Photo roundup: UCLA Social Sciences, dim sum, and pizza

Photo roundup

including Social Sciences Holiday Party

Danny Boy's Pizza is always very solid.

The Dean brought out the good stuff.

Associate Dean Caleb "Q" Na slumming it with his staff.

SSCERT, represented.

Lots of grins.

Hangin' out.

Schmoozing with Dean Valenzuela.

Jenny and Andra, the dean's most important staff.

Such a good turn out.

So much food.

Turkey and brie.

Did I mention so much food.

Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt graced us with his presence as well.

Joe, Jason, and Madison.

Dean Valenzuela and Professor Acabado.

Petramale Pizza is pretty good, but I think Danny Boy's is slightly better.

Close-up.

They only sell whole pies.

Crystal Palace, replaced Chef Tony inside the Courtyard by Marriott in Monterey Park.

Looks similar to before. Menu.

Menu.

Har cheung fun skins too thick, but quite tasty.

Lots of shrimp.

Dramatic difference in how it looks with different light.

Lo bac guo pretty good, but not quite "meaty" enough.

Beef tendon not a common sight at dim sum.

Har gow were very close, right number of folds, skins just a bit too thick.

Shu mai fat but not the most pretty.

Woodear mushrooms too vinegary for me, but Sue and Ophelia loved them.

Truffle oil and sliced gai lan stems.

Beef tripe (ngau paak yip) just a bit too plain, but cooked just right.

Pai gut were pretty good, cut generously.

Shu mai close-up.

Sunright Tea Studio just down the street.

That's a lot of drinks.

Passing a Waymo (Zeekr).

Homemade curry pies.

Sue destroyed us all at Terraforming Mars.

Prime Pizza is good, but a step down from both Petramale Pizza and Danny Boy's.

Combination from Prime Pizza.

Photo roundup highlighted by the Dean of Social Sciences' staff holiday party. Always lovely to see staff appreciation, to get face time with the big boss in a more casual setting, and was quite a surprise to have the even bigger boss, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, Darnell Hunt, come by for a few minutes as well. The weather was nice too, so we had a lovely afternoon enjoying the vaunted SoCal weather before the holidays.

Lots of pizza sort of fell into the same timeframe. Danny Boy's Pizza seems to be the best of the local joints right next to UCLA, and was good to catch up with Carolanne from our Disabilities in Computing Program (DCP) office before the holidays. Then a day or two later, ended up at Petramale Pizza, a one-day-a-week pop-up that is just annoying enough to get to that this was my first time going. They do a very solid pie, maybe a skosh off from their better competitors (such as Danny Boy's or Flour Pizza), but in addition to their limited opening hours, for me, they also only do whole pies... which is an awful lot of pizza. To be fair, because they're a pop-up in the middle of a parking lot, having to take the pizza home first might also have affected my judgement as it cooled off somewhat in the car.

Dim sum the next day at the Courtyard by Marriott in Monterey Park; the previous occupant of their restaurant space, Chef Tony, closed, and the new occupant is Crystal Palace. Had the usual flaws common to most dim sum, har cheung fun skins and har gow skins that were too thick, but the har cheung fun had ample shrimp filling and were pretty good. Shu mai were on the basic side despite them trying to gussy it up with caviar, and the beef tripe (ngau paak yip), while properly cooked, was too light on the seasoning. In constrast, the sliced gai lan in truffle oil was, well, a lot of truffle oil-- ditto for the wood ear mushrooms, which were a lot of vinegar. Pai gut and har gow seemed to set the tone for the meal, which was a solid one but short of the best, with effort in a few unusual areas (such as beef tendon) that paid off.

Sunright Tea Studio is always solid for milk tea, and just like usual, Sue absolutely destroyed everyone in Terraforming: Mars. I actually had a good start during our first round, but we reset early and the second round was, well, carnage for everyone.

4M made a late appearance as well-- always good to see them, and holy cow their kids keep getting bigger and bigger-- and some group indecisiveness meant more pizza for dinner. Prime Pizza is perhaps one of the largest and most established of the recent wave of pizza places. While I used to hold them in pretty high regard, it feels now like they've been eclipsed by their newer competitors. They're still very decent so not knocking them too hard, just trying to be honest with how much competition they now have.