Simpang Venice serves a sharpened, elegant version of mie tek tek (mie goreng) featuring well-sauced, slightly seared wok-fried noodles tossed with tender chicken, crunchy cabbage, and chopped greens, finished with microgreens on floral plateware. The restaurant presents Indonesian classics like beef rendang, chicken sate, and penyet fried chicken alongside a strong natural wine list. Baekjeong in Koreatown offers expansive, group-friendly Korean barbecue seating and a shared-menu format. Combination platters with beef, pork, or mixed meats provide generous portions, with large combinations designed to feed groups of four to five people comfortably.
I loved the mie tek tek (also known as mie goreng), a dish my wife and I would order regularly, but prepared much sharper and elegantly here on floral plateware and a tangle of microgreens garnish. The wok-fried noodles are well-sauced, seared ever so slightly, and tossed with fragments of tender chicken. Crunchy cabbage and chopped greens add additional texture, resulting in something sort of like chow mein but more dimensional.
I have a running list of restaurants to take out-of-towners when they visit Los Angeles, and the new Baekejong on Eighth Street is a recent addition to my go-tos that is sure to stick around. The expansive restaurant is easy for a group, with plenty of tables that can hold more than four people comfortably and a menu that is designed to be shared. The easiest way to order for a group is to go for one of the combinations, which come with beef, pork, or a mix of the two. A large easily feeds a group of four or five
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