la.foodblogging

When I was a poor, starving college student, there seemed to always be places open until midnight or 1am, and the best part was getting the food delivered. I could order Chinese food at 10pm and pizzas at midnight. What happened to those days?

As I’m getting ready for a big move, I confess that my refrigerator does not look one belonging to a food aficionado. (Contents currently are: water, TJ’s strawberry juice, soy sauce, hot sauce, butter, 2 eggs, and white rice. Freezer holds: girl scouts’ thin mint cookies, TJ’s asparagus risotto, TJ’s asparagus soup, potstickers, 2 bags frozen veggies, 1 bag frozen fruit, and ice.) Obviously, I’m not ready to host a big party… or even a small one.

Dining at my place right now requires help from an outside source, but last night my guest and I had the most difficult time trying to find someone to deliver to us. We decided to order a philly cheesesteak and fries from Markie D’s, but by the time we called (8:20pm), they were already closed. Apparently, Markie D’s closes at 8pm. Since when do restaurants that serve dinner close before 9pm?

There is a happy ending to my story. We ordered from Natalee’s just before 9pm (which was a good thing because they stop accepting delivery orders after 9:30pm), and our food arrived around 9:45pm. Natalee’s is the only place I know of that delivers both Thai and sushi. The pad thai and fried rice we ordered weren’t that special but succeeded in filling our stomachs. The yellow tail sashimi we had was absolutely fantastic (8 nicely sliced pieces for $8). Be careful about ordering hand rolls for delivery though. Sometimes heat from other foods placed in close proximity creates a bit of steam in the sushi’s plastic container that transforms the seaweed’s texture from crisp to bit soft and chewy.

Back to my gripe though, I am finding lots of various restrictions on restaurant delivery service all over Los Angeles: must be within 3 miles, must be further than 1 mile, deliveries stop after 9pm, etc. Do people not get hungry after 8 or 9pm any more? On top of that, some pizza places that advertise their delivery services actually charge you an extra buck for delivery (e.g., Papa John’s). Since when does “We Deliver” mean look for the fine print that says “for an additional fee?” Is it a safety issue that has changed delivery policies in general and put an end to late night delivery services? Does anyone have any delivery places that provides good food and good delivery to recommend?

By Pauline (see more of her posts).