Tacos topped with pickles? What?! Excellent!

Malo Mexican Cuisine at 4326 West Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles, CA. Serves tacos with pickles!! Sounded gross, but tasted great!!

I sent an email to a woman by the name of K.K. Dodds who runs a foodie site as well:

http://thecraveabledish.com/site/

Thanks to a tip by my buddy Hans Fleishman. He said since I was comin to L.A. to eat, I should check out K.K.'s site for some suggestions on where to eat. And what a great tip. Her site is awesome! And it led me to several great spots, which I will feature later. And K.K. was a lot of fun to hang with, and look at. She was very attractive, and her husband was super cool too.

I met K.K. for dinner at Malo, a taco spot that puts pickles on their tacos. At first I was like... "Meh, sounds to hipster and gross for me." But when I mentioned Malo to several of my L.A. friends, they all said, get the pickles! So I did, and man were they right. I got an order, which was 2 beef tacos, fried, with cheddar cheese and pickles. Nice, crunchy, juicy, crisp, succulent, pickles. What a perfect compliment to a deep fried, crunchy hard shell, beef taco. And the taco itself, it was "Monte-licious!" I think a lot of the love for this taco was because the taste was an immediate reminder to my moms tacos, and all my friends ma's tacos from when I was a kid. I loved those old school beef tacos on a crunchy shell. White boy tacos. And they do it right at Malo.

I also had the vegetarian version of the beef and pickle taco, and it was damn tasty, I would eat it again with pleasure. I loved Malo, K.K., and the whole evenings experience.

Pickle tacos are a flavor you will crave when it's all said and done. I wish I was there eating a pickle taco right now.

If yer checkin out my blog thanks to WBEZ, thank you!

Here is the info. for the spots I mentioned on WBEZ/Eight Forty Eight/848 today, May 20, 2011.

The info. is in the image, click on it for a larger view.

A big thank you to WBEZ, Carrie, Alison Cuddy, and everyone at the station, I had such a great time. Thank you! Thanks Steve Gadlin for the hook up.

Pleasant House Bakery in Bridgeport for Meat Pies!!!

Pleasant House Bakery in Bridgeport, Home of the Royal Pies is on Chicago's south side, at 964 W. 31st. pl. And is a Meat Pie heaven! They also make sandwiches, and do a Friday Fish Fry.

Before I get into things, let me start by saying that most everything in the bakery is made fresh, in house. Things don't come from a box or out of a plastic bag. Most everything is local, organic, and from a nearby farm. The food here is prepared and made daily with a passion and love for the food product. They make their own sauces, puff pastry dough, fries, and even two different kinds of sodas. This is truly an upstart of a ma & pa place, but the owners have no children, so I guess it's more of hubby n wifey spot.

A meat pie is a savory vs. a sweet pie. And it comes in flaky, crusty puff pastry dough. And at Pleasant House Bakery they do it right.

So far I have had the Chicken Balti Pie which is tender chunks of white chicken meat stewed in curried tomato sauce then baked in a wonderfully light and flaky pastry pie. So freakin delicious!!! It is served with a side of Chutney sauce. chutney is a condiment like ketchup or mustard but this a traditional Indian condiment, and can be spicy, or vinegary, but not here. It is a mild sauce, with a cilantro flavor to it, and it is just full of rich flavor and deliciousness. Give it a try.

I also had the Steak Pasty, which is cubed skirt steak with rutabaga, onion, and potato all in a wonderful, flaky puff pastry. So it's light n flaky on the outside, and meat and potatoey on the inside. "Monte-licious!!!"

Give this place a try, it is worth the drive to Bridgeport. Realistically, it's not really that far anyway.

Some of the best Chicken Shwarma EVER!!! Or at least that I have had.

Carnival at 4356 Woodman Ave in the neighborhood known as Sherman Oaks California has some of the, if not thee best Chicken Shwarma I have ever eaten in my entire life! I know that is a bold statement, but hear me out.

First let me mention a few things, my buddy Mick Betancourt turned me onto to this spot, and he picked the perfect place for me. This was one of my favorite meals on my most recent trip to L.A. Plus, while we were there, so was James Spader! You know, the jerk from some cool movies in the 90's. I always liked his work. I accidentally got a shot of while taking my random shots of the interior. He is the dude in the red shirt and sunglasses in one of the pics. posted. And because of the Papparazzi, people hated seein me shoot myself while eating.

I also got a great pic. of a group of regulars at the spot which is posted as well.

Now on to some of the absolute best CHICKEN SHWARMA EVER!!!

If yer not familiar, Chicken Shwarma is prepared on a spit, like the Gyro we're all familiar with. But this is not a frozen haunch of meat, thrown onto a metal spear. At Carnival, they season, and layer fresh cuts of chicken onto a metal spit, with an onion on top so when it's cooking, the onion juices drip down onto, and into the meat. This all moves at a slow rotation in front of a low, but steady fire allowing all of the tender cuts of well seasoned white/dark chicken to cook up perfectly. You get the perfect crisp on the outside, meat that is the top layer, and the meat just beneath is cooking in all the juices, becoming extremely tender, and delicious/flavorful. The perfect savory meal if you will.

It is served, if you get it on the plate as a meal vs. a wrap, on a plate, placed atop a pita and fresh cut french fries. And it is freakin "Monte-licious!!!" I remember my first bite... The chicken was so tender, juicy, and full of rich flavor from the middle eastern spices/herbs. One bite, and yer in heaven. Most of the chicken sits atop fries, which is awesome! tIt's awesome because then they soak in all of the chicken juices that drip down into them, making them some of the best fries I have ever eatin in my life. The serving size was enormous, and it also came with a side of slaw, which was not bad, and a grilled tomato. I will definitely be going back.

We also had the appetizer sampler of Hummus (a ground chick pea spread/dip), Baba Ganoush (a ground eggplant/yogurt spread/dip), and falafel (fried chick pea, flour, cilantro and other stuff ball). All of which were amazing! Especially the falafel, so freakin good!

Lastly, there were a lot of beautiful, well endowed women eating there, who seemed to not be wearing bras, and kind of affect by the chill in the air from the AC. I enjoy the affect AC has on women with no protection. And afterward Mick took me for a cruise in his convertible Backdraft Cobra car! That was AWESOME!!! 0-60 in 2/3 sec.

1/2 Chicken Dinner for $5.75?! Whatta a steal deal!!!

Broilers Flip at 6009 West Montrose Avenue in The Portage Park/Dunning Neighborhood serves up a Half Roasted Chicken Dinner for $5.75!! It actually was just $5.25 but they raised the prices. Meh.

Not only do you get a half chicken, but you get potato wedges that have been seasoned with spices and herbs. The potatoes are also very soft, and slightly juicy from the light vinegar, and oil juice they sit in. This meal also comes with rice, and a cole slaw that is delicious, fresh and crunchy. And it comes with garlic bread that it super crisp and flat. All for $5.75!!

The chicken is a juicy, succulent rotisserie chicken that is prepared a little earlier, and thrown onto a char grill to heat it up to be served. It has that rotisserie juiciness, with that char grilled exterior... So freakin "Monte-licious!"

And all for only $5.75!! A halfa chicken yo!

The place has a parking lot too, free parking. It is connected to a mechanics auto garage. The reason I mention this is because the bathroom, the mens room that is, smells like the mens room in a garage. You smell the grudge from the garage in the bathroom. But only there, you wouldn't even know if ya didn't go in, or I didn't just tell you. And no cute girls work there. Not a one. Beh.

They have other great items too, and everything is prepared on a char grill. They have chilli with tamales in it. Kinda gross. But the burgers, hot dogs, etc. Excellent.

Burger Time!! Don't drop the dime!

Me cooking, and eating a burger. Topless. T-O-P-L-E-S-S!