Lobster :: All Things Andy Gavin

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Monarch Madness

Aug27

Restaurant: Monarch

Location: 1212 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 596-2818

Date: January 29, 2023

Cuisine: Hong Kong fusion

Rating: Very good, but I like Chifa better

The Leon family knew within the first week of opening their Peruvian Chinese restaurant Chifa in late 2020 that a sophomore effort was in the cards. Though no one in the family was especially well-versed in food service or hospitality, the tenacious squad that includes Humberto Leon, the co-founder of fashion brand Opening Ceremony; his mother, Wendy Leon; sister, Ricardina Leon; and brother-in-law, John Liu; navigated pandemic-related hurdles and ultimately found success. Now they’re ready to do it all over again with Monarch, which opened on South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia on Saturday, January 14.

Dressed up diner outside is totally SGV.

Super cool dining room.

8 is THE number for these round tables!

Bead screen of Iguazu Falls!

Jeffrey with Mama.

The menu.

Accidental grab as this was a $495 wine for Chinese!

Michael Kaplan’s son’s home-made chili oil (excellent).

Trusting the manager, I put in the entire menu organized into 4 flights. This 3rd flight item came out first but he graciously took it back, sorted it out, and sequenced near perfectly after that.

Silken Steamed Egg. delicate steamed egg with monkfish liver. The texture on the egg was great. However, the monkfish liver was a bit underappreciated in this (very cooked) context.

Decadent Spiced Okra. wok stir-fried okra in a Szechuan spice. Not particularly spicy, but very very pleasant with that goopy and crunchy okra texture.

Filet Mignon Tartare. Westholme Australian Wagyu filet mignon with pickled snow cabbage, chili crisp and quail egg. We mixed this all up and the result was an extremely flavorful tartare.

Shrimp chips for the tartare.

Slippery Egg Crab Fried Fun. Cantonese wok fried rice noodle with egg, crab and salmon roe add Uni. The “Fun” was basically rice sticks but this thick starchy dish was awesome with that old school “lobster sauce” flavor + uni. Really lovely.

Steamed Seabass Olive Tapenade. slow steamed chilean seabass topped with Chinese pickled olive tapenade. Olives are an unusual feature of southern Chinese cooking, probably courtesy of the Portuguese. They certainly worked in this night light seabass preparation.

Black pepper lobster. This special order prep was absolutely to die for. This 5ish pound lobster was super juicy and the black pepper sauce on of the best stir-fry sauces ever. Putting it on those thick al dente noodles was absolutely to die for. Once the oily pepper sauce soaked into the noodles… oh yeah!

Again, just because.

The gang.

Monarch Bolognese. simmered pork and tomato ragu with Chinese egg noodle. Even on their return in proper sequence this was a contentious dish. The porky Bolognese, while a touch dry, was quite lovely. But the noodles tended to clump.

Addicting Curry Noodle. fragrant and spicy curry squid ink noodle with scallop, calamari and shrimp. We all much preferred this unusual noodle dish with its grainy yellow curry flavor. Really was addicting.

Garlic Sweet & Sour Pork. crispy fried pork with Popo’s sweet & sour sauce, onions and kiwi. Like a high end Panda Express Sweet & Sour Pork! Very fried and drowned in this sweet and jammy sauce.

Black Pepper Lobster Tail. Whole lobster tail wok tossed in sweet and spicy black pepper sauce — noodles added. The lobster (and its noodles) were so good that we ordered two tails worth of lobster with MORE noodles. However they were out of the thick round ones and substituted this linguine. The tail meat was easier to eat and I enjoyed its lobster flavor, but the shell had one up on it for being finger licking good. The new noodles were good, and if we had had them first would have been great, but they just weren’t as chewy and amazing as the larger noodles.

Our special order Tomohawk came at first “well done” but again they graciously took it back and swapped for…

Tomahawk, rare. Now this was an amazing steak and really delicious with its warm deep pink/purple center. I particularly enjoyed with the sauces.

Black Pepper Cognac au Poivre sauce. Roasted Garlic Red Wine Reduction sauce. And special Chifa Cucho Sauce. My favorite was the black pepper.

Braised Curry Lamb Shank. tender braised lamb shank in fragrant tomato curry with cauliflower puree. Great that this was on a cauliflower puree (low carb) and the meat was super tender and drowned in delicious sauce.

Trinity Fried Rice. garlic, ginger, scallion trinity fried rice with egg, shirmp and fish roe. Nice large shrimp.

Celery & Red Chidori Kale (V). simple wok tossed celery and kale with fresh garlic. This was a surprise stand out for me. I very much enjoyed the crisp crunch of the celery.

Dessert menu, but we had better:

Cremino al Siciliana Gelato — The base made with Galbani Whole Milk Ricotta and Sicilian Acacia Honey laced with house-made Bronte Pistacchio DOCG “Fudge” — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #ricotta #honey #pistachio #pistacchio #fudge

Overall, this was an amazing meal. It’s sort of an interesting fusion, as it’s essentially Chifa — both the restaurant and the cuisine. Specifically this is a Hong Kong Peruvian hybrid fusion. It’s good and the decor and service are fabulous. But it’s also more expensive than almost all SGV Chinese. And I’m not sure it’s exactly better, just different. I actually like my Chinese very Chinese. I don’t even love Hong Kong “style” Chinese as much as most mainland restaurants because of the European (aka British) influence.

My favorite dishes here at Monarch were many of the ones that were at Chifa as well, like the lobster and steak. I do have to say, however, that the black pepper lobster is INSANELY GOOD. Best Chinese style lobster I’ve had. It’s also pretty expensive, but worth it. And the version we had was off menu, as the on menu one is lobster tail (which is also really good and we also had).

My recommendation would be that anyone very into SGV Chinese, or Chinese food in general, try out Monarch and see what they think themselves. I imagine many people will love it. I’ll certainly be back.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Black pepper, BYOG, Chifa, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Lobster, Monarch, Wine

Arcadian Pastures

Jul18

Restaurant: Meizhou Dongpo

Location: 400 S Baldwin Ave #2045, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 538-4136

Date: December 4, 2022

Cuisine: Beijing/Szechuan Chinese

Rating: A bit better than its Century City brother

I’ve been to the Century City Meizhou many times, and I’ve even been to this Arcadia branch (which oddly opened LATER) for lunch, but I was always skeptical of going out here for dinner as there are so many other places in the SGV (and after all, we have one close by).

But off I went anyway.

They do have EPIC private rooms. This one is huge, decorated, and has a nice “sitting area.”

Sichuan Dumplings. Pork dumplings with chili oil. Pretty nice version with soft skins, good filling, and a tangy/spicy sauce.

Spicy cucumber salad. Very solid version. A touch spicy, nice sweet and tangy sauce.

Dongpo sausage. Two types. Actually a touch spicy/sweet. The light colored one was incredibly delicious in a sweet pork sort of way.

Cold mung bean noodles with chili. This was a spectacular version of this Chengdu street dish. Tons of flavor and a hot of heat.

Cold noodles with chicken and spicy sauce (not pictured). You mix it up and douse in the sauce. Quite nice cold noodle dish with good texture and flavor.

Sole Filet with green onions. Very lovely as well with nice thick filets. Super silky texture.

Lobster with Ginger and Scallions. The meat was tender and the sauce flavor was great.

Meizhou Special Fried Rice.

Condiments for the peking duck.

Out comes the peking duck!

For more detail on the whole duck thing in LA, check out my Ultimate Peking Duck Guide.
The do it table side, which is sadly rare here.

MDP skin was very thin and crispy but there was less of it because of the split skin cut = 6

Carving away.

The meat is served with legs in a separate dish. Each duck turns into two of these plates. We had three whole ducks this time around!

Meat was super juicy, even a touch pink, with real jus. Excellent. Some was served with the skin on = 9

Great thin pancakes. Pancake was thin and resilient = 9

The condiments. They include sugar for dipping the skin.

Hoisin was very good, but a touch savory = 7

Accoutrements were scallion and cucumbers as usual, but extra point for sugar = 8

The “burrito/bing” together was a 7/10 because the pancake/hoisin is the most important component of that.

Cumin Duck Bones. A bit boney and dry, but great flavor.

Duck Soup. They gave us this for free. Actually very pleasant, with a flavor like a great chicken soup.

Eggplant in chili garlic sauce. Nice but a little sweet. Texture was very good though. Very temperature hot as is typical with this dish.

Wok-Fried String Beans. Nice version of the dish.

Beef Filet with Black Pepper. A bit boring, but nice enough.

Steamed lobster with garlic and vermicelli. As good as the first lobster was (we actually had two of each!) this one was even better. Super moist and tender, just great lobster meat with garlic flavor!

Braised pork hock with special sauce. Super delicious umami/msg/savory sauce. Rocked.

Kung Pao Shrimp. It’s supposed to be a touch spicy — it wasn’t — it was sweet with nice crunchy peanuts. Despite the sweetness, it was delicious and addictive. Maybe a little too addictive. Texture was great.

Chocolate Butterfinger Crunch Gelato – The base is made with Valrhona 62% Satilla Chocolate and then layered with Peanutbutter Cream Cheese Ganache and chopped Butterfingers! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #Valrhona #chocolate #creamcheese #ganache #icing #peanut #butterfinger

A rarity with our Asian dinners, people under 30! (some adult children of some of the other guests).

The wine lineup.

Overall this was actually an excellent Chinese meal. Not only do they have the great private rooms (which really elevate Chinese dinners and make them a lot more fun) but MDP Arcadia is a touch more precise than the Century City version. Service is good at both, and the menus are almost the same, but there seems to be an extra level of consistency here that takes it up a notch.

I just wish they would balance a little bit less “sweet” and a little bit more sour/spicy. That would take it up from an 8 to a 10!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: Arcadia, BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Gelato, Lobster, Meizhou Dongpo, Peking Duck, SGV, Wine

Lots more Longo

Jun16

Several more really epic Longo meals have been rolled into this mega post.

Check it all out here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese Food, crab, duck, Lobster, Longo, Seafood, Wine

Boston Lobster New Digs

Apr09

Restaurant: Boston Lobster Seafood Restaurant

Location: 4501 Rosemead Blvd, Rosemead, CA 91770. (626) 288-4388

Date: September 4, 2022

Cuisine: Cambodian Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Huge, Great Deal, Solid

This Sunday’s Chinese is a return to Boston Lobster. It’s been awhile, like 7 years. They have new digs, having moved from a small shop on Valley Blvd to this huge location on Rosemead.

The new spot must have been some kind of “Seafood House” in the kitchy 50s style and it even includes an old (WWII?) antiaircraft gun.

The place is enormous with multiple wings and a very current (if a little cheesy by western standards) Chinese build out inside.

Lobster tanks.

And a big menu of southern Chinese and Cantonese Chinese dishes.

We had a jumbo — and I do mean jumbo — private room where our table took up just a corner.

Boston House Special Lobster with Garlic Noodles. We actually had two of these huge plates for our table of 14. Lobster itself was excellent. Not the best “house special lobster” I’ve ever had, and I didn’t see any roe (which I like), but good. And pretty well cooked and tender. Noodles were a touch bland.

Geoduck Clam Sashimi Style. Served with soy sauce and wasabi. Decent, but chewier and fishier than at Longo, and not in that same delicate awesome way.

Geoduck Clam Neck Fried Salt and Pepper Style. Tasty with a nice chew but not as awesome as at Longo.

Clam with Basil Sauce. Tender clams but the basil sauce (as usual) gives an interesting medicinal note to the dish.

Shrimp with Walnut. Middling version of the classic.

Steamed Whole Fish. This was basically soy sauce fish with scallions. Nicely cooked and tender, but not super exciting.

Kung Pao Pork Chop. I’m not sure I’ve had this (Cantonese) cut of meat as Kung Pao. It was a very Southern Kung Pao with no spice, no Szechuan Broad Bean Chili Paste. More a salty sour brown sauce, but pretty tasty regardless.

Special Off Menu Smoked Duck. Very interesting flavor and super tender. This was one of the best dishes.

It was served with a soy gravy.

And a And a sweet and sour sauce (which was better than the gravy). (which was better than the gravy).

Sliced Beef with Pea Sprouts. Beef was super tender and soft and packed with “flavor” (MSG). The pea sprouts were great too with that salt and garlic yum factor. I actually liked this dish a lot.

Chicken with Curry Sauce. Not very Chinese, but kinda delicious. Very tender and “flavorful” with a nice mild yellow curry.

One of the standard Chinese greens with garlic. Not bad at all.

Oyster on Hot Sizzling Plate. Very “fried” (not deep fried but cooked) oysters. Pretty good flavor but I don’t love my oysters cooked.

Yang Chow Fried Rice. Classic.

Oranges.

Double Mint Oreo — Base made with Fresh Spring Mint infused milk and then laced with Crushed Mint Oreo Thins and Chopped Valrhona 70% Chocolate! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — lovely strong mint flavor and color is all natural — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #mint #valrhona #chocolate #oreo

The gang.

Overall, Boston Lobster was good but not great. It’s huge. And it’s well priced. And the lobster is good. Dishes are fairly typical for Southern/Cantonese Chinese. I actually think it’s quite a bit better than the way over-rated Newport Seafood. But there are plenty of “meh” dishes (still tasty, don’t get me wrong, this is solid Chinese) that aren’t nearly as good as at a better Cantonese restaurant. For example, Longo and Monterey Palace Geoduck is WAY better. But if you have a big party and/or want this kind of Chinese on a bit of a budget than there is certainly not much to complain about with Boston Lobster. It’s just not best in class.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Boston Lobster, BYOG, Cambodian Cuisine, Cantonese Chinese, Gelato, geoduck, Lobster, Seafood

Chifa Rulez

Sep18

Restaurant: Chifa LA

Location: 4374 Eagle Rock Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90041. (323) 561-3084

Date: January 9 & October 21, 2022

Cuisine: Peruvian Chinese (Chifa)

Rating: Amazing

Jeffrey had the hookup here at this awesome Peruvian Chinese fusion place in Eagle Rock. Yeah it’s far, but it seems to be one of the only Chifa (Peruvian Chinese) places in LA that’s middle/high end. Most just serve on styrofoam. This is a composite of two visits but in both cases we ordered 80% of the menu, so between them I’ve covered almost all the dishes.

The jazzy interior.

A huge patio.

Our table.

The grill.

The menu 1/22.

The menu 10/22.

Brûlée Char Siu . Wood fired pork toro marinated in house made Chinese BBQ sauce. Insanely good (and sweet). The meat itself was super tender with that porky goodness. The sauce is incredibly sweet, almost dessert sweet, but does pair very nicely with the pork.

The caramelization is gotten via blow torch.

See it in action.

Tiradito. Fresh Japanese sea bream chilled in a peppery orange and lime sauce. Hint of garlic and yellow chili topped with salsa criolla, sweet potato, and toasted Peruvian corn. The actual contents of this dish were irrelevant (in a good way) to the zesty Leche con Tigre sauce. It was so limey spicy and so delicious it would have made fabulous “pickles” out of just about anything. I could have soaked a big pile of the onions and carrots with it and devoured them no problem.

Anticucho (GF). Peruvian street style skewered beef heart with cilantro & serrano chili sauce. Beefy! Chewy, because it was heart, but full of deep beefy flavor.

Traditional Zongzi. With lap cheung, pork belly, shiitake mushroom, duck egg yolk, wrapped in bamboo leaf. Sticky rice texture with a very interesting herbal and deep flavor much like the stuffing for Beggar’s Chicken. Quite nice.

Si Yao Chicken. 1/2 free-ranged chicken poached in Popo’s fragrant aged soy sauce with garlic steamed rice. Soy sauce chicken but the sauce was a very lovely aged soy with notes of star anise and cooked down rock sugar. This is known as “aromatic” or “seasoned” soy sauce in Chinese cooking.

Mapo Tofu (VG). Wok cooked tofu and OmniPork Ground in fermented bean sauce with Szechuan peppercorn, garlic, scallion. This has a bit of numbing flavor, but not much, and isn’t nearly as hot as a real Sichuan Mapo but it was also quite pleasant with great texture.

Braised Spare Ribs. Caramelized in soy sauce, shaoxing wine, golden sugar, ginger, garlic. Very soft and yummy spare ribs, although not as spectacular as the pork belly.

Dan Dan Mian (VG). Fresh noodles with spicy Szechaun sesame sauce tossed with pickled radish. This isn’t a classic Sichuan dan dan as it’s not very spicy and has no chili oil or the layers of fermented flavors, but it was delicious. The sesame flavors dominate making it a great version of “sesame noodles.”

Lomo Saltado. Filet Mignon, wood grilled and sautéed with cherry tomatoes and onions.

Green sauce.

Special order Cowboy Lomo Saltado. Cowboy Tomahawk Ribeye steak, wood grilled and sautéed with cherry tomatoes and onions. This was an incredible steak with great smoky flavor that was really amped up by the veggies. The beef fat soaked fries were incredible too. A real meat and potato feast.

Black Pepper Lobster. Lobster wok tossed with sweet and spicy black pepper sauce. This was perhaps the best stir fried lobster I have ever had, like a lobster version of black pepper crab. This is a great “Chinese” lobster dish. The lobster was perfectly cooked and easy to extract from the shell and the flavor of the sauce was incredible. It’s related to the Singapore style black pepper crab dishes.

Meat on the grill.

Cowboy Steak. Delicious with an incredible smokey flavor.

Marinated Jalepenos for the steak.

Garlic and Scallion whole Crab.

Dessert menu.
Black Sesame Cheesecake Tart. Smooth black sesame cream cheese Chinese almond cookie crust. Also a little on the dry side, but kind of addictive.

Alfajores. peruvian shortbread cookie with dulce de leche filling dusted with powdered sugar. A touch dry, as these South American treasts always are, but very pleasant.

Lavender and Truffles Mint Strawberry Ice Cream. This vegan ice cream was coconut milk based and had a very lovely mint punch (stronger than the stawberry) and good texture for being vegan. It wasn’t nearly as rich though as a “proper” (dairy) ice cream would be.

Lavender and Truffles Salgona Coffee Ice Cream. This vegan ice cream was a touch grainy and while the coffee flavor was nice it was certainly missing that rich milk coffee combination.

I love this flavor — Peppermint Bark Gelato — Base is pure peppermint milk (subbed the sugar with crushed peppermint candies) and it’s laced with house-made double-sided peppermint bark, Valrhona Dark Chocolate and Ivoire White! — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — The Peppermint Bark recipe was developed by a famous pastry chef and author, the mum of a Naughty Dog Alum @nancy_baggett — this year I added the two layer thing which is awesome — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #dessertgasm #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peppermint #bark #Valrhona #chocolate

Le tab in 10/22.

Chevy with the owner.

Wines in 1/22.

Wines in 10/22.

Chifa was really awesome. Basically super zest latin flavored Chinese food, so what’s not to love?

Service was great and the outside patio was nice and huge. Did end up surprisingly pricey though, particularly the lobster. We were treated like royalty. The family that owns it know Jeffrey and his wife and are incredibly nice with a real sense of hospitality. Highly recommended as this is the only “serious” Chifa I know of in Los Angeles.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

We weren’t really hungry, but there was a “famous” taco place across the street…

Al pastor. Aka Mexican gyros/shawarma. Looking it up, I read that it’s ACTUALLY based on shawarma which Lebanese ingredients brought to Mexico! But it uses the “other white meat” instead of lamb.

They fry the tortillas with cheese.

Sauces. Street tacos are not a neat food.

Taco al pastor. Tasty.

A beef taco of some sort.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: al pastor, BYOG, Chifa, Chifa LA, Chinese Peruvian, Gelato, Lobster, Peruvian cuisine, pork, Tacos, Wine

China Gourmet – East Coast Far East

Aug08

Restaurant: China Gourmet [1, 2]

Location: 2842 St Vincent St, Philadelphia, PA 19149. (215) 941-1898

Date: November 26, 2021

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Pretty decent Cantonese

As part of the traditional ThanksGavin progression of meals we often have a second home feast on Friday Night, but this year because my cousin Matt and his wife were justifiably out of steam from the big event the night before, we quested around for tasty place that could take nearly 20 people.

Much to my pleasure we selected this local Cantonese banquet hall.

Fairly typical interior that is pretty much straight out of the SGV.

The menu. Clearly they do a lot of takeout.

This meal involved some really complex ordering. This is the main adult table. This had a mix of adventurous and cautious eaters and even a couple with restrictions.

And then the extra challenging kids table, which due to size restrictions also ended up as the overflow for really picky eaters and those with highly specific dietary needs.

Peanuts.

Fish maw and crab soup. Mild MSG delivery vehicle.

Because some people thought “fish maw” was too weird, we also got Hot and sour soup (which is always delicious).

Lobster with minced pork. Not sure I’ve had it with the pork. Extra yum.

Clams with black bean sauce.

Peppers stuffed with shrimp paste.

Steamed striped bass.

Quail.

Garlic fried chicken. Very tender and moist.

Salt and pepper pork chop.

Snow pea leaf.

String beans.

Beef on crispy noodles.

Salt and pepper tofu.

Seafood fried rice with salty roe. I didn’t tell everyone about the “roe”.

Oranges.

Really a pretty good place, on par with a medium level SGV Cantonese. Not the best ever, but not Chinese American either (at least the way I ordered). Everyone enjoyed it too so my “something for everyone” ordering seemed to have worked out.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

To see more ThanksGavin meals check here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese cuisine, Chinese Food, Lobster, ThanksGavin 2021

Happy Duck – Double Duck part 1

Mar30

Restaurant: Happy Duck House 金鼎轩

Location: 18210 Gale Ave, City of Industry, CA 91748. (626) 581-4747

Date: February 16, 2020 & May 2, 2021

Cuisine: Beijing Chinese

Rating: Great duck and lobster

On 2/16/20 we decided to try some new Peking Duck places in the “Far East” SGV (Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, City of Industry). We thought to put two of them together with a quick stop here at Happy Duck. After this we moved on to NC Peking Duck House. On 5/2/21 as things were opening back up we again went out there and repeated the mini crawl!

Typical strip mall for the area.

Slightly more modern than not decor. One of our fellow diners recommended strongly that we try the lobster, so we did.

Weird duck parts on the table as an “amuse.”

Cold meat platter (5/2/21).

Peking duck. The pancakes were great, very thin. The hoisin was good, although not as thick as I like. Scallions and cucumbers added nice crunch. The meat itself was good but a touch bland. The skin though was awesome. Super fried and crispy. Overall quite good.

Duck 2nd way, with bean sprouts. Very bland and dry. Barely any duck meat.

DL really wanted the duck bones and so after a bunch of asking we got them (5/2/21).

House Special Lobster. With garlic, onions, and jalapeño. A bit of heat. Very nicely cooked and tons of flavor. Several people thought this was “the best lobster they’ve had in the SGV.” Now, I thought it was really good, but just put it in the camp of “lobsters about two standard deviations above average” — i.e. I’ve had many good lobsters.

Scary carcasses in the kitchen.

Overall, this seemed a good kitchen. Duck was excellent for America. Lobster was great. We will have to return to try more.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: City of Industry, Far East, Happy Duck, hedonists, Lobster, Peking Duck, SGV, Wine

Last Supper – Ho Kee

Feb21

Restaurant: Ho Kee Cafe

Location: 558 Las Tunas Dr, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 822-3399

Date: December 29, 2019

Cuisine: Hong Kong Chinese

Rating: Quite good

The last Sunday of 2019, the last trip to the SGV, the last (restaurant) Chinese meal of the year…

Skylar arranged this banquet at Ho Kee Cafe in Arcadia, ordering a bunch of off menu dishes.

The decor is fairly modern.

Our menu was all in Chinese.

And we had this cute private room all to ourselves.

Salty peanuts on the table.

Pork belly with tangy jellyfish — first rate jellyfish, snappy with a great marinated flavor.

Hoisin and sugar to use on the pork.

Causeway style crab — salty and garlicky. Had to crunch thru shells but they were soft enough.

The house collected the garlic afterward so we could snack on it.

House special lobster — excellent — on tasty garlic noodles.

Succulent shrimp with celery — very delicate and nice with good textural contrast.

Vegetables featuring lily roots, mushrooms, greens, and oyster mushrooms — very nice actually.

Lily Snails — but I think was actually conch — crunchy. Attractive plating.

Ginger steamed turbot — very delicate.

Sesame 100 flower chicken — layered with shrimp paste — nice.

Sliced Peking duck — served with buns.

Duck meat and sweet sauce — nice meat, not as boney as some and very moist.

French Style Beef — one of the most succulent and tender I’ve had.

A-choy with garlic — good.

Typhoon Fried rice — a touch dry. Used the same seasonings as the lobster (in theory).

I was winding down gelato production for the year and so the freezers were already off but I did have this large bowl of fresh Sweet Milk Gelato Chocolate Mousse that Jerome and I made a day or so before. This is serious chocolate mousse made with classic French technique and Valrhona chocolate.

The gang.

Overall, Ho Kee Cafe was very good. Pretty similar to Cantonese. Plating was very attractive, service great, and kitchen execution excellent. A fitting way to finish out a year filled with lots of great Chinese food!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Tagged as: BYOG, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Chocolate Mousse, duck, hedonists, Ho kee, Ho Kee Cafe, Hong Kong Cuisine, Lobster, SGV

Veuve Clicquot at Spago

Dec26

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

Location: 176 N Canon Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 385-0880

Date: November 12, 2018

Cuisine: New American

Rating: Still great

Spago is always fun but it’s especially good when it’s a Sage Society arranged Veuve Clicquot dinner. I love great Champagne and this sort of dinner is a fun way to learn more about different houses.

Spago has been an LA institution for over 30 years!

Tonight Veuve Clicquot has taken over the private dinner area.

We have this lovely long table.

And they take it seriously, as does this guy who has way more gear than even I do!

Lots of “displays.”

Etc.
Tonight’s special menu.

Tonight is partially about introducing a new NV blend cuvee:

NV Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Extra Brut Extra Old. 93 points. At least 6 years old, only reserve wines, dosage 3 gr. a champagne with a great character, very classic, also in its bitters, firm, but not severe and a long aftertaste.

Caviar Blini with creme fraiche.

Cheese (and maybe foie) Gougeres.

Spicy Tuna Tartare, Sesame-Miso Tuille Cone. I’ve had it a million times but it’s still great. The counter play between the crunchy-sweet cone and the soft-spicy interior.

Crab and uni and flowers in a crispy/chewy sesame ball.

Jewish pizza. Smoked salmon with creme fraiche and ikura (salmon roe). I love this too. I even make it at home.

Place settings.

Various folk from Veuve get up to talk.

This is Dominique Demarville, the wine maker! He told us all about each cuvee and a lot about the history of the house — really fascinating.

Wild Hamachi. Beet Ponzu, ginger oil, sea grass. Great fish quality. Very bright strong vibrant flavors. Super delicious.

2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. VM 93. Vivid gold. Heady aromas of orange, white peach and smoky minerals, with a note of buttered toast adding depth. Densely packed citrus and pit fruit flavors show chewy texture and a bright mineral quality that adds vivacity. Rich but lively and precise, finishing very long, with notes of candied fig and toasty lees.

2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. JG 94+. The final blending of the 2006 La Grande Dame was completed prior to Dominique Demarville joining the team at Veuve Clicquot, so we will have to wait for the release of the 2008 version to see his impact on this bottling. The 2006 Grande Dame is a blend of fifty-three percent pinot noir and forty-seven percent chardonnay and was finished with a dosage of eight grams per liter. The wine is excellent, wafting from the glass in a complex blend of apple, pear, wheat toast, fine minerality, a touch of smokiness and a nice note of caraway seed in the upper register. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied, deep and complex, with elegant mousse, fine focus and grip and a very long, vibrant and zesty finish. This is drinking beautifully, but has the balance to age long and gracefully as well. High class juice.

2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut La Grande Dame. 92 points. Tasting, brief note. A new age for Grande Dame – 92% Pinot Noir. Berries really come through with some toasted almond and toasted rye bread. Rounded textures, very good length.

Spago always has great bread.

Main Diver Scallops. Matsutake Mushrooms, Sea Grass, Yuzu Emulsion.

The non shellfish version.

2004 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 94. Vivid orange-pink. Seductively perfumed aromas of ripe red berries, Asian spices, rose and smoky minerals. Densely packed and palate-staining, offering vibrant red and dark berry flavors, along with floral pastille and buttered toast qualities. The strikingly long finish repeats the red fruit and mineral notes and lingers with serious tenacity.

The Madame Clicquot invented the technique of mixing red pinot noir into Champagne to make rose and so these (like many rose Champagnes) use that technique as opposed to leaving the pinot on the skins.

2006 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. JG 95. For both the vintage-dated and the Grande Dame Rosé bottlings, Veuve Clicquot uses their parcel of Clos Colin in the village of Bouzy for the still red wine that is used to add color to the final blend. The ’06 Grande Dame Rosé is comprised entirely of chardonnay and pinot noir, with thirty-three percent of the blend the former and sixty-seven percent of the blend the latter (with fourteen percent still pinot noir). The dosage is eight grams per liter and the wine is outstanding, offering up a pure and complex bouquet of tangerine, desiccated cherries, chalky minerality, orange peel and plenty of smokiness. On the palate the wine is pure, full-bodied and complex, with a superb core, lovely focus and grip, elegant mousse and a very long, zesty and wide open finish. This is drinking beautifully right now, but will age very gracefully as well.

2008 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. CW 95-97. This is perhaps the best young Rose Champagne I can remember. Very fresh, frozen-berry nose, and on the palage this shows rich citrus and red fruits, and the characteristic ’08 electricity and density, dialed up to 11. Notwithstanding the massive concentration of raw material, this is pretty drinkable due to the excellent balance, saline freshness, and beautiful fruit. A real wow wine. Expensive but, dare I say, worth it.

The giant double mag of 1990 rose!

1990 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Brut Rosé La Grande Dame. VM 92. Salmon-orange with a pale rim. Deep, smoky aromas of strawberry, pear cider, cinnamon, earth and maple syrup. Very rich in the mouth, but also shows excellent verve for a wine with such volume; superripe flavors of strawberry, rose petal, iron and earth. In texture and size, this comes across more like a red wine than a rose Champagne. Spicy finish is long and gripping.

Marcho Farm’s Veal Loin. Chanterelle Mushrooms, Pancetta, Creme Sauce. Not usually a veal fan, but I know Wolfgang is, being Austrian — still this was fabulous.

Pasta for my wife who doesn’t eat veal.

1989 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. VM 92. Almonds, pastry and brioche are some of the notes that open up in 1989 Brut Cave Privée. The warm, resonant style is hugely appealing. Hints of toast and spice add complexity in a Champagne of pure texture and breadth. This is another terrific showing from Veuve Clicquot.

1982 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Cave Privée. 95 points. Wonderful expressions of toast and bread. Slight oxidation, dark hay color, lasting taste on the palate, went down smoothly. Drink.

House Made Seaweed Tamale. Main Lobster, Aonori Beurre Blanc. I wonder if this was developed at Rogue as it reminded me of the stuff from our visit to Wolfgang’s kitchen lab. Really great.

My wife got another pasta (gnocchi) where they emulated meat with mushrooms. I ate a few and quite excellent.

1979 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne Vintage Rosé Cave Privée. 96 points. Delicately floral start with strawberry with ripe apple on nose and palate. Lots of power and textures start-to-finish with an incredibly persistent, long finish. Wow.

Chef’s Selection of Artisanal Cheese. Bandaged Bismark from Raw Sheep Milk. 3 Year Aged Gouda Beemster from Pasteurized Cow Milk. Saint Gil d’Albio from Pasteurized Goat Milk.

This was a great night and lots of fun. Set wine dinner meals are tough on restaurants, particularly with restrictive wine themes like “all champagne” but Spago did a fabulous job. I think they are actually one of the best at this kind of dinner. Liz Lee of Sage Society always arranges an impeccable affair. Plus our service was impeccable and our wines amazing — I left with a new appreciation for Veuve Clicquot!

The old Veuves like the giant 90, 82, 79 etc were just crazy good.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Beverly Hills, Champagne, Dominique Demarville, Liz Lee, Lobster, pasta, Sage Society, Spago, Veuve Clicquot, Wolfgang Puck

Derek moved to China Red

Nov20

Restaurant: China Red

Location: 855 S Baldwin Ave, Arcadia, CA 91007. (626) 445-3700

Date: September 30, 2018

Cuisine: Chinese

Rating: Very good Cantonese, has some DM though

Another Sunday, another Chinese. In this case we came to China Red because our friend Derek, former manager of Elite and World Seafood has moved here.

For some reason I’ve been on a run of places on the slightly more “Eastern” half of the main SGV. Slightly more annoying drive too as it’s 10-15 minutes further.

The interior is typical midsized Cantonese. There is some DM (deferred maintenance). This is very Chinese, but the place is only a couple years old and is showing some wear and tear.

Here is Derek on the left with Yarom.

We were in the private room — which is eclectic to say the least.

Peanuts to start.

We started with a few classic bits of dimsum, even though it was evening.

Har Gow. Pretty solid shrimp dumplings.

Shu Mai. Pork and shrimp. I always love these meat bombs.

Roast Pigeon. Finger licking good.

Garlic fried fish. Or maybe it was frog, I can’t remember. It was crunchy, garlicky, salty, and pretty good.

Peking duck. Can never go wrong with that and this was a fairly juicy version.

Even if they only had the buns (I prefer the pancakes).

Roast pork. Nice crispy skin.

Mixed seafood chow mein. Carby goodness.

And the next noodle, because we needed a LOT of them. This was some sort of meat and black bean and black pepper wok fried noodle – it was delicious.

String beans with eggplant.

Pea tendrils or whichever type of colon sweeper with garlic.

Everything fried rice.

Lobster. A solid lobster. I’ve had better sauces but the meat was good.

Sweet and sour squirrel fish. Very fried, which makes it extra tasty.

More noodles, chicken noodles I think. Not quite as good as the beef pepper noodles.

Custard buns. Tasty.

I can’t even remember if I brought gelato this night. Lol.

Food was quite good at China Red and Derek really takes care of us. We have so many Cantonese feasts that it’s hard to remember which ones are the best, but this was quite solid, although not super “unique.” China Red was oddly quiet, and the place looks a touch shabby, but it’s certainly better than most (but not all) SGV Cantonese by a good bit.

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

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Cantonese, Cantonese cuisine, China Red, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Dim sum, hedonists, Lobster, Peking Duck, pigeon, SGV, Wine

LQ Seafood Tower

Jun02

Restaurant: Laurent Quenioux [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: Near Pasadena

Date: April 25, 2018

Cuisine: Modern French

Rating: Truffles!

Six and a half years ago Foodie Club co-organizer Erick and I put together one of our more legendary dinners, the Bistro LQ Trufflumpagus. Ever since then we periodically trek out to visit our friend Chef Laurent for some kind of extravaganza — and tonight it’s his legendary seafood tower — plus tons of other goodies.

Chef Laurent Quenioux grew up in Sologne, France, where he developed a passion for food. As a young boy, Quenioux and his father would hunt duck, partridge, and rabbit. Then, he and his mother would prepare her favorite recipes in the kitchen. Eventually, Quenioux left home to embark on an apprenticeship where he trained in some of Europe’s finest kitchens. Quenioux spent time at Maxim’s, Bistro De Paris and La Ciboulette in Paris, before moving on to Negresco in Nice and LaBonne Auberge in Antibe.

In the early 1980s, Quenioux made a move to the United States with a team from L‘Oasis at La Napoule to open The Regency Club in Los Angeles. In 1985, he introduced the celebrated and award-winning 7th Street Bistro in downtown Los Angeles. In the early 2000s, Quenioux debuted the cozy Bistro K in Pasadena and in 2009, Bistro LQ in Beverly Hills. At Bistro LQ, Quenioux set new standards for cuisine in Southern California with his Farmer’s Market-driven kitchen and an emphasis on value and fun.

These days Laurent mostly hosts popups in his own backyard! We took the whole evening for some epic craziness. Some of my friends visiting from the Netherlands are pictured above.

A serene environment.

From my cellar: 2015 Jacques Perritaz Cidrerie du Vulcain Apple Transparente.

Erick designed our special menu.

Erick brought: 1996 de Venoge Champagne Brut Louis XV. 91 points. A bit over the hill.

Bread with flavored Normandy butters.

From my cellar (to pair with Foie): 1990 Royal Tokaji Wine Co. Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos Betsek. RJ 93. From 500 ml – light medium orange brown color with dark orange lights; very aromatic, mature, orange marmalade, baked apricot, light mushroom, light tobacco, smoky orange syrup nose; mature, tasty, orange marmalade, baked apricot, light mushroom, light tobacco, smoky orange syrup, blood orange, orange honey palate with medium-plus acidity; very long finish 93+ points

Sautéed Foie Gras. Mangoes, ginger, Green bar distillery Vodka jus. An incredible (and huge) chunk of the decadent liver.

From my cellar: NV Drappier Champagne Rosé Brut Nature Dosage Zero. BH 90. The color is paler than that of the regular brut rosé. A pretty and slightly more elegant nose features a similar aromatic profile but with more evident yeast character. There is fine intensity to the delicious and vibrant flavors that are supported by a firm and definitely finer mousse, all wrapped in a bone dry and youthfully austere finish where a hint of bitter cherry pit appears. This won’t be for everyone as the dryness is pronounced; I happen to like it but it would be fair to say that this is not a charmer. With that said, a few years of bottle age should serve to round off the austerity and add a bit of depth as well.

From my cellar: 2012 Prager Grüner Veltliner Smaragd Achleiten. AG 90. The restrained nose slowly reveals apple, orange zest, white pepper and wet slate. A taut spine gives lift to the rich texture, but the melon fruit and dried spice flavors are still tightly sealed. Well-balanced and showing noteworthy depth and structure, this veltliner is only just beginning to show its refreshing drinkability.

Toast with Dungeness Crab Rouille and avocado. Super crab salad avocado toast!

Haddock Branade. I love smoked haddock.

Main Lobster brioche. Like a lobster roll in a (big) bite.

From my cellar: 2012 Prager Riesling Federspiel Steinriegl. 95 points.

Scallops Ceviche Tostada.

Spot prawns. Would you believe that everything you just say was all part of the FIRST (of 9!) courses? These were sort of like the sweet shrimp sushi with fried head — but all on one plate. Delicious.

From my cellar: 2014 Királyudvar Furmint Tokaji Sec. 90 points. Dried apple, and then some fruit, and kinda delicious.

Someone else brought this funny cloudy California white.

Puff pastry with wild mushroom, dill, and seafood mixto. Awesome! Like a mini lobster pot pie.

Clam nage with sorrel. Amazing clammy broth.

Soft shell crab (fried of course).

Grilled Monterey Bay Squid with green garlic. This dish I didn’t love as it with very briny.

Manilla Clams with Chorizo and Epazote. Amazing clam and sausage. Laurent’s clams are great.

1990 Domaine Fabien Coche Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. 93 points. Coche from another mother.

From my cellar: 1985 Nicolas Potel Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. 88 points. Not the best of my bottles from this batch. This one not dead yet but it had lost most of that zippiness. All fatness, honeycomb and butterscotch. For those who like really mature white burg this may still be ok but if you are sensitive to oxidation then it really is time to drink up unless you lucked out with some very pristine bottles.

Now comes the main event, the incomparable seafood tower

But first the sauces: mustard, aioli, horseradish, spicy mayo, mignonette.

The top level with crabs, lobster, clams, prawns, crayfish and more.

And we continue down to the bottle level with abalone, clams, oysters, winkles, and more.

And we had one for two people!

There was fresh uni too. And at this point, my flash batteries went out (eek) and I stupidly had no backups in my bag, so the photos are much higher ISO.This is how I left MY tower.

This is how everyone else left theirs. Wimps!

From my cellar: 2009 Chapelle St. Theodoric Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sablons. AG 91. Deep ruby. Redcurrant and cherry scents are complemented by dried rose and garrigue A juicy, red-fruited midweight, accented by a slightly tart edge to its tangy cherry and floral pastille flavors. The brisk finish offers good clarity and cut, with silky tannins arriving late.

Apricot Lane Farms Spring Lamb 3 Ways. Braised lamb neck spring roll, lamb “noisette”, roasted lamb shoulder, preserved lemon emulsion, ras el hanout scented cordycep, dates puree with cumin. The spring roll was the best part.

Someone brought this Spanish.

Braised Wagyu Miyazake Short Rib. Bourguignon Style. Pasta Handkerchief, confit cipollini onions & green garlic, black chanterelles.

I think Larry brought the Penfolds Pinot Noir Bin 23.

Mini Cassoulet. Tarbais Beans slow cooked for 7 hours, Toulouse Sausage, garlic sausage, duck leg confit, smoked pork belly bacon style, confit duck gizzard. This dish is also a stunner. One of Laurent’s specialties and well worth it for the sausage alone!

Les Fromages.

Trio of Sweet Milk Gelato (made by me) plated by Laurent. Flavors are: Pineapple Rosemary Sorbetto, Lavender Blueberry Gelato, and Brillat-Savarin Gelato with Sicilian Candied Orange

Chocolate Cremeux. White chocolate coconut cheese cake, coconut ice cream, matcha meringue, chocolat chips. Laurent is amazing with these kind of desserts — basically a chocolate coconut cheesecake, but deconstructed into many textures.
On the right is Chef Laurent and behind him his busy crew.

This was another seriously epic night. We didn’t go too crazy with the wines since there were a lot of non wine people — there were plenty bottles, but more “normal” wines for us — but the food was absolutely over the top both in quantity and quality. Bravo Laurent.

For more LA Foodie Club dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Avocado Toast, bistro lq, BYOG, crab, Foodie Club, Gelato, Laurent Quenioux, Lobster, Pasadena, Seafood, Seafood Tower, shrimp, Sweet Milk, Uni, Wine

SGV Nights – Seafood Palace

Oct27

Restaurant: Seafood Palace

Location: 684 W Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 289-0088

Date: September 24, 2017, July 14, 2019, and October 24, 2021

Cuisine: Chaozhou Chinese

Rating: One of LA’s best (and most authentic) Chaozhou places

My Hedonist group has been coming here for years, same location, same food, different name – formerly Seafood Village.

It’s actually in the mini-mall with Sham Tsem and the “hooker motel secret room” (see the post I linked in this sentence). Mysteriously, even thought he “construction” period transforming Seafood Village into Seafood Palace was like a year there is no apparent update. It’s still the same over-lit drop ceiling “palace” as before.

Pickled onions and boiled peanuts on the table.

Jellyfish (7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Nice crunchy texture.

Sliced cold pig’s feet (7/14/19). A bit gelatinous, but surprisingly delicious. Better sliced like this than whole!

Special order turtle soup. Since we had turtle soup at World Seafood Yarom has been determined to try it again.

The broth is delicate and savory, with an almost tea-like taste.

And all the crud that made the broth is as follows: bits of turtle, turtle fat, chicken feet, ginger, organs, god only knows. We actually picked at this repulsive looking plate and the meat was quite tasty.

We also selected two large lobsters.

Chaozhou style duck (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Sort of like the duck version of Hainan chicken.

A vinegar sweet sauce for the duck.

Roast pigeon (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Tasty little fellows.

Causeway style shrimp (7/14/19). Whole prawns crusted in garlic. Super delicious and so well cooked they could be munched whole.

This is what most people come here for, the house special Chiu Chow Style Crab (Dungeness) – (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). This is basically battered crab, fried with chilies and lots of garlic. I’ve also heard this called “Causeway Style.” Good stuff with lots of flavor. You end up sucking out the meat or just chewing on through.

House special garlic lobster. Not causeway style, but very tasty.

Roast pork (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Cured like a pastrami and very flavorful — also quite fatty as you would expect.

Scallion omelet (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Eggs and green onions.

Special fried fish (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). Lots of garlic flavor. Simple, but extremely tasty.

Mutton curry. Very strong flavored (but delicious) meat in a nice mild curry sauce.

Bean curd with duck in Chui Chow brown sauce (10/24/21).

Oxtail and lilly bulb with brown sauce (10/24/21). Star anise and black cardamon.

Lettuce Cup Chicken (7/14/19). Yeah, PF Chang’s didn’t invent it wholesale!

The lettuce cups and hoisin sauce.

Frog with chives (10/24/21). Delicious.

Chilies with ground pork (2017 and 7/14/19 and 10/24/21). I’ve never seen Jalepenos per se in China, but they do have lots of peppers. Regardless, this was a fabulous dish as the pork was cooked in a great black bean sauce and the combination of the mild heat and the slightly sweet meat was wonderful.

Special Chiu Chow Style “lettuce” (2017 and 7/14/19). Evidently a classic. It head a bit of a porky taste so there must have been something in there with the veggies. Not bad.

Rice porridge soup (7/14/19). A sort of congee-like concoction.

Special glass noodles with meat (earlier and 10/24/21).

Salty garlic fried rice. Excellent fried rice with a salty fishy taste.

White guy shrimp (aka walnut shrimp). Very heavy mayo’d version.

Scallion beef (7/14/19). Slightly different, very succulent.

Cumin lamb or beef. Really tasty full flavored nuggets. Pretty tender too.

Sweet and source pork nibblets (10/24/21).

Sweet and sour pork ribs (7/14/19). Someone ordered the sauce on the side. Salty crunchy pork slabs (with some bone) with the sweet sticky stuff.

Chili sauce.

As usual now-a-days I brought some home made gelati from Sweet Milk, my private gelato label. Green Apple Moscato Sorbetto.

Rosemary Chocolate Gelato. Valrhona chocolate and milk infused with rosemary from my own garden.

The 7/14/19 gelati:

Chocolate Peanut Pretzel Gelato — testing a new 80% chocolate fondant base made with Valrhona and Callebaut Chocolates — then layered that with a house made salty peanut pretzel ganache — you can’t see the base, it’s under the ganache — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #peanut #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #ganache #pretzel

Testing out two variants on a theme, first one: Bellini Sorbetto! — French White Peaches and Prosecco — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — I love the Pozzetti (round tubs), but I do need to figure out how to decorate the small batches in an attractive way — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #Bellini #peach #Prosecco

Testing out two variants on a theme, second one: Dark Mimosa Sorbetto! — Blood Orange and Valencia Orange juice mixed with Prosecco — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — I love the Pozzetti (round tubs), but I do need to figure out how to decorate the small batches in an attractive way — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #sorbetto #Mimosa #orange #bloodorange #Prosecco

The 10/24/21 gelati:

Strawberries & Mascar-Creamy Gelato — A base infused with Mascarpone Cheese then blended with house-made Strawberry Curd — created by me for @sweetmilkgelato — my vain attempts to pipe a pretty decoration on top were uttery foiled by timing –#SweetMilkGelato #gelato #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #cheesecake #mascarpone #cheese #strawberry #cream

Overall, Seafood Palace is just like Seafood Village and there is nothing wrong with that because it’s still great. Last time we had a few “more interesting” dishes and in 2017 there was a LOT of fried. Still, awesome meal!

Back again on 7/14/19 I thought execution was even better. This is probably my favorite Chaozhou place — a bit like Cantonese but not exactly the same, slightly more “unusual”. Lots of garlic!

Our return visit on 10/24/21 was also spectacular. Just a really great place.

It’s not really worth writing up the “motley cru” of wines that come to Chinese, so I’ll just list the photos here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Chaozhou Chinese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Chinese Food, Gelato, hedonists, Lobster, san Gabriel valley, seafood palace, SGV, Sweet Milk, turtle soup, Wine

Top Island Seafood

Jan06

Restaurant: Top Island Seafood

Location: The Marketplace, 740 Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA 91801. (626) 300-9898

Date: December 29, 2016 & July 17, 2017 and March 10 & September 15 and December 22, 2019

Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese

Rating: Great — and great value — Cantonese

The San Gabriel Valley is just oozing with new Chinese Restaurants to try.

And no category is more crowded than the Cantonese Banquet House. Top Island fits right in the middle of this pack, offering up all the luxury ingredients in a big format at reasonable prices. Look at that sign on the left, lobster for $8.99!

And check out “party like it’s 1989” cove lighting in the giant banquet hall!

And a big pano of it.

2002 Gardet Champagne Cuvée Charles Gardet.

Boiled peanuts.

Sweet and sour goose webs (3/10/19). Goose webs are goose feet. These had the weird texture, but a really nice interesting sour flavor.

BBQ pork and jellyfish (3/10/19). Awesome sweet BBQ pork and first class jellyfish. Not all jellyfish is that great but this one was.

The super deluxe BBQ plate (earlier and 12/22/19) with pork, chicken, jellyfish, pork hock/foot and more (9/15/19)!

Westlake Beef Soup (9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Really addictive soft textured mix of ground beef (or maybe pork), tofu, egg white etc. Very mild but delicious.

NV Jean-Noel Haton Champagne Grande Réserve.

Walnut shrimp. Sure it’s a white guy dish, but this was delicious.

Salt and Pepper squid (9/15/19). Tasty calamari.

Salt and pepper shrimp (9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Someone doesn’t know how to mix up the preps. Very salty, but delicious.

Fish filets with black bean sauce (3/10/19). Really nice light fish.

2006 Paul Hobbs Pinot Noir Hyde Vineyard. VM 89. Dark red. Subdued, brooding aromas of dark cherry and chocolate. Fresher red and dark berry flavors are brightened by zesty minerals and given grip by dusty tannins. Finishes with very good persistence but limited definition. A serious, deeply concentrated style of pinot that needs some cellar time to loosen up.

Peking Duck (earlier and 3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). This particular duck came with buns instead of pancakes. These were really nice buns, smaller than some. The meat was great, as good as any LA peking duck.

The skin was in the first picture, most of the meat was here. Needed more hoisin sauce as usual.

The “meat” section of this duck is actually pretty edible. Some places it’s just a carcass.

Duck second way (3/10/19 and 12/22/19).

Zoom on the second way (12/22/19).

You put this in the lettuce cups and add hoisin. Nice crunch.

2013 Boundary Breaks Vineyard Riesling No. 198 Reserve. VM 90. Quite reduced on the nose, with slightly shy aromas of Asian pear, white pepper, champagne mango and chamomile. The palate is quite honeyed and coats the cheeks and tongue in a soft layer of sweet fruit. A strong acidity keeps the palate in motion and prevents the wine from feeling fat. 58 grams per liter of residual sugar.

2012 Domaine de l’Ecu (Guy Bossard) Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine Taurus. The top broke off (the glass!) and so few of us dared try it for fear of broken glass.

From my cellar: 2006 Henri Boillot Meursault 1er Cru Charmes. VM 93. Ripe peach, orange and hazelnut on the nose; a real essence of Charmes. Then opulent, sweet and rich but with very good inner-mouth tension to the ripe peach flavor. A seamless, highly concentrated wine with a wonderfully silky texture and a very long, fruit-driven finish. This fruit was harvested early, noted Boillot.

Seb brought: 2005 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex. 92+. There is no doubting this is Sauvignon blanc – it has that straight out green grass, a bit of lime, definitely very crisp although not tart. When NZ makes SB, this is what they are going for I think. Very well done version of that style.

Lobster noodles. A solid lobster dish. Maybe a touch “fishy” and while the noodles looked gross, they tasted great with the drippings.
2012 Giesen Pinot Noir The Brothers. VM 90. Bright medium red. Perfumed aromas of strawberry, rose petal and spices. Juicy and intense, offering very good concentration to its brambly red berry and cherry flavors. Finishes with firm but smooth tannins and very good tactile persistence.

Lobster Causeway style. Covered in crunchy garlic bits. Awesome! We ate the salty garlic by itself too afterward.

Dungeness Crab with garlic sauce (3/10/19). Very light fry. Delicious sauce and shell was soft enough you could crunch through it.

We didn’t have the King Crab the first couple of times I went but we should have. So we got one on 3/10/19. Only $17 a pound or something!

King crab causeway style (3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Might have been fried but those garlic bits were so good!

King crab with garlic (3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Tender and delicious.

Conch. Chewy and interesting.

Curried Meat. Can’t remember which meat, maybe beef or mutton. Pretty delicious though.

Fried pork chop. I didn’t love the oily taste.

Sweet and sour pork chops (3/10/19 and 9/15/19). MUCH better than the oily ones.

Roast pork with crispy skin (12/22/19). Really great meat flavor and nice crispy skin.

Seb brought: 2010 Marcassin Pinot Noir Blue-Slide Ridge Vineyard. 95 points. In a great place. A showy wine highlighting ripe red fragrant fruits with a sweet edgy appeal. Quite pretty for a large scale pinot as slightly faded sour cherry fruits are well integrated with bright acidity and baking spice. Finishes really lasts. Quality stuff.

Pigeon (earlier and 3/10/19 and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Straight from the Promenade — but actually quite nice.

100 Flower Chicken (12/22/19). This is pressed chicken with crispy skin and shrimp paste. This particular version was excellent, quite awesome.

Chopped pork and string beans. Classic dish. Excellent verison with crunchy beans and lots of pork.

Chinese greens. tasty (surprisingly).

A different tasty green (3/10/19 and 9/15/19).

Stalks with Chinese sausage (3/10/19 and 12/22/19). Love that salty/sweet sausage. Offsets the fibrous stalks nicely.

A different type of stalky vegetable (12/22/19).

Fried tofu (3/10/19). Similar garlic crunch to the causeway style.

2015 Château Doisy-Daëne Grand Vin Sec. 93 points. Tasted like Durian! Very dry and very interesting.

Fried sweet and sour fish. Not bad. Typical orange sauce.

Fried rice.

Yin yang fried rice (earlier and 9/15/19 and 12/22/19). Fried rice is underneath and covered with pork and shrimp sauces. Delicious!

2002 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvignon The Montelena Estate. VM 93. Good deep ruby-red. Highly aromatic nose combines musky redcurrant and tobacco. Plush, broad and fine-grained; atypically sexy and showy for this wine, in much the same way that Montelena’s basic 2002 Napa cabernet is unusually pliant and rich. Finishes with big, dusty, but rather suave tannins. This offers early accessibility but has the material and structure for extended aging. The alcohol here is 14.3%, the highest since the 1978, which was 14.4%.

Chicken chow mein. I love these crispy noodle dishes. Great and very addictive once the sauce softens the noodles.

Adam brought: 2004 Harlan Estate Proprietary Red Wine. Parker 98. Another rating identical to that which was given in 2007 (when first tasted from bottle), the 2004 Harlan Estate is performing essentially the way I suggested in 2007 as it is one of the more precocious and accessible of the Harlan Estate wines to date. A great showing at this retrospective, this wine, which seems like a hypothetical blend of a Pauillac, St.-Estephe and Graves, represents around 1,500 cases from 40 acres of beautifully manicured hillside vineyards overlooking Oakville. Still dense purple to the rim, with notes of creme de cassis, charcoal, blackberry and sweet toast, the wine is full-bodied and voluptuously textured with the tannins largely resolved. But the density and richness suggest this wine can go a long, long way, even though the window for drinking it seems open and inviting already. A world-class, first-growth wine if there ever was one from Napa, this is simply an exquisite Harlan Estate that has atypically reached mid to late adolescence at the age of ten. That is great given the fact that these are 30- to 40-year wines – possibly even half-century wines. Drink it over the next 30 years.

Black pepper beef (earlier and 9/15/19). Vietnamese style dish, quite good.

French style beef with mushrooms (3/10/19). Very tender flavorful beef.

Steamed fish with ginger and soy. Too plain for my taste.

Coconut buns (earlier and 3/10/19).

Buns with pepper or something (12/22/19). Very plain buns with the dusted seasoning. Hmm.

I brought some pistachio gelato from home (which I made).

Red bean soup for dessert. Looked like the output of a bad case of food poisoning.

Close up 9/15/19.

After my advanced gelato class, trying a slightly new pistachio formulation — Pistachio Madeline Gelato — base uses my same awesome Pistachios from Bronte Sicily but also a small amount of egg yolk for extra body. I baked the Madelines from scratch and soaked them in hand made Grand Mariner syrup — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — oh my! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #Pistachio #lemon #orange #Sicily #GrandMariner #Madeline #cookie #baking

Getting whacky — Thai Peanut Coconut Lime Chili Gelato — Salty peanuts, Thai coconut cream, lime zest, and serrano chillies — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — almost too spicy! — #SweetMilkGelato #gelato #IceCream #NomNom #dessert #chili #spicy #thai #peanut #coconut #lime #SavorySweet #Serrano

9/15/19 two more gelati:

Cherry Cioccolato Fondente Gelato — working to squeeze the most chocolate humanly possible into a dairy gelato. This is 70% cocoa Valrhona and 100% Callebaut Chocolate base is my best yet — only 17% milk it has an INTENSE chocolate taste, plus house-made White Chocolate Amareno Cherry Ganache rounds it out — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato — #dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #chocolate #valrhona #Callebaut #cherry #amareno

Matcha Almond Latte Gelato – Ceremonial Matcha Green Tea and Sicilian Noto Romano Almond gelato base — made by me for @sweetmilkgelato –#dessert #icecream #FrozenDessert #nomnom #dessertlovers #dessertporn #icecreamlovers #gelatoitaliano #foodporn #gelatolover #food #foodgasm #foodblogger #dessertgasm #desserttime #foodphotography #gelatoartigianale #gelatomania #dessertlover #icecream #icecreamlovers #almond #matcha #GreenTea #Sicily

I like how they tagged Yarom’s chair with the bills.

Great wine lineup tonight (for Chinese).
The big boy with the manager.

Overall, a great time and really solid meal. Orignally, I thought Top Island isn’t in the league with Elite or such for high end Cantonese, but this whole feast was $35 a person with tax and tip! So considering with had Peking Duck, Lobster etc and it was all very tasty this was a steal. All the dishes were enjoyable and they have a huge menu. Plus, as Yarom says, “they treated us like Pharaohs.” I.e. we had great service as they were very warm and brought out all the dishes “slowly” (by Chinese standards). Too bad they don’t have this sort of quality on the Westside!

I also must chime in that in light of our 3/10/19 dinner I have to upgrade Top Island to one of the best SGV Cantonese places. The service is really great. They brought us our dishes in a carefully selected (wine friendly) order, one at a time. The prices on sometimes expensive things like lobster and king crab are really fabulous, and overall dish quality is extremely high. Almost every dish was excellent that night (and on a previous trip a couple weeks before I missed). Great place!

For the 9/15/19 and 12/22/19 dinner I continue my thinking that Top Island has a really top notch Cantonese kitchen. Food is really really good. Service is great too, although the place is a bit of a zoo given how big and popular it is. Our 12/22/19 was a hilarious CF of a dinner though — not in any way the restaurant’s fault. We had a table they said seated 12-14, which really seated about 10-12 (and 12 was pushing it) and then ended up with 15 people (because it’s hard to manage the numbers at these things). We were so packed in at this table, sitting an extra foot away so the chairs made it around. But most problematically, with 15 people the dishes only got around to about 12ish — and so it turned into a “lord of the flies” style frenzy. Total chaos — if a touch amusing.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

And a bunch of wines from the second night:

12/22/19 wines:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: BYOG, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, crab, Gelato, hedonists, Lobster, Peking Duck, san Gabriel valley, SGV, Top Island, Top Island Seafood

Eating Majorca – Flanigan

Aug24

Restaurant: Flanigan

Location:Puerto Portals, local 16, 07181 Calvià, Illes Balears, Spain

Date: June 28, 2016

Cuisine: International Seafood

Rating: Good

Puerto Portals is one of those “high end” marina developments that seem to populate certain areas of Europe.
I quote the “high end” because I’ve seen way swankier. This isn’t Super exclusive boutique territory.

Flanigan is a large restaurant with an international manu. Prices are high because of the location. But it was close to the hotel and had pretty decent reviews.

The menu.

Two kinds of olive tapenade.

The view is great.

A light but very pleasant rose. We actually tried this at the vineyard the previous week.

Fruit cocktail in a glass.

Hake bites. What’s not to like about fried fish?

Fish soup. This is the rich shellfish stock fish soup, but this one had so much seafood in it it was like a bouillabaisse in that regard.

Very rich, but really quite excellent!

Caprese.

Simple pasta.

Their “star dish”, Lobster “pelao” potatoes and eggs. Basically shelled lobster on top of scalloped potatoes with a fried egg in there. Pretty excellent actually.

Apple with vanilla ice cream. More of a very thin tart tartine actually.

The aforementioned vanilla.

And a scoop of chocolate.

Creme catalana.

Flanigan isn’t anything avant garde, and it is most definitely overpriced for Spain, but it turned out to be very good food — and huge portions too. All in all a very nice meal.

Click here to see more Eating Spain posts.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-spain, fish soup, Flanigan, Lobster, Majorca, Rose

Chinois – Oldie but Goodie

Jun15

Restaurant: Chinois On Main [1, 2, 3]

Location: 2709 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 392-9025

Date: May 6, 2016 and August 5, 2021

Cuisine: Asian Fusion

Rating: Still good decades later

When I first moved to LA 22 years ago, Chinois was already a vibrant pillar of LA’s hot high end dining scene. It represented the kind of cool “fusion” of east/west cuisines that was so novel at the time, and almost never seen (by me) back on the East Coast.

The interior has been kept up, and still has that funky late 80s hip modern style. And while this is a long way from the starker more “rustic/urban” decor that is popular now, I

From my cellar: 2003 Krug Champagne Vintage Brut. VM 95. Light yellow. Powerful, complex bouquet evokes fresh peach, pear, floral honey, green almond and smoky minerals. Deep, palate-staining citrus and orchard fruit flavors show outstanding vivacity for a hot vintage, picking up ginger and talc notes with air. The strikingly long, sappy finish features zesty orange pith, smoky minerals and an echo of honeysuckle. I’d be in no rush to drink this one. Speaking of waiting, I had the chance to revisit the 2000 Vintage Krug and it has begun to pick up the smoky, weighty and nutty character that long-time fans of this producer crave. It’s still plenty young but already unmistakably Krug, with a chewy texture and a sexy floral nuance dominating right now.

The menu.

Crispy Lobster Spring Rolls. Comes with stir-fried lobster and vegetables.
Tempura ahi tuna sashimi with fresh uni sauce.

Uni sauce.

Softshell crab special with cilantro sauce.

Stir fried Sonoma lamb with crispy garlic and mint.

Shanghai lobster with curry sauce and crispy spinach. This classic has been on the menu forever (or at least since the mid 90s). It was still my favorite of the night. There is a whole bunch of fried rice under the lobster with the tail meat.

Roasted Cantonese duck with fresh plum sauce and steamed bao. I’ve had a lot better Chinese ducks.

In Aug 2021 the duck came with these crepe-like pancakes, not as light as real spring pancakes.

In 2016 the duck came with steamed bao.

Whole Sizzling Fried Catfish with scallions and soy glaze.

Whole steamed sea bass with scallions and soy glaze. Simple, but well cooked.

Peek inside.

BBQ Baby Pork Ribs with soy honey glaze.

Grilled Szechwan Beef. Classic dish. With spicy shallot cilantro sauce. Nothing at all Szechwan about this, however.

Vegetable fried rice.

Stir fried green beans with black bean sauce and garlic. A great version of this dish.
Dessert tease. We were too full to order any (in 2016)

But we got a whole tray in Aug 2021.

Macadamian Nut Tart.

Flourless chocolate cake.

Pots au Creme.

Overall, in 2016 Chinois still has a sharp kitchen and good service. They were a little slow refilling the wine (which they had shoved in a chiller on the other side of the room — I had to grab it and do it myself). No biggy though. Food was fairly on point if no where near as “innovative” as it was 20+ years ago. Some of the dishes were still super tasty though like the lobster and string beans. Of course it’s way more expensive than “unfused” Chinese (aka normal SGV style Chinese). I think the decor has aged great and is actually more unique now.

In 2021, we ate outside because of the pandemic. Except for the busy traffic just past the barrier on main street, this was quite nice. Service was still great and food was on point for what it is.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Wines from August 2021:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Asian Fusion, Champagne, Chinois, Fusion cuisine, Krug, Lobster, Wolfgang Puck

Elite New Years

Feb27

Restaurant: Elite Restaurant [1, 2, 3]

Location: 700 S Atlantic Blvd, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 282-9998

Date: February 22, 2015

Cuisine: Cantonese Banquet

Rating: Elite!

Elite is well known as one of great LA’s top dimsum places, but less well known is how great a Cantonese banquet place it is. For Chinese New Year, my Hedonist group decided to put this to the test.

We took over one of the private rooms with two tables and a big set menu.

2004 Domaine Carneros Brut. 88 points. Outstanding! Crisp and refreshing, not sweet – right amount of ‘dry’. Very well balanced!

NV Laurent-Perrier Champagne Grand Siècle. 93 points. Rich, deep complex nose; apples, caramel, lite dough/yeast nose; a real bouquet, no pure flavors; Intense mth!, foamy bubbles, grt. long fin.–balanced, elegant, and classic.

2005 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut. AG 92-94. Bright yellow-gold. Heady floral-accented citrus and orchard fruits on the nose, with smoky mineral and floral overtones adding complexity. Velvety and chewy in texture, offering deep, juicy orange and poached pear flavors and suave honey and chamomile nuances. Blends precision with power, finishing with a distinct mineral quality and excellent persistence.

Peanuts on the table start off many a real Chinese meal.

2009 Château Le Puy Côtes de Francs Marie Cecile. 95 points. Acidity and sweetness comes together at once and balance, young but seductive, a little bit dense after 60 mins. It’s not delicious but very very good indeed, I love it…actually. Aftertaste is spicy finished but elegant, perfume, layers, dimensions, warm and beautifully dry and long….very long finished.

Suckling pig. We preordered this little fellow. He’s kinda sad, but he sure tasted great. Really just a fabulous bit of pork and cracklings. As good as any suckling pig I’ve had.

Salt and slightly sweet brown sauce for the pig.

From my cellar: 1999 Louis Jadot Corton-Charlemagne Domaine des Héritiers Louis Jadot. Tanzer 94+. Subtly complex, precise aromas of apple, pear, minerals, mace and nutmeg. Gripping, vibrant and dense, with compelling vinosity and strong acidity. Offers captivating inner-mouth perfume of white flowers. Almost tannic on the back end, but has the sheer buffering material to stand up to the powerful structure and acids. A brilliant wine, finishing with a wonderfully tactile quality and superb length and grip.

2011 Rhys Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard. AG 93+. A model of precision, finesse and delineation, the 2011 Chardonnay Horseshoe Vineyard bristles with the essence of honey, white truffle, orange peel and nectarine. The 2011 needs a few years to drop some of its baby fat, but the direction it is likely to take becomes apparent with time in the glass. Watching the wine literally become crystalline and pure with air is quite an amazing experience.

Walnut shrimp. A white guy dish, but very tasty nonetheless. This one was fairly heavily fried, with light mayo. Served very hot.

2001 Sine Qua Non Albino. Tanzer 89. Perfumed aromas of tropical fruits, honey, oatmeal and nutty oak. Sweet and silky in the mouth, with apricot, peach and nutty oak flavors along with more exotic hints of mango and pineapple. Quite oaky on the back end, with a slightly dry, cyanic edge and a flavor of toasted almond. More dominated by its wood than most recent vintages of the Sine Qua Non white blend.

agavin: unfortunately, our bottle was totally oxidized and gone 🙁

2011 DuMOL Chardonnay Chloe. Tanzer 93+. Bright yellow, a bit less lucid than the Estate, which had already been racked off its lees. Captivating, sharply delineated aromas of citrus peel, orange marmalade and iodine. Large-scaled, sweet and thick with extract; wonderfully full, plush and seamless. Ripe lemon-candy acidity frames and intensifies the wine’s citrus and stone fruit flavors. These Ritchie Vineyard vines were planted to an old Wente clone in 1972.

2010 Kongsgaard Chardonnay. Tanzer 95. Very bright yellow-gold, a bit less deep than the 2011. Expressive aromas of tangerine, hazelnutty lees and sexy oak. The palate boasts great richness and sweetness, with a wonderfully sappy character to its explosive soft citrus and stone fruit flavors. Comes across as sweeter than the 2011, but harmonious acidity gives it beautiful balance. The 2010s finished their alcohol fermentations up to 16 months after the vintage, later than the malos, noted Kongsgaard, adding that this has given them a lot of weight. But this wine finishes bright and very long, with a firm spine of acidity.

Fried fish. Like super fish and chips (minus the chips).

2011 Marcassin Pinot Noir Marcassin Vineyard. 92 points. A lot of people loved this. To me, while there was a strong ripe fruit undercurrent, the heavy heavy oaking dominated.

2004 Kistler Pinot Noir Cuvée Catherine. Josh Raynolds 93. Dark violet. Intensely aromatic nose offers powerful blackberry and plum compote aromas. Very fresh in the mouth (the pH is 3.4, Kistler says), with vibrant red and dark berry flavors and taut minerality. Dry, focused and pure on the finish, with outstanding persistence and lingering dark berry flavors. Serious pinot: a great marriage of sweet fruit and soil tones.

2009 Rex Hill Pinot Noir Willamette Valley. Josh Raynolds 88. Bright red. Spicy raspberry and red cherry aromas are complicated by lively floral and herbal qualities. Sappy and round, with sweet red fruit and candied rose flavors, supple tannins and subtle spiciness. This open-knit pinot finishes with a touch of heat.

Roast pigeon. Succulent little birds, heads and all.

From my cellar: 1995 Louis Jadot Echezeaux. Tanzer 88. Impressive deep ruby-red. Perfumed, slightly candied aromas of red berries and smoky, charred oak. Supple and sweet, but a wine of only moderate intensity. Finishes with slightly dry tannins.

2005 Dupont-Tisserandot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Les Cazetiers. Burghound 92. A very ripe extract of black pinot fruit nose liberally laced with cassis and warm earth nuances introduces rich, full and mouth coating flavors that are equally ripe, powerful, textured and explosive on the hugely long finish. This is impressive with a real sense of volume in the mouth and clearly built to age.

Lobster! Some awesome tender lobster in garlic pepper sauce. A milder sauce than at some places, which allowed the lobster meat flavor to come through.

2003 Rosenblum Cellars Zinfandel Reserve St. Peter’s Church Vineyard.

Peking duck. Well at least the skin of the peking duck, with little folding buns, crispy shrimp chips, and green onions.

The duck was okay. Not as good as some Beijing places.

2007 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Josh Raynolds 93-96. Glass-staining ruby. Highly expressive, exotically perfumed bouquet of black raspberry, potpourri, smoky minerals and anise. A smooth, silky midweight with flavors of sweet red and dark berries complicated by notes of candied flowers and zesty minerals. Really clings on the finish, with the red fruit flavors refusing to let up.

2005 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Josh Raynolds 94. Deep ruby. Seductively aromatic bouquet of red and dark berries, fresh flowers and minerals, with subtle garrigue and baking spice character. A round, creamy midweight with deep, sweet raspberry and blackcurrant flavors and a finish featuring gently gripping tannins and excellent smoky persistence. More civilized and fruity than the 2006 and 2004 releases from this top producer.

Eggplant. This is the typical sizzling (Szechuan) eggplant. Great stuff. Soft without being mushy with a nice garlicky flavor.

2004 Pax Syrah The Terraces Alder Springs Vineyard. Tanzer 90+. Saturated medium ruby. Extremely unevolved nose features some exotic suggestions of apricot, peach and spice. Powerful, firmly built and superripe, with penetrating acidity and a distinct peppery element from the fermentation with the stems. Strong in tannic acidity, notes Mahle. As ripe as this is, there’s nothing heavy about it. Still, this very juicy, tight wine is distinctly edgy today and is dominated by its spine. Needs patience.

Duck meat. After we only got the skin, we were wondering what happened to the meat. It came back with the “duck sauce.”

2005 Vinedos de Mancuso Vino de la Tierra Valdejalón.

Egg shrimp. These shrimp were breaded with a special coating of duck yolk. A lot of people liked them but they were too pasty and rich for my taste.

2005 Cos d’Estournel. Parker 98. While I am not convinced the 2005 Cos d’Estournel will eclipse the compelling 2003 Cos, it is unquestionably another superb classic from proprietor Michel Reybier and his brilliant winemaker, Jean-Guillaume Prats. Made from an unusually high percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon (78%) and the balance mostly Merlot with a tiny dollop of Cabernet Franc, this superb effort requires plenty of time in the bottle. It boasts an inky/purple color as well as a glorious perfume of licorice, Asian spices, creme de cassis, blackberries, and toasty oak. This full-bodied St.-Estephe is exceptionally powerful, pure, and dense with a layered mid-palate that builds like a skyscraper. While there are massive tannins, they are remarkably velvety and well-integrated in this big, backstrapping effort that should enjoy an unusually long life. Forget it for 8-10 years, and drink it between 2017-2040.

Pea shoots. Colon sweeper! But quite nice actually.

1987 Ritchie Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. RJ 94. Rich, ripe, fruity nose, opened great, tasty, touch of pepper on the palate, long finish.

agavin: our bottle was in great shape. very nice.

Fried rice. The meat was beef satay, which is a new one and very slightly Singaporean in style, but it was good.

2010 Miner Family The Oracle. 91 points. nose of black cherry fruit, earth and a touch of cassis, more of the same on the palate, best wine tasted today at Miner, mouth filling, delicious and sweet like cherry jam preserves, medium/big body and a long finish.

Spring chicken. As in ain’t no spring chicken. But this one was. Actually, it was one of the best chicken’s I’ve had. Really perfectly tender and moist.

Singapore style noodles. While I like the usual Elite crispy noodles better, these were enjoyable too.

2011 Mollydooker Shiraz The Velvet Glove. Parker 97. Very deep purple-black in color, the 2011 Velvet Glove is chock full of ripe and spicy blackberries, fresh blueberries and creme de cassis aromas that are accented by Chinese five spice notes and hints of chocolate, vanilla and some tar. Full-bodied, it is ripe and rich with a nice line of acid and medium-firm, fine-grained tannins. Concentrated and persistent on the finish, it shows beautiful elegance and freshness and is a nicely delineated and expressive example of the varietal and its regional home. However, it needs another year or more in bottle. Drink it from 2015 to 2025+.

Fried fish. This guy had a ton of meat on him. Relatively light too for fried.

1997 Chateau Montelena Viognier Late Harvest. 85 points. Sweet, but a bit akilter.

Mango pudding. Awesome. With that silky smooth texture and mango flavor, it almost had bubblegum undertones. I ate three.

Walnut soup. Never had this before. Hot walnut soup. Yep. Not my favorite.

Another awesome Chinese feast. A lot of these dishes were stunning, like the pig and the chicken. The private room was great and we had even better than usual (for Chinese) wines. Certainly a massive and massively enjoyable blow out.

Afterward, just two blocks away, is one of my favorite foot massage places!

For more LA Chinese reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Elite Restaurant, hedonists, Lobster, Peking Duck, suckling pig, Wine

Newport goes Westside

Aug31

Restaurant: New Port Seafood

Location: 50 N la Cienaga Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA

Date: August 28, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese / Southeast Asian

Rating: almost the SGV in Beverly Hills

My Hedonist group has been out several times to the classic New Port Seafood in the SGV. Always a trek, but worth it. Well this hugely popular east side place has just opened a branch in Beverly Hills (actually, it’s on Restaurant Row in what I think of as West Hollywood).

It will be interesting to see how they do here in the land of overpriced theme restaurants. The menu has been trimmed down from the usual gigantic SGV scale.

The decor is certainly amped up from the SGV. Tonight, they aren’t really open yet but they agreed to let us in for a soft opening of sorts. We were the only real customers, with our giant party of 25! Plus all our wines.

I should note that with this giant (25 person?) group there is a really wide range of wine. I didn’t drink 2/3 of them and I’m not necessarily going to dig up reviews on all that stuff.

2004 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon. IWC 94. Vivid yellow. High-pitched, mineral-accented aromas of pear, Meyer lemon, quince and jasmine, with smoke and toasted grain qualities adding bass notes. Spicy, penetrating and pure, boasting impressive vivacity to its fresh orchard and citrus fruit flavors. Gains weight and breadth with air while maintaining vivacity, picking up a gingery nuance that carries through a long, smoky finish. I’d bet on this taut, youthful Champagne rewarding many more years of patience.

The hardcore crew was in the lovely private room (which is actually open to the main dining room). My narrow 50mm lens couldn’t quite get it into frame.

From my cellar: 1994 Robert Ampeau & Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Combettes. 91 points. Nicely aged white Burgundy with notes of butterscotch and citrus. It started promisingly but faltered pretty quickly in the mouth, dissolving into a dry, pithy finish.

2002 Remoissenet Père et Fils Corton-Charlemagne Diamond Jubilee. 89 points. A bit premoxed. Drinking ok now, but already too advanced.

Tofu and pig ear with five spices. A traditional Chinese thing. I wonder how the Beverly Hills crowd does with pig ear?

2012 Grgich Hills Fumé Blanc Dry Sauvignon Blanc.

2013 Kim Crawford Pinot Noir Marlborough.

2011 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay. IWC 90. the 40th chardonnay vintage at this historic Calistoga winery): Bright, pale lemon-yellow. Crisp aromas of apple, citrus peel and white peppery, along with a light metallic quality. The palate offers bracing lemon zest and grapefruit pith flavors and strong acidity yet comes across as silky and tactile at the same time. Cool and spicy, but with a surprisingly glyceral quality for the year. The youthfully edgy finish suggests that this wine will need serious patience.

Chicken satay. The owners are actually Cambodian and there is a lot of Southeast Asian influence on the menu.

2010 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Narvaux. Burghound 90-92. A well-layered and distinctly cool nose of citrus rind, acacia blossom and spiced pear aromas gives way to intensely mineral-inflected, rich and vibrant medium-bodied flavors that culminate in an impressively long, complex and bone dry finish. This is a classic Narvaux of refinement and a taut muscularity.

2011 Domaine Roulot Meursault Les Narvaux. Lower acidity than the 2010. Still good though.

Fish bladder soup. I don’t know what they really call it, but the spongy texture thing in here (besides the egg whites) is the part of the fish that keeps it floating (so my Chinese friend told me).

This is one of those pleasant mild Chinese soups. A little vinegar (no, that isn’t blood) spices it up.

1995 Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rotenberg Vendange Tardive. 94 points. Sweet, syrupy, thick sticky wine, tasting of apricots and honey. Very good. One of my favorite wines with the food.

1999 Weingut Robert Weil Riesling Kabinett. 91 points. Very nice. Possibly a little more sweet than expected for a kabinett.

Shrimp satay. Quite tasty.

From my cellar: 1989 Domaine Daniel Rion et Fils Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Les Beaux Monts. 91 points. Youthful appearance with an initial nose of sweet red fruits. Balanced and smooth on the palate. The remaing fruit is fresh and elegant, but a little thin on the finish. Nice, mature VR not over the hill.

2005 Domaine / Maison Vincent Girardin Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes. Burghound 86-89. A moderately toasty dark berry fruit nose reveals hints of Gevrey earth and leads to rich, full and attractively sweet flavors that deliver good punch if not much complexity on the tangy and dusty finish. This was clearly at an awkward stage in its evolution so my rating may be conservative.

Newport special lobster. This is the signature dish and we had about 8-10 of these (not kidding). A huge lobster with a really tasty black pepper and green onion sauce.

1996 Château Smith Haut Lafitte. IWC 89. Medium red. Warm aromas of redcurrant, hot gravel and tobacco. Supple and graceful in the mouth; not especially sweet but boasts rather penetrating flavor and firm framing acidity. Not quite as suave as this estate ’95; finishes with slightly tough tannins.

2004 Shafer Relentless. Parker 91. Celebrating 30 years of consistent quality and both critical and commercial success, this family run winery remains one of the most admirable operations in California. The Shafers have had tremendous success with their Relentless, which was first released in 1999. A blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Petite Sirah that spends 32 months in 100% new French oak, it is a remarkably consistent offering that rarely displays much oak. The Syrah is from Napa’s cool-climate Oak Knoll sector. One of the world’s most prodigious Cabernet Sauvignons is Shafer’s 2,000-case cuvee called Hillside Select. Always 100% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in 100% new French oak for a whopping 32 months, it boasts a gorgeous track record dating back to the early nineties, and just about every recent vintage has flirted with perfection.

1996 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon Grace Family Vineyard. IWC 87-89. Good deep red-ruby. Pretty aromas of black raspberry, flowers and spices. Juicy and a bit tight in the mouth, with pungent cedary oak and lively acids. Finishes with very good length and a note of coffee. This should put on more weight during its last months in barrel.

French style beef. Really this is a Vietnamese dish. Succulent filet in a black pepper sauce. Quite excellent.

2007 Newton The Puzzle. IWC 90+. Good bright ruby. Aromas of plum, dried cherry, leather, dark chocolate, coffee and mocha. Sweet and broad, showing a strong oakiness to the flavors of cassis, leather, licorice, espresso and German chocolate cake. Offers a fine-grained texture but slightly edgy acidity and strong dusty, building tannins will require several years to harmonize. Today the $25 Claret is a lot more fun to drink. (A second sample of equal quality showed stronger oak spices but a somewhat mellower finish.)

2006 Hundred Acre Vineyard Shiraz Ancient Way. 95 points. Great bottle of wine! go balance. had everything you can expect from a great australien shiraz!

agavin: I never know which vineyard these are with their new world “stylish” labels that are missing crucial information. I forgot to photo the back. They need some French wine law to require they actually stick the vineyard on the front.

Fried rice. Never a bad thing.

2000 Brothers in Arms Shiraz. 91 points.

2009 Bibi Graetz di Testamatta Toscana IGT. Young Sangiovese.

Manilla clams. With a kind of flavorful garlic sauce.

2009 Domaine Tollot-Beaut Chorey-Côte-de-Beaune.

Fried squid. Crispy, but a hair plain.

1999 Chapoutier Cote Rotie la Mordoree. Parker 95. Chapoutier’s La Mordoree cuvee is produced from 75-80-year old Syrah vines planted in both the Cote Blonde and Cote Brune, aged in 100% new oak casks, and bottled with neither fining nor filtration. The 1999 Cote Rotie La Mordoree is the finest he has produced since the 1991 (two bottles drunk over the last six months confirm this fabulous wine’s potential as it is just now beginning to emerge from a cloak of tannin). The 1999 has closed down since its pre-bottling tasting. The color is an inky purple, and the wine is dense and powerful, with notes of smoky blackberries, creosote, and espresso. Concentrated flavors reveal high levels of tannin (surprising in view of last year’s report), and a rich, long, 45-second finish. This impressive 1999 will take longer to reach its plateau of drinkability than I thought last year. Anticipated maturity: 2009-2023.

Walnut shrimp. The typical mayo sweet shrimp. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse of this dish.

1999 Torbreck The Factor. Parker 93. Deep garnet in color, the 1999 The Factor shows an earthy, meaty and gamey nose that is a little musky. Full-bodied and rich, it has medium levels of velvety tannins that hold up the concentrated and long, spicy finish. It is mature now and ready to drink.

Sweet and sour fish. It was nice and crispy, but the sauce was too sweet and mild.

2009 Margerum Syrah Black Oak Vineyard. 92 points.

Mustard greens and preserved meat. I think some kind of pork sausage which was great.

1970 Château Filhot Comtesse Durieu de Lacarelle. agavin 86 points. This was pleasant, but far over the hill. Sherry like notes.

Mango sticky rice. Thai, but still good.

This was the “kid’s table” where the dozen or so people who bring the “lesser wines” (or are very late) are banished too. We had about 15 at the other table.

Overall, New Port Seafood did a great job, particularly considering they weren’t even open yet. Several of the dishes were pretty much exactly the same as the original branch (lobster, beef, maybe the walnut shrimp). A few others felt a hair more mild and Westernized. I haven’t studied the menu to see how the prices compare. Our total tonight was reasonable and we pigged out. Seriously pigged out. They don’t yet have the giant crab, but promise they will. Still, it’s a LOT closer. I hope they do great!

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Yarom w/ the owner, Wendy Lam

Yarom with the manager

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Chinese, Chinese cuisine, hedonists, Lobster, New Port Seafood, Wine

New Bay Seafood

Jan22

Restaurant: New Bay Seafood [1, 2]

Location: 203 West Valley Blvd, Alhambra, CA. (626) 872-6677

Date: January 20, 2014

Cuisine: Cantonese / Chiu Chow Chinese

Rating: Really on point!

New Bay Seafood is a fairly elaborate (big with multiple private rooms) Hong Kong and Chiu Chow palace that took over the late Sham Tseng space in 2013.

The interior is typical of Inland Empire Chinese restaurants. We had a private room (there are several).

On the table to start were the traditional peanuts.

And some marinated pickles.

2006 Schafer-Frohlich Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese. Parker 92. The Frohlichs- 2006 Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese came from significantly botrytized grapes and was yeasted to assure a reliable fermentation. Licorice, honey, black currant, and pineapple dominate the nose and palate, where an almost buttery texture and high residual sugar do not prevent juiciness and vivacity, thanks in part to the acidity having gone ever higher here than in the Felseneck. Irresistibly luscious, subtly honeyed and saline, smoky, and tingling mineral in its finish, this, too, should be a long (15+ year) keeper, although Frohlich is convinced that the Felsenberg will have an edge in complexity thanks to the effect of spontaneous fermentation.

This roast BBQ pork was tremendous. It’s that red skinned variety that I used to get growing up in Cantonese dimsum houses, but was tender, not too fatty, and delicious.

Next up was a roast BBQ duck served with a sweet orange colored sauce. No one does duck as well as the Chinese and this was a delectable example.

From my cellar: 1994 Bollig-Lehnert Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Auslese. 92 points. The sweetness had pleasantly faded, but it had extremely nice petrol notes.

We called this the cheese lobster, because there is actually a bit of cheese mixed in with all that fry. And, yeah, it’s pretty darned fried, but it was really tasty. The lobster itself was succulent and not over done and it was easy to access big chunks of it.

2003 Louis Latour Bâtard-Montrachet. Burghound 92. This too is quite aromatically expressive and while this is no model of finesse either, both the aromatic and flavor profiles possess stunning complexity and in contrast to most big, sappy and muscular white, this manages to retain an unusually fine sense of balance and delivers a palate staining finish. It’s dramatic but there’s substance behind the size and weight.

Our bottle was a little closed and tired, although it opened as the evening progressed.

Some of our party had dietary restrictions and they asked for this steamed tilapia with pepper. They seemed to love it, although for me, the whole thing sort of ignores the point of Chinese food.

House special lobster. This version of the lobster was even better. The sauce had quite a bit of black pepper and scallions in it. Lots of flavor and very tender.

From my cellar: 1995 Louis Jadot Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Clos St. Jacques. 94 points. Smells of creamy blue and black fruit, and earth. It’s powerful on the palate, the fruit tastes young, and deep. There are layers to the palate that reveal bramble, minerals, and a seemingly weightless power. Finishes with a tarry, meaty, wild side. Excellent wine that is beginning to show.

Chinese chicken salad. Haha. I have no idea how authentic this is, but the flavor profile was actually more Vietnamese (which really isn’t that far from Chiu Chow). There was a sweet/savory thing, a little bit of zing, and cilantro.

Salt and pepper shrimp. Nice tender version of this too with a lot of salty garlic flavor.

2006 Marcassin Pinot Noir Three Sisters Vineyard. Parker 94+. The 2006 Pinot Noirs that are just being released include the 2006 Pinot Noir Three Sisters Vineyard. While it has closed down since I tasted it last year, it does reveal a dark plum/ruby color as well as a smoky bouquet of Asian plum sauce, soy, forest floor and sweet black cherries. Like many Marcassin Pinots, it possesses a Morey St.-Denis-like character. The Three Sisters cuvee will benefit from another 1-2 years of bottle age and drink well for a decade or more.

In my opinion, this was a nice new world pinot, but as usual, too oaked and young. I’m certainly not drinking 1re cru Burgundy (which would be the analog here) from ’06, more like the late 90s.

Roast BBQ chicken. I’m not that much of a chicken fan, but this was a darn tasty one. The meat was moist and perfectly cooked.

Chiu Chow crab. Super tasty again, and sleeping on a bed of giant garlic cloves. The owner warned us that this baby might gift us with a bit of a surprise in the middle of the night — in the form of excess gas! LOL.

Sautéed greens (pea tendrils?). A top flight version of the Southern Chinese style greens. Lots of garlicky goodness.

2001 Noon Shiraz Reserve. Parker 99. The 2001 Shiraz Reserve is a riveting example of what is so exciting about old vine Shiraz. Produced from a 35-40-year old McLaren Vale vineyard, it possesses amazing aromatics, purity, texture, and richness. This 2001, which tips the scales at a lofty 15.8% alcohol, is intense and full-bodied as well as remarkably elegant for a wine of such mass and intensity. Its impenetrable inky/black/purple color is accompanied by explosive aromatics, and is bursting with deep, rich, well-balanced flavors revealing seamlessly integrated wood, alcohol, acidity, and tannin. Profoundly deep, rich, and intense, it will hit its peak in 3-4 years, and should last for 15+. This is truly compelling old vine Shiraz!

Eggplant with pork. A slightly spicy eggplant with bamboo shoots and pork. Really really tasty and I love that kind of stringy sweet pork.

Sweet and sour pork. Sort of the real version of those Panda Express fried pork balls in red sauce. Quite good as this dish goes.

Fried fish. Tender salty fish and chips without the chips — Chinese style.

Shrimp over crispy noodles. I love this kind of mild dish. The white sauce soaks into the noodles and makes for a sort of comfort food.

Overall, New Bay Seafood was really good. Being Southern Chinese, it’s not the most exotic of the Chinese sub-regions (foodwise, since so much American Chinese is Cantonese derived) but their execution is really very very good. Every dish was tasty and more than half of them fabulous. If you want an approachable entree into the wonderful world of San Gabriel Valley Chinese, you can’t go wrong with New Bay. And, besides, the owner treated us like kings. They served the dishes one by one, hung out, and we’re generally fabulous.

Afterward, we walked next door to the awesome Sabu Dessert and get some light fluffy “snow.” If you haven’t tried Taiwanese style snow, you are really missing out. This one above was coconut snow, passionfruit sauce, with egg pudding, almond jelly, and blackberries. Yum!

Someone else’s slightly different snow.

For more crazy Hedonist meals.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Rocking the SGV shirt!

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Alhambra California, Burgundy, Chinese cuisine, crab, hedonists, Lobster, New Bay Seafood, Riesling, san Gabriel valley, Wine

Newport Special Seafood

Dec23

Restaurant: Newport Seafood

Location: 518 W Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776-1073. (626) 289-5998

Date: December 19, 2013 and January 24 & September 11, 2016 and May 22, 2022 (and many other times between)

Cuisine: Cambodian Chinese

Rating: I used to like it, but now I’m jaded and think it’s perhaps the most overrated place in the SGV

Many people consider Newport Seafood one of the best Chinese restaurants in SoCal. Essentially, it’s Southern Chinese, with some Cambodian and Vietnamese influences (the owners are Cambodian). I’ve been a couple of times, but this post is a composite of a December ’13 and a January ’16 meal (click those links for the specific by night pictures and wines) and another September ’16 meal. The wines below are all from the ’13 meal as the latter time there wasn’t anything particularly exciting except for a pile of leftovers I brought from an epic dinner the night before. People somehow think that giant New World Syrah goes with Chinese food — not! Except for a dish or two, total wine pairing fail. This cuisine would be best served by Burgs (both colors), dry Riesling, Gruner, and the like.

This is a big place, and moderately “fancy” as San Gabriel Chinese joints go. Even on a Thursday night, it was mobbed, and people were waiting for a good long while. The weekend is crazy busy.

No Newport visit is complete without shots of the ladies with the giant crustaceans.

The menu 5/22/22.

Boiled peanuts. Helpful in avoiding peanut allergies.

Cold spicy cucumbers. A nice version of this Szechuan classic.

Chinese savory cruller. I’ve always liked these puffy donut-like (without the sugar) breads.

Sea Cucumber Salad. Actually pretty good if you don’t mind the gummy texture.

Vietnamese shrimp salad. Those strong vinegar/sugar flavors and the peanuts are very Vietnamese. The standard lettuce, a little less so. Really, a lousy salad — pretty much ruined by the generic lettuce.

Cold duck. I thought we ordered “crispy duck” — this wasn’t — but it wasn’t bad either.

Green chicken. This was pretty good for straight up boiled/steamed whole chicken. Unusual chili paste too, which I now recognize as fairly typical Cambodian.

Basically a pork larb with some curry and heat and Thai basil. Pretty good. A touch of funk too (fish sauce or shrimp paste).

Many of the waiting guests amused themselves with the “wildlife,” like this toddler (conveniently in the picture for scale). We’ll get back to this big ugly crustacean, as he was part of our dinner.

As were these red fish (red cod? rock fish?).

Tricia got the honor of grabbing the crab!

2006 Sine Qua Non Autrement Dit. 90 points. Very nice blueberry/strawberry nose. not hot on the nose. really nice full palate and mouthfeel with a nice mix of red and blue fruits, and integrated earthiness. did not noticably detect any heat or wood on this. certainly a bigger and different type of rose, but this bottle was nicely restrained and seemed in good balance tonight.

Newport Special Crab. Our entire giant crab was steamed in a mild and pleasant sauce the emphasized the sweet and delicate flavor of the VERY fresh crab. In fact, he was alive and kicking in Tricia’s hands about 15 minutes prior. This was perfectly cooked and moist.

2005 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage Blanc. Parker 96. The 2005 Hermitage blanc is an amazing effort that defines the classic style of white Hermitage. It offers hints of marzipan, roasted hazelnuts, quince, licorice, honeysuckle, citrus oil, and wet stones. It is a superbly concentrated and powerful wine. It should drink well for 30+ years.

Westlake Soup. It was mild and pleasant with a lot of various stuff in it. A splash of vinegar jazzed it up.

Crab and asparagus soup. Very mild and pleasant. Not that much crab but a lot of white asparagus.

2000 Aubert Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard. Parker 91. The 2000 Chardonnay Ritchie Vineyard is a rich, full-bodied, textured, powerful, smoky effort that tastes like a Meursault premier cru on steroids. It possesses ample layers, excellent underlying acidity for balance, and plenty of leesy, hazelnut, and tropical fruit notes.

Newport Special Lobster. In a delicious green onion, garlic, and slightly spicy sauce. The sauce was amazing. The lobster was perhaps a tiny bit overcooked, but was great. It’s mostly about the sauce.

Giant steamed prawns. These were too much plain crustacean for my taste. Lots of work to pry out the meat, and it was just steamed shrimp. I think of them as giant steamed sea bugs.

Salt and pepper crab. Interesting. Like a fossilized salty crab. The meat itself was tasty, but I preferred the sauced version below.

Curry crab. Crab drowned in a super yummy Singapore curry sauce. Awesome!

2011 Wagner-Stempel Riesling Trocken. Parker 89. Fresh apple and lime garlanded with narcissus, apple blossom and basil characterize the aromatic and palate performance of Wagner-Stempel’s 2011 Riesling trocken, whose combination of caressingly silken texture with bright, infectiously juicy citricity displays the family resemblance to its Scheurebe counterpart. At 12.5% alcohol, this manages to convey a sense of buoyancy through its delightful, apple pip- and herb-tinged finish. Look for it to prove deliciously versatile over the next 2-3 years. There is now, incidentally, just a single large bottling of generic Riesling at this address and it is 100% estate-bottled.

Shrimp with walnut. This was one of the best versions of this classic slightly fried and slightly sweet dish I’ve had in a while.

2007 Hermann Donnhoff Riesling Spatlese Niederhauser Hermannshohle. Parker 96. Gardenia, peony, and resinous herbs in the nose of Donnhoff’s 2007 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese give way to a palpably extract-rich palate of vibratory intensity, suffused with stony, saline, and tactile suggestions of mineral matter, yet at the same time rich orchard fruits. If the Krotenpfuhl was painted with water colors, the medium here is definitely oil, exhibiting both dynamic and intricate brush work as well as dense layering. This masterpiece – picked simultaneously with the corresponding Grosses Gewachs – was only beginning to show its depth in the spring and needed almost six months in bottle to really shine forth. Take as long as fate permits you to savor this; I can’t imagine it disappointing a quarter century or more from now.

Steamed Whole Fish. With soy, ginger, etc. Delicate and lovely, although not a ton of meat. Too “clean” for my taste.

1984 Gros Frère et Sœur Clos Vougeot Musigni. 95 points. This is a great wine (good location in the vineyard and top winemakers) from a very off year — and it’s 29 year-old pinot noir. But somehow (and I’ve had 3 bottles) it’s still in great shape. Really quite lovely with a complex tar and cherry thing going on. I happen to find it fabulous.

Sole Fish with Salt and Pepper? In any case, some VERY fried fish nuggets. It tasted a tad oily.

Sweet and sour fish filets. I liked these better than the dry salt and pepper version. Soft, fried, and vaguely sweet.

Fish Filet with Basil. These were super tender and succulent and a bit fried. Incredible savory (MSG) flavor. LOTS of msg. Definitely one of their best fried fish dishes.

2008 DuMOL Pinot Noir Aidan. Parker 93. The 2008 Pinot Noirs are led by The 2008 Pinot Noir Aidan, which is made from the modern Dijon clones of 115 and 777. Yields in 2008 were a minuscule 1.75 tons of fruit per acre, hence production is down considerably. Aromas of forest floor, plum sauce, black currants, blueberries and a complex rose petal-like character emerge from this dark ruby-colored 2008. With medium to full body and good acidity, this beauty can be drunk over the next 10-12 years.

Sizzling Beef. Had lots of flavor. But these days I find this kind of dish boring.

Vietnamese Beef Stew. Yummy stuff. Very soft fatty meat, tons of flavor, and odd asian textures. Great over rice. Very interesting slightly curry and fish sauce flavor. Meat had a lot of tendon. I liked it a lot as it was intresting.

2001 St. Francis Anthem. 90 points. Nice blend with some earthy tones.

Beef Loc Lac (French Style). Kind of like Chinese Salsbury steak. Lots of flavor, but mostly one tasted the sauce.

Our private room.

Sauteed Peasprout. A nice garlicky vegetable. Kind of like a broom for the intestines.

Another mysterious green, or maybe just different looking peasprouts.

Green beans with pork. Classic dish. These were slippery fellows and hard to scoop up. Delicious with nice crunchy beans but oh so salty (lots of MSG).

1997 Turley Wine Cellars Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard. Parker 96-98. I do not believe I have ever tasted a more concentrated, essence-like wine than Turley’s 1997 Petite Syrah Hayne Vineyard. Made from 55-year old vines that yielded only 9.8 tons of fruit for five acres, this opaque black-colored wine is the biggest, richest, most concentrated, tannic wine I have ever tasted. It will need at least a decade to shed some of its ferocious tannin, and will undoubtedly last for 40-50 years. Even more remarkable is its purity and overall equilibrium. Despite its Godzilla-like size, this is an astonishingly concentrated, gorgeously made wine. I have never, ever, seen a wine like this!

Kung Pao Pork Chop. It wasn’t very spicy, and it was seriously double fried, but it was darn tasty.

Sweet and sour pork chop. Tasty, but certainly not tender!

Fried Pork Chop with Salt and Pepper. Very salty and fried, but delicious.

Crispy duck. Sixth months later, we get the duck. This was a fairly contentious dish, some thought it dry. I kinda liked it once you soaked a meaty piece in the sauce.

2002 Sean Thackrey Orion Syrah. Parker 96-100. A riveting example of Syrah is the 2002 Orion. It boasts a black/purple color with more mint and blackberry notes intermixed with exotic floral characteristics. With great intensity, full body, multiple dimensions, and superb purity as well as length, this blockbuster is incredibly well-balanced/harmonious. It should drink reasonably well young, yet keep for 12-15 years.

Parker sure (over) loves these new world syrahs.

Fried Noodle with Chicken. I happen to love these thin fried noodles drenched in the white Chinese sauce.

Fried noodle with seafood. More or less the same great taste.

Vegetable fried rice. Not as exciting as the meat version, but certainly good.

Pork fried rice. A nice tasty rice.

A rare photo of me.

Shrimp with Garlic Sauce? This was mildly spicy with a lot of flavor.

Lana and Tricia duel.

Oranges for dessert.

We brought in these cakes for a birthday.

Mascarpone with Strawberry and Oat Milk Matcha Almond.

Overall, honestly it’s tough to review Newport Seafood. When I first came here in 2013, I was only a year or so into my frequent SGV journeys and I loved it — more or less in the way that I have always loved all Chinese food. Hell, I even used to like PF Changs and Panda Express. But now, several hundred real Chinese meals later, I feel that Newport is just oddly overrated. It’s like the expensive gateway drug to the SGV. Sure it’s enjoyable. They have good dishes. Even some great dishes (nothing wrong with the lobster at all other than the price). But little is interesting, it’s way overpriced, and they lean very heavily on the “flavor” (MSG). I’m not a monster fan of this Chinese Cambodian hybrid style either. It’s 90% Chinese, but fairly close to Chaozhou style. Still, I like either Tai Sui (Cambodian) or Seafood Palace (Chaozhou) MUCH better. And I also like straight Cantonese a lot more (of which there are many better examples) and particularly Sichuan or any kind of regional Chinese.

So no, I’m just not really impressed with Newport at this point.

Or check out Newport’s Beverly Hills location.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here,

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

Some more wines from September 11, 2016:

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: China, Chinese cuisine, crab, hedonists, Lobster, Monterey Park California, Newport Special Lobster, San Gabriel California

More Mori Sushi

Jul15

Restaurant: Mori Sushi [1, 2]

Location: 11500 west pico blvd. los angeles, california, 90064. 310-479-3939

Date: June 25, 2013

Cuisine: Japanese Sushi

Rating: One of LA’s best traditional sushi restaurants

There is always considerable date as to which of LA’s many great sushi bars are the best — and it’s a fairly subjective question — but there is no doubt that Mori Sushi is often on the short list.

The owner in the foreground, Chef Masanori “Maru” Nagano who bought the restaurant from his former boss, Morihiro Onodera back in 2011.

Our main chef of the evening.

The bright interior.

NV Agrapart & Fils Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Terroirs. Parker 92. Agrapart’s NV Brut Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Terroirs is another fabulous wine. Here it is the combination of tension and weightlessness that is especially appealing. Sweet floral notes and a suggestion of mint meld into white orchard fruit in this effortless, totally gracious wine. All the elements meld together on the seamless, crystalline finish. The Terroirs is a blend of fruit sourced from Avize, Oger, Cramant and Oiry, equal parts 2007 and 2008 vintages. This release was aged partly in 600-liter barrels. Dosage was 5 grams per liter.

Homemade Tofu with wasabi and special homemade soy sauce. This is my favorite kind of tofu, the silky soft kind. It has a very soft texture and seductive subtle flavor.

1990 Robert Ampeau & Fils Meursault 1er Cru Les Perrières. Burghound 93. A truly wonderful nose of simply knockout complexity features notes of yeast and baked bread along with now fully mature aromas of a variety of floral notes and spice hints that gives way to mineral-suffused round intense and detailed medium full flavors that also offer outstanding depth on the sappy and mouth coating finish. This is drinking perfectly now. A beautiful effort of real style and grace.

Our first round appetizer plate.

A sweet marinated fish. Really tasty. The bones are so soft you just crunch them up.

Skewers of abalone with yuzu. The green behind is a special farmer’s market spinach that is chewy.

On the left eggplant with bonito flakes. On the right, Conger eel roy in a gelatinous cube (be afraid!) made from conger eel bones!

Left to right: some kind of row balls from a fish. Farmer’s market tomato, okra, and kumquat.

Conch boiled in dashi and shell with shitake mushroom quail egg.

Here you can better see the meat itself. One drinks the tasty broth afterward.

Santa barbara spot prawn, santa barbara uni. Charred flavors contrast beautifully with sweetness.

And who is this?

Die lobster, die!

2007 Henri Boillot Corton-Charlemagne. Burghound 96. Seemingly like all of Boillot’s wines in this vintage, a strikingly pure nose of green apple, white flower and spice aromas complements perfectly the delicious, intense and stony flavors that are among the ripest in the range yet remain wonderfully vibrant and gorgeously detailed on the taut, transparent and bone dry finish that bathes the palate in dry extract. This is beautifully balanced and among the best wines of the vintage from Corton. In a word, brilliant.

The sashimi plate. In the back is the spiny lobster tail drizzled with lobster gut sauce. In the middle special Hokkaido scallop. In the front, tuna, and baby barracuda sashimi. The last had a bit of a sweet charred flavor.

Yummy, lobster guts!

1996 Joseph Drouhin Romanée St. Vivant. Burghound 90. Airy, pure, elegant and extremely expressive as the aromas just float from the glass with rose petal and assorted floral notes. The mineral-infused, racy and finely delineated flavors are nuanced and textured though the backend has a somewhat dry and edgy quality to it that is highlighted by the racy finishing acidity.

Traditional grilled river fish and in the front a shiso sandwich filled with fish meat. To the right is sauced daikon radish and pickles.

This I’ve never had. The fish is a deep deep sea fish, with the lantern and big eyes! To the left is shiso pepper and on the right abalone tempura.

Guess who comes back for round 2? Mr. Lobster head, this time boiled up in some lobster miso soup (which was fantastic).

1996 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Cru Clos des Epeneaux. Burghound 91. Still quite deeply colored. A perfumed nose that is now in a transition phase from primary to secondary aromas is given added nuance by the presence of earth¡ subtle spice notes and a smoky quality that is also picked up by the fresh¡ bright and energetic medium-bodied flavors that possess excellent detail and obvious minerality on the ever-so-slightly dry finish where the dryness does not seem to compromise the length as this is seriously persistent. The structural elements of acidity and tannins are still quite firm though not aggressive and this should continue to successfully age over the next 25 to 30 years as the balance is almost perfect. Tasted several times over the last few years with consistent notes save for one disjointed bottle that seemed unduly dried out.

This may have been Tai (Red Snapper).

Cuttlefish. Creamy with a bit of chewiness. There was shiso underneath which I love.

Wild yellowtail (seki buri).

I think this was Aji (Spanish Mackerel).

Chu-toro. Delicious.

O-toro, even richer.

Japanese Mackerel (Saba). A little fishier than some of the other fish, but firm and delicious.

Geoduck clam (Mirugai). Not always my favorite, but in this case tender and delicious.

Ikura (salmon roe). Incredibly sweet.

2005 Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Clos de la Maréchale. Burghound 91. In contrast to the expressiveness of the first two ’05s, here there is a completely different aromatic profile and one that is brooding with more deeply pitched and quite ripe blue and violet aromas combining with pungent earth and game hints that continue onto the sweet, rich and sappy flavors wrapped around a firm tannic spine. This is impressive as it is clearly Nuits in character yet with refined and sophisticated structural elements. Also recommended.

Lightly grilled albacore? I can’t remember.

Santa Barbara Uni. Super sweet.

Hokkaido Uni. More of a brine note.

Sea eel (Anago). Really soft and fabulous. The sauce is reduced from eel bones.

Hokkaido scallop sushi.

Sweep shrimp sushi.

Chef/Owner Sal Marino of Il Grano (a fabulous nearby Italian – one of the best Italians in the city) joined us about halfway through the meal and partook in our libations.

A number of different roles. Some have shiso leaf, some various pickles, some tamago. Really yummy and refreshing.

1995 Philippe Leclerc Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Combes aux Moines. Parker 90-94. A few wine writers have recently written that some producers in Burgundy are making Pinot Noir that resembles Syrah. My impression is that highly extracted, late-picked, and lavishly oaked Pinot Noir does in fact show traits of Syrah in its youth. Both varietals have a tendency to contain high acid levels (relative to Merlot and Cabernet) and often exhibit berry fruit characteristics. Philippe Leclerc’s dynamite Gevrey-Chambertin Combe Aux Moines certainly could be confused with a northern Rhone wine during its early stage of development. Readers who love Cote Rotie and Hermitage will adore it. Dark-colored, almost black, and revealing an awesomely dense, ripe, deep, nose of cassis, mocha, spices and oak, this monster of a wine explodes in the mouth with rich, layered, roasted black fruits. Full-bodied and thick, with a hard tannic backbone, it indeed reminds me more of a young Syrah (but without the typical raspberry and red currant notes) than what I generally taste in Burgundy.

All four red burgs lined up for tasting.

Two kinds of homemade ice cream. On the left, soy sauce ice cream, on the right tofu ice cream. Both were fabulous.

Hojicha (roasted green tea) to finish.

Overall, this was some really stellar traditional Sushi. Both the fish itself and all the starters were fantastic. Mori sushi sticks fairly closely to traditional Japanese techniques and flavors. It doesn’t jazz things up with too many vinegars and crazy sauces, but uses first rate ingredients that emphasize the purity of the flavors: very Japanese.

The produce mostly comes from the farmer’s markets. He makes his own tofu and soy sauce and I believe, even the rice, which is specially sourced from some special rice farm. All in all, really fabulous.

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