Westlake | gas•tron•o•my

Lunch at Bernie’s Teriyaki marked my first foray into Historic Filipinotown, the business district located in the southwest section of Echo Park. Opened in 1977, Bernie Cruz’s namesake restaurant dishes up Filipino barbecue with a nod to Hawaiian plate lunches. My friend Thien has been a loyal fan of this grillin’ hut since her high school days and highly recommended it for a laid back, no frills, damn satisfying lunch.

Value conscious consumers will feel at ease at Bernie’s, where prices are low and plates are piled high. Most everything on the menu was priced in the neighborhood of $5 and provided enough provisions for two well-portioned meals or one really hefty feast.

The Astronomer and I split one beef, chicken, and pork teriyaki platter ($5.25). After paying at the counter and waiting for a bit, we picked up our food at the front window.

Continue reading ‘Bernie’s Teriyaki – Los Angeles (Westlake)’

After lunching on two not-so-memorable sandwiches at Bay Cities and The Spice Table, I finally struck sandwich gold at Langer’s Delicatessen. Located across from MacArthur Park on the cusp of Koreatown, Langer’s has been smoking, steaming, and hand-slicing their world famous pastrami for over sixty years.

The Astronomer and I were inspired to make our way here after sampling the amazing smoked meat sandwiches at Schwartz’s in Montréal. While smoked meat and pastrami aren’t exactly the same beast, we were curious to see how the two compared and whether one was superior to the other.

Joining us for lunch were our friends and fellow Langer’s newbies Lien and Diana. We were seated at a table fit for four in Joan’s jurisdiction. Even though we only understood every other word she hushed, we all agreed that Joan was hands-down the greatest waitress ever.

All three of my dining companions ordered the unadorned hot pastrami sandwich ($12.95). Diana opted for an “extra lean” version that cost an additional $3.25. The sandwiches were served with two spears of dill pickles on the side.

Continue reading ‘Langer’s Delicatessen Restaurant – Los Angeles (Westlake)’