Fruit Farm – a Juice and Sandwiches Place in Little Tokyo

Another new place opens up in Little Tokyo, this time in the fortress of solitude — the Little Tokyo Galleria Center. The owners are doing their best to turn this ghost town mall around by bringing in a bowling alley, a Koreatown coffee shop, a high end dim sum place, etc. The newest opening is on the sadly half-vacant first floor, next to the froyo place, Boba on Top, and the Beard Papa.

Fruit Farm is a juice and sandwiches place — the kind of healthy, fresh place that is abundant in the Financial District, but not in Little Tokyo. So is it any good?

Bento Man Is Here — Isn’t What Little Tokyo Needs a Place That Makes Bentos?

Little Tokyo has been deprived for decades of the one thing its traditionally Japanese clientele has craved . . . Japanese food for lunch. What a cruel twist of fate that in a place famous for sushi bars, Karaoke, and handmade mochi would not contain a single lacquered wood compartmentalized box that could hold rice, teriyaki, and/or tempura.

Well, wipe away those tears, Little Tokyo, because Bento Man is coming.

* UPDATE *

1) Bento Man is open.
2) Uh, this is embarrassing. I didn’t notice that this is taking the place of La Chicken. So, no more Lexus chicken. Hopefully, these bentos will taste like Lexus.
3) interior pictures below

Tacos Punta Cabras – Surprisingly Great Fish Tacos in Santa Monica

Westside Mexican food is, if not an oxymoron, at least a shadow of its Eastside counterparts. But a couple guys with sterling chef resumes opened up a true hole in the wall (minus the grime) in, of all places, the big business side of Santa Monica. What on earth are these guys thinking? And more importantly, can they make a taco?

Tokyo Fried Chicken – Here’s Hoping for a TFC Double-Down

As much as I love the SGV, I’m sure if you live there you want to get out of East Asia sometimes. Tokyo Fried Chicken is a new attempt to get halfway out of East Asia, combining a soul food fried chicken place with Japanese.

Grey Block Pizza – Salad Pizza Sounds Like a Monstrosity But Is Surprisingly Good

The idea of salad pizza seems like it’s missing a comma. It seems like a stupid thing to just throw a side salad on top of a perfectly good slice. But what is the secret sauce that has had Westsiders coming to this Frankenpizza for years?

Phorage – I Can’t Believe Phorage Is Making Me Feel Not Terrible About Chego Leaving

Phorage rises up from the ashes of Chego Westside. A tough act to follow, especially considering the space has so many disadvantages — cramped seating, little parking, neighbors who you would never give a second glance to. It also features a landlord who forced Chego out. So I’m not sure why you’d want to take a gamble on this space. But Perry Cheung, formerly of the Slanted Door in San Francisco, is giving it a go with classic Vietnamese cuisine using ingredients described with the usual litany: local, sustainable, seasonal.

The result: maybe the best Vietnamese food I’ve had (outside of the Slanted Door).

The View from the Phlebotomist & Ikemen is Down

A view from Little Tokyo.

TJFLR – Bibimbap Bowl – Fine If You’ve Never Had BBB

Trader Joe’s is admirably taking on the task of mass-marketing niche ethnic foods for the middle class market of captive desk lunchers. Unfortunately, they are doing so with a supply chain that does not seem to cross streams at all with the ethnic foods they are trying to mimic.

Mimic is probably the right word to describe TJ’s frozen Bibimbap Bowl. Ubiquitous at Korean restaurants, every family has their own spin on BBB since you can throw almost any veg in it. Correction: any KOREAN-seasoned veggies. TJ’s version tastes like someone had read about BBB in an old book, was trapped in a Midwest grocery store, and this was their best effort considering they had never tasted gochujang.