Brunch :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Brunch

DimSumQuest – Monterey Palace

Aug18

Location: 1001 E Garvey Ave, Monterey Park, CA 91755. (626) 571-0888

Date: January 24, 2023

Cuisine: Cantonese Dim Sum

Rating: Many good, some great items

The DimSumQuest continues with Monterey Park classic Monterey Palace.

It’s right there on Garvey with that classic 90s look.

And the classic Monterey Park dining room.

Hanging roast meats.

Menu.

You have to pay for the basic sauces at $1 a plate.

We ordered this twice and it cost $1. They were out of XO sauce! huh?

Har Gow. Solid, but a little underseasoned. There was a real shrimp in there and the skins were just a touch thick.

Shu Mai. Also a bit underseasoned. Not my favorite. Not bad or anything, just a bit meh.

XLB. The standard “Elite style” pre-packaged tin foil thick XLB. Filling was underseasoned.

Shrimp with Chives dumpling. Filling was a touch underseasoned and skin just a little thick, but certainly pretty good.

Chao Zhou Dumpling. Peanuts inside this one. Better filling, same skin.

Bean Curd Wrap with Oyster Sauce. A nice version of this dish, piping hot. Solid but not the best ever.

Steamed Pork Spare Ribs with Pumpkin. Really excellent version of this dish. Little bone, very tender, and lots of flavor.

Beef Balls with Orange Peel. The typical “dense” beef ball but quite nice.

Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf. Solid enough, but not so much meat. Rice did taste very nice though. Not as good as the incredible 1968 version.

The contents.

BBQ Pork Chow Fun. Solid with the wrapper being a touch heavy but the pork was good. Sauce could have been a touch sweeter.

Sauced.

Flaky BBQ Pork Buns. Flaky laminated lard pastry was great but the filling was minimal and bland. Very meh.

Baked BBQ Pork Pie (or possibly this is the flaky, hard to know). This pastry was great here and the pork pretty good, although not as red and sweet as some. The pastry was just a touch undercooked in the center but the outside and crackle was delicious.

Pan Fried Spring Roll with Taro. The outside was nice and crispy/flaky but the blah taro interior was heavy and flavorless.

Pork Dumpling. The usual glutinious bomb. These were actually a great example of the type with a nice thick, chewy, and slightly sweet skin. Could have used a bit more filling but what was there was delicious.

The nearly hollow interior.

Cantonese Roast Duck. Cold. Once a person adjusted to the temperature this juice duck — while very salted — was absolutely delicious.

Chinese Broccoli with Salted Fish. Nice very salty green veg with lots of crunchy and umami.

Roasted Squab. Solid, probably 7/10, but I have had better versions of this dish quite frequently.

Live Turbot.

Live Turbot, steamed with Garlic and Ginger. Absolutely first rate fish. This had nice flavor and that melt-in-your-mouth flesh quality that the best versions of this dish have. Almost as good as the Chang’an version — which is to say incredible.

Bovon likes a good Turbot.

Baked Snow Capped Bun. Inside was a coconut cream filling. The pastry was nice, but not that sweet and the filling lacked flavor to my taste.

Yum.

Baked Portuguese Egg Tart. These were probably the best example of this classic I’ve ever had. I think the “pastry” chef here is very good. The tart itself almost fell apart but tasted great and the filling was light, eggy, and very fluffy, not too sweet. Spectacular fresh out of the oven.

Thai Durian Puff. Super crispy sprial pastry with durian cream inside. This was again the best durian puff I’ve ever had. That petrol taste was clean and lovely with a really great “creme pat” texture. Fabulous warm.

Insanely good.

Black and White Sesame Balls. Took 30 min to bake! I didn’t try but apparently they were good too.

Overall, the dimsum was solid but generally just “good-” on the scale of SGV made to order dim sum. A couple dishes stood out. The baked pastries were excellent although the savory fillings hit or miss. The sweet baked goods some of the best Chinese sweet baked goods I’ve had anywhere. There was a general tendency to under-seasoning in the savory items. The non dimsum dishes were better, quite salted.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Cantonese Chinese, Dim sum, DimSumQuest, dumplings, lunch

Quick Eats – The Penthouse

Dec26

Restaurant: The Penthouse

Location: 1111 2nd St, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 393-8080

Date: June 11, 2022

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid execution

Over the years I’ve gone to the Penthouse in various guises many times. Hey, I used to go to Toppers here in this space in the 1990s. Food has generally been pretty good, although hotel “trite” (aka very tame). Today was actually my birthday and we headed out for lunch with my family.

The space is lovely with great views.

The brunch menu.

Waffle. Strawberries,Whipped Cream, Vermont Maple Syrup, Melted Butter.

Condiments for the waffle.

Salmon Benedict.

Smoked Salmon Pizzetta. Meyer Lemon Creme Fraiche, Salmon Roe, Lox, Caramelized Onions, Cherry Tomato Confit, Chives. Great, but a touch too salty.

Grilled Wagyu Burger.

Inside said burger.

The view (from one side, it’s actually great — and different — on each side).

The Penthouse is actually pretty good for a hotel restaurant. Yeah, it’s American food (one of my least favorite cuisines), but it’s more interesting than most. And the space is great. At night it can be kinda hopping too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Family, Santa Monica, The Penthouse

Quick Eats – Malibu Pier

Oct06

Restaurant: MALIBU FARM cafe

Location: 23000 E Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu, CA 90265. (310) 456-8850

Date: February 19, 2022

Cuisine: Brunch

Rating: Solid quick brunch

Today my family made a quick stop at the Malibu Pier for some brunch.

At the base of the pier is their restaurant, but it had a 2 hour wait or something. Look at this terrible February weather!

The view looking back.
So we headed toward the end of the pier and the cafe.

The menu.

The cute room.

Swedish Mini Pancakes. Whipped cream and Berries. The pancakes were for my son but I ate the cream and berries, it was pretty good.
Grilled Salmon on Brioche Bun, Black Olive Aioli, Arugula, Tomato, Red Onion, White Rice with Quinoa.

Crab Cake Sandwich on Brioche Bun, Lemon Aioli, Avocado, Tomato, Cabbage Slaw, Baby Potatoes.

Surfer’s Rancheros. Fried Eggs, Squash, Potatoes, Salsa, Corn Tortilla, Sour Cream, Avocado, Feta, Peppers, Onions, Black Beans, Slaw.

Fine casual modern brunch fare in a scenic location. We will have to go back sometime and try the real restaurant.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Malibu, MALIBU FARM cafe, Malibu Pier

888 Not So Late

Feb14

Restaurant: 海珍大酒樓 888 seafood restaurant [1, 2]

Location: 8450 Valley Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 573-1888

Date: December 19, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Dimsum

Rating: good cart dimsum

We had such a good banquet dinner at 888 Seafood a couple of weeks ago that we decided to return and try their dimsum during the day. It should be noted that 888 has been around for a long while — decades — and is still a cart place. I.e. everything rotates around on the steam carts.

Har Gow. Shrimp dumplings. nice.

Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings.

Vegetable Dumplings.

XLB (Xao Lao Bao). Pork soup dumplings. These were tasty, but a bit sticky and pasty.

Shrimp and Vegetable Dumplings.
Shu Mai. Not a bad version of the classic.

Pork ribs. Ugly but delicious.

Beef balls. Also ugly but tasty.

Shrimp Chow Fun. Good for this dish.

Eggplant and Shrimp Paste. Black bean sauce. A little more unusual.

Greens with Sauce. Comes on the dedicated greens cart.

Crunchy top pork buns. A bit sweet and really nice texture.

Baked pork buns.

Shrimp paste with Green Pepper with Black Bean Sauce. Pretty good, actually.

Chewy Pork Dumpling. I always like this texture.
Tofu. Very light and delicate. Nice soft texture.
Bean Curd wrapped veggies.

Cantonese Luke Warm Roast Duck. Pretty juicy, but very luke-warm, almost cool.

Pork Hock with Bok Choy. Delicious! Several people popped their pig’s feet cherry on these.

Fatty Beef Ribs. Rich sauce and thick slabs of beef that didn’t seem so Chinese.

Chicken Feet in XO sauce.

Seafood on crispy Chow Mein. Yum!

Pineapple Buns with custard and real pineapple chunks — great. Had several even though I was very full.

Macao Tart — ok, a bit mild.

Dimsum at 888 was solid, but not particularly interesting or super fresh. Definitely a notch or two down from the made to order places. Shells were a bit “sticky” which indicates they have been sitting in the steamers for a bit while they wheel around. Non dimsum dishes were more interesting. This is more like the way SGV dimsum was 10-15 years ago.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Cantonese Chinese, Dim sum, dimsum, dumplings, hedonists, lunch, Lunch Quest, SGV

Không Tên – Brunch

Jul29

Restaurant: Không Tên LA [1, 2]

Location: 11520 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (424) 832-7000

Date: June 16, 2019

Cuisine: Vietnamese Fusion

Rating: Really tasty, great place

For father’s day brunch I and the family venture back to my friend Kim Vu’s Vietnamese Fusion place, Không Tên.

Coincidently too, my old kitchen lead from RnR, who I’m also still friendly with, sometimes moonlights here.

The location is on a busy stretch of Pico just west of the 405, close to Sawtelle.

The brunch menu.

From my cellar: 2014 Christophe et Fils Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. 92 point. Stone fruit, pear, lemon, saline. Palate is mid-width, fresh and reasonably long.

Thao Farm Bok Choy Salad. Terry Farm Asian Pear, Weiser Farm Rainbow Carrot, Toasted Almonds, Watermelon Radish, Coriander Lemon Vinaigrette. Good salad with nice texture variations.

Tamai Farm Swiss Chard Hash. Shitake Mushroom, Weiser Farm Root Vegetables.

Crab Benedict. Sauteed Thao Farm Greens and scallions & dill. “Mother” Hollandaise. This was a wicked good “benedict”. The combo of creamy crab, veggies, a bit of bread, and a lovely blend of lemongrass and other Vietnamese flavors was awesome.

From my cellar: 2017 Ameztoi Getariako Txakolina Hijo de Rubentis. 90 points. pale color, a little spritz at the outset, fresh, dry, excellent with summer.

Steak and Eggs. Caramelized Sirloin Steak, watercress, roasted tutti frutti tomato, red onion, sesame, 2 sunny side up eggs.

Simple French Toast.

K10 Chicken & Waffles. Thao Farm Sweet Potato Spider Waffle, saigon cinnamon, organic chicken, 5 spice palm sugar syrup, house hot sauce. Also really great. The chicken itself was like chicken snitzel but the mixture of crunchy textures was great and taken up by the sweet and savory thing, the herbs, and the hot sauce.

Some Gelato I made (and brought):

Crema Fiorentina Zabaione — Marsala Orange Vanilla Zabaione base with Blackberry Mango Coulis — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — Very close to the oldest gelato flavor!! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #orange #Zabaione #CremaFiorentina

Salted Caramel Chocolate — House-made salted caramel forms the core of this base which then is layered with house-made Valrhona dark chocolate ganache and Valrhona milk chocolate chips — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — my best salted caramel yet — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #caramel #chocolate #Valrhona #ganache

Overall, Không Tên is a hidden little gem. The food is very very good and quite interesting. It’s far more “American with Vietnamese flavors” then a more Vietnamese Fusion place like Little Sister. Quite creative. Also every dish is delicious. It might be a touch understated though, as it’s not super flashy in tonal style. And it’s a nice little space and reasonable too boot. If you’re on the Westside and like this sort of food at all, you should definitely give it a try! I believe at current it’s open only at dinner, which is even more delicious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, BYOG, Gelato, Vietnamese cuisine, Vietnamese Fusion, Wine

Capital Dim Sum

Dec03

Restaurant: Capital Seafood Beverly Hills

Location: 50 N La Cienega Blvd #130, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 855-1234

Date: October 10, 2018 and August 1, 2019

Cuisine: Chinese Dim Sum

Rating: Good for this far west

Finding great Chinese west of the SGV has long been a problem, but the “great wall” between east and west has been cracking with lots and lots of new openings closer to (my) home.

Capital is the latest SGV place to move west, occupying the Newport Seafood Beverly Hills location that failed to work out. Not that I love even the original Newport, but Capital is fairly straight up banquet / dimsum Cantonese.

The space looks pretty Chinese, even in Beverly Hills.

Coves. Gotta have the coves!

The made to order dimsum Menu.

Sauces were great. The chili sauce and XO both awesome.

Cold Spicy jellyfish (8/1/19). Nice chew and great Szechuan-style spice flavor.

Shrimp and pork shui mai. Classic, but well done versions.

Spinach Mix Veggie Dumplings. We had a vegetarian in the house.

Shrimp Har Gow. Very nice, not too sticky either and kept together.

Tofu Skin Roll with shrimp. I like these bean curd wrapped thingies. The goji berries were a different touch.

Beancurd stuffed with shrimp (8/1/19). Great spongy textural play.

XLB (steamed pork dumpling). Solid versions of this amazing dish. A touch pasty, but oh so good.

Shrimp, scallop, and peanut dumplings. Dumplings always rule.

Baked BBQ Pork Pastry. Super rich lovely pastry and sweet BBQ pork.

Baked Honey BBQ Pork Bun (8/1/19). This is my favorite of the pork bun styles with the sweet bread stuffed with delicious sweet BBQ pork.

Stuffed Shrimp and Scallop Ball (8/1/19). The inside of this fried fellow is a shrimp and scallop cake/paste. Delicious with the provided mayo.

Steamed Cilantro Rice Noodle (Chow fun). I’ve never had it with just cilantro. A little bland but the rice noodle texture was excellent.

Minced Beef Rice Noodle (8/1/19). Tastier than the cilantro version.

Taiwanese Shrimp Egg Roll. I really liked these super hot, ultra fried, mega crispy cigarette-like spring rolls.

Deep fried mushroom egg roll.

Rice Noodle with XO Sauce. I loved these chewy rice cakes smothered in spicy XO sauce. Very soothing texture and a lot of salty umami XO flavor.

Lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice (8/1/19). Classic and filling.

Dried Shrimp and Pork Dumpling. The chewy fried bomb shaped dumplings were excellent.

Shrimp and chives dumpling (pan fried). Also greasy fried flavor.

Steamed Chinese Broccoli (8/1/19). Pretty tasty.

Roasted half duck (on the house). Really succulent and moist. Delicious.

Salt and pepper eggplant. Fried and salty and very hot (temperature) but delicious.

Seafood with Pan Fried Egg noodles (8/1/19). I’ve loved this dish for over 40 years!

On my 8/1/19 visit I brought these home-made (by me) gelati:

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

Cioccolato Fondente Torrone Gelato — I’ve been working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolates — a total of 22.5% cocoa by weight — extremely intense — offset slightly by Italian soft nougat (torrone) — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #torrone

Overall, Capital Seafood is middling level dimsum for the SGV but excellent for Beverly Hills. Almost certainly the best west of the SGV. One of the only rivals is The Palace, which is good, but still the cart format. The manager/owner was awesome. Service was very attentive, but a little weird in that a few of the girls hovered uncomfortably close. They were trying though.

On our second visit service was clean and unobtrusive. Food was fresh and tasty. Really quite good. Not the BEST dimsum in the known world but still first rate.

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

By: agavin
Comments (4)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Brunch, Cantonese cuisine, Capital Seafood, Dim sum, dimsum, dumplings, hedonists, lunch, XLB

Quick Eats – Courtyard Kitchen

Sep01

Restaurant: The Courtyard Kitchen

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

Date: July 19, 2018

Cuisine: American

Rating: Cute brunch place

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

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

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

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

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

Ice tea in the omnipresent mason jar.

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

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

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

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Courtyard Kitchen, Montana, Santa Monica

Quick Eats – Margo’s

Jul17

Restaurant: Margo’s

Location: 1534 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 829-3990

Date: June 2 & July 6, 2018

Cuisine: American

Rating: Fine brunch

In the early 00s my wife and I ate most Saturday brunches on Montana in Santa Monica, and we tried everything there.

This space, relatively newly opened as Margo’s was Ox & Son before it (did that) and Cafe Montana before that (ate there dozens of times — they had really awesome pies and cakes in conjunction with Balabu). As Cafe Montana I used to see Arnold Schwarzenegger all the time here.

Anyway, now it’s Margo’s, so we tried it for brunch in a 3.0 incarnation. Space is darker.

The lunch/brunch menu.

Salmon Benedict with potatoes. Solid.

Breakfast Burrito with eggs, sausage, etc. A good one too, even if this is simple LA breakfast fare.

Biscuits. Can’t totally take the Southerner out of me.
Omelet with potatoes.
t

Fried chicken sandwich with fries. It had cheese and aioli and pickles on it. Could have used more flavor.

Chocolate gluten free olive oil cake. Not too bad.

Certainly solid for local casual brunch. I’ll have to try again and sample more.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Margo's, Montana, Santa Monica

Fake Chard at Grand Harbor

Jun25

Restaurant: Grand Harbor [1, 2]

Location: 5733 Rosemead Blvd, Temple City, CA 91780. (626) 280-2998

Date: May 20, 2018

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Solid B+ dim sum and Cantonese treats

It has become traditional for the Dirty Dozen (our blind tasting group within a group) to do white wine lunches over dim sum — which is by far my preference given some alternatives because despite the timing problems with wine tasting and Chinese Food, I just always love good Chinese food. And so one year exact to the day after our last visit to Grand Harbor we return.

The wine theme today was New World Whites — ick.

Grand Harbor is a relatively new Hong Kong place in Temple City from Jackie Zhou.

The dining room is huge and opulent in that chintzy Chinese way. I would have thought from all the overzealous cove lighting that the space was built out in the 80s, but apparently it’s only a year or two old!

Real marble blends non-so-seemlessly with faux-alabaster. They have wine too like many of the new high end places. Mostly big young red wine like Bordeaux which totally fails to pair with Cantonese Chinese, but it’s the thought that counts.

XO sauce on the table to start, which is a nice touch.

This time we had a private room — much better. Today was a small crew too, only 7 of us, probably because of the lame New World White theme.

From my cellar: NV Ruinart Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut. VM 92. Light yellow-gold. Smoky citrus and orchard fruits on the deeply perfumed, mineral-tinged nose. Offers broad, toasty orange and pear skin flavors with an undercurrent of dusty minerals. Picks up floral and ginger nuances with air, along with hints of iodine and tarragon. Rich yet lively blanc de blancs with powerful back-end lift and finishing grip.

agavin: my favorite wine of the day. lol. and it wasn’t even part of the official set.

Marinated cucumbers. Very good, nice crunch and a bit of heat. These were so good we ordered them again.

From my cellar: 2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault. JG 90. All of the vineyard plots for this new villages bottling hail from the former Domaine Emmanuel, with the lion’s share having been the old Clos de la Baronne bottling. This is a very deep and classy AC bottling and a welcome new addition to the Roulot lineup, wafting from the glass in a blend of apple, tangerine, nutskin, a very pretty base of soil and just a touch of vanillin oak. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and quite classic, with a very pretty blend of soil and pure fruit, nice framing acids and very fine length and grip on the open and classy finish. This is not a particularly minerally example of Meursault, but it has all the charm and early generosity one would like to see in a villages bottling, and this will delight right from the start, but I would be inclined to give it at least a year of bottle age to allow its secondary layers of complexity to emerge.

agavin: Jen allowed me to slip in a ringer because I hate new world whites (and barely have any) and because I had the theory that even a village Roulot would blow them away. Unfortunately, the bottle was mildly corked and therefore very short on fruit. Even so it came in #4 (middle of the pack) despite being corked. Sigh.

Brian brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard. VM 95+. The 2013 Chardonnay Eastside Vineyard is one of the most tightly wound wines in this range. White pepper, crushed rocks, smoke, mint and lemon peel gradually open up, but only with great reluctance. Today, it is the wine’s energy and tension that stand out above all else. A vivid, mineral-drenched finish rounds things out in style.

agavin: the winning wine (Brian again taking the title). Today turned out to be an Aubert tasting.

Scallop & shrimp dumplings with dried roe. Nice dumpling with a bit of a different vibe.

Har gow. Crystal shrimp dumplings. Nice.

Chui Chow style dumplings.

Shu Mai. Shrimp and pork dumplings. Nice version of the classic.

Shanghai style XLB. solid little bags of goodness. These are the classic soup dumplings stuffed with pork and hot broth.

Yarom with the manager.

Larry brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay CIX Estate Vineyard. VM 96. The 2013 Chardonnay CIX Vineyard is another reticent wine, but there is plenty of depth, volume and raciness. With time in the glass, deeper, soil-inflected notes, graphite, chamomile and honey open up, adding considerable complexity and nuance. Bright, saline notes punctuate the finish. The CIX starts off slow, but then really accelerates with air.

agavin: ranked #2

Yarom brought: 2013 Aubert Chardonnay Larry Hyde & Sons. VM 95. The 2013 Chardonnay Larry Hyde and Sons is gorgeous. Lemon curd, white flowers, white pepper and mint lift from the glass. Effortless, gracious and lifted in the glass, the 2013 impresses for its brightness and tension, but there is plenty of the trademark Aubert richness in the glass. The Hyde finishes with notable energy and subtlety.

agavin: ranked #5-6, oddly cloudy (storage in Yarom’s guest room?)

Jen slipped in: 2016 Kirkland Signature Chardonnay Signature Series Russian River Valley. Tasted like oak.

agavin: fortunately came in dead last, keeping the balance in the universe.

Crispy fried chicken cartilage. Always a favorite and really tasty.

Beef rolls. Good versions of this dish (which isn’t generally a favorite of mine). Not as heavy as some.

Pork inside a chewy fried skin. Excellent version with a good amount of meat and not too greasy.

Tofu in tangy sauce. Nice soft fried tofu with a delicious tangy, hot, sweet sauce.

Lightly fried dumping. Can’t remember the filling but they were good.

Golden batter pork buns. Spectacular with the sweet pork inside.

Shrimp rice noodle. Known in my household as “shrimp slime.”

Green onion rice noodle. I think, I can’t remember what was inside for sure.

2016 Ovid Experiment W3.6. 92 points. Light yellow. Fresh and vibrant nose. Multiple grapes, changes every year. Rhone varietals, and nicely put together. Interesting . As it warmed up the Roussanne seemed to be the emphasis.

agavin: I liked this slightly floral white.

Ron brought: 2002 Sine Qua Non Whisperin’ E. VM 94. a blend of 50% roussanne, 31% viognier and 19% chardonnay; 14. 9% alcohol. Pale-medium gold. Roasted, oaky aromas of peaty Islay scotch and smoke, with a strong mineral component. In the mouth, this offers a fascinating combination of a firm pear skin edge and lively acids on the one hand and superripe flavors of pineapple, peach nectar and honeysuckle on the other. The flavors suggest thickness but the wine’s phenolic edge keeps it brisk. Finishes very subtle, pliant and long, with excellent lift. A captivating, suave California white wine. I’d be more enthusiastic about Northern Rhone whites if they had the fruit of this one.

agavin: I don’t normally like white Rhones but I liked these two much better than the fake Chards

One of the managers really pushed these roast pigeons on us. I was skeptical, as I came for dim sum, but these were excellent birds. Juicy, with a lot of flavor and a nice crispy skin. We had two halves each and were VERY full.

Pork chops causeway style. Never had pork chops in this style, with the crispy garlic and some chilies, but it really worked.

Crispy pan fried noodles with egg and beef and cilantro. Really good, you could cut it almost like a pancake.

Pea tendrils with garlic. Excellent green.

House special fried rice. With the Chinese sausage. Yum.

“Pineapple” buns. Basically a custard inside.

I also brought a pair of Sweet Milk Gelati (that I made). Mexican Cinnamon Chocolate Gelato with optional house-made chili caramel (not shown).

and Pure Sicilian Sweet Almond Gelato with Scorza di Limone (candied lemon peel).

My bad notes.

The score card.

The lineup.

Overall, Grand Harbor had very solid dim sum, at the level just below Elite where a lot of good but not perfect places stand. I’d certainly happy to chow down on it again. They did seem to use a lot of MSG because I was HAMMERED by it about 45 minutes later. Non dim sum dishes were excellent and they have a VAST menu of them. Worth coming for an evening banquet.

This second meal we didn’t have nearly as many people and so didn’t get to try as many dishes unfortunately. What we had was very good but the previous time was epic.

Service here was fabulous. This time we had the private room and they really took care of us. They kept trying to bring us more stuff, all of which was delicious.

The smaller group was a lot of fun. More relaxed, less craziness, and it was a very enjoyable lunch. I wasn’t a big fan of the wines. Shame my Roulot was corked — as I preferred the Ruinart Champagne to all the official whites!

Overall, a super fun afternoon!

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, BYOG, Chardonnay, Dim sum, dimsum, Dirty Dozen, Grand Harbor, hedonists, SGV, Wine. gelato

Lunetta All Day

May05

Restaurant: Lunetta All Day

Location:2420 Pico Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 581-4201

Date: March 31 & April 21, 2018

Cuisine: American

Rating: solid

Not too long along iconic (but dated) Santa Monica restaurant Josie closed and has rebooted as:

But I didn’t actually go to Lunetta proper, which is dinner only, but to their next door “Lunetta All Day.” Why this is a separate space is a bit mysterious as the main dining room is sitting there empty during the day. I guess because they wanted one more “bar like” and one more “diner like”. It’s all modern California farm to table.

It’s a typical new mid-scale brunch space.

With yummy looking pastries.

All day has a niceish patio.

The menu.

Omelet and salad.

Very thick VERY salty bacon.

Nicoise Salad. White albacore tuna, soft-boiled egg, roasted potatoes, lemon zest haricot vert, kalama olives, confit tomatoes, red wine mustard vinaigrette. Deconstructed.

The man Nicoise components are seperate and you can “add?” them to the salad. Nice presentation though.

The salad. Not really exactly your traditional Nicoise even if the ingredients are similar.

Wood Fired Eggs. Buffalo mozzarella, eggplant, kalamata olives, basil, mesquite tomato sauce. Decent, but I expected more acidity and/or flavor. Relatively mild.

Eggs Benedict Gravlax. house cured gravlax, dill hollandaise saice, petit rustic.

Crispy Chicken & Pancakes. Fried Jidori chicken breast, lemon ricotta pancakes, pure maple syrup, clarified butter, fried free range egg.
Baked goods looked… well good.

Overall, nice spot. Service was pleasant but overworked. Seemed there was only one person on the whole patio and they weren’t keeping up with the basics. Food was pretty, and had very good ingredients. I didn’t taste that much but the flavors weren’t quite bold enough for me. I’ll have to try again, there is a pretty big menu.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Eggs, Lunetta, Lunetta All Day, Santa Monica

Eating NY – Baker & Co

Aug28

Restaurant: Baker & Co

Location: 259 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10014. (212) 255-1234

Date: July 5, 2017

Cuisine: Vaguely Italian

Rating: good eggs

Off to Greenich Village for brunch — in the middle of the week.

Some google searching brought us here to this menu.

Eggs, scrambled with thick cut bacon and fries. The bacon was so thick it was like a smoked pork chop.

Benedict. With burrata, truffle, poached egg, hollandaise, and prosciutto. GREAT Benedict. I’m going to have to remember this and use the burrata/truffle thing again.

Overall, we were the only people in here and the food seemed solid, but too small a sample to really give any verdict.

For more New York dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Baker & Co, Baker's Lunch, Brunch, eating_new_york, Eggs, New York

Wolf

Jul14

Restaurant: Wolf

Location: 7661 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046. (323) 424-7735

Date: June 11, 2017

Cuisine: Contemporary

Rating: Nice brunch

Meeting friends for brunch on my birthday!

We decided to venture east to Wolf, a casual new place by my fried, Chef Marcel Vigneron (check out a meal he cooked at our house here). Off the bat it gets cool points for the uni-wolf.

Inside is casual and funky. They share a kitchen with Beefsteak his adjoining vegetarian restaurant.

The brunch menu.

Bloody Mary. It had some other name and was very smoked.

Turmeric Latte. Turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, honey, almond milk. Tasted great. Very earthy. No caffeine though.
Matcha Latte. Matcha, spirulina, maca, vanilla, coconut oil, almond milk. Very creamy and nutty. The almond milk offset the bitter matcha qualities nicely.

Hibiscus Latte. Hibiscus, almond milk. Not as popular with those that tried it.

The fat stack. Pancakes (minus the strawberry/rhubarb sauce).

Chicken and waffle. Buttermilk, maple whip, hot sauce. This was a great chicken and waffle. The combo of sweet, salty and hot was perfect. Nice fried chicken, very sweet maple whip, and a good bit of heat from the chili oil like sauce.

Waffle. Maple syrup, berries, whipped cream, powdered sugar.

Herb omelet. Mushrooms, goat cheese, side salad. The omelet eater didn’t love this dish.

Eggs Benedict. Hollandaise, coddled egg, spinach, smoked pork.

$10k Burger. avocado, sunnyside egg, muenster, watercress, potato roll. Most of the stuff was on the side here by request.

Bacon.

Avocado.

Sunnyside egg.

Crispy Potatoes. Aji amarillo aioli, lime, cilantro, serrano. Very crispy with a nice soft center. I really liked the potato texture. It came off like an excellent potatoes bravos.

This is just brunch of course, but overall the food at Wolf seemed both interesting, hip, and for the most part on point. I’ll have to try it for dinner.

Service was fabulous. Our waiter really knew what he was doing and handled our giant picky table with ease.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunch, Marcel Vigneron, Wolf

Salty Saturday

Dec20

Part of the tradition for the ThanksGavin weekend of gluttony is a Saturday deli brunch. As we celebrate in Philadelphia, we have access to all sorts of great deli and the like.

This year, we’ve moved to a new location for Salty Saturday, namely my cousin Matt and his wife Andrea’s house (they just moved in this year).

A bagel brunch begins with great bagels!

And fresh Nova lox of course. This was hardly salty at all.

Two kinds of herring, creamed and pickled.

On the right is the chive cream cheese (which I prefer).

And in the center the regular. On both sides are whitefish salad. This particular blend has no mayo, and is merely smoked whitefish. Given the freshness of the fish it’s particularly delectable.

Cream cheese alone doesn’t pile on enough calories, so munster and aged cheddar are key.

Plus the condiments. Red onions, cucumbers and heirloom tomatoes.

And farmhouse eggs from the coop plus a homemade fritata.

And the all important cappuccino. Matt is a whiz with the machine.

The whole plate, partially under construction, can be seen here. Yum!

For dessert we have homemade cinnamon buns.

And the return of the poached pears (along with a new — smoother — batch of chocolate sauce).

Too much goodness. Fourth meal in, I’m beginning to feel it. We have a long drive after this so I grabbed a liter of water to balance out the salt!

For more ThanksGavin dining, click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bagel, Brunch, Cream Cheese, Deli, Lox, Philadelphia, ThanksGavin, Whitefish

More Maison Giraud

Jul30

Restaurant: Maison Giraud [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1032 Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, Ca 90272. 310-459-7562

Date: Winter/Spring, 2012

Cuisine: French

Rating: French “home” cooking at it’s best

Maison Giraud is the closest fine dining to my house. Pacific Palisades doesn’t have a lot of great food, but this restaurant/bakery is from acclaimed LA French chef Alain Giraud.

The Swathmore Ave frontage has been revealing itself in stages since at least the 4th of July.

Inside the chef peers down at your from the French-style board.

My wife and I had our Valentine’s Day reservation here, which turned out to be a damn good choice as the day before I crushed the bones in my left hand, and couldn’t have managed to travel further. There was a set menu, which can be hit or miss on this overcrowded holiday, but turned out great at MG.

“Oyster & Champagne Gelee.” Notice the aphrodisiac theme.

“Tender Greens & Beets Salad. Citrus Vinaigrette, Goat Cheese.”

“Burrata Agnolotti. Hearts of Broccolis, Pomegranate Seduction.”

“Scallops ‘Valentino’ Piquillo, Cauliflower, Chorizo.”

“Red Snapper. Saffron-Fennel Broth. Spring Peas.”

“Veal Tenderloin. Spinach Cream, Red Wine Sexy Sauce.”

“Macaron Harmony for Two. Litchis & Rose Cream & Raspberries.” This dessert was absolutely amazing. I love rosewater and this had that classic soft flavor. The texture of the Macaron was also perfect.

Below is a composite dinner built from 2-3 visits.

From my cellar: Fin Amour, a blockbuster wine that redefines that cliché with energy and precision. Those centenarian vines of Grenache and Carignan pictured above are actually located in Maury, a miniscule appellation across the Spanish border in Roussillon that’s traditionally famous for immortal dessert wines (we had a recently released Maury from 1928 in the shop the other day, to give you an idea of their longevity). The appellation is conservative about their stickies, so Case and Shiverick did forgo the classification to make a low-yield Cotes de Catalanes dry red wine of 70% Grenache and 30% Carignan. These Bonsai like vines stubbornly live on an outcrop of chopped up schist, which is ideal for giving the few grapes they produce their incredible Catalonian minerality and aromatically spiced fruit.

“Vegetable Salad. Seasonal Market Vegetables with Coriander and Lemon.”

“Grilled octopus special.”

Pistou is a classic southern French soup, cousin to minestrone.

“Soup ‘Au Pistou’. Farmers Market Vegetables, Pearl Pasta, Almond and Basil Pistou.”

You can see the minestrone resemblance here. The French version is a little milder.

“Farm Eggs. Town and Country. Light Mushroom Custard, Rustic Egg Cocotte.” I like the creamy fraiche inside the egg thingy.

“Loup de Mer ‘Barigoule’. Baby Artichokes, Basil Pistou, Tomato Confit.”

“Colorado Lamb Filet. Spring Onions, Fava Beans, Fennel Panisse, Black Olive Sauce.”

“Side vegetables.”

“Steak special. Sauce Au Poivre.” Simple French classic.

“Classic boulibase.” MG serves a modest sized portion, which actually can be a good thing. I paired this with a nice Provencal Rose.

“Chocolate Soufflé Traditional Soufflé, Crème Chantilly, Crème Anglaise.” A total classic, and as good as any Chocolate Soufflé I’ve had.

“Vacherin Glacé Lavender Ice Cream, Strawberries, Meringue.” This is a Giraud staple and rather wonderful, particularly because of the Lavender thing. It has certain similarities to the Valentines Rose flavored Macaron, but is crunchier.

We also go frequently for Brunch/Lunch.

“French Toast. Brioche, Crème Chantilly, Homemade Preserves.” I’d kill for this Crème Chantilly.

“House Burger Caramelized Onions, Tomatoes, Aioli.”

“Maison Giraud ‘Cobb’ Salad, Blue Cheese Vinaigrette.”

“Le Plateau.” Everyday they offer a set plate with three items. This particular day it included a salmon caesar to the right, scallops in the center, and a bit of bread pudding.

So far, I’m very pleased with Maison Giraud. The food is essentially French comfort food with a bit of international adaption, but everything has been spot on fresh and well done so far, and the bakery is outrageously good. Given how incredibly lame most of the Pacific Palisades food offerings are this is all incredibly welcome.

For my previous review, see here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Alain Giraud, Brunch, Cauliflower, Chorizo, Dessert, French Cuisine, Goat Cheese, Grenache, Los Angeles, Maison Giraud, Pacific Palisades Los Angeles, Roussillon, Snapper, Soufflé, valentines day

Palm Springs – Colony Palms Hotel

Jan16

Restaurant: Colony Palms Hotel

Location: 572 N. Indian Canyon Drive Palm Springs, CA 92262. 760.969.1801

Date: December 26-27, 2011

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid cafe food

During the holiday break my wife, son, and I made a quick little visit to Palm Springs and I would be remiss as a food blogger in not chronically the culinary aspects of the journey. Foodwise, as in many other ways, this little desert oasis is a bit of a throwback.

The view from our hotel restaurant, which given the gorgeous 78 degree clear December weather was pretty darn fine.

Veggie burger with fries. Apparently, this was a very good example of the beast. The fries sure were good.

Cobb salad (I left out the tomatoes). I’ve had a lot of cobb salads. This was a 6/10 as they go.

At breakfast, French toast with creme anglais and apple soaked in calvados. This isn’t the prettiest dish but it sure tasted great. The creme was superb and the apples lent some addition cinnamony sweetness to the mix.

A berry smoothy.

And my scramble, with ham, bacon, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. Again, not a looker, but it tasted good.

As hotel restaurants go the Colony Palms one was solid. The food was tasty and the setting nice. It wasn’t anything to completely rave about, but on average at hotels you can do far far worse.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Breakfast, Brunch, California, Coachella Valley, Colony Palms Hotel, Dessert, Eggs, French Toast, Palm Springs, Palm Springs California, smothie

Maison Giraud

Dec15

Restaurant: Maison Giraud [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1032 Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, Ca 90272. 310-459-7562

Date: December 5 & 10, 2011

Cuisine: French

Rating: French “home” cooking at it’s best

I’ve been waiting for Maison Giraud, the new local (just blocks away!) Pacific Palisades restaurant/bakery from acclaimed LA French chef Alain Giraud to open for what seems like forever. The day it did I was there for some pastries. Then we kept trying to get in for dinner. We had to come on a monday at like 5:30!

The Swathmore Ave frontage has been revealing itself in stages since at least the 4th of July.

Inside the chef peers down at your from the French-style board.

Today’s menu.

A pair of nice French whites, one a Sancerre, the other a Viognier.

House baked bread.

They call this a tart, but it’s really a flatbread (aka pizza). “Camille’s Potato and Rosemary Flat Tart. Creme Fraiche, Gruyere.” Pretty yummy.

And another. “Crispy Tomato and Basil Flat Tart. Roasted onions, parmesan.”

“Seared Scallops, leek fondue, meyer lemon & pistachio sauce.” This was one of the best seared scallop appetizers I’ve had — and I normally prefer my scallops raw.

“Arborio Risotto, mushrooms, aged parmesan, fresh herbs.” A lovely mushroom risotto. The weather was cold and dreary (in relative LA terms), so this was perfect.

“Seared Atlantic Salmon. Garlic potatoes, cipollini, bacon, red onion sauce.”

“Cocotte. Beef Bourguignon.” Basically beef stew with the classic additives: potato, carrots, onions, etc. But this was one damn fine beef stew.

Bread dipping good!

We had to get back in a hurry, so we didn’t have time for dessert, but I had that Vacherin Glace one time when the chef was cooking at Bastide (in 2004) and it was one of the best desserts of my life.

I liked the Maison so much that I brought my son back for breakfast on Saturday. This is from the bakery, a fresh apple turnover. Yum!

And fresh OJ.

A decent, if slightly foamy cappuccino.

French toast. Very nice typical variant. My favorite part was the fresh Chantilly cream which was incredible. I’m a big sucker for whipped cream.

Classic Eggs Benedict.

Some more baked goods. Muffins.

And the ultimate pain aux chocolate. This is the only place in LA I’ve tasted where the croissant type pastry actually tastes like it does in France.

For my early preview, see here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Atlantic Salmon, Beef Bourguignon, Brunch, Creme Fraiche, dessert menu, Dinner, Eggs Benedict, French Toast, Maison Giraud, Pacific Palisades, Potato, Restaraunt, Restaurant Review, Sancerre, Stew, Viognier

Bouchon Beverly Hills

Oct17

Restaurant: Bouchon Beverly Hills [1, 2, 3]

Location: 235 NORTH CANON DRIVE | BEVERLY HILLS, CA 90210 | 310.271.9910

Date: October 15, 2011

Cuisine: French Bistro

Rating: Good, but expensive

In the last three-four years there’s been a bit of a French Food revival in Southern California, but the emphasis has been on Bistro fare. Of course this is consistent with the post-recession trend toward less formal restaurants anyway. Bouchon is the small-chain spawn for Thomas Keller, the highly acclaimed chef of The French Laundry.

Here is the brunch menu. My snapshot is still at the doctors (Canon service center) so this is a test run for the new iPhone4S camera. Better than its predecessor, but no match for either of my real cameras. The Photostream sync to the desktop is however, pretty sweet.

My obligatory cappuccino.

The Beverly Hills space is very pretty. Check out the bar (both raw and booze). Lobsters oversee the diners.

The elegant dining room has a very spacious, even Parisian feel.

The have good bread here, as well as amusements for the three-year-old set.

“Pain Perdu” (i.e. french toast). Brioche toast with macerated strawberries, creme Chantilly & vermont maple syrup. I’m slightly confused about the strawberries, as these sure looked and tasted like apple. But it was good nonetheless.

“Chicken & Waffles. roasted chicken on a bacon & chive waffle with Tahitian vanilla bean butter and sauce chasseur.” The chicken was a nice bit of roast chicken. If the waffles had bacon and chive in them, I couldn’t tell.

It came with the butter, the gravy, and good maple syrup. I ended up shredding the chicken, cutting the waffles, and adding syrup. It was good, but not quite Roscoes.

Downstairs is the much anticipated takeout bakery.

Not a huge space.

Serving various classic pastries and some salads and sandwiches.

Salads, sandwiches, macarons, cookies, etc.

The breakfast pastries, like croissant and coffee cake. The chocolate croissant was good. The coffee cake and banana nut muffin were a bit dry. Really I expected more. I’ll have to try a lemon tart at some point.

A closeup of the macarons. I had one (passionfruit) and while large, and pretty good, it wasn’t as good as the divine Paulette Macarons (reviewed here).

Good luck trying to read this blurry iPhone photo.

Overall, while Bouchon and bakery were fine, they are very expensive and failed to wow me. The chicken and waffles was $27! This is almost triple Roscoes! I would have forgiven the prices if the food were superlative, but it was just good. Sorry Mr. Keller, you’re rep sets a higher bar.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills California, Bistro, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, Brunch, Food, French Laundry, Los Angeles, Southern California, Thomas Keller, vegetarian

Wynn Breakfast Buffet

Sep27

Restaurant: Wynn Breakfast Buffet

Location: 3131 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV 89109. (702) 770-7000

Date: September 24, 2011

Cuisine: Breakfast Buffet

Rating: Quantity over quality

What would a Foodie Club trip to Vegas be without at least one buffet. Being as we were staying at the Wynn Encore, and the Wynn buffet should theoretically be one of the nicer ones in town (and it was comped) off we went. This is the weekend brunch.

The room is pretty enough (by Vegas standards). The buffet is fairly reasonable at $32 on the weekend, $10 extra for all you can drink cheap champagne (we skipped).

Just part of the main service hall. This buffet goes for serious quantity and variety, at the expense of quality. Not that it’s bad, but it isn’t superlative either.

Fruit.

Salad.

Cesar salad.

More fruit.

Soups.

Meats.

Bagels.

Cheeses.

Salmon in pastry.

Fish dishes.

Fish cakes and potatoes.

Heat lamp pizza, four types.

Pancakes, waffles etc.

Sauces for above.

Pastas.

Eggs and good old fashioned pig products.

Pulled Pork sliders. Actually pretty good.

Veggies.

Prime rib, super fatty bacon, etc.

Sketchy mexican dishes.

Toppings for nachos.

Cerviche. Had me frightened.

Eggs with chorizo.

More mexican.

Chung King Chinese.

Now this is different. Congee. For those that don’t know, congee is a typical Chinese (and other Asian) rice gruel (like oatmeal) that you spice up with toppings. They didn’t have grubs, but they did have 1,000 year old egg. In China, I often saw grubs.

A few bits of dim sum. The center pork thingys were okay.

Cereal.

Veggies.

Lox and toppings bar.

Shrimp. Not the best shelled shrimp in the world, but edible.

Various cold salads.

The usual assortment of mediocre sushi rolls.

A made to order omelet bar.

Now dessert fared a little better. Maybe because cakes are more forgiving of sitting around.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking here.

Candied apples and chocolate covered marshmallows.

Gelato. That was interesting. It wasn’t up to Italian Gelato standards, but wasn’t awful either.

Chocolate covered marshmallows.

More cakes.

Cakes. The Dulce de Leche was pretty good.

Cookies and cupcakes.

More goodies.

Fruit. Eww!

Pastries.

More.

And even more.

Cinnamon buns and coffee cakes.

Fat is flavor — my plate.

And a dessert sampling.

Overall this buffet suffered greatly from too muchness or quantity over quality. The LA based Tres buffet is an example of trying to do much more with many less dishes. Here, dabbling into every conceivable type of cuisine (Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, etc.). So much that nothing could be well done. They should have just concentrated on classic brunch food perhaps. Who knows. But a lot of the stuff had that scary sitting around in chaffers factor. Yes, I’m a snob. Still, I was able to find some perfectly edible items. It just wasn’t great. The desserts were pretty decent though.

For more Vegas dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Bagel, Breakfast, Brunch, Buffet, Dessert, Las Vegas, Nevada, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Vegas, Wynn, Wynn Las Vegas

Beverly Hills Hotel – Polo Lounge

Sep12

Restaurant: Polo Lounge

Location: 9641 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, California 90210. 310-276-2251

Date: September 10, 2011

Cuisine: American

Rating: Good but pricey

My wife and I were married (10 years ago) at the Beverly Hills Hotel so it’s a tradition of ours to go back there once a year. We usually wander around and then eat at the Polo Lounge (even though the lounge itself had no part in the wedding, which was in the Crystal Ballroom).

This is an old school and iconic spot in Hollywood history. The hotel is still gorgeous too, having been heavily renovated by hot black oil cash from the Sultan of Brunei.

The patio.

Old school Hollywood style in the dining room.

And the bar.

The current lunch menu. Brunch is available only on Sunday.

What would a visit to the Polo Lounge be without a cocktail, in this case a mimosa.

They also have good bread. Same exact basket (basically) was served at our wedding LOL.

I’ve totally been on a gazpacho kick recently (made it at home here). This is “golden tomato gazpacho, garlic crostini, basil pepper relish.” Despite the yellow color it tasted classic. Very nice smooth refreshing summer texture and flavor.

“Pizza margarita.”

“Salmon burger, tomato salad, cucumber & yogurt, dill bun.”

The usual condiments, but stylishly presented.

“Lobster cobb salad, gem lettuce, tomato, bacon, avocado, quail’s egg, tarragon.” Pretty much a great cobb, the only thing to complain about being the price. The juicy bacon cubes sold it.

Cappuccino to combat the coma.

Overall, the Polo Lounge has great lunch/brunch food in a stylish setting. Really the only disadvantage is the price, which is pretty punitive. But this is pretty much the usual high end hotel tax — making it a special occasion kind of thing.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills California, Beverly Hills Hotel, Brunch, California, Cobb Salad, Crystal Ballroom, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Pizza, Polo Lounge, Salad, vegetarian

Joan’s on Third for Breakfast

Sep04

Restaurant: Joan’s on Third

Location: 8350 West Third Street. 323.655.2285

Date: August 20, 2011

Cuisine: American

Rating: Fantastic gourmet shop & cafe

Another father/son morning rolled around and after a most enjoyable trip to the Peterson Automotive Museum (excellent boy fun) we headed over to Joan’s on Third.

The busy Third Street shop front is pretty much an institution. This is a combined cafe, gourmet shop, and bakery.

You can pretty much bet on seeing celbrities, or at the very least lots of the beautiful people.

There is a good amount of outside seating.

Cappuccino of course.

My son went for the pancakes.

I had this grown up egg mcmuffin type sandwich. Buttered bread, egg, cheese, and of course, bacon!

Joan’s has some of the best cupcakes around and these are two of my favorites. Coconut and snickers!

It’s worth showing the interior spaces. We have all sorts of really good (but overpriced) gourmet products.

Fresh baked goods.

Cheeses!

Meats!

And even more baked goods. I only photoed a small sampling. Joan has really good taste. There may be a mark up, but there is some serious yummy going on here. That’s what impresses me the most, the general extremely high level of culinary quality of most stuff. The prices can be a shock though.