My Ultimate Burger and Shake Meal

People can argue with me, but I think Grace offers the best burger+shake meal in LA. Sure, the price isn't exactly what you would normally spend for burger and shake, but ...

(If you're looking for a review of the other food they have at Grace, go to my dineLA review here)

I ordered the Grace burger with the truffle cheese. The waitress assured us that (although you can't see them), the cheese was made from authentic Italian white truffles, not just truffle essence ...
A huge patty of beef, cooked medium with melted truffle cheese in between fleur-de-sel buns, with fresh lettuce and tomatoes. And delicious fries, too. Yum. I don't know, I think Grace burger is my favorite, although I can respect people saying otherwise, e.g. if they want Kobe beef, or more unique sauces/preparation, or just more burger-like prices :P
This is definitely not my go-to place for a regular daily cravings for burger. Special occasion burger cravings only!


Last time I had the blueberry malt shake which was absolutely, absolutely amazing. This time they didn't have it ... so I opted for the Mexican Chocolate shake. This was also really, really good! Grace might not have the best burger around, but I would definitely argue that Grace has the best milkshake.

GRACE
7360 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036-2501
gracerestaurant.com

Say "Kurobuta"!

It's easy to find the best ramen place in little Tokyo. Just follow the line. While Mr. Ramen or whatever else on 1st street is practically empty, there is always at least a 30 minute wait outside of Daikokuya.

What makes Daikokuya so special? They use kurobuta pork! And they make their broth by boiling for a whole day. They get my vote for the best ramen in LA. Here is the Daikoku Ramen:
A hard boiled egg that's been soaked overnight. Noodles done just right. That wonderful, wonderful broth that just spells out "comfort food." Sumptuous pieces of kurobuta, topped with lots of green onions. Oh and the sesame seeds. Yum.

Let's look closer at our lovely fatty kurobuta shall we? ;)
The kurobuta is so tender that it feels like it would just melt in your mouth. No more of that chewy chashu in my ramen for me.

The whole thing is definitely fatty. That is probably why it tastes so good that you want to just gulp down the broth from the entire bowl. When I eat this I always think about the last ramen scene from Tampopo. You pick up your bowl, gulp down the entire thing. Ahhh.

(If this doesn't seem to do it for you in terms of fattiness, feel free to order the kotteri style for extra back fat in your broth!)

Daikokuya
327 E. 1st St
Los Angeles, CA 90012

2-Star Melisse

Went to the two Michelin starred restaurant Melisse last night, with great expectations (Michelin stars come with responsibilities!). We were 10 minutes late but were promptly seated and were accomodated even when we wanted to switch to a bigger table. They had a champagne cart, but we opted out of alcohol for the night. Since we didn't have much time, we didn't get any tasting menu.

They started us with grapes coated with goat cheese and pistachio crumbs.The amuse bouche was a tuna tartar, and in the shot glass was layers of passionfruit gelee, fennel flan, and topped with cashew foam.
I liked the concoction in the shot glass, but the tuna tartar was unmemorable, although good.

The Egg Caviar was good. Poached egg with cauliflower puree and caviar.
The quality of the poached egg and caviar was good, but I don't think it is worth the price they are charging for it .... It isn't even that much caviar ...

The sweet onion-parmesan soup, on the other hand, was excellent. They bring out the bowl with the jumbo lump crab cake, then pour the soup on the table.
The soup was smooth, and very flavorful. Not onion-y at all, and the crab cake was also excellent. Probably my favorite dish tonight (not counting dessert).

One of the entrees we got was the veal and spare ribs. The veal was good and tender, but the spare ribs we thought were on the tough and dry side .... definitely have had better.
I ordered the Crispy Rouget, served with mashed potatoes, and roasted potatoes on the side.
I liked the crispiness of the skin, and the sauce. However, after eating half of the plate I started feeling that the fish was a bit dry, and that there was just too much potatoes everywhere ... I liked the dish and thought it was good, but I wasn't really blown away.

We felt underwhelmed by our main courses ... and when our waitress asked we let her know so. Pretty soon after, the manager (I guess) came by our table and asked what was wrong. We let him know that the ribs were tough and dry. We also said though that to be fair we will come back and give them another try with the Carte Blanche tasting menu. He apologized and said that usually people are blown away, thanked us for letting him know and asked to give them another chance, then took our dessert order and said that the dessert will be on him.

After our meal, I didn't know what to expect for the dessert, but the Passionfruit Parfait we got was actually excellent! This contains frozen passionfruit souffle, topped with coconut sorbet and pistachio tuile, then drenched with lemongrass milk.
Amazing. Overall very refreshing and creative. We really liked this and I drank every last drop of the lemongrass milk (that the rest of it was also swiped clean goes without saying). I started to feel better about the restaurant after the first bite :)

Right now, I can't say I'm in love with the place, although I am in love with that dessert. I've been to Bouley in New York, and as far as 2-star restaurants go, Bouley was much better. And right now I also like Providence better. But, admitting that I didn't order anything from the Seasonal specials, and didn't get the tasting menu (which I always do at Providence), I don't want to discount this place yet. They're up for another test.

Melisse
1104 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-0881

Milk, and more

The sign is eye catching no doubt. I've driven by this place a while back and noticed it immediately, but didn't have time to suddenly stop. Then I read all about it on Chowhound etc, so I tried out dinner at Ita-Cho and stopped by this place on the way out since it was just across the street.Milk is a cafe and they serve sandwiches etc, including some pastas on the special menu. They also have a variety of baked goods such as cookies, pudding, madeleines, etc. I also saw that they serve a blueberry popover for breakfast! Gotta try it next time for weekend brunch! :)

But, really, ice cream is what I was there for.

They have tons of interesting, yummy looking ice cream sandwiches, with favors like coconut and strawberry sorbet. I didn't try any this time, but next time definitely. Oh they also have ice cream bars that look rich and delish.
This time we just got scoops of ice cream: chocolate, papaya sorbet, and banana dulce de leche.
Everything was really good, but I made the mistake of eating the chocolate first. The chocolate was the best one IMO :) (but I always think it is ...). The papaya was sweet, flavorful, and refreshing, and actually tastes like papaya. I'd rank them 1) chocolate 2) papaya 3) banana dulce de leche. They were all yummy though. Although, I think I still prefer the smooth texture of gelato ...

It is definitely one of the better ice creams I've had in LA, and one of the best quality-wise. I do wish they have more interesting (i.e.) flavors I could try out :P

All in all, I give them a thumbs up and I'll definitely be back! And try out all those yummy looking ice cream sandwiches.

Milk
7290 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 939-6455

Real Food

A couple of weeks ago we went to lunch with someone who was a vegan. Since we didn't really know any vegan places, we went along with her suggestion: Real Food Daily in Santa Monica. They serve purely vegan (and of course, organic) food, but with a lot more choices and innovation than most other places.
Of course, you can still go with one of your salads or vegetable sandwiches. They have an amazing portabella mushroom sandwich with hemp bread! Give it a try!

After that we've come back, and the place is always packed. The bad thing is that they don't take reservations, so you end up waiting for quite a while for it. Usually they will send you to the spiritual bookstore right next door and will come get you there when your table is ready.

The special for March was this vegetarian lasagna, which was absolutely delicious (I didn't really catch what was in it, sorry ... next time).
Also to note is the Better with Cheddar nachos for appetizer. They used melted cashew cheddar cheese and tofu sour cream and this was really really good.

Someone got one of the specials which consisted of noodles in peanut sauce topped with some tempeh (for those who don't know, tempeh is made of soy beans- kinda like soy bean cake). I didn't get to try this, but they seemed to really like it.
We ordered the chocolate pudding for dessert. Of course, dairy free and gluten free. And it was amazing. It tasted very rich and chocolatey.
I'm glad someone suggested this place. I would never have tried it otherwise since I don't really venture into vegan eateries, being a red meat lover myself. This place serves really good food though, and it sure comes real handy when you have to take someone vegan/vegetarian out to dinner and need to pick a place :)

Real Food Daily
514 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Spaghetti is Japanese

No, seriously. Well, sometimes. You can't deny that the Japanese has adopted and japanified a lot of western dishes such as the hamburger (no, seriously, what do they call a hamburger-with-buns in Japan?), and spaghetti is no exception.

Gardena is more of a korean town, but this little Japanese shop has been here for years. Apparently years ago it used to be a bakery also and sold pretty good bread and other baked goods. About two years ago they still had French bread but I didn't see any this time around. Now all they had are the cold dinner rolls that you probably just shouldn't eat. Unless you're really hungry.

Spoon House serves mainly spaghetti, with a sprinkle of other items. Don't get me wrong, they also serve more traditional, Italian spaghetti.
Here's the Barca D'Oro, which still looks like a normal, Italian spaghetti. Described as "Italian sauce with seafood."For some odd reason I was craving eggs so I ordered the Napolitano with bacon and eggs. Kinda weird for spaghetti, isn't it? We're getting there. But I enjoyed it a lot.
And there are plenty of other unique, and definitely more Japanese spaghetti offered that we did not get this time around, such as Cod Roe and Sea Urchin spaghetti, Natto&Shiso (seriously? yep), Squid& Wasabi, and even kim chi.

Unfortunately someone was eating the Barca D'Oro when we came and my friends decided that it looked really good, so that's what they got (so no picture of the more Japanese spaghettis this time).

Spoon House does not serve the highest quality ingredients imaginable, but they definitely serve really yummy, cheap, comfort food. Everything I've had here (minus the dinner rolls) have been really good, and I keep coming back for more.

The spaghetti here is always served al dente, and you can watch them cook it in this contraption that you can see from your seat:
Each portion of spaghetti goes into each section for a specific time period. Pull the lever and the pasta will be drained and ready to be served. Neat.

I was looking forward to dessert this time, since I remembered the flan being really good here. Indeed, it was one of the better flans I've had. The ice cream goes well with it, although I could go with or without it.

And we ordered some panna cotta too, don't know why. It was good, but not nearly as good as the flan.




Spoon House
1601 W.Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

Exploding Stomachs at the Counter

A friend of mine told me about The Counter a while back, where you can build your own burger and shake. I never got to try it until yesterday, where I suddenly felt a craving for a nice burger and shake.

The Counter in Santa Monica has a clean, modern look to it, with lots of colorful and fun paintings on the wall.

I like this burger painting they had at the corner.

It was already 4 pm when we were having this "lunch", and since it seems like it was going to be the only meal of the day, I decided to go all out and ordered a chocolate banana malt.

The malt took a while to be served, but it was definitely yummy. Thick and rich, at the bottom of the glass you will even find lumps of banana.

We also got a side of sweet potato fries, which were cooked just right - crispy but still moist inside, not burnt, and not overly greasy. It is served with a chili-mayo type sauce which was not at all spicy.
I ordered the burger of the month: Crab Cioppino Burger.
A moist crab cake seasoned with saffron, etc, served with baby greens, tomatoes, crispy pancetta on top, with lemon basil tartar sauce served on the sauce. Unfortunately the crab cake was so moist it is so easily breakable, even when you're only trying to bite into the burger. But no matter what, eating your burger here will be messy.

Definitely had a hard time eating the crab cioppino burger while trying to keep it all together. The tartar sauce and the pancetta went nicely with the crab cake.

We also got a BYO beef burger. This is a 2/3 lb beef burger, on honey wheat bun with gruyere cheese, crispy pancetta, avocado, hard boiled eggs, lettuce, and sprouts.
We had gotten the sauce of the month which was the lemon basil tartar sauce but it didn't go nearly as well with beef as with the crab cake, so ketchup was better for this one instead. I think we both liked the beef burger better overall, although the crab cioppino burger was definitely good. Perhaps it was just getting all the toppings you wanted.

We were completely stuffed and I couldn't really finish my burger ... the fries definitely went into a to go box ... Stuffing two meal into one is not that pleasant at the end of the meal :P
But although stuffed, we were satisfied and would definitely come back for more.

The Counter
2901 Ocean Park Boulevard
Santa Monica CA 90405

ABK gems: Abbot's Pizza

Abbot Kinney boulevard certainly offers a variety of excellent food establishments (others that have been reviewed here are Jin Patisserie, 3 Square Cafe), and luckily there are still cheap eats like Abbot's Pizza. I haven't come here much since I normally do not crave pizza, but that day we happened to park right in front of the shop, and we couldn't help but go in.

The first thing that got our attention was the salad pizza. It was literally, like a salad on top of Abbot's bagel crust pizza, as you can see yourself. Lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, and sprinklings of blue cheese on top of a lightly cheesed pizza slice. And it was surprisingly tasty. Not to mention it's a lot healthier than most things you could eat. We really really liked this slice of pizza.
For the other slice we got tomato and basil. This too was good, although we preferred the salad pizza. They gave us 2 slices since they said these slices are smaller. All of these = $9! Quite a bargain if I may say so. With so many interesting options to try, and a good experience so far, I will definitely come back to try more. Or just get that salad pizza again.



















Abbot's Pizza

1407 Abbot Kinney Blvd
Venice, CA 90291
Phone: (310) 396-7334

Indonesian Fruits 101

Manggis (mangosteen)
I'm sure a lot of you are already familiar with this recently-famous fruit that's supposed to be so high in antioxidants and are sold in the LA area for $10.99/pound or so ...
I ate tons of these while in Indonesia. What's left in this basket are only half of the original batch. And oh yes manggis have become expensive lately in Indonesia ... they're like about $3.5/kg now (about $1.80/pound). So feel free to eat 10 times more mangosteens than you would in LA. Not to mention they taste a looot better in this part of the world.

Rambutan
I really don't know what this is called in English. Probably the same? "Rambut" means "hair" in Indonesian, I'm sure you can see why this fruit is called that. When it's just right, the inside is oh so juicy and sweet (the juice may very well drip on your fingers as you're eating). Be careful biting it, as the outer part of the seed sometimes get stuck to the meat, and it isn't that pleasant to eat.

Srikaya
Again, don't know the english name, but the Latin is Annona squamosa. This fruit has lots and lots of seeds. Each white segment has its own seed. You can tell about how many will be in it from the bums on the skin outside. My cousin is too lazy to eat this because you have to continuously spit out the seeds. Fleshy and fibrous consistency. When it's ripe, the whole fruit is very tender. You can open the fruit by just gently pulling it apart.

Duku (langsat, lonsones, longkong)
This fruit has a tougher outer layer, although the flesh is actually tender and sweet (although can be sour when not ripe), easy to bite. Luckily unlike srikaya it won't splatter if you drop it on the ground. Again, each segment has a seed.

In Search of Good Jajangmyeon

After a series of late-night K-drama marathons last year - which, for my own academic career, probably shouldn't happen too often - I started having intermittent cravings for jajangmyun, a.k.a. black bean noodles. Not to be confused with the chinese black bean noodles or cha jiang mien. The korean one originated from the chinese black bean noodles, but is now quite different.

I went to place that had really good jajangmyun before but I had forgotten the name and haven't been able to find it again! :( All I know is that the place was K-style chinese food, open 24 hours, in a strip mall where they also have a hopping nightclub of sorts ... Anyone has any idea?

So in an attempt to find another good place, I went to try Mandarin House, which had pretty good jajangmyun reviews. They had the regular jajangmyun, with no meat, and they also had a meat sauce jajangmyun. I wanted some meat, so that's what I ordered. My friend who was there does not like to eat meat (except for kalbi, which she would eat a lot of :> ) ordered the regular.

Here's the meat jajangmyun:
It seemed to me that the regular one that my friend got had more sauce and the sauce was thicker and blacker ... in other words, it looked better to me. Still, my jajangmyun was really pretty good, although I did want more sauce on it! Since the sauce is so good!

So while the jajangmyun here is pretty good, it's still not perfect in my opinion. I'm still looking for one with great sauce and lots of it, and with substantial amount of meat, too! If anyone has any recommendation, please do let me know!

Mandarin House
3074 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 386-8976

Yay! Another Cooking movie!

While I was on the plane coming back from Indonesia I was lucky to find another cooking movie! This time it's a Korean movie based on a comic book called "Le Grand Chef", directed by Jeon Yoon-soo.

The story goes, there's a knife that used to belong to the last royal chef of korea. The royal chef cut off his hand with this knife so that he would not have to cook for the Japanese that had taken over. Now, the Japanese wants to return this knife to the Koreans and they are holding a cooking contest to determine the next owner of this knife.

Our main character is Sung-Chan (Kim Kang-Woo), who used to work at Woonam-Jung which is owned by the descendants (descendant of the apprentice, more like it) of the royal chef. Due to some reason which I won't tell you, he was kicked out ...

I don't want to give too much away, but it was a good and entertaining movie, so you guys go watch it!

Fraiche - Not So Fresh

This is a long overdue post on Fraiche in Culver City, the reason being I wasn't really crazy about it. Disclaimer first, I only went here for an office holiday party, and we had a pre set menu etc, so it may well be I didn't get the representative dishes to convince me that Fraiche was as awesome as I had heard.

It was a three-course menu, and for starters I ordered the beets with goat cheese and pistachios. I have to first say I have heard many many good things about this dish, which was why I ordered it. Upon first glance, the beets weren't as colorful as I am used to. But I won't judge based on that, bright colors may not be everything.
The first few bites of the beets were good and enjoyable, but I could not finish the dish. As I was eating each bite made me feel somewhat ... queasy? It was like the beets were, well, anemic! The beets were a bit bland than I would like, and to top that off with loads of also-rather-bland goat cheese was too much. I stopped eating so I won't feel sick. Is this normal? Or is it one of those let's-give-the-office-party-ppl-second-rate-ingredients?? Maybe it was just us, maybe some people like it way better that way. Dont' know. But no one around my seat finished their beet dish. It was 'good' at first few bites, then 'okay', then on to 'ugh' ...

For the main course I had the duck with black rice. This dish was pretty good but the duck was overcooked and, hence, dry. I did like the black rice though.

I had the chocolate bread pudding for dessert. This was also a bit dry, especially as far as bread puddings go.

The other choice for dessert was the lemon meringue pie. I tried a bit from someone else's plate, but it was way too sweet even for my sweet tooth.

For all the hype I've heard about this place, I was rather disappointed. Is it just because what we got were not as good as a normal Fraiche meal? Tell me, should I go back and give it another try?

Fraiche
9411 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 839-6800
http://www.fraicherestaurantla.com