Thursday, March 5, 2015

Winter Wurst Night at Ray's and Stark Bar

by: guest blogger @btsunoda

In the past winter season, Ray’s and Stark Bar featured “The Wurst Night of the Week” where executive chef Viet Pham exercised his creativity with the German bratwurst. Unfortunately, the program ended on March 2, but I had the chance to experience their "wurst" offerings before it ended.
The brats ranged in styles from classic Bavarian and contemporary to Moroccan and down home Southern. Top dogs include Currywurst Vadouvan with house-made ketchup and aioli or Boudin Blanc wurst with Pommes puree and tea-soaked prunes.
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Spicy pork meatballs was the first sample that arrived. It was surrounded with a flavorful coconut curry sauce with ginger, garlic, fresno chiles and cilantro. The fresno chiles added a nice amount of spiciness to the sauce which made me wish that I had some bread to mop up my plate.
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The first beer was a Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier, a German Märzen. The smoky bacon flavor was perfect to set the stage for bratwurst. It had lots of smoke and a slight tinge of peach in flavor. This is not a beer if you are looking for hops as it was incredibly smooth.

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 The Currywurst Vadouvan was served with housemade curry ketchup and aioli. The smokiness of the Aecht Märzen matched very well with the currywurst.
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 Sweet & tangy is probably the best way to describe their Veal Bratwurst. It consisted of tangy peppers, onion, mustard on a grilled baguette.
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 Seafood sausage was a fun bratwurst. It consisted of shrimp, bouillabaisse broth, braised fennel, piquillo peppers and grilled sourdough bread. I loved the flavors of this dish. I keep saying that I’m not a dessert person, but I happen to be very partial to the desserts here. I usually lean towards a non-chocolate dessert.
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 The banana bread pudding was absolutely delicious. It was draped with a caramel sauce and accompanied with caramelized bananas and ice cream
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 Panna Cotta was made with Harry’s berries of Oxnard, garden flower, chervil and a blackberry geranium sauce. This was a light and refreshing dessert. Since my visit, they recently provide some new brats: Boudin Blanc consisting of Pommes Puree and tea soaked prunes - I’m guessing that this is Chef Viet Pham’s take on bangers and mash. The Chorizo includes clams, white wine broth, okra and oregano - wow, in a bratwurst! During the Wurst season they had four German Beers available on Mondays: Marzen, Hefeweizen, Dopple Bock and a non-alcoholic beer. In addition to their beer selection, they also have an extensive water menu.

Ray’s and Stark Bar 
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 857-6180
http://www.patinagroup.com/restaurant.php?restaurants_id=133

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