Chocolate Dessert Party at Jin Patisserie - Feb 5th

In celebration of Jin Patisserie's newest outpost in Century City, they are throwing a chocolate dessert party on Feb 5, 5-8 PM for $17 per person.

It will be held at their new Century City location:
Pastry & Tea Boutique
at InterContinental
2151 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles CA 90067
310.789.6485



Here's the menu Kristy has prepared:

FINGER SANDWICH
Roast Beef w/Brie Cheese
Egg Salad
Cream Cheese Tomato


SWEET
Spicy Milk Chocolate w/Mango
38% Rondo Felchin

Baked Chocolate Tart w/Pineapple
64% Manjari Valrhona

White Chocolate w/Peach Compote & Yuzu Jelly
29% Weiss

Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownie
72% Felchin


Served with a glass of wine and a specially blended chocolate drink


$17 per person

Jungle Food Marathon Part 1: From Africa to Peru

9 foodies, 4 "jungle foods" restaurants (+1 drink stop), 7 hours.

Back in November (yes, I'm behind ... ) 7 foodbloggers and some of their +1s made a trek from Inglewood down to Westminster to hit "jungle food" restaurants, i.e. cuisines from countries with jungles. Led by Mattatouille, the group that included FoodMarathon, LA&OC Foodie, FoodDestination, DigLounge, Teenage Glutster, and I made our first stop at a Nigerian restaurant, Nkechi African Cafe.

This was actually a detour as our original stop, Saaris, was closed. Thanks to iPhone's Yelp app we managed to find this African place nearby.
The place was completely empty when we arrived and the one staff they had there was definitely shocked to see the nine of us walk in.

We got some fermented palm juice to share around the table. It tasted slightly carbonated and was actually lighter and not as sweet as I had thought (or wanted it) to be.
So here you can order any type of rice/stew and get any of the different types of meat they offer.

We started out with some Jollof Rice with mixed meat
This was a good start. The tomato based rice reminds me of jambalaya a bit. The mixed meat was tasty (they were deep fried :P ).

Next we had some egusi soup (made with melon seeds) with goat meat, with some balls of starch (either fu fu which is made of cassava, or eba, made from yam)"
The egusi soup with goat meat was not bad, though the texture was rather interesting. It's rather hard to describe. Let's just say I would eat this again. If I have to.

The other dish we got was the ogbono soup, which is made with mango pits, and we ordered this with fish.
Umm. So. None of us liked this. I think Mattatouille was the only one who kept giving it more tries, while most of us stopped after two or three. The consensus, I believe, was that this tasted like "rubber tire with a slight hint of blue cheese."

Besides Teenage Glutster, I think this was the first time most of us had Nigerian food, but it's doubtful that we would try ogbono soup again. At least we can say that it tasted pretty darn authentic :P

Nkechi African Cafe
2717 W Manchester Blvd
Inglewood, CA 90305
(323) 541-1265


Now, with that rubbery taste in our mouth, we rushed down to our next stop - El Rocoto Peruvian restaurant down in Gardena.
The strip mall joint was relatively busy and our server was a bit surprised (disappointed?) that the nine of us only ordered 4 dishes but then we told her of our lil excursion.

BTW, I was also disappointed because I saw Cusquena Negra on the menu but apparently they don't actually have it :(

We started with, of course, some ceviche mixto.
Just like Food Destination, I also just went to Peru last summer, and having had the amazing ceviche at La Mar, this doesn't quite measure up, but it was still pretty good.

We also got a combination plate containing seco de cardero (lamb stew with cilantro) and cau cau (tripes and potatoes)
The seco de cardero is hearty and gamey - this was my favorite dish of the whole meal. I wanted to get seconds but it was all gone by the end :< (Hmm I think FoodMarathon finished it .... ) The 'saltado' dish which is just sauteed with tomatoes and onions with thick fries served with lightly seasoned rice is a very popular Peruvian dish. Here we got the seafood version, saltado mariscos
I thought this was a decent version, though not as flavorful as I've had before.

We also got some Chifa dish, which is the Peruvian version of Chinese dishes. This is the pollo enrollado (chicken rolled up with pork, shrimp, asparagus, with veggies in oyster sauce).
I have no real opinion on this dish. It was enjoyable though I prefer to have my Chinese and my Peruvian food separately.

This meal definitely was way more enjoyable than our first and we were glad to get the ogbono soup taste out of our mouths!

El Rocoto Peruvian Restaurant
1356 W Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90248
www.elrocoto.com
(310) 768-8768



This adventure is to be continued on my next post as I go through the other restaurants. In the meantime though, you can read the other bloggers' accounts of this adventure:
LA&OC Foodie's , DigLounge's, , FoodDestination's, Teenage Glutster's and then you can take the quiz at FoodMarathon's site!

Soon Tofu SmackDown: BST vs SKD (Yes, Again)

Aye, it's the old time question: which is better, Beverly Soon Tofu or So Kong Dong? Well, I finally made my way to SKD and so now I have to try and figure this out.

1. First, the location and parking. BST has valet parking for a nominal fee, while SKD has free, probably easier parking. Location-wise they're pretty much the same: Right across the street from each other, in a strip mall, and both right below a billiards/pool place (why??)

2. The ambiance. BST wins hands down here. SKD is clean and bright, but is your typical joint and sterile. BST's unique wooden furnitures really add to the ambiance.

3. OK, now on to the food. The banchan. I have to say BST wins here again. SKD does have spicy raw crab, but I can't eat spicy anyway . The bean sprouts here were a bit musty. The only item I liked was the fish cakes. BST on the other hand has that amazing cold tofu, and their bean sprouts are also much better.4. SKD does not have combos like BST does. If you want bulgogi, you'd have to order it separately for $12.99. They also don't have kalbi, but they do offer either beef or pork bulgogi.
The mushrooms in the bulgogi added a nice flavor and the meat was lean and good.

5. The rice. SKD serves your rice in the hot earthenware pot - this means they'll add water to what's left in the bowl later for you to cool down your palate with! I always enjoyed having that at BCD Tofu House but Beverly never does it. Upon trying SKD's rice though I have to say, it was amazing! Never thought I'd say this - but this rice was really really good. It was firm yet had a nice stickiness. SKD wins rice hands down.
6. The soondubu itself. Now this may be due to the fact that "mild" at SKD is not as spicy as "mild" as BST and so I was able to enjoy the whole bowl without that slight pang of pain. It might be due to the fact that I had a cold when I was at SKD, and seriously, soon tofu tasted soooo good. At any rate, upon this first visit, I really, really liked SKD's soondubu.
I ordered the beef soondubu. I thought the quality of the meat was great (although BST gives more meat). The seaweed they put in added a nice flavor. The tofu was also good, and you're eating all this with that amazing rice too.

At the end, you cleanse your palate with the cool rice+water (what do they call this anyway?)
I will be going to Beverly Soon Tofu to compare once more, but I definitely left So Kong Dong a very happy camper. It was the perfect meal for this cold.


So Kong Dong
2716 W Olympic Blvd
Ste 104
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-3737