Archive for gastropub

Quick Eats – Rush Street

Feb03

Restaurant: Rush Street

Location: 9546 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (310) 837-9546

Date: January 30, 2017

Cuisine: American

Rating: Pubby

Just down the street from my new restaurant, Ramen Roll, are a wide swath of Culver City places.

Rush Street seems a fixture on the main drag so I decided to see what the deal was.

The space is big, attractive, like a giant brick sports bar — which it is.

But not being the beer type, I came equipped with real wine :-).

From my cellar: 2005 Château Rayas Côtes du Rhône Château de Fonsalette Reserve. Parker 93. The 2005 Fonsalette Cotes du Rhone is a blockbuster. This blend of 50% Grenache, 35% Cinsault, and 15% Syrah has a dark ruby/purple color and a beautifully structured style with notes of black truffle, licorice, black currant, and sweet cherry intermixed with some crushed rock and flowers. The wine is beautifully broad, savory, and exceptionally well-delineated and focused. This is a magnificent wine that should be at its best between 2010 and 2025.

The menu is a bit too American for my tastes.

mediterranean hummus. marinated tomatoes, kalamata olives, cucumber, warm pita.

lobster & shrimp egg rolls. napa cabbage, ginger, sweet soy & spicy mustard dipping sauces. These tasted like… well egg rolls. Decent middling egg rolls, but I couldn’t tell if it was lobster & shrimp or just cabbage. I’m sure it was the former, but under the fry, hard to discern.

Rush street dry-aged burger. Applewood bacon, cheddar, soestring onions, arugula, confire sauce. This was a fine pub burger. I’m not much of a burger aficionado. Unless they really stand out they are just lost in this middle ground. It was probably slightly more well done than I like (medium maybe as opposed to medium rare).

Same with fries.

grilled asparagus. Parmesan cheese, caper vinaigrette.

Overall, I was expecting something more interesting and artisanal. Rush Street was fine, but it’s just American pub fare which isn’t my thing. Execution was fine though. But there wasn’t much regionality. If I have to do pub, I’ll take something with a bit more local style. Fortunately too I was facing away from the TVs. Not a TV fan in restaurants. Prefer those in my living room.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Culver City, gastropub, Rush Street

Cholesterol Check

Feb21

Restaurant: Plan Check Kitchen

Location: 1800 Sawtelle Blvd. Los Angeles, Ca 90025. 310-288-6500

Date: Febuary 11, 2014

Cuisine: Gastropub

Rating: the crullers and chicken were worth the heart attack

Hidden between the Korean BBQ and Japanese noodle joints on Sawtelle the relatively new gastropub style American eatery, Plan Check Kitchen.

The lunch menu.

Chorizo sausage, green garlic. I don’t really see the garlic, but this is fine fresh chorizo (if said dish can ever be called fresh).

Cucumber, kombu, dill. Nice crunchy modern pickles.

Stuffed mushroom. Roasted portobello, swiss cheese fondue, crispy kale, roasted garlic steak sauce. It was all about the sauce for this baby. And the sauce was same good.

Smokey fried chicken. Jidori chicken, smoked milk gravy, yam preserves, spicy pickled okra. This was some damn good fried chicken. There were no bones, just really moist chicken bits and crunch fry. The gravy was, well gravy, and the yam preserves (looked and tasted not far off from apricot jam) really made the whole sizzling chicken fat thing work. Up there with the Ad Hoc Chicken for recent fried chicken greats.

Cruller donuts. Cooked to order with cream and fruit. Wow. Just pure sugar, cinnamon, and fried goodness. Very soft and under cooked. LOTS of sugar.

Plan Check subscribes to the Gastropub “fast = flavor” style of cooking, but it pickles that with a little vinegar, and does it well.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Donuts, fried chicken, gastropub, Plan Check, Sawtelle Boulevard

Waterloo & City – Fat=Flavour

Feb13

Restaurant: Waterloo & City [1, 2, 3]

Location: 12517 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90066 310.391.4222

Date: January 27, 2012

Cuisine: Gastropub

Rating: Really tasty!

I have reviewed Waterloo & City twice before, but it’s been a couple of months and the menu has changed up, so it’s worth a reprise.

The current menu.

“The Brunello di Montalcino from Poggio Il Castellare is a dark, inward wine imbued with dark cherries, plums, tar, smoke, licorice and new leather, all of which come together on a powerful, incisive frame. This burly, somewhat rough around the edges Brunello shows plenty of length and richness, even if the tannins might benefit from a measure of added polish. Still, I see this working well with boldly flavored dishes. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2024.”

This is a “prince” sized charcuterie. We also have the chicken liver (yum yum), the salmon and egg terrine and the fois gras and prune (good, but heavy), and a duck and walnut country pate.

The duck on the left (yummy) and the salmon on the right. The chicken liver was the really winner here.

“Yellowtail Crudo, Shallot & Ginger Dressing.” Slightly underwelming as the fish was muted by everything else.

“Arugula, Grilled Bartlett Pears, Smoked Almonds, Parmesan.”

A special pasta with parmesan and…

Fresh piedmontese white truffles! This was a really spectacular classic.

Parker 90. “Proprietor Comte de Neipperg is doing everything possible to elevate this estate’s reputation. Readers should take note as prices are sure to rise once the world discovers just how sumptuous recent vintages of Clos de l’Oratoire have been. The 1996 is even better out of bottle than it was from cask. The wine boasts an opaque plum/purple color. Intense aromas of Asian spices, espresso, roasted meats, and sweet, exotic cedar and blackberry fruit soar from the glass of this exotic, ostentatiously-styled St.-Emilion. It is medium to full-bodied, with moderate tannin, a sweet mid-palate (always a good sign), and a dense, concentrated, long, powerful finish. This muscular, impressively-endowed offering should drink well between 2002-2017.”

“Diver Scallops, Parsnip Ravioli, Chamomile, Mandarins, Basil, French Horns.” A nice scallop dish.

“Roast Colorado lamb. English peas, fois gras sauce.” The meat was good, but the pea sauce even better.

More of the “sauce” which was really very rich and good.

Brussels with bacon. Bacon does indeed make everything better.

A can’t remember what exactly was under there, but it included this Indian-style poofy bread.

The desserts here are really good too (see my previous reviews) but we were so stuffed that it would have been fatal to indulge.

Overall, Waterloo & City is still going strong and this was a great (albiet rich) meal.

Or for more LA Restaurants.

By: agavin
Comments (2)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Brunello di Montalcino, Culver City, Culver City California, gastropub, Los Angeles, Waterloo, Waterloo & City, Waterloo & City line

A-Frame – Ultimate Picnic Food

Jan01

Restaurant: A-Frame

Location: 12565 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles CA 90066 – tel: 310-398-7700

Date: December 15, 2011 & February 28, 2012

Cuisine: Gastro Picnic

Rating: Really yummy

A-Frame’s building used to be an IHOP — hence it’s architecture and the name.

It has, however, been really revamped.

A nice Burgundy to begin.

The menu is fairly short. We ordered everything tapas style, regardless of the category.

“Heirloom pickles.” I like pickles, but perhaps better with rice al la certain Japanese dishes.

“Island Farmer’s Market Salad.” A nice pleasant salad with Asian notes.

“WAGYU BEEF TATAKI with sliced pearl onions, ginger, pickled jalapeño and shoyu vinaigrette.” This was a wonderful dish. Very tangy with great texture.

“BLUE CRAB CAKES with lemongrass creme fraiche, bibb lettuce, and perilla leaf.” These crabcakes were to be eaten “thai-style” wrapped in lettuce. They were quite good.

“CHARRED BABY OCTOPUS with carrot kochujang puree, bok choy, pickled vegetables and nori seaweed.” Another nice dish.

“SESAME LEAF WRAPPED SHRIMP TEMPURA with fresh cucumber, herbs and shoyu dipping sauce.” This had shiso (a Japanese mint relative), which pretty much means I adored it.

“CLAM CHOWDER with green curry, lemongrass, pancetta, coconut milk and toasted sourdough.” A really nice take on “clam chowder.” Essentially it tasted a lot like one of those creamy coconut milk/lemongrass thai soups, but with a nice bacon richness somewhat akin to a great New England chowder. Bravo!

“BABY BACK RIBS air-dried and hoisin-chili glazed.” These were some great ribs too, with a rich “Chinesy” taste and a good amount of vinegar.

“ROASTED LAMB with toasted sesame oil, shoyu and garlic served with fresh herb salad and salsa verde.” This dish was fine, but it didn’t have the flavor impact I was looking for.

“CRACKLIN BEER CAN CHICKEN with kimchi, century egg, salsa roja and verde.” Good fried chicken.

“Lamb Meatball Skewer.” These were nice ground lamb skewers, but they seemed a bit expensive for what they were.

“Pan Roasted Brussel Sprouts. with rice cakes, kimchi bacon puree and diced apples.” The bacon sold it.

“BANANA BACON CREAM PIE vanilla cream, caramel bananas, and bacon brittle.” I hate banana, but this was still good. The bacon sold it!

“THICK ASS ICE CREAM SANDWICHES with black pepper szechuan ice cream and salted chocolate cookie.” This was a wonderful ice cream sandwich. I loved the peppery ice cream.

“CHU-DON’T-KNOW-MANG pound cake cinnamon churros, with malted chocolate milk and vanilla ice cream.” And this was the complete winner in the dessert category. These were some of the best churros I’ve had, and that milkshake-like thing was awesome.

Happy times!

The chickens going around and around.

Overall, I was very pleased with A-Frame and will totally be back. This was a pair of VERY tasty meals with a unique take on fairly uncomplicated food. Essentially, it’s very contemporary without being avant garde, and fuses eclectic flavors from around the world with American comfort foods.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: AFrame, California, Clam chowder, Culver City, gastropub, Los Angeles, Public house, ribs, Santa Monica California

Waterloo & City

Jun01

Restaurant: Waterloo & City [1, 2, 3]

Location: 12517 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90066 310.391.4222

Date: May 21, 2011

Cuisine: Gastropub

Rating: Really tasty!

There has been real growth in the gastropub catagory here in LA during the last few years. Part of this is probably the recession which has encouraged somewhat lower key dining, but there’s probably more to it. When I first moved to LA (early 90s) things were dominated by flashy higher end “event” restaurants each with its own blend of novel fusion cuisine. Good examples of this would by Chaya, Matsuhisa, Chinois, Spago, Abiquiu. The next wave after that were the farmer’s market driven joints like Josie or Gjelina. In any case, on to Waterloo & City.

A view of the bar. This is a pretty big place.

The menu.

The drink menu. I didn’t feel like wine, so we tried out some of these.

“Oh Rickey! Russian Standard Vodka, Fresh Raspberries, Lime, Soda.” This tasted like fresh raspberries. It was sweet, but not too sweet. Good.

“Tamarindo Fever. Tequila Blaco, Tamarind, Grand Marnier, Habanero, Lemon, Lime Salt.” I’ve been trying a lot of these “hot drinks” lately. I like them. This was good, sour and hot at the same time. But it was really hot. Not enough to bother me, but enough that I worried about heartburn if I drink say, 2 or 3 of them.

This special cocktail had vanilla Stoli, fresh lemon juice and some other stuff. It tasted like a lemon candy.

Bread.

Waterloo has a lot of charcuterie. This was a small plate on the left, on the right are “Shrimp & Zucchini Blossom Fritters, piri piri hot sauce.” A tempura fried variant on the Italian favorite (in that case usually stuffed with ricotta).

“Yellowtail crudo, shallot & ginger dressing, spring salad.” This was very tasty. Besides the fish there was a bit of burrata and tomato in here too. But the fish was very succulent, and the ginger based dressing delicious. With all this stuff, including the radish, there was a very complex but harmonious flavor/texture thing going on, not unlike a dish at Red Medicine.

“Steamed mussels, red thai curry, lime ginger, ciabatta.” A very nice adaption of the french classic.

“Hand-cut pasta, English Peas, Italian Sausage, Parmesan.” Even though it was two nights in a row I couldn’t resist this dish, as it is close to one of my favorite pasta types. Yesterday’s version was a little better, but this was very nice. The sausage was flavorful and after chopping it up a bit so some could get in each bit made an excellent foil to the buttery sauce.

“Wild mushroom pizza, smoked mozzerella, truffle oil.” If I didn’t know better I’d have said that this was a bacon and mushroom pizza! It was really good. First of all, the crust was thin and chewy, but not over burned. The cheese was gooey, and the smoked mushrooms really really meaty. Good stuff, I should have tried their Chicken Tikka Masala Pizza, as they stole my idea!

“Beef Wellington.” Sweet and sour onions on top of a puff pastry, sitting on bacon wrapped asparagus.

Inside is the medium steak (could have been a bit rarer), fois gras, and maybe some more bacon/pancetta. Certainly rich…

“Crispy confit pork shank, spring potato, bacon salad, peas & favas.”

Look at this sucker! Confit (twice cooked in it’s own fat)! Then deep fried! It was just a ball of piggy goodness.

The dessert menu.

Special. Glazed beneits with creme anglais and raspberry jam. These were REALLY sweet, coated in a bit of carmel I think too (you can see it pooling beneath). Very much to my taste, but not for those that don’t have a MASSIVE sweet-tooth.

“Sticky Toffe Pudding, Salted Caramel, Vanilla Ice Cream.” Also excellent, with a not so dissimilar flavor profile. Both were intensely sweet. The ice cream helped cut it.

Overall I was very impressed with Waterloo & City. Things were extremely tasty, and there was a lot of stuff on the menu that I wanted to try but couldn’t. I’ll have to head back. It’s, however, not a light cuisine. Which is perhaps why it suited my taste.

For a second review of W & C, click here.

For another recent gastropub visit, check out Ford’s Filling Station.