Dumpling Monster (WeHo, Los Angeles)

Head over to Dumpling Monster while you still can; soon there will be lines out the door and prices will increase! Years and years ago, we wrote one of the first reviews for Sunny Blue. Even though we don’t (and shouldn’t) take any credit for their success, when we first started going there, there weren’t any lines whatsoever. Once it got popular, there’d often be a thirty minute wait and eventually the quality even dipped a bit. The two founders opened another location in Culver City and were rarely at the Main Street Santa Monica location ever. We were thrilled for their success, but it lost the magic it once had.

Something similar might happen with Dumpling Monster. The prices are great and the food is both fresh and flavorful. Most dumpling spots are either dirty hole in the walls or really high-end spots with long waits, like the two in Century City Mall. This is the perfect middle ground. It is clean, well organized and easy to access. It isn’t very busy because the shop is hiding behind a pet boarding facility on Santa Monica Blvd, but once people discover this spot it will be busy.

We first tried it for delivery and were thrilled with the price and quality of the food. We decided to go into their physical location and found the overall experience equally exceptional. My only issue was that the crispy beef roll was served with a side of sriracha. Since their other dumpling dipping sauces are complex flavor profiles, this was disappointing. Fortunately, the roll itself was so good that it didn’t need sauce.

It is only a matter of time before their delivery wait times increase, their small seating area is packed and their prices go up. It is hard to predict if the quality goes up or down, but you should definitely try it sooner than later. Being on top of the game, or in front of the pack, helps you stay hungry and fit.

They travel really well! We recommend delivery for those lazy nights.

And make sure to ask for extra dipping sauce. I usually run out halfway through an order.

Jul212018

Losing Jonathan Gold

This is a heavy, heavy day in Los Angeles. While I was watching (on television) a hostage situation wrap up at a local Trader Joe’s in Silver Lake, I was scrolling through my Instagram, when I saw more horrible news. Jonathan Gold dies at 57. What?! That must be a joke? He’s been fine. However, apparently, he hasn’t been fine. In early July, Gold was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, damn, it must’ve been aggressive for him to be gone already. This is devastating for Los Angeles. Devastating for us at Hungry & Fit too, he was a hero in the food industry. He even inspired us to do our LA’s Must-Visit Restaurants quest.

Who was Jonathan Gold? He was a Pulitzer-prize, James Beard-award winning food critic, but that doesn’t even cover it. He drove a green pick-up truck and barely turned in his articles in on time. He used his art–and it was art–to shine light on small “ethnic” food joints and lift Los Angeles up to be respected across the food industry alongside New York and San Francisco. Jonathan Gold focused on being positive, unlike many food critics (or critics in general). As he became more and more popular, he knew that his voice was powerful, and he used it for good.

Image source

Jun212018

Lukshon: LA Restaurant Review

It’s been a while since we posted regarding our epic eating tour of Los Angeles (gotta-eat-em-all). Remember that one where we made a list of the must-visit restaurants of 2018? There have been a few things that have gotten in the way since then like our honeymoon, but have no fear, we have stand-out restaurants to review for you! Next stop on our tasting-the-best-of-Los-Angeles list is Lukshon.

Lukshon, a modern restaurant focused on Southeast-Asian flavors, was brought to life by the same chef who opened the famous Father’s Office, Angelenos’ favorite burger & beer spot–Sang Yoon. This man knows how to hit you with flavor and keep your palette guessing and craving for more. The creativity of his work is out of bounds and stunning. Don’t get tricked by the menu prices–this place is pricey because “hot plates” and “cold plates” are small plates and you’re bound to get a good amount of them. Even though we weren’t ready for the price of the meal, we can sit here and tell you that it’s worth it. It’s a dining experience you aren’t likely to forget.

Mar252018

How to Use Yelp

There’s a good chance that the only time you’ve heard about Yelp, it didn’t help you build trust in their brand. They’ve had a ton of bad publicity and we’ve actually had plenty of negative experiences with them, but let’s focus on the positive. Here in LA, Jonathan Gold’s 101 list is the “gold standard” for where to eat. LA Weekly just came out with a 99 Essential Restaurant list, and we can’t help but think that whoever compiled that list was GREATLY influenced by Gold. Sadly, even here in LA, very few people outside of the food industry know who he is.

It can be hard to find good places to eat and most people aren’t willing to do a ton of research. They don’t want to Google “best food critic in LA” and then read through Gold’s hundreds of reviews over the year. Instead, we look for more convenient options. Whether it is a reflection of our laziness or desire to save time, services that compile reviews have become extremely popular. Rotten Tomatoes is a great resource for movies, Amazon for consumer goods and Metacritic for video games. While Yelp is far from a household name, it does provide that similar service for businesses… especially places to eat!

There are two ways to use Yelp. You can either check out reviews as a guest or you can become a user and review businesses. Technically, a third way exists, as a business owner but we’re not going that direction today. As a guest, you can quickly type in “sushi” in New York and get an idea where the restaurant is, how much it costs, when it is open and what the population thinks about the food. While we don’t necessarily agree with the aggregate scores of certain places, and while we don’t necessarily trust Yelp’s filter, you’re much better off using Yelp than just walking into the first place you see.

Mar242018

LA’s Best Secret Menu Foods: Jitlada’s Green Beans

We hope Chef Jazz doesn’t get mad at us for telling her secret, but we can’t help but want to bring more people into the Jitlada family. That is, after all, exactly what it feels like after you’ve been there a few times. When you’re sweating bullets while eating her southern curry (nowhere near the hottest on their menu) and Chef Jazz comes over to fill up your water, there’s nothing more endearing than the look on her face. Half of it is a sort of admiration, based in the fact that you’re going for it, halfway through the bowl without complaining, and half of it is a grin, knowing that it is a “2” out of 10 on her spice-meter.

Mar102018

Gwen: LA Restaurant Review

Not everything goes according to plan, and when you go to restaurants “on your list” for dinner one night and lunch the next day, it can really throw you for a loop… and this did! I was planning on a romantic (and expensive) dinner at Gwen, but what we never expected was to discover that Gwen is one of LA’s hidden LUNCH gems! Some of the highest quality meats in the city at reasonable prices?! Yea, actually.

Even though the restaurant’s tall ceilings, accented by incredible design and elaborate chandeliers, are still present, this is actually a very casual lunch spot. You order at the counter, take a number (I’m not sure if we actually took one) and the wait staff brings your food to the table when it’s ready. It wasn’t immediate, since they clearly cook from scratch, but it was relatively empty in there and didn’t take long at all.

Mar012018

Casablanca: LA Restaurant Review

Disclaimer: This was NOT on our original list, but it should’ve been! Why? When I first arrived in LA to visit Fit’s family, on the way home from the airport, I remember her mum pointing this place out and saying, “they have the best tortillas ever.” I’ve heard that dozens of times over the years and we finally had the chance to try them out! (Fit went here from time to time while growing up.)

Next up in our Must-Visit LA Restaurants of 2018 project is Casablanca! So, a little more background before we talk food at Casablanca… our friends were in town and were nice enough to let us know! When we asked where they wanted to eat, one said that her brother recommended this spot since they were staying in Venice. I was thrilled to finally have the chance to test out Casablanca’s tortillas and I was NOT disappointed.

Even though we strolled in right around the start of peak dinner hours, they were already nearly full, but we were seated immediately. It is a very interesting spot: imagine a Hollywood-inspired building from a past century that transported you to Morocco and served you Mexican food. While it probably belongs closer to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, it fits in Venice very well. It’s been around forever. Warmth builds in the tight dining room with what feels like a low ceiling, especially when you notice the tortillas being made a few feet away and realize that the piano is behind played behind your back. This place has a lot of character.

Jan302018

Sqirl: LA Restaurant Review

Recently, we launched one of our most exciting projects of the year: LA’s Must-Visit Restaurants of 2018. What does this mean exactly and why is it so exciting? Well…it means instead of ordering Indian for the fifth week in a row, we are going to try new places! Each week, from this list that you’ll find in the post linked above, we are going to try a highly-rated (from someone or another) restaurant in Los Angeles and then tell you, our beloved readers, about it! Our first stop in this epic adventure was Sqirl, a “contemporary breakfast and lunch” as they word it.

It was rather a chance occasion that we did this; my brother’s girlfriend’s cousin (I know, it’s a mouthful) was in town and they were all going to breakfast at Sqirl. We got an invite and said, why not! Sqirl is just on the border of Silver Lake and East Hollywood and boy do you notice. No parking and plenty of hipsters abound! We parked a few blocks away and hiked down one of Silver Lake’s many mountain-like hills to a little cafe. The cafe is “hip” with plenty of hipsters both in line and cooking, serving, and/or cashiering. If you don’t know the exact address, you’ll find Sqirl by the at-least 15-person wait line (and that’s if you’re lucky and/or smart and go at 8:30am) outside. The format of food-getting is wait in a line to get to the counter, order your food, and hope for a table. Like I said, it’s a little place, so there aren’t many of them. The smartest thing to do is split your party into table-grabbers and food-orderers.

Jan282018

LA’s Must-Visit Restaurants of 2018

As we wrap up the last weekend of the first month in the year, we consider what else does 2018 have in store for us? Well, how about you switch roles, sit in the driver’s seat and ask yourself, what do we have in store for 2018? You’ve followed us on our move from New York City to Boulder, Colorado. (That road-trip, with a long stop in Mason City, Iowa, is when we started this blog!) After two years of eating all the delicious food in Boulder, we packed the animals in the car and headed to Los Angeles.

While we’ve been in LA for about three and a half years, we realized that there are so many top-notch restaurants that we haven’t been to yet! With a move coming up at the end of the year, we decided to show some restraint, avoid going back to our favorite eateries for the 10th time and make an epic list of LA’s must-visit restaurants of 2018! Every week of 2018, we’re going to try one new restaurant on the list, try to take some amazing photos for you (if the lighting is right) and review our experience there!

Mar232017

Seasalt Fish Grill

After looking up churros on Yelp and finding that this place offered churro waffles, we decided to check out Seasalt Fish Grill. It helped that it was a seafood specialty stop because we both favor fish-based diets. We expected to be walking into some busy and posh new spot in downtown Culver City, but that isn’t the case. It’s easily accessible and even has free parking. The spot itself offers both outdoor and indoor seating with your very casual order and take a number system. Again, this wasn’t what we were expecting and while I thought there was going to be a small, specialty menu, I was wrong again.