la.foodblogging

I know it’s been some time since my last post. Truth be told, I haven’t really found a good place to write about lately. Either the food just missed the mark or the food was great but the service left much to be desired. I was starting to wonder if I would ever get to foodblog again, and then last night happened. I walked into The Yard. I was meeting a couple friends, and I was excited when one suggested we meet at The Yard. As a Top Chef fan, I remember rooting for CJ Jacobson back in the third season. According to my Top Chef cookbook, he moved to Chicago for a while. Looks like the book is outdated because he’s back in LA, and he is the chef over at The Yard.

I wasn’t sure how I would like The Yard when I first walked in. The environment felt very comfortable, the long bar tables allow you to get cozy with your neighbors or ignore them completely, and the staff was very amiable. So why would I worry? I ordered a drink, the BackYard Lemonade, and to say it was merely drinkable would be a very generous description. What ruined the drink was the cucumber garnish that was tossed in. It was an interesting touch but completely overwhelmed the drink, and I couldn’t taste anything else other than the cucumber. The thought crossed my mind that the food might be as unbalanced, but any doubts or fears were put to rest the second I saw scallops I ordered. The scallops were well seared and seasoned, but a very lovely touch to it was the artichoke puree. Our server had warned me that it might not be enough to fill me up, and she was right.

I ordered one of the specials of the night, smoked brussel sprouts served on top of pureed persimmons. I really enjoyed this dish immensely, and it nicely filled me up. My friends ordered the mini pulled-pork sloppy Joes with sweet potato fries and a skirt steak with watercress. I didn’t get a chance to taste their dished, but they both were happy with their dishes.

The best part of the meal was dessert. We ordered the hot chocolate cake and the apple fritters. It’s hard to say which one was my favorite because both were truly excellent. I think the main appeal of both dishes is that they were fun to eat. The apple fritters were a little more original than the hot chocolate cake, but what made the latter come together as a dish is the burnt homemade marshmallows that rested under the cake.

So a few side notes… I was pleasantly surprised that not a single menu item was in the $20 range. Everything was $8-16. Of course, if you order a whole bunch of side dishes, then the tab will start to add up. Nevertheless, I was surprised by how much good food you can get for under $20 there. In addition, our server told us that they have happy hour 5-7pm every day (yes, that means weekends, too), which makes for nice cost savings. Everyone there is so personable. One of the owner, Jeff, was the one who opened the door for us and greeted us warmly. CJ does go around to tables to make sure all the patrons are happy with their food.

If you go to The Yard’s website, you’ll see a definition of gastropub: “1. a public house which specializes in high-quality food. 2. A comfortable local hangout where you will be blown away by how good the food is.” The Yard definitely hit both marks with me.

The Yard
119 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: (310) 395-6037
Hours: 5pm-1am daily

By Pauline (see more of her posts).

generic photo

DineLA dates are : Jan 24 – 29 and Jan 31 – Feb 5, 2010

BLT Steak on Sunset is not some sandwich joint (ha!) — BLT stands for “Bistro Laurent Tourondel” and this maestro has his eponymous restaurants all over the place (New York, Washington DC, Hong Kong, Honolulu etc).

This one on Sunset Plaza is a sister resto of the chef’s acclaimed New York flagship.

Tourondel took up residence in the former “Le Dome” space about two years ago, where I was taken for my birthday (April 2008) by a friend who was reviewing it for a flashy magazine. Needless to say, she ordered up almost the entire menu and I got to take most of it home. It was a rich, superb and sensational meal.

Flash-forward to DineLA week one — 2010.

What do you need to know? This space is chic, comfortable, plush and gorgeous — perfect for people watching. Ideal in summer, with all the doors thrown open.

The cuisine is superb! Yeah, it’s $44 pp for a three-course meal for DineLA week, but be advised, add tax, tip and a couple of drinks each and you’re looking at an approximately $200 bill, easy.

Pricey? Yes. BUT — we took ALL our leftovers home and dined like royalty the very next night. So, crunch those numbers — it was totally worth it.

The thing I love about swanky restos is all the extras. Okay, you are paying for it, but it feels free!!

First this delicious pate comes out, swimming in some alcohol (cognac? I dunno…) — so its consistency is a bit loose, but who cares?

Then you each get one of their signature cheese popovers — giant, so we shared it and took the other one home. It heated up nicely the next night.

The three course meal has fantastic options. Being a lightweight, I opted for the salad to start and it was one of the best salads I have ever had! Creamy, light, fabulously fragrant with roquefort all through the creamy dressing, butter lettuce leaves piled on top of thin slices of soft, ripe persimmon, all dusted with finely grated cheese. Wow.

My SO’s starter was quail. A whole quail!

Meat followed — his was good, mine was the lamb served rare — really REALLY rare! Almost too rare for me (and I love it rare - but this was more, uh, raw…), but I ate one of the two chops anyway, and cooked the other one a bit more the next night — much better. The angolotti (you know, like plumper, fatter tortellini) were filled with braised lamb.

Best of all was the rich and decadent red wine sauce that came with both meals.

We boxed our chocolate gateaux to go (haha!) and I’m still trying to finish it… THREE decadent sauces accompany it; choc sauce; vanilla cream sauce and bourbon caramel sauce (all in their own little containers) — as if this rich layered choc ganache cake needed any gilding!

TOTALLY worth it.

Dinner MENU:

Choice of Appetizers

* Butter Lettuce / Persimmon / Candied Pecan / Roquefort
o Curried Cauliflower Bisque / Rock Shrimp / Piquillo Pepper
+ Grilled Quail / Black Lentils / Blood Orange / Celery Heart

Choice of Entrees
# Sonoma Lamb “Well and Rare” / Grilled Loin / Angolottis / Smoked Pear
* Prime Culotte Steak / Charred Oyster Mushrooms / Violet Mustard Jus
o Crab Encrusted Scottish Salmon / Escarole / White Bean / Preserved Lemon

Choice of Desserts
+ Dark Chocolate Layer Cake / Bourbon Caramel / Pecan Praline
# Tangerine Panna Cotta / Citrus Compote / Pomegranate
* Banana Cream Pie / Warm Rum Sauce / Chantilly Cream

BLT Restaurant.

DineLA dates are : Jan 24 – 29 and Jan 31 – Feb 5, 2010

If you have the dough, this place is worth trying during DineLA week.

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.

January 20, 2010. REUTERS/Marco Dormino

Vertical Wine Bistro and local food bloggers are teaming up to continue fund-raising efforts for Haiti, hosting the “Haitian libations charity event,” Saturday, February 6th, 2010

From 10 p.m. to close, in the restaurant’s bar and lounge, 50% of all profits will go to benefit Artists for Peace and Justice—a non-profit organization delivering emergency food, medicine, water, and funds on the ground in Haiti.

Vertical Wine Bistro partners with local food bloggers Matthew Kang of Mattatouille.com, Matt Robold of RumDood.com, and Fiona Chandra of GourmetPigs.blogspot.com to host a special charity event benefiting the victims of the recent tragedy in Haiti.

The “Haitian Libations Charity Event” will take place in the restaurant’s bar and lounge from 10 p.m. to close, with 50% of all wine, cocktail, and food profits benefiting Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ).

The three bloggers have prepared an exclusive cocktail menu for the occasion and will be personally preparing these drinks behind the bar.
No reservations are required.
For additional information, please visit www.facebook.com/verticalfanpage.

Vertical Wine Bistro’s donation will help support a special relief project spearheaded by APJ board members Paul Haggis (Director of the Oscar-winning film CRASH) and actress Maria Bello. The pair will be delivering funds and supplies to Haiti—in person—in the next two weeks.
For over a year, APJ has worked closely with Father Rick Frechette of St. Damien’s Hospital in Port-au-Prince, the only free pediatric hospital in the poverty-stricken, Caribbean nation. St. Damien’s, which itself sustained substantial damage in the quake, has been sharing medical supplies with other relief workers and facilities in need, while also providing aid to countless victims as one of the area’s few semi-functioning medical facilities.

WHERE: Vertical Wine Bistro
70 N. Raymond Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91103
(Upstairs, north of Union St.)
626.795.3999

www.verticalwinebistro.com
www.facebook.com/verticalfanpage
www.twitter.com/verticalbistro

WHEN: Saturday, February 6; 10 p.m. to close

COST: Attendance is free; 50% of profits from all wine, cocktail, and food sales at the bar and lounge area will be donated to Artists for Peace and Justice

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.

I am about to break one of my personal foodblogging rules. With so many great restaurants in L.A., I have always refused to redo a restaurant review. I might go back and add notes in the comments section, but once I post something, that’s it… until now.

A little over a year ago, I posted on Jazz Cat Cafe, which I really enjoyed. Not too long after, Jazz Cat got rid of the cooking your own hot pot yourself. The restaurant staff claims there were ventilation issues, which might be true, but I suspect the more likely story is someone probably got burned. After that the restaurant brought made-to-order pot to tables, which was a lot less fun, and some foods got overcooked from sitting in the broth for a while. Well, it turns out Jazz Cat was just biding some time until they can get the cooking for yourself hot pots going again, and last month, the restaurant opened a new location just for this experience. Last night I got to check out the new place, and despite a few changes, Jazz Cat is a happening place again.

First of all, for anyone who went to the old cafe, you know how crowded it was and how long the wait was. It’s even worse at the new location. Every seat in the restaurant now has an electric stove. There is one table for a party of two, one for a party of three, and the rest are all for parties of four. I think the seating capacity is about forty maximum. Customers tend to spend 1-2 hours to dine here. If you do the math, you can figure out pretty quickly there’s a good waiting period for a table. The friend I was with was particularly hungry, so we ran across the street to the Hawaiian supermarket, walked around, and bought some of the warm red bean paste cakes before heading back to Jazz Cat. By the time we got back, only one party got seated. Some of the other patrons were staring at my friend enjoying his pre-dinner snack with envy as their stomachs growled. My friend and I waited for a good hour before we got seated, and that’s only because while we were waiting, we met a couple other people waiting for a table who got seated before us and offered to share their table with us. We wound up having a fun time chatting and dining together, which goes to show that sometimes, it can turn out to be a great idea to share tables with people you just meet.

Looking at the menu, most of the favorite soups from the original cafe made it over to the new Jazz Cat, as well as some new ones. One thing they no longer serve is the Hokkaido milk tea that I was so fond of. Another change I was disappointed about was Jazz Cat no longer offers shrimp as an option to throw into the hot pot. While the flammable jelly was a bit of a novelty at the previous location, I much prefer the electric stove. The pot is no longer too high above a comfortable reach, I wasn’t get burned every time a server walked by, and I didn’t have to worry about anyone accidentally catching their napkin on fire. With the electric stove, we could also adjust the temperature ourselves, definitely a nice convenience. Some things that I’m glad hasn’t changed include the tasty broths Jazz Cat offers. There is also the fact that the servers will bring you more soup if you have more items to cook. Of course, you can take home whatever you didn’t finish as long as it’s been cooked.

All in all, I think this new Jazz Cat is an improvement over the previous one. There are some things that I miss, but nothing that’ll keep me from returning to Jazz Cat over and over again, especially with the cooler season approaching.

Jazz Cat
121 E. Valley Blvd.
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-5200

By Pauline (see more of her posts).

As much as I like Shanghainese food, I was getting a little tired of alternating between Mei Long Village and Shanghai Xiao Chi every time I have a craving for it, so it came as pleasant news when I heard about Wang Jia Sha. The small restaurant is further east and north of where I usually go for my Chinese food fix, but it was worth the trip.

After we ordered, the waiter plopped down a little plate of pickled vegetables. I’m not sure if they pickled the vegetables in house or just combined the mixture in house, but it was appetizing. The salty-sour pickles reminded me more of something my Cantonese mom would serve, but hey, I’m not complaining.

A standard vegetarian Shanghainese dish is kou fu, which I almost always order whenever I’m at a new Shanghainese restaurant. Wang Jia Sha’s was pretty good. Like most dishes from the region, it was slightly sweet as well as savory. It also had none of the canned kou fu taste, so I assume and hope that this was made in house as well.

Xiao Long Bao is another usual I order. It was only okay at this restaurant. The filling didn’t stand out as excellent and the wrapper had some inconsistencies. I’m not a stickler for super-thin XLB wrapping, but this one was just too thick at the top. Being too thick up there makes it doughy because the wrapper can’t be cooked through all the way.

We also ordered some steamed vegetable buns. These were filled with mushrooms and ji cai. It’s the ubiquitous leafy green we see in a lot of Shanghainese dishes. The filling was decent and the bun part was light and delicate, but this isn’t somewhere I’d go specifically for buns.

Our stir fried string beans dish fared better. By just looking at it, I didn’t think they had cooked this at high enough heat. The skins were not as puckered or browned as other places made it, so I thought it was underdone, but one bite changed my mind. The beans had a nice, lingering smokey aftertaste to them even though they weren’t as stir fried as I’d prefer.

For my meat dish, I ordered the Shanghai short ribs. They look kind of like what you’d get from Panda Express, don’t they? Luckily, they’re about fifty times better. The bite-sized pieces of meat are first battered and deep fried, then stir fried in a sticky savory and sweet sauce. Don’t worry about the sauce being too sweet. It was a good balance. These were cooked perfectly so that the batter was still crispy while also being coated in sauce — not an easy feat.

Of course, we also ordered the stir fried nien gao with ji cai. These were disappointing. The nien gao (rice ovals) were too soft and mushy when they should have been soft and chewy. A Shanghainese restaurant should know how to make the perfect nien gao!

Although we should have called it quits by then, I was a glutton and it was the night of the Moon Festival so I ordered dessert: a small serving of jiu niang tan yuen which is a sweet fermented rice porridge with black sesame-filled rice balls (mochi). This came piping hot and delicious. It usually comes with egg stirred in, but I asked them to leave it out because of the BF. The porridge was more water than fermented rice, which was great because I don’t think either of us could have eaten more rice. The mochi balls were chewy, soft, and satisfying. What really stands out in this dish is inclusion of osmanthus flowers which lends a sweet, floral scent to the porridge without having it be cloyingly sweet.

Wang Jia Sha had some hits as well as misses. It’s good to have another Shanghainese place to go dine at and I’m planning on returning again maybe with more people so we can try more dishes. I’m glad that we ended up getting dessert because having such a delicious bowl of hot porridge to top off dinner certainly made me remember this place in a favorable light.

Wang Jia
[map it]
156 S San Gabriel Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 291-2233

Louise absolutely LOVES filthy, cheap places! (See more of her posts). You can also find more of Louise's writing at her own website NakedSushi.

beef penis - gag!

Many of you avid foodblogging fans will already be familiar with Eddie Lin’s Deep End Dining, a fascinating website where nothing is too freaky or disgusting-sounding for his brave palate to sample and his blown mind to appraise.

Ever the intrepid ingester, Eddie has just brought out his own book, in conjunction with the Lonely Planet travel guides.

Extreme Cuisine is a pocket-sized, nifty little book that will tell you everything you need to know about some of the most bizarre foods to be found on this earth.

The most staggering part? People really eat this stuff.

So, you think you know a thing or two about weird cuisine? Yeah, I also saw that Simpsons episode when Homer thought he was going to die from eating Japanese Fugu (aka puffer) fish. I knew that some cultures consider Corn Smut and Grasshoppers a delicacy (Mexico) or adore boiled sheep stomach stuffed with offal (aka the Scottish national meal of Haggis). But actually cooking and eating Bull’s Pizzle (aka penis)?! Whoa, there. (^ photo)

In Extreme Cuisine, each compact chapter has a large photo on one page of the questionable substance, in full technicolour, and some background information on the opposite page. This neat little book is nicely laid out with all the foods listed in alphabetical order, followed by the country of origin. There’s even a link or an address telling you where to find each freaky food item. Lin’s flair for comedic writing and clever puns makes Extreme Cuisine a genuinely fun read, though sometimes you might not know whether to belly laugh or barf.

Certain foods don’t seem all that extreme to me. The Australian entries, for the most part, are fairly benign. Marmite and Vegemite? I grew up on the salty black stuff and still love spreading it on my buttered toast and eating it for breakfast. Pie Floaters? What’s so crazy about a soggy meat pie swimming in some green pea soup? Take it from me, kangaroo is a tough meat that doesn’t taste any better after you’ve hunted it down, shot, skinned and minced it. Then there are those plump, chubby Wichetty grubs, considered ‘good tucker’ by Australian Aborigines. Okay, I can’t say I’ve ever seen one of those maggoty grubs, so I’m not sure if I’d ever give one a try.

But all those other weird and wonderful extreme foodstuffs? The good news is that Bull’s Pizzle is available right here in the Valley, at the Ranch 99 Asian supermarket on Sepulveda, Blvd., just north of Victory. That’s right – those wacky Chinese consider the giant penis of a bull, when thinly sliced and cooked in broth, a delicious aphrodisiac.

Most of the products mentioned in this book are things I have never tried and hope I never do. I tend to steer clear of any rotten foods, such as the fermented soybeans known as Natto in Japan or fermented herring from Sweden. But roasted guineapig (aka cuy) from Peru? Scorpions from Thailand? Fish sperm from Japan? Deep-fried Tarantula from Cambodia? Are you kidding me?!

Durian is a local delicacy of Southeast Asia that I once sampled in Singapore. Once. I didn’t eat the fresh fruit, but rather a puree of it prepared at a restaurant that specialised in Peranakan fare, which is the cuisine of the indigenous people of Malaysia.

The flesh of a massive, spine-covered fruit, Durian is famous for it’s strong aroma that many describe as a mix between pig dung and carrion (aka rotting corpses).

As Lin so eloquently describes, “It’s a mosh pit of flavours that include garlic, onions, caramel, stale cheese and strawberry, all eaten while in a porta-potty.”

Wow.

I will never forget how the utterly rank smell of that pungent fruit shot back up my nasal passages as I gulped down a tiny bit of the puree. Not tasty, off-putting and decidedly unpleasant. Although this strong-smelling fruit is banned in hotels and on public transport, many people seem to enjoy eating it.

1000-Year-Old-Egg (China) rivals Duck Foetus (aka Balut, from the Philippines) as the nastiest delicacy out there. First off, the egg is this gooey, oozing blackish green colour. Does that sound appetising? The ancient egg apparently gives off the aroma of sulphur and has a slimy texture. Keep talking. Balut is exactly what it sounds like; an unborn duck embryo that you eat straight out of its shell after it’s been boiled. This foul-sounding item is also available here in LA, at the Filipino chain of restaurants, Seafood City, one of which can be found in North Hills.

With its list of over sixty different and unusual foods, Extreme Cuisine is bound to challenge your ideas of what makes good eating. At the very least, Eddie Lin’s hilarious and informative book makes for great reading.

Available for pre-purchase on Amazon.

By MaxMillion (see more of her posts). Max Million is the nom de 'net of Pauline Adamek. Born in Sydney, Australia, Pauline has lived in Los Angeles for the past thirteen years and finds it agrees with her. She has been reviewing films and filing celebrity-based interview articles since 1991, and has filed stories from various international film festivals, including Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto and Sundance. She completed a family cookbook and has also written novels for 8-12 year olds. She is the creator and host of ArtsBeatLA.

How fitting that showdown #4 is about a restaurant named ‘Four Seas’ in Chinese. This place is not to be confused with the restaurant of a similar name in Hacienda Heights. When I arrived at Si Hai around 11am, I was hoping that the breakfast rush would be over, but the line that went from the checkout at the back of the restaurant to the front door said otherwise. Luckily, it moved at just the right speed for me to decide on what to order by the time I got to the counter.

I ordered a regular fan tuan (rice roll), my usual judge of a Northern Chinese/Shanghai breakfast joint. Their fan tuan did not disappoint. The you tiao (fried crueller) inside was still crisp and hot, but what really impressed me was the rice wrapping up the whole thing. It was pleasantly soft and sticky. It made me realize how firm the rice at other places was. This was definitely not reheated.

Another regular I always order is savory dou jiang. It’s just soy milk with some sort of curdling agent and savory toppings. My favorite place for this used to be Mei Lin Tou Jiang, but I have to say the version here beat it. The dou jiang was thick but still creamy, the toppings were good (especially the little seaweed flakes), and the milk tasted fresh.

My two go-to restaurants when I’m craving this style of breakfast used to be Yi Mei for the fan tuan and Mei Lin Tou Jiang for the soy milk, but it seems like I don’t have to choose between those two places anymore. Si Hai Restaurant has good renditions of both dishes! And it’s priced reasonably.

I haven’t tried any of their other foods like jian bing, but I’m glad to have found a new place for my favorite type of breakfast that has good fan tuan and soymilk. I still like the style of you tiao from Mei Lin just because the texture is more satisfying, but that’s not usually noticeable unless you eat one by itself dipped in some sweet soy milk. I’ll probably still return to Mei Lin for that.

Si Hai Restaurant
708 E. Las Tunas Dr. #A
San Gabriel, CA 91176
(626) 285-8369

Previous Breakfast Showdowns:

• Yi Mei vs. Four Sea
• Chinese Breakfast Showdown 2: Yi Mei vs. Yung Ho
• Chinese Breakfast Showdown 3: Mei Lin Tou Jiang

Louise absolutely LOVES filthy, cheap places! (See more of her posts). You can also find more of Louise's writing at her own website NakedSushi.

Tipped off by this post on Sinosoul, I was eager to try the new and confusingly named JTYH. (The seemingly random acronym may be easier to remember if you, like me, just think of it as Just the Young Hos.) I was sad to hear when the original Heavy Noodling on Garvey ws closed, so naturally I was excited to hear that it was reincarnated as JTYH a few miles east in Rosemead.

We started off with a cold appetizer plate to whet our palettes which included beancurd noodles, celery (not shown), seaweed, and kimchi. This wasn’t anything special, but gave us something to munch on while we waited for the rest of our food.
Read the rest of this entry »

Louise absolutely LOVES filthy, cheap places! (See more of her posts). You can also find more of Louise's writing at her own website NakedSushi.