Sunday, February 8, 2009

DineLA09: Fish Dinner at the Water Grill

Water Grill was supposed to be my dineLA finale - before they decided to extend it LA&OC Foodie had planned this dinner and extended invitations to me and Rumdood, which we jumped on (or at least I did).

Since Water Grill is participating in the extension - all throughout February, I decided to blog about it sooner rather than later.

Although our party was late for our reservation, Water Grill graciously held our table for us. As the night went on, all tables were filled - good sign. The $44 prix-fixe dinner menu is, naturally, all seafood (except for dessert).

I started with the House Cured Salmon, with Potato and Brown Mustard Seed Salad with Dill.
The cured salmon was great, but I thought that the dish as a whole was a bit too busy. I would have preferred it simple and highlight the delicious taste of the cured salmon itself. I suppose I could've just picked off everything else.

For the entree I went with Grilled Columbia River White Sturgeon - Coriander Spiced Yam, Rapini, Baby Roasted Beets, Pearled Barley and Oregano
I really enjoyed the fish. It was quite meaty with a nice grilled flavor, but still moist. I liked it with the pearled barley but although I did enjoy the yam, I thought the two of them were better off being eaten separately.

For dessert, I had the Red Velvet Pudding with Mascarpone Ice Cream.
It's like an extra moist red velvet cupcake with ice cream rather than icing. It was quite rich. Tasted pretty good but got too rich for me at the end, especially when the ice cream was all gone.

Throughout the dinner, our server was very nice, friendly, and even funny. The food was very solid and with the great company, we all really enjoyed ourselves. Considering the regular price for a fish dinner entree is about $36, the DineLA menu is quite a deal. If you guys considered checking this place out for the extended DineLA, I'd recommend it!

Water Grill
544 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 891-0900
watergrill.com
Water Grill on Urbanspoon

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Deciding Where to Go on Dreaded V-day?

What's up with this overly commercialized, pressure-generating, meaningless "Valentine's Day" anyway right? Why should I do anything to celebrate it?
Yeah, I was gonna skip it too. Just stay home. Avoid the crowd. Save that $100 for a REAL meal another day.

But, man, then the menus for this "special" day start pouring in. And I do so love chocolate ...

In particular, I'm drooling over the thought of a multi-course chocolate dinner at Compartes Chocolatier for $30pp. The dinner will be on their newly renovated patio. Their dinner menu is being kept "under wraps" but we do know that the desserts will include homemade heart shaped chocolate molten cake with a gooey ganache center, an exotic fruit, cheese and spice plate, chocolate kaffir lime panna cotta with thai chile sauce, exotic gelatos in flavors like lemongrass, lavender and, homemade mexican "haute" cocoa shots, signature truffles, and more ...Mmmmmm. Mine!

Jin Patisserie
, besides offering their annual beautiful beautiful gifts (one year I got a gorgeous hollowed out chocolate heart), also have a special Valentine's Day Cake made with white chocolate mousse, fragrant rose petals and juicy, poached pears decorated with delicate chocolate hearts. They're also doing a special Vday weekend menu. Reservations: (310)399-8801

For those of you wanting to indulge more, Providence is selling their handmade chocolates for $28/dozen (flavors include Coffee Urfa, Banana-Ginger, Orange Caramel Rosemary, Baharat, and Coconut-Green Tea). They're also offering a 6-course menu/with wine pairing for $140/$195. Reservations: (323)460-4170.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

DineLA 09: Filet Mignon at Wolfgang's Steakhouse, So-so.

$34 for a 3-course meal that includes filet mignon. Sounds pretty good, right? That's what I thought and so I went to try Wolfgang's Steakhouse for the DineLA week - it was the cheapest of the steakhouses (no, Ruth's Chris is not even in the running) and seems to have pretty good reviews. I dragged Rumdood and Pepsimonster here with me.

I started with the lobster bisque.
The bisque was a tad too salty - maybe they had been heating the whole pot up all day/night long? I did find two bite-size pieces of lobster in it (ooh yay).

All three of us ended up getting the filet mignon (sounds like the most worthwhile!)
As always, I ask for my steak medium-rare. Here, the middle part was indeed medium-rare, but the outer sides were rather overcooked so I didn't start enjoying it until I get to the middle part. This steak was not as flavorful as we've had elsewhere. Good, not great.

The portion for the sides are generous. Among the three of us we got all of the available offerings: creamed spinach, german potatoes, and mashed potatoes.
Oh, and not only were the portions generous, they messed up and brought us extra servings of creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. But no, we didn't eat them (we didn't even finish the first serving). Spinach anyone?

For dessert, I tried the Apple Strudel
I thought this was okay - the pastry was rather soggy and it was served room temperature. They should've kept it crispier and warmer and this would've been much better.

Overall we were underwhelmed. The food was good enough as to not ruin the great company and we finished dinner just fine - but it definitely could've been better.
I guess we have to fork over more $$ for better next time? Like the $130 wagyu beef rib eye at Cut like Pepsimonster wants :)

Wolfgang's Steakhouse By Wolfgang Zwiener
445 N Canon Dr
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 385-0640
http://wolfgangssteakhouse.com/
Wolfgang's Steakhouse By Wolfgang Zwiener on Urbanspoon

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