Beers & Brats @ Red Lion Tavern: An LA Street Food Fair Alternative

Likes 15K other Angelenos, we made our way to Downtown LA this past Saturday for the 1st Annual LA Street Food Fair. Even though we got there before the event started at 11am, there was already a mile long line snaking through the block. As we waited in line for about 30 minutes in 80 degree weather, my mimosa buzz was already wearing out. I looked at LB, our ESP was working overtime, we knew what the line meant. An hour to get in, another 1-2 waiting in line at the food truck, not to mention long bathroom lines. Ludo's Fried Chicken was not enough incentive to get me to waste all that precious time when I could be enjoying the unseasonably hot winter day with an adult beverage in hand. No Thank You, LA Street Food Fair. You're not worth all that. We got on our iPhones to let our friends know the change in venue. Beers, outdoor patio, close to downtown... The Red Lion Tavern was an obvious choice.

Red lion Tavern, located in Silverlake, is one of the few beer gardens in LA. I hadn't been back in over 5 years. From what I recall, it's the place to be for Oktoberfest, albeit extremely crowded then. They have a dark bar when you first walk in as well as the beer garden upstairs. It's old-looking, casual and non pretentious - a true gem in LA.

They have a pretty good selection of German beers. Our choice included Spaten Oktoberfest Marzen, Spaten Optimator doppelbock and Warsteiner Dunkel. My favorite was the Dunkel which was dark and smooth.

Sausage Platter bite, size pieces of bratwurst, knackwurst, smoked bockwurst, pickles and pepper. I love little bites and variety so this was my favorite dish. They are also cut up into tiny portions which is perfect for nibbling.

Turkey Bratwurst sausage served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes

The Saturday special was Nurnberger Bratwurst pork and veal sausages, served with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes with gravy

Smoked Bockwurst- beef and port polish sausage, served with sauerkraut and German potato salad. Liked the sausage but thought the potato salad was a bit too tangy. Personal preference though.

Side of spaetzel. Looks more like french fries than spaetzel.

Red Lion Tavern was a good call. The beers and sausages were great and the beer garden was a fun location to hang out with a group of friends. It was a great day to be sitting outside, enjoying sunny Cali weather while the rest of the country was hit with snowstorms. It was also a great day to be consuming beers and brats while 15K other Angelenos were waiting in long food truck lines.

Hits: sure beats the lines at LA Street Food Fest, sausage platter, beers
Misses: there was one lady manning the bar and tables
Rating: ***

Red Lion Tavern
2366 Glendale Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 662-5337
www.redliontavern.net

An offally great time at Palate

It's hard for me to motivate for Glendale. Besides driving to Forest Lawn to visit relatives' graves, the only other time I've given the city a shot was dinner at Bashan. But yet another restaurant has caught Angelenos' attention. Palate Food + Wine is Octavio Becerra's 1st restaurant outside of the Patina Group. Yes, that Patina, that was home to great chefs such as David Myers (Sona, Comme Ca), Walter Manzke (Church & State), Eric Greenspan (The Foundry) and Mark Gold (Eva) that went on to open their own successful restaurants. When I heard they were having Offal night each Wednesdays, I was motivated enough to make the drive.

Palate is situated right by a car dealership. There's not much else exciting around it. But as a result, there's lots of parking on street.

We were surprised to find that the restaurant is huge. It consists of a front dining room and bar, another dining area and lounge at the back where a band plays later in the evening, wine shop, a library and wine and cheese cellars. The Offal menu is only offered in the back bar, which actually turned out to be the livelier part of the restaurant. You are still able to order from the regular dinner menu in the back bar.

The Offal menu changes every week so they keep things interesting. 3 courses for $25 or $9 per plate. Besides Offal Night, Palate also offers various other nightly specials such as $35 3-course Sunday supper and 3-course cheese flight and wine for $12 on Tuesdays.

Fresh bread and creamy homemade butter topped with thin radish slices.

Bottle of Borgogne. They had a wide selection of very reasonably priced bottles of wine.

Mason jar of berkshire pork. They also offer lamb, salmon and chicken mason jar options. Wow, $6 for all that rillette. Great deal. It was rich but needed just a sprinkle of salt to bring out the flavors.

Shaved lamb tongue salad with juni, crispy potato, bitter greens and celery leaf salsa verde
I am not a salad eater but I was impressed with this dish. Way to get me to eat greens by tempting me with offal. The salad was well dressed with vinegar and salt. The potatoes were cooked perfectly, crispy on the outside and soft in the inside. The lamb tongue was tender and you could taste the lamb essence which added a great flavor to the salad.

Braised lamb cheeks with blood sausage, osaka, ricotta gnocchi, quail egg s.s.u.(thats sunny side up)
The lamb was tender but not as tender as some of the cheeks that I have had. I loved the quail eggs which added richness to the dish. The blood sausage was crumbled and pan fried so it wasn't in the original sausage link form that one is used to. I liked this preparation of the blood sausage as it was tasty and not pungent. Initially, I thought the dish was under seasoned but when I created a bite with a piece of the blood sausage with the rest of the components, it was perfect.

Grilled lamb heart with lentils du puys, Moroccan carrots and fava bean pesto
I was expecting yakitori skewers of hearts and was surprised to see a generous portion of thin slices of tender heart. It wasn't gamy at all, wasn't tough and had a texture that was less of gizzard and more of cooked liver. I especially liked the Moroccan spiced carrots which were flavorful and caramelized. A well executed dish that I would definitely order again.

The couple beside us were served a tart that looked and smelt delicious. When we asked how it was, the lady kindly offered us half of her tart. I declined a couple times but she was persistent and I was intrigued. Apparently they had sampled so many dishes that night and were full (one of the dishes they had was the bull's testicles. Humph.. didn't see it on the menu or I would have ordered it!)

Nettles tart with potato slices and creme fraiche
Absolutely delicious. The crust was buttery and flaky like shortbread. The creme fraiche was mild, creamy and really bound the tart together. Even though we had only half of the tart, it was sufficient because it was rich and satisfying.

Our neighboring couple, as it turns out, was the highlight of our evening. They were fun and you could tell, were really enjoying and living life to the best of their ability, which is something I aspire to do. A life of companionship filled with travels, checking out new restaurants, returning to old favorites, enjoying music at the lounge. Palate is that warm and inviting joint that attracts such people. People that want a place to gather with loved ones for a great meal, great ambiance and with no pretense. The food was excellent and the portions were huge. Offal doesn't have to be pungent and tough. It can be tender and flavorful. Palate does a great job of making something most people think repulsive, and creating an affordable and delicious meal.

Hits: great prices, all the dishes, ambiance
Misses: it's far from the Westside
Rating: ****

Palate Food + Wine
933 S. Brand Blvd.,
Glendale, CA 91204
(818) 662-9463
http://www.palatefoodwine.com/

XIV: the fastest 8 course meal you'll ever have...

LB and I have been wanting to hit up Happy Hour at XIV (pronounced "fourteen", not "X-I-V") but had been stalled by rain on three separate occasions. Not this time, we will prevail. 6ix on Sunset runs from Mon-Sat 5-7pm and the menu includes cocktails for $8 (normally priced at $14), bubbly, house wine and well drinks for $6, a selection of food priced at $6 including lobster corn dogs, truffle pop corn and ahi tuna poppers. That's an amazing deal for a fancy establishment owned by two Michelin starred chef Michael Mina. Mina runs a huge restaurant empire with his partner, Andre Agassi. XIV is his 14th restaurant, hence the name. It is a collaboration with real estate and entertainment company SBE run by Sam Nazarian, which owns trendy restaurants and hotels around town including Katsuya and The Bazaar at the SLS hotel. XIV is designed by French designer Philippe Stark who also conceptualized the Alice-in-Wonderland-esque design for the SLS Hotel. So basically, a lot of great collaboration went into the restaurant.

The restaurant has a bar area, dining room and terrace. We grabbed seats at the terrace. I liked the wood tables and booth seating. It's trendy and pretty dark inside- perfect place for an after-work date.

1st round of cocktails. Pretty good deal at $8 for cocktails in a trendy bar in Hollywood.
Cucumber Pomegranate Deluxe - Vodka, cucumber, mint, lime, pomegranate
They ran out of the Blueberry prosecco drink so I ordered a raspberry bubbly drink. Both drinks were decent but seemed a bit weak. It's a Monday, I need something stronger!

Trio of duck fat fries- Salt & Pepper, parika and rosemary. Honestly, they tasted very similar because the seasoning were rather subtle. The dipping sauces were homemade ketchup, barbecue and buttermilk. We enjoyed the buttermilk most, although it tasted very similar to ranch dressing.

Hamachi and ahi tartare poppers. The fish was atop a fried rice cake and served with ponzu sauce. I liked the addition of the ponzu which soaked into the rice cake. I enjoyed this dish but it wasn't really a "good HH deal" as each popper was literally one bite.

Lobster corn dogs with wholegrain mustard creme fraiche. Even worse of a HH deal. Each corn dog was about 2+ inches long. Although you could tell that it was some sort of seafood in the corn dog, you really couldn't tell that it was lobster.

We ordered another round of drinks. We had to wait over 10 minutes for the waitress to even look over at us (BTW there were only two other parties in the terrace). She was mingling with the table beside us while we were desperately trying to flag her down before happy hour ended.

Uva Bella - green grapes, gin, Elderflower, lemon
I liked how they skewered up three grapes so that they looked like olives in a martini. Refreshing drink.

White Grapefruit Cosmo - Grapefruit Vodka, white cranberry, lime

After closing out (it cost about $95 including tax and tip - ouch! we hadn't even started dinner yet..), we made our way to the dining room for the next leg of our XIV adventure.

The dining room is a bit more formal and stuffy while the terrace is more comfortable and hip. There were only about two other tables dining when we were seated.

You can choose to order ala carte or a tasting menu. The tasting menu options included 8,11 and 14 for $64, $88 and $112 respectively. Not too pricey for that many courses. Some reviewers mentioned that the portions were small but I didn't think they were any smaller compared to most tasting courses at other restaurants. In fact, the portions were definitely larger than that disappointing lobster corn dog. If you opt for any of the tasting menus, the table collectively selects items from the menu and each diner is served the same dish which are individually portioned. So try not to dine with someone with significantly different taste or you might be stuck with the Caesar salad.

To start, warn pita bread with feta cheese. The feta cheese was very mild and tasted more like greek yogurt. That's a good thing for an anti-cheese person like myself.

We got a bottle of Beaujolais which the sommelier recommended. On Mondays, you get 50% off bottles of wine. What a steal!

1) Beef shabu shabu with matsutake mushroom dashi, foie gras, radish and cilantro
The dashi was poured table side. I liked this dish as I thought it was interesting- I've never had foie served in a broth. The thin slices of raw beef were cooked in the warm, salty broth.

2) Nantucket Bay scallop tempura with cauliflower, passionfruit and almonds
This was a deconstructed scallop tempura. The scallops were served with crumbled tempura chunks instead of being breaded with tempura and deep fried. I liked the contrast of the crunchy tempura with the smooth, soft pieces of scallops.

3) Crispy branzino with laughing bird shrimp, mussels, olives, butter beans and chorizo
The skin was crispy but I didn't think this dish was anything unique. The shrimp and beans seemed like they were an afterthought and just tossed on the plate.

While we were halfway through our branzino, they brought by the next course. A bit annoying because the next course should be eaten while it's fresh out of the oven. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get to it immediately.

4) Maine Lobster pot pie with winter vegetables and brandied cream sauce ($15 per person supplement)

The pie crust was buttery and the filling was thick and rich. The cream sauce was likened to a bisque and had a strong seafood essence. This really hit the spot. I thought the vegetables were a tad bit undercooked. I know some chefs liked to cook it al dente, but I could barely cut a piece of carrot with a knife.

5) Jidori chicken "Tagine" with Vadouvan, eggplant, baby carrots and baby fennel
Interesting that they called this a "tagine". I didn't get any tagine flavors which are typically slow cooked with flavorful meats and sauce. The description of the dish made it sound so much more unique and delicious. Instead, this dish was a little boring. Once again, the vegetables were hard and difficult to eat. It's a pity that they did not serve the chicken with truffled mac and cheese which was the combination that was served just the past two weeks during dineLA.

6) Grilled American Waygu skirt with Moroccan spiced vegetables
Guess what? This dish was served while we had just started on the chicken dish. By the time we got to the meat, it was a bit overdone which is unfortunate given that it was a good cut of meat. I liked the seasoning of the meat but did not really care for the vegetables which seemed to be over pickled and sour.

7) Prime NY steak, Kobe short rib, figs, arugula, horseradish and hazelnuts
This was the last of our savory course and once again, this dish was sitting at our table for about 10 minutes while we were enjoying our previous plate. Thankfully the meat was still tender and not overdone by the time we got to it.

8) For dessert, nutella custard, popcorn ice cream, toast streusel, passionfruit
Everyone online raved about this dessert. I LOVE nutella so this was a winner in my books. It was also innovative and had a lot of components and textures working together in the cup.

Overall the food was good but nothing mind blowing. I thought it was a good deal at $64 for eight courses. Unfortunately, the service and pacing of the food wasn't up to par. Our waitress disappeared for a couple courses and we weren't given the right utensils. Do they really expect us to stuff a whole chunk of steak into one bite. We're not barbarians, and this is Michael Mina's XIV after all. I also don't understand why they were not pacing the courses better. There was only one other table being served food at the time so the kitchen shouldn't have been overwhelmed and it was a Monday so they really didn't need to rush us. The host/maitre'd came by to ask how our meal was during our last savory course and I mentioned politely that I enjoyed it but thought that the plates were coming out too quickly. The gentleman was rather nonchalant, a bit defensive and not at all sympathetic. He told me that that's the way they do it at XIV - two course may come out at the same time so as to "engage" the table. Hello, there was only two of us at a tiny table. One plate each at a time is "engaging" enough. What would be more "engaging" would be for us to savor our meal, allow time for conversation between bites and not rush through the dishes so that the next one wouldn't sit cold for too long. Honestly, I don't believe his spiel. This is supposed to be an elegant dining establishment serving a unique, well thought out menu. This isn't family style at a Chinese restaurant where numerous plates are shoved in front of you. Do they really want me to mix bites of jidori chicken with Wagyu beef? Would they really want that beautiful cut of meat to sit overcooking at the table? Somehow, the care that should come with a restaurant that holds the Michael Mina name wasn't there. It really seemed more SBE than Mina. Ultimately though, I'm still glad that I checked it out. XIV has been on my list for both dinner and happy hour and I'm glad I got to kill two birds with one stone. It's too bad dinner was too rushed for us to fully appreciate and savor the meal. And we each left $175 poorer and with indigestion from eating too quickly...

Hits: 50% off bottles of wine on Monday, shabu shabu, scallops, lobster pot pie, kobe steak short ribs, dessert
Misses: pacing of food, HH food portions were small
Rating: ***

XIV by Michael Mina
8117 Sunset Blvd.,
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 656-1414

Melgard Public House, new with kinks

I was looking forward to the new bar opening up on Melrose Ave since it's on my way home from work. Melgard Public House is named after it's cross streets: Melrose and Gardner. It is in the old Louise's spot and is from the same owners as Third Stop. I was excited to hear that they had good selection of beers and grub so my friend Ben and I decided to check it out.

The space includes a bar, dining area and an outside patio which would be perfect for the summers (and people watching). They only have valet from Wed-Sat but you can always park at the other valets on the street. The decor inside didn't look warm to me, perhaps because it's a fairly large space and brightly lit. Definitely not as intimate and inviting as at Third Stop.

Unfortunately it turns out they did not have a Happy Hour per se. Yes, you get a free pizza with an order of beer before 7pm, but there weren't any other drinks or food specials. Not that big an issue as prices were very reasonable. The drink menu was extensive and has a good selection of Belgian beers such as Kwak and Maudite. The food menu on the other hand was too eclectic. There was Italian fare such as pasta and pizzas, English pub food such as shepherd's pie and fish and chips, American food such as sliders and sandwiches. It didn't seem that the place had an identify of its own.

Downtown brown beer and a glass of house white wine. The downtown brown is described as being lightly hopped with a hint of roasted and crystal malts.

The free cheese pizza at Happy Hour. Ben didn't really care for this (crust was dry and generic) but I personally liked it because it wasn't too cheesy and greasy. It's pretty mediocre but it's free!

Sliders, choice of two. We went with the BBQ bacon, grilled onions, home made BBQ sauce, Swiss cheese and the Pesto prosciutto with fresh mozzarella and fry basil. The sliders were alright. I liked that the bun was toasted and that you were able to mix the selections in a given order. The fries however were really bad. They came out cold and did not seem fresh. In fact it seemed like they were frozen fries and were very starchy.

Choripan sandwich: Argentine sausage sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes and french fries. The sausage itself was unique with a hint of spice but the sandwich was really dry. There was barely any sauce. Once again, the fries were dry and starchy.

Service was pretty bad. Well, partially. The owner came by to check on us and I told him about the fries. He took a fry from my plate to test it and went back to the kitchen. I don't usually like to complain to the owners about the food but seeing that the restaurant is new, I think I am doing them a favor by pointing out the issues. He also comped us a round of drinks and took off the choripan from our bill when he noticed that I didn't eat it. Our waiter however was a bit absent minded. Unfortunately he was the only server and had to handle nine tables. I asked for water four times before he brought one over. He rarely came by to check on us so I had to flag him down whenever I was ready for my next drink. He didn't bring by utensils, napkins and ketchup. He brought our wine and food over to the wrong table. But it wasn't just the service that was bad. The food menu needs to be a bit more focused, it seemed like it was having an identity crisis. I don't really know what their value proposition is. Is it an American pub or kindda like a Cheesecake Factory that is trying to cater to all. There were definitely some kinks in service. But overall, I', trying to be understanding since it's new. They don't have their rhythm yet. I liked the beer selection and the fact that the owner was sensitive to the fact that I wasn't too impressed with the food. I'll give it another shot, maybe in a couple months or so.

Hits: beer selection, prices
Misses: choripan, fries, service
Rating: **

Melgard Public House
7505 Melrose Ave.,
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 651-1650

dineLA (SUCCESS) @ Spago

After a dineLA let down at La Cachette Bistro the night before, I was getting a bit frustrated with Restaurant Week. I haven't been impressed with the last two tries. Yes, members on Chowhound explained that dineLA isn't targeted at the foodies (i.e. us). Restaurants are trying to cater to and convert diners who normally don't eat out every week, who don't know the latest restaurant openings and aren't yet bored with pork belly. But still, I expect food that is at least seasoned properly and menus that don't change drastically from what was posted online. After all, I spent hours reading up on menus to determine the places I wanted to hit. All that to no avail. Our last dineLA outing this round was at Spago. Since I had heard positive dineLA reviews at Spago, I was going to give Restaurant Week another shot.

I've been to the original Spago in West Hollywood over a decade ago, which closed its doors in 2001. Spago is owned by Wolfgang Puck and the restaurant has earned many accolades including two Michelin Stars. The dineLA menu items looked good and a great deal at $44 for a restaurant that serves entrees priced in the $40s. People, you really need to do the analysis (monetary as well as menu offerings) before choosing restaurants or you might be disappointed.

They have a sleek bar area where you could dine at if you were unable to secure reservations.

We were seated in the patio with trees, white lights and heat lamps. I noticed that the crowd on the patio seemed younger. I'm not sure if it was deliberate. Perhaps the older crowd or regulars prefer the more formal dining room. In any case, I liked our seats. It was interesting that the music playing was from the likes of Lady Gaga, The Ting Tings and Beck. I wonder if they were playing the same music in the dining room.

We ordered aperitifs of bubbly and beer as well.

Bread was served: choice of walnut, lavosh, olive and sourdough. I liked the walnut best.

The dineLA menu was slightly different from the one posted online. Don't worry, I didn't flip a lid again since the substitution wasn't that far off. For example, they replaced the wild mushroom raviolini with crab raviolini, and substituted the squash soup with another soup. Nothing drastically different unlike La Cachette Bistro which replaced the classic beef bourguignon with a crepe, with chicken filling no less!

Celery root and apple soup with crispy confit bacon, roasted cipollini and caramelized Fuji apples, poured table side.

The soup was smooth and creamy. I loved the addition of the confit bacon which was fatty and salty. I thought the flavors were very well balanced with the saltiness of the bacon and sweetness from the apple. This was a great start to the dinner.

Maryland Crab Raviolini With Meyer lemon and pea tendrils
Another winner. The serving of crab in each raviolini was generous and it wasn't fishy at all. The lemon sauce was light so you could really taste the crab in this dish.

Our waiter recommended a bottle of wine with dinner. They have an extensive wine list and many expensive bottles. Our lovely bottle of Savigny Les Beaune Les Lavieres was $95.

Roasted Rack of Kurobuta Pork with alsacien style cabbage and apple-rosemary compote
Pork was huge and thick but was cooked evenly throughout. That took some skill. The meat was tender and juicy.

Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs with pancetta, cavalo nero, buckwheat polenta and fresh horseradish
After tasting short ribs on so many occasions, I was very pleased with this. The meat was fork tender, with fatty pieces and it melt in your mouth. It's been a while since I've had such delicious short ribs. The polenta was buttery and smooth. The cavalo nero/kale was lovely. I am not a fan of horseradish so I was pleased to find that the horseradish was not overwhelming. It was freshly grated and sprinkled on the dish.

Grilled Prime Rib eye Steak for supplement $13 with escarole, smokey shallot puree and bone marrow emulsion
The steak was cooked perfectly and came in a large portion. I liked the addition of bone marrow which is a very classic French preparation for steak.

Lemon cake with creamy sabayon and glace.
I thought this was a bit too tart. It tasted like lemon meringue.

Medjool Date Cake with creme fraiche and coffee toffee sauce
This was our favorite. The date cake had the consistency of a bread pudding and sat in a pool of sweet toffee sauce.

Black Forest Pudding with preserved sour cherries, chocolate cake and vanilla mousse

Service at Spago was great. Our waiter was knowledgeable in both food and wine, was very efficient and to the point. We were done with dinner in 1.5 hrs which is good for a week night. Chef Wolfgang Puck came by to every table and shook hands with all the diners. The food was great. Everyone at our table enjoyed the meal. The starters were exceptional, the short ribs were our favorite but all the other dishes were good as well. We were very pleased with the night from food, to service and to price ($100 each including tax/tip). After a dineLA failure yesterday, Spago has restored my confidence in Restaurant Week.

Hits: soup, raviolini, short ribs, date cake, service, good deal
Misses: wine is pricey
Rating: ****

Spago
176 N. Canon Dr.,
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
(310) 385-0880
http://www.wolfgangpuck.com/restaurants/fine-dining