Xoco

With 5 restaurants, including 1 at O'Hare International Airport and the Macy's flagship store off the Magnificent Mile, in addition to the title of "Top Chef Master," Rick Bayless is a Chicago based chef with quite the empire on his hands.  Who knew a guy from the Midwest could master Mexican cuisine and elevate it to the next level.  Granted, I didn't get to try that "next level," which I imagine is what Topolobampo represents given the $$$$ price rating on Yelp.  Xoco actually represents the other end of the dining spectrum, being a casual joint focused on tortas and caldos, or sandwiches and soups/stews.  It made the perfect lunch spot!

La Prive and Dumpling Man were able to step away from their educational endeavors to meet me at Xoco for lunch.  Lucky for us the line was only up to the door instead of out the door.  We probably waited a good 15-20 minutes before getting to order and get a table.

Chips, Guacamole, Salsa tomatillo and 3 chile salsa
Nothing too special here, but you can't have a Mexican lunch without this.

Read more »

The Publican

So after our disappointing dinner at Blackbird, we tried to scale it down a notch and take on some more casual fare at Publican.  I only just found out now that they are restaurants from the same chef, Paul Kahan.  I was surprised to find this out since the food could not have been more different.  Blackbird was modern, innovative, and frankly disappointing.  Publican was comforting, unpretentious, new American food that knocked our (Dumpling Man, Buff Bear, Mega Man aka Bruin Bear, and I) socks off.  The place is pretty spacious and loud so it may not have been the best place to catch up with old friends, but the food was impeccable.

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Burrata  shaved parmesan, red onions, lemon shallot vinaigrette
Wow, who knew you could shave brussels sprouts into a salad??  This is definitely one recipe I shall be trying very soon.  Lucky me for finding it online!  It was really a tart, creamy dressing that was nicely smoothed out by the delicious burrata.

Hamachi Crudo
A good refreshing little niblet.  I loved the fresh sweet peas accompanying the hamachi.

Read more »

Crisp

Knowing this trip to Chicago would have a heavy focus on eating, I wanted to make sure we didn't feel overwhelmed and weighed down by food.  I didn't want eating to turn into a burden.  So I tried hard to find "lighter" more casual fare for our lunches.  Crisp offered a variety of rice bowls, burritos, sandwiches, and DAMN DELICIOUS wings.  We really should have skipped the rest and stuck to the wings, but I'm not usually one who can eat just a bunch of wings, that is until I had the ones at Crisp!

Seoul Sassy Chicken Wings

I don't know what sort of mutant chickens Crisp gets their wings from, but these guys were huge!  I guess I was expecting something along the size of buffalo wings.  These had the perfect balance of sugar and soy sauce with kicked up flavors from garlic, onions, and whatever other aromatics used.  They were crispy and just a little spicy.  My mouth is watering just remembering them.

Read more »

Blackbird

Chicago turned out to be one of the best gastrotourism trips I've ever had.  Granted it was actually supposed to be an educational trip because of the conference Dumpling Man was attending, I made it my mission to make sure we ate only the very best for our sorta of mini vacation.  I did my research and with the help of many recommendations from foodie friends, I was able to plan out a really great line up for eateries.  I'll have to admit that every place we ate at thoroughly satisfied our hunger for the delicious, creative, and inspiring, EXCEPT Blackbird.

Why oh why did you have to disappoint me so?  Blackbird came so highly recommended by Triple F and many others.  It was also one of the more expensive meals of the trip, and it completely fell flat.  Interestingly, it happened to be Restaurant Week in Chicago, and Blackbird was offering up a special 5 course pre fixe for the night.  Could that be the reason it was so disappointing?  We didn't know about this until after we went ahead with the chef's tasting menu of 10 courses, which came at a hefty price tag

Smoke Sable Fish salsify custard, marcona almonds

A smooth custard paired with some pretty smoky fishy fish.  The theme of the night was not understanding how a lot of the components played together.  The almonds?  Not a clue.

Confit Baby Octopus fennel, chestnut, lime, chili
The waiter really made a big deal about the octopus, so of course we were intrigued.  It definitely didn't have the expected snappy texture, which I guess was the whole point.  It was tender without being mushy, but I think I prefer my octopus the normal way.  It had a nice bit of saltiness to it, but again I didn't see how the other components highlighted anything.

Read more »

Smallwares

Would you ever go to a restaurant that describes itself as "inauthentic"?  Well, we did and it was surprisingly delicious and true to its description, "inauthentic."  Smallwares is helmed by Johanna Ware, formerly of Momofuku Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar.  Having never been to Momofuku anything and only read about the food and tried recipes from the cookbook, I was eager to actually get closer to tasting the Momofuku influence.  The menu is divided into appetizers, small plates, and larger plates.  I'm actually beginning to like this new trend restaurants are taking towards small plate offerings meant for sharing.  It really gives you the chance to try more things in one sitting.


Fanny Bay Oysters fish sauce, cilantro, lime
These were some big oysters and the addition of fish sauce, slightly tempered with sugar and lime, really brought the Southeast Asian, if not Vietnamese flavors.  I could have eaten 6 of these, too bad 1 order = 1 oyster!

Scallop Sashimi den miso, shallot, puffed rice
My experience with raw scallop has been pretty hit or miss.  Sometimes it's a bit too slimy and other times it has a fresh fleshy sweetness.  This was definitely a hit.  The preparation reminded me of nasu dengaku, or miso glazed eggplant often times served at izakaya joints.  It was an ingenious creation.  I could have had the whole dish to myself.

The next dishes are good for sharing.

Read more »

Drago Centro

I dunno who started the tradition of the "First Paycheck Dinner" in my family.  Somehow it went from, "Oh, gee whiz a nice dinner on your tab?  How nice!" to "Dude, where's my 'first pay check dinner'? I'm waiting...I'm waiting!!"  I can't even remember what dinners I was treated to by Smooth Obturator and Triple F.  I remember Triple T treated us to brunch at the St. Regis in Monarch Beach.  Anyways, my time has come and our family has expanded to include Dumpling Man and his parents.  It seems like we've done many of the nice restaurants in LA, Providence, Osteria Mozza, Bazaar, etc, so it was sort of a struggle to find a real gem of a restaurant that was gonna be worth the money and really impressive.  I settled on Drago Centro, but my Smooth Obturator didn't have many great things to say about it.

L'insalata Di Barbabietole All'agrodolce baby beets, warm goat cheese, pine nuts, chile vinaigrette
I've only had 1 really bad beet dish, otherwise they're always pretty tasty.  This was no exception.  Sweet beets, tart dressing, spicy bitter greens.  It's always nice when nuts are added for texture and some sort of cheese for creamy richness.

La Burrata burrata, endive, basil pesto, crostini
Good, but I've had better burrata.  Somehow this didn't achieve that luscious milky creaminess I've experienced in the past.  It tasted too much like a wet lump of soft cheese.

Read more »

Kirin

Shanghai River was delicious, but I was really looking forward to the dim sum since that's all people talk about when it comes to Vancouver.  I recently had an argument with Weeners about how disappointing the dim sum was compared to my very favorite dim sum restaurant in Rosemead, Seafood Harbor.  She has almost certainly lost ALL credibility with me by dissing my favorite dim sum restaurant and actually saying the stuff in Vancouver is worth the trip.  The dim sum was solid for sure, but I guess I was expecting fireworks in my mouth.

Turnip Cakes
Standard far.  Not as hot as I would have liked.

Chinese Brocolli
Fresh, snappy, but pretty standard.

Read more »

Shanghai River

Our next dining destination in Vancouver was going to be West.  We thought one fancy dinner would be a nice highlight for the weekend.  When it came down to it, we felt a bit foolish not eating more Chinese food while in Vancouver.  I mean, it's called "Hong-Couver" right???  So at the last minute we cancelled our reservations at West and opted for Shanghai River.  Yelp directed me here during my search for "dumplings."  It's outside of Vancouver in the nearby suburb of Richmond.  Apparently, the suburbs of Vancouver are just teaming with the Ching Chong Chang-ers.

We were quite impressed at how new, modern, and clean the restaurant was.  You have to give it to Asians and their love for all things new and shiny.  I approve of such superficiality!

Like Din Tai Fung, they show you the dumplings being made.  The big difference is that slanty eyed people are making your dumplings here and not some Hispanics.  Not that I feel there is any difference, but maybe its harder to come by Hispanics this far north.

Read more »

Kintaro Ramen

Every city has its "Bests."  Best burger, best hot dog, best pizza, best brunch, best Italian, best sushi.  I think you get my drift.  Our short getaway to Vancouver was certainly an attempt to eat the best the city had to offer.  With its reputation for all that is Asian, mainly of "Ching Chong Chang" variety, that's Chinese for all you uneducated racists, we planned each meal in advance.  With only a few days to eat the city, we didn't want to waste prime gastric real estate.

Kintaro came highly recommended as one of the city's best ramen spots.  Time and time again, I am challenged to find a better ramen best than Santouka.  Even though it's "just" a chain, I find the broth there to be the richest and most flavorful.  Smooth Obturator complains that its take on ramen is too heavy.  I think that's precisely why I like it, a hot steamy bowl of liquid fat, masked in the deep flavors of salty Japanese crack.  It's addictive but you really can't eat too much of it or you'll go into acute renal failure and/or congestive heart failure.  I'm so fortunate to be young and unburdened by organ dysfunction, so bring it on!

Kintaro gives you the option of broth richness (light, medium rich) and pork fattiness (lean, fatty).  Of course Dumpling Man and Triple T opted for light and lean, while Smooth Obturator and I went with medium, but he went with the fatty chashu pork.

Shoyu Ramen light and lean
They're not joking with the "lean" chashu pork.  It tasted as dry as it looks.  The shoyu was good, but I like my ramen unadulterated.

Miso Ramen light and lean
Triple T was afraid it was going to be too salty as most miso ramens tend to be, but they did a good job at tempering the salt here.

Read more »

Oxtail Ragu

Sometimes, I am limited to cooking certain things because ingredients are either prohibitively expensive or not conveniently obtainable.  I would say this about duck, rack of lamb, and some seafoods.  Surprisingly, one of the Asian supermarkets here has oxtails, which I guess is no surprise since Asians do use oxtails.  Granted when the Asian markets carry certain items, they aren't usually top quality and it's reflected in the price.  Since I'm just cooking for myself and Dumpling Man for a regular weekday dinner, I don't mind chintzing on quality sometimes.  Darin Dines inspired me to try out this recipe, but for some reason my version turned out a much darker color than his, which I can't really figure out why.

This is a recipe from Mario Batali, which I confidently believed would result in something solid.

First you gotta season your tails.

Then dredge 'em in some flour.

Brown it up.

Read more »

Vij's

At a restaurant that does NOT accept reservations, how long would you be willing to wait for a table? That was the question that weighed heavily upon us all, Smooth Obturator, Triple T, Dumpling Man, and myself as we put our names down on the waitlist at Vij's in Vancouver.  We came at 8:30pm on a Saturday night and were told the wait would be 2.5 hours.  #%$^$%&&#*!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! is exactly the same thought we all had.  Now we knew the wait would be long, like 1-1.5 hours per Yelp reviews, but 2.5?!?  The hostess said we could put our names down and come back at 10:30pm to check back in.  Now you're probably wondering who would commit to such ridiculousness??  Well when you're a member of the H.o.P., eating only the best and the most popular foods sort of becomes part of your life's mission.  We decided that if were going to travel to the land of canucks, loonies, and mountys, we damn well better eat at the city's best dining establishments.  Not only would this include Japa Dog and dim sum, but also Vij's, Vancouver's most popular (Indian) restaurant.  I mean, Hello? it was featured on the Vancouver episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, so you gotta eat there right?!

Fortunately we weren't all thaaat hungry, which was surprising since we spent the day carving the slopes of Blackcomb and Whistler.  Still though, we thought we should go somewhere to munch on something, so we didn't end up at each others' throats out of maddening hunger (or maybe that's just how I am when I'm starved?).  Feeling completely incapacitated and helpless without functioning iPhones (I had just received a text saying I had already accrued $25 in data roaming charges), the best we could come up with was a nearby boba shop.  So for 2.5 hours we wandered our way there, chewed on boba balls, and played games on our iPhones while the time passed.  We came back to Vij's at 10:30pm to be told that it would still be another 30 minutes.  Vikram Vij himself was there making sure his waiting customers well well fed on free appetizers being passed around.  It's always nice to see a restaurant's owner present and interacting with guests.  Unfortunately, his mesmerizing blue eyes were not enough to dissolve our growing dissatisfaction as 30 minutes turned into an hour wait.  Finally, as the restaurant crowd thinned out, we were seated at ELEVEN THIRTY P.M.  Yes folks, we waited 3 hours to eat what we joked was just going to be a bunch of indiscernable, spicy, albeit tasty, mush served with a side of pita bread.  I kid, I kid!  I'm not that ignorant, I know it's called nan.  Hahaha!

We all know that feeling of "passing your point of hunger," when food really becomes irrelevent. This is how we felt when we finally were able to taste the cooking of Vij, or more like the "aunties" in the kitchen who were actually churning out the food.  Because I was pretty tired when I finally ate, my memory is kinda foggy so forgive me for the terse descriptors.

Roasted Mashed Eggplant butternut squash, black chickpeas
Delicious mush.  Well spiced and seasoned (as was the consistent achievement through all the dishes that evening).


Wine Marinated Lamb Popsicles fenugreek cream curry in tumeric and spinach potatoes
People were really RAVING about this one on Yelp.  The lamb was nicely frenched and free of gristley fat.  It was perfectly cooked and bathed in a light yet flavorful curry.  I agree, a must try.

Read more »

Noisette

After only a short time in Portland, I feel like I've eaten at most of the big name restaurants, Beast, Andina, Paley's Place, etc.  With Valentine's Day approaching, I was worried there wasn't going to be a restaurant special or fancy enough to truly celebrate the occasion.  Dumpling Man and I don't like to repeat restaurants.  We always like new stuff, new house, new furniture, new food.  It's amazing we haven't ditched each other for new significant others.  My first choice, Le Pigeon, was all booked up.  So I went with Noisette which is a relatively new restaurant in the Portland dining scene.  It's only been open for 2 years or so and only has about 7 reviews on Yelp.  So it was definitely a gamble, but their menu looked appetizing and after my good luck with Blue Hour, I was hopeful.

It's not a great way to start off your Valentine's day being 45 minutes late, so you can't blame me for being a bit miffed when Dumpling Man asked if we could move the reservation back a bit since he was "overworked" and running late.  Fortunately, the restaurant was totally accommodating.  I can see why, because as a restaurant with only 30-40 seats, we were really part of the last seating.  So it really made no difference if we showed up at 7:45 or 8:30pm.  Once the food starting rolling in, my unhappiness quickly evaporated.  I don't think Dumpling Man could be any luckier being with someone who's mood can be so easily brightened just with good food.


For Valentine's Day, Noisette was offering a special 8 course pre fixe menu for the whopping price of $125!  Uh, yeah that's what I said, but the life we live before we have kids is too short, so better live it to the fullest before it's overrun with drooling screaming rug rats.  I'm gonna be an auntie soon, and a great one to boot, can't you tell?!  


Housemade Brioche
These were quite dry and disappointing.  Not a good start.

Shigoku Oyster sautéed sweet pea tendrils, warm lobster creme
It's rare to have cooked oysters, but these were quite delicate and still maintained the sweet brine you get when it's raw.  The lobster creme was a bit salty but it packed a ton of lobster flavor, which was wonderful.  I soaked up the creme with the dry brioche and I loved it.

Dungeness Crab avocado salad, shallots, assorted radishes, frisee, citrus vinaigrette, extra virgin olive oil
This was a wonderful next starter.  Every element was bright and refreshing.  The radishes were crunchy.  The avocado was smooth and buttery.  The crab was light but meaty.  It was all so simple but delicious.

Read more »

Bluehour

I will rarely eat somewhere if the Yelp rating isn't above 3 stars, but for Blue Hour I made an exception.  I think I read somewhere that they got a new executive chef, and the menu looked really tasty.  It didn't hurt that it's walking distance from my apartment too.  It made for a nice date night dinner.  It's a pretty large restaurant for Portland standards, like over 50 seats? and the space just feels large and elegant.  Portland restaurants tend to feel more homey and comforting. 

Tuna Tartare
When you've had one, you've had 'em all right?  This was actually a pretty nice bite, albeit a taaaaaad fishy, but it had a bit of ponzu sweet soy asuce which was nice.

Hamachi Sashimi ginger, serrano chili, wasabi, hijiki seaweed salad

We wavered on the appetizers because there were many choices that looked good.  I like deferring to the servers when this happens because they usually know better than us what's special or delicious that day.  He said this was kind of a specialty of the chef, so it was an easy decision after that.  It looked like it was drenched in sauce, but it was actually a good balance of flavors.  The seaweed salad was actually really tasty and had Chinese inspired flavors.  I wished there were more of it!

Read more »

DOC

Big Spoon has been raving about DOC for sometime, so finally there was an occasion to celebrate.  I took Dumpling Man here for his birthday.  We were quite surprised by the "quaint" or "humble" design of the restaurant, which feels more like you're eating in someone's house.  Walking into the restaurant puts you immediately in the kitchen of the restaurant.  It's a really awkward feeling because you feel like you're in their way.  Burners and ovens on one side, prep and counter space on the other.  Walking 8 feet further puts you into the dining space.  Seriously, there's only like 10 tables, so max capacity is like under 50 for sure.  For some reason, the way Big Spoon was raving, I thought this was gonna be an elegant upscale fine dining experience.  It was more like humble, solid, delicious.  We opted for the tasting menu, which ended up being SO much food.  I don't think it was tasting portion sizes, so for just $60, it was a fantastic deal.  We got 1 wine pairing which they so graciously split for us with 2 different wines with each course, just half pours each time.  It was a pleasant surprise to say the least.  I guess they understand people like to share and taste as much as possible and they really facilitate this.

Pane bread, olives, butter
Pretty standard.  The olives were salty and oily.  I dunno why people like olives, they're just ok to me.

Kumamoto Oysters blood orange, aqua vit mignonette
Briney and sweet like the ocean.

Read more »

Otafuku Noodle House

Otafuku is just another one of the MANY Japanese restaurants populating the South Bay.  They call themselves a noodle house serving udon, soba, and the like but then they also have dons, skewers, sashimi.  It's confusing.  We came for lunch and I would have been pleased had I followed the cardinal rules of restaurant dining set forth by Anthony Bourdain: NEVER order the "Monday lunch special."

Pickled Cucumbers
Your standard accompaniments.

Pork Don
This was the lunch special.  It would have been tasty if the pork didn't taste old.  I should have known better, but it was "the special" and isn't "the special" supposed to be special?  I think they should rename it "the ESpecially old."  The flavoring was nice, probably a combination of miring, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, sake.  Triple F especially liked the side of spaghetti.  That pile of green was just a pile of cabbage with no dressing.  I guess you can say I was slightly disappointed.

Read more »

Shabu Shabu Bar

Orange County seems to have more tasty food options these days.  We decided to try a different shabu shabu place because we usually just go to California Shabu Shabu which typically has quite a wait, but this other spot in Santa Ana seemed pretty popular on Yelp.  It was a Saturday night but there wasn't much of a wait for a spot at the shabu shabu bar.  What we had to wait a long time for was our meat!  Apparently, they had a newbie back in the kitchen slicing the meat.

Goma Sauce
It's kinda cool that you get a bowl with an array of toasted sesame seeds that you grind yourself.

After that, they add the sauce and give you the option of a drop or two of capsaicin oil.  I've never had this before so I lightly dipped my chopstick in the middle of that oil spot to taste it.  FUUUUUUUUUUDDDDGGGE!!!!!!  I wanted to DIE after that.  A smarter person would have MIXED in the oil before tasting it.

Read more »

ink.

I'm a Top Chef and less so a Top Chef Masters fan. I've been watching from the beginning.  I've experienced some of the contestant's culinary talent (here, here, here, here, and here) , but never have I been able to taste the food from a winner.  Ink has finally changed all that for me.  It's the new restaurant from Top Chef season 6 winner, Michael Voltaggio.  Season 6 has to be one of the best seasons because the contestants were all REALLY talented, while other seasons has some pretty mediocre talent.  The competitiveness that season was insane.  Anyways, I'm really glad Michael Voltaggio won becausethe man is talented.

Since it's opening, it's probably been the hottest ticket in LA.  Reservations are TIGHT.  Seriously, the best we could do for a Friday night was a 9:45pm reservation.  Let's just say we all had a 2nd or 3rd lunch that day.  Once we got to the restaurant we actually had to wait maybe 15-20 minutes for our table.  There's not much standing room, and as a group of Asian people crowding the entry way, I can imagine we stood out, at least to Mr. Voltaggio we did, but more about that later.

Fluke caesar tempura, tiny romaine, fennel pollen, togarashi

We kind of wanted to order almost everything, but we were limited because Triple T and Triple F went and got knocked up.  Damn them.  So no raw stuff for them, but luckily that didn't stop Running Man, Smooth Obturator and myself from getting some goodies.  The fluke was refreshing, but I can't remember much else.  It was

Shishito Peppers house shaved bonito, tofu mustard
I don't know why Triple F likes shishito peppers so much.  I see that she orders it a lot when she goes out.  They're like bell peppers but more concentrated and softer in flavor and texture.  The tofu mustard was interesting, but more creamy and light than pungent and sharp like mustard.  The bonito added some nice saltiness but overall, it's just shishito peppers.

Read more »

Class 302

Anyone who's anyone knows about the new shaved ice craze.  When you think about your traditional Chinese shaved ice, you think of a bowl of crushed ice doused in condensed milk, topped with a scoop of red bean goop.  Then there's the Korean version, which comes with all of the same plus a scoop of ice cream, maybe some canned mixed fruit, fresh strawberries if you're lucky, topped with some fruity pebbles.  Then there's the Guppy House version, that improved on the whole concept by using really fresh, and really good (especially when its in season) fruit like mangoes and strawberries (my fav!).  The wait and crowds at Guppy House are just unbelievable sometimes, and the immaturity of the high school kids that frequent this place gets on my nerves sometimes.  So the next reinvention of shaved ice, comes in the form of Class 302.  I'll admit that those Taiwanese people are a crafty bunch.  First boba, now this??

What's so special about the shaved ice here?  Apparently, its more than just ice.  It's almost like a block of icey ice cream thats been frozen and then shaved off into sheets of folded fluffy soft creamy sweet deliciousness.  The standard toppings apply.

Strawberry & Mango
The strawberries were just ok, but it was the middle of January so what do you expect.  The mangoes were super ripe and super sweet and kinda too soft so I wonder if it came from a can or something.  I'm pretty sure if you had this version at Guppy House, the fruit would be 10x better.

Green Tea & Mochi
The green tea flavor was nice, but I'm not a huge fan of green tea flavored things.  Triple T was really hoping this would taste as good as the version she had at Boiling Point.  Unfortunately, it feel a little bit short of her expectations because it wasn't creamy or sweet enough.  Essentially it didn't taste like shaved ice cream.  The mochie here were ginormous, really dense, and way too filling.  I never had the Boiling Point version so I'd still say this was tasty.

Now don't think Class 302 is the OG when it comes to this new fandangled version of shaved ice.  Many years ago, I first tasted this at the now closed 85 Degrees Tea House in the SGV.  It was amazing.  It was like heaven in my mouth.  I thought to myself, if I opened up a place and sold this stuff with fresh fruit toppings, I'd be a millionaire!  Well it looks like Class 302 beat me to it.  Their dinky, and frankly run down little cafe in Rowland Heights has now expanded to Irvine, and all I can think is "Ka-Ching! Ka-Ching! $$$$" for whoever owns Class 302.  Despite Class 302's success, I still believe there's room to take it to another level.  The fruit toppings were limited and disappointing because I expect Guppy House standards.  And the shaved ice could have been smoother, creamier, and sweeter.  All in all, the stuff is still good, but damn we had a to wait an hour for the stuff!  There's seriously only 10 tables or something and it was frankly miserable eating the stuff because the door would constantly open and the cold night air would swoosh on in.  I hope the joint in Irvine is big spacious shiny and WARM!

Read more »

MB Post

What do I consider "LA"?  I get irritated when people say they live in LA, when really they live in Sherman Oaks or Pasadena or Redondo Beach.  I've lived in LA my entire adult life up until now, and I really only consider LA to the area bordered by the 110, 10, 405, and maybe Sunset.  I'm a total snob, what can I say?  And truly truly truly, the real LA, the LA you see on TV is only the area of Vine up until La Cienega going east/west and Hollywood down to Wilshire going north/south.  That was my hood for the past 3 years, and only in that time did I feel the real action of LA's dining scene because that area is packed with some of LA's finest and most noteworthy establishments.  There, you'll find restaurants like The Bazaar, Grace, Hatfield's, Providence, Osteria and Pizzeria Mozza, Urasawa, Animal, Son of a Gun, AOC, and more recently Ink, just to name a few.  So once you leave this square, or even the larger LA I described, dining options that peak your culinary curiosity and find worthy of spending a little extra dime become slim.  That is until MB Post.

MB Post was recently opened by the former executive chef at Water Grill, which for all intents and purposes is your typical boring, albeit high end, high quality, American seafood restaurant.  Granted, I was only there for dine LA and my favorite thing of the night was dessert, I would still stand by my assessment.  Knowing that coming in, I was pretty surprised at how different, and particularly, how Asian-influenced MB Post turned out to be.  I don't know why Triple T and Smooth Obturator hadn't ventured here yet since they only live down the street from the place, but I guess it made for a funner experience since we all got to try it for the first time together.



Bacon Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuit maple butter
The biscuits came 2 to an order, so I sadly did not get my own.  Luckily Triple T doesn't eat for 2 like she should, so I still got plenty to try.  It was butter, bacony, and not too cheesy.  The butter was delicious and just a touch sweet.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but I wish I had those biscuits at Lucille's Smokehouse to devour right about now.

Jamon Serrano 12 month aged, redondo iglesias, assorted pickles
I sorta laughed at Smooth Obturator as he proceeded to tell me MB Post was known for its charcuterie. Pssh, the cured meats section of the menu only had 4 choices.  If you want to be bombarded with charcuterie, please come to Portland, namely Olympic Provisions.  It's on every menu, unless the specialty of the house is Beef Chow Fun or Pad Thai.  Anyways, I thought the jamon was just ok.  The assorted pickles didn't actually come with the ham; it was an additional order.  Man oh man were those pickles SOUR!  Like seriously my eyes were twitching and my tongue was writhing.

Read more »

Castagna

As I've said before, Portland's dining scene can be summarized as seasonal local ingredients prepared deliciously without the frills, gimmicks, and pretention as you might experience in LA.  It's just good food that makes you feel really warm and comforted inside.   Castagna doesn't really fit the mold of your typical Portland restaurant.  It's modernist cuisine with techniques that are far beyond simple prep, braising, stewing, grilling, etc.  It's the kind of complex preparation, presentation, and plating that makes you think twice about whether what you're putting in your piehole is actually going to be tasty or not.

Zhu Zhu Hamster made reservations for Castagna but did not realize it was a pre fixe menu and tried to make a last minute switch to Castagna Cafe, its next door, more casual sister restaurant.  Unfortunately, there was a wait, I was too hungry, and the menu looked pretty uninteresting.  So Zhu Zhu Hamster, Little Pet, Dumpling Man, and myself walked back over to Castagna and we actually had to wait while the staff chose from the one of MANY open tables to seat us at.  I was like, "SERIOULY?! SERIOUSLY?!"  Ok, maybe many of those open tables were reserved for a later seating...they were NOT.  Anyways, it was not a big deal, just something comical.

Amuse Bouch chicken liver pate on house made rye cracker
I should have taken a wide shot of the presentation of this.  It came as 4 little cracker bites perched precariously on long branches.   The pate was quite smooth, almost mousse like, while the rye cracker presented a contrasting crunch.  A nice bite, but the cracker had too much texture.  A little too "multi grain" if ya know what I mean.

Cauliflower Mousse pickled orange, parmesan truffle granola.

Talk about a complex treat from the kitchen.  The mousse could have been smoother, but tasted very distinctly of cauliflower.  It had a very savory vegetal taste.  The pickled orange packed a punch of course.  Now that granola was different if not strange.   It was a bit on the dry side, kinda like how the rye cracker was dry.  The parmesan and truffle were just subtle hints.  Overall the bite was nice, but I couldn't find the harmony in it.

Beignet gruyere, mustard

The kitchen was quite generous that night! Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans ignited my love for beignets, over 15 years ago.  Since then, I've never been able to find a beignet that could match up, sweet or savory.  I wish these beignets were served hot, if not just a little warm, but these were room temp.  Texture wise they were light and airy.  Flavor wise, the gruyere was interesting, but the mustard was out of left field.  It was like the beignets were rolled in a powder form of mustard.  It had that sort of heat that goes straight to your nose with a mild sweetness.  I can surely say I've never had mustard take this form.  Dumpling Man was a fan, but I just couldn't get over the room temperature nature.

Read more »

Michelle's Pancakes

Michelle's Pancakes is a restaurant that's been around for a few years I think, but the reviews on Yelp were never that impressive.  It's located in the same plaza as Luscious Dumpling, so maybe it gets some overflow from them.  When I attempt Luscious Dumpling, I just make the commitment to wait and wait and wait and wait.  It was only after being smacked in the face by the hour long wait for dinner at Din Tai Fung on a Sunday night when Luscious Dumpling is closed that we decided to go for Michelle's Pancakes.  Lo Ma-Linda and Big Head Talks ALot, being "anything Asian-philes" graciously joined us for our first meal of the new year.

Pickled Cabbage
Spicy and sweet.

Pickled Cucumbers
I'm not sure if you can tell, but these were some sad limp cucumbers.  Flavor was ok.

Read more »

Aviary

Like all the other Jews and Chinese people, we found ourselves looking for any open restaurant to celebrate Christmas Eve.  I originally was planning to make dinner, but Verde was orphaned for the holiday so we decided to make a night of it at Aviary.  This restaurant had the unfortunate luck of burning down shortly after its opening, but has reemerged like a phoenix from the ashes.  The menu certainly looked interesting, but a little too off beat to be appealing.  I'm glad Dumpling Man made the executive decision to eat here because it was DELICIOUS.

We started off with the most amazing bread and "butter."  I say "butter" because there was something else in here that made it ohh soo tasty, but too bad I don't remember what it was.  All I know is that I kept sopping it up with every teeny bit of bread.  Just go there and try it!


Spiced Duck Leg and Broth slow poached egg, daikon, dates, brioche persillade
This was another tasty dish.  The downside was that it was so tiny.  It probably could have been eaten in 3 bites so between Dumpling Man, Verde, and myself we pretty much only got a small niblin' each. The duck was tender, the egg yolk was runny and rich, the dates brought the sweetness, and the brioche added buttery crunch.  It was like a dish you've never had.


Oxtail Croquettes tomato jam
Have you ever had chinese beef stew?  Well this tasted like a bite of that with a slight crunch on the outside.  It was a neat take on a traditional dish.  Super small though!  I could have fit 3 in my mouth if I tried.

Read more »