Top Round Roast Beef - Los Angeles

1000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019

On the corner of La Brea and Olympic, you will find Top Round.

I've seen this place when I used to work in BH. The restaurant really has an old fashion feel to it. Kind of like a hipper Johnny Rockets with a spazzle of Big Boy. I dig it.

I, like many of you, grew up eating roast beef sandwiches from Philippe the Original French Dipped Sandwiches in Chinatown. Top Round carries the delicious roast beef sandwiches, and others, with a twist.

Pulling up to the shack, you will find plenty of parking spaces. Not sure how packed it gets during the busy lunch hour, but it was fairly empty in the morning. We were recommended to try their breakfast sandwiches aside from their regular roast beef sandwiches.

As you wait for your sandwiches, you should get your sauces ready. I also like how they have spicy mustard and horseradish as condiments.

Tots with liquid gold. Words can't describe how guilty and awfully delicious these things were. I would come here just for this. Top Rounds has got it right so far with the hangover cure. Crunch tots and thick ooey gooey cheese sauce.

The classic with bacon

This English muffin breakfast sandwich has everything that you crave at McDonalds, but better. And real. You get your bacon, your fried egg, and their awesome Wizz sauce that is better than anything you can imagine. No need for napkins. There will be plenty of finger lickin'.

Served with a sesame bun, this little breakfast BLT is more comforting that it sounds. I'm not sure what made this so special, but it was pretty freaking tasty. Maybe it's just a golden rule to have bacon, eggs and avocados in everything. But for some strange reason, I really enjoyed the tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise. The flavors brought me back to when I was a child and road tripping through Mexico. Don't ask. The price was a little steep at over $8.

Steak and Eggs? How about more wizz sauce. GOLD I tell you! So this was the first bite of the roast beef. Absolutely bangers. Extremely tender 10 hours roast beef that will definitely catch you off guard. I didn't know what to expect. But this, some spicy mustard and a dash of horseradish? Just skip your plans for the rest of the day because you would want to stay right here.

Dagwood beef is the ultimate hangover cure. Roast beef, fried egg, fried tots, and provolone cheese inside an onion bun. Just add wizz sauce for an extra $1. WHY THE HECK NOT. Trust me it's some good sh*t. It's downright dirty and I love it. This is your ultimate cheat food. And they nail the fried stuff out of town.

Recommend this place STAT. Must order their roast beef, tator tots, and wizz sauce on everything.

1000 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90019

LAMILL COFFEE - SILVER LAKE

LAMILL is definitely one of those places that serves the community in Silver Lake along with the few other restaurants and stores that are on the street not too far from the deserted reservoir. It's extremely creepy to look at. The Silver Lake Reservoir I mean now that it has been drained. Even though it was 15 years ago when I remembered it to be tanked up, it honestly felt like it was just yesterday. This area is close to my heart because I used to sell candy in that same park. Nothing creepy, just a little girl trying to cover her train ticket to San Diego. Let me clarify again, it was for a Drill Team competition. Yeah, I did that for 2 years.

I've been around this area lately along with being in Atwater. Honestly, this is as much as I love in this area. When I think Silver Lake, this is all I think about. That lake, and this street. With Atwater around the corner as a cousin. Now I am finding this area that much more charming reminiscing about growing up in this area. Boy, do I have stories to tell you later.

Ok one story won't hurt. As I was selling candy (13 years old I believe), there was also this other little girl selling lemonade/orange juice. Something like that. Point is, that juice tasted like sh*t. That isn't EVEN THE WORST PART. She ONLY had one cup. So you have these thirsty joggers, with their kind hearts (bless their soul), to purchase a cup of juice from this little girl. To be smacked in the face. Standing there having to return it, to only see it get rinsed in the same bucket before serving her next victim. Oh I bet these sour belts I have for 10 cents looks good right about now. Oh how about some red vines? Yeah some lady literally slammed on her brakes to buy some of that from me. What can I say, I was born a true sales lady. And, I didn't even have to yell "Come and get it".

Going back to LAMILL.

1636 Silver Lake Blvd - Los Angeles, CA 90026

LAMILL is also a full service restaurant even though a lot of people assume they only serve coffee. Had me fooled because I thought so too from a distance. But, it's actually quite charming inside. This is a good place to come to if you have family in town or just a little get together with some friends.

Being wired on coffee that I had that morning already, which oddly enough, were espresso beans by LAMILL, I had by eyes drawn to their Hong Kong milk tea.

They use Assam as their tea of choice which is a tea from India. The flavors are robust and earthy, but also has an underlying sweetness to it that pairs nicely with sugar. My dad likes his HK milk tea with Assam or Ceylon, both strong with a flavor of it's own.

John got the cappuccino, a drink we normally get together. Great to have at any time of the day with a bit of raw cane sugar. There's just something I love about a good foamy hot drink. It has a flavor of it's own. The whole drink is literally nothing without it. Almost like a martini, with the thin brittle layers of ice from the perfect shake.

Smoked Salmon Toast

So beautiful and perfect for a light breakfast brunch. Even if it's lunch, this is definitely satisfying.

Made with their own schmear, cherry tomatoes, house pickled onions, salty briny capers, and a few sprigs of dill to brighten up the dish. I just closed my eyes for a second, and tasted this all over again.

Roasted Cauliflower and Black Quinoa

This was recommended by our server. John looked at me like, really? He doesn't hate cauliflower, just not a fan of the flavor. But I love cauliflower. The asian markets would sell them for 40 cents a pound or something ridiculous like that and I would end up buying 4 heads. These on the other hand, will never be that cheap. This arrangement was so beautiful it was almost hard to eat. What's under is apples, baby spinach, walnuts and almond gremolata. Flavors were super light and refreshing, but definitely filling. This would be a great post workout meal or just another great bites for lunch/dinner. Could be shared, but I would recommend ordering other items to try.

Warm donut holes with vanilla whipped cream to end a light lunch. The order normally comes with 6, but we asked for 3 since we were stuffed. Careful, these are extremely hot. I would recommend ordering another cup of coffee just to eat these with. I just can't imagine eating anything donut without coffee. Clancy Wiggum would never allow that to happen.

You just might see me here a little more often.

1636 Silver Lake Blvd - Los Angeles, CA 90026

Daisy

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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

Picnic LA - Culver City

I am pretty obsessed with Picnic LA at the moment. Located in Downtown Culver City, you will find the restaurant located on the corner of Culver Blvd.

9900 Culver Blvd #1b, Culver City, CA 90232, United States

Picnic LA offers a wide variety of prepared salads as well as hot meaty food items to those anti grass eaters. I love them all. Picnic LA resembles Lemonade especially how the restaurant flow is. I would say the difference would be: Price, it's more expensive. Which shows with it being more tasty and thought out than what I had at Lemonade. I feel Picnic LA also adds more convenience to your everyday meal search. If you are ever too lazy to get out of the car like me, you can just place your order, pull up, and then call for them to bring out your food. Hello lazy or hello rainy weather?

Muhammara

Sunflower Seed Hummus

You can order items a la carte or you can always build a meal. Below are a few customized plates that we did. Both were and entree with 2 salads.

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Going back to customizing, Picnic LA can accommodate for family meals as well.

Grass Fed Meatballs

These grass fed meatballs were so moist and flavorful. For Italian meatballs, these are up there. It swims and bathes in a crushed san marzano d.o.p. tomato sauce with sprinkled parmesan that just melts onto the meatball. So tender and cooked perfectly. Classic Italian meatballs doesn't get any better than this. If you are not salivating, I don't know what's wrong with you.

Chinese Broccoli

I used to hate Chinese Broccoli growing up. It's all we ate and how it was cooked was pretty bland. Let me change that, it was bland. We used to boil these and just topped off with some oyster sauce. Now that I'm all grown up and miss mom's cooking from time to time, I've grown to love these like a stubborn child. Having these cooked in garlic and chili flakes makes it even better. I highly recommend these greens.

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Jidori chilcken leg tagine

Jidori Chicken is basically free range chicken to those of you that didn't know. I love Jidori Chicken. Mostly because of how tender the meat is and how clean it tastes with a slight robust earthiness to them. This moroccan spice chicken braised in a tagine with a charred leek tahini spread was AMAZING. I can eat a whole bowl of these. So tangy and spiced perfectly. I've never had a Moroccan spiced chicken, so this was definitely a treat. Another one of those must order.

Key Lime Bar

If you think everything was great, this will definitely be that one item that will make you come back. That first bite just makes you pucker. I'm literally salivating as I am talking about it, so ridiculous. The lime flavor was penetrated throughout the bar beautifully. There is absolutely no escape from the lime. Definitely would be great with some hot tea. I would like the graham cracker crust to be thicker, but that's because I love having different textures. A MUST order.

All the items you see today are still available at Picnic LA. So grab a few friends, family members, or just yourself, and grab a healthy bite (heck I would even go with you). If you don't live in Culver City, I would still recommend the drive. They have a lot of seating and there are plenty of things to do in the area. We stopped by a coffee shop afterward which was great.

Until next time.

BON VIVANT Market & Cafe - Atwater Village

Atwater brings me back a lot of memories. I was their neighborhood rat back then and I didn't even live in Atwater, but I good friend of mine did. Atwater was always a trendy little neighborhood. It's also underrated at the moment like its neighbors Eagle Rock and Highland Park. Though Highland Park and Eagle Rock is going through a growth spurt, Highland Park is slowly coming along.

3155 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States

Bon Vivant Market & Cafe opened up a few years ago. I remembered the renovations they were doing back then when I would grab a cup of coffee from Starbucks. I've always told myself to check this spot out when it opened, but then I moved. Not far. Just far enough to not be in the area anymore to remember. I started hanging out in Pasadena, DTLA, Culver City, Santa Monica and basically everything towards the West was my new infestation. But then I was brought back when I got an invitation to check out Bon Vivant. And boy I am happy I did because they have a lot to offer here.

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 3155 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States

The restaurant is also a place for retail. From coffee beans, a bottle of wine, to even cheeses. Bon Vivant is a place where you can pick up some snag before heading home to throw yourself a lavish cocktail party.

Bon Vivant has a full menu of different items that they order. Below will be a few of their offerings. Enjoy:

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Smoked Duck with Fresh Mint, Arugula & Apricot Jam

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Fromage & Charcuterie

They have a wide selection of cheeses & meats to pick from. I recommend ordering a nice bottle of wine as you unload in a nice comfy chair. Their pate is seasonal so I would always check. Pate is one of my favorite things to order as long as it's not grainy or metallic tasting. Their custom cheese & charcuterie boards doesn't come with just meat and cheese below. The cheese board is handcrafted with dried fruits, mixed nuts and quince. The meat board comes with an array of savory olives, bread & butter pickles, and hickory smoked brussel sprouts from Preservation & Co. All served with a fresh warm baguette with in a Himalayan salted butter crock!

Eggs Benedict

Authentic Hummus with Spicy Pita & Crudite

Angel Hair Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes, Basil, Mozzarella & Pine nuts

Chicken Pot Pie

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Yes, there's a full bar for all you Bloody Mary and Moscow Mule suckers. BTW, their ginger beer is fantastic.

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Char Grilled Oysters in an olive parsley butter with fresh lemon & parmesan.  Served with sliced baguette. How can you NOT say yes? I need my drink now. I love raw oysters, but there is something so fantastic and comforting about cooked oysters. I don't know what it is... But hey, they also have a happy hour menu which I will definitely be back for.

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Lastly, a cup of cappuccino is always necessary. I was pretty exhausted that day, and this cup really just jolted me immediately. I believe they are using Equator coffee which is one of my favorite roasters.

Bon Vivant has everything for everyone. A great place for breakfast, brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner. If this was closer to me, it would be very dangerous. I will definitely be back soon.

Stay tuned for upcoming news!

Cheers.

D