agavin

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Eating San Fran – Ernest

Dec08

Restaurant: Ernest

Location: 1890 Bryant St Suite 100, San Francisco, CA 94110. (415) 829-2961

Date: June 20, 2024

Cuisine: New American Tapas

Rating: Good

Another very quick preview of one of my San Francisco work meals.

Ceviche and crackers.

Beef and Salmon Egg Tartar

Croquettes

A Hamachi Crudo.

Nori for the hamachi.

Squid and broccolini

Sardines.

Rolls.

Tomato salad.

Steak.

Duck meatballs (Japanese style).

Leek version.

Japanese sweet soy and egg sauce for the meat.

Onion rings.

Sauce for onion rings.

Veggie.

Basque Cheesecake.

Softserve with chocolate sauce.

Shave ice with mochi.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Ernest, San Francisco

K’s Bistro Night

Dec05

Restaurant: K’s Bistro

Location: 735 Baker St, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Date: June 15, 2024

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi and Yakitori

Rating: Good, but far

All the way down Costa Mesa for a small family Japanese place. Joe loves his sushi + yakitori mixes.

The menu.

Tiny interior.

Our table.

Assorted Pickles Plate. Great. Nice and crunchy.

Monkfish Liver and Sunomono.

Japanese Sea Snail.

Sashimi. Very tender.

The clam plate!

Octopus sashimi.

Sashimi.

A yellowfin tuna sashimi.

Tuna and Truffle.

Albacore and crunchy Garlic.

Shrimp Tempura. Excellent tempura.

Vegetable tempura.

Tofu Tempura.

Mountain Yam Tempura.

Softshell Crab Tempura.

Beef.

Beef Tongue.

Chicken, Sausage and more.

Grilled chicken wings.

On the left was chicken meat (stick) ball and the right incredible sausage.

More crunchy grilled meat bits.

Chicken Gizzards (which I like).

I think more toungue.

Sardine Sushi.

The wine.

Fun night, except for the drive and the terrible case of hiccups I got. I was plagued by hiccups last weekend — sucked. Food was quite good. Nice mix of high quality sushi/sashimi and great grilled items. Joe loves this kind of place because it goes well with Champ, White and Red. It’s a great little resteraunt actually, but it’s also way too far for frequent visits (3 hrs round trip travel vs the SGV being more like 80 mins).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Climb the Mountain

Dec03

Restaurant: Mountain House Rowland Heights 川山甲

Location: 18888 Labin Ct C101, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (626) 986-5555

Date: June 9 & September 23, 2024

Cuisine: Szechuan Chinese

Rating: Best new SGV place of 2024

I had to wait nearly a year for them to get a beer and license before trying!

When we arrived, there was a Chinese American street fair going on in the middle of this mall courtyard.

Mountain House was hidden away in the courtyard. Parking ringed the outside basically looking at the service entrances. Really strange mall. I’ve been wanting to come here for 10 months but they didn’t seem to want to allow wine until V “sorted it out.”

Very nice build out.

With smoking koi bath — never seen one of these — and I wonder what the koi think about it

Fish extend to the ceiling.

Great private room. A touch cramped, but very private.

Pickled Spicy Cabbage on the table to start. These were awesome actually some nice chunks of aromatics.

Very good tea.

The menu.

Bamboo Grove Trio. Three various Szechuan drinking foods (including bamboo). Duck tongue, poached chicken, bamboo shoots.

Swing Garlic Pork Belly. Basically boiled bacon with super MSG spicy garlic sauce. It was all about the sauce.

Pepper Beef Tongue. More or less the same sauce, but the tongue was so tender — incredible dish.

House Chicken. The classic poached chicken in spicy chili oil. Not super spicy, but nicey balanced and very umami.

Szechuan Numbing Chicken. Last time we had the red pepper chicken — and on the tri — so this time we had the green.

Fu-Qi Special. Couples sliced offal, aka tripe and meat. Very nice version, although not as good as the perfect one at GuYi.

Okra Salad. Slimey and delicious in the same super savory sauce.

Spicy Hairtail. Some kind of slightly spicy fried fish.

Dumplings in Chili Oil. Solid version of this Sichuan staple.

Yibin Style Ran Noodles. Cold and a touch tangy with a little bit of sesame. Very nice.

Golden Baked Corn Kernels with Salted Egg Yolk. Awesome dunked in some red sauce.

Country Style Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables. Great version of this dish. Not as salty as usual, just silky and delicious.

Ma-La Prawns. This was the hotest dish. Actually pretty spicy, but with an almost candied chili. Really fabulous.

Pepper Lover’s Frog. Very tender and only “some” bones.

Short Rib. Pretty damn good actually because of the spicy sauce.

House Ma-La Dungeness Crab. Super delicious sticky rice underneath with a very smoky flavor.

Crispy Fish with Pickled Pepper. Great fish. Tons of garlic and umami.

Red Pepper Fish Head.

Garlic Shrimp. So garlicky and so delicious. Shells perfectly crispy.

La-Zi Chicken. The famous fried aromatic chicken.

MaPo Tofu. Probably the best I’ve had in LA. Or certainly really up there. Just awesome.

Spicy Shredded Eel. Like the popcorn chili chicken — but with fried eel bits. Really great!

Crispy Tofu. Just fine.

Crispy Chicken with Chilies. Amazing version of this dish and highly aromatic with that deep chili flavor.

Western Szechuan Lamb Spine. Amazing Sichuan flavor. Not much meet, but really delicious.

Shredded Potato. Amazing dipped in the spicy lamb jus.

Green beans with pork.

Gizards with Taro. Awesome pickled pepper flavor and nice chew.

Hot and Sour Soup. Nice and silky.

Garlic Greens. Solid.

House Special Fried Rice.

Numbing Pepper Beef. So good with that green numbing factor. Very tender beef.

This was probably the best Chinese dessert I’ve had. Peanuts, watermelon, coconut, raisons, cool jelly, sweat syrup. Fabulous textures of chew and crunch. Sweet and nutty.

Chocolate Mint Gelato.

Chocolate and Arugula gelato.

Amazing meal. Not only was it very fun, but the food was really really good. And the total was all in $85/pp. Very large Sichuan menu and nearly ever dish was some of the best versions of it I’ve had. Nicely balanced and executed. Fun decor too and solid service. Plus they have the private rooms and now allow the wine. It wasn’t as hot as many Sichuan places, just balanced. And probably the menu is 2-4X as big. It’s a little fancier, but isn’t more expensive. So it’s a total win win win. Then it must be mentioned that this is a peerless Chinese food group :-).

The courtyard was empty when we left, but had this neat “not in America” feel.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, Hacienda Heights, mapo tofu, Mountain House, SGV, Sichuan Cuisine, Szechuan cuisine

Everything at Wagyu House

Dec01

Restaurant: Wagyu House by The X Pot [1, 2]

Location: 18558 Gale Ave Suite 122-128, Rowland Heights, CA 91748. (866) 610-0609

Date: May 26, 2024

Cuisine: Chinese Hot Pot

Rating: Maybe the best “upscale” hot pot?

We first came here for lunch but this is our return for a big blow out wine dinner…

Build out is pretty extensive. Sure, the build quality is “sloppy” and it won’t hold up, but it looks pretty cool right now.

If you pay for the “vip room” or have the NFT like Bovon does, then you can make a reservation.

Private rooms.

Sauce Bar. The sauce bar is excellent. Not quite as good as Shancheng Lameizi but very good. There weren’t very many snacks though (like cucumbers etc).

My usual pair of sauces. I tried not to make them very spicy today.

The menu.

And the special “expensive” package menu.

Spicy bear broth and Golden Chicken Soup broth.

Slightly less spicy and Herbal Chicken broth (with the pig but left out)

Braised Lotus Root snack.

Crispy Pork snack — awesome.

Bone marrow. Solid.

My sauces from the excellent sauce bar.

Baby octopus.

Mixed greens.

Lobster tails.

Spongy shrimp and roe rolls. Awesome.

Bean curd skin.

Super tasty fish and roe balls.

Squid.

Shrimp balls which were great and very fresh.

Squid legs.

Quail eggs.

Fish maw?

Lotus root.

Winter melon or similar.

Mushroom medley.

A5 cubes. Frozen, so were a bit hard to cook properly.

A5 of some sort — great.

Smoking!

Another cut.

Zombie food, aka Pig Brains.

Another bean curd.

And another A5, ribeye or similar.

Goose intestine.

Noodles.

Duck webs.

A non A5 beef.

Spam!

Beef stomach.

Another meat.

Beef tongue.

The man with the lamb.

Trio of sorbetto: chocolate, coco almond, and raspberry ginger.

Awesome night and probably the best hot pot I’ve had n the SGV / HH. Great service, great food, very fresh, nice private room, great sauce bar. Totaled up to $220/pp all in, so not the cheapest, but really good.

They had face dancers too!

Robo waiters.

This is so SGV.

Overall, if you get a private room and order it up, Wagyu X is one of the best hot pots in the greater SGV. Ingredient quality is high, they have a lot of items, the space is good, service is strong, the sauce bar is big. All great!

This place apparently has the same owners as Niku X .

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, gealto, hot pot, SGV, spicy, Wagyu House by The X Pot, Wine

Foodie KinKan

Nov29

Restaurant: KinKan LA

Location: 771 N Virgil Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90029. (323) 421-3771

Date: May 24, 2024

Cuisine: Japanese / Thai inflected Fusion

Rating: I’m not sure I’ve had Japanese / Thai like this before…

Erick paved the way with this very interesting Thai / Japanese tasting menu place.

On the sketchy street in Silverlake.

Cute little space but surprisingly empty.

Complementary sake.

DASHI MARINATED IKURA ON NORI TARTLET (left) and Thai larb – dry-aged chutoro almond tartlet (right).

hotaru Iika skewer (firefly squid) with sweetened Thai seafood sauce.

UNI MARTINI WITH ONSEN TAMAGO AND DASHI BROTH.

HAMACHI CRUDO with special seafood sauce.

UME BLOSSOM SOMEN with mango ika, shirasu, fish curry.

SAZAE (JAPANESE SEA SNAIL) FISH BROTH MISO-TOM YUM SOUP and special pink pasta.

SAKE STEAMED LIVE HAIRY CRAB, CAVIAR.

BANGLADESH PRAWN. mentaiko pasta with sesame & chili-garlic sauce.

BINCHOTAN OLIVE-FED A5 WAGYU BEEF (double portion).

Lychee gel and granite.

A really fun meal with interesting Thai/Japanese omakase, great flavors, great wines, and awesome company.

Superb.

A bit more oxidative but lovely.

Intense, fresh, sweet tarts and good weight.

Kind of massive but drinking well.

Lovely, but young.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Foodie Club, Japanese / Thai, KinKan LA, Wine

ABSteak Night

Nov27

Restaurant: ABSteak

Location: 8500 Beverly Blvd 111 level 1, Los Angeles, CA 90048. (424) 286-9900

Date: May 10, 2024

Cuisine: KBBQ

Rating: Moderately sterile high end KBBQ

Tucked away right next to the former Angler space is this Korean BBQ. A bunch of us former (and one current) Naughty Dog gathered for Brian’s birthday dinner.

The menu.

Banchan salad.

Condiments.

Kimchee.

Fried rice cake or tofu – bland.

Bean sprouts.

My favorite, the crunchy radish.

Spicy turnips or similar.

Yaki-soba style glass noodles with beef and mushrooms.

Beef tartare Korean style.

Fabulous version.

Seafood pancakes — very good version.

Brisket.

Cooking.

Cooked with condiments.

More beef.

Fat on the burner.

Cooking.

The resting spot so it doesn’t get overcooked.

The super delicious marinated rib.

Meat candy.

Pork.

Resting pork.

Honey cakes.

Fruit sorbet.

Macha ice cream.

Vanilla ice cream and bean sauce.

Deconstructed cow cake — pretty yummy actually.

They told us to smash it up.

Smoked old fashioned.

Fun evening with the (former) dogs.

Very fun night. Food was good, but it feels just a little sterile — maybe I just like more sauce and banchan.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: ABSteak, https://absteakla.com/, KBBQ

Drouhin il Pastaio

Nov25

Restaurant: Il Pastaio [1, 2, 3]

Location: 400 N.Canon Drive. Bevery Hills, CA 90210. Phone: 310.205.5444

Date: May 1, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Superb

Liz Lee of Sage Society always puts on fabulous winemaker dinners. She focuses on making every element perfect from the location, food, wines and has some of the best winemakers in the world.

This dinner focuses on classic Burgundy Negotiant Maison Joseph Drouhin.

Il Pastaio has a nice private room — or maybe it was a section of the restaurant that can be closed off for special events.

Fried Zucchini Flower filled with Ricotta Cheese.

Crispy Rice Cake with Salmon.

The special menu.

Bread.

Langoustine Carpaccio with Yuzu Jello. Very nice, but of salt too.

Olive Oil-Poached Branzino with Celery Root Puree.

Breast of Duck in Orange Sauce with Potato Napoleon.

Pan-Roasted Ribeye Cap with Salsa Verde Grilled Mushrooms.

Short Ribs Agnolotti with Truffle Sauce. Really nice.

Cheese Course.

My notes.

This was a great evening with lots of really good wine. For such (on average) young Burg it showed really well.

The lineup.

As always from Liz and Sage Society an impeccable dinner. Lovely setting, and great classic LA Italian!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Chef Celestino won the left and Paolo De Marchi in the middle.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Celestino Drago, Il Pastaio, Italian cuisine, Liz Lee, Maison Joseph Drouhin, Sage Society

Yangban at Pasjoli

Nov23

Restaurant: Pasjoli [1, 2]

Location: 2732 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (424) 330-0020

Date: April 24, 2024

Cuisine: Bistro French

Rating: Really good

Pasjoli is an elevated French bistro from award-winning chef Dave Beran. The restaurant pays homage to French cuisine utilizing the bounty of produce available in Southern California. Dave Beran is the guy behind Dialogue, which I didn’t love on my single visit. In any case, looking at the photos of Pasjoli (before I went) it looked very good: straight up but precise rich French cooking. Tonight Erick and I went for a co-lab with Yangban Society.

It’s located on Main Street, on the Venice end of Santa Monica. Rooted in classic French cuisine and inspired by the Parisian markets, Pasjoli reflects Beran’s thoughtful cooking style, showcasing his creative touches on bistro fare.

The front has been built out in a very Parisian style.

The interior is Bistro crossed with LA contemporary.

Quite attractive though.
Pasjoli’s elegant dining room invites in Yangban for a colab.

The special menu.

kimchee salad. beets & first of the season cherries, zara meiji tofu, almonds, herbs, marigolds, roasted sesame. Nice texture. Sweet and spicy.

Perilla Taco. sprouted cauliflower, wild radish pods, perilla leaf, toasted pine nuts, eomma song sauce.

gougere with chive mornay.

rice cakes a la parisienne. chicken jus, brown butter, celeries, parmesan-toasted crumbs. Really did taste like a Korean/French fusion.

Black cod. doengang-glazed black cod, yu choi, sake & blue crab beurre blanc. Delicious.

Korean cassoulet. peads & barnetts pork belly, aged kae sung kimchee, cannellini beans, pistou of chrysanthemum & perilla. Delicious — but daringly tackling the bean factor.

six-hour roasted carrots, carrot & miso glaze. Sweet and crunchy and chewy.

Baggett.

Crepe. Black sesame butterfinger, sesame & honey custard, diplomat cream.

Tasted just like halavah.

Strawberries and cream.

Bonus of Burnt Basque Cheesecake!

Very delicious dinner. About 70% yangban but with noticiable French elements.

I really liked everything about Pasjoli. It’s not cheap, but it felt worth it. The decor is elegant/updated. The service was very friendly and efficient. Food was extremely on point. Updated French bistro fare, and the Yangban co-lab was even more intersting.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Pasjoli, Yangban

Wallflower

Nov21

Restaurant: Wallflower

Location: 609 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 744-8136

Date: April 18, 2024

Cuisine: Southeast Asian Fusion

Rating: Tasty

Interesting that Southeast Asian is having a moment. Just on the westside we have Cassia, Cobi’s, and now Wallflower in the fusion arena alone.

The menu.

Crab rendang dip. Blue crab, beef rendang spice, shrimp chips.

Shrimp chips.

som dtam salad. green papaya, jicama, carrot, tomato, ebi peanut, thai chili.

duck lumpia. cirspy duck roll, cermicelli, lettuce, sorrel, chili dip.

Japanese curry. eggplant, bamboo shoots, konbu, nori, squash patty, baby carrot, fingerling potato.

ayam goreng. fried half jidori chicken, garlic ginger oil, rujak sauce, marinated cucumbers.

rib wings. Fried beef ribs, chili sauce, fried shallots, sesame seed.

Rengang mamak. Indonesian spiced braised beef, lemongrass, thai lime leaves, chives, galangal.

nasi ayam. steamed rice, chicken broth, spice, pandan, coconut milk.

indonesian sate. chicken, peanut sauce, rice cake, acar pickles.

crispy sichuan beef. wok tossed beef, sichuan peppercorn, soy glaze.

Wallflower leans Indonesian and has a lot of good flavors.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Southeast Asian Fusion, Venice, Wallflower

Vespertine 2.0

Nov19

Restaurant: Vespertine [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 3599 Hayden Ave, Culver City, CA 90232. (323) 320-4023

Date: April 19, 2024

Cuisine: Jordan merges back in Meteora ideas

Rating: Expensive, but flavors are better than old Vespertine

Vespertine is a very unusual confluence of all sorts of artsy weirdness. It’s helmed by Jordan Kahn formerly of Red Medicine and currently of Destroyer across the street. I’ve generally been fond of Jordan’s unique culinary style. Post-pandemic he opened Meteora and has now (finally) reopened Vespertine proper.

Above is the building where the restaurant is located
After a lengthy 4+ year “break” Vespertine is back as Vespertine 2.0. The first floor looks about the same.

A slightly sweet Birch water. Very mild.

Supplements.

The menu.

We went for the rather excellent expensive wine pairing because the BYOB policy is pretty bad — one bottle.

Wild Scallop. Passionfruit, aji amarillo. Very strong high acid sour passionfruit cut through the richness of the scallop nicely.

Spring. Peas, wild onion. The description doesn’t quite reveal even a fraction of the contents, taste, or texture of this flower garden. I think some kind of almond cream stuck it to the bowl.

Deep Ocean. Sweet prawn, quince. Very bright intriguing “broth” taste. Hard to place.

Obsidian Mirror. Smoked mussel, plum. Very soft moussy texture and great flavors. Sweet and briney.

The Deep Seven. Ula’ula koae, red papaya. Some kind of ultrarare deep sea fish.

Coturnix Quail. Heather, sacred pepper. The first of several quail dishes, this was super succulent with the rich “beurre blanc – esque” sauce.

Quail Liver. Pickled forest leaves. A quail dolmade? Very smokey.

Porridge Bread. Heirloom peel corn oats. The fried bread was used to wipe up the liver spread (and flowers).

Fried bread.

Cody, the Somm at this other table.

Aged Dairy Calf. Yeast fudge, magnolia. Succulent, rare, veal. Almost felt like cubes of med rare pork chop.

T

Red Earth. Pumpkin, strawberry. Super smokey baked/roasted yam. Very very Jordan dish.

After the savory we moved back downstairs for dessert.

Jordan said this was Rasmus Munk — if so he gained A LOT of wait.

The tea menu.

T

Temple Mist. Light green tea.

Lamb Fat Pancake. Caramelized maple, woodruff. A sort of fatty beneit / fat glazed donut with a maple cream. Pretty delicious, if slightly oddly meaty.

Special dessert of Uni, old PX, and some other stuff. Oddly, this totally worked.

Icy Birch. Milk jam, tiger nut. Very Jordan. Super cool and mild. Almost like plain ice.

Layers. Black raspberry, tonka bean. This was an amazing dessert. Nice texture with crunch, softness, and chew. But super delicious. I ate half of Erick’s too, despite the sugar.

cherimoya. Very interesting complex fruit flavors, the usual odd texture.

Amazing meal — but eek! Overall the food was some of the best Jordan has ever done. It was less sweet and cloying, totally weird and unique, but consistently delicious. Quantity of savory was a bit low. Service was excellent, especially Cody’s wine service. His high end wine tasting is a fabulous pairing over very nice wines — and this is tough food to pair. There was a somewhat anoying 1:15 stall between the last savory and the desserts. I was getting pretty antsy.

And we weren’t even that full so we stopped at a taco shake for some authentic $2 street tacos! At the opposite price point.

Seething meats all set for the chopping.

Chop, chop!

El Pastor.

Micro tortillas.

Basic street tacos. El pastor, chorizo, and brisket.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Foodie Club, Jordan Kahn, Second Dinner, Tacos, Vespertine, Wine, Wine pairing

Date Night at the Georgian

Nov17

Restaurant: The Georgian Hotel

Location: 1415 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-9945

Date: April 13, 2024

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid, great room

Date night out…

With a menu crafted by Chef David Almany and inspired by the vibrant cuisine of coastal Italy interspersed with iconic global dishes, a cocktail menu stretching from 1930s classics to modern explorations, and a carefully crafted selection of wines and spirits from Wine Director Kristin Olszewski, allow yourself to be wined, dined and redefined in simple yet elegant style at one of California’s best new oceanview restaurants.

Roasted Beet Salad. laura chenel goat cheese, candied walnuts, kale.

Caprese. stracciatella, marinated cherry tomatoes, basil, aceto balsamico, fett’unta.

Daily Crudo. Kanpachi. chili lime vinaigrette, cilantro, radish. Kusshi Oysters. golden balsamic mignonette. Bluefin Tuna Tartare. smashed avocado, carta di musica.

Boiled Blue Prawns. calabrian chili, lemon, crème fraiche. Very tasty actually, although some of the olive oil flicked onto my nice shirt.

Grilled bread to lap up the garlic oil.

Branzino. salmoriglio, lemon, fresh herb salad.

Apple Crostata. Really amazing actually.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Date Night, Santa Monica, The Georgian Hotel

Living Large with Lamb

Nov15

Restaurant: Dolan’s Uyghur Cuisine [1, 2]

Location: 742 W Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91803. (626) 782-7555

Date: April 14, 2024

Cuisine: Uyghur Chinese

Rating: Excellent execution, and closer to Afghan than Chinese

It took Yarom and I about 4-5 years to manage to come back here for dinner with a large enough group to order the whole roast lamb!

Dolan’s, which is a new Uyghur place celebrating the cuisine of Western China — the part above Tibet known as Jing Jiang. Perfect for lunch to as they are Halal and don’t allow alcohol.

The interior has a distinctly “western” style — and considerably more style than most Chinese places. While the building was probably some mid-century family restaurant they have added the Islamic style “windows” and tile.

Copper tea pots.

A big menu featuring lamb, lamb, and more lamb! Good thing we love lamb!

Naan stir-fried with Beef. Mostly fried bread. What beef there was had a lovely cumin flavor.

Garlic cucumbers. Nice and tangy.

Salad. Strong tangy dressing.

Beef Pie.

The shell was kinda greasy but addictive.

Another salad, mostly onions, peppers, and tomatoes. But the tart and quick spicy sauce was amazing.

Another stuffed pastry. I liked this one better and it had a strong beef and onions flavor.

Flakey pastry with beef. Very nice texture. Kind of Samosa-like.

Eggs and Tomatoes. Yarom can never resist ordering this one.

The whole lamb.

Revealed.

Super rich, tender, and delicious. Tremendous flavor.

We polished off that baby!

Big Plate Chicken with Wide Noodles. Star anise flavor.

Beef with the special round noodles. These were better noodles.

Lemon Cookie Gelato.

They fight over the leftovers.

Overall, not only was Dolan’s super interesting, but they were delicious as well. It’s related most closely to Western Chinese, but not totally Chinese in style (food-wise, decor isn’t Chinese at all). The kitchen was excellent though, and everything was extremely tasty — you better like lamb though!

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

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine, Gelato, hedonists, lamb, whole lamb, Wine

Game Night at STK

Nov12

Restaurant: STK Westwood

Location: 930 Hilgard Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90024. (310) 659-3535

Date: April 12 & Oct 26, 2024

Cuisine: Steak house

Rating: Excellent neighborhood Italian

Erick put together this game guy dinner at the Westwood STK. This is similar too, but different location than the older Hollywood location.

The menu.

Bread with blu cheese butter.

Tuna Tartare. hass avocado – taro chips – soy-honey emulsion.

Maple & Bourbon Nueske’s Bacon. apple cabbage slaw – pickled mustard seeds.

Crispy Calamari. basil – shishito peppers – roasted garlic & lime aioli – asian chili sauce.

Baby Gem Caesar. parmigiano reggiano – lemon black pepper emulsion – herb crouton.

Filet with mushrooms and pepper sauce.

Porterhouse with flavored butters.

Filet with au poivre sauce.

Dry-Aged Delmonico oscar style.

Filet with caramelized onions and au poivre.

Dry aged ribeye with onions and butter.

Flaming!

Maybe a NY.

Sauces.

Asparagus.

Corn pudding.

Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes.

Mashers “fully loaded”.

Creamed spinach.

Confit Mushrooms. bacon – cheese.

Mushrooms.

Bag O’ Donuts. cinnamon sugar – dulce de leche – raspberry – chocolate. and an Apple Pie. cinnamon crumble – maple crème fraiche

Fun night. Very heavy!

Food here is pretty good. Service is friendly but “confused.” On a second visit in October 2024 they kept bringing things way late and forgetting dishes. They have the typical problem as of late where you rarely see the server, only the runners who do not respond to requests, merely deliver.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Food, Foodie Club, Game Night, Steak, Steak House, STK, Wine

Yangban Society

Nov10

Restaurant: Yangban

Location: 712 S Santa Fe Ave Los Angeles, CA 90021. (213) 866-1987

Date: April 11, 2024

Cuisine: Korean Deli Fusion?

Rating: Really tasty!

I’ve wanted to try this well reviewed Korean and “Deli?” Fusion for a long time.

Yangban, the genre-defying Korean American culinary ‘conversation’, which opened in Los Angeles’ Arts District, re-opens after a transformative interior overhaul of the space, revealing an evolution of the highly acclaimed restaurant. Now featuring a full-service dining room and updated food and beverage programs, the concept remains at its core a Modern-Korean American restaurant as told through the lens of husband-and-wife chefs Katianna and John Hong.

Yangban is down near Bestia. In the Arts District.

The complex menu of small dishes.

Large and attractive (if dark) interior.

Golden Hokkaido Scallop Toast. Hokkaido scallop, brown butter, YANGBAN makgeolli, cherry tomato, golden sauce, cured egg yolk. Very crunchy toast with a delicious — and rich — dynamite-style scallop goo.

Wagyu Stuffed Perilla Leaf. vermicelli, beef fat tare, cotija. Crunchy!

Acorn Beignet. caramelized onion, gruyere, Benton’s ham.

Pretty yummy.

Blue Crab Tostada. gochujang, perilla, red leaf lettuce, creme fraiche. Very bright flavors and great textures.

Squashini Jeon. whipped creme fraiche, trout roe. Soft and vaguely Jewish in flavor.

Banchan. selection of side dishes highlighting local produce.

Brokaw Avocado & Shinko Pear. hot mustard, California almonds, toasted ggim, yeast.

YANGBAN Kimchi. Kae Sung Market, habanero, roasted sesame oil.

Honey Glazed Carrots. whipped yogurt, fresh date, walnut oil, herbs. Sweet and crunchy.

Grilled Cucumber. celery, YANGBAN chili oil, toasted cumin, meyer lemon juice.

Steamed Broccoli. yuzu, chicken skin furikake.

Green Tea Leaf Salad. gem lettuce, green cabbage, buchu, seasoned spinach, cucumber, tomato, snap peas, edamame, herbs and seeds, nokcha-lemon vinaigrette. Looked a bit deconstructed.

But tasted quite nice with a bright vinegrette.

Tteok. king trumpet and shimeji mushrooms, doenjang cream, preserved black truffle. Basically tasted like clam chowder. Super creamy. Super rich. And interesting deep chew from the rich cakes.

Matzoh Ball Mandu. stuffed with Grandma Sindy’s matzoh ball, chicken broth, shmaltz. I liked the texture but the shmaltz factor was a bit strong — too chickeny.

YANGBAN Wings. cucumber and Korean radish pickles, kimchi hot sauce, black rice. Amazing wings. Super sweet and crunchy. Great with the hot sauce.

The wings were served with the pickles and hot sauce.

Pickles. I love pickles.

Hot sauce.

Steamed Black Cod. pea shoots and flowers, chive, yuja, ginger, brown butter, onion soubise. Soft and buttery.

Grilled King’s Cut Short Rib. potato puree, grilled king trumpet and shiitakes, galbi jus, toasted breadcrumb, horseradish, chive. Meat was great. Very sweet.

YANGBAN Cheesecake. coconut biscuit and brown butter crust, coconut cream, local cherry jam. Amazing cherry cheesecake. Totally addictive.

Sesame cookies.

Overall the food here is great. Really interesting meld of flavors. Very bright and tasty. A lot of sugar though. Portions are small. This whole meal was two of us — and we had doubles of many dishes — and the kitchen closed before we got full! But highly recomended.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Foodie Club, Korean Fusion, Yangban, Yangban Society

Eating San Fran – Mister Jius

Nov08

Restaurant: Mister Jiu’s

Location: 28 Waverly Pl, San Francisco, CA 94108. (415) 857-9688

Date: April 2, 2024

Cuisine: Chinese Fusion

Rating: Hybrid modern Chinese

Always gottta try the interesting Chinese, even if it’s a bit fusion.

Here we go.

The tasting menu.

Amuse of caviar and nori.

big eye tuna, beets, blood orange, lanzhou chili. Sweet and tangy.

grilled mackerel, snap peas, green farro, black bean, pistachio.

dungeness crab, asparagus, tofu skin, chicken consommé.

chicken, shrimp and pig trotter dumpling, preserved yuzu, black truffle.

Liberty Farms ‘Peking Style’ Whole Duck. Smoked, but otherwise fairly peking duck like.

The spring pancakes were a bit thick but the peanut hoison was excellent.

Duck foie and some fruity bit. Tasty!

mandarin custard pie, ricotta, walnut, rose geranium.

Sesame balls.

Fun evening and tasty food. A bit too fusion, although quite refined. It didn’t taste “that” Chinese — except for the Peking duck which was the best dish.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese Fusion, Mister Jius, Peking Duck, San Francisco

Eating San Fran – Che Fico

Nov06

Restaurant: Che Fico

Location: 838 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA 94117. (415) 416-6959

Date: April 1, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Very tasty

Another work trip to San Francisco.

Some modern Italian — so much better than the old red sauces.

Pretty interior.

Kitchen.

The menu.

Insalata Caesar. Little Gem Lettuce, Green Garlic, Cantabrian Anchovy, Pangratttato, 24 Month Parmesan.

Carne Cruda. Dry aged Flannery Beef, Burgundy Truffle, 24 month Parmigiano Reggiano, Aioli.

“Pizza puffs.”

Margherita Pizza. San Marzano, Che Fico Mozzarella, Garlic, Basil.

Agnolotti dal plin. Braised short rib, Stracchino Fonduta. Delicious.

Gnocchetti. Lamb sausage, broccoli rabe, preserved meyer lemon, chili flake, pecorino sardo.

Asparago Arrosto. Zuckerman Farms Asparagus, Meyer Lemon, Sicilian Olive Oil.

Agnello arrosto. Wood oven roasted lamb loin, Zuckerman Farm Potato, Watercress, Salsa Verde. Delicious and filling.

Very nice modern Italian.

Some freebee spiced mandarins.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Che Fico, Italian Cusine, pasta, San Francisco

SGV Sunday – Yang’s Kitchen

Nov03

Restaurant: Yang’s Kitchen

Location: 112 W Main St, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 281-1035

Date: March 31, 2024

Cuisine: Chinese Fusion

Rating: Tasty, but pricey

The press has been talking about Yang’s for some time as one of the new style SGV Chinese places — so had to try it.

The main street frontage.

The menu.

Very casual interior. Service was excellent, however, with an extremely knowledgable Somm.

Pickles. Nice and crunchy.

Cucumbers. Fabulous cucumbers with a bit of spicy.

Raw Oysters of the Day.

Chilled Tofu w/ Avocado & Roe. Soft and mellow.

Prawn ‘Ceviche’. Great texture.

Dungeness Crab Cold Noodle. Delicious with nice bit and cool crab.

Smoked Fish Dip. White fish salad!

Chicken Liver Mousse. Another “jewish” dish.

Yang’s Fried Chicken Wings. Lots of flavor.

Grilled Cabbage w/ Bagna Cauda.

Smoked Pork Jowl Cha Siu. Jiggly!

Grilled Dry-aged Fish Collars.

Red Wine Beef Cheek Stew.

‘Dan Dan’ Campanelle. Some numbing quality. This was probably my favorite dish. Really delicious.

Braised Duck Leg with Taro.

New York Steak & Crispy Potatoes or Chicken Fat Rice.

‘Hainan’ Fish Rice.

Dessert menu.

Black Sesame Cake.

Custard.

Tiramisu Gelato.

Pistachio Gelato.

Overall, some very delicious food. It’s very much fusion with a sort of 70/30 mix of Western and Chinese but a great kitchen. Price is fairly steep for “cafe ambiance.”

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Fusion, Gelato, SGV, Yang's kitchen

Robo Eats – Grandma Kims

Nov01

Restaurant: Grandma Kim’s Family Diner

Location: 8384 Topanga Canyon Blvd, Canoga Park, CA 91304. (818) 346-1590

Date: March 23, 2024

Cuisine: Northern Korean

Rating: Solid

Finding yet another place in the western SFV.

Very casual Canoga Park Korean.

The huge menu.

Casual interior was crowded.

Banchan.

Potato soup.

Rice.

Beef Bulgolgi.

Fishcake soon tofu. Pretty good.

Not a bad family-style place.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Grandma Kims, Korean cuisine, RoboEats

Singapore Super Club

Oct30

Restaurant: Singapore Super Club at Upstairs 2

Location: 2311 Cotner Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90064

Date: March 21, 2024

Cuisine: Fusion Southeast Asian

Rating: Interesting

This was a popup located at:

The Wine House.

The menu. This unique dining experience will showcase an exquisite fusion of Thai and Singaporean cuisines, reimagined with a contemporary flair that promises to enchant your palate with bold and harmonious flavors.

In this private room where I’ve done a number of meals — and my Italian Sommlier class.

Thai Ice Tea.

TUNA TARTLET. Bluefin Tuna | Honey Dew | Yuzu | Trout Roe.

CALIFORNIA CITRUS KERABU. Cara Cara Orange | Burnt Broccoli | Kaffir Lime | Palm Sugar.

KHAI JEOW OMELETTE. Dungeness Crab | Rendang | Avocado | Sabayon | Scarmoza.

KEPAK AYAM. Stuffed Wing | Larb | Strawberry | Nahm Jim.

GOONG OB WOON SEN. Vermicelli | Tiger Prawn | Bouillabaisse | Sambal Terasi.

MASSAMAN KAENG. Airline Jidori Chicken | Singapore Prata | Eggplant | Thai Basil.

ITIK SALAI. Muscovy Duck | Mushroom Rice | Shio Kombu | XO.

KHAO NEOW MUA MANG. Jasmine | Ginger Flower | Mango | White Chocolate |Ube.

KAYA BAKAR. Kaya custard | Singapore Coffee | Banana | Feuilletine.

Quite delicious. I was worried at first that there wouldn’t be enough food but it worked out. Flavors were a touch sweet, in that sweet/savory/spicy southeast Asian way, Now I love that, but it isn’t the best for my waistline. Still, super fun and delicious evening.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Shin Sen Gumi Skewer Night

Oct28

Restaurant: Shin-Sen-Gumi Yakitori & Chanko Gardena

Location: 18517 S Western Ave, Gardena, CA 90248. (310) 715-1588

Date: March 17, 2024

Cuisine: Japanese Yakitori & Chanko

Rating: Surprisingly excellent

Joe wanted to “derail” Chinese Sunday with some Japanese, so we headed down to this Gardena Shin-Set-Gumi which is Yakitori instead of ramen.

This is the “chanko” room of the shin sen gumi yakitori where you can actually make a reservation.

Wines.

Cheese “eggrolls” — ok.

Mushroom salad. Just ok too.

Fried oysters. Pretty good.

Agadashi tofu. I always enjoy this dish.

Chicken hearts. yum.

Pork with shiso. Shiso always makes everything great.

Chicken meat balls.

Bacon asparagus and bacon-wrapped scallops. Crispy and delicious.

Beef and some bacon-wrapped something.

Crispy chicken bits.

Delicious tongue.

Another chicken something.

Okra.

Scallops.

More bacon wrapped scallops.

Beef and bacon wrapped tomatoes.

BBQ chicken.

Crispy chicken tails — awesome!

Another chicken bit.

Wings!

More bacon wrapped scallops.

Garlic.

Delicious sausage and mustard. One of my favorites.

This was our “chanko” which in this case was steamed pork and other stuff. Quite delicious with sauce.

Steamed up.

Here is the other stuff.

Steamy!

Coconut Lime Rum Sorbet.

A deal!

A very fun evening with surprisingly delicious yakitori — since we ordered things extra crispy. Apps aren’t that great but the skewers are.

Shunji in the house!