La Mar Cebicheria (New York)

The first time I visited La Mar in Lima, Peru, I fell in love. With ceviche, with causa, with Peruvian rice. We loved it so much we went back for a last meal before we left Peru. I was very excited when La Mar in San Francisco opened. Alas, I was disappointed - I think the service (and lack thereof) contributed to my bad impression (I received the wrong ceviche and when I told his waiter, his response was "ok". No apology and no correction was made).

I gave La Mar in the US another try with the New York location, where the kitchen is managed by executive chef Victoriano Lopez who was Gaston Acurio's right hand man for almost twenty years. Unlike the casual, outdoor Lima location, the New York La Mar is lavish and posh.

We started with the Cebiche tasting, pre-set to consist of three types: elegance, popular, and nikei cebiche) - $28

The "elegance" was a cebiche with warm water fluke, red onions, Peruvian corn, and yam in a "leche de tigre of five elements" - whatever the five elements are. The "popular" had salmon, shrimp, and Spanish day-boat octopus in a green leche de tigre with crispy calamari. The "nikei" is reminiscent of an ahi poke, made with yellowfin tuna, red onion, cucumber, daikon, avocado, and nori in a tamarind leche de tigre.

All three of the ceviches were very good, with all of us having different favorites (mine was the "popular"). On the other hand, for the price the portions were really small. Since there were four of us, it was definitely not enough and we had to get a full order. I wanted to try something different so we ordered the Limeno cebiche (fluke, Spanish day boat octopus, calamari, scallops, blue shrimp, in aji limo leche de tigre) - $19

The seafood used was really fresh and unlike many ceviches I had in LA where the leche de tigre is so tart, we even drank the ones here by the spoonfuls even when the fish was finished.

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Singapore Slinging at The Long Bar, Raffles Hotel (Singapore)

The Singapore Sling is now more than just the country's national drink. Most of the Singapore Slings served around town are made with mixers, and sometimes even from dispensers. Souvenir shops sell Singapore Sling mixers and even Singapore Sling flavored chocolates. The drink was first created by a Hainanese-Chinese bartender at the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel, Ngiam Tong Boon - supposedly in 1915. A famous cocktail by a Chinese bartender! I never had the chance to come here when I visited Singapore with my family, so since I'm spending half the day solo, I decided that I'm due for it.

The historic Raffles Hotel is a beautiful space, a respite from the busy, noisy streets of Singapore.

You can take the elevator, escalator, or stairs up to the second floor, where the Long Bar is now located. The bar was busy at 4 in the afternoon, but even though the tables were full, the fans slowly waving on the ceilings gave it a relaxing atmosphere.

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Dog Haus Biergarten (Pasadena)

When one thinks of typical American food, perhaps what comes to mind are burgers and hot dogs. With "gourmet burger" places opening all over the country, hot dogs are trying to follow. Dog Haus in Pasadena has been pretty popular and gotten good reviews with its 1/4 lb all-beef dog on grilled King's Hawaiian bread, and they recently realized how much better dogs would be when paired with beer. Then, Dog Haus Biergarten was born.

The biergarten took over the space that was (for a short while) Point 08 - a larger space than one would expect from a hot dog place, complete with outdoor seating and full bar. I was invited to visit the biergarten, but I actually had never visited the original Dog Haus before, so of course I had to try make sure to try the dogs.

We ended up trying three dogs between two people.
Our favorite was actually the first dog my friend ordered: The Grand Slam (smoked bacon, egg, tater tots) - $5.95

The Grand Slam was indeed a grand slam. I mean, everything is just better with fried egg, bacon, and fried potatoes. I tried a bite of my friend's and didn't really want to give it back! As for the dogs, I liked the browned edges of the grilled bread. Fellow blogger Destination Eats said before that good hot dogs are all about the "snap", and I think the ones here had a nice one. Not that I'm a dog expert.

Probably encouraged by the previous success, my friend ordered another dog with eggs. This time it's a new addition to the menu, the Lumberjack with scrambled cheddar eggs, 2 strips of smoked pepper bacon, and maple syrup ($5.95)

This one pretty much tasted like breakfast to us. Pretty good, but we preferred the Grand Slam.

I wanted to try their new Old Town Dog with caramelized onions, sauteed spicy peppers, Haus chipotle mayo, and Cotija cheese ($5.95)

I should've known better than to order one with spicy chili peppers, but I love cotija cheese. Turns out, this dog was too spicy for me!

If you still need some small bites after a dog, they have burger sliders for $1.50 each, though the meat was pretty small and it lacks toppings. Well, what can you expect for $1.50? But I'd rather spend more and get a real burger or dog.

I do recommend getting the Tater tots ($1.95) though. I thought it was a pretty good price for a good portion of crispy taters.

The Biergarten, unlike the old Doghaus, has a full bar. Since I was there during a workday lunch, I decided to go with a soda. They offer some interesting bottled soda ($3 each). I got a Kutztown Birch Beer and my friend got a Vanilla Cream soda.

Dog Haus Biergarten seems to be a pretty good place to get an inexpensive meal in Old Town. I didn't get a chance to check out their beer list or cocktails. They kept the same mixologists as Point 08 which also meant they kept most of the cocktails on the old list, but soon I'll be there to check out their list of 20 beers.

Dog Haus Biergarten
93 E Green St
Pasadena, CA 91105
(626) 683-0808
www.doghausdogs.com/


Disclosure: this visit was hosted.