An Day in Pasadena: Haven Gastropub and 2012 Breeder's Cup

The Breeder's Cup (horse racing) is held annually, with the venue changing almost every year. In the last two years, it was held at Churchill Downs, home to the Kentucky Derby, but this year and next, it is held in Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. Since it is somewhat in our backyard, we made the trek to the San Gabriel area for the race.

The race park sits at the foothill of the San Gabriel mountains, providing a beautiful backdrop.

You can get seats in the Grandstand (where there were attendees wearing dresses and fine hats) or you can get General Admission tickets for only $20 in the Infield (or the cheap seats as they are called). There is beer, wine, liquor and food sold in the infield but the booze quickly sold out. Pretty poor management on the organizers part, I must say.

I am not much of a gambler, but it seemed low risk as you can make bets for as little as $1. The fiance really did the betting for me but out of 6 races that I bet exacta on (based on "cute" horse names), I won half of them, essentially winning around $150 from a total of $36 in bets. Pretty fun stuff.

Before the race started, we stopped by our friend's place in Pasadena for some light snacks.

A selection of cured meat from a Pasadena neighborhood gem, Roma Italian Deli. Beef brescola, prosciutto, Italian salumi and coppa. Also served with gorgonzola, brie, Italian parmigiano and olives. The cured meat was outstanding, fresh. Apparently Roma Deli has been owned by the same Italian gentleman for over half a century, and he is great at giving recommendations if you need any.

My (Bulgarian) friend also introduced us to a interesting combination of Greek-styled caviar spread (caviar and cream) and a spicy Harissa spread. Loved the combination of cream, salty fish roe and the kick from the harissa spread which tasted like a slight relative of sambal chili.

After the races (and finally able to catch a cab after 2 hours), we met up with friends at Haven Gastropub in Old Town Pasadena. The gastropub first opened in Orange County and made its way to Pasadena late last year.

Haven has over 40 craft beers and tap and many in bottle.

Homemade potato chips ~  A nice starter. I really enjoyed the garlic aioli dipping sauce. The chips were supposedly soaked in beer but they didn't taste any different. Not a big deal as they still tasted good as they were not too oily and had just the right amount of seasoning.

Hand twisted pretzel ~ I am a huge pretzel fiend and always have to order it when it's on the menu. Unfortunately, this pretzel did not impress me. Yes it looked very promising, but it was a bit on the doughy side and a bit dense. The bacon fontina cheese had nice chunks of bacon to it but probably needed just a sprinkle of salt. The beer mustard sauce however was the favorite at the table. Sweet, tangy with a spice.

French onion soup ~  we really enjoyed this soup from the flavorful yet on overbearingly salty broth, to the melted gruyere atop a crostini. It just really hit the spot.

Beef tongue poutine ~ I really enjoyed this dish. What's there not to like? French fries (which still had a bit of a crunch under the topping), braised beef tongue which didn't really even taste like tongue or had the tough texture of tongue. In fact, the shredded meat was tender and had good salty flavors to it. The fries and meat were topped with round pieces of port salut which is a mild goat cheese. I liked that it wasn't completely melted and overly gooey, and had a nice caramelization on top.

Homemamde donuts ~ The donuts here were pretty good (fresh, soft and large in size). The nutella sauce was a favorite, however the Jameson caramel sauce was a bit too strong for everyone.

I really enjoyed my meal at Haven. Sometimes it's hard to find a place that satisfies the fiance (BEER, and casual setting) and mine (good food and blogworthy) so I thought Haven did a good job of balancing that out. Unfortunately we were not too hunger and as such, only ordered a couple appetizers to share. However based on what we tried, I can only imagine good things about the other dishes. Some that caught my eye were the porchetta, pork rillette and the whole roasted suckling pig dinner with 3 sides for only $45/person. Sounds like a delicious pork feast.

Haven Gastropub
42 South De Lacey Ave,
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 768-9555
havengastropub.com

Roma Italian Deli
918 N. Lake,
Pasadena, CA 91104
(626) 979-7748

The Pikey: Not your everyday English pub in Hollywood.

The Pikey is the English pub that opened up some 4 months ago, located on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, although surprisingly not really near anything else. In fact, it is located on a street with little foot traffic. However, despite its location, the pub has been garnering some great reviews around town. The pub has been transformed from its prior self Ye Coach & Horses. There are two sections - on one side, brightly lit with restaurant seating, on the other side, a dimly lit bar with red booths. I took my out-of-towners to the bar section. It was a Friday late afternoon and was fairly empty, but apparently this place ramps up on the weekends. Owner Sean MacPherson (who has his hands in numerous Hollywood bars such as Jones, Swingers, El Carmen, Bar Lubtisch) came by a couple times to check up on us.

The Pikey is touted as a gastopub, aka elevated bar food. The menu is really not what you would expect from an English pub. Yes there is the fish & chips and lentil curry, but that is the only dish synonymous with a pub. Instead, there are various salad dishes, and entrees such as a pork belly sandwich and a grilled chicken dish.

The Sloan Ranger (Vanilla Vodka, crushed strawberries, champagne) was refreshing and extremely drinkable. The Stoli vanilla was rather sweet but the champagne helped to temper the sweetness. I liked the fizz from the bubbly.

Ginger Minge was a variation of a moscow mule with ginger beer, lemon juice and scotch.
Caravan with a cocktail made with rum, Baronjager honey liquer, pineapple juice, habanero infused peach bitters. It is not for the faint of heart- not only was the drink strong, but the habanero packed a punch.
The drinks were tasty, presentation lacking a bit though.

Burrata with grilled asparagus was a great starter. Very clean and fresh flavors. The burrata was creamy with a tinge of lemony flavor. It's simple yet kept us wanting more.

Potted chicken liver was a hit with the table. The liver was on the creamy side with a tinge of sweetness, and very spreadable over the toasted crostinis. Not too intense in the liver flavor.

Romaine Salad with Roasted Chicken, Soft Cooked Egg and Green Goddess Dressing was an interesting dish. Much larger than the salad portion we expected. I've never had green goddess dressing before and quite liked it. It had a citrus tang to it with anchovies and tarragon essence. The romaine had various textures, some of the leaves were deep fried and crisp. The chicken was tender with a lemon taste.

Fish and chips ~ I am a big fish & chips fan. The fish here was fresh and the batter was nicely seasoned. I appreciated that the batter wasn't greasy and the coating was crunchy and held its texture after being doused with malt vinegar.  The side of romaine leaves were not an oversight, they were appropriately dressed - which is very important thing although many restaurants forget to do so. The fish & chips here is simple - it is not a variation of the real thing, and does not stray from how its prepared traditionally.

Char-Grilled Beef Burger with Bandaged Cheddar, Tomato and Worcestershire Aioli ~ Really enjoyed the patty, cooked medium rare, that was very juicy and tasted extremely fresh - you could tell that it was a good mixture of meat that they used. Coupled with a tangy aioli and brioche bun that was fresh and soft, the burger was quite delicious. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's one of the top in the city, but it was definitely tasty.

I think those searching for a real English pub may be disappointed with The Pikey - you won't find the heart-stopping shepherd's pie or pies here. But you will find some good food here - well prepared, fresh ingredients, clean flavors.

The Pikey
7617 W Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 850-5400
thepikeyla.com

Happy Hour at new SaMo bar - The Charleston

Ever since I started the new job and have been traveling to Dallas for the last 3 months, this poor blog has been lacking. Most weekends that I am back in LA are spent doing laundry and catching up on my TV programs on my DVR. As my project began to wind down, I took the opportunity to check out a new spot while meeting up with my dear friend who was in town for the weekend.

The Charleston is a new restaurant/bar/lounge that opened up in Santa Monica, next to Wilshire Restaurant. The space used to be occupied by Angel's and interestingly enough, the decor remains barely unchanged (including the mural of an angel on the wall). But it seems less loungey and there are less couches and more tables which bodes well for an establishment that is positioning itself as more of a restaurant than bar. My eyes may be failing me but I also noticed that it was less dark and dim compared to Angel's.

The restaurant, barely open two weeks, was born by Jet Tila, former chef at Vegas' Wazuzu at the Encore. I'm not going to lie to you - I had no idea who he was. I definitely have been out of the dining scene these days... Apparently he is known for his Asian cuisine and also did some pop-ups in LA last year. Interestingly enough, the menu at The Charleston was not heavily Asian influenced. It is more on the lines of American comfort food.

Happy hour runs daily from 4-7pm, with extended HH on Wednesday. This is upscale happy hour prices, but you do have to remember that you are in Santa Monica after all.

My friend first ordered a cocktail on happy hour: The Charleston. The whiskey-based drink with green Chartreuse, Dom Benedictine and orange bitters was extremely strong. Good to know they don't skimp on the booze during happy hour.

The second cocktail (not on happy hour) was the Mint mule, a variation of the classic Moscow mule was a bit easier to drink. The addition of mint to the vodka/lime juice/ginger beer was refreshing.

Short Rib Taco was one of my favorites of the night, and one of the very few Asian inspired dishes on the menu. For $2 a piece during happy hour, you get slow roasted short ribs with shaved Brussels sprouts on a rather fresh corn tortilla. The flavors were bold with Korean spices and the meat was tender.

There was a nice selection of four flatbreads on the happy hour menu.

Bacon, egg & cheese flatbread was just like a breakfast pizza. I really enjoyed the crispy crust and the smokiness from the bacon. The flatbread was topped with semi-runny quail eggs. I liked that there was just a slight amount of cheese and they did not overload the flatbread with toppings. Sometimes simple is better.

Sausage, Fennel and arugula pizza was such a unique flatbread. The sauteed sausage almost seemed like tomato paste and gave the pizza a nice moisture. The sausage definitely had good spice to it. I also enjoyed the sharp flavors of the arugula which paired nicely with the rich sausage and gave the flatbread a freshness to it.

Other items on the happy hour menu that we sampled but did not photograph were the Mac & Cheese with bechamel, smoked cheddar and gouda (very good) and the Sweet and Spicy wings (a few at the table thought it was too spicy, I didn't think so. Not bad but pretty common flavors).

Basket of fries not on happy hour (the portion was actually larger, this was taken after we had plowed through half the serving).

Manchego stuffed piquillo peppers with toasted pine nuts and pesto was interesting and surprisingly quite tasty with the spicy peppers and the piquant cheese.

I thought that The Charleston had a pretty good happy hour menu - definitely on the upscale end but there were quite a good amount of food options. Given Jet Tila's reputation, it was interesting to see that the menu leaned more towards American, with only some Asian dishes. When I left the restaurant, I was still unsure as to what the theme of this place is - apparently they might house culinary pop-ups, but they also have performances, comedy shows and karaoke on their calendar. Not exactly sure who their target clientele is. But it's still early in the game, perhaps all they need is just a bit more time to build their image.

The Charleston

2460 Wilshire Blvd

Santa Monica, CA 90403

(310) 828-2115

www.charlestonla.com

Beer Belly: A gem of bar tucked away in Ktown

Just a street away from the Wiltern Theatre on Western Street, is the half-year-old gastropub Beer Belly. It may be located in Koreatown, but the food and drinks are not Korean. Here you'll find a nice selection of craft beers. The food menu is not expansive but they do serve up some interesting dishes.

The bar is tucked away on Western Ave and is a bit hard to find. But once you're there, you'll be elated to know that they offer valet - something that is very important in this scarce parking area of Koreatown.

Beer Belly is snug and was rather empty at 6.30pm when we got there. However the hipster crowd started packing in at 8pm. You have to order your food and drinks from the bar, and the waiter will bring the food to your table.

For our beer sampler, the bartender helped us choose a balanced selection of Taps Cream Ale, Stone Vertical Epic Ale, Bootlegger's Chocolate Mint Porter and The Bruery Mischief.

Duck fat fries ~ Smoked Salt, Sweet Onion Sugar, Duck Skin Cracklins, Raspberry Mustard
They also had an option to add duck confit for an extra $2. The fries were pretty darn good. They were crispy and a tad airy. I really enjoyed the crumbles of crunchy duck skin cracklins which tasted fatty and salty. The fries were served with a sweet fruity sauce which wasn't spicy. I thought the sweet sauce was an interesting and nice pairing to the fries.

Brussels Sprouts, Apple, Pancetta, Onions
The slightly charred Brussels sprouts were dressed with a sweet and tangy apple sauce. The sprouts got its smokey and salty flavoring from the large chunk of lardons.

Duck Stewed Navy Beans, Duck Confit, Ground Lamb, Fried Pork Belly, Cassoulet
We were lucky to score the last cassoulet of the night. The cassoulet actually looked like baked polenta. The cassoulet was salty and somewhat creamy. The beans were a mixture of textures: some were mashed and some were firmer. I enjoyed the crispy fried skin and shredded pork belly that topped the dish. Overall a rich and satisfying dish with lots of meaty flavors.

Beer Belly is a great addition to the area. Don't get me wrong, I do like Korean BBQ and Soon Du Bu, but a cool bar serving good food and beer a couple blocks from the Wiltern is truly priceless. Their Sunday brunch menu sounds spectacular with dishes such as duck confit benedict and snickers pancakes. My only issue that night was that the bar area got real crowded, and since you have to head up to the bar for another round of drinks, the hassle of waiting behind a hoard of people while flagging down the one bartender was too much of a hassle on a weeknight. I ended up heading home for my last drink of the night.

Beer Belly
532 S. Western Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90020
(213) 387-2337
http://www.beerbellyla.com/

Fat Dog Gastropub: where dogs and booze do mix

With a name like Fat Dog, I just wanted to like the gastropub. It's also located on my way home from work (at Fairfax and Melrose). The menu looked promising with items such as crispy rock shrimp, lobster roll and short rib french dip sandwich. The place is also dog friendly although I didn't see any when I was there.

The space is pretty cool, with a cute outdoor seating area. Inside, there's a bar, communal tables and booths.

The menu had quite a lot of options. When I'm at a bar, I usually prefer to share appetizers/small plates with my party. Unfortunately, over half the appetizer menu were vegetarian and not really that exciting (hummus, salads, cheese plate, potato skins). They do however have a nice mix of drinks including craft beers, cocktails and wine.

Chili almonds were served with our drinks.

Baby Greens were the only way to get some vegetables in us. Nothing special here.

Crisp Rock Shrimp with scallions, sambal aioli and lemon
I was excited to try this because as someone that lived in Singapore, I'm all about sambal. It didn't taste like sambal to me though. I was hoping for some minced garlic or shallot flavors in the aoli. The rock shrimp was actually disappointing. The coating wasn't crispy and tasted soggy.

The Flight mini burgers: bacon & guacamole, mushroom & swiss, caramelized onions & gruyére
I liked that they offered a trio of sliders so that we could get a variety. Unfortunately, both the bun and patties were dry. We also thought the meat lacked seasoning.

Jalapeño Mac And Cheese (with bacon and crab supplement)
I was pleased with the chunks of crab which tasted fresh. However, similar to the slider patties, the Mac and cheese tasted bland. Even the spice from the jalepeno and the salty bacon bits were not enough to add flavor to this dish.

Braised Short-Rib French Dip Sandwich gruyére cheese, caramelized onions and "au jus"
This was our favorite dish of the night. The French dip was served in a skillet, which I thought was a cool rustic presentation. The meat was juicy and well seasoned. The sweet onions and the salty au jus were a nice combination. I also enjoyed the bread which was perfectly buttered and toasted. A side of onions rings were layered underneath the sandwich. What a nice surprise, and all the jus dripped on the rings.

The Fat Dog all beef grilled hot dog
Possibly the longest hot dog I've ever eaten. The presentation was pretty cool, with an array of toppings (pickle relish, diced tomato, onion, pepperoncini, ketchup and mustard). I liked the selection of toppings but the hot dog was pretty ordinary.

I love the space and am glad that there's a new bar in the neighborhood. However I thought the food wasn't memorable. Perhaps we ordered the wrong dishes but I don't feel the need to rush back to sample more items from the menu. I was there when it was still fairly new, so perhaps they've made some improvements in the kitchen. They do have a happy hour with $3 beers, $4 wines, and bites for $3-6.

Hits: cool space, french dip
Misses: bland patties and mac & cheese
Rating: **1/2

The Fat Dog
801 N Fairfax Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 951-0030
http://www.thefatdogla.com/hollywood.html