Wednesday, February 6, 2008

DineLA 08: Red Seven

We tried Red Seven dineLA for a quick lunch on our way out. The restaurant is inside the Pacific Design Center. We did not know that at first so it took a while to find the restaurant.

The furnitures used in the restaurant were very nice, probably because of where they are located - I really like the swiveling chairs they had.

Both me and my friend ordered the hamachi for appetizer.

The hamachi was good, like standard hamachi dishes you find in most fusion restaurant these days. The portions were not bad, which I am happy with for $22 3-course meal.

We decided to get the burger and the butterfish to split.
The Kobe burger was pretty big and came open-faced.

I ordered it medium rare and that's the way it came. It was a pretty thick patty and was enjoyable. The bun, sauce and pickles were good.

The butterfish portion, on the other hand, was really small.

It was only two small pieces, and also small serving of the sides. Although we really enjoyed this dish - the sauce on the fish, the tenderness and moistness of the fish, and the noodles were excellent, the portion left us wanting.

I ordered the mango pudding for dessert.

This was very well-done (although the mango topping on top were rather sour - but I'm used to very2 sweet mangoes from growing up near the equator).

My friend ordered the almond roca samosas.

I thought this was just okay. They should have made the pastry crispier, then it would have been pretty good. The filling is also just okay. Definitely go for the mango pudding for dessert.

Red Seven
Pacific Design Center
700 N. San Vicente Blvd.,
West Hollywood, CA 90069

Red Seven Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Monday, February 4, 2008

DineLA 08: Noe at the Omni

The menu at Noe at the Omni for the dineLA was enticing, with black truffles and foie gras, so we went to try it out.

With the bread came regular butter and some truffle butter. We all went for the truffle butter, which had a nice smell and taste of black truffles to it. No one touched the regular butter. We liked the truffle butter and thought it was a nice and generous touch by the restaurant.

Then came a complementary amuse bouche: tuna tartar.

A bit spicy but had a nice flavor and the fish tasted fresh.

The potato with winter truffle soup was very very good. I'm partial to creamy potato soup and this one is one of the better ones. They also put a generous amount of black truffles both in the soup and in the shavings.

Next was the hen roulade with foie gras.

This dish was a bit disappointing. Although the chicken was tender, moist and tasty and the roulade overall was good, I did not see any foie gras and didn't really taste any either.

Next is the berry cobbler with chimay ice cream for dessert.

The cobbler was good although for me it was more "interesting" than good. It had a strange taste, particularly for a cobbler ... the ice cream was good though.

The service was good: nothing special but nothing to complain about either.

We did like the food there, although normally it would be expensive. The same menu but with both appetizers instead of just 1 was listed for $60. This is too expensive in my opinion, especially if it was the same hen roulade with not enough foie gras to taste.

Food: 8/10
Regular Price: 7/10
Service: 7/10

Noe at the Omni Los Angeles
251 S Olive St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

NoƩ Restaurant & Bar on Urbanspoon

Sunday, February 3, 2008

DineLA 08: Chaya Brasserie

We went to Chaya Brasserie for the dineLA menu. There were three of us and it was the first time for all of us.
Before proceeding with the dineLA menu, one of my friends ordered the seared foie gras with black truffle mac and cheese:

After one bite of this, the rest of us decided to order another one to share. The mac and cheese was excellent and you can really smell the black truffles! The seared foie gras was great (although not the best ever). The thing is though is that eating both the foie gras and the mac and cheese together were strange and personally I don't think they complement each other. Individually, however, they were excellent.

Now, on to the dineLA menu: Everyone ordered the lobster ravioli.

The sauce was good, but all in all the dish was just okay. The lobster inside the ravioli was not particularly good. Rather flavorless, in fact.

Next up is the entree. We got one of the fish and two shortribs to share.
The fish was flavorful, but the rice even more so.

This was a pretty good dish. The fish was not as dry as it seems and was in fact quite moist.

The short ribs though, in our opinion, was by far better.

I am partial to short ribs to begin with, and this one is tender and moist. To top it off, the risotto with champignon and black truffle oil was excellent. I just love that truffle smell. Mmmm.

For both entree, although we really liked them, we noted that the rice/risotto is more flavorful than the main meat/fish. If you eat them together, they tend to overpower the meat/fish.

The dessert for the prix fixe was pretty simple, nothing particularly worth noting. Got the ice cream cookie sandwich and the gelato. They were good and end the meal nicely, but nothing special.

The service was good throughout the night. They changed the gelato flavor of the day in the middle, and when I got the green tea instead of the banana walnut, I made an unhappy face, so the waitress brought me the other one also. I ended with two scoops of gelato now.

If I have to sum it up, I enjoyed the meal. The food was very good although their combination of sides and main meat do not really go well together. But I wouldn't give up any of the sides ... I just want to eat them individually.

Food: 8/10
Service: 8.5/10

Chaya Brasserie Beverly Hills
8741 Alden Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90048

Chaya Brasserie on Urbanspoon

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