Cafe Etc. Chicken Panini

Tried Cafe Etc. today on Selma just south of Hollywood Blvd. The cafe is a nice little place that has good coffee drinks and a gang of magazines apparently you can read while you sip on caffeine. But I wasn't there for drinks I was there for food and that food happened to be a Chicken Panini.

The Chicken Panini was on sour dough and came with a side salad which felt like an after thought. It was a simple green salad with a balsamic vinaigrette but added nothing spectacular to the meal. I could have done with out it, maybe sub in a pickle or even a small bag of kettle chips would have added more to my Panini.

The Chicken Panini was toasted perfectly but the flavors did not pop. When you would get the perfect bite of chicken, tomato, swiss and other ingredients it was very good. The chicken though cooked perfectly was not very flavorful if you ate a bite that had more chicken than other ingredients. 

Final bite: Cafe Etc. has some really great coffee and I am sure their other food offerings are very tasty. Ask for a reference on what they feel is amazing to eat, if they say Chicken Panini get something else. 

Cafe Ect.
6371 Selma Ave
Hollywood CA
323.464.8824

Basix Cafe Huevos Rancheros

So I've been to Basix Cafe many times but usually for dinner (They have a great skirt steak fyi). Today we decided to try it for brunch, A: to be different and 2: they have a nice little outdoor seating area where you can sit and enjoy your food. 

I do not often get breakfast when I go to brunch because I am not a HUGE breakfast fan but seriously Huevos Rancheros isn't really that breakfasty of a breakfast food. It's more like a open faced taco with an egg on top of it. The flavors were strong but it could have used a bit more kick. I like to add a little Tabasco to each bite to add a touch of a kick. 

I also got a side of italian sausage despite not being a huge sausage fan. The sausage was very tasty. The thinner pieces were actually my favorite part because I like when sausage is crispy. 

The best part about my brunch was the Arnold Palmer. Basix makes one of the best Arnold Palmers in the city and definitely something you should try if you go there. 

Final bite: Basix is a great little brunch spot but an even better for a cheap dinner or lunch. The prices are fair and the food is very good. Try the skirt steak and the plantains.

Basix Cafe
8333 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90069
323.848.2460

Calbi Korean BBQ Taco Truck

There is a new thing in LA, Korean BBQ on Taco Trucks. There is the Kogi Truck and the Calbi Truck. When I heard about these white whales I knew I had to find them, and finally I have found my Moby Dick. Just call me Ahab

If you are unaware the Calbi and Kogi Taco Trucks are mobile restaurants, infusing Korean BBQ and Mexican touches in the ease of a Taco Truck. From what I understood previously you could only find the trucks by either stumbling upon one like I did today, or by following them on Twitter. But lets face it folks I wasn't about to join Twitter for anything, not even food, and that says a lot. I have only been able to find the Calbi Truck and this is my story

Calbi prices are very reasonable so I ordered three different items and the total was under $10. First was a Chicken and a Pork soft taco. The flavors were innately Korean but in the portability of a soft shell taco. It was a delicious morsel and only $2 per taco. Which is actually cheaper per taco than my favorite taco place, Los Tacos. They were both full of flavor and I found it quite intriguing how they mixed the two different cuisines. 

Next was the Korean BBQ steak burrito. Now like most Korean BBQ that I have had, this was cold. Not ice cold but more like room temperature. Also it was a bit soggy but that is my fault. I refused to sit and eat in the street and took all of my food back to the office. You should not follow suit. Eat it all right then and there, forget what people might say if they see you sitting on the sidewalk eating Taco Truck fair. The 4 blocks that I had to walk made my food experience fall from what would have been a high 9 to a mid 8. Other than being cold it was amazing. It had scrabled eggs in it for some reason, I'm guessing thats a Korean thing, and tons of flavor. 

Next on my list is you Kogi, you sneaky Truck, I will get you!

Final Bite: Once you get over the fact that you are eating food off of a refurbished Taco Truck you will be pleasantly surprised. I wouldn't recommend joining Twitter just to follow this Deliciousness on wheels but if you are already a member or have a friend who is, then have them add it. 

Calbi Korean BBQ Taco Truck

Location TBD

www.calbibbq.com

www.twitter.com/CalbiBBQ

Swingers Turkey Burger and Mash

So I do what I usually do when I try a new place, that is if I am not already going there for a purpose. I ask the waitstaff what they thinks is AWESOME. From my experience they get to eat for free or cheap and pretty much know what's good on the menu. WELL, I have finally been proven wrong. The waitress through an accent pointed me in the direction of the rosemary turkey burger, I of course chose my own side (they didn't have cocktail sauce, so no french fries) and I went with the mashed potatoes.

I will talk about the potatoes first. Other than not being in the shape of a volcano, in my opinion the only way to have them, they were pretty tasty. The mash had chucks of potato in it and the gravy was pretty delicious. Add a little black pepper and you are golden.

Now on to the rosemary turkey burger. Bland. That's all I have to say.

Final Bite: Don't listen to the waitstaff if they suggest this bite of blandness. Pick something you think will be awesome and go with that. Sometimes the hot foreign girl that is taking your order doesn't have the slightest idea what she is talking about.

Swingers
8020 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048
323.653.5858

Philippe the Original

I have visited a Los Angeles landmark. A place that has been around for over 100 years. Philippe the Original. The atmosphere is fun and the sawdust on the floor makes you feel like you are back in 1908.

You can get ham or turkey or beef or lamb or pork. Out of those beef and lamb are the best that I have had. Pork is on my list next but definitely skip the turkey and ham.

On this occasion I had beef with swiss double dipped. That is when they dip the bread once in jus then make the sandwich and dip it again. Apparently you can get it wet but I didn't know that until started writing this post. There is an inappropriate comment here but it's probably not a good idea on a food blog.

What makes this sandwich really great is when you put condiments on it. Of course try it the way it comes first so you know your bases but adding the Philippe's hot mustard on it makes the sandwich sing.

Final bite: Juicy and delicious if you do it properly. Might not be worth a special trip (down town is far), but definitely worth trying if you are in the area.

Philippe the Original
1001 N Alameda St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
213.628.3781

The Gumbo Spot

Gumbo: a delicious mixture of spice and in my case seafood. I went to The Gumbo Pot in the farmers market and tried and I quote, "Best Gumbo In Town". The gumbo was served with corn bread and some interesting spicy potato salad. The sad part though was that I found it underwhelming. When I ordered the southern staple I was expecting this amazing mixture of crab and shrimp that would leave me in tears from the amazingness of it all. But that failed to happen.

The corn bread was dry and the best part of the whole meal was the potato salad. The worse part of the whole experience was that I found a hair in my gumbo. You may say "hey are you sure it was not your own hair?" Which I reply, yes I know mine is falling out, but the hair in question was long and curly so that rules out my half PI locks. 

Final Bite: Best Gumbo In Town? Hardly, keep in mind that I have not eaten any other gumbo in this town, but it's fair to say that there are probably better gumbos.

The Gumbo Spot

The Farmers Market
6333 W 3rd St # 312
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323-933-0358

Bay Cities - The Godmother

Just like my food idol Joey Tribbiani my favorite food is also sandwiches. The Earl of Sandwich really had a great idea here and I am so happy that he was a degenerate gambler and refused to leave his hand at the poker table. If it weren't for this visionary we might not have this delicious treat, actually we probably would eventually, seriously how hard would it have been to invent the sandwich anyway?

In Santa Monica exists a great pseudo restaurant known as Bay Cities Deli that I am sure if Joey was a real person or the Earl came back to life as a zombie would definitely be a stop on their lists. I have been to this fine establishment a few times but I finally was able to show enough self control and take a picture of my food before I started eating (my new rule for this blog is that the food I blog about must be ordered by me or a majority of it must be consumed by myself AND I must have a picture, because seriously we all know too many words are boring).

I first heard about this place in an interview with Keanu Reeves in Details magazine, and I knew from the description that it would be right up my alley. Your best bet is to A: not go on Monday's because they are closed and 2: place your order online and then pick it up. The place is a mess of people. You will be there forever and you will hate yourself, that is until you eat the sandwich then it's all worth it, but you'll be bitching every second until that first bite. 

I ordered per usual the Godmother with the works and hot peppers. The Godmother is pretty much a classic Italian Hoagie, yes Hoagie get it right people, with Genoa Salami, Mortadella Coppacola, Ham, Prosciutto and Provolone cheese. The "Works" condiments on this amazingness come as follows, Mayo, Mustard (Yellow, Honey or Dijon), Onions, Pickles, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Italian Dressing and Mild or Hot Pepper Salad. One of the best parts and also faults in my opinion of this monster is the bread. The bread is soft and moist on the inside crispy on the out BUT it is almost too hard on the outside. If I was in an old folks home I would probably have to blend this thing to eat it. The trick that I found that works for me is you just let the sandwich sit. It will be really, really hard once you've experienced this bad boy but trust me if you let it sit for 15-30 minutes after you order it the juices soak in and you will be very happy.

Final Bite: Bay Cities Godmother is one of the best Hoagies I've had not only in LA but ever. Yes that's a statement as bold as their hot peppers. Do yourself a favor if you live far from Santa Monica, order online and show up late to pick up your sandwich.

Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery 
1517 Lincoln Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-8279