🇺🇸 Where Bourdain Ate in Los Angeles

Tony and Roy Choi viewed Koreatown from the roof of this building, and talked about the 1992 Rodney King riots that took place below.

Tony ate with Roy Choi and Roy Kim, the grandson of the founder of the restaurant. They had banchan, bulgogi, sliced ribeye, kimchi bokumbap (fried rice)

Roy Choi's Korean taco truck. Tony had the Kogi short rib taco, a Korean barbecue short rib on corn tortilla with salsa roja, cilantro, and onion, slaw, and a chili soy vinaigrette.

At the time of filming, this was a food truck, but has since been made into a brick & mortar establishment. Roy Choi took Tony there and he ate a Kimchi Spam Bowl.

Former site of Roy Choi's A-Frame restaurant.

After meeting at David Choe's secret studio where David painted Tony's portrait, the two went to Sizzler to eat. David introduced Tony to his creation, the Salad bar meatball taco.

Tony had curried goat, samosas, tandoori chicken, fish curry with chilis in this area called Little Bangladesh

Tony and Roy had an Aloha burger, Spam Little Big Bite sandwich, and Halo-Halo, which Tony described as an “oddly beautiful” dessert with  sweet red beans, white beans, red and green jello, young white coconut, flan, ice cream, and shaved ice.

David Choe bought his parents a house in Los Feliz. Tony and David visited the home and Jane Choe, David's mom, cooked for them. She made beef ribs stew, kimchi, chestnut rice, stuffed peppers, seaweed and jellied mung bean, japchae with shiitake, avocado eggrolls, fried squid, potato pancake.

Tony and David Choe had Wang mandu king dumplings (with pork and kimchi inside), mandu dumplings (smaller with thinner dumping skins), and sweet dumplings.

Tony and David Choe went to this dive bar that Tony loved.

Tony and Roy Choi visited this place that Roy said was one of his favorites. They serve a soup called Soon Dubu, described by Tony as "a fiery, tongue-searing, ass-burning tofu soup that will make you forget every bad thing you ever thought about tofu."

"Serves specialties from the city of Tlacolula de Matamoros in Oaxaca, Mexico," says Tony. He visited this place with UCLA Chicano Studies professor, Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda. They had black mole and barbacoa.

This is a cart that sells mulitas, "not quite a taco, not a quesadilla. More of a taco sandwich. First the tortilla goes on the grill, then marinated meat, cheese, then another tortilla. Flip and serve."

Tony met comedian Al Madrigal and editor of OC Weekly, Gustavo Arellano. They went to this place to get some taquitos, "rolled up, fried, smothered in avocado sauce, topped with chile guero, garlic, tomatillo, and cilantro." Also, a burrito with beans with machaca, spicy shredded beef, sauce, and cheese. 

Actor Danny Trejo's restaurant. Tony had an assortment of tacos just before they had their grand opening: "jidori chicken with chipotle cream sauce, some charred branzino with summer squash and sauteed poblano peppers, and crispy pork tacos with black garlic mole and some fat sacks of uni, and lots of healthy greens."

Fancy Mexican restaurant by Chef Ray Garcia. Chicharron cooked souvide, slow cooked lamb-neck tamales with oyster mushrooms and queso oaxaca, Okinawan sweet potato filled with pork, topped with piloncillo syrup with bread with foie gras and piloncillo.

Tony had drinks with an ex-cop named Alex Salazar that admits he crossed lines and did bad things when he was a street cop.

Chicken & waffles obviously. And Stymie's Choice: chicken liver, grits, gravy, fried eggs.

French dips

Thai bakery

Thai boat noodles

Thai market

Very strange velvet art; Tony wanted to buy the Mr. T portrait