place Johnny’s that we haven’t been to in years. Its right on Wilshire right near the LACMA. We tried to figure out what we wanted (everything fro sushi to hamburgers) and settled on Italian since it covered every base we needed to be…covered.

Numero Uno Causes The Itis

A few weeks ago me and Cam went to Numero Uno. I love this place because we always get to sit down pretty fast, its good and dark, and the food is affordable. Its over on Wilshire past La Brea and well worth the trip. I used to get Numero Uno when I was a little kid and it was nothing like this. This is fancy ass tasting pizza. Back then it had this puffy crust and was good but now they just pile it on. You’ll get a wrist injury just lifting this to your face! I got the pepperoni and cheese one and Cam got the veggie one. I think. This was a little while ago but its safe to assume that’s what she got.

I’m not as picky with my pizza as I am with food like burgers or tacos. What I mostly care about is whether or not the sauce tastes like ketchup or if the dough is crappy. Numero Uno not only has great sauce and dough, they cover it with chunks of tomatoes that are actually fresh. The cheese isn’t that weird cheese like when you order from Domino’s. I always feel happy after eating here. Its my inner fat kid that gets the most joy from this.

At The Counter Again

So I went to The Counter on Wilshire near the La Brea Tar Pits with South Paw. She had never gone to the Counter so I was more than happy to share the joy that Cam once introduced me to. For started we got the fries and onion rings combo. The onion rings weren’t like regular onion rings. They were these tiny little onion shreds and they were really good and served with this awesome barbecue sauce. I liked these more than regular ass onion rings because they weren’t as strong.

For a burger I got a jalapeno cheese burger and garlic aioli sauce with a Sprite. They forgot the bacon. They forgot the bacon! I’ll get to this later. It was really good though. I always get more stuff well done after the infamous Dante Gets Food Poisoning Incident of ‘08. I forgot to take a picture of South Paw’s burger before she started eating it but here it is. It had bacon. Mine didn’t. She enjoyed it and we both got full as I always do when at The Counter. Now allow me to rant about wait staff for a moment.

Our waiter was nice enough. She was nice. Wasn’t mean. She was just nonexistent. Now to set the scene, it was not busy there. Plenty of waiters working. No loud kids or large groups to serve. South Paw told me to mention that my bacon wasn’t on it but I was hungry now and didn’t want them to take my food back and wipe boogers on it. I waited a while to get a refill (which those of you that have eaten with me I will drink 5 drinks and not go to the bathroom). Then we had to wait for a while to get the check. Why? Because our waitress was outside chatting with a cute guy.

Was he a customer? No. He was just there. So I find another waiter and ask him for our check. He says he’ll tell our waitress. Sigh. She finally arrives and gets our check and then returns to tell us she will be back with our change. Then she arrives more minutes later to ask us if we want dessert. The thing that sucks is that I would have loved a milkshake but we had waited so long I was ready to leave.

The Counter on Wilshire has really good food but hiring these kids that want to be actors or whatever (yes, I am Mr. Presumptuous) that make me wait for food only to forget the bacon, which is an unforgivable offense, is getting to me.

Sake House Miro

Today me and my partner in crime Cam went to this place called Sake House Miro. We tried going there a couple other times and it was closed.  Yeah. Thankfully it wasn’t this time. Its located on La Brea just past Wilshire here in L.A. Or whatever area you wanna call it. Miracle Mile? Bah! On to the review.

We started off with these little spicy cucumber things. “Pretend they’re pickles” Cam told me. I swear she is the only person on Erf that can get me to eat half the shit she does. They were good and not too spicy.

I’m still new to eating sushi so I don’t try and get crazy with it. I have had the pure raw fish ones before but I like to stick with familiar. New scares me. So I got the spicy tuna roll. I have recently been eating at Sushi Cat near my job and they have really good spicy tuna rolls but these were way better. I’m not quite sure what was added but something gave it a little extra kick that was delicious.

I also got the shrimp tempura roll. This is by far my favorite sushi so far. This place made them super thick and by the time I was done I was full. I know. I had no idea that sushi was filling until I had a full plate of it last year with Julia in Pasadena or something. If you’ll notice in the background is Cam’s seaweed salad. It looked like The Man-Thing.

Cam got the V8 sushi. I’m not sure if its because it has something to do with the drink or a car engine. Either way it looked way too damned healthy so I didn’t touch it.

As we were sitting there I wanted to wait to see if I was too full to get the chicken on a stick. Its not called that but whatever. Damn, this was the juiciest chicken I have ever had! It was so good! Yes, it is small but after all the other stuff it was actually more than enough.

And finally Cam wanted me to take a picture of my wasabi since she says I use way too much. “It’s like a paste now! Add some soy sauce!” Nope. Even though it made the back and top  of my brain hurt I enjoyed it. If you are ever in the area and catch them when they’re open head to Sake House Miro. Cool waiters, good service, and about average sushi prices if not a little more but well worth it.

Calendar's On Wilshire

Last Sunday I went to Calendar’s. I was gonna call it Marie Calendar’s but have since been corrected that those are different places though they are connected. Kinda like The Cheesecake Factory and Grand Lux Café. I hadn’t been to this place since like 1996 and when I went back then I don’t even remember what I got. Me and Ms. L. headed here and got the buffet. Oh, it was awesome!

I started off with sausage, pulled pork, potatoes, ribs and a biscuit. Every single thing was good. Some places make ribs and the meat will be good but the sauce sucks or the sauce is amazing and you’re eating ribs from some animal that starved to death. No here! These ribs were pretty damned perfect. If I had some grape soda I would have been in heaven.

Ms. L. got a salad (you know I don’t roll like that) and a bunch of good looking chicken that I didn’t have any room for. I’ll try it next time for sure.

On my next plate (yes, next) I got more sausage, macaroni and cheese, pizza, and more potatoes. By this point I could barely stand. This whole time we are enjoying an endless supply of mimosas! The mimosas were really good and they used real orange juice. Who knows what the champagne was. It was good (meaning it worked).

Dessert time! Now, I messed up by eating so much because by the time it was time for sweets I was incapacitated. I got this cherry and something pie. I’m not sure what the something was but it was good. I really need to pace myself better.

Ms. L. got, uh, fruit. And some chocolate on the side. While she was getting it she saw that they had friggin’ tri-tipped steak over there! Why they gotta hide the meat with the vegetables and fruit knowing full and damn well I don’t go over there?! I was inconsolable.

If you got $20 and a big appetite head to Calendar’s on Wilshire (right by the La Brea Tar Pits and next to The Counter). You will get full, maybe drunk, and enjoy a very cool buffet with lots of choices and food that doesn’t look like kids had their hands all up in it.

Addicted To The Counter

Last week I went to The Counter. This was a new location over on Wilshire near the La Brea Tar Pits. They replaced that punk ass Koo Koo Roo that had been there for years polluting the world with the saltiest chicken this side of the mythical ocean foul. I got a 1/3 pound burger with bacon, grilled onions, and a side of sauce I cant pronounce. I love this place.  I have now been to three locations and each one has been consistent in its goodness. On the side I got the half and half of regular fries and sweet potato. My ass just ate and already this picture is making me hungry.