Kogi BBQ & Kogi at the Alibi Room

Maybe you’re like me: you read all the hype about Kogi but just never got around to tracking down the truck in the middle of the night and standing in line forever. You’ve seen the truck at Venice First Friday or Art Walk, but the line stretched around the block and you thought, there are better things I can do with 2 hours, and you settled for a hot dog.

Well you’re not like me anymore. I took the opportunity a couple weeks ago passing through the OC to hit up the Kogi truck at the Little Saigon lunar new year festival. Good times.

Sweet Rose Creamery #2 – the Best Ice Cream Has Spawned a Child

Sweet Rose Creamery has been scooping LA’s best ice cream since 2010. But to get Shiho Yoshikawa’s creations you had to schlep all the way to Brentwood (unless you’re a millionaire yoga mom, in which you sauntered over after mid-morning yoga). But just last week Shiho opened the new Sweet Rose at Lincoln and Pico! So now you can get her unbelievable Valrhona fudgsicles with slightly less traffic infuriating you! Hooray!

TJFLR – Stacked Eggplant Parmesan

For this week’s Trader Joe’s Frozen Lunch Review, we tackle the stacked eggplant parm. When you’re trapped at your desk under a pile of work (or hiding from your unfriendly coworkers) and you want a slice of old-school, red sauce Italian, maybe you’ll want to give the stacked parm a whirl.

I love the sprig of fresh rosemary and dusting of Parmesan cheese in the picture. See how true the picture is to real life after the jump.

Sycamore Kitchen Revisited – Still Excellent

This update is mostly pictures from my latest visit to Sycamore Kitchen, the brunch place from Karen Hatfield. Spoiler: it is still incredible. In fact, the cooked dishes might actually be better than the baked goods, and *gasp* maybe even better than Huckleberry.

Zam Zam Market – The Best Deal on the Westside

Zam Zam Market is probably the most hole-in-the-wallish place I eat at every chance I get. It’s a great example of everything the Westside is not — a restaurant squarely aimed at an ethnic group that makes no effort to accommodate others. In fact, ZZM functions largely as a takeout joint for Muslims who pray at the King Faud Mosque across the street (I bet you didn’t know there was a big Saudi-funded mosque in Culver City). The Muslim faithful come by after prayers and pick up a quick styro box of incredibly flavorful Pakistani cuisine at totally reasonable prices.

Seriously, check it out. It is up there with the FO burger as one of the tastiest meals in Culver City.

TJFLR – Pizza al Pollo Asado – Half Pizza, Half Tamale, Half Delicious

A new regular Fooddouche feature – Trader Joe’s Frozen Lunch Review! For those of us who eat lots of sad lunches at our desks and try to spice up our routines with TJ’s latest attempt to replicate ethnic food.

We’ll start with TJ’s Pizza al Pollo Asado, an attempt at a Mexican pizza. What’s so Mexican about it?

JiST Cafe Update – Apparently, I Was Punk’d

I hate to kick the little guy while he’s down, but I paid $10 for what should have been a $4 side salad at JiST Cafe. I like the nice people who run this place. I have had a couple decent meals, even if I think they should cut their huge portions and charge a little less.

But this was ridiculous.

Settebello – Best Pizza in MDR! No, Really, It’s Actually Good

Marina Del Rey is one of the sadder food places in LA. The area including Westchester, Playa Vista, Del Rey is an island of mediocrity between Santa Monica and Culver City. With tons of new, awesome pizza opening up all over LA, MDR had been wearing its sad face until now.

I know that saying Settebello is MDR’s best pizza is damning it with faint praise. But really, this is really great pizza in a beautiful, if fake, setting.

Tito’s Tacos – Authenticity Might Be Overrated, But These Are Not the Tacos to Prove That

Tito’s Tacos is classic Westside cultural appropriation. Hard shell, yellow cheese, watery salsa — apparently, that’s how you spell gringo. But is this throwback taco actually delicious?