Monday: Fish tacos at Tacos Baja Ensenada in East Los Angeles. My seafood taco was the best thing I ate on this entire trip, not to mention one of the best dishes I ate in 2009. I can't actually remember everything I ate in 2009, but these would be hard to top.
The secret is deep-frying the seafood so it is both crispy and luscious. In Northern California, trendy restaurants often fill tacos with healthful sauteed or baked fish, which is why I thought I didn't like fish tacos. Now I know better. Tuesday: We intercepted the famous Kogi truck in Encino
and ate Korean tacos.
They were more more exotic and almost as delicious as the fish tacos, but not quite.
Then we couldn't find anything else to do in Encino. "I don't think we should make a habit of planning our days around food," said my husband.
Yesterday: He and Owen went to Legoland and Isabel and I stayed in Los Angeles and stimulated the economy. We shopped like shopaholics, which we are not, then went to Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse, Cut, and dined like fat cats, which we are not. We didn't see any movie stars and it was even more pretentious and absurd and expensive than I had anticipated and the food was not amazing, but we had fun in our new party clothes. Isabel's cranberry juice cost as much as two fish tacos. The cheapest steak on the menu cost as much as 16 fish tacos. An order of french fries: 4 fish tacos.
Now we are halfway home, about to dine at Harris Ranch off I-5 where I have always wanted to eat despite all the horrible reviews I just read on Yelp. Because it is there.
Happy New Year, everyone!
I was fortunate enough to eat at Cut Las Vegas on the Vegas Convention Bureau's tab. I agree with you completely about the food. It was fine. Charge $21 for a butter lettuce salad all you want, but it's still a butter lettuce salad.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful though. One of my favorite dining rooms of all time.
On someone else's tab is the only way to eat at these restaurants. I was looking around at all the well-dressed people swirling their wine and thought, I bet this is a business expense for every single one of them. I felt like a sucker. It was still fun and it WAS a beautiful room.
ReplyDeleteIs "fish taco" the new currency conversion for the year?
ReplyDeletePlus, I agree about the resaurant, I almost never go to a steakhouse anymore, too expensinve for something I can cook more to my taste at home...
Happy new year! I wanted to let you know how much I've enjoyed reading your blog. Please keep up the great work! I look forward to the new year.
ReplyDeleteSteakhouses are always disappointing. I think there are steakhouse people (usually men who also like going to Vegas) and non-steakhouse people. At the end of a steakhouse meal, I just imagine how I would've spent the $48 price of the entree on a great $6 beer, $12 appetizer, $22 entree, $5 dessert and $3 coffee somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteI agree fish tacos ARE a treasure. BUT not wanting to store large amounts of oil to deep fry or buy the proper pan for deep frying or clean up the mess after deep frying, my answer to the baked/broiled/deep fry fish is to dip the fish in flour or cornmeal and fry the fish it in a fry pan and be sure to include delicious sauce and shredded lettuce.
ReplyDelete