The Best Dishes Eater Editors Ate This Year in Los Angeles, 2025 | Eater LA

"I used to live much closer to Thai Japanese izakaya Budonoki, one of Eater’s Best New Restaurants in 2024, but even now that I don’t, I still take any excuse to settle into this neon-lit dining room. On a recent trip, I noticed steak frites on the menu and immediately had to order them. Steak frites stands among my favorite dishes ever; I don’t know if there’s a better pairing than steak and crispy, salty fries. My favorite version of the dish is probably at Bell’s in Los Alamos, but that’s a two-hour-plus trek away (on a good traffic day). It seems like Budonoki has shifted its wagyu zabuton into a steak-frites situation, which makes sense against the rest of the menu’s inventive takes on drinking dishes and snacks. The steak gets cooked to an ideal medium-rare and bathed in a smooth au poivre sauce. The fries, golden brown and hot, have just the amount of crisp. Make sure to also get the Budo-gnocchi; the leftover dredges of truffle sauce make for great fry dipping. — Rebecca Roland, Eater Southern California/Southwest editor" - Matthew Kang