Best of 2011: Burgers, Marinated Raw Crab and Everything In Between

It's that time of the year again, the roundups, the best of's. Ok, it's a day late, but let's kick off the new year with a summary of highlights from 2010.


1) Best New Burger: Burger Kitchen

Yes, it was a great burger that cost me an arm and a leg -- that $26 Black Label burger from famed butchers La Frieda in New York. But no, it didn't replace Houston's California burger as my favorite burger just yet. While the patty was fantastic, there's something about the combination of the patty with the avocado, arugula and red onions that this Burger Kitchen didn't have. Wouldn't hurt to up the ante on the works on the burger. I also love the trend of new serious burger joints popping up. Other honorable mentions include Rustic Canyon, Village Idiot and Bowery.


2) Best New Italian Find in LA: Girasole

I was elated to discover this hidden gem smack in the middle of one of my least favorite areas, Larchmont. After I returned from a trip to Italy this summer, I was searching for a place serving food that reminded of my amazing eats there. Well, this joint came close. The pumpkin sage ravioli was to die for, as was the mushroom ravioli -- which gave off this wonderful mushroom aromas and flavor where I could really taste the earthiness of the mushrooms in a creamy sauce that wasn't too heavy. It also serves addictive carbonara, which isn't on the menu but they will make it for you upon request. I felt the non-pasta entrees weren't as excellent but still pretty up there. The BYOB option is an unbeatable deal. A great value alternative to places like Osteria Mozza, which I also love but is more of a special occasion place than this. Granted, this is no everyday joint either, but I mean relatively speaking. A must try for Italian food-lovers.

3) Best New Sushi: Sushi Zo

It doesn't get any more food porn than this number to the left. The sushi was fantastic. I was most blown away by a squid sashimi the chef made where he cut the squid into thin strips like noodles and smothered them with uni, or sea urchin. Wow. The shrimp sushi was also excellent, although I don't usually go for shellfish. In short, a true gem but only thing was I was turned off by the rude chef, which seems to be a mandatory trait for some sushi chefs to be taken seriously. Shame. A close second and a neighborhood joint is Jinpachi, which also had first-rate quality fish. Warning: neither of these is particularly cheap, so save them for a special occasion and make sure you do omakase, or chef's choice, if you go since they know best what's fresh.

4) Most Luxurious Meal: Don Alfonso near Sorrento, Italy

This was by far the most elaborate and luxurious meal I've had this year (thanks "mj"!). It was while traveling in the southern part of Italy, near the coastal city of Sorrento, known for its delicious lemon liqueur lemoncello. This meal had like gazillion courses, each with a description spanning like five lines of adjectives and such -- and all fantastically delicious. The wines that were all local wines were also fantastic, as was the impeccable service. The cold cuts, cheeses, meats and fish were all amazing, as were the combination of the dishes, which were innovative and traditional the same time. A great place for a special occasion trip and meal!

5) Best French Toast: Amandine Cafe

I'm biased about best brunch places because I love French Toast more than I do pancakes or omelets. But Amandine Cafe serves up some mean French Toast, with tons of fresh fruit on top. Gotta love that. Plus, the coffee (cappuccino in my case) was pretty good. The only downside is that it's cramped. But go early and you can avoid the crowds. At least there's no line waiting outside like the ones I see in overrated joints across LA.

6) Best Italian Meal in Italy: Tie between Da Michele in Naples and my friend's home-made dinner in Bologna

You can't beat the value and sheer simplicity of a beautiful pizza Margherita at the humble Da Michele, located a 10-minute walk from the train station in Naples. It's tomato-y and cheesy without being too heavy. The fresh basil is perfect and the crust, oh the crust -- Crispy but chewy and thin as ice.

Then the home-made dinner my friend EB made me in Bologna was also priceless. She made us spaghetti a la carbonara and served us an assortment of cheeses and cold cuts that were out of this world that gave me a newfound appreciation for real ricotta cheese that I had never had and I also developed a grumpiness about the US not importing enough goodies from that side of the world. I want good, smoked provolone, darn it!

7) Best New Cuisine Discovery: Greek, from Meal with a View in Santorini, Greece

It's not that I've never had Greek before. It turns out I'd never had real Greek before. What a revelation. I was never big on the go-to items for Greek cuisine, like gyro or feta cheese and flavor-less black olives.

But this place, which had an amazing view to boot, Archipelago, served up some amazingly fresh and flavorful dishes that blew out of the water (pun intended) any misperceptions I had about Greek food. I could taste the great quality olive oil in this grilled octopus dish and the lamb wrapped in grape leaves came stuffed with other goodies that made me want to wish there were some good Greek eateries right here in Los Angeles. Oh why oh why can't we find such good Greek here? Oh, and the cheeses were entirely different. They weren't as one-dimensionally salty as the feta found here. It actually had layers of flavor and different textures. I'd definitely like to return to Greece to experience the real deal again.

8) Best New Korean Find in Korea: Pro-Kanjang Kyejang

This was a tough one. I picked this kyejang place because marinated raw crab isn't something that's easy to get here -- at least not first-rate crab. This crab was meaty, wonderfully garlicky and just salty enough.

I just don't know what people are smoking when they say that LA's Koreatown has better Korean food than in Korea. Something about better quality meat? Seriously, as much as I love Ktown, it has nothing on the OG back in the homeland. I had some incredible Kwangyang bulgoki, sweet potatoes in the eastern coastal region, amazingly fresh fish by the sea and so much more. Ah, time to go back.


9) Best New Korean Find in Ktown: Don Dae Gam

This outpost of a Korean chain, Park Dae Gam (aka Park's BBQ), that specializes in pork (case in point of my previous entry about Korean food in Korea) serves up fresh pork every way. It's cooked table-side and comes in different cuts. There's the rice fried on the grill at the end and the delicious spicy green onion salad that you can add to your meat wrapped goodness. It's much like Honey Pig but I thought the quality was a tad better. They're almost comparable, I'd say.

10) Most Intrigue-filled Blogger Moments: Starry Kitchen and Shady Offer from Gourmet Sandwich Man

Last but not least, I found it amusing to have an unexpected and extremely lengthy exchange with the owner of Starry Kitchen, which started when I reported extremely rude and inappropriate service from the owner on my second visit after I wrote a negative review. He responded by saying he doesn't know what I look like, and it wasn't rudeness. It was his sense of humor, he insisted. All I have to say is, I'm not the only person who's experienced odd behavior by the owner. But that's ok. I didn't like the food but it seems to be doing well with good reviews so more power to them.

Coincidentally, I got a strange offer from the alleged owner of a gourmet sandwich shop chain that will remain unnamed to serve as his "advisor" and give an honest opinion on his restaurant empire. Laughable, truly. I thought it was weird that he insisted on "having lunch" and showering me with compliments on my reviews. Not surprisingly, after I asked him for details on this "admittedly unusual" arrangement, I never heard from him again. I should out him, but let this be a warning to other food bloggers who write anonymously. When a restaurant owner suddenly asks you to lunch and offers you a job as an advisor, ask for details. If s/he responds and confirms the arrangements in writing, then maybe will it be truly legit. Thanks mj, for your advice!

Nice try Mr. Sandwich. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I don't think much of his sandwich shop. It's plenty popular in the office areas of downtown, but I always found them far too bland. I've never reviewed the shop but I have reviewed another downtown restaurant he owns, which was awful and I made my opinion known.

I can't wait to devour all that 2011 has to offer. Happy 2011, everybody, keep eating well and thanks for reading!

Fish in Sausalito: Spicy Cheddar Grits with Spot Prawns? 'Nuff Said

I'm sure the cool maritime decor and foggy weather in Sausalito had something to do with it, but Fish was pretty excellent.

It wasn't cheap by any means but maybe because I was traveling, or maybe because I had just endured a windy car ride that made me severely car-sick, I felt it was somewhat worth it. Oh, and a minor detail -- I was treated.

The fish was fresh and Fish was both good at doing old standbys well (think fried fish sticks) and offering new and interesting takes on old ingredients (can you tell what the picture on the right-hand side is?).



Yes. It was shrimp, but not any old kind of shrimp. I don't really like peppering names of dishes with millions of qualifiers and adjectives, but for the record, these were Kelsey Michelle spot prawns. They looked and tasted different from the ones I'm used to eating at home and other restaurants. I'm guessing these were caught locally and it showed. They were sweet, plump and delicious.

Key to this was what it came with -- spicy Spring Hill Cheddar grits and local dungeness crab gravy. I'm usually not a grits person whatsoever, but I made a huge exception here because these grits actually had flavor -- spicy with that loverly sharp taste of cheddar cheese. Seriously, what's not to like? To add amazingness to the already goodness, it was smothered in crab gravy.

Again, anyone who knows me will tell you I've never liked gravy. But this one was definitely special. While it wasn't exactly crab-filled, the little pieces that I did find really added a lot to the texture and flavor. What a great dish.

The fried fish sticks were good but I wouldn't return just to have that again. It's pretty plain, although I do appreciate its simplicity.

The grilled cheese sandwich was nothing to write home about. But the fries, oh the fries. This place understands that no self-respecting seafood joint that hawks crowd favorites like fish and chips would have fries that are anything but perfectly crispy, piping hot and not over-salted. Definitely not the frozen kind. I had a hard time keeping myself from wolfing down the entire batch of fries so I could leave room for the real deal -- the super fresh seafood served so creatively here.

It's far from home but I'd definitely like to return here on my next trip.

Veto Vito's Pizza and Pass on Pinches Tacos in WeHo

I've been reviewing the good, so it's time to review the bad. Pinches Tacos and Vito's Pizza, both in West Hollywood.

The carne asada tacos were tough and the meat was not well-seasoned, just overly salty and flavorless. Then they got the order wrong -- brought us chicken mole tacos instead of the grilled chicken we wanted, and were too hungry to take back by the time we got our food. Still searching for that decent Mexican joint near me that I can stop by for a decent taco when I have a hankering...

Nor have I found a good pizzeria near me that serves half-way decent pizza. I tried Vito's after reading some raves on message boards, but to no avail.


My dinner companion and I tried several types of pizza, including the Margherita, which was ok and the white pizza, which had mascapone cheese, and was the best, in my opinion. Maybe it was the novelty of pairing mascapone cheese with pizza. One could say it was a bit of cheese overload but I personally can never have enough cheese so it wasn't a problem.

The pesto one was soso, as was the one with sausage and pepperoni. I usually don't like meat on my pies, so that may have biased the ranking.

I still like the Pizzeria Mozza for high-end, but in search of an equally juicy and flavorful Margherita topped with fresh basil for a fraction of the price.

Jar: Rib-eye and Fries for a Special Occasion

Because I was good on Thanksgiving day and didn't stuff myself silly with, well, stuffing and such (more on my Thanksgiving day meal later), I didn't feel bad having an uber hearty meal at Jar, complete with fat, bloody steaks and tender, juicy pot roast.

I had read about this "signature" pot roast, so although my companion and I weren't huge pot roast fans, we ordered it. It was definitely one of the best pot roasts I had ever had (albeit in my limited pot roast experience) although a tad on the salty side. The carrots and onions were well integrated into the roast, which was nicely seared on the outside and tender and juicy on the inside. I also liked the horseradish cream it came with, that gave it a nice balance in flavor with a slight kick.


My favorite item out of all the things we ate was undoubtedly the rib-eye steak, which was all it was cracked up to be. It was perfectly cooked medium rare -- nice and browned on the outside and crispy on the edges and bloody and soft on the inside. We had a choice of sauces so based on posts we got the lobster bearnaise (because there's always room to get more luxurious and decadent) and the peppercorn sauces. The lobster one was far too rich, even for this butter and fat fiend, and distracted from the amazing flavor of the steak. The peppercorn, which was more watery with whole peppercorn spheres for some kick, was just ok. I almost didn't mind slicing and chewing one piece of meat after another, without any condiments, just pure good red as red meat. When I saw the massive hunk of meat, I didn't think I'd put much of a dent but I couldn't stop eating it, bite after bite, as my stomach would tell me I needed to stop. But my head wanted to keep eating because it was enjoying it so much. Similar to my Girasole experience with its carbonara.



The fries were also very good, served piping hot and super crispy. It didn't hurt that they came smothered with garlic bits and parsley, imparting even more flavor and textures. The only thing is I wanted to leave room for the star of the show -- the rib-eye -- and not fill my stomach unnecessarily with these carbs. But then my dining companion and I concurred that fries don't keep very well. What better excuse?



We tried to be semi-healthy amid the heart attack on the table. We got the stir-fried water spinach, which was good and reminded us of the great Chinese restaurants that serve this (Din Tai Fung came to mind) but nothing to write home about, especially given the stellar steak sitting next to it.

A big disappointment was the crab deviled eggs appetizer, which was raved about on message posts but was so unmemorable and devoid of crab that I almost think it is a misnomer.



Those things were absolutely nothing special. The deviled eggs tasted flat and didn't have much flavor in them. The crab that I had hoped would add some pizazz to the quotidian egg didn't do much and at worst, even had a whiff of unfreshness to it.


The octopus salad special was ok but nothing to write home about either. My companion is a huge octopus fiend so we tried it and the octopus was cooked well enough -- nice and soft, not too chewy. But it didn't exactly blow me away.

The bread that came with butter was good but would have been better had it been heated. The butter was salty but I like salty so it was ok.

For dessert, we had bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and some caramel sauce. It was good but think we were too full to really enjoy it. Portion was small so that was actually good for us so we didn't have to feel bad for not finishing it.

In short, I would definitely return for the steak but it's also a special occasion place, not cheap at all. We got a special deal from Open Table but still overall not an everyday kind of experience. Tables are a bit on close side but noise level isn't too bad. You're better off parking on the street since they only have valet (and I personally hate to valet).

I was torn between the Kansas City Steak that's the only dry-aged one on the menu and is a whopping $40 a pop, but once I realized the rib-eye is more marbled, aka fatty, aka much more succulent and um, yummier, it was a no-brainer. It also helped that it's supposedly the chef's favorite cut. Let's just say it had me at marbled.

Sushi at Jinpachi: Excellent and Expensive

I found a great new neighborhood sushi joint in Jinpachi. Not everyday prices for sure, but it's obviously a place that takes its sushi seriously. It's low-key but most importantly, serves fresh fish with warm rice in its sushi. I'm partial to this new style of warm rice + sushi. I wasn't crazy about the fact that most of its offerings (I didn't do omakase because it was my first time and wanted to check it out) had some kind of sauce drizzled on it. Still, the fish was very fresh and I'd definitely like to return for more.


Strangely enough, when we ordered a-la-carte and got an order of blue fin tuna, toro (fatty tuna) and hamachi (yellow tail), they gave us the toro first, which seems counter intuitive considering toro is the mother of all buttery tunas and serving it first would make anyone appreciate the lesser quality tuna served next less.

In any case, toro (right) was good but not as good as in other comparable establishments like Hiko or even Sushi Zo. It came drizzled with soy sauce with freshly grated wasabi inside. Loved the warm rice too.
Not surprisingly, the blue fin tuna (left) that was served immediately afterwards didn't really do it for me. It's like serving a Corona after having Hitachino Classic Pale Ale, which incidentally I was drinking this very evening.

But I digress. The hamachi, or yellow tail, was excellent. It too came with a bit of soy sauce drizzled on top, but it tasted so fresh that I hardly cared.



I'm also particular about the accompanying pickled ginger and that was very good too. No funky smell coming from some pickling issues.

Once I built up some confidence on the quality of the fish served here, I moved on riskier picks like scallop and Spanish mackerel, both of which were recommended by the chef, by which time I trusted. The scallop (right) that came with rock salt and beautiful specks of yuzu rind jewels was excellent. I'm not a big fan of shellfish sushi, not least because it's hard to find good ones, but this was well worth the risk.
The Spanish mackerel (top picture) was an even bigger risk in the sense that even at Hiko, my favorite sushi joint in LA, this sushi would more often than not come out fishy. But this one didn't have a hint of fishiness and the grated ginger and minced green onions it came topped with complemented well with the fresh flavor of the fish.

Then I got my standards like uni (sea urchin), blue crab handroll and last but not least, anago (salt water eel). The uni (left) was also excellent, albeit drizzled once again with soy sauce. The seaweed the warm rice was wrapped in was extremely crispy and I could tell it was very good quality seaweed.

The crab handroll was equally stellar. The crab was sweet and the warm rice wrapped in the seaweed was the perfect combination. I could have this for lunch every day.

The last one I had was anago, or salt water eel, which comes with the syrupy brown sauce that's slightly salty and sweet used for unagi. The flesh of the anago was so incredibly soft it (excuse the cliche) did melt in your mouth.




I also liked the beer selection. As much as I like Sapporo served in an ice cold glass straight out of a cooler, I can't help but love what's probably my favorite Japanese beer of all time, Hitachino Classic Pale Ale that has the cutest little owl on the bottle. But more importantly, it's fantastic beer that goes so well with sushi. The perfect pairing if ever there was one.

I'll be returning, probably for another special occasion. Prices are a bit steep for every day sushi. A meal for two with one beer came out to about $55 per person. I hear that omakase is $100 per person. I may just try that next time. Now I gotta find an excuse. It's very quaint and quiet. If you're looking for a scene, this isn't the place for you. I didn't like the fact that it also serves a lot of cooked dishes and the omakase also includes cooked dishes, which to me, seems so much like a contradiction. I came for sushi, not cooked foods! Anyhow, that's my rant. Enjoy!

Take a Bow for Bowery's Burgers

This burger surprised me. It was juicy, cooked just to my liking at medium-rare and had a very pleasant meaty taste. I liked this burger so much I'm going to go out on a limb and add it to my Top Five LA Burgers alongside the other hall of famers Houston's, Burger Kitchen and Rustic Canyon, in that order.

I also liked the fries that can be ordered as a mix of regular and sweet potato fries. I had it with "the works" and I chose cheddar cheese, avocado, caramelized onions and bacon. I was debating between bacon and fried egg, but in the end, think it was the right choice. I had wanted fresh red onions but apparently all the onions they had were either in confit form or caramelized.

What I didn't like was the bun, which was an English muffin that didn't hold the hefty interior very well. It quickly fell apart upon my cutting the burger in half. The patty was also too round as opposed to flat so that made it even harder to bite into. As much as I like meaty patties, this one could have used a tad of flattening.

I also have a problem with burgers priced at $9.50 that charge you for everything, and I mean, everything you decide to add to it, such as 3 toppings for additional cost or a lousy 50 cents for a side of thousand island dressing. Really? 50 cents for a side of "homemade" dressing? Come on.

As if that weren't enough, the side of fries alone was $5, and considering places like Houston's serve their burger (albeit costing more in the high teens) with fries included, I somehow felt robbed.

I didn't think much of the overdressed Bowery salad that came with greens, lentils, asparagus, beets, goat cheese and hazelnuts. Sounds good, right? It was drowning in dressing, which is not good. The salad would have been a lot better otherwise but it was hard to taste anything.


The vibe is ok but a bit noisy and crowded (or maybe I'm just getting old). It's tight quarters. It doesn't have any beers on draft, which is weird for a bar, but at least it has a decent selection. I chose a delightfully bitter Stone IPA that went well with my bloody burger.

Eat Not at Eatalian: Worst Pasta I've Had in Years

I was so disappointed by the food and service at Eatalian that I vowed never to return again. So not worth the drive out to "Gardena," (closer to Harbor Gateway and Compton, actually). The space was great -- open, airy and very modern-cafeteria. The high ceilings reminded me of Bottega Louie, but Eatalian is a lot less fancy than that.

The only redeeming thing about this place was the pizza. I was a bit perplexed that the Margherita didn't have any basil on it, but I figured everyone must have their own version of Margherita. So I got the "speciale," that includes cherry tomatoes and basil. Maybe the menu should have specified that it only comes with 5 little slivers of basil, because they really skimped on the basil that usually adds so much flavor to the pizza. I'm talking fresh, large, full-leaves of basil sprinkled on top of the pizza.


The pizza crust was decent -- thin, crispy and not too chewy like those cheap ones. But there wasn't enough tomato and because there was more cheese than tomato, or maybe because they had oversalted it, it was too salty. I liked the fresh mozzarella blobs but I don't think it was enough for me to want to return.

The pastas were dismal to say the least. Thank god I was able to take one back and not get charged for it. The biggest culprit was the "handmade" tagliatelle al ragu. Oh my god. It was the single most bland thing I've put in my mouth in years. It tasted like a mush of nothingness over some flat spinach noodles. There was ground meat in it but it didn't taste like anything.
The tomato sauce tasted as bland as the meat. Normally, I would think about ways to add flavor to it from my home kitchen. I was thinking, would it taste better with some garlic added or, what a thought, salt?

I actually tried adding salt but it didn't do much for it.

Then the spaghetti carbonara wasn't much better. The pancetta seemed well cooked enough, crispy and porky as they should be. But what happened to flavor again? It looked like a perfectly serviceable carbonara with its "egginess" from the raw egg and cheese mixture and bits of pancetta throughout. And both pasta were cooked al dente. But that wasn't the issue.



The pasta was totally bland, again. So I proceeded to add more salt and pepper to add flavor. Because carbonara is a more simple dish, I feel, it actually helped to salt and pepper it. It was edible. I didn't take it back, but the tagliatelle, I had to. It just wasn't salvageable by any means. Not even Thomas Keller or Ferran Adria could have saved this dish.

Don't even get me started on the shoddy and slow service. Ok, our guy didn't charge us for the awful pasta. But this place is clearly short-staffed and it needs to beef up staff or somehow improve the quality of the service. Everyone's running around like chicken without their heads.

Also, this place also clearly got more business than it can handle. That was apparent in the diluted quality of the food. I'm sure it wasn't like that when the LA Times or West Ways magazine gave it rave reviews.

Whenever I run into places like these, I think about Hillstone Group that owns places like Houston's or R+D, etc. All restaurants are chains and are always inundated with customers but always have great service with great food. It's all in the training, experience and philosophy of the management. Maybe Eatalian bit off more than it could chew. I really wanted to like this place because it's a great concept and I wanted to an affordable place to go for good Margherita pizza (can't always go to Mozza, right?).

The gelato was totally unremarkable -- had the Bacio and mango. Yuck. The pastries that they sold there, like chocolate croissant and "cannellino," were downright bad. Maybe this is their version of chocolate croissant and I'm very picky when it comes to this. The chocolate was like chocolate custard instead of the dark brown chocolate essence in the best croissants. Yuck! And the cannellinos, well, I've never had one of these but if it's supposed to be their version of cannolis, they were really bad. They used a soft puff pastry shell instead of a hard shell and the custard was not good. I'm not a big fan of cannolis but even I was put off by this lame impersonation of the real deal. If I'm the lame one by not knowing this is the way they should be, my bad.

Hope this place improves but I'm not returning until I have word of mouth from trusted sources about its comeback.