I sort of fell off of my photo-taking habits second semester compared to first semester, likely because most things were no longer as novel as they had been in August. That being said, I got the opportunity to get off campus a lot more. I also started getting a regular paycheck at Annenberg Media, so I was able to spend more money on food.
In February, though, I got COVID. At USC, they ship you off to a hotel for 10 days with $70 of DoorDash credits to entertain and feed yourself while you’re there. I was placed in the DoubleTree by Little Tokyo — you better believe I farmed that like crazy. There was so much good food there, I’m pretty sure I gained more weight from that quarantine than I did all of fall semester.
Let’s take a look!
This is a true USC classic. Located on Figueroa Street (affectionately known as “Fig”), it’s a short walk from the USC Village and has super yummy Chinese food. I love their beef noodle soup and beef pancake, but their house fried noodles are so good. It reminds me of my mom’s cooking when the dining hall fails to do that.
It’s certainly a heaping portion that has enough for me to keep as part of my lunch for the next day.
家常炒麵 / House Fried Noodle; $13.99
Grand Central Market is home to many very cool vendors that remind me of Taiwanese night markets. From the bright neon sign of Ana Maria to the crazy-long lines of The Donut Man, there’s truly something for everyone. Moon Rabbit has some really good sandwiches (called “sandos”) that don’t look very big but will keep you full! The stall is also pretty close to the nearby seating, so you can keep an eye out for open spots while you wait for your food.
Chicken Katsu Sando; $14.00
Santa Monica is filled with lots to eat, although you either need a big wallet or willingness to experiment. I have come to accept that I do not have the former and many people I drag around LA with me do not have the latter.
After traipsing around the boardwalk and promenade for around an hour, we stumbled upon HiHo Cheeseburger, a place that looks very small on the outside but actually has plenty of seating and great food on the inside! To find something reasonably priced on this side of town sometimes seems like a daunting task, but I have to say, this was pretty good.
There was a small wait but it wasn’t too shabby. The food was definitely worth, even if it wasn’t a burger — I got a very flavorful chicken sandwich of sorts.
The restaurant is a no-tipping establishment, so they add a 5% gratuity to your order instead. I think that’s pretty cool; more places should definitely start doing this.
The Willie May, single tender; $10.95
Located in a plaza at the intersection of Vermont Avenue and 7th Street in Koreatown, this Korean restaurant has both good food and parking. It’s the kind of place where you bring your whole squad — be it your family of 6 or your friend group. From seafood pancakes to bulgogi to bibimbap, many of the classics are available on their menu. They also serve a lot of the classic side dishes, like kimchi, of course!
It’s kind of expensive, but definitely the kind of thing where you can take the rest of it to go for your lunch the next day. And it will be a full lunch. Not a bad Uber ride from campus, either!
Dolsot Bibimbap; $18.99
I am OBSESSED with Marugame Udon. I love udon and it’s one of the few things I can make for myself. But Marugame is so good, so accessible, and so affordable. You can easily walk out with a meal under $10, and you will be happy and full. Many of my friends and I have raved about it together…
Their tempura is pretty good, but definitely expensive compared to their noodles. If you don’t have a lot of money to spare, I’d probably recommend you just forego it and spend the extra money on a Kitsune Udon or Beef Udon.
I actually had Marugame for the first time many years ago at their Waikiki location in O’ahu. I was so excited when I found out there was one in LA that was easy to get to from USC’s campus! It’s literally right above the 7th Street / Metro Center station on the Expo Line, making it a mere four stops from USC.
I definitely anticipate many more meals here in the next few years!
Kitsune Udon, regular; $8.95
I don’t know if boba before movies is a thing anywhere else, but I’ve done this twice now and honestly it’s such a great idea.
Tip: if you bring a bag with you to the movie, don’t open your boba until you’re in the theater; you can stick it in your bag before you show them your ticket! If you forget, that’s okay — if you have enough confidence in your balancing abilities, you can just stick it into your bag and pull it out once you get inside. This way you can have something to drink while you’re watching the movie, but you also don’t have to pay for whatever they scam you with at the theater.
I think that it was a little overpriced, probably because I’ve been spoiled by Pot of Cha and their pricing, but it was still good nonetheless.
Lattes are just milk tea with fresh milk instead of milk powder, so I prefer opting for this variant! Some places call it fresh milk or something along those lines, so just keep your eyes peeled.
Black Tea Latte with Honey Boba, Roasted Rice Tea Latte with Honey Boba; $4.75 each
Pine and Crane is my LOVE. As in, I love Pine and Crane maybe even more than Marugame.
When I was out with COVID (which you will hear about shortly), I tried basically everything on the menu. Everything was good. It was insane. Popcorn chicken? Hakka mochi? Grass jelly? Kurobuta pork buns? They have the most dreamy Taiwanese delicacies that are truly an LA moment. It’s good even after a half-hour journey to the hotel room.
I did go once before in person, though, and the location was super quaint! It’s right by the Pico station on the Expo and Blue lines of the Metro. This isn’t the original location, to my knowledge — there’s one in Silver Lake that I really want to go to as well.
It’s a very hip vibe filled with millenials and the occasional family or two, where you order at the counter and that’s when you can get seated. They give you a number card and the food comes out pretty fast! Great service, too.
Looking at the photos as I’m writing this post is enough to make my mouth water. I don’t have any photos, but the Hakka Mochi is so good. A must try!
滷肉飯 / Minced Pork on Rice; $9.50
豆花 / Dou Hua; $10.00
Raising Cane’s
Before I moved to LA, I had never had Cane’s before. People say it’s unbelieveable, but it’s just hard to get to from Northern Virginia. According to Google Maps, the only one open in the DMV is one in Sterling by the Costco, but driving an hour to get fried chicken sounds absurd to me. Maybe if I get sufficiently bored this summer, though.
I got in a car with some HackSC people on a whim at like 10 pm. Unfortunately, the closest Cane’s to USC is around El Segundo, making the drive as long as the trek to Sterling from my house. Fortunately, when the Cane’s cravings hit, it’s usually closer to midnight and the LA roads are fairly clear.
Man, it hits so hard.
The Box Combo; $11.59
Sweetgreen
A classic when you have no other good veggies to turn to. I really like Sweetgreen’s Harvest Bowl because it’s such a strange combination of things (in my opinion) that taste really good together. Maybe people that eat salads more often are inclined to disagree?
This was one of my earlier meals in the hotel because by this point I hadn’t had good leafy vegetables in like a month…
Harvest Bowl from Sweetgreen
I later found out that Rice & Nori was located almost directly under the hotel in this cute plaza on the trek back to the Metro station from Little Tokyo. (I walked by it a few times with friends afterwards and it was very strange seeing a name I had only ever seen on DoorDash.) I ordered it because I had seen it a few times on my DoorDash home page. Since it was close, I figured I’d give it a try.
For my set, I ordered Chicken Teriyaki, Salmon Yuzu Miso, and Spicy Lobster Shrimp. My favorite was probably the Salmon, since it was such a distinct flavor! The chicken was a familiar flavor, though.
Don’t be mistakened by the size of the onigiri; this is definitely enough for you to be filled up. There is a heaping portion of rice on the onigiri that definitely does the trick. The set also came with truffled edamame on the side.
3 Onigiri Set; $15.95
Can you tell that I really like katsus and Japanese milk bread?
I had seen someone go to Katsu Bar on my Instagram story a while back (maybe even fall semester?) and it looked really good so I figured I might as well give it a try with my DoorDash money. I had quite learned my lesson that some foods are not suited for delivery in a microwaveless hotel room, and this actually did pretty well.
The Rosemary Katsu Sando was probably one of their most recommended options, and while it sounded a little strange, it was actually really good. I don’t remember much else in my extreme fever state other than I’d try it again, hopefully in person.
(At this point I was sporting a mighty 102º fever; as a result, everything is a little foggy.)
Rosemary Katsu Sando and Fries; $15.00
I ordered an acai bowl from Backyard Bowls after I had started running out of ideas for what to eat during my quarantine, and I wanted fruit because it had been a while and something a little cooler to stave off the remaining fever.
Backyard Bowls had also popped up a couple of times on my DoorDash home page. (Who is taking the Ws: the algorithm or me?) It was pretty good but also relatively comparable to the TCC C&G Juice acai bowls that I get on occasion.
Island Bowl, regular; $12.00
Hacker Experience is obviously the best team at HackSC — we’re the team that also does all the coolest team bonding activities! We went out to Little Tokyo (originally to get sushi, except the wait was too long) and ended up at RAKKAN Ramen. We did pass by the DoubleTree on our way back, and I was so thankful I had left COVID jail by that point.
In my lifetime, I’ve had an insane number of bowls of Japanese ramen, and I’d say this was probably middle of the road. It was still good! I think I’m probably just biased because Hakata Ikkousha, which is just down the street, has a much more memorable ramen. It’s different because it’s tonkotsu instead of miso, but it is an absolute must-try.
We also went to Somi Somi after, but I don’t have a photo of my taiyaki … the ahboongs are prettier anyway.
Garnet Ramen; $15.50
Okay … another acai bowl. I was originally going to try out Paradise Bowls’ pitaya bowls but I liked how the combination of kiwi, strawberry, and banana sounded so I just rolled along with it. I went with my roommate to Manhattan Beach for the first time with a couple of other friends, and it was a very peaceful and fun experience! Truly very SoCal vibes, and I think the bowl agrees with that.
This also happened to be the first time I had ever been to a California beach while it was sunny. Certainly a very strange winter this year.
Guava Sunrise Bowl; $9.75
Catering from the USC Hotel
This was my second time getting catering in the USC Hotel (the first time was with the Society of Women Engineers and their Fall Evening with Industry event), and I have to say the first time was better. I don’t quite remember what I was served the first time, although I still do recall it being a respite from the dining hall food. It still was this time, but it was not nearly as stellar in comparison.
That being said, parts of the meal were still good! The home potatoes were nice and soft but still crispy on the outside, and the strangely-shaped carrot-looking things (which I think actually are carrots) were sweet. The chicken was very dry, though, and the greens underneath were a very odd sour taste.
Catering in the USC Hotel for the Women in Engineering Leadership Conference
One of my friends and I were talking about going into DTLA one weekend. He’d never been, and I know the area (arguably) too well. What ought we check out, though?
We decided to go somewhere that neither of us had ever been to, and so off we went on the Internet. He threw a bunch of ideas at me, including trying out Phillipe The Original. (What even is a French dip??) And so we went.
It’s just a sandwich where the insides of the bread have been dipped in gravy.
The store is located really close to Dodger Stadium, so a lot of people unwilling to pay an arm and a leg for a hot dog stop by before games. I think if you order carefully, it could definitely be a viable option. I’m not usually a big meat eater, so I don’t think I was fully able to appreciate the intricacies of a French dip, but it was still pretty good nonetheless.
Turkey French Dip; $10.95
Homecooked food except not made by me
Remember how I said Hacker Experience is the best team at HackSC? Well, it gets even better, because our team lead made us all dinner. By this point, none of us had eaten a good homecooked meal in a while, making this an incredibly cherished meal.
She also runs a food Instagram and it is so fun to scroll through!
Katsu tofu with Japanese curry, made by my friend Angel!
UCLA Dining
So the last weekend before classes ended, I was at UCLA for LA Hacks. It was not a particularly intelligent move time-management-wise on my part, but we made do.
Given how insane UCLA Dining’s reputation is, our team (comprised of three USC students and a UCSB student) knew that we had to give it a try. Unfortunately, what we did not know was that UCLA all-you-can-eat dining halls are closed to people paying via cash (some COVID policy, from what I hear) and we needed someone with a BruinCard to swipe us in. Thankfully, my teammate’s boyfriend is a student there, so he swiped our whole team into Epicuria.
You’re telling me this is a meal in a dining hall???
Why is there lobster on their pizza???
Other than real food, they also had pistachio soft serve and pomegranate sorbet. This is mind blowing.
What a shame UCLA is too expensive out-of-state…
Lobster pizza, veggies, and pesto rotini
Really fancy dining hall fish plated very fancily
The idea behind Honeybird is quite simple: honey and chicken. When you’re picking up your order (of chicken, of course), they’ll ask you if you want honey or hot sauce — the honey is quite a good option. They have really juicy and crisp chicken with just the right flavoring; not too overpowering, but sufficiently flavorful.
Some people have complained about Honeybird being overpriced and I feel their pain. I think it’s good enough that I’d be willing to pay $15 on it in this post-inflation world, but I totally see what they are trying to get at. If it were a bit cheaper, I think it would be even more popular on campus!
2pc Meal with Waffle Fries and House Salad; $13.75
Concluding Thoughts
LA’s food scene is spectacular, but you probably knew that already. A lot of people say that LA is a lot more expensive to live in, but after scanning through DMV pricing, I’ve come to realize that food is about the same. Real estate, on the other hand…
I wish I had a car, since then I’d be able to try even more things. I have befriended a few people that do have cars on campus, though, so we’ll see where I get to explore in the upcoming semesters!