These Are a Few Of My Favorite Things // Vol. 24 [LA Edition]

Happy Friday, lovelies. I’m back back back from vacation and here with some favorites from my trip to LA. Warning: It’s A LOT of food. I swear I didn’t just eat my way through West Hollywood 😂 we also did other things!

▶︎ Favorite Eats From This Trip:

MatchaBar in Echo Park

As I mentioned in this post I’m officially obsessed with the vanilla almond matcha latte at MatchaBar. I’m super happy they have an nyc location not too far away from me… I will definitely be getting this iced matcha all the time once the weather gets warm.

Also, the area by this MatchaBar in Echo Park is super cute for walking around.

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Sticky Rice in Echo Park

Also mentioned in my previous post — I definitely wanna go back the next time I’m in LA and get the vegan mango sticky rice dessert again 😍

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The Hungry Cat in Hollywood

One of my favorite restaurants in LA for sure. David and I split the tempura shishito peppers + grilled bread. For my main I ordered the wild stripped bass which comes with a side of spaetzle aka one of the most tasty foods ever.

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Izakaya in West Hollywood

I can’t go to LA and not get lunch at Izakaya. I love their lunch special… and I sometimes also get an extra order of the crispy rice with spicy tuna, it’s that good.

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Genghis Cohen in West Hollywood

Nothing beats Genghis Cohen for good Chinese food. I’m especially obsessed with their wonton soup, I don’t eat pork but they use turkey and I’m always so excited that I can eat the wontons.

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Simple Things in West Hollywood

And awesome lunch spot that also serves super cute mini pies. I always get the bbq chicken sandwich with a side of tater tots.

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Gracias Madre in West Hollywood

This vegan Mexican spot can get super crazy at night. I met up with a few friends for lunch during the week and it was actually pretty chill. I got the chefs tasting special which allows me to try a few things for $25. To start I had the Caesar salad and then 2 tacos: bbq jackfruit and crispy potato chorizo. The jackfruit taco was my fave, hands down.

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Swingers in West Hollywood

This 24 hour diner is super vegan friendly. David and I went for a late dinner after spending a full day at Disneyland. We shared the vegan nachos to start and then I had the vegan Cobb salad. Trust me when I say order anything that comes with the sautéed tofu.

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Jinya Ramen Bar in Silver Lake

I love me some ramen and jinya hit the spot. I got the salmon poke taco to start and then a chicken wonton ramen with a seasoned egg.

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Hugo’s in West Hollywood

My favorite spot for brunch in LA. It’s super allergen [and vegan!] friendly. I always order the huevos rancheros cooked in oil instead of butter and with the vegan cheese.

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Sugarfish in Hollywood

LA freaking loves their Sugarfish. The wait can be insaneeeee (I went right before my flight which was def a major risk) but gah it is SO good. I highly recommend ordering the “trust me” or “trust me lite” which is a pre-chosen selection of their best sushi.

Every single piece of fish was fresh and amazing and I liked trying new things that I would not usually order. I haven’t been to either NYC location but now I desperately want to brave the long wait for more Sugarfish.

 

▶︎ Where I Worked Out:

Swerve in West Hollywood

David and I hit up at Zumba class at Swerve and had the best time. The studio is low key but super welcoming.

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Bunda in West Hollywood

I met up with my good friend Jordan for the total body class at Bunda. I went the last time I was in LA and conveniently forgot about how freaking hard that workout is. You can read my full Bunda review here.

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Bar Method in West Hollywood

Obviously I couldn’t go a full week without some Bar Method in my life. The West Hollywood location is also conveniently located next to my favorite sushi place in LA, Izakaya 🙂

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Box Union – Robertson

On my last day in LA I took a boxing class with my friend Jordan. I’m planning on getting my shit together to write a full review but I’ll leave you with this: I loved that it the whole class felt super rhythmic. It was all about being on the beat of the music and almost felt like choreography. The former dancer and music theory nerd in me totally dug it!

 

▶︎ Other Highlights:

Seeing Cats [the musical] at the Pantages Theater

I am secretly and shamelessly obsessed with the musical Cats. It’s something David and I first bonded over when we met in college. I couldn’t not see Cats on tour in LA!

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PaleyFest

My trip lined up perfectly with the Paley Fest, a series of panels and talkbacks for various tv shows. David and I went to the panel for the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Rupaul’s Drag Race. Getting to see the whole Maisel cast talk (and the creators!) was so so so amazing. And I’m obsessed with all things Drag Race and flipped out that I got to see Mama Ru in the flesh.

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Pigmy Hippo Shoppe

It’s impossible to walk into Pigmy Hippo and not want to buy everything. I held back and settled on only buying an adorable crescent moon ring.

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Seeing LA icons Angelyne and the Bob Baker Marionettes with Dynasty Typewriter

Oh man, I don’t even know where to start in describing what this event was like. Dynasty Typewriter puts together curated live entertainment. I went with David and a friend of his to a show honoring two LA icons: Angelyne and the Bob Baker Marionette theater.

If you’ve never heard of Angelyne I highly recommend going down a Google rabbit hole to read up on this fascinating LA personality. She’s kind of like the original Kardashian, she became famous for not really doing anything and is known for driving around LA in her hot pink Corvette while hocking you to buy her t-shirts and CDs. No seriously.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater also put on an amazing show with their puppets as part of the evening.

The star of the show, though, was Miss Fuego, who is basically a larger than life puppet of a Phoenix but is also kind of a drag queen? I don’t know how to describe her, but check out this video of Miss Fuego going on America’s Got Talent.

I highly recommend checking out what Dynasty Typewriter is up to. SO many of their upcoming events sound amazing. Plus their popcorn is award winningly good. No seriously, apparently their popcorn won an award. And they had nutritional yeast available to sprinkle on top.

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For the Record: Brat Pack

For the Record puts together super fun shows around one particular movie theme. A few years ago I saw the Baz Luhrman show which featured movies like Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. This show focused on some of my favorite movies from John Hughes aka the Brat Pack movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. It’s a super fun evening of 80’s tunes.

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Disneyland

And of course no trip to LA is complete without a visit to Disneyland! The park was a bit more crowded than I would have liked (I think some schools were on spring break) but David and I still managed to go on all our favorite rides.