Genwa

We were so excited to spend our New Year's with our good friends W+M, who flew in from the Bay Area for the weekend.

We kicked off New Year's Eve with some Korean BBQ at Genwa in Miracle Mile. If you like Korean BBQ, you really need to try this place. It's not just the food but the service and attention to detail that make this a one-of-a-kind experience.

The meal started off with an array of little appetizer dishes that were tasty little gems of deliciousness.

Then came the sides — clear noodles, radish and rice paper wrappers, stone pot bibimbap and a brothy soup.

Of course, there was also the meat. Each piece was tender, marbled and flavorful, and cooked on a magical non-smelly grill alongside some veggies and a little foil container, even, for roasted garlic.

But 2010 had a little more in store for us. The pitcher of Hite was innocent enough, but before we knew it some soju, mangotini shots and soju bombs made their way around.

By the end of our meal, it was all one sweet blur.

Good food, great friends and lots of laughter — a wonderful way to end 2010. And a little foreshadowing of how we'd begin 2011...

Langer's

What would your last meal be? Ours just might be a sandwich from Langer's...not only because it's delicious, but also because it's artery-clogging, heart-attack-inducing food located in a sketchy part of town. But it's totally worth the risk!

To fit in with the retro, totally-frozen-in-time environs, we started with an egg cream.  

We thought the blended club soda, milk, chocolate syrup and a frothy top might have some sort of Gestaltian charm, but it didn't. It's definitely an acquired taste — i.e., nasty. No wonder why no one drinks these anymore.

But we didn't dwell on it because the real stuff was on its way.

 On the side — a knish and some crinkle-cut fries.

 Plain corned beef

Pastrami and coleslaw

Langer's really just might be the best Jewish deli ever (sorry, Katz's!), with its tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat and freshly-baked rye bread with a crispy crust.

Luckily, we made it through our meal without any life-threatening complications...so we decided to continue our adventurous streak by taking a stroll through MacArthur Park.

There's something a little bit sad and wistful about this neighborhood. We wish we could've experienced it during its glory days. But at least we'll always have those amazing sandwiches!

Pizza Night, Part 2

As you can probably tell, we love pizza. So when we stumbled upon some heavily discounted and not-yet-expired pizza dough at Fresh & Easy, we couldn't resist a little experimentation.

We topped the dough with some odds and ends we had on hand (olives, tuna, anchovies, spinach, leftover cheeses and jarred pasta sauce) then baked it in the oven.

Our tricks for a super crisp and light crust? 1) Don't add too much flour when you're stretching out the dough, 2) get the oven reeeeally hot, 2) preheat your baking surface in the oven, and 3) be liberal with the olive oil.

It was a delicious yet relatively light way to start the debaucherous weekend that was to come.

We're Not the Experts

We here at Love Fat are, by no means, foodies or any type of food expert. In fact, we are pretty boughetto. 

Our photos are bad and our descriptions minimal (and probably uninformed and inaccurate most of the time, too). Because we don't take our food or ourselves seriously — we'd rather spend the time eating.

But we still want to share with you what's delicious to us. Because, at the end of the day, is it really all about the food? To us, it's more about the fun, adventure and, well, life that happens around that yummy bite.

On that note, take a peek at this fun read about foodies gone wild.

Dat Thanh

We celebrated Christmas in Orange County with our families. Before heading back up, we needed one more Vietnamese food fix to tide us over.

Their cuon, bun and com tam were solid — fresh-tasting, not too greasy and only slightly mystery-meatish.

As we pulled out, we saw this thing...

...but judging from the LA Times, OC Register and others, Dat Thanh is already on the map.

A Love Fat Christmas

Hamburger Mary's

It's not just any game of bingo...

It's Legendary Bingo every Wednesday night at Hamburger Mary's...where you can get paddled, pelted and roasted.

So entertaining, you practically don't need to win to have a good time!

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

After days of constant downpour, we knew there would be something awesome waiting for us at the end of this double rainbow.

Not a pot of gold, but deliciously golden brown fried chicken from Honey's Kettle...with all the fixins.

You can order a whole fried chicken, which they cut up for you after frying

The [Food] Hangover

J's still trying to piece it all together. He remembers finishing up work at World Financial Center and venturing out into the freezing cold...

 WTC memorial

...But the rest is one big blur...

 Famous Ray's, Eataly NY, Shake Shack, Heartland Brewery

...That ended with a visit to White Castle.

What happened that night?!

Pizza Wars

We love our pizza...and how lucky are we to live within walking distance of two of the best pizza joints (we think) in town?

We tried to pick a fave, and it was really close.

Vito's Pizza
A perfect thin, chewy and super flavorful crust with quality toppings. Everything tastes incredibly fresh.

Joe's
Imported straight from NYC, and it's authenticity doesn't get lost along the way. We wouldn't be surprised if the chipped subway tiles and grubby bathroom had been flown in too.

Bottom: the authentically Sicilian-style crust

The verdict? Vito's, for its crust, amazing veggie pizza and LA roots. But that doesn't mean we'd ever turn down a slice of from Joe's!

Mitasie 3

We recently celebrated our carnivore friend's birthday by taking him to...a vegan Vietnamese restaurant. How very thoughtful, huh?

But it really wasn't as bad as he thought it would be...

 BBQ "pork" spring rolls

 Kung Pao "chicken" and salt & pepper "shrimp"

All in all, a very hearty and flavorful meal of hard-working soy products!

Kassava Caribbean

We drive by this restaurant twice a day, every day, and can't help but notice its interesting appearance --  a cute vintage bungalow decked out in kitschy Caribbean decor. After lots of speculation about what it might be like, we decided to try it out. 

The inside is even more cheesy than the outside --  with all kinds of knickyknackies and bright flower placemats. We had a Caribbean-cruise-port-souvenir-shop flashback.

But the food itself tasted surprisingly authentic. Flavorful, heavy-handed with the spices, casual, hearty.

An instant Carribean getaway -- and no muster drill needed!

Kinder Bueno White

Kinder Bueno must be the official candy bar of Europe — they're everywhere.

Our first encounter with the Kinder Bueno White variation at a little beach shack in Sorrento, Italy, where we stopped for a snack before a short hike up the cliff into the city center. They were sooooo delicious, and, luckily, also readily available, so we made sure to bring a pack home.

Our stash  survived untouched in our fridge for 8 months, but, inevitably, the day came when we could no longer resist.

Crispy wafer on the outside and creamy goodness on the inside...just as delish as we remembered!

The Buick Regal Discovery Tour

We knew very well that this event was just a fancy sales pitch, but we didn't care — we went for the food, of course!

The event was at the SLS, where we were greeted with light refreshments. 

Our first session was a demo with Executive Chef Jorge Chicas from the Bazaar, where he and a sous chef showed us how they make their watermelon tomato skewers and infamous olive bubbles. It was really insightful and fun to get the inside scoop on how the food is made and their experiences with Jose Andres, but those samples were almost cruel. We wanted buckets more. 



Then we had a session mixologist Michael Greene (who has the best job EVER), where we made virgin green tea sours.

The ones we made seemed to be missing something...GIN!

Then Michael Stern from roadfood.com shared some tips on finding good local eats.

The best part of this session was when he solicited the audience for their upcoming travel destinations so that he could make recommendations. From Oklahoma City to northern Idaho to the best pizza in NYC, his tips seemed pretty legit.

When a certain someone quizzed him about Orange County, he recommended El Campeon in San Juan Capistrano, which we'd never even heard of, for good Mexican food. Sure enough, though, it has 4.5 stars on yelp. Anyone ever been?

The highlight of the day was a cooking demo with Top Chef Master Marcus Samuelsson (prefaced by "complete" versions of the cocktails we'd made earlier).

We didn't watch this season of Top Chef Masters, but we wish we had.

He's got loads of charm and a killer shrimp and grits that we polished off in no time...

...But, thankfully, can make at home, thanks to this awesome party favor.

RH Restaurant

A little bit ago, the former Riot Hyatt was completely transformed into the trendy and posh Hotel Andaz, and the name of the restaurant that opened inside — RH — seems like the only remnant of its storied past.

We had no idea what to expect. Most of the restaurants on this part of Sunset are all style, no substance and ridiculously overpriced. But since it was a short walk away, and we had a coupon (that's right, no shame), we figured we had nothing to lose.

The restaurant itself is sleek and modern, with an open kitchen that keeps things casual, but the service is meticulously attentive.

We started with some crudite and two kinds of bread (the Italian one was a special for that night)...

...And some DELICIOUS cocktails that went down wayyyyy too easily.

The first course was escargot with heirloom potatoes, and foie gras terrine. They say that escargot is all about the sauce, not the snails...and this sauce was fantastic...but the escargot themselves were really tender, too. The terrine was smooth and buttery and accompanied by a dense, biscuit-like brioche that pushed it over the top.

Then came a duck confit with crispy, melt-in-your-mouth skin, and seared diver scallops on a bed of creamy celery root and chestnuts. DELISH! We polished off every bite.

J gives the confit his "sandwich test"

Then it was dessert time -- a chocolate tart with a soft, creamy praline bar, and a huge warm cherry clafoutis with a generous dollop of creme fraiche.

As we waddled home, we pondered how it was possible that we could find unpretentious and delicious French food, with excellent service, at the former Riot Hyatt.

But we're sure stranger things have happened on the Sunset Strip.