Roasted Duck by Pa Ord is located at 5136 Hollywood Blvd. in Thai Town, just east of Western Avenue.

I've been going to Pa Ord for years for their soup noodles, but I didn't realize they had this roasted duck offshoot until a friend suggested it for lunch.

As you might imagine, duck is the specialty here. You can get it roasted or stewed, served over rice, in noodle soup, or with their jade noodles.

Being a sucker for Thai noodle soups, I ordered the roasted duck noodle soup. I should have remembered that even "Thai mild" is roughly equivalent to medium-hot at most other places. I can handle spice, but I probably would have preferred something a little less aggressive.

You get a choice of noodles, and I went with the wide rice noodles. In retrospect, I think I would have been happier with something thinner. Wide rice noodles just don't have the same appeal to me as their wheat-flour counterparts.

The duck itself was nicely done. The bowl included both chopped roasted duck and a couple of stewed duck wings. Most of the roasted duck had been trimmed from the bone, though not entirely, so it's worth paying attention as you eat.

Overall, I thought the soup was solid, if otherwise unremarkable. At $20, it seemed fairly priced for a duck noodle soup.

My friend ordered the half roasted duck, which comes with rice and jade noodles. Since we were sharing, I got to sample a few extra pieces after finishing my soup. Like the noodle soup, the roasted duck was good, but I don't know that I'd come away thinking it was the best version of the dish I've had. At $40, it was also a much larger order, with enough leftovers for another meal.

All in all, I thought this was a decent lunch, but not somewhere I'd be making a point of returning to.

Sichuan Impression in Alhambra shouldn't be a secret to anyone around here. Along with Chengdu Taste, it has anchored the SGV's modern Sichuan dining scene for more than a decade.

I've written about them before, so I'm not going to rehash all the background.

Recently, though, my wife and I have been reminded of just how much we enjoy eating there, even when it's just the two of us. The portion sizes are really geared toward larger groups, but the last few times we've gone, we've simply ordered three dishes and called it a night.

Our dinner the other night came to about $60, which isn't exactly cheap for two people. But because we got two meals out of it thanks to the leftovers, it really worked out to about $15 a person, which seems extremely reasonable.

What we've landed on is that one of the three dishes should definitely be a vegetable. In the past we've gone with the a choy, but the other night we tried their dry-pot cauliflower cooked with lard. I'm more accustomed to seeing versions of this dish at Hunan restaurants, but regardless, the cauliflower was cooked well and was a lot less greasy than other versions I've had. That said, I thought it could have used more salt, and I think it would have benefited from some salted smoked pork belly stir-fried in with the cauliflower. It's not that the dish needed a protein. It just needed a little more richness and seasoning.

The second dish is usually one of our favorites, whether that's the toothpick lamb or the fish fillet with mala peppers and wood ear mushrooms. This time, however, we decided to try something new: the fish in pickled soup with vermicelli. It doesn't have the same mala punch or level of heat as the other fish dish, but I thought it was really solid. The sourness and spiciness played well together, the vermicelli added body, and the fish was firm while still flaky.

One small warning: the chili in this dish intensified dramatically overnight. It didn't seem particularly spicy the night we ate it, but by the next day it had kicked things up several notches.

The third dish is usually a starch. My wife likes the "impressive jelly noodles," which I believe are made from mung bean. I tend to prefer the shredded potato with vinegar. This time, though, we went with the fried rice. It wasn't extraordinary, but it was tasty enough.

Sichuan Impression is still best enjoyed with a larger group so you can sample more of the menu. But if the two of us are in the mood for Chinese food, we're definitely not mad at this particular trio of dishes.

Lunch special $11.50
Pepperoni sourdough slice
Side salad
Soda

It was agreeable and inexpensive, though not something I’ll go out of my way to get. It scratched the itch for a slice of pizza that was neither negligible nor gigantic. The crust was good and bready. But there are just too many other options in this area alone. The artisanal cola (Swell) was decent.

Xiang Ji is a Taiwanese-style beef noodle soup restaurant at 411 E. Huntington Dr. in Arcadia, right next to the Lanzhou-style spot Lan Noodle that most people are probably more familiar with.

As a regular at Lan Noodle, I've walked past Xiang Ji countless times. Today, I finally decided to give the neighbor a shot.
They offer their niu rou mian with different meat combinations depending on whether you want shank, tendon, tripe, or some combination thereof. I opted for the standard braised beef noodles ($15).

This wasn't an extraordinary bowl of beef noodle soup, but it was a solid one. The broth had a deep, savory flavor and, unlike some versions, wasn't built around vinegar or chili oil. Normally I'd miss at least one of those elements, but here the broth had enough character to stand on its own.

The noodles didn't seem homemade, but they still had a pleasant chew. The braised beef was mostly tender and properly seasoned. With the weather turning a bit cooler, it made for a particularly comforting meal.

Would I recommend making a special trip for it? Probably not. But if I lived closer to this part of the SGV, Xiang Ji would definitely be in the rotation. That said, I've become more partial to Lanzhou-style beef noodle soup these days, so the lure of Lan Noodle right next door might be hard to resist.

Something shareable for like four people, ideally close to Silverlake/DTLA/Hollywood area but willing to drive up to a half hour each way for it

Hi there!

We recently moved to Marina del Rey and my boyfriend's birthday is coming up. He hates cakes but loves pie, so was thinking of getting him a "birthday pie" this year!

His favorites are apple and banana cream, and generally 1) likes a flaky crust, and 2) likes pies that aren't too sweet.

I saw this thread, but it's been a year since it was posted, and most of the recs seem to be in LA proper. The two Westside spots mentioned didn’t sound quite right for his preferences.

Any recommendations for a great whole pie on the Westside? I’m happy to drive a bit but that weekend should be pretty busy with birthday things so I can't go too far. Thanks in advance!

What are your favorite big orders for groups? My go to is Sonoratown taco platters with a tray of b&c, would love some recs of other solid options.

I'm on the east side but don't mind to travel.

Restaurants with comfortable booths and excellent food

I know mango season is practically over, but does anyone know of any place that still have some for sale?

I’ve been looking for loghmeh for a while; anytime I go somewhere that says they have it, It just turns out to be koobideh, please help.

I haven’t been yet, but I’m planning to go soon. I’d like to organize a small group for dinner.

For those of you that have been there, what was your experience like? What were your favorite dishes? TIA

Any recommendations for a spot that offers a good steak aguachile?

Stuck between Osteria La Buca on Ventura Blvd vs. Vivi Ristorante on Laurel Canyon

Hi r/FoodLosAngeles — I’m a journalist (sophialaurenzi.com) working on a piece for Slate about spinach and artichoke dip, the restaurants that serve it, and what dining out in America feels like right now.

I put together a short survey (about three minutes): https://forms.gle/fSvEFJ2Cf4Yp7ouw9.

But I’d also love to hear from you in the comments! Where's the best dip in the Los Angeles area? And what are restaurants in LA charging for apps like these?

I'm happy to answer questions about the story.