Lunch in Chinatown for six bucks? Not too shabby. The key is to lower the expectation level to 1% (the 1% being that you assume the food isn't poisoned) - that way the food will be very enjoyable. Sure it was greasy, salty, and MSG-filled, but I kept telling myself "this is 99 cents' worth of wonton soup" or "this is four dollars' worth of BBQ pork fried rice" and everything was a-okay.
We then came across Philippe's, who gives claim to the invention of the French dipped sandwich. But OH. MY. GOD. This place was absolutely amazing - the sandwiches are fairly cheap ($6 per), but the flavor of the au jus in which the pork had been simmering and applied to the bread in addition to the Philippe's house spicy mustard. How do I describe this?
It was as if the flavor of the sandwich were jizzing all over my palette. Thick, warm, slightly-sweet-slightly-salty jizz all over the palette's unsuspecting yet willingly embracing face - that was the experience of eating a Philippe's pork roast sandwich.
Sorta like this. Except not really.
If it weren't for the fact that LA is a slight shithole, I would have no problem living here if I could experience foods like this every day. And based on the Yelp searches that I frantically jumped on after coming back here, there are an enormous number of eateries just like Philippe's to discover around the greater Los Angeles area.
After that amazing meal, we somehow wandered into Olvera and El Pueblo de Los Angeles. It was Sunday and mass was being held all day at the mission; there were really exciting musicians playing at the old town center; the stores sold colorful and exciting cheapo knicknacks. Interesting, I thought, until I reached the people making fresh tamales and grilled corn-on-the-cob. THAT excited me.
Then we decided to drive through the famed Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
I almost threw up in sheer excitement and total disgust.
Stores that I have only seen on films and the small screen flew by me as we drove across that three-block stretch of some of the glitziest, priciest stores that our world has to offer.
Basically, what I have realized is this: LA is not as bad as I realized. I still couldn't give half a shit more about all that resplendent crap that west LA offers - that part hasn't changed one bit. The multi-million-dollar homes on Sunset really don't impress me. I have finally experienced, first-hand, the douchebaggery of Southern Californian drivers. So LA still sucks balls.
But I failed to consider that the wide diversity of ethnicities here could offer literally the entire world at my feet in the form of cuisines. And THAT is something I am willing to accept and embrace as a world of infinite potential.
The City By The Bay vs. La La Land. Take your pick.
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