Miru 8691...local, different and by far not for the purist

9162 W. Olympic Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310)777-8378
Daily Lunch: 11:30AM-3PM
Dinner 6PM-11PM

Miru 8691 was a place found after frustration. Walking up me and Celeste were both hungry, tired and still didn't know what we wanted. We looked at the menu outside the restaurant and thought that sushi was not on our appetite BUT they had other stuff. So we walked in not really knowing what we were getting ourselves into.

We had arrived pretty close to when they opened for dinner. Their vibe is more about comfort and it's casual with a long bench against the wall and what would appear to be IKEA tables.

No we don't know whether they ALWAYS give free appetizers at dinner time, but we got our own individual taster plates with mini cucumber roll, spicy tofu and edamame. All very fresh tasting and a good way to start the meal.

We then shared their Vegetable spring roll, which came lightly fried, mainly filled with mushroom and avocado, over rice straws and a tangy citrus shoyu. This was very good, but I'm not sure if it's seasonal or not. And also we shared...

....the scallop sushi with garlic aioli. It was really fresh and the garlic was not too strong but a welcome change. I don't know but something was pretty surprising about this. There was a just a tad of citric flavor that really added some character to this.

Though I wasn't feeling very sushi, something got me to order their Chanel roll (all their house rolls are named after fancy designers). Quite a quirky roll consisting of white tuna on a crunchy shrimp roll with tabasco, jalapeno and pineapples. I have to admit, I was super shocked at how much I liked this. The roll itself would have been decent but the tuna and spiciness from the tabasco and jalapeno made this thing pretty amazing.

Celeste ordered the Orange Chicken Burger with Fries fried to that perfect golden color. I think this is the reason she wanted to go here in the first place, which in the end was quite the comedy. But, before we laugh, let me tell you why you have to order this at one point to check it off your "life experiences" list. How many people do you know that, as kids or teenagers, weren't convinced to eat Chinese food by the first time by tasting a friends orange chicken. Past that though, most of our Orange Chicken experiences ended, cause at most places, it tastes pretty similar. Well allow this fresh take on the dish to rebirth your craving. This was not just a ground chicken burger dressed up, this was a full on moist, juicy cutlet, in the traditional batter and sauce brought to the point where it was crunchy enough in texture, but didn't fall apart all over you. What DID fall apart was everything else which included greens, tomato, spicy mayo and tempura onion rings (visible on top of the burger) which housed a small pile of mandarin orange sections. As for the comedy...well...that's the picture I'm NOT posting, but I'll just say Celeste got a little messy eating this.

After all that messiness, they were kind enough to bring out the coolest towelette ever. Click the video to see how it's moistened. For us, it was better than bubble wrap.

So hop on down for dinner or lunch (check the hours though... they're closed from 3pm-6pm). They had great looking lunch specials, and on the special side for dinner, they have a prix fixe menu that looks delightful for just $30.

Free Drink Refills: Yes
Entree Price Ranges: Lunch specials are $8 to $16 and dinner prices go from $7 to $19 with most being on the lower end of the scale.

Thai House...a personal favorite spot in my hood

8657 W. Pico Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310)274-5492
Lunch: Mon-Fri 12PM-3PM
Dinner: Sun-Thurs 5PM-10PM
Friday: 5PM-11PM
Saturday: 1PM-11PM

I laughed the other day when I realized I hadn't put one of my favorite local Thai places up. Thai House has been open for a quite a few years now and I've been blessed to live within relative walking distance of it. But really what is "walking distance" in LA? It's been interesting to watch how they've slowly been adding to their clientele and have really made it a great community dinner spot. Funny thing I've noticed recently about many Asian spots about our town is their very generic in their choice of names. I mean how do you distinguish one Thai House from another Thai House? Just makes me wonder why they chose the names they did. But I digress.

The walls covered with young artists artwork, the exposed roof, and the kind of a trendy overall warehouse atmosphere gives this place a pleasant feel that makes everyone feel at home. Now, while I can personally vouch for a good portion of the entire menu let me show off some recent highlighted plates that were pretty killer.

We started off with a bowl of their Coconut Chicken soup which had creamy Thai spice and lemongrass broth with galanga and fresh mushrooms. The coconut cream coupled with lots of tang thanks to the lemongrass and galanga are great. It's also hearty, with the healthy sized crimini mushrooms that float around in it. After having this a couple of times I need to ask my wife to snag me some of this soup next time I'm sick. It's big on taste and the hints of heat give it enough zing to put it within reach of most heat sensitive palates.

I test many places out with their cashew chicken to get a feel for how they make some of their basics. Their's consists of good sized hunks of tender, juicy, sauteed chicken coated in roasted red curry sauce (not too spicy), with scallions and water chestnuts to even out the plate. It's solid and worth getting when you can't decide on what to get.

Their Spicy Beef Thai Yumm has thinly sliced tender NY beef strips on a bed of fresh greens with tangy lemon grass vinaigrette and crisp red onions. Everything's lightly dressed, but there's plenty of extra if you decided to douse the meat and greens like we did. This is such a great plate when you're feeling like you want something more fresh but still want some meat.

Other plates of note include their Panang, Pad Thai, their Catfish Special (crisped whole catfish falling off the bone with a teriyaki and lime sauce), and their Angel Wings (chicken and pork stuffed in chicken wings). Every time I come back I wonder why I don't come here more often. The prices are pretty good, the place itself is always a pleasure to be inside and the service is good. Oh and theirs that whole walking distance thing...maybe I'm just lazy. Have a great 3 day weekend guys!

Free Drink Refills: No
Entree Price Range:Lunch specials range from $7.50 to $9 while dinner prices range $8 to $15
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A funny thing heard at a wine shop at their cheese section. A customer picked this up and the person at the counter said "Yeah made from real pug's milk". The customer was like "really"? Some people are so gullable.

Daikokuya Original Noodle & Rice Bowl...raumen of the gods

327 E. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213)626-1680
Mon-Thurs 11AM-Midnight
Fri-Sat 11AM-1AM
Sun Noon-Till the soup is gone
(As a note on their website, if they run out of soup on any night, that's when they close. They do this to give you the best quality soup.)

Once I moved out of the house, I became rather acquainted with any "Cup O' Noodles/Ramen" type of meal I could afford. This is the way of life for many people who need to eat more affordably. You learn how to dress up these meager meals. Most people move on from this stage and dread ever hearing the word ramen. But, some people, especially if their initial introduction to ramen wasn't in styrofoam, go on to enjoy much better and more legitimate ramen. It is with this that you have to understand what a profound love I have for Daikokuya. It may be the best I ever have and for now it is the best I've had here in America (going to Japan in November possibly so we'll see).

How can I talk about soup with such a profound love? If you've ever been here you know how. There's so much detail in their raumen. But before we get to that, please notice the picture up at the top. People come here like it's their job. It's been a favorite spot in Little Tokyo for it's late hours, great food and cheap prices. While it is designed for parties no more than 4, the service makes up for it by being pretty quick. You enter and put your name on a list that sits on a chair as soon as you walk in. There seems to always be people ahead of you but it's never a worry, as I said, thanks to a really fast turnaround.

The shop has a very vintage theme with pictures and items from the 1940's on up. Also, I love the music they typically have playing, which includes some old school swing music typically when I'm there.

Their raumen as I said before is something to behold. Starting with the broth, it's made using pork bones that have been in there for a day (this gives it a slightly thicker consistency then most broths), the egg, which many people talk about, is a hard boiled egg that sits in their own special sauce over night, giving it an ever so different taste... hard to put my finger on it but it's subtle, the noodles are always just firm enough, lots of green onion, and their choice of pork is to die for. It's a fatty black pork that's rich with flavor. I must admit that pork, in general, is my least favorite meat, not that I hate it or anything, but on the meat rankings list it comes after all the other meats. THEIR pork is exceptional by any meat standard. It's so freaking delicious. A big plus is that the bowl of raumen is huge and in and of itself is quite the meal. But you can add on more by making it a combination as seen below:

We added one eel (unagi) bowl that had very hearty pieces of sweet eel.

Another bowl we added was some fresh tuna sashimi. Very fresh and richly colored!

Then also the egg and chicken bowl, which seems like they fried an egg over hard, but while it was cooking on the first side they scattered diced up chicken that had been cooked or marinated in a shoyu based something or other. All of these little bowls were served over yummy Japanese short grain sticky rice.

There is little not to like about this place, unless you're trying to keep it kosher that is(but I'm sure even then you could enjoy a yummy rice bowl). Oh, and before I forget... cheap Japanese beer! $2 for a mug of Kirin and $10 for a pitcher make this a place to go to anytime with some friends. Parking is all on the street and usually you never have to go too far to find a spot. The late hours make this an awesome treat when you don't mind a little waiting around. If you can't wait and are in the area for some "down home" Japanese nonetheless, try Suehiro's a couple of doors down. All in all, you should give this place a try no matter how much you said you'd never do another "Top Ramen"... this place will make you rethink your whole soup experience.

Free Drink Refills: Yup
Entree Price Range: Raumen bowl $7.50 and combinations are between $10.50 and $13

Kung Pao Bistro

7853 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Sun-Thurs 11AM-10:30PM
Fri-Sat 11AM-11:30PM

I am attacking this little post with great ferocity. Kung Pao Bistro, though a small chain (a third one is supposed to be opening soon) is worth a post for a couple reasons.

1) Obviously the food is worth a mention. It's pretty healthy...meaning healthier then most Asian spots. We started our meal with their spicy wontons that were more like huge dumplings mixed in a spicy chili sauce with spinach...very tasty. We then noticed that we could get half orders of quite a few of their dishes. For you our readers (and for our pockets) we ordered 3 half dishes to get the most of our dining experience. Orange Chicken, Moo Shu vegetable, and Kung Pao Shrimp came out quickly and with a smile. The half sizes were very good size. In fact they were so big that we kept on thinking they didn't hear us when we ordered the half size and brought out the full size by mistake...not so. One thing, if you get the Moo Shu, tell them not to stuff the crepes totally and to leave some on the side...yes there was that much. I would recommend going there and eating family style where you all share, cause the half sizes were plenty. Everything tasted fresh and you felt good afterwards (unlike many Asian meals where you feel like you ate a lot of oil).

2) The price was super cheap when you eat the half orders. Once again I would highly recommend this.

3) Parking is great there due to the fact that it shares the same parking with Whole Foods.

4) This location is great...it's in the middle of a lot of shopping areas (walking Santa Monica boulevard) and is just outside enough that you don't feel cramped in getting to where ever you're trying to get to.

The place is healthy and has a good vibe and when we went we saw a bunch of actors just eating and talking shop and the staff really didn't seem to mind them just kind of camping and taking there time. I may bring a tent next time I want some local Asian food.

Free Drink Refills: Yes
Entree Price Range:half plate average about $6 to $8 while regular plates and specialties $9 to $13