An exploration of Northern and Southern Thai cuisines
Los Angeles is a great city for Thai food. It’s in LA where I first became acquainted with Thai food, and I’ve had many a memorable Thai meal there. While Thai restaurants have become common in the Bay Area over the last three decades, and we have several ones even in San Leandro, there is still something special about LA Thai food.
Lum Ka Naad is not your ordinary Thai restaurant. It has an extremely extensive menu offering stereotypical Thai dishes as well as classics from other parts of Asia. More interestingly, they also offer a handful of unique dishes from Northern and Southern Thailand, allowing you to explore Thai cuisine more thoroughly. We visited the restaurant during our last visit to my family in the SF Valley, and I’m sure well return.
The restaurant itself is pretty casual, though more by juxtaposition than design. The dining area, if isolated, would be somewhat elegant. It’s decorated with non-garish pieces of Thai art. Alas, the bar/check out and their staging area, including where they keep their carts, are all open to the dining room and bring down the elegance factor by several notches. So just think casual.
We started dinner with an appetizer of beef satay ($15), which was delicious. It brought me back when I was first introduced to the dish so many decades ago. The beef is marinated in a curry then grilled and served with peanut sauce. Both the beef and sauce were on point. It’s been years since I last ordered satay – and I realize now that it’s because many restaurants don’t provide a beef option, and chicken or pork satay can be very dry. The beef was tender and didn’t suffer that problem.
We also shared an appetizer of angel wings ($16). These are boneless chicken wings stuffed with a mixture of ground chicken and glass noodles, then battered and fried. It was a very substantial dish, and I thought it was tasty though not out of this world delicious. Mike liked it more, I think. We took most of this home and reheated it a couple of days later, it stood up to time and microwaving quite well. Still, I wouldn’t order it again, though Mike might.
For dinner, I had the larb kua ($17) from the northern menu. Larb or laab, is a dish of Lao origins that has been adopted and modified in some areas of northern Thailand. I’d never had the northern Thai version, in which the meat is marinated with spices and then pan fried.
It was very tasty. It’s not a huge dish, and I actually finished it all, but I really enjoyed it. I had it with ground beef, but you can choose ground pork or chicken instead. The spicing was delicious and the texture added by the garlic was great.
Mike had the sator & shrimp ($20), a dish consisting of sator beans sautéed with shrimp, ground pork and a shrimp paste sauce. Sator beans, also known as stinky beans for their strong, foul aroma, are a feature of southern Thai cuisine. The dish was pretty spicy, but Mike thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a new flavor combination for him, pungent to say the least. The problem were the leftovers. They stank up my mother’s refrigeration and led her to ban us from using it in the future. The smell lasted even after the leftovers were consumed and she cleaned the fridge. If you order this, make sure to eat it all and don’t take it home.
My sister had the panang curry with chicken ($17). This was a good but not extraordinary version of this dish – but this is a dish so good that it’s hard to make any better. She enjoyed it quite a bit.
My nice, meanwhile, had the orange chicken ($16.50), but with with tofu instead of chicken. Made this way, this Chinese favorite is vegan. She enjoyed that it had been made with actual oranges, and remarked on the freshness of the flavor.
Service was great, our waitress was very attentive and cheerful, and helped us navigate the long menu.
We definitely enjoyed our meal and would return. There is a second Lum Ka Naad location in Encino, for those closer to that area.
Lum Ka Naad 8910 Reseda Blvd, Northridge, CA (818) 882-3028 Mon - Sun : 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Chi’s Chinese Cuisine is my nephews’ favorite Chinese restaurant – or maybe, their favorite restaurant ever – so that’s what they requested we get one evening during my family trip to LA. I couldn’t think of anything better, so I ordered from there. It was a simple enough process and pretty quick.
First, I got a Dim Sum Sampler ($15) which came with Har Gow, Siu Mai, Steamed Chicken Dumplings and Char Siu Bao. I had the mini steamed chicken dumplings and they were quite good, though, as usual, with too little filling. My husband had the rest of the dumplings and he found them unremarkable.
My nephews’ favorite dish is the sweet and pungent chicken ($18) described as “lightly breaded white meat chicken with a sweet sauce. and just a touch of spice.” We ordered both a regular and a spicy version, but they all tasted the same – as described. Spicy enough to thrill a seven year old, but not to scare him. Beyond that, the favor was similar to a sweet and sour chicken, a but more sour and less sweet. I could stand a few pieces, but the breading becomes overwhelming beyond that.
I ordered the roasted duck ($22), and I’d say it was OK. It wasn’t as dry as I feared, but it was super moist either. The flavor was pretty standard, with the amount fat you’d expect. I don’t know, I just wasn’t into it. Neither was Mike. Maybe I’ve upgrown this dish.
Mike ordered the cashew chicken ($13.50) and substituted the vegetables for extra chicken ($3). It was good but pretty standard. There was a good amount of cashews and the sauce was flavorful.
My BIL had the Mongolian beef ($15.55). This was probably my favorite dish of the night. The beef was tender and the sauce was very flavorful. I’d order this one again.
Finally, my sister ordered the vegetable chow mein ($14.25). It was just OK – it lacked flavor.
In all, I felt that the food at Chi’s was pretty standard but was surprised at how expensive it is for the amount and flavor of the food. Perhaps they use higher quality ingredients or pay their workers better. Without knowing that, though, I just felt I overpaid.
Chi's Chinese Cuisine 9635 Reseda Blvd, Northridge (818) 886-6928 W - M 11 AM - 9:30 PM
One of our goals for this trip to LA was to have dinner in Korea town. Restaurants in this area seem to follow the Korean model and specialize in one type of cuisine – and it was hard deciding that beforehand. One thing that Mike knew he didn’t want to have is Korean barbecue. As it turned out, we didn’t end up going to Korea town and we ended up having Korea barbecue instead. It seems that barbecue is the only Korean food my sister likes and with three kids to take care of and a full time job, she was too tired to head far.
During my previous visit to LA, we had visited Gen Korean BBQ and I was hoping to find something better. The reviews for MGD Korean BBQ were mostly good, with some people mentioning it was as good as Korea town. While I doubted that, I was willing to give it a try.
MGD – which stands for Meat, Grill, Drink – offers “all you can eat” BBQ. You pay one price (either $37 for the standard or the $42 for the supreme) and get to order anything you want from a list of appetizers and meats ready for grilling. Unlike Gen, dessert is not included but you can order ice cream for an additional $3. We decided on the supreme menu, as it had some dishes I wanted to try.
The restaurant has an industrial look and is decorated in blacks and reds. They have both high and regular tables, as well as booths, each with a center grill where you cook your own food. The booths were comfortable and ample. It wasn’t too busy when we got there, but it got popping as the evening went on – we were there on a Tuesday.
Dinner started with banchan, which are small dishes of mostly pickled foods to act as condiments and sides. I don’t think we tried any.
They also bring each diner an individual tray with a chili sauce – gochujang, I presume – coarse salt and a green sauce. The salt was useful for the steak, but I didn’t try the other condiments.
I ordered a few appetizers, just to try them. The fried gyoza were good but not remarkable and a little oily. I don’t think I’d bother ordering them again.
The honey butter fried chicken was interesting. It consisted of pieces of chicken, thickly battered and dusted with sugar. It was both salty and sweet. I don’t think I’d order it again, but I’m glad I tried it.
Mike ordered the fried Cajun calamari and liked it well enough.
We started our grilling adventure by ordering prime honeycomb pork belly (from the supreme menu), beef bulgogi and marinated LA galbi. The pork belly was just blah. It was way too fatty, as pork belly tends to be and convinced me that grilling pork belly is just not a good idea. We did like the beef bulgogi and that’s what we kept ordering time and again. It wasn’t a particularly great beef bulgogi, but even a mediocre beef bulgogi is very, very good. I don’t see much of an advantage about grilling it this way rather than sautéing it, though – at least flavor wise.
My sister really liked the LA galbi. Unfortunately, you are limited to one order per person – so she could only order four. I had the tiniest bit to leave the rest for her – she is, after all, nursing a very hungry baby, and I thought it was also good but unremarkable. Again, LA galbi is a flavorful cut to begin with.
We also ordered the prime MGD steak from the supreme menu a couple of times. The steak was very thin and it wasn’t bad once you smeared it with butter and salted it. Still, I don’t go to a Korean BBQ restaurant to eat unmarinated steak. My brother in law liked it, though. what I did like was the grilled pineapple. It was very sweet and delicious.
In a subsequent round we tried some chicken bulgogi, in addition to more beef bulgogi, and prime boneless marinated galbi from the supreme menu. The latter looked very similar to the beef bulgogi but wasn’t as tasty as either that or the bone-in LA galbi.
Finally, my brother in law got a lobster (from the supreme menu). He didn’t realize it was a choice until I pointed it out at the end of the meal. These take a long time to cook, so I’d suggest ordering them as your second round of meats – once you’ve eaten something and you’re not starving.
In addition to the “ready to grill” meats, MGD has a few prepared dishes in their all-you-can eat menu. I tried the cheese tonkatsu (from the supreme menu) and I wasn’t impressed. It turns out that pork and cheese are not particularly good combinations – and that cheese works better if you put it on the breading, rather than under it. But mostly, what I disliked was the flavor of the pork.
Much better was the galbijjim, also from the supreme menu. I had come across mentions of this short rib stew while researching Korean restaurants and I was intrigued – I love short ribs in general. It turned out to be a very, very tasty dish. The short ribs were soft and subtle and the flavor was rich and delicious. The dish was extremely fatty, but that’s true of most short rib stews, as the ample fat and collagen in the ribs melts into the sauce. Next time we go to LA, we’ll head to one of those restaurants in Korea town that specializes in this dish.
Service by our young waiter was very good – he was solicitous and helpful. But they were very understaffed – that poor guy was just constantly rushing between tables.
In all, I wouldn’t rush back to MGD though mostly because of the limits put on LA galbi and because my sister prefers the cheaper Gen Korean BBQ. In addition to this location, MGD has another one in Buena Park.
MGD Korean BBQ 9350 Corbin Ave. Northridge, CA 747-202-0086 M - Th: 4 PM - 10 PM F - Sa: 12 PM - 12 AM Su: 12 PM - 11 PM SUN : 12:00PM - 11:00PM
This Cuban Bakery is All the Rage in Southern California
Updated in September, 2024
Judge by the hype Porto’s has been getting in recent years, you would never guess that Porto’s Bakery has been around at its original location in Echo Park since 1976. Perhaps its expansion into six locations hit the Southern California zeitgeist at just the right time. Affordable prices at a time of high food inflation is certainly a draw. All I can say, is that when the co-founder died a couple of weeks ago this was news worthy of a “have you heard?”.
This was my second time at Porto’s. The first time I was less than impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I loved their prices but the baked goods? Not so much. Camila got a cinnamon coffee cake ($10.25 a small ring cake) that was quite good, mostly because of its cinnamon pecan streusel, and I’d had high hopes for the guava strudel ($1.25), but it turned out to be no better than what I could make myself with some puff pastry and guava jam. Later, my sister got the refugiados ($1.35) for her baby shower, which are guava strudels with the addition of cream cheese, and these were marginally better. Still, this is the one place my mother will go out for breakfast to, and I was happy to oblige her.
We hit the Porto’s in Northridge mid-morning on a Tuesday. I thought this would allowed us to beat both the breakfast and lunch crowds, but apparently everyone else thought the same, as the place was packed – just as packed as when I went for the first time earlier in a weekend morning a couple of months before. It is, fortunately, quite a large locale, so we were able to find a table to accommodate the four of us (+ newborn baby) fairly easily. This was also my opportunity to learn how Porto’s actually works.
You see, Porto’s has four different counters, and you have to go to the correct one to order what you want. At the Cafecito counter, which is located to the far left of the entrance, just next to the dining room, you can order coffee drinks, smoothies and juices – they do have fresh orange juice. They also have a small selection of baked goods. After you order, you need to hang around as they will call your name when your drink is ready.
I ordered a dulce de leche latte ($5 for a small), and I liked it quite a bit. For me, it had the perfect amount of sweetness and coffee flavor. It tasted as caramel rather than dulce de leche, however. My daughter also had one and she didn’t like at all – she thought it was too strong and not sweet enough; adding more sugar didn’t help. She is not a coffee drinker, however. My sister had the passion colada smoothie ($5.5), “mango and passion fruit ice-blended with a touch of coconut cream” and it was quite good, it did taste strongly of passion fruit.
At the Café counter, along the main wall facing the front door, you can order food, pastries and drinks. They have a breakfast menu, salads, sandwiches and main dishes as well as cold drinks. If you order a food dish you can also order any drink from the Cafecito offerings. If you just order a pastry, you’ll have to go to the Cafecito for your drinks (except for the beverages in the Cafe’s menu). The line here was quite longer than at the other counters, but they will bring your food to your table (as well as any Cafecito drink you order here). They give you an electronic device which allows them to locate you.
If you are only interested in getting pastries, then just head to the Bakery counter. The lines are shorter here and they go faster. You will be able to eat your goodies in the dining room, or any of the tables along the wall or in the patio outside.
Finally, at the end of that counter, you’ll find the Cakes counter, where you can pick up their cakes. They have some coffee cakes, loaf cakes and portioned caked desserts at the other counters, but round, decorated cakes are the Cake counter.
I wasn’t extremely hopeful about Porto’s, after my experience last time we visited, but I was willing to give it another college try. As it was mid-morning, neither breakfast nor lunch time, I decided to hit both at the same and get a little from each menu. Thus I ordered a croissant chocolate twist ($2.75) as it sort of reminded me of the wonderful torsades-aux-pepites-de-chocolat we used to breakfast with in Paris a whole lifetime ago. I won’t say it was that good, it lacked the wonderful pastry cream for one, but they were better than I expected. I appreciated the small chocolate pepites, much smaller than chocolate chips, and the dark chocolate flavor – which contrasted nicely with the mildly sweet pastry. It’s served cold, so it was better when I microwaved it later. I’ll definitely get this again.
I also got a baked ham & cheese croissant ($3.25), which I left for breakfast the next day as I wasn’t hungry enough for that and the rest. It’s also served cold so it does need to be microwaved, but it stood very nicely to the microwave and the pastry didn’t get too chewy, as often happens. I liked it even more than the ham & cheese croissant I get at my local bagel shop, and those are $6. This illustrates why Porto’s is so popular.
Finally, I got a ropa vieja sandwich ($8.7), which comes with crispy fried plantain slices. I was a little afraid when I ordered it. Ropa vieja – shredded beef cooked in a tomato sauce flavored with onions and bell peppers -, is one of my all-time favorite dishes. It’s a pain to make (well, to shred the beef), but it’s absolutely delicious. I got my recipe from a Frugal Gourmet cookbook ions ago, and I was a bit afraid about just how it would compare to the “real thing” – assuming that the ropa vieja at Porto’s would be that. And I was also afraid that Porto’s ropa vieja would just not be that good. I needn’t had worried. Porto’s ropa vieja was almost exactly like mine. It had a subtly bitter element – perhaps a different choice of wine? -, but it could have fooled me. So the ropa vieja sandwich was absolutely delicious. The soft bun had the right amount of filling and was a bit hard to maneuver, but I managed not to spill any on myself (a huge accomplishment). For less than $9, this was also wonderfully priced and oh, so delicious. I had the other half the next day for lunch, and it held up very well to the microwave. I’ll certainly be ordering this again. They also serve it as a plate, and I might do that instead.
Camila, had a chicken milanesa sandwich ($9.6), which comes with mozzarella cheese, tomato, smashed avocado, and spicy jalapeño spread, all in a Medianoche roll. She was quite happy with it, strange given everything the sandwich had inside it. But then again, this girl just loves milanesas.
My mother tried the Napoleon slice ($4.45), a cake consisting of layers of puff pastry covered with vanilla pudding and topped with puff pastry crumbs and powdered sugar. This is a pretty mild tasting dessert, which somehow manages to be more than the sum of its two parts. I think it’s because it’s comparably light and not too sweet, thus appealing to both the very young and the middle aged or older. Now, it won’t win any bakery awards, but it was pleasant enough.
My sister ordered the fresh fruit tartlet ($4.45), which was a little unwieldy and broke when she tried to take it out of the box, but she otherwise liked. It has a lot of fresh fruit, including apple slices. This is a good bet for people who are pretending to be healthier.
Given that Porto’s is the one place my mom will go ut to for breakfast, I will no doubt be returning. But I would return anyway after this experience.
And return I did. I visited my family again in September, and once again we went to Porto’s – this time for breakfast.
I wanted to get a breakfast dish both to try one but also to be able to place our whole order at the Café counter. I thus got the torrejas. This is the Porto’s version of French toast.
I’m not sure what bread they used – their website described it as their “signature croissant loaf,” but they don’t list that as available, and the bread seemed to have more flavor and ingredient on it. In any case, it was very good – the slices were thick and substantive, but still light and fluffy. The torrejas came with a guava sauce, mango cubes, strawberry slices and blueberries and is served with whipped cream cheese. I like to add mascarpone cheese to my French toast, but these had already been cooled down by the fruit, so they didn’t really melt it. Still I liked the dish overall – and it was definitely large enough to share.
I also tried the flan, which was pretty average for a flan. That’s a good thing, as flan is delicious.
Others in our party were happy enough with their orders, but I didn’t get details.
We did bring my sister back a fresh fruit tart ($33). I had a slice later and enjoyed it very much. It has a tasty shortbread crust and a not-too-sweet pudding base, in addition to lots of fresh fruit.
Porto's Bakery & Café 19467 Nordhoff St Northridge, (818) 534-5210 Daily 6:30 AM - 8 PM Part of a Southern California chain
I love Korean food, but I hadn’t been to a Korean BBQ joint for a couple of decades. Not only are they usually expensive, but when my kids were little, I was reluctant to take them anywhere close a hot grill – one of them still bears a scare from a very unfortunate George Foreman incident. Later, one of them became vegetarian and Korean BBQ restaurants are very sad places for those who love animals too much to eat them. So when my sister, who we were visiting in LA, suggested that we go to Gen Korean BBQ, I was quick to agree – and not only because she just had a baby and I’m being nice to her.
According to my sister, Korean BBQ joints have become very popular in LA, but most are quite expensive. Gen seems to be the exception to the rule, at “just” $30 per person for all your can eat BBQ. They do have some premium items for an additional $20 pp – and everyone at the table has to order this -, but for a first or second visit, at least, there is enough in the regular menu to satisfy everyone. Drinks are not included, and children 10 and under are half price.
The restaurant itself is pretty casual, and includes booths, tables and half-halves, we had one of the latter. In the middle of the table there is a gas grill, which they turn on when you arrive. You can order up to four raw items to cook in the grill – and really, more won’t fit -, as well as appetizers. It’s all you can eat, and they’ll keep bringing food for as long as you want. With three adults and one child, we got to try quite a few dishes. None were amazing, but several were quite good, making it a good place to come when you are just hungry. You are supposed to finish everything you order – so don’t over order – and you can’t take anything home.
I started by ordering a couple of appetizers. The deep friend mandu (pork & vegetable dumplings paired with a savory soy sauce) was actually quite good. The skins were hot and crispy and the filling nicely spiced – the soy sauce wasn’t even necessary. My nephew liked them a well.
The fried rice cake sticks with sweet & spicy sauce, however, were a bust. The ticks themselves had a weird glutinous texture (I know, I know) and no flavor whatsoever. The sauce was too spicy for my taste, so I ate one and that was that. Nobody else wanted to try them.
Later in the meal I got the Pork Riblets. These were listed in the meat menu, but I mention them here because they come already cooked. They have both “Korean style” and “spicy” riblets. I order the former but I think I got the latter, as they were too spicy for my paladar. I ate one, and it was good – though a bit too charred -, but the spiciness made it impossible to eat more. There is quite a bit of fat on these – but then again, that’s a given for ribs, so beware.
While I ate the appetizers, we cooked our first four meals. The waitress had recommended that we order the chadol, thin slices of brisket which I don’t think are marinated. This is a good call, particularly for those who don’t already know they like Korean flavors. I think this might have been my daughter’s favorite. I liked it, though only after it had charred a bit and acquired some flavor. The meats are served with a variety of pickled vegetables as well as soy sauce and flavored salt (and rice).
We also got the Gen Signature Yangyum Galbi, or marinated short ribs. This is a favorite of my sister and was quite good, she ordered it a couple of more times. Again, this benefits from some charring.
Her other favorite is the Hawaiian Steak, which is beef marinated in teriyaki that comes with pineapples. Both beef and pineapple were very tasty. As the meats are cut so thinly, they are pretty tender as well. We had seconds of this.
Finally, we had the beef bulgogi, which wasn’t as good as mine, but pretty good as well.
Among the other things we tried, was the Smoked Samgyubsal – marinated, smoked pork belly. Here, I wish the slice had been thinner, as one slice was too much of a good thing, even with two of us eating it. There was a reasonable amount of meat to fat, and it had a nice smoky flavor, but it was hard to see what was fat and what was meat after cooking it, and I did not like the texture of the thick pieces of fat in my mouth. They have several preparations for samgyubsal, but given that my issue was the texture, I don’t think I’d order it again.
Another item we tried and we’d not order again is the garlic chicken. Once cooked, this really tasted of over-roasted garlic and nothing else. It was bitter and just too one-note, no one liked it.
They had many other meats to try, but frankly, we were too full to try them, and this despite the fact that we didn’t even try the salads.
We did order the Hotteok, a Korean pancake. This was probably not worth the calories. The inside felt like uncooked batter and it wasn’t very flavorful at all.
Now, none of the meats were high quality – but as they are cut thin and heavily marinated, I’m not sure that mattered much. The grill got dark a couple of times with all the burn marinades, but they were promptly changed.
Service was great at the beginning, the waitress explained how things worked carefully, but she sort of disappeared at the end, when things got busy.
Gen Korean BBQ is a chain, with 24 restaurants throughout California, plus a couple in Arizona and Florida. The closest to me is in Fremont, and I might give it a try sometime.
Gen Korean BBQ 10151 Reseda Blvd Northridge, CA (818) 709-3932 Monday - Thursday 11:00 AM - 10:30 PM Friday 11:00 AM - 11:30 PM Saturday 10:00 AM - 11:30 PM Sunday 10:00 AM - 10:30 PM
Bob’s Big Boy is the restaurant chain of my adolescence. It was the first restaurant we ate at when we first came to the US. I had fried chicken, which seemed just so American, and thus quite exotic to me. And it was the restaurant where we would go to celebrate special occasions – birthdays, graduations, visits from relatives abroad. In our dire financial situation, it was the best my parents could do – though when my generous aunt would visit, we’d sometimes go to Sizzler’s.
I loved Big Boy burgers – the two decker ones with the flat bread in the middle and I absolutely loved their chocolate fudge cake. Then I moved away, Big Boy closed most of its locations, and I mostly forgot about it. Then last week, while visiting my family in LA, we drove past the Big Boy restaurant in Northridge, it reopened about a decade ago. I knew I had to go. I’m glad I did, but I probably won’t come back any time soon.
To a large degree, Big Boy hasn’t changed. Sure, this restaurant is different from the ones we’d eat at in Encino or Reseda, and the Big Boy character itself has changed looks over the years, but the menu is almost practically the same. It still has that fried chicken, those double decker burgers, those sweet strawberry pies and chocolate fudge desserts. I was happy to see that; I wanted a trip to the past.
And a trip to the past it was, as I convinced my mother and siblings to come along. Of course, neither my dad nor my sister are with us any more, but we had a new generation to bring along. It was probably good that the restaurant was mostly empty – there was one other big party but very few others -, as the younger members of our table were pretty rowdy (no blame to the newborn baby, who was quiet the whole time).
I ordered, of course, the original Big Boy combo ($15) described as “the original double-deck hamburger with two “never frozen” burgers, lettuce, cheese, mayo, and our special red relish” with a side fruit instead of French fries (I’m pretty much done with potatoes) and it was a HUGE disappointment. HUGE.
The problem were the burger patties. They were paper thin. I ordered them medium-rare, but they were too thin to be pink in the middle: there was no middle. That meant, of course, that he burger tasted of bread with just a hint of burger. And even after discarding the bread and just eating the patties, the experience was just sad. The patties were too dry and very unappetizing. I can assure you, this is not how the Big Boy burger was in the day.
Fortunately, everybody else’s food was far better.
My mom got the All American Burger ($16) “American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red relish, mayo, and red onion” and at least it had a single, thick patty. I do think her patty was larger than both of mine combined. She thought the burger was fine – but she’s not super fond of meat anymore, so perhaps that explained her lack of enthusiasm.
My brother and nephew both got the BBQ Bacon Cheeserburger ($18) “crisp bacon, BBQ sauce, sharp cheddar, onion rings, balsamic onions” and they were both much happier. The burger looked much better than mine, and they both thought it was pretty good.
My sister had the Patty Melt ($16) “on grilled Rye with Swiss and American cheese grilled onions on request” and she also was quite happy. As she said “you can’t really mess up a patty melt” but really, they could have done so by having paper thin patties like in my burger. Fortunately they did not, and she enjoyed her meal. I’d probably order this if we were to return.
Camila had the Chicken Parmigiana ($15.50) “breaded chicken tenders served on spaghetti topped with mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce.” She was happy enough with it – this is a favorite dish of hers, and Big Boy did it at least as well as Stouffer’s.
The kids had chicken nuggets and were more occupied with fighting than eating. But they’re kids.
I had to get Bob’s Famous Hot Fudge Cake for dessert and this, at least, was just as good as I remembered it. This dessert is all about the fudge and Bob’s fudge is delicious. The cake is moist and spongy, the ice cream tempers the sugar and I would have loved to eat the whole dessert, even if it killed me, but my sister stole it from me and gave it to my nephews. Well, I still cherish the few bites from it I got to take. And crave it.
So who am I kidding? I will return to Big Boy’s, but just for the dessert.
Service was very friendly – it’s hard to serve a party of 8 but the waitress did a fantastic job. And even though I missed my dad and my sister, I’m glad I got to relive a little bit of that far gone adolescence and mentally toast to the family we once were.
Bob's Big Boy 8876 Corbin Ave Northridge, CA (818) 772-2627 Su - Th: 8 AM - 8 PM F - Sa: 8 AM - 9 PM
Mike and I stopped for lunch at the Elephant Bar last Friday. He was well acquainted with the chain, but I hadn’t been to one before so I was curious. The restaurant is part of a big chain and it’s at a mall, but the interior was very pleasant, with lots of wood/bamboo, dark colors, a brass elephants and posters of old cruises to exotic lands.
The menu is basically Asian-inspired California food, on the pricy side. Mike and I shared the chicken potsticker appetizer (~$7), and we both liked them very much. The chicken filling was bursting with flavor, and the soy-based dipping sauce complimented it nicely. I’d order it again.
We then shared a full rack of the Kona BBQ pork ribs (~20). These came with a few french fries and coleslaw, and some apple sauce. Mike liked the ribs, but I wasn’t thrilled. Yes, the meat was falling off the bone, but it had the textured of steamed rather than slow cooked pork. The sauce was OK, similar to a teriyaki sauce, with sweet and gingerly notes, but not really remarkable. The ribs I had a couple of days later at Willow Ranch in Buttonwillow were much, much better.
Service was great, however, with a very attentive waitress.
All in all, the Elephant Bar seems like a good place to have a generic good meal in very nice surroundings.
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