"Yes, my head really IS that big!"
- 30 Friends
- 93 Reviews
- 9 Review Updates
- 6 Firsts
- 2 Fans
- 3 Local Photos
- 1 List
-
Rating Distribution
Loading...
- View more graphs »
Review votes:
136 Useful, 127 Funny, and 112 Cool
Los Angeles, CA
Yelping SinceFebruary 2007
Find Me Inthe G-D hospital
My HometownSan Jose, CA
When I'm Not Yelping...I'm drinking.
Why You Should Read My ReviewsTrust me, I'm a doctor.
My Second Favorite Website The Last Great Book I ReadThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
My First ConcertPearl Jam
My Favorite MovieJerry Maguire. (favorite TV shows? Freaks and Geeks, Weeds)
My Last Meal On EarthSushi and Sake
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...I love Panda Express
Most Recent DiscoveryMan was not meant to work the night shift.
Current CrushA New Home.
Anyways, the food that we actually had was pretty good, I have to say. The aforementioned seaweed salad was light, complex with varying textures. The fish sauce it was soaked in was tangy and sweet and not overly smelly. The papaya salad was similar, and tasted fresh. We also had some grilled steak with seasoned rice, deep fried shrimp on top of large patties of sweet potato fries, weird fish ball things on a bed of crispy rice cracker with a mayonnaise/aioli dipping sauce that were all surprisingly tasty.
The food in itself was pretty good overall, surprisingly. The thing that really brings this place down is the horrendous service, if you could even call it that. The first egregious error was that the waiter brought out all the dipping sauces (for all of our dishes) all at once. About 5 little bowls of random things--fish sauce, tamarind sauce, the aioli, etc. That then made us call them over each time to explain what to do with said dipping sauce. This of course made them super annoyed, and as such, they never came back to the table to take away any of the dishes after we had finished. Large empty platters sat on the table taking up valuable room. And lest I forget, this was the service that we got even after being personal friends with the owner. I shudder to think of the (lack of) service that one would get as a random customer.
Overall, 3.5 stars for the food, -1.5 for the service. Would I come back? Definitely not. There are better Vietnamese places around San Jose (hello, Vung Tau!) with impeccable service and better food. So unless you're jonesing for some nice Vietnamese cooked osso buco or pasta (and a likely case of diarrhea), I'd steer clear of this place...
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 576-3030
Copa d' Oro
Category: Lounges
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
All in all, good and tasty old timey drinks in a moody and interesting location.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
UCLA Keystone Apartments
Category: University Housing
Neighborhood: Palms
So where can I apply, you say? Well apparently, you've got to be a student or connected to UCLA in some capacity. I'm surprised I'm even eligible, given that I haven't set foot on the actual campus in over three years. In any case, I can apparently live here for a maximum of two years, or until my fellowship ends--which is next June. So until then, I'll be wantonly using the free cable and internets to my heart's content.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 278-5444
Simon LA
Category: American (New)
Neighborhoods: Mid-City West, West Hollywood
Anyways, I had a great time (with the food). Bottom line: while the food was pretty simple, it was seasoned and cooked well and was all in all, a solid affair. Lest I sound like a broken record, I'll just say that the desserts were phenomenal. Now if I could only convince more pharm reps to have their dinners here...
PS: A tip for the budget minded--park at the Beverly Center across the street. Valet is a wallet-busting 10 bucks (!) at the Sofitel, so not only is the Beverly Center cheaper, you can also get some free exercise by walking around and getting lost in the parking structure with its confusing maze of escalators. I ended up paying only 3 dollars, but as luck would have it, felt like a foolish cheap bastard because they actually comp'ed for the valet this time.
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 659-7708
Sona Restaurant
Category: French
Neighborhoods: Mid-City West, West Hollywood
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 838-3131
Gyenari
Category: Korean
Neighborhood: Culver City
1 Previous Review: Hide »
-
3/27/2009
If I could do half stars, this would have received a solid 3.5 stars, but seeing as how I'm in a particularly generous mood, I decided to bump them up to 4. Yes, I'm a giver. In any case, I came here for happy hour a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised. You'll be immediately greeted by an attractive woman and an even more attractive lounge/bar area with comfy little booths and couches, all swathed in soothing, soft gray microsuede. I guess they were going for the industrial factory look, as it looked, like, well, a factory with exposed pipes and stuff up top. It was an interesting mix of people too. Off to our right were a few tables of black dudes and dudettes. To our left was a large group of somewhat flamboyant men (Gasp! We also spotted one of the attendings there, but I'll keep his identity a secret, for now). Off in the corner were two homely looking hippies getting their drink on. And there we were, busily stuffing our faces. Which takes me to the food.
The happy hour menu was surprisingly extensive, with a good list of 4 dollar appetizers, ranging from chicken lettuce cups (the chicken was rock hard and overly dry. Boo.) to crunchy shrimp mousse tacos (decent, too shrimpy for my taste) to pulled pork sliders (I could have eaten 20 of these. They were mighty tasty). While this seemed nice and light, we also unfortunately ordered some garlic chicken wings and some ginger ribs. Holy moses, these things were an interventional cardiologist's dream--just looking at them, I thought I was going to have a massive coronary. Never one to disappoint, I of course plowed on in. While yes, fatty, they were also pretty good. The wings were crispy, tasty, and perfectly seasoned, if a tad oily. The ribs, on the other hand, were fall off the bone tender. The only problem is that not only were they dredged in a super fatty sauce, but they were battered and deep fried! Where's the Crestor when you need it? In any case, the next time I go, I'll probably order them again, only because they were really tasty and super high yield--4 bucks for a plate of wings or ribs (of which you can only really eat one or two anyways)? Sign me up.
The other good thing about this place was the ice cold Hite beer. They came in little steins that while I wish they were bigger, were super ice cold. Now that's the way to serve some beer. Other options on the drink list were a little bottle of soju (6 bucks), as well as 2 dollars off of the normal drink list (which is ridiculous when the drinks are normally 13 bucks. No wonder everybody was drinking beer or soju). Anyways, none of this was really particularly Korean, but who's to complain when you have deep fried goods costing 4 dollars and 3 dollar ice cold beers? Not I. Anyways, chalk it up for another solid happy hour joint in Culver City.
1 Previous Review: Hide »
-
2/9/2009
Yeah, I did it. Two stars. It takes alot to get two measly pathetic stars in my book. As many know, I have low standards (to not get disappointed) and as such, this place was, like crack, wack. No, they didn't pee in my coffee nor did they give me infectious diarrhea. When I go to a coffee shop, I expect to sit comfortably at probably 70 degrees and basically not shiver or sweat. Well, this place failed to achieve even the most basic of my needs--I was literally shivering. I'll be completely honest and admit that I was drinking an iced coffee but hell, shouldn't that be accounted for? Good grief, I know we're in LA and all, where it's hot as hell all the time, but on the days that it's not, do you think you can turn down the dang AC? It was probably 60 degrees in that place, and on a rainy weekend, no less! The only hot thing were the drinks. There weren't even any hot, cute, or even passable chicas to look at. Nope, just what looked like homely, misshapen spinsters. All in all, cold, and filled with strange looking neighborhood folk that could have been mistaken for the homeless. Ack.
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 934-2106
Alex's Reweaving
Category: Sewing & Alterations
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 838-5932
Overland Cleaners
Category: Dry Cleaning & Laundry
Neighborhood: Palms
Date
The guy who came up to greet me was nice enough, and gave me what sounded like a fair estimate. He gave me the worst case scenario and best case scenario, how much it would cost, and how long it would take. Fantastic--300 smackeroos to fix the stupid rear window regulator (damn German cars and their finicky parts). He said that he would try to finish by the end of the day, and told me he would call when it was done. Feeling satisfied, I was suddenly met with the realization that I had no way of getting home. Although the guy offered to give me a ride, I decided to walk home.
The entire fix took about 2 hours, much quicker than I had expected. This time, I did it right and took the bus (yes, the damn bus. Shameful, I know.) back. Everything seemed to be working, and the rear window was now fully functional. Somewhat expensive at around 350 bucks (that's like a full moonlighting shift!), yes, but I guess you have to pay to play.