REVIEW w/pics: Sweet (Desserts from Patio Filipino) Followe By Savory (Lechon from Tastebuds) in San Bruno

You'd think that after doing a Ferry Building Food Crawl, even a group of dedicated food lovers may have hit their limit, but three of us still wanted something sweet and somehow, nothing at the Ferry Building was appealing to our sweet tooth. So after conferring, we decided to take a short drive to Patio Filipino in San Bruno to get some Filipino desserts. This was actually going to be my second visit there since I had dinner there just a few weeks before. When we arrived, we started off with a round of drinks that included buko juice and calamansi juice.

As for dessert, we ordered 3 different kinds. The first to arrive was the Buko Con Seta which had jello made from fresh coconut juice with sweet beans and topped with ube ice cream. It all arrived nicely packaged in a coconut shell. I had this before and even the second time around, it was just as refreshing.

Next was the Turon with Ice Cream. Turon is a fried banana lumpia (aka egg roll). Sometimes, turon is also a combination of banana and jackfruit. What's different about the lumpia wrapper for the turon is that sugar is usually sprinkled inside the wrapper. When it's fried, the turon has a lovely caramelization to it and that's what was good about the turon at Patio Filipino plus it arrived warm and crispy to our table.

Last was the Crema Pastelera which is a Flan Served with whatever berries are in season. While we were there, it was all about the strawberries. There wasn't anything unique about this flan, but it had a nice custardy texture, it wasn't too sweet and it tasted good. What more do you need? By this time, we were stuffed to the gills and we honestly weren't going to eat anything else. But then, while stopping to get bottled water, we ended up right next door to Tastebuds.

Tastebuds is a Filipino restaurant that specializes in lechon (whole roasted pig) and from Tuesday through Sunday, they serve a different style of Lechon We were actually planning on eating there while we were visiting San Francisco, but couldn't seem to fit it in our schedule and yet, there it was. So we went inside just to take a look and were greeted with a very porkalicious sight!

The plan was just to order some lechon to go. Our intentions were good. They cut some pork, including skin, from that roast pig, put everything into a to go container for us to go back to the hotel with. However, it was looking and smelling so good, we broke down and actually ended up sitting down and eating that crispy skin and moist succulent pork goodness straight from the plastic container.

Wow, that was some of the best lechon I've had in a really long time and unfortunately, there isn't a Filipino restaurant in Los Angeles that does what Tastebuds does. So if you're reading this and you own a Filipino Restaurant in LA, please follow Tastebuds' lead and I bet you'll get a lot of happy pork lovers coming your way.

Patio Filipino
1770 El Camino Real
San Bruno, CA 94066
(650) 872-9888

Tastebuds
582 San Bruno Ave W
San Bruno, CA 94066
(650) 583-0899

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2012/03/la2bay-sweet-desserts-at-patio-filipino.html

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REVIEW w/pics: Rocio's Moles de los Dioses in Huntington Park

I hope you enjoy your meal as much as I did. :)

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REVIEW w/pics: Rocio's Moles de los Dioses in Huntington Park

When it comes to Moles in LA, there are few that can beat the mole creations of Chef Rocio Camacho. I first experienced her unique and delicious moles at Moles La Tia, where she once served as the Executive Chef. She eventually made her way to being the Executive Chef at La Huasteca in Lynwood and even worked as a restaurant consultant. In fact, one of the restaurants she worked with in terms of helping the Chef to finesse his moles was Juan's Restaurante in Baldwin Park. Juan's has become one of my favorite eating destinations ever since my first visit there last December.

Now it's Chef Rocio's turn and she has finally opened two restaurants, first in Huntington Park and then in Sun Valley. They are both aptly named Rocio's Moles de los Dioses (Rocio's Moles of the Gods). It's been a long time since I've had Chef Rocio's moles so I was happy to finally pay a visit with a friend to her Huntington Park restaurant.

My meal started with an Horchata, but this was no run of the mill pre-made Horchata that you'll usually see at a lot of Mexican restaurants. Instead, it was freshly made up of condensed, evaporated and whole milk as well as pumpkin seeds that were boiled in cinnamon and fresh cactus flower syrup. The glass was also rimmed with colored sugar. What a perfect start to the meal. It was a little rich, but not overly sweet and the cinnamon gave it a nice spice.

Our first appetizer consisted of 3 Types of Empanadas (Huitlacoche, Cheese and Squash Blossom). The empanada itself had a nice flaky crust and all the fillings were nicely seasoned. I have to give props to the huitlacoche which had a lovely smoky flavor to it. We also shared a Queso con Chorizo with cheese, onions and chipotle chili. I've had my share of Queso dishes over the years, but this was one of my favorite renditions. The addition of the chipotle took this to another level with a nice hit of smoky heat that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I must have been parched because I drank up my horchata like there wasn't any tomorrow, but instead of getting a second serving of that, I opted to try the Bebida de los Dioses aka the Drink of the Gods instead. This drink is made to order with cacao, cinnamon, corn, vanilla and almonds. I think some of those ingredients are ground because the drink itself was pretty smooth. Even more so than the Horchata, I loved this drink. It was served fairly cold and it was so refreshing. This is the type of drink you'd order during a hot summer LA day.

After we finished up our two starters, we went to the main event which consisted of a meat sampler plate and a sample of six moles. First, there was the Mole de Cafe, which was a bit sweet, but paired perfectly with the shrimp. The second one I tried was the Mole Mandarin. It was definitely interesting. I likened it to being a dessert topping, but it did fine with the chicken. The three other moles included a Mole Poblano, Mancha Manteles and a Mole Verde, and were all very good.

However, my favorite mole had a bold spicy citrus taste to it and was called Salsa de Mezcal y Gusano Maguey. The key ingredient came from a bottle of Mezcal that just happened to have a worm or two inside as well. From what I understood, the worms don't actually make it into this mole, but I could be wrong. Overall, Chef Rocio's moles had a silky smooth texture that were amazing. Each of the moles also had their own distinct flavors that were layered and complex. I was definitely happy to have Chef Rocio back doing what she does best.

From the moles, we also tried a couple of tacos, a Lamb Barbacao Taco and a Cochinita Pibil Taco. Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed. The lamb was a little gamey for my taste and while the cochinita pibil was moist, the flavor seemed lacking. It lacked a spicy kick.

We were quite full, but yes, we fit in dessert. In fact, we tried 3 different ones. First, there was the Diosa del Tiempo which are Conserved Pumpkins and Tejocates. Tejocates are a crab-apple-like fruit, but aren't actually apples. This particular dessert tends to makes its appearance during the Christmas holidays. It's definitely something I've never had before. The sweetness of the pumpkin was a good foil for the slightly crunchy tartness of the tejocates.

Next were the Bananas in Tequila Sauce which was not only pretty looking but tasty as well. Finally, it all ended with a Rompope Flan. Rompope is an eggnog liquer and unfortunately, it erred on being too sweet for me. The flan itself had a nice texture, but that rompope was just too overwhelming.

Overall, I had a wonderful first time meal at Rocio's Moles de los Dioses. While there were a couple of misses, the moles were without flaw and I look forward for a return visit so that I can try even more moles and dishes from her menu.

Rocio's Mole de Los Dioses
6242 Maywood Ave
Huntington Park, CA 90255
(323) 588-5536

To see post with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2012/03/mole-of-gods-by-mole-queen-chef-rocio.html

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: The Best Counter Dining I Ever Had Was at Chef Gary Menes' Le Comptoir

I'm so glad you liked the review and I hope you enjoy your meal as much as I did. :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: The Best Counter Dining I Ever Had Was at Chef Gary Menes' Le Comptoir

Apparently, they're going to be around through May and after that, who knows.

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: The Best Counter Dining I Ever Had Was at Chef Gary Menes' Le Comptoir

With our love for food, it's only natural that Filipinos have entered into all facets of the culinary world, whether it's as a food business owner or as a chef. In fact, please check out my Filipino Food Love Page to read about some of them who are based in LA. This particular post is all about Chef Gary Menes, whose food chops are definitely impressive, starting with his first job at the Patina Restaurant in LA to his stint at the world-renowned French Laundry with Chef Thomas Keller in 2000.

After French Laundry, he returned to Los Angeles and earned 2, 3 and 2-1/2 stars successively from the LA Times for when he helmed the Firefly, Palate Food + Wine and the recently closed Marche. Currently, Chef Menes is running his own pop-up restaurant at Tiara Cafe in downtown Los Angeles. The name, Le Comptoir, is French for The Counter and refers to one's dining experience which involves sitting at 1 of 12 counter seats, which allows a bird's eye view of all the action.

What's interesting is that given all his time in Los Angeles, my very first time trying Chef Menes' food was at Le Comptoir. When it comes to dining at Le Comptoir, it's a 5 course set menu; however, 3 of the courses could be swapped out with a different dish for a supplemental fee. Luckily, my dining partner and I ordered both the regular and the supplemental menu so that we could share everything.

It started with us eyeing these beautiful loaves of bread sitting in front of us. Eventually, those loaves were sliced and served throughout the meal. They were perfect vehicles for dipping in whatever was left on our plates. After getting our bread, the rest of the meal commenced.

Our something amusing aka our Amuse Bouche was a French Cheese Puff filled with fromage blanc, gruyere and chives. Chef Menes mentioned that the flavors would remind us of ranch dip and that was definitely spot on. As for the cheese puff itself, it was light and airy.

Next up are the first course and the supplemental first course. The first course was an Okiwanan sweet yam veloute with pickled chanterelles, yogurt and farinette. I enjoyed the soup's smooth and silky texture as well as the sweet-earthy flavors of the ingredients. The presentation was also a nice touch.

The supplemental first course was a French foie gras terrine with a preserved cherry compote and barrel aged vinegar. Sitting at the counter gave us a good view of Chef Menes slicing the foie gras terrine for us. As for this dish, I really appreciated how the tart-sourness of the cherries and vinegar cut into the sweet richness of the foie gras.

The second course was a multi-step process. First, you were presented with a plate of greens, herbs and herbed butter as well as a very hot stone slab. Soon a small cast iron pan arrived with a sunny-side egg. We were then instructed to add the butter, then the greens and as little or all of the herbs and mix everything together. The herbs and sorrel added a nice hit of "spice" and overall, it was quite tasty.

Next was the third course and the supplemental third course. The third course was a "veggie platter"with musque de provence squash, mustard frill, fennel, bermuda onion petal, beets, brussels sprouts, warren pears and grapes. This was one of the best plate of vegetables I've ever had. I don't even know how to describe how good everything tasted. The textures were perfect and how the individual flavors of the various ingredients played off of each other was sublime.

As for the supplemental third course, it was house made fettuccine with parmesan-reggiano cheese and burgundy black truffles. Simply, it was rich, cheesy, earthy and delicious.

Following our third course(s) came the fourth course and the supplemental fourth course. Our fourth course consisted of heirloom shelling beans "pot roast", romano beans, young celery, smoked scallions, sultana raisin-pistachio relish and truffle froth. The heirloom shelling shells had a lovely "meaty" texture which went well with the crunch of the beans and the celery.

The supplemental fourth course was a j&j grassfed strip loin with hearts of romaine, tomato marmalade, barbara's (of Windrose Farms) potatoes and parsley vinaigrette. The strip loin was cooked perfectly, red and juicy. It went well with the herbaceous parsley vinaigrette which reminded me of a chimichurri sauce. The tomato marmalade also added a nice acidity.

Finally, it was dessert time and what we got was a "lemon lush", graham cracker, chocolate, sour cream and vanilla tuille. Unfortunately, this dessert was the weakest part of the meal for me. The "lemon lush" had a nice lemony taste to it, but didn't have the luscious, creamy texture that I was looking for. I also found the vanilla tuille to be a bit hard. While the meal didn't end strongly with the dessert option, everything else up to that point was so good that it didn't detract from what I thought was one of my best meals of 2011.

Overall, this was truly a delicious dining experience and although better late than never, I left there kicking myself that I didn't get to experience any of Chef Menes' food earlier. All I can do now is make sure that my first experience will not be my last.

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2012/03/best-counter-dining-ive-ever-had-was-at.html

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Le Comptoir
127 E 9th St, Los Angeles, CA 90014

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REVIEW w/ pics: The Jokbal (aka Braised Pork Foot and Shank) Was No Joke at Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal

I'm sorry that I didn't see your message earlier, but I'm glad that you had a wonderful Jokbal experience, too. :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: The Jokbal (aka Braised Pork Foot and Shank) Was No Joke at Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal

After reading an LA Times article about a Koreantown restaurant called Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal, I knew I wanted to see what the fuss was all about regarding their jokbal. So what exactly is Jokbal?

Basically, it's a braised pork foot and shank and apparently, one restaurant serves the best version. Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal is a satellite of a renowned braised pork foot specialty restaurant in Seoul. Several years ago, the owner of the Seoul restaurant came to Los Angeles, bringing with her a sample of the braising liquid she uses. She proceeded to train her nephew-in-law on how to make jokbal properly. With that knowledge, Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal came to be.

Now that you have a little background, let's talk about the food. As is standard in many Korean restaurants, the meal starts with an array of panchan. The panchan was just okay, nothing to write home about. Along with the panchan also came dipping sauces, lettuce, jalapeno and raw garlic for the jokbal itself.

After noshing on the panchan for awhile, the jokbal arrived in all its glory. Its presentation almost reminded me of flower petals because of the way the meat was sliced and fanned out. The jokbal could be dipped in the sauces and eaten on their own. Another alternative is for the jokbal to be wrapped in lettuce along with the raw garlic, a jalapeno with a dollop of the sauce.

I did it both ways and both ways were delicious. The pork was tender and I loved how the ribbons of fat around the pork slices had a soft, gelatinous texture. There was a definite soy sauce flavor that I tasted as well as a bit of sweetness that may have come from some type of sugar. Other than that, I don't know what other braising ingredients were used, but it simply didn't matter because this jokbal was amazing.

Not so amazing and unfortunately, not very good were the other dishes we ordered along with the Jokbal, which included Pan Fried Squid and Pan Fried Spicy Pork Hock. The squid was way too chewy and the pork fried pork hock was overcooked. Also, not only did both dishes look alike, the sauces they were cooked in tasted the same. Unfortunately, the Pan Fried Spicy Pork Hock wasn't spicy at all, which made it even more difficult to differentiate it from the Pan Fried Squid.

Another disappointment was their Seafood Pancake. It looked promising when it came out, thick and hearty. I liked that the pancake's surface was nicely browned, but I think the seafood must have been invisible, because there was little to none to be seen or eaten. There was a little bit of shrimp, but not enough to really merit calling this dish a Seafood Pancake.

The only dish other than the jokbal that tasted really good was their Buckwheat Yam Noodles with vegetables and topped with a chili sauce. The noodles had a nice chewy texture and the chili sauce brought the heat that the Pan Fried Spicy Pork Hock was missing.

Suffice to say, the jokbal is truly the star of this restaurant. While you certainly can order other things from the menu, if all you had was the jokbal, that would be enough to make this meal one of the best you've ever had.

Jangchung-Dong Wong Jokbal
425 S. Western Avenue
Suite E
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 386-3535

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2012/01/jokbal-was-no-joke-at-jangchung-dong.html

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

Six Taste Bizarre Food Challenge Tour

When I think of what constitutes as a "bizarre food", it's not so much that I think particular foods are inherently bizarre by definition. It's more like there are foods out there that I can't fathom myself wanting to eat. Wanting to expand my culinary horizon, I decided to take on the Six Taste Bizarre Food Challenge. Six Taste is a Los Angeles food tour company and for their Bizarre Food Challenge, it's a tour that you have to set up with them as a private tour. It takes place in the city of San Gabriel and the focus is on "bizarre" Chinese delicacies.

Our first bizarre bite of the day was from a Century Egg. The sheer blackness of the egg looked a bit daunting in the bright morning light, but it was a pretty background surrounding the striations of the yolk, which looked like agate. Century Eggs are duck, chicken or quail eggs that are preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, quicklime, salt and rice hulls for several weeks to several months. They can be eaten on their own, but are usually eaten with something else like chilled tofu or mixed in a rice congee.

I think this is one food I would have liked to eat with something else. By itself, the strong ammonia smell was off putting. When I finished eating the egg, there was a lingering sulpher taste that lingered on my palate that even a few swigs of water couldn't seem to drive away. Suffice to say, this is one egg I'm happy to avoid in the future.

Afterwards, we walked over to Aji Ichiban, which our guide referred to as a Taiwanese-Japanese Branded-Chinese Snack Shop. Got that? I actually had to write that down so I could remember. Inside, you'll find a variety of dried goods like dried fruit and vegetables. You'll also find dried seafood, jerky and other types of snacks as well as candy. In fact, they even sell durian candy and of course, I got some to take home.

This is where we dug into fried mini crabs. What was bizarre was that I had no problem munching on them; yet, when I've had fried whole smelts (which are small fish), I always cut the head off before eating the rest of the body. But then there are others who will only have fish fillets because eating from a whole fish would be too foreign. People definitely do have interesting food do's and don'ts. Me included.

Right next door was our next stop at 101 Hot Pot Cafe. This restaurant shares its name with another 101 Hot Pot Cafe that is located in the Taipei 101 Mall, which is the second tallest building in South East Asia. Here we sampled three dishes.

First up was a Steamed Stinky Tofu. Stinky tofu is basically tofu that is preserved for a several months in a brine made up of fermented milk, vegetables, meat and possibly other ingredients. I was a little worried about eating this because I had fried stinky tofu a couple of weeks ago at another restaurant and found the taste to be too pungent and a little too "rotten tasting" for my palate. However, it was total night and day with this plate of steamed tofu. It definitely had a distinct taste, but one that I liked. Apparently, not all stinky tofu is created equal.

Our next dish was a plate of Steamed Pork Intestines. I had to think about it for awhile before reaching with my chopsticks to snag one, especially since many of us knows what goes through the intestines. It was actually pretty tasty with a chewy texture and I liked it even more when eaten with chili. Our guide did pass on an important bit of information though when it comes to eating intestines. When you pick up an intestine, make sure the center is completely hollowed out. If you see anything hanging around or blocking any part of the middle of that intestine, it may not have been cleaned enough; therefore, it's possibly unsafe to eat.

Last was a bowl of soup that our guide referred to as a good hangover soup. Ingredients included more pork intestines as well as pork blood cubes. I've never been a blood fan when it comes to my food. I just find the taste to be really minerally plus I have to admit to a slight repulsion to eating "blood" foods in general. I did have a little of that blood cube with a spoonful of soup and that was enough for me.

Our next stop was upstairs at Tasty Village. By the way, I may have forgotten to mention that the majority of our tour took place at Focus Plaza, which is home to 99 Ranch Market, restaurants and other businesses. Here we shared a plate of jellyfish. I've actually had jellyfish before and just like then, I enjoyed its cool and crunchy texture.

After we enjoyed the jellyfish, we walked next door to Ay Chung Noodle House, which is a US outpost of the same restaurant that exists in Taiwan. However, in Taiwan, Ay Chung Noodle House is literally a hole in the wall night market stand with no seating and no trashcan. Customers eat standing up out of bowls which they then return to the restaurant when they're done. There they only serve a couple of items. Chung is also the last name of the family that runs these restaurants.

While the San Gabriel location has a bigger menu then their Taiwan counterpart, what they are known for are their rice noodle soups and stinky tofu. The first thing we had was their Small Intestine Rice Noodle Soup made with soy sauce, garlic, a Taiwanese-style vermicelli noodle and thickened with cornstarch. I enjoyed the flavor of the soup, was fine with the intestines, but the soup just had too much of a thick and gloopy texture that I didn't care for. As for the Fried Stinky Tofu, I also really enjoyed it. Like the steamed version I had earlier, it also had a distinct flavor to it that wasn't unappealing.

From Ay Chung Noodle House, we took a walk away from Focus Plaza to Nature Pagoda. The owner of this restaurant also owns a Chinese Medicine Shop at Focus Plaza so some of the foods at Nature's Pagoda are made from various Chinese herbs. Our stop here started innocently with a plate of vegetable dumplings.

Then that plate was joined by two different soups. The first soup was Turtle Soup with a Chinese herb broth that included ginseng and goji berries. This was the first time I've ever had turtle soup. The turtle pieces looked like little beef spareribs and also tasted beef-y to me, but others in the tour thought that the turtle tasted more like duck.

I almost wish that we stopped with the turtle soup because the next soup was definitely a hard mountain to climb for me and for the majority of my group. Before our guide told us what was actually in the soup, he talked about traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine. One of the premises is the belief that whatever organ you eat can replenish a similar or same organ in your body. For example, if you're having liver problems, you'd eat liver. He also mentioned how eating black sesame seeds is thought to keep away gray hair.

The role of the main ingredient in our mystery soup is suppose to help with male virility; hence, what we had before us was an Ox Penis Soup. If I was hesitant about eating the pork intestines, I was even more so about eating this ox penis. After all, I don't need help with my male virility. It didn't help that it looked exactly what it was supposed to be, but this was a Bizarre Food Challenge, so I eventually did the deed. However, I couldn't fathom chewing it, so I just swallowed it whole and yes, I've heard all the jokes already. :-P

From Nature Pagoda, we went to Tasty, a Chinese dessert place. I've only been here once before and it was on the Six Taste New Chinatown Tour. On that tour, our dessert was a mango-coconut dessert. For this second visit, we had a similar dessert, but with a twist.

This particular dessert included black rice, coconut milk ice, fresh mangoes and frog fallopian tubes. Yes, frog fallopian tubes. Like the ox penis, there is a purpose for eating frog fallopian tubes and it has to do with helping with a woman's fertility. As for the frog fallopian tubes, they looked like jelly or a soft jello which you'd find in a lot of Chinese desserts and/or drinks. There wasn't much flavor to them and since I had no issue with the texture, I didn't have a problem eating them, but it's not something I'd go out of my way to order again.

I got two things out of taking this tour. I can definitely say that my culinary horizons have been expanded a bit further. First, I'm more open to the thought of eating pork intestines than I was in the past. Second, stinky tofu really can taste good as long as you go to restaurants that know the best way to prepare them. Third, I wouldn't turn down a bowl of turtle soup if someone offered it to me.

I also reaffirmed to myself that just because certain foods are enjoyed by others, it doesn't mean that I have to like or even eat them (again), regardless of why. I'm glad that I tried the Century Egg, had a bite of that blood cube and even swallowed that ox penis, but there doesn't have to be repeat performances for any of those foods for me. But if I decide never to eat a blood sausage, haagis, a scorpion or a guinea pig, that's okay, too. It's my prerogative.

In the end, while I have my limits, I do have a pretty adventurous palate compared to many. That was very evident when I started regaling my co-workers about all the interesting food that I ate on that tour. My audience wasn't to keen on the century egg and the stinky tofu but once I got to the pork intestines, I completely lost them. Can you imagine how they would have reacted to the ox penis and frog fallopian tubes? Now that would have been interesting.

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2012/01/six-taste-bizarre-food-challenge.html

Sixtaste Food Tours
www.sixtaste.com

Aji Ichiban
140 W Valley Blvd
Suite 109
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-6383

101 Hot Pot Cafe
140 W Valley Blvd
Suite 108
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-7088

Tasty Village
140 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 571-1178

Ay-Chung Noodle
140 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 280-0186

Nature Pagoda
312 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91778
(626) 570-8333

Tasty
250 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel, CA 91778
(626) 282-8263

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: Cactus, Moles and More at Juan's Restaurante

There wasn't any cheese in the huitlacoche empanadas and the restaurant is on Maine off of Arrow Highway. You can get there from the 210, 605 and 10.

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: Cactus, Moles and More at Juan's Restaurante

The chef didn't really give me specific details. He just said that they were made from dry cactus, cactus pulp and lime juice and nothing else.

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: Cactus, Moles and More at Juan's Restaurante

When it comes to Mole, the first time I ever had a Mole dish was in 2006. Don't applaud my good memory. I only knew that because it was an experience that was included in my very first Pleasure Palate blog post. If you don't know what Mole is, you can get more information here,but basically, it's a type of sauce that is part of Mexican cuisine andcould have anywhere from 20 to 40 ingredients. As a food lover, if you've never had mole, you're truly missing out on something special. When done right, a mole sauce can show complexity and have layers of flavor that would simply amaze you.

So when a little birdie or actually a friend mentioned a new mole restaurant called Juan's Restaurante, my ears perked up. When I found out that it was a 15 minute drive my house, I knew I had to check this place out and luckily, I was able to do that through a 15 course tasting menu that was set up with the restaurant.

Walking into Juan's, the first thing I saw was a woman making handmade tortillas, but the one thing that really stood out about them was they were bright green. I'll tell you why later in this post. In the dining room, there was also interesting wall art, but one painting had a recognizable face. It was a painting of Chef Rocio Camacho. Chef Camacho is known for her moles and worked her mole magic at a couple of restaurants before finally opening her own restaurant just recently. She worked as a consultant at Juan's Restaurante for a period of time and served as inspiration to Chef-Owner Juan Mondragon as he perfected his mole recipes.

So now let's talk about our meal which actually started with a beverage tasting. First up was their Sangria Afrodisiaca which is made up of 30 different kinds of fruit, tequila and agave wine. It was just the right amount of sweet with a little hint of tartness.

The second drink was one of three kinds of agua frescas that they serve. If you're a beet lover, then their beet agua fresca that also includes lettuce and apples might be just for you. I actually like beet juice but it can be strong in flavor, so it might not be for everyone. In fact, a couple of people in the group said that this beet agua fresca was like drinking a salad, which may or may not appeal to you.

An agua fresca with cactus and pineapple was the second one we tried. It was actually my favorite. I really liked the slight grassy-sweet-tart flavors of the drink. It was really refreshing and also a nice palate cleanser throughout the meal. The third agua fresca was the hit of the table and it was their Pumpkin Orchata. Instead of rice milk, it's made with almond milk which gave the drink a sweet nutty taste.

Before I talk about the food, I should mention that there's more to this restaurant than just the moles themselves. There are actually two underlying themes. One has to do with how Chef Modragon's goal is to feature the cuisine of Pre-Hispanic Mexico, which is represented by his moles as well as other dishes on his menu.

Second, nopal is something that has been consumed in Mexico for thousands of years for its health benefits. It's even considered cancer-fighting. When a Chef's family member got cancer, she started to include more nopal in her diet. To help with the monotony of eating the same kind of food over and over, Chef Mondragon actually developed nopal recipes to offer variety, some of which are also on the menu. By the way, I have to offer a disclaimer and say that I don't know if nopal is indeed cancer fighting, but I can say that his family member is now cancer-free.

All this brings me to the first dish of our meal, which was a Nopal Empanada Stuffed with Squash Blossoms. I had to do a double take for a second because the empanada was as green as the green tortillas I saw earlier. It turns out that both the empanada and tortillas are made with just cactus and lime juice. As for the nopal empanada, I loved how light and flaky the empanada was. Apparently, it's that way due to the fibrous nature of the nopal itself. The squash blossom filling also had a nice flavor.

Next was the Nopal Empanada Stuffed with Huitlacoche. I enjoyed the smokiness and earthiness of the corn fungus and actually marvelled at how the empanada wasn't oily at all. When I asked the Chef about that, he said that the empanadas aren't cooked with oil. Instead they are grilled and covered to allow the circulating heat to do all the actual cooking.

After enjoying our first two appetizers, my little birdie friend,who also brought tequila to the party, gave us both a taste and a tequila tasting lesson with a little shot of Siete Leguas Tequila Blanco. Regarding this tequila, it was made in the highlands of Jalisco, which apparently has less of a "bite" than lowland tequilas. Also, Leguas is the name of Pancho Villa's horse. Now for the lesson. To be able to identify the flavor notes of a tequila, you breathe in, take a sip, swallow and then breathe out. As you breathe out, your palate can sometimes taste the nuances. I think I tasted lemon or lime, but I'm not quite sure.

Queso Fundido with Cactus, Bell Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms with Nopal Tortillas soon came along. Unfortunately, I didn't care for it too much. I love my cheese and the cheese was too overpowered by the size of the other ingredients. The melty cheese should be the star and would have been if all the other ingredients were scaled down in size and were more supporting players. I do have to mention that we were served tasting portions so perhaps the actual dish has a lot more cheese than what we received, so that's something to consider.

The next cheese dish which was the Queso Fresco, however, was a hit. This particular cheese is house made from low fat milk. It was wonderfully light and ate well rolled up in the nopal tortilla with the spicy salsa they had brought out earlier.

After the Queso Fresco, came the Cactus Salad with a house made vinaigrette. The cactus was nice and crunchy and most important of all, not slimy. I've had cactus salads at other restaurants where the cactus had a slimy texture which is a total taste turn off.

One of my favorite dishes was the Cochinita Pibil Taco. The pork was marinated in mandarin orange juice which gave the meat its citrus flavors, but I also loved the fact that it was spicy. It certainly woke up my taste buds and made them stand at attention.

What followed next were 3 different soups starting with the Sopa Mixteca which is a tomato-based soup with nopal and charales, a tiny fish that is either dried or salted and fried. The broth was spicy which I enjoyed and I liked the hint of saltiness that came from the fish.

After the Sopa Mixteca came the Caldo de Piedra, a seafood soup that came with an interesting story. Apparently, this Pre-Hispanic Mexican dish was historically a dish made by a husband for his wife every Sunday as a Thank Your for all her hard work. The preparation goes like this. Put all the seafood and other ingredients in a pot. Heat up rocks in the fire until the rocks are red. Place the hot rocks in the soup and that's how the soup is cooked. That same preparation is done at Juan's. Unfortunately, I found the story more memorable than this soup. I can't remember any distinct flavors. I do remember that the octopus was amazingly tender, but that the shrimp was a tad over cooked.

Our last soup was the Tlapeno which was a soup with carrots, garbanzo beans and chipotle. I had an issue with the fact that there were hardly any garbanzo beans at all. I think I had three and the person beside me had only one. The most anyone had in their soup was probably 4 or 5. On our tasting menu, carrots weren't even listed as an ingredient; yet, it seemed more like a carrot soup than a garbanzo bean soup. Hopefully, a full sized soup will be more garbanzo friendly than our tasting portion was. Garbanzo beans or not, the broth was too smoky from the chipotle for my particular taste.

Done with the soups, the next item to arrive was the Nopal Tres Milpas, which was also referred to as a Nopal Quesadilla. It's basically two nopal halves filled with cheese, Serrano chilies, squash and corn. Again, the preparation of the nopal was great in that it wasn't slimy and instead had a nice little meaty texture to it. I did think that the filling needed just a tad more seasoning of some kind, but overall, this dish is a great vegetarian option.

More nopal came in the form of the Carne Asada dish which was cooked with corn, onions, bell peppers and were on a bed of nopal. I'm not sure if by this point my palate was just getting fatigued, but this dish seemed similar in flavor to the Nopal Tres Milpas.

It was tequila time again and our next taste came from Chamucos Tequila, which is a Raspado. This company that makes this tequila is family-owned. Their raspado tequila is aged from 2 months to a year in virgin white oak barrels which gives it a lighter yellow color that is not very common for raspado tequilas. Chamucos, by the way, translates to "devil" and that image is definitely reflected on their bottle label. The flavor notes from this tequila was all about cinnamon.

The grand finale for this meal was all about the moles. First, a platter of different meats were brought out that included tilapia, salmon, shrimp, pork and a filet mignon. Then out came ramekins with 10 different moles for us to try with the various proteins.

The moles we tried were the following:

Mole Poblano (Chocolate Mole - a tad more smoky than Mole Negro)
Mole de los Dioses (Huitlacoche)
Pipian Verde (Green Pumpkin Seeds)
Pipian Rojo (Pumpkin Seeds with Red Chili)
Mole de Pistachio
Mole de Nopal (Cactus)
Aromas de Mexico (Guava and Passionfruit)
Mancha Manteles (Special Oaxcan Chile)
Mole Negro (Chocolate Mole)
Velo de Novia (Pinenuts and Almonds)

When it came to the moles I liked, I definitely gravitated to both the Mole Poblano and Mole Negro, both of which have chocolate as one of the ingredients. The subtle difference between the two was that the Mole Poblano was a little smokier than the Mole Negro, but both had rich, dark complex flavors. The Pepian Rojo was also one that did it for me. It reminded me of a Kare Kare, a Filipino stew made with peanuts. However, my absolute favorite was the Mole de Nopal. I just liked its green herbiness. Apparently, I'm in good company because when Oprah Winfrey is in town, Chef Mondragon will cook for her and the Mole Nopal is her favorite mole, too.

After our mole madness, we relaxed with our third tequila from Volcan de mi Tierra. This particular tequila is an Anejo Tequila which is aged for about 14 months. This was my favorite of the three because of the lovely caramel notes that came through.

Finally, it's dessert time and the first one that came out were two different types of flan. One was a corn flan and the other was a nopal flan that was topped with a tuna syrup, which comes from the cactus flower. An interesting thing about the flans were that they were made without eggs. I wouldn't have known that if the Chef hadn't mentioned it. Each had a dense, creamy texture that I really enjoyed.

However, my absolute dessert was the Rose Petal and Cinnamon Ice Cream and the almond, chia seed and sesame seed brittle bowl it sat in. I loved that the ice cream was floral with a "bite" but I have to say that the edible bowl was killer. It was caramel-y, nutty and just downright delicious. Give me a whole bag of that and I'd still want more. Our final dessert was a Corn Cake. I liked it because it wasn't overally sweet and had an almost creamy texture similar to a Tres Leche Cake, but not as soggy.

Overall, my meal at Juan's Restaurante was wonderful. I really appreciated Chef Mondragon's take on cactus. I've never had cactus in so many different ways before and of course, you can't visit his restaurant without trying any one of the mole dishes or that amazing cochinita pibil taco and ending with the fantastic rose petal and cinnamon ice cream. All I know is that I'm glad that Juan's is only a mere 15 minutes from me because I look forward to many visits to come.

Juan's Restaurante
4291 Maine Ave
Baldwin Park, CA 91706
(626) 337-8686

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/12/cactus-moles-and-tequila-at-juans.html

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/pics: Ferry Building Food Crawl

Actually, I was there on a Saturday morning. :)

pleasurepalate in San Francisco Bay Area

REVIEW w/pics: Ferry Building Food Crawl

A stay in San Francisco would not be a stay without visiting the Ferry Building and even the pouring rain didn't stop us from experiencing all of its delicious offerings. Eating our way through was definitely on the agenda.

It started outside when we headed straight to 4505 Meats where we heard that their Pork Croquette Breakfast Sandwich was out of this world. While we were waiting for that to be prepared, we had a sample of their Chicarrones. OMG! I'm not really an OMG kind of girl, but OMG, those chicarrones were amazing. They were both crispy yet still literally melted in your mouth plus there was this awesome combo of sweet-salty flavors with a little bit of heat that put it over the top. I brought home 3 bags. 2 survived the trip, but were quickly eaten within a few hours. If only I could order them online.

It wasn't long until our Pork Sandwich arrived and this is one sandwich I would have waited hours for and deemed it worth it. Simply, it's one of the best sandwiches I've ever had. Along with the pork patty, other ingredients included a fried egg, peppercress and coriander aioli. The pork was tender and had lots of flavor while the peppercress added both peppery and sweet notes and the yolky egg made this sandwich even more perfect. As for the bread, it was a wonderful vehicle for all this porky goodness.

Also on the to-eat list was the Bacon Studded Hot Dog made Zilla Style with 4505 Chicarrones, Namu Kimchi and Scallions. We actually ended up picking at the Chicarraones first before sharing the hot dog between the four of us.

From 4505 Meats, we strolled over to Roli Roti, but not before someone in our group picked up a Fried Chicken Ramen from Hapa Ramen. That soup looked pretty tasty, too, but I didn't want to get filled up on that when a Porcetta sandwich was soon coming our way.

Roli Roti is basically Rolling Rotisserie truck where the menu primarily revolves around their Rotisserie chicken. However, what they're also known for is their Porcetta sandwich, which is basically a pork loin wrapped around pork belly, stuffed with herbs and also cooked rotisserie-style.

Once you order the Porcetta sandwich, there's quite an efficient assembly line that gets your sandwich to you, from the one who slices the meat to the one who gets the meat on the bread to the one who finishes your sandwich off with the addition of the toppings and condiments.

They were even kind enough to cut the sandwich in fourths for us. Along with the pork itself, there were also pork skin bits, onion jam and arugula and all on a ciabatta bread. Do you remember how I mentioned earlier that the Pork Croquette Sandwich I had at 4504 Meats was one of the best sandwiches I ever had? Well, this Porcetta Sandwich is up there, too. I don't even know what to say about it, except that it's just so, so good.

From someone who isn't that much into sandwiches, this was definitely a sandwich day because our next stop was at Cap'n Mike's Holy Smoke stand. Known for their smoked salmon, tuna and sturgeon lox, they also have an adjoining stand that serves sandwiches made from their smoked fish.

We opted for the Cold Smoked Sturgeon Sandwich with a housemade cream cheese, pickled red onions, capers, thinly sliced lemons, sprinkled with Eat Well Farms Lavender Salt and all on Acme sourdough bread. By that time, it was pouring pretty hard and my hands were chilled. A cold sandwich may not have been an optimal choice, but it was worth it. A little salty, a little vinegary, a little tart and surprisingly, even a little bit floral with the smoked fish worked when it came to this sandwich.

Needing to take a break from the cold, we went back into the Ferry Building and took a breather at the Imperial Tea Court where we warmed up with flowering teas. Amazingly enough, we still had room for a Tea Snack Sampler which included homemade cookies, green tea pumpkin seeds, ginger roasted almonds and spicy raisins as well as a Dim Sum Sampler with sui mai, hargow, steamed pork buns and baked vegetable rolls. The Tea Snack Sampler was okay, but I wouldn't go out of my way for their Dim Sum Sampler, especially when Chinatown isn't that far away.

After this respite, off we went to Boccalone, where it's all about the "Tasty Salted Pig Parts." Boccalone is a maker of sausages and all types of salumi, that you can purchase online as well as at their Ferry Building storefront.

Also at their storefront, customers can choose from a variety of sandwiches or simply get a Meat Cone, which is just what it sounds like. It's a cone filled with slices of various types of salumi. We went for the cone and if I wasn't already getting full, I would have gotten a cone just for myself. After all, who can resist "Tasty Salted Pig Parts"?

The last stop of our Ferry Building Food Crawl was the Cowgirl Creamery's food stand called Sidekick. There we first shared a Cheese Puff filled with Herb Fromage Blanc. However, the real star was the Cowgirl Cottage Cheese Dumplings in Grana Padana Cheese Broth with Green Beans and Toasted Acme Bread. The dumplings were light and fluffy and the broth was rich and flavorful. The bread started off as crouton-like, but then I loved how it softened as it absorbed the soup. This is definitely a soup I'd have as often as I could if I lived in the Bay Area.

Just before we walked out the door, I took a picture of this sign in front of a Gelato Shop, but for me, the sign should have said "The Weather Might Be Dreary, But Eating at the Ferry Building Makes You Cheery". Even with the rain and cold weather, visiting and eating our way through the Ferry Building definitely warmed me from the inside out and I would definitely go back.

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/11/la2bay-food-crawl-at-ferry-building.html

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Acme Bread
Ferry Slip, San Francisco, CA 94111

Cowgirl Creamery
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111

4505 Meats
1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111, CA

Hapa Ramen
ferry building, San Francisco, CA

pleasurepalate in San Francisco Bay Area

Whole Hog Family Dinner at Scuola Di Pizza (Private Dining Room for Mozza2Go)

As a Filipina, pork is a definite food love since it does play a good part in Filipino cuisine. So when a friend asked if I wanted to check out the Whole Hog Family Dinner at Scuola Di Pizza, I jumped at the chance and when I saw the menu, I was even more interested.

For those of you unfamiliar with Scuola Di Pizza, it's part of Pizzeria Mozza and Osteria Mozza and is a private dining room with an open kitchen and seated family-style dining. It can be rented for private events, but it's also used for cooking classes and themed dinners open to the public. Currently, Chef Chad Colby is the one who teaches the classes as well as cooks the Whole Hog Family Dinners every Saturday night. Considering that he won Cochon 55, the heritage pig competition in Los Angeles last May, I knew we were in good hands.

The Whole Hog Dinner is basically a six course menu featuring Heritage Foods USA Hogs and ours started with a complimentary glass of Prosecco and two types of Focaccia Bread. One was with Hot Peppers and Sage and the other was with Green Olives and Cheese. No pork yet, but that will soon be remedied.

While we were enjoying our appetizers, we could admire the plated items that would consist of our first course. We could also watch the chefs as they were prepping and cooking some of the ingredients that would go into our second course. Being able to see the chefs at work is definitely a perk of dining right in front of an open kitchen.

Finally, we were asked to be seated and then 2-3 sets of our first course dishes were put at opposite ends of the table so that guests could take their share and pass the plate(s) to the person beside them. One of the items consisted of Crispy Bread Sticks Wrapped in Pancetta. Then there was Pickled Fennel, Carrots and Sweet and Sour Shallots.

The star or should I say stars were actually the 3 types of Pate that we got to enjoy. The first pate was head cheese pate with pork butter with the second one being a “butcher’s pâté" that was made of ground heart, liver and kidneys. Finally, there was a bacon wrapped tenderloin terrine. With the pates came grilled crostini and a spicy grain mustard. The pate was quite rich and buttery, but the pickled vegetables really helped to cut into that richness. I also enjoyed how the spicy mustard also gave the pates a kick of heat.

Our second course was Pork Belly Sausage and Rib Confit served with Trotter-Stewed Butter Beans. We actually saw the Pork Belly Sausage being grilled earlier. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the pork belly being ground up, but I have to admit that its fattiness added some really good flavor to the sausage. The rib meat was tender and I really loved the porky flavor of the butter beans. Chef Colby, who introduced each course, jokingly said that this dish was his version of "pork and beans". Chef, you can cook at my campfire anytime.

Next up was the Souffle of Parmigiano Reggiano over Pork Leg Ragu. The souffle was perfect. It was soft, and pillowy and I loved the sharp and nutty flavor coming from the cheese. However, I didn't really understand the role of the Pork Leg Ragu with the Souffle. I know it was meant to be eaten with the souffle and I did do that, but it felt like two separate entities that were forced to be partnered with each other by virtue of being on the same plate. I felt like I was just eating meat sauce. Now, if that was tossed with pasta, I could have gone for that.

With all the rich courses we've been having so far, I was really craving green vegetables and luckily, our next course was Roasted Pork Shoulder with Chicory Salad and Salsa Verde. The open kitchen again afforded the chance for us to see Chef Colby cutting into the Roast Pork Shoulder so that it can be served to our table.

The chicory salad which had a tart viniagrette was a perfect foil for the fattiness of the pork, which also included pieces of crunchy skin. I also liked how the salsa verde or what seemed to more like a chimuchurri added herbacious flavors to the entire dish.

Our last savory dish of the night was the Milk Roasted Pork Loin with Caramelized Ricotta and Sage. The pork was moist and tender and I liked how the ricotta and sage added balanced notes of both sweet and peppery to the meat.

Whole Hog Family Dinner at Scuola Di Pizza Whole Hog Family Dinner at Scuola Di Pizza

Now's it's time for dessert and believe it or not, this Whole Hog theme even applied to dessert where butter was replaced with pig fat in their Graham Cracker Pigs. Clever, don't you think? Accompanying these delicious cookies were a Rice and Hazelnut Gelati and a Melon Sorbet. Scooping the ice cream with pieces of the cookie and taking a bite was a fun and tasty activity.

Overall, it was a delicious meal. The pork was prepared well and with finesse and I can definitely see or actually taste why Chef Colby emerged triumphant at Cochon 55. There's only small thing I would change is that I would have liked the addition of more vegetables in the initial courses to help cut down the richness of the meal. That chicory salad was a welcome relief because by that time, my palate was feeling just a bit fatigued.

Other than that, the meals at Scuola di Pizza are definitely worth checking out and if you're interested in the Whole Hog Dinner, it runs $75 per person, not including tax and tip. Click at the link below to see Scuoloa Di Pizza's calendar of events, including their Saturday Night Whole Hog Dinners.

http://www.mozza2go.com/calendar.cfm

Scuola Di Pizza
6610 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA90036
(323) 297-1133

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/11/whole-hog-family-dinner-at-scuola-di.html

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

Deep Fried Turkey in San Gabriel Valley for Thanksgiving

Does anyone know where I can order a deep fried turkey in the San Gabriel Valley for Thanksgiving?

Thanks,
Abby

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Ludo Bites 7.0 Made Me a Believer Again

For those of you who may have read my post entitled "My Food Journey from Ludo Bites 3.0 to 5.0" (http://bit.ly/9MIMcr), you know that Ludo Bites 5.0 was a bit disappointing for me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to dine at Ludo Bites 6.0 so I missed out on a chance to see whether or not a new menu would take me back to a high note. Thankfully, I made my way to Ludo Bites 7.0 and with this menu from Chef Ludo Lefebvre, it made me a believer all over again.

Our meal started with the Bouillabaise Milkshake. Just recently, I had a conversation at another dinner with a fellow diner and he had mentioned that this particular milkshake played with his head. Even though he knew what it was, he took one look at the milkshake when it arrived and automatically thought of a sweet vanilla milkshake. However, with one sip, his (as well as my) taste buds experienced something that was cold, lush, rich, creamy, but with definite seafood flavors.

There was a disconnect between what your mind was seeing and what your mouth was tasting, but I thought it was playful and interesting. If nothing else, it was one of the most talked about dishes at our table where whether you liked it or not, people thought it was a really creative dish.

From the cold oceans of the sea, we went island way via the Jamaican Fried Chicken Wings. While the chicken skin could have been crispier, I enjoyed the tangy sweetness of the marinade and thought the chicken meat was tender and juicy.

Next was the Onion Tart with Battarga. It was more of a flatbread than a tart, but I enjoyed the light crispiness of the crust. The bottarga's saltiness was a perfect foil for the sweetness of the caramelized onions, but I wish that there had been more of it.

Following the tart came the Dorade Ceviche with Cucumber Water and Parslane. This was a dish that was refreshingly tart, bright and herby plus the dorade itself was tender and succulent. While waiting for our next dish, I ordered the Lavender Ginger Lemonade. It was interesting in that the drink was tart, floral and spicy and somehow it all worked together.

Our next dish was the Salt Cod Panna Cotta, Whipped Fingerling Potato, Smoked Tapioca and Toasted Olive Bread Croutons. When I took a spoonful of the panna cotta just by itself, while creamy, I thought it was too salty. It was more enjoyable when eaten with a crunchy olive bread crouton and the smoked tapioca.

Soon, the Raw Beef "Flambe" with Japanese Whiskey, Rainbow Carrots, Veal Jus Gel, Parsley Panko Crumbs, Mustard and Shallots arrived. This dish was definitely one of the highlights of the meal. I loved how the mustard added a strong, spicy pungency to the meat. The parsley panko also added a nice touch of grassiness which went well with the richness of the meat.

My absolute favorite dish of Ludo Bites 7.0 was the Egg, Sea Urchin, Caviar and Champagne Beurre Blanc. Now this my kind of surf and turf. The egg and sea urchin were so creamy and tasted of land and sea and the caviar was the cherry that topped the sundae. If I wasn't sharing this with two other people, I could have easily eaten this all by myself.

The dish that had some Indian influence was the Plancha Tandoori Octopus with Yogurt, Cauliflower and Grapefruit. The octopus was very tender and the grapefruit added a nice acidity. Overall, it tasted good; however, if I wasn't told that this was a tandoori dish, I wouldn't have identified it as such. There was something missing, but I'm not exactly sure what.

One ingredient that always makes it way to a Ludo Bites dish is foie gras and that night, foie gras was the star in the Foie Gras "French Dim Sum" with Crispy Kimchi and Sake-Black Truffle Cream. The kimchi and the sake-black truffle did a good job cutting into the sweetness of the foie gras, which made this a very nicely balanced dish.

When it comes to duck, I always look for crispy skin, which wasn't to be for the Duck, Cherry, Spicy Saucisse, Beets and Radish dish. Having said that, the tartness of the beet-cherry sauce partnered well with the duck, but what really drew me was the spicy duck sausage. I would have loved to have one or two more on the plate. What I also enjoyed was the fact that the beets weren't completely cooked through, so they had a crunch to them and their sweetness was a nice counterpoint to the radish which can have more of a "bite" to it.

Our last savory dish of the night was the Poached Ribeye, Horseradish Cream and Green Beans. I'm never one to turn down a Rib Eye, but one thing I definitely learned is that I prefer it grilled, bone-in and not poached. I found the poached ribeye to be both tender and chewy at the same time, which was odd. While normally, a fan of horseradish, I found the cream to be a little salty. In general, this dish felt too "soft" to me. It needed some kind of crunch component, which the green beans didn't really supply.

Finally, it was time for dessert and we went for the Lavendar Tropezienne Tart with Lychee. Unfortunately, this wasn't a hit at our table. The tart itself was a little too dry and the lavender so overpowered the lychee that you couldn't even taste the lychee. All the lychee did was add texture, but no real flavor.

Overall, except for really just a couple of dishes, I really enjoyed my dining experience with Ludo Bites 7.0 and after this meal, I'm again very much excited for Ludo Bites 8.0 whenever that comes back.

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/10/ludo-bites-70-with-chef-ludo-lefebvre.html

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Creative Cooking at Chef Michael Voltaggio's restaurant, ink.

So what did you think? :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: The Flavors of Belize Made for a Happy Palate

I hope you enjoy dining there as much as I did. :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: The Flavors of Belize Made for a Happy Palate

I first found out about Flavors of Belize after reading it on the Food Marathon blog (http://foodmarathon.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/flavors-of-belize-lights-up-la-brea/). The food looked pretty tasty and although it took about 9 months to pay it a visit after finding out about it, it was definitely worth the wait.

We started with trying out a couple of their fresh squeezed juices: soursop and craboo. Interesting names, don't you think? It's hard for me to describe what they taste like exactly except both had a slight sweet/tart taste to them but definitely didn't taste the same. However, I found them both very refreshing.

When it came to the food, the first thing we tried was the Conch Fritter which was ground conch mixed in a batter, seasoned and fried. I couldn't actually taste the conch, but I liked that the fritter wasn't oily and had an almost cornbread quality to the texture. Following the fritter came the Spiced Ground Beef Meat Pies. I wish that there would could have been a bit more beef in the pie but what was there was delicious plus I really loved the flaky pie crust.

My favorite dish of our meal was the Chicken Tamal. Wrapped in a banana leaf, once opened, both the masa and chicken were tender and moist. What was also addicting was this tropical habanero sauce that is a staple in Belizean households. Sweet with a kick, it went well with all the dishes, except dessert.

Another dish we tried was the Salbutes, fried corn tortilla topped with a mix of chicken, shredded cabbage, cilantro and tomatoes. On its own, it was delicious with the crunchy cabbage, the peppery cilantro and the acidity from the tomatoes, but that habanero sauce kicked it up a notch even more.

We also ordered a side of sweet plantains, not realizing that it came with one of the entrees we had chosen from the menu. I liked that it wasn't overly soft, but other than that, there was really nothing else to it.

The one dish that was unexpected in regards to flavor was the Ducunu, which is young corn that is ground, seasoned and steamed. I was expecting it to taste sweet, but that wasn't the case. It tasted slightly bitter with an after taste. Apparently, the ducunu can be sweet or not sweet, depending on the type of corn used and/or the preference of the cook. This was definitely the one dish out of everything I had that just didn't do it for me.

Known as "Black Dinner" in Belize, the Chimole is a dish that might surprise you if you hadn't been prepared for its inky soup color. Chimole gets its color and flavor from a paste made from charred chilies, annatto and other spices and the restaurant's version includes chicken, 1 potato and 1 hard-boiled egg and is served with tortillas. The soup flavor was smoky with a dark pungency to it. There's a complexity to that broth where I tasted a lot of different nuances, but what those nuances were, I had no idea. Be sure to dip your tortillas so that you can mop up all that black goodness.

Our last savory item was the White Rice and Beans with Oxtail that included white rice cooked with coconut milk, stewed kidney red beans, plantains and a potato salad. The oxtail was tender and while a little too overcooked, I enjoyed the coconut rice. I also loved the kidney beans. There was a creaminesss to the beans themselves that was unusual, but delicious.

We weren't planning on having dessert, but once I found out that there was lemon pie available, I had to go there and I'm so glad I did. The mini pie crust was very flaky and buttery with a creamy lemon custard filling and a fluffy meringue. I could have eaten dozens, well maybe, just one more. They were just that good.

Overall, I very much enjoyed my meal at Flavors of Belize. I definitely was exposed to some new things I've never experienced before and if this restaurant were closer to me, I'd be a regular customer. Having said that, it was worth the drive and I would certainly make it again.

Flavors of Belize
1271 S La Brea Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90019
(323) 931-4840

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/10/flavors-of-belize-restaurant-made-for.html

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Flavors of Belize
1271 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90019

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Creative Cooking at Chef Michael Voltaggio's restaurant, ink.

Between 9 of us, we spent an average of $64 to $69 each, with tax and gratuity. We weren't really wine drinkers, so most of us just had water or soft drinks. I don't know how much the Omakase costs.

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Creative Cooking at Chef Michael Voltaggio's restaurant, ink.

And it took the mighty efforts of my fork to accomplish such a task. :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Creative Cooking at Chef Michael Voltaggio's restaurant, ink.

The first time I ever experienced Chef Michael Voltaggio's food was at a Media Dinner at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena where he was the Chef de Cuisine of the now gone, Dining Room. This was around the time that he was part of the final four contestants still competing on Top Chef. Of course, he emerged triumphant and everyone waited with bated breath to see what this creative chef was going to do next.

While he did stay with the Langham for a few months after his win, flash forward a little over two years later, he is now the Chef/Owner of two eating establishments. One is a more casual sandwich eatery called ink.sack while his sit down restaurant simply goes by the name ink. with a period. I haven't made it to ink.sack yet, but I definitely enjoyed my meal at ink and it was worth every penny.

By the way, before I start talking about the food, there was a little element in the place setting that I really liked. When we sat down and were given our silverware, it came with a small rectangular magnetic block for our silverware to rest on. It was just a nice touch that I thought I'd mention.

My meal started with a homemade soda that comes in a variety of flavors. I went for Cucumber-Mint. When it arrived, I loved the use of fresh ingredients, but for some reason, it was extremely tart. After adding some water, that tartness was tamed, but man, my lips were puckering and I'm not even sure why? I don't recall reading that there was lemon or lime in this soda.

Soon after, a trio of dishes hit our table. The first one I tried was the Charred Avocado with hen of the woods, whipped fish sauce and mushroom chicarron. It was a bowl filled with interesting textures from the softness of the avocado to the slight firmness of the hen of the woods to the crunch of the mushroom chicharron. The whipped fish sauce seemed an odd ingredient, but its slight saltiness balanced well with the mild sweetness of the avocado.

Next was the Octopus and Hiramasa with romaine hearts and fried caesar dressing. The octopus was prepared in a beautiful mosaic beneath the other ingredients and while tender and delicious, what I couldn't get enough of was the fried caesar dressing. If I hadn't been sharing with 2 other people, I would have gobbled them all.

One of my favorite dishes of the night was the Brussels Sprouts with fried pig ears, house-cured lardo and apple. The brussels sprouts were roasted to a caramelized perfection and the crunchy fried pig ears were a delight.

Our next two dishes were seafood items, with one of them being a Spaghetti, but not the spaghetti you'd usually expect. The noodles were made from a giant squid and also included squash, hazelnut-ink pesto and piment d’espelette. This was another favorite dish of mine. I loved the chewy texture of the squid noodles and the nutty-sweet-slightly smoky flavors of the dish as a whole.

The other seafood dish was the Sea Bass with cream of dehydrated potato, black olive oil, lemon and caper. I liked crispy fish skin along with the very creamy potato. The black olive, lemon and capers added nice punches of tart, citrusy and sharp flavors to the mild fish, giving it a vavoom!

Following the Squid Spagetti and the Sea Bass, we headed from sea to land starting with the Quail that came with beet juice, beets, sorrel salad and a banana polenta on the side. When it arrived, we were all struck by beautiful redness of the ingredients. At first, we weren't even sure where the quail was since it was surrounded by a mini beet barricade.

Eventually, we found our way and I have to say that beet juice goes perfectly with quail. Whole beets tend to be on the sweet side, but fresh beet juice is actually quite strong in flavor. With quail being more assertive in taste than let's say chicken, the beet juice was a perfect foil. By the way, the banana polenta was amazing. It was sweet, but not too sweet and wonderfully creamy.

Our other land creature was the Berkshire Pork Tenderloin with a charcoal crust, macaroni and cheese and leeks. The charcoal added a nice smokiness to the tender pork and the macaroni and cheese was both fun and delicious. It was fun because the cheese was inside a long pastry shell. I only wish that a side of that mac and cheese was on the menu just so I could have had more.

We were getting quite full, but managed two more savory dishes like the Seaweed Mashed Potatoes with Sea Beans. I'm a big seaweed fan and in the past year,I have come to really appreciate the salty sea beans. While I found the mashed potatoes to be a bit gummy, I still appreciated the seaweed flavors.

Our final savory dish of the night was my least favorite of the our entire meal and it was the Bay Scallops with lamb neck, chickpea poutine and yogurt curds. Individually, the ingredients were fine, but together, it didn't work for me. The scallops didn't have much flavor to them. Either that or the lamb was too overpowering. It's as if the scallops were there just for texture and nothing else. I also didn't find much flavor to the yogurt curds although I did like the chickpea poutine. A couple of bites was enough for me.

For dessert, our end of the table went for the Grapefruit Curd with avocado, cilantro sorbet and charred maple-lime. What a perfect ending to the meal. At first, I wasn't quite sure about the cilantro sorbet, but I really enjoyed it. It's pepperiness went well with the tart sweetness of the grapefruit and the maple-lime bits while the avocado rounded all the flavors.

Everyone else went for the Apple with crème caramel, burnt wood sabayon and walnut. I only had a small spoonful of the burnt wood sabayon. I didn't mind its smokiness, but I was very happy that we went the Grapefruit Curd route.

When all is said and done, I absolutely enjoyed my meal at ink. The food was not only creative, but delicious and while there were 1 or 2 dishes that didn't quite do it for me, they still created as much interest and discussion as the dishes that I did like. If you're going to go for it, go for broke and that's certainly what Chef Michael Voltaggio did. I'm definitely looking forward to many more meals at ink. and hopefully, I'll be paying a visit to ink.sack soon as well.

ink.
8360 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(323) 651-5866

To see post complete with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/10/creative-cooking-at-top-chef-winner.html

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ink.
8360 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90069

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: The Formerly Overlooked But Never Again Happy Kitchen

Awesome! I'm so glad that you enjoyed your meal there. :) :)

pleasurepalate in Los Angeles Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Road Trip from LA to SF with Food Stops Along the Way

Thanks for the tip. :)

pleasurepalate in California

REVIEW w/ pics: Road Trip from LA to SF with Food Stops Along the Way

I've actually been to Jocko's on a previous trip and loved the food there. :)

pleasurepalate in California

REVIEW w/ pics: Food Trucks, Stands and Carts at Off the Grid

If you are a food truck and food cart lover in the Bay Area, then more than likely, you've been to Off The Grid. Off The Grid consists of 50 food truck and food stands/carts vendors. What's their calling? Why, to feed the hungry masses in Northern California of course. From Monday through Saturday, from Berkley to San Mateo to San Francisco, 15 to 20 food trucks and stands at a time will come together. So instead of chasing them, you can experience their delicious eats all in one location.

I got to check out Off the Grid at Fort Mason, a few hours after our road trip from LA to SF. As my friends and I were talking towards the trucks, what I found interesting was the formation. I've been to my share of food truck festivals/gatherings, but this is the first time I've ever seen both trucks and carts positioned in a circle where attendees were basically coralled in the middle.

I actually liked how that was done. It allows you to make a circuit of all the trucks so that you can first see what's available or you can just go ahead and make your rounds and not have to worry about missing or skipping over one. The one concern I did have was that it might be too crowded in the middle, but there were enough places to sit and eat outside of that corral that the crowd control was quite manageable.

Once inside, the first truck we saw happened to be Senor Sisig and that became our first stop. Our first bite at Off the Grid was the "Senor" Sisig Burrito with with pork, adobo rice, pinto beans, lettuce, salsa and cilantro cream sauce. It was definitely a hefty burrito and thankfully, 3 of us shared it. It was pretty tasty, but I did feel that there was just too much rice and would have liked more meat to balance it out more.

From Senor Sisig, we made our way to the Namu Food Cart. Namu is actually a brick and mortar restaurant, but they do have a food stand presence both at Off the Grid and also at the Ferry Building during the weekend.

At Namu, we tried three different things with the first being the Gamju French Fries, which are hand cut potatoes with kimchee relish, gochujang, kewpie mayo, teriyaki, chopped short ribs and green onions. The French fries had a nice crispiness to them considering that they were thicker cut and I really enjoyed the Korean flavors of both this dish and the tacos mentioned below.

Their Korean Tacos consisted of seasoned rice, daikon and kimchee salsa, kimchee remoulade, housemade teriyaki folded into japanese and korean toasted seaweeds with your choice of meat. Our meats of choice were chicken and short ribs. I loved the use of the seaweed as an alternative to tortillas; however, these tacos need to be eaten right away or else the nori will get too chewy.

Our little food journey went from Korea to Vietnam in the form of the Vietnamese food truck, Little Green Cyclo. At the Little Green Cyclo, while the Lemon Grass Grilled Pork over Spicy Garlic Noodles really wasn't spicy, their was enough garlicky goodness to satisfy and the pork had a nice caramelization to it. The second dish we tried was the Shaking Beef with Garlic Rice Cooked in Organic Chicken Broth, Tomatoes, Lettuce and Onions. The Shaking Beef was solid, if not very memorable.

I also got to try an arepa for the first time via the Pica Pica Kitchen food stand. For this arepa, we actually added the pulled pork to their Caribe arepa which usually is a vegetarian option with just black beans and cheese. Unfortunately, I wasn't that impressed. The bread tasted a little undercooked and fell apart and the pulled pork didn't really have much flavor to it.

After some savory dishes, it was time for dessert, so we checked out the Banana Fritters with Coconut Jam and Powdered Sugar from a Malaysian food stand called Azalina's. I was really looking forward to this dish because at first glance, it looked yummy; however, the banana fritters were too doughy. Also, the coconut jam along with the powdered sugar made this dessert way too sweet.

Luckily, we also made a stop at the Creme Brulee Cart and their Strawberry Nutella Creme Brulee was phenomenal. The caramelized crunch on the surface and a lovely creaminess below it made it a pleasure to eat.

By this time, we were full and ready to hit the road, but on the way out, we shared a Watermelon, Basil and Ginger Mint Lemonade from the 3-Sums Eats Food Truck. What a nice refreshing way to end our food truck crawl.

Overall, our first night in San Francisco was definitely a hit and the next morning, we hit the Ferry Building for another food crawl. Isn't life good?

To learn more about Off the Grid, go to:
http://offthegridsf.com/

To see complete blog post with photos, go to:
http://pleasurepalate.blogspot.com/2011/10/la2bay-food-truck-and-food-cart-eats-at.html

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Namu
439 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

Creme Brulee Cart
San Francisco, CA, San Francisco, CA

Senor Sisig
San Mateo, San Mateo, CA

Little Green Cyclo
San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Off the Grid
Stanyan Street at Waller Street, San Francisco, CA

pleasurepalate in San Francisco Bay Area

REVIEW w/ pics: Road Trip from LA to SF with Food Stops Along the Way

Thanks. It was definitely a fun trip. :)

pleasurepalate in California

REVIEW w/ pics: Road Trip from LA to SF with Food Stops Along the Way

This was actually a one day trip. We left around 9 from Marina del Rey and got into SF around 5:30-6.

pleasurepalate in California