Peter Luger’s steak house has been around for a very long time. At one point, it even had a Michelin Star. Many tourists always recommend eating here and rave about it. The locals though on the other hand are rather indifferent. People have told me that their steaks suck and that their best dishes are their appetizers. Others have told me it’s the best steak they ever had. Does it really live up to the hype?

Per word of mouth, there’s supposedly 1 uncontested BEST Korean tofu place in Los Angeles … Beverly Soon Tofu. Anthony Bourdain, from the CNN show Parts Unknown, also visited this place with Chef Roy Choy and described this place as “tongue-searing, ass-burning tofu soup that will make you forget every bad thing you ever thought about tofu.” My personal favorite is Lee’s Tofu down in Gardena, so I thought I’d check this place out and compare.

I’ve been craving for seafood the last few weeks or months, and I didn’t feel like driving to Whittier to go to Portsmouth. I looked up Eater LA, and I found L&E Oyster Bar on their list of 2014 essential LA restaurants at #26. This is restaurant #1 for my 2014 LA food expedition. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. I recall back then this being a super hot spot in greater Los Angeles area.

Melisse is one of those restaurants in Los Angeles that was on my must-eat list along with Urasawa and Providence. Los Angeles has relatively very few fine dining restaurants that I’ve enjoyed, so I have very high expectations for this particular occasion. I’m hoping I won’t be disappointed as I also wanted to show my mum what kind of foods I’ve been eating outside of the valley. Fox W, a well known Foodspotter, also joined me for this and provided pictures.

Even though this place technically is not in LA, it’s within reasonable driving distance. Portsmouth is an oyster bar (with beer eventually) located close to downtown Whittier. The actual site is in a quiet location in suburbia, so it was odd to see the building. But with word of mouth, the internet, and Yelp/Eater-LA, it doesn’t really matter. Portsmouth had just been opened for roughly a week. There was a soft opening a few weeks back.

I haven’t had steak in a while. I heard of this place from my buddy as a place he always wanted to try since he’s a steak guy. They do their own aging process here. When you walk into the restaurant, you can see through a window slabs of meat going through the aging process. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. Around this time was when aged steaks started to be a huge thing in Los Angeles.

Please note: This is not a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Wolfgang Zwiener was previously the head waiter for Peter Lugers in New York, so naturally the restaurant style is very similar. You order a cut that’s shared with your entire party. So how does it compare? Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. As I reflect back at this experience, I was super excited to see some of the NYC restaurants coming to LA.

As a followup to my last Chicago post, we also went to this place. Not only do they have Chicago style dogs, but they also have a lady at the front counter talk in a rather abrasive manner. The first thing she said when my group walked in was “Hey, it’s the Jabbawockeez!” I, hadn’t known about this place before, so I was a bit surprised. But someone informed me that her remarks were perfectly normal as she was making remarks to other patrons.

I’m out in Chicago over the weekend for a special occasion. The decision was made to go to Roka Akor for dinner because it received great reviews and would be an excellent place to celebrate this occasion. So how did it fare? Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. I remember this experience being the quintessential feeling of why I don’t like dining at fancy restaurants in large groups.

No, this isn’t the clothing store on the west side. This is the Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. I went here with my cousin based on reviews from a friend. People and Zagat say it’s good, so we checked this out. The decor of the restaurant was interesting. There’s a sign on top of the building that says “Victory Motorcycles Co”, so I was curious as if I went to the right place.