Dirt Dog - Los Angeles

One of the things my dad always made when I was growing up was boiled hot dogs. He would literally boil a whole pack of weiners and leave it in the fridge so we would have something to snack on. It wasn't until I was in the 7th grade when I was at Drill Team practice by the park where dirty dogs were sold. Dirty dogs are just hot dogs wrapped with bacon. Sometimes with grilled peppers. But I like mine straight up with a slab of mayonnaise. 

2528 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90007

Dirt Dog does dirty dogs right. All dogs are wrapped with bacon. I've tried a few and can say these are the best I've had when it comes to a sit down restaurant.

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Here we have the elote fries, elote dog (secret menu), their house dog with grilled onions and peppers, patty melt, and their elote corn on a cob.

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Elote Dog

Mexican crema, cotija cheese, chili powder, cilantro. Their links have a nice snap. Ok, there's no good way to review hot dogs without tons of sexual innuendo. So before you say anything, "that's what she said" has already been said by me. 

SO, yes. Their hot dogs were beefy and delicious. Buns are shipped daily from a local baker. I recommend their brioche buns.

House Dog

Their classic house dog comes with a simple bacon thousand island, roasted onions and peppers. Simple, but flavorful and delicious.

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Patty Melt

This was my favorite. Who doesn't want their bacon hot dog topped with french fries, melted cheddar, bacon bits, and a chipotle mayo? This was a flavor bomb. It was just everything that I would want on a hot dog.

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Horchata Ice cream with Churros and fried oreos. After all that food you would think I'll stop. This did it for me. If the dogs didn't put me to sleep, this sure did and I don't regret it. I LOVE fried oreos. The batter did not disappoint. 

I'll definitely be back soon. 

2528 S. Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90007

Yellow House Cafe

My first time at Yellow House Cafe was a memorable one. The food was decent and I was extremely pleased with their Kimchi pasta which also had bacon. I also got to spend some time with a good friend of mine, Hugh. Mr. I-can't-eat-dairy means I get all the pasta to myself. I am not complaining one bit.

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Give the pasta a quick mix before diving in. I could still remember this and itching to go back and order this again.

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Tall glass of strawberry lemonade. 

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Some complimentary pickles

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Fried Tonkatsu with curry sauce (very yummy).

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Bibimbap

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Spam Musubi

Open form 11am-12am (Friday-Saturday opened till 2AM, perfect drunk food). If this was closer to me, it would be dangerous.

234 S Oxford Ave Los Angeles, CA 90004 Koreatown

Biergarten - Korea Town - Los Angeles

Korea Town has really come a long way. Really? No, not really. They've been the same and true to keeping it real. There's still an authentic feel to this neighborhood with fantastic Korean restaurants. If you think of Little Tokyo, true fans will tell you Torrance is the place to be at for amazing Japanese food. And if you are thinking about Chinatown in Los Angeles, the people that really know will tell you Alhambra/Monterey Park/SGV is the place to be.

206 N Western Ave.,Los Angeles, CA 90004

Biergarten is a Korean Gastropub located on Western Avenue. I've never heard of a Korean Gastropub before, but I know Korean food and I know Gastropub. Put the 2 together, and you get I-AM-NOT-LEAVING-THIS-PLACE.

Um yeah, this was pretty much the 1st thing I did when I got here.

Soju... it's my kryptonite... or just one of them that I am willing to accept. These were flavored from peach, to grape, to lemon, to pomegranate. How does it taste? Easy. Which makes them ridiculously dangerous. I'm not going to like, I had to wake up at 5AM the next day to drop off John at LAX and it was not a good morning.

Poutines

Before you drop your jaw, let me tell you what these are. Tempura fries, kalbi, melted white cheddar with beer ass gravy... oh and some green onions because we all need some color to make ourselves feel better. Using a fork is only necessary because you want to make sure you can grab a huge portion for yourself before passing it down. But, who the hell made the take one pass it down rule anyway? And why is sharing caring? Trust me, there are a lot of things you don't want to share with me.

Ann's Bierger

Ok this was pretty much amazing. A 7.5 oz of chuck meat with roasted cherry tomatoes, onion marmalade and arugula. It sounds incredibly simple, but it was bursting with flavor. The meat had a beautiful crust to it. The brioche also stood up to the challenge as it kept composed through my many chomps. And you know I can put on a mean chomp. Delicious, I highly recommend ordering their burgers (kind of want one right now).

Kimchi Fried Rice

To me, fried rice is comfort food. Not because I am Chinese, okay, but because I love eating foods with a giant spoon. Especially when I am at home watching TV. I am the worst comfort eater. I will go all out. The worst looking PJ's you can think of, hair tied back, and hot sauce everything. This brings me back to that, but when there is kimchi involved, all bets are off. And a fried egg with a runny yolk? WHY SHARE THIS? We all know there is one yolk. And there is no way I am going to "share" that with you. #justsayin395829058092

Kimchi Pancakes

These were really delicious. Like, extremely tasty. The daikon reminds me of the chinese daikon cake. These are spicy and packed with flavor as it is made with pickled daikon and gochujang aioli. I'm still thinking about this now, no lies. Highly recommended.

Garten Mule

More soju game going here. They are delicious and dangerously easy to drink. So with any precautions to drinking, you've been warned.

But don't be scared. Because we are all in this together. So always cheers to a bottoms up and chase with a poutine. Because that's what real foodies do. HAH.

Drunken Chicken

These chickens are LOADED. You can definitely taste the alcohol marinade in this chicken. These were free range chickens. The meat is much more tender and juicy. Their pickled jalapeno was banging. Be careful, I rubbed my face a few times like an idiot. My face was burning from different parts since I kept forgetting. Hand washing doesn't help after the damage is done. I loved the heat though. I'm just weird like that.

I for some reason left with a new nickname, Daisy the tank. Don't ask. Maybe you will find out if we are ever to dine... and drink together.

Happy Eating

The Fat Dog - Pau & Johnny - Part 2

To continue from Part 1 where Pau, Johnny and I were hanging out at the Idle Hour, we decided to make our way to The Fat Dog.

11050 Magnolia Blvd - North Hollywood, CA 91601

After having a liquid brunch, we were literally turning into Zombies with no sense of direction. I mean, Pau literally lunged to the streets without looking and stopped traffic with her super powers as we trickled behind her. She was on a mission. A mission for Swedish meatballs.

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I love it. I went to tinkle and came out with food already on the way. Since we were just snacking, they do have some fun nibbles that are worth to try. Let's start with the sliders shall we.

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The Flight

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Any beer loving fiend would love cheeseburgers of all sizes. These little decadent-pinky-worth buns with bacon, meat, cheese and guacamole can keep you fixated with your eyes crossed for a good minute.

Comes with fries. But, I would order more for other reasons I will share with you in a bit. But deng, I just love finger foods so much. I don't count calories, but I do think about the amount of food I consume at the end of the day. So little bites like these (x's 54674861231) makes me extremely happy because that means I can try more food. And who, who, does not want to try more food? For goodness sake. Look how delightful Johnny looks in the back enjoying a bite of a mysterious item. I swear it wasn't candid at all.

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Hot Wings

I really... really.. enjoyed these wings a lot. I'm not sure if it was from all the beer I drank, but these were zippy. It felt almost as if the wings were marinated in buffalo sauce or rub, and then deep fried. I really don't know how they did it, but it reminds me of dry rubbed ribs. Served with celery and carrots, with their house bleu cheese dipping sauce. Thumbs up. I am ready to come back for this one.

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Swedish Meatballs

If you love IKEA Swedish Meatballs, you will love the ones at the Fat Dog. Served in a heapfull, there are plenty of reasons to share. There's nothing fancy with this dish as there is nothing fancy at the ones you would find at IKEA. But, these are comforting as F#$k as they should be. This is where the extra fries would play along. Or, just order the fries with this gravy and lingonberry sauce to top off. Money.

I will be back really soon because there were still a lot of items I would like to try. Love you Pau & Johnny dearly.

Until next time. Eat & Drink responsibility.

800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria

I'm pretty sure all of you know by now that I love to drink. And if you didn't, know you know that I do. I also love tacos too, and fried chicken... and burgers.. and french fries and pasta and sushi. I know I get carried away.

It was my coworkers birthday, celebrated on a Friday night. I was staying back a bit at work to help out a colleague with some reports. Our anxiety was off the charts. But that's what booze is for. The first stop we headed to was Edward Mills in Old Town Pasadena. With $3 drinks and appetizers till 7, it doesn't get any better than that. Or, does it?

Thinking the party was almost over, I was hungry and ready to roam the streets for food. One coworker was ready to head over to King Taco which is genius after the drinks. I didn't know what I wanted. I just wanted something good.

I don't know how it happened, but we ended up here at 800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria. My colleague mentioned an Instagram special where you order their pizza of the day. $5. No substitutions. But, you better check instagram first to know what the pizza of the day was. We were lucky and they were kind enough to let us slide. But next time we don't check, we just get bread sticks.

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This is their Bianca with red onions, spinach and smoked provolone. A definite wowsers.

What I love about Neapolitan Pizzas is how thin they are. It also has a nice chew with a beautiful unique tang/sourness from the yeast. And honestly, the simpler the better. I feel like with Neapolitan pizza, it's all about the dough, the fresh sauce, cheese and just a few ingredients. Drink with a glass of wine or a nice cold brew is something I can envision myself doing on a casual afternoon.

For $5, it's definitely worth it. Seats were plentiful. I left my cellphone, and was definitely thankful no one took it... yet at least.

Find them on Instagram @800degreespizza to figure out what the next pizza of the day is. You might find me there.