Come for K BBQ, Stay for Uni and Bone Marrow at Hanjip (Culver City, CA)

There's a hot new Korean BBQ spot in town and it's in Culver City. Hanjip is the new restaurant from restaurateur Stephane Bombet and Chef Chris Oh (from Seoul Sausage).

While Chris Oh is mostly doing traditional Korean BBQ and other Korean dishes, he's elevating the soups and stews using bone marrow stock, perfecting side dishes with unusual ingredients, and using very high quality meats.

Most of the banchans are the traditional ones: kimchi, bean sprouts, fish cakes, and the like. There are pickled perilla leaves to eat with the grilled meat and some super fresh tomatoes, just lightly marinated.

I loved the dried squid probably the best.

You can get dishes a la carte or as a combo at Hanjip, and they use high quality ingredients that you can taste on your first bite of meat. For the pork dishes, you have to try the marinated pork shoulder ($26)

Roasted Cumin Spice Lamb ($22) - with spices similar to what you'll find at Xinjiang restaurants or at Feng Mao.

Read more »

Cute Gifts for Tea Lovers at David's Tea

Last minute shopping? If you still need gifts for the tea lover in your life, then check out the new David's Tea stores in LA and the tea and accessories they offer.

I first discovered David's Tea when I was in Banff and glad that this Canadian tea company has made its way to many cities in the US! They have many fun and festive flavored teas and nice packaging. A lot of their teas are blended with fruits and they have creative flavors like yerba mate with pumpkin and spices for the fall.

Davids Tea just opened two stores in the LA area: one at Village at Topanga in Woodland Hills and another in Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance!

I was sent one of their holiday gift packaging - the Tea for the Tree set, and a porcelain tea mug ($15) - the navy mug with gold berry branch design is festive and perfect for the holiday season.

Tea for the Tree set ($20) comes with four Christmas ornaments, each filled with a different holiday inspired tea like Banana Nut Bread and Snow Day. If you want smaller gifts for more people, each ornament comes with its own gift tag so you can gift them separately! They'd make for a great stocking stuffer as well.

Each ornament comes with enough tea to make 4-5 cups. I personally drink a lot of tea, but it's hard to gift tea at times since they often come in a plain bag. These ornament containers, on the other hand, are so adorable!

If you're shopping for a last minute gift tomorrow at in Woodland Hills or Torrance, be sure to check out these new tea stores!

Taste on Melrose (West Hollywood, CA)

by guest blogger @btsunoda

When the food and ambiance come together, a restaurant becomes a special place. Taste in West Hollywood is cute, hip, and not a pretentious place. Until recently, the only negative on the place was that it was small.

Taste on Melrose recently expanded their restaurant and added a courtyard and an Atrium. The  Zen-like courtyard was built in the rear of the original building which gives diners an al fresco option. 

Owners John Halter and Morten Kaag transformed a small dress shop into a romantic and stylish addition complete with a full bar and kitchen. The Atrium is attractively decorated and equipped with spot lighting which adds to the ambiance. A skylight offers daytime diners some nice indirect lighting.

The Atrium was built to serve different purposes. First, they needed more space added to the original restaurant and having the Atrium can address the overflow. With its own full bar and kitchen, It is also ideal for private parties; it even has a separate entrance.

I was recently hosted for dinner after the Atrium was opened. Our dinner started with the kale and persimmon caesar salad.
This salad was extremely colorful and I thought that the addition of persimmon and garlic married the ingredients nicely. Many chefs offer “seasonal” menus and it’s enjoyable for me to see the winter offerings.

Albacore tuna tataki included avocado, cucumbers, scallion, toasted sesame seeds, shallots with a Jalapeno Soy Citronette. This is a nice small bite starter that would pair with a white French (e.g., their Louis Latour, Montagny) or Pinot Gris wine.
The pear bruschetta with gorgonzola, caramelized onions and walnuts appetizer was very simple and I got addicted to it quickly. I went for seconds on this tasty starter.

One of their signature dishes, the White Truffle Mac and Cheese was served. What I particularly enjoyed about the dish was the inclusion of slivered crimini mushrooms. The buttery taste and the white truffle oil will delight your senses.

Read more »