stuffycheaks: mid city

Showing posts with label mid city. Show all posts

Monday, August 22, 2011

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

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Son of a Gun: hearty seafood from the Animal guys

When I first heard that Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo of Animal Restaurant were opening up a seafood restaurant, I was hesitant. When I think of seafood, I think of healthy, steamed, typically not very filling. When I think of Animal, I think of meat, foie gras, sweetbreads, heavy & rich dishes. It still hasn't disappointed me to this date. And recently, I came to find that neither has Son of a Gun. True, there are more seafood dishes on the menu. But it's just as hearty, flavorful and satisfying as its sibling restaurant.

The walls are adorned with nautical props (life savers, fishing poles) as well as wildlife collections (Marlin and antlers).

The restaurant is tiny, it seats 55 and half the seats are available through reservation while the other half are first come first serve. I was a bit bothered at the beginning of the night as we had reservations and had to wait 20 minutes for our table (on a Monday, no less). But the minute we studied the menu and was served the first course, all annoyed feelings went out the door.

Similar to Animal, the food here is served family style.

Shrimp Toast sandwich, herbs, sriracha mayo
This was one of the must-orders based on the reviews online. The airy bread was buttered and toasted, and was thinly spread with shrimp and spicy mayo. The cilantro and Vietnamese basil was sharp and fragrant. We enjoyed this dish so much that we had to get another order at the end of our meal.

Lobster Roll, celery, lemon aioli
This was another crowd favorite. Many suggested getting one for each person (at $7 each). We shared two between three of us and I thought it was sufficient if you just wanted to get a bite. I appreciated the soft roll and the fresh chunks of lobster which was mildly dressed. The potato chip crumbles were a nice topping which added salt and crunch.

Linguine and clams, uni aglio-olio, chili, breadcrumbs
This is one of the simplest pasta preparation: garlic and oil, which the kitchen added a twist to by incorporating sea urchin. To my disappointment, the uni was very mild and almost non existent. But despite the lack of uni flavor, the sauce was flavorful and creamy. I appreciated that the plump clams were extracted from their shell which made this easier to consume. Unfortunately, as with most of the other plates, the portion here was definitely on the smaller side.

Alligator schnitzel, heart of palm, orange
I was excited to try this dish. I love schnitzel and from what I recall from previous alligator dishes, alligator meat tastes merely like chicken. The alligator was pounded thin and coated with a breading that was well seasoned and not loose. It really did taste like chicken. The heart of palm was mixed with spicy jalapeño and dressed in an orange sauce. I really enjoyed the sweetness of the orange sauce which tasted exactly like a creamsicle. The creamsicle sauce surprisingly paired well with the fried schnitzel.

Mussels, tarragon, pernod, fennel, toast
I didn't think I would be wowed by this dish when I saw it. It looked like clam chowder. But in fact, the sauce was rich and creamy, with a tinge of tang. I only wished they provided more than one toast as the sauce was too good to waste.

Fried chicken sandwich, spicy b&b pickle slaw, rooster aioli
Everyone online raved about this, and compared it to Chik-fil-A. Unfortunately I've only had the fast food chicken once so I can't make a comparison. I was glad to see that the portion was pretty large and could be shared between 2 people. The chicken was tender and nicely seasoned. I liked that the breading was crispy and not oily. The tender soft bun, pickles and spicy jalapeño completed the sandwich.

For dessert, I took a bite of this delicious peanut butter toffee bar that I bought from Magnolia Bakery across the street.

Son of a Gun is a great addition to the city. It good to see that the chefs can put out an exceptional meat-based menu at Animal, but can also cater to those that prefer a less bovine-menu at Son of a Gun. I was delighted that the food was not light or unsubstantial. The dishes all had really good and well developed flavors. For me, the mark of a good restaurant is when I am looking forward to coming back and trying more items on the menu. There were definitely more dishes at Son of a Gun that I'd like to try.

Hits: everything we ordered was delicious
Misses: portions can be small, 20 min wait
Rating: ***1/2

Son of a Gun
8370 W. 3rd Street
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 782-9033 http://www.sonofagunrestaurant.com/

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Ray's and Stark at LACMA Museum

I'm not a big museum fan but this week, I ventured into the unknown when I dined at Ray's and Stark, the new restaurant and bar located at LACMA. I'm a big fan of Chef Kris Morningstar after dining at District a couple times, so I was excited to check out his new creations.

The menu at Ray's Restaurant (named after producer Ray Stark) is Mediterranean-focused and created with fresh and local ingredients. As such, the menu changes often, so the beef tongue and veal kidneys listed online were no longer on the menu. Instead, the dishes now seem a bit safer. No offal that night. I later came to realize that Stark Bar has a different menu, something that is more in line with my taste (head cheese fritters, beef tendon). I wish they had offered such dishes in the dining room.

The decor is simple and modern. The tables have little utensil drawers that stored your napkins and cutlery.

The Elizabeth Taylor cocktail (White rum, Orange flower water, lime) was very strong but sweet.

The house made bread smelt great and was soft and warm in the center.

Our waiter presented us with an amuse bouche of cauliflower puree with smoked trout roe. Nice balance of oceanic roe flavor with mild cauliflower.

The casoncelli was stuffed with a puree of sweet green peas. The colors were vibrant and all the ingredients were fresh. The lobster chunks were cooked perfectly and the sauce was light and subtle. This was a nice spring dish.

The Truffled rice agnolotti in porcini sauce was my favorite dish of the night. The pasta was very fresh and the sauce was rich and buttery. The dish was littered with arugula, chopped crunchy hazelnuts and strands of black trumpets. All the flavors worked well together and it was a very complete dish. Similar to the pea pasta dish, we ordered the half portion/appetizer of this pasta, and I thought it was a reasonable size for sharing between two people.

The Hanger steak was sous vide, and quite a substantial portion. It was tender but felt denser and heavier than a regular hangar steak. IMO, I'm not sure if the sous vide preparation improved the steak. I thought the steak was also over salted. My favorite part was the smoked marrow compound which added a strong fatty flavor. The marble potatoes and cippolini onions were nicely cooked through but still held its shape.

The service was attentive and friendly. I appreciated that they comped us an appetizer to compensate us for the long wait for our steak - we didn't even inquire about the steak or complain about the wait time. The pastas were delicious, especially the rich funghi agnolotti. But I thought the steak, although tasty, wasn't anything memorable. Overall, I thought that the food was good, but not unique enough to draw me back. I guess I was expecting dishes such as spam sliders, duck fat Yorkshire pudding and bone marrow pierogies that Morningstar served up at District. The Stark Bar menu in fact, looks much more exciting and appealing to me. That's where I'll head to the next time I'm back.

Hits: pastas, bread
Misses: steak
Rating: **1/2

Ray's and Stark
5905 Wilshire Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 857-6180

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Burger Kitchen: Not really standing out in the burger dining scene

Los Angeles is obsessed with burgers. There have been a slew of burger joints (Umami, Go Burger, Stout, Kalbi Burger) opening up all across town in the past couple years. LA Weekly recently did a segment on 30 Burgers in 30 days. I was really looking forward to checking out Burger Kitchen when it first opened last year. It's an Australian father-and-son restaurant that serves up Pat La Frieda Dry Aged patties and Aussie meat pies on the menu, along with some good craft beers.

The restaurant is located on West 3rd Street. It's not a large space but it's cozy and casual.

They offer a nice selection of craft beers.

Unfortunately they ran out of La Chouffe so we settled for a St. Bernardus and a glass of Coppola Pinot Grigio. Would have been nice if the beer was served in the appropriate beer glass.

Our sides came out before the burgers which was actually fine by me. I liked having something to munch on before our main course. The sweet potato fries were actually pretty bad. They were soft and soggy. No crisp to it. The only consolation was the garlic aioli that was served with the fries.

Thankfully they redeemed themselves with the beer battered onion rings. The onions were large but still cut thin, and the batter was light and crispy. It only made me wonder if the bad fries had been a fluke.

The Natural Burger included the Pat La Frieda patty which is a 40 day, dry-aged prime mix. It was served on a toasted brioche bun with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onion and aged white cheddar cheese. The patty itself was juicy and dripping with fat. Not my cup of tea but my friend enjoyed it. However, the accompaniments weren't anything special. The onions weren't grilled enough or caramelized. They tasted half raw. The other toppings were also just ordinary. Additionally, the bread was a bit too thick and dry. I wouldn't consider this to be better than most other gourmet burgers since apart from the patty, it was quite generic. And it definitely wasn't worth $26. The fries were crispy though.

The Texas Chili Burger was also disappointing. I thought there was very little chili on the burger. It was just a thin layer. I had expected a generous scoop, with chili dripping off the burger. It wasn't bad per se, but it wasn't something that I'd order again.

I really wanted to support this family run establishment. The guy working at the restaurant was friendly and helpful, but sadly, I wasn't impressed with the burgers. I didn't think it was anything special and that the Natural Burger was worth it. In a city saturated with gourmet burger joints, Burger Kitchen really didn't shine. Sigh. Perhaps I should have gotten the meat pie. It looked good.

Hits: beer selection, patty options, onion rings
Misses: fries, burger accompaniments
Rating: *

Burger Kitchen
8048 West 3rd St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 944-0503
http://www.burgerkitchenla.com/

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Bao Dim Sum House - getting your fix west of the 110

Please, before you rip me into shreds and lose all confidence in my restaurant choices, I want to preface this post by saying that I don't dispute that there aren't any good dim sum places west of the 110. And I do know that paying around $5 or more for a plate of dim sum is highway robbery. But I don't live east of the 110. I don't like driving out of the way for food. And I'd really rather just pay a couple more bucks to feed my dim sum craving, f the restaurant is located fairly close from home. Even if it isn't the cheapest or the most authentic.

But newly opened Bao Dim Sum House on Beverly Blvd in Mid-City isn't trying to be that authentic Chinese restaurant. In fact, you won't see the curt Cantonese women wheeling their carts. And you won't find chicken feet here. But if you're looking for the popular dim sum dishes (har gow, siew mai, BBQ pork buns and the like), Bao Dim Sum House will meet your needs.

The restaurant used to be an Americanized Korean BBQ joint and much of the decor remains the same. I know because I've been there. I guess the Korean BBQ restaurant didn't work so well because one would only need to drive a few more miles east to get the real thing. Luckily for Bao, Chinatown is much further.

There's a decent selection of dumplings and buns. It's a pity I didn't study the menu more intently because I didn't notice the beef tripe.

Bao also offers rice and noodles for a more filling option. This would be a better choice for dinner.

Mimosas and dim sum do mix. I promise.

Crispy Scallion Pancake ($4.25)
The pancakes were thick and doughy. Apart from the scallion topping, you couldn't really taste the scallions that were mixed in with the dough. But who am I kidding? It was fried, so I finished every piece.

Spare Ribs with Black Bean Sauce ($5.75)
People can complain about the price of this dish but I thought there was quite a fair amount of pieces and they weren't measly. In fact, I was glad that they didn't Americanize the dish by excluding the pieces with cartilage (my favorite part). The spare ribs were delicious and served with cubes of taro. There was however an overkill of cilantro topping.

Sticky Rice Wrapped in Lotus Leaf ($5.25)

Surprisingly, I thought this tasted very authentic. The rice was moist and sticky, and filled with well seasoned Chinese mushrooms, Chinese sausage and ground meat. Unfortunately it was missing a salted duck yolk which can be found in some versions.

Spicy Shrimp Dumpling ($4.95)
When they first brought this over, I thought they had mistakenly served us regular har gow but the dumplings indeed packed a punch. The shrimp was quite large and plump. Unfortunately the wrapper was too thick.

Crispy Shrimp Stuffed Eggplant ($4.95)
This dish sounded good in theory since I love eggplants, but it was smothered with too much sweet chili sauce and the eggplant alone was very oily. In addition, it was hard to eat this large piece of eggplant with only chopsticks.

Radish Cake ($4.50)
This is my favorite dim sum dish and I was pleased with Bao's version. The radish cakes were soft and freshly pan fried with a crispy exterior. The cake had chunks of radish, onions and mushrooms.

The food's decent but definitely pricier than most Asians would expect to pay. Even though the dumpling skin was rather thick, I enjoyed the sticky rice and turnip cake. Unfortunately they are missing the aesthetics of the dim sum carts. But Bao knows who its target demographic is. Someone that isn't looking for the most authentic dim sum meal. Someone that's willing to pay a bit more for convenience. Someone that doesn't want to drive in the opposite direction from home. Someone just like me.

Hits: turnip cake, sticky rice, spare ribs, not too far east
Misses: prices are higher, no chicken feet
Rating: **1/2

Bao Dim Sum House
8256 Beverly Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(323) 655-6556
http://www.baodimsum.com/