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Archive for August 2024

Emperor Yamamoto

Aug30

Restaurant: 鮨やまもと / Sushi Yamamoto

Location: N Rodeo Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

Date: December 14, 2023

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: One of the best meals of the year

_

And so we come to the Foodie Club’s epic End of Year Blowout!
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At one of LA’s most elite sushi spots, up stairs on Rodeo in the old Ginza Sushiko spot.
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The sushi bar
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Our special menu.
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Ginger. I had about 10 of these.
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Kichiji-rock fish in dashi. Mild and delicious. Super soft and tender.
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Astrea caviar of course.
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Kyoto fresh bean curd with caviar. Very grassy soy flavor. Texture like very fresh burrata.
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Kinmedai-goldeneye snapper sashimi. The peppery yuzu-kosho was awesome.
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Tri of tunas.
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Taka’s chu-toro.
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Taka’s o-otoro.
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Taka’s maguro in a tiny handroll.
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Benny’s shrimp.
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Buri (wild yellow tail).
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Saba (mackerel).
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Hokkigai (surf clam)

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Sekogani (female snow crab) with crab sauce. Super succulent with that deep crab flavor and lots of roe. The soft silky sauce really took it up a level too.
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Hokkaido uni (sea urchin).
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Astrea Caviar Toro roll.
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House-made buckwheat soba noodles.
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Shrimp soba (hot). Perfect soba with that awesome slightly soggy perfect tempura shrimp.
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Cold soba with caviar. Also great, but I preferred the hot.
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Unagi (fresh water eel). Super soft.
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Tamago (sweet egg).
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A tro of birthday cakes!

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Satsuma Tangerine Ice Cream. Very mild.
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A tro of Sweet Milk Gelato (Choco-mole, Orange Old Fashioned, and Bakewell Tart).
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Basque Cheesecake with Caviar and Stawberry Cake.
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Tea.
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Uh. Wow! Pretty incredible evening, although I got home at 1am!
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For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Lucky Noodle King is the Dan Dan Emperor
  2. Let’s Go Again
  3. Sushi Sushi = Yummy Yummy
  4. Coche In at Brothers Santa Monica
  5. The Valley’s Secret Sushi|Bar
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, BYOG, Caviar, crab, Eve, Foodie Club, Fu, Gelato, Japanese Sushi, Sushi, Wine, Yamamoto

Shin Sushi

Aug28

Restaurant: Shin Sushi

Location: 16573 Ventura Blvd, Encino, CA 91436. (818) 616-4148

Date: December 6, 2023

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Very solid high end sushi

_

I’ve been wanting to try Shin for some time.
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Here is our extremely enthusiastic host!
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Appetizer plate of river crab, seasonal mushrooms, house-made tofu, monkfish liver, conche etc.
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Little snapper and adult snapper of the same fish breed.
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Black snapper.
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Hokkaido scallop with yuzu.
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Blue fin tuna from Spain with 100 year soy sauce.
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Torched Japanese Ocean Trout — one of my favorites.
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Menagi baby chive sushi. really great actually.
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Fish bone miso. Very rich and lovely.
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Japanese sardine with Salt and vinegar.
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Japanese seasonal whitefish in the snapper family (he likes snapper!)
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Santa Barbara sweet shrimp.
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Buri (yellowtail).
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Otoro slightly seared with binchochan charcoal.
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Hokkaido uni.
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Tamago.
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Ice cream with sweet sauce.
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Coffee jelly and cream.
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Got crabs? This was a really fun dinner with lots of great champ and whites (particularly my Lafon). The chef is very nice and extremely enthusiastic. He’s definately a highly skilled sushi chef and the food reflected that. My only issue is that the rice was very lightly vinegared and I like an assertive vinegar on my sushi rice as I’m an acid fiend.
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For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  2. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  3. Shin Beijing Again
  4. Sushi Zo
  5. Mori Sushi – A Top Contender
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: hedonists, Japanese cuisine, SFV, shin sushi

Culina Krug

Aug26

Restaurant: Culina Modern Italian [1, 2, 3]

Location: 300 S Doheny Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90048. 310) 860-4000

Date: December 4, 2023

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Way downhill

_

Hotel restaurants are always rebooting themselves, and so it goes with the 4 Seasons Beverly Hills. I ate here twice in 2017 and had very good meals, so I was reasonably optimistic coming into this Krug dinner.
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Sebastian and David Chhay put together this really fun night of awesome wines at Culina in the Beverly Hills 4 Seasons.
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We had this private nook.
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The special menu. It paired, but it wasn’t exactly large.
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Caspian Queen Caviar. We all thought this was an amuse — but it turned out to be a course!
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Yellow Tail Crudo. Tasty enough — if typical — but not exactly filling.
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Charred Beausoleil Oyster. The theme continues. These had a nice bacony taste, but two small oysters is like 3g of food.
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Chilean Seabass. And finally a larger course comes and it’s a dry and basically bland hunk of slightly over-cooked fish.
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There was so little food that Seb ordered some focciacia!
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Prime Brandt NY. Just fine. Nothing special.
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This wasn’t another course, it was just the pescatarian option for someone who didn’t want beef.
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Vanilla Gelato, Truffle Honey, Persimmon, Pizelle. Texture was a bit grainy.
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The wines were incredible and the evening super fun — but the food was very light and not particularly exciting. Culina had much better food years ago under Mirko.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Crafty Culina
  2. Culina with Friends
  3. Krug at Il Grano
  4. Krug Providence
  5. Krug at Spago
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Culina, Italian cuisine, Krug

An Array of Goodness

Aug24

Restaurant: Array36 – 36宴

Location: 5449 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91776. (626) 866-0623

Date: December 2, 2023 and May 5 & July 21, 2024

Cuisine: Shanghai Chinese

Rating: Great new “high end” Chinese

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I was eager to find out about Array 36, another new “high end” Chinese resteraunt in the SGV — most similar to Orange County’s Chang’an.
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We booked a private room for 14 and pre-ordered a number of dishes. I did the menu planning.
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The service was very nice, although they did make us wait about 30 minutes while the previous occupants of our room finished up.
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Pressed Japanese yuzu-infused jellyfish head. Very tasty with nice texture. Of course the jellyfish itself has next to no flavor, but the slightly sweet sauce was great.
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roasted chili sauce century egg with avocado. Very nice, if unconventional, century egg dish. I do love century egg.


Century Egg with Sea Cucumber. Very interesting blend of the soft and bitey and the chewy textures. A bit of kick and tons of umami. Really quite good. They changed this up as it used to have avocado. This was arguably better.

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sichuan style spicy and numbing chicken. A very solid version of this with one of those addictive spicy sauces. Chicken itself was nice and juicy.
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36 feast smoked pine pork. These tiny morsels tasted like Shanghai smoked fish, just pork.


Pork Neck with Japanese Yam. Kind of like spam with pineapple!
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Bovon brought another tin of caviar!
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hand-made crab golden noodles. I love crab roe and I love noodles so I had to try these.
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They were actually very pleasant but a little bland — nothing a huge dollop of caviar didn’t fix!
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House special shrimp. They were out of scallops so we got these sweet crispy shrimp.
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I “fish egged” mine up but it was very nice. Extremly crispy and mildly sweet.
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Shanghai crab stewed with its roe and tofu in a clay pot. I love this dish and it didn’t dissapoint. Super soft. I ate a mess. With caviar too.
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Typhoon style lobster. The lobster itself was very well cooked. The garlic had a bit too much bread crumbs in it, but was still delicious.


6lb lobster with ginger and scallions. Excellent version of the wet lobster prep.
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Buddha Jumps Over the Wall Soup. Several people insisted on this dish and it was incredible! This was the abalone version and was full of so many weird seafoods cooked down into a super intense seafood demiglace. It had incredible silky texture and density. Marvelous.



The version in 2024 was like a consommé. It had all the chewy seafood bits, but not the unctuous thick demiglace texture that it had in Dec 2023.
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Braised cold abalone. Chewy!
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Shanghai smoked fish. Very nice crispy version of the fish.


Grouper steamed with soy sauce and ginger. Very nice fish. Lots of bones. Great sauce flavor. Some people LOVE this dish. I like the flavor, but the bone factor always leaves me a bit disintered in engaging with it fully.


Pickled chilis and spicy bean sauce.
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Shanghainese sautéed eel. I really loved these garlicky sweet rich eels.
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northeastern-style marinated beef. Very tender and a bit sweet.
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Grandmother’s pork belly. Extremely fatty and juicy. Great version of this Shanghai dish.


Super rich Shanghai Pork with Quail Eggs. Great version of this very fatty dish.
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Finally, about an hour late, our Peking duck arrived. They do it like Chang’an.
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Lighting it on fire with Baiju.
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Then carved tableside.
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Just the skin. It was good, but not quite as crispy as it should have been.
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Meat itself was delicious and juicy.
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Some of the meat was smoked.
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This added more (smoky) flavor, of course.
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Super thin pancakes, but they had a little clumping issue.


Oodles of caviar for the duck.
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The condiments were solid. But overall the Peking Duck was a bit of a disappointment. It was good in the way that any real Peking duck is, but the skin could have been crispier. Part of the problem was also that both ducks came WAY at the end of the meal. We didn’t want them instantly at the start, but I had asked for them at 8pm and they came at more like 9:20 — and we were very full.

The May 2024 version of the duck was excellent, first rate really. Moist with crispy skin.
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hand pulled cabbage. Delicious dish as always.


Seared string beans. Very nice sear and good flavor.

Garlic greens. Very well done, but a little on the “boring” side. Always good to have some greens but I like the cabbage.

Stone pot fried rice.
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yangzhou egg fried rice. Very nice fried rice.
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shanghai shepherd’s purse and pork dumplings. These XLB were super juicy, delicious, and had some kind of seafood, maybe even more crab roe.


Spicy XLB. Shells were ok and these were juicy, but they had quite a better — numbing and white — kick. I kind of liked them but many didn’t.
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shanghai pan-fried buns. They looked a bit soggy but the pork was great.


The pan fried pork dumplings were better in May 2024, this time with a great pork filling.
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Duck #2. We asked for it crispier. They flammed it longer, but it just ended up tasting a bit more “burnt.”
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We also asked for the bones and got tons of meaty bones.
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Baked papaya dessert. Sweet and kind of tasteless.
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Variant on — Sultan’s Delight — Iranian Saffron and Sicilian Pistachio Base, with Rose-Water Turkish Delight — Saffron from the Istanbul Spice Bazaar — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #saffron #pistachio #TurkishDelight #Türkiye
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Baileys Irish Gream Gelato — Stabilized 13% Bailys Irish Cream recipe, with a touch of seasonal coloring! — I have trouble resisting these once a year flavors — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #expresso #whiskey #baileys #StPatricksDay #cream #green


St Agur, Fig, Walnut Gelato.

Awesome Armenian pistachio cake.
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Dec 2024: This was an awesome meal. Array 36 is one of the best Chinese “fancy” places I’ve been to in California. It’s not quite as polished as Chang’an, but it does have a varried menu. The general style leans toward the Shanghai region, although they have some other dishes. Chang’an is a little Xi’an inflenced and has a few more spicy dishes. Many dishes here were excellent, but fell slightly short of Shanghai Tang level execution. But there were lots of interesting and delicious dishes.
May 2024: Really great night. First rate in every way. The food at Array has stepped up, particularly the duck. The Buddha soup went from best to one of the worst dishes but everything else really improved. Service was great and the room cosy but prefect. They did rush the food a bit. Not that the overall length of the meal was too fast, but too many things came at once in a number of waves. But it’s really hard not to have that happen at Chinese unless you also want to gamble that you won’t have long waits. And we had A LOT of food. Jeff really helped set things up nicely. I would have ordered a couple more interesting things and left off the regular greens, shrimp, and the fish. But others LOVED the fish so they were crowd pleasers. Overall, a totally banger night.

July 2024: Another great night. Private room again and a slightly smaller (in terms of food) dinner with very successful but tighter ordering. Again the duck was fabulous. They also finally had the awesome river shrimp in stock. Even the pig’s ear was great.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Molten Lava Goodness
  2. NC Peking Duck – Double Duck part 2
  3. Jiang Nan Spring
  4. Big at Bistro Na
  5. Shanghai #1 2022
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Array 36, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Foodie Club, Gelato, SGV

Harlan part 2

Aug22

Restaurant: Cut [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 9500 Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. (310) 276-8500

Date: November 28, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Steakhouse

Rating: Amazing special meal

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Michael Palmer arranged this incredible Harlan tasting dinner in two parts. Not only did he procure the wines, but he organized with Piero Selvaggio our total takeover of the Cut lounge and a custom menu.
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Classic Spago Tuna cones with that crispy/sweet shell.
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Wagyu beef rolls.
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Uni yuzu toast. The ingredients were great but I didn’t think the yuzu worked well with the rich uni.
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For the second night (odd vintages) of our 2 part Harlan tasting we returned to Cut. This time they put us in the private room instead of the bar. Nice and quiet, but very bright and didn’t have quite the ambiance.
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Tonight’s menu was again a completely custom awesome menu by the very talented team at Cut.
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Comte Cheese Custard. Dungeness crab, red wine shallot chutney, black truffle.
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With the truffles. This was an awesome dish, rich, creamy, with a hint of red wine sweetness and surprisingly, for a crab dish, and excellent pairing with the big cabs.
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The Spago bread selection
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Red Wine Poached Maine Lobster. Japanese potato, bacon lardons, beurre rouge. Again you wouldn’t think that lobster went with big cab, but between the bacon flavor and the rich red wine butter sauce it totally did.
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Wolfgang just straight up joined us for the dinner.
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Cauliflower Mushroom Risotto. 36 month aged parmigiano reggiano, red wine essence. An absolutely first class risotto, very creamy and cheesy, with a perfect mancurata.
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Roasted Loan of Venison. Sautéed Brussel sprouts, red wine poached pears, cipollini onion jus. First of two red meats!
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Australian Wagyu New York. Cream of sunchoke, ricotta gnocchi, whole grain mustard jus. This one was even better.
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He brought out this incredible Italian cheese.
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Briacacio Cheese. Grilled fruit & nut bread, cream of shallot, market blackberry jam. Really just an awesome blu cheese. Like a super gorgonzola.
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My son’s favorite — Quad Chocolate Cloud Gelato – The base is made this time with Valrhona 70% Guanaja Chocolate and then layered with Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Ganache, Nestle Buncha Crunch, and chopped Oreos! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #oreos #ganache #icing #nestle #crunch
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This was another incredible meal. Everything was perfect. Wines were interesting and the food was amazing. Company was the best of all. Thank you Michael and Pierro for organizing!

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The chef and team.

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The gang.
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Puck is very full.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Harlan part 1
  2. Harlan at BOA
  3. Sauvages – LQ goes Italian
  4. Tata’s Two
  5. Chengdu Impression
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BYOG, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cut, Gelato, harlan, Piero Selvaggio, Wine, Wolfgang Puck

Eating D.C. – L’Avant-Garde

Aug19

Restaurant: L’Avant-Garde

Location: 2915 M St NW, Washington, DC 20007. (202) 652-1855

Date: November 24, 2023

Cuisine: French

Rating: Great food and great service

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My friend Dave brought us to this excellent French restaurant.
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L’menu.
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An amuse of pepper mouse. Very creamy.
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Bread and butter.
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Bouillabaisse soup with macaroni & Marseille. rouille topped with puff pastry. I’ve never seen it in a puff pastry before!
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The guts.
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Scrambled egg topped with Pétrossian. Caviar “Tsar Impérial”.
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Burrata di bufala, grapes, cherry tomatoes, with sherry and pomegranate molasses dressing.
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Duck foie gras caramelized beignet with Port wine reduction. Foie donut anyone?
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That’ll beat out the chocolate cream filled!
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Duck foie gras over black truffle celery root rouille topped with puff pastry remoulade served with grilled brioche.
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frisée salad to offset the foie.
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French turbot fillet with citrus broth. baby vegetables.
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Beef Matelote with wine, Taggiasche. black truffle coulis olives, Pecorino fregola pasta.
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Pecorino fregola pasta.
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Farmer Amish rabbit persillade, with all the baby vegetables vegetables wrapped in Dijon mustard, tender pork belly.

Pretty amazing meal with not only great food but super friendly, top service. Great fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Hanoi – Green Tangerine
  2. Eating Paris – Bistro V
  3. Eating Rosh Pina – Shiri Bistro
  4. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  5. Eating Senigallia – Uliassi
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: French Cuisine, L'Avant-Garde, ThanksGavin, Washington D.C

Eating Virginia – Ruthie’s All-Day

Aug17

Restaurant: Ruthie’s All-Day

Location: 3411 5th St S, Arlington, VA 22204. (703) 888-2841

Date: November 24, 2023

Cuisine: American

Rating: Rich but tasty

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My parents love this place too — but it is really good.
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Busy on the morning after Thanksgiving.
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The menu.
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Pretty darn excellent cap too.
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Marsh Hen Grits + Pulled Pork Bowl. Smoked pork, grilled peppers, pickled fresnons, topped with a fried egg.
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Salad.
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Buttermilk pancakes.
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Three-egg omelette. Smoked ham, tomato, spinach, cheddar.
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Brisket Bennie. Black pepper hollandaise, pickled red onions, arugula, biscuits. OMG, this was actually pretty great — if heart stopping. Some seriously juicy brisket too.
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Another view.
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Ruthie’s wasn’t fancy, but dang that brisket bennie was good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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  5. Eating Hoi An – Riverside
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Brisket, Eggs Benedict, Ruthie's All-Day

ThanksGavin 2023

Aug15

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The 2023 Thanksgiving spread. More limited and fewer people.
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A bracing raddicio salad.
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Wild rice.
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The infamous spicy cranberry chutney.
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My mom’s lighter take on green bean casserole.
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Our BBQ turkey. Pretty much as excellent as always. Nice and smokey.
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Sliced

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Bits.
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Stuffing.
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I made the gravy. A bit livery and at first it was too thin.
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And as there was no corn starch in the house I had to make a traditional roux.
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That did the job right quick.
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The 2023 ThanksGavin plate.
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The 2023 ThanksGavin plate.
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The oven broke so no pies 🙁 Just some Haggen Daas.
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and fruit.

Related posts:

  1. ThanksGavin 2022 – The Feast Itself
  2. ThanksGavin 2014
  3. ThanksGavin 2021 – The Feast Itself
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  5. ThanksGavin 2016
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: ThanksGavin, thanksgiving, turkey, Wine

Eating Tysons – Silver Diner

Aug15

Restaurant: Silver Diner

Location: 8101 Fletcher St, McLean, VA 22102. (703) 821-5666

Date: November 23, 2023

Cuisine: American

Rating: Great diner food

_

This is some simple stuff:
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But they actually do a good job.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Tysons – Patsy’s
  2. Eating McLean – Pulcinella
  3. Eating Maryland – Tidewater Grille
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: McLean Va, Silver Diner, ThanksGavin, Tyson's Corner

Eating Tysons – Patsy’s

Aug09

Restaurant: Patsy’s American

Location: 8051 Leesburg Pike, Vienna, VA 22182. (703) 552-5100

Date: November 22, 2023

Cuisine: American (duh)

Rating: Solid

_

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My parents (or maybe my Dad) are a bit obsessed with this small Virginia chain. It’s like the more modern, more commercial variant of all the small American restaurants we used to eat at in the 1970s — but stripped of the soul.
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Actually this interior space was once a Chesapeake Bay Seafood House, a place that served AYCE seafood and that was popular with my friends and I during High School.
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Ozzie Rolls. Like donuts, but about half as sweet. Sugared butter.
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Seafood Platter. 6 oysters, 6 midneck clams, 3 jumbo shrimp, smoked mussels & blood orange mignonette.
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Shrimp Cocktail. 6 jumbo shrimp, fresh lemon & cocktail sauce.
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Field Greens. grape tomatoes, sun dried cranberries, dates, pine nuts, garlic croutons & champagne vinaigrette…blue cheese or Laura Chenel goat cheese.
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Crab & Corn Chowder.
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Short Smoked Salmon Filet. marinated and smoked, then hickory grilled with fresh asparagus, mashed potatoes & creole mustard sauce.
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BBQ Baby Back Ribs with fresh, hand cut fries & traditional cole slaw.
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Warm White Chocolate Bread Pudding. bourbon custard sauce, vanilla ice cream & caramel.
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It’s not bad, but it’s so “white bread.”

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  5. Eating Tel Aviv – Manta Ray
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: American Cuisine, McLean Va, Patsys, Seafood, ThanksGavin, Wine

Eating McLean – Pulcinella

Aug06

Restaurant: Pulcinella Italian Kitchen

Location: 1310 Chain Bridge Rd, McLean, VA 22101.

Date: November 21, 2023

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Casual Italian Cafe

_

My parents love this extremely casual Italian eatery near their house. VERY casual and VERY Italian-American for my style.

A weird thing that happens when people get older, even aging foodies, is that their food taste “reverts.”

They have no license, so it’s BYOB.

Bread.

Burrata salad. Not bad actually.

Beet salad.

Fried Calamari. They “cut” the squid with zucchini (probably for cost reason).


Meatballs. A bit bland. Lots of filler. Big though.

Basic pasta.

Eggplant Parm.

Pounded chicken with peppers.

Chicken Piccata.

Veal Marsala. Did taste of marsala. Kinda tasty, but a bit sweet. Classic supermarket mushrooms.

Branzino.

Spaghetti comes with everything.

Tiramisu was ok.

And very AL DENTE green beans.

Overall, it was good for what it was. But just not really “up to my standards.” Portions were large and service was very friendly.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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  3. Eating Florence – La Cantinetta Antinori
  4. Eating Beijing – 3.3 Noodles
  5. Georgian Bakery and Cafe
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: italian, McLean Va, Pulcinella, ThanksGavin

Drive for AnQi Bistro

Aug04

Restaurant: AnQi Bistro

Location: 3333 Bristol St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626. (714) 557-5679

Date: November 19, 2023

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Really great, but really far

_

Because we are good friends with the An family we hauled down all the way to South Coast Plaza for a special meal at their OC bastion, AnQi.
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Located in the South Coast Plaza mall by the Bloomingdales and the Paradise Dynasty.
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AnQi.
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We had this gorgeous private room.
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Welcome cocktail of Grapefruit Martini.
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With a Grapefruit bubble!
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Tonight’s special menu.
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Passing Amuse of Pork and Beef Meatball with a bit of fish sauce.
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And Mini Tuna Tacos.
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Our host tonight!
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Amuse Bouche. Asian Shrimp Ceviche. Mint, kaffir lime leaves, sesame rice cracker.
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Intro. Kaluga caviar, salt cream, fresh baked Japanese cheesecake. Really lovely soft fluffy mild sweet cheesecake with that bit of caviar. Quite nice.
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Aburi Blue Fin Toro Tasting. Akami, Chutoro, Otoro. Torched. I should have just had them not torch mine. They were cute and I could tell the fish was excellent but…
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The cooking made them all taste the same.
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Anqi Signature Dim Sum Flight. Shrimp & lobster, filet mignon, chives. I loved the two outer ones. The seafood one in the center was a touch too sweet (it was in the sauce).
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Special Foie Gras Nigiri.
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Famous Garlic Chicken Wings. Thai chili, ginger, thai basil. These were plump, so juicy, so sweat and tangy. Really great.
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An’s Famous Roasted Crab & An’s Famous Garlic Noodles. Roasted garlic and An’s Secret Sauce. This shell-less version is fabulous.
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Had to get some extra garlic noodles.
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Lemon Truffle Snapper En Papillote. Cooked en papillote, shiitake mushroom, leeks, kaffir lime, mint scallion sauce. Super moist and tender white fish.
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Inside.
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Anqi Ultimate Wagyu Tasting. Japanese kagawa A5 olive fed ribeye (right), Japense miyazaki A5 NY (left), and Australian sher wagyu NY (center). The miyazaki was the best by far — but all great!
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Hot salt rock to cook stuff on.
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Like these too-die-for garlic mashed potatoes.
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Chinese-style greens.
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Chef Dessert Plater — pretty over the top!
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Hojicha Latte NSA Gelato – Ceremonial Hojicha Roasted Green Tea base with No Sugar Added (Allulose) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #matcha #Hojicha #GreenTea #Allulose #NSA
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Some really awesome food and a great night. They treated us like pharohs. Long drive though!
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For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

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By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: An Family, Anqi, BYOG, Crustacean, French Vietnamese, Gelato, hedonists, Wine

Tin Time – Saltie Girl

Aug01

Restaurant: Saltie Girl

Location: 8615 Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (310) 734-7296

Date: November 9, 2023

Cuisine: Seafood

Rating: Quite different with all that conserva

_

This was a Erick and I duo foodie night.
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Salty Girl in West Hollywood offers a cozy yet vibrant dining experience, merging a relaxed atmosphere with sophisticated seafood dishes. This eatery stands out with its emphasis on fresh, high-quality ingredients, showcasing a range of oceanic delights from rich, buttery lobster rolls to expertly shucked oysters. The menu, thoughtfully curated, features inventive yet comforting options like clam chowder fries and tuna crudo. The interior’s rustic charm, accented by nautical decor, complements the laid-back but polished service, making it an ideal spot for both casual dinners and special occasions. Salty Girl’s commitment to flavor and freshness leaves a memorable impression, ensuring it’s a must-visit for seafood enthusiasts.
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The menu.
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The have a whole book of conserva.
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Chilled Florida Stone Crab Claws. Tasty, but expensive at $42 a claw and hard to get out of those thick shells.
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TORCHED SALMON BELLY. avocado / apple / cucumber / miso glaze. Very rich and satisfying with a subjective sweetness.
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WARM SPICY KING CRAB ROLL. avocado / soy paper / ponzu. Mild and pleasant.
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SANTA BARBARA UNI TOAST. tomato jam / mangalica ham / quail egg. Good mix of briny and salty flavors.
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CHARRED OCTOPUS. coco beans / chorizo / piquillo peppers / fingerling potato chips. Really really tender. Not chewy in the slightest.
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Our selection of tins. They have the largest seafood tin list in the country!
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served with trio of salts / crunchy butter / pickled piparra peppers / piquillo pepper jam / french bread. I liked all the accompaniments — other than the salt which I didn’t try (didn’t need MORE salt).
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Bread for the tins.
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Cockles in brine. Very succulent and delicious.
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SPICED SARDINES IN OLIVE OIL. Porthos / Portugal / 4.4oz. Nice sardines, but fairly straightforward.
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HAKE CHEEKS IN OLIVE OIL. Alalunga / Spain / 4.72oz. Delicious and tender.
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SMOKED EEL. Gulf of Maine Conservas / New Hampshire / 6oz. Great smoky flavor. Pretty salty.
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GRILLED VENTRESCA (TUNA BELLY). Güeyu Mar / Spain / 5.29oz. We were hoping for richer. This was excellent tuna, but nothing that exciting.
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SALTIE GIRL LOBSTER ROLL. served warm. house made salt & vinegar potato chips. Quite nice lobster roll.
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FRENCH DOVER SOLE. lemon / capers / butter / parsley. Fish was perfectly cooked so it had a great texture. Beurre blanc was silky rich. The only problem was the sauce was a touch salty without enough compensating lemon.
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Beurre blanc sauce.
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Overall, an interesting place ina very cute space. Service was good. It was loud and crowded and there was a lot of seafood on this menu. It was salty and not exactly cheap. But I’d come again at some point. Unfortuantly they do have a 2 bottle limit although a reasonable enough $40 corkage.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

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By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: conserva, fish, Foodie Club, Seafood, West Hollywood, Wine
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