Thursday, March 10, 2011

LA's "Haute" Asian Cuisine? Lukshon vs WP24 vs Red Medicine, Part 3: Red Medicine

When I started doing this series of posts, i debated a while whether or not I will go to Red Medicine. I had gone to their stint at Test Kitchen, but ideally I should try the "final product". However, I just couldn't bring myself to go after their whole drama with the LA Times' reviewer SIV, where they not only kicked her out of the restaurant but also posted her photo online, threatening her position as an anonymous critic. I haven't agreed with many of her reviews lately but that is really beside the point. I found their "revenge" unprofessional and juvenile.

Finally, I decided not to go. I had very little desire to.

The tasting menu at Test Kitchen and their current menu both seemed reasonable at first glance, $40 for the Test Kitchen menu and $21 or less for the protein entrees. It turned out, however, that the portions were quite small.

Many of the dishes we tried were excellent. We all loved the cured amberjack served on french melons, and the pork belly "banh mi".

Pork Belly Banh Mi
Fatty and crunchy texture and lovely pickled carrot. I definitely could've used more than one piece of this.
I really liked the beef bavette also, which was extremely tender and juicy, but the portion you see below if for four people.
Skirt Steak

Since Chef Jordan Kahn was previously the pastry chef at XIV, it wasn't surprising that the dessert was in fact our favorite course.
Coconut bavarois - coffee ice cream, thai basil, peanut croquant, chicory
Dessert
It's an amazing combination of flavors and textures that I had not even considered. All the flavors were strong, yet nothing was overwhelming. There's the smooth and creamy bavarois, the cold ice cream, and the crunchy croquant.

There's no denying that Jordan Kahn is a talented chef, though I'm unsure why he decided to open a Vietnamese restaurant. Some dishes were great but we sometimes find a lack of flavor when compared to its vietnamese counterpart, like the green papaya salad.

If I do get over my qualms about going there though, I will definitely order the dessert.

1 comments:

streetgourmetla

Hey Fiona, I was there the same night as you, you guys were sitting across from me. I remember our collective yawn about this meal.

It's funny that Red Medicine doesn't stand behind its TK dinners as being representative of their restaurant.

Where's the Adam comment? What an idiot.

He tried to argue with me on Facebook that his banh mi, which he can't even spell right, is 100% food cost, apparently he operates rent free, and the staff donates their time.

A goofy guy in a corporate hamburger shirt trying to pass himself off as punk.

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