Thanksgiving weekend eats in LA

Whenever I visit LA, my priority is spending time with family and friends - but food definitely comes in at a very close second! Luckily, we can have our cake and eat it too (figuratively and literally) by enjoying delicious cuisine with our loved ones.

It's becoming a tradition for us to eat Ding Tai Fung with Christina during the holidays. While the Taiwan locations will always taste more authentic and delicious, this one is still a yummy and viable alternative. We prefer the Glendale one because it's located by the Americana so we can shop while we wait. They also let you track the wait time with a nifty app that will text you when your table is almost ready. While the pork soup dumplings (below) are a must, I would also highly recommend the noodles with sesame sauce (not pictured).

No trip to LA is complete without a visit to an all you can eat Korean BBQ. We went to OO-KOOK in San Gabriel - the service was particularly fast and friendly this time. I love that OO-KOOK is generous with the rice paper (lower left corner below) because some restaurants are quite stingy about it for some reason. I focused most of my energy and stomach space on the different types of kalbi, all of which were tender and flavorful. 

While we ate out quite a bit, we stayed in for Thanksgiving dinner. I didn't want to trouble my sister-in-law into cooking a huge Thanksgiving meal, so we opted for Taiwanese style hotpot instead. I always load up on silken tofu and fish balls filled with cod roe.

The next morning, my brother made us all delicious gluten-filled waffles (he experimented with a few gluten-free mixes that didn't quite work out). This is one of the first meals he has cooked for me in at least 3-4 years, if not longer, so I had to document this momentous occasion! I added the berries myself. ;)