October :: 2018 :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for October 2018

Luigi al Teatro

Oct31

Location: 5406, 3116 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90405

Date: September 14, 2018

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

Luigi al Teatro is an upscale Italian seafood restaurant by Michelin Star Chef Luigi Fineo. Located in a 100-year-old historic Santa Monica building, the menu features contemporary seafood dishes reminiscent of southern Italy’s coastal cuisine.

It’s located in a Venice theater which is weird (no front door) but kinda cool. It’s located in a weird spot BEHIND Main street (in the Venice/Santa Monica border).

They have a lovely back patio.

The interior is very spacious and painted too.

From my cellar: NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Pale orange. High-pitched red berry, orange zest and jasmine aromas, with suave mineral and smoky lees notes adding complexity. Spicy and precise on the palate, showing very good punch to its strawberry and bitter cherry flavors. Opens up smoothly with air and picks up a bitter rhubarb quality that lingers onto the long, tightly focused finish. This bottling showed more brawny character than many past renditions of this cuvée, but with no lack of vivacity.

The menu.

Carpaccio di Orata. Sea Bream, orange, basil seeds, lemon, olive oil. These seafood carpaccios actually remind me more of North Eastern Coastal Italian along the Adriatic.

Ricciola Marinata. Amberjack, espelette pepper, smoked trout roe, egg yolk.

Foie Gras. Hudson Valley Foie Gras, figs, sea urchin, pickled mushrooms. Very nice juicy foie chunks.

From my cellar: 2006 il Cocco Brunello di Montalcino. 94 points. good, young and clean.

Simple pasta for the boy.

Pasta con le Sarde. Spaghetti, Sardines, pine nuts, fennel, raisins, bread crumbs. Pretty close to straight on medieval pasta con sarde (minus the saffron). This is a strong flavored dish and they did it well.

Lasagna di Mare. Handkerchief spinach pasta, seafood ragout, sage. The “lasagna” is very deconstructed, but it was overall delicious.

Salmone in Padella. Ora King Salmon, yellow beets tzatziki, black garlic, bloomsdale spinach.

Filleto di Ippoglosso. Olive oil poached halibut, radish, onions, broccoli.

The dessert menu, but we had gelato at home.

Overall, Luigi al Teatro was quite, I’m not sure people know about it yet, but the build out was lovely, service was good, and the food very tasty and interesting. Not your typical LA Italian, but very good chef.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, family dinner, Italian cuisine, Luigi al Teatro, pasta, Wine

Rustic Canyon Long After

Oct29

Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050

Date: September 12, 2018

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian

Summary: Excellent Seasonal New American

ANY CHARACTER HERE

As a seasonal market driven California restaurant Rustic canyon can be counted on to mix up the menu a bit fairly frequently. It’s a friday night favorite for us, and we return every two months or so. Many of the specific dishes change, but the overall types and categories stay consistent. If you are interested in the previous meals at Rustic Canyon, meal 1 here, meal 2 here, and meal 3 here and meal 4 here. It’s been a long time since I last documented here, 7 or so years!

Across the street from Melisse on Wilshire.

The interior is straightforward.

From my cellar: NV Ruinart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 92. Pale yellow. Complex, high-pitched aromas of orange zest, lemon pith, iodine, smoky minerals, anise and jasmine. Sappy and tactile on the palate, offering impressive volume to its ripe citrus and orchard fruit flavors accented by smoke and minerals. Finishes tangy and long, with lingering smokiness and an echo of anise.

The current menu.

Radishes and butter. Boy, this is a “simple” dish — some radishes from the farmer’s market.

Kong’s tomatoes on toast. aioli, aaron’s basil & anchovy.

Beets & berries version 2018.3. jj’s avocado, benne seed tahini, pistachio & dukkah.

Garnet yams. garlic butter, aioli, celery, pickled onion & benne za’atar. Nice dish actually. Vague middle eastern influences.

Grass-fed beef tartare. santa barbara uni, sorrel & potato chips. It’s trendy these days to mix beef tartare with uni. Not sure it added too much here, but it was good.

Grist & toll polenta. chicken confit, pudwill’s black mission figs, puslane & agrodolce. Rich chicken and the creamy polenta, quite nice.

Buttered ricotta dumplings. golden chanterelles & neal’s yard coolea cheese. These were soft and buttery. The chanterelles (in butter) were good too, but really it was all about the ricotta and butter.

A no mushroom variant for my son — which he refused even to try.

Kong’s long beans carbonara. pommes puree, house-curedpancetta, pecorino & egg yolk. Really tasted like a carbonara — texture of a giant green bean though. Delicious, if a touch awkward.

From my cellar: 2002 Faiveley Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale. 90 points. Great experience drinking a 16 years old 1er cru. Rather sensual on the nose, still lots of fruit. More strawberry than raspberry. Interestingly very similar old dusty character on the nose as I almost always find in mature Bordeaux. Not unpleasant whatsoever. On the mouth less apparent fruit than on the nose. The most obvious feature on the mouth are the incredibly drying tannins. The wine screams for food. Ideally meat but even cheese smoothended the tannins noticeably. Very enjoyable wine.

Newport beach sand dabs. mcgrath’s shelling beans, the garden of tomatoes & fennel.

Whole roasted autonomy farms chicken. Took forever to come (probably 45 min since the “pastas” and was okay, but not really worth it. A touch dry too.

row 7 potatoes, sweet onions & pink blueberry (came with the chicken).

Overall, Rustic Canyon has continued on the Farmer’s Market California / Farm to Table trend that it helped start — the place is 12 years old, which is an eternity in restaurants. Now nearly every ingredient has a named source. Lol, soon the farmer will be joining us for dinner. Still, the food was good. Fresh and tasty. Although they do rely very heavily on butter.

Check out other LA meals here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, pasta, Rustic Canyon, Santa Monica, Wine

Robata Bar

Oct26

Restaurant: Robata Bar

Location:1401 Ocean Ave a, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 458-4771

Date: September 7, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Robata

Rating: Just ok

We actually came here by accident. I won’t go into it, but we had a bunch of people and no reservation and just ended up here. They always have availability.

Robata Bar, right next to Santa Monica’s Sushi Roku and owned by the same (not so) Innovative Dining Group. I’ve never loved their places. Style over substance. And the style is a bit dated now too.

Build out is ok. Tucked around the corner from Ocean.

Dark.

Organic Garden Salad yuzu ginger dressing.

“Hanabi ”spicy tuna on crispy rice. Never seen this in Japan but it’s a staple at places like this.

Brussels Sprouts Chips truffle oil, salt.

Popcorn Shrimp Tempura miso glazed. These are always tasty, but they are better at Nobu.

Yellowtail Sashimi diced chiles. Way way too smothered. No tasting the fish here.

Fried Ji-Dori Chicken “Kara Age ” cilantro aioli. Fine, but a bit dry.

A touch of sushi, Salmon and Tamago.

Sauce for the robata (grilled meats on sticks).

Chicken meatball and Kobe Pepper (american wagyu black pepper sauce).

Gindara (black cod with sweet miso), Sake (salmon with pesto), Nasu (japanese eggplant with sweet miso).

Tebasaki (chicken wings).

Yaki Niku (short ribs in asian marinade).

Kohitsuji (lamb chops marinated in soy garlic).

Overall, Robata was decent, with a pretty varied menu, but a bit uninspired. It’s certainly not bad tasting. Just there is little soul or pizazz to it. Not very crowded on a very crowded Friday night either.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Japanese cuisine, Robata Bar, Santa Monica

Great Whites at Napa Rose

Oct24

Restaurant: Napa Rose

Location: 1313 Disneyland Dr, Anaheim, CA 92802 (714) 635-2300

Date: August 30, 2018

Cuisine: Californian

Rating: Unimaginative but solid

With Foodie Club key member Fred moving to Florida soon he’s been pulling out all the wine stops. So, given that he lives in OC and so does another guy, we decided to bring some crazy wines all the way down through 2-3 hours of traffic to:

The “iconic” flagship restaurant of the Disney empire set in the Grand Californian.

They have a lot of wine.

And an elaborate Disney-style build out.

Really elaborate. Strange place too. Expensive. Middle America Disney crowd in shorts. High end wines. Flat (contemporary) Americana food. Excellent service.

We brought some serious stuff:

Kent brought: 1991 Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne. VM 96. Coche’s 1991 Corton-Charlemagne is a wine of extraordinary precision and weightless elegance. Orchard fruit, white flowers, slate and white peppers are all beautifully delineated throughout. Striking in its perfume and transparency, the 1991 is simply magnificent today. Time in bottle has given the 1991 its unctuous texture, yet the wine remains remarkably fresh and capable of drinking well for another decade, perhaps more. What a gorgeous wine this is. (Drink between 2016-2026)

agavin: one of the best white wines I’ve ever had. Just amazing, floral, complex.

2004 Domaine Leroy Corton-Charlemagne. BH 95. A positively gorgeous and impressively refined nose of green apple fruit, pear and a distinct floral note complements perfectly the unbelievably complex and hugely powerful flavors that seem to be carved out of a solid block of stone. This is a massive wine that is textured, concentrated and muscular yet it remains precise, pure and balanced with a finale that seems to go on and on without end. One of the great wines of the vintage and one that will live for years. Don’t touch it for at least five years and it will easily improve for ten.

agavin: nice, but a touch of the meany greenies.

2006 Domaine d’Auvenay (Lalou Bize-Leroy) Puligny-Montrachet en la Richarde. VM 94. Pale yellow color. Rather austere but complex nose offers stone fruits, fenugreek and a peppery nuance. Intensely flavored and fine-grained, with wonderfully high-pitched flavors of citrus fruits, crystallized pineapple, white pepper, flowers and minerals. Classy, weightless wine with a very long, brisk, mineral-tinged finish. Much more austere than the Meursaults that preceded it.

agavin: really nice, super young too

We bought off the list! 1999 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Montrachet. VM 97. A big, rich, almost tannic wine, the 1999 Montrachet exudes raw power. Layers of deeply spiced stone fruits, almonds, smoke, chamomile and orange peel fill out the wine’s large, ample frame. This bold, structured Montrachet has enough depth to drink well for another 10-15 years. Although a wine of brawn more than finesse, the 1999 is super-impressive today. (Drink between 2015-2025)

again: it’s been forever since I had DRC Monty and this one was thin at first, but really opened up after a while.

From my cellar: 2009 Coche-Dury Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 96. The 2009 Meursault Genevrières is similar in style to the Rougeots, which is to say quite big and rich, but here I find endless layers of minerality that frame the huge, building finish. The purity of the fruit is truly dazzling.

agavin: amazing but so young and taught. Tons of sweet tarts.

The menu.

Awesome bread.

Zucchini Tart with Stuffed Squash Blossom and Summer Squash Sauce.

Barbequed Bristol Bay Diver Scallop with Forager Mushrooms, Apple Bacon and Summer Peaches.

Handcrafted Rabbit Bratwurst. Local Figs, Hazelnuts, Grilled Endive, and Saba Vinaigrette.

Roasted Golden Chanterelle Mushrooms, Brentwood corn, fava beans and sage tossed with housemade pappardelle pasta.

Signature Pizzetta of “La Quercia” smoked Prosciutto, black mission figs, caramelized onions and cambazola cheese.

Roasted Roulade of Rocky Free Range Chicken. English Peas, tender Parisian Gnocchi and Morel Mushrooms.

Grilled Sustainable Fish. Shrimp, Summer Squash Caponata and Charred Tomato Eggplant Purée.

Grilled “Maple Leaf Farms” Duck Breast. Summer Peach and White Radicchio Salad with Prosciutto and Almonds.

Roasted Double Lamb Chop with lemon oregano braised lamb shoulder ragu of snap peas and fingerling potatoes.

The dessert menu.

Valrhona Dolce Crunch covered in Dark Chocolate Ganache, caramelized bananas and honey sauce.

Celebration of Summer Blackberries with a delicate lemon posset.

Manjari Chocolate Decadent. Macadamia nuts, mango passion fruit sorbet.

Old Fashioned Pecan Crumble Cake. Really good cherries and Creme Fraiche Ice Cream.

Overall, I had low expectations for Napa Rose and it far surpassed them. The build out reminded me of the Disney cruise, but the service was really top notch, if resort-like (duh). The menu was “boring” but execution turned out to be quite good so most of the dishes — particularly the appetizers and desserts — were very tasty.

But really it was the wines that stood out. These were crazy good White Burgundies and really interesting. We are even planning on returning for a repeat event.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Disneyland, Foodie Club, Napa Rose, White Burgundy

NBC Seafood – Best Ever?

Oct22

Restaurant: NBC Seafood

Location: 404 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-2323

Date: August 26, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Really excellent

Tony Lau’s Cantonese dinners are some of the best Chinese dinners of the year. He always manages to get the best out of these old school Cantonese kitchens.

And check out this vintage 90s giant dining room at NBC!

We had the world’s largest single table private room. Quiet, cushy, and tons of space.

Sauces on the table.

As well as peanuts and candied walnuts.

I didn’t grab the photo of our King Crab when he was alive, but he was about 10 minutes before this photo and his return with glass noodles and lots of garlic.

Steamed king crab with glass noodles. Classic. Perfectly moist and garlicky. One of the best simple crab prep’s I’ve had. Really emphasized the delectable sweet meat. Tony likes to have the restaurants individual plate all the dishes and here is an example. Normally I don’t love this as it negates my ability for portion control. This time, the plates were large enough that it worked out well.

Scallops. Lightly fried in a brown sauce. This may be a Shandong dish in original. They were really good. Very soft and delicate.

Shrimp two (heavy) ways. Both mayo walnut shrimp and the heavy salty egg yolk fried shrimp. Both very moist and tasty, particularly the walnut one, but heavy!

Pepper fish. Delicious juicy fish with a nice medium black pepper bite.

Suckling pig. Excellent boneless rendition of this classic dish. Really nice with the bones and other stiff bits. Great crispy and piggy flavor.

Cashew Beef. Kind of a Chinese American dish, but very tasty filet mignon which was elevated by the crunch of the nuts.

Mushrooms and greens. Good for what it was. I don’t love this kind of mushroom.

Lotus wrapped sticky rice.

The contents were a kind of taro/red bean sticky rice. It had that weird sweet/starchy thing that isn’t to my taste. I’m sure it was good for this dish.

Roast pigeon. Excellent, crispy and meaty.

Mango pudding. I always love this.

Sweet cakes. These were kinda nice too.

A pair of gelati by me:

Peanut Butter Tagalong Gelato – Peanut Butter base with house-made chocolate caramel and Girlscout Tagalong Cookies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato

Not all my creations turn out as good as I hope — Watermelon Mint Sorbetto – watermelon sorbet with a hint of fresh mint — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato. Texture was too icy though.

Overall, this was a fabulous meal. Several people, the ones that seem to always prefer Cantonese, thought it was the “best ever” (Chinese). I certainly wouldn’t say that, but it was very very good and on the top end for SGV Cantonese banquet. As I said, Tony always gets the best out of every kitchen he takes us to. Many of the dishes were fabulous and the rest were just good. Now, I like a somewhat more varied, spicier, and more “Chinese” Chinese food style personally. You can see a lot of examples from China itself below in my Chinese dining guide.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more Chinese dining reviews click here.

Wines:

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, NBC Seafood, suckling pig, Tony Lau

Burg at Kagura

Oct19

Restaurant: Kagura

Location: 652 Cabrillo Ave, Torrance, CA 90501. (310) 787-0227

Date: August 24, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Really awesome place with many great hearty dishes

Foodie Club key member Fred is moving to Florida. Cry 🙁 So we’ve been doing a lot of dinners in preparation of his departure.

This was almost a baller white dinner which instead happened the following week, but instead was just Fred, Erick, and I having an awesome time in Torrance. Fred suggested this Japanese place specializing in Katsu (pork cutlet).

Cool wooden interior with semi-private rooms. All their waitresses are pretty young Japanese girls too — for what it’s worth for you single guys.

We don’t know which year of older Krug Rose Fred brought, but it was awesome. NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. BH 94. Medium rosé hue. A cool, restrained and highly complex nose that is not especially fruity displays a moderate yeast character along with slightly exotic aromas of mandarin orange and Asian tea, all wrapped in an enveloping array of beguiling rose petal scents. There is very good richness with a relatively firm supporting mousse that adds to the impression of richness to the superbly complex and highly textured flavors, indeed one could aptly describe this as more wine that Champagne. As such this is indeed a sumptuous Krug rosé that is difficult to resist already though it should reward extended keeping if desired. As I noted in the original 750 ml review, that while I am not always wowed by the Krug Rosé, this latest incarnation in magnum is strikingly good.

From my cellar: 2004 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 95. This is almost as backward as the Bienvenues though supremely elegant white flower and subtle spice aromas peek through the moderate reduction yet the piercingly mineral flavors display a beguiling sweetness on the crystalline and incredibly precise finish that seems to have no end. This will be a great wine in time as it’s clear that there is another dimension here compared to all of the previous wines.

Erick brought: 1999 Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet. BH 94. Almost always my favorite wine chez Leflaive and so it is again in ’99. Tight, reserved and impressively detailed nose of citrus and wet stones followed by vivid, palate staining flavors of limestone, pear and spicy oak. This has a curiously silky yet surprisingly powerful and muscular palate impression and a racy intensity that just oozes class topped off by a finish that goes on and on. Drop dead gorgeous and fans of this wine will not want to miss it. Tasted four times, consistent notes.

Fred also brought: 2007 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Bâtard-Montrachet. VM 96. Pale yellow. Very sexy aromas of orange blossom, oily peach, pineapple and smoky lees. At once thick and bracing, with outstanding concentration and layered texture. This huge wine shows strong vanillin oak and outstanding sucrosite that no doubt had a lot to do with the fact that it only finished fermenting its sugars in December of 2008. The parcel is in Chassagne-Montrachet, but at the border with Puligny. Incidentally, Colin sealed his 2007s with soft wax capsules in an attempt to give his bottles additional protection against oxidation.

Monkfish liver with caviar. Nice prep with the ponzu jelly and the caviar.

Dashimaki Tamago. Pan-fried egg with special fish broth and soy sauce. Really awesome fried tofu with a nice chewy texture and great flavor.

Asari Kama-meshi. Rice cooked and served in an individual sized pot with clam, kombu seaweed and with our special soy sauce flavor. Nice!

Kani Kama-meshi. Rice cooked and served in an individual sized pot with snow crab and with our special soy sauce flavor. Even better as it was lots of fresh crab! I’m a carb fiend, what can I say?

Double rice! (and we ordered more later).

Grilled pork. Very succulent and full of pork flavor.

Gobo snack. Fried burdock roots. Crunchy and addictive.

Uni pasta. So good we had to get the uni pasta AND the uni risotto (below). This had nice texture with the al dente noodles and the bits of nori. Light and creamy with that briny flavor.

Uni risotto. Even better with a super soft thick texture and tons of uni/cream goodness. Not so far off from a more briny “Risotto in Crema di Gamberi.”

Gindara Saikoyoyaki Gozen. Grilled black cod marinated in saikyo miso sauce. The classic popularized at Matsuhisa in the day. This was a nice flakey version.

Cha Soba. Cold green tea flavor soba noodle served with fish broth soy sauce soup. So good we got 2 orders — and this dinner was only 3 guys! Nice macha flavor plus the cold slippery noodles are delicious in the broth.

Noodle porn closeup.

Millefeuille Shiso Cheese Katsu Gozen. Deep fried multi-layered sliced black pork loin cutlet with shiso leaf and cheese.

Fred was a little skeptical about the cheese version but it was gooey and delicious. Really moist and rich.

Premium Loin Katsu Gozen. Deep fried premium black pork loin cutlet. A more solid version emphasizing the “pure” (except fried) pork meat. Delicious with the strong mustard.

Spicy pork noodles. Basically a Japanese dan dan mein with noodles, green onions, scallions, spicy pork, egg, and lots of garlic.

You stir up and it was a gorgeous and harmonious balance of goodness. Every bit as good as a really good dan dan, but a bit different and more Japanese. Decent amount of heat too.

Two flavors of gelato brought by me:

Coffee Toffee Bourbon Butterscotch – the base made with a homemade coffee toffe and Knob Creek bourbon and then striped with homemade butterscotch (which is insane) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato

Very Cherry – a super intense amarena cherry gelato topped with candied amarena cherries — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato

We had a lot and so shared with the staff.

Roasted brown tea.

I always enjoy solid Japanese restaurants, but I was fairly blown away by Kagura. Not only did they have a wide variety of flavorful (and slightly less typical) dishes, but everything was really well executed. Lots of carbs. Lots of fat. But scrumptious. And very good pairings with our superlative wines. These small Foodie Club events are some of the best. We will miss Fred while he sweats it on in Florida with only Cubano sandwiches to keep him company.

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

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Japanese cuisine, Kagura, pork, Rice, Torrance, Uni, White Burgundy

Back in the USA – Dha Rae Oak

Oct17

Restaurant: Dha Rae Oak

Location: 1108 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006. (323) 733-2474

Date: July 20, 2018

Cuisine: Korean BBQ / Duck

Rating: The pastrami duck was awesome, others so-so

Los Angeles’ Korea Town is a gold mine of interesting Korean restaurants.

And I’ve wanted to try Dha Rae Oak and its famed “stuffed duck” for years. And so even though I returned from China only 20 hours ago I head out to meet the guys.
A very unassuming frontage on Western.

The inside is a bit nicer, with the BBQ grills and hoods all over.

Banchan!

Kimchee.

Pickled onion.

Omelet.

Pickled mustard green or something.

Yarom’s hedonist meetup page actually drew in someone new and young and female. She’s unlikely to want to hang out with us old fat guys again despite our scintillating conversation!

Salad. Very zesty dressing and nice texture. Sadly, this might have been my second favorite dish.

Dips for the meat. Spicy oil and mustard.

Plate o’ meat ready for grilling. Most of this is beef. Most of this was very dry, seemed over cooked and bland on the grill. Nowhere near as good as the usually heavily marinated KBBQ.

Pork belly or bacon. This was one of the better regular grilled meats.

Frozen sliced duck. Decent, but a touch dry.

Grilling.

Grilled.

Big sheets of short rib. This was pretty decent too.

Purple bean rice.

Skewers (from some other table).

Pastrami duck. This was by a factor of 3X the dish of the night. Smoked pastrami/corn beef like duck.

That is then lightly grilled to sizzle up the fat. Really excellent and takes the cold smoked duck (which is also good) up to 11.

Famous clay pot stuffed duck. The inside is stuffed with all sorts of Korean grains and seasonings. But it isn’t that strong and the meat itself was a touch dry. It was nice, but nothing amazing.

Pickled vegetable noodle soup.

This was okay too, with a little bit of heat, but I’ve had much better noodle soups.

Overall, I was kinda disappointed in Dha Rae Oak. I had thought the stuffed duck would be amazing. Instead it was the smoked duck that was the real winner. And that would have been totally fine if the bulk of the other dishes had been tasty, but a lot of the meats were under-seasoned.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Wines for the evening:

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dha Rae Oak, duck, hedonists, KBBQ, Korea-town, Korean BBQ, Korean cuisine, stuffed duck, Wine

Return to Renu

Oct16

The Hedonists return to Renu Nakorn for even more Northern Thai goodness click for full details.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Renu Nakorn

Quick Eats – Maradentro

Oct15

Restaurant: Maradentro

Location: 1168 S. Barrington Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90049. (424) 273-1377

Date: July 20, 2018

Cuisine: Mexican (seafood focus)

Rating: Very similar to Mercado

My never-ending quest to try all the new restaurants brings us to…

Maradentro, which I only realized on arrival is owned by the same group as fellow Mexican Mercado.

The menu is short and basically similar to the Mercado menu, but with a slight seafood shift.

Passionfruit Margarita. Inexplicably blue. Tasted ok, but as usual for a drink of this sort, with all that packed ice very small.

CRABIQUESO. melted cotija, parmesan, oaxaca cheese, house chorizo, poblanos, mushrooms, lump crab, fresh chips.

GUACAMOLE. hass avocados, serranos, red onions, cilantro, spicy pepitas, fresh chips.

Both quite good. I liked the chunky avocado and its interesting textures, the smoked salsas, and particularly the cheesy queso. Pretty similar to the Mercado queso except crab instead of Chorizo! Although, I actually make a better chili con queso myself, but that’s no surprise (it is a good amount of work roasting the peppers and all).

Chips.

TACOS DE PESCADO. grilled white fish, Mexican slaw, avocado salsa, chile de arbol aioli.

Dos Gringas de Camaron. Chili morita marinated shrimp, oxaca cheese, pineapple, yxta salsa brava, avocado salsa, red onions, cilantro, flour tortillas, cilantro lime rice, market vegetables. Not bad. Bright flavors. Small, which was okay today because I had a big BBQ lunch.

Maradentro is basically Mercado. It’s sort of modern Mexican without any surprises, for a reasonably sophisticated crowd not ready to venture into LA’s more ethnic South of the Border spaces. I actually like the (bright) flavors here, but they have a certain workman-like quality.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brentwood, Maradentro, Margarita, Mexican, Seafood

Eating Shanghai – Jade Mansion

Oct12

Restaurant: Jade Mansion

Location: No.8 Century Ave, IFC, 4/F, Room L4-13, near YIncheng Zhong Lu / 世纪大道8号国金中心4楼L4-13，近银城中路

Date: August 11, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Solid slightly modern Chinese

After another great day trip to Hangzhou, famous capital of the Southern Song Dynasty…

With its glorious Westlake and…

famous Lingyin temple we return to Pudong for our final dinner in China. Sigh.

Back by the hotel is Jade Mansion, a medium/high-end chain with several different branch styles.

Including the horse wearing a lamp style.

And the horses galloping on plates.

Anyway, for only the second time on this trip I ordered some wine. NV Torrevilla Oltrepò Pavese La Genisia Cruasé. An inexpensive (by Chinese standards) and decent Italian pink sparkler.

Vegetable spring rolls.

Mushrooms, beansprouts, and tiny little shrimp. Interesting.

Foie gras cups. Like a passing appetizer at a cocktail party.

Shrimp jellies. Totally savory, and actually quite enjoyable for the jello-like texture.

Spongey fungus. The sneaky meat is back, little ham bits or something floating in this vegetable dish.

Salt and pepper shrimp. Shells on.

Boiled chicken with garlic. Like Hainan chicken. Soy dipping sauce. Very nice straight up chicken. Delicate, but with a LOT of garlic.

Sea cucumber and pork belly. Not as good as the cucumber at Shanghai Tang, but still good, with a similar rich Chinese Bordelaise sauce. The pork was incredible too.

Crispy beef with aromatic peppers. As usual, I enjoyed this dish.

Pork belly with fire-exploded kidneys. And cute pig buns! The pork belly and the rich (kidney?) sauce were great. Kidney was good for kidney. Not my favorite meat.

We ordered this cute little fellow. I felt so sad looking at him in the bucket.

Red rock fish. Nice fish, just lots of bones.

Don’t kill me! Too late 🙁

Greens.

Shanghai style vegetable noodles. Classic soy sauce stir fried noodles. Very nice.

Weird tea/bean sweet soup. Yep, these are never any good.

Fruit. Much better.

Overall, Jade Mansion was interesting. They feature a lot of high end ingredients with very contemporary plating and Chinese sensibility. For the most part I maybe prefer slightly more traditional, but this was very tasty and the service was great too.

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

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Champagne, China, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, IFC, Jade Mansion, pork, pudong, sea cucumber, Shanghai

Eating Shanghai – Xie Wang Fu

Oct10

Restaurant: Cheng Long Xing Xie WangFu

Location: Pudong

Date: August 10, 2018

Cuisine: Hairy Crab

Rating: Amazing crab

We spent a hot day but fun day in Suzhou.
A city often called the “Venice of China” before returning to Shanghai and Pudong.

Our friend in Shanghai again offered to take us out, this time for some of the famed Shanghai Hairy Crab from Yangcheng Lake.

This lead us into the huge side lobby of an even huger Pudong tower.

And up to Cheng Long Xing Xie WangFu and…

It grandiose gates.

And even grander interior surrounded by semi-private and private dining rooms.

This is actually INSIDE the restaurant!

They had traditional musicians performing as well.

We had our own private room with a view of the atrium.

When we first sat, they showed us some of the bundled up crabs. For those not in the know, during the 9th and 10th months of the lunar calendar, autumn to you and I, Shanghai’s culinary scene is all about hairy crab. Hailing (supposedly, if not fake), only from Yangcheng Lake the crab has been famous for 2000 years!

But before that, we began with some cold appetizers like this wood ear mushroom and pearl onions.

This peanuts and other mushrooms.

A section of shrimp, pork, peanuts, and pickled vegetables.

Vegetarian abalone. Some kind of mushroom, but it was really delicious.

Crunchy pickled carrot. Sweet and absolutely delicious.

Nut cake. A bit like a peanut brittle.

Bean curd.

The simple Shanghai shrimp are everywhere! You pour a bit of vinegar over them.

Spicy crispy beef. Delicious. I really loved this dish.

Now the crab dishes invade. First some sesame buns that you stuff…

To make hairy crab stuffed buns.

Here is the meat from the hairy crab, mixed with “crab brains” (which is really crab liver).

The staff showed us the whole steamed crabs after cooking.

More smoked sweet fish.

And the crab main event. Steamed Shanghai Hairy Crab. The guts proudly in the shell, the meat to the right, and the legs carefully prepared so that you can get every morsel out without any work. Love it when it’s easy!

A close up of the crab itself.

Steamed crab meat.

Super crab cake. The meat and some kind of breading in a shell. Scrumptious.

Crab XLB. Best Crab XLB I’ve every had. Crab and crab guts inside the delicate wrapper.

A bit of lemon juice (slightly sweet) to cleanse the taste.

Crab noodles.

With more crab guts.

For topping. This was some awesome umami crabby pasta.

And fried rice cakes.

Then sweet sesame balls. Like cute little eyeballs.

Special tea.

And a kind of wonton soup to close.

Overall, a unique meal I’ve never had before. Really fabulous crab and like a fancy Chinese version of one of the crab shacks from my youth.

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

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, crab, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Hairy Crab, Shanghai, Xie Wang Fu

Eating Shanghai – Xinrongji

Oct08

Restaurant: Xinrongji

Location: Location near the Bund

Date: August 9, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Excellent High end Chinese

Our Shanghai friend really spoiled us today, first with a lunch at Shanghai Tang and then heading (after lots of stops) to…

The Shanghai Bund with its classic older European buildings.

And it’s new hypermodern skyline across the river in Pudong.

Then upstairs to Xingrongji for a second epic meal of the day.

t
The space is extensive and beautiful.

With all sorts of cooking stations including a roast duck oven.

Fish station.

Open kitchen, etc.

Our table had a gorgeous view of Pudong and the Shanghai Tower (second tallest building in the world).

I ordered the only “real” bottle of wine we had on the trip. Price wasn’t bad either considering the setting.

NV Pierre Péters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve. VM 92. The Cuvée de Réserve (2013 base) is rich to the point of being almost tropical in profile. Then again, that is 2013, a vintage that produced wines with both elevated ripeness and acidity, especially in the Côte des Blancs. Sweet floral notes add to an impression of exoticism. The 2013 finishes with notable depth and definition.

Honey pumpkin. Again, for the second time today. This version was more pumpkin focused.

Foie gras with fruit sauce. Second time for this too today. Not quite as good as the Shanghai Tang version as the foie itself was drier.

Roast Pigeon. Excellent rendition of this classic Cantonese dish. Rich gamey bird and perfectly crispy skin.

Roast Pork. Amazing super fatty succulent pork. Like pig candy. Just awesome.

Fish and charcoal tofu boiled in chili oil. This Szechuan dish was not nearly as spicy as in Chengdu, although it did have some Szechuan peppercorns piled in. Fish and “tofu pudding” is very common in this dish, but the charcoal tofu was unique and had a very smoky quality.

Braised beef. Another meaty rich meat dish but extremely tender and delicious.

Kung Pao Chicken. The classic.

Mapo Tofu. I always love this dish, although again it wasn’t as spicy or numbing as in Szechuan.

Peking Roast Duck. Our last duck of the trip. Cry.

The slice it table-side as they should.

Served with pancakes.

Here is the meat itself. This was a very good roast duck. Not quite as good as in Beijing, but better than we get here in California by a touch.

The condiments were extensive.

Duck soup, which I never love.

Glass noodles.

Meat pies. Pork and scallion quesadilla sans cheese.

Rolled rice and red bean rolls for dessert.

Our table.

Overall, Xinrongji was another amazing high-end Shanghai restaurant. The kitchen didn’t feel quite as perfect at execution as Shanghai Tang, but the menu was larger, offering dishes from a broad area of China, and everything we had was very good. Service was top notch and the atmosphere was fabulous.

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

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bund, Champagne, China, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Peking Duck, Shanghai, Xinrongji

Eating Shanghai – Shanghai Tang

Oct05

Restaurant: Shanghai Tang

Location: 373 Huangpi S Rd, XinTianDi, Huangpu Qu, Shanghai Shi, China, 200000. +86 21 6377 3333

Date: August 9, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Really fabulous and complex flavors

In Shanghai we met up with a friend who lives in the city and she took us around to all sorts of fabulous places — really showing us the best of the best in the city.

This included the trendy XinTianDi area and a stunning lunch at:

Shanghai Tang.

Which, while we didn’t drink at lunch has a huge cellar of first growth Bordeaux and other trophy wines.

And an elaborate build out, here showing the main room.

And the snazzy corridor to our…

private room.

Drunken shrimp. Fortunately for the kids, we didn’t have to drown or kill them ourselves, this happened out of view. These extremely fresh, pretty much raw shrimp have a touch of alcohol flavor from their “drowning.”

Bean curd with vegetables. Very delicate dish with thin bean curd.

Honey pumpkin. Shanghai cuisine is sweet for Chinese, and this pumpkin was crispy but covered in a light syrup. Delicious actually.

Foie gras with rice crackers.

They cut the foie cubes and put them on the toasts for us. The liver was covered in a red wine reduction jelly and was really quite superlative.

Salad. The rarest of Chinese creatures: the salad!

Shanghai style smoked fish. This kind of almost candied smoked fish is a delicious staple of Shanghai cuisine and this version was the best I’ve ever had. The texture was both crispy and sticky and the flavor complex, sweet, and smoky.

Sea cucumber noodle soup. Sea cucumber is a weird textured (and expensive creature) and really doesn’t have a lot of taste by itself but this dish was amazing.

You add the noodles, like a Tsukemen ramen. The cucumber itself was incredibly soft and tender and the broth was insanely delicious.

Steamed shrimp with vinegar. A simple dish and one of the weaker ones, partially because the small tails were annoying.

Grandmother style braised pork belly and egg. To die for cubes of succulent pork skin, fat, and meat perfectly braised in a very Shanghai-style sweet soy reduction.

Shanghai beef ribs. Another of these reduced sugar-soy dishes, but super tender meat.

Conch soup. In a light and flavorful broth.

Scallops and vegetables.

Shrimp noodles. It’s very Shanghai style to pan fry noodles with soy sauce like this.

Bean cakes. Lovely presentation and texture.

Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. This is the classic Shanghai pan fried “thick” bun. These were some of the best versions of this I’ve had.

Shanghai Tang was at another level. The decor was amazing, the service refined, the plating elegant, and the food delivered on (mostly) Shanghai classics with a level of depth and sophistication I hadn’t experienced before. Bravo!

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

By: agavin
Comments (5)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, Chinese cuisine, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Shanghai, Shanghai Tang

Eating Shanghai – Paradise Dynasty

Oct03

Restaurant: Paradise Dynasty

Location: 3/F, 8 Shiji Dadao, near Lujiazui Huan Lu 世纪大道8号3楼, 近陆家嘴环路

Date: August 8, 2018

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great XLB, everything else is just ok

We got in late to Shanghai and so we just popped over from our hotel into the IFC mall…

Which is like a giant high end Beverly Center, in search of dumplings!

Fortunately for us, the mall’s many restaurants include Paradise Dynasty, which is like Din Tai Fung’s more colorful cousin.

See what I mean?

Big contemporary space.

And a glassed in kitchen.

Salad rolls. Yeah, some kind of spinach-like green rolled up — you dip it in the sesame dressing!

Plain noodles for Mr. Picky.

Steamed baby shrimp. The Shanghai classic, a bit bland.

Vinegar, ginger, and chili sauce for the dumplings.

Paradise special mixed flavor Xao Lao Bao (XLB). These were fabulous with very thin skins and eight different flavors.
You can see these listed below. My favorites were original, garlic, crab roe and Szechuan.

Steamed garlic greens.

Pork noodles. A lot like ramen.

Vegetable potstickers. Not the most exiting.

Steamed vegetable buns. Breadier versions.

Crispy vegetable spring rolls. Quite light and crispy. Delicious.

Pan fried Shanghai pork soup dumplings. Heavier than the XLB. Still delicious, but I prefer the light-weight classic XLB.

Wontons in chili sauce. Not particularly hot but delicious.

Pork pot stickers. Just fine. Not nearly as good as the XLB.

Crispy fried red bean pancakes.

Deep fried buns. Just Chinese buns, fried.

Mysterious light Asian fruity jelly. Loved it. I always like this stuff. Might have been like hyacinth and lychee.

Sesame mochi balls in syrup. A lot of the kids (and many of the adults) love this dessert.

Rolled mochi dough with red beans and peanut dust.

Overall, the XLB here at Paradise Dynasty were really good. I enjoyed the different flavors and the light wrappers were great. The other items, also pretty similar to Din Tai Fung were just fine.

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

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, dumplings, Eating China, Eating Shanghai, Paradise Dynasty, Shanghai, XLB

Eating Yangshuo – Amys on the Li

Oct01

Restaurant: Amys on the Li

Location: 1 Shuangtan Village, Guilin, Guangxi, China, 541900

Date: August 7 & 8, 2018

Cuisine: Mostly Chinese

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

Our stay in the Guilin area took us down the Li River to Yangshuo and the…

Li River Resort.

Which has this terrible view.

It’s restaurant is Amys on the Li and we had dinner and breakfast there. The owner is Australian and it hybridizes east and west.

Western style interior.

The menu.

Some Belgian beer that was too bitter to pair well.

A Mango Milkshake that was “meh” because of the wierd Chinese ultra pasteurized milk.

Simple pasta for my son.

A veggie burger and fries!

Veggie spring rolls.

Now here’s something real, snails stuffed with pork! Not bad, although there wasn’t much snail under the ground pig.

Beerfish again. Less spicy this time.

Sautéed vegetables.

Tofu stuffed with pork. I liked these.

Yangchow Fried Rice. Basically with the works.

Mushrooms and peppers.