Japanese Peruvian hotspot Paiche is so good, I’ve just had to go again (and again) to photo nearly all their dishes…
Archive for Japanese Peruvian
Restaurant: Nobu Malibu [1, 2, 3]
Location: 22706 Pacific Coast Hwy. Malibu, CA 90265. (310) 317-9140
Date: May 29, 2013
Cuisine: Japanese Fusion
Rating: Maintains it’s very high standards, and price.
In my continuing quest to eat the oceans of the earth clean in the form of sushi I returned to one of my “old” haunts, Nobu Malibu — but in it’s new glamorous ocean-side location.
The various Nobus represent the corporate version of the Japanese-Peruvian fusion begun by Nobu Matsuhisa at his eponymous Matsuhisa (REVIEW HERE). While not quite as inventive as the original, the Xerox job is pretty darn good. Food quality is extremely high and highly consistant. The atmosphere is fun. The only deficit is the price, which is perhaps 40-50% higher than most similar restaurants, like say Takao (REVIEW HERE). And it’s not like these are cheap either!
The new location is really quite stunning. The outside is covered on 2-3 sides with couches and tables. Too bad it’s so cold along the ocean in Malibu, on all but the warmest of summer nights, even the heat lamps aren’t enough to make those girls in their little dresses comfortable.
The inside looks great too, and it’s huge!
Just two of several wood lined chambers.
And an inside/outside patio covered in heat lamps.
2003 Domaine de la Vougeraie Vougeot Clos du Prieuré. 90 points. Pleasant wine, golden hued with a clear ring around the base. Sticky pitted fruit and white florals on the nose, with a bit of light oak. Wet slate minerals also pleasant on the nose. Lower in acids than some newer vintages, but it does still make my mouth water. There is a pleasant mouth feel, with the orchard fruits joined with some nuttiness and wood. More like a West Coast wine than and aged bourgogne blanc. I wouldn’t think this refreshing as some whites, but enticing nevertheless. Decent fruit on the finish with that touch of acid keeping my mouth wanting something wet to refresh it.
“Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno.” The total Nobu classic, but it still holds it’s own. This version is as good as any i’ve had.
A Matsuhisa classic, “Toro tartar with caviar and a miso ponzu.” I’ve always loved the combo of the rich fatty toro and the acidic punch of the sauce. This theme of adding acidity to the fish is a consistant one.
“Miso Soup.” Classic, and as expected.
Special “salmon sashimi” with ponzu, onion, and mayo. Very tasty.
“Red snapper carpaccio” with ponzu, salt, and a bit of chili. Great, but a little salty.
2009 Raul Pérez Rías Baixas Muti. IWC 91. Bright yellow-gold. Deeply pitched aromas of smoky lees, bergamot, apricot pit and salty minerals. Viscous, palate-coating orchard and pit fruit flavors are enlivened by juicy acidity and complemented by honeysuckle and a hint of spun sugar. Wild, complex and singular wine with strong finishing cut and sappy persistence. This is far removed from your classic albarino.
“Sashimi Salad.” Another Nobu classic. The dressing has this nice flavor and texture I’ve always liked, and the mildly seared tuna is succulent. The overall salad is a bit salty, but Japanese cuisine usually is.
“Lobster taco.” Slightly underwhelming.
“Tuna taco.”
“Tai sweet shiso with cripsy shiitake.” Tasty and crunchy.
“Cauliflower special.”
“Shrimp Tempura with Ponzu Sauce.” More classics. I’ve always loved these little fellows. Basically the normal Shrimp Tempura, but pre sauced, and in smaller bite sized chunks. Addictive, but eat quickly before it sogs up.
“Black Cod with Miso.” Another Nobu classic, and delicious as always.
Our sushi plate. There is Tamago (egg), salmon, albacore, scallop, freshwater eel, and king crab.
Our dessert spread.
“Chocolate and banana spring rolls,” plus various ice creams and sauces, a crepe.
And this “coffee shaved ice” with coffee cake crumble and coffee/chocolate sauce.
Overall, the food is just like is always was here at Nobu. The atmosphere is stellar and it would be really cool to eat outside on a hot summer night (although they don’t usually serve dinner outside due to the cold). There must be an army in the kitchen too because the stuff appeared minutes after we ordered (except for the sushi). All in all, it’s a great experience, if a tad manufactured and divorced from its chef driven origins.
The only problem: the price. Nobu is expensive. This meal for four was $600 with tax and tip. Given that the food isn’t that far off from Paiche, it hardly deserves to be three times as expensive!
Check out more LA Sushi places I’ve reviewed here.
Location: 9575 West Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90035. Tel: 310 277 0133
Date: September 27, 2011
Cuisine: Modern Peruvian
Rating: Really interesting flavors
My parents were in town and I wanted to take them back to Picca, which I had recently tried. Peruvian food is on fire right now in LA, and for good reason.
The Pico Blvd frontage is hard to miss.
Picca’s Peruvian cuisine has enough citrus and Asian notes that it goes best with a lighter fruiter red like this lovely Burgundy (from my cellars as usual).
The bar was hoping when we arrived and at least ten people were waiting for tables, but they honored our reservation and seated us immediately (love to see that).
The interesting handmade cocktail menu.
“Rhubarb Sidecar.” Cognac, pisco, fresh lemon juice, rhubarb gastrique, shake violentyly (and they mean it), garnished with spiced sugar.”
Today’s menu. There are so many dishes that I took to underlining the ones we wanted. Saved on recitation to the waitress.
“papa rellena. stuffed potato, slow cooked beef, boiled egg, rocoto aioli.” Tasted like potato and chilli (known in Texas as a super-spud).
“empanada trio. beef, chicken, eggplant, salad.” I tried the chicken one, it was good. Not too heavy (considering).
“jalea mixta. crispy mixed seafood, tartare sauce.” Some really good fried seafood. The tartare sauce was fantastic too.
Parker 93 points, “The 2008 Vico made from 100% Mencia with 30% whole clusters and aged for 9 months in seasoned French oak. Opaque purple-colored, it offers up a slightly reticent bouquet of damp earth, mineral, incense, black cherry, and black raspberry. Dense and loaded on the palate, the flavors are already complex and mouth-filling. Impeccably balanced and with a 45-second finish, it has the stuffing to blossom for another 2-3 years but can be approached now. It is a great value.”
“ceviche criollo. seabass, rocoto leche de tigre, choclo, sweet potato.” The leche de tigre (vinegary lime sauce) makes all these cerviche‘s taste fairly similar, but this one had big soft chunks of seabass.
“ceviche crocante. halibut, leche de tigre, crispy calamari.” And this followup was rendered considerably different by the addition of crunchy calamari.
One of the menu’s many sections is “terceras – antichuchos” which are mostly grilled skewers, sort of Peruvian yakatori.
“tomatoes. burrata, black mint pesto.”
“beef filet. sea urchin butter, garlic chip.” Good stuff, with just a hint of the classic Uni flavor.
“scallops. aji amarillo aioli, wasabi peas.” Lightly cooked, very nice.
“black cod. miso anticucho, crispy sweet potato.”
Then we have a round of “causa sushi,” with yellow Peruvian potato replacing the rice. In general, as I’ve mentioned before rice is more successful, but these are still tasty.
This is the “unagi. avocado, cucumber, eel sauce” and it’s pretty much your eel sushi. Of all these causas this was my favorite as the polenta is heavier and stronger flavored than rice and the eel held up to it best.
“spicy yellow tail. spicy mayo, green onions, wasabi tobiko.”
“smoked salmon. hijiki, shallots, aji amarillo yogurt.”
“shrimp. pickled cucumbers, yuzu kosho guacamole.”
“albacore. garlic chip, ceviche sauce.” My second favorite of this set.
“scallops. mentaiko.” Certainly tasty, but it would have been better with rice.
“snow crab. cucumber, avocado, huancaina sauce.”
“seabass tiradito. thin slice sea bass, soy sauce, lemon dressing, sweet potato puree.” Very nice. Bright fish, even further brightened by the bold flavors.
Our server was very perky and friendly. Although she got caught up talking to lots of other guests and took a while with the check :-).
“chicharron de costillas. crispy pork ribs crostini, sweet potato puree, feta cheese sauce, salsa criolla.” This however was pretty spectacular, one of the best pork sandwiches I’ve tried.
“arroz chaufa de mariscos. mixed seafood, peruvian fried rice, pickled radish.” This was a nice version of paella. Brighter and more citrusy (by far) than it’s Spanish cousin. The ingredients were very fresh.
“sudado de lenguado. halibut stew, peruvian corn beer sauce, yuyo.” This really added some flavor to the nicely cooked fish.
“pollo saltado. chicken, onion, tomato, ginger, potato fritters.” This was also a tasty chicken. Like a south american stir-fry. With fries!
“chanfainita. braised oxtail, mote and potato stew.” This was our least favorite dish of the evening. There was a lot of bone on the tail, and a lot of fat. Not that it tasted bad or anything, but I think we were done for.
I love even street cart churros but these were pretty supreme. The churros were stuffed with some kind of dulce de leche custard. It kept squirting out but was intensely good. The carob sauce was surprisingly amazing. I remember carob from the 1970s as the horrible chocolate bars that weren’t. This could have been caramel.
“Lemon tart.” This was a pretty amazing dessert. Light and airy, almost foamy, the intense lemoness paired nicely with the sweet pineapple stuff on the side.
Picca was just as good the second time. We rounded out the menu and ordered mostly new stuff. As long as you are of the “bland is banned” school like I am, there really isn’t anything not to like about their solid implementation of this bright and flavorful cuisine.
Location: 129 N La Cienega Blvd Beverly Hills, CA 90211. (310) 659-9639
Date: May 6, 2011
Cuisine: Japanese Fusion
Rating: As good as it’s always been!
Some good friends were in town who had never tried Nobu Matsuhisa‘s particular blend of Japanese Peruvian Fusion. As popular as this has become in the last fifteen years, and how every derivative restaurant in America throws a few of his dishes on the menu, the original still rocks. I also scored a Friday night reservation in the coveted and private “Omakase only room,” where his cooking is showcased to the best effect.
The original storefront.
This aged 1st Cru white burgundy from my cellar was the very expression of mature chardonay.
As you can see from the color. This wine is ready, more than ready, as it might have been a tad better two years ago. Still it had a wonderful floral perfume to it.
The private room seats eight, and has it’s own sushi bar and kitchen.
“Seafood springroll with heirloom tomato and caviar.” This is the only repeat of the night, a Matsuhisa classic.Fry is always good, but it’s actually the combination with the spicy tomato chutney/salsa that really sells the dish.
One of the private kitchen chefs working on the appetizers.
Grilling up some conch!
Different members of our party got slightly different versions of this quartet of amuses.
“Seared salmon, new style.” That is with sesame, ponzu, and warm olive oil.
Kanpachi (young yellowtail) with a bit of red peper and ponzu on a radish.
Red snapper carpaccio, with chives, garlic, and vinegar.
A second version of the plate.
Lobster cerviche.
Tai (red snapper) sashimi, new style.
Yellowtail collar marinated in miso (a Nobu classic), baked, and then served with a bit of garlic and texture on letuce. You wrap it up and eat it like a soft taco.
Japanese baby conch, sauteed in garlic butter (escargot style).
The creepy crawly himself. Chewy and a little bitter, in a good way.
Burgundy goes very well with the Matsuhisa flavor profiles. The first time I ever went here, in 1996, I brought a Gros Frere Clos Vougeot. This 2005, Parker gives a 92. “The 2005 Clos Vougeot from Drouhin’s two parcels in that famous cru, is much more earthy and less fine-grained than the majority of their wines from this vintage, but it exhibits impressive concentration. A bone meal-like meld of mineral and meat dominates the nose and suffuses the palate along with black raspberry, plum and cherry fruit accepted by faintly bitter fruit pit notes. This is quite full and rich, but without being heavy; overtly tannic and chewy, but without being coarse. A promising more tart than sweet juiciness of black fruit mingles with roasted meat and stony, chalky minerality in the finish.”
Sashimi salad, with yellowtail, seared blue fin tuna, various dressings, and hearts of palm.
Par boiled Santa Barbara prawn with a tiny bit of salad (including hearts of palm). This was really yummy, even better than the cooked version we had last time. The meat is very sweet and succulent, delicious warm but essentially raw.
Sea bass on a bed of mushroom “risotto” with white truffles. The little spears are pickled ginger shoots.
“Fois gras, seabass, mushrooms, in a very rich reduction sauce.” Very meaty and tasty, the sauce was a pretty awesome blend of all three contributors of yum: salt, sweet, and fatty. The little red fruit is a pickled leeche.
Another very nice, red burgundy, this one (unlike the others) from the restaurant’s list. We drank more than I thought. 🙂
Grilled Toro, with enoki, aspargus, and other mushrooms.
American Kobe Beef with asparagus, garlic, and a spicy sauce and mustard. Really yummy (and rich) dish.
Each person gets a little sushi plate, there were a couple variants, this one has no shellfish.
A version where everything is cooked.
The “normal” plate for those who eat everything.
Chu-toro (medium tuna belly). Perfect!
Kanpachi (young yellowtail). Like butter.
Orange giant clam.
Uni (sea urchin).
Anago (sea eel), in the classic sweet BBQ sauce.
The pretty laquer soup container.
Inside is snapper soup. I haven’t had this one before, although it’s a classic mild Japanese fish broth with cilantro and scallions. The fish is soft mellow whitefish in this context.
My brother got a special surprise, the eye. The chef’s convinced him to try it. “Good for the sinews and joints.”
Taco (octopus). Very tender.
Japanese Sea Scallop sushi, with a bit of yuzu. Always one of my favorite sushis, and this didn’t disappoint.
Kohada (gizzard shard).
Baby squid, battleship style. They’re raw, but tossed in a kind of sweet miso-lemon dressing. Really tasty.
And we finally make it to desserts. Fruit tart with ginger ice cream. This was a total fan fave with the ladies.
Green tea tiramisu with chocolate gelato. Both were good, with the pastry having a nice creaminess and the ice cream a deep richness.
Butterscotch cream brulee with a citrus ice cream. Also really nice and creamy.
Coffee ice cream with chocolate crunch. This was great too, probably my favorite. The crunch added a really nice texture.
Shave ice. Below are a couple balls of vanilla ice cream (very good vanilla ice cream), red bean sauce, and very finely shaved ice.
Then green tea sauce (or maybe just tea) is poured over it. In the end, a very interesting (and Asian) mix of flavors and textures.
Even the urinal is cool.
The main room.
The chefs at work back in our private room/kitchen.
This was probably the best meal I’ve ever had at Matsuhisa, and I’ve had a LOT of great ones. Because I’m jaded now, and used to the cuisine, it wasn’t utterly mind blowing innovative like the first time I ever ate here. But the cooking is as good here as it ever was. Nobu (and his sucessor cooks) still really know their stuff.
