Sorry for the lack of updates recently, had a weekend that was completely packed. The backlog of activity left me with a few things to talk about, though:

Went out Saturday night and had a great meal at Daikokuya. Only recently have we realized how quickly we can get to Little Tokyo (10 minutes on Temple – it’s faster than going to Hunan Cafe!), so we have barely touched the surface of the food and drink offered there. Now that we know, though, we can get to it proper. And Daikokuya was a great place to start. The little ramen shop on 1st St. was everything I love about the food in LA’s ethnic neighborhoods – cheap, fast, and really good. Everything about the ramen in pork broth I ordered was terrific – the broth (cooked from soy sauce and pork bones all day, apparently, and ladled out of a huge cauldron – very cool), the noodles, and the pork itself, which was some of the most flavorful I’ve had in a while. And it’s a reliable place, apparently – it’s been around for years and while I can’t vouch for its long-term quality personally, by all rights it’s been serving ramen up right all along. That’s one of the things I love about this kind of place in LA – you can go to a restaurant and get the one thing they do really well, come back years later, and order the same thing. It seems like the Bay Area doesn’t have that kind of food stability – everyone’s always changing it up, trying to show off their versatility or their creativity on the menu, even in the small places. Hey, there’s brilliance in knowing your strong points, too. Oh well.

Tonight, J and I went out to celebrate the “liberation” of one of my former coworkers from her place of employment, and we ended up at El Conquistador in Silverlake. The food, as always, was mediocre, and it’s hard to sit there with your tacos de papa or whatever and know that Alegria is so close by…yet so far away. But of course, you don’t go to El Conquistador for the food, you go for the margaritas…which are outstanding, naturally. The best house margarita on the east side, if you ask me. The only problem is that they are so big that one isn’t quite enough, but two means it’s Designated Driver time. The El Coyote margarita with the rocks on the side is still the best bang for your buck. But if you haven’t tried El C yet, give it a shot. And go during happy hour.

We opened more than a few bottles over the weekend, most over some heated rounds of Apples to Apples and Wise and Otherwise with friends. O the board gaming fury! J and I cracked open the closet cellar to pull out the 2002 Spencer Roloson Syrah La Herradura, which was a young, tannic monster. There was just the smallest amount of fruit hiding in that wine, which was otherwise completely dominated by tar and alcohol. Opened it probably 2 years too soon at the earliest. It was beginning to settle down after an hour of decanting, but by then it was almost gone, so…also tried the 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Blanco, which was a decent little wine made of Viura and Malvasia. It had some pleasant notes of pear and citrus, but leaned a little too heavily on its oak flavors for me. A better wine for my taste was the 2005 Dry Creek Chenin Blanc, which, like the Muga, I bought at Colorado Wine Company. The Dry Creek was an impressive California chenin blanc – dry, sure, but with nice citrus notes and a very nice floral quality. A pretty but balanced food wine, and a good bargain at about $9. Nice.

Next time I promise I’ll get into something more interesting. Until then…