The day of FOOD (and art) and FOOD

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I've eaten various different foods since arriving in LA. Most of them not what I'd think of as 'American' cuisine, but then Los Angeles is apparently not a typical city and so the food isn't really representative. Plus, there are restaurants here (eg the Cuban restaurant I went to) that would be hard to find, if they existed at all, in the UK.

Today I was taken to lunch at the much-praised Korean barbecue, which lived up to the hype and was delicious. We sat at a table with a central metal panel sunken in, over a gas flame. You were served with three plates of beef - two wafer-thin cuts, one marinaded, one plain, and one plate of thicker cuts, but still small enough to fit in a mouthful - and an array of side dishes, including radish (daikon - my favourite), rice paper (apparently a peculiarity of LA Korean barbecue), salad, kim-chee (spiced cabbage - it wasn't that spicy, clearly moderated for wussy Westerners), noodles and the list goes on. Much less oily than a fondu, but faster than a traditional barbecue. Very nice.

Feeling very full afterwards, we waddled over to LACMA (The Los Angeles County Museum of Art), and saw the South-East Asia, Middle Eastern and Modern Art exhiits and the Japanese pavillion. The Middle Eastern exhibit had some gorgeous illustrated manuscript pages, which were really detailled and stylised. The pottery was also so impressive - really vibrant colours on a 13th Century bowl, for example - and showed once again that the Middle East was light years ahead of their European counterparts.

The modern art exhibit was bigger than the one at the Getty centre, and had some great pieces from German Expressionism (including one painting called the Orator, which was, quite frankly, terrifying), as well as a large collection of Kandinsky and Picasso (and some lovely Braque, which, honestly, I prefer)..

The Japanese pavillion was specially built to recreate the half-light you get through traditional paper screens, so the light a) wasn't damaged and b) could be seen under the right conditions. Some of the screens were lovely, very delicate, although I do miss vibrant colours amidst all the subtle pastels.

We went out of LACMA via the Los Angeles tar pits, which are easily identifiable by the smell, then braved the LA bus system to go to Hollywood for a barbecue (traditional style) with friends. Cue more beef - some home-made burgers, with chilli, onion and goat's cheese, and a steak.

Hillariously we discovered that the British are notorious in America for liking steak so well-cooked as to be almost burned. I'm sure I looked as outraged by that suggestion as my hosts did when I explained that in the UK, the Americans have the same reputation! Needless to say, the steak I had (rare) was delicious, There was also a potato dish, made with fried onions, potatoes, salt, pepper and jerky.

Feeling about 3 dress sizes larger, I went to sleep and promised myself never to eat beef again... But it was worth it.

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