DineLA 09: The Foundry on Melrose, Dinner

This past Sunday I decided to take advantage of the dineLA deal and try out The Foundry on Melrose for the first time. The Foundry has a nice covered and heated outdoor seating (although the heater was blasting, making it a tad too warm).

Apparently, though, The Foundry has a prix-fixe menu on Sundays for $39 for 3-courses or $49 for 4-courses. This made us feel a bit ripped off by the whole dineLA deal - didn't feel like such a deal after all. The 3-course menu was almost the same as the dineLA's $44 menu except for the options of Pork Belly as appetizer (available in the 4-course) and the bread pudding for dessert.

Hmm. The pork belly and bread pudding do sound appetizing though. In the end we decided to get a couple of dineLA menu and a couple of Sunday 3-course menu and share.

They started us off with some bread amuse bouche with tomato sauce and parmesan.
The bread is pretty dense, making it quite a heavy amuse bouche.

As for the appetizer, I managed to taste the:
Option #1 (not in any order): Calamari "a la Plancha" - Olive Tapenade, Grapefruit, Piquillo Peppers
This roasted calamary was done quite well. Was not overcooked and had a nice texture to it. Light and crisp, and the combination with grapefruit makes this dish quite refreshing.

On the other end of the spectrum is Option #2: Crispy Pork Belly - Grapes, Almonds, Eggplant
This might be the best dish of the night (I guess it's worth the extra $5-$10 on top of the Sunday menu to get this?). Crispy and tender without beeing too fat-laden. Really liked the combination with the grapes as the sweet/sour notes help cut the fattiness of the belleh.

As for the entree, I went with the Entree Option #1: Hangar Steak - Crispy Fingerlings, Mushrooms, Anchovy Butter
Steak was cooked medium rare - it was still a bit tough because it is hangar steak. It goes well with the mushroom, but it was also served with some sort of mushroom puree that most of my friends didn't like (it gives them a weird aftertaste).

Entree Option #2: Crispy Skin Salmon - Crushed Potato, Orange, Fennel
The was a nice dish. The salmon was not overcooked and was pretty juicy - skin was nice and crispy. The fennel was good by itself and in combination with the fish.

Entree option #3: Chorizo Crusted Jidori Chicken - Mashed Plantain, Avocado Citrus Salad
I didn't get to taste this, but my friends seem to enjoy it and one said that it was the best of the entrees.

Dessert #1: Spiced Doughnuts - Pineapple Saffron Sauce, Chocolate Hazelnut Sauce
Thought this was okay. They were good, but nothing special. They are a bit on the dense side ( I prefer Grace's donuts).

Dessert Option #2: Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding - Rum Raisin Ice Cream
Definitely the best option for dessert. The bread pudding is warm, rich and moist.

Option #3 was the creme brulee which apparently was not really a creme brulee after all. Did not get to try this, though.

I thought the meal was pretty solid, although the service was quite a bit slow (the desserts took quite some time to be served). Also, with their existing Sunday prix-fixe menus, I'm not convinced dineLA is a good deal for people to try out this restaurant.

THE FOUNDRY ON MELROSE
7465 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, 90046
323.651.0915
thefoundryonmelrose.com

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!