Tacos 1986-Moved

Tacos 1986
611 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005

Tacos 1986 is a very popular taco stand in Koreatown.  They became more popular after the LA Times recently wrote a story about them.  Located about a block north from Wilshire and Western, parking around here is terrible.  Take the Purple Line or a ride share.  Another block or two north is Monty's Good Burger, a vegan burger place.

About 8pm on a Saturday night, the line had maybe 10 people, but grew steadily, as we waited for the tacos.

Mushroom taco, $3 and mushroom vampiros, $5, grilled crispy tortilla with cheese, salsa and guacamole.  The only items a vegetarian or vegan person can eat is the mushroom tacos, assuming they do not use lard making the tortillas.  The tacos were outstanding.  The mushrooms are sauteed to perfection.  Lots of good flavor, but a bit rubbery.  Not sure if they used canned mushrooms or fresh.  If they are fresh, they had been in the warmer for too long.  The guacamole was outstanding.  Very good flavor, with a hint of heat.

The mushroom vampiros was ok.  The grilled crispy tortilla was too hard.  It didn't work well.  I didn't taste much cheese.  I should have tried the quesadilla instead.

Service is good.  The line moves quickly.

Tacos 1986 was pretty good.  Though I won't rush back, and I wouldn't wait more than 10-15 minutes in line.

Monty’s Good Burger

Monty’s Good Burger
516 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90020
213-915-0257

Monty’s Good Burger, in Koreatown, has been open for about a month. A 100% plant based burger place, what basically is trying to be an In N Out.  The restaurant is small with a counter with about eight seats that faces the kitchen and another counter that runs along the wall.  There is a four seat table at the end of the counter.  There seems to always be a line, and you line up outside.  Helpful hint, when you're near the front door, be like the couple in the above picture.  They waited outside, not in the doorway, until they were able to move up.  Look, you stupid morons, nobody is going to cut in front of you.  But, people maybe coming out, and you're blocking the doorway.  Just wait outside, until there is room at the cashier.

Single burger, $11, impossible burger patty, follow your heart vegan cheese, house spread-a vegan thousand island dressing, lettuce, pickles, and grilled onions, on a potato bun.  Tots with vegan ranch dressing-$4.

This a a decent burger, but the impossible patty was overcooked, and charred. The bun is fine, but nothing special.  The veggies are fresh.  The house dressing is fine, though they could put more of it on the burger.

The tots were cooked perfectly!!  The vegan ranch is very good, a good spice and you won't miss regular ranch dressing.

Service is good.  The young lady taking my order was very nice and helpful.  My order came out quickly.  The interesting thing was, the owner or manager, was outside talking on the phone for almost the entire time I was waiting in line, maybe 20 minutes.  The workers were working really hard and I have no complaints.  But, even if he is the owner, it's bad form to just talk on the phone in front of your customers.  Go around the back.  You look like a lazy owner, who doesn't care.

I won't go back to Monty's.  Fat Burger sells the Impossible Burger for $9, and if you don't add the spread and cheese, it's vegan!  I think that's a better value than Monty's Burgers.

Cassell’s Hamburgers

Cassell’s Hamburgers
3600 W 6th St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
213-387-5502

Cassell’s Hamburgers originally opened in 1948.  The original owners sold to restaurant to a Korean family that ran the restaurant like he did.  I went to the Cassell’s Hamburgers back in 2010.  That location closed in 2012.  The talk when it closed was that the owner of the Hotel Normandie was going to purchase the name and recipes, and reopen Cassell’s Hamburgers at the newly renovated Hotel Normandie within eight months of the old place closing.  Well, Cassell’s Hamburgers finally reopened at the Hotel Normandie in late 2014!  There are now plans to open a Cassell's in downtown LA.  The new Cassell's is located about a block from the terrible Pot Pizza Joint, which is another restaurant located in a hotel.

This is a huge corner unit location.  There is long counter/bar in the center and along one of the windows, and tables all over.  Tastefully decorated, it's much nicer than the old Cassell's.

Vegan burger, $10.99, house made farro, mushroom, zucchini, red onion, miso, and flax, with lettuce, red onions, tomatoes, and pickles.  Served with a choice of sauce-thousand island, blue cheese, mustardy mayo, ranch, house mayo, spicy mayo, BBQ sauce, or ketchup.

The vegan patty was so favorful, and tasty!  While I did put the house mayo, you really didn't need the mayo, it was moist and just full of flavor.  The bun and veggies were fresh.  A very good vegan/veggie burger.  I don't know if the bun is vegan. 

Service- Some good, some terrible.

Except for one thing, the guy who helped me was good.  He refilled drinks, and I was acknowledged and helped quickly.  I did not like the misinformation, or flat out lie, that the house mayo was vegan.  The menu says all the house sauces are made with organic eggs.  I'm not vegan, but there are some vegans, that would be very offended by the misinformation or flat out lie.

The girl, who maybe the hostess/server was terrible.  I walked up to her and asked, if I could sit at the counter.  She was so rude to provide an answer.

The way it's set up, first timers don't know whether to seat yourself or wait for a hostess.  I wasn't going to wait forever and nobody was near the front door.  That's why I went up to that girl.

I really liked the vegan burger and really want to go back for another burger.  But, the rudeness of the hostess/server and the wrong information or flat out lie about the mayo being vegan, leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Pot Pizza Joint-Closed

Pot Pizza Joint
3515 Wilshire Blvd Fl 1
Los Angeles, CA 90010
213-368-3030

So Roy Choi- who brought the food truck craze to LA, with his Kogi food truck, has opened a couple restaurants in LA.  He recently decided to open up a pizza place to serve hungry customers at his Pot Lobby Bar.  There was a lot of fan fare about the opening.  The pizza is a square like Detroit, pan, but not deep dish and thin like New York.  Kinda of weird combo.

The name and the website, with a black and white picture of somebody smoke some pot is stupid.  I get he is trying to cater to the drunk idiots who got the bar, and then smoke some pot before or after partying.  But, give me a break. 

It's inside the Line Hotel on Wilshire.  It's really a small display case with what looks like toaster ovens reheating the pizza, which are already made.  I don't know where the pizzas are made.  Maybe in the kitchen of one of the restaurants he has at the hotel.

Cheese slice- $4.  They sell only slices and only three options-cheese, pepperoni, and a Koreatown Special with kimchi and some salad on top.  I got two cheese slices.  They were below average.  The crust is too crispy for my tastes, like a damn cracker.  They may have to turn down the temps on the ovens, since my slices were too well done.  The sauce is just there, no real flavor.  The cheese is plentiful.  Little Caesars is better pizza than this, and I'm not kidding!  On a side note-The person in front of me ordered some type of juice and that juice cost $10!!  What a rip off!  Hell, I would just buy a drink from the bar for that price!!

Service is good.  The line moves pretty fast and the people are nice.

This was a complete waste of time and money!  If you're a drunk, stoned idiot you may enjoy the pizza.  But, this is a terrible example of pizza!

Noshi Sushi

Noshi Sushi
4430 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90004
323-469-3458

Noshi Sushi has been around since 1983.  They moved to the larger Beverly location a few years after opening.  It's a huge restaurant with booths lining two walls of the restaurant.  Along the western wall are tables, and the sushi bar covers the south wall.  I went to Noshi for the first time about two years ago. I thought their sushi was good, and wanted to come back.

One thing to remember, it's cash only!  Go to the ATM before coming or get charged a service fee for using their ATM.  Surprisingly on a Thursday night, they weren't that crowded, maybe 70% full.  If you come on a Friday or Saturday during dinner, expect a long wait!

Tuna nigri sushi-$4.50.  This was only ok.  I didn't taste as fresh as other tuna sushi I've had.  The deep red color gave me hope, but it just wasn't fresh.

California roll on the left, $4.50.  Shrimp tempura roll on the right, $4.50.  Noshi, is known for using real crab on their California rolls!  This was outstanding!  Good flavor and fresh crab and avocado!  You get four huge pieces and it's worth the $4.50 price.  I got another California, it was so good.

Shrimp tempura roll was only ok.  Five huge pieces but a very small piece of shrimp tempura that went straight from the freezer to the fryer! 

Shrimp nigri sushi, $4 and Jumbo scallop, $5.  The shimp was outstanding!  Very fresh and flavorful!  The jumbo scallop was huge, doh, it is the jumbo scallop, but fresh and flavorful!!

Service was good.  The servers are nice and friendly.  The sushi arrived quickly.

It was hit and miss this time at Noshi.  I won't rush back, but if I do, I will get the California roll!  I wish more sushi restaurants would use real crab for their California rolls!!

California Donuts

California Donuts
3540 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90020
213-385-3318

I knew about the fresh strawberry and peach donuts from Donut Man in Glendora.  But, until recently I never knew about the snickers donut at California Donut!!  So, I made a trip down to Koreatown and see what this snickers donut was all about.

California Donuts is open 24 hours and located in a very busy strip mall.  Parking is terrible here.  There is usually a line but the line moves quickly!

Bear claw- $1.95.  This was ok.  They had the apple and raisins inside.  Nothing special and I wouldn't order this again.

Snickers donut, $3. I thought the snickers donut was just a donut with peanuts, carmel, and chocolate with the donut replacing the nougat!  But, instead there is an entire snickers bar inside the donut!!  I'll repeat that, there is an entire snickers bar inside the donut!  This is an awesome donut.  Not as sweet as you might expect.  But, just wonderful!!

Service is good.  Nice people and the line moves quickly!

I would go back to California just for the snickers donut.  But, they have other donuts like the fruity peebles, thin mints, samoa, and a panda donut made with Oreo cookies!! I'll be back soon!!

Baek Ha Chong

Baek Ha Chong
3929 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles
323-935-5554

With the 20th anniversary of the LA Riots in the news recently, I realized it's been awhile since I've been to Koreatown. If you don't know, Koreatown was one of the hardest hit areas during the riots. Many Korean owned businesses were looted and set on fire. There were many reasons why Koreatown and Korean owned businesses were targeted during the riots. The rude treatment of blacks by the Korean store owners, the shooting death of a black teenager by a Korean store owner, then in a miscarriage of justice, that Korean store owner only getting probation for shooting that black teenager. But, something that the media rarely, if ever, talked about was the number of Korean store owners killed by blacks during robberies. In the aftermath of the riots, both communities opened lines of communications and there seems to be a peaceful truce so far. Though, I'm not sure if the relationship between blacks and Koreans have improved dramatically in those 20 years.

Anyways, Baek Ha Chong has been on my list of places to try because their BBQ pork ribs were suppose to be great. So, I get to Baek Ha Chong on a Saturday evening around 6pm. The place is almost empty. I was very surprised. Our server told me it gets much more crowded later on at night. It was a good thing there weren't many people, because I was hungry!! Baek Ha Chong is a small restaurant, it may set about 30 people at one time. It's kind of a hole in the wall and has no signage in English.

I'm not into the side dishes at Korean restaurants. Most of that stuff I don't touch. So I'm just going to review the entrees.

Squid in chili sauce, $20.95, seemed like a good thing to order. This dish had zucchini, onions, and green onions mixed in with the squid. The chili sauce was very good. A mild to medium spiciness with a hint of sweetness, I bet they put honey into the sauce.

The squid was very tough and chewy, not really that fresh, but combined with the chili, I liked this dish a lot. I wrap the squid with some chili sauce in a leaf of lettuce or put it on top of rice and made for a filling meal.

So, a lot of people rave about the BBQ Pork ribs, $18,95, at Baek Ha Chong. I wasn't impressed. The ribs are cut up spare ribs, but the portion is small, there is a lot of fat and gristle, and the meat isn't tender. The marinate was sweet, but this tasted a lot like Thai satay marinate. I can get an order of satay for under $10 at most Thai restaurants and there would be more meat when ordering satay, why would I pay almost double that amount, for these BBQ pork ribs?

Service was good. The ladies are friendly and helpful. They did forget to bring rice to our table. But when we asked for it and they were apologetic about forgetting, and brought us rice quickly.

I wouldn't come back to Baek Ha Chong, even though I liked the squid with chili sauce. The prices are a bit high and the quality of the food doesn't justify the high prices.