Nate n Al's Deli

When you've got a hankering for a sandwich after watching an episode of "Best Thing I Ever Ate" on Food Network featuring a huge pastrami sandwich at Langers, Nate n Al's is a good alternative for westside peeps.

I had been craving a nice beef sammie for 2 days after seeing said episode. I finally got a chance to satisfy that the other night.

The boy, kiddo and I went for dinner and were pretty full after.

I had the corned beef sandwich with a side of potato salad. He had the egg salad sandwich with a side of macaroni. Kiddo had a corn dog, fruit and chocolate milk.

Overall, I liked my sammie. It was packed with corned beef, which was tender, and flavorful. Not a bad deal at all. The potato salad was a bit sweet for my liking and drowning in mayo.





BF liked his egg salad sandwich, but then again he likes egg sandwiches in general. I had a bite and it was pretty good, packed with egg salad with a strip of lettuce.



Kiddo didn't really like her corn dog, but she dug the chocolate milk. The waitress was pretty funny, in a grandma kind of way.

The pickles they give you at the start of the meal are really good and crispy! Great addition to your sammies.

I'd come back when the craving hits again.

Nate n Al's Deli
414 N Beverly Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 274-0101

Pourtal Wine Tasting Bar

My friend and I came here for happy hour the other night. Happy hour goes from 4-7 pm and we got in at 6:52 pm. We sat down at one of the many high tables and waited for service.

Our waitress comes over, and told us that they have HH, but there was only 8 min left. Yeah, we know.

She left and came back about 9 minutes later to take our orders. We ordered a glass of wine each ($5) and 5 appetizers at $4 a pop. Good prices.



We asked for duck rillettes, olives, spanikopita, burrata and tater tots.

After about 10 minutes she came by with the olives and mini hot dogs. I was confused and asked her what the hot dogs were. She said they were kobe dogs. Um.. we didn't order those I told her. She said sorry curtly and took them away.

Another 10 minutes later we got the tater tots, duck rillettes and spanakopita.

I've gotta say, those duck rillettes were effen amazing. Similar in texture to pate, and served with toast, it was the best thing of the night. I could have ate another order of them. I'm sure it was laden in fat and I probably gained 5 lbs from one serving, but whateves, it was worth it.



Tater tots were average, crispy, but after a while was just okay.



Spanakopita was soft and flaky with a nice spinach and cheese filling. Another winner.



Olives were just average. Nuff said.




And the burrata? Well, I couldn't tell you as they never showed up. We tried to flag her down but she was too busy chatting with some people at the bar. Seriously, the service was just off. She got the order wrong, then forgot our other order, and basically ignored us till we got our bill.

Maybe she should have written down the order. Just sayin.

Or hire another server, since she was the only one.

I might come back to try the Monday all night happy hour, but I really hope the service is not as bad.

3***

Pourtal Wine Tasting Bar
104 Santa Monica Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 393-7693

Cafe Med

2 must try dishes at my favorite Italian place in Los Angeles.

Orecchiette with sausage, rapini, and garlic. My ultimate pasta dish. Love the flavors.



Fettucine with truffles. Divine in all senses of the word. Topped off with fresh parmesan cheese.



Cafe Med
8615 W Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 652-0445

Genwa Korean BBQ

After reading all the 5 star reviews on Yelp, I was stoked to try Genwa. My friend and I went for a late lunch and got stuffed to the gills with food. Was I satisfied? Well, I was stuffed.. but something seemed amiss.



We ordered the Combo A+ which came with house salad, soon tofu, chap chae (glass nooodles), galbi, and bulgogi for $50.

I was looking forward to the 20+ banchans that people were raving about, but when they arrived, they were TINY. Like, about half the size of regular banchan. Nothing in particular stood out to me. It's definitely more for presentation, rather than taste. The few that I do remember being good were the pancakes, fish cake and some kind of pickled veggie.



close up on banchans


Other than that, banchans were disappointing.

Galbi was good and came with this big bone that had meat and cartilage on it. Our waitress cooked for us most of the time and cut the meat up. I wasn't too keen on the grill since our veggies got scorched and it seemed like the meat was cooking really slow. Kinda weird if you ask me. Yeah, you don't reek of meat afterwards, but it just didn't seem authentic.

Galbi and Banchans


Bulgogi tasted a bit sweeter than galbi, and I liked it the same. By the time we got to the bulgogi, I was so stuffed from the galbi it was pretty hard to force myself to eat the rest of the meat.

We both ordered brown rice which cost $2 each. Personally, I think rice should be included in the meal. I thought everything was pretty damn salty and needed the rice to quell that taste. The brown rice was interesting, not your typical brown rice, more of a mixed wild rice. I'm thinking the white rice would have been a better option.

As far as the soon tofu, it was pretty average. Not spicy at all, and pretty forgettable.



House salad was lettuce and green onions mixed with dressing. It was good with the beef. Glass noodles were okay as well, and I didn't really like that she portioned it out for us. I would have much rather picked at it, but whatevs. I know this place is all about service.



The service was good for the most part. She forgot my friend's water, and took away her soju drink before she was done. Other than that, they refilled our water and banchan when we asked.

Oh, the lychee soju cocktail we got were pretty weak and $5.50 each. It was pretty though and came with an umbrella.



Our bill was $71 before tax and tip. Even though we were stuffed, I still feel Chosun is a better value. Better quality and more authentic.

Oh, just remembered we didn't get any lollipops after our meal. Hmmm, but, I did notice she gave it to other tables. Maybe she forgot. Oh wells.

Last thing, the restaurant is super clean and modern. That's definitely a plus, but I still think Chosun is better overall.

3***

Genwa Korean BBQ
5115 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 549-0760

Yatai Ramen Twist @ Breadbar on 3rd St

Stopped by here last Saturday for the special Yatai Ramen Twist event cuz I was craving some oxtail ramen.

We sat outside on the patio and our waiter was really friendly and helpful. Great service.

The food was a bit of a disappointment to me. I ordered the oxtail ramen with truffle oil and it was too heavy for my liking. It tasted more like beef noodle soup than ramen and the oxtail meat was kinda chewy. Broth was very beefy, not sure I was really expecting that. Noodles were cooked good, not too soft and not too hard.





My dining companion liked his miso ramen and raved about the pork slices. He said it was so tender it basically melted in his mouth. Wow. If that isn't something to rave about, I don't know what is.



I didn't taste any truffle oil in my soup. Boo hoo. I love truffle oil. The oxtail ramen may be a good choice for someone who is really into beef.

I'm not knocking it, since I'm a huge fan of oxtail. I was just overwhelmed with the intense flavor.

Very big portions and neither one of us finished our bowl.

Not sure if I'd come back, but if I did, I would give the spicy miso ramen a try. Maybe oxtail and ramen just don't mix. If you're interested, they are running the event till 7/24. Mondays- Saturdays from 5-10 pm.

3***

Breadbar
8718 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(310) 205-0124