BAKERSFIELD, PISMO BEACH, CAYUCOS and LOS ANGELES, Calif., New York (KGET) — Staffers traveled both near and far this week for a wide variety of tasty meals, from a massive charcuterie board in Bakersfield to fish and chips at Pismo Beach. A trip to Los Angeles resulted in orders of soft tamales and soothing pozoles, as well as Cambodian-style sandwiches with lots of shredded, pickled papaya.
And, last but not least, 17 News’ Karen Hua spent a couple weeks in New York, where she ate dim sum, pastries, chicken parm and more.
Read on for an adventurous edition of Best Eats.
Charcuterie board and bruschetta, Sonder, 9500 Brimhall Road, Bakersfield
“Went to Sonder last night (my 1st time),” wrote reporter Nicole Gitzke, who ordered a charcuteries board with four kinds of bruschetta and an assortment of olives. “My favorite thing was the smoked salmon bruschetta, absolutely delicious! I could have eaten 20 of them. The atmosphere was great at the restaurant, wasn’t too hot outside.”
Fish and chips, Ada’s House Fish, 558 Price St., Pismo Beach
Assignments Editor Mason Rockfellow took the family to the beach for the weekend. Seafood was a necessity.
“Every time I go to the beach, I get an order of fish and chips,” Rockfellow said. “It’s a must-do in my book.”
Burger and calamari, Duckie’s Chowder House, 55 Cayucos Drive, Cayucos
Farther north, Rockfellow and family stopped at Duckie’s Chowder House, where he had a half-pound burger on a sourdough bun and TWO orders of calamari and chips.
“The burger from Duckie’s was amazing, the way the cheese was melted was superb,” Rockfellow said. “The calamari and chips were so good, I went and got another order, enough said.”
Baked potatoes, Boy Scouts Southern Sierra Council, sold Sept. 25-26, Oct. 2-3 at The Bridge Church on Stockdale Highway and Heidi’s Deli on Calloway Drive
While there is no Kern County Fair this year (a moment of silence, please), there are opportunities to get your favorite fair foods. There are a number of items, both savory and sweet, that have been offered at the fairgrounds, and the Boy Scouts, who run one of the fair’s most popular booths, are selling their loaded potatoes at two locations.
“Last weekend, my boyfriend and I got our fair food fix by visiting the Boy Scouts baked potato booth location,” said Producer Raquel Vega. “Every year I get a baked potato with nacho cheese and green onions, so I could not miss out this year. It was just as delicious as it would be at the fairgrounds. My boyfriend got ‘the works’ which included bacon, chili, nacho cheese and onions. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a tater!”
Pozole and tamales, Tamales Elena Y Antojitos, 8101 Garfield Ave., Bell Gardens
This recently-opened spot has received a lot of buzz for its menu of comfort foods. There are pozoles, tacos, tamales and several different mole dishes to choose form.
I went with the red pozole (green and white are also offered), which comes with a heaping bowl of fixings to add to the seething soup of hominy and pork. Shredded cabbage and diced onions can be tossed in, as well as pickled vegetables, panela cheese, avocado and pork rinds. You can keep things simple or go for an extravagant bowl overflowing with ingredients.
It would be a sin to leave a restaurant without trying its namesake, so I also ordered a couple of tamales. One contained pork in a red sauce, the other chicken in a green sauce. Both were ultra-soft, and received a potent kick from the restaurant’s salsas. Use the red salsa sparingly. You’ve been warned.
Numpang and braised sardines and tomatoes, Gamboge, 1822 N. Broadway Ave., Los Angeles
Another relatively new place is Gamboge on North Broadway Avenue, a short drive from L.A.’s Chinatown. Born in a refugee camp on the border of Thailand and Cambodia, chef Hak Lonh says on the restaurant’s website it’s his mission “to bring together the stories and memories that make up modern day Cambodian cuisine, while honoring it’s past.”
Even those who haven’t previously encountered Cambodian cuisine are likely to find Lonh’s menu very approachable. There are sandwiches called numpang, which are similar to Vietnamese banh mi. Choose chicken, pork, beef or mushrooms to be added on a roll slicked with mayonnaise and a generous helping of pickled papaya, with some cucumber slices and cilantro thrown in. There is crunch and a pleasurable sweetness from the papaya with every bite.
Another dish worth trying is the braised sardines and tomatoes, the broth of which is perfect for sopping up with the hard roll that comes with the order. The fresh tomatoes and soft chunks of fish make for pleasurable companions.
Dinners throughout New York, with Karen Hua
Where to even begin? Hua spent a couple weeks eating her way through the Big Apple, gnoshing on a multitude of cuisines in that most diverse of cities. We envy her. Let’s address her meals one at a time.
First up was an assortment of dim sum from Dim Sum Go Go in Chinatown. A small army of dumplings and fried rolls filled her table, the dim sum made to order.
No trip to New York is complete without a lox bagel. Hua got hers at Brownstone Bagels in Brooklyn.
Hua picked up a beautiful assortment of pastries from Veniero’s Pasticceria & Caffe. Among the items she snagged were a cannoli, Napoleon, tart and much more.
There’s your regular chicken parmigiana, which is fine and good in its own right, and then there’s version served at Parm, the acclaimed, affordable and ultra-popular restaurant that has expanded to three locations. It came with spicy rotini.
Lastly, Hua indulged her sweet tooth with a creme brulee tasting tray and boba crepe cake from Prince Tea House. They looked — and I’m sure tasted — extraordinary.
The Link LonkOctober 02, 2020 at 10:26PM
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Best Eats This Week: Charcuterie in Bakersfield, fish and chips by the ocean and pozole in L.A., plus a trip to NYC! - KGET 17
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