EAT. STAY. DO | LOS ANGELES

EAT. STAY . DO 

Looking back I’d say I spent the majority of the whole trip eating. I did a lot of research before the trip, which definitely paid off. 

The stand out place we ate in LA was definitely Umami Burger, a fusion burger bar. I had the K-BBQ burger, which I honestly can say is the BEST burger I’ve ever had. Lunches we tried to keep this fairly healthy, Joan’s On Third was great; takeaway salads, toasted sandwiches, juices, they had it all. Sometimes a pizza was needed and Jon and Vinny’s definitely seemed the place to be.  I booked the Commissary before our trip as a more fancy place for lunch, set in a Greenhouse in Korea Town, they had a selection of healthy salads and a fancy take on steak and chips. One thing agreed and that is I didn’t leave LA feeling hungry.

In the end we opted for an Air BNB, which was my first time in one, and I can say I was highly impressed. Far cheaper than a hotel, it allowed us to spend more elsewhere on the trip. Not knowing LA we ended up towards the outer edge, near Griffith Park, which meant we were close by to the touristy areas but far away from places we actually wanted to be. As we never really used the apartment to it's full potential, I would look at somewhere smaller and cheaper for my next trip, but I will definitely be using Air BNB again! 

LA is vast, with so many areas to visit it was impossible for us to see everywhere. Before I start, I thought I’d mention we had a hire car for the whole of the trip, without one it would have been impossible to see as much as we did.

We dedicated one morning to do ‘touristy’ things like the Walk Of Fame, Chinese Theatre, all perfectly pleasant but not for me. As it was the peak of summer it was pretty hot, so we spent one full day on the coast, starting in Santa Monica and working our way down to Venice Beach. Santa Monica pier wasn’t great but the surrounding beaches were a nice place to relax and have a cool dip. Venice beach was very busy with small independent shops (mainly aimed at tourists) but the whole vibe was lively and somewhere I’d go back to. Near by there was a place called Abbot Kinney, with lots of independent clothing shops, something much more appealing than The Grove shopping centre.

Near our apartment was the Griffith Park Observatory, which was absolutely stunning and a perfect place to watch the sun set on LA. It also provided a good view of the Hollywood sign (which surprisingly is hard to get in LA).

I'll be back soon!

Check out my LA Vlog 

GK