Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2010. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Happy New Year! (Some of) The Best of 2010

Happy New Year, everyone! I wanted to do something amazing for my first post of 2011, something ... representative. But the holidays (vacationing, laziness) got the better of me.

Here are some (not in any particular order) of the most memorable bites I had in 2010, although I'm sure I had forgotten plenty. The year was so packed and flew by so fast, I'm not even sure what happened in 2010 vs 2009 anymore!

Kobe Tartar
Wagyu beef tartare, somen noodle, peanut vinaigrette, quail yolk, watermelon (Ludobites 5.0)

Lobster Moqueca from Moqueca (Oxnard)

Mussel Hash at M Wells
Mussel hash from M. Wells Diner (Queens)

Marlin Taquitos from Mariscos Ruben (Tijuana)

BakeLAB's awesome cookies ... from ginger molasses to peanut butter sandwich.
Durian Mochi
My mom's durian mochi at Kogyo (Surabaya, Indonesia)

My meal at Alinea as a whole.
There were a lot more ... if only I could remember *when* they happen. I did so much this year, from eating lots of haggis in Edinburgh, to taking a trip to Santa Fe with fellow bloggers, more Tijuana, making my pilgrimage to Di Fara in Brooklyn, and eating sushi off an almost naked woman.

Cheers to an even better and more exciting year ahead for all of us! 

Sunday, December 26, 2010

New Year's Eve Dining Under $60

There's no need to drain your savings to eat out on New Year's Eve (or opt for AYCE kbbq like I've done in the past 2 years). For a classy night out that won't break the bank, check out these restaurants offering prix fixe menus for under $60:

Border Grill. 4-Course Dinner For $45, $5 wine pairings (half-glasses).
1445 4th St, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (213) 746-0050.
445 S. Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 486-5171

Corkbar. $55 for 4 courses, complimentary glass of sparkling wine included. 6:30 and 9:30 pm seatings.
Optional pairings: $10 beer, $18 wine, $25 champagne/sparkling. Live music from 9 pm.
403 W 12th St, Los Angeles, CA 90015. (213) 746-0050.

District. $45 for 3 courses and includes a glass of bubbly. Menu choices will include oyster, smoked pork, and market fish.
6600 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028. (323) 962-8200

Eva Restaurant. $55 for 4-course dinner (6 pm seating only, 6-course for a higher price for later seating). Chef Mark Gold promises bubblies for diners.
7458 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (323) 634-0700

Ford's Filling Station. $55 for 3 courses.
9531 Culver Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. (310) 202-1470


Nick + Stef's Steakhouse. $59 for 3-course dinner. Menu includes lobster and truffle ravioli, venison loin and berry ladyfingers.
330 S Hope St, Los Angeles, CA 90071. (213) 680-0330

Noir Food and Wine. $59 for 4-course dinner for 8:30-9:30 PM (second seating, a la carte menu available earlier).
40 N Mentor Ave, Pasadena, CA 91106. (626) 795-7199

The Yard. $50 for 3 courses + champagne. Menu includes crab bisque, beef wellington, and meringue custard.
119 Broadway Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 395-6037.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Dine Out this Holiday: Affordable Christmas Eve/Day Menus

We all know most restaurants jack up their prices on holidays, but that doesn't mean you can't dine out in style and still make it under budget. Here are a few options under $50. (PS. Eva's $39 family style dinner is the same price as their normal Sunday family dinners!)

Christmas Eve

Eva Restaurant. $39 Family-style dinner.
On the menu: Salted Prime Rib Roast, Whole Roasted Organic Chicken, Creamed Spinach, Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Butterscotch Pudding.
7458 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90036. T: (323)634-0700.

Nick + Stef's Steakhouse. $45 for 3 courses.
On the menu: Wild mushroom and mascarpone tortelloni, Roasted black cod with winter truffle sauce, and Bûche simplicity.
330 S Hope Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071. T: (213)680-0330.


Christmas Day

Cauliflower Souffle
Oliverio at the Avalon Hotel. $48 for 4 courses.
Choices include cauliflower souffle, veal ravioli with cheese and truffle fondue, roasted sea bass with cabbage and porcini, and cranberry parfait.
9400 W Olympic Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212. T: (310) 277-5221.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Blogger Prom 2010: If High School Was ...

Blogger Prom is what your prom might've been like in high school ...
If you were of legal age of drinking during high school and the organizers of your prom secured alcohol sponsors and a signature cocktail.

If said organizers had access to Yamashiro, the restaurant with the best view in the city.


(and when there's a giant screen showing our tweets all night long because we're okay being geeky like that)

If everyone dressed their best and ended up on the LA Times blog!
Nastassia from Let Me Eat Cake and one half of the Manila Machine


If prom came with duck or black cod tacos for dinner!


If no one judged you for stuffing yourselves with truffles from Chocobox and two Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches.

... plus a selection of cheese and dried fruits from Barrie Lynn, The Cheese Impresario, including her infamous "cheese sex" (a 10 year old cheddar from Hook's Creamery).


If prom kept feeding you for the next two weeks with coupons from Manila Machine, Border Grill, Sprinkles, and 7-11 (and kept you smelling good too with all the shampoos and deodorants).

The best part? We all raised $2,400 for Operation Frontline!

Many thanks to the Blogger Prom committee members LA & OC Foodie, Caroline on Crack, e*starLA, Happy Go Marni, Liquid Muse, LAist, ShopEatSleep, and When Tara Met Blog for putting on a great party.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

DineLA 2010 Quickie: Fogo de Chao

When I saw Fogo de Chao on the Restaurant Week list and their price point, I was immediately interested. I had never been there but I knew that their lunch regularly costs $34.50 and dinner $56.50. And that doesn't even include dessert. During dineLA Restaurant Week, weekday lunches cost $28 and dinners cost $44, both include a choice of dessert (although not all choices are available).

I thought this was a really good deal and I had been wanting to check out this place for years now. Since the meat selection is the same for lunch or dinner, I scheduled a lunch with Wandering Chopsticks here.


I had the same problem I always have on buffet lines: I get everything. The veggies were fresh - I was impressed considering it was a "buffet".

Fresh spinach, big and sweet asparagus, juicy tomatoes to go with your burrata. Nothing outstanding, but definitely meets the standards.

Their pão de queijo were warm, big, and nicely cheesy. These were much better than what you may get at a random chain store in Brazil (especially if you're at the airport ...).
I could eat a lot of these, if only I didn't need to make room for meat.
Flip your card to the green side and the men will come bearing skewers of various meats to your tableside.

Fogo de Chao offers a variety of cuts and meats - 15 to be exact. Besides your typical sirloin, rib eye, beef ribs, pork ribs, they also have bacon wrapped pork and chicken, etc etc. For more details, you should check the dine LA's Fogo menu here.

Among our favorites were the picanha (prime sirloin flavored with sea salt and garlic) and the lamb chops.
Not that I've gone for all-you-can-eat Brazilian bbq that much before, but this is definitely one of the best I've had. Just make sure you ask for it to be cooked the way you like it - that's medium rare for me. I couldn't eat that much so towards the end I ended up sticking to just my two favorite cuts above.

With the meats came three sides: mashed potatoes, fried polenta, and plaintains.
This is the one place where WC noticed the difference between restaurant week and a regular experience - we got all our sides, but she said that usually they refill your sides when you get low or run out. Not these 2 weeks, apparently.

Today's selection of desserts were only the papaya cream or the key lime pie. WC got the key lime pie.
The key lime pie was actually pretty nice - rich and tart.

I got the papaya cream, which is papaya pureed with vanilla ice cream, topped with creme de cassis.
Yeah, okay, so it's a pretty simple dessert, and it tastes exactly as it's described: papaya pureed with vanilla ice cream, but I liked it since I like papaya and rarely gets it in the US.

To recap the deal: Lunch $34.50+dessert $10 = $28 during dine LA week, you do the math. Even if the service isn't as good, I'll live with it for the savings.


Fogo de Chao
133 N La Cienega Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
(310) 289-7755
www.fogodechao.com
Fogo de Chao on Urbanspoon
Fogo de Chao in Los Angeles

Monday, February 1, 2010

DineLA 2010 Quickie: Dinner at K-Zo

Dine LA dinner at K-Zo in Culver City is $44 for 3 courses and the choices seemed pretty good. When I saw the regular menu though, I noticed they have 5 courses for $58 any day, so whether or not the $44 is a special deal or not gets a double take.

The appetizer options are 1) Rokuten Mori (a selection of 6 appetizers), 2) Seafood salad, or 3) Bouillabaise.


The Rokuten Mori gives you a sampling of a variety of cold seafood appetizers including crab sunomono, oysters, yellow tail sashimi, ankimo, etc. All of them were well prepared with fresh ingredients. The bouillabaise was pretty good, but it doesn't compare to the one I had at Bond St.


For the entrees we had a choice between: 1) a plate of nigiri sushi + popcorn shrimp and asparagus roll, 2) grilled rib-eye steak, or 3) braised Chilean sea bass.Having a plate of sushi means you're not getting each piece fresh from the hands of the itamae, but nonetheless they were still good with fresh pieces of fish - although they are mostly your standard orders.

The Chilean sea bass was well prepared and tender. The mashed "purple potato" and steamed bok choy were good accompaniments and filled you up.

For dessert, we ordered the apple "tatan" (hey, that's how they spelled it :P).
The apple tatin was pretty nicely caramelized - although the strawberry accompaniment seemed an afterthought and deterred from the sweetness of the apples.

I ordered the purple sweet potato parfait because it seemed most interesting.
This was a very enjoyable dessert - like a sweet potato zanzai - with red bean, mochi balls, and vanilla ice cream. The "sauce" was made with Okinawa purple sweet potato. I would definitely get this one again, especially since this was one of the more unique desserts they offer.

Overall the K-Zo dineLA meal was good and satisfying (although the portions are smaller than many other restaurants), but as I mentioned, since they normally have a 5 course meal for $58, I probably wouldn't hurry here if you only have limited opportunities to do dineLA.

K-Zo
9240 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 202-8890

Sunday, December 27, 2009

The List of New Year's Eve Lists + A Bit More

I still can't decide what to do for New Year's Eve either. In my search I came across some great lists from other bloggers/publications, so instead of rehashing what they said, I'm going to give you links to these lists so that they may help you too! I'll also add a few other things that may not be listed. Here goes:

Los Angeles Magazine: Roundup: New Year's Eve Planner

e*starLA: New Year, New Decade: The NYE Dinner-Party Round Up

Thirsty in LA: NYE Parties in LA: "So Long Aughts, and Thanks for All the Fish!"

OpenTable: New Year's Eve Dinners

For the bigger parties:
LA Times: Ramie Becker's Ring in 2010: Los Angeles New Year's Eve Parties

For more parties and hot shows:
NBC Los Angeles: LA's New Year's Eve 2010 Hotlist
lists of dinner or drinks with shows including Lucent Dossier's Haute Cirque

**************
Other goings-on:

For an early dinner, Bistro LQ will have a 4-course prix fixe menu at $55 for early seating (5:30-6:30) and a 6-course menu at $90 otherwise. Roasted Maine lobster, foie gras french toast-style, lamb loin, and duck magret are on the menu. Call (323) 951-1088.

Wolfgang's Steakhouse will have their full menu available plus a few specials (Lobster Mac and Cheese, a special cocktail). Not only that, they'll also have their Happy Hour menu available in the Della Robbia room starting at 10pm. And of course, complimentary champagne will go around twice here, at 9 pm (a toast to their NYC roots) and at midnight. Call (310) 385-0640.


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