As Taylor Swift famously said, “August slipped away like a moment in time,” and that’s exactly how this past month felt. We saw a few trends amongst our reporters’ favorite meals, including lobster rolls and cookies so good they forgot to take the photo first.
Here’s a look from reporters at nearby eateries to try around Los Angeles, Orange County, and the Inland Empire.
Related: See the best things we ate in Southern California in 2024.
Hamachi toast – Adia (by way of Viamara), Newport Beach
For one night only, local chefs Karlo Evaristo (6100 Bread) and Jared Ventura (Studio at the Montage) resurrected their pandemic-era dining concept, Adia, at Newport Beach’s Viamara. According to “TimesOC” writer Sarah Mosqueda, Adia “blends Evaristo’s Filipino heritage and cooking experience with Ventura’s Italian background and cooking skills to create a multi-course, fine dining menu.” For this brief revival, the duo was joined by chef Benjamin Martinek, culinary director of Pendry Newport Beach, making it a rare and wondrous event. On a tasting menu filled with remarkable dishes, the hamachi toast proved, for me, the most memorable. The dish was a two-part affair: on one side was a ceramic bowl filled with exceedingly fresh yellowtail, topped with a ginger sabayon and a generous quenelle of caviar. On the other, was a playful take on avocado toast, a “solider” of 6100 sourdough toast with a squiggle of avocado puree. Sublime.
— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter
Lobster Roll (Chilled w/ Mayo) – Broad Street Oyster Co., Downtown LA
I’ve been meaning to visit Broad Street Oyster Co., but little did I know that in addition to their Huntington Beach Pier location, they also have a stall at the Grand Central Market in DTLA. This worked out perfectly for me after seeing a recent matinee of “& Juliet” at the Ahmanson Theatre. I opted to go on a 15-minute walk between the two venues, as I had already paid for parking that day. If you haven’t been to Grand Central Market before, it’s a massive food hall offering a diverse range of fare. Broad Street Oyster Co. is located closer to the Broadway street entrance, next to McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams.
While the entire menu looked very enticing, I went with the Lobster Roll. You can get either hot with butter or chilled with mayo, I went with the latter. If you’re feeling bougie, you can add caviar to your roll for an additional $15. I saved the cash and went sans caviar this time. Still, each bite of this roll was better than the last. The bun was buttered and toasted to perfection. The Lobster was tasty and fresh, the mayo made it creamy but didn’t overpower the flavor.
— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer
Quesabirria Vegetarian Tacos – bEATS at Yaamava’ Resort & Casino in Highland
If I were handed this quesabirria taco and took a bite without being told it was a vegetarian spin on the dish, I would be shocked. I cracked up the crunchy tortilla seared with cheese and examined the inside to make sure it wasn’t beef birria. Instead, I found some chihuahua cheese, white onions and cilantro, and what tasted like birria was actually seasoned mushrooms that made it pass as the real thing. The dish is a must-try at Green Yay, which is the casino-resort’s first all-vegetarian menu at the newly opened bEATS.
— Charlie Vargas, Features Reporter
Pour-over coffee – Deep Barrel Roasters & Creamery, Norco
If you want to linger with a cup of coffee, Deep Barrel is a good place to do it. I discovered this roastery in July, while working on a story about ice cream, which it also serves. It’s more than 30 miles from my house, a long drive for a morning pick-me-up, but I was eager to try it again.
I ordered a V60 pour-over for $9, which yielded two cups of rich, memorable coffee. Deep Barrel also sells interesting baked goods and a few breakfast items. I got a Peach Cobbler Roll, basically a cinnamon roll with pieces of fruit and a satisfying amount of vanilla frosting.
The roastery is a pleasant hangout with a rustic interior and picnic tables outside. Esqestrian-loving Norco calls itself Horsetown USA, and it takes the name seriously. The parking lot adjoins a feed store called Hay Connection, and instead of a sidewalk, a fenced-off trail runs down the street.
— Fielding Buck, Restaurant Reporter
Tteokbokki with beef brisket – Young Dabang, Irvine
August was a whirlwind, but one craving kept pulling me back: tteokbokki at Young Dabang in Irvine, the only Orange County location of a popular South Korean chain. For the uninitiated, tteokbokki is a dish of chewy, cylindrical rice cakes slicked with a spicy, savory-sweet sauce. I opted for the grilled brisket version, which arrived at the table in a steel pan, featuring a tangle of thinly sliced brisket, fish cake, veggies, a fried dumpling and a quail egg. The spice sauce provided just enough satisfying heat (you can choose different levels of spiciness). Next time, I plan on ordering a creamy carbonara version.
— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter
Tonkatsu – K-Subi Sandwich, Eastvale
I’m a fan of spam, and when I saw the option to pick up a bite that had spam, egg, and pork tonkatsu, I was sold. Although this was marketed as a sandwich, I would compare it more to a sushi hand roll because there really isn’t any bread. The dish was rolled in seasoned rice and seaweed and centered with egg, spam pork katsu and topped with katsu sauce. I had to stop and remind myself to savor it because it was one of those dishes you wish you had more of with every bite. I tried other food from the Cravings Food Hall, which was so-so in comparison. I’ll definitely be returning so I can try the other varieties of this tasty spam dish.
— Charlie Vargas, Features Reporter
Lobster roll – Luke’s Lobster, Newport Beach
I don’t normally give a fig about lobster rolls, but the one at Luke’s Lobster proved to be a perspective-shifting delight. The East Coast chain, which opened its first Orange County location on Balboa Island in August, serves a roll for $30 and up. It comes on a split-top bun toasted to a perfect golden crisp, with a generous filling of sweet, briny lobster. A delicate swipe of mayo lies beneath the chunks of lobster, all finished with a drizzle of lemon butter and a dash of their house seasoning. It’s the simple kind of preparation that lets the lobster’s natural flavor shine through, which is the mark of a truly sublime roll. (Any fears of mayo overload will be blessedly unfounded.) The roll also comes with a bag of chips and a drink.
— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter
Gryffindor Doughnut – Krispy Kreme, various locations
To honor the enduring fandom of the Harry Potter franchise, Krispy Kreme had Harry Potter-themed donuts. The Gryffindor Doughnut was filled with cookie butter-flavored Kreme and topped with red and yellow icing, Biscoff cookie crumble, and the Gryffindor crest. The flavor on the Griffyndor donut was super unique. I enjoyed the Biscoff crumble, which paired really beautifully with the creme on the inside. The icing on the Ravenclaw donut was more akin to cake icing.
— Jordan B. Darling, Local Reporter
Giant sandwich cookie – Hudson’s Cookies, San Juan Capistrano
Get a load of this sandwich cookie! It’s massive. While dashing through the food hall at River Street Marketplace in San Juan Capistrano, on my way to the train station, a stack of these exceptionally zaftig cookies stopped me dead in my tracks. A thick layer of vanilla buttercream gets sandwiched between two chocolate chip cookies. I ate half on the platform while I waited, saving the other half for home, where I sprinkled a few flecks of kosher salt on top for better balance. Either way, a knockout.
— Brock Keeling, Restaurant Reporter
Salmoné – La Rochelle Bakery & Cafe, North Hollywood
Waking up earlier than usual in recent weeks, I needed a way to fill the extra time in my mornings. Naturally, I stopped by some nearby breakfast spots before work. Enter La Rochelle. One of my favorite hobbies when watching SoCal-based reality TV is spotting local restaurants. The cast of the Valley visited this cafe during their latest season and after exploring the menu, I was intrigued by the Salmoné. The flakiness of the croissant-like bread roll paired with the salmon and tzatziki had my name all over it, and the first bite lived up to my expectations. The crunch of the dough combined with the salmon made it feel like an elevated lox bagel. I paired it with the Iced Tiramisu Latte, which was the perfect pick-me-up for another summer day in the valley.
— Carolyn Burt, Audience Engagement Producer
Chocolate Chip Cookie – White Lyon handcrafted ice cream & cookies, Corona
They say the phone eats first, but I beg to differ! This chocolate chip cookie from White Lyon handcrafted ice cream & cookies in Corona was so good that I forgot to take a photo until the deed was done. So sue me, throw me in the bottom of a pit, and cancel all my favorite TV shows, but leave me with my White Lyon cookies. These treats are for the crunchy cookie lovers, so if you’re more of a soft-baked kind of person, this may not be to your taste. The cookie is crispy on the outside, but is just the right amount of soft in the middle. The chocolate chips melt with each bite, and every time you pick it up, it leaves a little bit of mess behind. You won’t mind because nothing is sweeter than when indulgence outweighs guilt.
— Charlie Vargas, Features Reporter
See more of our monthly round-ups of the best things we ate in Southern California
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in July
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in June
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in May
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in April
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in March
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in February
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in January
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in 2024
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants in November
The best things we ate at Southern California restaurants this October
The best thing we ate at Southern California restaurants in September
The best thing we ate at Southern California restaurants in August