I absolutely love living in the Sawtelle area. There are so many places to walk to, eat at, and chill at. The only issue I have is perhaps the lack of full liquor licenses :) You can only get wine, beer, and soju at these places. This past weekend, I had a chance to go to two of my favorite walking distance restaurants. Saturday night, my good friends Alex and Adrienne came out to Westside and I took them to Nook Bistro. For those of you who haven't been to Nook...it is a great, casual, comfort food kind of place. It is truly in this little nook of a corner in a unassuming strip mall. You would have never guessed it was there. Whenever I take people, they get thrown off by the bagel shop, $1 chinese food signs, and flourescent sign of the nail salon. But Nook is truly a treasure. I had the Nook Burger...I have to say, it was better than Father's Office. That's just my opinion. It was good and the frites were just perfectly fried served with Aioli sauce (you have to ask for that). Adrienne had the Chicken Paillard, which was pounded tender to perfection. On the side she had mashed potatoes and sauteed rapini (aka broccoli rabe). I noticed that she had left almost all of her rapini on her dish. It was extremely bitter (I would have pushed it aside too). But after looking rapini up on wikipedia, turns out it is a bitter, pungent and an acquired taste to say the least. They need to perhaps change that vegetable side. Alex had the Ribeye which was nice and tender. They ordered a side of mac and cheese....always very tasty there. Alex and I shared a carafe of a Petite Syrah which was nice and full bodied...great with my burger :) For dessert we shared the bread pudding which was nice and rich with a fresh cream. Thank you two for coming out and paying for the dinner. I was so grateful to you guys for coming out and treating me was the icing on the cake!
The next day, as though I hadn't eaten out enough this past weekend, I had a chance to take a friend to Blue Marlin. I would take a bunch of people to this place because they always have so many choices of authentic Japanese dishes that never disappoint. My favorite being their Om-Rice which comes with a variety of flavors and sauces. Blue Marlin always has weekly specials which have never, ever been the same. And I think I've been there over 10 times at least. The chef must be very creative and imaginative there. The Om-Rice special was chinese chicken salad over Om-Rice. That didn't sound too appetizing to me, so I opted for the Sweet and Spicy Shrimp over Om-Rice. I've had that before and it was good...huge, huge portions.
Most likely if you visit me and we walk to dinner, we'll perhaps head out to either of these restaurants. Other favorites of mine in the walking area include: Bar Hayama, Orris, Tofuya, Pinkberry, Beard Papa, Javan, Furaibo....so come out and experience the restaurants of Sawtelle with me!
Nook Bistro
11628 Santa Monica Blvd #9
Los Angeles, CA 90025
www.nookbistro.com
Closed Sundays
Blue Marlin
2121 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025-6200
Phone: (310) 445-2522
no website, open daily
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