Although the salads at Veggie Grill are plenty big for any appetite, the sandwiches are the culinary cornerstones of the restaurant. And easily the best meal between a bun is the Santa Fe crispy chickin’ sandwich. The sandwich takes the restaurant’s presumably patented chillin’ chickin’ and cuts it into a fat patty, then fries it [...]

The black rice at Slowfish isn’t just a gimmick–it’s an essential component of the restaurant’s subscription to the Slow Food movement. More important, though, is the black rice’s taste, which conceals a few nutty notes that pair perfectly with the restaurant’s sushi bar. Among Slowfish’s so-called big plates, the beef ribs easily eat best. The [...]

Like the Japanese-Peruvian cuisine at Lomita’s Kotosh, El Rocoto’s dishes pull from Peru’s immigrant past, drawing on the recipes and techniques that traveled with the Chan family from China to Peru and, later, to the kitchen of the first El Rocoto in Gardena. But you still get all the staples, like jalea, a fish fry [...]

Beyond the familiar fare, it’s the overlooked options that are best at El Toro Bravo, like barbacoa (barbeque beef) and birria (stewed goat). There’s also cueritos (fried pork rinds) and buche (pork stomach) to round out the pig-oriented options. But whatever you choose, know that the tacos are huge, pushing the usual one-handed, two-bite meal [...]

Barbecued meats dominate most orders, with plates stacked with subtle spins on Korean galbi and bulgogi, Chinese char sui and the ever-present teriyaki. It’s a typical trio for any Hawaiian kitchen, but the galbi and bulgogi are both surprisingly good, worthwhile renditions that do not better dedicated Korean restaurants but do offer excellent approximations. For [...]

As its name suggests, Heavenly Fish Palace is first and foremost about fish. You can get your plates grilled or fried, with straight-from-the-Bayou favorites like catfish, whiting and red snapper eating up most of the menu. In terms of pure flavor and texture, grilled is the way to go. And if you’re looking for something [...]

Kalguksu is the restaurant’s staple, a dish truly meant for all seasons—one that can warm you up in the winter and also take you to the sea in the summer. That’s because kalguksu is a noodle soup scooped up from the ocean, with fat, hand-cut noodles swaying like kelp among the soup’s seafood. Swimming through [...]

Central to the restaurant’s neighborly enthusiasm is Plums’ excellent breakfast. Thanks to the restaurant’s cold-weather style, the menu brings a most welcome addition: fish. Unlike the café’s Oregon pepper bacon (heavy slabs outlined with black pepper), its seafood dishes (an alderwood smoked salmon hash, a Dungeness crab and asparagus omelet) still eat light and are [...]

It takes about 20 minutes for the kitchen to ready an order of sesame bread, but when the bread ships out with slices spilling off the plate, you know the wait was worth it. Every batch is afforded the option of having green onions kneaded into the dough (a must for more flavor), but the [...]

This is not your Thinking Man’s Pizza—no corn toppings, no clay ovens—just dough, sauce, cheese and your fixings. But that’s not to say it isn’t good. From the Pesto Pizza to the old stand-by Hawaiian, Long Beach Pizza Company aims for satisfaction over surprise. But one topping listed on the pizza menu does stand out: [...]