Pork Belly's (Venice, CA)

A couple doors down from a juice bar on Abbot Kinney is Pork Belly's, specializing in sandwiches made with meats smoked in-house by their competition BBQ pitmaster, Eric Solton.

There's no seating inside this small store, but you can eat on the wooden counter on the wall of graffiti and they're working on some outdoor seating.

Their signature sandwich is The Belly Up: Smoked BBQ Pork Belly topped with homemade coleslaw on a brioche roll ($8.95)

Generous amount of thick pork belly slices encased between brioche buns. It's decadent, for sure, but the slaw does a surprisingly nice job balancing the fattiness so that it's not too heavy on your palate.


If you're still afraid the pork belly will be too fatty for you, try The Chop: Brisket smoked for over 12 hours in their in-house smoker then chopped. Topped with homemade BBQ sauce and Cole Slaw on a brioche roll ($8.95)

This is easier to eat than the pork belly. With the shredded brisket you don't need to tear off a chunk of meat with each bite. The sauce is nice, slightly tangy. Again, the slaw balanced out the sweet BBQ sauce nicely so you can keep eating.

Oh, every sandwich also comes with a mini chocolate chip cookie, so watch out for it when you open the wrapper! The cookies are freshly baked and chewy.

Smoky Balls: Pork & Beef meatballs smoked then thinly sliced. Served with homemade tomato sauce, peppers and onions on a grinder roll, topped with melted cheese ($8.95).

The meatball had a very interesting texture, closer to meatloaf than the usual meatball. It's not as flavorful as the first two sandwiches but it had a subtle smokiness.

They also serve something which they claim are "like chili cheese fries but better". They're tater tots topped with either brisket (called Chop Tots) or chorizo (called Slop Tots) and melted cheese ($4.99)

Better than fries indeed! I only tried the slap tots but will need to try the one with brisket next.

You can still take your vegetarian friends here, where they can try the veggie sloppy joe or a grilled cheese sandwich.

Another side to get is the Fried pickles served with sriracha aioli ($3.95)

I think this is my first time having fried pickles but I really liked them, especially with that sriracha aioli.

There's no beer or wine here, but I have to admit I did enjoy the freestyle Coke machine with over 100 choices of soft drinks or lemonade. So. many. choices.

Pork Belly's offers something different in the Venice area and a quick, satisfying to-go lunch stop. To make it extra quick, you can also place your order online for pick up.
On Mondays and Thursdays they have ribs after 1:30 pm but unfortunately I was there too early to try it.

It's not just a lunch stop but they're also open late at night on the weekends (until 2 am on Fridays and Saturdays) and the food would be so good on those drunken nights and prevent hangovers!

Pork Belly's Sandwich Shop
1146 Abbot Kinney Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90291
(424) 777-8875
http://www.porkbellysla.com/

Disclosure: this meal was hosted 

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Neal Fraser Serves Up Gourmet Hot Dogs at Fritzi Dog (The Original Farmers Market, Los Angeles)

I usually shy away from the processed meat that is hot dog, but Chef Neal Fraser (BLD) changed my perception with his gourmet hot dogs at Fritzi Dog, all made with humanely-raised, organic meat. There's a dog for everyone at this stand inside The Original Farmers Market.

You can build your own by choosing one of the many options: Porker Dog (pork with French spices and curry), Deli Dog (classic Kosher style all beef dog), Bird Dog (turkey and duck with mesquite), Stadium Dog (smoky pork and beef), Cali Dog (beef, pork, spicy Merguez and Chilean Merken), and for the vegetarians there's the Carrot Dog. You can get the original bun or switch it up with the pretzel bun, and they have something for the gluten-free folks, too.
Overwhelmed by the choice of toppings? Try one of the signature creations. Most of the dogs are $6.25 or $8.95 as a combo with fries or tots. There are a couple of special ones that cost more.

The signature dogs include fun flavors like the Tokyo Dog (Porker Dog, wasabi aioli, peas, Sriracha ketchup, nori )

Finishing touches like the crispy pea crumbles make Neal Fraser's hot dogs extra special. The dogs are all great, with a nice snap to them, but if I have to pick a favorite it might be the Cali Dog!

My favorite signature dog was the Garlic Dog (Cali dog on pretzel bun, garlic aioli, crispy onions)

One big reason is probably because I love garlic! But I also love the slightly chewier pretzel bun and the flavors of the Cali dog.

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Umami Burger, Now Open in Pasadena

Umami Burger has taken over the old Naga Naga Ramen space in Old Town Pasadena and line is already forming out the door for this walk-in only spot. After all, there aren't too many burger joints in Pasadena and Umami is inarguably an upgrade from nearby The Counter.

This location had a very different look than other Umami Burgers I have been to with its all-white interior and decoration and bright lights.

They have all the usual Umami burgers like the truffle burger ($12, pictured above), Port & Stilton, the Hatch burger with green chile, and a vegetarian burger. As an homage to the cooking school a stone's throw away, they have a special burger for this location only named Le Cordon Bleu Burger (created with the help of some people at the school -$13)

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