Chef Debbie Lee's Seoul Town Tapas at Breadbar + GIVEAWAY

Congrats to Dina Leigh for Winning the $50 Gift Card to Seoul Town Tapas from the Breadbar!

Ever since I saw Debbie Lee compete on the America's Next Food Network Star Show, I was really interested in her cooking style that fused both her Korean and Southern background. Unfortunately, I had missed her first stint at BreadBar as a part of their Hatchi series, but I wasn't about to miss her second one. This time, her second appearance was going to serve as an introduction to the type of food she plans to serve at her own restaurant opening later this year. Simply, her concept is all about Seoul Town Tapas, where the food is a take on Korean pub food, but with a modern flair.

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Since tapas are fun to share with a good-size group, 9 of my dining club members, joined me one Saturday evening where we shared a total of 17 dishes plus a couple of kimchi dishes in place of bread and butter. Being a kimchi fan, I'd take it over bread and butter anytime. Besides, it's less filling so that over indulging in it means you still have room for your meal.

Both the daikon and the cabbage kimchi were very light in the sense that you get a taste of the chili and also some vinegary-sour flavor notes, but the vegetables still shined through. While I still love my kimchi very heavily fermented to the point that the vegetables take on a deep orange red, this lighter style of kimchi is good starter for the novice kimchi eater.

Although our group ordered all 4 skewers, I actually only tried two of them. First, there was the Bacon Wrapped Rice Cylinders with Jalapeno Ponzu. You can never go wrong with bacon and of all 4 skewers, this one was the absolute favorite of the group. The rice absorbed the smoky saltiness of the bacon and dipping it into the jalapeno ponzu gave it nice little hit of citrus heat.

I also tried the Kimchi Roast Pork and Fuji Apple Skewers. Apples and pork usually pair really well together and in this case, the apple did its job and was crunchy and juicy. However, the roast pork was a little dry and wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked. If you're going to use kimchi as a way to describe an ingredient, you really have to mean it.

As mentioned, I didn't try the other two skewers, but you can take a look at them below. The first is the Grilled Eggplant and Tofu Skewer with Pimento Scallion Glaze and the second is the Salmon and Scallion Skewer with Korean Miso Honey.

Next up was the Sesame Flatbread with Perillo Pesto, Soy Braised Pork and Chile Tomatoes. Other than wishing that the pesto was spread out a little more towards the edges of the flat bread so I could get more of it, I enjoyed this dish. The herbiness of the pesto sauce went nicely with the salt-sweet of the soy sauce braised pork with the tomatoes adding a nice acidity and since I love thin crust pizza, I appreciated the crispiness of the flatbread itself.

Since I enjoy bold flavors, the stir-fried kimchi, pork, rice cakes with a gochujang splash made my taste buds happy. The gochujang is a Korean red pepper paste and it definitely added an extra oomph to this dish, which I truly appreciated.

When it comes to Korean dumplings aka mandu, I've had my share and there's only been two I've liked so far and one of them is Chef Lee's Modern Mandu with Pork Rilette and King Oyster Ju. At first, I wasn't quite sure of the whole oyster ju thing. Pork and oysters? Huh? However, the subtle brininess of the oyster jus actually paired well with this dumpling. In fact, many of us were spooning it into our dumpling as we took bites out of it.

One of my almost favorite dishes of the meal was the Chicken Meatballs with Magnolia Pepper Sauce and let me tell you why. I absolutely loved the crispy texture of the meatball and the sauce it was cooked in was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, the chicken meat itself seemed under seasoned. Maybe, just a little salt and/or pepper and hand's down, this would have been tops on my list.

Following the chicken meatballs was Mama Lee's Meatloaf made with ground rib eye, soy onion demi and crispy shitake mushrooms. We weren't initially going to order this particular dish, but after Chef Lee came out to tell us about some of the dishes on the menu, her description of this one sounded so scrumptious, we had to have it. I'm so glad I did. That meatloaf was so juicy and flavorful, I almost wish that we ordered another 2 or 3 plates, just so I could have seconds, maybe, even thirds.

Up next was the Shrimp and Scallion Cakes with Ginger Soy Vinegar. To tell you the truth, although I know that liked this dish, I don't remember any specifics about it at the moment; however, if you order it, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Ok, three more dishes before dessert and next to hit our table was the Halibut Jeon Style, Egg Battered with Kimchi Stir Fry and Seoul-Style Chimichurri. I liked the kimchi stir fry and the chimichurri. Unfortunately, the fish itself was a little too dry. Perhaps, it was overcooked? I'm not quite sure. Of everything we had that night, this was my least favorite dish.

Seeing Korean Fried Chicken on the menu, I knew we had to order it. The chicken itself was moist and tender, but the garlic glaze needed to be more garlicky than it was, but that could also just be a personal preference.

Our last savory dish was the Spicy Chilled Buckwheat Noodles, Sashimi Trio, Scallion and Crisp Apples. I really like cold noodle dishes and this version was quite good. I could have easily just eaten the whole bowl by myself if I hadn't already been getting full.

Of course, I'm never too full for dessert and we decided to sample 3 of the desserts on the menu. Although we only ordered 3, all 4 actually came out, but when we had mentioned that we hadn't actually ordered that fourth dessert, they let us have it anyway and took it off our check. Now that's good service. That fourth dessert was a Nutella and Blueberry Sandwich on a Pan di Mie Bread. Usually, nutella could be really sweet, but the addition of the blueberry cut into that sweet and gave the sandwich more of a tartness, which I thought was genius.

Next was the Fuji Apple Egg Rolls with Ginger Mascarpone. I enjoyed the crispy egg roll wrappers and the sweet apples. The ginger mascarpone could have been more gingery, but I still enjoyed slathering it on my egg roll and even just eating small spoonfuls of it.

With bacon being one of my favorite food groups, I absolutely loved the Bacon Coffee Sponge Cake Roll with Coffee Cream and Almond Butterscotch. I liked how the soft, mild sponge cake was the foundation for all the other stronger flavored ingredients around it. I could even seeing myself eating this for breakfast. After all, doesn't bacon, coffee and eggs (albeit in the sponge cake) say breakfast to you? It does to me.

Of our four desserts, my least favorite was the Sesame Buttermilk Beignets with Chocolate Drizzle. When I think of beignets, I'm thinking light and airy and these beignets were too dense for my liking. Even the chocolate syrup didn't add much to it. Maybe, if it was filled with cream, but then I don't know if that's a typical ingredient for beignets.

Overall, while there some minor misses, this meal was one I enjoyed a lot and I'm looking forward to seeing what else Chef Debbie Lee comes up with when she finally does open up her own restaurant.

Seoul Town Tapas with Chef Debbie Lee
Breadbar
717 West 3rd Street
Los Angeles CA, 90048
(310) 205-0124
Seoul Town Tapas Ends May 1st!


PRIZE GIVEAWAY!

Now that you've read and seen pictures of my experience with Debbie Lee's Seoul Town Tapas, now you're chance to win a $50 Gift Card that will give you a chance to check out Debbie Lee's food at Breadbar for yourself. Please note that this gift card will only be good for Seoul Town Tapas and you should only enter if you can make reservations between April 22 and May 1st.

There are multiple ways to enter, so check them all out below.

1. Leave a comment and tell me why you'd like to you'd like to try Chef Debbie Lee's Seoul Town Tapas. (Please leave your email so that I can contact you. Spell it out like abby at pleasurepalate dot com)

2. Follow Debbie Lee on Twitter (if you aren’t already doing so)

3. Follow Breadbar on Twitter (if you aren't already doing so).

4. Fan Breadbar on Facebook (if you aren’t already doing so)

5. Tweet: Win a $50 gift card for @seoultosoul Seoul Town Tapas from @breadbar_la via @pleasurepalate http://bit.ly/95gp06

You can have up to 5 total entries each; however, please note that you have to comment back and let me know which of the actions you took, so that I can keep track of them. This is especially true for 2 through 4. If you don’t let me know which actions you took, then I won’t count them as entries.

Contest ends Wednesday, April 21 at 11:59 AM, PST and a winner will be randomly chosen from all entries. Good Luck!

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Upcoming Pleasure Palate Events

Photo Credit to Mandoline Grill Food Truck

If you're in the LA area or even visiting the LA area and are looking for unique culinary experiences, please check out my group by clicking here! While there's a variety of events currently on the calendar, I'd like to highlight some below.

April 11 - Vietnamese Tasting Menu with the Mandoline Grill Food Truck

Join us for a delicious tasting menu where you will get to sample 6 different items from the truck for just $15 including banh mi and rice noodles. Click here to RSVP.

April 23 - Terroir of Wine and Chocolates at Fancifull Gift Baskets

For tonight's event, the focus will be on the terroir of wine and chocolate that will involve a single source tasting of wines and chocolates from different parts of the world to see the effect of different environments on both for just $20. Click here to RSVP.

April 25 - Southern BBQ Dinner with the QZilla BBQ Food Truck

$11 will get you a tasting platter of 3 meats (pulled pork, brisket, ribs), 3 sides (s'mac and cheese, Creole potato salad, collard greens), a slice of Texas Toast and sweet tea. You're definitely not going away hungry. Click here to RSVP.

May 1 - Steak 101, Lunch and Wine at Fleming's Steakhouse

Learn some great tips and have a tasty steak lunch paired with wine at Fleming's Steakhouse all for just $40. To win a chance for a $100 Gift Card to any Fleming's Steakhouse in the US, click here. Click here to RSVP.

May 2 - Dim Sum Tasting with the Dim Sum Food Truck

Do you want to check out dim sum from the World's Biggest Dim Sum Cart, then join us for a tasting of 9 items including unlimited soft drinks and all for just $20. Click here to RSVP.

Steak 101 and Lunch at Fleming's Steakhouse + GIVEAWAY

Congratulations to Al P. for winning the Fleming's Steakhouse Gift Card!

Last year, I set up a fun event at Fleming's Steakhouse at L.A. Live for my dining group where Chef Partner, Calvin Holladay, did a very informative Steak 101 class where we learned about selecting steaks, cutting and prepping the steaks as well as some great grilling tips. There was a lot of information and I took as many notes as I could. Hopefully, I'll be able to share what I learned in this post and even more so, that I got the info correct.

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One of the first things Chef Holladay mentioned was what to look for in a steak when purchasing it. Simply, the steak must have a bright red suface, a good marbling and a firm texture. Afterwards, he gave a demonstration of how to cut a Rib Loin into steaks. When cutting this piece of meat, other than a sharp knife, you also need a large cutting board. To hold it in place, either take a wet rag and put it under the board or get a slip mat. The last thing you want is that cutting board slipping and you getting a cut.

After he cut the Rib Loin into steaks, he gathered them together in his hand and cut off the fatty tail end of the meat, which could be saved to later grease the grill. Chef Holladay also mentioned that the loin side of the beef wasn't as fatty as the chuck side of the beef. Another term he brought up that I never heard of before was "Deckle". I found a lively discussion about it on eGullet and also at this link. Chef Holladay described it to us as the fatty area around the Rib Eye and basically, it goes up to where the Rib Eye ends to where the New York Steak starts.

After slicing off that fatty end of the steaks, he placed them on a tray lined with a peach colored paper. Apparently, there was actually something special about this paper. This peach colored paper is made from peach skins, which has an enzyme that helps to keep the steak red. You can ask your local butcher for them or you can also purchase them here.

Those steaks were going to be part of our lunch so those were put aside and now we got to see what different cuts of steak looked like and also what the differences were between some of them. For example, we learned the following:

New York Steak: a t-bone with the tenderloin and bone cut away. Not tender like a filet and not as fatty as a rib-eye. Basically, where the Rib-Eye ends, the New York Steak starts.

Filet Center Cut (or Filet Mignon): tapered, small end of the tenderloin. Tender, but with a light marbling so not as flavorful as other cuts of meat. The part of the filet that starts from the neck and goes towards the middle is sometimes referred to as Chateaubriand while the filet towards the tail are referred to as Tournedo. There's also a Bone-In Filet where you can get the Filet Mignon with the bone.

Porterhouse: on one side is a bone-in strip steak while the other side is a portion of the tenderloin.

Rib-Eye: the boneless cut of prime rib. With its rich marbling of fat, it is one of the most flavorful and juicy of steaks, although not as tender as the tenderloin. You can also get a Bone-In Rib-Eye for additional flavor.

When it comes to prepping your grill, as mentioned earlier, you can use the fat to grease the grill's surface or wrap a towel around some kind of utensil, dip it into oil and oil the grill that way. Once you've added the oil, shut your grill to let it heat up. Once you open it and see that the smoke that coming out is white, the grill is hot enough to cook your steak.

The one thing that Chef Holladay emphasized is that we shouldn't "play with our food", meaning that we shouldn't keep flipping the meat over and over every few seconds. Once the steak seems caramelized enough, than you flip it over. A general rule of thumb is 1 to 2 minutes per side. So after laying the steak on the grill, wait a minute and while still on the same side, turn it at a different angle to cook for another minute. This will give you great grill marks on your steak. After those 2 minutes, flip the steak over and repeat. Once there is a blood pool coming from the steak, the steak is going from a medium rare to medium. If you'd like to your steak more well done, turn it over again for another 1 to 2 minutes and so forth.

To test the doneness of your steak, you should feel the surface of your steak either with your index finger or a flat-sided utensil. We were actually shown a way to get a steak to our liking based on comparisons with our hand to the steak itself. For example, open your palm and touch the tip of your thumb to the tip of your pinkie. Then touch the area below your thumb while it's in that position with the index finger on your hand. You'll notice that the area feels very firm. If your steak also feels very firm, it's well-done, so it goes as follows:

Thumb to Tip of Pinkie: Well-Done
Thumb to Finger Next to Tip of Ring Finger: Medium
Thumb to Tip of Middle Finger: Medium Rare
Thumb to Finger Next to Thumb: Rare
Open Palm: Raw

Once you've gotten your steak to where you want it, let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes after you take it off the grill before cutting into it. This will allow the juices to flow to the center so that you'll have a nice juicy steak. Keep in mind though that the longer you grill your steak, the less juicy it will be.

Chef Halladay mentioned that if the steak is of really good quality, you don't really need to season it too much and if you are going to season it, just use salt and pepper. Simply, just before you grill your steak, liberally sprinkle salt and pepper evenly on both sides of the steak. Don't be shy about covering the entire surface. As the steak is grilling, the salt and pepper turns into a golden brown crust that you could scrape away once you remove the steak from the grill.

Overall, Chef Halladay was a fountain of information and I definitely learned a lot more than I expected. After our class, we sat down to lunch starting with Rosemary Sourdough Bread with Champagne Brie and Roasted Tomato Herb Butter and Wine. That bread was really quite addicting, especially with the brie.

Our sides consisted of Sauteed Mushrooms and the Fleming's Potatoes with cream, jalapeños and cheddar cheese. The potatoes could have used a tad more jalapenos, but that's just my personal preference since I enjoy food with a kick, but the cheesy goodness of the potatoes more than made up for not enough jalapenos.

Finally, we got to try two different cuts of steak, the New York Steak and the Boneless Rib-Eye. Look at the perfect pinkness of both steaks to see they were cooked just right. When eating them side by side, you can really tell the differences with the Rib-Eye definitely being more flavorful and juicy, but the New York Steak was one of the best ones I've had in awhile.

Overall, this was a great learning experience. Chef Holladay really knew his stuff and that was really reflected in the steaks at our meal. I would definitely come back to the Los Angeles Fleming's Steakhouse location for meaty meal worth having and would even be open to checking out some of their other locations as well.

Fleming's Steakhouse at L.A. Live
800 West Olympic Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 745-9911

Click here to see all the Fleming's Steakhouse locations!

Guess what? I'm hosting this event again for my Dining Group. Click here to RSVP and to get info on how to pre-pay for this Steak 101 Class and Lunch at Fleming's Steakhouse in L.A. Live.

PRIZE GIVEAWAY!
(Open only to US Residents)

Armed with this new steak knowledge that I hopefully imparted to you, here's your chance to check out Fleming's Steakhouse for yourself where you could win a $100 Fleming's Steakhouse Gift Card for you to enjoy! This Gift Card will good for any Fleming's Steakhouse location in the US.

There are multiple ways to enter, so check them all out below.

1. Leave a comment and tell me why you'd like to win the $100 Fleming's Steakhouse Gift Card. (Please leave your email so that I can contact you. Spell it out like abby at pleasurepalate dot com)

2. Follow Executive Chef Russell Skall on Twitter (if you aren’t already doing so)

3. Follow Wine Director, Marian Jansen op de Haar on Twitter (if you aren't already doing so).

4. Fan Fleming's Steakhouse on Facebook (if you aren’t already doing so)

5. Tweet: Win a $100 Gift Card from Fleming's Steakhouse via @pleasurepalate: http://bit.ly/9naPpx

You can have up to 5 total entries each; however, please note that you have to comment back and let me know which of the actions you took, so that I can keep track of them. This is especially true for 2 through 4. If you don’t let me know which actions you took, then I won’t count them as entries.

Contest ends Tuesday, April 13 at 11:59 AM, PST and a winner will be randomly chosen from all entries. Open only to US Residents. Good Luck!




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I'm Willing to Drive for the Pork Ribs at Cambinos Asian BBQ

I first heard about Cambinos Asian BBQ when it showed up as an outing on my dining club's calendar. Even though it was in OC, just the thought of Asian BBQ was enough to get me in my car for a drive beyond LA County boundaries, especially since I had such a wonderful experience with Park's Finest BBQ. By the way, owner James Sar, is Cambodian, but named his restaurant Cambinos after his former Filipino-Cambodian basketball team that used to play around Orange County.

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While the very name of the restaurant seems to indicate that the BBQ served there is a fusion of Cambodian and Filipino cuisines, James' friend, who was managing the restaurant at the time of our visit, mentioned that the purpose of Cambinos is simply to serve home-style BBQ utilizing general Asian influences and not necessarily specific to any one country. We were also told that a different BBQ sauce was developed for each of the various meats on the menu.

To get a broad idea of the BBQ, our group opted to split several plates of their Mixed Plate to share. This Mixed Plate consisted of steamed rice, grilled veggies, chicken and pork skewers, chicken thigh, beef short rib and spare pork ribs. Normally priced at $9.95, you can get it for $7.95 on Saturdays.

The first thing I tried was the Boneless Chicken Thighs which was marinated in a house blend of spices and hoisin sauce. Unfortunately, the marinade was a little too sweet for my palate, so it wasn't a hit with me.

Next was the Beef Short Ribs, which was marinated in a soy based sauce with ginger. This was just an okay dish for me. It needed more ginger.

Then I took a bite out of the Pork Spare Ribs which was marinated with a blend of lemon and lime juices along with garlic and other spices, and I was completely wowed. First, the meat was tender and practically falling off the bone. Second, I enjoyed the tart and slightly vinegary flavor of the meat itself. These ribs are definitely a must order.

As for the skewers, I didn't realize at the time that there were actually two different skewers on the plate, which meant that I didn't get to try the chicken skewer. I did try the Pork Skewer with a special marinade blend of spices, brown sugar and ginger and I found it absolutely delicious. It reminded me of Filipino BBQ, which actually is always on skewers.

Seeing the Grilled Cornish Hens with a Pineapple Glaze on the menu piqued our interest, so we placed an order for that as well. I'm so glad we did. Along with the Pork Ribs, those hens are a must order. The chicken meat was tender and juicy with delicious tropical flavors.

For dessert, we also checked out their simply called Yellow Cake. A small cake that was moist and had a slight sugar glaze to it that even made it more appealing.

Overall, I really enjoyed my Cambinos. While there were a couple of items I could pass over, everything else was really stellar. So much so, I'm planning on bringing my assorted family members there for a meal sometime. If you happen to be in the Cypress area, be sure to check it for yourself as well and go for those ribs. Yum!

Cambinos Asian BBQ
5721 Lincoln Avenue
Suite F
Cypress, CA 90630
(714) 484-0511




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