House on the River

More often than not I find myself hankering for hot noodles after a night out drinking in town.  Enter Ruen Pair, one of a string of Thai restaurants occupying a mini-mall in Thai Town.  It's the one on the right when you drive into the mini-mall with the bright green signage.

Ruen Pair in Thai means “House on the River” which is accordingly appropriate since we got some Thai Boat Noodles,  that is usually served by those boats in the floating markets and along the river in Thailand.  The noodle is very hearty with beef slices, beef balls, tripe, liver and a brown soup base thickened with beef blood.  Delicious and spicy just right for a quick pick-me-up  after a night out in the bars and clubs.

We also got some Shrimp Cakes,  light crispy with a sweet and sour sauce dip.  I've been to Ruen Pair several times and my favorite dish from their menu is the Black Egg with Chili and Thai Basil, that is the bomb!

Ruen Pair

5257 Hollywood Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90027

Cerelac Batter

We went to a restaurant called Blue Marlin, a Japanese-Italian fusion type of place.   It is one of several restaurants in a strip-mall in Sawtelle in  WLA.  I've been to three other places along this line but it's my first time here.  They have food pics displayed near the door, and one item caught my attention,  Uni Spaghetti.   Must come back for this.

There is an underwater theme to the decor with boats on the ceiling and fish on the walls.   We got some Miso soup and Salad with some sesame seed dressing (no pics).  We ordered some appetizers to share and taste.

The first one to arrive was the Fried Calamari, the squid was delicate and thinly sliced, the batter was light and deliciously salty.  I've never had calamari served this way.  Usually it is served thick and heavy on the batter.  This was really good, I'd come back for this alone.

Next was the Crab Croquette, the batter was light and crunchy,  inside was moist and delicious.  They used real fresh chunky crabmeat, which added great texture in my mouth.  Only two pieces :(   there were three of us.  We all still got to taste it though.

Last to come was the Tuna Tartare served with some dough chips.   The dish is light, mild tasting and fresh.  Nothing special, looks great though.

And for the piece de resistance,  Uni Spaghetti.  The spaghetti is served in a deep bowl like ramen.  But why?   I love Uni sushi,  but this is not for the light hearted.  There is a lot of Uni in the dish.  The aroma is intense, the best I could describe it is "sea urchin cheese".   The texture is creamy akin to carbonara sauce.  The taste is definitely Uni but subtle.  Okay, not my favorite dish, but well executed.  This goes into my list of "tried it".   To wash it down I had some Kirin draft beer.

We also got the Uni Rice, I only had a taste of this.   I thought it was okay.  

Pork Cutlet (Katsu) with the demi-glace sauce,  I also had a taste of this.  I found it really tasty, and the sauce was delicious.

Ah!  Creme Brule, if it's on the menu I will order it.  This was very good,  crispy sweet crust and creamy delicious under.  

Tempura Green Tea Ice Cream,  the Green Tea ice cream is coated in a batter and deep fried, Tempura style!   We were kind of giggling because the batter tasted like "Cerelac", the baby food.   It does!  

So, I may not be back for the Uni Spag but I am still interested in other things in their very interesting menu.

Blue Marlin

2121 Sawtelle Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 445-2522

The General's Grub

After having a few Belgian beers at Lucky Baldwins we headed off to Thai Town, in the east edge of Hollywood boulevard, to a swarm of late night clubbers out for a quick grub at Sanamluang.  We got seated in under 5 mins.  The place was full and spilled out into the seats outside.  It is a very popular place, maybe because it is open very late until 4 am, or maybe because of it's close proximity to the clubs and bars in Sunset Blvd.  I would like to think it is because of their food.

The General's Noodle Soup  $ 6.50, is rumored to have been named after a Thai general who used to direct traffic in the parking lot on weekends.   The soup base is a clear , light amber, thin in density and rich in flavor.  Loaded with thin egg noodles cooked just the right amount, slices of charsiu pork, ground pork, roasted duck slices, and whole shrimps.  Topped with chopped scallions and wonderfully smokey roasted garlic bits.  Simply delicious.

Sanamluang

5176 Hollywood Boulevard, 

Hollywood, CA

(323) 660-8006

Sumire Miso Ramen: Hokkaido Fair 2008

The Mitsuwa Marketplace in Torrance was hosting the Hokkaido Fair 2008. I called a fellow food and beer enthusiast and we were off. Fellow blogger Exile Kiss already blogged about the event and I couldn't wait to have a taste myself, specially that Miso Butter Corn Ramen from the Sumire Ramen-ya.


When we got there, a sign was posted saying that the Miso Butter Corn Ramen was sold out. Already!? Just the second day? After I got over my disappointment, we ordered some Miso Ramen.


The soup was really literally hot. Really deceiving because it doesn't steam-up like what real hot soups do. A closer look at the soup, there's a definitely thicker than usual film of fat on the surface, hence, preventing some steaming action. As a result, plus a little over-eagerness on my part, I burned the tip of my tongue! I had to let the soup cool down a bit. There's a love hate relationship between me and fats. I love it ,but it hates me.

The soup base is very rich, very fatty and delicious. The bits of Chasu pork cut into tiny cubes was really good, better than any I have tasted. The ramen noodles was thicker and very fresh. There were some bits of ground pork as well in the soup which I haven't seen used in ramens. I finished the whole bowl to the last drop, a very good sign. Now, where do I sign the petition to bring Sumire here permanently?


We also had some Mint Julep Soda we got at the supermarket to drink. My friend chose this. I think it was a good call, nice cool refreshing minty drink after that hot heavy and fatty ramen.


We then moved to the stalls selling all sorts of goodies. There was a whole line of deep fried stuffed pastry and croquettes. Hey, you can't go wrong with anything deep fried.


We got a variety of Maruhiro Ota Croquettes: Spicy Cod Roe Croquette, Scallop Croquette, and Crab Croquette. The casing of mashed potatoes and breadcrumbs was crunchy outside and moist inside. They used a whole scallop, very nice, and I think King Crabs for the crab croquette because of the noticeably stringier texture of the King Crab meat. I could eat a few more of those Scallop Croquettes. We then headed to Naja's Place in Redondo Beach after for some beer.


Hokkaido Fair 2008
Mitsuwa Market
21515 Western Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 782-0335

Mien Nghia: Party in a Bowl

I never even knew this place existed, much like a lot of places in Chinatown. I pass by Mien Nghia often to get to Phoenix Inn for their Century Egg and Duck Chok. I first heard about this place from fellow blogger Eatdrinknbmerry in his Noodle Whore blog. Since then, I have been back there numerous times for their awesome Beef Stew with Egg Noodles (Hu Tieu Mi Bo Kho) $ 7.25.

This time I had to try the Seafood with Rice Noodles (Hu Tieu Hai San) $ 6.75. There is a crispy dough with a shrimp in the middle when they serve it. Nice, crunchy, and tasty, a good prelude to the dish. The soup base is light and delicious. The fish cakes, shrimp and squid balls are made in-house. The shrimps were nice and fresh.

The party really doesn't get started until you take a whole spoonful of that amazing chili sauce that they have and "Helloooo!" It takes this soup a few notches up the goodness level. Don't be afraid to put a lot of this stuff into your bowl, it's not that hot. I think they put some ground peanuts with the peppers into the sauce. I don't think I can stop myself from coming back for more for this.

Mien Nghia

304 Ord St

Los Angeles, CA, 90012

(213) 680-2411

Other Branches:

Mien Nghia

7755 Garvey Ave

Rosemead, CA, 91770

(626) 288-0177

Mien Nghia

406 W Valley Blvd

San Gabriel, CA, 91776

(626) 570-1668

Fe fi Pho Yum!

There's nothing like some steaming hot soup early in the morning. I love Pho (pronounced like "fuh" rather than "faux"), a Vietnamese rice noodle soup with meats or seafood. The delicious clear broth is made by boiling and hours of simmering beef bones. Cinnamon, star anise, almonds, and fresh ginger are all toasted then added to the broth. There are numerous variations to this, the Vietnamese God has a simple recipe for this in his blog.

There are no really good Pho joints in Koreatown, and only a few are open 24 hours. For really good Pho you have to venture out of LA and go to the SGV or Westminster. I work mostly at night and go home fairly late in the evening. So my choices are really limited. There is Pho Western and Pho LA both open 24 hours and Pho 55 open until 3 am. These are all owned and operated by Koreans and not Vietnamese. The prices are much steeper too. The place I most frequently go to is the Pho Western. I find their soup base to be more flavorful and the tendon pieces more generous. Second is Pho LA, even though it is not the best they still make decent Pho.

I usually get the Dac Biet, which is a mixture of meats rare beef, brisket, tripe, and tendons. This time I got the Pho Oxtail $8.35, which is served with the meat and some soup on the side, cilantro leaves, mung bean sprouts, thinly sliced onions, Thai basil, and some lime wedges. I like to add a lot of cilantro, bean sprouts, and Thai Basil into the soup, and some sliced onions and a little Siracha for heat. The bean sprouts adds a little crunch and freshness to the dish.

The thin rice noodles in the Pho will absorb the soup and quickly become soggy, so you really have to eat fast. And you don't want your soup to get cold either.

After I finished the big bowl, I was left with the small bowl of soup where the Oxtail meat was separated. The soup in this bowl tasted richer and meatier with a lot of the essence of the oxtail imparted into it. You can see tiny bubbles of fat floating on the surface. A good end to a Pho trip.

Pho LA
3470 W 6th St # 5
Los Angeles, CA 90020