Grubtrotters

Now that I’ve tried juicy buns, I can’t get enough. I’m totally hooked on these Chinese soup-filled dumplings. In the past couple of weeks, Vic and I slurped up pork and crab juicy buns for dinner with his parents at the excellent chef-owned Shanghai restaurant Hunan Cottage in Fairfield, NJ. Then, as soon as we got home to the West Coast, we headed straight to the famous Din Tai Fung Dumpling House in Arcadia, CA, for a brunch of 10 juicy pork and crab dumplings and another 10 without the crab. Soup dumplings are just so much fun. They’re like Christmas presents, nicely wrapped and filled with goodies. Feasting on them is sheer juicy nirvana.

Having tried them three times in as many weeks, I think the buns at Cheng Du 23 are the best, maybe because they were my first. Of course, Vic is more of a soup dumpling veteran, and he agreed. They were huge and bursting with flavorful soup. Hunan Cottage comes in a close second and Din Tai Fung third, only because their dumplings were smaller and slightly less juicy. At Din Tai Fung, I could pop the entire dumpling in my mouth and swallow it almost whole. At Cheng Du 23, I had to poke a hole in the dumpling and sip the soup out first, savoring the flavor longer.

Of course, dumplings were not all we ate at either location. It wouldn’t be a meal with Vic’s parents without ordering far more than we could possibly consume in a single sitting. Some of the highlights included fantastic drunken chicken, a Shanghai specialty that used Chinese rice wine as a marinade, and tasty vegetarian mock duck, made of tofu and flavored with star anise.

The giant shrimp in a spicy chili sauce was also extremely tasty, so much so that we brought the extra sauce home. It was too good to waste. Messy, too, though. These prawns came with the heads on, and you had to get your fingers dirty to get to the good stuff. At Din Tai Fung, we mainly stuck to dumplings, their specialty, but we also enjoyed a special noodle dish topped with beef and spicy roast beef soup. The shrimp and pork shiaomai were also lovely.

Vic had visited Din Tai Fung in Taiwan years ago, but this was our first trip to the dumpling house in Arcadia. Our new friends Annie and her husband Victor — another Chinese Victor — joined us. The restaurant actually has two locations in Arcadia, and we visited the newer one, which had a sleek contemporary look (pictured below). There’s a window near the entrance where you can watch the guys in the kitchen rolling the dough and making the dumplings. You know you’re in L.A. because the guys in the kitchen are all Hispanic rather than Chinese.

The restaurant is also packed with cute little Asian babies. I’d heard nightmares about the wait at Din Tai Fung, but we only had a few minutes before getting seated, and all the adorable kids kept us amused. At the end of our meal, I was so full, I thought I’d have no room for dessert. But then they brought the red bean dumplings, and I gobbled them up. Now that we’ve tried it, I have a feeling we’re going to be making regular trips from Venice to Arcadia. Given the lack of decent Chinese food on the West side, it’s well worth the drive. — Jenny

Din Tai Fung: 1088 South Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA; 626-446-8588
Hunan Cottage: 14 US Highway 46, Fairfield, NJ, 973-808-8328

Huckleberry Cafe, from Chef Zoe Nathan and Josh Loeb, the husband and wife team behind Rustic Canyon, has barely been open three weeks, but word has clearly spread. There was a line out the door today at lunch, despite the rain. Nathan is pretty famous for her pastries, and while Rustic Canyon only had Saturday morning breakfasts, you can buy her goodies for breakfast and lunch every day at Huckleberry Cafe. (Saturday breakfasts at Rustic Canyon are kaput now.)

The cafe occupies a bright, casual space, perfect for Santa Monica, while the menu focuses on “locally sourced, farm-driven” foods, such as salads, sandwiches, soups, rotisserie meats (free-range Jidori chicken, of course, and duck on Thursdays) as well as all kinds of breakfast treats. Also perfect for Santa Monica. There’s a communal table for those who want to mingle with neighbors, a growing trend in LA. I arrived just after 11 a.m. in the mood for a hearty breakfast, but I’d just missed the cutoff. Instead I ordered the one savory, breakfasty item on the lunch menu, a fried egg sandwich with Niman Ranch bacon, gruyere, arugula and aioli on two thick pieces of freshly baked country bread ($9.50). Delicious. The caffe latte hit the spot, too.

I also brought home some moist turkey meatballs in a tomato sauce and three prepared salads, one with farro (a type of wheat), english peas and feta; one with tangy broccoli and one with crunchy/sweet sugar snap peas ($12.75 for the trio). All fresh, healthy and tasty. Thumbs up for Huckleberry Cafe. Not that they need it. – Jenny

Huckleberry Cafe: 1014 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica; 310-451-2311.

We live in Venice Beach, and our friends Rob and Ash are near the Grove so finding a casual brunch spot in between can be tough. After searching online, we settled on a place none of us had tried, Cafe Laurent in Culver City. We walked in through the back patio, shaded with large umbrellas, where a musician was playing the clarinet. Charming, yes, but it was far too hot to sit out there on Sunday. We took a table inside, which was decorated with yellow walls and flowery French tablecloths and, most importantly, felt like a perfect 68 degrees.

The menu was very French. Lots of quiche and croissants. But I ordered my usual breakfast favorite, a combination of Eggs Benedict and Florentine, with spinach and Canadian bacon, hollandaise on the side. Rob chose Le Croque Monsieur, while Victor and Ash picked omelettes.

Rob and Ash got the meals they ordered on time, but Victor had to sit and wait for his omelette of smoked salmon, onions and mushroom, while my plate came sans Canadian bacon. I sent it back, and when the dish returned, it was drowning in hollandaise, minus the silverware. Oh, well. I was really hungry and wasn’t going to send it back again. I could no longer stand to just sit there sipping orange juice that wasn’t freshly squeezed. I requested a fork and dug in.

At least the food was decent, and I’m pretty sure heavy cream was the secret. It was hard to find the bread underneath the tent of bechamel on Rob’s delicious Croque (pictured above), and the potatoes that came with his sandwich and my eggs were dripping with dairy. Rob and Ash gave their omelettes thumbs up, too. Although Vic was happier with his original concoction than Ash was with his veggie omelette, both were pleased to see the ingredients well-mixed with the eggs rather than plopped in the middle like a taco. The side salads were nice and fresh.

Overall, if you’re not watching your cholesterol, and you don’t mind spotty service, Cafe Laurent is worth a stop. Just be patient, and don’t order hollandaise on the side. Jenny

Cafe Laurent, 4243 Overland Ave., Culver City; 310-558-8622.