Thursday, May 15, 2008
En Garde! Un Croissant!
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Le Marmiton
It's like stepping into a little French café, minus the fact that the tables don't all face the windows, providing its patrons with hours of people-watching. But you can still give your well-heeled feet an afternoon break from shopping along Montana in this bright, narrow eatery, which has a serving counter lining one side and tables lining the other. Bottles of wine and jars of Nutella provide that je ne sais quoi of Paris, as do the French accents lingering on the wait staff and chef. There's a selection of crepes, sandwiches and baked goods (nothing brings a tired shopper back to life like a pain au chocolat and cup of pressed tea). Try the croque monsieur smothered in cheese or traditional chocolate mousse in the dessert window. |
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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Dave is the Man
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Dave's Chillin-n-Grillin
None would accuse service-industry Angelenos of taking their jobs too seriously, and we would hardly encourage anyone to over-identify with his or her trade. However, when sandwich-shop employees hold court with friends, ignore unknown customers and thoughtlessly botch orders, it's not mellow, it's insulting. Running a truly laid-back establishment means maintaining a gezellig environment for the customers as well as the staff, and striking that balance takes a bit of effort. Dave's Chillin'-N'-Grillin' comes as close to that ideal as anyplace else in Eagle Rock. The shop's namesake owner can often be found prepping subs himself. He's not LA's most conspicuously mellow character, with his unsolicited rants about terrible West Coast service and his competitors' questionable practices. However, like everyone else on the DCNG payroll, he's deeply informal without being at all aloof. The sandwiches are a solid value (and can be effortlessly customized), and the attitude could be a new model. By default, it functions as a take-out operation, because all the seats are usually taken. Perhaps it will reconfigure its dining area, buy some more second-hand arcade machines, and discover its destiny as a hang-out. |
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Show(-)Off
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Bigfoot Lodge
You're entertaining friends from parts elsewhere. They imagine your life as one of stylish excess and unfiltered wackiness, and you shan't let them down. Bring them here, to Atwater Village's spacious, incredibly detailed forestry-themed pseudo-dive. The clientele is mixed and often transitory. Full-tilt boozehounds have cheaper, cozier options within stumbling distance but your pals didn't come out here to meet leering strangers. The tables near the back can sit a small middle-school field trip, and the woodsy bric-a-brac (take your picture with Smokey!), cute drink specials (the flaming toasted marshmallow!) and frequent theme nights (karaoke is on Mondays, for those who still fear Koreatown) hammer down the ironic innocence. The staff can be a mite haughty, but the silly, mellow ambience seems to keep out the more aggressive poseurs. A good deal during happy hour (5-8 PM), a typical deal afterwards, and a campy charmer regardless. |
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Monday, May 12, 2008
I Heart Kimchee Fried Rice
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Hae Jang Chon
I seem to have an affinity for Korean restaurants that don't have English signs. A friend of mine, who is Korean, confessed to me that even native Korean speakers don't know the name of Hae Jang Chon they always refer to it as that place on 6th with the happy animated pig on the sign. This little piggy loves the all-you-can-eat BBQ option. For $16.99 you get all of the sliced brisket, pork belly, and marinated kalbi you want. The meat is fairly good, but I like all of the side dishes you get as well: kimchee pancake; cold fermented radish soup; salad with a really good wasabi dressing; paper-thin sliced pickled and daikon radish and rice noodle sheets for wrapping your meat in; four different types of dipping sauces; kimchee fried rice; and spicy tofu soup with fermented soybeans. This meal is burp city, but it's totally worth it. |
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Friday, May 09, 2008
Multicolored People
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Gold Room
One of the last holdouts from Echo Park Classic, this rococo dive bar attracts a few pasty scensters (who often scoot abruptly), but it still belongs to its Mexican regulars. The clientele varies a bit by the night, but the bar maintains its own reality, and it welcomes anyone who'll drink on its neon-lit terms. The juke still pumps out festive banda music, and the staff still consists exclusively of curvy women in low-cut tops and short skirts. There's still a potent shot-and-beer combo available for under five bones, and an avalanche of free peanuts to dehydrate the drinker and feed the need. If you're an outsider and you know it, remember to observe bar etiquette here--beatdowns are not unknown. If you can drink with a wide variety of grown-ups, you can witness this local treasure in transition, and show up while your ten-spot can still get you banjoed. |
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