Bellavino

2.5 Stars

So this was my first visit to Bellavino. I was having dinner with friends and they decided on the location. I arrived on time for dinner reservations at 6:30 on a Thursday evening. The restaurant wasn't very busy, probably about a third full. I was first to arrive and waited at the bar. The ambience is very nice, casual yet sophisticated. There was live music and a full bar.



We were seated on the patio next to the fireplace. One side of the menu consisted of charcuterie and cheese, the other included appetizers, salads and entrees. We started off with a three cheese selection, we selected Purple Haze, Manchego and the Eppoises. Unfortunately the Eppoises was not available and neither was our second selection, the Explorateur. They probably don't get a lot of orders for these cheeses. We settled on the Fromager D' Affinois and creamy Brie. Considering this was a cheese plate, it took awhile for it to arrive. The portions of cheese were a bit small and it was served with sliced baguette and water crackers, there was also some dried fruit.



For our main courses, we had the Filet Mignon, Grilled Ahi and I had the Pasta Provencal with Prawns. My pasta dish was okay, it lacked seasoning and the individual ingredients did not stand out. The Filet looked a bit over cooked, but I was told both of the other dishes were good. The highlight of our meal was the 2006 Morgan Pinor Noir, we had two bottles. Surprisingly enough the vineyard is in Salinas. The service was good.

Overall not a bad place for some wine and cheese. I would like to go back with they are fully stocked with cheese.

Sushi Yusho

A last minute decision to go out for sushi in the Conejo Valley and we ended up at Sushi Yusho in Newbury Park.

I had been here a couple of times before and had decent experiences, so we decided to try it again. The first round of items included Spanish Mackerel, Red Snapper, and Albacore, all ordered nigiri style. Also had a spicy scallop hand roll and green mussels. All of the fish was decent, the green mussels were prepared a lot differently then I'd had them before, they weren't very good. I think they were broiled and just has some type of miso sauce ladled over the top.



Our table also had a variety of cut rolls, all of them were decent, but nothing special. The star of the night was the Sho Chiku Bai Junmai Nigori Sake. This sake is unfiltered and has a great sweetness. With a few of those the sushi became the supporting cast.

Santouka Ramen - Torrance, CA Mitsuwa Market Food Court

4 Stars

Finally made it out to the Torrance Mitsuwa market and go to the try Santouka Ramen. There are a lot of options in this food court, but Santouka is definitely one you should try first.



I ordered #31, which is the regular sized Hot Miso Ramen. Their trademark shio ramen was perfectly cooked and the spicy miso broth was delicious. The ramen is served with thick slices or roasted pork belly, green onions and naruto. This was a superior bowl of noodles.

I look forward to visiting the West LA location and trying another version of their delicious ramen.

A.O.C. Tuscany Flights and Bites on Monday Nights

It's that time of the week again! Monday is just a few days away and this week we are flying to Tuscany. We will be featuring two flights of Tuscan wines paired with an assortment of complimentary small plates.

monday, august 31, 2009: tuscany

flight 1...chianti
2007 poderi del paradiso, chianti colli senesi
2005 podere il palazzino, la pieve, chianti classico
2006 dalla pancia, chianti

flight 2...la gerla
2006 la gerla, rosso di montalcino
2004 la gerla, brunello di montalcino

bites
*two cheeses
*pancetta wrapped market fish with yellow tomato sauce and aioli
*marinated eggplant and roasted pepper antipasto with prosciutto

Los Angeles Grand Central Market

Being a foodie in LA, you would wonder why I haven't been to the Grand Central Market. I have no excuse. But I was in downtown to get my knives sharpened at Ross Cutlery and the market is located directly across the street, so here was my chance. I had heard of a place specializing in pupusas, so I thought that would be my go to spot.



The market has mostly Mexican food stalls, but there are also Chinese, Japanese and a few other types of foods available. With many of the visitors being Hispanic, the Mexican food had got to be good. After wandering around the market staring at all of the customers enjoying their food, I decided this would be a multi-course tasting trip. I ordered a spinach and cheese pupusa from Saritas Pupuseria. Pupusas are made of masa and filled with cheese, other ingredients may include beans, chicharrón or vegetables. All the pupusas are made to order and may take a bit of time. I sat at the counter of the food stall when I got my order, they offer a side of pickled cabbage. The pupusa was not bad, but definitely lacked flavor. The hot sauce added some flavor, but the cheese and masa were very subtle. Spinach may not have been the greatest accompaniment, should have gone with the chicharrón.



Before deciding on the pupusa, I saw quite a few foods stalls serving traditional Mexican fast food, Gorditas, Tortas, Tacos, Stews and Ceviche. I stood in front of one particular stall called Tacos, Tumbras and Tomas. The first thing that caught my eye, was the large crowd, the second thing were the huge tortas they were making. I love tortas and they made a version I had never had before, torta milanesa. The tortas have everything, avocados, beans, lettuce, tomatos, a white sauce and the milanesa, all of that on a nice fresh roll. I ended up ordering the carne asada and could only eat half. It is definitely the food stall I plan on visiting next time.



All in all the Grand Central Market is a place all Angelenos should visit at least once, it's part of the LA culture. The prices are great and the food is delicious.

More Photos

President Thai

My mom recommended that we visit this Thai restaurant in Pasadena. I had not heard of it before, but my mom has suggested many terrific restaurants. The restaurant is located on Rosemead Blvd and the building is inspired by traditional Thai architecture. Not only is the building beautiful, the interior was more impressive. But beautiful decor does not good food make. Some of the best Thai restaurants in Los Angeles have a very modest decor, so I was skeptical.


It was lunch time, so they had a large assortment of lunch combo plates and your standard lunch specials. We decided to order ala carte since this was our first visit. We ordered the Pad Kee Mao, Larb, Yum Pla Muk, Pla Filet Lard Prik, Thai Fried Rice and Shrimp and Squid Kra Pow. Besides recommending good places to eat, my mom also loves to order way too much food. The Yum Pla Muk, which is a spicy squid salad, was delicious. The squid was cooked perfectly. Out of the six dishes we ordered, only two were "Thai Spicy", the squid salad was one of them. My family really likes spicy food, so none of the dishes really met the challenge.


Next up was the Pad Kee Mao, Larb and Pla Filet Lard Prik. The Pad Kee Mao and Chicken Larb are two of my favorite Thai dishes. Both of them were good, not great. The flavors were good, but lacked a punch, adding the traditional Thai condiments helped. The Pla Filet Lard Prik was a deep fried fish filet with a overly sweet Thai chili sauce. The fish was very crisy, but the sauce was too heavy and sweet. The final two came, Thai fried rice and the Shrimp and Squid Kra Pow. Both of these dishes were also good, not great, the show stopper was the spicy squid salad.


With so many Thai restaurants in Los Angeles, President Thai sits in the middle of the pack.

More Photos

The Hummus Bar and Grill

The Hummus Bar and Grill is located in Tarzana. I was told about this place over a year ago and finally had a chance to try it. We went on a Friday evening and did not need to wait very long for a table.



Immediately some side dishes and freshly baked laffa bread are served. I don't remember what all of the sides were, but one of them was a mixed salad and there was also a tomato based pepper dip. The fresh bread was delicious. They have a sampler salad selection, it is 10-12 small dishes of a variety of salads. This is a good way to go if you like a lot of different flavors. My favorites were the Cherry Tomato salad, chicken liver salad, two eggplant salads and jalapeno salad. Using the term salad to describe these might not be appropriate, some are more like dips. There are free refills for each and it costs about $6 per person.



We made a mistake and didn't order the namesake hummus, but we'll have to try that next time. I had a hard time deciding what to order for my entree. The menu isn't very big, but I wanted to try something different. We ended getting, the grilled chicken breast and splitting a lamb skewer and filet skewer. Our sides were rice, steamed veggies and fries. The chicken had good flavor and was a decent portion, the sides were not impressive. Surprisingly enough the chicken would be the most flavorful entree. The lamb and beef skewers were good, but not great. They were both a bit overcooked, but it's pretty difficult to properly cook small cubes of meat medium rare.

All in all the Hummus Bar and Grill is good food. if you haven't tried it I suggest you schedule a visit. I will be back to try some other dishes, including the hummus!