Osteria Mozza

Behold! One of the BEST restaurants in LA! My first trip to Osteria Mozza was a mindblowing experience, but my camera and my inexperienced skills resulted in some pretty mediocre pictures.  This time around, I came prepared with the H.o.P. and an SLR camera in tow, courtesy of Running Man, of course.

Osteria Mozza is known for its handmade fresh pastas and mozarella bar.   The main entrees are good, but certainly less impressive than the aforementioned foods.  Even if you don't like cheese, you should try items from the mozarella bar.  You will NOT be disappointed.

Now dining here twice, I would say to avoid dining here in a large group. By large I mean more than 6. There's only about 4? tables that accomodate groups that large. Both times we waited close to 1 hour past our reservations because some squatters were endlessly shooting the shit at our reserved tables.  You could imagine how disgruntled a bunch of hungry foodies could get in this situation.   My sister and I were throwing angry stares like poisoned-tipped daggers at the people still squatting at our table.  We would casually walk by, make eye contact, and proceed to give the dirtiest of all dirty looks.  I blame the hunger for my rudeness!  After being seated, we were handsomely rewarded for our long wait with some free food.

Mozarella with Four Sauces salsa verde, romesco, olive tapenade, caperberry relish
I probably would not order this if I had to pay for it, but since it was free, it was delicious.   It was pretty simple, just a blob of smooth creamy mozarella and different accoutrements on crispy grilled bread.  I think my favorite was the romesco or the salsa verde.

Burrata with Bacon marinated escarole, caramelized shallots
Since Smooth Obturator and myself have been here before, we suggested the best way to order: 1 mozarella and 1 pasta dish per person.  We pretty much all had to order this particular dish.  It is a mini bite of heaven.  The bacon provides a smoky saltiness, the caramelized shallots brings a rich sweetness, the escarole brings texture and slight bitterness, and the burrata is unparalleled in rich creaminess.  It is probably the most satisfying thing off the mozarella bar menu.

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Cube Cafe & Marketplace

So it was my birthday a few weeks back and I wanted to celebrate with a week-long festival of eating.  If you know me, you know that I don't like to dine in large groups with a few exceptions of course (Korean bbq, potlucks, etc).  So I celebrated my birthday with separate groups of friends on different days.  I guess I really pumped my birthday for all its worth, but I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed themselves.  Round 1 consisted of Care Bear, Token Bear, MC Bowtie, The Bottomless Pit, Macadamia Bear, Teety, Buff Bear, The Pouter and Grumpy Bear.

Cube doesn't seem like a place that is on people's radar.  When I say people, I mean bloggers.  I get a lot of my restaurant recommendations from fellow bloggers, but I found Cube on Yelp and had it on my to-try list for some time.  It's an Italian restaurant focused on seasonal ingredients with a great selection of cheeses and salami.  I'll try my best to describe all the foods, but I got pretty smashed (thanks to Teety for bringing the 5 buck chuck) that night so it may be more of a pictorial than a true blog entry.

Hook's 5-yr Cheddar cranberry 
They started us off with a nice cheddar that went nicely with the tart dried cranberry.  I don't know much about cheeses so pardon my lack of descriptors.


Formaggi e Salumi assortment (left to right) red cow parmesan, aged balsamic vinegar, dried cranberries, gruyerre, 4-yr gouda, candied pecans, some very soft cheese like brie, salchichon, roasted marcona almonds, tartufo salami
I was pretty impressed with the nice spread our waiter selected for us.  I thought everything was delicious, and I'm not even a huge cheese fan.


Prosciutto di Parma
You can never go wrong with prosciutto!

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Syrup

The problem I often encounter when I dine with friends, is that people are so full by the end of the meal that nobody wants to get dessert.  Or out of guilt, they don't want to get dessert.  Syrup Desserts has been on my radar since its early opening.  But its location in Downtown and the aforementioned reasons, I didn't get to try it until recently.


The place was pretty packed, but I was able to snag a table.  From my table, I eyed a shiny bright display full of treats.  I knew better than to order anything from this window, since the place is known for their waffle creations.

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Honda Ya Izakaya

Honda-Ya is located in the Little Tokyo Mall in Downtown Japan.  It’s a sad mall, with only a few saving graces such as Beard Papa’s and restaurants like Honda-Ya.  I like Japanese people.  I like Japanese cars.  I like Japanese food.  I don’t like how Japanese sit on the floor to eat.   I was reminded of this when we were seated in the tatami room on cushy pillows.  Maybe I would have been happier if my pants weren’t so damn tight.  No folks, I am not the fat ass you all think I am.  I’m just a trend follower and chose to wear the skinniest of skinny jeans this evening.    But I’m a trooper.  I suck it up when it comes to eating, or more like suck it in…

Yakitori

Big Head Talks A Lot and Lo-Ma Linda had been to the Honda-Ya in Tustin many times so I just let Big Head do the ordering.  We started off with some yakitori items, which for the most part were pretty standard in quality and flavor.  Nothing particularly knocked my socks off except for the chicken meatballs and maybe the bacon wrapped scallop.  I found them both really juicy and flavorful and wanted a whole stick of chicken meatballs as opposed to just one meatball for myself.  The corn gave some nice balance to all the protein.

Bacon wrapped asparagus (left to right)

Pork belly

Chicken meatballs

Chicken gizzard

Bacon wrapped scallop

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Son of a Gun

Can you believe people are too busy to eat?  For me, the world stops just so I can eat.  Some how though, I have a hard time getting people to gather for a good meal.  Always some ridiculous business about work, feeling sick, feeling tired, journal club, I mean the laundry list of excuses is endless.  I mean, uhh, priorities people??   Anyways, I finally got a reservation for Son of a Gun and gathered a small party of people.  Apparrently there is only 1 table that accomodates large parties so I had to keep my party small.  Of course, The Bottomless Pit was first in line.  Buff Bear, who is not as robust as his name would suggest, finally got over his umpteenth sinus infection and brought gf, Cher Bear along.

Shrimp Toast Sandwich herbs, siracha mayo (MUST HAVE #1)
WOW, best mother^%@!ing shrimp toast sandwich EVER!!!  This was my FAVORITE dish of the night.  I totally wished there were more of it to go around.  We ordered 2 to split between 4 people and if I were to return I would suggest each diner get his/her own shrimp toast sandwich.  Sadly, the sandwich is definitely smaller than a 4x4 gauze pad.  The exterior of the toast was well toasted with the help of a generous slathering of butter I am sure.  The bread itself was so fresh and soft.  All the bread that night was perfect!  Now the combination of the shrimp and siracha mayo was a harmonious combination of my favorite ocean protein with a dyn-O-mite creamy and spicy sauce.  It dripped down onto my plate and I seriously wanted to lick it up!  LOVE LOVE LOVE.


Lobster Roll celery, lemon aioli (MUST HAVE #2 per popular opinion)
Somehow I imagined this, and pretty much all the sandwiches to be much bigger than they actually were.  This seriously was no bigger that a White Castle Slider, and again we only got 2 to share among 4 of us.  Anyways, these didn't have as much kick as previous dish.  Similarly though, the bread was super fresh and soft and toasty.  The lobster was creamy without being overwhelming and heavy.  The potato chips were a nice touch but didn't add all that much.  I think it could have used a touch more lemon to balance out the cream.  Don't get me wrong, this was another winner in my book!

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Chowder Cook Off

Since Smooth Obturator moved to beach, he's been trying to embrace the true "California fun in the sun" lifestyle and culture.  He goes running on the beach, bike riding up to Santa Monica and down to Redondo Beach, and occasionally surfing if he feels like looking like a fool.  It's been nice to have a place to go to that's right on the beach, even though it's not my own place.  On one gloomy weekend, my mom, Smooth Obturator, and Triple T rode bikes down to Redondo Beach to catch a chowder cook-off near the pier.  Also in this area, there is a small seafood market that sells fresh shellfish like crabs, oysters, and clams and fry joint next door that sells prepared foods like ceviche, fried shrimp, french fries, fried oysters, etc.

Fresh Seafood
You can select the different sorts of oysters you'd like to be shucked.  You can also pick from a good selection of different crabs to be steamed on request.


Chowder Cook Off
I'm not really sure which "charity" they were raising money for and I forgot to ask.  For $7 you got to have 5 samplings out of the 12 vendors serving chowder.  Only one booth was offering Manhattan Clam Chowder.  Everyone else was serving your regular New England Clam Chowder.  In the end you vote for your favorite.


For the most part, none of the chowders were that amazing.  The ones that stood out were the ones that had a nice use of herbs like rosemary and were chunky with plenty of potatoes, veggies, and clams.  The one in the bottom middle was frankly offensive for being watery and salty.  I was the only one that paid the $7 for the chowder sampling.  Smooth Obturator would have preferred I sample all the chowders and then tell him which one was worth buying a big bowl.  

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Osteria Mamma

There are just too many Osterias in town.  From Mozza, La Buca, Angelini, and Mamma, it's quite difficult to keep them all straight.  The common theme for all these restaurants stems from the meaning of "osteria" which "in Italian literally means a place where the owner 'hosts' people, or an Italian-style eating establishment, similar to a tavern, usually in the country, less formal than a ristorante or trattoria, where wine is served as the main attraction and tasty food is served to wash it down."  Since I have now been to all these Osterias, I can confirm that they all share a casual ambiance and serve food that is without frills. 

Osteria Mamma is unfortunately the least impressive of all these Italian eateries.  It's not that Mamma doesn't know her pasta, it's just that La Buca, and especially Angelini and Mozza know it a whole freaking lot better.  It's not fair to compare since the price point is considerably more damaging to the wallet at the latter two places.  Panda Bear, Little Bear, Luau Bear, Bubble Bear, and The Bottomless Pit (aka Hates Asian Food) gathered for the hope of good eats.

Polipolata grilled mediterranean octopus, fresh celery, lemon, extra virgin olive oil and potatoes
I was highly anticipating a warm salad of grilled octopus that was tender while toothsome on the inside and charred and crispy on the outside.  Unfortunately, the octopus was just too soft and lacked texture.  It also had a weird fishy taste which only added insult to injury.  And as a final slap in the face, the dish was sorta room temperature.  It was confusing.  They certainly were generous on the protein, but the dish could have used more balance from the other elements, but maybe not the tomatoes which were disappointingly tasteless.  I will admit, the olive oil was amazingly fragrant!

a

Crostini di Burrata burrata crostini with black truffle and prosciutto

The burrata didn't quite have the creamy light texture that I had come to expect after having similar dishes from Mozza's mozzarella bar.  The black truffles were the highlight of it all.  The rest was quite unmemorable.  

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Seoul Garden

There are few times in my foodie life when other people show me the good places to eat in town.  Usually, it's the other way around since I make it my mission to know about and dine at all the best spots in LA.  So it was really nice to discover something delicious in Seoul Garden at the recommendation of The Pouter.  I've been here many times since and I've been able to share this place with other friends.  On this occasion, I brought LoMa-Linda here to enjoy Seoul Garden's specialty, Korean style shabu shabu. 

Salad
Nothing particularly special, but just your standard iceberg lettuce with tangy creamy dressing.


Banchan




Dipping sauce
Japanese shabu shabu is usually served with a soy based sauce and a peanut/sesame sauce.  At Seoul Garden, you only get one sauce, which is a slightly tangy and sweet soy sauce.  It can get a little tiring eating your meat with just one flavor, but the sauce tastes great with everything.

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Lukshon

LA seems to be infected with "yellow fever" for Asian food, or some interpretation of it.  With WP24, A-Frame, Red Medicine, Aburiya Torinako, Spice Table, and now Lukshon, the LA scene is blowing up with all that is deliciously eastern in flavors and foods.



The restaurant is wonderfully sleek and modern.  The menu is not meant for vegetarians.  It's full of meat and seafood starting off with a selection of raw and hot small plates.  Since Soprano Man is adverse to anything uncooked, we stuck with mostly cooked appetizers.  Our waiter suggested 2-3 selections from the "big" or entree sized category and then we supplemented with some rice, noodles, and vegetable sides.  I think we, or rather I, did a good job at ordering for our group of 5.  We found our meal quite balanced and everyone was full, but not ripping at the seams, at the end of the night.

Shrimp Toast rock shrimp, cilantro, chilies, tiny croutons
I would say our table is full of critics as tough, if not tougher, than the judges of Top Chef.  Unfortunately, we are definitely lacking anyone as hot as Padma in a bikini.  As soon as these lovely fried balls arrived to our table, some declared that these were not in fact toasts.  Ball or toast, nothing would prevent any of us from shoving these into our hungry pie holes.  The Attending (aka Tofu) did not appreciate much shrimp-iness.  This is true, the balls did feel like loosely composed shrimp plus extra fillers.  I still enjoyed the crispiness, overall flavor, and spicy tangy dipping sauce and would still order them again.


Beef Tartare pickled cucumbers, chiles, onions, herbs, aromatic rice powder
This reminded of the flavors found in larb, which is a dish of ground chicken, herbs, lime, chili, fish sauce, and rice powder.  The seasoning was much more subtle and refined.  Each bite was perfectly composed.  Soprano Man really missed out on this one.

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Fraiche

There's been a lot of buzz about Fraiche and its new chef Ben Bailey.  Despite the 3 star ratings on Yelp, I had it on my list of to-try places even before Ben Bailey arrived because I really enjoyed their offering at Taste of Beverly Hills.  Plus, Wontuan gave it his seal of approval.  So with their new chef acquisition and all the blogger buzz, I just had to give it a try.  Smooth Obturator and Triple T didn't have much expectations going in, so were pleasantly surprised by the solid eats.

Brussel Sprouts chorizo, manchego, dates, almonds, piquillo
Although brussel sprouts can do no wrong these days, I was underwhelmed by this salad.  Smooth Obturator kept insisting the salad was good if you ate all the components together.  Try as I may, I just didn't see the harmony in all the ingredients.  I craved a bit more dressing to just bring it all together.  I'll give the dish props for using an ingredient not usual thought of in salads!


Baby Beets house made ricotta, orange, pistachio
Triple T seemed to like her dish of beets.  I'm always a bit put off when beets are not red, but yellow or orange.  They're just not as "wow" because sometimes, like in this case, they look like sad apricots or orange slices.  They tasted fine, slight sweet with meaty texture.  Eaten with the ricotta and arrugula made for some flavorful bites.

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Pambiche

After successive, yet delicious, New American meals, I was craving something with just a little bit more oomph and flavor.  Perhaps some Asian fare?  But of course, Portland isn't the place to be when you're craving a salty umami rich bowl of ramen or spicy cold Korean noodles.  It was brunch time, and I think I had my fare share of Portland's dim sum.  So what next?  Well, I had yet to try Broder, which is a popular Scandinavian brunch spot.  It really wasn't what I was craving, so I guess I was glad to see that, yet again, the wait was out the door.  Plan B:  Pambiche!  Hooray for Cubans in Portland.  How did they ever find their way here?  I have no clue.

Bistec de Palomilla (Cuban Steak & Eggs) Thin cut top sirloin steaks, creole herbs and spices, pan fried red onions, scrambled eggs, fufú de plátano and Moros & Cristianos
I actually didn't get to try any of Zhu Zhu Hamster's dish because she looked like "death", and I didn't feel like catching "death."  She seemed pretty happy with it though.


Pisto Manchego chorizo sausage, ham, bacon, gulf shrimp, russet potatoes, pimientos and petit pois, peppered egg scramble. Served with pan frito
I'm surprised Dumpling Man actually enjoyed this dish.  It certainly has many components that he dislikes, but his original choice was all out.  That's what happens when you come to brunch right when service is about to end.  In any case, it was a mish mosh of proteins but it was very hearty.

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Paley's Place

My tour of Portland's fine dining establishments continues with Paley's Place.  It is owned by executive chef Vitaly Paley, who was awarded the 2005 James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest.  It's located in a Victorian style house in the Northwest area of Portland.  Reviews on Yelp complained about the place being small and cramped.  I imagined the place would be quaint and full of "character." Surprisingly, it turned out to be quiet modern and decently spacious inside.

I was peeved that we had to wait an extra 30 minutes for your reservation.  Finally they gave us teeny tiny glasses of some special apple cider to sip on.  Seriously, it didn't taste any different than Treetop Apple Juice with some bubbles, but appreciated their effort to quell my brewing annoyance.

Amuse Bouche tuna salad
I was not so impressed with this little bite.  It was a bit on the fishy side using cooked tuna.  The addition of eggs and olives didn't make the bite any better.


Chilled Oysters on the Half Shell Hog Island (WA), Blue Pool (WA), Hamma Hamma (WA)
In choosing appetizers, Paley's Place has a selection of house made charcuterie and some French classics like steamed mussels, beef tartare, escargots, etc.  While I would have loved to try some of the charcuterie and mussels, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and stray away from all my usual favorites.  I'm pretty sure there would be no surprises to those usual staples.  So instead, I went with the oysters, which I really enjoyed.  Salty, sweet, briny, bright, with just a touch of lemon juice and we had us some good bites.

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A&J

Even though Irvine is packed with Chinese people, the Chinese food is still inferior to that in the San Gabriel Valley.  The SGV is more like bleeding Chinese people, so that probably explains the difference.  This was my first time at A&J which is a Taiwanese restaurant, I think.  They serve dumplings, noodles, small cold dishes, fried pork chop, etc.  All the things that those little rascals from the island formerly known as Formosa love to eat.

Cucumber Salad hot garlic sauce
I think I was expecting a more pickled taste, but these were more sweet and spicy than anything else.  Oh, they were also garlicky.



Spicy Wonton with Hot Red Sauce szechuan style
I absolutely love the version of this at Din Tai Fung.  These were actually quite good here too.  There could have been more filling to the wontons, but overall, pretty tasty with just the right amount of heat.

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Daikokuya

Daikokuya makes up one of the Big 3 ramen joints in LA.  I already posted about Shinsengumi, which probably ties for 2nd place with Daikokuya in my opinion.  While I love their curly ramen noodles, I get more excited about the pork bowl than the ramen.  Also, the wait time is simply atrocious.  I thought I'd bypass a 30 minute to 1 hour wait by hitting up the Monterey Park location.  The place is even more hole-in-the-wall than the Little Tokyo location and just as crowded.  It's ok because I had lots to catch up on with Ho Bag to pass the time.

Ho Bag and I go waay back, back to the days when she actually wasn't a ho bag and to the days when I consumed carbs like a naughty diabetic.  I couldn't think of 2 people who were more different but got along so well.  Nowadays, you can find Ho Bag traipsing around the Big Apple living the "Sex in the City" life.  Let's just say she's definitely NOT Charlotte. 


Salad
The salad at Daikokuya is far from refreshing or light.  The dressing, which drenches the shredded cabbage beneath it, tastes heavy, rich, and slightly fishy.  I can only have a few bites before feeling overwhelmed.  I'll give it credit for being one-of-a-kind.


Shredded Pork Rice Bowl 
It is hands down one of the best pork rice bowls I've ever had.  The pork is either extremely tender or extremely fatty because every bite of it just melts in your mouth.  The sauce permeates through ever bite and wraps each rice kernel in a blanket of heavenly sweet umami flavor.  Big winner here!  Because we both ordered a combo of rice + ramen, I barely finished my rice bowl.  I took the leftovers home but left it in my car overnight.  What a waste!

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Beast

Beast is a unique dining experience.  It is a restaurant composed of a staff of 5 (2 chefs, 2 servers, 1 busboy) and 2 communal tables (20-30 seats) with a large open air kitchen.  Dinner service is only offered Wednesday through Sunday with two seatings at 6:00pm and 8:45pm.  Brunch is offered only on Sundays at 10am or 12pm.

Being one of Portland's fine dining establishments, it has garnered a reputation for simply and perfectly executed food in an intimate dining experience.  The 6 course menu changes weekly depending on the availability of local seasonal ingredients.



Cream of Celery Soup meyer lemon salsa verde
I am usually not a fan of celery.  I mean I like it in stuffing and chicken salad, but as a soup?  I was really impressed with the simplicity and smooth texture of the soup.  The best part was the meyer lemon salsa verde which added some nice unexpected acidity that rounded out the creamy sweetness of the soup.  There were also some deep friend celery leaves I think? which brought a crispy earthiness.  Very well done.

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Waterloo & City

Dine LA used to be an event that inspired excitement.  What delicious new foods would I discover?  What great deals would I get?  After many a Dine LA has come and gone, I have just become very tired of the prix fixe snooze fests.  I'd rather just pay the extra money to have the more interesting dishes of my choosing.  Nonetheless, Dine LA still gets Angelenos all a buzz.  I tried to go with a restaurant I've been meaning to try, but one that also had a little bit more of an interesting menu.  I'm so tired of seeing some roasted chicken, braised short ribs, and broiled salmon as the 3 main entrees to choose from.  Waterloo & City didn't have any of that.  Grumpy Bear, Panda Bear and Little Bear all gathered to see what Waterloo & City had to offer.

Pan Fried Blood Cake fried organic egg, toasted pain poilane
Totally sounds unappetizing huh?  Grumpy Bear and Panda Bear ordered this at the reassurance from our waitress that it would be delicious.  It was in fact pretty tasty.  It was very rich, meaty, and only had the slightest hint of an offal taste.  It seems like slapping a sunny side up egg on anything makes it that much more fancy.  I'm not quite sure it always adds flavor, like in this dish.


Potted Pork & Truffle Parfait toasted brioche, cornichons
I never thought I'd say it, but I think I might be getting tired of pate, terrine, galantines, etc.  Despite that, this was still pretty good.  It was perfectly smooth with more than just a salty livery flavor.  I think the truffle part added something different, something slightly sweet.  I didn't like the thin layer of solidified white fat on the top, and neither did Grumpy Bear who ate a big hunk of it.

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Red Medicine

Red Medicine is a Vietnamese fusion restaurant that recently opened a few months ago.  It's probably more known for the drama generated by some controversial actions by the management rather than its food unfortunately.  It's ratings on Yelp are pretty dismal, mostly because of the drama.  I'm usually not a fan of fusion food, but some of bloggers were writing good things along with their appetizing pictures.  So, the H.o.P. made a night of it.

I've had a fair amount of "fancy foods" in my life.  Red Medicine really takes all that to a new level.  They go beyond fancy and border on esoteric.  That being the case, the food is still accessible to the common man's taste buds.  The common man's stomach may not appreciate the smaller portion sizes, which combined with the lighter fare, can make for one hungry hungry hippo. 

**SLR-quality photos courtesy of Running Man**

 

Brussels Sprouts caramelized shallots, fish sauce, vermouth

Wow, who is now a fan of brussel sprouts?  You can't really see the sprouts in this picture, but its safe to say that the chef made good use of fish sauce for these vegetables.  Salty, sweet, caramelized, crispy.  Everyone loved these little veggies.  Triple T even made a similar version at home from the Momofuku cookbook. 

 

Banh Mi foie gras, pate de champagne 

These were an elevated version of the flavors found in the typical Vietnamese sandwich.  The pickled veggies, cucumbers, cilantro, and chili were a given.  The foie and pate were luscious and rich additions sandwiched between some light crispy crackers.  One was not enough, but sadly one was all I got to have.  

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Veritable Quandry

When it comes to the food in Portland, I will have to admit, I do have a case of food "beer goggles."  I'm a little more generous on my compliments and generally hold food in a Portland to a lower standard than to food in LA.  Why that is the case? I'm not quite sure. I think I just want Portland to be a better foodie town than it already is.  I want tall, dark and handsome, when what I really have is stocky, bald and average.  Just kidding.  That is a terrible exaggeration of the truth.  Portland is your simple and interestingly attractive boy next door. 

Veritable Quandry is probably my best meal to date in Portland.  Portions were more than generous.  Flavors and execution were spot on.  There were no surprises, no tricks.  I'm beginning to understand and appreciate the Portland style.

House Made Rabbit Pate with Toasted Brioche prune vinaigrette, two mustards, house pickled cranberries
I'm definitely eating a lot more charcuterie than I ever have before.  Maybe that's because I'm eating more French inspired cuisine than I ever have before.  When in LA, it's hard not to gravitate toward Asian food.  In any case, I do LOVE my charcuterie.  I grew up eating that stuff.  "What Asian kid grows up eating that stuff," says Dumpling Man.  These things remind me of the family vacations we took in Europe.  We'd stop by the local charcuterie, pick up a baguette, varying cuts of meat and spreads and hit the road.  My mom with her trusty swiss army knife, which was equally good for cutting fruit as it was for slicing baguettes and spreading pate, would hand out delicious, yet simple sandwiches.  It made a terrible mess in the car, but heck, it was a rental!  The only true Euro part missing was the cheese, but in the end, we're all still Asian, so that means no cheese for us.  Nowadays, I can't help but feel guilty spreading a chunk of pate on a little cracker, but I do LOVE the taste of that salty, fatty, mildly livery delicacy.

Sorry for the digression.  Here the house made rabbit pate had such a strong smokiness of bacon.  I thought it was a bit too overwhelming.  However, taken all together with the differing mustards (dijon and whole grain), pickled sweet cranberries, and tangy cornichons, made for a delicious and sophisticated appetizer.


Poached Egg, Smoked Bacon & Butter Lettuce on Crispy Cornbread pickled onion, buttermilk, chives, white cheddar dressing
Dumpling Man is beginning to really like poached eggs, or really anything with a runny egg yolk.  I like it, but I don't like it.  I love the added richness, but I sort of detest that egg yolk taste.   Sometimes it just works for me, and sometimes it doesn't.  Here, the yolk was not too eggy.  The salad, overall, was too rich.  I like my salads to be more refreshing, but from the yolk, to the bacon, to the cornbread, this was, no doubt, a hearty salad.  The occasional pickled onion managed to cut through some of the richness.  Nonetheless, I'd give the salad 1 1/2 thumbs up.

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Tabla

Some of my dinners in Portland don't end as well as they start off.  Dinner at Tabla was just such a meal.  Strong starters, good wine, weak finishers.  Sometimes its actually easy to forget bad appetizers if the entree and desserts are a smash hit.  Unfortunately its not so easy to forget when its the other way around. 

Salt Roasted Carrot Salad autumn greens and chicories, golden raisins, citrus, pistachio, cantal
So the menu online that night had this same salad, but with beets instead of carrots.  What a shame, because beets would have been lovely.  That's not to say that this version was not tasty in its own right.  Salad is about anything but lettuce these days and I'm loving it.  Bitter, sweet, tangy, salty, juicy, crunchy, toasty, crispy.  It's all in a great salad.   This wasn't the greatest salad, but it was good.



Radicchio Salad belgian endive, apple, sour cream, candied walnuts, bacon powder
This salad was probably not as appealing as the previous salad.  I prefer tangy dressings over creamy ones, but each bite of this salad had the smoky flavor of bacon in every bite.  

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Burgerville

Not all my posts can be about amazing 3 star Michelin restaurants.  Well, at least, some of my readers prefer it that way.  Something about pretentiousness and the like.  So to all of you, I dedicate this entry.

Burgerville is something like the In N' Out of the Pacific Northwest.  I'm not quite sure if that's the truth, but I've been told something along those lines.  The burgers are supposed to be "pretty good."  Zhu Zhu Hamster said Burgerville has a notorious reputation around the GI department at her work (if ya know what I mean).  We were originally planning to eat at a very popular brunch place, but the wait was out the door.  I was in the mood for a burger and Burgerville was just a few blocks away.  Hey, why not?  I got a stomache of steel!

All over Burgerville, you see signs extolling the freshness of their ingredients.  Pictures of local farmers and their fresh bounty abound.  Mr. X and his wife make the best cheese that goes into the cheeseburgers.  Brother Y and Brother Z grow the finest produce that goes into the burgers and salads.  Everything is local and sustainable.  It's really like subliminal brainwashing.  I think it makes your food taste better, seeing how "fresh" and "local" all the ingredients are, while you sit and eat your food. 

Tillamook Cheeseburger
It looks like a hot mess, but it really wasn't so bad.  The bun was so soft and fluffy.  The patty was pretty meaty.  The sauce was reminiscent of In N' Out and their thousand island dressing.  The cheese was barely noticeable.  The lettuce and tomatoes were whatevers.   If only some more care and love went into assembling the burger, then I think it would have been a better success.

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