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The Single Best Meals in Los Angeles, As Told by Friends of Eater

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Where was the year’s best meal?

Diners and cooks inside of the small tasting menu restaurant Trois Mec in Los Angeles.
Trois Mec
Wonho Frank Lee
Matthew Kang is the Lead Editor of Eater LA. He has covered dining, restaurants, food culture, and nightlife in Los Angeles since 2008. He's the host of K-Town, a YouTube series covering Korean food in America, and has been featured in Netflix's Street Food show.

Bill Esparza, Food Writer

Mocotó in São Paulo. But here in L.A., the guest chef series at Providence with Enrique Olvera, Virgílio Martinez, and Michael Cimarusti.

Oren Peleg, Eater LA Contributor

Revolutionario Tacos. God bless you, Zadi.

Brigham Yen, DTLA Rising

The corzetti pasta with lobster at Miro ​

Lesley Balla, Zagat, Angeleno

The white truffle menu at Maude. Not a new restaurant, but wow. Just wow.

Jeff Miller, Senior City Editor, Thrillist

I lost my mom to cancer this year, and the meal I keep going back to was the last time I ate with her, brunch at the 4 Seasons in Santa Barbara. If I could repeat any meal this year, that would be the one.

Katherine Spiers, LA Weekly Food Editor

Ordering the charcuterie at Cassia, just for myself, and eating the whole dang thing. Dessert was the lime soda.

Eddie Lin, Food Writer

Jason Neroni's Rose Cafe was the site of my most decadent and tasty feast. Whether the dish was fashioned from lard, bone, pasta, offal or even vegetable, as in the case of Neroni's famous summer vegetable tartlet, nothing was lackluster. But my favorite plate was — and is — his legendary smoked bucatini carbonara.

Caroline Pardilla, Eater LA Contributor

Chef Ludo Lefebvre's Hennessy XO dinner at Trois Mec. Lobster paired with XO on the rocks!

Sarah Gim, The Delicious Life

​Pollo a la Brasa, at home​

Josh Scherer, Food Writer

A dinner I had this spring at Lasa in Unit 120. There was this charred octopus sinigang that got its sourness from locally grown rhubarb, and all the flavors were so vibrant and clear and unique. Ditto for a daikon cake with radish greens cooked in salted coconut milk. The Valencia brothers have something special going on with Lasa and I'm excited (you should be excited too) to see where they end up.

Jim Thurman, Eater LA Contributor

Mok pa at AJ Asian Kitchen in South El Monte

Katrina Yentch, Eater LA Contributor

AYCE BBQ from Bulgogi Hut with loads of beer and sake on my birthday this year

Nicole Iizuka, POPSUGAR Senior Producer

It's a toss up between sharing a meal with Wolfgang Puck as he doled out delicious cuts of meat at Cut or, you know, eating one of everything at Disneyland.

Hadley Tomicki, UrbanDaddy

An all-you-can-eat Dungeness Crab feast at George Inlet Lodge in Ketchikan, Alaska

Esther Tseng, Eater LA Contributor

One of two times having the tasting menu at Trois Mec. Admittedly, it was a buy-out but everything was equal parts delicious and thought-provoking

Meghan McCarron, Eater Senior Features Editor

I have the great good fortune of editing Eater's travel packages, and the best meal I had period this year was in Paris; I also saw a restaurant there called O'Tacos, so I was happy to come back to Los Angeles. My best meal here at the high end was hands-down Shibumi. I am stunned by this restaurant. Each dish was delicious and arresting without bombast; they were just good. As the fine dining world flattens into global sameness, Shibumi is strikingly unique.

At the less pricey end of things, every meal I have at Sichuan Impression is a revelation and a delight and I can't wait to go back.

Euno Lee, Eater LA Contributor

Sentimental reasoning: Brunches at Katella Deli.

Critical reasoning: Orsa & Winston, Downtown L.A. Omakase with beverage pairing from the incomparable Eater Young Gun, Maxfield Schnee. I would be perfectly fine with Orsa & Winston being L.A.'s international community-facing fine-dining flagship, and I think the way it encapsulates everything about L.A. deserves the kind of respect to the point where a schmoe like me shouldn't be able to book a table.

Crystal Coser, Eater LA Associate Editor

Kali

Farley Elliott, Eater LA Senior Editor

A holiday feast with the Eater team at Republique, LA's best do-it-all restaurant. After that it's a close second between various pop-up dishes at Unit 120 and a full meal, with cocktails, enjoyed from the bar at Here's Looking at You.

Matthew Kang, Eater LA Editor

A stunning steak dinner at the bar at Gwen with a dear friend of mine. The tasting menu at Gaggan and lunch at Nahm solidified my desire to return to Thailand, and I’m going back very, very soon. Eating Franklin Barbecue at a park in Austin with 15 of my best friends in the world. And perhaps the best single meal was the special omakase at Q Sushi.

Disneyland

1313 S Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, CA 92802 (714) 781-4565 Visit Website

Cassia

1314 7th Street, , CA 90401 (310) 393-6699 Visit Website

Republique

624 South La Brea Avenue, , CA 90036 (310) 362-6115 Visit Website

Orsa & Winston

122 4th Street, , CA 90013 (213) 687-0300 Visit Website

Shibumi

815 South Hill Street, , CA 90014 (323) 484-8915 Visit Website

Trois Mec

716 North Highland Avenue, , CA 90038 (323) 484-8588 Visit Website

Q Sushi

30770 Russell Ranch Road, , CA 91362 (818) 540-3231 Visit Website

Revolutionario

1436 W Jefferson Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007 (424) 223-3526 Visit Website

Erven

514-516 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90401 (310) 260-2255 Visit Website

71Above

633 West 5th Street, , CA 90071 (213) 712-2683 Visit Website

Providence

5955 Melrose Avenue, , CA 90038 (323) 460-4170 Visit Website

Pollo A La Brasa

764 South Western Avenue, , CA 90005 (213) 387-1531

SALAZAR

1819 14th Street Northwest, , DC 20009 (202) 621-6114 Visit Website

Gwen

6600 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 (323) 946-7500

Here's Looking At You

3901 West 6th Street, , CA 90020 (213) 568-3289 Visit Website