For the Money, These Places Rate a Return

To research this weekly column, I’ve been eating at 60 or more restaurants a year for the last six years. Most of these restaurants have been mid-range in price, and midway between fancy and fast-food. You might think then, that when it came time to go out on my own dollar, for non-business purposes or when friends call for a restaurant recommendation, I could recite a wide range of excellent choices.

Alas, I cannot, at least not off the top of my head. My overfed mind draws a blank.

For my own purposes, then, and for those who want a quick list of the mid-range best, I went through the last few years of reviews and memories to come up with some places where I would return as a civilian.

The vast majority of restaurants I’ve reviewed have been Italian. There was a period of time when I wrote about an Italian restaurant every other week, and it was hard to find enough other kinds of restaurants to fill in alternate weeks. Most of the Italians were not memorable, but a few continue to haunt me. In a good way.

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Girasole Cucina Italiana in Larchmont Village is a small storefront with a kitchen full of talented family cooks. I still think about a pasta topped with nothing but rich, slow-cooked onions, and milk-white panna cotta with raspberry sauce.

* Girasole Cucina Italiana, 225 1/2 N. Larchmont Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 464-6978. Dinner for two, food only, $25-$60.

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On the porch of Replay, an expensive casual clothing store, some designer re-created the perfect set for a hometown cafe. Since Replay is an Italian company and brand, the cafe is, naturalmente, Italian. Convivial service, well-prepared pastas, a perfect veal chop, fresh juices, good coffees and down-home, old-fashioned porch life make this a classic.

* Replay Cafe, 8607 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood, (310) 657-6404. Dinner for two, food only, $25-$60.

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The mother of the mid-priced Italians might well be Prego in Beverly Hills, and it remains one of the best. Single diners or big parties are treated with the same good-natured aplomb; appetizers are appropriately mouthwatering, especially mussels and clams in brodo, and there’s nothing better than the smoked mozzarella and prosciutto “Rustica” pizza. The food’s fresh, good, and there are always a few seasonal specialties.

* Prego, 362 Camden Drive, Beverly Hills, (310) 277-7346. Dinner for two, food only, $30-$65.

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Sometimes only a great bowl of Japanese noodles will do--soba or udon. My favorite noodle house is the small, spare Kansai, tucked under a parking structure in Old Pasadena. Try the curried noodles and the bubbling nabeyaki with the good, strong Tokyo broth. Jyu, or rice boxes with marinated chicken or tempura, are also delicious.

* Kansai, 36 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, (818) 564-1560. Dinner for two, $15-$35.

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Sushi Imai has a terrific one-chef sushi bar, but I come for one of the best lunch bargains in town: The $6.95 tuna bowl is a meal-sized portion of sushi rice covered with flawless and ample tuna sashimi; it comes with a bowl of miso soup.

* Sushi Imai, 359 E. First St., Los Angeles, (213) 680-4166. Dinner for two, food only, $15-$65.

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Residents of Bellflower and nearby communities harbor a great secret: Cafe Camellia and its clean, bright Continental Drift cuisine, a surprisingly heady mix of old-line Continental, Sino-French and Cajun influences. Recently expanded, with a big, new menu, it’s well worth a fast drive on the freeways.

* Cafe Camellia, 16916 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower, (310) 866-2824. $25-$70.

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The most comforting food in the state might be the crisp, potato-filled ravioli, a.k.a. vareniki, at the Out Take Cafes in Studio City and Pasadena. They come with caramelized onion and sour cream. Eat them with fabulous borscht for a perfect light dinner. Or, if hunger has a hold on you, with lamb shanks the size of caveman clubs and the awesome chicken Vesuvio.

* Out Take Cafe, 1065 E. Green St., Pasadena, (818) 449-4519, and 12159 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 760-1111. Dinner for two, food only, $25-$60.

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If every neighborhood had a Basix Cafe, we’d be a happier city. Excellent coffee and eggs for breakfast, juicy salads and sandwiches for lunch, a superior Tuscan chicken at dinner are but the preludes to the real reason for coming here: a knock-out selection of dreamy, house-made baked goods, including poundcakes, lemon-iced gingerbread, fruit pies and fat-free, wickedly intense cookies called chocolate “clouds.”

* Basix Cafe, 8333 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (213) 848-2460. Dinner for two, food only, $18-$40.

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Netty’s is known for its carry-out cuisine, but there’s a pleasant patio where you can eat on the premises. The salads are vinegary, the bread mostly air, but I’m lured back by the kitchen’s lively use of spices and its mix of Latin, Cajun and California dishes. Don’t miss red beans and rice and some seductive, peppery “drunken” shrimp.

* Netty’s, 1700 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 662-8655. Dinner for two, food only, $20-$45.

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Speaking of shrimp, I have come to require semi-regular doses of Poquito Mas’ grilled shrimp tacos, squirted with lime, with or without added guacamole. In fact, just about everything at this upscale taco stand is as good as it gets: grilled ahi tacos, creamy beans, mushroom and steak quesadillas, a worthy vegetariano burrito.

* Poquito Mas, 8555 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 652-7008. Dinner for two, food only, $5-$25. Also at three Valley locations.

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If you eat out as much as I have, you’ve had numerous regrettable meals. What better way to ease disappointment and satisfy lingering hunger than going out for ice cream? If I’m anywhere near Pasadena, I head for Soda Jerks for sundaes and malts made with rich, locally manufactured Fosselman’s ice cream.

* Soda Jerks, 219 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena, (818) 583-8031. Dessert for two, food only, $5-$10.

Starting next week, Restaurant Notes will alternate with First Impressions in this space.