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Archive for Sausage

Salty Saturday 2014

Dec06

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


For the second year in a row, the location is the house of my cousin Matt and his wife Andrea. They’ve picked up a lot of the load, having also tackled the Friday Night Feast.

The main event for Salty Saturday is bagels and cream cheese the Philly way.


Capers and olives.


The third return of the olives and artichokes from Thursdays night.


Hard boiled eggs, elegantly sliced.


Parmesan and red onions.


Cream cheese with scallions.


Regular (boring) cream cheese.


Munster and Jarlsberg (swiss).


Tomatoes and cucumber.


Creamed herring.


Pickled herring. I like this sweet fishy stuff, although it isn’t to everyone’s taste.


Chunky whitefish salad. Love it!


Lox of course.


Bagels, including the amusing black and whites.


Toasted.


Here is my plate, with a bagel or two under construction.


I like cream cheese AND munster under my fish.


I’m also going to cheat and show these breakfast items that Matt whipped up on Thanksgiving day, including this frittata.


These amazing challah french toast.


And this sausage from the old school sausage make downtown, Fiorella’s. This place has been making sausage the same way since 1892!


Plus syrup that can go on BOTH French Toast and sausage. I love syrup on my sausage.


Oh, and fruit salad.


The Salty Saturday in progress.

For more ThanksGavin dining, click here.

Miriam says “wow!”

Related posts:

  1. Salty Saturday
  2. ThanksGavin 2011 – Salty Saturday
  3. Saturday is for Salt
  4. Friday Night Feast 2014
  5. ThanksGavin 2014
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bagels, fiorella's, fish, Lox, Salty Saturday, Sausage, ThanksGavin

Seoul Sausage Kingdom

Sep16

Restaurant: Seoul Sausage Co.

Location: 11313 Mississippi Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90025. (310) 477-7739

Date: September 20, 2013

Cuisine: Korean… sorta

Rating: Tasty!

_

LA is a funny kind of foodie town, being divided into both wildly experimental cuisine, classic ethnic, and a not-so-in-the-closet love affair with fast food. And let’s not forget Asian fusion. One of the current trends seems to be updating classic American fast foods with crazy cross-cultural insertions. This is nowhere more obvious than in the rash of new gourmet food trucks that offer things like “kalbi tacos” and “Thai shrimp burgers.”


Seoul Sausage Co. has a storefront, but it’s very much in this vein, offering up a tiny menu of fat and flavor driven Korean/American hybrid dishes.


This is a tiny place affording only counter service.


The short little menu.


Some of the rice balls waiting to be re-heated.


The sandwich makes for easy take-away.


Kalbi Sausage. Handmade Korean BBQ beef sausage w/ garpic jalapeno aioli and kimchi relish. This was a pretty delicious “hot dog.” The sausage was succulent and flavorful and the aioli added a nice brightness.


A pair of balls and their sauce. These balls are like vaguely Asian Arincini (a similar Italian food consisting of deep fried rice balls — it may even date from the Roman Empire!).


On the left, the Lil’ Osaka Ball. Japanese curry rice ball w/ ground kalbi and potatoes served w/ shoga siracha mayo.

On the right, Flaming Ball. Cheesy kimchi fried rice w/ spicy pork served w/ DMZ sauce (garlic jalepeno kimchi siracha aioli).

Neither was actually hot (by my standards). Both were tasty,  a bit mild, and I liked the Osaka Ball better (it tasted like Japanese brown curry).


Next door is Blockheads, a shaved ice joint.


I experimented with this classic sweet ice (shaved frozen sweetened condensed milk) and chocolate, almonds, and brownies. I should have gone with Mango or some other fruit version.

Sawtelle has morphed in recent years into a rather excellent lunch destination, offering up a bevy of yummy (and quick) eats. There is a lot of traditional Japanese and Korean, plus these newer more experimental places.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Tofu Ya
  2. Singapore – Long Beach Dempsey
  3. Loving Lukshon
  4. Moko
  5. A-Frame – Ultimate Picnic Food
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: bbq, Fast food, Japanese curry, Kalbi, Sausage, Sawtelle, Seoul Sausage Co., Spam

Hedonists Boil Up Some Crab

Nov19

Restaurant: The Boiling Crab

Location: 3377 Wilshire Blvd. Ste 115, Los Angeles, CA 90010

Date: November 15, 2012

Cuisine: Cajun Seafood

Rating: Negative frills, but really tasty

_

Good food doesn’t always have to be fancy. My most recent Hedonist adventure was to The Boiling Crab, the Korea-Town outpost of a cajun seafood joint.


The place is located in a built up K-Town food oriented minimall.


And, boy, is it popular. This was a random Thursday and the wait was over an hour. I’ve heard that on weekends it can be 2-4!


Hedonists events require that everyone bring a bottle of wine. I brought three! Just in case. On this particular night, we had eleven people, but only a few wine drinkers. Boiling Crab doesn’t even serve wine, so I’ve learned to bring my own glasses (Riedel restaurant grade) in my rolling wine carrier. The wines are shoved in the back along with some icepacks (whites) and a bunch of cork screws and the like.


Le menu. Simple, and pretty much all market price. The market price was damn reasonable too, for example, just $17/lb for main lobster and $8/lb for blue crab!


And this is because TBC does not spend any money on extras. There are no plates. No glasses. No utensils. Food is served in plastic bags. Yes, that’s right, plastic bags. I’ve never even seen this before!

Given that this place serves seafood covered in spice, butter, and garlic, two of us brought good German Rieslings.

Parker 93, “The complex 2003 Riesling Auslese Erdener Treppchen boasts a nose of honeysuckle blossoms. Medium-bodied, supple, and silky-textured, it exhibits an expressive flavor profile composed of red fruits, pears, and spices. In addition, this luscious, pure wine possesses a long, fruit-filled finish.”

This one had a little age and a hint of classic Riesling petrol.


TBC is bib worthy. In fact, it’s the messiest restaurant I can remember eating at.


This is Dungeness Crab with Sha-Bang sauce (cajun, lemon pepper, and garlic butter). It comes just like that, crab in a bag with sauce. No utensils, you just reach in and crab the hot crab.


Then you pull it apart with your hands. They throw a couple lousy nut crackers on the table. Again, no forks. No plates! But it was delicious!


We also had a bag of king crab legs. Here’s one that escaped.


From my cellar: Parker 96, “After a performance like this for a Spatlese, the warning was hardly necessary! Donnhoff’s 2009 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese offers a riot of herbal aromas reminiscent of but far more intense and diverse than that of the corresponding Grosses Gewachs, and here, too, accompanied by grapefruit and passion fruit in a manner that calls to mind Sauvignon. Horehound, licorice, sage, mint, black tea, nut oils, candied grapefruit rind, and crushed stone inform a silken-textured palate. As with the corresponding Brucke, there is a remarkable interactivity on display, and a depth of mineral and animal savor that goes beyond crustacean shell reduction or veal demi-glace, leaving me salivating helplessly.”

This was my Riesling, and it was considerably sweeter than the first one. In my opinion, both paired fantastically with the spicy garlic seafood.


Some really yummy cajun sausage. It didn’t even come by itself but was “in the bag” (literally) with the shrimp.


Here are the shrimp (and some refuse). Again, bag of shrimp. You have to reach in and grab them. By the time you do, your entire hand is coated to the wrist with spicy garlic butter!


Parker 93, “David Powell consistently excels with The Steading, an 8,000 case blend of Grenache, Mourvedre, and Shiraz. Aged 22 months in 300 liter hogsheads (foudres), it represents Australia’s version of Chateauneuf du Pape. The 2002 The Steading’s big, spicy, earthy nose reveals notions of cherry liqueur, licorice, pepper, dried Provencal herbs, raspberries, and leather. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, chewy, and heady, it is best drunk during its first 7-8 years of life, although it will last a lot longer.”

This was a nice wine, but I thought it clashed pretty badly with the food. Really any red would.


Cajun fried catfish over cajun fries. Pretty delectable, hot as Bejesus, and had a nice earthy catfish taste. Eaten with your hands, of course.


Some of the shrimp on the table. The cost savings here is passed onto the consumer: you have to de-head and de-leg and de-vein your own shrimp. They were, however, awesome, and probably even better than the crab. The sauce was literally finger licking good.


And we also had a bag of corn. It was a little mushy, but very sweet and I loved it with the salty garlic sauce.

Sweet potato fries.


Parker 94, “The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape is dominated by Grenache with major amounts of Mourvedre, Syrah and other authorized varietals. Its dense ruby/plum color is followed by aromas of smoked meats, roasted Provencal herbs, a gamy character and lots of kirsch, black currant and blue fruits. Rich and full-bodied, it is softer than most young vintages of Vieux Donjon tend to be.”

Very nice, smooth wine, but too strong for the food.


We ordered up a lobster. $42 for a 2.5 pounder!


Quite the fellow, and delicious.


Here is his tail, sitting in a bloody pool of cajun juice.


And a bit of repulsive leftovers. We had to periodically venture forth, grab some plastic bags from the counter, and then return and sweet this crap away. It’s very self serve.


But I doubt they’ve ever had a party that brings 4-5 of their own wine glasses each!

Despite the mess, this place was pretty fantastic. And what a deal, $39 all in for each person (including tax and tip). The above was food for five too! You’re paying entirely for the seafood, and nothing extra. I don’t mind the atmosphere or mess (it is what it is), but I wish there wasn’t such a long line :-). I guess nothing is too good to be true.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Or for more crazy Foodie Club meals.

At The Boiling Crab, even girls get their hands dirty (this is some random adjacent table).

Related posts:

  1. Hedonists at Dahab
  2. Tidewater Crab
  3. Hedonists at La Paella
  4. Totoraku – Hedonists Beef Up
  5. Hedonists at STK
By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Boiling Crab, Cajun, Chateauneuf du Pape, corn, crab, Donnhoff, Foodie Club, hedonists, Lobster, Los Angeles, Riesling, Sausage, Seafood, shrimp, Spätlese, Wine, Wine tasting descriptors

Gjelina Brunch

Aug19

Restaurant: Gjelina [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd, CA 90291. (310) 250-1429

Date: August 6 & 14, 2011

Cuisine: New Californian

Rating: Great food, annoying service!

_

I hadn’t been to Gjelina (despite it being a favorite) in a few months but I headed back there for two brunches only a week apart, one with my son and the other with my brother and cousin.


The all important Cappuccino. They make a good one as attested by the nice micro-foam. I’m not a fan of those coffee with a pile of foam on top versions.


“Moroccan Baked Eggs with Merguez, Chili, Tomato Sauce, Cilantro & Spiced Yogurt.” This was REALLY tasty. The sausage was awesome, as was the sauce and yogurt combo. It had a pretty genuine Moroccan flavor profile.


My son wanted eggs. He didn’t even touch them though. Toddlers!


“Crispy Sunny Eggs with Prosciutto, Romesco, Arugula & Lemon.” This was also very good, and very similar (except for the ham) to my special Breakfast Eggs.


“Pizza Margherita.” A very nice version of the classic. Rich tomatoey sauce, lots of basil.


My son ate most of this, although he complained about the “green stuff” and made me remove it.


“Duck Sausage, Nameko Mushroom, Garlic & Mozzarella.” The sausage was fantastic, and the overall pizza was very smokey with an interesting chewy mushroom texture. I liked it a lot, but you certainly have to be a shroom person.


“Peach crumble with Crème Fraiche.” I like my crumbles more crumbly.


“Butterscotch Pot de Crème with Salted Caramel w/ Crème Fraiche.” This is just incredible as always. I could eat like 10 of them. Bad me. Bad me.

Overall, the food at Gjelina is fantastic as always, but I need to snark about the service, and I’m not the first. Apparently the owner/managers even like to hire staff with attitude! Boo hiss! The first time, I asked to get some eggs that on the menu had strips of bacon on top with the bacon on the side (or gone). I was told (very rudely) that I could remove the bacon myself. In this day and age of people with dietary restrictions this just isn’t acceptable. I can understand not building totally custom dishes, but trivial omissions? Give me a break.

On the second trip we ordered some vegetables which didn’t come (the waiter read them back to us too). Plus similar with an ice tea even after asking about three times. Eventually, after the waiter went AWOL we found him and brought up both. He didn’t even apologize. 10 minutes after that he brought the ice tea and said he’d take it off the bill. Ooh ah, $4 ice tea for free (it’s all profit anyway). We mentioned something to the manager. He didn’t apologize either, just nodded his head. Then finally, about 5 minutes after that he snuck back and apologized, like it had been eating at him and he felt he needed to. There was no offer of a freebee or anything. My brother asked him point blank about that and he took a dessert off the tab.

I go for the food, but they do need to lose a bit of the ‘tude.

You can check out two other Gjelina reviews HERE and HERE.

Or my index of LA Restaurants.

Related posts:

  1. Brunch at Tavern – again
  2. Brunch at Tavern 3D
  3. The New American – Gjelina
  4. Gjelina Scores Again
  5. Quick Eats: Brunch at Tavern
By: agavin
Comments (3)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Abbot Kinney Blvd, Breakfast, Brunch, California, Cooking, Dessert, Eggs, Fruit and Vegetable, gjelina, Merguez, Pizza, Prosciutto, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Romesco, Sausage, Tomato sauce, Venice
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