Where To Eat Now

Comments (0) By Jonathan Gold Wednesday, Nov 15 2006

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Pasadena and vicinity

LA99 Pie ’n Burger. Even in Los Angeles . . . where it is possible to eat not only wood-fired goat-cheese pizza with duck sausage and sun-dried fennel, but also reasonably authentic Merida-style cochinito pibil and properly made Cambodian catfish amok, sometimes only a hamburger will do. Pie ’n Burger is an essential address at these times. Like all good hamburgers, paper-jacketed Pie ’n Burgers are all about texture, the crunchy sheaf of lettuce, the carbonized surface of the meat, the outer rim of the bun crisped to almost the consistency of toast, plus pink dressing and soft, sweet grilled onions. The fries are good too. 913 E. California Blvd., Pasadena, (626) 795-1123. Mon.–Fri. 6 a.m.–10 p.m., Sat. 7 a.m.–10 p.m., Sun,. 7 a.m.–9 p.m. Beer and wine. Takeout. Lot parking. Cash or check. Entrées $5–$10. American. JG ¢b

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Izakaya Haru Ulala

368 E. Second St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Category: Restaurant > Japanese

Region: Downtown

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LA99 Trattoria Tre Venezie. Tre Venezie, a tiny Italian restaurant in Pasadena’s Old Town, could easily pass for one of the better trattorias in Udine — the cooking, mostly in the Slavic-influenced style of Friuli, northeast of Venice, is superb. True, the careful authenticity of the food must be balanced against the fact that dinner with a nice wine can cost not much less than a roundtrip ticket to Venice itself. But I love the orzotto, a soothing Friulian stew of tripe and grain that emphasizes the gentle muskiness, the slippery contours of the meat, without an offending chile in sight. 119 W. Green St., Pasadena, (626) 795-4455. Lunch Fri. 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m.; dinner Tues.–Sun. 5:30–10 p.m. Full bar. Valet and street parking. AE, DC, MC, V. $25–$32. Italian. JG $$b

Monterey Park/San Gabriel and vicinity

Luscious Dumplings Inc. There are the usual kinds of dumplings and noodles here. But the pan-fried pork dumplings at Luscious Dumplings Inc. can be absolutely magnificent things — flattened hemispheres blackened to a luminous, carbon-edged crunch, heavily caramelized, then exploding in the mouth with a blistering, onion-scented pop, a primal flood of juice, of heat, of flavor. 704 W. Las Tunas Drive, No. E4, San Gabriel, (626) 282-8695. Lunch and dinner Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.–2 p.m. and 5–8 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.–2 p.m. No alcohol. Lot parking. Cash only. Lunch for two, food only, $10–$16. JG $b

LA99 New Concept. From the week it opened, New Concept was celebrated as a beacon of Chinese cuisine in Los Angeles, an elegant Monterey Park restaurant with actual mainland ownership, elaborate photo menus and a chef, Chen Chen Liang, who had reinvented the possibilities of Chinese cooking in America. Foodies swooned over the coffee-flavored pork and the soda-pop chicken wings. But you’ll do better with more traditional Hong Kong–style dishes: roast duck seasoned with cinnamon; Shunde-style fish soup; rich Macao-style roast pork; and steamed whole fish, which can be ruinously expensive if you forget to determine the price. 700 S. Atlantic Blvd., Monterey Park, (626) 282-6800. Dim sum Mon.–Fri. 10:30 a.m.–3 p.m., Sat.–Sun. 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; dinner nightly 5–11 p.m. No alcohol. Street parking. MC, V. Chinese. JG $$$ [