agavin

Author Archive for agavin – Page 7

Baar Baar

Jun25

Location: 705 W 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015. (213) 266-8989

Date: August 9, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Indian

Rating: Very tasty

Erick and I haven’t seen each other in 2 months because we were both traveling (him longer than me). So when he got back we went out just the two of us to try this new downtown modern Indian located in the old Faith and Flower space.

Attractive modern space.

The menu.

Cauliflower 65. Carrot Pachadi, peanut theca, pickled kumquat, curry leaf. This is a Portugese influenced dish and was quite tasty.

Tuna Bhel. Passion Fruit Rassam, avocado, curry leaf oil, kappa chips. I really enjoyed this cumin forward, slightly sweet, slightly spicy take on the tuna tartare.

Wild Shrimp Ghee Roast. Byadgi Chili, Fennel, Pao bread. Very nice grilled prawn with a spicy butter.

Pao Bread. Looks like Hawaiian bread, but not sweet at all.

Lamb Keema Hyderabadi. Potato mousse, green peas, masala pao. Sort of the Indian Sheppard’s pie. Delicious spiced ground beef under the whipped potatos. Tasted like Indian-style Texas chili.

Here is the meat in view.

Pork Belly. Pomegranate BBQ, stone fruit, sping onion, masala cracklings. A bit sweet and full of flavor.

Chicken Malai Tikka. Amul Cheese Fondue, walnut khurchan, crispy garlic. Creamy and rich. Pretty mild.

Kashmiri Duck (Birria) Taco. Chilantro, red onion, cheddar, pickled radish. These tasted more like Mexican tacos actually, but were delicious with that very greasy, meat forward taco flavor.

“Consomme” for the tacos. Dipping this notched them up even further. Great dish.

Lamb Chop Burrah Kebab. Pickled red onion, hemp seeds chutney, red onion. Pretty delicious with the onions and the mint sauce.

Mint sauce.

Baar Baar Butter Chicken. Red pepper makhani, fenugreek. Very mild and super creamy this was a fabulous chicken curry. A nice char flavor as well. Really great.

Lamb Shank Roast. Nijari gravy, fresh ginger, mint, cilantro, rose. Like a sort of lamb curry osso bucco. Pretty tasty but not as good as the butter chicken.

Cheese & Jalapeno Naan. Cheesy and delicious.

Garlic Naan. Good, but not as good as the cheesy one.

The dessert menu.

Mango Ghewar. Malai kulfi, mascarpone mousse, mango jelly, pistachio. This was the winner. Super delicious, cool, refreshing mango.

Coconut Payasam Cassatta. Rhubarb compote, tender coconut granita. Subtle flavors. A bit like a coconut cheesecake with hints of rhubarb ice.

Really delicious new restaurant. Indian flavors but modern treatment. Super delicious. Very refined. It’ll be interesting to see what the masses think of Baar Baar. I happen to love strong Indian flavors and this was some of the best stuff I’ve had.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Baar Baar, Foodie Club, Indian cuisine

Tony Lau Colette

Jun23

Restaurant: Colette [1, 2, 3]

Location: 975 N Michillinda Ave, Pasadena, CA 91107. (626) 510-6286

Date: October 29, 2023

Cuisine: Contemporary Chinese

Rating: Weird Tony Lau dinner

There is a lot of buzz about Colette, which is part of the “next generation” of LA Chinese restaurants. They opened in a cafe-like space and are serving both Cantonese-esqe and dim sum. From their website:

Colette is a Cantonese-based creative Asian restaurant that welcomes people from all walks of life for all occasions. Our goal is to provide you with an inviting experience whether you’re joining us for a fine new Asian cuisine, after hiking, a friend or family gathering, a business meeting, a date, or other special occasions.

Whatever the occasion, our ambiance, and setting at Colette will serve your needs. Whether you are on the go or want to bring your pets to relax and hang out with friends, our indoor seating area and the outdoor patio are designed to offer you a cozy and comfortable space for you to enjoy your meal. In addition, our food is cooked to order and is prepared with quality in mind. Whenever it is possible, our food is prepared using ingredients from local farmers’ markets.

At Colette, we believe dining is an experience involving all senses, not just taste. Therefore, we try to ensure that our guests will enjoy the service provided by our staff and our decor, in addition to the excellent quality and taste of our menu items. We want to offer a memorable experience to each guest so that you will return with your friends and family.

Our special menu for this Tony Lau Chinese dinner series.

Bonus dish (on the house) of Salt & Pepper Squid. Very delicious, highly fried, crunchy calamari prep.

Lettuce cups with shrimp, pine nuts & jicama. These had a mixed soft and crunchy texture and a nice mild flavor. Good in the lettuce with a bit of chili oil etc. I think this is off-menu as Tony has a list of dishes he often “makes” resteraunts cook and this is one of them.

The lettuce itself.

Deep fried baby abalone. Very tasty, as they were fried with bits of mild Jalepeno. The abalone itself wasn’t that strong.

Char Siu. Super sweet and tender. Great BBQ pork — but controversial as they were so sweet and so fatty.

Crispy stuffed Chicken / 脆皮百花鸡.
Deboned air-dried chicken, shrimp paste. Crispy skin on shrimp paste — was isn’t to love? Could have used perhaps a touch more “flavor.” Some people added salt.

Baked Crabmeat with cheese inside Crab shell. Very gooey Bechemel-like texture. Quite delicious though.

Branzino Fillet Rolls. This is another Tony dish, and one that is excellent at Embassy kitchen. The fish is rolled around ginger and fried. Tasty, but the ginger was too mild or there wasn’t enough of it — it helps balance the heavy fry.

Stir-fried sliced conch with XO sauce. This is another Tony dish. Nice chewy texture and crunchy veggies.

Pan fried pork patty with salted fish. Like a slightly fishy Southern pork sausage (the kind that goes inside an Egg McMuffin). Delicious.

Stir-Fry Steak Cubes with Macadamia Nuts. Yup, a version of the Gweillo Beef. Super tender chunks and nice veggies, but still a slightly boring dish.

Off menu Singapore Chili Crab. Two whole Dungeness crabs drowned in sweet and slightly spicy eggy chili sauce. Delicious. Not exactly exactly like the one I had in Singapore, sweeter perhaps, but still super delicious.

Stir-Fry Asparagus — also with some squash and mushrooms.

Funny but delicious Chinese dessert. Sort of a gooey sesame ball.

Yar! Ghostly skeletal praline pirates are marauding — Pecan Pirate Praline Gelato — An eggy ultra-smooth Texas Pecan base layered with my creepy skull-shaped New Orleans style Vanilla Bourbon Pecan Pralines — 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 #vanilla #bourbon #pecan #praline #candy #halloween #spooky

Colette continues to show that it’s an excellent Cantonese dinner place. I think I like their menu stuff a bit better, as here Tony was making them do a bit too many of his favorite dishes and they don’t show off all their strengths being more classically Cantonese, still it was a very enjoyable meal — even if I was hit hard by all the “flavor” (MSG).

Our mostly order off the menu meals were considerably better.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese Food, Colette, Gelato, Pasadena, Tony Lau

Roccos Redux

Jun21

Restaurant: Dinner at the Borgese’s [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Location: Santa Monica

Date: August 2, 2023

Cuisine: Italian influenced gourmet home cooking

Rating: Awesome

Dinner at the Borgese’s is a special house dinner in Santa Monica cooked by the stunning pro-level home chef Borgese couple. Tonight’s dinner was another Hedonist dinner featuring whole lamb.

Lovely night out on the patio.

The menu.

Bistecca chilling out.

Rocco in the kitchen.

The dead and dying shrimp section (they had just been split open).

Amuse of burrata and prosciutto.

Amuse of caviar, creme fraiche, and blinis.

Carpaccio di Tonno. Tuna Carpaccio. Super salted — in a good way — the sea salted offset the olive oil nicely.

Bronzino alle Vongole. Bronzino with Clams in Cherry Tomatoes. Interesting take on things. Quite nice though. Drank the entire (delicious) broth.

Risotto ai Calamari. Calamari Risotto. Salty and delicious. Way better than the risotto I had the night before at Mistral.

Cozze con Guanciale. Mussels with Pork Cheek. Who doesn’t think that Guanciale makes everything better?

Pasta di Granchio. Crab Pasta. A very matured, incredibly savory, tomato and probably anchovy etc based crab sauce. Delicious with great texture.

Pasta di Granchio. Crab Pasta. A very matured, incredibly savory, tomato and probably anchovy etc based crab sauce. Delicious with great texture.

Bistecca alla Florentina. Wood-fired Florentine Steak. This was one of the better Rocco steaks. Medium rare and with a salty crust.

Verdure Grigliate. Roasted vegetables. In this case little baby potatoes.

Verdure Grigliate. Roasted vegetables. In this case rapini.

My partial plate.

Back from Türkiye with a new flavor — Sultan’s Delight — Iranian Saffron base with house-made Pistachio Cremino, Chopped Pistachios, and Rose-Water Pistachio Turkish Delight — many ingredients 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 #cremino #TurkishDelight #Türkiye

Strawberry Margarita Sorbetto! — like a frozen cocktail — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Strawberries from Avignon, blended with fresh lime, Reposado Tequila and Cointreau –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #strawberry #Margarita #cocktail #Tequila #Cointreau

Bowled up.

The wines.

Another amazing meal at Roccos. I think I might prefer the seafood (or mostly seafood) dinners.

Very fun night with an awesome (and typical) crew and great great wines. Food was really fabulous as always, and there was tons, although I’ve had Rocco’s meals where I liked the mains more. Tonight’s standouts were the clams, quail, and pasta.

First of all, the Borgese hospitality was awesome, the house lovely, and the food absolutely incredible. One of the best “home cooked” meals I’ve had. Maybe ever if you restrict it to chefs cooking in their own home kitchen. Just amazing. Every dish was great. Rustic but extremely delicious style. Superb homemade pastas.

Service was handled by the youngest Borgese (teen daughter) and was better than most restaurant staff. Super friendly and you can tell they do this a lot.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Foodie Club, Gelato, Rocco Borgese, Roccos, Wine

Feel the Mistral

Jun18

Restaurant: Mistral

Location: 13422 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423. (818) 981-6650

Date: August 1, 2023

Cuisine: French

Rating: Old school, but good

I haven’t been to Mistral in a long long time. It’s an old school Sherman Oaks French place, common in the 90s but now a nearly vanished breed.

Tonight was a hybrid of Hedonists and George who has been going here for decades.

We had this lovely patio table.

They turned the parking lot into patio during the pandemic.

Bread.

Gougères. Always yummy.

Tartar of “Sushi Grade” Ahi Tuna, Toast Points, Cucumber Rounds. Solid.

French Fries. Great crispy thin French style fries.

Ketchup and mustard.

Shrimp “Scampi” in a Beurre Blanc sauce. Really great lemon butter white wine sauce and fresh shrimp. Quite nice.

Wild Burgundy Escargots “A la Bourguignonne”. These were served on a bit of risotto. I prefer them in the classic manner, good for bread dipping. I think that’s what you normally get when you order then here, but they did this little variant given our large table size.

Crab Cake. Lovely soft crab cake with leeks and another (different) butter sauce. Quite delicious.

Moroccan Cigars, Green Yogurt with Fresh Mint, Salad of Cucumbers and Greens. Little beef rolls. Delicious with the yougurt based sauce.

Salad of Mixed Greens with Warm Goat Cheese Croutons.

Classic French Onion Soup “Gratinée”.

A very nice rendition of the classic. Totally the “classic way” — which is how it should be.

Crisp Duck Confit, Orange Grand Marnier Sauce. Chives Whipped Potato, Roasted Brussels sprouts. Very nice confit. Slightly sweet reduction was excellent.

New York Steak, Sliced Garlic, Parsley and Butter. 14 oz. USDA Prime, French Fries and Green Salad.

Steak au Poivre with the sauce on the side.

Au poivre sauce — delicious.

Lamb shank with risotto. Not as good as the confit or steak. Risotto wasn’t creamy enough.

Grilled Lamb Chops, Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic and Bread Crumbs. Potatoes au Gratin, Green Beans, Rainbow Carrots.

Fresh Peach & Strawberry Cobbler, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Berries and cream.

Chocolate Soufflé. House Whipped Cream.

Pistachio Chocolate Fudge Gelato – a new high nut and no egg formulation with Pistachio di Bronte DOGC produces an intense pistachio base, mixed with Valrhona 70% Chocolate Ganache — 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 #pistachio #Sicily #nuts #Valrhona #Chocolate #Ganache

Overall, a very fun evening. Food was surprisingly good. Slightly dated class “LA French”, but it was very fresh and well executed.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Wine

Colette at Night

Jun16

Restaurant: Colette [1, 2]

Location: 975 N Michillinda Ave, Pasadena, CA 91107. (626) 510-6286

Date: July 30, October 29, 2023 and March 03, 2024

Cuisine: Contemporary Chinese

Rating: Pretty great for dinner if you order correctly

Colette is a Cantonese-based creative Asian restaurant that welcomes people from all walks of life for all occasions. Our goal is to provide you with an inviting experience whether you’re joining us for a fine new Asian cuisine, after hiking, a friend or family gathering, a business meeting, a date, or other special occasions.

Whatever the occasion, our ambiance, and setting at Colette will serve your needs. Whether you are on the go or want to bring your pets to relax and hang out with friends, our indoor seating area and the outdoor patio are designed to offer you a cozy and comfortable space for you to enjoy your meal. In addition, our food is cooked to order and is prepared with quality in mind. Whenever it is possible, our food is prepared using ingredients from local farmers’ markets.

At Colette, we believe dining is an experience involving all senses, not just taste. Therefore, we try to ensure that our guests will enjoy the service provided by our staff and our decor, in addition to the excellent quality and taste of our menu items. We want to offer a memorable experience to each guest so that you will return with your friends and family.

This is the regular menu.

Deep fried baby abalone. Very tasty, as they were fried with bits of mild Jalepeno. The abalone itself wasn’t that strong.

Winter Melon Soup. Full of pork, chicken, and the soft melon chunks. Good, but could have used a touch of white pepper.

Off menu Geoduck sashimi. This was cut from the body of the giant clam. Great version of this dish. Very fresh, not too chewy, but with a nice bite, and with that pleasant “taste of the sea.”

Soy Sauce for the geoduck.

The neck of the clam was fried. This was a fabulous “salt and pepper” fry with a very crispy delicious batter.

Golden Yolk Shrimp. Hot and rich.

Szechuan style Chicken Salad / 川味口水鸡. Chicken drizzled with chef-special chili oil. Not super hot but the “bang bang” style sauce was delicious and addictive.

Faux Gras Shimeji Mushroom /鹅肝酱抓菇.
white beech mushroom with faux gras sauce. Super crispy yummy fried mushrooms with this “hint” of fois in the batter. It wasn’t a sauce per se, but more a livery quality to the pasty coating of the fry. Well seasoned (salty) and delicious.

Golden Yolk Fried Pumpkin /金沙南瓜绦.
Pumpkin fried with salted egg yolk. Surprisingly delicious. Nice fry.

Seafood Scrambled Milk/ 海皇炒鲜奶.
Scrambled milk and egg white with assorted seafood. Light and creamy and very enjoyable with some vinegar.

Off menu live Turbo, steamed with garlic and ginger. A perfect rendition of this fish with the fabulous soft juicy texture of both the meat and collagen — plus the “sauce” was very subtle and addictive.

Off menu “faux shark fine.” A similar egg white dish with bean sprouts and I’m not sure what, but a really nice crunchy and soft texture.

Off menu Singapore Chili Crab. Two whole Dungeness crabs drowned in sweet and slightly spicy eggy chili sauce. Delicious. Not exactly exactly like the one I had in Singapore, sweeter perhaps, but still super delicious.

Butter-fried bread for sopping up the garlic sauce.

Fried Cabbage with Bacon / 培根炒高丽菜.
Sauteed cabbage stir-fried with house bacon. I always love this dish when it has the pork — and tonight was no exception.

Char Siu. Super sweet and tender. Great BBQ pork!

Braised Tofu with Mushroom / 杂菌烧豆腐.
Braised tofu with assorted mushrooms. Very nice mushroom/tofu. Great texture and flavor.

Crispy stuffed Chicken / 脆皮百花鸡.
Deboned air-dried chicken, shrimp paste. Crispy skin on shrimp paste — was isn’t to love? Could have used perhaps a touch more “flavor.” Some people added salt.

Cheese Lobster Noodle. Weird but hyper addictive.

Laksa Seafood Spaghetti / 喇吵海鲜意粉.
Homemade Laksa sauce (a spicy soup from South-East Asia) with spaghetti, mushroom, and Seafood (Scallops, crab, shrimp). I was very full but I loved this. Strong laksa flavor, not as strong as Cassia or anything, but still strong. Noodles were almost like thin ramen noodles and there was lots of lump crab. Delicious.

Yangchow fried rice.

Funny but delicious Chinese dessert. Sort of a gooey sesame ball.

Summertime calls for — Yuzu Meyer Lemon Sorbetto — Japanese Yuzu Juice, Fresh Meyer Lemon Juice — 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 #sorbetto #yuzu #meyer #lemon

Lemon Cookie and St Agur Fig Walnut.

Overall, a very fun night and I was quite impressed with Colette’s food this time around. I think their dinner menu and execution are better than with the dim sum, which was also pretty decent. Skipping the nasty Pork Trotters also helped. Service and wine policy were great. The only problem is the location. Pasadena is actually a good 15-20 min FURTHER than the SGV. It’s noticable. And it doesn’t have handy foot massage (or at least I haven’t looked for it there).

Best ever!

Overall, this is a weird place. It feels like an American breakfast cafe, but it’s Chinese. The food is mildly fusion. It’s partially dim sum, partially other Chinese. Dishes were hit or miss but nothing really stood out as amazing and it’s not actually “better” in any way than most SGV restaurants. But that’s just the dim sum. A follow-up dinner here turned out an absolutely first class meal. So while I think Colette is nice enough at lunch, it really rocks for less dim sum oriented Cantonese — more on that in another post.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese Food, Colette, Gelato, Pasadena

Mon Ami de Santa Monica

Jun14

Restaurant: Mon Ami

Location: 1541 Ocean Ave Suite 150, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (424) 645-5550

Date: July 29, 2023

Cuisine: 2020s American? Some Levantine influences?

Rating: Tasty, nice courtyard

I’ve eaten in this space as several restaurants — it appears to be cursed due to its hidden courtyard location.

From the website:

Mon Ami is the true Mediterranean experience, with an emphasis of a variety of culinary dishes and spices and inspired spirits with an enhanced flair attached to it from several countries located on or by the Mediterranean Sea such as Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Morocco, & many more with a lot of their food curated and selected from the local Santa Monica Farmers Market. Mon Ami also offers the music and ambiance of the Mediterranean to really make you feel like you’ve escaped away while at our venue.

This is a weird space, hard to see from Ocean Ave, but very clubby. The courtyard is cute.

We had a booth inside here. The space was 41 Ocean long ago. I’ve eaten here as several different things.

The menu.

Mezze Platter. Baba Ghanoush (Roasted Eggplant Puree). Nas-o-Musir (Homemade Yogurt topped with Shallots, Avocado, Tomato and Onion). Whipped Feta (Feta Cheese whipped with Crème Fraiche). Potato Zeppole (Crispy Savory Potato Donuts served with a Spicy Tomato Dip). Good. The whipping made the texture of some of the items lighter than in Turkey.

Calabrian Chili Prawns. Grilled Whole Prawns in a Calabrian Chili Compound Butter. Dry.

Mon Ami Caesar. Romaine Lettuce, Asiago Cheese, Tomato, Shaved Radish, Crispy Garlic with our Mon Ami Caesar Dressing.

Fregola Salad. Couscous Pearls, Avocado, Tomato, Olives, Onion, Lemon Juice.

Mediterranean Branzino. 8 oz. Pan-Seared Mediterranean Seabass with Castelvetrano Olives Tapenade.

Chicken Tagine. Moroccan Spiced Jidori Chicken Thighs, Potatoes and Carrots served in a traditional Tagine Pot. More a sweet chicken stew.

7 Spice Chicken. 7-Spiced Grilled Jidori Chicken served with Fresh Greens. Lots of intense flavor from that sauce and very tender chicken.

Dessert menu.

Loukoumades. Greek Donuts with a Honey Drizzle served with a Cardamon Chantilly cream.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Space is very pretty — food is solid.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: courtyard, Mediterranean, Mon Ami, Santa Monica

Home on the Grange

Jun12

Restaurant: Saddle Peak Lodge [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11]

Location: 419 Cold Canyon Rd, Calabasas, CA 91302 (818) 222-3888

Date: July 27, 2023

Cuisine: Modern American

Rating: Great ambiance and terrific game oriented food.

Ever year, both in the summer and winter, we Hedonists return to Saddle Peak Lodge. It’s pretty much the perfect venue for both a winter or summer food and wine blast, with gorgeous lodge patio, game driven food, and awesome wine service. For those of you who don’t know, Hedonist events have amazing wines (each diner brings at least one bottle).

Tonight’s dinner was Penfolds Grange themed.

Saddle Peak Ranch used to be a game lodge back in the early part of the 20th century. The rich and famous used to come up and hunt Malibu’s finest, such as this poor fellow. Now the deer are just served up on the menu.

The menu.

Amuse of potato leek soup. A bit too “carby” for my taste.

Pretzel bread.

CAST IRON JOHNNYCAKE. Maple Butter. Like dessert cornbread.

WHITE SHRIMP “COCKTAIL”. Cocktail Sauce & Charred Lemon.

PORK BELLY. Vietnamese Flavors, Pickled Vegetables, Herbs, Nuoc Mam, Lime. Nice tangy & fatty flavors. Rich. Some reach crunch to the pork.

6 INCH SPLIT ROASTED BONE MARROW. Chimichurri Sauce, Grilled Ciabatta.

HAND ROLLED CAVATELLI PASTA. Périgord Truffle Sauce, Potatoes, Parmesan, Fine Herbs.

CAESAR SALAD (w/ anchoives). Romaine, Parmesan, Grilled Ciabatta. Oddly sweet dressing.

PINK LADY APPLE SALAD. St. Agur Blue Cheese, Arugula, Shallots, Candied Pecan.

“Tomato salad” (made up by Yarom).

A simple green salad.

NEW ZEALAND LAMB. Chanterelle Mushroom, Farro, Artichokes, Black Truffle Butter.

CHEF’S GAME TRIO. Rabbit | Miso Mash | Baby Carrots | Balsamic Onions | Red Wine Jus Elk Tenderloin | Braised Bacon | Morello Cherry | Celery Root | Sweet Potato Bison Short Rib | Smoked Miso-Potato | Blistered Asparagus | Spicy Pepper & Apple Salad.

Rabbit | Miso Mash | Baby Carrots | Balsamic Onions

Sweet Potato Bison Short Rib | Smoked Miso-Potato | Blistered Asparagus

Red Wine Jus Elk Tenderloin | Braised Bacon | Morello Cherry | Celery Root

2LB BONE-IN WESTHOLME WAGYU BEEF TOMAHAWK FEAST. Westholme Australian Wagyu Beef Ribeye (Marble Score A5-7) | Cooked in herbs & butter over charcoal with Seasonal Accompaniments Served Table Side | Spring Accompaniments: New Potato Puree, Asparagus Cooked 3 Ways, Mushrooms “Bordelaise”.

BRUSSEL SPROUTS. (sweet, sour & salty).

Spinach.

ASPARAGUS

MASHED POTATOES

The dessert menu.

Nocciola Crunch Gelato — Nocciola (hazelnut) base made with egg yolk and Pure PGI Piedmont hazelnut paste mixed with Nestle’s Buncha Crunch — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — new higher fat base formulation — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #hazelnut #nocciola #Chocolate #Nestle #crunch

Salty Pistachio Gelato NSA – Pistachio di Bronte DOGC produces an intense pistachio base to which I added just a touch of salt — this version was formulated No Sugar Added with Allulose — 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 #pistachio #sicily #nuts #salt #nsa #allulose

The wines.

The gang.

Fun evening, and the wines were incredible. But I do remember Saddle Peak’s food being better than this. Both menu and execution getting a touch tired. Service was awesome though.

Click here for more LA restaurant reviews,
Or for Hedonist extravaganzas.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, game, gealto, hedionists, Meat, Saddle Peak Lodge

Royce Return

Jun10

Restaurant: The Royce Wood Fired Steakhouse [ 1, 2 ]

Location: 1401 S Oak Knoll Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106. (626) 585-6410

Date: July 25, 2023

Cuisine: Steakhouse

Rating: One of LA’s best

For years some of the guys have been talking about how good the Pasadena steakhouse, The Royce is…

So I figured I’d give it a try — particularly given that we were doing (mostly) Grange night.

It’s located inside the Langham hotel in Pasadena — which is right by the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens. I hadn’t even known this was here but it’s a lovely “old LA” hotel — really a rare vestige of the classic era of our city.

The Royce itself is a high-end classic (modern) steakhouse.

We had a great (if chilly) private room inside one of the wine cellars.

The menu.

Bread and butter.

JUMBO SHRIMP COCKTAIL. harissa cocktail sauce, grilled lemon. Not everyone’s favorite. Sauce was a bit overwelming. Nothing really wrong with it, but just ok.

HAMACHI CRUDO. granny smith apple and jalapeño relish, avocado mousse, cucumber espuma. Very nice, bright flavors.

CRAB CAKE. leche de tigre, meyer lemon aioli, petit radish salad. Quite solid, also with bright flavors.

ROASTED BONE MARROW. herb crust, pickled fresno chile, grilled black olive bread. Sweet and mildly hot, but delicious. Like a meat pie dessert.

DRY AGED STEAK TARTARE. caramelized onion purée, confit egg yolk, salt and vinegar potato chips. Solid tartare.

GRILLED WEDGE SALAD. grilled iceberg lettuce and radicchio, candied bacon, black garlic ranch dressing. The whole black garlic dressing and slight sweetness didn’t totally work. Not cold enough either.

CAESAR SALAD. white moroccan anchovies, black olive croutons, cured egg yolk, fig and anchovy dressing. Very solid caesar.

OLIVE & LEMON CRUSTED LAMB LOIN. rainbow baby carrots, english peas ragout, roasted cauliflower, carrot jus. Delicious, but not that much split 8 ways.

PORTERHOUSE PRIME. Fabulous smokey steak. Properly medium rare and one of the better steaks I’ve had.

TABASCO BEARNAISE & BORDELAISE. two-day veal stock and red wine reduction. Bordelaise was too sweet and the Bearnaise didn’t have enough punch.

ROASTED WILD MUSHROOMS. fine herbs, aged sherry vinegar. Very nice mushrooms.

ROYCE LOADED BAKED POTATO. potato mousse, crispy potato skins, bacon crumble, five cheese fondue. The cheese fondue was awesome.

FIVE CHEESE MAC AND CHEESE. brown butter breadcrumbs. Just ok.

DOUBLE BONE STUFFED PORK CHOP. Green Dragon Apple Chutney, Pancetta Stuffing, Grilled Cabbbage Macedoine, Bacon Jus. Polarizing. I liked it a lot, but it was a touch dry. Some found it too dry and chewy. Nice porky flavor.

BONE-IN RIBEYE PRIME. Very solid steak with smokey flavors, but not as good as the Porterhouse.

SAUTÉED BRUSSELS SPROUTS. bacon lardons, 63° egg, frisée. Good, if a touch sweet.

POWER GREENS. cream of spinach, baby artichoke, spinach. Very solid creamy green.

DUCK FRIES. tossed in duck fat and garlic. Fabulous fries.

Overall a really good meal. One of the best steakhouse meals I’ve had in years as the meat was quite good. Blows away the likes of Boa.

Overall, this was a great meal. Many of the guys feel that this is the best steakhouse in town. I’m no total expert, but I’ve been to plenty and it’s certainly in the top few. I think at a similar level to Alexander’s and Cut, but probably a touch more classic — i.e. Cut and Alexander’s have edged a touch more off the traditional steakhouse playbook into newer territory. The Royce is pretty straight up. But then again they are contemporary and upscale unlike terrible fossils like Taylor’s — and at The Royce the execution and attention to detail is top notch. Definitely also much better than “middling” steak places like BOA or Del Friscos. Service was great too and the Langham is a really lovely space.

But the drive is long. Sigh.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: hedonists, Royce, steakhouse

Lunch Quest – Bang Bang

Jun08

Restaurant: Bang Bang Noodles

Location: 9355 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.

Date: July 21, 2023

Cuisine: Western Chinese Noodles

Rating: Prefer the SGV

One of my last AFFs before I got too busy with work.

Bang Bang has an outpost in this Culver City food court.

I’ve wanted to try Bang Bang for a while — being the spicy Chinese noodle lover that I am — and it was decent. Certainly the cucumbers, dumplings and dry garlic noodles were solid. But I wasn’t blown away. Sigh.

Knife cut noodles. They are fairly heavy and a bit more awkward than one would want them to be. Nice chew though.

The menu. Lamb was out :-(.

Cold chili cucumbers. This shareable side dish is the perfect complement to any of our noodle entrees as it provides a nice textural contrast with it’s subtle sweet chili crunch. We make limited quantities of this daily, so don’t miss out. This was probably my second favorite dish. Nice crunch and a bit of sweetness.

Mama’s Dumplings. Their mom’s recipe for Pork & Chive dumplings topped with our signature sauce & chili oil. This was my favorite dish. Tangy sweet.

Tingling Cumin Noodle Soup. A Chef favorite that holds Northern Chinese Flavors. This is the perfect bowl of our famous handmade Biang Biang Noodles in a tingling cumin soup. This made to order dish is topped with house chili oil, fresh cabbage, green onions and cilantro.

A wonton soup. Couldn’t find it on the menu.

Szechuan Garlic Noodles Soup with Braised Beef. This is their new fan favorite and specially crafted for all those garlic lovers out there that appreciate the aromatics that makes this dish really come to life! And to take it up a notch, they’ve incorporated a signature Szechuan chili that really takes this dish to the next level! Much less flavorful than the dry noodle.

Szechuan Garlic Noodles Dry. This is their new fan favorite and specially crafted for all those garlic lovers out there that appreciate the aromatics that makes this dish really come to life! And to take it up a notch, they’ve incorporated a signature Szechuan chili that really takes this dish to the next level! This was my favorite noodle and certainly had tons of flavor — but it could have had more heat and more garlic :-).

Tingling Cumin Noodle Dry with Braised Beef. This Dish Is Influenced by Northern Chinese Spices. Fresh handmade Biang Biang noodles are made to order in our signature tingling cumin sauce, a dash of homemade chili oil, aged black vinegar, topped with fresh cabbage, green onion, and cilantro. Lots of cumin, but the noodles are heavy and awkward.

Xi’an Tomato Dry Noodle with Mushroom. An authentic Biang Biang Noodle that brings Fresh Flavors from Xi’an. They’ve utilized fresh stewed tomatoes, crisp bok choy, seasoned ground soy, chives, house chili oil and (in this case) mushrooms. My least favorite of the noodles, a bit bland.

Overall, I didn’t love Bang Bang — despite being a Chinese noodle fiend. Part of it was the take out container and food-court format, part was that it just wasn’t intense enough.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: AFF, Bang Bang Noodles, Chinese Food, Lunch Quest, noodles

Majordomo 2023

Jun06

Restaurant: Majordomo [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

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

Date: July 17, 2023

Cuisine: Korean Fusion

Rating: Big dishes amazing

It’s with gigantic expectation that NY restaurateur David Chang opened his first LA outpost last year and since then it’s become a regular foodie and wine destination among my friends. Tonight is my sixth visit, and my third time with the Hedonists. It’s pretty much a summer tradition now.

Looking on the map, I was pretty skeptical of the weird between Chinatown and Dodger’s Stadium location — a totally annoying spot for me to get to during traffic! Two brutal hours!

The area is extremely warehousey, much like the “Arts District” but even newer. This particular time, dropping off at night, we joked about our life expectancy.

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

With lots of bespoke graffiti.

And Majordomo, of course.

Which has a pretty big enclosed and outside space (which we ate in this third time). Have to say, the outside space was actually preferable. Less crowded and quieter.

As you can see.

Inside is one of those cavernous loud warehouse spaces.

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

But we setup outside on the patio at a large table (actually the 2022 pic).

The menu.

Crudo plate.

Tuna Tataki. Honey, citrus, habanero. More sweet than spicy.

Yellowtail special crudo. Kinda bland actually.

Dungeness Crab Salad – ginger, melon, asparagus. Nice, with a sweet and tangy flavor. Very crabby.

Bing plate. This pita-like bread is spread as desired with the ordered condiments.

Lady Edison Country Ham. Very tasty ham. Like American prosciutto.

The actual bings (very addictive).

Whipped Ricotta, Jam, Chili Crunch. This was a really tasty blend of soft cheese, aged strawberry jam, and the chili. Very interesting blend and quite effective.

Smoked Eggplant & Pine Nut. Tasty.

Butter, Honey, Black Truffle. Delicious combo — although sweet, of course.

Heirloom Tomatoes – sherry vinaigrette, stone fruit, sesame.

Grilled Yu Choy – yogurt, plum, chickpea. I didn’t actually try the veggies (they were gone) but the yogurt had a delicious and very interesting flavor.

Clam Lo Mein – garlic, thai chili, lemon. A nice pasta.

Fried Shrimp – salsa seca, walnuts, honey. Really delicious shrimp. I had like a third of a plate. Quite sweet, garlicky, and a touch spicy.

Crispy Potatoes – garlic, chili, lemon mayo. These were awesome. The potatoes were incredibly crispy and coated in a very “Buffalo Wing” style sauce. The sea of lemon mayo was extremely ranch-like and so the overall vibe was like a much better, much crispier, “Buffalo Wing” kind of thing.

Smoked Half Bo Ssäm – (feeds 4-5) ssam, condiments, rice.

Condiments for the pork. Hoisin and pickles. You make a lettuce wrap (I didn’t use the rice). Some argued that the pork was a little dry, but I didn’t think so if you loaded enough moist pickles etc in there. Very rich and satisfying.

Rice.

One of these snuck in.

Whole Plate Short Rib – (feeds 5-6) ssam, condiments, beef rice.

The short rib all sliced up. Awesome thin slices and great tasting, but a bit chewy meat on the bone.

Various condiments for the beef. Pickles, spicy Korean chili paste etc

Veggie wraps.

An example of a “taco.” Then the ribs themselves are added on. Overall this is scrumptious meat, particularly when wrapped in lettuce with all the condiments. Like a great BBQ Brisket.

Beef rice. Very tasty — rich of course.

Smoked Prime Rib – au jus, horseradish, BS fries. This was the best prime rib I’ve ever had. So so much better than regular prime rib with that fantastic smoked flavor. Super tender too.

Horseradish.

BS fries. Very good, particularly with the sauces.

Béarnaise sauce.

Boiled Whole Chicken – rice, domojang, ginger scallion, hand torn noodle, soup. Very tender and delicious. Some fabulous moist chicken breast with a lot of flavor (both types).

Hand torn noodle, soup. Actually pretty awesome — even if we were all very full — with a great pepper flavor. Like the peppery version of classic chicken noodle soup.

Back from Türkiye with a new flavor — Sultan’s Delight — Iranian Saffron base with house-made Pistachio Cremino, Chopped Pistachios, and Rose-Water Pistachio Turkish Delight — many ingredients 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 #cremino #TurkishDelight #Türkiye

Wines for the night. Thank the lord we ditched all those over-saturated SQNs.

Yarom dual wields the bones.

Overall, we had a great time at Majordomo. You do need a decent sized party for the awesome large dishes and you need to preorder. Tonight we had 8, which is perfect as the big dishes easily go around 8 ways and the smaller ones you can order two of. The prime rib was amazing too.

The service and wine service were both spectacular. I was really surprised as these loud hipster places often don’t have good wine service but we were really taken care of and this added a lot to the evening. We had a great (large) table in the back corner of the patio and a huge unused table next to it for our gear, wines, etc. They were super attentive. Really unusually good service for this level.

The larger pre-order dishes like the rib and pork and chicken are amazing and insane. We planned on also getting the chicken, but we were so stuffed we had to cancel it. Tonight the food seemed the best yet, even if we did have a lot of (delicious) carbs. Pastas and the fried rice were amazing too. Really liking everything about Majordomo other than the distance to get there — well and maybe how I felt trying to sleep later after all that fat, salt, and massive red wine.

So good to not have the SQNs and return to some decent wines.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for epic Foodie Club meals, here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: bbq, BYOG, Gelato, hedonists, Majordomo, Meat, Wine

Staycation – Tang Dynasty

Jun03

Restaurant: Tang Dynasty

Location: 227 W Valley Blvd Floor 3 Ste 348, San Gabriel, CA 91778. (626) 213-2888

Date: July 15, 2023

Cuisine: Vaguely Hunan + skewers?

Rating: Tasty, almost Chinese “bar food”?

Part 2 of the 2023 “Staycation” brings us to Tang Dynasty on the 3rd floor of the Hilton Shopping Plaza.

Top floor of this mall I’ve been too lots of times.

The frontage.

This location used to be Chang’an — not the one in Tustin but a different Chang’an I never visited — but now it’s changed to Tang Dynasty and not bothered to change signs. They just wrote in Tang Dynasty by hand!

The somewhat bar-like interior. Unusually for the SGV it got crowded more like at 9pm.

Charcoal BBQ!

Cooking up some skewers.

The private room we should have had, but didn’t!

Preserved egg, eggplant, and pepper. That classic hunan “smash pot” with the very savory eggplant and the strong “msg” flavor — perfects from the delicious century egg.

Smashed Cucumber Salad (aka Hot and Sour Cucumbers). Wasn’t hot. It was a fine smashed cucumbers, although not as good as the one at the Juicy Dumpling lunch.

Spicy Bean Curd Salad. It wasn’t spicy, but the texture was nice.

Special Hunan Cured Duck. This was polarizing. I loved it. Medium spicy (but with some kick) boneless “duck jerky.” Unique and full of flavor.

House Special Seafood Pot. A huge (this was about 20″ across) bowl of wuhan dry pot style mixed seafood. Also corn, french fries, and cauliflower. The seafood was shell-on shrimp, crawfish, crab chunks, squid bits, and clams. Really quite awesome if super messy.

Crispy Chicken Skin Skewer. Awesome chicarone-like snack. Lots of mildly spicy cumin taste.

Chicken Cartilage Skewer. Great flavor, but you do have to crunch through them or spit out the “boney” bits.

House Special Lamb Skewer. Lots of fat and flavor.

Beef Liver Skewer. They called this Beef Loin on the menu. Ooops. This was the least favorite as it’s hard to eat too much liver. I’m not sure it’s beef liver either. Hard to tell.

Pork Belly Skewer. Bacon basically and awesome.

Sausage Skewer. Tasty, salty, and more than a little sweet.

Grilled Squid. Pretty delicious.

Skewers!

Grilled Leek. Nice and salty and delicious.

Stir fried cabbage. A great version of this classic.

Preserved and sliced pork stir fry. More or less Hunan with the chilies (not that spicy) and the yummy salty “preserved pork”. That stuff is great in that salty, smoked, cured way.

Another round of pork and chicken skin.

Tea Smoke Mushroom Dry Pot. More or less a stir-fry. I liked these fibrous mushrooms. Some pork snuck its way into this dish for exellent flavor.

Lamb Stew with Vermicelli. I didn’t notice the noodles but this was my least favorite dish as it was “mouton stew.” Good for what it was, but this is a gamey dish.

Scrambled Eggs with Shrimp. Kinda perfect version of this simple dish.

Yanchow Fried Rice. Moist, but not that fried. Sort of like the version you’d get at most Chinese American restaurants.

Mapo Tofu. A tiny bit of numbing. No meat. Nice texture to the tofu itself. This was enjoyable, but was a very middling Mapo.

Cumin Lamb. Interesting Hunan version of cumin lamb. The lamb was good and I enjoyed the chili and celery vibe.

Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Vegetables and Buns. I didn’t eat the buns but the pork belly itself (and the preserved veggies) was quite good. Salty and very tender (fatty) without that weird medicinal taste this dish sometimes has.

The server (Irene?) gave us a free round of these very sweet shots. Basically Jolly Rancher melted into a small amount of vodka? From the back, lemon, pomegranate, pineapple, and I can’t remember.

Overall, a very fun night. The place is interesting with the charcoal skewer and Hunan and shots mix. Food is actually pretty good. It’s not the spiciest Hunan, but it is actually kinda Hunan. And the skewers were very good. Relatively limited skewer menu compared to Charcoal #1. And that place is much better for skewers, but it does have the styrofoam problem.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Bludsos BBQ Santa Monica

Jun01

Restaurant: Bludsos BBQ

Location: 1329 Santa Monica Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90404. (310) 310-2775

Date: July 13, 2023 and September 2023

Cuisine: BBQ

Rating: Fine, but a bit dry

They’ve moved in at 14th and Santa Monica.

Typical interior with a long bar.

The menu. You can actually get 1/4 lb of different meats which really helps. Otherwise it would be odd.

Hotlinks on the left (pretty good). Pulled pork in the back (good but a touch dry). Rib tips at the bottom (delciious, maybe a bit sweet) and brisket on the right (amazing and very fatty). There were regular (a bit sweet) and spicy (spicy sweet) sauces. There didn’t seem to be a carolina type sauce.

Coleslaw which was dry and not so great.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: bbq, Bludsos BBQ, Santa Monica

Republique Latour

May30

Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]

Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115

Date: July 12, 2023

Cuisine: Modern Bistro French

Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service

I haven’t been back to Republique in a while, but this special Latour dinner was a great excuse!

Still doing great even years later.

We are, of course, in the private room. Way better than downstairs at this very loud but very good restaurant.

The menu.

The trio of amuses.

They came on these little trays.

BLUEFIN TUNA TOAST. kaluga caviar, smoked tomato. Nice smokey taste, almost like there was some lard in there.

TAYLOR KUMAMOTO OYSTER. champagne granité, kaluga caviar.

KALUGA CAVIAR. potato chip. This is a republique classic.

Lovely and quite fresh for its age.

Sadly lightly corked.

KANPACHI CRUDO. weiser farms melon, cherry tomato, lemon cucumber, coconut thai curry, peanuts, basil. Great. Very “Thai” with a strong coconut flavor and great textures.

The infamous bread and butter. So addictive. Knocked me right off the no carb wagon.

WILD PORCINI MUSHROOM SOUP. maine lobster, black truffle. A very nice creamy soup with big chunks of lobster.

CHARCOAL-GRILLED SANTA BARBARA PRAWNS. jus de tête, sauce vin jaune. Great char on the shrimp plus a nice bite and potent sweetness. Tons of acidity in the “shell based” sauce.

Walter visits.

DOVER SOLE À LA MEUNIÈRE. potato gnocchi, sauce matelotte. Fabulous soft fish. I do really like sole done in this classic way. The sauce had a lot of acidity too.

PORCINI TARTE FINE. eggplant, brown butter. Very crispy. The tart base, while it looks like a pizza, was a laminated buttery dough. The combo of the hazelnuts really took it up a notch too.

MEZZE MANICHE. morel mushroom, black truffle. Perfectly al dente with nice bite and a great cheesy truffle vibe.

WOLFE RANCH QUAIL. anson mills polenta, chanterelle mushrooms. The quail was extremely nice and the jus even better!

MIYAZAKI WAYGU. potato mousseline, black truffle. So rich and delicious. Almost too rich for me and that’s saying a lot!

Cheese plate. We had so much wine we needed a bit of cheese.

TIRAMISU. harry’s berries strawberry, white chocolate sabayon. The only thing tiramisu about this was the layers with cream, as it was essentially just a strawberries and cream parfait. But woah was it good. Super fresh and intense berries and a wonderful sweet creamy sabayon.

Lotsta wine!

Another incredible dinner. Even though this was more or less the “default” private room tasting menu, Republique hit it out of the park. Wines were amazing too. haha.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bordeaux, Foodie Club, latour, République

Brothers Shunji

May28

Restaurant: The Brothers Sushi Santa Monica — but not — Shunji Hashiba

Location: 1008 Montana Ave #1, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (424) 330-0270

Date: July 8, 2023

Cuisine: Toyko Sushi

Rating: Awesome — maybe the best sushi I’ve had in the states

Our Foodie Gang has been going to the incredible “The Brothers Sushi” in the valley for some time now, and it was with much glee that we welcomed in the brand new (and somewhat delayed) Montana Santa Monica location. Now it’s become a bit of a staple spot for us.

This meal was special, with Brothers owner Mark hosting Shunji Hashiba, the No.1 Protégé of Tokyo’s world-renowned 3 Michelin star Sushi Saito.
The space used to be the repulsive Louise’s Trattoria, serving not exactly Italian for decades. But Brother’s has given it a major new makeover.

The build out is gorgeous. Here the bar is for omakase only and the tables are for à la carte only.

More details.

Shunji Hashiba, the No.1 Protégé of Tokyo’s world-renowned 3 Michelin star Sushi Saito, came to Los Angeles for a special pop-up event. July 8th, 9th and 10th. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Angelenos to experience one of the most exclusive introduction-only sushiya in the world on US soil.

Of course I’ve eaten at Brother’s itself countless times and really enjoy the cooking of chef Mark O — who was hosting Chef Shunji for this special event.

The menu.

Welcome glass of rose champagne.

The first of our Otsumami dishes, a “welcome dashi.” I small glass of unsalted perch bone stock. Mellow, fishy, delicious, and a perfect cure for any common cold.

Chef Shunji at work.

Kinmedai Sesame Tofu.. Homemade sesame tofu, Goldeneye snapper, Seaweed. Warm sauce, cool fish. Lovely. Salty. Very savory. Had one of those delectable soft squishy textures that many Americans might find “odd.”

Steamed Grouper Sushi. Sushi rice, peas, nori, ginger. Really incredible textures and subtle flavor. The fish was cooked but incredibly moist, like it had been oil poached. The overall blend was just very comforting.

Incredible sake. One of the most fruity I’ve ever had.

Sea Urchin Corn Chawamushi. Sweet corn, Hokaido Uni, Purple something. An absolutely stunning custard. Sweet (from the corn) and salty, with this incredible soft texture puncuated by bits of slightly chewy. There was also a stachy gooey texture not unlike that produced by cooked okra.

Tuna Cheek Tamayaki with Shunji’s special blended Shichimi salt. Two chunks of cooked tuna: kama toro and cheek. One was darker are even more meaty than the other. But were so rich, almost beefy, and very clean tasting. Just perfect with the salty & limey special salt. Or the wasabi. Or both. Or the sunomono style cucumber pickles. Awesome dish.

You can see the special salt better here. It was so good I was eating it plain after I finished the fish. There was some kind of ground citrus rind in there, probably one of the Japanese ones like Yuzu or its cousins. Awesome.

Simmered Octopus. So ridiculously tender. Slightly sweet. I drank the sauce (which was the sweet part). Softest octopus I’ve ever had by a large margin.

Pickles and pickled ginger. The ginger was very mild and didn’t really have any sweetness. There was also cerely and some other bit. I love pickles. Unfortuantly they didn’t refresh them as I could have eaten several containers.

White Baby Shrimp. Every fish tonight was from Japan. This was super soft. Slightly bitter (but good) finish.

King Salmon Nigiri. Shunji marinated it in a soy based solution for a few minutes before forming the nigiri. The fish was melt in your mouth soft.

Bigfin Reef Squid. A bit of yuzu juice and super tender.

Mackerel. Super soft and not very “pickled” (if at all). Formed into one of those little nori “pinch rolls.”

The second amazing sake.

Chutoro. A cloud-like texture.

Kohada Gizzard Shad. Strong in a great way with a bit of a ginger bite.

Otoro. What can we say? Richer than the chutoro, but I actually prefered the cloud like texture of the latter.

Akami Zuke. Amazing.

Trout Caviar Sujiko. These are only available for 2 weeks a year! It’s basically like “underipe” Ikura. I’ve never had any type of trout/salmon roe as a nigri actually. Pretty awesome.

Pink Unicorn sake!

Hamaguri Clam. Sweet sauce like a great eel sauce.

Sea Urchin Roll. Hokaido uni. I’ve never had an uni cut roll. Pretty awesome too.

Whole abalone.

Abalone nigiri. I didn’t know this was a thing. So tender. Definately the most tender abalone I’ve had, and I’ve had some pretty great ones.

Futomaki Roll. Sort of a fancy eel and “new style” futomaki. The composition is traditional but it didn’t have that pink sugar stuff that they have in Japanese train stations. Delicious and more savory than the pure classic, but highly evocative of same as well.

Miso Soup. Super nice.

Tamago Sweet Egg. Not very sweet. Perfect texture.

Special Melon. It’s been a while since I had one of these perfect Japanese melons. They really are THAT good. Soft, complex sweetness. Lovely.

This was an incredible sushi meal and one of the best I’ve ever had. The style is more Japanese and subtle than we can usually get in LA. My current favorite here is Takeda, which is also amazing, but this reached a new level of textural mastery. Everything was just so ridiculously tender and perfectly balanced. Amazing!

Chefs Shunji (left) and Mark (right)!

The whole gang tonight. We had the entire resteraunt and I was a singleton in this group that all knew each other. One guy knows Erick indirectly, but not in person. They were incredibly nice and “took me in.”

For more Sushi dining reviews click here.

A different Eric who in that small-world way knows “my” Erick.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brothers Sushi, sake, Shunji Hashiba, Sushi

Eating Dutch – The Seafood Bar

May26

Restaurant: The Seafood Bar

Location: Amsterdam

Date: July 4, 2023

Cuisine: Seafood

Rating: Pretty similar to a San Francisco style seafooder

Our final meal of the trip (not including bad plane food).

It’s always hard to find somewhere that will please our entire large group and so we tried pretty hard to get into this small chain Amsterdam seafooder — which would.

The menu.

This lovely Sancerre that birthday girl Emma chose.

Fried calamari rings with mayo — nice.

Bitterballen. The classic Dutch croquette and I was told an excellent one at that.

Sea bass ceviche.

Salmon tartare with avocado.

Oysters of several types.

This epic plat du mer had lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, salmon, crab (two types), crab salad, Dutch shrimp (the tiny ones), lagostinas, clams (2 types), mussels and more!

Cesar salad with salmon.

Cod filet with pumkin and beurre blanc.

Dover sole.

Fish and chips “kibbeling” style (in small peices).

Fish and chips “whole cod” style — like in England.

Extra fries with mayo because it’s Holland.

Chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate bavoroise with chocolate ice cream. A bit dry.

Lemon meringue pie.

Expresso martini.

Expresso.

A fun and tasty end to our epic trip. The Netherlands part of the trip wasn’t food focused — nor actually was any of this trip — but we did have some really nice stuff. This place is fairly similar to Santa Monica’s Watergrill or many California-style seafooders, but it had a Dutch bent and was quite delicious.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Amsterdam, Eating Amsterdam, Eating Dutch, Eating Netherlands, Seafood, The Seafood Bar

Eating Amsterdam – Dignita

May24

Restaurant: Dignita

Location: Amsterdam

Date: July 4, 2023

Cuisine: Cafe

Rating: Solid

On our final day in the Netherlands we shuffled west to Amsterdam.

We stopped at this hipster spot in central Amsterdam for a quick lunch.

Attractive outdoor space. For a country with far worse weather than LA, they sure have a lot more nice outside dining — boo on you LA regulators!

Salmon Benny — aka benedict but over hash browns. Cute!

Dutch pancake.

Avo Toast or similar.

Cilbir. Turkish eggs and yogurt with a side of bacon.

Bacon does make everything better.

Shakshouka with yellow tomatoes.

Cappuccino. Dignita would do well in LA — it has a similar hipster/international vibe going on and very good “all day brunch.”

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dutch cuisine, Eating Amsterdam, Eating Dutch, Eating Netherlands

Eating Grubbenvorst – Clevers

May22

Restaurant: Clevers

Location: Lottumseweg 1, 5971 BT Grubbenvorst, Netherlands. +31 77 366 1459

Date: July 2, 2023

Cuisine: Ice Cream Parlor

Rating: Over-the-top sundaes with awesome Ice-Cream

Clevers (pronounced Cleavers) is a local institution in this land of excellent dairy.

For a town of just a few hundred it’s huge!

They have a book-like menu, but here was just a relevant page. They serve a vast array of sundaes.

Mixed berry.

Strawberries and Cream.

Mango Sorbetto.

Pineapple (served in the special pineapple cup).

The backside.

A slightly different berry sundae.

Hazelnut Crunch.

Chocolate Fantasie. Mousse and brownies adorned with ice cream.

Another view.

Chocolate, Vanilla, and Straciatella ice creams.

The Punaise. Hazelnut, walnut, cookies, praline, chocolate, straciatella, truffles, whipped cream and more. This was being bad, really bad. The ice cream was excellent — not gelato — but very creamy soft regular style ice cream. Lots of good stuff in here.

This was a great ice cream place and while the flavors weren’t particularly exotic, the milk quality and soft creamy style of ice cream was first rate.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dessert, Eating Dutch, Eating Grubbenvorst, Eating Netherlands, Ice cream

Eating Maastricht – Spice of India

May20

Restaurant: Spice of India

Location: Achter Het Vleeshuis 27, 6211 GR Maastricht, Netherlands. +31 43 321 6375

Date: July 1, 2023

Cuisine: Indian

Rating: Slow, and too much sugar

I was excited to get some Indian as I’ve had pretty much nothing but Turkish for 3 weeks. This place in Maastricht is a favorite of my friend Gus’.

The town of Maastricht is super cute and lively — it’s been a bustling trade city since Roman times.

Cute interior.

We had as huge table.

Perfectly pleasant petite chablis.

My cryptic notes.

Papadum. These were good.

The chutneys didn’t look like much but the raita was great and the red one had a nice complex sweet spice. There was also a super hot one (not pictured) that was the only really hot thing of the night.

Fried Shrimp. Very panko fry.

Samosas. We had veggie, chicken, and lamb. The shells was nice and thin and crispy, more phylo, but the interior was dry.

King Prawn Kashmiri. Very creamy and mild. VERY creamy as in about 50% heavy cream.

Chicken Tikka Masala. This was the palest creamiest CTM I’ve ever had. Flavor was nice, buit it was really sweet and very mild (and creamy).

Saag Paneer. This had a rougher texture which I liked.

Vegetable Korma. Again super mild and creamy.

Lamb Vindaloo. Supposedly spicy but it wasn’t. At least it wasn’t mostly cream.

Daal.

Fish Dhamask. Nice and garlicky. Fish was scarce.

Lamb Korma. You guessed it: mild and creamy (but nice).

Basmati Rice.

Naan.

Mixed Tandoori Grill. Not enough real meat here.

Ganesh supervises. The food was tasty but WAY WAY too creamy and sweet. Almost dessert like. Also, we had a massive service gap. The apps took awhile and then there was a 2 hour gap between the samosas and a sudden drop of every other item simultaneously. We ate all the papadum and chutneys during the wait! Still, it’s interesting to see Indian in different countries. Still, the company was so good we enjoyed ourselves.

I always find trying “3rd party” national cuisines abroad very interesting. By 3rd party I mean that this was Indian food (3rd party), in the Netherlands. Trying Dutch food in NL or Indian Food in India would of course be more direct, but here it’s Indian filtered through a Dutch lens: in this case a mild and creamy lens!

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Dutch, Eating Maastricht, Eating Netherlands, Indian cuisine, Maastricht

Eating Maasbree – Gemeintehoës

May18

Restaurant: Gemeintehoës

Location: Dorpstraat 20, 5993 AN Maasbree, Netherlands. +31 77 850 9553

Date: June 30, 2023

Cuisine: Dutch gastropub

Rating: Solid

Our first night in the Netherlands we went to this local place in Maasbree. It’s basically contemporary dutch.

The building

The menu.

Vino.

Tuna carpaccio. I think this might have been beef with a tuna sauce. It was good regardless.

Beef Carpaccio.

Beet Carpaccio.

Burrata Salad.

Salmon and Shrimp.

Tom yum soup.

Tomato Soup.

Mustard soup. Yeah, cream and mustard!

Bread.

Simple pasta. Not simple enough for the boy.

Shrimp “Asian style.” Maybe Indonesian.

Shrimp chips.

Salmon.

Sea bass (crusted).

Bacon burger.

Beef short ribs.

BBQ ribs with mayo. These were pretty good, actyually. Covered in sauce.

Side salad.

Fries with mayo. The dutch way — but not drowned in mayo in this case.

Vlaai (pronouced closer to Fly) is the dutch word for pie — they have a lot of it. I suspect they brought it to American in the 18th century.

A chocolate flourless cake.

Some other dessert with a lot of ice cream and whipped cream.

The local specialty vlaai.

Basically custard tart with whipped cream and chocolate. Yummy!

Ice cream sundae.

With the chocolate sauce.

Coffee.

This wasn’t a highly specific cuisine but it was a very enjoyable meal.

For more Dutch dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Dutch cuisine, Eating Dutch, Eating Masbree, Eating Netherlands, Gemeintehoës, Holland

Eating Dalaman – Tao

May16

Restaurant: Tao

Location: Hilton Dalaman Sarigerme Resort & Spa. Sarıgerme, Tourism Center, 48610 Ortaca/Muğla, Türkiye

Date: June 29, 2023

Cuisine: Tepanyaki

Rating: Hmmm

Tao is the “Asian” restaurant at the Dalaman. They have this pan-Asian menu and a separate sub section for Teppan-Yaki which is what we did.

The menu.

Teppan-Yaki was outside at these grill tables.

Micro sushi-sahimi app.

Miso soup.

This Turkish white table wine was fine.

Our grill-master.

Prepping the grill.

Starting the egg fried rice with egg — and some various egg tricks.

T

Fried rice almost ready.

Fried Rice. They used Turkish long grain rice instead of Japanese rice. It was plesant, but a bit different.

Terrayaki sauce on the left and “yum yum” (sweet mayo) on the right.

Beef.

On the plate. Certainly not A5, but plesaant.

Veggie volcano. I didn’t photo these on the plate or the shrimp.

Terrayaki salmon.

Chicken.

Dessert flambe.

Banana, ice cream, and chocolate sauce.

This was a pretty basic “Japanese” meal by my standards, but it was clean and enjoyable.