The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Week: January 26

The editors at Eater LA dine out several times a week, if not per day, which means we’re always encountering standout dishes that deserve time in the limelight. Here’s the very best of everything the team has eaten this week.

After returning from winter travels and burning through the meager supplies in my refrigerator, I found myself staring longingly into my kitchen, hoping for something that I knew wasn’t going to appear. It’s times like these I find myself reaching for a sandwich , one of the great all-in-one meals that requires little-to-no cleanup (especially if taking it to go). Oui on Melrose has become a favorite of mine when I don’t have a trip to the grocery store in me for its well-constructed sandwiches on fresh bread. The tuna sub is no exception with a not-too-rich tuna salad layered over crisp lettuce and juicy tomatoes on a sesame roll. Add in an order of Parmesan or garlic fries for good measure. 6909 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038. — Rebecca Roland, deputy editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest

I swung by LaSorted’s this weekend because they had a collaboration slice of pastrami pad kee mao pizza made in partnership with Night + Market that drew me in. The slice — salty, spicy, and garlicky, albeit a little greasy — was great, though the real highlight of my visit was fried zucchini. Wavy-cut pucks of zucchini get fried in a well-seasoned batter until crispy. The discs come with a lemon wedge and house ranch dressing; the lemon’s acid brightens everything up, while creamy ranch amplifies the intensely savory batter. I love the juxtaposition of its flavorful fried exterior and its mellow, slightly watery interior (and I mean that in a complimentary way). I found myself, alongside my dining partner, inhaling these — ignoring both the pizza and mortadella sandwich we also ordered. I love visiting LaSorted’s for the vibes, especially during baseball season, but the reason I’ll keep coming back is for more fried zucchini. 984 N. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90012. — Kat Thompson, audience editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest

It’s always a good idea to stop by Loreto’s tasting bar to try chef Paco Moran’s menu. For the last few years, a quarterly tasting menu has taken the chef into experimental realms, ideas, and ingredients over 11 courses. Moran’s a playful chef with a perpetual grin, acts like an older brother with his staff, and prepares plates with focused intensity. I’ve attended at least four tastings and each felt unique; this time around, Moran’s ankimo pate was the standout. The dish combines deeply rich and buttery monkfish liver into a creamy pate topped with fennel and blackberries. Bub & Grandma’s focaccia makes for ideal scooping, which marked a moment for me: seafood pate that outperformed the traditional version. I’m grateful this tasting will become permanent in the coming months so that Los Angeles can try more dishes from one of its best chefs. 1991 Blake Avenue, Frogtown, CA 90039. — Mona Holmes, editor, Eater Southern California/Southwest

Visit Inglewood’s Sunday Gravy on a Sunday for lunch: Beyond the satisfying coherence of going to the family-run jewel box restaurant on its namesake day, you’ll get to see rivulets of natural light pour through its side dining room and dance over the table in angular shapes. In the dappled afternoon sunlight, new-school plays on Italian American classics stream in from the kitchen looking even more brilliant as they land. None so much more than the Calabrian shrimp and grits, which features shrimp brightened by Calabrian chiles and lemon over velvety grits infused with cream and cheese. I don’t know that I’ve had a better plate of shrimp and grits in Los Angeles, and despite our other great dishes on the table (Sunday special chicken wings with scallion ranch, crisp mozzarella sticks, fusilli alla vodka, and spaghetti aglio e olio among them), it’s the one I kept reaching for. 122 Centinela Avenue, Inglewood, CA 90302 — Nicole Fellah, Eater editorial manager