Our first sushi place in the Bay - Kusakabe

I can’t believe it has been two years since Guai Lo and I are married! Guai Lo was telling me that he has his dream girl, found his dream job and living in his dream city, so life is pretty good. This definitely calls for a celebration, and as usual, that means fancy dining! We haven’t been really started exploring the restaurant in the bay area yet, and since we are craving for some good sushi, we decided to go for a sushi recommendation from a friend, which turned out to be a delicious experience~

It is located in the financial district of San Francisco, right next to the iconic Transamerica Pyramid. It is a small restaurant. As always, the best part is that you can sit at the counter, watch the food preparation and interact with the sushi chef during the course of the meal.

There are a total of 11 courses for the full omakase experience, and there is a petite omakase option, which has 9 courses. Our motto has always been “order like you can never come back”, which is very often the case as there are so many restaurants to try. In short, we ordered the full omakase to get the complete experience here.

It starts with the Sakura Ichiban Dashi, which is a fish broth with salt-cured cherry blossom.

Then, a series of sushi!!! What I love about this place is that besides the well-prepared fresh fish, they also spent a lot of time and effort to think about what condiments / taste would go well with each fish. Just the right amount of touch, without overpowering the taste of the fish itself. Besides assorted fish, there are also a couple very special ingredients that I have never tried before, like baby eel, baby squid and fish liver.

Between the sushi courses, as part of the omakase, they have a few warm dishes as well. The umami fava bean soup with Alaskan cod was definitely one of my favorite. I also really enjoyed the assorted small eats on one plate, which contains 6 small dishes: oyster, octopus, sushi roll, potatoes, shrimp and fried fish.

The omakase did not include dessert, but we felt like a proper dinner needs to finish with a dessert. So, we ordered the traditional Japanese dessert Anmitsu, which has soy cream, clear jelly, matcha jelly and red bean with Okinawa sugar syrup.

Although, both Guai Lo and I agreed that Q sushi is still the best sushi place we have had so far, but this is undeniably very good as well. Highly recommended!

Last meal in LA - Vespertine

This is definitely the most interesting dining experience I have so far. By experience, I really mean the experience. It is not just the food, it is the ambience (locations of your meal as they moved you from room to room for different part of the evening), the visual (of the dish and the dinnerware, they make their own dinnerware) and the taste obviously.

Most dishes, if without explanation, are unrecognizable. You can hardly tell what you are eating, or sometimes, you might even ask yourself, “is this edible?” The results almost always surprise you. Every dish is a piece of art, and you are always intrigued by what the ingredients are and how it would taste. To be honest, I did not like every dish, but I am very glad that I got the chance to experience this restaurant before I left LA.

Highly recommended and enjoyed the pictures below! If this is too expensive for you, try their other restaurant called the destroyer before you commit to this 14-course meal!

#1 Giant Kelp Sea Lettuce

#2 Savory Cookie Black Currant

#3 Milk Bread Abalone Mushroom

#4 Snap Peas Kiwi Horseradish

#5 Trout Roe Almond Radish

#6 Scallop Smoked Tofu Salted Plum

#7 Pumpkin Guava Cyclamen

#8 Cod Cheeks Pork Fat Lovage

#9 Spot Prawn Rose Begonia

#10 Poussin Juniper Black Trumpet

#11 Rye Bread Porridge Milk Curd Smoked Macadamia

#12 Sea Urchin Bergamot Pedro Ximenez

#13 Black Raspberry Meadowsweet Black Carrot

#14 Almond Cucumber Redwood

#15 Caramelized Sunchoke Candy Cap

The Hook & Plow

A dear friend of mine was in town last weekend, and we went to an awesome restaurant by the Hermosa beach. Literally everything we ordered was great, definitely a place I would go back to.

As usual, we ordered a bunch of dishes to share:
Appetizer: Half Dozen Fresh Oysters and Crab Cake
The oysters were fresh and the crab cake was amazing. The crab cake was very well-seasoned, very crispy on the outside and probably most the flavorful crab cake I have ever had.
Entrée: Scallops & Pork Belly and Braised Short Ribs
The highlight here is definitely the scallops & pork belly. Needless to say that the scallops and pork belly were cooked to perfection, what really elevated the dish was the corn pudding and the corn salsa underneath, it paired exceptionally well with the dish. AMAZING!
Sides: Polenta Fries, Wild Mushroom and Roasted Brussels Sprouts
All 3 sides ordered were great. I especially like the polenta fries as those are not commonly seen on the menu, and they were just delicious.
Dessert: Bread Pudding
The dessert was good, but slightly heavy and a tad greasy. This would be my only complaint for the whole dinner.

I love the outdoor seating, and the rustic beach vibe of the restaurant. The food was amazing as well, highly recommended!

Valentine's Day 2018 - Union @ Pasadena

We usually don't do anything on Valentine's day, mostly because of the traffic and also the fact that we don't want to pay for the "holiday price". But this year, Guai Lo decided we should go out and have a nice dinner. Super sweet, right? The restaurant he picked is located in Pasadena, and without a doubt, an Italian restaurant because that's one of my favorite cuisines. 

As usual, it is a small charming place, which is how I like it. They actually had a Prix Fixe Valentine's day menu, as I am rebellious, I picked my own courses for the night. We ordered two pasta dishes, one entrée and two desserts, which was a little more than we needed. But, what are the odds that we are coming back to the same restaurant as there are so many more to try? Therefore, we usually go all in! Here is what we ordered:

Squid Ink Lumache - Maine Lobster, Fennel, Meyer Lemon, Truffle Butter
Torchiette - Pork Ragu, Grana Padano, Gremolata
Pitman Farms Roast Duck - Urfa Chile, Salsify, Smoked Parsnip Puree, MandarinquatsGianduja Chocolate Budino - Cocoa Nib, Truffle Salt, Ligurian Olive Oil
Olive Oil Cake - Citrus Gastrique, Salted Honeycomb Gelato

Excellent choice! Everything was absolutely delicious. Both pasta dishes were great, and it is really hard to pick which one we like more. But if I had to choose, I think the Torchiette won by a teeny bit. I usually prefer any non-red sauce pasta, but this one was really well done. The balance of saltiness, acidity and sweetness was perfect.

For the entrée, I like the taste of the duck, but it was slightly undercooked. When I told them about it, I think they handled it very well. They cooked it a little more and gave us back the plate, and took the dish off the bill. We were literally one of the last two tables that night, and everything else was perfect, so I would not hold that against them after a long valentine's night.

As for the dessert, the olive oil cake might look like it's very plain, but it was my favorite. It was full of flavor. It was warm and slightly crispy on the outside, moist inside, and with the combination of cold gelato, it was heaven! The chocolate budino was very good as well, but it was as much of a surprise as it was for the olive oil cake, and also it was not hard to find a chocolate budino on the menu in most restaurants. So, if you have to choose one dessert to try here, definitely recommend the olive oil cake. 

Although it was tiring with the drive on the weekday night, it was so worth it! Thank Guai Lo again for a wonderful meal. <3

DineLA 2018 - Odys + Penelope

Every January, I face an important decision, where should I go for DineLA?! This year, I decided to go to Odys + Penelope. I went to Hatfield's a couple years ago before it was closed, and I absolutely loved it. The owner of the place decided to open up a new restaurant and I have been curious to try it, and dineLA seemed like the perfect opportunity. 

I have noticed this trend of half casual half fancy dining in LA, and I really like this happy balance between the two. I love the open kitchen, high ceiling and rustic décor of this place. It is a perfect spot for small group gathering. 

The DineLA menu has 3 courses($50/person), and there are two choices for each course. Guai lo and I decided to try everything out. 
Appetizer:
Roasted Squash Salad, arugula, pomegranate, walnut, labneh - Love the different texture from the different ingredients, and the addition of pomegranate was quite perfect
Raw Hamachi, salsa verde, green olive, fried shallot - this is good but expected, it's something that I have had in a lot of other places
 

Entrée:
Oak Grilled Salmon, salsify puree, kale brown butter - Crispy skin, pink center, perfectly seasoned
House made Pappardelle, pork belly Bolognese, fried sage - this is one of my favorite dishes of the night, al dente home-made pasta and the pork belly Bolognese was just amazing! 

Dessert:
Creamy Chocolate Parfait - Delicious but again, expected
Warm Caramel Cake, apple compote, cinnamon ice milk - This dessert, on the other hand was something I would want to come back for. The caramel cake was warm and moist, not too sweet, and paired perfectly with the cold ice-cream. 

Having been to Hatfield's, it is no surprise that the food at Odys + Penelope was delicious. This is definitely a more affordable place compared to Hatfield's, and highly recommend if you are looking for a higher end casual dinner place to go. 

Q Sushi - DTLA

It is Guai Lo's birthday!! To honor his tradition (Japanese birthday dinner), I picked a sushi place in downtown LA that I have been dying to try. Their menu is rather simple, there are two choices of omakase, Kaede and Tsubaki. The difference between them are a couple of sashimi courses, and obviously the price differs. My philosophy has always been going for the full experience when possible. Who knows whether we will ever have a chance to come back here, and that applies to both food and travel experiences. It was totally worth it!

This is a very small restaurant with a counter space for 10 and 4 tables. I highly recommend sitting at the counter space because you can watch how the food is made, and the sushi chef will explain each dish to you. It is definitely a better experience.  

We ordered a small bottle of daiginjo. I am never a big fan of sake, but that was a sake that I liked. They have a wide selection of different grade of sakes, and it ranges from $45 to $1000 (cannot imagine what the $1000 bottle taste like). We started off with a couple sashimi appetizers, including Hokkaido scallop, oysters, toro, etc., and every single one was absolutely delicious. The most unforgettable one was the fatty tuna. It was like butter, literally melted in my mouth. 

One interesting thing is the wasabi they use. It was actually from the real plant, and they made it in front of you. The real wasabi does not taste as strong as the one you buy outside (those are mostly just horseradish), and it went perfectly with the sushi. 

Next, sushi! There are a total of 13 different sushi, including fresh river trout, squid, tuna, snapper, uni(sea urchin), etc., and every single one of them are fresh and delicious. 

At last, they have the egg cake as dessert. It might not look especially appealing, but I actually asked for another one after having my first one. It was so fluffy! Surprisingly, it is made of 60% shrimp, which I could not tell at all, and that was what made it so fluffy like a cake. 

After the meal, Guai lo and I were discussing about all the sushi places we've been to, and concluded that this is so far the best sushi we have had, and shunji is a close second. We have been so spoiled with good quality sushi that we decided that we rather not have sushi unless it's good. I am going to continue this Japanese birthday dinner tradition every year, and I cannot wait to hunt down another good place to try next year!

Maude - The Truffle Experience

I wanted to try this place for years, and finally decided to make it our 2017 Christmas dinner! What's interesting about this restaurant is that they have a theme every month, and they create 9 courses with that ingredient they choose for the month. 25 seats. 1 key ingredient. 9 courses. Very unique idea. About a week after I made the reservation, I found out that they are changing this format starting Jan 2018. I am glad that I got to try this before the change. 

December is the black truffle month, and they showed us the truffle box before the meal. The aroma emanating from that box was just incredible. 

1. Sea Urchin
Fresh sea urchin with truffle, that can't go wrong.

2. Salsify - Camembert & Mustard
This tasted very interesting. Not sure I like it, but I don't dislike it.

3. Snow Crab - Imperial Américaine
I love the plating of the dish, and the snow crab was cooked to perfection. 

4. Brioche - Beef Fat, Tartare, Consommé
This actually also came with a little shot of beef soup. This is basically a fancy version of a tiny hamburger, and it was absolutely delicious.

5. Foie Gras - Brandy, Granola
I understand some people might think that the way foie gras is made is not exactly humane, and I agree. Well, I guess my advice is.... try not to think about it when you eat. Anyways. I have had foie gras before, but not aerated foie gras. I love the crunchy granola, brandy jello and the truffle of course, but I am really not a big fan of this aerated foie gras. I still prefer my foie gras the traditional way.

6. Turbot - Cabbage & Sauce Perigord
This is one of my favorite dishes of the night. The fish was tender, with truffle in the middle. The cabbage was exceptionally good, and the sauce went so well with everything. Definitely one of the highlights.

7. Ravioli - Chestnut & Dark Beer
There was one ravioli in it, and that was one amazing ravioli. 

8. Porchetta - Apple, Walnut
This is the other highlight. The meat was very tender with a layer of fat. The skin was so crispy and it was caramelized with apple sauce, therefore the sweetness of the skin balanced the fattiness of the meat perfectly. It was slightly heavy towards this end, but it was really good.

9. Rush Creek
I never quite figured out what exactly this is. Some delicious warm liquid with vanilla ice-cream. 

10. Hazelnut - Chocolate & Praline
If I could just come here for this dessert, I would. Truffle ice-cream, vanilla cream, truffle, praline, this combination literally took me to heaven. 

11. Truffle Canelé and Madeleines
I never thought truffle would elevate madeleines so much! The madeleines were so aromatic with the truffle in it, and it was really a big surprise. Throughout the night, all the dishes we've had, it was always easy to imagine truffle being in the dish. But I never thought it would go this well with it. What a pleasant surprise. 

What an experience. What I regret is that we did not come here earlier for other themes that I am more interested in. As tasty as black truffle is, it is easy to imagine how it can be in every dish, but other ingredients like grapes or garlic, it would have been a little more fun and interesting.

Starting 2018, instead of 12 menus every year, featuring one key ingredient every month, they are doing 4 menus every year, focusing on a seasonal set menu inspired by the world's leading wine regions. It is going to start with Rioja, Spain, from Jan to Mar, 2018. I am sure it will be another amazing palate journey.

Animal - Los Angeles

Guai Lo decided to take me out for dinner last weekend. We went to a place that I wanted to try for a while on my ever-growing list of restaurants-to-try. 

One thing I noticed is that they are the true minimalist. There is no real décor in the place, it's just white paint and some tungsten light bulbs. In the front of the restaurant, I don't even see the name of the restaurant, which is why it took me a while to find the place. It is unexpectedly soothing and comfortable to be eating a place that is just simple. 

All their plates are meant to be shared, and it is kinda like tapas style. We ordered 5 plates and 1 dessert. The pictures are in the same order as below.

Bonito Yam, Lemon Crème Fraiche, Pepita, Salsa Verde, Za'atar
The yam were very crispy. The sweetness of the yam was balanced perfectly with the lemon crème fraiche. Simple yet very tasty. 
Pig Ear, Red Chili, Lime, Market Egg (pictures shown above, before and after mixing)
This is a disappointing dish. I have always liked pig ear, but not this dish. The pig ear was deep fried, and therefore you can't tell what it is really. On top of that, the chili sauce does not really go well with the dish. 
Quail, Yellow Wax Bean, Corn, Pickled Fennel, Sungold, Basil
The quail was excellent. Cooked perfectly and seasoned perfectly.
Sweetbreads, Creamed Spinach, Hen of the Woods, Caper, Brown Butter
This is highlight of the meal. The veal was cooked so well, lightly floured but crispy. Paired perfectly with the spinach and mushrooms. It was a total bomb, definitely blew my mind.
Foie Gras, Biscuits, Maple Sausage Gravy
This is another one of my favorite dishes of the night. Maple sausage gravy glazed on top of the biscuit, and the seared foie gras just sat on top of the dish. The sweetness of the maple, saltiness of the sausage, fattiness of the foie gras (melt in your mouth), crunch bits of the biscuits, everything was in harmony. 
Emerald Beaut Plum, Rose, Black Lime
It was definitely unique, which is why we tried it. The fruit was very refreshing and the rose gave it a floral taste, which balanced the sweetness a little. It was a tad sweeter than I would like even with the lime added. 

There are still a lot of interesting choices on the menu that we would like to try. For those who might feel a little more adventurous, there is veal brain, veal tongue, rabbit larb, etc. I would say it's a 4 out of 5, and I would definitely recommend this place.  

Finch - a low key one Michelin star restaurant

I am having my two weeks break between work and school in NYC and this is my first meal in New York. My cousin Ms. A described this place as a low key Michelin star restaurant. It is located in Brooklyn, which is my favorite borough. I haven't seen Ms. A in forever, and it is really nice to catch up with her, and meeting her Italian boyfriend for the very first time!

Cute little place with open kitchen. Not too crowded on a weekday. Could be a good option for a weekday date night.

Appetizers

Maitake Mushroom with Smoked Ricotta & Arugula on Toast
Scallop Carpaccio with Raddish and Lemon
Japanese Yams with Lemon Mayonnaise, Licorice & Pickled Fresno Peppers
Baby Red Kale with Smoked Ricotta, Pistachios & Balsamic

I really love the cook of the mushroom, and that was probably something I would order again given the chance. The kale salad was surprisingly good because kale is not an easy vegetable to cook well.
 

Main Course

Squid Ink Tagliatelle with Peekytoe Crab, Saffron, Lemon & Basil
Branzino with Roasted Cauliflower, Boquerones & Lemon
Swiss Chard Lasagna with Parmesan, Pine Nut & Castelveltrano Olive

All three main courses were great. But, the Swiss chard lasagna really stood out. It is actually a vegetarian dish and with no actual pasta in it. It is just layers of Swiss chard and cheese, and it tasted AMAZING. I have no idea how to describe this, but the texture, the taste and the cook, everything was perfect. I would come back to this restaurant just for this dish.

Dessert

Chocolate Cake with Pine Nuts & Rosemary
Lemon Custard with Husk Cherries & Semolina Cookies

Both desserts were slightly disappointing. It could very well just be me, but I think the chocolate cake tasted like a normal good chocolate cake (really lack the wow factor here), and for the the lemon custard with cherries, it has slightly too much acidity in that dessert that I don't quite like. 

Overall, it's quite good. The Swiss Chard Lasagna definitely made this meal worth it, and I dare say this is one dish that you absolutely have to order if you dine in this restaurant. This dish might actually be worth a detour even it you are not necessarily in the area. 

Chi Spacca - My 30th Birthday

This year is hitting a lot of big milestones for me, one of them would be hitting the 30s! It might seem like a cliché, but time flies and it is flying by faster and faster every year. Can you believe it's already July?! Celebration Part 1: Great Italian food with friends. Celebration Part 2: Checking off one item on the bucket list, Skydiving (happening soon). 

It is an intimate small restaurant, the service was excellent, and so is the food. We ordered a plate of cured meat to share, and one of their most popular items: focaccia for appetizers. Their focaccia is not the usual bread you have, it is a discovery in Recco, Italy by the owner when she was there. It is thin, crispy and with cheese filling in it, and it is AMAZING. 

We ordered two main entrées, the octopus with chickpea purée and the bone marrow + beef cheek pie. We also ordered two sides of vegetables just to balance the meal a little, the cream corn (no cream in it ironically) and the asparagus with morel. My favorite dish was definitely the octopus. That was THEE best octopus I have ever had. Octopus very well cooked, love the citrus flavoring on it, and the chickpea purée was a pleasant surprise. They also have some fried chickpea sprinkled around the dish to add a little texture to the dish. For the bone marrow and beef pie, the pie was very flaky and the filling tasted delicious.  

A meal can never be finished without a dessert, and we shared the butterscotch caramel pudding, and it was an absolute delight. Perfect sweetness, very smooth, and the caramel on top was the bomb! It is always important for me to end the dinner with a great dessert because that is the last thing you remember from a restaurant!  

One of the best restaurants I have been to this year, and I definitely want to come back! 

Hinoki & the Bird

My dear friends were in town last weekend. They couldn't make it to my wedding last month, so we decided to have a celebratory dinner at this Japanese fusion restaurant in Century City. Thank you guys for coming and the dinner! <3

This restaurant has always been on my "restaurants-to-try" list, and the food turned out pretty good! Here is what we ordered (arranged in the same order as the pictures shown above):

Lobster Roll, green curry, thai basil - Despite the fact that it's super tiny...... very interesting twist on the traditional lobster roll, loved the sauce!
Crispy Marinated Chicken, Yuzu kosho - They didn't lie about the crispy part, but it is a very ordinary dish.
Wild Boar Ribs, szechuan peppercorn, kaffir lime - One of my favorite dishes, the wild boar is very flavorful itself and the seasoning was not overpowering. 
Butter Lobster Ramen - It is okay overall, but slightly disappointed with the broth. Lobster is slightly overdone as well. 
Kale, crispy and raw, spiced nuts, pecorino, red wine vinaigrette - I was never a fan of raw kale,but this is surprisingly good. Dressing was just perfect and very refreshing.
Squid Ink Fried Rice - Definitely my favorite dish. It looked so ordinary and plain, yet tasted extremely flavorful. 
Miso Mochi and Honeycomb Mochi - Mochi is a very Japanese dessert, and I like the idea of the flavors, but it was very well executed, especially the miso....... 
Matcha Affogato - This is a very clever twist of the coffee version, and it was really good. At the same time, it is something that you can easily do at home! Great idea!!

There are 3 parts to a good dinner, the food, the service and the company! Overall, great dinner! Might not be a place that I would come back to (part of the reasons is that there are so many other restaurants to try in LA, and this one is not good enough to make it to my "come-back-restaurant" list), but definitely happy that I tried it.

Mori Sushi - A dinner I will never forget

In order to save money this year, we didn't go anywhere for valentine's day nor our anniversary. But last night was a special night and we picked this sushi place for the occasion.

This is also our first time trying omakase. I am a little bit of a control freak, and this time I let it go and let the chef decide our dinner. Definitely did not regret this! The omakase includes some appetizers with 16 nigiri selected by the chef, and ends with 2 small desserts. Every dish was amazing. The appetizers here were quite unique, including home-made tofu with home-made soy sauce(very tasty) and Mt. Fuji wasabi, red miso soup (never had that before), home-made pickles, Hotaru Ika (firefly squid, which are very tiny squid), baby peach, etc. On top of that, the nigiri was very fresh and of great variety, tasted absolutely incredible, which did not come as a surprise.

We also ordered a glass of umeshu and a glass of sake. Umeshu was not as sweet as other umeshu I had, very refreshing and clear. The sake we ordered has a very slight fruity flavor, and therefore very easy to drink (too easy that he drank too fast and got a little drunk at the beginning of the dinner). They have a wide variety of sake, and you can ask the server to recommend the one that fits your taste.   

At the end of the dinner, although I saw it coming, it was still really sweet to see him get down on one knee, and popped the question. This is definitely a meal we will never forget.

After the proposal, I was asking him why doesn't he do it on top of the mountain when we hike or something like that, because I feel like that would have been more of a surprise and an unique experience. He said that he always imagines it to be in a fancy restaurant........ well, what can I say, I guess I am marrying a traditional guy (or boring~~).

Dine LA - Providence

This year's dineLA is pretty exceptional. Spago, Melisse and Providence all participated in this event. I have yet to try Providence, so I took the opportunity to take guai lo to providence for his birthday. 

They have a choice between the dineLA menu and the signature menu, which signature menu has a couple more courses. We picked the dineLA menu and ordered a few other sides. It was an exceptional dining experience. Everything was perfect and the service was impeccable.

Amuse Bouche 

Four amuse bouche total.
Pisco Sour - Peruvian cocktail in a jelly form, delicious. 
Some grains wrapped in some kind of leaf (didn't quite catch it when the waiter explained it to me)- very light and earthy  
Mussel bruschetta and soup - Crunchy toast with flavorful mussel on top, and buttery broth

Something extra

We ordered the uni egg and half dozen oyster on top of the dineLA menu.
Uni Egg - sea urchin, champagne beurre blanc, brioche croutons
oft boiled egg mixed with sea urchin and the sauce is just AMAZING. It is on the menu since they open and is never taken off the menu (for good reason!). 
Oyster on the half shell - shigokou(wa), kumamoto (wa), naked cowboy (ny), traditional mignonette, cocktail sauce comsomme
Oyster is super fresh and the sauce is light so that you can still taste the oyster.

Appetizers

Black bass sashimi - pomegranate, ruby red grapefruit, ume
Loved the freshness and acidity from the fruit, perfect on the fish.
Nancy's day boat sea scallop - buckwheat, parsnip, pepitas
Very well cooked scallop, and the seasoning was not overpowering. The nuts were great addition to the texture.

House-made bread

There were three types of bread: seaweed bread, white bun and brioche. They were all very good and the brioche was my favorite. 

Main course

Liberty farms duck - celery root, pear, chamomile
Best duck I have ever had. Nice crust, moist and warm inside.
Thai Snapper - black truffle, carrots, peas, parsnip
ery nice crust, slight softened by the sauce but still good. I loved the seasoning, but the duck was a clear winner.

Desserts

Fallen Branch - parsnip, champagne anglaise, illanka
It was.... interesting. Interesting combination of flavors, not my favorite dessert but I love the presentation! Fallen Branch!
Kawa-ishi - kinako, black sesame
I loved this dessert! Green tea, chocolate and black sesame are perfect match together. Also love the combination of soft ice-cream and crunchy flakes.
Petit fours - peppermint macaron, lychee coconut candy and truffle with hazelnut crust
Never a big fan of peppermint, and still not. I like the lychee coconut flavor candy and truffle, but they are slightly sweet and heavy at the end.
Take-home breakfast - Brioche muffin
Soft brioche with sweet filling. t was really nice to have something to take home, and it was delicious as well.

This is the best dineLA I have ever had. I was very skeptical at first, because the dineLA menu is often not as good as the normal menu of the restaurant and is usually disappointing. Providence did a great job with dineLA, and it was very nice to be able to have that kind of quality for a much cheaper price. I really hope they do it again!

Christmas Dinner with dear friends - Kagaya Shabu Shabu Little Tokyo

This is a recap the night before Christmas eve. My girlfriends and I decided to have a little Christmas dinner together, and one of the friends really like Shabu Shabu, so we decided to try this place out.

It is a really tiny place. Reservation is recommended. Parking is a little tough, but there's always valet if you really can't find a spot. There are pretty much 3 options for the shabu shabu, seafood ~$63), beef (~$52), and a mixed (~$62). There are also different types of beef you can get depending on how much you want to spend. I thought the price is only for the shabu shabu, and I was fine with it. Guess what? It is actually a whole set of dinner consisting of six courses total.

We have three amazing appetizers: the blue fin tuna, duck soup and the sea bass. Then, it comes the main course, the seafood/meat. I was not a big fan of oyster until I had some really good ones, and the oysters here was absolutely amazing. Fresh and fairly big as well. The seafood was exceptional, huge clams, very fresh and meaty Alaskan crabs. The beef was really good as well as you can see from the fat pattern of the meat. The shabu shabu comes with a bunch of greens, mushrooms as well as noodles. We were so full afterwards.

After we were done with the shabu shabu, they took the soup and made it into porridge, which was absolutely delicious. You also have a choice of udon.

After all that food, we still have dessert! There are a variety to choose from, and we had banana pudding, crème brûlée and green tea mousse cake. They are all very good. I especially like the green tea mousse cake, it's slightly bitter, but very strong matcha flavor. It normally has condensed milk over it, but I think it is good as is.

Candy Cane Lane

After dinner, we decided to find a little Christmas, so we went to the candy cane lane. We have all lived in LA for so long, but never been here. There are two different ones, and we went to the older one in Woodland Hills. It was pretty packed with families. I guess we weren't the only people who wants to see some extravagant Christmas light decoration!
We saw a real train, a real sleigh, a big snowman, and a lot of Santa Clauses. It was real cool to see all the decorations. We were all wondering where do these things go when it's not Christmas?  

Christmas Dinner with my love - Spago Beverly Hills

Another restaurant on my list checked! Starting December, there will be a lot of fancy dinners coming up because of all the occasions or excuses!

Well, the restaurant is in Beverly Hills, and you can totally tell from the décor. Fancy and modern.  

We ordered some wine (we like white, still working on the red). The little cup of squash soup is a complimentary dish from the chef and it was spectacular, and that's before we ordered any food. That definitely set my expectations for the place, and it did not disappoint. The breads were really good as well, and I love their nori (seaweed) butter!!!! I am very picky with the butter, and my favorite butter is from Hatfield's (but the restaurant no longer exist), and this is the second! We made the mistake of having too much bread and butter.......

We ordered 3 appetizers (because it's so hard to choose!!!!).
Half-Dozen Fanny Bay and Kusshi Oysters, Cocktail Sauce, Mignonette, Horseradish.
Never a big fan of the cocktail sauce, but the Mignonette was great. Very good oyster, can pretty much eat it without any sauce.
Big Eye Tuna and Hamachi "Chirashi Box", Salmon Pearls, Santa Barbara Uni, Yuzu- Jalapeño Gel.
This dish, to me, was the HIGHLIGHT. Fantastic salmon pearls and uni. Loved the yuzu- jalapeño gel. They put some spice on the rice underneath the seafood, and it was very good.
Stir-Fried Shishito Peppers, Black Bean Glaze, Shiitake Mushrooms, Fresno Chili.
have always loved shishito peppers, and I really like the Asian take of this. Very delicious.

We tried one of the pasta dish.
Squid-Ink Garganelli, Baby Octopus, Chili, Confit Sweet Onions, Tempura Sea Beans.
oved the combination, and the sauce was great.

We ordered two entrées. I was debating between the dover sole and the black bass, and I think I regretted not getting the bass, but the dover sole was very good as well.
Roasted Dover Sole, Port-Ginger Reduction, Spinach, Fennel Purée, Wild Mushroom, 10-Spice.
Loved the fried skeleton design on the plate. The port-ginger reduction was just as good as I expected, and the fennel purée was a perfect match.
Colorado Lamb Rack, Falafel "Macarons" with Labneh, Cucumber Ralta, Smoked Eggplant, Harissa.
The falafel "macarons" were SO delicious. Lamb was cooked to perfection.

We were so full by this time, and so we can only order one dessert. We were struggling between the mille feuille and the chocolate cake, but we think the mille feuille might be too heavy for us.
Flourless Chocolate Cake, Praline Crisps, Dark Chocolate, Coffee Ice-Cream.
Great finish. Dessert is often the end of dinner, and sometimes how I remembered a restaurant. Not too sweet, and I loved the praline crisps and coffee ice-cream a lot. But definitely want to come back for the mille feuille because the table next to us ordered it, and it looked so good.

Great end of the year and start of our one-week lab-free break!

Bencotto Kitchen - Little Italy San Diego

Guai lo wanted to go to San Diego to hang out with his cousins, and how can I not use this opportunity to try some good food around the area? How about some Italian food in little Italy?
have been eyeing this restaurant for a while, and finally got around to trying this place! It's a cute little restaurant with pretty modern décor and all the pasta here is home-made! I have to say, home-made pasta is just a basic criteria for a good Italian place, right? We ordered a lot of dishes, honestly too much, but they are all so delicious! Most of our selections were from the specials menu, and I am trying my best to remember what they are.

ppetizers:
Truffle Ricotta Parmesan Souffle, with mushroom cream sauce
ried Zucchini blossom
Cured Meat Platter
ggplant Parmesan

Main course:
Crab Ravioli with Lobster sauce
quid Ink Striped Pasta with prosecco cream sauce
quid Ink Fettucine with shrimp and lobster

Desserts (I can't believe I forgot to take pictures!):
istachio Semifreddo with cherry coulis
lmond Semifreddo with chocolate sauce

My favorite appetizer is the fried zucchini blossom, it's light, simple but tasty. My favorite main course is the squid ink fettucine, the sauce has a very slight spiciness to it, and it paired really well with the seafood. Pasta is al dente and fresh. Last but not least, drumroll please....... SEMIFREDDO!!! It's definitely a rare find in the Italian restaurants in the US, and I finally found it! And it's absolutely amazing. It's kind of like the perfect medium of mousse and ice-cream.
o conclude, this is probably one of the best Italian restaurants I have been to recently, and I strongly recommend this place to all of you foodies!! Forgot to mention, service was excellent as well!

Bazaar by José Andrés - bizarrely delicious!

We went to The Bazaar for my birthday dinner this year! Spanish tapas style~ I was debating between this or Animal, but decided that I am in the mood for Spanish food~ 

It is a tapas-style restaurant, so the menu is pretty big, and you should expect 3-4 dishes per person because dishes are tiny! I like small dishes because I can order more variety, at the same time I hate small dishes, because I have to order more to fill me up. It is a love-hate relationship. 

Well, it is my birthday. Definitely calls for a drink (or drinkS lol), and I ordered Passion Fruit Up! (orange rum, passion fruit, ginger-laurel syrup, passion fruit foam) It is really fruity (you can tell the fruit is fresh), but not too sweet. I also ordered some white wine for the seafood I ordered below!

Oyster & Hibiscus - passion fruit, finer lime, vanilla oil
Great fresh oyster, always nice with some acidity

Tuna Ceviche & Avocado Roll - jicama, micro cilantro, coconut
It is very fresh and tasty, but in an expected way. 

Hokkaido Scallop Ceviche - leche de tigre, sweet potato, freeze-dried corn, cilantro (Above)
The plating is really bizarre to me...... but it is delicious! I always love the leche de tigre, it is a Peruvian citrus-based marinade in ceviche. Besides the acidity, the sweetness from the sweet potato balanced it really well. 


Gazpacho - chilled tomato, green bell pepper, cucumber (To the left)
It is a little strong for my taste, but very interesting.

Sea urchin Steamed Buns - avocado, eel sauce, tempura flakes
Interesting plating using Chinese bamboo steamer. Pretty generous on the sea urchin, and it tasted really fresh.
King Crab Steamed Buns - pickled cucumber, shisa, mayo
The pickled cucumber goes surprisingly well with the crab.

Eggplant Tempura - local honey, buttermilk
It looks like... um.... fried eggplant.... but the taste is very unexpected. The honey foam gave it a hint of sweetness.

Grilled Spanish Octopus - caramelized onions, chicken escabeche, cherry tomato
Highlight of the night! This is definitely a must-order dish! It might be an ordinary traditional Spanish dish, but it's cooked exceptionally well. I have never had octopus like this. And the cherry tomatoes were juicy and plump. Perfect dish. 

Rossejat' Negra paella-style pasta - squid ink, sepia sofrito, shrimp
Had a very similar dish at Ink, and I think it's just as good. I really like the paella-style squid ink pasta. I have made it my mission to learn how to cook this. 

Seared Scallops, Romesco sauce
My first time having the Romesco sauce, and it goes so well with the scallop! It is basically a nut and red pepper-based sauce originated from northeastern Spain. I felt like there's more to the sauce, but I can't tell what it is..... I felt like there's some egg yolk in it? 

Seared Rabbit "Al Ajillo" - Garlic, potato, parsley
Rabbit is always a little gamey for me, but this one was not!

Jamón Croquetas - fried quail eggs, escalivada puree
Loved the quail eggs on top! Couldn't taste the ham so much though. 

"Philly Cheesesteak"* - Air bread, cheddar, wagyu beef
Tiniest Philly Cheesesteak you will ever seen! Beef was cooked perfectly as you can see in the picture. 

Dungeness Crab "A La Donostiarra" - Tomato sofrito, seafood broth, toasted bread
Love the tomato sofrito with the crab meat, very nice. A tad bit salty though.

Beef Tartare - Kimchi crackers, pickled shallot, fried capers
Love the crispy and soft texture combination. I can't tell is it too little seasoning or they just want us to taste the beef itself. 

Caramelized Dark Chocolate Mousse, Vanilla Crème brûlée, Crispy Praline Cake
Very artsy presentation. Good combination of flavors. What can go wrong with chocolate, vanilla and praline?!
Mille-feuille, Caramel Cream and Salted Caramel
Very tasty. I always love mille-feuille, and this one was delicious. I love the caramel cream, but I think the caramel in the middle might a little much. 
Traditional Spanish flan, vanilla & citrus
How can we not try the traditional flan when we were in a Spanish restaurant! I loved the vanilla cream and the hint of citrus in the flan, but the flan is a little too heavy (can use a little less cream I think). 

Overall, it was a great dining experience. Service was excellent. Food was delicious. The octopus is my absolute favorite. Price is fair for the quality of food. 4.5/5
 

Lotus of Siam - Las Vegas

Last weekend, we went to the Havasu Falls in Supai, Arizona, and it was absolutely amazing. On the way there, we passed through Vegas and got buffet at Bacchanal in Caesar Palace, and we weren't really impressed by it. We decided that on the way back, we should try one of the local restaurants in Vegas. Vegas has more than buffets, right?! We came across this Thai place called Lotus of Siam in a relatively sketchy area. It is located in a huge plaza, but the parking lot of the plaza is mostly empty! It opens at 5:30 pm for dinner, and we were a little early, so we went to Chinatown to get a boba to quench the heat (it was 38C/100F!). We came back at 5:35, and there was already a LINE!!!!! Oh my, it must be damn good!

It was a huge restaurant inside, and the decor was a little fancy for good Asian food, but we will see! They have a pretty thick menu and what surprises me is that they do not only have the usual Thai items we've found in the U.S., but they also have a couple of northern Thai dishes! I had a lot of northern Thai dishes when I was in Chiang-Mai, and it was amazing. 

We were all dying to try everything here, so we ordered quite a lot. But the dishes weren't that big, so we were able to finish everything. 

Pork Sa-tay - Pork marinated with fresh herbs and spices, grilled, served with peanut sauce
Som Thum (papaya salad) - Classic Thai dish, green papaya, tomato, chili, crushed peanuts with lime juice and fish sauce
Northern style Tom Kah Kai - This northern home style chicken soup has no coconut cream, cooked with roasted green chili, tomato, onion, fresh herb and spices
Northern Larb - Ground pork cooked with northern Thai spices without the lime juice
Drunken Noodle Soft Shell Crab - Deep fried soft shell crab with homemade fresh chilis and Thai basil, served on top of pan fried flat rice noodle
Crispy Duck with Penang - Crispy duck topped with Thai style red cream curry sauce
Green Curry - Green curry paste with coconut cream, bamboo shoots, Thai basil, fresh chilis and your choice of meat or tofu
Mango Sticky Rice - Classic Thai dessert, coconut cream on sticky rice, topped with mango

Everything was DELICIOUS! Way better than the Thai food I have had in LA so far. The pork satay was very tender and juicy and the papaya salad was fresh. For the northern dishes, the soup was great, a lot lighter than the normal soups with coconut cream, and the larb was very flavorful. The highlight is definitely the crispy duck with Penang. The duck skin was really crispy and the red cream curry was just perfect. This place might just become my destined food spot on the way to the canyons!  

Angelini Osteria

Today is a special day. It's our 3-year anniversary! Guai lo took me out to dinner at a nice Italian restaurant called Angelini Osteria. He knows I love Italian food and he did lots of research to find this place, and it happens to be on my list of restaurants-to-try as well!

Small cozy restaurant, slightly crowded, but it's okay. As long as there's good food, I don't mind a little intimacy. As soon as we sat down, they gave us some house-made bread, straight from the stone oven. It is almost like crackers, with salt and parsley on top. Pretty yummy.
After bread, we got some chef's compliments. Octopus with cherry tomatoes and grilled calamari with arugula. We were very hungry when we got there, so it was so nice to have so much food to eat right after we sat down! 

Here's what we ordered:
Zuppa Del Giorno, Asparagus, Broccoli Soup
- Excellent starter for a chilly night, pipping hot, creamy but light, the taste of asparagus and broccoli melts in your mouth

Roasted Veal Bone Marrow Saffron Gnocchetti, Asparagus, Aged Balsamic Vinegar
- One of my favorite dishes of the night! The bone marrow was cooked and seasoned perfectly, and the gnocchetti and asparagus helped balance out the natural greasiness of the bone marrow. Delizioso!

Sauteed Maine Scallops, Mushrooms, Aged Balsamic
- Scallop is one of my favorite seafood, and they nailed it. It's slightly salty, but it was well cooked, and the mushroom was sauteed perfectly.

Housemade Tagliatelle, Duck Ragu, Parmigiano Reggiano
- I can never resist house-made pasta. Pasta was al dente, duck was seasoned really well, and I love the sauce. Perfezionare. 

Risotto Ai Frutti Di Mare, Risotto Acquerello, cuttlefish, lobster, calamari, shrimp, mussels, clams
- The dish was good, but not as good as I imagined it. Risotto was cooked very well, and the sauce has a little heat, which I like, but nothing really special about it. I guess it is one of the classic dish. A little regret that I didn't go for the Dover Sole.

Cassata Italiana (Semifreddo, caramelized hazelnuts, pistachios, dried fruit, raspberry puree)
- Finally found a restaurant with semifreddo! Semifreddo is one of my favorite Italian desserts. This semifreddo was damn good. Dried fruit and raspberry puree gave the dessert the right amount of acidity, and the nuts gave it a little crunch, together with the creamy semifreddo.... um.....it's just soooo good <3

Crostata di Cioccolato (Espresso cream, hazelnut gelato, chocolate sauce)
- This is a very expected dessert from the description. Don't get me wrong, it is very good. It is not sweet at all, but all the flavors are there. Bitter and aromatic espresso cream, hazelnut ice cream, crunchy chocolate tart and dark chocolate sauce, match in heaven! 

It is always nice to be able to have a good dessert at the end of the dinner. Not all places have good dessert, but if they do, it really gives the dinner the perfect ending. Happy Anniversary dear <3

This is a little gift I got for the anniversary. It's from boldloft. They have really cute couple products. Each design has its own meaning, and this one I got means "we belong together". Besides coffee mugs, they also have glasses, pillow cases, etc. Perfect for anniversary or Valentine's day! And I literally, JUST found out that they have Valentine's day sale!! Should have waited to get this........ T_T 

Shunji - One of the best sushi places in West LA

Happy Birthday my love! That's right, it was the guai lo's birthday this week! He had this tradition of going to Japanese restaurants on his birthday, and I wanted to keep this little tradition of his, so I took him out to a really nice Japanese restaurant called Shunji, which happens to be close to our place too. Perfect for a weekday night out!
It is a small restaurant, once again, I love small restaurants. Small restaurants are usually better than big restaurants in my experience. Anyways, there are counter seats, as well as tables, and we chose the counter seats because we wanted to see the sushi as it was made!

We ordered a couple of beers and umeshu, and their umeshu is super good! I tend to like sweeter wine, and that umeshu was just perfect! As for the food, I knew about their omakase, and I was thinking about that, but at the end, we decided we wanted to try more different dishes, so we just ordered a bunch of different things to share! 

Yellowtail Sashimi
Serrano chiles, chive with daidai soy sauce

The serrano chiles gave it just the right amount of heat, and the cold fish itself balanced it off nicely. 

Oysters!
Nothing beats a real fresh oyster!

Cute chopstick rest! 

Nagareko (Baby Abalone)
Super yummy! The thingy on the left is the liver of the abalone. 

Squid mix with black squid ink, uni, truffle, and quail egg

This is probably one of my favorite appetizers of the night! Must-try! Crunchy squid with hint of truffle, and creamy egg yolk, it is soooo good. 

Satoimo Manju
Savory mashed taro potatoes stuffed with shrimp and shiitake mushrooms blanketed with a soy dashi gravy

A nice warm dish. The shrimp inside is cooked really well and the taro is perfectly seasoned.

Agedashi Tomato Tofu
One of the Chef Shunji's original, signature creations.

Very interesting dish. They use 5 different Japanese tomatoes, pureed the tomato and add "the magic powder", and ta-da! Tomato Tofu! Very tasty! It's tempura fried, so there's a slight crunchiness on the outside!

Forgot the name of the dish, but basically a combination of sukiyaki and shabu shabu. 

Japanese premium wagyu, napa cabbage, and shiitake mushroom in a sweet soy jus

Very good beef. Well executed. 

Vegetable Tempura

Probably one of the best tempura I've had. Look at them! It's very lightly coated! This is exactly what tempura should be like! The batter is way too thick in other restaurants. 
 

We also wanted to order Shirako Chawan Mushi (steamed egg custard with eggplant and bluecrab topped with steamed cod milt, truffles and thickened dashi ponzu), it sounds soooo good but they are out T_T

Then, the sushi(s)!!! This is what we ordered:
Blue Fin Toro, Kinme Dai (Golden Eye Snapper), Kamasu (Japanese Barracuda), Akayagara (Trumpet Fish), Nodoguro (Rosy Seabass), Sayori (Needle Fish), Bafun Uni (Japanese sea urchin), Hotate (Japanese Scallop), Unagi (Fresh Water Eel). We wanted to order the Shira Ebi (White Shrimp), but they are out :(
I really like the variety of the fish they have, and you don't see some of them very often in other sushi places. Fish is really fresh and I can't tell you how good they are! You would really have to try it yourself! They brush the soy sauce on top of the fish, which is exactly how I like it. I always feel like too much sauce when I dip my sushi into the little plate of soy sauce. They solved my problem! My favorite is the golden eye snapper and rosy seabass, MUST TRY!!!! The golden eye snapper tasted really sweet! The fish has an inherent sweetness that makes it very memorable. I mean, they are ALL really GOOD! I really don't think there is any bad choice. 

Excellent dining experience. Great service. Quality food. Can't ask for more! The birthday boy is very satisfied, and that's all that matters! Although my heart did jump a little when I saw the bill, it was all worth it!