3.5 Days in LA + 12 Grandiose-ish Meals
Once during a holiday weekend, it took me 10 hours to drive between SF and LA. I’m convinced this is a foolish thing that happens to everyone when they’re new to California. …Right? Anyway, luckily, I’m more seasoned now and last weekend’s trip to LA took a normal 6.5 hours each way.
My sister and I drove down on a Wednesday morning and met up with our other sister and brother-in-law at our Koreatown hotel in the afternoon. We stayed at the Aventura Hotel which was friendly, clean, and included parking - a huge benefit in a driving city like LA. Aventura was the perfect landing spot for us with nearly all our planned activities only ~20-30 minutes away!
Day .5 - the half day:
After our travels, we were all hungry and ready to partake in LA’s cuisine scene. We started nearby in Koreatown at Chimac Star with Honey Garlic Soy Sauce and Legend of Spicy Sauce chicken wings. The people working there were friendly and we ate more than we should have.
Because we can never resist a good Asian supermarket, we also stopped by HMart Koreatown to pick up snacks for the next few days. Looking back, not sure why we thought we needed that much food!
Unsurprisingly, shopping for snacks was not enough to walk off the chicken wings. We visited CityWalk at Universal Studios and got more steps in. With less than an hour before closing, we roamed around a fairly empty scene and caught pics without crowds.
A trip to LA is not complete without tacos. We made a stop for Al Pastor tacos at Leo’s Tacos Truck in a shoe store parking lot. And that parking lot was bustling on a Wednesday night.
Last stop of the night was Slurpin’ Ramen, also in KTown. To my dismay, I was so full that I couldn’t finish my delicious Tonkotsu. There was no line when we got there, but there were several parties waiting outside when we left after 10pm. When does KTown sleep?
We went back to the hotel and brought armfuls of HMart snacks to our rooms.
Day 1 - the first full day:
Good morning, LA!
We started our morning with Eggslut at Grand Central Market. This lil jar of poached egg and potato lives up to the hype!
look at the eggs glistening in the sun
After breakfast, we walked about 15 minutes to Japantown and went to Marukai. Yes, another irresistible Asian market. This market had such a great presentation of the food and cheeky signs throughout. If you were there and saw someone walking every aisle to read the signs and chuckling to themselves, good chance that was me.
Our plan was to spend mid-morning to early afternoon at The Broad so we meandered over with a couple key stops along the way. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels became a notable unplanned visit during our trip; it is a contemporary 11-story cathedral designed to reflect the diversity of all people. We also oo’ed and aww’d the outside of Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall before heading into The Broad (architect: Diller Scofidio + Renfro).
The experience of The Broad’s top floor is top notch. The exterior skin seemed to wrap all around you with natural daylight pouring in through the cut-outs. I can appreciate art museums most when the architecture is also art, and then even more when the architecture doesn’t compete with, but instead complements the art it houses.
While downtown, I made a quick stop to see a couple of friends that live in a high-rise with a phenomenal view. I meeeean, look at this 34th floor stunner.
this isn’t even panoramic enough to catch these views
We lunched at Sonoratown and ate our burritos and chivichangas at the outdoor seating area. The food was a delight as expected, and the tamarind pineapple fresca was a surprising delight.
Because we parked at Grand Central Market, we decided to stop back in for a midday halo-halo from Sari Sari.
Venturing away from downtown, we drove to Barnsdall Art Park, which we all agreed was an absolute gem. There were breathtaking views of the city, countless places to tuck away for a conversation or peace, sunny lawns, shaded areas, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House.
We rushed over to see the sunset from Griffith Observatory, which was popular with the crowds even on a Thursday evening!
As we headed back toward our hotel, we visited the LACMA light posts for after-dark goofing. Are there multiple movies where characters run around these lights and fall in love? Apparently this is a thing and I didn’t know about it. The exhibit is definitely fun and worth the stop!
We had dinner within walking distance of the hotel, at Guelaguetza, known for their varieties of delicious mole!
Day 2 - the second full day:
Beat the rush at & Waffles for breakfast! Food was great and the service was efficient, which worked out well because we were on a schedule and were optimistic that we could get in and out in about 35 minutes.
We had a 10:00 am Warner Brothers Studio Tour down the street, which was 100% worth it and one of the highlights of the trip. We rode around the backlot, walked on the set of All American, and saw iconic props and settings of other films and shows. I laugh out loud at Friends reruns, so I was most excited to see those sets.
Got our lunch sustenance with Lebanese and Armenian food at Marouch. It had big open doors which brought in a cool breeze so it felt like we were eating on a nice outdoor patio. There weren’t many people dining there when we were there, which I was happy about because it seems like it’s usually a really popular place. There’s a photo wall of celebrities that have dined there. The owner was friendly and told us everything was good. We tried a lot of things and I think he was right.
Our sunset-watching venue of choice was Santa Monica Pier. We went to the end of the pier, took in the ocean views, posed at Muscle Beach, and walked toward Venice Beach. There were all kinds of people doing their own thing - a solo bike rider wearing headphones and singing loudly, a DJ playing on an empty beach, skateboarders, roller skaters, scooterers, and so many others.
did you know that most of LA’s palm trees won’t be replaced when they die?
Headed back inland for drinks at the cute and busy Thunderbolt and then dinner at Surawon Tofu House. Surawon was one of our favorite meals! It had cactus light fixtures which made us suspect that maybe it wasn’t always a Korean restaurant. This place was homey and comfortable and high quality food. My brother-in-law wanted to come back for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Day 3 - the final full day:
Started our final day with breakfast at Fleur Cafe. It was “California-cold” (read: 65 degrees) so we ate in the car.
Put in more miles on this day driving across town to The Getty Center. With all due respect to the world-renowned art here, my favorite thing about visiting The Getty is all the detail in the architecture. For anyone visiting, I recommend taking the architecture tour because you’ll see things you might not notice otherwise. We spent a few hours here and by the time we left, I was seeing squares when I closed my eyes.
it’s hip to be square
After our morning at the museum, we drove out of the city to Garden Grove to pick up roast duck at Hao Vi BBQ to bring home to other family members to celebrate the new year! There was a line out the door so you know it’s good. It was a bit of a drive, but we wanted to get the goods from Little Saigon of Orange County. While a couple of us were waiting in line, the others got milk tea from Factory Tea Bar in the same shopping center. Why does milk tea always taste better in Southern California? Is it some kind of rule?
Then we couldn’t leave this city without getting pho. We got our fix at Pho 45 - yum!
On our way back to LA, we stopped by a strip mall in Westminster where our parents’ restaurant used to be over 20 years ago for a quick reminiscing.
Though totally and completely full, we got donuts (to eat the next day!) at a place called Donut King. If you haven’t seen the documentary yet, you should! It’s interesting and informative about LA’s donut scene and its Cambodian immigrant roots. The place we visited wasn’t THE Donut King shop, but still good :)
Finally, our last meal of the trip was KBBQ in KTown at Parks. We all walked away feeling satisfied that we had the best KBBQ we’d ever had.
My stomach expanded during this trip and I’m still recovering.
No regrets.
