From
Tom Ka Gai to Tamales
A Culinary Journey Through the City's Ethnic Enclaves
Los Angeles
is the most spread-out city in America; it is also
one of the most diverse. Once you know your way around
Los Angeles, the excitement lies in being able to
maneuver your way from Little Tokyo to Little India,
from Melrose to Malibu, where the surfer-dudes and
blondes-in-bikinis really do look like they've just
stepped out of a movie. |
LATIN
LIVING
Drive along Broadway Street downtown on a Saturday
or Sunday morning, and you'll think you're in Mexico
City. Everyone speaks Spanish, from the vendors
hawking little girls’ party dresses or papayas-on-a-stick
to Latino families doing their weekly shopping.
See the colorful murals in East Los Angeles, shop
for fresh corn tortillas and handmade tamales, then
listen to a battle of the mariachi bands in El Mercado.
At the Grand
Central Market, choose from Salvadoran, Guatemalan
and Mexican specialties, including the best gorditas
in L.A. See our
10
Best LA Mexican restaurants.
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KIMCHI
& CULTURE
Los Angeles is home to the largest Korean population
in America, much of it concentrated between Western
and Vermont avenues. In Koreatown, you'll find everything
from barbecue, noodles and dumplings to all-you-can-eat
buffets. Try B.C.D.
Tofu House or Shin
Jung. To experience the thriving Korean nightclub
scene, check out Chapman Market which has a number
of upscale Korean clubs and restaurants including
Toe
Bang. |
LITTLE
TOKYO EAST & WEST
A center of Japanese culture and history, Little Tokyo
has become a tourist destination where you can find
authentic Japanese food, restaurants and products
from electronics to fine china. You can even get a
Japanese massage and stay in a Japanese-style suite
at the elegant Kyoto Grand Hotel and Gardens. In West L.A., Sawtelle
Boulevard between Olympic and Santa Monica boulevards,
has become a Little Tokyo West. Here, you'll find
Japanese restaurants and noodle shops, several wonderful
Japanese nurseries, even Japanese video stores. See
our 10
Best LA Sushi bars. |
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CHINATOWNS
OLD & NEW
In old-fashioned Chinatown downtown, you'll find Hollywoody
Chinese-palace architecture, mostly Cantonese restaurants
and shops selling everything from ginseng root to
air-dried Chinese ducks. With its giant Hong Kong-style
restaurants, including NBC
Seafood and Empress
Harbor Seafood Restaurant, upscale Monterey Park is the destination
for those in search of authentic dim sum or Chinese
seafood. See our 10
Best LA Chinese
restaurants. |
BAGELS
& BORSCHT
On Fairfax Avenue between Melrose and Beverly, you'll
find kosher restaurants, kosher markets and a landmark
Jewish deli, Canter's,
which sells giant hot-pastrami sandwiches and knishes
24 hours a day. The neighborhood is also home to many
Russian shops and restaurants, for this has become
the center of L.A.'s Jewish-Russian émigré
community. Pico Boulevard, running west from Fairfax
towards Century City, has lately become a Kosher Restaurant
Row, with numerous places including the Milky
Way, which belongs to one of L.A.'s most famous
Jewish mothers, Leah Adler, mom of mega-director Steven
Spielberg. |
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SOUL
CENTRAL
Leimert Park, near Crenshaw and Leimert, is a center
of African-American artistic life. The jazz scene
here is thriving, especially at Fifth Street Dick's,
a coffeehouse and after-hours club where local musicians
and jazz superstars perform. For Ethiopian food, try
restaurants along Fairfax Avenue between Pico and
Wilshire such as Nyala.
For upscale Southern-style food and star spotting,
head to The
Porch at House of Blues on Sunset Boulevard. |
INDIA
IN ARTESIA
In Little India you can find saris and sitars, Indian
restaurants representing every region of the subcontinent
and shops selling the 24-karat-gold jewelry that Indians
prefer. The action is clustered along Pioneer Boulevard
in Artesia. Expect to find cafés and take-outs
featuring vegetarian cuisine or meats roasted in the
traditional Indian wood-burning clay tandoori oven.
There are also Indian spice shops, sari shops and
cafés clustered in Culver City. See
our 10
Best LA Indian restaurants. |
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THAI
& ARMENIAN
Oddly, the stretch of Hollywood Boulevard between
Gower and Vermont has become a hodge-podge of both
Thai and Armenian restaurants, markets and shops.
At the Thailand Plaza you can eat take-out (barbecued
ducks, heads on) and possibly hear Cavee, the infamous Thai
Elvis-impersonator. Nearby on Santa Monica Boulevard
is Marouch,
a top Armenian restaurant, and Zankou
Chicken take-out, considered by many to be the
best rotisserie-roasted chicken (smeared with garlic-lemon
paste) in town. |
A
PIECE OF PERSIA
Turn south on Westwood Boulevard from Wilshire Boulevard,
and suddenly you're in the heart of L.A.'s Iranian
commercial area, with its abundance of Persian grocery
stores, cafés and restaurants like Shahrzad.
Pick up meats and spices for making your backyard-barbecue
kebabs, and don't forget the basmati rice and sticky-sweet
Persian pastries. |
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