Arden WeHo

Last post on LA.  This time we're on Santa Monica Blvd in the middle of WeHo (West Hollywood). 

I fell for the IG trap, the place looked pretty and decided to make a reservation to eat there. 

The inside is very nicely decorated, but too much mood lighting, but I do love the dreaminess of the flowers hanging everywhere. 

The menu is not too complicated. 

This is Mint To Be - it's a mocktail in honor of Dry January.  It's cucumber, mint, lime and ginger in there. It's actually very refreshing, if it's hot and get this it would've been a nice pairing.

We got the Truffle Tuna Crudo, much like the Yellowtail Crudo, there's fried shallots, but instead of avocado, there's pinch of chili and edible flowers.  It's pretty for the color.  The flavor is on the saltier side, and it has a kick to it with the chili. 

Another starter is the Meatball, but it's not your usual meatball.  It's Waygu Meatball with tomato, fennel, and burrata in the mix.  The toast is also very good and wish there's more. 

This is a salad???? There's so much parm on top, don't even know.  Just kidding, it's their Caesar Salad. They have the Big big leaves, capers, parm, and anchovy vinaigrette. 

For sides, we got broccolini for some greens. 

This is their version of risotto, with fried Brussel sprouts on top.  The risotto seemed a tad dry here. 

Here's Grass Fed Half Lamb Rack.  It comes with a small side salad, fingerling potato and tomato with tzatziki sauce.  

We also got the Branzino, which is over a bed of orzo, which tasted better than the risotto, but the fish isn't as flavorful to my taste. 

For dessert, here's the Croissant Sundae - literally split open the croissant and put some vanilla ice cream in the middle and drown it with sauce and whipped cream.  To be fair, it is pretty good. 

This is berries with creme fraiche, Chantilly cream and some hazelnut.  

This is definitely a spot of girls night out or a romantic date.  All these flowers and alcohol is flowing everywhere.  We were originally going to try to get to the speakeasy next door but we finished dinner earlier than expected, so we didn't stayed for that, but thought it'd be fun!

Parking: they have a valet stand, trouble is that they only have one person doing it.  So for him to run to their lot and come back and grab another car created a backlog especially when it's peak time.  There's a fee for valet service, but beats trying to find parking.  That said, if you use your credit care, they do pass on the credit card fee to you, so it's almost better to get some cash for it. 

The place does get popular, so make sure you book well in advance.  Their brunch doesn't look bad, and maybe they do better on that than dinner, if anything it's worth doing it for the gram. 

Arden Restaurant

8289 Santa Monica Blvd

Los Ángeles, CA 90048

https://www.ardenweho.com/

Central Perk

Super excited to go to the Warner Brother's tour. 

Last time I was here was near 20 years ago, but the funny thing is besides the technology got an upgrade, the sets looks about the same. 

Midway thru the tour, we got dropped off here.  And of course, we went in for a break. 

If you have no reference to Central Perk, or if it sounds familiar but you can't put a finger on it.  It's the cafe that is in FRIENDS - the TV show.  Except this is a functional cafe with real food and real people, not actors. 

Here's their menu, they do have some hot food.  There's also offering of salad, cold sandwiches, nuts fruits, mini charcuterie boxes. 

Of course, there's baked goods for your coffee.  Cupcakes, bagels, muffins, croissants and cookies.

The drinks on their menu all named after the character of the show. 

I got The Monica - which is Mocha Cold Brew, it's actually not bad. 

Also got a croissant, looks like it just got thawed, so it's cold and hard.  So nothing to write home here. 

Besides the croissant, the rest of the experience is kinda cute.  There's some seating right there by the drink pick-up counter.  But if you venture into their seating + gift shop area it's fun.  You get the Chandler + Joey's LZBoy chairs.  Part of cafe and the giant couch.  There's a scene of NY with the umbrellas, their living room with the kitchen, and their couch at the living room.  

Of course, there are merch nearby, should they inspire you to buy something, they're all Friends themed.

Overall, it's pretty fun.  The entire experience is about 3 hours.  The first hour is guided by a tour guide, they give you the tidbits and trivia.  If you tell them your fav. shows, chances are, the show was shot at this lot.  And it's neat to see all the different settings in one place.  

Central Perk Cafe

inside Warner Brother's Tour

https://www.wbstudiotour.com/tour/studio/

 

85 degrees Bakery

It was a surprised to see 85 degrees in a mall in LA. 

To be honest, I haven't had their baked goods for a long time, I usually come in to get Sea Salt latte.  It's not too salty but still have decent flavors. 

Since we're here with the group, we were lured by the cake display case. 

They've got some pretty ones.  Black Forest at the front...

...Mango, and Strawberry Cheesecake

There's also chocolate mousse cake. 

Sadly the feedback was meh.  The mango tasted fake, and I do get that, it's very particular to season, it's hard to nail it down for year round.  I didn't get to taste the rest, so I cannot say.  But sad to hear that because they are so pretty looking. 

Most of the time I go there for latte and maybe some of the other baked goods.  Most notably their bun with adzuki beans.  I do like their garlic cheese bread, because c'mon cheese. Pineapple cake and egg tart.  Those are my usual go to.

85 degrees Bakery

inside Century City Mall

10250 Santa Monica Blvd

#1305

Los Ángeles, CA 90067

310-201-8238

 

The Butcher, The Baker, The Cappuccio Maker

We got a recommendation to check out BBCM.

Located in Sunset Plaza, you might missed it if you blinked.

It has a cute space inside, but there's also sidewalk seatings, in between buildings, and back of the building.  So don't worry if the space looked small. 

I created my own omelette.  This is an egg white omelette with cheddar, bacon, and spinach.  It came with toasts, breakfast potato. Then you get to pick your own bread for toast, it came with jam and whipped butter, definitely have some of that!

As the place's name implied, they must have some good cappuccino, right?  I got the Lavender Breze Latte. I got it with oat milk and they made it looked very pretty here. 

But they're really known for the Colorburst latte.  We didn't get the sunburst design, but we got the color cascade.  And something to note, they only come in whole milk.  The different color milk all are mixed with whole milk and the outcome does look better. 

Much like every decent place in LA, having a reso always helps whether you need it or not.  From speaking with our server, not all Saturday morning equals to a brunch morning.  If there's no sun coming out, the folks tend to show up later.  But if it's a beautiful day, they're all out in droves, with that in mind, book the reservation regardless of the day.  

In terms of parking, super lucky, this is at Sunset Plaza and there's parking behind the strip center.  And if you can't find parking on one side there's some on the opposite side and across the street.  Just be careful and read the signs.  

The Butcher, The Baker, and the Cappuccino Maker

8653 Sunset Blvd

Los Ángeles, CA 90069

310-870-4347

https://bbcmcafe.com/

 

Ding Tai Fung

If there's a DTF, you bet that we'll be checking it out.

Just because our girls trip have been to a DTF annually, so it seems fitting.

We got the cucumber salad, it does have a kick to it. 

My favorite green beans.  What make this great is the garlic, not too much but just right to taste. 

Had a small taste of the Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs, the flavoring is even and the rib is fresh, so would highly recommend. 

This is Noodles with Sesame Sauce, which is formerly known as the Dan Dan Noodles.  It has sesame oil plus the chili oil, so it does have a kick to it - be sure to mix it up really well. 

We got the shrimp & pork spicy wonton, which has a very flavorful, but I don't think it's too spicy, chili oil sauce.  Very nicely boosted. 

Of course we have to get some XLB.  This is the crab and pork XLB, and how you can tell is the little crab made out of carrot, so you know which flavor you're getting. 

Of course we have to get the OG Pork XLB.  We just like the soup.  I have to say the skin here is better done than the ones we've had in LV.  The skin in LV is thicker and soup is dryer, but here it has a nice balance to the texture. 

Of course, a pic of the mascot - Bao Bao!

So trick here is the same as the one in LV.  Book ahead.  They do get busy, this is a busy mall.  There were folks that walked up and was told they have a 80minutes wait.  We may have booked our dinner on the 'earlier' side, but since California is 2 hrs ahead of Texas, it was just right for dinner for us.  And being early and off peak, having a reservation cannot hurt either.  There was a mistake to the number of guests on our reso, the team there immediately adjusted while people are still waiting.  So I'd say having one on file can only help!

Ding Tai Fung

in Westfield Century City

10250 Santa Monica Blvd

#2400

Los Ángeles, CA 90067

https://dtf.com/en-us/locations/los-angeles

 

Project 8

Lots of walking around LA. 

Of course, we were perched!

A bubble tea is a must!

I got the Mango Oolong Tea with bubble, it was warm and that just did the trick!  Not too heavy, not too sweet, and for sunny LA, this is perfect. 

Had to take a pic on this one.  The Zoltar right next to the bubble tea place, so I must document that. 

Project 8

inside Farmers Market

6333 W. 3rd Street

Los Ángeles, CA 90036

323-813-9881

https://farmersmarketla.com/merchants/figure-8-tea-project

https://www.instagram.com/figure8tea/

 

The French Crepes

The Original Farmers Market is a MUST when you come to LA. 

They are doing some constructions, but if you come here early enough, there's parking at the front, if not, there are parking structures behind World Market. 

I got the La Roma - which has prosciutto over a layer of diced potato and onion, and raclette cheese. 

They even have buckwheat batter, which is perfect for gluten free consumption.  Of course besides savory crepe, there's sweet ones.  They have panini's and waffles too.  

They have counter for seating and tables on the side, so if you can definitely dine in.  As you pay, you can ask for your parking to be validated, so be sure to do that, it will knock out 2 hours of parking. 

The French Crepes

inside Farmers Market

6333 W. 3rd St

Los Ángeles, CA 90036

323-272-4055

https://www.thefrenchcrepes.com//

https://farmersmarketla.com/merchants/the-french-crepes