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

Petrossian is Revived. More than just Caviar

It occasionally happens that even a foodie can't figure out where to go for a nice Sunday brunch. The old places seem boring, but can't think of a new place to try. So when Petrossian came up as a suggestion, I suddenly remembered a recent article about its renovation in one of those daily newsletters like Daily Candy or Tasting Table. Perfect idea!

Petrossian is famous for its caviar, but its West Hollywood outpost has had a cafe attached to it for many years. This has recently been renovated to a spacious modern space.

The menu selection was surprisingly varied (including a foie gras salad! Hey, salad is healthy, right?), although I wasn't sure what to expect before coming there.

Besides the a la carte menu, they also offer a 3-course champagne brunch for $35. I opted for this and got a glass of Louis Roederer Brut Rose.

The first course was a choice of soup selection and I opted for the White Asparagus Veloute.
The veloute was smooth and creamy while maintaining the foaminess of veloute. It was outstanding, with a nice little onion kick. Highly recommended.

For the main course, I went with the Paris Croque Madame (Ham, gruyere on brioche with Bechamel sauce, sunny side up eggs)
Croque madame is the perfect breakfast for me. Eggs, cheese, ham, toast ... Not to mention Brioche toast here. Perfect. Runny sunny side up, nicely toasted brioche, lots of gruyere. Even a bit of salad to cut all that richness so you can go for another bite, since the first bite was immensely satisfying.

As I was deeply impressed with the panna cotta with caviar at Ludobites, and since Petrossian is known for their caviar, for dessert I went with:
Classic Panna Cotta, white peach espuma, with an extra addition of caviar ($6 extra)
Beautiful layering here: panna cotta, white peaches, topped with the espuma.
The second time I had panna cotta with caviar in a week. The one at Ludobites, though, had caviar as the main focus while here the caviar is just an extra. That bit of saltiness does give it a nice touch, but it isn't the point here.

The panna cotta was very dense and rich, more so than the usual. The white peaches were sweet and crisp, and everything was complimented by the light peach foam on top. An excellent and very memorable dessert, I would recommend this to anyone and would definitely get it on future visits.

My first visit to Petrossian was such a pleasant surprise. The newly renovated space had a clean and spacious look, and the food was excellent. I hope they'll keep up the performance.

Petrossian Boutique & Cafe
321 N Robertson Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048
(310) 271-0576