The Minty’s Best 2017 Meals
stuffed tomato from Lavash Hovo in Armenia
In 2017, I had a lot of wonderful meals. Some so memorable, I want to build a time machine to go back to that meal.
Here’s a list of my faves this year!
These are not in any particular order other than by location:
DTLA
Bar Clacson – sandwiches, great cocktails and fun back bar, The Slipper Clutch
So Long, Hi – refined Thai food
Izakaya Gazen – my new fave sushi and izakaya spot
Cleo – good choice for Greek salad, mezze, falafel
Officine Brera – Italian in the Arts District
Prank Bar – fun neighborhood spot
Sakana Sushi – probably where I eat lunch the most these days
Sari Sari – my current fave Filipino spot
Rudolph’s Bar & Tea – cool bar at the Freehand Hotel
The Exchange Restaurant – welcome lunch option at the Freehand Hotel
Silver Lake
Daw Yee Myanmar Corner – I like this Burmese spot better than the original Monterey Park location
Pine & Crane – good Taiwanese food in hipsterville
The Friend – cocktails!
Koreatown
The Venue – new chef and great cocktails
Gwang Yang BBQ – my current fave KBBQ
Art Major – Bring your own fun!! Board games, beer and you can bring in food
Byul Gobchang – KBBQ with tater tots
Jun Won – bossam (pork belly lettuce wraps)
Mountain – chicken soup
Hollywood
Lono – creative tiki bar and refined Polynesian food
Ever Bar – such a pretty hotel bar
West Hollywood
Rosaline – Chef Ricardo Zarate’s delicious Peruvian spot with good drinks
Petite Taqueria – solid Mexican food
Ainoko at Petite Taqueria – Japanese-Mexican tasting menu
Mid-City
Barbara Jean – global soul food
West Los Angeles
Kato – I loved this Japanese/Taiwanese mash-up
Culver City
The Wallace – not a new spot but I love coming here for drinks and happy hour before a show at the nearby Kirk Douglas theater
Venice
Charcoal – fantastic meat
Eagle Rock
Room 31 – very nice cocktails
San Gabriel Valley
The Legendary (Alhambra)- my current fave Sichuan spot
Monkey Bar (Arcadia)- good eats and drinks
626 Lobster (Rosemead)- if you don’t want to wait for Newport Seafood, this is a good choice for fresh lobster and crab
Sun Nong Dan (San Gabriel) – Korean shortribs stew (original location in Koreatown is also very popular)
Twohey’s Tavern (Pasadena) – I’m going back for ham and cocktails
Shaanxi Gourmet (Rosemead)- Chinese skewers and hand-pulled noodles
Centana Mon Myanmar (El Monte)- solid Burmese
Noodle King (Alhambra) – solid Chinese lunch spot
Orange County
Vaca (Costa Mesa)- good Spanish tapas and cocktails
Outside of LA – Travel posts
Zahav (Philadelphia) – wonderful Israeli
Vernick (Philadelphia) – perfect farm to table, new American
No Anchor (Seattle) – perfect little bites and beer
Herb & Bitter (Seattle) – fave bar find
Joule (Seattle) – steak!!
Foreign National (Seattle) – fun bar
Pho Y (San Jose) – good pho and banh cuon
Black Rooster Taqueria (Orlando) – tacos!
Lazy Bear (San Francisco) – cool lounge/ snacks
Pacific Cocktail Haven (San Francisco) – very hospitable bar
Mister Jiu’s (San Francisco) – gentrification has hit SF’s Chinatown and it’s not a bad thing
Whitechapel (San Francisco) – all the gin
Liholiho Yacht Club (San Francisco) – delicious food and drinks
Lavash Hovo (Armenia) – my favorite meal in Armenia
Centennial Beer (Chicago) – mussels
Lost Lake (Chicago) – my second fave tiki bar (outside of LA)
Avec (Chicago) – my new fave Chicago restaurant
Billy Sunday (Chicago) – new fave Chicago bar
Sama Sama (Santa Barbara) – Asian fusion and cocktails
Test Pilot (Santa Barbara) – fun tiki bar
The Lark (Santa Barbara) – fancy date night spot
And if you want to read about 2016 and 2015, here they are!
© The Minty 2017