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Korean Closer

Jan23

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd.Brentwood, CA 90049 310.826.9222

Date: January 18, 2017

Cuisine: Korean

Rating: Tasty!

We left our epic traditional sushi dinner the other night at Ginza Onodera a bit hungry and so headed east to Korean Town for Second Dinner!

Sun Nong Dan is a 24 place serving up delicious Korean Stews.

Typical mini-mall Korean joint interior.

The menu is essentially a couple different tunes along the same theme.

Banchan include kimchee.

Pickled radish or turnip.

Colon sweeper spicy greens.

Plus there is this dipping sauce for the meat in the main event.

Koh Galbi Jjim. Braised beef short ribs, ox tail, and a spicy red sauce. The short rib was deliciously tender. The ox tail full of flavor but much bonier. The whole thing was served at tongue searing temperatures — but the red sauce was thick, both a tad sweet and spicy at the same time and wholly delicious.
This was some seriously good spicy beef stew!

Particularly soaked over rice.

Sun Nong Dan really hit the spot after our lighter “first dinner” and I definitely DID NOT leave hungry! Note that there is no alcohol here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (3)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Korean cuisine, Sage Society, Stew, Sun Nong Dan

Maison Giraud

Dec15

Restaurant: Maison Giraud [1, 2, 3]

Location: 1032 Swarthmore Ave, Pacific Palisades, Ca 90272. 310-459-7562

Date: December 5 & 10, 2011

Cuisine: French

Rating: French “home” cooking at it’s best

I’ve been waiting for Maison Giraud, the new local (just blocks away!) Pacific Palisades restaurant/bakery from acclaimed LA French chef Alain Giraud to open for what seems like forever. The day it did I was there for some pastries. Then we kept trying to get in for dinner. We had to come on a monday at like 5:30!

The Swathmore Ave frontage has been revealing itself in stages since at least the 4th of July.

Inside the chef peers down at your from the French-style board.

Today’s menu.

A pair of nice French whites, one a Sancerre, the other a Viognier.

House baked bread.

They call this a tart, but it’s really a flatbread (aka pizza). “Camille’s Potato and Rosemary Flat Tart. Creme Fraiche, Gruyere.” Pretty yummy.

And another. “Crispy Tomato and Basil Flat Tart. Roasted onions, parmesan.”

“Seared Scallops, leek fondue, meyer lemon & pistachio sauce.” This was one of the best seared scallop appetizers I’ve had — and I normally prefer my scallops raw.

“Arborio Risotto, mushrooms, aged parmesan, fresh herbs.” A lovely mushroom risotto. The weather was cold and dreary (in relative LA terms), so this was perfect.

“Seared Atlantic Salmon. Garlic potatoes, cipollini, bacon, red onion sauce.”

“Cocotte. Beef Bourguignon.” Basically beef stew with the classic additives: potato, carrots, onions, etc. But this was one damn fine beef stew.

Bread dipping good!

We had to get back in a hurry, so we didn’t have time for dessert, but I had that Vacherin Glace one time when the chef was cooking at Bastide (in 2004) and it was one of the best desserts of my life.

I liked the Maison so much that I brought my son back for breakfast on Saturday. This is from the bakery, a fresh apple turnover. Yum!

And fresh OJ.

A decent, if slightly foamy cappuccino.

French toast. Very nice typical variant. My favorite part was the fresh Chantilly cream which was incredible. I’m a big sucker for whipped cream.

Classic Eggs Benedict.

Some more baked goods. Muffins.

And the ultimate pain aux chocolate. This is the only place in LA I’ve tasted where the croissant type pastry actually tastes like it does in France.

So far, I’m very pleased with Maison Giraud. The food is essentially French comfort food with a bit of international adaption, but everything has been spot on fresh and well done so far, and the bakery is outrageously good. Given how incredibly lame most of the Pacific Palisades food offerings are this is all incredibly welcome.

For my early preview, see here.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Atlantic Salmon, Beef Bourguignon, Brunch, Creme Fraiche, dessert menu, Dinner, Eggs Benedict, French Toast, Maison Giraud, Pacific Palisades, Potato, Restaraunt, Restaurant Review, Sancerre, Stew, Viognier

Shamshiri Grill

Aug11

Restaurant: Shamshiri Grill

Location: 1712 Westwood Blvd. Los Angeles, Ca 90024 (310) 474-1410

Date: July 31, 2011

Cuisine: Persian

Rating: One of my favorite Iranian restaurants

Shamshiri is one of my favorite Iranian restaurants on the westside — and we certainly have an embarrassment of riches in this flavorful cuisine.

It’s located on Westwood Blvd right in the heart of Westwood.

I forgot to photo the bread, but in traditional person manner it’s accompanied by butter, radish, mint, and onions.

This is an appetizer combo platter: “A Family Size platter of Dolmeh, Baba Ganoush, Mast o’khiar, Humus and Falafel.” ALl good.

The regular “greek style” salad that is often an option with many dishes.

Parker gives this interesting Italian 92 points. “The 2008 Ramitello, a blend of 80% Montepulciano and 20% Aglianico, boasts fabulous clarity and freshness, with layers of vibrant dark cherries and plums that meld together with notable grace. Smoke, tar, menthol and licorice develop in the glass, giving the wine even more dimensions of expression. This is a terrific effort from Di Majo Norante. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2013.”

I ordered a side of yogurt with cucumber (and nuts and raisons). I’m obsessed with these yogurt sauces, I just love them, especially with grilled meats.

This is a vegan falafel wrap with humus.

“FRESH FILLET OF SALMON KABOB. Mesquite grilled Salmon Fillet (Atlantic Premium).” With french fries. I doubt this is very traditional, but it is pretty good.

Same goes with this Persian Pizza my son enjoyed.

Most dishes come with an obscene amount of good fluffy Persian rice.

This is one of my favorite Iranian dishes. “FESENJAN. Sweet-n-tart Walnut puree in Pomegranate Sauce
and your choice to Add Chicken, Lamb Shank or Veal.” In this case chicken. It’s superb here. The sauce is rich and simutaneously nutty, spiced (but not spicy), sweet, and tangy.

“GHORMEH SABZI. Fresh green Herbs, sautéed and stewed with Kidney Beans, dried lime and your choice to Add Chicken, Lamb Shank, or Veal.” Another great stew, eaten over rice.

“BAMIEH. Stew of Okra with Onions, Potatoes and Mushrooms in a Saffron tomato sauce. Served with your choice to Add Chicken, Lamb Shank, or Veal.” And another

And Shamshiri has a selection of fantastic kabobs. I particularly love the ground beef and lamb. They have these special chickens too that must be the size of Labradors because there are chicken breasts that are like 15″ long!

All and all, good stuff.

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