What to Look for at LA Street Food Fest (Preview and Highlights)

Now that the menu for LA Street Food Fest is up, you can start planning your visit! There are plenty to look forward to, and I found even more at a recent media preview event held at Iota Coffee in Koreatown (opening soon).

These are what I have my eye on: sea urchin tostada from La Guerrerense in Ensenada (one of my favorite stops in Baja), shoyu tonkotsu ramen from Ramen Jinya, whatever Javier Plascencia and Benito Molina (two of the finest Baja chefs) are serving, cocktails from Julian Cox, and more new things from the preview:

Okonimiyaki from Glowfish Truck filled with bacon and cheese.

The last time I had okonomiyaki was at Gaja in Lomita, so I'm glad to find out there will soon be an option (hopefully) closer! The Glowfish Truck, specializing in "Japanese Festival cuisine" is making their debut at the Food Fest.

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Central Vietnamese Cuisine at Quan Vy Da (Little Saigon, Westminster)

Not too long ago I blogged about the northern Vietnamese food during a Little Saigon North to South tour with Wandering Chopsticks. This was our second food stop, Central Vietnamese cuisine at Quan Vy Da (well, she said it was more South Central). I had been looking forward to this stop all day, because they have banh beo and banh it ram. I'm biased and I declare central my favorite food region of Vietnam, because I love chewy rice cakes!

Yes, my favorite: banh beo chen Vy Da - steamed rice cakes topped with dried shrimp, served with fish sauce ($5.95)

While it may seem a simple dish, it's easy to screw it up by having the rice cake too thick or too dense. The ones at Quan Vy Da were just right for me. You can top it off with pork rinds if you want extra flavor and crunch (and yes, you do).

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Happy Hour at The Capital Grille Beverly Hills

The Capital Grille in Beverly Hills recently launched a happy hour, with $6 drinks and bar food every weekday from 4:30-7pm. To spread the word, they offered to host a happy hour for my friends and readers with complimentary food and happy hour-priced drinks! There's a bar next to the main restaurant downstairs, but you can drink while getting fresh air at the Terrace upstairs.

The happy hour food turns out to be a really great deal! For $6 you will get two mini tenderloin sandwiches, each with a thick, juicy piece of tenderloin steak and sauteed mushrooms. Who needs burgers when you can have steak?

Or, two lobster and crab cake burgers. That's $3 each for a lobster-and-crab-cake burgers! Last time I had crab cake I paid $13 for one. These were not one of those crab cakes that are mostly flour, these are filled with crab and lobster.

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