Thematic Photographic - What's for Dinner?

Carmi at the blog Written, Inc. posts a weekly photo challenge. This week, the theme is "What's for dinner?"

Carmi says, For the next week, look more deeply into our kitchens, restaurants and other venues where we gather to break bread and discuss the day just completed. It could be a picture of food, a peek inside your fridge or pantry, or something remotely related to the place where dinner is shared.

Sometimes the answer is - Noodles!

Sawtelle Avenue, in West Los Angeles, is a place where you can get almost any kind of noodle you can think of. This is a bowl of Tsukemen noodles, served at room temperature alongside a bowl of broth called tonkatsu. You dip the noodles in the rich, thick, porky broth, add a squeeze of lime. Maybe a bit of something from the array of pickled condiments that cluster at the table.  At Tsujita LA's tiny corner cafe, they are proudly called "artisan noodles" - something special indeed.

They are so special there are usually lines at lunchtime, so if you're short on time but still want noodles, you can just sit down next door at Nong La Cafe and have a bowl of Vietnamese rice noodle soup, or Pho. This is chicken pho, or pho ga, served with herbs and bean sprouts to garnish, and a bowl of sweet-sour-hot chile sauce to dribble in for extra taste.

Others may prefer the classic beef pho, here served with rare steak and beef balls - pho tai bo.

Still can't decide? You can wander up the street and choose a noodle of your choice - ramen, or udon or soba. There are Korean noodles, Japanese cold noodle salad, and even a kind of fusion ramen, sprinkled with cheese.

Noodles! They're what's for dinner on Sawtelle Avenue.

Vietnamese Cha Gio, at Nong La Cafe.

And, yes, you can get egg roll with that!