Akbar Cuisine of India

Akbar Cuisine of India: A very tasty, rather inexpensive (for lunch) Indian restaurant on Wilshire near 26th. We tried the Chicket Kati Rolls, Palak Paneer, Lamb Vindaloo, and Chicken Tikka Masala, plus raita, roti, dal, onion/cucumber chutney, etc. All of it was quite good, with a wide range of spice heat levels. The paneer seemed homemade and was delicious. We sat at a table with a view of the chefs making roti and naan and working over skillets and pans, which was pretty cool. The raita (very thick) and vegetable chutney stole the show, but there wasn't a downside to the whole meal. I would certainly go again and take all my friends.

Novel Cafe, Damon & Pythias, Diddy Reise, K-Zo, N'Ice Cream

Novel Cafe: We've been to the Novel Cafe two or three times. The burgers have been excellent. The club sandwich was ok, but not special. The coffee has similarly been ok.

Damon & Pythias: We were in the area because of the mystery bookstore across the street, and stopped in here because it had pretty good ratings. Turned out to be a typical college town eatery. Nothing fancy, pretty good food, not too pricey. I had a cheesesteak. Pretty good, but I wouldn't drive over to UCLA just to go here.

Diddy Reise: The line was out the door, but the ice cream was pretty good. Their ice cream sandwiches are cheap. I don't think I need to go again, but it wasn't bad.

K-Zo: This is the second time we've been here. It's not the highest rated sushi restaurant in LA by a long shot, but the food is wonderful, fresh, tasty, and the staff are very nice/polite/efficient. This time the blue crab sushi stole the day, last time the fried calamari wowed us...and the raw scallops were quite nice. Oh, and I like their loose leaf teas (buckwheat today).

N'Ice Cream: On the lookout for ice cream and hunted down this gelato joint. The salted caramel was quite tasty, though chocolate orange was declared the winner. Vanilla was quite poor. Cherry mint didn't taste like cherry. Next time I think I'll just go next door to the Pinkberry.

Tandoor India and Cafe Tazzina

Tandoor India is a nearby Indian restaurant with lunch buffet. The only somewhat exceptional note is that they have whole wheat naan (roti), but you have to buy it separate from the buffet. Had a thoroughly enjoyable lunch here and will go back anytime I'm looking for a serviceable Indian meal.

Cafe Tazzina is a small little cafe on Wilshire. Stopped in to kill about half an hour. My chai (I chose black tea instead of green) was delicious. The chocolate croissant was filling, but a bit heavy and not as flavorful as some others I've had in the past few months. Most likely it would be great fresh, or even warmed up. As I sat, it seemed like the cafe rapidly filled with customers, each stopping to chat with the older couple at the next table over. Felt very friendly and I suspect it's a good place for community vibe.

Bud's Famous Deli and Desserts and Ocean Park Pizza

Bud's Famous Deli and Desserts: The sign in front says they were picked as best ice cream in LA once, so we had to stop in. No hours posted, so it took a try or two before we caught them open on a Saturday. They have frozen yogurt on the menu, but didn't have it available, so we got a scoop of the chocolate flake strawberry which turned out to be not too bad. It's somewhat creamy and didn't taste artificial, but if it's the best ice cream in LA then one may as well just go to the supermarket. We also got a roast beef sandwich, notable for the rather tasty tomato slices, and a meatball sub. The sub won the day easily with large flavorful meatballs covered in tasty tomato sauce and mozzarella, but it wasn't made in house. Instead it came from somewhere nearby, we assumed that place was the nearest pizza joint...

Ocean Park Pizza: A little hole in the wall that delivers. I grabbed a 14" of their special Ocean Park something with red/yellow peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni (as best I recall). Thin crust, but not super thin or crunchy/crackly. It was about $20 which is a much better food-to-price ratio than the close by Pizza Fusion, though the ingredients are standard pizza fare instead of the excellent quality at Pizza Fusion. I'd definitely eat here again.

Porto's Bakery

Porto's Bakery again. (Another bakery of opportunity after stopping by the Brand used bookstore.) This time got an assortment of pastries. Croissant and almond croissant were ok. Pineapple turnover/strudel is forgettable. The hot pastries were great...ham croquette, chicken, & bean/plantain...all excellent. Cheese pastry again most wonderful. Tried a coconut sweet ball with a hard sugar glaze...not bad, but very sweet. Unfortunately the person putting together forgot the bread, so I didn't get a chance to try it.

Germany, Luxembourg, and Unurban

Trip to Trier, Germany. Various foods eaten over two-three days. Croissants were amazing...probably because they use European style butter? Pretzels were no different, so a bit disappointing. Whole grain breads, rye breads, etc, were amazing. There were a large number of bakeries and they were always busy. Cookies were ok. Meals were primarily meat with a side veggie...sauerkraut or broccoli. Ate at one nice restaurant...venison (a bit overdone) and fried mashed potato fingers...also tried chicken in almond sauce (now I know I need to use amaretto next time I make it). Dessert was so-so, but with an amazing vanilla ice cream...I'm not even sure how they got it to taste that good. Breakfasts at the hotel were also good, with meats, cereals, breads, yogurts, quark, and eggs. I got a new appreciation for mineralwasser of all types.

Spent a wonderful afternoon in Luxembourg. Stopped at a patisserie for an exquisite onion quiche with caraway. Croissant was ok but a bit dry. baguette fine, better than grocery store, but not top tier. Saw many wonderful looking chocolates and pies and tarts at many different stores downtown...a whirlwind of yummy looking food. Had the lightest waffle (covered in powdered sugar and a really thick whipped cream) from a stall.

Back in Santa Monica, Unurban Cafe has free wifi, still has excellent latte (so frothy and smooth), which comes in a glass beer stein, and not too bad croissant (dry and not all butter, but large).

Urth Caffe

Urth Caffe is popular and was packed around 1:30pm today. The croissant was excellent, crispy with lots of butter flavor. The single espresso Italia was like sucking on a coffee bean...not the most pleasant flavor, but with a great mellow aftertaste and a perfect espresso buzz. I'll go again, but next time try a latte or mocha.

Party Time (Jaipur and Hornsby's)

Went to a party catered by Jaipur's. It was an excellent Indian food experience. I particularly loved the dessert (sweet dough balls in syrup) due to the whole cardamom pods, but all the dishes were great.

Also picked up some Hornsby's hard cider...not a Santa Monica exclusive by any means, but I hadn't realized that hard cider was mass marketed in any way other than apple-flavored beer. Hornsby's is more cidery and has tempted me to brew my own hard cider if I can find the time.

Finally, the Korean taco food truck on Venice beach was excellent...wonderful flavors.

Unurban Cafe, Buon Giorno Caffe, Bay Cities Italian Deli, Caprice Pastries

Un-urban Cafe is on Urban St, so a cool name, which seems to fit this kitschy place. I had a good latte with a head of coffee flavored foam, but passed on the not-so-nice-looking baked goods. The odd items on sale (e.g., voodoo dolls), and the feeling that the place was dead and only comes alive at night was different than most cafes.

Caprice Pastries is just down the street, and you can walk in to buy things, but there's no windows or chairs or anything. Just a kitchen and a freezer. Got a blueberry tart that was forgettable and a chocolate mousse that was very tasty. I wasn't very excited by their selection. Nothing stood out at me. The cakes looked good, but I didn't want that much dessert.

Buon Giorno Caffe seems more like a restaurant, but they make good coffee. Latte again, no foam on this one, with a strong flavor but a mellow aftertaste. Great. The poppyseed muffin (yellow cake batter?) wasn't bad, with nice flavor.

Bay Cities again. Meatball and Godmother. These were great fresh, but it relies so much on the bread that once the bread gets cold and soft/soggy they're really not very special. Also picked up some Cock & Bull ginger soda that was ok and various other things that I haven't tried including Buffalo mozarella & some Burrata.

Whole Foods

The Whole Foods (in Santa Monica) all-butter croissant has a good butter flavor, and wasn't stale. The multi-grain mini-croissant was pretty good too.

Mitsuwa, Mariscos Chente, Angel Maid, Tudor House

Mitsuwa Marketplace: A Japanese market plus foodcourt. We ate a bento box at Misasa. It was chicken teriyaki and tempura with miso soup, rice, potato salad, cold tea, and a couple of pickled veggies. Pretty good food, though the chicken wasn't the highest quality. Oh, and the tea was bad. (How does that happen? Or is it my fault somehow?)

Mariscos Chente: Great fish and shrimp. Very flavorful. Get the whole fish. Served with cucumber, and green (lime) salsa. The peppered shrimp sauce wasn't as good as the wine-based "barrascus" (?) sauce...but it let the flavor of the shrimp come through much better.

Angel Maid Bakery: Bead pudding, chocolate mousse (wonderful), puff pastry with custard & strawberries & kiwi. Highly recommended. We got ours just before closing, and then ate dinner next door at Mariscos Chente.

Tudor House: Cream of carrot soup (hint of ginger) with carrot chunks (good texture). Cornish pastie tasted like Christmas. Welsh Rarebit as good as homemade. The sausage roll was surprising because the sausage was smooth, almost like a cream, so it went well with the crispy pastry dough. The house tea, Red Rose, was a pleasant discovery and I took home a box of loose leaf from the attached shop. The entrees came with simple salads that were excellent. We also got scones with rasberry jam and clotted cream. Mmmm, clotted cream. One scone was light and fluffy and the other was denser with raisins. Both were tasty. For today they had a special of free Mimosas with the entrees, and the Mimosas were quite welcome. For dessert we had an almost perfect strawberries & whipped cream, and a rather lackluster sticky toffee pudding (not quite as bad as "storebought", but dry, flavorless, and a poor mix of textures...couldn't it at least by sticky or have toffee?). All together a wonderful experience that I hope to repeat again in the future. Perhaps next time as an afternoon tea (we so wanted tea sandwiches).

Angelato Cafe: Bleh bleh. Tastes artificial. Walk the extra block to Pinkberry at the East end of the promenade.

Tandoor India and Schmerty's Cookies

Tandoor India: Had Indian food delivered. Yelp and Chowhound claim there's no good Indian food in LA, but this wasn't bad. Assorted hors d'oeuvres (pakoras were good), Chicken Tikka Masala (creamy, simple, mild), Saag Paneer (not enough paneer, a bit salty, nice spinach flavor), Roti, Paratha, Paneer Naan (shrug...salty and not a good texture mix), Raita (fine, I wish I had a gyro to go with it), rice, and hot indian tea (stay away, not worth drinking...it was watery and the spices were weak). We'll probably order from here again, though I wish there was a better option.

Schmerty's Gourmet Cookies: Not bad, they definitely taste fresh and "home made", not artificial. The chocolate chip in a chocolate cookie was lacking nuts...the nut (pecan?) cookie was lacking oomph. Anyway, they're fine and I wouldn't turn one down, but oh do I miss cookies of yore.

Red Oak BBQ (Sunday Farmer's Market), Portos Bakery, Infuzion Cafe, Vanilla Bake Shop

Red Oak BBQ: We stumbled upon a Farmer's Market last Sunday, on our way to a disappointing used book store. I don't remember the location, but it was in west LA. Red Oak BBQ looked to have some good meat, so I got a plate of sliced beef (tri-tips). The meat was high quality, but it didn't have the flavor or the smoke ring that I've gotten used to in Texas. It didn't have a rub either, so it wasn't too flavorful. The BBQ sauce was pretty good, though. The baked beans were still chewy and not flavorful, though the sauce itself was flavorful...so in all, they just didn't slow cook anything enough.

At the same farmer's market we bought two straw hats, a wonderful all-juice apple/cherry drink (quite refreshing, lots of apple flavor with accents of cherry), and two mini bundt cakes that were extremely moist and surely weren't from a storebought mix. None of those had signs up with their names.

Portos: We ended up going to Brand bookstore in Glendale (which was great), and just stumbled upon the only other Portos bakery. It was super packed (200 people?) at 2:30 on a Sunday, so I didn't get a pastry. I did get a blended mocha coffee that was excellent, and a strawberry/banana smoothie (not bad, though a bit light on flavor). Again it had multiple ordering locations and the people in front of me in the beverages line were ordering non-beverages so I'm not sure what the deal is. Also, the pick-up (take-out?) area was empty, so maybe one could order there if you knew what you wanted? I'll have to go back sometime...like a weekday morning when I can actually sample the food. Or maybe I'll just call in an order.

Vanilla Bake Shop: Wandering around the 3rd St Promenade, we stopped to pick up a cupcake. I was leery because previous experiences buying cupcakes from cupcake shops have turned out poorly (too much icing of dubious quality on top of a dry flavorless cake). This spicy carrot cupcake was delicious, with a generous (perhaps too generous) topping of smooth cream cheese frosting and a deep infusion of cinnamon. I would go again, though I generally prefer pastries to cupcakes.

Infuzion Cafe: Continuing the wandering, we passed by a very busy Starbucks and found this little cafe that was doing steady, but less harried, business. I was excited about the variety on the menu, envisioning a Thai Iced Tea with strong tea and a separate layer of sweetened condensed milk...with bobas! Ah, a heavenly dream, but what I got wasn't worth describing except to say that bobas must be fresh with that variation in texture as you bite into one...or they really don't belong in my drink. I also got a chocolate croissant that wasn't bad, but I'd recommend getting pastries from the Le Pain Quotidien in the Promenade instead. I'll probably go back here...I expect to be in the Promenade relatively often and this place has several "best of coffee" type awards and editorials posted on their walls. Next time I'll go with something more standard for a cafe...like coffee.

Tamales from Farmer's Market

Unfortunately I forgot to check the name of this place. It's the tamale stand at the Virginia Avenue Park in Santa Monica. They've been there each Saturday for the past month so hopefully next time I go I'll remember to make a note of the name. We got one of each tamale, 8 total, for $17. At ~$2 per tamale, these are surprisingly large. We've tried 5 so far, which have all been good, but the chicken with jalapeños and the corn were extra tasty. The former would make a great meal, with the latter as dessert. The corn tamale was basically a sweet cornbread wrapped in a tamale. The salsa they provide is also good, with a tomato and maybe red bell pepper initial flavor (very fresh), with plenty of heat coming on after. I'll probably go here again and it's definitely a great value for good quality.

I also picked up an amaretto mocha from the espresso stand. It was hard not to get the espresso con panna again, but this said it was a special and I've never had the combination before. Looked pretty easy to put together, so maybe I'll try making it myself at home. Very tasty. Now that I've had it I'm surprised I haven't seen it on menus before, but I guess I'm surprised that mint mocha frappachinos aren't explicitly on the menu at Starbucks too.

Also had a croissant with swiss cheese from the cafe laurent stand. Extremely good as always.

The Georgian Hotel

Georgian Hotel: This morning was spent at the Santa Monica Pier, where I went with the simple approach to picking a place to eat of going with whatever looks most popular. The Georgian Hotel has a small veranda of something like ten 2 and 4-person tables that was popular enough that it had people waiting to sit on it throughout the time we had breakfast there. We ate inside since there wasn't any wait for the inside tables. The staff were rather busy, a bit hectic, but seemed to have everything almost under control. And the food was delicious. Fresh squeezed OJ...mmmm. A good espresso (definitely intense and hot). For some reason I ordered the French Toast souffle without realizing that it would be bread pudding. I like bread pudding, and this was probably the best bread pudding I've ever had, but I was still just a bit surprised to have it for breakfast. Not a bad idea for breakfast though. Just replace the rum sauce with strawberries and sliced almonds and add a side of syrup and dessert becomes breakfast.
Anyway, this bread pudding had the best texture I've experienced: tender bread (no dryness anywhere) with very smooth eggy bits (not rubbery at all) and some flavor. Three slices of bacon were crispy and flavorful, though not especially thick like the best bacon. A wedge of watermelon and a slice of orange were both liquid gold in my mouth. In all, a wonderful meal, even if it did cost more than I'd been planning to spend on breakfast before I laid eyes on the place.

Normandie Bakery and Noah's Bagels

Normandie Bakery in/near Culver City: This was recommended to me, and otherwise I wouldn't have stumbled on it. The mini muffin was excellent; I think it used buttermilk. The croissant was rather good, but not as flavorful as Breadman's or Le Pain Quotidien's. The blueberry scone was actually a muffin...very disappointing. The jam-topped butter cookie was quite good, with a full berry flavor and a buttery flavor. The baguette has an extremely crispy crust, but the crumb has poor texture, and there's no flavor. Not what I'm looking for in a bread. This bakery is the cheapest I've found in the area, though, as all the above cost less than $7.

Noah's Bagels in Marina del Rey: Very close to Mother's Beach, we stopped for a frozen blended caramel coffee that was weak and too sweet. Basically, it tasted like sugar, not coffee or caramel. The blueberry bagel poppers were pretty good, though with an unnecessary sugar coating. I would definitely get a regular (not coated with sugar) bagel from them.

Cafe Bellagio and Rocker Wagner Bakery

Cafe Bellagio: While exploring the 3rd street promenade this morning I got a mocha and a chocolate croissant from Cafe Bellagio. I've had excellent espresso from there previously, and the mocha was pretty good. The coffee was relatively strong, with a subtle chocolate flavor. The croissant, on the other hand, was apparently made from a bread dough...something that reminded me of fruitcakes. It wasn't a winner and about a third of it went in the trashcan.

Rocken Wagner Bakery: Then I stopped by another bakery in the area purely on account of how the pretzels looked. Thankfully they lived up to their appearance. Nice color, good flavor, and chewy. They've got just a slight baking soda taste to them, not as much as my homemade pretzels but that's probably a good thing. I also picked up a plain croissant there that was pretty good, though not as flavorful as (for example) the Breadman croissant I had this past weekend. I hope to go back to this bakery and try their sandwiches made with pretzels for bread. Now that I know the pretzels are good they're pretty enticing.

Penzey's Spices: Not pre-made food, but a store full of wonderful spices. I bought some robust peppercorns, a chili powder blend, and some vanilla extract. I can't wait to try them out. I'm not sure how often I'll go back, but it's a great store to visit occasionally and sample the finer spices in life. (How often do I need more spices? And would I be willing to pay top dollar instead of buying supermarket spices?)

Wiseguys Pizza

Wiseguys Pizza in Orange: After hanging out at Irvine Park for a while, dinner was at a nearby pizza joint. We started with a horrible surprise: the "fresh house made lemonade" is Minute Maid crap. The manager argued that it *was* lemonade (he's the one that told us it was Minute Maid...we were guessing Crystal Light), but it was barely drinkable so I don't think he knew what he was talking about. Thankfully the meal trended sharply upwards (I haven't walked out of a restaurant in over three years and it would be depressing to do so again). The house salad was relatively standard, though with nice bacon nibs. The appetizer pretzel wasn't bad, though the pretzel itself wasn't special the sauce was a very flavorful marinara. The pizza itself (Milan), had a medium-thickness crust. Not greasy, but not really special. It was topped with sausage of a very good/soft texture though a bit bland, and carmelized onions that were so sweet I couldn't taste anything else. In a pizza like this I expect the sauce to steal the show, a meaty, spicy tomato sauce...having the sweet flavor or carmelized onions overpower everything was odd. Shaking red pepper flakes on top at least made the heat better, at least. Not a bad pizza, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get it. Finally, for dessert we had a cookie pizza, which was a large, very chocolate-y cookie topped with a good helping of (vanilla?) gelato of good consistency and not bad flavor (though very overpowered by the cookie), chocolate sauce drizzle, and whip cream on the sides (didn't seem like fake whip cream, but didn't seem quite authentic either). A wonderful note to end the meal on.

Santa Monica Farmer's Market (Arizona & 3rd)

Tried the other Saturday Farmer's Market this time, at the 3rd St promenade.

Breadman: Excellent pastries. The croissant appears to use only butter and was full of flavor with a pretty good texture. Of course it would've been better hot out of the oven, but they do not have a shop so no chance of that. Also got a poppyseed pastry, seemed to be made out of challah or brioche dough, very moist and a wonderful taste of poppyseeds. I also got a loaf of 9-grain, which isn't bad but isn't special either...some nutty flavor, no crust to speak of, like a hefty sandwich bread.

We also bought tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella from various vendors and put together caprese sandwiches/salads at home. All three ingredients were excellent, but the cheese really takes the cake. We got it from the goat cheese vendor and he said it is made from water buffalo milk. It's the first mozzarella I've had with depth of flavor. It has a very smooth start, slight tang in the middle, and just the hint of a sour aftertaste. I keep wanting to say it tastes like grass, but I've had many grass-tasting cheeses, and this is nothing like that. Really a most amazing cheese. Add a bit of 10-year aged balsamic vinegar from Zingermans, and the combination is too good to put on bread.

House of Thai Taste

House of Thai Taste in Westside LA: Delivery for dinner tonight. We've been craving Thai food lately so we dug through the 5 or so fliers that have been left at the house in the past two weeks. Based on online reviews we picked House of Thai Taste and was quite pleased with the result. Food was delivered in about 35 minutes. We got Heavenly Shrimp (shrimp in crispy egg noodle), Wild Ocean soup (lemon grass base with a variety of seafood), Pad Thai, Roasted Duck Curry (red curry), brown rice, and a Thai iced tea. The two best dishes were the curry with its tasty duck covered in a just-right red curry, and the soup with a fresh lemongrass flavor soaking some very tasty seafood bits (including lobster, mussel, and scallops) along with bursts of cilantro. The Thai iced tea was pretty good, relatively standard, but without the layering of coconut milk like usual. The Pad Thai had good flavor, but without any peanut and with so-so noodles. The shrimp was odd...the texture of the crispy noodles didn't work with the shrimp and the shrimp didn't have enough flavor, so the sweet and sour sauce was necessary, but then why get something with shrimp in it in the first place? In all, a very tasty meal.

Literati Cafe

Literati Cafe: I'm a bit stumped by the acclaim this place gets. Maybe it's the sandwiches or breakfast foods. Apparently it can be a good place to people-watch. I got a latte, ham & cheese croissant, and a 5-grain raisin scone. The clear favorite is the scone, with the raisins providing good flavor while the five grains add a subtle nutty counterpoint and some texture...the bread part itself isn't bad either. The latte is rather bitter with a weak aftertaste. It's almost like it's got tannin in it because the back of my tongue feels like it's puckering. The puff pastry has no flavor and isn't flaky.

Banal Fail

Or maybe Huckleberry Fail, since this is a food blog.

Tried to stop by the Literati Cafe today, but didn't want to park in the valet lot and didn't want to risk getting towed due to parking at Ralph's nearby. Next time I may brave the valet, but it seems silly to pay $2.50 (?) plus tip just to park to get a coffee...food reviews seem mixed. Street parking is an option before 4pm...

Then stopped by Jack & Jill's and Read Food Daily Bakery. Jack & Jill's was closed...their menu says they're open from 11am until closing (it was close to 5pm). Real Food Daily's bakery had some cakes and a couple cookies, all of which looked pretty, but I didn't find any of it especially appealing. No bread, no pastries. They had a coffee machine, but I couldn't find coffee listed anywhere for purchase so I just walked out without buying anything. The menu for the restaurant looks interesting though, so I may be back sometime.

Izzy's deli and Vienna pastry

Izzy's Deli in Santa Monica: This diner was recommended by a friend as the one place he knows in Santa Monica. Parking was hard...I'm starting to realize that it will be easier for me to assume parking will be hard and instead note when it's easy. There's a deli/bagel/pastry counter, and a diner seating area. I was there for breakfast, so it was too early to see any of their sandwiches. The pictures on the menu looked "mile-high" with meat, and their tagline said "If our sandwiches are too large, invite a friend."
The meal was almost Texas-sized. Delicate corned beef hash with a light flavor but quite addicting. Two eggs, scrambled, toothy but not springy and a consistent texture...very good though a plain flavor. Too bad the pepper was pre-ground, even if fragrant. I don't get what's up with that; pepper is always much better ground on-demand, so why isn't that the standard? I also got a bagel (perfectly toasted, not painful on the roof of my mouth) with truly excellent cream cheese, creamy but a bit sour, not as thick as usual cream cheese and with a smooth aftertaste. The coffee was solid diner coffee. I also tried some buttermilk pancakes: light, fluffy, and tasty. Unfortunately, they didn't have any fancy syrups, not even maple syrup.
On the way out I bought a slice of apple strudel (a bit soggy, flavored with cinnamon, raisins, corn flakes, and some spice I can't identify...tastes German...overall a bit heavy but not bad), and a slice of a custard (delicate...forgettable). Next time I think I'll try a slice of pie because they looked good.
A+ for the staff. They were very attentive. The seating area was only half full at 9:20 am on a Monday. All in all, an excellent experience.

Vienna Pastry in Santa Monica: Lots of pastries, some breads, and desserts. The plain croissant is quite good. Not quite the best flavor I've had in the past week or two, but there's definitely butter in there, and the texture's pretty good (flaky on the outside and a tiny bit chewy on the inside...not stale but not quite fresh). If I were walking by this patisserie, I wouldn't hesitate to stop in and grab a croissant, but if I were driving specifically in hunt of croissants I might pick another destination.

Also had some cheese curds (with garlic), purchased this past weekend at the cheese booth at the Farmer's Market. Great stuff. It's hard for me to describe. Heavy garlic flavor up front, but the finishing taste is like a mild cheddar or maybe provolone. The consistency is something like fresco queso and it comes in thumb-sized nuggets. Highly recommended. The lemon quark is also great, a very lemony soft cheese spread. We also got some cultured butter there, which has good flavor and a consistency slightly thicker than brie.

Bay Cities, King's Cafe

Bay Cities Italian Deli in Santa Monica: I heard about this on chowhound in a 256 post forum about best sandwiches in Los Angeles. The forum said it had long lines and to order online for pickup, but I showed up at 2pm on a Sunday expecting the line to be reasonable. Parking was tough, but I don't mind walking a block or two for a good sandwich.
First off, the store is packed like sardines, particularly at the door/checkout area, but push through and you'll find a wonderful selection of cheeses, olive oils, pastas, imported cookies, etc. As well as a counter surrounded by 30+ people. When I got a ticket, #85, the current number being called was #19. I stayed around 15 minutes and they got up to about #30 when I decided to go home, order online on their website, and utilize the very quiet pick-up counter. That worked great and I highly recommend ordering online. I don't think a little counter-time detracts from the sandwiches at all.
The Godmother is the sandwich to get, apparently, and I also got a roast beef sandwich. The meats (Genoa Salami, Mortadella Coppacola, Ham, and Prosciutto on the Godmother) are high quality, fresh, and flavorful. For that matter, so was everything on/around the meats. Bright cucumbers, sharp onions, fresh tomatoes, and hot peppers. The italian bread has a great, crispy crust and a slightly sour taste. Wonderful texture/flavor and it goes great around the sandwich. I also got a fresh loaf (it was hot when I picked it up off the rack which made me smile) and devoured half of it on the drive home. The only downside was that the rye bread I got on the roast beef sandwich was passable, but not anywhere near as good as everything else.
In addition to the sandwiches, I picked up some incredibly soft (but not so flavorful) mozzarella in water, some excellently elegant chicken salad (such wonderful chicken flavor), and great coleslaw (if a bit heavy).
I plan on returning many times...but ordering the sandwiches online first. This isn't my favorite sandwich (that would be one of several sandwiches from the Oxford Spa in Cambridge, MA) or even the second (the cuban from Chez Henri in Cambridge, MA), but if you're looking for a really good italian sub or an honest-to-goodness deli with neat shopping, it's a great choice.

King's Cafe in Culver City: I saw a handful of people clustered around this little cafe, which piqued my curiosity. Once inside I was impressed by the laid back atmosphere, accentuated by books, boardgames (risk, chess, etc), and a guitar, all for use by patrons. I don't often see Turkish Coffee on the menu, so I jumped at the chance to get a cup, and also picked up a scone. Watching the barrista (owner?) get out a hotplate (for the coffee) brought me a burst of happiness. The coffee was great. Nice flavor, just the right bitterness, with a good amount of grounds at the bottom (if you like Turkish coffee). The scone was a mixed deal. Not only did it have many ingredients (coconut, cinnamon, chocolate chip, various nuts), but the sweetness varied (due to the sweetened coconut?) and though it was nicely crunchy on top it was dry throughout (but not old English style...too pasty). Not something I'll pick up again. If he'd had a croissant I would've tried it though because the puff pastry dough on the spinach pastry looked good.

Santa Monica Farmer's Market (various)

Farmer's Market (Santa Monica) today.

Mis Padres Tacos: one chicken w/ veggies taco and one beef w/ veggies taco (plus a few chips and a bit of salsa). Great all around. The corn tortillas are flavorful. The beef is properly browned/charred, the veggies are all fresh and combine into a wonderful taste. The chicken taco is put together slightly better than the beef, just because the beef could use a bit more kick...add the hot (red) salsa to really complete the beef taco. The chips are high quality and the salsas are pretty good. The red salsa is hot and very fresh tasting. The clear-ish, pink-ish salsa is mild-to-medium but not as flavorful. In all, I can't recommend this more. I would say it's better than any Mexican I had over three years in Texas.

Cafe Laurent: Peach and custard tart and blueberry muffin. The tart is just short of amazing. Beautiful and very tasty peach on the buttery pastry dough, separated by a creamy custard. Wonderful flavors, the tart is marred only by the slight sogginess where the peach juices flowed past the custard and reached the pastry dough. If I could only get these fresh! The blueberry muffin isn't bad. Not amazing like the tart, but still a good muffin. Plenty of blueberries, a good size, correctly cooked, but just not special. I talked with the salesperson again, he told me the only difference in the pastries at the farmer's market and the storefront is the environment/age, and he recommended I check out the Normandy Bakery for bread.

I think I need to update the pastry ranking because any pastry from the Cafe Laurent stall is great.
Oh, and when I last ranked pastries I forgot to mention the cheese danish/roll I got from Portos last week. I'll have to go again to remember exactly what it was like, but I do remember it was surprisingly good.

Espresso Experience: A Russian Kream Koffee. Great coffee here. Last week I got the espresso con panna and was blown away with the combination of whip cream and espresso. This week my Russian Kreme was good, but not quite great. The aftertaste was excellent, being nice and mellow. The coffee itself had good flavor, but the sweetener was a bit cloying...perhaps there was high fructose corn syrup involved?

Old Town Baking: A bag of six hand-sized ciabatta's. Not bad, they're coated in flour so that's what the mostly taste of. They're very soft with a pretty good crumb, but just don't have the flavor or texture that I'm looking for in a ciabatta. Last week's harvest loaf was great though, so I'm going to keep buying from this stand.

Legal Grind and Antequera Bakery

After stopping into Albertson's, I glanced across the road and saw what appeared to be a coffee shop, Legal Grind. It turned out to have closed at 2pm (on Friday). The first item on the menu: Coffee and Counsel $45. Apparently one can get legal advice (different types on different days?) and coffee. Looking through the window, the room looked like a nice place to hang out. The website stresses the legal advice and doesn't really mention the coffee so not what I'm looking for, but I love one of their taglines, "Thirsty for Justice?"

I also stopped by the Antequera Bakery on Ocean Park Blvd. Mexican bakery. I picked up two bread/pastry items based on the recommendation of the salesperson. A thickly sliced bread, rich but not quite as rich as brioche, slathered with butter and sprinkled with sugar. Tasty, though stale. The other bread was shaped like a croissant, with the same dough base, but with the sugar baked (?) on the outside in a pretty design. Not quite as tasty and just as stale. I doubt I'll be going back. Ethnic bakeries I stumble upon tend to suffer from stale products, presumably because they don't get enough business. It's a shame because I like the variety. I do remember one or two bakeries in Boston's Chinatown that had fresh breads/cookies. I'll have to try bakeries in LA's Chinatown...looks like there are several with at least one highly rated, The Phoenix Bakery.

Oh, and the sharp chedder "pub cheese" spread from Trader Joe's is wonderful. Head (cheese) and shoulders above any other cheese spread I've had, and it's really cheese (great ingredient list, elegant even).

Cafe Laurent, The Corner, Pinkberry

Started the day with a run by Cafe Laurent in Culver City. Yesterday I stopped by late afternoon and they were closed, which was sorely disappointing because it had been two days since any (worthwhile) pastry. The cafe mocha was tasty, similar to a hot chocolate. It may have had real whip cream on top, but the coffee was too hot to verify before it melted away (not a downside, coffee is best hot of course...if I hadn't been driving the whip cream wouldn't have dispersed). For pastry satisfaction I picked up an almond croissant and a raisin pastry. After having a plain/butter croissant from their stall at the Santa Monica farmer's market (great flavor, but texture was a bit stale), unfortunately the almond croissant was a dissapointment; not as flavorful (butter-wise), even more stale, and instead of crafting an almond croissant from the start they had taken a plain croissant and dressed it up. Somehow they taste better if they start out trying to be a filled croissant instead of being sliced in two and filled at a later time. Anyway, enough of the downside...the raisin pastry was excellent and is now on my list of top pastries. The raisin pastry had raisins in each bite, but the pastry dough had excellent flavor for a wonderful balance between the two. Slightly sweet, with a great texture though just the tiniest bit too chewy for my preferences.

Top pastries (so far) around Santa Monica:
1. plain croissant from Le Pain Quotidien
2. raisin pastry from Cafe Laurent (the cafe itself)
3. plain croissant from Cafe Larent (Santa Monica's farmer's market)
4. apple tart from Amandine

Unfortunately, the server/barrista (perhaps owner?) let me know that the pastries are made in a bakery that is not accessible to the public, ruining dreams of fresh croissants. So sad, but will soldier on.

For dinner we had our first experience at The Corner in Marina del Ray, but probably not our last. Burgers made to order. The meat itself was fine-to-good, properly cooked Medium. Bread looked whole-wheat, though it wasn't the reason to go back. Sweet potato fries were tasty but not super crispy; fried pickle slices were fine (with a great apricot dipping sauce that overwhelmed the pickle flavor); and the two shakes were pretty tasty (strawberry) and ok (chocolate). But none of that is the reason I will probably be returning: the burger toppings. I went with red onions, lettuce, pickles, excellent bacon, hard boiled eggs, and sharp provolone with a soy glaze on the side. Wonderful flavor. Onions and pickles were mild...egg went even better on a burger than I had expected. Very tasty blend of flavors, and with so many toppings, cheeses, and sauces I won't be running out of flavors to try anytime soon. Perhaps carrots and guacamole next time...with grilled onions. Only low note was that so much salt made me very thirsty later in the night.

Finished off the night with a parfait from Pinkberry. My second experience and I continue to love the tart (original) flavor of the frozen yogurt and the super-bright flavor of all the fruit toppings. The parfait is recommended if you don't mind granola in your frozen yogurt and you want to try most (all?) of their fruits/berries. Pinkberry will probably be my go-to dessert choice unless I find a good gelato place like the one in Mountain View, CA.