Philippe's : Los Angeles - United States

Philippe's is a cool old-school diner located in just 10 minutes from Sunset Boulevard in LA. They specialise, and are famous for their french-dipped sandwiches & home-style cooking, done well.

With Philippe being the self-proclaimed original, the stage was set for my first french-dipped sandwich. A process which involves a roast beef roll, which is then dunked in beef broth, making the roll and its contents, undoubtedly juice, and meaty.

Different grades exist from a single dip, where i believe just the meat is dipped, right through to the double dip.

Sitting down with my double dipped beef roll. I was overcome with a sense of beef satisfaction, that it was now blatantly clear Arby's had not provided.

The roll super crusty on the outside whilst super juicy, and slightly soggy on the inside. But this was different to your old soggy burger...intentional beef tasting soggy...is amazing.

The beef is finely sliced, highly flavoursome and tasted like Mum's roast beef, which sets a high standard. The beef stock was a real standout, turning a potentially boring beef roll, into something special and memorable, in such a simplistic fashion.

The sheer number of customer's at around 9pm said it all. Philippe has created a hoard of loyal followers, which i now know why.

Location : 1001 N. Alameda Street, adjacent to Chinatown

Arbys : Los Angeles - United States

Arby's was always a must-do for this Australian, after seeing the Apprentice jingle challenge for their chicken tenders, which is forever etched into my mind.

Located near our hotel, we stopped there for a roast beef injection. Ordering the classic, 'regular' roast beef combo, we waited for its delivery, accompanied by curly fries and some doctor pepper.

The roast beef sandwich exceeded expectations of Los Angeles fast food, being packed with thinly sliced roast beef, when stacked upon one-another, must have totaled around 20 slices, topped with cheddar cheese.

A simple concoction, which actually worked really well. The beef was decent, but could have had more flavour like a tasty doner kebab from home. The cheese really overpowered this beef, and i won't even go into the soggy bread roll which made the burger far less downable.

This experience makes me wonder whether something so simple, could be a successful franchise at home in Australia, where who knows whether there's room for another large fast food joint.

Is beef & cheese too simple for 2010? I personally think not, just look at the Philly cheese steak!

Hooters : Los Angeles - United States

I had long resisted the temptation to visit hooters. The only one back in Sydney, being located in the western suburbs, Paramatta to be precise, was not particularly alluring, nor did i think it would do justice to the franchise.

So when we stumbled across one on of these 'tacky yet refined' establishments on Hollywood Boulevard, we had to visit.

There were not many patrons, and those there represented a cross section of society, from young ladies, to old grumpy men. Presumably everyone wanted to see the waitresses in short, orange, lycra pants. And hey, so did i. Here is a sneakily taken picture, for everyones benefit.

We ordered some Cajun styled chicken wings, and beer, for a healthy & tasty late night snack. The wings arrived and looked great! I ripped into them, and discovered the tasted almost as good as they looked. However, this was for my preference for salty snacks seemed to cloud my judgement as Alisha was not so impressed.

The chicken seemed like it originated from a clean bird, and was moistly enjoyable.

We discovered the wings were served with carrot, celery & blue cheese sauce, a style which was to be reiterated through our USA travels. Why blue cheese and vegetables to be paired with this salty delight you ask? My guess is that it cuts the heat of the wings, making it easier for you to eat more. This technique proved effective as we chowed down the 'chosen wings'.

Pink's Hotdogs : Los Angeles - United States

What better way to start my blog than with a staple of Los Angeles, and perhaps all American food, the hot dog. I had exceedingly high expectations of Pinks, being talked up by locals, friends and numerous celebrity endorsements. With a line of people 30 deep waiting for their dog, i was sure this was going to be a winner.

We visited Pinks around 9pm on a weeknight, already starving for dinner, the line slowly crept forward. There were so many 'specials' from the Saturday Night Live, to the Hoff Dogg. I decided to go with the safe, and permanent menu item, the bacon chilli cheese dog.

The hot dog just looked so good i automatically presumed i would devour it. Unfortunately, to my dismay, it looked far better than it tasted. The first few bites were great, tasting the sweet/salty bacon with cheese, onions, tomato...and chilli. Oh, the chilli. This was the element that did not agree with my pallet, or my stomach. Perhaps growing up on chilli would have helped, but for the 'untamed' pallet, it was too much. I barely finished the hotdog, and was left moderately disappointed.

Overall, i am glad we tried this unique Los Angeles experience, but will not be rushing back for a bacon chilli cheese dog......or even a hoff dog.