Indian feast @ Clay Oven

Clay Oven in Sherman Oaks is one of our go-to Sunday lunch spots because they have a pretty good weekend buffet for a very reasonable price of $14.99. The food selection is usually rather good (tandoori, basmati rice, naan, a couple meat curry dishes, a few vegetarian dishes, saag paneer, salad, dessert) and most importantly, unlimited sparkling wine. I'm quite easily sold.

My mom and I decided to grab dinner at Clay Oven. Sigh, no Champagne bunch for lunch so we ordered the 2 person special that came with an array of food including two samosas, naan, choice of tandoori or sheesh kebab, a chicken dish, vegetarian dish, dessert and coffee/tea for less than $50. They also offer a vegetarian special menu. This may sound pricey for Indian food, but there was so much food that it could have easily fed another person.

Two giant samosas. Chunks of potatoes, veggies and spices, and served with two dipping sauces: mint and tamarind. I love starting an Indian meal with a samosa.

Our Indian feast.

Chicken Makhni, boneless chicken in sauce with cream and tomatoes.
I usually order the chicken marsala but decided to try something different. We ordered the makhni extra spicy and it was delicious and very spicy. They don't mess around here. The chicken was tender and the sauce was thick and flavorful. So delicious that I would have licked the sauce off the plate. I didn't do it at the restaurant but I proceeded to do it at home with leftovers.

Basmati rice with vegetables and Bengan Bharta (eggplant masted in clay oven with onions, spices and tomatoes). I liked that they provided the vegetable basmati rice instead of plain white rice. The eggplant was delicious and tasted healthy. It's dense enough that you really don't need to eat it with rice - hence low carb!

Sheesh kebab, minced lamb mixed mixed with spices and cooked on a skewer in clay oven.
The meat had a burger patty consistency. I prefer the actual chunks of lamb which I guess is a different kind of kebab. The lamb was a little dry and gamy so I didn't really care for this dish. I had buyers remorse when I noticed the next table with their tandoori.

A little bit of everything.

I chose the ras malai for dessert, which is sweetened paneer (cheese) balls topped with pistachios. Since we were stuffed at this point and my mom isn't that into desserts, we got the other dessert option (rice pudding) to go, which I happily devoured at work the next day.

The best part of the meal was the leftovers.

I enjoyed dinner at Clay Oven. I thought the price was reasonable and the food flavorful. I liked that the 2 person special offered a good variety of dishes with many choices. The portions were generous and there were leftovers that provided two additional lunch meals. Just try not to heat it up in the office microwave- your colleagues may not appreciate.

Hits: eggplant, chicken, portions
Misses: lamb kebab
Rating: ***

Clay Oven
14661 Ventura Blvd.,
Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
(818) 995-1777
http://www.clayovenla.com/

Luck on cheese ran out @ The Yard SM

I've mentioned before that I have an issue with cheese. Not lactose intolerance (not all Asians are lactose intolerant) but rather gag reflux from having bad cheese. Anyway in the past year, I have surprised myself by shrugging my fears aside. Slowly but surely, I was introducing a little more cheese into my diet by having a slice of pizza here and there. Still no Pappa John's (barf) but I did enjoy Mozza and Bottega Louie. So when I saw a king crab mac and cheese with leeks at The Yard in Santa Monica, I was ready to take the next step.

The Yard is a gastropub by 3rd street Promenade in Santa Monica. They have a couple good local SoCal beers on tap and a food menu that changes regularly.

The night started off well with cocktails. My favorite is the Backyard Lemonade with gin, lemon basil, St Germain and ginger ale. So drinkable that it's so dangerous.

The culprit- King crab mac and cheese with Parmesan, cheddar, kale and topped with breadcrumbs
I like mac and cheese with a nice layer of browned breadcrumbs. I thought to myself, how perfect, this version included Parmesan and Cheddar, two of the only cheeses that I can handle somewhat. I dug my fork into the ramekin. Cheese flavor was not too strong. Good. After a couple bites, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I think it was the combination of cheese and the king crab. I don't usually have an issue with shellfish but somehow the fishiness of the crab with the cheesy mac put me over the edge. I looked over at my friend, my face turned pale white. I spit out my last bite. Yes, not very classy but in my defence, I did do it discretely. Oh no, what did I do to myself? I had recently somewhat overcome my fear of cheese. Unfortunately, I think I might have taken my adventure with cheese a little too far too soon. Just the sight of it made my nauseous. I'm back to square one- cheese is repulsive.

The braised short ribs with beet puree and candied kumquat didn't help take again the pain. The meat wasn't as tender as what you would expect from braised short ribs. It was a little hard to cut.

Smoked Brussels sprouts and apple puree and pickled radish came next. I quickly chewed off as many of these little sprouts in order to erase the cheesy-seafood flavor in my mouth. The sprouts were rather good. They were caramelized so there was a sweetness to the vegetable. The texture was a little waxy though. But this didn't bother me. Anything right now would be better than cheese.

I ended the night disappointed with myself. Damn you cheesy cheese! Sign, I'm back to a no-cheese diet again. It was a fun run while it lasted. Glad I got to try Mozza just in time.

The Yard SM
119 Broadway,
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-6037
www.theyardsm.com

(Americanized) Southeast Asian Street Food Cooking class @ Sur La Table

I love Southeast Asian food, I KNOW Southeast Asian food, unfortunately I don't know how to cook it. When we heard that Sur la table was having a Southeast Asian Street Food cooking class (for $79), we signed up immediately. On the menu was Satay, Hokkien Char Mee, Banh Mi, Pho and Som Tum/papaya salad. I knew I was going to be a harsh critic because I grew up with the best satay and Hokkien mee in Singapore.

Sur la table is located at The Grove by the Farmers Market. Usually I like to avoid any sort of mall setting but it wasn't too crowded and there was ample parking. The class was run by chef Martin Gilligan and guest chef Hernani Fabros. I was interested to see how an Irish and Filipino would fare with the cuisine.

I was elated when I arrived and was greeted with an adult beverage: pina colada with Asian rum. We were also given clipboards with recipes, an apron, and a 10% discount off any Sur la table purchases within the next week. There was about 12 participants in total so the class was rather intimate and hands on.

The class started off with a demonstration where Chef Gilligan showed us how to cut up ginger and radishes, and Chef Fabros prepared the chicken satay. After the demonstration, we were to break off into group to work on one of the dishes. LB and I made a beeline for the Hokkien Noodles station since the preparation looked a little more challenging than the rest. We're dorks like that.

A student shredding up papaya for the salad.

Ingredients for our noodles. I liked how everything was already measured out for us, wish that could happen in real life.

LB chopping up ginger while I took control of the garlic.

After slaving away in the kitchen, this was the final layout of the dishes.

Chicken satay. This was an easy dish to prepare and would work well as an hor d'oeuvres at a dinner party

Surprisingly very tender and juicy given that it was white meat. You could prepare it before hand on the grill, then add it back into the marinate to macerate until your guests arrive whereupon you would place it back on the grill before serving. I also liked the addition of coconut cream and curry which gave this a very Asian flavor.

Banh mi is Vietnamese sandwich which usually includes meats, mayo, pate and pickled vegetables. Personally, I did not care for this sandwich because I didn't think it tasted authentic. It could easily have been something that was served at Togo's. The meat was filet mignon which was a good choice, but there was too much American mayo, no pate, and the pickled vegetables were rather bland. I would take Nom Nom's BBQ pork or Lemongrass Chicken banh mi over this any day.

Our Hokkien noodles! Pretty darn good, I might add. It was flavorful and the chicken was juicy. The noodles were topped with a heap of cilantro and pickled vegetables which really gave the dish an ethnic flavor. On the plate was also papaya salad which was rather tasteless. It needed more spice and tang, perhaps more fish sauce, lime juice and chili.

Beef pho. Due to time constraints, we did not prepare the broth from scratch and instead used chicken stock. It's unfortunate because the broth was tasteless. It lacked the rich flavors that would come from simmered beef bones and from spices. Also, this was missing my favorite ingredients in pho: tendon, tripe, basil, lime and bean sprouts. A lady who was assigned this station was not happy about the packaged broth. She said she attended this cooking session because she wanted to learn how to make the broth. She "already knows how to throw noodles into soup", she said. Because she wasn't "learning much", she bogarted our wok of Hokkien noodles. Normally, I'd punch her in the face but LB and I were glad to take a break and savor our wine.

Dragon fruit and Asian pear.

Preparation for dessert. Ooh, this is going to be good.

Dessert was a chocolate cup with fruit. It was visually beautiful especially the tiny chocolate chips that garnished the cup. I love anything chocolate but I didn't care for the melon. It's do generic and cafeteria-like. Perhaps they could have used something Asian in the cups such as jackfruit or rambutans.

Overall, it was a fun night. Cooking new recipes is fun. Cooking in the kitchen with a friend is also fun. Cooking in a kitchen with a glass of wine is even more fun. The chefs were fun, patient and helpful, although I asked Chef Gilligan what his favorite Southeast Asian cuisine was and he replied Japanese. Humph.. I liked that we chose this cuisine over something more accessible such as Italian. Southeast Asian food is all about bold flavors and spice. Unfortunately I didn't really get that with these recipes. Yes, some of the food was tasty (noodles, satay) but I found this to be a watered-down, American version. The distinct flavors you would expect from papaya salad and pho was lacking. That's not to say that I won't use these recipes, they just need a little readjustment, like adding loads more chili to the dishes.

Brunching at the Westin Mammoth: for those of us that can't afford to stay there..

It's Sunday morning, after a night out dancing at Lakanuki two days in a row I might add, we're craving a mimosa. There aren't that many spots in Mammoth Mountain that serve up a mimosa with breakfast. You see, Mammoth is more of a casual, burgers & beers, cheap but good Mexican food type of place. It was storming pretty hard so we didn't want to stray far from condo. The Westin was an obvious choice. The hotel is pretty darn cool. It's located right in the Village across from the gondola that takes you up to the ski resort. They have a ski/board valet and also a shuttle that transports you to and from the airport. Unfortunately it's about $200-300 per night on the weekends.

Whitebark has an open kitchen which appears to be a sushi bar as well. The decor and furnishing at Whitebark is quite intricate, like the hand blown glasses, heavy crafted silverware and salt and pepper shakers.

They have miniature jars of jam and Tabasco on each table. I like the selection of jam and they had two of each kind on the table. We counted.

Mimosas. The OJ was fresh and pulpy. Wish they filled the glasses.

Grand Marnier french toast with a side of sweet creme.

All American Breakfast that included two eggs, a choice of bacon, ham or sausage, toast, potatoes, salad, a side of fresh fruit and a choice of a non-alcoholic drink. The sausages were delicious and they had a chicken option. I also liked the toast which was thick and crusty and served with soft butter. All this for $12. This was quite the feast even for a hungry, hungover gal.

Eggs benedict with potatoes, salad and a side of fresh fruit. Again, good sized portions. The eggs were perfectly poached.

For a hotel restaurant, the prices aren't too bad given the amount of food that you get. The food was good too, not like your typical hotel generic buffet. We were seated by the window and watched as the snow came down fast and furious, as we laughed at the poor schmucks that were out on the mountain, battling the 50 mph winds while we slowly sipped our mimosas.

Hits: portions, eggs, mimosa
Misses: could have filled up mimosa glass
Rating: ***

Whitebark @ Westin Monache
50 Hillside Dr.,
Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546
(760) 934-0400

Foraged food @ Breadbar Hatchi

Breadbar in Century City hosts the Hatchi Series, a monthly dinner with guest chefs serving their own crafted menus. Even though we were disappointed with the service when we went to the Hatchi Series with Marcel Vigneron of Top Chef and previously of The Bazaar, we were interested in the recent chef guest, Iso Rabins. He's a forager who started ForageSF and The Wild Kitchen. ForageSF is in the business of providing customers with a delivery box of wild food bi-weekly or monthly. The Wild Kitchen hosts underground dinners in San Francisco, serving wild ingredients that Rabins goes in search for. Besides being fresh and natural, Rabin's food also utilizes less resources as it's grown locally. I'm not the best poster child for organic food and sustainability but I do appreciate the effort.

The menu features 8 plates for $8 each, with a minimum of 4 items per person. You may count their special cocktails as one of the 4 items. Thankfully since we are big eaters, hitting the minimum wasn't an issue. At the last Hatchi Series, we ordered all 8 plates each which was an overkill. There isn't a need for a dessert per person. This time, we smartened up. We decided to order a plate each of the items that we really liked and decided to share some of the other less appealing items (like salad!). Although the menu was different from the one posted online (which is usually my pet peeve), I wasn't bothered because the new items were still very appealing. The wild boar osso bucco was replaced with a wild board porchetta and the tuna tartare was replaced with the miso cod. There were a lot of Oxalis on the menu which unfortunately is a flower not ox.

We ordered cocktails from the special menu.
Citrus drop (vodka, simple syrup, pureed foraged greens), Amaretto Sour and Blueberry Vodka tonic. The drinks were good except for the Blueberry Vodka which was bland and weak.

Since it was a special event, bread wasn't part of the menu. We decided to order a side of bread which they charged us $3. The bread was cold and the butter spread was solid. Kind of embarrassing for a place that is named Breadbar! We also ordered a bottle of wine to start.

#1 Salad of wild oxalis amd arugula flowers, wild miners lettuce and chickweed with pickled beets in a tart oxalis vinaigrette
This wasn't anything special. In fact, it was boring and under seasoned. The best part was the beets but there wasn't much of that in the salad.

#2 Miso black cod with blood red daikon, quick fried heirloom potato and pickled black trumpet mushroom
This is Rabins' favorite dish on the menu and we agree. The cod looked overcooked and hard when it was served but it was actually cooked perfectly. It was well marinated with miso and there was additional miso smeared on the plate. The sourness from the mushroom and daikon worked well with the dish.

#3 Slow roasted wild boar porchetta over hand cut noodles with a gleaned kumquat mostarda
I thought the porchetta could have been more tender and fattier. The noodles were thick, dense and starchy, and could have used a little more salt. The kumquat however was a nice addition to the dish as it broke the gaminess of the boar.

#4 Light egg whipped baccala with sirraca aioli and wild Oxalis (eat the flower)
Baccala is salted cod and this was prepared sort of like a cod brandade fritter. Unfortunately the fritter was hard. It was unpenetrable. No joke. I was trying to poke it with a fork and it flew across the table. Good in theory but it wasn't well executed. They recommend that you eat the Oxalis that was at the bottom of the jar which had a strong sour taste.

#5 Wild nettle soup with pickled black trumpet mushrooms and creme fraiche
The soup was cream based so it was rather heavy. I actually liked the soup because it was flavorful, however everyone else at the table disagreed. They said it had a strong herb flavor.

The bread that was served with the soup was burnt and bitter. Funny how they flipped the burnt side over so that you couldn't tell it was burnt. Sneaky!! Call yourself Breadbar and serve burnt bread?!? Tsk Tsk!

We ordered a bottle of bubbly. Yes I know, you are supposed to drink bubbly as an aperitif but we were craving it at this point.

#6 Wild boar belly buns with pickled cucumber and sweet hoisin
This was served with toast, not buns which is unfortunate because I think a soft bun would have worked better than a hard, crunchy toast. The pork belly was sweet and tasted like Chinese char siew. I liked the flavors however I thought it was a bit tough and hard to cut. Pity, because pork belly is supposed to be soft and tender.

#7 Acorn and chocolate milk fuille with savory ricotta
The fuille was light, crispy like French crepe wafers. The chocolate was bitter, which I enjoyed.

#8 Light butter cake with tart Oxalis flower whipped cream and wild berry compote
This was kind of like an olive cake. The cake was good and surprisingly rather light.

Chef Rabins came by to chat and check in on us. The service was also better than our previous experience although they were still piling on the dishes. Our waiter explained that they don't serve the food sequentially as listed on the menu. Apparently when they get orders of any dishes, they cook up a batch and serve them to every table that ordered. Doesn't sounds like they have the capabilities of a real restaurant. Overall, the food was alright but not memorable. Even though I like the concept of foraging the wild for food, unfortunately some of the dishes weren't that great. I wished the fried baccala was softer and the meats more tender. The Hatchi Series hasn't impressed me all too much to date. Unless of course hottie Top Chef Michael Voltaggio makes another appearance...

Hits: miso cod, soup, desserts
Misses: bland blueberry cocktail, hard baccala, under seasoned salad
Rating: ***

Breadbar Hatchi with Iso Rabins
10250 Santa Monica Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(310) 277-3770
http://www.breadbar.net/