Food Wars

Had lots of visitors from NYC in town the past weekend. Too bad the stomach flu I caught from my son floored me for most of it (thanks Mingus). Still, after one of my buddies mentioned that a sushi restaurant he patronized in Venice was some of the best he had ever had in his life, I was reminded that LA is not a bad food town at all. In fact, there are some cuisines that (dare I say it?) LA actually kicks most other cities' collective asses in (including New York's). I don't think I'll ever not miss the great Jamaican food all over Brooklyn and the great Chinese all over the city, but if I left LA, there are certainly some foods I would miss just as much. As far as I can tell:

LA kicks NYC's ass in-

Korean
Japanese (Sushi)
Mexican (duh)
Burger joints
Argentinian
Thai
Armenian
Ethiopian

NYC kicks LA's ass in-

Chinese
Jamaican
Spanish
Indian
Cuban
Hot Dogs
Pizza
Steak houses
Seafood

That's not so say that there aren't some great places to get all of these foods in both cities. I love Electric Lotus Indian restaurant in Los Feliz, for example, and one of my favorite Korean restaurants in all the country is in Sunnyside, Queens. I just think each city has definitely developed more of an expertise in some kinds of food (many LA car washes have sushi bars attached, and they're damn good), and its surprising to the uninitiated what kinds of grub one can find here in LA.