LA trip for my b-day

For my birthday we went to where I was born and raised.... LA.
And of course, we made it a trip of checking out new places to eat, besides spending one of the days with my mom and fam :)

Absolutely the best fish and chips we've ever had.
This is from The King's Head in Santa Monica,
it is a pretty "famous" place since it is one of very few
authentic English pubs.
As you can see they serve a good portion
of fish.  It was perfect and flaky.
  Definitely got to have it English style with the vinegar.
We ate outside on their patio.
which was REALLY nice because the restaurant
is only a couple blocks from the beach and it's a great place to do
your people watching.

For dinner we went to Umami Burger,
which is also in Santa Monica.
It is one of those buzzword/popular type places.
We waited at least 30 minutes to get in, but that was expected.
  It is a little hard to find since
it doesn't really have a sign and it is housed in a little portion of the
Fred Segal boutique building.
This was the Truffle Burger:  House-made truffle cheese
and truffle glaze.  Definitely tasted the truffle.
The burgers are pretty small, but very good, and soft...

Tempura onion rings, cooked just right.  Helped to fill us up too.

Hatch Burger: 4 types of green chilies and house made american cheese.
The spices went perfectly with the meat.

In the morning we wanted to go some place other than
the typical Starbucks for a coffee.
We came across Geo's Organic Coffee and Teas, a tiny hole in
 the wall place in my old neighborhood in Culver City.
I remember seeing this place when I lived nearby, but never
stopped in.  They served some good drinks and pastries,
and seems to be family owned.  It's in a basically all Mexican neighborhood
so there were some yumm Mexican style drinks on the menu.
Or you can do what we did and ask them to put some cinnamon in your mocha. 

On the last day we went with my whole fam to a Hawaiian restaurant
in Torrance called The Loft.
All the servings were pretty large.
I got the Pork Lau Lau & Lomi Lomi,
which is pork rolled into Taro leaves and steamed.
Lomi Lomi is ceviche style salmon, tomatoes and onions with
Hawaiian rock salt.
Love Hawaiian food.