Fooding: Wi Korean BBQ, Big Bowl Malatang, Diddy Riese, Kopan Izakaya, WAX Smash Burgers

Fooding

Kbbq, Malatang, Cookies, Sushi, Burgers

Old kbbq ranking by some random influencer.

Menu at Wi Korean BBQ.

Outside.

Menu. We did the C set.

Banchan. Basic but good enough.

Brisket is good.

#37 BTS sliced pork belly.

#41 tomahawk. Not actually a tomahawk. Still quite good.

Jason can eat.

The BTS spicy pork.

#38 Woo The Galbi is excellent.

Close-up.

Cooking.

Want to say this was rib finger meat.

Inside. Everyone has World Cup on.

Malatang at Big Bowl Malatang. Nom.

Nom.

Diddy Riese.

Prices have increased since we were undergraduates.

Mmmm cookies.

CITEA DRINKS is moving in to the old Junbi spot.

Oyako salmon roll: cucumber, avocado, gobo. Salmon, ikura, wasabi, ponzu sauce.

Avocado and cucumber salad.

Alex's roll had salmon and shrimp tempura.

Deep fried calamari.

Selfie and World Cup.

King's Empanadas at the farmers' market. Huge.

Huge.

Taste was just okay.

Milksha for Taiwan oolong milk tea.

Milksha.

Outside Milksha.

Random F80 M3 parked outside.

Volk TE37 in a custom grey.

Summer day over UCLA Bruinwalk.

Menu at WAX Smashburgers.

Dinner at WAX Smashburgers.

Triple smashburger.

Strawberries from the farmers' market.

Fooding roundup, starting off with all you can eat Korean BBQ with Jason the younger for dinner. Wi Korean BBQ is still pretty good, and parking has improved markedly since the last visit; maybe they have gotten less busy? Their item #38, Woo The Galbi, is superb, and the #41 tomahawk, while definitely not a tomahawk, is still a very acceptable ribeye. We skipped the beer tower for the next visit, and verified that the sub-$50 price for AYCE kbbq is still good.

A day later, caught up with Petula for dinner at Big Bowl Malatang, which I think she liked better than Zhangliang Malatang. Something about spicy hot pot just hits right, and when you add on Diddy Riese down the block for dessert, it's almost like the college day throwback it actually is. Just with pricing adjusted for a few decades later, and we didn't have malatang in Westwood in our undergrad days.

Long-overdue lunch with Alex at Kopan Izakaya the next day. Food is pretty utility, but their pricing is not bad and hard to beat the location for another meal in Westwood. Always good to catch up with Alex as well (yay for UCLA TMP!). After lunch, randomly spotted a very clean F80 M3 outside the restaurant, with a great aftermarket grey powdercoated set of Volk TE37 wheels. Stopped by Milksha as well for a very good milk tea, with more of an emphasis on the quality of the tea than I expected. Grabbed a huge empanada from King's Emapandas outside at the Westwood Village Farmers' Market as well-- that was the only disappointing fooding of the day.

Dinner that night at WAX Smash Burgers. Still can't say I see the appeal of smashburgers, but of all the ones in the area, the food stand that is WAX Smashburgers is one of the better ones. Both the quality of the burger as well as the french fries are quite solid, with a patty that's not too thin, striking the right balance of thin and meaty. The fries ape more towards McDonald's style french fries than the thicker/crispier fries some of their competitors do, which is more my style. Throw in some amazing fresh strawberries, also from the farmers' market, to balance out dinner.