Review: 2023 LA Food Bowl at Paramount Studio

Another year has come and gone, and the 2023 LA Food Bowl presented by the LA Times did not disappoint. As always, this unique food festival hosted special dining experiences in various locations throughout the month of September. It culminated with the Night Market weekend long festival featuring tastes from over 120 restaurants each day.

2023 LA Food Bowl

Last year I attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the Night Market. I picked my top five favorites for each of the three nights to spotlight. This year I only attended one day. I chose the Saturday Night Flavor…and boy did it serve up some flavor. I am a huge fan of any and all types of Asian food. Saturday’s theme featured global cuisine. There was a plethora of noodles, sushi, bbq, and of course, Mexican, Italian and all sorts of other specialty foods, along with lots of options for drinkers. 

2023 LA Food Bowl

Farmhouse Kitchen was quite popular, attracting a big crowd with its brightly decorated booth. I found out that the excitement was all about flavor, once I tasted those fantastic noodles.

I especially loved the Lucky Shrimp Po’Boy (cover photo) provided by Blue Plate Oysterette. The Santa Monica restaurant is well-known for its seafood. This was a fantastic dish. Served on a buttered brioche roll, the crunchy shrimp was lightly battered & fried. Accompanied with a honey wasabi crema, it was adorned with yuzu pepper slaw and pickled chilies. I had to stop myself from going back for another. 

Wine, beer and cocktails are always an important part of any foodie experience. As a wine lover, I enjoyed a selection of tastes from San Antonio Winery, early in the evening. Then I came across the Clink Different booth, promoting European Wines. I tasted even more wine from both Germany and France, but my favorite was a Bordeaux…Chateau De La Huste 2020. Chuckie Parga, one of the Clink Different reps, was friendly and quite knowledgeable. I returned several more times to say hello and to enjoy the vin. 

International Presence

I headed to the LA Times food demonstration stage, where Thitid “Ton” Tassanakajohn x Justin Pichetrungsi made me laugh. I learned some great tips as well. The cooking segment was sponsored by Singapore Airlines and Travel Authority of Thailand. Singapore Airlines also had a food booth and put out a beautiful spread of Golden Door Citrus Grilled Shrimp Salad. The tasty dish was created with honey glazed walnuts, blackberries sourdough croutons, and farm salad with a balsamic ginger dressing.

I loved that there was an international presence represented at the festival. In addition to Singapore Airlines participation, Peru Tourism took over one of the Backlot buildings at Paramount. Inside they created a lively display complete with a selfie backdrop. They also had various counters featuring info about Peru. Actor/models wearing traditional colorful Peruvian costumes greeted guests outside their space and roamed the festival.

More LA Times Food Bowl Highlights

As I continued on my food journey, I spotted one of my personal favorite Thai restaurants. I had to indulge in some of Tuk Tuk’s famous Pad Thai. I fell in love with this restaurant, after I reviewed them and got to taste a wide variety of their cuisine. CLiCK HERE to read my review of Tuk Tuk Los Angeles.

Luv2eat Thai and Noree Thai on Beverly served up some Yum Yai Phuket (Salad with eggs), and Curry Mai Fun Chicken Tofu Noodle (Phuket Style). The latter is a traditional local Phuket dish. It was excellent, the spicy curry sauce drenched the baked tofu and the chicken. The super thin noodles underneath captured all that magnificent sauce. It was so delicious. 

Just when I thought I could not eat one more bite, I came across Hamasaku. Now who can turn down sushi? I am so glad I did not. The salmon and yellow fin tuna was light, fresh and flavorful…so worth it. After all, there’s always room for sushi. 

2023 LA Food Bowl Returnees

There were several LA Food Bowl returnees such as Lunasia Dimsum House. They were serving up one of my top picks from last year – The Hargow (jumbo shrimp dumpling). These extra large shrimp dumplings are out-of-this-world. Other favorites came from Parks BBQ, Holbox, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, and LeCoupe.

It was a wonderful night. the food choices were limitless. Be sure to look out for next year’s LA Food Bowl. If you love food, you won’t want to miss it. https://lafoodbowl.com/