Southeast Asia

The Road to Bali

Night + Market: 99 Essential Restaurants 2013

Ha Tien Quan: Vietnamese Gumbo in the SGV

It begins innocently enough: You have your first taste of pho somewhere like Golden Deli, the noodle shop on the outer reaches of San Gabriel, where the fragrant, stunningly clear broth is as famous as the crunchy egg rolls. Like any proper gateway drug, you soon begin to run the gamut of chintzy p ... More >>

Night Market's Kris Yenbamroong: New Dishes A Trip to Thailand

In Bangkok and barely over jetlag, Night Market chef Kris Yenbamroong of helped his diminutive 81-year-old paternal grandmother, Vilai Yenbamroong, into the back of a white van for what he calls "an epic trip." Their game plan was to head out of the city up the Friendship Highway through Isaan ( ... More >>

Touche Amore's Southeast Asian Tour Diary: "I Cannot Put Into Words How Terrifying the Drive Was"

Los Angeles hardcore group Touche Amore is sharing their tour diary from their recent trip to Southeast Asian. Yesterday vocalist Jeremy Bolm described their wild times in Singapore and Malaysia, and for part two today he talks on their time in Indonesia. See also: Touche Amore's Southeast Asia Tou ... More >>

Touche Amore's Southeast Asia Tour Diary: "Little Regard for Our Personal Well-Being"

Full of emotion and earnestness, Touche Amore's 2009 full-length debut ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse was a walloping punch to the gut of the hardcore scene. Their 2011 follow-up Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me kept the jabs coming. The Los Angeles group's popularity has grown in large p ... More >>

How Hollywood Movies Led to Genocide: The Act of Killing at the Toronto Film Festival

The best, most daring and form-defying documentaries in the world right now are being funded by the Danish Film Institute, and so it goes that the nonfiction knockout of TIFF thus far is The Act of Killing -- made with Danish support and directed by American Joshua Oppenheimer, executive produced by ... More >>

Boiling Point's Thai-Taiwanese Combo Soup

Is it Thai, or is it Taiwanese? It's both. We're talking about the Thai Flavor Hot Soup at Boiling Point, a Taiwanese soup chain with several Southern California locations, including a new one in San Gabriel.

Isla Cocina Pilipina: Eagle Rock's Thrilla From Manila

Does Filipino cuisine have a publicity rep? Because if it does, he should be working overtime right now. At every hip gastropub in town -- and certainly there is no shortage of those -- the pig has been elevated to princely levels. It's a mathematical certainty that the menu will feature some kind o ... More >>

JTYH Restaurant, Starry Kitchen Bee Yinn Low at Macy's

Macy's doesn't just celebrate holidays. It celebrates "months." Black History Month in February. Then Hispanic Heritage Month in September. For June, LGBT National Pride Month. Now, it's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month -- and that calls for food. This Saturday afternoon, two store locations wi ... More >>

Cookbook Of The Week: Memories of Philippine Kitchens For Your Weekend Pig's Blood Stew

If you don't happen to have any of your own Memories of Philippine Kitchens -- banana hearts in coconut milk, chicken tinola, hot salabat -- Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan's cookbook by that name will soon be re-released with updated content (the book includes a history of Filipino foods) and recipes. ... More >>

Act of Valor Review

Cupcakes Continue World Domination and Other Lessons from Google's 2011 Zeitgeist

R.E.~/FlickrCupcakes were one of the most Googled terms of 2011​Much to our chagrin, the cupcake is a trend that just won't die: according to Google's 2011 Year-End Zeitgeist, cupcakes were one of the most popular Food and Drink search terms of the year. Other fascinating revelations about ou ... More >>

Central Vietnamese in the O.C. ... or Echo Park

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​Dear Mr. Gold: What's your favorite place to eat Hue/Central Vietnam food in Los Angeles? Also, do you ever venture down to the O.C. for some eats? --Brian Tran, via Facebook

L.A.'s Idea of Thai Food vs. What Thais Really Eat

Our Venn Food Diagram series so far has hopscotched all over the globe, exploring Indian, Midwest American, and, most recently, Korean foods. As you probably can tell, this series is an organized chaos; our destinations are chosen in no particular order. Today, we randomly focus on Thailand to see ... More >>

Top Thai Chef Comes to L.A. A Recipe for Duck Larb

Barbara Hansenchef McDang​Royalty just left Los Angeles. Now it's coming again. The royal personage arriving this week is chef McDang (real name ML Sirichalerm Svasti) of the Thai royal family. Not content to rest on regal laurels, McDang has become a culinary celebrity in Thailand, appearing ... More >>

Kayamanan Ng Lahi

Henry Rollins: The Column! Sound Trekking

Timothy Norris​[The one and only Henry Rollins contributes a weekly column and far-reaching reportage to the music section of the LA Weekly. Look for your weekly Henry Rollins fix right here on West Coast Sound every week and make sure to tune in to Henry's KCRW radio show every Saturday eveni ... More >>

EVERYBODY THAI NOW!

Evan Kleiman Talks Global Street Food - Tickets on Sale Tomorrow

​Street food existed long before the myriad of Twittering food trucks took over Los Angeles. Evan Kleiman (chef/owner of Angeli Caffe, host of KCRW's Good Food) reminds us of that on May 1st, when she moderates the Global Street Food event featuring OC Weekly Managing Editor and food contribut ... More >>

And Now for Something Completely Different: Fried Chicken

D. Gonzalez Samusas at Jasmine Market​ When it comes to dining in Los Angeles, there are can be paths of predictability. Depending on the craving, there are areas where nearly every other restaurant is a safe bet and others where we should have known better. But then there is fried chicken, ... More >>

Silk Road Storytime

In Search Of: Chad Brown on Rare Country From Prison, Johnny Paycheck and the Phillipines

courtesy chad brown​ Chad Brown is an L.A.-based DJ and the singer/guitarist in CB Brand, and he may well know more about country music than anyone you're likely to encounter in this city. He is a true historian who recalls the backstories of each record in immense detail--from how he found i ... More >>

Bill Clinton Replaces Mel Gibson As Celeb Cameo Of Choice In 'The Hangover 2'

Psycho Hollywood bad boy out, vintage White House bad boy in​Zach Galifianakis threw a tantrum last month when "Hangover" director Todd Philips so much as considered giving the world's biggest arse a few minutes of screentime in the July 2011 sequel to the No. 1 bromantic comedy of the ots. W ... More >>

Steven Erik Prowler, Onetime L.A. Resident, Gets 25 Years For Having Sex With Underage Boys In Southeast Asia

FoxHerbert.​A Los Angeles man was sentenced to 25 years behind bars after an original sentence of 10 years for traveling abroad to have sex with minors was rejected by a federal judge as too light. He was convicted of having sex with underage boys in Southeast Asia and Mexico. Steven Erik Pro ... More >>

Weavers' Stories from Island Southeast Asia

Pho Tacos?

Yep, pho tacos at Xoia in Echo Park

Siam Sunset: The Thaiest Thai in Thai Town

It's all about the ordinary

First Bite: Pho Tacos? Yep, Pho Tacos at Xoia in Echo Park

Christie BishopJonagold apple, portions removed​A journey through Vietnam, I am told, is empty without a visit to Hoi An, a port city in the middle of the country famous for the beauty of its old town. And a visit to Hoi An is without meaning unless it includes a bowl or three of cao lau, a th ... More >>

A Culinary Tour of Vietnam Tastings and Wine

Amazon​Taste Vietnamese food prepared by author Kim Fay this Wednesday, July 14th, at a celebration for her just-published book, Communion: A Culinary Journey Through Vietnam. Fay's sister, Julie Fay Ashborn, whose photos appear in the book, will also take part. The time is 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. ... More >>

Plate Spinning: Listings From the Past Week

Some food for thought from local, national and international news sources from this past week: -- Should I Move to France? (28 Questions to Ask Yourself) [David Lebovitz] -- Wendy's pulls disco CD from kid's meals because of "racy" Donna Summer lyrics. So now they can just go home and listen to ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 6/7-6/11

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "She gets her cow, you can eat as low on the food chain as you'd like, and you all drink hoppy oceans of microbrew - everybody wins!"

Stage Raw: Tracers

COMPREHENSIVE THEATRE LISTINGSNEW THEATER REVIEWSCURRENT FEATURE ON AUDIENCESNEW REVIEW GO TRACERS ​ Photo courtesy of the Loft Ensemble Thirty years after its Los Angeles debut, writer John DiFusco's anti-war drama retains its relevance and power. Written collaboratively in the 1970s by DiFu ... More >>

Squid Ink Special: Banana Sauce

N. GalutenThe other red ketchup​Ketchup is, obviously, the great American condiment. Jeffrey Steingarten, in fact, wrote an excellent article about it, which can be found in his book The Man Who Ate Everything. But while we here in the states have tomato ketchup, in the Philippines, banana ket ... More >>

Squid Ink Special: Artichoke Tea

N. GalutenArtichoke tea from 99 Ranch Market​ When passing through the tea aisle in a supermarket, artichoke tea is not the first thing you expect to come across. But in our recent market travels, we happened upon some in the 99 Ranch Market in Van Nuys. Artichoke tea, or trá atiso, is a co ... More >>

Cal State Northridge Professor Defends His Thai Sex Site

BigBabyKenny.com​Cal State Northridge associate economics professor Kenneth Ng was outed by the Daily News Tuesday as the publisher of a website that focuses on sex tourism in Thailand, but the school is not going to try to discipline him and stated that it supports his freedom of speech. The ... More >>

SMOTHERS AND OTHER STRANGERS

Enslaved in Suburbia: Inside the World of Trafficked Indentured Servants and the Visa Violators Who Care for Our Old

Two women, two fractured American dreams

Renu Nakorn: Spicy Thai Hot Spot Reopens

To make a tiger smile

Kingdom Come

Tracers

Daisy Mint: Fusion ...

... without pretention

War and Remembrance

A Son of the Golden Deli Dynasty Makes a Comeback with Vietnam

Return of the Magnificent 7

Ask Mr. Gold

Ask Mr. Gold

And Then There Was Beef

The Comeback

Thailand Plaza

War Stories

Why Tracers rings hollow

Brain Food