Maggie S.'s Profile

I don't have anything new to report about this place, except that Morrissey seems to like it. (perhaps "the hippest place to be" in LA...)

Seriously, I like that it's a British pub hidden from the street, with a nice, chill atmosphere if you and your friends want to go to get a pint or a scotch egg or some good old fish and chips. Outside seating is recommended, especially in the summer.

As a salad afficionado, when a friend first told me about this place I was pretty excited. Sometimes I just don't want to go to a sit-down restaurant to get a decent salad, you know?

When you first walk in you see a long "bar," similar to Subway, where you can see all the greens and toppings available. You order at one end, and wait at the other while they toss everything together and then chop it all up. So far I've had the Nicoise and the Kimono, but next time I'll make up my own. I'm really curious to try out their different dressings. They have all the standards as well as mysteriously-named ones such as "Bikini" dressing.

It's a bit on the pricy side though, and the only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is the size. If I'm paying $8, $9 for a salad I'd want it to be a little bit bigger. Other than that, it's a pretty great place-- the staff are funny and friendly and everything is clean and green.

I've always been a little scared to venture into Koreatown, but as of late I've been craving Korean food so I decided to brave it. We went to Yang San Bak based on the recommendation of one of my friends. When I think of Korean bbq I usually think of kalbi so the pork belly (samgyupsal) was a new experience for me.

Previous reviewers have mentioned the grill, which has a moat that collects the pork fat and the kimchi/broth/rice mixture that results is quite delicious. The meat portions are pretty generous; between the three of us we couldn't finish Special B. The menu is in Korean, with minimal English so at first we weren't quite sure what we ordered (I think it was the pork belly, and tongue) so we had to rely on our waiter to help us out. One of my favorite things about Korean food is all the little dishes (panchan?) of appetizers, such as kimchi, pickled daikon, seaweed, etc. We were there for over 2 hours, but didn't get any dirty looks.

All in all, it was a very satisfying meal, but with all the pork fat involved I'm afraid it's going to have to be a once-in-a-while stop.

Ah, Canter's. I've been going to this deli for over 10 years and I keep coming back for several things: 1. their pastrami reuben sandwich, 2. their salads, and 3. they're open 24 hours.

1. The reuben comes piled high (though not as high as it used to be) with soft, juicy, flavorful pastrami, Swiss (I think) cheese and loads of sauerkraut, sandwiched between some tasty grilled rye bread. To this day I have never found another reuben sandwich that tops Canter's. It comes with potato chips and if you want fries (trust me, you're gonna want the fries) it's a dollar more. I do love it but my friends and I have it less often these days because they've raised their prices and it's hard to justify spending $16 (incl. tax and tip) on one sandwich.

2. Their salads are only slightly less expensive but I give them a thumbs up for their freshness and size. I usually order the chopped salad and by the time I'm through I'm pretty stuffed.

3. Although there are quite a few 24-hour places in L.A., Canter's is one of my favorites because they never seem to care how long we stay. Once a friend and I rolled in around 2am and didn't leave til after 6, and they never once said anything to us. Probably because the restaurant was pretty empty, but it's nice to know there's somewhere we can go if we're not ready to go home yet.

People complain about the service but honestly, I've never had a bad experience there. Some of the older waitresses are gruff but it's never to the point where it's unpleasant to me. I think they just have a reputation to maintain, so what's the harm?

The Kibbitz Room bar next door is divey and the drinks are the cheapest I've ever had. But sometimes if they have a band playing it's hard to hear your mates when you're sitting in the next room over having dinner. So you might want to request a table in the first room.

Rodney Bingenheimer has a regular booth here, and you never know who you might see. My favorite celebrity sighting here was ELVIRA!

One of my favorite places in L.A. to see a band play, and I've been to more than a few. I remember when you were still allowed to smoke inside! Intimate setting, dirty enough to make you feel like you're there to see a rock show (no slick club atmosphere here) and one of my favorite things is that you can get your tickets directly from the venue (no more getting reamed by Ticketmaster fees). If you're 21+ there are ins 'n' outs, and if you're old and tired like how I am sometimes, there are seats upstairs. And their fries are pretty good.

Yesterday I went in to get a Yuko system thermal reconditioning done by Naoko, and now I am definitely a convert. I dropped over $500 for the straightening ($410) + cut ($60) + tip, but I can honestly say it was worth it.

I'm Japanese and my hair used to be stick-straight as a child but once I hit adulthood, for some reason my hair started to get very unruly and thick and wavy (see "before" photo: http://www.flickr.com/... ). (Contrary to popular belief not all asians have straight hair!) I didn't mind it at first but these last few years my hair has been out of control and some days I'd show up at work looking like Dragon Ball's Son Goku ( http://www.flickr.com/... ). So on a friend's recommendation I made an appointment for a free consultation and when Naoko quoted me $410 it was a little painful but I figured in the long run it'd be worth it.

The salon is located on Sawtelle Blvd in west LA, next to a Lollicup (boba joint). There is a small parking lot in the rear and that was great because if I had to park on the street I'd have had to move my car twice during my 5-hour treatment. The staff are very friendly and helpful, and my stylist Naoko was very nice and funny and overall it was a nice salon experience.

I asked for an a-line bob which she executed exactly the way I asked, but the star of the show was definitely the thermal reconditioning. I used to use a ceramic flatiron to straighten my hair but sometimes it would feel sort of brittle, like how a starched ironed shirt would feel. Not so after this, my hair is soft and flexible to the touch and it looks very healthy. I can't stop shaking my head and feeling my hair swing. (see "after" photo: http://www.flickr.com/... )

So the bottom line is, it's costly and time-consuming, but for me at least, the results are totally worth it. Now, everyday can be a good hair day!

I've been going to GTT for several years now and my favorite drink there is still the Iced Ocha Latte. They've revamped their menu in the past year or so and added more flavors such as plum or lychee but the best (IMO) is still the original maccha flavored iced latte. It's better than a Green Tea Frap or Ice-Blended because it's NOT TOO SWEET. Also good is the green tea float, which I don't think is on the menu anymore but the few times I've asked they've been nice enough to make it for me.

It's probably been about 10 years since I had frozen yogurt, but when I tried Pinkberry's original flavor frozen yogurt.. well, I certainly don't remember frozen yogurt tasting this good. The taste is tangy yet mild, so it definitely suits my tastebuds (I'm not very fond of supersweet or sugary foods). I feel like I remember someone telling me Pinkberry is a Japanese [edit: I have since learned that it is Korean?] company, which makes sense because it totally reminds me of Asian drinks like Yakult and Yogloo. I also like that the menu is so simple: either original or green tea flavored frozen yogurt, or you can have those 2 flavors whipped into a smoothie. They have a lot of toppings that you'd find at most frozen yogurt places like carob chips and cereal (fruity pebbles, cap'n cruch, etc.) as well as fresh fruits (I had blueberry). Next time I go I'll try the green tea but if it's anywhere near as good as the original flavor... it might be my new favorite place in westwood. All that, and "all-natural and nonfat"?? Reminds me of that Seinfeld episode... haha just joking.