Heading East to Din Tai Fung for their much hyped XLBs

Yes, I don't like to leave my Westside bubble so when my friend Dilu suggested that we head to Arcadia for some authentic Chinese food, I cringed a bit. Thankfully, LB offered to drive. In that case, I'll go. Xiao long bao (XLB) or soup dumplings are typically pork dumplings filled with soup, hence the name. I've only had it a few times so I was excited to try. Din Tai Fung is a well known Taiwanese restaurant known for its soup dumplings. It has locations all over the world including Indonesia. Malaysia and Australia. Apparently it is the place to go if you are somewhat new to this dish. This is because Din Tai Fung has a large variety of dumplings, ingredients are fresh and the place is clean. The Arcadia restaurant is so popular that they have opened another location just a few steps away.

When we got there at 10.30am (when it opened), there was already a line and you had to take a ticket. You are only seated when your whole party has arrived. However, you can check off a list of items that you want dim sum/sushi style so that you are served shortly after you are seated. That's pretty darn efficient. While waiting at the reception area, you'll see the cooks in the kitchen separated by a glass partition, where they are industriously making the dumplings by hand.

One of the biggest issue I have is that they not only do not serve alcohol, but no outside alcohol is allowed. All the other Chinese restaurant I have been to allow customers to bring in their own alcohol. I'm sure I'd order more food after I've chugged a couple glasses of mimosa. Oh well, their loss.

Condiments on the table include vinegar, ginger, soy sauce and chili. The chopstick wrapper had directions on how to properly eat the dumplings.

Basically you dip the dumpling into the ginger vinegar and/or chili sauce, place the dumpling on a spoon, take a bite and drink the soup, then eat the whole dumpling. For most orders, dumplings come in 10 pieces which was perfect because there were 5 of us.

First up, regular pork dumpling. I followed the chopstick instructions. Thankfully the soup wasn't scalding hot. The pork was delicious and flavorful. I liked the sharp vinegar flavor which I thought complimented the saltiness of the pork. These little yummy packages were so tiny that they were literally a bite full and I could have easily had the whole tin steamer of dumplings in a matter of seconds.

Pork and shrimp shu mai. These tasted like the shu mai that you would find at a dim sum restaurant, except these were larger and stuffed full of shrimp. They also seem to be less greasy than the ones served at dim sum.

Braised beef in noodle soup. Spicy, comforting warm bowl of soup with a hunk of beef. This was the favorite of the table because the soup was perfect for a chilly morning, and the pork was tender and had a sliver of fat in each chunk.

Crab and pork dumpling. This was a bit fishy so I did not care for it. I didn't even eat my allotted two pieces - that's usually a bad sign.

Pork bun. We thought it would be more like a BBQ pork bun but it was the same pork mixture as the dumpling except with a different shell. The pork was rolled into a meatball. This was a bit drier than the other dumplings perhaps because of the absence of soup, and also the bun is a drier and thicker consistency than the thin, delicate dumpling skin.

Next, we got mini dumplings. These are served with 20 and are only available on weekends and for a limited time. I'm not sure why they are only offered for a limited time, they didn't seem much different from the regular dumplings, except for the size.

These tiny dumplings are supposed to be eaten with soup. In my opinion, I didn't think the soup was necessary because I didn't want to dilute the delicious pork flavor in the dumpling, and also the soup was a bit bland.

Vegetable dumpling. The vegetable filling had a weird texture and did not have much flavor. I pity the vegetarians who have to settle for this. Quite a different experience from the savory, mouth watering pork dumplings.

Finally, dessert; Red bean rice cake. At first it didn't sound appetizing and it looked like a Christmas fruit cake with its vibrant colors. The rice was stick and glutinous. I loved the combination of sweet and starchy, and the red bean paste was delicious.

Despite the long wait, service was pretty good especially for a Chinese restaurant, where normally you are ignored or have to wave frantically in order to get someones attention. The dumplings were delicious; the regular pork one being my favorite. Since I'm not a XLB expert I can't say if this is one of the best places to get it, but I can say that they were delicious. Breakfast cost about $18 per person- not bad for a filling meal. There were also other non dumpling items on the menu that I'd be interested in trying. But would I make the 45 minute drive even on weekend morning for this? The jury is still out, but I wish they had something similar in the Westside.

Hits: pork XLB, beef noodles,

Misses: no alcohol!!!, long wait
Rate: ** (no alcohol allowed!!!)

Din Tai Fung
1108 S. Baldwin Ave.,
Arcadia, CA 91007

(626) 574-7068

http://www.dintaifungusa.com/

Recipe: Steamed pork with Century egg

I had a box of century eggs in my fridge that my mom had given to me. Century egg is also known as preserved egg or thousand year old egg. Duck, quail or chicken eggs are preserved for months and the egg turns dark on the outside and green in the inside. You crack and peel the egg shell like a regular hard boiled egg.

The yolk is semi-creamy and has a sulfurish, pungent smell. Very distinct taste which you will either love or absolutely abhor. You can purchase these at Asian supermarkets.

I decided to make steamed pork with century egg. My mom used to make this for us as it is relatively simple to make, healthy and is delicious. It is usually eaten with steamed rice but I like to eat mine as is. The dish is basically pork and mushrooms cooked in an egg custard.

Steamed Pork with century egg

(serves 4)

4 dried mushrooms
1/2 lb ground pork

1 tsp chicken marinade (or substitute with soy sauce)

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cornflour

1/4 cup water

3 century eggs, cut into pieces

2 eggs, beaten

Hydrate mushrooms by soaking in a bowl of water. When mushrooms are soft, slice into pieces.

Mix the ground pork with the marinade, sesame oil, pepper, ginger, cornstarch, water and century eggs in a shallow heatproof dish. You can adjust the amount of water depending on whether you like your egg custard silky or denser. In another bowl, beat eggs and pour over meat mixture.

Cover bowl with saran wrap, and place egg and meat mixture into a steamer or wok with water, cover with lid and steam for 25-30 minutes. Depending on your dish and how thick your pork and egg mixture is, you may require less or more steam time.

I like to mix and fluff mine up. Scoop some for yourself and make sure you have a piece of mushroom and century egg in each spoon full.

Once you know the ingredients and the cooking steps, you will have a template for a variety of dishes. If you are vegetarian, you can omit the pork. If you are on a low carb diet, eat it without rice. If you're trying to go all Asian, you can add preserved cabbage, dried shrimp or wood fungus. I think my mom would be proud that I'm finally trying to cook something for a change.

For dessert, I opened a can of jackfruit and chilled it in the fridge before serving. Jackfruit is a fruit that is popular in Southeast Asia. I recently saw the actual fruit at a Singaporean cooking class at Rocksugar Restaurant. The fruit itself is hard and and the yellow flesh is the edible portion. It's a bit fibrous and sweet. However the fruit has an odor that has been compared to rotting onions. Once again, love it or hate it.

A Cuban twist on American classics at Mercedes Grille

Another weekend surf led me, my sister and her new hubby in search of brunch food. Just off the Venice boardwalk, on Washington Blvd. is filled with restaurants. Normally, I would steer towards something normal like Terrace Cafe. However, I opted for something new and a bit different; Mercedes Grille, a Cuban restaurant. It has patio and indoor seating. The patio was full so we sat inside, which actually work out better because the sun was in full blast when we were leaving the restaurant. The interior decor is mainly dark wood, and looked like something from a Cost Plus catalog. Despite the waterfall on the wall, it still feels very homey. And when you first walk in, you can smell the amazing aroma of the food.

The menu includes traditional Cuban, Caribbean and Latin food like ropa veija (beef stew) and jerk chicken. I started with a glass of Mimosa.

Venice Benedict. Cuban beef hash, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce. The hash, as expected, was heavy and a bit greasy. A little went a long way. It was spicy, flavorful, rich and beefy in flavor. It was served on a spiced cornbread muffin in lieu of an English muffin. I liked the sweetness of the corn bread and it tasted good with the salty hash.

Glass of sangria with my meal. Refreshing, delicious.

Cuban sandwich- Garlic citrus pork with fries. Garlic citrus is a very prevalent in Cuban cuisine. The pork was cooked well and not dry. However the sourdough bread was a little soggy.

Heuvos con Picadillo; eggs, Cuban hash, black beans, tortilla, plantains and rice. Nice platter of a variety of items. This is a good dish if you are trying to get a taste of many things.

Mercedes Grille serves unique breakfast with familiar American breakfast dishes but with a Cuban/Latin twist. It's fun to try eggs benedict in a different method. The service was good but it seemed as though there was only one waiter for the dining room. He was running around frantically, we waited about 10 minutes before even getting a menu or water, and I watched as my freshly made sangria was waiting and sweating at the bar for over 5 minutes.

Hits: location, hash (although it was a bit greasy)
Misses: a bit understaffed
Rate: ***

Mercedes Grille
14 Washington Blvd.,
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
(310) 577-0035
http://www.mercedesgrille.com/

So much better than your typical Bar*Food

I am all about supporting local businesses. Bar*Food is a neighborhood gastropub that I've been to a couple times and have always enjoyed myself. It is not pretentious, the beer selection is good, the food is delicious, the service is great and the place doesn't smell like puke. As the name gastropub alludes to, don't expect to find potato skins here. It's all about appetizing food at affordable prices; everything is priced at $10 or less. Yes, I know the name is ungoogle-able but when you get there, you'll very likely fall in love with the place.

The bar is located on Wilshire Blvd., less than half a mile west from two popular bars Que's and Cabo Cantina. But there's no competition here. Bar*Food is not trying to be a college bar at all, as evidenced by the absence of crappy beer. Thank goodness! I don't need drunk coeds slurring and puking around me. The space is large and used to be a modern Japanese restaurant and the decor remained just that. There are flat screen TVs for game watching. You can opt to sit in the dining room with tables and booths, or at the bar. If you are in a party of 1-3, try to grab a seat at the bar. If you are sitting at the tables, you might feel a bit disconnected. A large part of the charm of the place is its Irish owner who is very welcoming and friendly. Unfortunately for the most part, the place is usually rather empty. Perhaps it is because the space is huge. I reckon that if it was a small bar, it would look less empty. I hope it starts to catch on but selfishly don't want it to become a madhouse.

Couple things have changed since I was last here. The decor used to be rather sterile. They added new artwork of musicians, by Irish artist Carl Roberts. I think it was a nice addition and made the place little edgier. I like the low table and benches that had a bit of an ethnic feel which is congruent with the east-meets-west menu. They also replaced the decorative jars in cubby holes from the previous Japanese restaurant and instead have decorated them with beer tap handles. How ingenious.

Happy hour runs from 5-7pm; select beers for $3.50, wine for $5 and various food items for $6 or less. And that includes the burger and chicken. Hot Dogs are free. Get the dogs if you are hungry but if I were you, I'd save my stomach for the other items on the menu. I've tried almost everything and my favorites are the calamari, bangers & mash, mussels, edamame, potato puffs, and the bread pudding. There are 24 beer selections including Mirror Pond, Stone Pale Ale and Coopers.

Tonight, I was joining Bertha and Kirk to kick off the weekend. They were here for the 1st time last week and enjoyed it so much that they decided to come back again this year. See, we need more of these types of diners in order to bring up the client count.

Side of olives. One of the largest ones I've seen.

Edamame with black bean sauce. What a unique method for serving edamame. It was spicy and garlicky and I licked off every sauce on each pod.

Calamari, seasoned with salt and pepper and came with a side of aioli which you really didn't need because the calamari was well seasoned. The calamari was plump and was served freshly fried and piping hot.

Burger. There are many mixed reviews online. Most rave about it and some compare it merely to the Big Mac. It comes with lettuce, caramelized onions and cheese. Personally, I liked it. I preferred it to the Father's Office burger only because I can't stand blue cheese and F.O is so stringent about their food, so I have only had a bite of their burger. I loved the onions as they gave a sweet, smokey flavor to the burger. The bun was lightly toasted. I think a brioche bun would have been a nicer bun but this was still good. The patty was juicy and flavorful. And at Happy Hour prices of $6, you really can't complain.

Kirk requested a healthier version: without the bun, but with cheese.

Mussels. Nice portion with two crostinis. The mussels were delicious, especially the broth.

Thai banger and mash. Delicious! It was nothing like the English version of bangers and mash. The sausage was not your regular picnic hot dog. It was sweet and had a unique flavor. It tasted of garlic and Thai spices (fish sauce? lemongrass?). The bangers were served with gravy and a couple dollops of mustard. The mash were cilantro flavored. I personally don't like cilantro so I did not care for this side.

Once again, I had a great time at Bar*Food. The food was satisfying and the hospitality was great. They seem to have the formula down; It's not a trendy Hollywood bar, and that's exactly what it intends not to be. Instead, it's a great place to grab drinks/food and catch a game, while feeling right at home. The service is great. Our bartender was very helpful and friendly. It's also very casual. If you order another glass of wine, he just walks over to refill you glass. That's environmentally friendly for you. They have also been perfecting the menu and are adding new food items next week such as fish and chips, steak and kidney pie, shepherds pie. I love 'em all and we'll be heading back there next Friday.

Bar*Food is sort of like the TV series "Arrested Development". It has a cult following. Everyone who's been there raves about it but somehow it hasn't quite caught on as you would have expected. Although restaurants aren't held hostage to media companies, they need to be profitable to stay alive. So, come support a neighborhood bar with charm, good beer selection and food. Well, unless you are an under aged collegiate. In that case, stay at Cabo.

Hits: thai bangers, edamame, mussels

Misses: cilantro mash, but that's really a preference

Bar*Food
12217 Wilshire Blvd.,

Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 820-3274

http://www.bar-food.us/

Taste of the Caribbean, mon @ Prado Restaurant

I usually don't leave the office for lunch; either I hit the gym, work through lunch or eat a homemade sandwich at my desk. So I was excited for lunch plans with my ex-colleagues. We work close to the Larchmont Village so that is our usual spot. The village is an adorable street that is lined with restaurants and boutiques, located between Beverly and Melrose in Hollywood. I like to compare it to a mini-version of Main Street in Santa Monica.

We decided on Prado Restaurant. The decor is simple and had an intimate feel. I did not realize that it was a Caribbean restaurant because of its white table cloth and vanilla decor which looked more like that of a neighborhood Italian restaurant. We grabbed seats on the outside patio area which is a great spot for people watching. You will spot residents with their yoga mats or walking their doggies. Our waitress kindly combined two umbrellas to shield us from the afternoon glare.

The menu had a variety of Caribbean food including pollo negro, pasta, the popular carioca chicken (topped with mangoes and spices) and sampler platters. Everything looked interesting. Even the citrus salad (lettuce with grapefruit, orange and citrus vinaigrette, sans avocado for me) tempted a non-salad lover like myself. The sampler platters seemed the way to go. Since it was my first time at Prado, it would be a good way to get a flavour of the Caribbean cuisine. The Caribbean platter caught my eye: Banana boats, Jamaican tamales and pollo negro. Banana boats are filled with shrimp and yucca. Alright, I'm ready, take my order.

Our waitress came to take our order and listed out the specials. Paella was one of them which threw a wrench in my decision. I love paella and this version would be different from the Spanish ones I was used to. But what about the platter? I finally decided on the paella since it was a special. I could always come back for the platter.

Pitcher of sangria. It was a large pitcher filled with lots of delicious wine-soaked fruit. The sangria wasn't that strong but was light and refreshing.

Bread and butter. OMG, the bread was fresh and really warm to the point that I was unable to touch it with my bare hands. I watched happily as a dot of butter quickly dissolved in the slice. The bread had a crunchy crust and was soft inside. You wouldn't normally expect such fresh and delicious bread at a Caribbean restaurant, so it was a nice surprise.

Seafood paella. When I first took a bite, I thought it was a bit too fishy. But the more I dug into it, the more I liked it. There were asparagus, chicken, scallops, fish and mussels in the paella. The scallops and fish were soft and cooked well. The rice was rich, flavorful and had a bit of spice to it. The paella was also served with two fried plantains which were delicious. I love the caramelized coating on plantains. The dish was served in a good portion; I packed half of it to go.

Prado sampler: Jamaican tamale, shrimp in black pepper sauce, crab cake and chipotle style chile rellano. This dish was bursting with flavors, and I thought the tamale was delicious. The platter also came with a tostone, which I love. The only other time I've had it was in Costa Rica. A tostone is a flat, dense, deep fried crunchy piece of plantain.

Cool sampler: Cold poached salmon served with curry chicken salad and Hawaiian salad. Quite frankly, it's a boring platter. The salmon looked bland and not very appetizing. The curry salad taste like curry powder that wasn't well blended with the mayonnaise or yogurt base. If I were a pescetarian, I would rather eat that fresh loaf of bread instead of this dish.

I was pleasantly surprised with the food at Prado. For some reason, the restaurant's name sounds Italian (think Prada) so I was expecting pasta or chicken for lunch. Instead, the paella was flavorful and the platter was unique. The service was also good; the waiters would regularly refill my water glass. If you are trapped in the office for work, take a lunch break, grab a seat on their patio and pretend you are in the Caribbean, away from those spreadsheets and TPS reports.

Hits: sangria, paella, tamale, bread
Misses: cold platter

Prado Restaurant
244 N. Larchmont Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(323) 467-3871
http://www.pradola.com/