Thai AYCE Brunch Picnic at So Long, Hi! (Downtown LA)

Brunch is all about indulgence, and there are quite a few bottomless mimosa brunches around LA, but what about bottomless food? How about some bottomless Thai food?

So Long, Hi! in downtown LA started just that with their brunch picnic on Sundays. For those who aren't familiar, So Long, Hi! is the latest restaurant from David Tewasart (Sticky Rice, Side Chick) and Bryan Sharafkhah-Sharp (White Guy Pad Thai).

The picnic is $25 per person and it's an all-you-can-eat family-style affair, where the kitchen sends out food as it is prepared. The picnic menu will range from old favorites to off-the-menu specials. This is also a chance for the kitchen to prepare special dishes they don't normally serve on the menu and play around with their cooking. Either way, there will be more than enough food.

You may not expect it in downtown LA, but So Long Hi has a big sunny patio in the back that's perfect for a picnic.
We sampled some dishes that might be on future picnic menus, like the Thai beef jerky

There were noodles and roti served with green curry.

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AYCE Pizza, Beer Flights, and More at Mohawk Bend

Mondays are happy days at Mohawk Bend with their all-you-can-eat pizza nights for only $15. But wait! For the rest of the year (2010), the AYCE pizza is only $12!! Even better!
The AYCE pizza nights take place in the Ramona Room which, when it isn't packed, makes for a good date night with its fireplace and arching tree (I'm not sure how crowded Mondays are now, though).

Instead of ordering, servers with trays of thin crust pizza fresh from the oven walks around and offers you a slice. Most of the pizzas on the menu will make its way out during the night, except for the Pig Newton (since Serrano ham is expensive, yo).

We tried quite a few that night, including a vegan pizza, a Thai chicken pizza, the Private Idaho (with potatoes, bacon, caramelized onions, creme fraiche), and the Abe Froman (house-made Italian sausage, peppers, fennel, mozzarella). The vegan pizza made with Daiya cheese was not too bad, but of course I will stick with the spicy Thai chicken pizza. You can also get a green salad for $4 extra.

Mohawk Bend is all about beer, of course, so you'll need some to wash down the pies. 5-7pm are flight hours at Mohawk, featuring two beer flights at $9 each, but you can get these beer flights in the Ramona Room all night. If you're not into the flights, you can also get specially-priced cocktails.

While waiting for the rest of our party, LA OC Foodie and I got one each of the available flights: the Bitter flight and the Dark. As LA OC Foodie said, we were dark and bitter people.

Point the Way, Picket Fence Wheat IPA, Stone Cali-Belgique,  Mongo DIPA

Brekle's Brown, DDH 15th Anniv, Navigator Doppelbock, Stone IRS 2010

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Gobi: Mongolian BBQ Done Better

When I think of Mongolian BBQ, I think of my campus cafeteria and a couple of dives around UCLA and Caltech. I think of people overstuffing their bowls with meat and noodles. Well, the latter may still be true at Gobi, but here they use all natural, hormone free meats and vegetables from the farmer's market. Plus, great gelato + good beer list = beer floats!

For those unfamiliar with it, Mongolian BBQ is pretty much a DIY meal. Starting with an empty bowl, you grab your own meats, vegetables, noodles, and sauces - as much as you can fit in the bowl. At Gobi, the prices are $9.95 for lunch and $12.95 for dinner (extra $3 for shrimp).

Gobi uses hormone-free meats, and I stuffed my bowl full of the lamb! It's pretty unusual to find lamb at these places.

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