April foods!

Just by thinking about the food I consumed in April just added a few more pounds on my body. But it was worth it. Here’s some of the highlights of my favorite tastes in the last month.

Let’s start with my favorite dessert… ice cream. Sure, the gourmet food truck thing may have run its course in Los Angeles but ice cream trucks will never get old for me – even if it’s gourmet. One lucky Friday the @coolhaus truck came to downtown LA where I just happened to be. But the best part was that the Food Network was filming Cool Haus for their new street food series called Eat Street – it was as if the stars had aligned.

The ice cream sandwiches were on the pricey side but at the same time it wasn’t your average ice cream or cookie that came with it. Ice cream flavors that day ranged from maple bacon to foie gras to strawberry. The cookies ranged from snickerdoodles to chocolate to a brioche bun! So how does this tasty ice cream look like… looks like this:

So from sweet… I’m going to savory. My entire life, my one savory food weakness has been fried chicken. If I see it on the menu and it looks crispy good – I must have it. I always say it was a good thing I didn’t grow up in the south because I don’t think I’d be able to stop myself from all the home-fried chicken.

I have this ongoing list of places I want to eat in Los Angeles since I moved back from Minnesota. This list keeps getting longer but that is not a bad thing. When I read about Honey Kettle Fried Chicken online a while ago, I immediately started to salivate. Rightly so… take a look:

I went to the Culver City location and let me tell you… the chicken was juicy and the crispy skin had the right mix of spices and grease. The biscuits were flaky on the outside and dense and heavy on the inside – just the way I like it. Best part is there are dispensers with warm honey and hot sauce. I will definitely be going back for more.

But across town near USC is a place called La Taquiza. It’s in this tiny corner strip mall and I probably wouldn’t have bothered to stop by if it wasn’t for my co-worker who said La Taquiza had something called mulitas that was the best thing ever. So we decided to hop in the car and check it out. When we got there, I ordered two – one with al pastor and one with carne asada… the al pastor was hands down the best. So what are mulitas? It’s this…

If a sope and quesadilla had a child, it would be the mulita. Two warm tortillas that have been heated on the grill snuggle the meat, melted cheese, fresh guacamole, tomatoes, and onions. I added some extra salsa to mine but it wasn’t necessary because the al pastor was well seasoned. OK, I’m getting hungry as I read this so I think I should skip to the next food stop.

Ever since I moved back to Los Angeles, my friends have been raving about Boiling Crab. And last week I was able to finally understand why. For those who have read the article in the New York Times talking about how the Vietnamese American community is carrying on cajun cooking know what I mean. I got to the restaurant early and felt foolish asking for a table of 10 but then I looked around and realized it was mostly large groups at the tables. When I looked at the menu and realized you ordered shrimp and crawfish by the pount, it was obvious why you would want to go in a large group.

Here’s a look at my dinner feast…

Shrimp by the bag! I admit I like the food at boiling crab but I was bothered by all the plastic they use in serving the food. Basically everything is served in a plastic bag.

We ordered some corn with garlic and butter but decided to put it in the bag with the shrimp so it could soak up the cajun spices.

This is a mix of salt, pepper, and freshly squeeze lemon juice – delish for dipping crab meat in and less messy than garlic butter.

As you can see, April was full of some good eats. I can’t wait to see what May will bring! Come on friends — where else should I eat? And will you come out and eat with me?