Los Angeles Food Diary: All the Eats

Los Angeles is one of my favorite food cities. Even though I was in L.A. for a fitness conference, which you can read about here, ain’t nothin keeping me from getting my foodie on. The foodie scene is incredible and I love visiting new places to see what may one day show up in Dallas.

PUMP Restaurant

Pump truly a sexy restaurant owned by celeb Lisa Vander Pump. You can read about it here. I never heard about it before, but my fellow foodie friend Ginger of the Ginger Marie Blog was excited to check it out and picked the spot for dinner. She also wrote a great recap you can read here.

The bar at PUMP restaurant.

Isn’t it so cute? There’s an outside courtyard that has the most unique decorations and light woven in and out of the trees. I also have low expectations for restaurants attached to a celebrity name. However, I was really surprised at how good the food was.

Side house salad.

Side salads usually aren’t anything to talk about, but it was perfect. Well balanced, fresh, crunchy, crisp, and delicious.

Tiger Prawns and Penne

After a very long day at the conference, I was STARVING. All I had was a salad. And I was not happy. Give me all the carbs. I had a bite of the Penne with Tiger Prawns, which hit the spot. But my heart was set on basic marinara meat sauce with penne.

While the food and atmosphere was great, the service sucked. I had a short stint in the hospitality industry and know how hard it is to be a server. I’m usually pretty understanding, but bad service just pisses me off.

Grand Central Market

If it’s one place you MUST visit, you have to stop by Grand Central Market. It’s a huge industrial warehouse, full of shops, restaurants, grocery stores, candy shops, and everything. Our new Dallas Farmer’s Market is kind of similar. I went twice during my trip. When it’s peak hours, the place is packed and lively. So many people hustlin’ and bustlin’. Love the energy.

Grand Central Market

Eggslut was my first restaurant there. We fortunately went right when they opened the garage doors for the entire market at 8am. Eggslut faced the street and we happily hopped in the short line and ordered breakfast. Usually the line wraps around the section multiple times.

I had the Slut, which is a carefully placed poached egg over mashed potatoes with sliced toasted baguettes. It was delicious and such great comfort food. I just wished I had more! The size was pretty puny for $9. Personally, I could’ve used a little more texture, like crumbled bacon or something. Still yummy. I hear lunch is even tastier.

Tavern on 2

Tavern on 2 on Belmont Shore Long Beach was a bit of a trek out of Downtown Los Angeles, but well worth it. Thanks to my friend Chandler of The H is For, she got us a lovely media dinner invite to check out the restaurant for a girls night.

Super delicious poutine fries. I’ve only had 1 or 2 others ever, but this was my favorite so far.

The view, the vibe, and the food were great. For appetizers, we chowed down on roasted cauliflower, short rib poutine fries, crispy brussel sprouts with bacon, and seven cheese mac n cheese fully loaded. Just so much happiness in each bite.

For our dinner, since we had gotten too excited with appetizer, most of us opted for a light dinner option. Burgers and tacos! I got the Kung Pao Pork Belly tacos. The flavors were good, but just wayyy to hot for me. I was literally crying, but then again I’m a wimp with spice. I did like the crunchy water chestnuts in each bite.

There’s always room for dessert. We had the flourless chocolate cake, s’mores that came with a small table fire pit, and the bread pudding. I was totally lost in the s’mores moment. I felt like a kid again with sticky fingers and chocolate all over my face.

Kitchen24 in West Hollywood

Kitchen24 was the destination after a pretty awesome hike to see the Hollywood Sign. Three hours of walking on an incline is enough to induce some real food hanger pains. I wouldn’t say this place is great. The food is decent and being famish, it was good. There were definitely mixed reviews from everyone at the table.

Grand Central Market – Bonbo:

My last night in L.A. involved some serious partying at a club called Boulevard3 in Hollywood. This was the perfect hangover cure. I wolfed down the Seattle’s Seafood Stew from Bonbo during my second visit to Grand Central Market.

Glad I caught up with this guy and show him a part of LA he’s never been to. Always fun reconnecting with people in different cities. Gosh, I’m going to miss L.A.

Where are some of your favorite spots to visit in LA? Comment below and tell me where I should go on my next visit!