Archive for Japanese cuisine

Valley High

Jun08

Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299

Date: May 5, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)

Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good

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Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant last year and it was such a fun time that we had to return again for a fourth visit.
And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which most people consider to far to drive for food). It took an hour and twenty minutes on a Saturday night!

The slick looking location is in the heart of the affluent Chinese American San Gabriel Valley. But yes, it’s Japan, if perhaps catering to Chinese taste. This photo was shot at about 10pm after everyone else had left.

The menu.

For the second time we have the private room which is really the only way to go at oo-toro!

Ron brought: 2006 Taittinger Champagne Brut Blanc de Blancs Comtes de Champagne. VM 97.5. The 2006 Comtes de Champagne is striking, especially in the way it brings together elements of ripeness and freshness in a hypothetical blend of the 2002 and 2004. Smooth and creamy on the palate, the 2006 is all about texture. There is a real feeling of density and weight in the 2006, qualities I expect to see grow with time in the bottle. All the elements fall into place effortlessly. The 2006 has been nothing short of magnificent both times I have tasted it. Comtes de Champagne remains the single best value (in relative terms) in tête de cuvée Champagne. I suggest buying a case and following it over the next 20-30 years, which is exactly what I intend to do. There is little doubt the 2006 Comtes de Champagne is a magical Champagne in the making.

agavin: this wine is sick good, I just ordered another 12-pack.

From my cellar: 2004 Pol Roger Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 93.  Light, bright orange. Intense, spice-accented aromas of candied orange, redcurrant and fresh flowers, with sneaky mineral and leesy notes. Supple and expansive, offering vibrant citrus fruit and red berry flavors with complicating notes of cinnamon and pear skin. Finishes silky and long, with resonating spiciness and excellent clarity.

Edamame.

Akayagara (red cornetfish), which is generally considered distinct from needlefish like sayori

Akayagara sashimi. Nice and light and delectable.

Various sashimi. The Santa Barbara spot prawn was so fresh the head was still squirming! There was oyster, clam, and scallop as well.

White fish flight. Right to left: Golden eye snapper, red snapper, sea bass, and halibut.

2010 Kapcsándy Family Winery Grand Vin Rosé State Lane Vineyard. VM 90. The 2010 Grand Vin Rose is all about texture. A refined, expressive wine, the 2010 stands out for its depth and pure volume. Tobacco, licorice, crushed flowers and spices are some of the many notes that flesh out on the inviting finish. The 2010 is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot.

Right to left: Shima aji, yellowtail, and kanpachi (wild yellowtail).

Yarom and the waitress.

Showing off the the tuna collar!

1998 Jean Boillot & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Genevrières. VM 89-92. Pungent, bright aromas of lime, apple, nut skin and minerals. Spicy and penetrating; more withdrawn than, and not as rich as, the Clos de la Mouchere and Pucelles but still offers terrific sweetness and fat for the cru. Solidly structured and quite fine.

agavin: a little tired maybe

From my cellar: 1995 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. 93 points. excellent.

Toro flight! Right to left: blue fin sushi, chu toro, o-toro. All melt in your mouth.

And the crazy good kami-toro (collar). The best toro ever.

2014 Domaine Dublère Chablis Grand Cru Bougros. BH 90-93. This too possesses ample Chablis character with its array of green fruit, tidal pool, citrus and wet stone notes. There is more size, weight and power to the big-bodied flavors that deliver excellent depth and length on the saline-inflected finale. This delicious effort is muscular but stops short of actually being rustic.

Scallops.

2007 Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. BH 93. A toasty, expressive and highly complex nose of pain grillé, green fruit and dried rose petal leads to rich, full, well-muscled and impressively intense full-bodied flavors that possess plenty of dry extract that really coats the mouth on the long and serious finish. This is very Corton-Charlemagne in character and one that should reward mid-term cellaring.

Fried monk fish.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Clos Windsbuhl Vendange Tardive. 94 points. Excellent VT. Some bottle variation so far, depending on the bottle I would rate this anywhere from 89-94 out of the 4 tried so far, with 93 being a fair mean. Rich gold color, not too sweet, lots of lychee and nectarine on both nose and palate. Weaker bottles have a short finish, but better bottles have full finish. Popular even with those who aren’t familiar with Alsatian VT wines.

Yamakase-style mashup of toro, avocado, uni, and black truffle.

Foie gras and more on a spoon. Rich and delicious.

Fake pinot.

Doesn’t go with sushi.

A5 wagyu from Japan as sushi — amazing too.

The individual cow’s pedigree.

Spot prawn heads (from the sashimi) come back as both prawn miso soup.

And fried prawn head.

This was the last savory course in the medium sized omakase but some of us kept on ordering.

Seafood tempura. They really make a great mixed tempura here with lobster, eel, and more.

Seared toro. Yummy hot fat.

A second — pricey but amazing — wave of all four toro sushis.

2003 Sine Qua Non Chardonnay Mr. K The Noble Man. VM 95-96. Medium gold. Knockout nose offers pure botrytis aromas oforange oil, apricot, clove, marzipan, chocolate and mocha. Extraordinarily thick and honeyed but with bracing acids leavening the flavors of marzipan, coconut, brown sugar andorange rind. Higher-toned than the gewurztraminer, with a spirity suggestion of Gran Marnier. Krankl was about to bottle this. I have rarely tasted such thoroughly botrytized chardonnay. This was picked in three passes in late November. Check out these numbers: 321 grams per liter of sugar, 10.25 grams of acidity, and 10.1% alcohol.

Matcha green tea tiramisu. Nice texture.

Sweet Milk Gelato made by me.

The white one is Almond Ricotta Gelato – pure ricotta base with sliced almonds. Beneath that is Pistachio with pistachios from Bronte Sicily.

The chef came over at the end and tried some of our wines.

Ron also had an open bottle of 1931 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Convento Selección — keeps forever and is always amazing.

Overall, OOToro — while always good — showed for the second time that the private room is really the way to go. This was a great meal and much more subtle and sophisticated than some of the previous fare. Really great stuff — although we should have gotten the larger omakase as we were “corralled” into a smaller one and then ended up adding more stuff. The larger one (which I think we had the previous time) would have been more interesting.

After dinner we retreated up the hill to the Courtyard Marriot to drink above the valley. It was a balmy night and this was great fun reminding me of high school.

On the way we grabbed some pastries and salted caramel coffee’s at 85 degrees!

It’s great fun up here, but that drive! It was so far that most of the party slept at the Marriot and turned it into a bunch of meals, massages, and other decadences. I drove home to my lovely wife.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Valley Heat
  2. The High Life – 71Above
  3. Collar the Market — OOToro
  4. Cheeks & Things – OOToro
  5. Why Walnut? — OOToro
By: agavin
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MTN – Upscale Izakaya

May07

Restaurant: MTN

Location: 1305 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, CA 90291. (424) 465-3313

Date: March 31, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Izakaya

Rating: Good flavors, uncomfortable chairs

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Travis Lett has a little Venice empire helmed by Gjelina.

MTN, which is a modern, upscale, kinda westernized Izakaya (Japanese for “here, sake is served” or “stay/sit at sake shop”). The build out is cool and more than a little crazy with “burnt” or blackened wood.

And more inside. There is a weird open slot between the window going all the way up to the roof. It might even rain in when wet.

It was pretty crowded though, and there are ONLY BARSTOOLS both at a counter and at high tables. The stools suck and get really uncomfortable. Don’t come here if you are old or have a bad back.

Menu-san.

I brought this Ramen Roll remainder high end sake.

Torched sawara sashimi. grated ginger, crispy garlic, scallon, yuzu ponzu. Delicious zesty fish slices.

Japanese medai sashimi. yuzu kosho, finger lime, sisho. Salty and with a very strong signature from the yuzu kosho (salt, green chili, and yuzu).

Baja kanpachi temaki handroll. avocado, cucumber, shiso yuzu kosho.

Finger stuffing good.

Santa barbara uni temaki handroll. daikon, wasabi, scallion. Yum, uni!

Handmade shitake gyoza. roasted kabocha, tofu, salted daikon greens, shiso, scallion. Nicely cooked. Good. Great for vegetarian gyoza. Pork would have been even better.

Roasted cauliflower. red miso, yuzu, tobanjan. Basically other than the sauce, a Gjelina dish!

Ocean Trout oyakodon. Basically a grilled salmon and salmon egg rice bowl. But the vinegar on the pickles was very nice with the rice.

Lone mtn wagyu beef tataki. ponzu, cucumber, crispy garlic. This tartly sauced thin sliced beef was spectacular.

Wagyu beef sukiyaki. lone mtn ny strip, grilled young leek, maitake, shungiku, hakusai, yam noodle, warm gone straw egg.

With the egg. Really nice fairly traditional tasting sukiyaki, but with better than average ingredients. I don’t have sukiyaki often, but every-time I do i remember how much I like it.

We ordered this sake off the list. It was good, not as good as the one I brought, but certainly nice.

Expensive ramen!

Black sesame tantanmen. ground pork, black garlic oil, green mizuna, bean sprout, nira. Hard to split and not a typical ramen with its strong roasted black sesame vibe. Good though.

Dungeness crab ramen. miso, crab broth, tosaka, confit tomato, fresno chili, chive. I didn’t actually try this as the guys next to us at the table had it and allowed me to sneak a photo.

Charred Japanese sweet potato. miso butter, scallion katsuobushi, shichimi. Super rich miso/buttery taste. Gorgeous soft texture. Not what I expected but delicious.

Yuzu meringue pie. Not as tart and bracing as I would have hoped. Yuzu can be VERY tart and this would have been a good excuse for it.

Overall, I was impressed by MTN. The setting was gorgeous and nice atmosphere. Loud though. And I wish the seats were comfortable. Really not at all. And I hate high stools. But service was very good and friendly in that contemporary LA way — i.e. at the good end of that spectrum, but not traditional really knowledgeable service.

The food was surprisingly excellent. Yeah it’s not totally traditional in all ways, feels snazzed up and touch whitewashed, but the flavors were generally strong, very Japanese (with the weird-to-Americans edge polished off), and extremely enjoyable.

MTN has a low Yelp score (3) and this is total BS. Too much whining about the $20-24 ramen from the peanut gallery. First of all, this isn’t even a ramen place. Yeah, it has some fancy ramens, but it’s not Shin Sen Gumi where everything is dirt cheap on the menu AND in the kitchen. It’s not just “order your bowl of ramen and toppings.” It’s a full Izakaya menu that happens to have a couple ramens. They don’t even really belong because they are very hard to split. But come on, that crab ramen is full of Dungeness crab meat. It CAN’T be $8 like a bowl of over salted mediocre tonkotsu. Plus they pay an Abbot Kinney rent and have a crazy blackened wood hipster build out!


For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Japanese in China – Izakaya Akatora
  2. Oxymoron? – Upscale Street Food
  3. Uh no, Takao again!
  4. Market Ramen
  5. Sushi Glutton – Takao Three
By: agavin
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Bangaichi Ramen

Mar15

Restaurant: Bangaichi Ramen

Location: 9810 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (424) 603-4341

Date: January 22, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: Meh

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The former location of East Borough has been empty for over a year and finally in comes…

Ramen — and right next to the former Ramen Roll location. Good thing we aren’t still open, more competition. hehe.

It was always a pretty space but on the odd side of the street.





Big menu.

They have a modern fixed build out and TVs.

A ramen bar and a full liquor licensee (EB must have had it).

Decent array of condiments.

Cold Tufu w/ Onion Slices. Tofu, white onion, dried bonito, sesame oil. I love this kind of soft Japanese/Korean tofu. This was a typical, but very oniony prep.

Gyoza. Decent classic pan fried gyoza. Bangaichi Ramen. Char-siu pork, bamboo shoots, green onions, bean sprouts, butter, corn, seaweed, nori, seasoned egg. I didn’t really like this ramen at all. The broth was like miso soup and had very little richness and flavor. The toppings were fine for what they were, but it was just uninspired. I had to dump a ton of vinegar in to make it palatable.

I was there at a weird (late) lunch hour but I was the only customer. It screams Japanese ramen chain, but I don’t really get this type of Hokaido miso ramen. They are very Japanese in style and probably not that likely to appeal to a general American audience. And Culver City is a seriously white bread general American audience (as I learned first hand).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Noodle Check – Yamadaya Ramen
  2. Jinya Ramen Bar
  3. Far Eastern Ramen
  4. Ramen is all the Rage
  5. Quick Eats – Venice Ramen
By: agavin
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I-Driva to I-Naba

Mar11

Restaurant: I-Naba

Location: 20920 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance, CA 90503. (310) 371-6675

Date: January 18, 2018

Cuisine: Japanese Tempura

Rating: Solid but not amazing Tempura

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Various people in my foodie circles had been floating the idea of a wine dinner to old school Torrance tempura joint, I-naba.

I ended up going with the Baby Killers (what I call one of my food groups). The reservation was for a blisteringly early — thanks Charlie! — 6:30pm which resulted in hideous traffic to it’s undistinguished mini-mall location.

The inside is seriously old school Japanese restaurant.

The even have a tempura bar — which is cool.

Cured duck with mustard. Nice, like a pastrami.

Amuse of marinated onions and some fish.

Sashimi plate with salmon, yellowtail, and another fish.

Fermented squid guts. A winter special — very briny and not to everyone’s taste — I actually like it.

Simmered chicken with taro. Chunks of taro and chicken soup. Pretty good.

Fried tofu in dashi soup. Very mild flavor but I love the texture of the fried tofu and the mild dashi flavor.

Pressed mackerel sushi. Very old fashioned — like 19th century!

Chawanmushi – Simmered egg custard dish. Always love these.

Stew of egg and some other stuff.

Deep fried pork cutlets.

Various tempura.

Even more tempura.

And more.

And my favorite tempura, the mixed everything (Kakiage).

Cold buckwheat soba noodles.

Soy sauce like dipping sauce and the traditional condiments of wasabi, green onion, and daikon radish. You dump them in the sauce and dip. Very nice soba.

So-so Japanese ice cream. (Overly grainy and frozen).

Red bean flavor.

Green tea.

Real genuine Sweet Milk Gelato that I made (and brought)! Meyer Lemon French Vanilla Gelato — looks simple, but the milk was steeped with Tahitian Vanilla beans and Meyer Lemon peel. I pair it in the bowl with Amareno cherry syrup too!

Here it is with the cherries!

And me serving.

Instagram fodder!

The dump included ice cream!

Tonight’s wines were great, but a total free-for-all as Charlie likes to do it. Because I’m lazy, I’ll just post the pictures.










As you can see, mostly Champ and Burgundy of both flavors.

More instagram posing.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable evening (except for the traffic), and the wines and company were fabulous, but I was a bit underwhelmed by the food. It was good traditional Japanese, and some dishes were very good like the tofu and soba, but the tempura in particular sat too long (possibly due to our large party) and was only good, not great. In fact, I like the tempura better at super casual Hannosuke. I had hoped for mind blowing tempura. That being said, the whole meal was tasty and a great deal.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Hannosuke Tempura
  2. Food as Art – Tempura Endo
  3. Mori Sushi – A Top Contender
  4. Takao Two
  5. N/Naka Reprise
By: agavin
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Why Walnut? — OOToro

Dec18

Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299

Date: November 11, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)

Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good

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Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant last year and it was such a fun time that we had to return again for a third visit.
And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which most people consider to far to drive for food). It took an hour and twenty minutes on a Saturday night!

The slick looking location is in the heart of the affluent Chinese American San Gabriel Valley. But yes, it’s Japan, if perhaps catering to Chinese taste. This photo was shot at about 10pm after everyone else had left.

T T
T T

The menu.

This time we had the private room.

Which even has its own sushi chef!

From my cellar: 2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. A wonderfully layered and nuanced nose features an intense yeasty character to the maturing fruit that displays interesting phenolic characters, in particular petrol, along with aromas of apple, pear and soft citrus hints. In contrast to the nascent maturity expressed by the nose the flavor profile is still tight and backward with a genuinely gorgeous texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent and highly complex finish. For my taste the 2000 Brut is at an inflection point as the nose does offer enough maturity so that it’s really quite pretty whereas the palate impression is substantially younger. As such it really just depends on how you prefer your Champagne because I suspect that the nose will be very mature by the time the still very youthful flavors attain their majority. For my taste preferences it would be no vinous crime to begin enjoying this now but be aware that this will age for a very long time. The best approach is probably to buy 6, or even 12, bottles and enjoy them over a longer period of time.

Cod sperm sacks in ponzu with spicy daikon. Looks like brain, has a slimy texture, and you slurp it all down in one go. Pretty awesome actually — even if it tasted mostly of ponzu.

Ginger.

Right to left (as most descriptions will be): Kawahagi with seaweed salt. On the left the same fish with yuzu juice and Himalayan salt. Very mild and light.

From my cellar: 2014 Domaine Sylvain Pataille Bourgogne Blanc Chardonnay Rose. This lovely and floral wine is made from a different clone of the Chardonnay grape called “Chardonnay Rose.” Very unusual and delicious.

Amuses. Right to left. Seared abalone, sea snail, potato salad with tobiko, and persimmon and butter layer cake. All very good for what they are.

Sashimi (photo wasn’t mine which is why it’s blurry). Front to back: Shima Aji, chu toro, o toro. Delicious cuts of fish and really nice house ground wasabi.

2014 La Chablisienne Chablis 1er Cru Mont de Milieu. BH 93. This is notably ripe though the nose stops just short of expressing exotic fruit aromas and I particularly like the plethora of Chablis characters present on the pear and citrus scents. There is excellent richness, volume and density to the full-bodied flavors that possess plenty of minerality on the powerful lemon-inflected finale that is both persistent and quite dry. Very fine quality here.

Live lobster sashimi. It was still wiggling.

There was a bit of pepper on there too and some yuzu or lime.

From my cellar: 1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. 95 points. Aromas of nuts, hay, wood and minerals. Smooth texture. Deep, intense and concentrated.

Steamed abalone with sake. Very soft and tender for abalone. Briney but nice.

Kumamoto oysters with two types of caviar and with daikon. Lovely little oysters.

On the left, golden eye snapper sushi and on the right red snapper sushi. Citrus zing.

Yarom posing with the main chef.

Ruby snapper seared. An awesome piece of fish!

2013 Sine Qua Non …And An Eight Track. 92 points. Very nice hefty rose. Seared o toro with takuan. Underneath the fish is a bit of crunchy pickled daikon. Really great interplay of different textures, flavors, and temperature.

Toro with foie gras and mountain potatoes and leeks! Now that is a lot of goodness.

Uni and toro with avocado and…

Shaved black truffle!

Hokkaido hairy crab legs and guts. I love kani miso (crab guts).

Arnie brought: 2009 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Ten. VM 89. One of the Sea Smoke flagships, the 2009 Pinot Noir Ten impresses for its depth and sheer power. Layers of flavor flow through to the huge, dramatic finish in a full-bodied, intense Pinot. Once the intensity of the fruit fades, there is not much development in the glass, which results in an overall impression of one dimensionality. The Ten is one of Sea Smoke’s flagships. It is made from all ten Pinot clones planted on the property. While a solid effort, I expected more from this offering, which also happens to be the wine through which I discovered Sea Smoke years ago.

agavin: I actually liked this as new world pinots go.

Sliced A5 wagyu for the next dish.

The chef presents the documents.

Wagyu/lobster shabu shabu! You dip the wagyu into here to cook it (delicious) and

Then dip in the sauces. As a bonus the broth becomes incredibly delicious with the beef fat.

Arnie brought: 2011 Aubert Pinot Noir CIX Estate Vineyard. VM 91. The 2011 Pinot Noir CIX Vineyard is gorgeous. Dark red cherries, flowers, mint and licorice all come together nicely. A pointed, beautifully articulated wine, the 2011 impresses for its focus, length and nuance. Like its Chardonnay sibling, the CIX Pinot lacks a little of mid-palate stuffing that will likely come with further vine age. Today, the CIX is a bit tight, but I imagine it will always remain energetic and vibrant in style.

Lobster and seafood tempura. First rate tempura.

Blue fin tuna sushi.

Chu toro sushi.

O Toro sushi. All 3 amazing.

Purple yam (ume) dessert with edamame (soy bean) sauce. Sounds weird. Colors are odd, but it was surprisingly delicious for a Japanese dessert!

Overall, OOToro — while always good — really upped its game tonight. This was by far the best meal we have had here and much more subtle and sophisticated than some of the previous fare. Really great stuff.

But that drive! It was so far that most of the party booked a nearby Marriot and turned it into a bunch of meals, massages, and other decadences. I drove home to my lovely wife.

To sober up we went to a cafe nearby, as the 85 degrees was closed 🙁

Got some delicious warm cookies.

And lemon pound cake.

And an iced latte.

 

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Cheeks & Things – OOToro
  2. Collar the Market — OOToro
  3. Japanese in China – Izakaya Akatora
  4. Last Minute Shunji
  5. Katana – Stripping it all Down
By: agavin
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November N/Naka

Dec04

Restaurant: N/Naka [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: 3455 S. Overland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90034. 310.836.6252

Date: November 3, 2017

Cuisine: Modern Kaiseki

Rating: Awesome

ANY CHARACTER HERE

For some reason I haven’t been to N/Naka in 2-3 years (even though I love it). So when some of my friends invited me I jumped on a return visit to see what the fabulous Chef Niki Nakayama has been up to!
The setting is elegant, minimalist, and very Japanese.

NV Billecart-Salmon Champagne Brut Rosé. VM 92. Billecart-Salmon is probably most famous for their excellent bottling of non-vintage Brut Rosé, and the new bottling is another superb wine. The cépages is comprised of forty percent chardonnay, twenty percent pinot meunier and thirty-five percent pinot noir, with eight percent of the pinot noir included as still wine to give this wine its lovely, pale salmon color. The dosage is slightly higher here, but still judicious at nine grams per liter. The bouquet is pure and vibrant, wafting from the glass in a mix of tangerine, almonds, smoke, lovely minerality, wheat toast and dried flowers. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, complex and very focused, with a fine core, racy, zesty acids and great cut and grip on the long and beautifully balanced finish.

Saki zuke (a pairing of something common and something unique). Black tiger shrimp, fillo, shrimp tomally sauce, kabocha puree, finger lime.

Pierro brought: 2014 Desiderio Jeio (Bisol) Prosecco Noso2 Extra Brut. Super dry very tasty proscecco, zero dosage.

Zensai (seasonal ingredients presented as an appetizer).

duck with tomato. Crispy ginko nuts on the left. Nice smokey duck.

Branzino with yuzu aioli. A warm “sushi” with the tangy sauce.

okra and green bean terrine goma sauce. One of these traditional Japanese vegetable gels.

ika with natto and wasabi. It’s unusual to find natto (fermented soy beans) in a fancy restaurant.

pickled crab apple. The inside was cored out. Actually a fabulous little apple with a nice crunch and bracing acidity.

Ron brought: 2009 Philippe Colin Chevalier-Montrachet. VM 91+. Medium yellow. Pineapple, grapefruit and crushed stone on the nose. Sweet and fruit-driven; much fresher than the Demoiselles but shows a distinct apricotty ripeness. Concentrated, chewy and seamless but could use more complexity. Will this age?

Holding the jus.

Modern zukuri (modern interpretation of sashimi). Hagatsuo tartare, grape gelee, myoga, fennel,smoked tosazu sauce. Soft and delicate and rich.

From my cellar: 1999 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. VM 94. Raveneau’s 1999 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre is in a marvelous spot right now. Petrol, smoke, slate, apricot pit and wild flowers are some of the many notes that grace the palate in an utterly vivid, vibrant Chablis endowed with magnificent purity and pedigree. At fifteen years of age, the 1999 Montée de Tonnerre still has a lot to say. What a beautiful wine!

Stuart brought: 2008 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 94. A more elegant as well as more refined but also much more reserved nose of white flower and salt water aromas is very much in keeping with the equally refined, pure and silky middle weight flavors that possess excellent detail and precision on the textured and seductive finish that displays grand cru level persistence. This is not quite as rich as the Butteaux but it’s finer as the chiseled flavors are flat out gorgeous. In a word, stunning.

Owan (still water). shrimp, mushroom and chestnut suigyoza, renkon, broccolini and dashi.

With the dashi added. Amazing chestnut dumpling!

Otsukuri (traditional sashimi). seasonal fish and oyster. Very nice sashimi.

Pierro brought: 2012 Domaine Weinbach Gewurztraminer Cuvée Théo. VM 90. Vivid gold-tinged yellow. Bright rose water and honeyed tropical fruits on the nose. Similarly vibrant and fresh in the mouth, with floral and spicy peach flavors. Not especially complex or long but has sneaky concentration and very good balance. I’m not usually a huge fan of the Cuvée Theo wines, but this is everything you could want an entry-level Gewürztraminer to be.

Yakimono (grilled dish). Foie gras, persimmon, buddha’s hand, pickled radish, foie gras ju, shishito pepper powder. This looked better than it tasted. Not that it tasted bad, but somehow the persimmon overshadowed the foie.

mushimono (steaned dish). black cod, uni, matsutake, mitsuba, sea lettuce and ankake dashi.

Larry brought: 2000 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon. VM 92. Saturated ruby-red. More reserved aromas of blackberry, cassis, licorice, minerals, cinders and spices. Juicy and tight, with a varietally accurate raw currant character. Fresh, intense and structured for the year. Finishes very long, with firm tannins and strong spice character. Shiizakana (not bound by tradition, the chef’s choice dish). Spaghettini with abalone, pickled cod roe, truffles. Niki makes really wonderful and unusual pastas. This isn’t for everyone, being very “seafoody” but we all adored it. Fabulous textures too.

Pierro, who has certainly had his share of pasta over the decades loved it too. He reported that this was the first time he’s had pasta with chopsticks (probably about my 400th, but I’m an asian noodle fiend).

Niku (meat). Japan miyazaki wagyu beef a5. The fig was my favorite part — but the meat was great too.

Sunomono. Snow crab, tomato, cucumber, yuzu curd. Pretty strong tomato flavors.

Ron brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. VM 94. The NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse.

From my cellar: Soto Sake. Great super premium junmai daiginjo.

Shokuji/ sushi. Seasonal fish. I didn’t get them all written down. You can see tai (snapper), toro, hamachi/kampachi, Japanese scallop and Japanese uni / ikura for sure.

Sake and ginger.

Blue crab hand-rolls. Because I was still hungry!

Niki (right) and her wife (left) pose with Pierro and Stuart.

Apple sorbet.

Dessert. Date filling rye cream puff, rye ice cream, rye cookie, Pear brulee, apple cider caramel sauce.

Chocolates with orange.

N/Naka really is a very special place. All the meals I had here were spectacular (here for the first, here for the second, here for the third). Plus we even did an amazing all foie gras meal here ounce. The place keeps getting better and better. This is thrice wonderful because often one finds a slight bloom to come off a place on repeat meals. At N/Naka everything is seasonal and constantly rotating.

Click here to other LA Japanese restaurants.

Or other Foodie Club extravaganzas.

Related posts:

  1. N/Naka Birthday
  2. Nothing like N/Naka
  3. N/Naka Reprise
  4. N/Naka – Farewell to Foie
  5. Food as Art – N/Naka
By: agavin
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Quick Eats – Venice Ramen

Sep30

Restaurant: Venice Ramen

Location: 515 Washington Blvd, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292. (310) 448-8886

Date: August 14, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: Decent, if slightly unusual ramen

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I’ve been biking by this tiny little (relatively new) ramen place on Washington for a year and finally got a chance to try it.

It’s helmed by Hideki Mochizuki a veteran Tokyo ramen guy.

Tiny 15ish person place with a very specific ramen style.

Regular house tonkotsu ramen. The noodles are the very thin Tokyo style. The egg, while marinated, was totally overdone. Other garnish is just green onion. The chasu is ok, but a little tough and not super strong in flavor. The broth was kinda weird, although I liked it. Lots of vinegar. Not as rich as a Tsujita and not super strong on the pork flavor — don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a light soup, but it’s a bit different.

Tsukemen dipping noodle ramen. I prefer my noodles separate like this and usually you get a much more intense broth.

I’m not sure the Tsukemen broth was any different. It did come with nori though — haha. And there was some bamboo shoots in there.
The noodles were a soba noodle, which was a little different. Not bad, but definitely not super typical. It was okay. I only ate some of the noodles.

Overall, a nichey small Japanese style ramen joint. It just depends on what style of ramen you prefer. Maybe you love this one, maybe you love some other one.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Chicken or Egg? – Tentenyu Ramen
  2. Far Eastern Ramen
  3. Ramen is all the Rage
  4. Jinya Ramen Bar
  5. Noodle Check – Yamadaya Ramen
By: agavin
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Marugame Udon & Tempura

Sep25

Restaurant: Marugame

Location: 2029 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (424) 317-2222

Date: September 25 & 28 and October 26, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Udon

Rating: Interesting format, good prices, not the highest quality

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I do love udon, and while Sawtelle has about 6 bazillion ramen places there isn’t any great udon, so I was excited to see Marugame was part of a new rush of noodle places opening this fall.

It’s just a touch north of Tsujita and has a good sized patio and a big inside. I’m pretty sure it’s related to a Hawaiian chain which is called Marukame there — but in any case the main chain has 778 stores in Japan!!!

Less than a week in, there is still a 20 minute line at peak lunch time. The seats weren’t even close to full so mostly this is throughput and will settle out as the staff gets faster (hopefully).

Inside is attractive with a weird Japanese cafeteria style.

And mostly communal seating.

There are a lot of udon options, although they mostly amount to different broths. It looks like a lot of choices

First you chose your broth. They have a lot of staff, I counted at least 12. The noodles were more or less precooked, then heated for a few seconds in boiling water on order.

Next you add tempura (if you like). You can see it frying back there but it’s all sitting out cafeteria style under heat lamps.

Frying at work.

People slowly drift through the stations. Payment seemed to be a bottleneck.

They also have a few (very cheap) rice bowls at their own station after the tempura.

I was going to get one even though it would be too much food but the hotel pans of stuff didn’t look so hot, so I skipped it.

IMG_7838
The minimalist drink area. They actually have a beer/wine license as they serve 1-2 Japanese beers and some odd canned sake!

After you pay using a Revel checkout, you can go to the condiment station and load up on sauces, plasticware and the like.

They have sloppy negi (green onion).

Sloppy ginger, wasabi, sauces.

Various tempura. Here are some of my tempura. The usual shrimp, sweet potato, a bit of overcooked chicken and some fish cake. The tempura was weak. It was luke warm at best, nothing like the awesome tempura at Hannosuke.

Curry udon. The udon was better. The noodles were good. The curry sauce was good but not great. A little bland and mostly just noodles and sauce. There was some sweet beef in it, but not a lot. The green onion and tempura bits added some decent texture. I’ll have to try the Nikutama next time (more or less the classic). The whole thing felt a little “sloppy” compared to the usual impeccable neatness of most Japanese food.
IMG_7840

Nikutama udon. Kak sauce with sweet beef and soft boiled egg. This is an undecorated regular size. Not very much broth (which is a pretty good slightly sweet soy/dashi. The sweet beef is the totally typical Japanese style cheese-steak-like sliced fatty beef. The egg is an onsen-style egg. Broth is a little anemic (i.e. not enough of it).
IMG_7842With “decoration” (adds nice texture). This udon was better in relative terms than the curry. It’s pretty classic. Not amazing, but solid with it’s sweet/salty flavors and the nice bite to the noodles. If you skipped the tempura it wouldn’t even feel that heavy — but when you add a giant plate of fry like below :-)… The vegetable kakiage was pretty good, basically onions. Still no Hannosuke.
IMG_7985
Tonkotsu. Pork broth with chashu pork, miso ground pork, garlic, seasoned egg and chili oil. Broth tasted like one of those typical packaged tonkotsu broths, not bad but a touch salty. Spicy level (from the oil) was considerable though and really brightened up the pure fat factor.
IMG_7986
Mentai Cream. Cream sauce with mentai cod roe, crispy bacon, spinach and cheese.
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I jazzed it up a bit. Very rich and heavy. Cheesy and tasty, but SO heavy and creamy. Kinda weird.
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Overall, the price was very good IF you don’t get any tempura. I lot a large and a whole bunch of tempura and it was $16 all in with tip. The second time I went somehow even with a “regular” it was $17 — must have gotten more tempura. Most people would spend $8-10 but it would be too little food for a guy like me. The third time I got a regular, some tempura and a water and it was $20! The format is kinda interesting, but I don’t love the disposable plastic spoons and lousy napkins (splattered my shirt of course). Hard to eat a big soup with a tiny super-flimsy plastic regular soup spoon. And you have to clear your trays too. I go out because I’m lazy, I don’t need to clear. So it’s ALL the way fast casual like a fast food place with no service at all (they do wipe the tables, but that’s about it). It’s a cafeteria style zoo.

The tempura needed some real love though. It was still fried stuff, so okay, but this was very mediocre tempura. Half the pieces are cold and most are soggy. Like the kind of tempura you get at a buffet.

I had hoped for a really good artisanal udon bowl, instead there is just an okay cheap one with a long line — and I just don’t care about cheap. I know a lot of people do, but the difference between a $8 bowl of udon and a $20 bowl (most expensive udon I can imagine) is irrelevant to me. And furthermore, it’s easy to get Marugame up to $20 so it’s only cheap if you are minimalist.

Interestingly too, they generated a TON of Yelp reviews (mostly positive) in a very short time with some kind of Yelp Elite event. Hiss boo Yelp (my stint as a restauranteur did not leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling about the crowd sourced review mafia). WARNING: the below video is NSFW but is funny!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Hannosuke Tempura
  2. Food as Art – Tempura Endo
  3. Tatsu – Ramen with a Soul
  4. Tsujita LA – Artisan Noodles
  5. Hawaiian Noodle Bar
By: agavin
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Hamasaku Lunch

Sep04

Restaurant: Hamasaku

Location: 11043 California Route 2, Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 479-7636

Date: July 10, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: good but not great sushi

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Larry and I met up for our regular lunch at one of my OLD (I mean 2006 haunts):

Hamasaku. Founded originally by Mike Ovitz, I used to eat here with my partners in the early Flektor days. It was fairly innovative at the time, if slightly over-emphasizing the “rolls” (never been a roll fan, preferring nigiri).

The current menu. We got the lunch Omakase which is much cheaper and shorter than it was back in 2006.

6pcs of sashimi. Well, if you consider a sliver of octopus a piece. It was good quality fish though, with some yellowtail and toro too.

Mizuma salad. This had bits of fish cake in there too. I wasn’t a huge fan of the green texture, tickled my throat.

Monkfish karage. I like a crunchier tempura fry than this more “deep fry.” The fish was good, but the overall effect was a touch heavy.

Miso soup.

8pcs nigiri. I don’t love when nigiri comes out on a plate all at once like this. There are a lot of the whitefish in here, hard to identify after the fact. It was solid but nothing amazing.

Faroe Island Salmon and Toro sushi. These were better, quite nice actually. But they were special orders not part of the omakase.

Fox hand roll. Snow crab legs, dynamite sauce, tempura crunch. Just the sort of warm “new style roll” I was talking about at the start — tasty enough though.

Mochi ice cream. Coffee and cookies?

Overall, I remember Hamasaku as better and more innovative than I found today, although this was certainly a decent lunch and pretty decent value as sushi goes. It’s not bad at all, but there are more to my taste (i.e. either more modernist or more traditionalist) places in town. This is sort of a lonely middle-ground sushi, somewhere in the center of the quadrant of innovative, traditional, trendy (like Nobu), and populist (rolls) — drawing from each corner, but not really belonging to any.

Amusingly, two of my former Ramen Roll employees are working here now — and it’s nice to see they have good gigs (it’s certainly upscale from RnR).

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Go Sushi Goes To Lunch
  2. Food as Art: Sasabune
  3. Sushi Gen DTLA
  4. Shunji Sushi – Nonstop Nigiri
  5. Takao Two
By: agavin
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Last Minute Shunji

Aug07

Restaurant: Shunji [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]

Location: 12244 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 826-4737

Date: June 28, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: First rate traditional sushi

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A last minute cancelation changed up the Foodie Club dinner plans — so we gathered up some Burgundy and headed out for Shunji’s omakase!

Shunji, which took over for the “Mr. Cecil’s BBQ” in this oddball looking building on Pico has developed quite a reputation.

At night, Shunji offers an amazing and advanced mix of traditional and modern raw and cooked dishes.

 

Chef Shunji Nakao was an opening chef at Matsuhisa in the day, then opened Asanebo, then The Hump (one of my old favorites). It has quickly risen to the top of the LA Japanese scene.

Fred brought: 1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 97. 1990 is one of my favorite vintages ever for this storied cuvée because while the vintage was on the riper side the high yields allowed the fruit to retain a very good level of acidity which made for balanced and ageworthy wines. While I have had the pleasure of tasting the ’90 on a number of occasions since its release, the last time was alongside the 1985 and the 1988, and as admirable as those two vintages are, the 1990 is head and shoulders above them to my taste. The fantastically complex nose is comprised of an abundance of yeast and toast characters that don’t completely dominate the essence of apple, pear, citrus, spice, acacia blossom and discreet orange peel scents. There is equally good depth to the delicious, full-bodied and powerful flavors that possess a lovely sense of vibrancy thanks to the still firm but fine mousse that shapes the delineated, delicious and impeccably well-balanced finale. In my view 1990 is one of the greatest vintages for this wine of the last 25 years and one that is still drinking well. While there is no additional upside development to be hand, neither is there any rush to drink up as this should continue to hold effortlessly for years to come.

Marinated vegetables and jellyfish. Before we went I predicted marinated vegetables and dashi gel — this pretty much qualifies. But it was pretty tasty in a sunomono way.

Ikura. Shunji’s salmon roe is unusually sweet and delicate. Lovely.

Goldfish sashimi with radish. Yep, goldfish. Mild, but nice.

Seasonal fig, cauliflower, and okra. On the right, Opal eye sashimi.

A trio of Toro (in the back), blue fin tuna, and chibiki. The last was unusual, all three were great.

Gorgonzola tofu, honey, and cherry tomato. I’ve never had gorgonzola tofu before. It totally worked. Nice soft texture.

From my cellar: 2004 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Valmur. BH 94. This is a much different and classically styled with an ultra pure nose of ripe but austere green fruit brimming with oyster shell and seawater notes that introduce elegant, pure and sweet flavors all wrapped in a beautifully balanced and wonderfully detailed finish that also displays some austerity. This is built on a base of pungent minerality and will require ample time to come around. A Chablis lovers Chablis.

Fred brought: 2004 François Raveneau Chablis Grand Cru Blanchot. BH 94. Fairly strong wood spice and vanilla presently mark the nose, framing the otherwise pretty white flower and floral aromas though there is plenty of mid-palate density to the rich, round, intense and powerful medium full flavors that despite the richness retain a fine sense of finishing detail. There is good minerality, buckets of dry extract and fine balance with almost painful intensity and superb finishing persistence.

Grilled ayu. A traditional sweet river fish of the smelt family. There was even an instructional video on how to debone it! Which actually helped. Delicious and sweet meat.

Our chef prepares the truffle rice.

Erick brought: 1978 Camille Giroud Beaune 1er Cru Grèves. 93 points. In fabulous shape.

From my cellar: 1997 Joseph Drouhin Romanée St. Vivant. 96 points. Bright shimmering ruby appearance in the glass. Ready from the moment opened, and didn’t really change much over the course of several hours. Enticing nose of red fruit and sweet grilled herbs, a touch perfumed as well. Great purity and class in the glass, with loads of mature Pinot flavors alongside a gentle smokiness that added heft to the wine. A great showing for the vintage, no doubt.

Truffle rice! Both white and black truffles. Very mild and lovely.

Marinated egg.

The egg notches up the truffle rice.

Wagyu sukiyaki. Delicious!

House-made ginger. I probably ate a pound.

Needle fish or trumpet fish.

Here is the head to prove it.

Sweet lips. Ugly fish, tasted good.

Hokkaido flounder.

Amber jack.

Porgi. As you can see Shunji really knows his “white fish.”

Shimaaji (mackerel).

Sweet shrimp. Succulent.

The heads look on in horror.

Then become shrimp miso soup.

Seki aji (premium Spanish mackerel).

A rare fish comes with a serial number!

Stone snapper or maybe sea ball belly.

Belt fish.

Scottish salmon.

Barracuda. A bit smokey.

Chu toro. Melt in your mouth delicious.

Kohada. A bit marinated.

Tasmanian trout. Amazing, but like salmon.

Hokkaido scallop in nori.

O-toro. This bad boy was stunning.

Dueling uni. Santa Barbara on the left, Hokkaido on the right.

Roasted tea.

Seasonal fruit plate, includes mulberries!

Truffle ice cream and chocolate mouse.

Midori melon.

All and all Shunji is rather fantastic, easily in the large repertoire of top LA sushi restaurants. This was a really great take on sushi kaiseki style dishes, combining both innovations with a solid grounding in traditional Japanese flavors and seasonal ingredients. There was some really unusual stuff too. I prefer Shunji at the sushi bar with a smaller group — and more nigiri — which this awesome dinner bore out. Sometimes the (non sushi) vegetable dishes are a bit too subtle, even if I appreciate them for their delicate dashi-scented ways. But Shunji is a master of the white fish and he has an exceptionally wide variety of mouse watering nigiri.

Service is attentive and excellent. Be prepared to open up the wallet as this is premium sushi — in a completely different league than your average Spider Roll — particularly if you go for the truffle rice.

For more LA sushi reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. More Shunji Omakase
  2. Shunji Sushi – Nonstop Nigiri
  3. Gasping Fish Shunji
  4. Shunji Super Omakase
  5. Newest Oldest Sushi
By: agavin
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Newest Oldest Sushi

Jan20

Restaurant: Ginza Onodera

Location: 609 La Cienega Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069. (323) 433-4817

Date: January 18, 2017

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: Fabulous nigiri, expensive, not enough food

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Los Angeles’ amazing homegrown sushi scene has recently been invaded by high end entrees from outside the city. I recently visited Sushi of Gari for some new style sushi, and Ginza Onodera is a Tokyo import using ultra traditional methods.

The decor is clean. Not as neat looking or stylish as Gari but bright and attractive.

The pottery is very artsy Japanese.

For wine, our small party, organized by Liz Lee of Sage Society, brought all high end late disgorgement champagnes.

Erick brought: 1990 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut Collection. 97 points. Like a Grand Cuvee on fire. Rich, vibrant, with a complex maturity.

The sashimi dipping sauce.

Halibut sashimi.

From my cellar: 1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé P2. 97 points. Floral aromatic start with red berry, red cherry, and ripe apple. Similar flavors with intense concentration, finishing with energizing minerality. In fact very similar to the 1996 “P1” in the next glass, but with just “more” of almost everything good.

Liz brought: 1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé P2. VM 95.5. The just-released 1995 Dom Pérignon Rosé P2 is stunning. Young, delicate and vibrant in the glass, the 1995 has it all; expressive aromatics, crystalline fruit and fabulous overall balance. Cranberry, mint, hard candy, cinnamon and dried rose petals are laced into the super-expressive finish. The 1995 P2 is sweet and layered, but with lovely veins of chalky minerality that give the wine its sense of energy. A delicate, floral finish rounds things out nicely.
Comes with a super fancy box.

Blanc and rose.

Smoked mackerel sashimi. Lovely smoky flavor.

The chefs hard at work. Despite a frenzy of effort the sushi was so labor intensive it was about 20 minutes between morsels!

Baby barracuda sashimi. Certainly the best bit of barracuda I’ve had.

Out comes a typical Japanese ceramic container.

Caviar and uni custard. Egg custard is a classic Japanese dish and I love it — this one was particularly decadent with the caviar and uni!

Hokkaido taco (octopus). Very tender, with a nice bit of chew.

Monkfish liver. This monkfish liver was DEEPLY marinated in a sweet soy. It was probably the softest and arguably most delicious version I’ve had. Melted completely in your mouth.

Cod Sperm Sack Tempura. Soft and delicate with that fluffy brain-like texture of the cod sperm. Pretty delicious if you don’t think about what you are eating.

House made ginger. Very sweet and soft. I love ginger and this version was almost like a candy ginger. Delicious.

Goldeneye red snapper.

TLiz generously opened this second bottle:

1990 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P3. 99 points. Spell binding bottle of Champagne. Disgorged in 2014, there was so much brioche here, I thought I was in bakery. There was a vibrancy and energy to the wine that keep all that pure fruit right out in the front. The effervesce was exactly what it needed to be with textures that promoted its beautiful finesse character. Worthy the money? That is another issue. But price aside, this is in contention for one of the best bottles of Champagne I have ever tasted.

Sardine with ginger. Very pickled and super delicious (if you love vinegar like I do).

Buri wild yellowtail.

Kohada gizzard shad. Another very marinated cut.

Fermented squid gut. Like a pasta in uni sauce. Very strong earthy fermented taste. A bit sweet. I thought it was delicious, but if you don’t like umami “aggressive” Japanese fermented seafood flavors and slimey texture it might freak you out.

Razor clam nori taco. Like a hand roll with no rice. Very much a charred flavor with a constrast between the perfect roasted nori and the crunchy/chewy clam. Very interesting and nice.

Blue fin tuna.

Two kinds of marinated fish roe with slices of daikon. Almost like charcuterie — fishy charcuterie. A touch sweet and quite salty. I loved these. Great texture contrast to between the crunchy daikon and the chewy dried roe.

Chu toro. Amazing.

Collar toro. A special cut from the collar (kami toro). They only get 2-4 prices out of the whole fish!

Chefs plating the next dish.

The covered bowl of miso.

Red miso soup. Earthy and appropriate on a rainy winter night.

Hokkaido uni sushi. Fabulously soft.

Eel sushi. The dry sea eel type I think, with salts and eel sauce. The eel sauce was incredibly sticky and caramelized.

Omelet is considered the measure of a traditional sushi chef.

Tamago (omelet). Very light and fluffy.

Green tea and sesame pudding? Whatever it was exactly it was delicious with a very strong wonderful macha flavor.

Special roasted Japanese tea.

Bags of pickled ginger to go.

Our executive chef, Yohei Matsuki!

Overall Ginza Onodera has a very strong distinctive traditional style. The rich is basically oozing with red vinegar and has a strong assertive quality — but it does stay together well. The fish was very aged and marinated and each piece of nigiri crafted so as to balance with the particular qualities of the fish. I can’t fault the taste, texture, or presentation of nearly any of the dishes. They were pretty spectacular. And I love straight nigiri. Individually these are much more enjoyable than the odd combinations at Sushi of Gari for example.

And service was warm, very Japanese, and excellent.

My issues with Onodera are a high price point (about $300 for food) / quantity ratio. The price itself is high, but not outrageous at all given the labor involved (and certainly not offensive like Urwasawa). But there is also a fairly slow rate between pieces (at least 15 minutes), and not ENOUGH pieces for my big nigiri appetite. I could easily have eaten 2-3 times as many. They might as well have just served me pairs. I would say that for pure nigiri QUALITY in volume this is the best I’ve had outside of Japan. Yamakase has some fabulous nigiri too but you only get a few (plus a whole lot of other dishes). Now I may be biased, but Yamakase is a “better deal” in that you get about 4X the calories for similar money. But it’s really a totally different (if both Japanese) cuisine as Onodera is pretty much straight straight sushi and Yamakase a modern creative Kaiseki. Still, if you want to experience the exquisite art of perfectly crafted nigiri — Onodera is the top right now in LA.

But we were so hungry we went afterward (after midnight!) to Korea Town for some hearty stew!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

The full wine lineup.

Related posts:

  1. Mori Sushi – A Top Contender
  2. Artsy Toppings – Sushi of Gari
  3. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  4. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  5. Shunji Sushi – Nonstop Nigiri
By: agavin
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Shibumi Showdown

Dec28

Restaurant: Shibumi

Location: 815 Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90014

Date: June 20, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Somewhere between Izakaya and Kaiseki

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Shibumi is a new Japanese place in DTLA which is both highly “Japanese” and unusual in a number of ways. One, it’s Kappo style which is a kind of “knife and fire” traditional cooking not often found in America. Two, despite this very Japanese sensibility, its chef is an American guy: David Schlosser.
This way.
The front looks a bit like Japan — all the more unusual because it’s sitting there on a nondescript DTLA block!

Adam brought: 2008 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. BH 94. A more elegant as well as more refined but also much more reserved nose of white flower and salt water aromas is very much in keeping with the equally refined, pure and silky middle weight flavors that possess excellent detail and precision on the textured and seductive finish that displays grand cru level persistence. This is not quite as rich as the Butteaux but it’s finer as the chiseled flavors are flat out gorgeous. In a word, stunning.

The interior is dark, almost Scandinavian modern crossed with bar. However it smells incredible, like a smokey Japanese inn.
The menu.

A unique form of decanting.

Erick brought: 1993 Ruinart Champagne Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blancs. VM 94. Among the wines of the 1990s, I especially liked the 1993 Dom Ruinart, which was beautiful, especially considering this was an original disgorgement. Layers of honeyed fruit, licorice and mint were woven together in a captivating fabric. We also caught this wine at near peak, as it was firing on all cylinders. What a beautiful wine.

Fresh walnuts in red chili miso. A little bit of heat and that sweet/spicy miso glaze. Interesting texture too in pairing the crunchy walnuts and the slightly slimy sauce.

Lotus, sweet potato, young burdock chips. Pretty much like potato chips. The first two dishes being almost bar food — which ties in with the Izakaya vibe.

Lobster “miso” and sake. The orange stuff is “lobster brain” which really isn’t brain but the liver (I think) of the lobster. It has a very slimey texture not unlike egg yolk. Strong brine and umami flavors. And it does pair nicely with sake. Fairly “advanced”.

Fermented mullet roe. Salty and fishy. I liked this a lot, but it is also extremely “advanced.”

Iwagaki oyster, fresh yuzu, shiso flower & mountain caviar. A HUGE oyster cut up. I’m not normally a fan of the giant oysters (although I love smaller ones on the half shell). This did have that big oyster chunky texture, but the pairing of bright and briny flavors was quite lovely.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 92-95. Pungent, thoroughly ripe aromas of soft citrus fruits and spices. Fat, sweet and large-scaled; this has real dimension. Highly complex and very rich flavors of orange, minerals, hazelnut and spices. Wonderfully aromatic and showy in the mouth, but also built to age. Finishes very fat and very long. This may be bottled without a fining. Thibodaux says the addition of the younger vines has brought freshness and cut, leavening the “corpulence and massiveness” of the juice from the older vines.

On the left an awesome scallop sashimi layered with something and covered in yuzu. On the right trigger fish liver and meat. Both of these dishes were awesome — but again the textural and in the case of the liver, slightly fermented, components require a high level appreciation of Japanese cuisine.

Japanese sea-bream sashimi, ginger bud, pickled plum-irizake.

From my cellar: 1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. 95 points. Absolutely exquisite. Soaring, kalediscopic nose, with swirling aromas of salted caramels, vanilla, honey, jasmin, ginger, almonds, and orange peels. Just mind boggling. Sensuous, smooth, and nutty on the palate, with a level of refinement that the other (also excellent) LdH blancos just can’t reach and a salty finish that leaves your palate tingling for what seems like minutes. A masterpiece that will last for ages.

“ancient” style sushi. Marinated mackerel on vinegar rice with pickled ginger. Sushi has its origins in China as fish packed in a barrel with vinegared rice. When it came to Japan it was adapted into something more like this which is halfway between that old fermented form and our newer (post refrigeration) form. This was quite enjoyable, although it was tricky to keep the rice physically in place.

From my cellar: 1999 Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Pucelles. 95 points. Reticent but very ripe nose hints at white flowers, white plum, orange oil and charred oak. Very rich, dense and chewy, but also high-pitched, perfumed and penetrating. A superrich yet classic wine that comes across as a bit less dry than the Combettes today. A great premier cru.

Silky egg tofu, uni, fresh nori & wasabi. I loved this attractive dish. I adore silken tofu and adding the uni and the traditional wasabi was great. The nori is a significant flavor and texture element in this dish too.

Mushrooms and other vegetables. A bit of a charred flavor too.

Will brought: 1993 Daniel Bocquenet Echezeaux. BH 88. Very elegant, spicy rich fruit framed robust, intense but edgy flavors that are a bit lean on the moderately long finish. It’s not clear whether this will regain its balance or not with a few years of bottle age but there is no doubting the lovely complexity and solid flavor authority.

Grilled heritage pork in koji, pickled daikon, leek. Nice pork, and I particularly liked it paired with the daikon (I love pickled daikon).

Steamed rice ball with barley, pumpkin & pumpkin seed. Nicely charred too and interesting textural interplay. Charred rice, almost sweet with almost sweet pumpkin.

California holstein beef strip, grilled, fresh wasabi, nara-zuke pickle. These were milk cows, and a fairly tough meat, but tasty with the wasabi.

Adam brought: 2010 Dönnhoff Oberhäuser Brücke Riesling Eiswein. 98+ points. As I noted in the introduction, this is one of two Eisweins produced from the Brücke in 2010. This particular Eiswein was harvested on Christmas Day, with the one that was still fermenting in the cellars having been picked a week earlier on December 18th. This is a great, great bottle in the making, as it soars from the glass in a brilliantly pure mélange of apple pie, pineapple, candied oranges, lovely minerality, honey, a touch of new leather and a topnote of citrus zest. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and racy, with laser-like focus, beautifully ripe, integrated acids and stunning grip on the endless finish. A great, great wine.

Koji (r)ice cream, apple & fermented apple. Really liked the apple in this reinterpretation of apple pie ala mode. Rice cream isn’t as good as ice cream though — or even close to gelato.

Chef David Schlosser with the big bottle!

The chef spent quite a while with us at the table.

Overall, Shibumi brings a unique sensibility at many levels. It’s stylistically east/west. The food is very Japanese but the chef is American. And the very style of food is not culled from Japan’s more Western-approachable sub-cuisines. This is some fairly hard core stuff with weird fish bits, fermentation, and “unfamiliar” textures. In fact, it pretty much showcases a texture prized in Asia but which most Americans would describe as “slimey.”

But execution is both unique and spot on. Ingredients are impeccable and the technique sound — and it’s almost instant popularity shows that great cooking can transcend even American parochial style. Too bad the same can’t be said of our recent politics.

After dinner we went over to this trippy place in Skid Row called “The Spirit Guild.” They were having a holiday party with plenty of on-premises brewed alcohol.

They have these cool German stills too.

And more.

And one of the potent drinks.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Yamakase – Crab Guts are Yummy!
  2. Food as Art – Sushi Sushi
  3. Sasabune – Dueling Omakases
  4. More Shunji Omakase
  5. Sushi Sushi Sushi
By: agavin
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Yamakase Seven

Nov09

Restaurant: Yamakase [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7]

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: November 4, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Always awesome!

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Yamakase is just hands down one of the most fun evenings in LA. Not only is the “modern” Japanese cuisine incredible, but the convivial nature of the place is just great. It’s not very big and as usual we take the entire sushi bar, but not tonight.

The location is in a good neighborhood, but something about this particular strip mall is a bit sketchy. Maybe it’s the 7/11. There are a lot of strange characters hanging about.
Inside, chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto rules over the sushi bar.

This time, being a Friday and a smaller party, we were 4 at the bar (of 11) and the place was packed with a total of 21 people!

Have a little tuna/toro! With the big crowd he went through two of these.

Larry brought: Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. VM 94. The NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse. This release is based on the 2005 vintage and was disgorged in winter 2012/2013.

Homemade sesame tofu and uni. A “typical” Yamakase tofu dish. Great interplay of textures and flavors.
Abalone with eel sauce. The crunchy chewy mollusk simply served and delicious.

Persimmon butter sandwich with marcona almonds. This is an odd one, but delicious. The orange stripes are dried persimmon which has been hung to dry for months. This is a traditional Japanese New Year preparation and very highly prized. The lighter stripe is frozen high end butter! Almost like a little petite four.

Mantis shrimp, baby peach, scallop, giant clam, and seaweed. I loved the sweet/tangy sauce too. Very lovely. The baby peach was incredible.

From my cellar: 2002 Maison Leroy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Le Charmois. 94 points. Reductive, fresh, and delicious.

Oyster, uni, quail egg, caviar. One of these super Yamakase spoons of crazy umami-rich ingredients.

Steamed/boiled cod sperm sacks with truffles. Sounds scary, but tastes great.

Roasted unagi with tomato sauce and truffles. Unusual combination that tasted like an Italian seafood dish — pretty awesome.

Frozen toro, uni, and blue crab on toast. This toast and rich toro/crab combo is so good. Like a super high end version of a tuna sandwich.

Hokkaido scallop in a dill sauce. A new treatment of some familiar ingredients. The dill sauce make for a different (and tasty) take on things.

Seasoned rice, baby fish, and marinated blue fin. An amazing dish with that fish over rice quality I really love.

Have a little foie!

From my cellar: 1994 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia. 97 points. Absolutely exquisite. Soaring, kalediscopic nose, with swirling aromas of salted caramels, vanilla, honey, jasmin, ginger, almonds, and orange peels. Just mind boggling. Sensuous, smooth, and nutty on the palate, with a level of refinement that the other (also excellent) LdH blancos just can’t reach and a salty finish that leaves your palate tingling for what seems like minutes. A masterpiece that will last for ages.

Foie gras, toro, quail egg, truffle cheese, blue crab. Wow! This dish was absolutely out of this world. Just crazy rich and delicious. You wouldn’t think it works, but it’s amazing.

Hokkaido ready spikey crab. Never had these before!

Crab, steamed. Simple steamed fresh crab.

The master stirring the pot.

Larry brought: NV Krug Champagne Brut Rosé. 95 points. The current release of Krug Rosé is a beautiful wine, which is comprised of a blend of fifty-nine percent pinot noir, thirty-three percent chardonnay and eight percent pinot meunier. It was disgorged in the spring of 2013 and includes reserve wines in the blend back to the 2000 vintage. The wine is beautiful and still very youthful and discreet on both the nose and palate, wafting from the glass in a lovely and blossoming blend of white cherries, tangerine, wheat toast, stunningly complex minerality, delicate spice tones and a topnote of dried rose petals. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and seamlessly balanced, with a lovely core, pinpoint bubbles, bright acids and exceptional focus and grip on the pure and still quite primary finish. This is very easy to drink today, but it deserves some cellaring time to really blossom.

Ultimate ramen bowl. This foie gras based seafood broth was topped with crispy onions and filled with yummy seafood bits. Underneath are the ramen noodles. There was crab, beef, oyster, and who knows what else in here. Absolutely stunning. So rich. So good. The broth had quite a white pepper kick too which was amazing.

Slicing the beef.

Look at that A5.

The documentation to prove it, including nose print.

Miyazaki goes beyond Kobe!

Miyazaki beef with truffle pepper sauce. Melt in your mouth with a bit of pepper kick.

Some people got sashimi instead of sushi.

Blue fin sushi. Bordering over to chu-toro. Just a lovely bit of sushi.

Amberjack. Amazing.

Sea bass. To die for.

Chu or O toro. Lethal. We had several pieces of this each.

Prepared to make the rolls.

Uber handroll. Uni, king crab, toro, shiso. You’ve never had a handroll quite like this powerhouse! Had two of these.

Hazelnut biscotti gelato. I made this gelato and brought it in (I have a special traveling cooler now for my gelatti). A pure hazelnut gelato with Italian (waffle) cookies and hazelnuts!

A small taste of baby peach sorbet. Super light and refreshing. Yama makes a very pure sorbet, no stabilizers, probably only fruit, water, and sugars.

There are different was to experience Yamakase, depending on you number. This was the first time in 4-5 years that I haven’t taken the entire sushi bar (and usually we have the whole restaurant on a weeknight).  This time it was just 4 of us in my party — at the bar — and on a Friday with a crazy busy crowd. At the tables there were mostly young Asian power couples. Quite the date night!

The food was as great as ever, and Yama added some extra staff so the service remained top notch and super attentive. The energy is a bit different with so many others and the space was packed. It’s louder, but with people staying more in their chairs. When we have the whole place, people are up and hanging out quite a bit. Yama also had to work like a banshee to produce nearly twice as many of each dish. He was right in front of me and it was impressive how fast he had to chop, plate, slice, dice, simmer, boil, etc. The knife was a flying! Those crabs had no chance. He is a total master and I’m proud to have him as my partner in Ramen Roll.

Food-wise, this was one of my best meals this year — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. A really great format. Yama’s cuisine keeps gaining in strength and power. Really quite incomparable. He is unquestionably a genius. Yama has a tremendous range within Japanese cuisine, first rate ingredients, and a savvy palate. He is quite skilled at very traditional more subtle Japanese as well, but has tuned up the typical Yamakase meal with high end ingredients and bolder combinations for a more contemporary wow factor.

Oh, and that toro cheese dish and foie gras “ramen” are just to die for.

Click here for more LA sushi reviews,
Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

Related posts:

  1. Yamakase Return
  2. Sumo Bowl Yamakase
  3. Yamakase Summer
  4. Yamakase – Crab Guts are Yummy!
  5. Yamakase – Burghound Bday
By: agavin
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Poke Express

Sep28

Restaurant: Poke Express by Handa-Ya

Location: 316 E 2nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90012. Little Tokyo, Downtown. (213) 628-3665

Date: September 21, 2016

Cuisine: Pole

Rating: Sloppy but cheap

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This is actually my first visit to a full on Poke place — sure I’ve had poke in Hawaii, and in all sorts of other specific occasions, but not at one of this new crop of Poke exclusive places.

Poke Express by Hando-Ya (not the car) is located right near Sushi Gen and the like in Little Tokyo.

Typical looking QSR (Quick Serve Restaurant) — much like a Subway.

The format is actually a lot like a dessert bar or snow place like Salju.

You basically pick a base (rice, salad, noodles) and then they dump on it a selection of toppings and proteins of your choice. These are the proteins (tuna, salmon etc).

Then toppings.

And more toppings — slightly confusingly divided into different categories.  However, for your base price you get a ton of them. A few like crab are extra.  Plus there are sauces.

Then a self serve toppings bar with dried onion, garlic, sesame seed etc.

Wasabi and ginger (looking non-too-fresh) and the omnipresent siracha and “spicy mayo”.

Here is one of our creations.

And a separate one.

These things are cheap, maybe $11-13 bucks typically before tax. How do they taste?  Hmmm. Disorganized and sloppy. Not bad, but nothing went together. First off the rice isn’t great sushi rice — which is delicious by itself. This was pretty loose. Then nothing had too much flavor except for the tangy dressing and the spicy mayo. It would take great care and skill to construct a “harmonious” blend. Instead I’m sure more people end up with a works type approach like we did. Didn’t really taste like much.

Works much better for Salju or Frozen Yogurt.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Sushi Zo
  2. Food as Art: Sushi House Unico
  3. Fast Food Sushi?
  4. Food as Art: Pearl Dragon
  5. Sushi Glutton – Takao Three
By: agavin
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Wadatsumi – Where Dat Beef

Sep05

Restaurant: Wadatsumi

Location: 10914 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064. (310) 470-0014

Date: August 24, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Wagyu

Rating: Tasty

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After our crazy Yazawa dinner a couple weeks ago my friend Erick recommended I step “downscale” and try the wagyu at Wadatsumi.

Again, this is a small international “steakhouse” chain.
The frontage is on Pico just blocks away from meat palace Totoraku!

Beef in the house.

The open kitchen.

And the rather huge interior (this photo only shows part of it).

The menu.

Typical tasty Japanese salad.

Red miso soup.

Homemade tofu with wasabi and soy glaze. Super soft texture and mild creamy flavor.

Wagyu beef croquette. Pretty mild, with lots of potato.

A sushi lunch special.

Wagyu beef curry. Tasty enough and my favorite dish, but nowhere near as good as the Yazawa wagyu curry. Truth is I like a more straight up curry better.

Filet mignon special with mashed potatoes. Tasty beef nuggets.

Sauces for the beef. Soy, yuzu mustard, and yuzu juice.

Rice was on hand too.

Overall this was an okay lunch and I’ll have to return to try some other things, namely a dinner set. But I wasn’t that impressed by this format. I like regular Yakiniku better — or the crazy Yazawa type.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Manpuku – Not so Secret Beef
  2. Totoraku – Secret Beef!
  3. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  4. Madang 621- Beef++
  5. Fogo de Chao – Beef!
By: agavin
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Chicken or Egg? – Tentenyu Ramen

Aug31

Restaurant: Tentenyu Ramen

Location: 2012 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025.

Date: August 9 & 23, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Ramen

Rating: Rich!

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Sawtelle seems to know no bounds with regard to Ramen! Already there is Tsujita, Tatsu, Daikokuya, and Shin Sen Gumi.

And now there is Kyoto chain Tentenyu! They have a nice patio very close to Tsujita Sushi and Miso 2012.

Tentenyu specializes in super thick chicken ramen. They don’t have a big menu, but offer up the basic version in both thin noodle classic ramen format and Tsukemen (which is my favorite at Tsujita).

There are even instructions on how to eat your Tsukemen (like at Tsujita).

The interior.

The small but steaming kitchen. Notice those crazy pressure cookers to the left for the broth.

Here is the fully loaded (with pork slices) version of the Tsukemen. Note too that this isn’t the super dense pork version at Tsujita, but a (mostly) chicken Tsukemen.

But it’s plenty dense. In fact, somehow, it might even be richer than the Tsujita pork version. The broth, like the densest chicken soup you never even thought existed also felt like about 8 egg yolks had been cracked into this tiny bowl.

The noodles too were thick, with a nice bite, and very very eggy. Good thing the meat wasn’t too fatty because the overall combination was insanely heavy. It did taste great though. Different than the pork type, but really quite good.

The “straight up” noodles in the broth (smaller noodles) version. Same basic chicken broth, same meat. Pickled vegetables on top.

Extra green onions.
There weren’t a lot of condiment options — like none, but there was the usual red pickles I love. And ramen sauce.

Overall I’ve only had these two very similar dishes — but they were good — Just so rich. Not a very big menu either. So I’ll have to come back occasionally. Too much good ramen to try!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Ramen is all the Rage
  2. Jinya Ramen Bar
  3. Tatsu – Ramen with a Soul
  4. Far Eastern Ramen
  5. Tsujita LA – Artisan Noodles
By: agavin
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Cheeks & Things – OOToro

Aug01

Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2]

Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299

Date: July 16, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)

Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good

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Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant.

And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which most people consider to far to drive for food). It took an hour and twenty minutes on a Saturday night!

The slick looking and crowded location is in the heart of the affluent Chinese American San Gabriel Valley. But yes, it’s Japan, if perhaps catering to Chinese taste.

The menu.

1996 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. BH 97. A distinctly reticent but elegant nose with a purity of expression that is truly impressive to experience as it’s relatively high-toned and while the yeast comes up with air, it’s relatively muted at presence, combining with intense, precise and superbly detailed and complex flavors that culminate in an explosive and wonderfully long finish. This may very well rival the sublime ’90 in time even if it’s not quite as concentrated. This is still a baby so there is absolutely no rush whatsoever.

Salmon with melon. A light starter.

Halibut sashimi with wasabi. Salty and with no small kick, this was a refreshing kick off.

NV Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. VM 94. The NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse. This release is based on the 2005 vintage and was disgorged in winter 2012/2013. The blend is: 44% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 19% Meunier.

Live Santa Barbara spot prawn and oyster with yuzu sorbet.
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Goldeneye and red snapper nigiri with wasabi.

Rice, toro, foie gras, caviar, shiso, and gold. Beneath it was something crunchy too, maybe a pickle.

2012 La Chablisienne Chablis Grand Cru Grenouilles. 88 points.

Three sashimi. Front to back: shipjack, chu toro, and o toro. On the left was dried persimmon and butter. The toro was amazing.

Ruby snapper nigiri with yuzu pepper. This kicks off what is to be a lot of yuzu pepper. I kick the stuff, but it does overwhelm the fish.

2009 Bouchard Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. VM 95+. Pale yellow. Tight, slightly metallic nose hints at lemon, lime, green tea, creme brulee and vanillin oak. Very ripe but firm on entry, with penetrating stone fruit and lemon-lime flavors. Then explosive on the back half, with a rising, compellingly tactile and sweet finish that suggests a great future. These vines were picked very late, noted winemaker Prost, who added that he used a higher percentage of new oak for this cuvee (18%) than for any of his other whites in ’09.

Uni sashimi. With and without sea salt. Great uni.

Squid with black cod caviar. My least favorite dish. Very fishy finish.

2007 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. BH 92-95. A highly complex lemon and orange peel, white flower and green apple nose introduces substantially bigger and richer if less refined broad-shouldered flavors that are quite dense and I like the mouth feel before the flavors slide away into a notably dry, intense, extended and punchy finish. This is a big wine with plenty of extract that really stains the palate.

Kama toro. The fattiest cut of the tuna, from the collar. Amazing. Like butter!

2002 Jean Boillot & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Clos de la Mouchère. VM 94+. Lemon, lime, spring flowers, nut oil and minerals on the vibrant nose. Dense and sweet, with penetrating flavors of peach, spice and minerals lifted by a captivating floral character. Broad, classy and extremely long on the back end. Already showing terrific personality, but this will be even better for five to seven years of cellaring.

King Salmon with wasabi. Great salmon.

From my cellar: 2002 Maison Leroy Saint-Aubin 1er Cru Le Charmois. 94 points. Great stuff. Still fairly reductive.

King crab leg with uni sauce. Very soft and sweet meat. Quite delectable.

2007 Williams Selyem Pinot Noir Flax Vineyard. VM 93+. Inky ruby. Deep, youthfully brooding cherry and dark berry skin scents are complicated by anise and black tea. Very rich, with fleshy blackberry and kirsch flavors, a chewy texture and slow-building tannins. The tannins gain power on the finish, which strongly echoes the cherry and licorice notes. No way I’d touch this one for at least another five years.

agavin: a touch of cork on the finish.

Seared o toro. Shiso, yuzu pepper, and crunchy pickles underneath. Pretty scrumptious. The crunch was new to me, but worked, even if it felt like a Chinese nod as they are into textural variations.

2006 Jonata Winery Pinot Noir La Poesía de Jonata. VM 88. Medium red. Spicy cranberry and redcurrant on the sharply focused nose, with gentle underbrush and dusty floral qualities adding complexity. A dry, firm midweight, showing subtle red fruit character and no excess fat or sweetness. This distinctly understated pinot finishes with lingering floral pastille and strawberry flavors and soft, lightly chewy tannins.

A5 Japanese Wagyu beef with some tempura vegetables.

Black pepper sauce.

2010 Aubert Chardonnay Sonoma Coast. agavin 86. All flabby and no acid.

The shrimp heads return as miso soup.

Or fried head.

2009 Marcassin Pinot Noir Three Sisters Vineyard. web 94. Color is light ruby red. Much more restrained than the estate. Very pretty nose of cherries, strawberries, clove and baking spices. A savory note pops up as well. Palate is smooth and refined with solid acid and body. Nice slippery finish lingers and tapers beautifully. Lovely wine.

Albacore nigiri. Lots of garlic!

Seared salmon belly with yuzu pepper.

1991 Beringer Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Chabot Vineyard. 92 points. From the yummy days before everything in California became too extracted for its own good.

Kobe beef sushi with black pepper sauce and yuzu pepper. Again, like I concluded on other occasions, the line between wagyu and toro can be a thin one.

2005 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard. VM 92. Good deep ruby-red color. Wild, nuanced nose offers black raspberry, mocha, violet, graphite, minerals and bacon fat, with a captivating suggestion of Asian spices. Lush, sweet and superconcentrated, with a creaminess of texture giving the wine an added measure of refinement. There’s just enough energy here to maintain freshness, not to mention the undercurrent of minerality that runs through all of the Araujo reds. Finishes broad, rich and chocolatey, with substantial tannins.

Lobster and vegetable tempura.

2006 Oremus Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos. VM 90. Full, bright orange-copper color. Aromas of orange peel, toffee, maple syrup and sweet butter, plus some high-toned oak; no shortage of fruit here. Quite concentrated and dense with extract, showing a slightly bitter orange peel edge and steely acidity to the layered flavors of dried apricot, pineapple, anise and botanical herbs. Finishes long, ripe and tactile, with lingering notes of peach nectar and game. There’s something cool here that contributes energy to this wine.

agavin: like apricot juice. Really nice.

Mango creme brulee cake (from 85 degree bakery).

It was Dr. Dave’s bday.

Light and yummy mango cake.

Some of the gang with the chef.

The table next door had this special ordered blue fin tuna collar dish. Impressive (if ugly).

Overall, OOToro is an interesting place. It’s far. Very far. And the food adheres to a certain over-the-top super-rich-ingredient version of sushi. Plus they “distract” with LOTS of yuzu pepper and wasabi and general richness. Still, it was (in a rich way) very enjoyable — if a touch pricey. But that drive!

Afterward, at 85 degrees again, Annie goes nuts for squid rolls.

Lots of desserts!

And boba.
And second dessert, this chocolate confection.

For more LA dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Related posts:

  1. Japanese in China – Izakaya Akatora
  2. Katana – Stripping it all Down
  3. Food as Art: Sasabune
  4. Feasting Lunasia
  5. Yamakase – Burghound Bday
By: agavin
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Yamakase Summer

Jul18

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

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: July 8, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Best yet!

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Yamakase is just hands down one of the most fun evenings in LA. Not only is the “modern” Japanese cuisine incredible, but the convivial nature of the place is just great. It’s not very big and as usual we took the entire sushi bar (we had 10 this time, but you can squeeze in 11 or 12).

The location is in a good neighborhood, but something about this particular strip mall is a bit sketchy. Maybe it’s the 7/11. There are a lot of strange characters hanging about.

Inside, chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto rules over the sushi bar.

In the back there are a couple of small tables — but the bar is really where it’s at!

Have a little tuna/toro!

2000 Philipponnat Champagne Brut Clos des Goisses. BH 95. This is more mature than the 2001 with a beautifully layered nose of yeast, lemon rind, brioche, dried flowers and spice hints. There is excellent volume and superb intensity to the firm mousse that despite the firmness exhibits a very fine bead. This is exceptionally impressive in the mouth with the same striking complexity of the nose coupled with positively gorgeous length. A knockout that could be drunk now with pleasure or held for a few more years first; personally I would opt for the latter but either way, this is a classic Clos des Goisses.

agavin: our bottle was delicious, but perhaps a touch advanced.

Krug Champagne Brut Grande Cuvée. VM 94. The NV Grande Cuvée is absolutely stellar. This is one of the very best Grande Cuvées I can remember tasting. The flavors are bright, focused and beautifully delineated throughout, all of which make me think the wine will age well for many, many years. Lemon peel, white flowers, crisp pears, smoke and crushed rocks race across the palate in a vibrant, tense Champagne that epitomizes finesse. This release is based on the 2005 vintage and was disgorged in winter 2012/2013.

2000 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. BH 96. A wonderfully layered and nuanced nose features an intense yeasty character to the maturing fruit that displays interesting phenolic characters, in particular petrol, along with aromas of apple, pear and soft citrus hints. In contrast to the nascent maturity expressed by the nose the flavor profile is still tight and backward with a genuinely gorgeous texture, all wrapped in a strikingly persistent and highly complex finish. For my taste the 2000 Brut is at an inflection point as the nose does offer enough maturity so that it’s really quite pretty whereas the palate impression is substantially younger. As such it really just depends on how you prefer your Champagne because I suspect that the nose will be very mature by the time the still very youthful flavors attain their majority. For my taste preferences it would be no vinous crime to begin enjoying this now but be aware that this will age for a very long time. The best approach is probably to buy 6, or even 12, bottles and enjoy them over a longer period of time.
Homemade tofu, Momotaro tomato, and uni. A “typical” Yamakase tofu dish. Great interplay of textures and flavors. I could even handle the tomato!

Persimmon butter sandwich with marcona almonds. This is an odd one, but delicious. The orange stripes are dried persimmon which has been hung to dry for months. This is a traditional Japanese New Year preparation and very highly prized. The lighter stripe is frozen high end butter! Almost like a little petite four.

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Gewurztraminer Heimbourg Vendange Tardive. 93 points. Burnt creme brulee, dried apricot, carmelized peach/apricot in the pie tin; rich, creamy, full bodied with medium sweetness. Slight petrol-botrytis evident here (although not supposed to override varietal characteristics, I believe it does in this case); round, soft, but with overwhelming apricot notes; long finish.

From my cellar: 2009 Weingut Knoll Riesling Smaragd Dürnsteiner Kellerberg. VM 92. Medium green-yellow. Seductive aromas of ripe peach, subtle blossom honey and mandarin orange. Becomes more exotic in the mouth, adding papaya and lime to the mix. Sweet peach and papaya fruit is lifted by extraordinarily elegant lemony acidity. Finishes with palate-staining fruit and intense wet rock minerality. Wonderful to drink now, but should be even better between 2014 and 2024.

From my cellar: 2004 Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste. Hune. VM 95. Pale, bright yellow. Ripe pineapple, liquid stone and exotic honey on the nose, with a spicy lift that suggests an oak influence this wine does not possess. On entry, this is sweeter and creamier than the Frederic Emile, but it livens up quickly in the middle, showing powerful minerality and sharply delineated flavors of liquid stone, pineapple and citrus peel. Still, this conveys a distinctly glyceral impression that suggests more sweetness than its 5 grams of residual sugar, no doubt a function of the 20% or so botrytized berries (in contrast to the Frederic Emile, which included no botrytis). Communicates an impression of power with elegance, finishing minerally and long but not austere. Pierre Trimbach compared this wine to the estate’s great 1990. This is already showing more Rosacker terroir than riesling character. About 9,000 bottles were made from 1.5 hectares of vines.

Abalone with eel sauce. The crunchy chewy mollusk simply served and delicious.

Mantis shrimp, baby peach, scallop, orange clam, and seaweed. I loved the sweet/tangy sauce too. Very lovely.

1996 Domaine Bernard Morey et Fils Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets. VM 93. Knockout nose combines herbs, white flowers and spiced pear; at once oily and precise. Rich-bordering-on-thick but given clarity by juicy limey acidity. Very long, palate-staining finish. The yield here was a good 50 hectoliters per hectare, says Morey. Yet this is so much more fleshy and pliant than so many ’96s.

2004 Domaine Ramonet Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru La Boudriotte. BH 89. A deft touch of wood frames citrus and earth infused ripe chardonnay fruit aromas that lead to rich, full and fleshy flavors that are robust if not especially structured, all wrapped in a delicious and easy to like finish. There is good freshness here if not great underlying tension with fine overall balance and fine length. In sum, this is a generous and easy to like effort that should repay a few years in the cellar.

Oyster, uni, quail egg, caviar. One of these super Yamakase spoons of crazy umami-rich ingredients.

Roasted unagi with eel sauce and bamboo shoots. This was very fresh, light, and seasonal.

2006 Domaine William Fèvre Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos. VM 96. Pale, bright yellow-green. Knockout nose combines ripe pineapple, dried fruits, lemon, lime, crushed stone, minerals and mint. A wine of outstanding intensity, power and thrust, with sappy mineral and toasted bread flavors saturating the palate. Most impressive today on the explosive, mounting, tactile finish, which leaves the mouth vibrating. This called to mind Corton-Charlemagne-or a great Austrian riesling. Winemaker Seguier loves this but feels that the 2004 is in the same quality league. And the 2007 is even more chalky, he adds.

From my cellar: 2002 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. VM93+. Musky aromas of chicken broth, lime and crushed stone; quite austere and slow to open. Then less fruity but more important on the palate, with bracing flavors of lemon and apple and an impression of minerality I can only describe as creamy. A very rich, dense wine with a strength of material that belies the normal-for-Raveneau yield of about 50 hectoliters per hectare.

2009 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. VM 93. The 2009 Chablis Montée de Tonnerre is super-impressive. There is a level of detail, nuance and energy to the fruit that is quite rare in 2009. The Montée de Tonnerre possesses dazzling purity all the way through to the finely articulated, chiseled finish. This is yet another superb effort from Raveneau. I have a slight preference for the 2010 here, but the 2009 will offer fabulous drinking while its younger sibling ages in the cellar.

Shrimp with tomatoes and parmesan. A new dish, and a delicious one. The tangy tomato/parm sauce was quite lovely.

Chef Yama works on his next course.

2001 Marc Colin et Fils Corton-Charlemagne. 92 points. Beautiful from the get go showing honey, roasted hazelnuts, some white chocolate, and a little tropical fruit. Reminded me of an Aubert Chardonnay in many ways. Nice mid weight…not a blockbuster but at the low end of outstanding.

2002 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Corton-Charlemagne. VM 92+. Very subdued nose hints at apple, minerals and nutty oak. Then intensely flavored, penetrating and youthfully backward, with bracing flavors of apple, spiced pear and powdered stone. Very densely packed, spicy wine that’s currently dominated by its powerful spine. This needs a good five or six years to blossom in the bottle and may well merit a higher score.

Frozen toro, uni, and blue crab on toast. This toast and rich toro/crab combo is so good. Like a super high end version of a tuna sandwich.

Truffle, crab, quail egg, salmon egg, uni parfait. Classic Yamakase greatness. White truffles apparently this time of year. In December it was black.

From my cellar: 2001 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 93. While understandably tighter, this is still drinking much like the same wine in 750 ml format (see herein). An expressive and still quite fresh nose includes white flower, pronounced honey and exotic fruit aromas nuanced by spice hints flow seamlessly into a similar flavor profile on the thick, powerful and vibrant middle weight flavors yet that possess more than sufficient acidity to buffer the weight and richness. Overall, this is beautifully balanced, long and offers superb intensity and has everything it needs to continue a graceful evolution. As one would expect from magnum, this isn’t quite ready for prime time and while it could be drunk with pleasure, if you wish to see the wine at its optimum point of development, it will be necessary to wait for a few more years first.

2008 Domaine Leflaive Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet. BH 91-94. A subtle touch of pain grillé highlights citrus notes that, like the Pucelles, exhibit hints of honeysuckle and fennel nuances that complement perfectly the textured, rich and sweet medium plus weight flavors that are quite supple yet remain detailed, energetic and strikingly long on the explosive finish. This is a relatively powerful Bienvenues. In a word, terrific.

Orange clam and scallop in a dill sauce. A new treatment of some familiar ingredients. The dill sauce make for a different (and tasty) take on things.

Bluefin tuna, caviar. Some of the best chunks of tuna I’ve had.

From my cellar: 1985 Bouchard Père et Fils Chevalier-Montrachet. A little oxidized. Not premoxed, just getting old.

From my cellar: 2002 Louis Jadot Chevalier-Montrachet Les Demoiselles Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. VM 96. Taut, vibrant aromas of grapefruit, apple, pear, and powdered and wet stone. A great expression of rocks in the mouth, with extremely pure flavors of grapefruit and lemon. Conveys a powerful impression of sweetness allied to sheer energy. Fabulous, consistent wine with near-perfect balance and extraordinary length. As penetrating as it is today, I would not describe this wine as austere.

1999 Henri Boillot Chevalier-Montrachet. 94 points. Light yellow in color. A bit of hazelnut to start but also some wood and bitterness. About 6 hours later, the wood resolved and the wine expressed some pear, honey, and hazelnut. This was supported by plenty of lemon acidity. Still very young.

Foie gras, toro, quail egg, truffle cheese, blue crab. Wow! This dish was absolutely out of this world. Just crazy rich and delicious. You wouldn’t think it works, but it’s amazing.

King crab, steamed. Simple steamed fresh crab.

1998 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart. VH 95+. Bright ruby. Highly complex nose melds black raspberry, Indian spices, gunflint, tar and smoky oak; seemed to grow fresher and more vibrant with aeration. Dense, thick and highly concentrated, with brilliantly defined but still rather backward fruit flavors. Finishes with great length and extremely fine tannins that dust the entire mouth.

2002 Domaine du Clos de Tart Clos de Tart. VM 95. Bright red-ruby. Highly nuanced, expressive nose combines strawberry, raspberry, minerals, lavender, chocolate, underbrush and fennel. Superconcentrated, silky and sweet in the mouth but with superb definition and energy. The wine’s sheer density of material completely buffers its 14+% alcohol. Finishes dry and classic, with explosive rising fruit and terrific thrust. The tannins are buried in fruit and soil tones. A great Burgundy

The chef is working on his ramen. Bright yellow eggy noodles.

Ultimate ramen bowl. This foie gras based seafood broth was topped with truffles and filled with yummy seafood bits. Underneath are the ramen noodles. There was crab, beef, oyster, and who knows what else in here. Absolutely stunning. So rich. So good. The broth had quite a white pepper kick too which was amazing.

1986 Joseph Drouhin Grands-Echezeaux. 94 points.

1996 Denis Mugneret Père et Fils Richebourg. BH 93. Subtly complex nose of leather, earth and dried grasses with delicious yet quite structured flavors and fine length. There is good sève and muscle underlying the flavors though the tannins are completely ripe and the wine should drink well over the medium term. This is not flamboyant or especially opulent yet it delivers plenty of character and quality in a refined, discreet style. I like this very much.

1953 Remoissenet Père et Fils Richebourg. 95 points. Domain release. Must have been reconditioned as it tasted crazy young (for a ’53).

Miyazaki beef with truffle pepper sauce. Melt in your mouth with a bit of pepper kick.

Some amazing sake!

Blue fin sushi. Bordering over to chu-toro. Just a lovely bit of sushi.

Amberjack. Amazing.

Sea bass. To die for.

Chu or O toro. Lethal. We had several pieces of this each.

Uber handroll. Uni, king crab, toro, shiso. You’ve never had a handroll quite like this powerhouse! Had two of these.

A small taste of baby peach sorbet. Super light and refreshing.

“Only” 25 bottles of wine. 10 people. Great stuff tonight too. No bad or spoiled wines. Stuff was great in all 4 categories: champ, white burg, red burg, and sake. Just some really stellar drinks.

There are different was to experience Yamakase, depending on you number, but all but one time I’ve taken the whole bar. On a night when the bar is split between a collection of smaller parties it might be more staid. But when we take over, it’s certainly not. We do the wine service ourselves for the most part with a little aide from the accommodating servers. It feels like a “private party with Yama.”

Food-wise, this was one of my best meals this year — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. A really great format. A total blow out and Yama’s cuisine keeps gaining in strength and power. Really quite incomparable. He is unquestionably a genius. Yama has a tremendous range within Japanese cuisine, first rate ingredients, and a savvy palate. He is quite skilled at very traditional more subtle Japanese as well, but has tuned up the typical Yamakase meal with high end ingredients and bolder combinations for a more contemporary wow factor.

Oh, and that toro cheese dish and foie gras “ramen” are just to die for.

Click here for more LA sushi reviews,
Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

Related posts:

  1. Sumo Bowl Yamakase
  2. Yamakase Yummy
  3. Yamakase – Burghound Bday
  4. Yamakase – Crab Guts are Yummy!
  5. Yamakase Return
By: agavin
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Sumo Bowl Yamakase

May25

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

Location: You wish you knew!

Date: May 20, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese

Rating: Best yet!

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Yamakase is just hands down one of the most fun evenings in LA. Not only is the “modern” Japanese cuisine incredible, but the convivial nature of the place is just great. It’s not very big and as usual we took the entire sushi bar (we had 10 this time, but you can squeeze in 11 or 12). This is my second time at the new location and while the back was empty first time around, this time there were 8 or so people at 2-3 tables back in the “depths” of the restaurant.

The location is in a good neighborhood, but something about this particular strip mall is a bit sketchy. Maybe it’s the 7/11. There are a lot of strange characters hanging about.

Inside, chef Kiyoshiro Yamamoto unpacks his giant slabs of tuna.

We start with a bang! 2003 Krug Champagne Clos du Mesnil. VM 94+. The 2003 Clos du Mesnil is insanely beautiful. Vivid, resonant and textured in the glass, the 2003 boasts magnificent depth and pure breed. Since I last tasted it a few months ago, the 2003 has begun to shut down, which is probably a great sign for its future and overall longevity. Hints of smoke, slate and dried pear gradually open up in the glass, but the 2003 mostly stands out for its exceptional finesse.

Homemade tofu, Momotaro tomato, and sweet shrimp. A “typical” Yamakase tofu dish. Great interplay of textures and flavors. I could even handle the tomato!

1998 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon P2. VM 95. The 1998 Dom Pérignon P2 is open and beautifully expressive today. Unusually open for a young P2, the 1998 drinks well upon release, especially compared to the 1996, which was virtually unapproachable for the first few years after release. That is not at all the case with the 1998, which is quite open at this stage. Hints of apricot, almond, white flowers and chamomile add texture on the fleshy, resonant finish. The added time on the lees has given the P2 an added dimension of texture.

Abalone with eel sauce. The crunchy chewy mollusk simply served and delicious.

2002 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. JG 99+. At first sight a lovely bright golden colour. A very charismatic fresh nose, promise of natural intensity and elegance with strong presence of fruits, fruits of all types. A diverse bouquet of orange aromas with some notes of liquorice and light chocolate biscuit can be enjoyed.
On the palate, astonishing, balanced and delicate with significant fresh, tropical, wild and crystalised fruits. It is a hymn to fruit: red, white and citrus fruit with notes of cassis, chocolate, candied-orange peel, cocoa beans, honey with hints of smoke and toast enhanced by a vibrant, persistent long finish. It is a balanced dialogue between Pinot Noir (40%) and Chardonnays (39%) with Meunier (21%).

Persimmon butter sandwich. This is an odd one, but delicious. The orange stripes are dried persimmon which has been hung to dry for months. This is a traditional Japanese New Year preparation and very highly prized. The lighter stripe is frozen high end butter! Almost like a little petite four.

Mantis shrimp, baby peach, scallop, seaweed. I loved the sweet/tangy sauce too. Very lovely.

1985 Louis Jadot Montrachet Le Montrachet. 90 points. Still intact, deep yellow, but fruit a bit faded.

Fresh steamed eel and baby squid. Lovely textures. I think the green things were bits of sisho too, or shiso flowers.

1986 Marquis de Laguiche (Joseph Drouhin) Montrachet. 94 points. From a virtually perfect bottle, this wine had a deep yellow center and clear rims. Not surprisingly, the nose was rather closed at first. Eventually, the high- intensity nose showed apples, vanilla, macaroons, and white stone. In the mouth, this wine was reasonably ripe and rich but the wine’s majesty came from its powerful acidity. Not surprisingly, it showed awesome length after some time.

Scallop or clam with salmon row and steamed ice fish. These tiny little fish are so cute!

2007 Louis Latour Montrachet. BH 95. A deft touch of wood serves as a background presence for the reserved but fresh and bright floral, citrus, brioche and spice aromas that are strikingly complex and broad and complement the full-bodied flavors that are deep, dense and massive with exceptionally powerful drive and intensity on the gorgeously long and palate staining finish. This is an impressive wine blessed with great underlying material, perfect balance and superb harmony plus it’s built for the long haul. Note however that the expressiveness of the nose aside, the flavors are like a block of stone and thus I would suggest not opening a bottle for the next few years as it would likely be a complete waste.

Oyster, uni, quail egg, caviar. One of these super Yamakase spoons of crazy umami-rich ingredients.

1979 Domaine Michel Gaunoux Pommard 1er Cru Les Grands Épenots. JG 92. Or bottle was in great shape!

Seared beef, foie gras, and a foie gras sauce. Rich and delicious.

From my cellar: 2002 Domaine Amiot Guy et Fils Montrachet. Burghound 93. Tight yet fragrant aromas of stunning complexity reveal hints of peach, pear and a trace of wood spice, leading to large-scaled, extremely ripe flavors that stain the palate with wave after wave of sappy extract. Exceptionally powerful and very masculine, this is a very backward wine today with impressive focus and precision and it will require a minimum of 5 to 7 years of cellar time to arrive at its peak, though it should be capable of lasting a good deal longer.

Frozen toro, uni, and blue crab on toast. This toast and rich toro/crab combo is so good. Like a super high end version of a tuna sandwich.

From my cellar: 2000 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Meursault 1er Cru Les . BH 94. Razor sharp aromas of wet rocks, earth and white fruits meld into flavors that are crystalline in their precision, purity and transparency. Understated, discreet and fine yet this is painfully intense with buckets of minerality. Quite backward presently but this is a genuinely breathtaking wine that defines class. In two words, absolutely brilliant and consistent notes.

agavin: our bottle was fabulous. still reduced even.

Truffle, crab, quail egg, uni parfait. Classic Yamakase greatness. White truffles apparently this time of year. In December it was black.

1999 Etienne Sauzet Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Champs Canet. BH 92. Slightly exotic fruit (often a characteristic of Champs Canet) with notes of pineapple and banana with that mouth watering Granny Smith apple acidity. Marvelous intensity on the mid-palate that continues on to the long, powerful yet discreet finish. Not flashy and in fact rather understated for Champs Canet but it has arrived at its peak and is drinking perfectly now. Impressive in that it’s generous yet precise and pure with lovely harmony of expression.

Some kind of delightful raw shrimp or such in a dressing.

Bluefin tuna, caviar. Some of the best chunks of tuna I’ve had.

2000 Faiveley Corton-Charlemagne. BH 91. The nose is still relatively fresh though the aromatic profile is one of a fully mature white burg, offering up notes of dried flowers, green apple and citrus hints that are also picked up by the elegant and pure medium-bodied flavors that display some wood influence on the otherwise admirably long finish. This is a Corton-Charlemagne of finesse and about the only nit is that one could wish for a bit more mid-palate concentration. No other recent experiences.

Yama’s new assistant plating.

Foie gras, toro, quail egg, truffle cheese, blue crab. Wow! This dish was absolutely out of this world. Just crazy rich and delicious. You wouldn’t think it works, but it’s amazing.
Uh oh, crabs!
King crab, steamed. Simple steamed fresh crab.
At work in the kitchen — which is right behind the sushi bar.

From my cellar: 1997 Joseph Drouhin Romanée St. Vivant. 93 points. Garnet color, with light bricking on the rim. Red fruits on the nose, with some spice as well. The red fruits are also present on the palate. Long finish. Very good given the vintage and kept very well.

The chef is working on his ramen broth. Bright yellow eggy noodles.

Ultimate ramen bowl. This foie gras based seafood broth was topped with truffles and filled with yummy seafood bits. Underneath are the ramen noodles. There was crab, beef, oyster, and who knows what else in here. Absolutely stunning. So rich. So good. The broth had quite a white pepper kick too which was amazing.

Because I asked I got the lefthand “sumo” bowl as my personal portion. It was so large even I couldn’t finish it! Almost though.

From my cellar: 1982 Domaine Marquis d’Angerville Volnay 1er Cru Clos des Ducs. Burghound 88. Superb nose of dried rose petals trimmed in minerals and damp earth follow by middle weight, slightly thinning flavors that display excellent complexity and frankly more structure than the mid-palate sap can adequately buffer on the finish. That said, this receives its marks for the sheer breadth of flavors and the clean, pure character. This is a first rate effort in what was a very difficult vintage.

agavin: 94 points. I thought this was drinking great.

This is real Japanese Wagyu, from Miyazaki. It comes with a certificate of authenticity that includes the cow’s nose print and stats. Yeah, the actual animal.

Miyazaki beef with truffle pepper sauce. Melt in your mouth with a bit of pepper kick.

A super complex sake Adam brought.

Erick brought this premium sake back from the brewery in Japan.

Another special aged sake Adam brought.

Some opted for the sashimi plate.

Blue fin sushi. Bordering over to chu-toro. Just a lovely bit of sushi.

Sea bass. To die for.

Amberjack. Amazing.

Chu or O toro. Lethal. We had about 4 pieces of this each.

Uber handroll. Uni, king crab, toro, shiso. You’ve never had a handroll quite like this powerhouse! Had two of these. The second one almost gave me a gout attack!

A small taste of baby peach sorbet. Super light and refreshing.

“Only” 16 bottles of wine. 10 people. Great stuff tonight too. No bad or spoiled wines. Stuff was great in all 4 categories: champ, white burg, red burg, and sake. Just some really stellar drinks.

Plus, food-wise, this was one of my best meals this year — really quite excellent — and regular readers know I have more than my share of great meals. A really great format. A total blow out and Yama’s cuisine keeps gaining in strength and power. Really quite incomparable.

Oh, and that toro cheese dish and foie gras “ramen” are just to die for. I’m headed back in July for more.

Click here for more LA sushi reviews,
Or for Foodie Club extravaganzas.

Related posts:

  1. Yamakase Yummy
  2. Yamakase Return
  3. Yamakase – Burghound Bday
  4. Yamakase – Crab Guts are Yummy!
  5. Katana – Stripping it all Down
By: agavin
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Time again for Totoraku

May20

Restaurant: Totoraku [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]

Location: 10610 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064.

Date: May 18, 2016

Cuisine: Japanese Yakiniku

Rating: Best beef in town!

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About twice a year my Hedonist group makes a regular pilgrimage to Totoraku, LA’s “secret beef” restaurant.  Toto (as its affectionately known) serves a refined version of Japanese Yakiniku, which is Beef BBQ originally from Korea but filtered through Japanese sensibility.

We often oscillate between 30 person mega dinners — quite the madness — and more intimate 10-15 person affairs. This was the later, with 12 drinkers, and I much prefer this size. You can talk to everyone, bottles go all the way around, and the quality of the wines is generally more consistently higher.

The outside is basically a shell. The “Teriyaki House” has nothing to do with the food within, and the phone number is incorrect. The place is like a beef speakeasy!

The interior is a tad “minimalist.”


Here, chef Kaz Oyama, himself a part time Hedonist, sharpens his knives. Uh oh!

Stewart brought bonus: 1996 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 95+. Deep, highly complex aromas of citrus skin, nutmeg, porcini mushroom, toasted almond and clove. Rich, dry and impressively deep; superconcentrated and oily. A chewy, spicy Champagne that seemed to grow fresher as it opened in the glass. Really explosive on the aftertaste, finishing with a clinging quality and powerful spicy, nutty flavors. A major mouthful of Champagne, at its best at the dinner table. Displays the combination of high ripeness and high acidity of this vintage at its best. This thick, rich, very powerful wine is still a bit youthfully disorganized and will be even better for a few years of additional aging. One of the standouts of my recent tastings.

The appetizer plate. Lots of yummy little tidbits.

Scallops and/or clam bits.
Sesame tofu with pea.

Kirk brought bonus: 2004 Marcassin Chardonnay Marcassin Vineyard. VM 97. Pale yellow-green. Knockout nose combines stone fruits, minerals, fresh herbs, honey, flowers, grilled nuts and earth. Round and lush yet racy and light on its feet, with compelling flavors of pineapple, grapefruit and crushed stone. A huge but classy wine with considerable finesse. Wonderfully rich yet subtle on the back end, where it stains the palate with fruits, minerals and soil tones.

Some seared and marinated fish on seaweed.

Salmon wrapped in daikon, stuffed with avocado and other vegetables. On the right Egg with pear, potato, and some kind of crisp.

Shrimp with caviar.

I brought as bonus: 1993 Georges Noellat Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 91 points. A bit tart at first, but some air helped the flavors flesh out a bit. Earthy, meaty, spicy, and floral, this had all the components of great Burgundy. The flavors seemed to be a bit muted, though, so the wine had a dulled sense to it…the intensity wasn’t there I guess. Certainly improved with more air, but I’ve had better bottles of this.

Foie gras, some kind of fruit. On the right a vegetable jelly.

Uni risotto balls.

Larry brought: 1998 Château Mouton Rothschild. Parker 89-96. Like many of its peers, the 1998 has filled out spectacularly. Now in the bottle, this opaque black/purple-colored offering has increased in stature, richness, and size. A blend of 86% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Merlot, and 2% Cabernet Franc (57% of the production was utilized), it is an extremely powerful, super-concentrated wine offering notes of roasted espresso, creme de cassis, smoke, new saddle leather, graphite, and licorice. It is massive, with awesome concentration, mouth-searing tannin levels, and a saturated flavor profile that grips the mouth with considerable intensity. This is a 50-year Mouton, but patience will be required as it will not be close to drinkability for at least a decade. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2050.

Danny brought: 1999 Mouton-Rothschild. Parker 93-94. Made in a soft style, many readers will prefer this “friendlier” blend of 78% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, and 4% Cabernet Franc. A very sexy Mouton, it exhibits a dense ruby/purple color, sweet cassis fruit, coffee, and smoke. Long and lush, with low acidity, ripe tannin, and medium to full body, it should be reasonably approachable upon release, yet evolve nicely for 20-25 years.
Beef carpaccio with special salt, flowers, and some onion family derivative. Very yummy. This is eaten raw.

Two kinds of beef sashimi, eaten nearly raw. From the same cow! On the left beef tataki (rib eye) and on the right (in the cup) beef throat sashimi. Also on the plate is a bit of Korean style hot sauce (the red stuff), some intensely strong garlic (yum) and micro julienned ginger.

The throat was very chewy, more about texture. The rib eye soft and more flavorful. All went well with the garlic and ginger — I particularly liked the garlic.

A raw beef dish. Marinated raw beef is seen here with ginger, raw egg, cucumber, daikon, pine nuts, and something orange. Apparently, this is a Korean dish called Yukhoe. Actually, I’ve had it at Korean places, but in any case it’s delicious.

The elements are mixed together and then eaten. It’s hard to describe why it’s so good, but it is, with a very complex flavor and texture interplay.

The tabletop grill we cook the rest of the dishes on.

Stewart brought: 1983 L’Evangile. Parker 88-91. A gorgeous bouquet of black-raspberries, minerals, spices, and cedar is an immediate turn-on. The deep ruby color is followed by medium-bodied, beautifully concentrated, well-focused flavors. The exotic side of l’Evangile so noticeable in its top vintages comes across in this plummy, rich, viscous, medium to full-bodied, fleshy wine. More tannin was evident in this tasting than in the past, which makes me think the wine might be starting to display more structure. One of the best right bank wines of the vintage, it should be drunk over the next 12-15 years.

Larry brought: 1989 Palmer. Parker 96. Deep garnet-brick. Dark chocolate covered cherries, espresso, cinnamon, rose petals, tree bark and loam. Medium to full body with layers of concentrated fruit and spice flavours supported by crisp acidity and a medium+ level of fine tannins. Very long finish.

agavin: most of us thought this was Wine of the Night!
Beef tongue with salt. After cooking, you dip it in lemon juice.

Do put your tongue on the grill!

Filet Mignon with bell peppers, onions, and sisho pepper.

Filet on the grill.

The “salad.” Cucumbers, carrots, daikon. The vegetables do help to move along the fat and protein heavy meat.

They are served with this spicy sweet miso dip.

Momotaro tomatoes with a vinaigrette. These are supposedly incredibly good tomatoes, as a hater, I didn’t try them. I think Oyama-san gets them from some special place in Orange Country.

From my cellar: 2001 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin. Parker 99. The 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Hommage a Jacques Perrin is a blend of 60% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache, 10% Counoise, and 10% Syrah. Full-bodied, excruciatingly backward, and nearly impenetrable, it boasts an inky/blue/purple color in addition to a promising nose of new saddle leather, melted asphalt, camphor, blackberries, smoky, roasted herbs, and Asian spices. A huge lashing of tannin as well as a formidable structure result in the antithesis of its more flattering, forward, and voluptuous sibling, the classic Beaucastel. Readers lucky enough to come across this cuvee should plan on waiting at least a decade before it begins to approach adolescence. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040.

agavin: also stunning

1989 Guigal Cote Rotie la Turque. Parker 99-100. The precocious, sweet, jammy 1989 La Turque’s smoky, licorice, and black-raspberry aromas, as well as its phenomenal richness, make for another extraordinary tasting experience. Full-bodied, dense, and thick, this wine possesses the essence of black cherries. Still youthful, it is already gorgeous to drink. Anticipated maturity: now-2012.

agavin: another amazing wine

Outside rib eye with special salt and garlic. After being flipped, green onion is added.

Inside rib eye.

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Looking serious about the meat!

You have to special order the lamb, which like all of Kaz’s meats, is pretty wonderful.

On the grill. One hell of a chop.

Ron brought: 1981 Penfolds Grange. Parker 97. The 1981 stood out as slightly superior. Winemaker John Duval always felt this was a tannic style of Grange, but the wine has shed its tannins, and this is one of the few vintages where the percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was above 10%. Sweet notes of creme de cassis, cedarwood, charcoal, and barbecue spices are followed by a full-bodied, opulent wine displaying heady amounts of alcohol, glycerin, and density in its full-bodied, skyscraper-like texture. I was drinking this wine with great pleasure in the mid-nineties, yet here it is nearly 15 years later, and the wine does not appear to have budged much from its evolutionary state. This is a testament to how remarkably well these wines hold up, and age at such a glacial pace.

Yarom brought: 1997 Penfolds Grange. Parker 94. The 1997 Grange (a blend of 96% Shiraz and 4% Cabernet Sauvignon) looks to be a classic Grange, although slightly softer and more forward than the backward 1996. The saturated purple-colored 1997 offers a gorgeously sweet nose of blackberry liqueur, cherries, camphor, chocolate, plums, and mocha. The wine is opulently-textured, extremely soft, layered, and seductive, with Grange’s tell-tale personality well-displayed, but in a seamless, seductive style. This is a superb Grange that can hold its own against the more heralded 1996.

A kind of short rib.

On the grill.

Light it up!

Ilana & Ron brought: 1999 Latour. Parker 93-95. Deep garnet colored with a touch of brick, the nose offers notes of cassis, tobacco leaf and tar with hints of tree bark and earth. The palate is taut and savory / minerally with very firm chewy tannins somewhat dominating the restrained fruit at this stage.

Some other kind of short rib.

Cooking.

Arnie brought: 2002 Paul Hobbs Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard. Parker 100! One of the greatest young Cabernet Sauvignons I have ever tasted is the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard (which I also rated 100 when it was first bottled). This wine has hardly changed since its release. Still incredibly youthful, it reveals a blue/black color along with notes of black currants, camphor, graphite, high quality unsmoked cigar tobacco, blackberries and a touch of oak. Full-bodied and multilayered with terrific texture and richness as well as a 60-second finish, this young, exuberant, slightly flamboyant classic offers an interesting contrast in style with other top producers (such as Schrader Cellars) that also farm parcels of the Beckstoffer To-Kalon Vineyard. Like most young Cabernets, this wine can be drunk now because of the sweetness of its tannins, but it is a good decade away from full maturity. It should last until 2040-2050. Bravo!

Mark brought: 2007 Kapcsandy Family Winery Cabernet Sauvignon Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard. Parker 100! Absolutely riveting, and even better than I predicted last year is the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon – Grand Vin State Lane Vineyard. Made from 92% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot, and the rest tiny dollops of Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot (400 cases produced), in two weeks of tastings, this wine stood out as one of those singular efforts that it is impossible to get out of your mind and off of your palate. A flawless, seamless, profound example of Napa Cabernet, it exhibits an opaque purple color along with a gorgeous perfume of lead pencil shavings, cedar, creme de cassis, ink, flowers, and espresso roast. With phenomenal depth, a multidimensional personality, unbelievable length, and an impeccable integration of all its component parts, this stunning wine lasts and lasts, with a finish approaching a full minute. Give this profound wine 3-5 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following 25-30 years.

A new one tonight, house special pork.

Cooked very well. Super super tasty.

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Toto veterans

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Stewart brought: 1964 Miguel Torres Cabernet Sauvignon Penedès Gran Coronas Reserva. 89 points. In quite good shape for its age.

Skirt steak.

Phil brought: 1928 Izidro Gonsalves Madeira. Pretty yummy!

Mark brought bonus. 1990 Graham Porto Centenary Malvedos. 90 points. Very good port. Lot’s of dark fruit and some chocolate flavours at the end. Very hot.

Toto serves homemade ice creams and sorbets as dessert. So chaotic was this giant night that they brought out all five flavors on each  plate and just placed them about the tables. I like the ice creams better than the sorbets here. The white chocolate was fantastic. Still, it’s all great. So great we ordered 3 plates for 4 of us!

1990 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey. VM 93. Wonderfully complex, quintessential Sauternes aromas of apricot, smoke, truffle, game and licorice. Thick and mouthfilling, but kept fresh by strong, harmonious acidity. Conveys a tactile, layered texture and strong noble rot character. Really lovely balance. Finishes with powerful fruit and great persistence. Stunning wine.

Mark brought bonus this cognac — in tiny little airplane bottles! 🙂

This place is all about the beef, which is arguably some of the best I’ve ever had. Certainly the best yakiniku/Korean BBQ I’ve ever had. There is a perfect tenderness to every cut that’s fairly transcendant. I’m not even that much of a steak fan — but I’d take this stuff any time over even a spectacular cut from Mastros or Cut. The food here does not vary much from visit to visit. There is no menu. The quality however is utterly consistant. So while it isn’t an everyday sort of dining experience, perhaps once every 6-9 months, I love to return for my fix.

This evening was quite awesome. We had a smaller party (12). Thus every wine easily made it all the way around. Additionally, everyone really stepped up and we had some pretty epic grapes. Every wine was drinking well and some were just total stunners!

More crazy Hedonist adventures or

LA dining reviews click here.

First time at Toto can be A LOT to take in!

Related posts:

  1. More Meat at Totoraku
  2. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  3. Totally Totoraku
  4. Totoraku Double Meat Madness
  5. Totoraku – Secret Beef!
By: agavin
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Andy Gavin

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