Rating: 
Summary: The Zen Master of LA Dining
Review: Anyone worth their stuff on underground dining in LA knows Jonathan Gold from his days as a LA Times food critic. His counter intelligence reviews are still proudly displayed by restraunters all over LA. Mr. Gold will introduce you to the astonishing variety of authentic multi-ethnic cuisines that are hidden by LA's huge geographical expanse. The book is heavy on regional Asian and Latin cuisines. The columns are very entertaining. If you are looking for trendy dining experiences, then this book isn't for you. It could use an index that sorts the restaurants by geography. I grew up in LA and make the effort to find out of the way dining experiences, but Mr. Gold takes it to another level. He is the master. I just wish he would bring back his counter intelligence column and make my life a bit easier.
Rating:
Summary: Indispensable as Thomas Map
Review: Few maps necessary though, since 90% of the restaurants are within a couple miles of each other (Alhambra/San Gabriel/Moneterey Park). Even though many of these reviews were written long ago, I've found that most of the restaurants are still around. Literally a lifetime's worth of discoveries await... . What you learn reading this book will help you in exploring new places as well.
Rating:
Summary: I NEVER give 5 stars
Review: Gold deserves it for this book. It's a Zagats for people willing to leave the white Westside, and actually explore ethnic foods in the company of the various ethnicities. He also gives credit where credit is due...though he may not be a fan of the social rituals of Matsuhisa, he respects his ability to buy fish.Hard to read though, 'cause I keep getting hungry. Now, if only he could write a book like this about Berlin.
Rating:
Summary: The Walt Whitman of restaraunt reviews
Review: Gold, who now writes about the New York restaraunt scene for Gourmet magazine, is a wordsmith beyond compare. Before I found this book (thank the lord I did!)I would repeatedly read and re-read his reviews in back issues of LA Weekly- I hungered for his words about food almost as much as I did for food itself! Gold is a true poet of food- in the same vein as MFK Fisher or Brillat-Savarin, and that is good company. He takes as his subject (for the most part)the obscure ethnic cuisines and restaraunts of L.A., from Afgahn to Uzbeki. He takes his food seriously, only in this book could you find recommendations for thai frog legs, corndogs and tongue tacos. For restaraunt reviews that read like great literature, and that will absolutely make your mouth water with uncannily poetic descriptions and wonderful, mature prose- this is what you are looking for.
Rating:
Summary: At long last! A must have for any Angeleno or visitor!
Review: I know I was not alone in mourning the loss when Jonathan Gold left Los Angeles to be the NYC critic for Gourmet Magazine. He was a local treasure of huge magnitude. I am somewhat comforted that he left this long overdue collection behind (and that the Weekly continues to dole out re-runs of his columns regularly). I have never been disappointed taking his advice (except if a place has closed by the time I got there). His taste is impeccable, and his sense of adventure is astounding. He describes dishes in a way that is rapturous and hilarious (a typical review mentions Pakistani bread so chewy and slathered with warm butter that it could stop a bullet), and most importantly and most convincingly, he maintains that the best food in the world can be found in family run hole in the wall places in the oddest locations. Los Angeles, often called "the capital of the Third World," has an extraodinary array of these places, and Jonathan Gold knows them all, and in this book he tells you where to get the best of it all, and a lot of things you never even knew you wanted. If you live in LA you must own this book. If you're planning on visiting and you're up for adventure, do yourself a favor (you may even impress a friend you're visiting by recommending a place they've never heard of). Even if you never plan on visiting LA but you love to read great food prose, this is amongst the best there is (up there with Calvin Trillin's "Tummy Trilogy"). The only flaw is the alphabetic organization. The index is OK, listing the restaurants by national origin, but a more detailed index listing dishes would be an improvement to later editions.
Rating:
Summary: Great Food for Less!
Review: I've been using this book since it was published and its led me to some really great and INEXPENSIVE meals. L.A. has lots of great restaurants, and many of them will cause your credit card to melt. But you can eat some amazing, authentic ethnic food in Los Angeles for almost nothing, and Jonathan Gold will lead you to the best of these places. Two caveats; this book was published four years ago and that is forever in restaurant years. It is in serious need of an update. And, it also needs to be indexed by neighborhood, much like the Zagat. I went through it and wrote the name of the neighborhood at the top of each page. Nitpicking? Yes, buy it and eat.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally a TRUE guide to the foods of LA!
Review: Jonathan Gold appreciates one of the main benefits of LA-- all the ethnic enclaves with their respective specialized cuisines. As an angeleno, I love the cultural diversity, and I love it even more now with Mr. Gold's guide to eat my way through all the different restaurants. Thank you, Mr. Gold! Other mainstream guides like Zagat neglect to mention the really great ethnic places, probably because their reviewers don't know about those places. So if you have an adventurous palate, look for an "A" sign (the grade given to the restaurant by the health dept.) in the window and follow Mr. Gold's book.
Rating:
Summary: LA restaurants are better than NY's (wait for the flame :))
Review: Jonathan Gold is a master at finding interesting, delicious, out of the mainstream kind of places. He's introduced me to so many different cuisings and he really knows what he's talking about. I always feel like he has researched the different cuisines and goes regularly, unlike most reviewers who deign to visit a hole-in-the-wall once and talk about it forever. With respect to my title, this book proves LA has more interesting ethnic and "real" food restaurants than NY. This book is a bible for serious food people, living in LA or not.
Rating:
Summary: LA restaurants are better than NY's (wait for the flame :))
Review: Jonathan Gold is a master at finding interesting, delicious, out of the mainstream kind of places. He's introduced me to so many different cuisings and he really knows what he's talking about. I always feel like he has researched the different cuisines and goes regularly, unlike most reviewers who deign to visit a hole-in-the-wall once and talk about it forever. With respect to my title, this book proves LA has more interesting ethnic and "real" food restaurants than NY. This book is a bible for serious food people, living in LA or not.
Rating:
Summary: Finally a TRUE guide to the foods of LA!
Review: Jonathan Gold is my favorite prose writer. I have read his reviews in the LA Weekly out loud, laughing hysterically, for years. He introduced me to Zankou Chicken and their amazing garlic sauce. This book replaces the file folder full of years of LA Weekly clippings that ride around with me in the car as I eat my way across L.A. I've also bought copies for my house, my office, and my foodie friends. I'm looking forward to Counter Intelligence II, which I hope will have Quanjude Peking Duck in it. Yes, L.A. has its own Peking duck restaurant, which I learned about through Jonathan Gold.
| 
