New Functionality on Gourmet Pigs!

Psst. Guys, Gourmet Pigs now has a new functionality powered by OpenTable! w00t w00t!

This means, that for all applicable restaurants you will see this "Reserve Now!" button next to the restaurant's name on each review page:




Clicking on the button will lead you to that restaurant's OpenTable reservation page!
So when you read a review of a restaurant you want to go to, you can just click and reserve! No need to open a new tab/new window or pick up the phone.

Hopefully this will be useful for all of you! :)

~Ciao!

Craving Otak Otak in Westwood

I've had a lifelong affair with otak otak. Otak otak is spiced fish cake, steamed and grilled in banana leaves, and eaten (usually) with slightly spicy peanut sauce.

My favorite otak otaks are the ones from Jakarta, and when my relatives come visit, I always ask them to bring me some, and an otak otak fest would proceed for 2 days!
But now that I"m stuck in LA ... well, one of the best options seem to be Ramayani in Westwood.

The dishes at Ramayani can be hits and misses, but this seems to be the case at all Indonesian restaurants. The 'sop buntut' here is not bad. My gotta-have dish is naturally the otak otak:At $7.50 for 10 pieces, these aren't cheap compared to back home (but what is?). The otak otaks though has the right consistency and texture, and *almost* the right flavor. More spice, grill it some more, and we'll be set. The peanut sauce is the problem here. Not spicy enough, not even peanut-y enough, this one actually tastes like it was partly made with peanut butter - a common practice here in the U.S.

With all that said, these are pretty tasty things and I urge you all to try them here at Ramayani.
They can't compare to the ones back home, but what's an Indonesian girl stuck in LA to do?
They're still really good and definitely worth a try!

Ramayani
1777 Westwood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90024
(310) 477-3315

Pho Filet in El Monte

Pho with filet mignon. At first it sounds a bit strange. Pho = cheap. Filet mignon = pricey. But at these Vietnamese restaurants from San Gabriel to East LA, the result is still a cheap bowl of pho, kicked up a notch by the high quality of meat!

This was my first time meeting Wandering Chopsticks, who took Pleasure Palate and I to Pho Filet in El Monte.

Wanting to be adventurous and all, I ordered some pennywort shake (on the right). Wandering Chopsticks ordered the pennywort juice (on the left).
The pennywort shake also had mung beans in it, making it sweeter and less 'grassy'/'herby' than just the pennywort juice. WC said I should probably get that one, me being a pennywort-noob :P

This time we forgot to ask for the filet mignon on the side. Why would you want to do that? Because otherwise the filet mignon would get overcooked by the end of your meal, but if you order it on the side, then you can put it in one by one and you'll get a medium rare piece of filet mignon everytime!
The broth here tasted of more spice than most, which I really liked. And yes, you can definitely tell the upgrade on the meat!
Delicious, filling, and cheap. A bowl of pho here ranges from $5.50-$6 (depending on the type and number of different meats you get). For filet mignon? That's cheap! You can step up to a large bowl for $0.50 more.

For reviews of more dishes, and more food porn, filet mignon-style, check out Wandering Chopsticks' blogpost.

Pho Filet
9463 E Garvey Ave #A
South El Monte, CA 91733
(626) 453-8911