belle + sebastian forever.

it was literally a dark and stormy night. lightning was in the distance, and rain pouring sobering buckets on a drunken euphoria of the thought of belle + sebastian playing at hollywood forever cemetery, after a screening of "trainspotting." really? did i want to be doing this?

however, an $8 tarp from target, a long underused anorak (hello my boyish days!), and the luck o' the scottish (snort) got us to the graveyard in the nick of time, parking right in front, and prime seating for both the screening and the band.

miraculously, it was clear and mostly dry in the cemetery itself. the rains kept away the crowds and we got prime seating--better than an cinespia outing--and bundled up with a blanket and because--"picnicking is encouraged during the screening"--some provisions. now the thought of dinner during "trainspotting" seemed sort of unlikely to me, unless it included smack and lucozade, but we made due with a bottle of wine and a lot of chocolate and cheese. with the brisk winds and the wet chill in the air it was almost perfect scottish weather, in an almost perfect scottish surrounding, albeit with big palm trees and police helicopters buzzing overhead. seriously, though, if you ever get the chance, choose life, choose a career, choose a family, choose a big fucking television, choose to see "trainspotting" should it ever be screened in a celebrity cemetery because it is the perfect non-squalid surrounding for that film. i've probably seen it a hundred times, but not in almost a decade, and the film held up better than i would have ever expected.

and then to belle & sebastian. i thought that the show at the hollywood bowl was phenomenal, but this was something else in another league of awesome. intimate and engaging, casual, relaxed yet energizing, and with probably the best sound and sight lines of any concert i have attended. i know i've said it before but this was magic, pure magic. belle & sebastian bring it every time. magicians, musicians, morticians, storytellers, storm quellers, graveyard dwellers....

more photos here.


hollywood forever cemetery
6000 santa monica boulevard, between gower and van ness
323.243.2366.

special delivery

it may not be the most glamorous job, but delivering ice cream on one of the hottest days in los angeles might be the best.

the inevitable jitlada post, probably *not* the one you want to read.

yeah. i knew i'd get around to it. i haven't been to jitlada in maybe six years, and i remember liking it but not loving it. it was quite possibly before the current owners took over and transformed it into the internet-loved-and-hyped, southern thai cuisine palace that it is today. i hhhhhhhhhhhate hype but if a family-run business deserves it, then kudos.

i went on a saturday at lunchtime. jitlada is in a small mini-mall with an even smaller parking lot. saturday at 11.30 am still meant that there were several cars double parked in an already full lot , but there was a decent amount of parking on sunset blvd, albeit with meters. the place , however, was empty. almost. our party of six walked in and was met by two older gentlemen, one who greeted me in thai (?) and i think said "hello again." again? either i have a doppelganger, or someone remembered me from half a decade ago (i'm going with doppelganger). neither actually helped us to a table, but one of the handful of servers ushered us to a table in the back of a honey wood paneled, wood furniture filled room. two other tables were filled--one was a large group of buddhist monks, and the other a smaller table of young thai women in white, who were not eating. it soon became clear that they weren't there for the food, but to pray with the monks, who started their prayers soon after we sat down. lulling, mesmerizing. a real honour; a good sign.

the menu is massive, more type than photos, with a somewhat confusing numbering system--you will find several numbers repeated and they aren't in any particular order. there is a "regular" or "front" menu, and then two densely packed back pages with southern thai specialties. our nice waitress was very patient and amusingly (to me, anyway) so not thai. she did well with us jumping around the menu, and only needing the slightest of clarifications with our requests. she did not, however, ask us about our heat level tolerance, and i forgot to tell her. i actually found almost everything to be at a high, but acceptable level for the most part. can't say the same for the rest of the table (sorry). i did not read any reviews or order suggestions beforehand, mainly because i forgot, but then again, i don't really listen to anyone anyway. however, if you are interested, there are numerous reviews and suggestions under the glass at every table, and on the walls.

the service was good, not particularly speedy, but not slow. dishes tended to come out one at a time, rather than together. we started with soup from the southern thai menu in the back, no. 89 cucumber clear soup. it was exactly that, a clear soup with slices of cucumber, ground chicken, and cilantro, flavoured with ginger or galangal and lemon grass. no spiciness, and not overwhelming in flavour, but a nice way to whet the palate. simple, homey. one of my favourites of the meal. there was pad thai, which was okay. i'm not a fan, and i am especially not a fan of ones that come in a sallow sweet orange sauce, so allow me to ignore it. the other starch was spicy brown rice (no. 126 in the front menu), which i also ignored. i like fried rice, but not as a starch to a meal, and not as a side component a meal, but as a one-course dish. i did try a bit of this was good as such--chewy, not too oily and all the flavours one would hope to find in a fried rice, along with their signature heat. it would have been interesting to try this with traditional red rice, but i think the brown rice provides a better texture.

the water crest (kang kong or water convolvus) in a light lemon sauce (no. 9 in southern menu) was very good--crunchy, sweet, weedy. the sauce nothing more than the liquid from the crest from cooking, and a light lacing of lemon. despite the presence of several small dried thai chilis, there wasn't any heat to this as well. we also had chinese broccoli (kailan or gailan) prepared in a similar manner with cashews added on top. i found this to be slightly overcooked, but still tasty.

an apparently vaunted dish is the fried morning glory salad with shrimp (no. 91 in southern menu). i don't remember eating this. i don't even remember ordering this, or it even being on the table. maybe someone ate it all, it was so good. i should point out that there aren't that many vegetable dishes on the menu, and there are listings for both water crest and morning glory dishes. however, both signify the same vegetable, kang kong or water convolvus, or hollow vegetable.

crabmeat, pumpkin (kabocha squash), and long beans in a dry southern curry sounded better on paper than in execution. the crab meat was okay--restaurant service-quality canned blue crab perhaps--but still sweet, the kabocha and long beans cooked just almost to the edge of overdone. i believe you have a choice of curries for this, and the southern curry overwhelmed the flavour of the crab and pumpkin. this is a lovely idea, but pick a different curry.

kaeng kóp sôm tháwn, frog legs and santol fruit in curry (also no. 9 in the southern menu. ha! so be careful!) . now this is something i would order, did order. a coconut creamy, spicy yellow curry with a generous portion of frogs' legs and santol, a tropical fruit that is related to mangosteen. i was disappointed to find that the santol fruit used was the red variety, and not the velvety yellow variety i'm used to eating on guam and in the philippines. the difference is that the red variety has brown flesh and a mostly sour taste like a tamarind, whilst the yellow variety is white fleshed and has a more sweet-sour taste like its cousin mangosteen. i think the yellow variety would offer a more interesting contrast of flavours, but i liked the plummy-ness of the fruit in this. the frog legs were somewhat overcooked and not the best quality i've had, but yes, you can tell it doesn't taste just like chicken and thank goodness for that. the joint cuts left brittle shards of bone throughout the dish that were a slight nuisance, though.

not the most exciting of dishes, but i really enjoyed the relative simplicity of the fried red snapper filets with a cucumber, tomato and cilantro salad and sweet and sour dressing. everything was well balanced, with a lot of crispy textures playing against the moist flesh and soft tomato and the not overpowering sweet and sour dressing enhancing the vegetal elements as well as the delicate fish.

i don't remember exactly which dish this is, but i don't think it was on the southern thai side of the menu. it is a whole sea bass, fried, then smothered in what is generally known as a jungle curry, but i think is described as "wild curry" in jitlada's menu. i really loved the sauce on this--it's hardcore bitter, spicy, and tough--it really tastes like someone just went hacking through a thai jungle with a machete, picked up the detritus along the way and chucked it into a cauldron to simmer into semi-submission. i did have issues with the sea bass, however. we checked the market price on it, and this dish came out to almost $40 for the one fish, to which we consented; however, i seriously doubt it topped the scales at more than one pound, pound and a quarter, maybe. i was expecting something more substantial--not monster, but i found the size of the fish for the price to be unacceptable.

despite the issues with the seafood, i did enjoy the meal. i'm not entirely sure i would order any of the same dishes again, especially with so much to explore in the massive menu. maybe the water crest in lemon sauce, especially since there aren't very many straight veggie dishes on the menu. i'm not particularly excited about the menu's southern thai cuisine slant, like many people seem to be; it doesn't seem to be too far from what i can get in other places in los angeles, and it is definitely what i can find here in guam, philippines and most of asia. however, i do acknowledge that the chefs and cooks of jitlada do what they do well. i like the space--it's intimate without being too small, homey but actually one of the nicer decorated thai restaurants i've visited in thai town. the service is somewhat perplexing as it seems that the less help they have on hand, the better the service seems to be. everyone seemed quite pleasant, and even though i'm pretty sure it was different management the last time i was in there many years ago, there was a familiarity about them and possibly about me that made me feel quite comfortable in the space. i would definitely go back on a weekend lunch if it means so few people. it won't be my first or second choice, but definitely an option every now and again.

jitlada
5233 west sunset boulevard
hollywood 90027
323.667.9809.

thursday night market at yamashiro's.

i brought the wrong camera lens for the market, so there aren't any food shots for you (besides the gorgeous stone fruit. so good.) . but here's what you need to know: a few flower and produce vendors occupy a short row, but the rest is food, baked goods, bulgarini gelato, and liquor. yeeeeeah. a farmer's market on the grounds of a restaurant with a full liquor license means you can bring the family, do some shopping, eat some tasty grub, and wander around the gardens all whilst sipping a beer or quaffing down one a bottle of wine. full on hipster scene poolside (! yes! a pool! with a dj!) which means some bikini-clad women in search of duck confit tacos mix in with children dancing to a live jazz band.

parking: you can get valet parking from the restaurant; if you tell them it's for the market, it's $4. don't forget to tell them it's for the market or you'll be charged $7! there's free(?) valet parking and free shuttle down the hill at the christian science church parking lot at la brea and franklin, too.

the main reason to go, though, is this:




from griffith park observatory to century city, you have a true panoramic view of los angeles. priceless, with parking.

yamashiro's garden market,
thursdays from 5pm to 9pm.
1999 north sycamore avenue,
hollywood.
323.466.5125‎.

somewhere under the rainbow: rufus wainwright at the hollywood bowl.

rufus wainwright at the hollywood bowl, recreating judy garland's 1961 concert at the carnegie hall. september 23, 2007. was he up for the task? "recreation" would be too strong a word; perhaps channeling judy would be more appropriate. despite his inability to reach certain notes, or even remember the words, he was a consummate showman. this was less about garland than it was about him, despite lorna luft (and her independently operated shocking pink gown) being there. the best moments were with his mother and sister, who could have easily stolen the show on their own; imho, though, they were at their best when they were interacting with rufus. when is the wainwright-mcgarrigle cabaret hour going to be produced?

an afternoon at the cat and fiddle.

just before the holidays, i met up with a close friend and spent the day with her and her lovely family. we hadn't seen each other in years, and we fell in like old times, only this time with her toddlers and amenable husband in tow. we had a very yummy mummy sort of brunch in a neighbourhood joint popular more for its location, agreeable attitudes towards large parties with more children than adults, and pet-friendliness than its food or ambiance, although to be fair, the latter two attributes were more than satisfactory. she is as vivacious and kind as ever, she has married a good man, and her children are adorable as children get. however, i found myself exhausted from their exuberance and vigour, and feeling a little alien in this cosy family unit. i left them with well-wishes and a sincere hope to keep in touch, but with also a desperate desire for a tall alcoholic beverage and some room to breathe.

luckily a quick phone call and even quicker ride down sunset brought me to the cat and fiddle, a pub in hollywood that we--old friend and i--had frequented much during university years but i had not been to since. the building is a spanish-style stone complex built around a large courtyard, and dating from the 1920s. it is quiet and calm at any given time, and takes you away from the rush of sunset boulevard just yards in front. i found it to be the same as ever, although a bit foreign in the light of day. it was bright but chilly, and my friends were already ensconced in a cozy corner of the courtyard, nursing pints of stella. (i don't know if we've talked about this before, but i gave up drinking awhile back. i was a teetotaler up until...sometime this summer, but haven't really imbibed much in the ensuing months. however, when i was younger, i was a bit of a lush.) i was quite fond of snakebites; besides completely dating me (and apparently outing me as a former goth), i don't think there's any pub in la that will serve them. still, pubs get extra points from me if they've got cider on tap; cat and fiddle has strongbow, a pint of which suits me fine in my creakity older years.

i admit to have gone to the cat and fiddle for food, not drink, before, even though ye olde king's head has better batter on their fish and chips. it's still california, though, and i feel like the vegetables are more abundant and fresher than typical pub grub. we ordered plates of cod and chips, which came with either soup or a big green salad, and welsh rarebit, an abundantly cheesy toast made with double gloucester and served with a broiled tomato. everything was hearty, well-prepared, and reasonably priced. they've got typical fare as scotch eggs, shepherd's pie, and bangers and mash; of course you are in los angeles, so like other pubs, there are healthier, grilled fish and meat, and vegetarian alternatives. good side salad. good bread rolls (if you don't get one, ask).


the pub, at night, can get lively and horribly overcrowded in the late evening, but the afternoons are generally calm and genial--the perfect respite. it has been awhile since i've had the time to just hang out with my friends, and do absolutely nothing at all except sit and enjoy each others company. as the afternoon wore on, the christmas lights were turned on, and some of the employees began to decorate the tree outside, laughing and joking as if it was a christmas tree and not just the garden ficus. i began to appreciate my morning of familial chaos more, but also really treasured the "family" i was with at that moment. it was good to catch that breath before another season of chaos, stress, and overwhelming festivities began, but also to remember and experience a little of the real reason for the season: caring, compassion, friendship and family.

(and a little tipple to grease the wheels never hurt either--but don't drink and drive, folks!)



the cat and fiddle
6530 w sunset blvd (x-street shrader)
hollywood 90028.
323.468.3800.

tagged! los+angeles hollywood pub food

'b' is for "better"

i have had quite a hankering for thai food these days, and decided to try a few of the restaurants in thai town, which is centered on hollywood boulevard in a part of hollywood actually known as little armenia (tell me again that los angeles isn't multi-culti, 'cause i ain't buying it). i've been reading the internets for thai restaurant recommendations and am a little bemused by people's descriptions of some of the restaurants i've already frequented; apparently as an island girl, i've got different standards of what is considered 'dirty' and 'a hole in the wall'. in fact, most of the asian restaurants i've been to with an 'A' health code rating have only been okay; so far the winners have all had a 'B' rating--i suppose in this case 'B' stands for "better." ha. i decided to stick to simon's low end theory restaurant guide as my primer; so far, i've not been disappointed whenever i've consulted it. here are the favourites so far: ord noodle, ruen pair, and yai.



i ended up at ord noodle, thinking i was going to find yai noodle, the sister restaurant of yai cuisine; unfortunately, it looks like the satellite restaurant has shut down, but i was not disappointed by the food at ord. it is a bright, bricky, somewhat arty looking space (i'm told a holdover from whatever resto was there previous to yai noodle--wasn't it a mongolian barbecue place?), with two rows of tables lined on either side of the narrow space. my dining companion and i both ordered bowls of the barbecued duck noodle soup, which could be ordered with a choice thin rice noodles or wider egg noodles; we both chose the egg noodles, which was a nice choice as although they were cooked just al dente, i think they managed to soak up enough of the rich, fatty broth, which was slightly sweet and quite spicy with red pepper flakes, onion and garlic. fresh green onion, cilantro and bean sprouts along with a generous portion of fatty but tender barbecued duck meat topped the steamy bowl of noodles and broth, which would have easily been a perfect sized meal for the both of us.



but no, we had to order more. we added the chicken larb and thai sausages to our lunch order because they were there and they were cheap (less than a fiver each). the larb was a combination of ground chicken meat, stir-fried with red onion, green onion, chili peppers, cilantro, rice powder and lime juice and served hot on a wedge of fresh cabbage. it was spicy, not greasy, but the mostly white chicken meat seemed somewhat overwhelmed by the spices and i couldn't detect the rice powder. it has been awhile since i've had larb as i don't find it particularly exciting, so i'm unsure as to how it is supposed to be served, and are you in fact supposed to taste or feel the texture of the rice powder anyway? no matter, as i found it to be tastier than i had recalled, a sort of cooked meat ceviche. i was far more interested in the order of grilled thai sausages, which were served with raw peanuts, whole cloves of garlic, chopped cilantro, and whole chili peppers. i was unsure as to what to do with all the raw condiments, so i just sort of chopped up the larger bits and mixed them all together with some vinegar to make a rather tasty if chunky sauce to dip the sausages in. the sausages themselves seemed to be rich with pork fat and pork blood or liver, but managed not to be completely overtaken with that...awful offal overtone that some intensively intestinal (intestinally intensive?) foodstuffs can have. just the right amount of richness tempered by the charred casing and herby vinegar.

*

ruen pair is in the same strip mall complex as the old palm thai location (currently undergoing renovation), and the jonathan gold recommended red corner asia, but of the three, i think i'd pick ruen pair as the winner. it's small, cramped and dark, but strangely cheery, maybe because it's almost always packed, and people seem to really like what they are eating. the menu is rather extensive, but the specialty seems to be a green papaya salad with raw blue crab, which everyone ordered. except us. i was with "safe" eaters, so i was restricted from ordering anything undead and too odd. still, we managed to pick out a good array of dishes from the extensive menu.



we started with the spicy combo salad, which was kind of like a crazy antipasto platter filled with sliced salted eggs, preserved ducks' eggs, sliced chinese sausages and preserved/pickled vegetables then drizzled with an onion/chili pepper/garlic-laced vinegar and tossed with green onion and slivers of fresh ginger. tangy, spicy, sharp and mellow all at once. we also had the deep-fried shrimp patties (shrimp and fish meat minced with green onion and bound with corn starch) which were bursting with chunks of seafood but not fishy, and springy in texture, without being tough.



the starters were quickly, quickly followed by kai kua, flat rice noodles stir fried with chicken, bean sprouts and egg, spicy steamed catfish in a red curry sauce with fried basil leaves (not pictured), and a very simply sauteed kang kong (water spinach/convolvus), served with a chili vinegar sauce. all three of these were only slightly greasy, but very fresh, quite generous in portions, and very clean in taste.

*

i think my hands down favourite of the lot--simon's and kirk from mmm-yoso's favourite, too--is yai, which is in a poky little strip mall near the 101 freeway junction. i've read a lot about how absolutely dire the interior is, but i didn't find it dirty or off-putting at all. what it lacks in interior design it wholly makes up for in easily wipeable white laminate, and the bright fluorescent lighting only highlights how very good the food looks as well as tastes (my lovely dining companion begs to differ with me on this point, i can only imagine how horrified he'd be over the interior of my favourite thai restaurants on guam).



we started with a rather refreshing bamboo shoot salad made up of shredded bamboo shoots marinated in a lime, basil, onion, chili dressing. it was clean, crisp, somewhat bracing, and wholly addictive. the fresh lime and chili perked us up on this hot, muggy day, and also awoke our taste buds. i picked a dish off the specials board called gai sapp nok, which turned out to be ground chicken stir-fried in a red curry sauce with basil leaves and sweet peppers. it too was also spicy, and a more interesting relative of the tamely spiced and more common larb.



again, we checked out the barbecued duck noodles, which came "dry" this time (without soup); their version came with a more than generous amount of fragrant roasted duck that was meaty and not-too-fatty and not-too-salty, with thin shards of perfectly crisp and delicate skin attached to the tender meat. the noodles themselves were superb, still with a firm bite, and sauced lightly with a soy-tinged duck broth and finished off with chopped fresh cilantro, green onion, and bean sprouts.



the highlight of the meal for me, however, was the black egg pow, which was at least half a dozen quartered preserved ducks' eggs stir-fried with sweet red peppers, medium-hot green jalapeño peppers, and fiery bird chili peppers, then topped with a tangled nest of deep-fried basil leaves and a sweet soy dressing. the eggs were the perfect base to all the peppers and soy--creamy custard soft, with a little bit of a crunchy crust, with a slight mustiness that only helped bring out the freshness of the basil and chilis. truly excellent. i'll return. soon.

*

also worth seeking out is the fabulous dessert/snacks emporium bhan kanom thai, which has a branch in the same complex as ruen pair. baked goods, a shave ice bar, a hot dessert bar, steamed rice cakes, grilled rice cakes, dried fruit, dried fish, thai bento, pork sticks...the assortment is mind-boggling. here are some photos. check it out, y'all.



ord noodle
5401 hollywood boulevard,
hollywood 90027.
323.468.9302.

ruen pair
5257 hollywood boulevard,
hollywood 90027.
323.466.0153.

yai
5757 hollywood boulevard,
hollywood 90028.
323.466.0153.

bhan kanom thai
various locations, including
5271 hollywood boulevard,
hollywood 90027.
323.871.8030.


update:
more photos of food from yai