Le Bambou

If you know us, you know that we love pho. And though we can find great pho at home, we also had to explore the other side of the pho equation -- its French origins.

Our first stop was to Le Bambou in Paris' Chinatown. It was very strange how this restaurant felt both familiar and foreign at the same time...like Vietnamese spoken with a French accent. 

Familiar -- the veggie plate / Foreign -- mint instead of basil, lemon instead of lime

Familiar -- hot pot of jasmine tea / Foreign -- champagne-lychee aperitif 

Familiar -- noodles and beef / Foreign -- a murky, sweet broth and shaggy tangle of scallions 

We're not sure if Le Bambou's pho was some variation that we're not aware of, but it didn't quite hit the spot. However, it was solid and warmed us up on a chilly night. If this was the worst we could do in Paris, it wasn't too shabby at all. 

Le Relais L'Entrecote

We arrived in Paris a hungry and a little groggy. After getting our bearings, we set out to do a little exploring and find some dinner.


We wanted to kick off our trip with some traditional steak frites, and the institution that is Le Relais L'Entrecote didn't disappoint. Not only did we love the food, but the charming way in which it's served.


They don't take reservations, so don't be surprised if there's a long line outside.

The waitresses look adorable in their black-and-white uniforms. Once you're seated, they'll simply ask you, "Rare, medium, or well?" and then jot it down on your tablecloth.  

A few moments later, bread and a lightly dressed salad appears...a meal in and of itself.

Then comes the piece de resistance...a heaping platter of steak covered in a buttery mustard sauce, accompanied by a mountain of the best fries ever.

Once you've finished your plate, you'll be stuffed...but it's not over yet. Because the other half of your steak, swimming in that savory sauce, has been keeping warm over some tealights at a nearby station.

Your waitress will promptly return with hot seconds of meat and another batch of fries fresh from the kitchen. You'll wonder how you could possibly finish it all...and yet it somehow disappears.

Not another rainy day!

The last day of our New Year's extravaganza ended up cold and wet. But if this happens to you, don't give up. There are things that can help...

Beverly Soon Tofu
Just looking at a huge boiling bowl of tofu soup will make you think you're wading through a balmy lava river instead of a pot hole in the parking lot. And that huge sizzling platter of meat will make you think you're dancing atop a smoking BBQ grill. Heaven!

Shaky Alibi
Nothing brings warmth and cheer like an impromptu gathering with friends to help you share a crispy liege waffle, topped with salted caramel ice cream, caramel sauce and fresh whipped cream. This waffle was almost as good as the company!

Pho
...And if you still need some help after all that, convince a family member to make you some pho. Like Windex or duct tape, pho can fix anything!

Happy Shabu-ween

We have a lot of detoxing to do -- it's been a very unhealthy couple of weeks. So we decided to skip the Halloween candy and witch's brew and have a nice, wholesome dinner instead.

 Fresh veggies and tofu (thanks, Korean market!)

 Dipping sauces and our fondue-turned-shabu-shabu pot

 Everybody in the pool!

After dinner, we checked out the Carnavale festivities.

It was busier than our shabu-shabu pot!

Wednesday Night Steak

With garlic-shallot asparagus and mashed cauliflower with herbs.

K-town Adventures

So we were on a major Thai food streak for a while, but Koreatown beckoned us with the promise of exciting new eats.

We'd been in K-town before for hot tofu soup, Asian fusion burgers and...Peruvian chicken?!?! All absolutely delicious. And our new discoveries didn't disappoint:

Olympic Noodle
Every meal starts out with pickled radishes and a huge vat of delicious kim chi. Follow it up with your choice of massive bowls of hearty soup with knife-cut noodles or flat rice cakes, huge pans of steamed, boiled or frieds dumplings, or stone pot rice. Customize to your heart's content with the little tray of condiments and special sauces.

Yogozone
Their frozen yogurt is just fine, but their big sell is the DIY unlimited toppings bar for $1 extra.

Note: if you do go for the toppings, they'll give you so much yogurt that you can barely add any toppings.

Green tea (without toppings upgrade) vs. regular (with toppings upgrade) 

Soowon Galbi
We were in the mood for Korean BBQ...and boy, did we have some Korean BBQ. The 50-minute wait wasn't fun, but it was worth it. It wasn't just any meat, but marbled, thick-cut, marinated slabs meat grilled over tabletop charcoals and served with amazing side dishes.

 A delicious bite

A sweet, cinnamony, gingery dessert soup

Thanks for being so good to us, K-town...can't wait to see what else you have in store!

LA Restaurant Week...er, Night

We had big plans for Restaurant Week that involved lots of stops, reservations months in advance, all kinds of strategic scheduling and scrupulous menu planning. In the end, we only made it to one Friday night date, but it was an epic meal that totally made up for anything we may have missed.

BLT Steak isn't far from home and the walk there helped us work up an appetite. So when their signature amuse bouches and popovers arrived to kick off our meal, we dug right in.

Warm pate and fresh-from-the-oven gruyere popovers

Then came our entree-sized appetizers, which left us pretty full...

 Filet tartare and steamed mussels

...Until our proteins came out and we got a second wind. Powered by a huge greasy tower of onion rings (not shown).

 Scallops and steak

By time we had eaten that last bite of steak, we were stuffed. But BLT Steak wasn't done with us. Out came some mignardises, tiny caramel-y cookie bites that would've been the perfect end to our meal. But they were quickly followed by  warm donuts and coffee ice cream, and some chocolate bread pudding.

We finished the ice cream but didn't touch anything else 

We looked forward to our nice, cleansing walk home. As we waddled back, we were overtaken by a bajillion cops (and bike cops, security guards and a helicopter) storming Sunset Plaza...to settle some sort of lovers' spat in the parking lot. 

Fortunately, we — and, most importantly, our doggie bags — got home safe and sound.

Settling In

We're barely starting to get settled in, and have decided to cook at home as much as possible -- at an attempt to be more budget- and waistline- friendly. So far, we've been doing ok - but let's see how long this streak of steady and creative home cooking will really last!

I attempted to make Pad See Ew last night but wasn't too successful. I ended up getting too carried away with the veggies (Carrots in Pad See Ew? Sacrilege!) and the sauce was a little too sweet. But over all, it wasn't too bad of a beefy, brocolli-y, noodle-y stir-fry type of dish. 

I totally reneged on my VBW for the night...we had splurged on organic grass-fed beef and I couldn't help it!

And yes, that's a paper plate that you see below. Work and yoga kicked my @$$, so I was over it! 

- E