Chickens and Cobblers

Have you noticed I keep ordering cobblers (crumbles/crisp) for dessert? If not, you probably soon will as I make more backposts :P

This is a backpost of my visit to Cynthia's on Third Street. I've been hearing good things about their blackberry crumble and that's pretty much my main reason for this visit.
Cynthia's was pretty quiet - we came early and were the 2nd table in the house - and has a casual/ homey feel. The music was definitely noticeable and they have a note on their menu saying that they will not turn it down ...

Piping hot bread was served.
Bread was decent and since it was hot it tasted even better.

We shared the crab cake appetizer from the Specials menu.
It was served over a bed of mangoes and the sourness really complements the crab cakes. Overall a good dish, though I would've loved more crab in the crab cakes.

I, of course, ordered their infamous fried chicken. I usually do not order chicken at restaurants (especially breasts) because they tend to be dry and overcooked. But I do love fried chicken and was curious after all the reviews. Then came three big, crispy, fried chicken breasts:The mashed potatoes and greens weren't much - I guess they were good but how can they be special in the first place?
The fried chicken on the other hand, really was good! Althouth they were chicken breasts, they were tender and juicy since they were cooked properly. The skin was crispy and had a nice texture. If only they didn't put it on top of the mashed potatoes - that made it soggy over time.
Definitely a memorable fried chicken dish!

I unfortunately can't really remember what kind of fish my friend ordered ... I think it was a barramundi, but sorry can't guarantee that that's correct. It was off of their specials menu.Whatever it was, it was delicious! I had a few bites and really liked it. The fish is tender and flavorful and juicy. The flavors were bold, which I like in my fish dishes. It was served with some orecchiete which was also done well. A great dish overall, I wish they would offer it again and again.

And now it's time for the blackberry crumble! First of all, it was HUGE. Definitely enough for two:
It was indeed a great crumble. The crust was oat-based and was nice and slightly chewy. The flavor was right on though. Whole fresh blackberries inside. It was more watery than normal crumble/cobbler, but it tasted great and at least you know you're not just chowing down a whole lotta syrup... (although that wateriness does make seem like I'm missing something)
I'm generally that a huge fan of blackberries (go blueberries!) but I did really like this crumble. Don't know if it's the best in LA but definitely up there somewhere.

Cynthia's Restaurant3

8370 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 658-7851

Mark The Dates! Lobster Fest

Be sure to mark your calendars! September 19-21 is the Port of Los Angeles lobster festival (in San Pedro) !!!

$17 gets you a 1.25 lb meal, and $31 gets you the "2-on-a-plate special"! That's 2.5 lbs of lobster!
Here's my picture of the glorious meal from last year:I think you still have to pay for admission on top of the meal, though ($8 or $6 with the coupon on the website ) so might as well take that to its full advantage and get the 2.5 pounder ;)

Gjelina, Unpolished ABK Gem

We went to try out Gjelina, a new hopping place on Abbot Kinney. It was a Monday night buy they were super packed. The main dining room was extremely, extremely loud and it made me think twice about eating there. We were told that it would be a 30 minute wait but after about 15 minute one of the hostesses said that she had a couple of non-counter options for me.

She took me to the back room and the patio, which was A LOT quieter - thank god ...
I chose to sit on one of the couches they had on the patio. Very cozy, the patio is very nice.
I have to agree that the service still needs a lot of work. The waitress was very pleasant, the food came pretty quickly, so why do I say that? Well ... it's the order that the dishes came in :(
We ordered: a platter of cured meats, the arugula and sweet corn salad with grape tomatoes and ricotta, the grilled Monterey Bay squid with rocket salad, and the Mushroom Toast.

First came the Mushroom Toast (not the salad first?)
Easily my favorite dish of the night. The portions here are pretty small, but then again they are priced accordingly (pretty much tapas-size). I wasn't that interested in it in the beginning and if it wasn't for the reviews I would not have ordered it, but this dish was amazing.
Giant mushrooms that are amazingly flavorful. The sauce is slightly creamy and is just great!
Don't share this with more than one other person ... otherwise you will be fighting over it!!

Then next came the Grilled monterey bay squid, with rocket and chimichurri
The squids were great, not too chewy and the sauce is wonderful, but the arugula/rocket is a bit bitter for my taste ...
The chimichurri didn't add much in my opinion (besides relieving the bitter taste in my mouth).

After this dish we realized we won't have enough food since the portions are small, so we ordered the grilled shrimp. In the meantime, our cured meat platter came. It consisted of:

Duck confit
My fave from this dish. Very good (although it doesn't top the one I recently tried at Bar Tartine's in SF).



Salami, made in NY
Pretty good, but I'm no expert.

Homemade Elk Terrine with Cherries
Now, this was an interesting piece. It was pretty good and gets a plus for uniqueness. Plus I've never had elk and I liked this terrine quite a bit.

The platter was served with their homemade mustard sauce which I thought was delicious.

The shrimps came pretty quickly after, which just made me wonder if they had completely forgotten about my salad ... Anyway I chowed down on my shrimps first:
The waitress had mentioned that the shrimps were "huge" but they really weren't. Three of these lads divided by two people left you wanting. The shrimps were pretty good, and the sauce was also tasty, but I don't know if three pieces were worth our $12.

So this is where I started going ... "Uhm ... where is my salad?" The waitress apologized and said that it'll be right out, but it still took a while. In the meantime, someone brought over another one of the shrimps. We told them we had ours already (although we were eyeing these since we were still hungry!)

Well, finally, the long awaited salad came!
There was not that much sweet corn and I'm a corn lover so that's a minus ... and again, the arugula is too bitter for my taste. I wonder why ... I usually love arugula :( Note to self: no more arugula from Gjelina. Get mushrooms instead! After that long wait for it, it was rather anticlimactic.

Soo ... salad, and then dessert! Funky way of dining, I'd say.
Again, the portions are small so we weren't full and wanted one dessert each. We were eyeing another table who had the peach cobbler and the flourless chocolate cake, so we went ahead and ordered those. The waitress said that these two are the best, but I saw a chocolate walnut pudding on the menu that looked really2 interesting. Must try next time.

The peach cobbler ($8) is one of the best I've ever had!It's pretty small and the crust is nothing special, although good. The deal clincher is the peaches though! For a fruit dessert, the fruits really make a big difference and a lot of places don't seem to pay that much attention to it, but the peaches they used here were excellent (at least for tonight)!

The flourless chocolate cake was also good
Rich and dense. The chopped nuts add a nice touch to the whole thing.
I think I've had my share of flourless chocolate cake though and would probably have been happier with the chocolate walnut pudding or such ...

Overall, I thought Gjelina is pretty good, with the mushroom toast and peach cobbler being the highlights of my meal. I would only go if I can get a patio or back room seating - I'd go deaf in the main dining room. The couches are pretty cozy and would be nice and romantic for a couple, although eating from the coffee table was a bit of a challenge. Service needs a lot of work, but hopefully they will work out all these kinks.

GJelina
1429 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291 (310) 450-1429

Missing Laksa in LA ...Out of Luck?

There isn't much in the way of Singaporean food in LA. So what do you do when you're craving it? Would you hold out or would you try your luck?

The Singaporean restaurants I know of are only Singapore Express, and Banana Leaf. Since I was heading to the 3rd St Farmer's Market for the fruit juices at Eple anyway, I wondered if I should try out Banana Leaf. A majority of their menu is decidedly Indonesian, like "nasi goreng"/fried rice etc. Being Indonesian I can't justify my eating Indonesian food at a Singaporean restaurant, especially with Simpang Asia so nearby.

I've been craving, but wasn't sure if I should try my luck here, but in the end I did anyway. Here's a bowl of Laksa from Banana Leaf: Now, the last time I had laksa was what, IMHO, the best katong laksa in Singapore: 328 Katong Laksa. So how does Banana Leaf's Laksa compare? Well ... it's not bad, but it really doesn't. I thought the soup was not bad and they add an adequate amount of the chili sauce, but it was just full of fishballs. While katong laksa contains the right amount and proportion of shrimp, squid, and fish sticks, Banana Leaf's laksa contains a bit of tofu and a whole lot of fish balls ... I like their bean sprouts touch, but otherwise it doesn't quite do it for me. Oh, and it's missing the coriander.

I guess when you're really craving laksa, it's a decent bowl to tide you over until you can make it down to Singapore. This part of the world is sadly underrepresented in LA, hopefull that will change one day ..

Singapore's Banana Leaf
6333 W 3rd St # 122
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 933-4627

Fresh Fruit Juices, with a Kick

Summer is the time for ice creams, shaved ice, smoothies, and ice blended drinks! We heard that Eple at the 3rd St Farmer's Market at the Grove has great smoothies so we decided to give it a try. It's a chic looking place that seems a bit out of place at the farmer's market. It was right next to a Pinkberry and I heard it is owned by Pinkberry also.We went up to order, but it turns out that they don't actually have "smoothies." What they have is fresh fruit juices blended with a little bit of ice.

I love mint so I ordered the watermelon and mint juice. It was really refreshing and I like it better than smoothies since it doesn't fill you up with all that sugary yogury/sorbet. The flavors worked out really well! Watermelon is such a refreshing summer fruit, perfect for the summer heat. And mint is also refreshing and cooling. As the heat picks up I'll be craving this drink again and again, I'm sure.

They also had a special that day: the peach and mango juice (pictured to the right).



Their fruit bowls are very pretty and well-decorated and the fruits they used are great. But $8 for this?
I don't think it's worth $8 ... I guess you're paying for the looks. I'd rather go to the produce vendors and grab a bunch of fruits for a lot less!

I was really happy with my fruit juice from this place, and I'll definitely be back for that watermelon-mint one!

Èple
Third Street Farmer's Market at the Grove
6333 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 933-9211‎

Catfish Flakes and the Giant Mussels

I've been hearing so much about Jitlada, a Thai restaurant on Sunset. It's a bit far (waa~y past the Sunset Strip), so I haven't been. But we've recently made the drive to try it out.
Jitlada sits in a small strip mall (like many, many other good restaurants in LA ... what is it with strip malls in LA ..) that, most definitely, lacks parking spaces. We drove around but couldn't find parking or street parking, so we ended up parking across the street at the 99c Store (I think that's what it was). Psst ... don't tell please ...

We ordered a pad thai - standard and safe.The pad thai is pretty good and I thought it was definitely one of the better ones in LA. Not much for me to say here though, it's really pretty standard? And I've been getting bored of this sweet dish. Moving on to the more interesting items! :)

I've been hearing a lot about the catfish and green mango salad, so I got that also.
I've read the reviews so I've been expecting this. The fried catfish is, well, really looks nothing like a catfish! It looks like fried flakes ... only when you eat it does it taste fishy, although the texture is again not really what you would expect out of a 'catfish'.

The crispy-but-slightly-soggy flakes, the sourness of the green mango, and the flavorful crunchiness of the peanuts make this dish great. The first bites were a bit of a surprise regardless and seems weird, but it really grew on me. By lunchtime the next day (leftovers) I was chowing this down and craving more ...

Lastly, we ordered what Jonathan Gold proclaimed as one of the "Best Dishes of 2007", the New Zealand Green Mussels! (How can you not try it??)
What came were possibly the biggest mussels I've ever seen:
I mean, usually, the meat of the mussels occupy only 1/3 of the space the shells provide, but these mussels .... these fat, juicy mussels, fill up the shells like they're pregnant!
The slightly spicy broth were excellent but not overpowering. Just right.

Jitlada is definitely a great Thai restaurant. I do wish it was a bit closer to me so I can go more often! I'd definitely be back whenever I can find someone to drag all the way over here for Thai food ... (not like it's close to anything else either :/ )
Those mussels are definitely, definitely, worth the trip over and over again ...

Jitlada Thai Restaurant
5233 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 663-3104

Late Night Run to Donut Man

How far would you drive for donuts?
Donut Man in Glendora sits on the historic route 66 ... definitely out of the way, both from Westwood or Pasadena, but Pasadena is definitely closer than the time I made a midnight run there from Westwood. But with all the reviews surrounding it, I had to go and try. Luckily they're open 24 hours and the drive is that much shorter late at night - barring any road constructions ...

Donut Man carries all the varieties of donuts you might expect to find in a donut shop:
Your glazed, your cake donuts, your chocolate twists, your apple fritters, your crumbs ...
And yes, those are all good. But their specialty, and why people make this drive, is their
But of course, no late night drive to Donut Man is complete without getting their specialty fresh fruit stuffed donuts:
Depending on the season, they offer strawberries or peaches. So far thought, I have not had the chance to try out the peaches one (when do they offer those anyway? In the fall, I heard. We'll see). A glazed donut stuffed full with fresh syruped strawberries. Truly a heavy duty dessert; there is no way to eat this without a fork.

Sure, sure, it's a loong drive just for donuts, but we're young and foolish :) As I get older I don't think I'd be doing this anymore, but for now, seeing that I enjoy driving late at night ... it's worth the drive for me.

Donut Man
915 E Route 66
Glendora, CA 91740-3608
Phone: (626) 335-9111

Animal Instinct

I tried out Animal last week after reading a Chowhound thread on it. Still unsignaged, we went for a 7.15 reservation and when we got there, only two other tables were filled. But surprisingly it was still loud, probably because 1) there was a table of six men drinking and chatting and 2) what's with the wall, tile floors, and hardwood tables and chairs, harsh sounds tend to reverberate.

At any rate, let's move on to the food.
For appetizers we started with the Pork Ribs with bread and rocket salad:The ribs were kind of fatty, but otherwise they were perfect! Tender meats falling off the bones ... the sauce was also amazing!
I've had the Niman Ranch ribs at Slanted Door but these ribs here surpass Slanted Door's by a biiig margin.

The bread was soaked in olive oil. Besides the arugula, it was definitely not really a healthy plate :P

We also had the Marinated leeks, spinach, poached eggs, serena and bacon:
I really like eggs, and poached eggs, even for dinner. There was a lot of bacon which adds to the flavor of the leeks, although I liked the spinach in this dish better.

I had the quail fry for my entree (unfortunately the picture is blurry, I'm so sorry!)
The sauce was good, but it was too much with the quail fry - together they become too salty. But it was perfect for the grits and greens.
Oh, and great thick bacon. Again, great with the other sides, but for me, the fried quail legs should be eaten in isolation to get the full, unadulterated flavor - and not get salt overdose.

My friend got the monkfish with beans
The monkfish was also pretty good, juicy and the broth is good. But, I was too preoccupied with my quail fry :P If I had to choose ... well no question about it, quail all the way.

One of the desserts we got was what the waitress recommended,
Who would've thought to put bacon on a chocolate cake? (I must say this restaurant puts bacon on a lot of things :P ) but it works surprisingly well. The bacon bits give both crunchiness and a bit of saltiness that go well with the rich, sweet chocolate.

The other dessert we got was the White peach and Mulberry Crisp.
What is the difference between a crisp and a cobbler anyway? I'm not really sure yet, I'm going to have to look this up. But anyway, the crust of this crisp was what I would expect from a cobbler (but I may be completely wrong), but it was very good nonetheless. The combination of the white peach and mulberry went very well, and it was perfect since it would otherwise be hard to decide which one to get! I was missing my ice cream with this though - don't know maybe I'm just too used to it? Pies/cobblers/etc seem to always be too rich and sweet to me not to cut with some cold vanilla ice cream?

My final judgment? I thought all the food was great. Creative and interesting ideas with solid preparation. Reasonable prices, good service. I would definitely, definitely be back, despite the loudness (the only bad point).

Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 782-9225
www.animalrestaurant.com

Nice to Meet You, Charlie Palmer

On Saturday I went to South Coast plaza in Costa Mesa, killing two birds with one stone: 1)visiting Kat in OC who's been complaining that I don't visit :P and 2) trying out the 4 courses for $40 deals at the Charlie Palmer's at Bloomingdale's. This post is kindof late for those who want to try out the deal, since tonight is the last night ... but I thought it was still a good intro to Charlie Palmer's.

They had an eye-shaped window that looks into the kitchen. It was pretty cool to see them at work, and one guy even posed for a picture!
We were seated in the room next to their wine collection, and it was a darker room than the main dining room with brown leather chairs instead of white. I personally liked the brighter room, but it's no big deal ...

Besides the waiter/waitress, one of the sommeliers came by and introduced himself, which I thought was nice (we haven't ordered wine or anything).

So the 4 for $40 meal started with: Tasmanian salmon tartare with passion fruit-lavender, watermelon radish
I really liked the passionfruit-based sauce, both the sweetness and sourness worked well with the salmon and it was also interesting, and the masago on top gave the whole thing a nice kick.

Next is the Roasted Corn Soup with Chanterelle mushroom Ravioli:I think this was my favorite of the night. And I'm not just saying that because I'm in love with corn (or am I?). The soup was flavorful, but not too salty like I was afraid of, and the combination with the chanterelle mushroom ravioli worked very well.

Kat's friend also ordered the Kobe beef burger sliders from the lounge menu. There were 3 mini burgers so she gave each of us one (thanks!)

The burger was pretty standard - the meat was very very juicy, which I liked, but at the same time was a bit 'rough'.


For the entree I got: Pan roasted sea scallops, with sunchokes, sugar snap peas, herb jus
The scallops were pretty big, tender and juicy. The sauce I thought was just okay though, and if it wasn't for the interesting vegetables it would've been a rather boring dish.

Kat's friend ordered the Prosciutto crusted pork tenderloin with salsify, black mission figs
I tried a bite of the tenderloin, and it was pretty good. It was not overcooked so the meat is tender and juicy. I actually liked this better than my scallops ..


The chocolate molten cake for the dessert was not bad. It was not anything special either. Without the ice cream it's a little too rich and sweet. But then again, a rich chocolate molten cake is good.





Instead of petit fours, they gave us 'beignets'. They were tasty, but I think they're more like donut holes. Good donut holes.









All in all I'd say the 4 for $40 was a good deal. As for the restaurant itself, it has solid food, ambiance, and service. It's pretty 'standard' high-end restaurant with all the right components, good for business meetings, taking guests, etc, but not one I would make as a "destination."

Charlie Palmer's at Bloomingdale's
3333 S Bristol St
Costa Mesa,, CA 92626
Phone: (714) 352-2525

Help me find my love!

While in Peru I met a tall, dark and handsome man.
Cold, and slightly sweet, full bodied, and absolutely smooth - not to mention rich.
But, alas, now I am back in LA just pining away.
So, someone help me find him again! My beloved Cusquena Negra ... is it anywhere in LA?
If anyone knows where I can go, we won't forget your kindness ...