The Unvegan

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10 Years of Unvegan
A Quick Bite at Burrito Express
Serendipity at Northern Waters Smokehaus
Twerks and Burritos at Casa Amigos

‘Culver City’

11/9/2009 Culver City

A Late-Night Feast at Johnnie’s Pastrami

Unvegan paradise.
Unvegan paradise.

Every once in a while, it’s good that the Taco Bell nearest to me isn’t 24-hours. If it weren’t for that, I never would have gone to Johnnie’s Pastrami and found one of the greatest sandwiches in the world. Located in Culver City, Johnnie’s is open 24 hours and ready to serve a hungry clientele.

I entered with a group of five and we squeezed into a four-person booth. The not-exactly friendly waitress handed us our menus, but I already knew I would be getting the French Dip Pastrami that is featured in Johnnie’s neon sign. I really only looked at the menu to see the price, which was a surprising $10.50 for the sandwich. I guess breaking out of the Taco Bell comfort zone also risks spending more money. I asked the waitress if the sandwich was just the meat and bread, and she said yes. Not even onions. Perhaps I had died and gone to heaven.

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10/27/2009 Culver City

Promoting Mispronunciation at Pho Show

Wings are a good place to start.
Wings are a good place to start.

Having been to Vietnam, I found it very strange that when I moved to LA, everyone considered pho THE Vietnamese food. I hadn’t even heard of pho before and certainly don’t remember encountering it anywhere in Vietnam. Nonetheless, I decided it was about time I found myself some pho. Just my luck, a new place had recently opened in my neighborhood, called Pho Show. I found it strange that anyone would choose to name their pho shop this way, as all pho connoisseurs know that the word is pronounced “fuh” rather than “foe.” Nonetheless, I went to Pho Show to see what it was all about.

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10/16/2009 Culver City

Taking Advantage of DineLA @ Royal/T (CLOSED)

Phallic often?
Phallic often?

From the outside, Royal/T looks more like a Japanese art gallery than a restaurant. The inside isn’t much different until you realize the women in the anime-style outfits are actually waitresses and the tables set up aren’t simply for a small cafe attached to a gallery. Since I knew ahead of time that Royal/T was a restaurant, I was actually surprised to find how much of the space was dedicated to the art. It gave the restaurant quite a unique atmosphere, which is great, but I was there for the food.

Since it’s restaurant week, I avoided the regular menu and only looked at their set menu. Check it out here. I started with the Crispy Spicy Tuna, got the Hanger Steak Frites for the main course and was planning to finish with the fresh fruits and vanilla custard. Unfortunately they were out of this dessert and I later learned that they ran out of the Kobe Beef sliders. To make up for the lack of dessert, though, they allowed us to order any dessert from their menu, so I chose the cheesecake.

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9/7/2009 Culver City

A Couple Rolls at Sushi Mashiko

Why would anyone want cucumbers?
Why would anyone want cucumbers?

Despite my not being the biggest fan of sushi, I found myself at Sushi Mashiko in Culver City one night to once again eat some raw fish. Sushi Mashiko was in a very nondescript location in a strip mall without any real sign. I only found it when I looked inside each store front and saw a small sign with the word “Sushi” on it. The place was supposed to be really great, so instead of ordering some sort of chicken or noodle dish, I decided I may as well test out their sushi.

After a long look at the menu sushi menu, I decided on two decent-looking rolls: softshell crab and tuna avocado. Since I would be the only one partaking in my personal sushi, I ordered mine uncut so I could turn the sushi into finger food.

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8/4/2009 Culver City

The Strangely Named Grand Casino Bakery

Empanadalicious.
Empanadalicious.

By suggestion, I went off to the Grand Casino Bakery in Culver City in search of some good Argentinian food after I came back from Georgia. I’m not entirely sure how they wound up with a name like that, which really doesn’t convey images of South American food, but somehow it works in this crazy town of LA.

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7/27/2009 Culver City

S & W Country Diner

A breakfast for champions.
A breakfast for champions.

The following guest blog is courtesy of Waldo Centeno. Check him out on Twitter: @waldocent

I woke up on Sunday contemplating two things: what happened last night and what’s for breakfast? In a way, both questions were answered with one phrase – S & W. Since moving to Culver City, my roommate and I have regularly attended S & W a few times a month and frequently run into people we know. This time was no different, as we were greeted with many friendly faces.

As usual, the diner was uniquely covered in a menagerie of old travel souvenir items (license plates, road signs, large coca cola cap, etc.) scattered along the walls. The simple setup of a counter, booths, un-sturdy tables, and mismatched chairs fondly reminded me of Ann Arbor’s own Fleetwood Diner, which is also a great place to get rid of hangovers while blowing away cigarette ash off of your plate. S & W, however, lacks cigarette ash/smoke, which is a plus in my book.

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7/21/2009 Culver City

Eating Greek the Fast Way at Daphne’s Greek Cafe (CLOSED)

What's Greek for burger?
What’s Greek for burger?

Edit: This location is gone, but Daphne’s as a whole is not.

Since the entire concept of Greek fast food is a bit confusing, I decided to check out Daphne’s Greek Cafe in Culver City and see what it was all about.

A quick perusal of the menu revealed the Pitaburger. This burger is pretty much exactly what it sounds like, because instead of a bun, they use authentic Greek pita. The differences between this burger and other burgers does not end there, however. Rather than typical burger toppings, this one comes with Greek offerings like feta cheese and for an additional bit of pocket change, you can get gyros added to the burger to make it as meaty as possible. This burger was not without fault in its intended version, though, as it also came with burger killers like lettuce and tomato.

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7/20/2009 Mobile

A Crunchy Treat from Let’s Be Frank

Nice, simple, and not cheap.
Nice, simple, and not cheap.

Tucked into a little corner in Culver City, right around the Helms Bakery, is a hot dog cart called Let’s Be Frank. I’d heard some great things about the place, so one day as I was wandering around Culver City, I decided to stop by and have a try.

According to their signs, they don’t mess around with their hot dogs. By that I mean they don’t do the things that most hot dogs do. They use all all-beef hot dogs from grass-fed cows, with no steroids, hormones, nitrates and nitrites (although they probably should start putting the latter two in since they are healthy by my standards). At five bucks a piece, I was ready to be shown an entirely new hot dog world.

Onions were an optional topping for the hot dog, and I politely declined. There was also a sauce available called Devil Sauce. It looked and smelled really good, so I decided to try some out.

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6/25/2009

When Vegetables Attack: Alfalfa Sprouts Return!

alfafaJust when you thought it was safe to eat raw alfalfa sprouts, the salmonella returns!

In an incident unrelated to the last alfalfa attack, there is now a food company in Culver City, California recalling their alfalfa.

This time it’s from Kowalke Organics. They say it isn’t safe to eat a few of their products, which can be found here. Interestingly enough, they are primarily sold in the fancy grocery stores like Gelson’s and Whole Foods.

I am of the opinion that it’s never entirely safe to be eating raw vegetables, but when salmonella is involved, it just gets that much worse.

(via LA Times)

6/24/2009 Culver City

Dipping With Honey at Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken

Who would think to put this in honey?
Who would think to put this in honey?

When I first took a gander inside Honey’s Kettle Fried Chicken in Culver City, I was a little taken aback because the crowd didn’t look exactly like people who would be eating fried chicken. They looked more like people who would rather go somewhere like Rush Street or Ford’s Filling Station. Nevertheless, I had heard good things, so I went in.

A quick look at the menu revealed a wide range of non-vegetable fried options that I could enjoy, except that they all seemed to come with pickles. I decided on the three piece breast strip meal, which came with fries, a biscuit and pickles. I ordered without the pickles and asked the cashier why it was called “Honey’s Kettle,” thinking there was somehow honey involved in the fry batter. She told me that it was actually because the guy who created the batter realized that it went perfectly with a special kind of honey that they have in the restaurant.

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