Best of L.A.: Food and Drink

—Noah Galuten

BEST IT’S A SMALL, SMALL SUSHI WORLD

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El Pollo Inka

15400 Hawthorne Blvd.
Lawndale, CA 90260

Category: Restaurant > Fast Food

Region: South Bay

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More About

• Nicolas Taborek
• Noah Galuten
• Liz Ohanesian
• North-American Food and Cooking
• Meat

Look at the cute little sushis coming down the line. Whoever invented conveyor-belt sushi is a genius. At Frying Fish in Little Tokyo, the delectable bits of tuna and mackerel and yellowtail travel on UFO-ish covered cups moved by a clinking belt, a miniature version of an airport baggage-claim carousel. A’Float Sushi in Pasadena takes it one step further: The sushi travels on lacquered boats down a watery river, the edible version of the It’s a Small World ride at Disneyland. Around and around they go, the tiny boats laden with their cargo of spicy tuna and octopus salad and salmon avocado and honey-walnut shrimp-tempura rolls. You grab them as the boats sail past your spot at the central table, sort of an inverse smorgasbord. A tiny bushel of edamame helms each ship. This isn’t just dinner, it’s high art: the baroque, haiku, post-post-post-Modern version of deep-sea fishing. Frying Fish, 20 Japanese Village Plaza Mall, Little Tokyo (213) 680-0567. A’Float Sushi, 87 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. (626) 792-9779.

—Gendy Alimurung

BEST VEGETARIAN FAST FOOD AT A CHICKEN PLACE

Just an aside: Did you ever notice that even holier-than-thou vegetarians still sport leather bags and shoes—as if “wearing” animals doesn’t count? Hypocriticality aside, when you skip the footed foods at California Chicken Café, you should feel positively virtuous dining on any of the chain’s incredibly healthy and dirt-cheap veggie delights. While your carnivore cowhide-wearing chums feast on what’s just the best rotisserie chicken around, you can honor your animal-free commitment by wearing cruelty-free canvas and chowing down on the 100-percent vegan broccoli or veggie soup, along with vegetarian sides such as fruit salad, squash, mashed potatoes (sans gravy), roasted potatoes, broccoli pasta salad, veggie rice primavera and Chinese cabbage salad—all prepared without oils, mayo or butter. Prices range from $2.75 to $8.50 for half-pints, pints and quarts. 6805 Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 935-5877; 2401 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 453-0477; and five other locations; californiachickencafe.com.

—Heidi Dvorak

BEST EDIBLE PILLOWS

I’ve never really had gnocchi before. Oh, I thought I had. But all the gnocchi of my past paled in comparison to Gaetano’s. Tiny potatoey pillows of perfection in a tangy Gorgonzola sauce. I pause between forkfuls, lost in gastro-catatonic bliss. To call these mere potato dumplings is like saying the Sistine Chapel has a good paint job. Gaetano’s secret: the gnocchi are made fresh every day. So light they seem to melt away like snowflakes on my tongue. On the outside Gaetano’s is unprepossessing, hidden away in a shopping center in suburban Torrance, but on the inside you will find the sublime. Torrance Towne Center, 2731 Pacific Coast Highway, Torrance. (310) 326-3354.

—Jedd Birkner

BEST PHO HUT

The reputation of Golden Deli, the San Gabriel Valley’s most famous house of Vietnamese pho and banh hoi, is such that a trip there feels like an important cultural undertaking. If you come at dinnertime, be prepared to stand around in the parking lot for 20 minutes or more. Once you make it inside, you’ll understand why it’s worth the wait. Just $5.25 gets you a big steaming bowl of deliciously seasoned broth with noodles and thin, cooked beef that’s somehow far better than the lesser, more expensive versions served at Vietnamese restaurants around town. Purists will opt for the soups with beef tendon and tripe, but there’s no shame in leaving out the entrails’ connective tissues. If it’s too hot for soup, go for one of the banh hoi dishes: cold vermicelli noodles topped with chives and your choice of beef, pork or egg rolls. When you leave you aren’t just full and happy, you feel like you’ve completed an exercise in self-improvement. 815 W. Las Tunas Dr., San Gabriel. (626) 308-0803.

—Nicolas Taborek

BEST BIG, FAT GREEK-O ON PICO

In old-timey L.A. days, this area (Pico about two miles west of downtown) held an actual Greek residential enclave. Now the neighborhood is sub-Koreatown and primarily Latino, yet you can still find an incredibly ornate Greek Orthodox church and this quite useful and delicious grocery store/restaurant that is making Greek converts of the neighbors, whatever their background. Papa Cristos C & K Importing is one-third shelved groceries and service counter; one-third hot, prepared food counter; and one-third large, bright, sparsely casual dining room. Here the savory spiciness of Middle Eastern, the light, fresh healthfulness of Mediterranean, and the toothsome heartiness of Eastern European are all on display in Papa Cristos’ spanakopita, dolmades, tyropitakia, tzatziki, souvlaki, moussaka and oktopodakia. Thursday nights feature a much raved-about “Big Fat Greek Dinner” special. Be fat and Greek; be very, very fat and Greek. 2771 W. Pico Blvd., L.A. (323) 737-2970

—Adam Gropman

BEST HEALTHY, HELPFUL DINING

Stepping into the Green Zone’s sleek and modern dining room, it’s easy to forget you just parked at a jam-packed San Gabriel mini-mall and there’s a foot massage place next door. From the fresh-squeezed pomegranate juice to the wild-caught salmon and the organic ingredients touted in most items, everything here seems whisked over from the beach. The simple, healthy cuisine, though, is every bit worth the trip inland. The waiters are friendly and helpful, and the prices, though not necessarily a bargain by the extremely reasonable standards in San Gabriel Valley standards, are very moderate. Try the Asian grilled pork chop for $7.50 or the wonton noodle soup with pork and shrimp for $6.50. An appetizer of deep-fried salmon triangles with a mild, wasabi dipping sauce is $5.95. While not exactly small, portion sizes remind you the owners have your waistline’s best interest in mind. 534 E. Valley Blvd., Ste. 5, San Gabriel. (626) 288-9300.