Upcoming Events! (or, What I'll Miss While in New Mexico)

--UPDATED 7/14/09--

I'm not sure why but I signed up to be in Los Alamos and Santa Fe for about 3 weeks. Before that there is the much anticipated Baja trip(!!). Oui, oui, there will many delicious Southwestern food waiting for me! But alas, I will be away from LA for all that time and apparently I will be missing many many exciting and delicious events.

So don't be like me. Mark your calendars and go!

July 16-19. Kyushu & Okinawa Fair. Tonkotsu ramen from Tatsuno-ya, "Pie Fresh Custard Pudding on Choux" of "Kikuya" in Oita, “Nagasaki Sara Udon” of “Yamachan”. Torrance, Costa Mesa, and San Diego Mitsuwa stores. Check website for full schedule of each store.

July 22. Blogger Prom! Prom, liquor vendors, raffles, goodie bags ... *sob*

Sunday, July 26. L.A. Beer Float Showdown! On this day, Golden State will gang up with Scoops to battle Bottle Rock LA who's teaming up with Milk on the first ever L.A. Beer float showdown. You'll get to judge two beer floats from each contestant. Tickets are $23 if you RSVP to joshua@foodgps.com by July 25 or $28 at the door. Proceeds benefit 826LA, a non-profit writing and tutoring program for kids 6-18. 3:30 PM. Blue Palms Brewhouse, 6124 Hollywood Blvd.

Sunday, July 26. Dessert Decadence. Gelato, cupcakes, chocolates, and more! As the name suggests, this event puts desserts on the spotlight. $40 pp. 5-8 PM. Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, 1755 N Highland Ave.

Saturday, Aug 8. Festival of Indonesia. In celebration of the 64th Indonesian Independence Day, a festival will be held at the Indonesian Consulate featuring traditional music and dance, arts and crafts, and - of course - Indonesian food (why else would I blog about it?). The traditional music includes local genre of dangdut, which I could only file under the category "campy" (i.e. it's so lame it's awesome). 10AM-10 PM. Indonesian Consulate, 3457 Wilshire Blvd.

Sunday, Aug 9. Boutique Beer Tasting & Food Pairing. The last remaining winery in Los Angeles will be holding a boutique beer tasting sampling at least 9 beers and half a dozen wines including Great White, Old Rasputin, West Coast IPA (Green Flash) and more, paired with tamales, gourmet sausages, Santa Maria BBQ tri-tip, taco bar, and pies for dessert. 2-5 PM. $50 pp. San Antonio Winery, 737 Lamar St.

Sushi on Sunset (Press Tasting)

Sushi on Sunset brought a new chef (Tetsuro Ahn) on board just last month and a few of us "media" people were invited to check out his new creations. Since it's on Sunset, I of course expected fusion food, but I was curious to see what they do here.

Sushi on Sunset is a small restaurant with a rather unassuming black on white sign, but the decor inside is a modern, classy wooden look.

Their cocktail list is pretty short and not particularly exciting, so after trying one, I then opted for one of their green tea selection, the Madame Butterfly (green tea with white peaches and something -- sunflowers, IIRC?)
I loved this tea. The scent of the white peaches was very apparent and very pleasant and calming. I wish I can get some of the leaves to take home.

EDAMAME
tossed in sweet soy and sesame sauce
A nice touch to the usual edamame, adding layers of sweet and savory.

ALBACORE TATAKI
served with white & red onion, celery, bell pepper, carrot, garlic chips & gobo chips in an oyster ginger shoyu dressing
This was our first real taste of Sushi on Sunset, and we were very pleasantly surprised. The fish was pretty good quality, and you can tell even among the sauces and garnish.

FIRECRACKER CHICKEN
with chili caramel glaze & peppers
Another pleasant surprise. These were all deep fried white meat chicken, and as you may have noticed I am not a big fan of white meat as they tend to be dry and bland. The firecracker chicken had a pretty impressive moistness to it. The sauce was sweet and slightly spicy. The dish had a pretty nice kick to it and easily enjoyed.

MATSURI (Chef Tetsu's signature dish ). As some of you may know, matsuri means festival and this dish is rightfully called so. From the left:
1. Blue crab, Avocado & eel in oyster shell
2. Salmon,Crab & Shrimp with shiso leaf in a Radish Wrap
3. Spicy Toro with Wonton Chips
4. Tuna, Shrimp, Octopus, Seaweed & green onion with Nuta Sauce

Nice renditions of crab/eel dynamite, tuna tataki, etc. All four items were quite enjoyable, with quality ingredients. The spicy toro with wonton was perhaps my favorite here.

"PINOY STYLE" DOMESTIC KOBE BEEF SATAYS
with lime pepper sauce
The meat was very tender - to be expected from kobe beef (though there are some restaurants who managed to screw up even that) ... The beef was a little stringy but the tenderness and the nice flavors make up for it.

ROXBURY ROLL
topped with an oyster ginger sauce
A step up from most rolls with real crab.

THE TROC
deep fried roll (spicy albacore inside) with fresh vegetables on top in a ginger dressing
All fusion sushi places will have some sort of crunchy roll. Sushi on Sunset has a pretty good one with a nicely done spicy albacore inside.

CHINESE CHURROS
with nutella dipping sauce
Think chinese donuts, but crispy like churros due to the shape.

APPLE PIE
caramelized apples stuffed in a filo dough cup with five spice caramel sauce topped with green tea ice cream
Delicious apples, and nice crispy filo dough for the crust! I'm not sure about the pairing with green tea ice cream, but the apple pie itself was quite good.

SOMETHING CHOCOLATE
our lava cake with vanilla ice cream
Pretty rich dark chocolate lava cake - pretty satisfying.

Chef Ahn has some pretty creative take on these dishes, and uses good quality ingredients. Fusion and sushi rolls have lately been regarded as "food for those who can't take real sushi", but when you encounter a place like Sushi on Sunset that holds its food quality to a high standards, you're reminded it is really a separate category with its own art form that still deserves some attention.

Sushi on Sunset
8264 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(310) 613-2773
www.sushionsunsetla.com

In Search of a Taste of Home: IndoKitchen

Indonesian cuisine in Los Angeles is not as common as Thai or Vietnamese, but as a student living in LA indefinitely, I still have to try some good representation of my country's cuisine. I've tried out the Indonesian restaurants on the westside through downtown, and also Pondok Kaki Lima at Duarte Inn, but there are still a few restaurants in the SGV I have yet tried.

So, to celebrate my exam passing a couple months ago, I had a pre-party dinner with Wandering Chopsticks, Kung Food Panda, and an old classmate, at Indo Kitchen in Alhambra.

I like avocado smoothies with chocolate syrup which is a typical Indonesian dessert, so of course I got one here - I'm celebrating after all.
Unfortunately the one here is not so great. It tasted like the avocado was not fresh, and the shake had a bitter aftertaste. I didn't manage more than a few sips.

As a starter I ordered the Ketoprak, which is a Javanese dish typically consisting of tofu, vermicelli, bean sprouts, etc, in peanut sauce.
A pretty good rendition, albeit it doesn't have all of the usual ingredients.

We also got one of my favorite dishes from childhood - goat Tongseng.
We usually make tongseng from leftover goat curry by adding vegetables (mainly cabbage) and then eat this the next day. Tongseng is usually not as spicy. The tongseng here is pretty good. The goat is a bit gamey (which I like) and tender, the flavors and spices are right on.

We also got their special fried chicken (I don't know why I neglected to take a photo of this!) which were also pretty good and flavorful.

Of course, we also got some rendang for Kung Food Panda who was new to Indonesian food. Rendang - braised beef curry, is a safe dish that people usually recommend to the newbies.
The rendang here is not bad, but could be better. Normally you would use smaller chunks of meat such that the result is more tender, easily cut with just the tip of your fork. Since Indo Kitchen uses bigger chunks, the meat is not as tender as it could be, and the sauce doesn't seep through into the meat completely. Still a pretty good dish - the meat is not tough and the sauce is flavorful - but could be made much better with just one simple change.

Overall a pretty good Indonesian restaurant, and I think the conclusion is mostly the same as the other Indonesian restaurants in Los Angeles. Indonesian cuisine spans thousands of islands with different cultures - and food cultures. It's impossible for one kitchen to get them all right, so at each place, order wisely and you'll be satisfied.

Indo Kitchen
5 N 4th St
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-1676
www.indokitchenalhambra.com