Outdoor Summer Beer Garden at Chaya Downtown

For the summer months, The Chaya in downtown has something special for you: an outdoor summer beer garden, complete with a robata grill, izakaya-style dishes, and of course, beer.

Sea Scallop Miso Gratin ($9)

Paper lanterns for that Japanese festival feel.

One of our favorites was the Soy Braised Short Rib Sukiyaki Style ($9). What came was not what we expected, but it was a delicious bowl of shredded braised short rib topped with melted cheese, served with toasted bread. The short rib was so tender and melts in your mouth.

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Israeli Dinner and Wines at Swill Automatic, Until July 19

Until July 19, "Swill Automatic Becomes Bar Mitzvah" is happening at this new downtown wine bar, serving a 5-course modern Israeli cuisine paired with Israeli wines ($45 pp, $66 with wine pairing). I was invited to try the Israeli dinner on their soft opening night and since I have never really had Israeli food or wine, I was curious. I had the preconception that it would be a Jewish dinner, but the menu leans towards Mediterranean. It turns out that Israeli cuisine has adopted many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean influences.

Spinach, leek, feta, couscous

The service that night was spotty since it was the first time they served a 5 course meal (the wine usually serves small plates). They were pleasant and friendly, but the courses and wines didn't come out as planned. Hopefully it would be much better the rest of the week. Nonetheless, I tried many new things that night and learned quite a bit about Israeli food and wines.

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Ramen Bull Pops up at BreadBar with Beef and Oxtail Ramen

BREADBAR and Chef Noriyuki Sugie of Ironnori brings back ramen to BREADBAR's 3rd Street location. Not the pork-based tonkotsu ramen, but beef ramen, dubbed Ramen Bull. The menu is simple but diverse (as far as beef go). There's the oxtail, beef tongue, spicy ground beef, even a vegetarian ramen.

Oxtail Ramen

I was recently invited to taste chef Nori's ramen creations. I had gotten there early and my +1 was running late, so I ordered a plate of Corned Beef ($6) to munch on.

The slices of corned beef was topped with charcoal oil, adding to the flavor. Texture-wise, I prefer the tender beef tongue that comes next.

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