National Taco Day at Guisados Boyle Heights

2100 E Cesar Chavez Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90033

(323) 264-7201

guisados.com

Oct 4th was National Taco day, what better way to celebrate than to hit up one of the most highly praised taco joints in town. Guisados, first introduced to to my friend and I through the Vice show FOB with Eddie Huang. Not gonna lie, the tacos looked bomb. We venture out to the streets of Boyle Heights to pay homage to the taste that is, East LA.

Now Guisados is Spanish for "stews." Unlike most tacos in LA that is cooked on a grill or griddle, Guisados' methods brings out the natural glutamate in the proteins what is commonly known as "umami."

My friend and I both got the 6 tacos sampler for $6.99. It's usually the top six tacos on the board. Which are...steak picado, bistek en salso roja, tinga, mole poblano, cochinita pibil, chicharron. My personal favorite was the Chicharron. Pork skin reduced to gelatinous tender pieces with a drip of salsa verde. It's to die for. My friend loves chocolate, the obvious favorite was the Mole poblano. It's not too sweet, hints of chocolate, and the cream sauce ties it together perfectly.

The one that stood out was the Cochinita Pibil. Had a little bit. It wasn't super spicy. But if you aren't used to spicy food, this will is a kicker. Now I'm curious to try the Chiles Toreados. That one is rated at THREE CHILLY SIGNS!?! 

Santouka Ramen in Torrance

  Santouka Ramen

 Mitsuwa Market Pl
21515 Western Ave
Torrance, CA 90501

Ironically, came here after the Ramen Yokocho festival in Torrance because we couldn't fill our bellies with over priced $8 mini sized ramens at the festival. But that event totally incepted(as in inception)  us with the idea of wanting to eat more ramen. Been meaning to come back to Santouka, and I remembered there was on nearby in Torrance. So that's how we ended up here.

Giving Santouka 5 stars for their Spicy miso ramen. I've had a spicy miso ramen at other places, and thus far, none were anywhere close to the magnitude of Santouka's. The spiciness does not over power the umami-ness of the delightful broth. Good balance, good sides in the bowl like chashu and other goodies. Best spicy miso ramen period. 

Had their natto bowl on the side. Not a lot of people like natto because it's fermented. But I enjoy it very much. It's not really seasoned. So maybe a little salt or soy sauce could kick it up a notch? The fermented taste is very subtle, so don't add to much seasoning if you enjoy the aroma of natto. 

My combo was about $12-13. It's not bad at all as far as value. We were the only ones that had the idea from Ramen yokocho fest. We saw some others that also came here after the event.