The editors at Eater Los Angeles dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means we\u2019re always encountering standout dishes that deserve time in the limelight. Here\u2019s the very best of everything the team has eaten this week.<\/p>\n
Blue crab onigiri from Onigiri Time in Pasadena<\/p>\n
I stumbled upon this cute onigiri cart<\/a> in Pasadena on the way to pick up special-occasion croissants from Artisanal Goods by Car<\/a>. The onigiri range from $9.99 to $13.99 \u2014 which admittedly feels steep for a simple rice ball. Still, I picked up a spicy tuna version, smoked scallop onigiri, and one filled with blue crab. When I unwrapped my onigiri later on the beach, the nori had remained crispy while its rice was soft and well-seasoned. The center had been packed with Kewpie mayonnaise\u2013dressed blue crab, a portion so generous that by the end of my rice ball, I felt genuinely full. What makes Onigiri Time more unique is the wasabi sauce that accompanies each order, intended to seep into a pre-made well in the top of the rice ball. (I found the sauce to be just okay \u2014 it was a little sweet for my liking and I would prefer shoyu.) Even so, I think Onigiri Time makes for a faultless handheld snack for a trip to the Hollywood Bowl or a beach day. 999 E. Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91106. \u2014 Kat Thompson, audience editor, Eater Southern California\/Southwest<\/p>\n Chive cakes from Holy Basil in Atwater Village<\/p>\n Though it\u2019s tempting to order Thai food in, visiting a Los Angeles Thai restaurant<\/a> offers the right immediacy for the brightness and heat of the food\u2019s flavor. Angelenos can never go wrong with Deau Arpapornnopparat and Joy Yuon\u2019s Holy Basil<\/a>, which now has locations in Downtown Los Angeles, Atwater Village, and Santa Monica. When you come in, start with a handful of appetizers, including chive cakes, a recent menu addition. The pan-fried cube takes on a punk rock presentation: beautifully dominated by a deep brown, almost black soy vinaigrette and Chinese garlic chives tossed with a blend of three flours before frying. The cakes have a delightful chew and slightly crisp texture that might compel you to order a second one for the table, though you really should save room for the yum kao with three types of rice and, hopefully, dessert. 3170 Glendale Boulevard, Unit C, Atwater Village, 90039. \u2014 Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California\/Southwest<\/p>\n Dan dan noodles at Mala Class in Highland Park<\/p>\n As a heat wave descended on Los Angeles, I found myself in Highland Park\u2019s jewel box Sichuan restaurant Mala Class<\/a>, prepared to double down on the sweat for tingling, spicy dan dan noodles. Clearly, the rest of the neighborhood had the same idea, with every table in the tight restaurant full of groups sharing plates of mala-coated crunchy tofu, steaming bowls of chile-tinged spicy beef soup, and thin-skinned dumplings. Dan dan noodles get tossed tableside, coating the carby tendrils in a nutty sauce dotted with ground pork. If it\u2019s your first visit to Mala Class, order the spice levels as they come on the menu \u2014 you can always ask for a little more or less hit on a return visit. 5816 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90042. \u2014 Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California\/Southwest<\/p>\n Basque cheesecake from R\u00e9publique in Hancock Park<\/p>\n On our way out to the desert for a milestone birthday weekend, we stopped at legendary cafe, bakery, and restaurant R\u00e9publique to pick up a last-minute cake order<\/a>. The whole Basque cheesecake here is not cheap ($80 for a cake that will feed eight if you slice on the larger side), but worth it to get one of the best renditions of this beloved (and now ubiquitous<\/a>) dessert in Los Angeles. R\u00e9publique\u2019s Basque cheesecake eschews the classic burnt black caketop for a milder deep golden-brown leopard spotting that nonetheless delivers the same silky, creamy (near custardy) texture underneath, its flavor brightened by some subliminally citrusy, acidic element we could not quite put our finger on. It\u2019s the kind of cheesecake that tastes even better the next morning for breakfast with a mug of home-brewed coffee \u2014 the kind you can spoon at infinitely throughout a weekend until nothing but its shadow remains in the box. 624 South La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036. \u2014 Nicole Fellah, Eater editorial manager<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The editors at Eater Los Angeles dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414200,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[9662,48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-414199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-dining-out-in-la","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}