radman123's Profile
MUST VISIT restaurants in Seattle
Salumi for lunch and Spinasse for dinner - both Italian and both were excellent
Best Oysters at Best Price in Seattle?
I went to shuckers today. Excellent oysters 1.50 a piece. you can only pick from limited choice of oysters. But all were very good. Best was deep bay oyster. Thanks for recommendation.
Best Oysters at Best Price in Seattle?
Looking for the board's suggestions!?
Thanks!
Label's Table -- Best Westside Pastrami Sandwich
Best Tongue sandwich in LA as well!
Mail Order Coffee
I've been ordering from Waterfront Roasters. They are wholesalers who normally supply to stores/restaurants on east coast - now they started selling individual bags...so I have been getting their estate-grown coffee at wholesale prices
http://www.waterfrontroasters.com/
Ubuntu Napa
Ate there on Sunday (2nd visit) and it was a bit dissapointing compared to my visit a few years ago. Unnecessarily expesnive for lunch...with some dishes a bit awkward (my wife was really dissapointed)
Best place to eat, drink, stay in Healdsburg? Mid-October
MADRONA MANOR
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Madrona Manor
1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Review: Bouchon BH - not great at all
Yes a bit slow on the uptake...when i get there i get there...someone took us out...and usually in that case the food tastes better cause i ain't getting the bill....not the case
I was at the one in Yountiville a few years ago...not that impressed then and not impressed now
Food: C+ (pretty mediocore)
Value: B
Service: B- (fine, not that interested in us)
Would I go back?: nah
Atmo: A- (beautiful restaurant)
Drinks: A- (very well made)
Full Menu: http://www.bouchonbistro.com/
What we drank: some cucumber cocktail which was very good
What we ate:
Bread- fine
Oysters - fresh yes, small yes, worth $18 for half dozen - not even close.
Tomato Salad- good
Steak Frites - I should not be eating a piece of meat that is so full of cartlidge or whatever you call it. You shouldn't have to cut around the center of the meat to get a mouthful of decent steak. The butter on top added so little to the steak
Fries - eh, they should be able to do better
Mussels - like the oysters, the mussels were also teeny tiny and not exactly succulent. They were ok - the butter broth was good. but drinking it with a spoon did wonders on my stomach the next day
Dessert: meringue with vanilla creme anglaise
I put heaping 3 teapspoons in my coffee every morning so i like sweet, but this was over the top sweet and not at all in a good way. I've had better meringue desserts on a cruise ship
My fellow diners had chicken dishes and some other steak dish -- everyone seemed less then dazzled.
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Bouchon Bistro
235 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Rehearsal Dinner in Sonoma
We had our rehearsal dinner at Ca'Bianca in Santa Rosa, CA -- excellent Italian food. We had about 60 people at the dinner. We had a beautiful wedding the next day at Madrona Manor, but the rehearsal dinner was equally impressive. Personally, we are from LA and have been to Lucques and AOC...and believe it or not I enjoyed my meal at Ca'Bianca just as, if not more...and good prices
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Madrona Manor
1001 Westside Road, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Umami Burger - Does it live up to the hype?
Yes lives up to hype
10x better than Father's Office and 20x better than The Counter
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Father's Office Bar
1618 Montana Ave, Santa Monica, CA
Italian spot in Los Feliz, Glendale or Pasadena?
Thanks everyone - chose Little Dom's for friday-- out of town guests coming (so the possibilty of them seeing a celeb is good, wanted to try this place as it may come to Studio City, and location is where I needed it to be)
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Little Dom's
2128 Hillhurst Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Italian spot in Los Feliz, Glendale or Pasadena?
Need a place good for a group of 6 -- no local pizza joints - more like a restaurant restaurant
Thanks
Smoke House in Burbank
i like the Smokehouse -- I mean I wouldn't bring a first date to the place, but the Garlic Bread is very good (powdered cheese and all), the atmosphere is unique, the prime rib is solid, and the prices are fairly reasonable. Anyone who knocks this place is a snob and doesn't get it.
Church & State or the Gorbals?
Between the 2 - Gorbals is more interesting (but don't expect much atmosphere)...reviews below...you might want to consider Lazy Ox downtown
My Gorbals Review:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/727617
My Recent Church & State post
Church & State is good choice....just don't make the same mistake I did...ordering MARROW, ESCARGOT, CHARCUTERIE PLATE and PIG EARS -- all for myself...way to heavy. dishes we orded at my table....
MUSSELS (excellent - one of the best i have had with Fries) A-
FRENCH ONION SOUP A-
CHARCUTERIE PLATTER (petite size) B+
PIG EAGS (better than Animal / not as good as Lazy Oxs) B
BONE MARROW (quite good) B
ESCARGOT (couldn't enjoy / too stuffed) B-
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Church & State
1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021
The Gorbals
501 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
In Praise of Wally's Cheesebox
While I wouldn't go so far to do a standalone psot on it - I had the Proscuitto sandwich this week and it was very good. Buttered Bread was chewy and nice and the cheese worked well - Proscuitto was tasty and stringy free but they were a bit chincy on the meat. I would go back though
Can you help me narrow down my choices?
Church & State is good choice....just don't make the same mistake I did...ordering MARROW, ESCARGOT, CHARCUTERIE PLATE and PIG EARS -- all for myself...way to heavy. dishes we orded at my table....
MUSSELS (excellent - one of the best i have had with Fries) A-
FRENCH ONION SOUP A-
CHARCUTERIE PLATTER (petite size) B+
PIG EAGS (better than Animal / not as good as Lazy Oxs) B
BONE MARROW (quite good) B
ESCARGOT (couldn't enjoy / too stuffed) B-
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Church & State
1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles, CA 90021
Can you help me narrow down my choices?
You are downtown...Go to...
Lazy Ox
Gorbals
and take car to Pizerria Mozza
these will be in your price range and each are excellent
LA. Foodie needs NYC recs from bi-coastals (or those who are just bi-coastal-curious)
Don Peppe near JFK airport for Italian food
get the linguini with clam sauce
get the clam oregenata
Review: Aburiya Toranoko
As a big fan of the Lazy Ox (http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703721), I decided to try the new restaurant by the same owner....right next door...
Food: B
Value: B-
Service: B+ (friendly but a bit all over the place)
Would I go back?: Not running
Atmo: B+ (a nice vibe)
Full Menu: http://www.toranokola.com/menu/toranoko_menu.pdf (sneaky how no prices appear)
Price: $150 (2 people) including tip
What we drank: Asahi beer
Notes: LA Times SIV was in the house, I guess preparing for a review...i spotted her thanks to all the recent press about her photo being exposed....everytime I turned around she was sitting there sipping her tea staring off into space - kind of funny. She was accompanying by 2 quriky individuals. I pointed her out to the owner -- he had already recognized her as well...look for review soon.
What we ate:
Snow crab & jelly fish w/ cucumber sunomono (B) $9
I like the firm texture of jellyfish and it was paired nicely with chunks of snow crab bathed in soy. It was tasty, but a very small bowl.
Tiger shrimp Tempura w/ curry aioli (B) $16
The curry ailoli dipping sauce was a nice touch to this fairly common dish of shrimp tempura. The shrimp were a bit overcooked - something you don't normally notice when eating shrimp tempura. Also, I was just looking at a menu that Kevin Eats posted from the restaurant and it listed the item at $12 -- last month. I am guessing that this became a popular dish and they jacked up the prices - not cool - especially for what is essentially basic shrimp tempura
Baked Black Cod marinated in sweet miso glaze (B) $9
The problem with this dish was not the taste -- it was good, but the portion size was once again on the small side. I mean this is a restaurant people go to in a group, and this barely fed myself, let alone my wife. Please note I would not have got this basic, always the same dish, but wife did want it and Valentine's Day is approaching
Yanagita seafarms Uni Goma Tofu (A-) $8
Unique dish that I wish would have set the tone for all the other plates. It was a piece of tofu made with toasted seasame seeds so it had a rich, nutty flavor -- topped with a small piece of uni. The sauce was a soy concoction -- that at this point had also found itself in 2 of the dishes mentioned above
on to the Sumiyaka skewers....
Kobe Beef with Garlic and Wasabi (B) $9
Wife seemed to enjoy this skewer. I tasted one of the tiny pieces and it was relatively soft -- but not enough to proclaim "this was melt-in-your-mouth kobe!"
before I continue...shouldn't it really be 2 skewers per order??
Wing (B+) $5
Good, decent char
Eringe Mushroom (B) $5
plump, ok
Fatty Pork (B) $5
It is a pretty rich skewer, but the pork had a nice snap and tasted fresh (I have noticed that when I eat a fatty piece of pork in the past you can really judge the freshness of the piece -- freezer burn especially)
Liver (A) $3
The cheapest thing on the menu and also by far the best....this could have been called foie gras, as this liver was creamy and mild. Highly recommend
Chicken Thigh (B-) $3
A bit too fatty for thigh portion
SUSHI
Ankimo - Monkfish liver pate w/mustard,vinegar and miso sauce (B+) $6
Very nice
Spicy Tuna Cut roll $8
Very pedestrian, very small - I told the owner this needs to improve (i didn't call him out to tell him this, but when he came by). The roll came out in literally 2 minutes after being ordered - which tells me one thing -- it was pre-made.
Tamago (A-) $4
excellent tamago
Masago (B+) $5
It's masago - it always tastes the same!
and for dessert we had the Green Tea Pudding (A-) -- an impressive dessert
Dinner in LA with visiting foodie friends
Not Jitlada
go with Animal or Lazy Ox
I would skip any italian places - New Yorkers have that covered
Dinner in LA with visiting foodie friends
Forget Bazar - way overpriced, food ok, soso service
Lazy Ox way to go (will be more like $50 a person) - Animal will be about $75 a per -many on board rates Animal very high -but maybe too high -I liked Lazy Ox better-
Patina - worth it? Looking for some hound recs!
Lazy Ox -- is downtown and I thought was even better than Animal.
Lazy Ox Review
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703721?tag=boards;topic-703721
Animal Review
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/719797?tag=boards;topic-719797
Scarpetta Lunch Service
I might - might - be able to live with the bottled water charge...but iced tea refills -- that wouldn't fly with me.
The portions do look generous / delicious and it does seem like a reasonable deal...but that iced tea refill is very shady, Mr. Scarpetta.
Review: THE GORBALS
i am sorry coffeebrownies I don't know much about Gluten free foods...
Review: THE GORBALS
The $80 was total for 2 of us -- I can't remember if we had drinks -- probably not (or maybe - she had one glass of wine)
I actually left VERY full - which is rare for me in these small plate type places.
I would recommend Gorbals or The Lazy Ox -- past review here:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/703721?tag=boards;topic-703721
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The Gorbals
501 S Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90013
Review: THE GORBALS
first of all I wasn't expecting Bill Cosby pudding...I was expecting to eat what you correctly describe as "cake soaked with toffee sauce making it rich and moist"
second of all it was neither "soaked" nor "moist" - maybe "rich"
Healdsburg for our anniversary
Madrona Manor - perfect for an anniversary and beautiful out on the porch
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Madrona Manor
1001 Westside Rd, Healdsburg, CA 95448
Current Magic Castle advice
The food was decent - much improved since the posts of years past...best tip is that you should get there early (like 6:30 sharp) and get on line for the 7PM closeup magic show (line fills up fast and its the BEST show) -- then either catch another magic or go to your reservatuion
lot's of fun
One night in LA. Give me your picks.
Animal was just OK for me...i would not recommend as you are picking one spot..I'd say Spago or CUT or Mozza - as they really offer that LA experience + deliver GREAT food
This chow board also likes Providence & Bazaar - though they are not at top of my list
