Showing posts with label lamb shank. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lamb shank. Show all posts

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Where to Dine in Mammoth: Rafters at Sierra Nevada Resort


Now that snow season is upon us .... Where do you eat when you go to Mammoth? For many people, the answer is probably back at their condos. The thing is, there isn't much by way of dining out in Mammoth, and while I've gone out there a few times now, I haven't tried many places noteworthy. The Sierra Nevada Resorts is looking to change things.

There are three different restaurants at Sierra Nevada Resort, and we tried the one called Rafters, which serves modern American cuisine and a large wine list.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Chianina Steakhouse: A Rare Breed in Long Beach

Before, if you had asked me where to eat in Long Beach, I would have no answer. But now, Chianina Steakhouse has moved in and will soon be bringing the rare cattle breed to their menu. Chianina is an Italian breed that is the largest and one of the oldest breed of cattle in the world.

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Lobster Broth
Since they are raising and breeding the cattle, the Chianina steak won't be available at the restaurant until March or April, but lucky for me they had butchered one for a preview dinner so we could try it!

More on that later, as there are plenty of other things to eat here. Our dinner started with a cup of buttery lobster broth.

Next is a Beet and winter root vegetable salad with mâché, almonds, raisin ($14)
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I'm used to having my beets sweet and with creamy cheese like burrata or goat cheese instead of the slightly tart dressing here, but everything was fresh.

I loved the Dungeness crab with jicama, avocado, micro cilntro, Meyer lemon, Fresno chili
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The dungeness crab is hidden inside the rolled avocado. Sweet crab, creamy avocado, and a light heat from the chili.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Truffle Dinner at La Terza

Last Wednesday Gino Angelini's La Terza bid farewell to summer truffles by holding a 7-course black truffle dinner. I thought for $75 this was a pretty good deal so of course I skipped class and went!

The server took quite a while taking our drink order and giving us the check at the end, but at least the dishes came promptly and smoothly - much much better than the 5x5. Of course they are not nearly as crowded. I guess Italians just like to take it slow ..

First course, we started with Scrambled eggs and black trufflesI don't know how he does it but his runny scrambled eggs are always so delicious. The intensity of the color also tells you how great the eggs themselves were as an ingredient - full of flavor.

Tuna tartar, assorted citrus, black truffles and Sicialian pistachio
An interesting flavor combination, with the citrus and the nuttiness (and slight crunchiness) from the pistachio. The truffles added to the nuttiness flavor.

Pan roasted whole quail, soft polenta and black truffles
The roasted quail was great. A pretty gamey bird that was flavorful and juicy. The skin is slightly crisped just the way I like it. The black truffles seem to be an afterthought here though since the quail already stands out so much and frankly needed nothing else.

Open ravioli, porcini mushrooms, black truffles and cream of parmigiano
I think the truffles worked the best in this dish. The combination of the truffles and the porcini mushrooms really make the flavors (and aroma!) stand out.

Veal Shank Agnolotti with Black Truffles
This may be my favorite dish of the night. The veal shank inside was just absolutely ... oh I'm at a loss for words. Basically I wanted them to put a pound of this stuff in front of me so I can eat it up! Not only was it flavorful and juicy, the tenderness was wonderful. The shank juice mingling with the black truffles also enhanced the truffle aroma, making the dish as a whole work so perfectly.

Beef filet, quail eggs, black truffles and port reduction
I was really stuffed at this point and trying to finish this filet was getting painful! :P
I liked the addition of the quail egg. Again here I felt the black truffles were just an excess addition - if it wasn't truffle night they could just serve this dish without them. Not that I am complaining about the abundance of truffles in this meal, it just would've been amazing if the dish and the truffles work together better.

The meal ended with Vanilla and Black Truffles Gelato
I was skeptical of this at first, but as it turned out, black truffles on gelato is an awesome idea. Second favorite dish of the night. Or maybe third after the quail, I don't know. The truffle aroma actually really enhanced the flavor of the vanilla gelato. It's hard for me to describe it, but I will say that I absolutely loved it.

And to think, this 7-course meal was cheaper than my one white truffle pasta dish at Angelini Osteria a year ago. I'll definitely be looking forward to more dinners like this one again! When I accept the fact that service at La Terza tends to be slow, I actually have a really enjoyable meal there.

La Terza
8384 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Phone: 323.782.8384

La Terza on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Jar - word review

I finally went to Jar last week, so I'm reporting back.

Alas ... my camera was out of battery! So no picture :( Sad ...

What we had:

Crab Deviled eggs - The eggs were good, and the amount of crab was somewhat generous. Not generous enough to warrant any special note though, so overall it was not that special.

Lobster Cocktail - The lobster was fresh and delicious, but a bit on the tough side ...
I think the onions they put overwhelmed the lobster taste and the dish would have been better without it ...

Pan Roasted Wild Alaskan Salmon - The piece of salmon was not evenly cut ... so here's how it was: on the thicker end the salmon was undercooked, in the middle it was just right - perfect and oh so delicious in every way! On the thinner end it was a bit overcooked ...
It is too bad that they didn't keep this in mind while cutting/preparing it ....

Braised Lamb Shank - What can I say? This was the best lamb shank I have ever had! The most tender lamb shank ... *drool* and the coriander+star anise sauce was de-li-cious.

We had baked purple sweet potato for the side ... the sweet potato was sweet and yummy, but I don't get why people would put sour cream on sweet potatoes ... That just takes away from the sweetness :(

Desserts:
Jar's signature chocolate pudding - very good chocolate pudding, but I can't say it was something particularly noteworthy.

So overall ... Most of the dishes had kinks, but I would definitely come back here, especially for that lamb shank ... and next time perhaps will try more of the meat dishes.


Jar
8225 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-6566

www.thejar.com


Jar on Urbanspoon

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Hitting Comme Ca Early - Less Noise

We've been wanting to try Comme Ca but heard it is super noisy since 1)a lot of "young people" go there and 2)the acoustics is just bad. But today we decided to go there at 5 ish, to avoid all the crowds.

Only 3 tables were filled when we arrived. On the phone they said we didn't need reservation if we come before 5.30. We were greeted with "do you have reservations?" anyway, but were eventually seated.

They were quick to take drink orders but we asked only for tap water. After this, even though the restaurant was practically empty the service decidedly is. very. slow.

Eventually they took our orders. And then brought us bread. Eventually. But on to the food. Got the roasted beet salad for appetizer:

Very flavorful (if not just a tad salty), and the goat cheese covered in pistachio was excellent. Way better than the one I got at Fraiche recently.

Then also had the Sepia Provencal for appetizer (sauteed squid):

This was also an excellent, flavorful dish. The squid was tender but still firm/not overcooked.

For the entree we ordered the braised lamb shank.

Very nice dish, and the sauce was great. The meat was tender, although I prefer it to be even more tender (I usually enjoy the meat right next to the bone best). The tomato deserves a distinctive mention.

The other entree was the duck confit.

Although it didn't look as good as the lamb this dish was actually excellent. The duck meat was tender, almost as if it fell apart as we cut it. Not at all too dry or too tough, and the skin was perfectly crispy without being burned.

As you may already know, the dessert here is from Boule Patisserie. I've been there once but was disappointed by the service, so I thought this would be a good time to try their stuff again (since the service at Comma Ca is decidedly better - albeit slo~w).
Got the boule cake

chocolate and hazelnut mousse with cherries covered with dark chocolate. Yummy, though very rich.

And also the brioche pudding:

I like this better, although too rich and too dry at the same time for me to eat without the ice cream. As soon as we're out of the ice cream I could not eat any more ... Too bad, as I did like it.

When we left (at 7 pm) the restaurant was packed and it was getting noisier , although we still saw way more of the 'older crowd'.

Comme Ca Brasserie
8479 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90069
323.782.1178
www.commecarestaurant.com

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