Whole Baked Catfish at Vietnam House (San Gabriel, CA)

A quick pho trip turned into a lavish meal of whole baked catfish. We just couldn't help ourselves once we saw it on the menu. The whole catfish (around $30-35 depending on the size) came topped with garlic and scallions, the aroma carries to the edge of the table. This is perhaps the tour de force of Vietnam House's menu.

The catfish is served with the usual condiments. Vermicelli noodles, herbs and lettuce and pickled carrots, rice paper to wrap it all in, and fish sauce for dipping. (I keep noticing how in much of Vietnamese food, you don't really eat rice but rice paper, rice noodles, and rice cakes).

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Cham Brings New Addictions to the Menu

Watch out for Cham Korean Bistro's new menu items or you'll end up like me: an addict. Yes, I'm addicted to their new Sesame Kabocha Squash Chips ($5)

The squash is mixed with some rice flour, giving it a chewy, mochi-like consistency on the inside while the outside remains crispy. It's lightly sweet, yet the sesame seeds gave it a nutty and smoky hint. Appetizer, snack, dessert. I'll eat them whenever and will definitely order them whenever I visit Cham but alas, at $5 for half a dozen pieces, I won't be able to take a whole bag home and eat them all day long. I wonder if they'll do a bulk discount ..

Another new menu item is the Sweet Potato Fries (w/ Honey Mustard Sauce) $4

I really enjoyed these fries. They were thick and weren't battered and deep fried. The sweetness really came through and they weren't greasy as other versions tend to be.

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Grom is Awesome

I've found it. The best gelateria in LA, Grom. Yes, it's a "chain" (from Italy) but this is no Piccomolo.

Grom opened in Torino in 2003 to great success and expanded to shops abroad starting from New York City in 2007. Now it has finally come to LA in a shopping center in Malibu.

Entering the store, you will notice the pictures of produce hanging on the wall that say where they come from (seasonal fruits, almonds from Avola, pistachios from Syria, chocolates from Venezuela or Colombia). Taste some of the 30 flavors of the day and you will be confounded by the selection. They're just all. so. good.

The consistency is dense and creamy, and the flavors of the ingredients come out strong. There's none of those sweet red stuff that only vaguely taste like strawberries. Each of the fruit sorbets tasted like biting into a cold version of the fruit itself, the dark chocolate is rich and intense (they also have an extra dark chocolate one, which we didn't dare try). I may have to do a side by side tasting of their pistachio against Bulgarini, but at the moment I am actually leaning towards Grom. Overall: Excellence.

The only con for me is its location, all the way in Malibu. On the other hand, they are open until 11 pm on weekends, so you can make the drive at night traffic-free. I'd do it in a heartbeat.

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Grom Gelateria
3886 Cross Creek Rd
Malibu, CA 90265
(310) 456-9797
http://www.grom.it/eng/index.php