These days, getting the most out of your travel dollar has never mattered more. Rome? Paris? India? Vietnam? All wonderful sites to see and, if you live in Los Angeles, you can take these trips around the world. How? Take a leisurely walk or drive within a 2.5-mile stretch of Sunset Blvd. in Silver Lake. The heart of Silver Lake takes you on a tour of a dozen ethnic cuisines, Asian- and Mideast-imported clothing shops, folkloric craft and art galleries, European brewpubs and coffeehouses, Italian gelato, all wrapped in the Silver Lake wrappers of “trendy”, “vegan”, “organic”, and “hip”. 

Even how you approach this “world tour” of Silver Lake is as movie trailers used to proclaim: “ripped from today’s headlines”. Whether you approach Silver Lake from the east, through the Allesandro Cut, on Sunset and Coronado or from the west, where the venerable Tiki Ti and Akbar bars stand watch over Fountain and Sunset, a “world traveler” starts the tour in Asia. From the east, enter Gobi, Mongolian BBQ and Beer House, not the desert of the same name. While usually the stuff of suburban strip malls, the minimalist, chic décor and the authentic pan-Asian side orders and liqueurs available at Gobi Mongolian BBQ only highlight the fresh, colorful, mouth-watering ingredients that create the cuisine of the Mongolian steppes. Choosing one’s bbq ingredients from an array of vegetables, meats, noodles, and sauces, they are dazzlingly seared over a flatiron grill the size and shape of a dining room table to one’s order and served on tables decorated in East Asian styles. A generous bbq dinner with any of the side orders and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks can average $25 per person, with more than enough to satisfy most appetites and to take home and enjoy the Gobi experience again.

Gobi Mongolian Bbq and Beer House, 2827 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026, (213) 989-0711, www.mongolianbbq.com

First in a series by Tom Sanchez AKA Mr. L.A. Sign up for his personalized tours at MrLATours.com