September :: 2018 :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for September 2018

Eating Guilin – Chunji

Sep28

Restaurant: Chunji Roasted Goose Restaurant

Location: No. 12, Jiangan Road, Qixing District, Guilin, China / No. 21, Qixing Road, Qixing District, Guilin, China / 1/F, Nanxi Square, Chongxin Road, Xiangshan District, Guilin, China / 2/F, Jinshuiwan International Restaurant, Jinshui Road, Lingui County, Guilin, China / No.2 Middle Zhongshan Road, Xiufeng District, Guilin, China / No.1, North Zhongshan Road, Diecai District, Guilin, China

Date: August 6 & 8, 2018

Cuisine: Guangzhou Chinese

Rating: Big menu, great service, good food

The Guangzhou province city of Guilin is famous for its unusual and beautiful mountains.

Like Elephant Trunk Hill (above).

While staying here, we went twice to Chunji Roast Goose, at two different locations — like most successful Chinese restaurants there are several locations in the same city.

This location’s spacious interior.

The kitchen was impressive to see.

Look at the army of wok cooks!

This is the second location frontage.

And here we had a private room.

Both shared the same Guangzhou style menu.

Chinese beer, local I think.

Chunji brings an hour glass to the table. If it runs out (30 min) before all your food has come your meal is free! I don’t think it ever happens with that army of cooks.

Egg pudding/custard, soy sauce, salted steamed pork. A delicious dish we ordered twice. The egg has a lovely soft texture and the pork adds savory flavor.

BBQ pork (char siu). This is the kind of sweet “candied” pork I really love. It was soft, rich, and delectably flavored.

Glass noodles with mushrooms and egg. Pleasant.

Beef of some sort with chilies.

Pork and green peppers.

Cauliflower. This was the second “version” of this dish they made. The first had bits of pork in it and was delicious. This was properly vegetarian but flavored mostly with soy sauce and was a bit salty.

Bamboo shoots with spring onions and pork. This wasn’t supposed to have meat either, but they included more of the “sneaky meat.” I do have to say, it improved the flavor.

Shredded potatoes and vinegar. I love the slightly sour quality of this dish.

Cabbage.

Stewed tofu (with sneaky pork). The kind of pan fried tofu in a light broth.

Bean curd. Not my favorite version of this dish as it was a bit dry, but I do like the texture of this scum from the soy bucket bean curd.

Beer fish. This is a local specialty. Fish braised in a sauce of tomatoes, beer, and chilies.

Steamed fish. Blander.

Vegetable fried rice. Always a favorite. Meat version is better, but any fried rice is good.

Toffee taro. Chunks of taro deep fried and coated in syrup. They tasted just like glazed donut balls. Delicious and rapidly stick together.

Toffee water chestnuts. Same think, different “filling.” I liked the crunch of the water chestnuts. Tasted very slightly less desserty.

Durian puffs. Flakey buttery dough filled with durian paste. These had a very strong durian (petrol) flavor. I find it really delicious at first but the aftertaste wears on me.

Fruit plate.

Chunji does a very good job. Service was solid and they have a big menu that seems well executed as most dishes were delicious. I don’t have that much experience with Guangzhou fare although certain dishes are familiar to me from Cantonese.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Observe the city’s iconic mountains

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, Chinese Food, Eating China, Eating Guilin, Guangzhou cuisine, Guilin

Eating Chengdu – Szechuan

Sep26

Restaurant: ? in Chengdu

Location: ? in Chengdu

Date: August 5, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Solid Szechuan, but not the best we had

After our day baking in the 100deg heat at Leshan it was late enough that we didn’t have time to go back to the hotel before dinner — Chinese restaurants all closing quite early.

So instead we headed to another of Chengdu’s many lovely restored alley streets for more crowds and dinner.

Again, if any of my Chinese reading friends can translate this name so I know where we ate, I’d be grateful.

Cute interior.

More beer to sooth the heat.

Plain noodles for my son.

Plain noodle soup for another kid wary of the red.

A Szechuan pupu platter of sorts — or a selection of (mostly) cold plates.

Spicy vegetable.

Smoked beef or ham, again like pastrami.

Spicy beef. I get this cold dish all the time in LA and love it.

Another (delicious) kind of spicy vegetable.

Mysterious sauce.

Mung bean noodle with spicy sauce. One of two variants. I think this one was hot.

Cold Mung bean noodle with tangy/spicy sauce. I love this one.

Sweet rice cake. One of those weird chewy-sweet Chinese desserts.

A single hot wonton.

Two slightly less lonely non-spicy wontons.

Baby dan dan mein.

A few random dim sum.

Mapo tofu. How could we not order it again? This one was saltier, not as spicy, and with less depth than the one we had our first night in Chengdu. It was fine, but not nearly as good.

Rice for the mapo.

Pork belly with preserved vegetables. I really enjoyed this dish. Rich fatty meat offset by the salty/funky vegetables underneath.

Weird spongy mushrooms and bock choy. Not bad for a vegetable.

Cabbage and lotus seeds in egg yolk sauce. Pretty good actually. This is a combo I’ve only had once, at Duck House in the form of a crab, egg yolk, and cabbage dish.

Crispy beef with crispy rice and a whole lotta-chilies. I loved this dish. The beef was nice and chewy with a delightful hot aromatic quality. Not actually that spicy.

Fresh flounder in chili oil. Lots of oil. Lots of chilies. Lots of bones. But tasty.

Pan fried rice cakes with Szechuan peppercorns. The peppercorns were a surprise to the kids who otherwise wanted the rice cakes. Gave it a bit of a tingle!

Sesame eyeballs. Gooey rice with sesame inside. Actually one of the best Chinese desserts.

Overall, this place was solid. Flavors weren’t as complex as at Chen Mapo Tofu but we had some interesting dishes and they were quite good.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Afterward we took a walk done the large and deserted alley — not, it was the usual Chinese mob scene.

There was all sorts of street snacks, and pretty much only traditional Chinese snacks like these mooncakes and jellies.

Fruit with dry ice.

More ear cleaning.

And even panda dumplings!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chengdu, China Cuisine, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, mapo tofu, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Eating Leshan – Noodle Shack

Sep24

Restaurant: Noodle Shack

Location: ? Leshan China

Date: August 5, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Noodles

Rating: Solid

We drove t the small city (1 million, a Chinese small) from Chengdu to check out the world’s largest premodern statue:

The Great Buddha of Leshan, carved into the cliffside of the river 1200-1300 years ago!

And so we caught a quick lunch between tourist stops.

At this anonymous (unless you read Chinese) noodle shop our guide took us to. He has a penchant (apparently) for hole-in-the-wall noodles.

We sat outside so as not to broil in the 100deg heat.

Non spicy pork noodles. Pork “ribs” similar to what you sometimes get at dimsum places.

Plain noodles for my picky son. Chinese don’t actually like to make plain noodles, and in this case they felt compelled to at least stick some green onion on top.

I had the spicy pork noodles. Not bad, some kind of pork broth with a ton of chili and the same pork nuggets.

Not the greatest meal ever but it hit the spot.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

The fiery line to view the Buddha was 2.5 hours in 100deg heat just to START climbing down the stairs!

Leshan has it’s modern side too (just across from the Buddha)

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese cuisine, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, Eating Leshan, Leshan, Leshan Buddha, noodles

Eating Chengdu – Fiery Hot Pot

Sep22

Restaurant: ? Hot Pot

Location: ? read the Chinese card below

Date: August 4, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Hot Pot

Rating: Stomach of Ox in Chili Oil says it all

A visit to Chengdu wouldn’t be right without some fiery Chengdu Hot Pot to cleanse the GI.

Nearby was another of those restored streets that looks like the China you wish was still around.

Replete with pole toting vendors.

And giant gates.

This is our hot pot. It was recommended to us because they have individual pots and actual vegetarian broth — something we needed with our diverse party.

Now the actual name remains a mystery to me. Maybe one of my Chinese reading friends will translate and tell me.

Inside.

And our private room equipped with individual inductive pots.

Some actual alcoholic beverage — almost a week into the trip!

Steamed buns with condensed milk — guilty pleasure.

Scallion pancake.

Meanwhile we have the hot pot sauces. I think there might have been a sauce bar downstairs which I would have liked, but I made due with the fixed sauces.

And some condiments to jazz them up like chilies, garlic (my favorite), and green onion.

Then the spicy hot pot. I forgot to photo the kid’s tomato broth, the non-spicy chicken broth, and the vegan mushroom broth.

The spicy one is an ass busting mix of rendered ox fat, chili oil, chilies, and Szechuan peppercorns!

All of the following stuff is intended to go into the pots, cook to your personal taste, then be sauced and eaten.

Homemade meat balls, not frozen like you usually find in the states.

Tomatoes.

Wontons.

Mixed mushrooms.

Sliced potatoes.

Fish (mackerel?).

Glass noodles.

Green colored wheat noodles.

Greens.

Beef slices.

Lamb slices.

Stomach of ox. Yep, ox tripe. Only for those with strong stomachs! This stuff was so chewy — with a texture exactly like a really thick water balloon — that I was chewing it for 3-4 minutes straight before I thought it was safe to swallow.

Fresh bamboo.

Fish balls stuffed with pork. Yummy!

Lotus root. I love this stuff for the nice crunch.

Tofu.

For those of you who dream of making this kind of Szechuan hot pot at home, I saw the above home starter kit in many Chengdu stores. You take this brick of chillies and ox fat and plop it into the chicken or pork broth of your choice and melt, therefore rendering it all into a fiery pit of stomach hell.

This was a fine hot pot place, and we had to do it — and definitely I prefer the spicy Chengdu style to any other. It’s just that hot pot isn’t my favorite Chinese meal as it’s sort of monotone. You only really have one “sauce” / style of prep for the night. Just lots of ingredients. We do have pretty good hot pot in LA — and it’s very popular.

All I can say is that it’s a good thing that the Chengdu Ritz Carlton bathrooms come equipped with state of the art Toto “auto washing” toilets!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

Szechuan face changing at the Chengdu Opera

Acres of Lotus at a nearby public park

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: beer, Chengdu, China, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, hot pot, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Major Coche to the Dome-O

Sep21

Restaurant: Majordomo [1, 2]

Location: 1725 Naud St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (323) 545-4880

Date: July 26, 2018

Cuisine: Korean Fusion

Rating: Big dishes amazing

It’s with gigantic expectation that NY restaurateur David Chang opens his first LA outpost.

Looking on the map, I was pretty skeptical of the weird between Chinatown and Dodger’s Stadium location — a totally annoying spot for me to get to during traffic! Two brutal hours! It took Fred much less time to get here from the OC!

The area is extremely warehousey, much like the “Arts District” but even newer.

The have a sort of hipster city built down here out of old warehouses.

With lots of bespoke graffiti.

And Majordomo, of course.

Which has a pretty big enclosed and outside space.

As you can see.

Inside is one of those cavernous loud warehouse spaces.

High naked ceilings. Don’t come here when it’s raining! They also have the currently hip bathroom setup with the coed shared sinks exposed out in the main room. Not my thing. What if you want to clean up in private?

From my cellar: NV Pierre Gerbais Champagne Extra Brut Grains de Celles Rose. 90 points. Tastes like a fruity young dry rose still but with bubbles.

Today’s menu.

Chilled Shrimp summer melon, cucumber, fish sauce vinaigrette. Really nice interesting dish. Vaguely Vietnamese with one of those sweet/tangy/fishy light sauces. The combo of fruit, crunchy cucumber, and shrimp though was really interesting and partially Vietnamese, partially Shirazi salad, and partially all it’s own.

Our main event, wine wise, tonight was a blind flight of 5 Meursaults, 4 Coche, one ringer. Larry was supposed to bring the 09, but he ended up in the hospital. Poor Larry.

1998 Coche-Dury Meursault. 95 points. The regular Meursault but an aged one at least, a special wine. It is a classy Burgundy with a lot of roasted almonds and nuts, but still a refreshing acidity. It shows some aging signs I would say at his peak, great company for food. Getting better with time and air. Missing a little bit more complexity in the finish. Anyway nicely balanced.

agavin: tied with the 2011 for white of the night

2004 Coche-Dury Meursault. BH 91. Soft mineral reduction does not materially detract from the green fruit, citrus, stone and slightly smoky nose that introduces detailed, pure and attractively intense middle weight flavors that possess excellent vibrancy on the taut, linear and refined finish. This isn’t quite as complex or concentrated as the ’02 version (see herein) but the sheer persistence is most impressive. And in the same fashion as the 2002, this has reached an inflection point of maturity where it could be enjoyed now or held for a few more years depending on how one prefers aged white burgs. For my taste, I would hold this for another 2 to 4 years but many people will find the current state of maturity to be perfect now.

agavin: nice out of the gate and for a long while.

2006 Coche-Dury Meursault. BH 89. An expressive and attractively layered nose of citrus, yellow orchard fruits and a hint of roasted nuts trimmed in a note of subtle wood toast that is also picked up by the rich, full and generous flavors that possess a seductively textured and balanced finish that delivers fine intensity and impressive persistence for a villages level wine. Recommended.

agavin: flabby out of the gate (we thought it was the non-coche) but really opened up and grew.

From my cellar: 2011 Coche-Dury Meursault. 94 points. An elegant, pure and very pretty nose is now displaying just touches of both wood and some secondary development though it’s clear that the ripe orchard fruit and citrus-infused aromas are still developing. There is a lovely sense of energy to the delicious, round and caressing middle weight flavors that exhibit a subtle mineralitly that continues onto the nicely intense and sappy finale that delivers excellent persistence and particularly so for a villages level wine. This is really lovely stuff and while it could easily be enjoyed now, I’d be inclined to allow it another 5 to 7 years of bottle age first.

agavin: big, long and full of acid to start and just kept getting better.

2013 Bernard Boisson-Vadot Meursault Les Chevalières. 93 points. This was served single blind. The Coche flint and acid was obvious. Except this for was Boisson Vadot. Started off a dead ringer for Coche but as the Coche all picked up complexity with air this b came a little one dimensional. Certainly held its own as a Coche ringer.

Bings (flat breads) with Spicy Lamb and Eggs & Smoked Roe.

A close up fo the stuff you put on the pita. The lamb was vaguely Greek/Turkish or something with the yogurt and the stewed meat quality. Yummy though. The eggs were more complex and pretty excellent. You mash it up a bit to get the roe, egg, chips etc on the bing. I put the ham on at the same time for max effect and it was very good.

Hiding behind the coche!

A gift of the house: Macaroni & Chickpea black truffle, black pepper. Really good. Like a cacio e pepe, but with an interesting cheesy/sweetness and that fabulous truffle flavor.

More carbs! Crispy Rice shrimp, corn, bacon. Form favor is Korean, but the flavors were different and the crispy rice reminded me of those Persian dishes.

You mix it up and it was bright and delicious.

Crispy Pork Belly kohlrabi, Bibb lettuce, Domojang. The pork was very crispy, really nice, but it was all about the XO-like Domojang sauce.

Fred brought: 2002 Domaine G. Roumier / Christophe Roumier Chambolle-Musigny. VM 88. Moderately saturated medium red. Lively, pure aromas of raspberry and flowers; I had the impression of getting back to my preferred style of Burgundy Supple and round, but juicy thanks to an edge of acidity. Subtle notes of red fruits, flowers and minerals. Finishes with dusty tannins.

agavin: reviewers way under rated this fresh lovely young village wine.

We also pre ordered Boiled Whole Chicken (2-3 people) rice, morels, hand torn noodles.

This was some absolutely first rate chicken. Pretty much Hainan chicken with the spice already rubbed on, much more Chinese than anything else.

The hand torn noodle soup was like some of the best (Chinese) mushroom noodle soup you’ll ever have, and they have amped it up with not only truffle butter.

But a pile of real truffles too (replacing the morels from before).

Our wine lineup.

Which Eve shows off for Instagram.

We also happened to be “crashed” by Charlie Fu and friends at the next table over.

Wine service is so good here they also brought some lousy juice.

The dessert menu.

Strawberry Kakigoro. Shiso, burrata. Strawberry and shiso shaved ice with burrata sauce and dehydrated strawberries. It was mild in flavor, but very intriguing and refreshing. Plus it was amazing paired with the coche. Made it taste like strawberry coche. I think a nice high acid White Burg would be great with a little Boiron Strawberry Puree!

Mandorla Tostata Stroopwafel Gelato (Toasted Almond) made by me for Sweet Milk Gelato — toasted Sicilian almonds and Dutch Stroopwafel, because, why not? Some of Charlie’s guys declared it the best gelato they have ever had — makes a dad proud!

Overall, we had a great time at Majordomo. You do need a decent sized party for the awesome large dishes and you need to preorder. When we got there at 6:45pm there were only 1 each of the beef and pork left!

The service and wine service were both spectacular. I was really surprised as these loud hipster places often don’t have good wine service but we were really taken care of and this added a lot to the evening.

The larger pre-order dishes like the rib and chicken are amazing and insane. Tonight the food seemed even better than the first time, even if we did have a lot of (delicious) carbs. Maybe it was the Coche. Coche makes everything taste better.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chicken, Coche Dury, Dessert, Foodie Club, Gelato, Majordomo, White Burgundy

Eating Chengdu – Alley Noodles

Sep19

Restaurant: Somewhere near the Kuanxiangzi Alley

Location: ? Central Chengdu

Date: August 4, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Noodle House

Rating: OG dan dan

Chengdu has a couple areas now of older style buildings that have been restored and turned into pedestrian streets filled with different mixes of stores, restaurants, and vendors.

This one, apparently Kuanxiangzi Alley (someone who reads Chinese can confirm), is very popular and upscale.

And crowded!

Among other Szechuan delicacies they offer spicy fried rabbit heads!

And ear cleaning!

We asked our guide to bring us to the most authentic dan dan mein possible and he took us here. I have no idea what it’s called.

They double as a vendor out front. Or maybe there just is a vendor out front.

The food appears to be made right in the lobby.

And the decor is definitely not aimed at the western crowd.

We split into two tables and ordered everything on the menu.

Like non-spicy pork (spam?) and mushroom and bamboo noodles (thin).

Or the same thing with thick noodles.

And the main event, dan dan mein, one of the world’s greatest noodle dishes — which I even make at home.

This is Chengdu-style where it’s not very soupy, has less sesame/peanut and is spicer. You mix it up to experience the really complex savory/spicy/numbing flavor. There was a good bit of preserved mustard greens in here for that unusual umami crunch. Excellent!

And the spicy (beef?) and bamboo noodle.

Plus two kinds of dumplings. This numb taste dumpling which was awesome — not that you can really taste what’s inside under that chili sauce.

And the same non-spicy pork dumpling in the non-spicy broth (same as above with the non-spicy noodles).

Chopsticks you help yourself to.

Good place. Not a big menu, but I could certainly lunch off top notch Chengdu style dan dan mein and numb taste dumplings often enough!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

New and old – east and west!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, Chinese Food, Dan Dan Mein, Dan Dan Noodles, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, Sichuan, spicy, Szechuan cuisine

Charcoal – First Foray

Sep16

Restaurant: Charcoal Venice

Location: 425 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. (310) 751-6794

Date: July 21, 2018

Cuisine: New American Grill

Rating: Interesting so far

We were out on a family bike ride and decided to stop at Josiah Citrin’s (owner/chef of Melisse) newish more casual eatery for brunch.

It’s located on Washington Blvd about 2 blocks in from the ocean.

The space is contemporary and attractive.

Maybe about 3000 square feet.

Grilled Cucumber Gazpacho. Persian Cucumber, Calabrian Chili. I’m not sure what else was in this, other than certainly a lot of olive oil — but it was delicious. Roasted vegetable flavors, very roasted, lots of vinegar tang.

Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits. Pepper Honey. Being moved by a 9 year-old, hence the motion blur. Nice and cheesy. Excellent biscuits.

Hanger Steak Salad. Chopped Salad, Tomato, Havarti, Bacon, Grilled Onion, Kalamata Olives, and Jo-Jo’s Vinaigrette.

Fries. My 9 year-old didn’t like the spicy ketchup, I did.

Charcoal Benedict. Grilled Ham, Tomato Compote, Poached Egg, Charcoal-Infused Jet Black Hollandaise. Never had black hollandaise sauce before. The color made my mind think it should taste like squid ink. I can’t actually say that I tasted the charcoal at all, although clearly you can see it. Tasty classic Benedict either way.

Three Egg Omelette. Wilted Spinach, Avocado, Aged Cheddar, Grilled Spring Onion and Tomato.

Kitchen and interesting menu seemed promising, and several friends like it for dinner, so I’ll have to give that a try one of these days.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Charcoal, Charcoal Venice, Chef Josiah Citrin, Grill, Josiah Citrin, steakhouse, Washington Blvd

Eating Chengdu – Chen Mapo Tofu

Sep14

Restaurant: Chen Mapo Tofu

Location: 197 W Yulong St, LuoMaShi, Qingyang Qu, Chengdu Shi, Sichuan Sheng, China, 610000. +86 28 8675 4512

Date: August 3, 2018

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Most balanced Szechuan I’ve had

Being an obsessive lover of Szechuan food I’ve been wanting to go to Chengdu for years.

It’s really quite a neat city with both modern…

And “antique” buildings — something you don’t see as much of in many Chinese towns. It also has A LOT of crowds having grown in the last 20 years from about 3 million to over 16 million people!

For our first night we arrived late from the train and rushed around the corner from our hotel to this recommended classic Szechuan place named Chen Mapo Tofu. The downstairs part looked hipped and was MOBBED. The guy at the front barely talked to us but basically told us that there were more people waiting than were going to eat tonight so he sent us upstairs to their less crowded area — we think.

The upstairs was through this portal.

And here is the menu.

I took a picture of the first page of the huge menu. Wish I had the patience to photo 20 pages, but alas I did not.

Signature mapo tofu. I’ve had a lot of “pocked marked old lady face tofu” and even make it myself. This might have been the best I’ve had, certain was great. Look at all that Szechuan peppercorn on top for the extra numb effect — love it!

We had to get some rice, of course, for the quintessential combo.

Mapo over rice.

Had to try some Kung Pao Chicken at the source. Really nice. Not too spicy, but with a complex savory/sour kind of flavor that was really good and much more lively than the bland American versions.

Tofu and mushrooms. Very nice mild yellow broth type of tofu. The chewier more fried kind.

Clams and chicken with chiles. The chicken had all the bones, beak, feet etc. Very tasty sauce though with all the pepper. I really enjoyed this dish.

Fresh whole fish boiled with chilies. Really nice version of this Szechuan classic soaked in chili oil and oozing with peppercorns and chilies. The only problem was all the bones.

Greens.

Overall, this was a great meal, best we had in Chengdu. I’ll have to go back because I know the city has so much good stuff to offer. I really enjoyed the complex spicy, numb, tangy, sour flavors.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

The face of a (bamboo eating) angel

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chen Mapo Tofu, Chengdu, Chinese Food, Eating Chengdu, Eating China, mapo tofu, Sichuan, Szechuan cuisine

Hamji Park

Sep12

Restaurant: Hamji Park

Location: 4135 Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019. (323) 733-8333

Date: July 10, 2018 & December 23, 2021

Cuisine: Korean Pork BBQ

Rating: Great ribs and pork

K-Town adventure time, with LA’s awesome Korean food scene.

Hamji Park has a couple outputs, but we go to the Pico one. The small chain specializes in Pork BBQ Ribs (Korean style, of course) and various other pork products.

The interior is pretty much all K-Town — down to the ceiling hoods.

This is a surprisingly short menu for a Korean place.

Ron brought some of the insanely good: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97. The 2006 Comtes de Champagne is striking, especially in the way it brings together elements of ripeness and freshness in a hypothetical blend of the 2002 and 2004. Smooth and creamy on the palate, the 2006 is all about texture. There is a real feeling of density and weight in the 2006, qualities I expect to see grow with time in the bottle. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. The 2006 has been nothing short of magnificent both times I have tasted it. Comtes de Champagne remains the single best value (in relative terms) in tête de cuvée Champagne. I suggest buying a case and following it over the next 20-30 years, which is exactly what I intend to do. There is little doubt the 2006 Comtes de Champagne is a magical Champagne in the making.

Hamji Park is fairly old school so they have a minimalist array of banchan.

Cabbage with miso dressing.

Broccoli.

Marinated cabbage.

Marinated spicy something? A bit chewy, this was one of my favorites.

Bean sprouts.

Sweet potato.

Chewy fish cakes, always great.

Pickled veggies.

Spicy squid.

Bean sprouts.

Cabbage and chili paste.

Albert brought: 2015 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé. VM 93. Pale orange. Lively, expansive citrus pith and red currant aromas are complemented by suggestions of chalky minerals and white flowers. Sappy, concentrated and precise, offering palate-staining red berry and blood orange flavors and a hint of spicy white pepper. Shows excellent thrust and persistence on the mineral-driven finish, which emphatically echoes the floral and citrus fruit qualities. I’m impressed by the way this wine balances the opulence of the vintage with vivacity and I suspect it will reward at least another eight or so years of patience — standard behavior for this bottling, which ages more like a red wine than a pink one.

Stir Fried Octopus with Noodles. This is some great octopus. Nice and tender with a great Korean spicy sauce and sleek rice noodles.

From my cellar: 1990 Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste. RP95-96. The 1990 Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a wine that I had not tasted for a number of years. For a long time it was stubborn and tannic, uncommon attributes in what was such a comely vintage. Now at 26 years of age, this bottle served by Xavier Borie suggests that finally the 1990 has come round. Deep in color, it has a gorgeous bouquet of black fruit, potpourri, graphite and melted tar. There is warmth here, but it does not impede upon the articulation of its origins in Pauillac. The palate has clearly melted in recent years, and maintains superb balance and weight. Sure, as Robert Parker himself remarked, it is evolving at a glacial pace—slower than the 1998 tasted alongside. That means its pleasure is going to be prolonged over many, many years.

Ron brought: 1973 Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon Monte Bello. JG 94. The 1973 Monte Bello was another wine that I had two bottles of from an auction purchase, and so when the first bottle did not show brilliantly well, I was able to let the second bottle rest and additional nine months, which seemed to settle the wine back down nicely. The second bottle was a glorious example of Monte Bello that very much showed the more “Graves-like” personality of this wine in many vintages, as it offers up a superb, “cool” fruit-toned bouquet of cassis, leather, cigar ash, a hint of eucalyptus and petroleum jelly, and a complex base of gravelly soil tones. On the palate the wine is fullish, deep and very complex, with beautiful focus, fine mid-palate depth and a very refined, poised and meltingly tannic finish of great length and dimension. The ’73 Monte Bello has retained excellent acidity (perhaps due to it only weighing in at 12.8% alcohol), which has kept the wine fresh, vibrant and showing great grip on the backend. A very finesseful and elegant vintage of Monte Bello, which is not short on either depth or power.

Pork Spare Ribs. A bit sweet and sour, tons and tons of porky meat. Really great ribs.

Beef ribs (bulgolgi).

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 94 points. Opulent but balanced, dignified without slathered oak or exagerrated maloloactic fermentation. Good show.

Salad. Nice acidic dressing, and really good.

Ron brought (but we didn’t open): 1990 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. JG92+. The 1990 Château Beaucastel is a lovely wine and is just about ready for primetime drinking, but will continue to improve over the coming five or six years and then cruise along for decades from that point forward. The bouquet offers up a fine blend of dried raspberries and red currants, roasted game, incipient autumnal tones (fallen leaves) and a potpourri of spice tones in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and a touch leathery in personality, with a good core, melting tannins and fine length and grip on the complex finish. Having had the good fortune to drink several older vintages of Beaucastel at peak maturity, my gut instinct with the 1990 would be to let it rest in the cellar for just a few more years and allow the last layer of aromatic complexity to emerge here, though it must be said that the wine is really lovely on the palate right now.

Albert brought: 1995 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 93 points. Lovely, complex farmyard, truffles, undergrowth, ripe damson fruit mellow leather and spices. Beautiful wine drunk with five spice duck fried rice and was perfect.

Pork Neck Stew with Potato. This was the surprise of the evening for me. Super delicious Korean stew. Rich savory broth, succulent pork meat, hefty potato. Just all good if not much of a looker. 3 or so times they “added broth” to it too which rejuvenated the whole dish. This could feed a family of 4!

Erick brought: 2004 Bond Vecina. VM 95. A very pretty and expressive Cabernet Sauvignon, the 2004 Vecina is also the first wine in this tasting that shows some degree of aromatic development. Even so, the 2004 is huge on the palate, with a bold, exotic expression of very ripe fruit. Scorched earth, smoke, tobacco and leather give the wine its distinctive, brooding personality. This is impressive stuff.

Yarom brought: 1998 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon Upper Block Gaudeamus Vineyard. 94 points. Have always loved this wine…and have purchased and drunk my fair share of it. Lot of people panned it, so that’s why I was able to buy a bunch at crazy good prices over the last 10yrs! Well, last bottle I had was 6 yrs ago, which was another great bottle, but starting to show some age and sourness. In my best Mark Twain voice….”The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” THIS bottle tonight is spectacular! Starts off with a little funky barnyard brett, the good kind! Dark silky berry fruits…perfectly ripe and liqueured…with the slightest green streak of tobacco, sage and herbs, which I find fascinating in this wine…like you would Heitz Martha’s. Full bodied and rich with mocha oak barrel, cedar spice, cocoa powder…but NOT over the top sweet like you see in most Cabs now. Youthful, plush full mouth feel, complexities all over the map….and plenty left in the tank. I’ve only had a couple Schrader Cabs other than this one…but I can say that this 98 is still my fav!

Seb brought: 2014 Schrader Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon LPV Beckstoffer Las Piedras Vineyard. RP 99. The 2014 Cabernet Sauvignon LPV is from clone 337 from the Las Piedras Vineyard in St. Helena. This shows Mission Haut-Brion-like characteristics as it has in the past, with crushed rock, wet gravel, scorched earth, blackberry and blueberry fruit. It is clearly one of my favorites of this entire tasting. It has 14.5% natural alcohol and was aged in 90% new Darnajou and 10% new Taransaud barrels. This is a killer effort.

The pork cooker — actually used (by us) for beef.

Marinated Beef Sirloin.

Very tough, not too much flavor. Actually the only disappointing dish of the night.

Pork belly.

Pork belly cooking.

Bacon. Yes, it’s actually slightly different than the pork belly.

Spicy Soup.

This was great fun. Good food, particularly the ribs, neck soup, and octopus. The wines were awesome too and we brought both too many and way overkill stuff for KBBQ — but that’s how we roll!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
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Tagged as: bbq, Hamji Park, hedonists, Korean cuisine, Ktown, Pork Ribs, Wine

Eating Xi’an – De Fa Cheng

Sep10

Restaurant: De Fa Cheng

Location: 28 Pingan Market, Bell Tower Square, Xi’an, China. +86 29 8767 6615

Date: August 2, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese Dumpling House

Rating: Really interesting if a bit “big”

When I came to China in 2008 I ate at De Fa Cheng and enjoyed it tremendously. That trip, it was one of my favorite meals and I always regretted only taking a photo or two (it wasn’t until 2010 that I started photoing every meal I ate). It claims to offer “authentic” Tang Dynasty dumpling feasts. I have my doubts as to the historicity of the food, but it’s sure good.

The place is located right across from the central Ming Dynasty Bell Tower and is at least 3 stories!

I remember this golden dumpling from last time and used it to locate the restaurant again this trip (by some creative googling).

Last time we had a big group and therefore some private rooms upstairs but this time we were in the “grand hall” on the first floor.

They have plastic models of dumplings.

There is a sauce bar you can make up your dumpling sauces at — unfortunately I only noticed after the meal!

We got tea, plum juice (which I love), and some weird herbal/fruit dark brown juice with a highly intriguing and not entirely pleasant flavor.

Cold dishes to start, including the world’s largest dates.

Wood ear mushroom with onions. Loved it.

Spinach, egg, and garlic.

Pickled veggies and meats.

Shrimp and cucumbers.

And super spicy crawfish.

There are many levels of dumpling banquet, varying from about $10 a person to several hundred! We got level 2 or 3, it was about $15, and was a staggering amount of food. There was even a custom veggie version for my wife.

The normal course we ordered came with what seemed to be “all you can eat” boiled pork dumplings, a comfort food I always enjoy. Each time our plate got low they just brought another.

The veggie course likewise had a plate of boiled veggie dumplings. She level got it low but I’m sure they would have replaced it too.

Each person then got one of each type of specialty dumpling. I’m going to have to guess for most what was in them because I couldn’t read Chinese. The brown ones were walnut dumplings. I dunno about the other.

There were duck dumplings and something else here.

A whole selection of veggie dumplings here.

And a second round of different veggie dumplings here.

Then some veggie and some other type here for us.

The orange ones were a touch sweet and really good. Maybe pumpkin.

These dumplings were in a soup with Szechuan peppercorns and hence had a nice numbing bite.

Fried pork dumplings.

Baked dumplings.

More rounds. I can’t remember what they were but the ones with the green edge were really good. Like meatball dumplings.

The middle ones were a strong tomato dumpling and I can’t remember about the outside.

Finally there was a wonton soup.

We got this whole story about the Empress Cixi and how this was made for her. It contained little wontons and the random number in your bowl denotes your fortune somehow.

Watermelon.

This was a fun meal and a great deal at $15 a head for an epic gut bursting feast. Light eaters could split a course. In fact we ordered 4 for 3 adults and the kids. The dumplings were interesting and flavorful. My only complaint was that sometimes the skins were a bit chewy/thick. I wonder what the hell is in the expensive banquets? I think they go up to 100 dumpling types!

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

De Fa Cheng is right across the street from the iconic Bell Tower

By: agavin
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Tagged as: China, Chinese Food, De Fa Cheng, dumplings, Eating China, Eating Xi'an, plum juice, soup, Xi'an

Going Native

Sep08

Restaurant: Native

Location: 620 Santa Monica Blvd Suite A, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 458-4427

Date: July 7, 2018

Cuisine: California Small Plates

Rating: Have to try more

When we last checked in with Nyesha Arrington, she was helming Leona. Now that’s closed and she’s opened a new place in the Santa Monica Yacht Club space. I never even made it to SMYC, always meant to, as friends were owners. Although I have mixed feelings about Tar & Roses (their other place).

Anyway, I mostly remember Native’s space as La Botte, Antonio Mure’s Italian some years ago.

The surface details are a bit different, and I don’t remember the bar before, but the bones are basically the same.

The brunch and dinner menus.

We sat at the bar for a quick meal and the bartender was very nice — and talented with the cubes.

Heirloom tomato peach salad. basil, banyuls vinaigrette. There was burrata too, even though the menu doesn’t mention it. Every place has one of these salads these days.

Yagyu beef tartare. Maui onion, aisoon sauce, korean mustard. This was a nice beef tartar, to a large extent because of the insanely mustardy mustard — loved it.

Special. Pan fried tandoori seasoned chicken with mini-naan. The naan was weird and soggy, but the chicken was solid and tasty.

We just stopped in for a quick bite, so this isn’t a fair test of the kitchen (not that the menu is that big). I’ll have to come back with a bigger group, and wine. We could order pretty much everything with 6-8 (of my) people.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Antonio Mure, Date Night, Native, Nyesha Arrington, Santa Monica

Eating Xi’an – Warrior Lunch

Sep07

Restaurant: ? near Terracotta Warriors

Location: ? near Terracotta Warriors

Date: August 2, 2018

Cuisine: Shaanxi Chinese

Rating: hearty and tasty

After a nice hot (100 deg) morning visiting the vast terracotta army of Qin Shi Huang it was time for lunch.

The human version of this army most have eaten a lot of noodles!

We stopped at a local place just outside the grounds. The name wasn’t in English but anyone who reads Chinese can feel free to zoom in and translate for me. Please message me and I’ll update the post.

The inside is simple.

They had pomegranate juice which is a speciality of the region. It’s pretty sweet.

Scallion pancake.

These are some plain knife cut, hand pulled, noodles. Thick and almost like lasagna sheets they are a staple of Shaanxi cooking.

Preserved beef noodles. This classic local dish is hearty peasant fare and delicious. Thick noodles are covered in sauce, potatoes, celery, etc and then topped with “preserved beef” which turns out to basically be pastrami. Quite lovely.

Noodle pull!

Sprinkle chicken. I don’t know what to call this interesting and presumably non traditional dish. It was deep fried boneless chicken strips in a sweet and sour sauce and covered in rice sprinkles! While the taste was a bit like a more homestyle Panda Express dish it was actually quite addictive. The soft/sweet chicken was nicely offset in a textural since by the mild crunch of the sprinkles.

Chicken noodle plate. We finished the noodles and pastrami in our first big plate and so ordered another, this time with chicken. We didn’t realize it would be fried (just like the sprinkle chicken). It was still tasty though.

Greens. So all those noodles don’t cause a blockage.

This place was simple and hearty but a solid example of homestyle Shaanxi cooking. Actually something I wanted because on this trip I’ve been trying to eat regionally and experience the character of each area.

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Chinese Food, Eating China, Eating Xi'an, noodles, pasta, pomegrante juice, Shaanxi, Terracotta Warriors

Ride the Banana Boat

Sep05

Restaurant: Banana Leaf

Location: 5835 Temple City Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 309-0209

Date: July 8, 2018

Cuisine: Indonesian

Rating: The real deal, but we could have ordered a bit more varied stuff

Sunday is SGV Chinese night, but tonight, while we did venture east to the SGV, we mixed it up a little with Indonesian! Of course we still got in the requisite 90 minute foot massage and a quick visit to the crack house.

Banana leaf is in Temple City very close to Bistro Na and Grand Harbor.

The interior is a touch updated.

The green menu!

Egg and Tofu Salad. Fried tofu and egg served with bean sprout and peanut dressing. Good peanut sauce but it’s very strong and pretty much swamped out the egg and tofu part.

Siomay Bandung. Bandung style chicken and fish cakes served with a peanut dressing — again, so much peanut it was hard to tell what was under there. Some lettuce and cucumber too.

Crunchy fried chicken. Fried chicken smothered in some kind of crispies, Jakarta style.

Traditional Smashed Combination Platter. Marinated beef, fried chicken, fried egg, fried tofu, soy bean and fresh salad served with fresh shrimp paste chili. Very fried. But tasty. I liked the tofu and egg particularly.

Pork Satay with more peanut sauce. This was the best of the satays, very tender and full of flavor.

Lamb satay. A touch tough.

Chicken satay.

Yellow chicken curry with egg and rice. Not a bad curry, but mild and kinda thin.

Garlic rice. Like the kind that goes with Hainan chicken.

Beef Rendang. Good stuff, but we had (at first) only one of these for 13 people!

Indonesian Fried Rice. Fried egg on top. Great fried rice.

Chicken Noodle. Steamed egg noodle with ground chicken, fried wonton. Really nice lo mein.

Traditional Smashed Fish. Java style whole fried tilapia fish served with fresh shrimp paste chili.

Indonesian stir fried meat with soy sauce. Sort of like 3 cup chicken.

Stir fried chili shrimp with sator and fresh shrimp paste chili (we keep seeing this sauce!)

Greens with garlic in “gravy.”

Indonesian Marinated Beef. Lots of flavor.

The Pastry Patriot (me) delivers on the 4th of Julato!

Red = Summer Strawcherry Gelato

White = Vanilla Custard Stracciatella

Blue = Old Black & Blue Sorbetto (blackberry, blueberry, and elderflower) with homemade white chocolate stars
Nice place, and solid homestyle Indonesian food. Quite tasty and a fun evening. We could have ordered a bit better as we did that thing where we had a round of stuff, it wasn’t quite enough to get around, and then we reordered. That rarely works out as the second round overwhelms. Particularly we reordered BOTH peanut sauce salads and it was just way too much peanut sauce. We needed more curries and maybe some banana leaf dishes. But we can just come back and try again. They were super friendly and really treated us right.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

The wines at these dinners aren’t worth writing up, but I’ll show them below:

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Banana Leaf, BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Indonesian Cuisine, SGV

Eating Xi’an – Jia San Soup Pau

Sep03

Restaurant: Jia San Soup Pau

Location: 93 Bei Yuan Men, Xi’an, China. +86 29 8725 7507

Date: August 1, 2018

Cuisine: Halal Chinese

Rating: Tasty!

After Beijing we move on to Xi’an, the oldest of China’s great capitals and the eastern terminus of the silk road. Xi’an, now a city of roughly 15 million, has been an important city for perhaps 5000 years! It’s the capital of Shaanxi province and of course home to Shaanxi cuisine.

In it’s western position in China it’s home to many Chinese muslims and a vibrant “muslim street” filled with restaurants and snacks.

Like random kabobs!

Or what the Chinese call “naan breads” (puffier muslim breads).

Somewhat afraid of the street meats we decided to have dinner here at this recommended, popular, and very colorful spot.

As far as I can tell, it’s name is Jia San Soup Pau.

It was so popular we had to go up to the 3rd floor to get a table.

Lazy susan etc.

They specialize in these western XLB, which are somewhat more akin to Afghan Muntoo. These were vegetable filled muntoo.

And mutton muntoo — no pork at this place, it’s halal. The lamb ones were delicious with a very delicate pasta, a nice pronounced lamb-quality, and tons of juice.

Sesame noodles. Had a bit of mustardy punch too.

Spicy Tripe. I’m not sure which animal’s stomach we ate here. Lamb? Maybe ox? It had that tripe texture and was a bit firm and not crazy chewy. The sauce was STRONG. An intense smack in the face of chili and sesame. Really good sauce. I could only eat so much tripe but I would love this sauce on noodles.

Ox tail soup muntoo. Amazingly good juice meat dumplings.

Steamed greens with a bit of soy and ginger flavor. Quite nice.

Fried chicken. With a bit of spicy powder.

Lamb, garlic, celery, poatoes, and pepper hand pulled noodles. Underneath this very homestyle dish was a pile of excellent hand pulled noodles. This is a very Shaanxi style dish.

Jia San Soup Pau was an excellent place. Good rustic food and hearty flavors.

Back out on the street time for snacks and dessert like this “spicy lamb burger” which in Chinese might be 肉夹馍, a name that sounds like “Rodger Moore” (maybe Rho jaa mo or something like that). This one was lamby, very salty, and liberally greased with chili oil.

My eye was drawn to this very interesting looking dry ice dessert steaming in the cauldron. I called them dragon balls.

It’s handed to you steaming too. Turns out they are just puffed rice balls, with no flavor, frozen in liquid nitrogen. You crunch on the ball, trying vainly not to freezer burn your mouth and exhale like this:

For my catalog of Chinese restaurant reviews in China, click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: dumplings, Eating China, Eating Xi'an, Halal, Jia San Soup Pau, lamb, Shaanxi, spicy, tripe, Xi'an

Quick Eats – Courtyard Kitchen

Sep01

Restaurant: The Courtyard Kitchen

Location: 1211 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 587-2333

Date: July 19, 2018

Cuisine: American

Rating: Cute brunch place

Working back through new places in old haunts brings us again to Montana Ave and…

The Courtyard Kitchen, another American brunchy place that replaced Cafe Dana, which was a staple Saturday brunch place for my wife and I in the early 00s.

Like Cafe Dana before it, there is a cute brick courtyard here that makes up most of the seating.

It actually works its way back and is unusually attractive and intimate.

The brunch and lunch menus — I pretty much never eat dinner at this kind of casual American place. They keep serving breakfast all day too (thanks!).

Ice tea in the omnipresent mason jar.

Garden omelet. zucchini, squash, mushrooms, roasted bell pepper, caramelized onions, goat cheese.

Spanish Chorizo Hash. Roasted potatoes, smoked paprika, chile peppers, two poached eggs, diced avocado, arugula, homemade salsa. This was tasty (particularly with a bunch of hot sauce dumped on top), and felt very “light.”

In this light sampling, the food at TCK seemed promising (for brunch) and the atmosphere is certainly adorable. So we’ll have to come back and see how it holds up.

For more LA dining reviews click here.