Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA (Part 1)

In Los Angeles, we always drive from place to place because there aren't so many good places within walking distance of each other. So today I'm going to write about Sawtelle Blvd in West LA! So many great shops, restaurants and supermarkets line the few blocks along Sawtelle making it a really nice and manageable area to stroll around for a few hours. To list a few:

Starting with Brian's Shaved Ice. Brian's Shave Ice is really good Hawaiian shaved ice. Strangely, the name is Brian 'Shave' Ice. Which is kind of "Engrish-y" in my opinion. Well that aside, the shaved ice there is really good. Unlike most shaved ice places the ice is really smooth and has a velvety feel to it. It's not crunchy as some Taiwanese shaved ice is. (Those are good too). It's really great going to Brian's Shave Ice to share a large bowl with people on a hot day. It's usually really packed in the summer though!

Their Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shaveicela

Adding to great dessert places around Sawtelle, is Beard Papa's across the street from Brian's Shave Ice. They're going to open one near my house soon! Since I walk to school I'm probably going to get fat by picking up a cream puff every time I pass the store. Anyway, Beard Papa's is a Japanese cream puff place. They also sell a few cakes and whatnot, but they are famous for their cream puffs. They have vanilla, chocolate, coffee, green tea, strawberry, and so many more flavors for the filling in the cream puffs. Did people notice that Mr. Bear Papa was featured in one of my favorite movies, Wreck-It-Ralph!

Right next to Beard Papa's is Nijiya Supermarket. (2130 Sawtelle Blvd.) Nijiya is a great little Japanese supermarket. They sell really good authentic Japanese food and candy. We always love to go to Nijiya to buy a little bento box, rice bowl, sushi, or onigiri for lunch. The food is really fresh and delicious. Last time we went they were selling these really good Japanese pancakes called okonomiyaki. They were making them right outside the store. It was really good!

A few other restaurants and eateries we frequent on Sawtelle Blvd. are:

Coffee Tomo: (11309 Mississippi Ave. just off Sawtelle Blvd.)This is our new favorite place to get coffee. Their latte and affogado (vanilla icecream smothered in espresso) are to crave for. Not to diss Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf where we go to all the time, but this place really make a cup of lattee look beauteous.

Coffee Tomo Latte

Curry House: (2130 Sawtelle Blvd.) We blogged about this wonderful curry place on our Coolrice blog here.
Chabuya Ramen (2002 Sawtelle Blvd.): We blogged about this great ramen place earlier this year. Here.
Asahi Ramen: (2027 Sawtelle Blvd.) The original ramen place on Sawtelle. Old fashioned, but clean and good.
Tofu Ya: Best Korean soon tofu place west of Korea Town.
Little Hong Kong: Satisfying Cantonese style Chinese food.
Non La Cafe: 2055 Sawtelle Blvd. New Vietnamese restaurant that opened. Decore is really clean and modern. Food is good. We used to drive all the way up to Wilshire Blvd for Vietnamese Pho, or go all the way to the San Gabriel Valley, so this is a closer alternative for sure.
Hide Sushi: (2040 Sawtelle Blvd.) This has been open forever, and is still popular for sushi. You must bring cash though.
Volcano Tea: This place has the boba drink even compared to the ones in San Gabriel Valley. Read about it here.

Now that this blog has gotten long just describing some of the restaurants on Sawtelle Blvd., we will blog about the boutique stores on Sawtelle in our next blog.