The editors at Eater Los Angeles dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means we’re always encountering standout dishes that deserve time in the limelight. Here’s the very best of everything the team has eaten this week.
Kanpachi al pastor and tostada de cangrejo at San Damián in Venice
A Baja-inflected
seafood bounty at Venice’s San Damián, the new marisquería sibling to Damián in the Arts District, could not have come at a better moment. Just as the beach enclave grows even more irresistible during summer months, Enrique Olvera and his team, including chef Chuy Cervantes, have opened what may be Los Angeles’s hit restaurant of summer. Inside hasn’t changed much since the Atla days (everything still creamy, beachy, and spare), but new wall accents and an encompassing palo santo scent make the space feel somehow refreshed. The menu, tight and judiciously curated, focuses entirely on seafood but for a handful of dishes (salsa macha–shellacked pollo frito, carne asada, and an epazote quesadilla among them). You are here for fish, though, and should concentrate fully on the lightning-flash ceviches, tostadas, and seafood mains. My favorite from the barra fría section could be the tostada de cangrejo, a staple from Ensenada piled with razor-thin avocado and creamy crab salad; of the mains, the kanpachi al pastor (an homage to Damián’s duck al pastor) captured my imagination — a true treat since I gave up eating pork more than a year ago. 1025 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice, CA 90291. — Nicole Fellah, Eater editorial manager
Steak frites at Love Hour in Koreatown
Koreatown’s Love Hour recently reopened with a redesigned dining room and new menu that still feels fun and irreverent but also a little more grown up. Yes, you can still get the lacy smash burgers that made Love Hour a hot spot, but now you can also order ceviche, fried chicken, and steak frites alongside tiny martinis in a space that reads more like a cool wine bar than a casual burger joint. Steak frites arrive piled high with fries submerged in a buttery málà poivre sauce, the plate crowned with a marbled chuck flap cut against the grain. Salty pops of fried capers and sliced chives get sprinkled on top to finish. A horseradish sambal sauce accompanies the steak; the combination of acid and mustard-forward heat is a welcomed reprieve from the dish’s richness. It’s a plate large enough for two and, at $32, feels like a steal for date night. 532 S. Western Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90020. — Kat Thompson, audience editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
The Queen from Little Boy Pizzeria in Koreatown
Los Angeles has been having a MEHKO (Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation) moment. Across the city, miniature permitted restaurants are popping up in people’s homes, like Palestinian restaurant Mid East Eats in Watts or Koreatown’s Little Boy Pizzeria. The latter operates out of an unassuming Koreatown building, where it churns out puffy-crusted Neapolitan pizzas inspired by its owner’s training in Naples. The Queen, a margherita pizza, arrives dotted with pools of melted mozzarella atop a bed of bright tomato sauce; its crust is a thicker than a classic Neapolitan with an undercarriage that supports the weight of the slice and offers a pleasant chew. Since the closure of King of New York, the Vermont side of Koreatown has been lacking in pizza options, so it’s nice to see a promising new pizza player enter the scene. 530 S. Berendo Street, Los Angeles, CA 90020. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
Pancake stack from Honey Bee’s House of Breakfast in West Adams
When I’m on my way to Alta Adams, Fleurs et Sel, or Vicky’s All Day, I often drive past Honey Bee’s House of Breakfast. That’s because I’m usually traveling to West Adams in the late afternoon or evening, when Honey Bee’s is closed for the day. But I recently made it a point to stop in and try what many argue are some of the best pancakes in Los Angeles. They’re not wrong: Honey Bee’s pancakes will soothe those who place an order with high expectations and past pancake disappointment. They arrive wonderfully fluffy and supple; light brown griddle marks indicate short-order expertise in the kitchen. Portuguese sausage made a perfect accompaniment for this pancake adventure while the World Cup match played at full volume for travelers and FIFA enthusiasts filing in for morning provisions. The 14-year-old restaurant has more than enough sustenance to fuel the soul. 4715 W. Adams Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, 90016. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest
