Tom and I just got back from a week in LA. Before I left, people kept asking me if I was excited to go home and I responded of course! I'm gonna eat so well! And that's exactly what we did. For 6 full days. My tummy is still full and kinda round after our marathon dining. I'm going to the gym tomorrow. And of course, I brought stuff back, like a box full of Satsuma Tangerines. I've already eaten two this morning. I visited some of my favorite spots, but I wrote all about those the last time I went home, so the next few posts will be about the new places that I went to. Every time I go home, my mommy has new places for me to try (I think Tom learned where I got a lot of my eccentricities and habits on this trip, like my messiness, love of food and travel), so we definitely tried a few good spots, which was important, cause we didn't have time to have a bad meal.
On our first night in LA, we had dinner with my family and a couple of old family friends. My mom told us we were going to have Vietnamese food, so I expected the typical pho and bun, but maybe a little nicer. But when she told me to change into nicer clothes before we left for dinner, my suspicions were aroused. For me, there are just certain food that don't need to be dressed up and made fancy. In fact, when this is done, the food is often just not as good as the neighborhood hole in the wall you love to go to. That includes, Chinese, Mexican, Indian, Thai and of course, Vietnamese food. But like many of you seek restaurant recommendations from me, I shouldn't doubt my mom's tastes either.
When we drove up to the restaurant, Michelia, in Beverly Hills, I noticed that it's awning said "Nouvelle Vietnamese", which aroused my suspicions even more. And when we entered the restaurant, the dining room was really nicely decorated, thought not too large. Since my mom had been here a few times, she new the chef/owner, who is Chinese, but grew up in Vietnam. She spoke perfect Mandarin. And so, my parents just let her set the menu, so I'm not positive about everything we ate, though I'll try to reconstruct it from the menu online.
We started with several appetizers. Here are the Saigon rolls: A pair of soft rice wraps rolled with jicama, cucumber, mixed greens, and shrimps that are sautéed with lime leaves, chili, and ginger. These were definitely better than the ones you typically get at Vietnamese restaurants, with the higher quality ingredients and the mesclun mix instead of the typical iceberg lettuce. Actually, as I'm looking at the menu and descriptions, I ' m realizing is very reasonably priced. If it were in Boston, I'd definitely go back. But I digress.
Next, we had some shumai: Innovative steamed dumplings stuffed with shrimp, chicken & crab, topped with masago. These were also really well made, and I'm breathing a sigh of relief right now. Since we never saw a menu, I didn't know if there was pork in this, though Tom and my sisters assured me there wasn't after they'd tried it. So I ate one and it was good. Not like the frozen ones they like serving all around Boston.
Everyone else also had some beef appetizer that I didn't photograph cause I didn't eat it. But that was ok, cause we had plenty more food to go. Our next dish was something dish I can't find on the menu. Anyway, it involved prawns sauteed with veggies in some sauce and served in a crispy basket. This was also really good, cause the prawns were large and tender and I enjoyed tearing at the fried basket, which was just like fried wonton wrappers. 
And our next dish was veggies sauteed with tofu. It was simple, but nice to have since it broke up all the meat that we'd been eating.
Ok, by this time, I was stuffed. But we're talking about my parents here. They always order too much. Our next dish was probably my favorite one. It's a Crispy Sole: Sole fish filet breaded with panko, golden fried, topped with the chef’s original spicy French-style dressing. It seems really simple, but the fish was cooked well; still moist and tender on the interior, but crunchy on the exterior without being too greasy. 
And finally we finished the dinner with some pan fried noodles with chicken and veggies. Totally unnecessary, but still tasty. 
I think this was the first, and certainly not last time, in our trip that Tom would hear me say "I'm so full I'm gonna explode." We were handed dessert menus, but that would've been ridiculous. Also, the desserts were just ones bought from Bindi, nothing homemade, so not really worth ordering. So definitely a very enjoyable dinner, and for Katie, my only LA reader, check this place out, cause you'd definitely like it. And with so much seafood, Dustin would like it, too.
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