PINGTUNG Eat-In Market: Great Asian Food on Melrose, For Real

When you talk about Chinese food on the westside, West Hollywood, or Hollywood, you're immediately skeptical. Of you might say that "it's pretty good for the westside". Well, PingTung recently opened up on Melrose, serving up dim sum, Chinese rice dishes, beef rolls, and Japanese ramen, and it's good. Not just "it's pretty good for Melrose", but actually good.

Unlike the higher end Bao, PingTung is more casual, with wooden tables and an outdoor night market style seating in the back. There are Asian products displayed on the shelves for purchase. That's the market part. I'm here for the eat-in part.

The owner (Ping) had hired a Chinese chef to make all the dim sum and a Japanese chef to make all the ramen.
She told us that the chefs had protested initially when she told them to cook with no MSG and less oil, but they finally figured out how to do this while maintaining the taste.

Pingtung Flat Bread Beef Roll ($6.95)

I thought the flatbread would be some kind of pizza-like thing but it turns out to be these rolls! They're done well, the skin nicely crisped at the edges.

Chicken Shumai ($5.50)

They also have pork shumai but Ping really wanted me to try the chicken shumai. Have to admit, they're pretty good (that just means the pork would be that much better, right?). They tasted cleaner than SGV dumplings but that's not necessarily bad.

Radish cake with chinese sausage ($4.95)

My default order when I go to dim sum. I like the browned, thinner version here. More crisp to volume ratio!

Crystal Shrimp Dumplings ($5.50)

No dim sum without har gow!
When I eat this, the thing I watch out for is the skin. Sometimes the skin is too thick or too hardened. Not so here, I was pleasantly surprised that the skin and, indeed, the whole dumpling was excellent.

(Spicy) Miso Tonkotsu Ramen $7.95

They don't make the noodles in house but the noodles they use were specifically made for their broths. The company they use had come to taste the broth and figured out the right noodles to use. The tonkotsu is not as fatty as most places but it's still quite good! Healthier while maintaining great flavors, indeed. Ping is also very proud of her chicken ramen, which I will have to try later.

Paiku Pork Chop ($10.95), comes with soup of the day.

This is the only one that I didn't really like, because the meat was a bit tough. When I was there the soup was a hot and sour soup.

They also have beer and sake (and sake cocktails) as well as a good selection of loose leaf teas. Overall I was very pleasantly surprised by PingTung. Yes, the price point is still higher than San Gabriel Valley (and there's no chicken feet on the menu), but what can you expect with a Melrose rent? Either way it may be the only dim sum (or ramen) place to go to in this area, and it's one I would be happy to recommend to others.

PINGTUNG
7455 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 866-1866
www.pingtungla.com

Weekly $1 Oyster Specials!

A list of happy hours, half off wines and free corkage is great and all, but you know what's equally as good? Equally as important? OYSTERS. But oysters aren't cheap. Usually. Unless you find a deal for $1 oysters, so here's a list of where you can eat 20 oysters in one sitting any day of the week. Of course, if you know of another restaurant with this deal, please let me know!

Monday-Sunday/Daily
Chaya Downtown, 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071

$1 oysters daily, all night in the bar/lounge/patio area only (hat tip @dineLA)

Littlefork, 1600 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
$1 Naked Cowboy oysters daily, 5-7pm

EDIT: the deal is now $1.50 oyster of the day, daily 5-7pm and Friday&Saturday 10pm-close

Enterprise Fish Co, 174 Kinney St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Mon-Sat, 4-7pm. Sunday 8-10pm, plus Fri-Sat 9-11pm

EMC Seafood & Raw Bar, 3500 W 6th St, Los Angeles, CA 90020
Daily 5-7pm

Green Hut Cafe, 808 W 7th St., Los Angeles, CA 90017
Daily after 3pm

Drago Centro, 525 S Flower St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
Daily, anytime on the bar menu, $5 for 4 Crystal Point oysters (OK so that's $1.25 each but pretty close and served with peach mignonette!)

Monday-Friday
Fickle, 362 E 1st St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
5-7PM (+$3 draft beers and $5 wines)

The Mercantile, 6600 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028
5-8PM (+ happy hour drink specials)

Chaya Brasserie, 8741 Alden Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90048

Chaya Venice, 110 Navy St, Venice, CA 90291

5-7pm in the bar/lounge/patio area

Sunday-Thursday
Faith and Flower, 705 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015
$1 oysters with pink peppercorn mignonette, 5-6:30pm. Bar/lounge area only.

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Monday
The Hungry Cat Santa Monica, 100 W Channel Rd (@PCH), Santa Monica, CA 90402
1/2 oysters all night (OK, technically not $1 but half off makes $7.50 for half dozen. Close enough)

Delphine, 6250 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028
 5-10:30pm ($1 East Coast oysters, $2 West Coast oysters)

Bar Marmont, 8171 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90046
"Oyster at Cost Mondays" so the price will vary depending on the oyster, but supposedly they're no more than $1.50 each

Tipple and Brine, 14633 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
$1 oyster all night (4:30-11pm), bar/lounge/patio area

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Tuesday
MESSHALL, 4500 Hillhurst, Los Angeles, CA 90027
4-10pm (plus $5 beers)

Pearl's Liquor Bar, 8909 W Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069
5pm-until they run out

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Wednesday
McCormick and Schmick's, http://www.mccormickandschmicks.com/
5-10pm

The Churchill, 8384 W. 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048
6pm-close (hat tip to LAist)

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Thursday
Cliff's Edge, 3626 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026
6-7pm ($20 for a dozen after)

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Friday
Caulfield's Bar and Dining Room, 9360 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212
5-8PM

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Saturday-Sunday
Littlefork, 1600 Wilcox Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028
$1 oyster of the day for brunch, 11am-3pm

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Sunday
BLVD16, 10740 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90024
$1 oyster all day

TLT Food (Westwood)

There's another place that I wish was there when I was a Bruin: TLT Food. The food options in Westwood Village just keep getting better these days!

TLT Food is started by the guy behind The Lime Truck (hence TLT) that started in Orange County and won season 2 of The Great Food Truck Race! It is a great fast casual option, with beer and wine and free wi-fi. There are sandwiches, sliders, tacos, and fries with an Asian influence.

I had to get Blue Crab Grilled Cheese (can't say no to crab): Grilled Sourdough, Blue Crab, Cheese Blend, Scallions ($9)

Pretty generous helping of crab meat for $9! It was mixed with mayo but pretty lightly so you still get plenty of the crab flavor. This was my friend's favorite.

Taco prices vary depending on the protein (or potato) you get, from short rib to ahi tuna. I tried the Pork Belly Adobo Taco: Braised Pork Belly, Tomatillo Salsa, Sriracha, Cilantro ($4)

Two of the taco fillings you can actually get as toppings for fries, if you're inclined to get more carbs! They're great to share with the whole table, too. The two are 12-hour pulled pork, making up the "World Famous Carnitas Fries" and the Steak Fries. I got the Steak Fries: Marinated Steak, Asian Slaw, Homemade Wontons, Cilantro Chimichurri ($10)

Great combination, talk about fully loaded fries. Do share, the portion is quite big. The steak was pretty tender and I really liked the cilantro chimichurri. Who needs poutine?? (Well, we still need poutine but we need this too.)

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