El Gallo Pinto in Azusa

A couple of weeks ago, I had the fortune to check out El Gallo Pinto, a Nicaraguan restaurant in Azusa. Amazingly enough, I have been driving past this restaurant for years and never knew about the treasure that has been near my hometown all this time. Of course, the fact that it's not very visible from the street and is hidden in a mini-mall probably contributed to why I hadn't really known about its existence until just recently.

Upon entering El Gallo Pinto, you'll notice that it's not a fancy place, but it's still very welcoming with its orange walls, brown booths and assorted paintings and photos hanging on the walls. The wait staff was also very friendly and quite willing to answer any questions about the food.

When ordering my drink, I asked for a typical Nicaraguan drink and was given Cacao. It was like a chocolate version of a Horchata and when asked about the ingredients, I was told that along with chocolate, there was also cinnamon and vanilla mixed in. I found it quite refreshing.

Since there wasn't an appetizer section in the menu, our group ordered 3 a la carte items to start off with. One was a pork and yucca dish topped with cabbage and tomatoes. I was actually surprised to see the cabbage. I've done other Central and South American dining before, but this was the first time that I saw cabbage so frequently used. We were also served small side cabbage and tomato salads, which I think everyone gets with every meal and is also what topped the pork dish. The pork was tender and flavorful while the yucca was nice in that it wasn't overcooked and the combination of the two with the crunchy cabbage and acidity of the tomatoes worked well for me.

We also ordered fried green plantains and fried cheese. With those two items came what I personally refer to as Nicaraguan "salsa" which was made up of sour orange juice, onions and either green bell peppers or green chilies, I'm not quite sure. The flavor was citrusy-tangy-sweet and onion-y. I liked it. It was unusual. We were told to dip or top our plantains and/or cheese with this mixture, but our waitress also told us that she'd also pour the sauce over other food items as well. The plantains were addicting and I actually liked the fact that they weren't ripe, which means that they weren't as sweet. The fried cheese seemed a little salty to me, but adding that "salsa" cut that down.

For my entrees, I wanted 3 a la carte items just because I wanted try some specific dishes that I read were typical Nicaraguan dishes. One was Vigoron , which actually was the same dish as the Pork and Yuca we shared as an appetizer, but chicharron was used instead. Still a good dish and I actually prefer the chicharron version.

I also ordered the gallo pinto, which is a staple rice dish that generally comes with every meal. Gallo pinto is a mixture of fried rice with onion and sweet pepper and beans boiled with garlic. This is a great rice dish and I prefer it to Mexican rice. I think it's the beans that are the draw and the fact that it's boiled in garlic. It adds a great flavor to the rice plus the beans adds some moisture to the dish. Generally, I don't care for Mexican rice because it always seems dry, but you definitely do not have that problem with the gallo pinto.

My last a la carte item was the nactamal. The owner told me that one of the great things about Nicaraguan food is that it isn't greasy, which I found to be true in everything I've had so far, but the nacatamal is a little different.

The nactamal is made up of a dough that is prepared with ground corn and butter. This is then filled up with small pieces of pork or chicken, rice, potatoes, tomatoes, onion, sweet pepper (all in slices). This mixture is packed in leaves of plantain trees (not edible), tightened with a small thread that makes it look like a tiny pillow. It is then cooked inside the leaves and boiled during five hours.

They must put a lot of butter in that dough because it was definitely true that the nacatamale had more of an oily taste to it than any tamale I've ever had. Even with all that, I really enjoyed it. Yes, it was oilier than I would have liked, but the fact that it was also buttery made a difference and also because of it being boiled, it was also a moist dish. Tamales can sometimes err on being too dry, which this nacatamal definitely was not.

Ordering a la carte meant a lot of food, so I ended up eating a bit of everything and boxed the rest for home. To end the meal, we had bunelos, which were yuca and cheese fritters drizzled with syrup. Yum! This was a delicious dessert and luckily, we only could get one each or else I would have had the whole plate.

Overall, I really enjoyed my meal at El Gallo Pinto and am very happy to know that it's a restaurant close to home. The food was great. The wait staff and the owner were very friendly and I enjoyed my experience so much that I'm going to be hosting a sampler dinner there in January as part of my "Feast Series." It's a restaurant that's a little hidden away, but it's worth finding and hopefully, some of you will venture out looking.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594273770386/

El Gallo Pinto
5559 N Azusa Ave
Azusa, CA
626) 815-9907

Dinner at L'Orangerie - CLOSED

For the last few years, I've been meaning to dine at L'Orangerie, but have never found the occasion to do so. With this restaurant landmark finally closing its doors at the end of this year, I finally decided that now was as good a time as any to check this place out. So last Friday, I visited L'Orangerie for the first and last time.

Upon walking through the green door from the valet to the front courtyard of the restaurant, I caught my breath at the very pretty sight before me. There were tables with white linen table clothes, fresh pink and white roses, and candlelight along with sage green wrought iron chairs with a curvy pattern. There was greenery everywhere from potted miniature fruit trees to ivy along the walls. At the end of the courtyard was a beautiful creamy white fountain that had a yellow glow of light at the mouth of the lion where water would normally be streaming out of.

Even the door to the restaurant was no ordinary door. It was a dark blue with a golden knocker and with arched windows above it made it seem larger than it probably was. As you enter through the front door, you're greeted by Sphinx-like statues guarding the entrance into the middle patio of the restaurant, which is where I was guided by the Maitre'd to await the rest of my party. Inside was just as beautiful with more greenery and white tablecloths, but instead of pink roses, white roses were the choice this time and of course, candlelight and crystal stemware were on the tabletops.

Once everyone arrived, we started perusing the menu and eventually placed our orders. Many of us ordered appetizers and that included me. Before the appetizers came, we were treated to an amuse bouche. It came in a little glass cup and it was three-layered. The bottom layer was eggplant, the middle layer was yogurt and the last layer was something sweet, but I can't remember what. It was a weird mix of flavors. I didn't care for it much and neither did most of the people in my party.

As for the appetizers, I decided to share an appetizer with someone else and we ordered the zucchini flowers with basil, tomatoes and olive oil with lemon. Believe me, I'm glad I shared because there's no way I would have been able to finish all four of the zucchini flowers, which is what comprises a full order. A nice thing that the restaurant did was to split the order onto two separate plates.

In regards to the zucchini flowers, while I liked the combined flavor of the acidity of the tomatoes and the slight bite of the basil, the dish as a whole was really mushy. The only time I've ever had zucchini flowers in the past were when they had been stuffed with cheese and deep-fried and those were delicious. Not that I expected the ones I ordered to be deep fried, but just the general limpness of the flowers were quite disappointing to me. They seemed overcooked.

For my entrée, I had the roasted breast of duck with Tonka beans, grilled zucchini and potatoes. I was really disappointed with this dish as well. The duck breasts were too chewy and the bean and veggie mixture left a funny after taste in my mouth, so I took a couple of bites and that was it. So far, it's been three strikes and dessert hadn't even arrived yet. For dessert, I ordered an assortment of 4 crème brulees: vanilla, coffee, amaretto and dark chocolate. Thank goodness for these crème brulees. They were so good. Creamy with lots of flavor. I think if I didn't have at least one good course, I would have been really upset. While enjoying our desserts, we also were treated to two trays of little mini dessert trays, which included cream puffs, a guava-tasting mousse and a few others. The presentation was pretty. Unfortunately, many of us were too full to enjoy them, so I ended up taking most of them home.

While the restaurant is absolutely beautiful, there were more misses for me than hits. The service wasn't that great. It seemed like we were always having to signal our waiter or the bus boy for things we needed. I already mentioned how I wasn't very happy with my food orders, except for the crème brulees. I don't know if the fact that the restaurant is closing down at the end of the year has anything to do with my negative experience there. Whether it is or not, it's too bad that a restaurant that I've always kind of put on a pedestal would come crashing down so hard.

Anyway, regardless of my less than spectacular meal, I'm glad that I was able to say a good-bye. At the very least, I'll have pictures of what was once a beautiful restaurant space and now will be able to share them with you.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594262567567/

L'Orangerie
903 N. La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310) 652-9770

Lunch at Los Balcones del Peru

Recently, I finally made my way with my dining group to Los Balcones del Peru and ever since then, I've been kicking myself for having taken this long to have made the trip there. Upon entering Los Balcones, you might be surprised at what it looks like inside. Compared to both Don Felix and Mario's, which definitely have a more relaxed restaurant décor, Los Balcones did make an effort to rise above the regular "hole in the wall" restaurant look.

There was a red tiled flooring, walls painted with a textured light brown paint and hung on those walls were various pictures of Peru and even art pieces representing the ornate balconies on the buildings surrounding the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima. Nothing was overtly fancy; yet, you can tell that some care was given to the design of the restaurant interior.

Now on to the food. First off, we were served with warm crusty bread that came along with the green Peruvian spicy sauce. That green spicy sauce is always the highlight of any Peruvian meal that I have. For that particular meal, I would tear off pieces of bread and spread the sauce on top. It was a great way to jumpstart my taste buds.

For our appetizers, we shared three and they were as follows:

1) Camarones a la Piedra - shrimp cooked in aji amarillo, Peruvian spices, yuca and julienned red onion.

**I thought that the sauce that came with this dish was really good. It was mild, but I could taste a hint of the lime juice. I liked the combo of the yuca and crunchy corn kernels. Between the shrimp and those two items, the different textures made for enjoyable eating.

2) Conchitas a la Parmesana - broiled scallops topped with grated Parmesan cheese, olive oil and butter.

**They certainly didn't skimp on the Parmesan cheese and being a cheese lover, I was very happy. The one thing that I was concerned with is that with all the cheese, the scallop would be too salty, but it wasn't. Perhaps the topping of butter and olive oil cut that down

3) Choritos a la Chalaca - fresh boiled mussels served open faced in its shell, topped with their house salad made of finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro and Peruvian kernels.

**The mussels were good, but what I really fell in love with was the house salsa. It was just so fresh and the lime dressing that the salsa was mixed in was awesome. I could completely see myself snacking on this salsa with chips. Yum!

As for my entrée, I had the Pescado a la Chorrillan, which was a fillet of fried fish topped with a sauce of onions and tomatoes, bell peppers and green onions and served with steamed rice. The sauce in this dish reminded me of the sauce used in the camarones a la piedra, but it tasted more lemony and also just a tad sweeter, although I'm not quite sure where that little hint of sweetness comes from. Overall, this was a good entree and one I'd order again.

For dessert, a few of us order the Peruvian cookies or Alfajores. My, my, the filling for this cookie was either dulce de leche or some other kind of caramel and wow, this cookie was absolutely decadent. The dulce de leche was practically oozing out every time you took a bite, but the really nice thing about this cookie is that it wasn't overly sweet, even with the amount of caramel filling that came with this cookie.

Finally, our meal ended and there were very many happy diners. Although the service was sometimes a bit spotty, the food was excellent and I would definitely come back and recommend this restaurant to other people as well. If you get a chance, be sure to check Los Balcones del Peru as well. I'm pretty sure that you won't be disappointed.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594260755869/

Los Balcones del Peru
1360 N. Vine Street
Hollywood, CA 90028
(323) 871-9600

2006 Tofu Festival

This past summer, I attended the Tofu Festival in Little Tokyo for the very first time. Since I do like tofu, I was very much interested to see what creations they would come up. My palate was definitely ready for whatever challenge lay before me.

Luckily, we got there early to avoid some of the intense heat that came in later on in the afternoon, plus we didn't have as many lines to stand in, which made it easier to sample quite a variety of tofu dishes. But before any sampling was going to take place, scrip tickets had to be purchased. With dishes ranging from as little as 1 ticket to the highest being 7 tickets, I figured that I'd do pretty good with $20 worth of tickets and believe me, I used every single one of my tickets. A perk with going with other people is that we also did a lot of sampling of each other's dishes. I can definitely say that I had more tofu that one day than I've had in an entire year.

Along with the items you had to "purchase", there were also quite a few vendors giving out free samples. The samples were primarily various beverages, which were very much appreciated. Now on to the food.

There were two soy products that were kind of unusual (at least to me). One was soy "croutons." Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this product but upon sampling them from someone else's dish, I found them to be too dry and even a little hard, so it was definitely a miss for me. The other new soy product was soy jerky and I can't believe how much I liked it. You could tell that it wasn't meat, but it was still chewy and the spices they used really gave a lot of flavor to the dried tofu.

As for the foods I really liked, one of them was a cold gazpacho soup with tofu. Yum! It was definitely appropriate for the hot weather, but the spicing of the soup was really good and the tofu kind of absorbed some of that flavor, so it made the tofu that much tastier. I also really enjoyed a Japanese eggplant curry with tofu. That curry was to die for. If only I had rice, I would have been a really happy camper. Other things I really enjoyed was deep fried tofu that came with a Thai sweet chili sauce and for dessert, my soy Chai Tea ice cream was heavenly.

Misses for me included the tofu sausage in a lettuce cup. That sausage was really dry and there was no flavor to it and while I liked the creamy texture of the tofu appetizer from Maison Akira, the whole dish just had a fishy taste to it that did not appeal to me at all.

When the tofu dish was good, it was really good. When it was so-so, it was really so-so. I can't say that there was anything innovative in regards to any of the tofu dishes, but overall, it was a very fun day and I would definitely make a return trip next year.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594257984707/

Dinner at Cafe Beaujolais in Eagle Rock

For a few years now, I've been hearing about a wonderful restaurant in Eagle Rock called Café Beaujolais. I've even driven by the restaurant more than times than I can count, so when I actually had a free night to just spend time with friends, I suggested Café Beaujolais for dinner and off we went.

From the outside, it looks pretty plain with its brown paneling and green awning, but once you enter, you're in for quite a surprise. The interior of the restaurant is actually very pretty and welcoming. Warm orange-brown walls hung with a variety of French wine-inspired art posters will greet you once you step through the door. The waiters are French, charming and very attentive. While you can hear conversation throughout the restaurant, it's not deafening which allows you the chance to talk to your friends at your meal without having to yell at them.

As for the food, when I opened the menu, I was really surprised with how reasonable the prices were. Appetizers weren't more than $10. All the entrees were under $20 and desserts were only $6.95. Maybe, I've been eating out at too many expensive restaurants lately because it was nice to see that it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg this time for dinner.

Now on to the meal itself. We started off with large chunks of French bread. I didn't think that the bread itself was that great. It seemed a little hard to me, but hey, I wasn't there for the bread, so it wasn't a big deal. A nice little touch in regards to our water is that our waiter brought us a wine glass filled with water that he would use to periodically fill up our glasses when the water was getting low.

For my starter, I ordered the soup of the day, which was a celery soup. Our waiter made a point of telling us that the soup was not made with any cream or butter. The soup I have to say was amazing. It was thick, hearty and you could definitely taste the celery. This is the kind of soup that I would love to have again with just some French bread for cooler weather.

My entrée was a New York strip steak topped with a large pat of garlic butter and that came with potatoes, beans and small baked tomato. It was cooked just right: medium with the meat retaining its pinkness once I cut into the steak and as I cut into the steak, you could see the juices coming out. I was a very happy camper. I also liked the fact that the beans and potatoes also retained a bit of firmness and weren't over cooked. Mushy veggies to me are just a waste of eating energy. I also took a bite of the Beef Borgionne, that someone else in my party ordered, and that was pretty tasty, too. The meat was quite tender.

Finally, it's dessert time. I ordered their chocolate mousse. This chocolate mousse was rich and not overly sweet. This definitely leaned more towards dark chocolate vs. milk chocolate. Given that I'm a dark chocolate fan, I was more than satisfied with my dessert choice. What I found interesting is that this chocolate mousse version was denser than I've had in the past. It was less creamy, but like I said, I still enjoyed every bite of it.

All in all, I really enjoyed Café Beaujolais and now I'm just kicking myself that I hadn't made my way to there earlier. But better late than never and now that I've discovered it, I'm definitely am going to be a repeat patron.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594242483441/

The address and info is below:

Cafe Beaujolais
1712 Colorado Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(323) 255-5111

Magic Wok and Saffron Spot in Artesia

After hearing raves from elmomonster about Magic Wok in Artesia and being Filipina myself and always looking for great Filipino restaurants to recommend to those who ask me for that info, I decided to make the trek to Artesia to check it out.

Upon entering the restaurant, I already had a good feeling. It was bustling with primarily Filipinos, families, couples, etc and there was also quite a lot of take out going on as well. The interior wasn't fancy. There were plain white walls which had a variety of Filipino decorative items hung on them and the decorative items themselves were made up of either solely or a combination of wood, straw, shells. I was fine with not fancy. After all, I was there for the food.

After having seated, a few of us ordered drinks. One drink was the cantaloupe drink, which basically consists of cantaloupe, water, ice and sugar. I took a sip of it and found it to be over sweetened, not like how my Mom makes it. Generally, it's a much more refreshing drink than that more syrupy version. I had the gulaman and sago drink, which is a flavored iced-drink with agar gelatin and tapioca balls/pearls. Unfortunately, this drink was also too syrupy sweet, but when I let the ice melt and added more water, it was much better. The last drink that ended on the table was a calamansi drink.

For those of you unfamiliar with calamansi, it's a citrus tree native to the Philippines. I think it's also been referred to as a musk lime or a Panama orange depending on whom you talk to. I always have a hard time describing what calamansi tastes like, but I'd say that it's a cross between a mandarin orange and kumquat and maybe, even lemon. It has sour and tangy notes, but there are also some sweet notes present that somehow balance everything out.

For our meal, we ordered quite a few dishes. See below:

1. Sinigang Soup - This type of soup is usually tamarind-based and uses more sour veggies to enhance the tanginess.

- Siningang soup is one of my favorite dishes, so this was already a homerun for me.

2. Garlic Fried Rice

- Nothing really special about this dish. It was tasty, but I would have actually liked garlic pieces mixed in with the rice itself.

3. Paksiw na Lechon - In this dish, the pork is slow-cooked in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, peppercorns, bay leaves, sugar, salt and liver sauce. (Sometimes after a large party, left over lechon, from the remains of the whole roast pig that usually is a welcome guest at large Filipino parties, is cooked the next day with this liver sauce)

- The particular sauce for this dish was actually a little sweeter than I've had in the past, but still full of a lot of different flavor notes from tangy to a little salty to of course, sweet.

4. String beans cooked with tofu, pork and onions.

- This particular dish needed more flavor to it, but at least the beans were still crunchy and not overcooked which is always a good thing.

5. Fried Bangus - This is milkfish that was marinated in vinegar and garlic and than fried to golden goodness.

- Bangus is Tagalog for milkfish, which is quite a bony fish, but the meat is so delicate and moist that I never let a few bones get in my way and when you add the sour notes of the vinegar, this dish really pleased my Filipino palate. Another popular way that you'll see bangus cooked is when it's stuffed with tomatoes, onions and than grilled.

6. Pansit Bihon - Rice noodles stir-fried with vegetables and meat.

- Add a squeeze of lemon and some soy sauce and this dish becomes a tart-salty version of noodles you may never have experienced before.

7. Chicken Adobo - This dish features chicken that is slow-cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns.

- This dish was actually close to my Mom's own version of this dish. The chicken is actually fried and the sauce is saucy and great to put over your rice.

What was also nice is that it wasn't greasy. I've had some versions where you can see the oil floating on top of the sauce and also where the chicken was stewed, which isn't too appealing.

Overall, I loved the food at Magic Wok. Of all the Filipino restaurants I've tried so far and believe me, it's not as many as I would have liked, eating at Magic Wok was like eating my Mom's cooking. All the dishes were pretty straightforward. No fusion or experiments with Filipino cuisine, just good Filipino cooking. I would definitely go back and even bring my Mom. I have a feeling that she'd enjoy the food there as well.

But wait, there's more. A friend of mine at this dinner mentioned an Indian ice cream and snack shop in Little India that was really a great place to check out and given that Little India was just down the road, we decided to make the drive and I'm glad we did.

When you first enter Saffron Spot, you're greeted with a sense of curvy color. The chairs are rounded. The eating area jutting from the walls are rounded and the colors are just bright and cheerful: purple, orange, and yellow. The interior was just was colorful as the array of ice creams for sale.

As for the ice cream flavors, there was everything from mango to pistachio, but there were also more exotic flavors like chikoo, kulfi, saffron and rose. I opted for a double scoop of the chikoo and kulfi. Chikoo is made from an Indian fruit called sapota and when I first took a taste, it kind of reminded of prunes and licorice. I know that sounds weird, but I really liked it. It was just different.

Kulfi is made from cream, milk, and sugar and this ice cream was really dense. It took extra effort to even scoop it into my cup, but once it melted a bit, it was rich and creamy. Apparently, kulfi can be flavored also with mango, saffron, rose, but all they had available was the plain version and I was fine with that.

Someone else got a double scoop of the rose ice cream and the lychee ice cream and I had a little taste of them both and really liked them as well. I really enjoyed these ice creams. What I liked about them was that they weren't too sweet, which American ice cream can sometimes veer too. I also found them to be richer, a little heavier.

Indian ice creams are also similar to Iranian ice creams in that you can get them with faloudeh (which are normally rice or wheat noodles) and also basil seeds. When I first experienced the faloudeh and the basil seeds at Mashti Malone's, I wasn't quite sure if I liked the "eating texture" of them both with ice cream, but I have to say that over time, it has kind of grown on me. It's not something I'd order each and every time, but at least I know that if I want something different, I do indeed have options.

I don't make my way out to Artesia very often, but when I do, a stop at Saffron will definitely be a part of my agenda.

In general, I had an awesome Sunday. How could you go wrong with delicious home-style Filipino Food and tasty Indian ice cream? You just can't.

Magic Wok
11869 Artesia Blvd
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 865-7340

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594238211018/

Saffron Spot
18744 Pioneer Boulevard
Artesia, CA 90701
(562) 809-4554
http://www.saffronspot.com/

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594239451123/

"The Great Steakhouse Challenge " - Taylor's Steakhouse

First up for the "Great Steakhouse Challenge" dinner series was Taylor's Steakhouse at the La Canada location. Things I've heard previously about Taylor's is that it has a 50's-style steakhouse feel. Once you step inside the restaurant, wood paneling and leather booths'll greet you. The steaks themselves aren't meant to be anything fancy, but just good quality meat and the added bonus is that prices at Taylor's are supposed to reasonable; thus, there's no need to mortgage your house for a nice steak dinner.

Upon entering the restaurant, you definitely get that retro 1950s throwback feel to the restaurant. Just as I heard, there's wood paneling and rich mahogany leather booths. The walls are lined with a variety of paintings framed in dark wood or gold metal frames. One of the doors leading into one of the dining areas has etched glass as part of the door itself along with a fancy monogrammed "T". The bar had a lively, noisy atmosphere and definitely had the look and feel of a neighborhood bar hangout.

When I arrived, almost everyone was already seated in the outside patio and it was definitely a pretty night to eat outside. Along with candles on our table, additional lighting was supplied by strings of lights that hung just below the awning that was on the outside perimeter of the patio. When we finally got our menu and took a look, you saw all the usual suspects to order when you're at a steakhouse, everything from seafood to chicken to sandwiches, but of course, we were there for steaks.

According to our waitress, one of the things that Taylor's is known for is "The Culotte", which according to the menu was "The most tender cut of the Top Sirloin - Only two cuts per cow." So for me, The Culotte was my choice for the evening. This order usually comes with a salad as a starter and than a vegetable and some type of potato with the meal itself. Instead of the mashed or baked potatoes, I opted for the housemade potato chips.

After a bit of time, my meal and everyone else's meal arrived. With my dinner, came some kind of spinach that looked like creamed spinach without the cream. All I know is that it was cooked to mushy imperfection. It's amazing what sad things can be done to greens in general. Also, there wasn't really anything special about the housemade potato chips. It was a little meatier than what you'd normally find in a Lay's bag, but it was so plain. I think I would have liked some kind of paprika or some other kind of "red" seasoning to give it a kick.

As for the Culotte, I didn't think this particular cut of meat was really that tender. Don't get me wrong; it wasn't tough, but when I see something that's referred to as "the most tender," I have pretty high expectations. In my head, I'm thinking melt in my mouth tender. Of course, the fact that I had asked for medium and got steak leaning more towards medium well didn't help matters either.

In fact, we definitely had a couple of other instances where the meat wasn't cooked according to expectation. In one case, someone's rib eye was medium well when it should have been medium. When this error was brought to our waitress' attention, she actually argued that the steak we considered to be medium well is actually Taylor's definition of being medium. It didn’t look like she was willing to take it away until a manager was asked for and only then did the manager have the steak taken away to be replaced by what the customer ultimately wanted, which was a medium cooked steak. However, to get the medium cooked steak, the request was to cook this new steak medium rare. Another example had someone's steak coming in medium rare when he wanted more medium well.

In general, how Taylor's defines "medium" vs. "medium rare" vs. "medium well", etc., was just sort of funky. It was almost as if everything was one to two degrees off of where it should be (e.g. medium = medium well). Anyway, back to my Culotte. It was just very disappointing. It didn't live up to its hype on the menu. The tenderness wasn't there nor was it very moist. I actually added steak sauce simply because I wanted to make it less dry. By the way, I used the Taylor's Steakhouse steak sauce and didn't care for it that much. Too citrusy. Too sweet. I think I'm more of a peppery steak sauce kind of gal.

I can only speak for my own cut of steak. Perhaps others at the table enjoyed theirs more and if so, please add your comments to this thread, but for me, I won't be making a return visit to Taylor's Steakhouse. Given all the choices out there, why settle for something that's not that great when there's probably something better around the corner.

To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594238652005/

Taylor's Steakhouse
901 Foothill Blvd
La Canada Flintridge, CA 91011-3339
(818) 790-7668

"Korean BBQ Quartet" - a month long tasting of 4 different restaurants

Last July, I organized my quarterly "Quartet" dining series for my group and this time around, we focused on checking out 4 Korean BBQ restaurants, one a week for a whole month. The chosen four were: ChoSun Galbee, Shik Do Rak, Soot Bull Jeep and Sa Rit Gol. Considering that there are over 600 hundred restaurants in Koreatown, with quite a few of them being Korean BBQ places, it was hard to narrow them down. Eventually, after a lot of research (Chowhound, opinions, articles, food critics), I chose the four restaurants that I felt each had something unique to offer.

First up was ChoSun Galbee. I chose ChoSun Galbee because of the fact that it has the reputation of being a great Korean BBQ starter restaurant. You won't find unusual or exotic kinds of meats on the menu, so for someone new to Korean BBQ, they won't be immediately put off. Instead, they'll have the choice of grilled beef, chicken or seafood. Also, depending on how busy the restaurant is, the wait staff will even grill your meats for you, which is less added pressure.

The restaurant space itself is beautiful. The outside waiting area has bamboo, lots of greenery and koi fish. The outdoor patio is cocooned also with lots of plants both inside and outside the area and the restaurant interior is comprised of brown leathers, warm wood paneling and cream walls. It's definitely on the higher-end of the Korean BBQ restaurant spectrum.

As for the food, what you will get are good quality meats to grill with and panchan that is flavorful, if not unique. I can say this now, especially after having already experienced the other three Korean BBQ restaurants that came after ChoSun Galbee. For our particular visit to Chosun Galbee, we had the short rib cubes, the bulgogi as well as the cold noodles with hot and spicy sauce. All the dishes were tasty and I really had no complaints, but were any of them really memorable? Not really. However, after everything is said and done, I would go back. While I may not have been wowed, at least, I know that any return visit would garner me a good meal and with a pretty space like ChoSun Galbee, you can't ask for more than that.

A week later, our second foray into Korean BBQ happened at Shik Do Rak. Before finding out about Shik Do Rak, my idea of how to eat Korean BBQ generally involved wrapping the meat and any other goodies inside a large lettuce wrap. Than I heard about dduk bo rak. For those of you who don't know, dduk bo rak are oiled rice noodles. Sometimes they are cut round like coasters and other times, they are square shapes like won ton wrappers. Shik Do Rak is known for their dduk bo rak, which is something different, and that's why it made it in my top four.

ChoSun Galbee and Shik Do Rak are definitely from two very different worlds. ChoSun Galbee, with its elegance, is a restaurant you'd bring business associates to, or a date or have special celebrations at. Shik Do Rak is definitely more casual a place you'd take friends or family to who don't really want or expect anything fancy.

After enjoying a good, if not spectacular meal at ChoSun Galbee, I had very high hopes for Shik Do Rak. Sad to say, those hopes were dashed. First off, let's talk about the panchan. Appearance-wise, everything looked uninspired as if it was just slopped into the little serving bowls. Unfortunately, the flavors were all uninspired as well. There was just no punch to any of the panchan items. Even the kimchee seemed one-note to me, more vinegary than anything else. I was also disappointed in the meat. The meat was a little more fatty than I would have liked and this could be just a preference thing, but none of the meat we ordered was marinated. If I wanted to just shave off pieces of meat to grill, I could have done that at home. For me, it's the marinade that makes Korean BBQ special and there was definitely nothing special about the meat we were grilling.

The one dish I did really like was this green onion or scallion pancake we ordered. That was awesome. The pancake was chock full of veggies and even topped with a couple of chile pepper slices to give it a little vavoom. As for the dduk bo rak, I'm going to pass on it. I didn't care for it that much. It was too small to wrap anything of substance inside plus it would tear. I also didn't like the fact that this oiled noodle seemed too oily and too slippery. Give me good old-fashioned lettuce anytime. In short, there were more cons than pros for me in regards to Shik Do Rak, so I wouldn't make a return visit anytime soon.

So far, one hit and one miss and the third week brings us to Soot Bull Jeep. I've been hearing about Soot Bull Jeep for years, but just hadn't made it out there. I'm so glad that I finally visited this popular, and rightly so, Korean BBQ eatery. One thing I was glad about was that I had taken the advice of others who had visited this place before and wore clothes that definitely were not my best. While both ChoSun Galbee and Shik Do Rak had gas grills, Soot Bull Jeep utilized natural charcoal, which will definitely leave you and your clothes very fragrant once you leave the restaurant. It's because of the fact that Soot Bull Jeep uses charcoal that it became part of this quartet.

After my last Korean BBQ outing, Soot Bull Jeep was heaven sent. After the disappointing panchan at Shik Do Rak, I was much happier with what Soot Bull Jeep had to offer. Soot Bull Jeep had some panchan similar to Shik Do Rak, but definitely a lot better in quality and flavor. There were also a couple of items that weren't at our two previous restaurants like the scallion salad, which I think had specks of dried chili and was dressed in some kind of vinegar-sugar concoction. At least, that's what memory brings to mind. Than there was also a cold kimchee soup, which was actually kind of refreshing to sip in between eating the hot meats.

As for the meats, all I have to say is "Wow!" The marinades that were used really gave flavor to the meat and then cooking them over the charcoal also gave the meats a smokiness that was ultra appealing. I also think that the meat just browned better, if that makes sense. There's just a different texture that meat gets when cooked over charcoal versus a gas grill. Whether it was chicken, beef or pork, you just didn't go wrong. I enjoyed my meal from start to finish and I would definitely return to Soot Bull Jeep.

Finally, our Korean BBQ foursome ends with Sa Rit Gol. When I had read about Sa Rit Gol, the one thing that stood out from all the writings is that they are known for their excellent panchan and I can definitely see why now. The cool thing about Sa Rit Gol is that there were things that we ate and drank that you didn't see at either of the three previous restaurants.

For example, upon our arrival, instead of water, we all got iced barley tea, which by the way, was very refreshing. While the panchan included the potato salad, mung beans and cabbage kimchee that seems to be the standard, we also were treated to marinated watercress, a "greens" kimchee (maybe, spinach?) and a squash salad. All the panchan were absolutely delicious with lots of flavor and a kickiness to them. Of the four restaurants, I enjoyed Sa Rit Gol's kimchee the best. Just looking at the deep red of the sauce, you already know that their kimchee was going to give you a great mouth zing.

As for our meats, one of the things we ordered was a short rib, which while not marinated, was very good. Unlike the other meats at the other three restaurants, this short rib was cooked while still on the bone with garlic and with a sprinkle of sea salt. I'm not sure if leaving the bone intact makes a difference or not, but even without marinade, the meat was really tasty. Before eating, our waitress actually cut the meat off the bone and in pieces, so that we wouldn't have any trouble eating it.

Other grilled meats that we ordered included thinly sliced beef that was cooked with onions and garlic, bulgogi and spicy pork. All the meats were excellent and you can really tell that the meat quality was above par. While the meats at Shik Do Rak could have improved ten-fold with some kind of marinade, the ones that didn't have marinade at Sa Rit Gold still would have made the meal.

Along with the barbecue, we also ordered a mung bean pancake, which I enjoyed, but believe it or not, I liked the one at Shik Do Rak better, but considering that everything else met and exceeded my expectations, I'm not going to cry over one mung bean pancake. Finally, our meal ended with an iced honey tea, which was a nice way to cleanse our palate

Overall, this was a wonderful "Quartet." It was a great way to compare similar foods and to see how much the same or different they are from each other and the same goes for the 4 restaurants where we did our "Korean BBQ" tastings for the whole month of July. Even all the grills differ between ChoSun Galbee, Shik Do Rak, Soot Bull Jeep and Sa Rit Gol, from shape to gas vs. charcoal. After my Korean BBQ restaurant journey, I definitely can rank them in order of preference. You probably can already tell from all musings above, but just so you know for sure, take a look below:

Soot Bull Jeep – Yes, I'd definitely go back.
3136 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 387-3865
To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594229903171/

Sa Rit Gol – Yes, I'd definitely go back.
3189 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 387-0909
To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594229952521/

Chosun Galbee – Yes, I'd go back.
3330 W. Olympic Boulevard,
Los Angeles, California 90019
(323)734-3330
To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594222202629/

Shik Do Rak – No, I'd pass.
2501 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 384-4148
To see pics, go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/la_addict/sets/72157594228501657/