Intelligentsia

(Via)

Here's my dilemma. I was ready to write about Intelligentsia coffee's revelatory "Angeleno" iced coffee beverage, and tell you all how great it is, and how I still think about it, weeks after I tried it.

I was ready to tell you that I've tried, daily, to recreate this magical elixir, and that I've hedged my bets that a lifetime of happiness hinges upon my success doing so.

Now, though, I'm not so convinced. In finding the picture you see above, I also found out that, allegedly, this tasty treat has four-- four!-- shots of espresso. Even people who believe coffee is good for you can't possibly believe that much coffee is good for you (nor would they, or anyone else, think spending $5 on a coffee beverage is a good idea even infrequently).

So I'm torn. This is a delicious beverage, and you should head down to Intelligentsia, make nice with the hipster barista at the "concierge" counter, and try it. But you should also keep reminding yourself, as you gulp it down, that this is a sometimes treat-- it's too expensive, and it's too caffeinated.

But heck, while you're there, try one of those fancy pastries. I didn't, but I regret it, mostly because I'm a sucker for everything red velvet (except for literal red velvet). Share it, though, because if you eat it by yourself, you won't be able to fit into those $200 skinny jeans that you hope people will think cost you $10 at Goodwill. And then you won't feel comfortable going back to Intelligentsia ever again.

You will, though, because they brew a damn good espresso.

Deliciousness: A+

Price: C-

Location/Decor: A

www.intelligentsia.com

Bazaar by Jose Andres

The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills

(Photos by Daryl! The complete album is available here.)

I think we all have that friend we love, but only in small doses. He stays the weekend twice a year, you two paint the town red and, by Sunday, you're ready to get rid of him. Then Tuesday rolls around and you're already looking forward to his next visit.

That's kind of like Bazaar for me. It was three hours and, at points, it felt just plain gimmicky (I'm looking at you, $16 "magic mojito" that was really just cotton candy with rum and mint poured on it). At other times, though, a complete reimagination of food I thought I knew. And in a good way.

Here are some standouts:

This is "not your everyday caprese salad," and it's true. I can tell you, though, that should this dish ever become the "everyday" caprese salad, we wouldn't need war or religion. Those little

white mozzarella balls? They're liquefied, and they burst in your mouth. You get all three flavors-- the cheese, the tomato and the basil-- all at once, and all perfectly balanced.

Lest you think all I've got here is praise, take a look at these babies. They aren't mutant lobsters; they're Bazaar's reimagining of a Philly Cheesesteak. And, well, they aren't very good, despite the waiter's claim that they're a signature dish. The "air bread" it's served on? Sort of like a fancy hollowed out creme puff, minus the sweetness, and filled with too much cheese. Throw a few pieces of Kobe beef on top (sparingly!) and that's the sandwich.

Here's one of the two shrimp dishes we ordered. In fact, everyone at the tabled ordered it, so you know we had high hopes. And it certainly delivered. But if these shrimp were potential mates, and you were a high school girl (work with me here), they'd be the "nice guy"-- reliable, and someone to become good friends with, but not someone to date. Though they appeared on the side of the menu devoted to fantastical creations, they looked pretty traditionally prepared to me.

Same goes for the steak. These two plates were the [insert your favorite character actor here] of the meal.

Then came dessert.

The big winner for me was definitely the "Passionfruit Coconut Floating Nitro Island." Not too much passionfruit, and just the right amount of coconut, on a pedestal of perfectly prepared bananas. The texture was kind of like the cross between a whipped cream and a soft meringue, and it was probably the best dessert I've ever had that didn't include a lick of chocolate.

And so, three hours later (and two seatings), the meal was over. I was ready for it to be over too, not in the least because no chairs we sat in offered back support, and I'm too old for these designer seats.

Still, I loved that meal. And while I've had my fill of molecular gastronomy for the time being, I can't wait for my next adventure.

Winner winner, burrito dinner.

There are dozens, possibly even millions, of reasons why Chipotle wipes the floor with Qdoba every single time they're pitted head-to-head.

But here's one that stands out:



Admittedly, despite their shockingly inept copy editing, the deal is still pretty decent. (Also: what if it's a Tuesday? Isn't that a little early to be starting my weekend?)

Omnivore's Hundred

My sister already posted about this back in September, but I thought it was an interesting exercise for readers of the food blog. Here's the original link. How many of these have you tried? I've tried only 35, but I would not categorize myself as an adventurous eater.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Craftbar (Los Angeles)

Last night after a taping of "The Soup", Daryl, Selina and I hightailed it over to Century City to check out the newly opened Craftbar (attached to Craft). Perhaps our good spirits made us more inclined to enjoy, but we found the atmosphere, service and food to be top notch!

Admittedly I was excited to go because I love Top Chef but cannot afford Craft's exorbitant prices. Craftbar was a perfect solution since it is still associated with and attached to the main restaurant, but features drinks and food (snacks, salads, small plates, in a jar, pasta, pizzettes, cheese and sweets) for under $10 each. Very reasonable!

Unfortunately, since they close at 10pm and we got there at 9:35, a lot of the things we wanted to order were no longer available (bacon and lobster rolls, jidori chicken wings with maple dijon aioli, lamb sliders with bleu cheese and tomato marmalade). But because of this inconvenience, the chef (who we will pretend was Tom Colicchio) sent out a complimentary pizzette.

Some photos:

The bar.


Refreshing! The beers are only $5, which is amazing in LA. I think this was a Pilsner.

Falafel & Whipped Spicy Feta

Foie Gras Confit w/ Grapes, Apple & Macadamia Nuts

Steamed Short Rib Buns

Raw Albacore Tuna w/ Pickled Shallots & Kishu Tangerine (AMAZING)

Braised Veal Ravioli & Hazelnut Brown Butter

Sausage Raviolini & Manila Clams

Truffle Garlic Sausage & Lentils


Veal & Ricotta Meatballs

Pizzette #1

Pizzette #2 (gratis)- I think this one had jalapenos.

Craftbar
10100 Constellation Blvd.
Century City, CA 90067

I LOVE RAMEN

I was looking through this list of Los Angeles ramen restaurants, and wondered how many I could eat at before I leave. I've been eating a lot of ramen lately, mostly because it's cheap and super satisfying.

Here are the restaurants I've tried so far:

Daikokuya
This is my favorite ramen joint. The broth is amazingly tasty and the portions are gigantic. I normally don't care for the pork in ramen, but the one here is tender and flavorful. I only wish it were closer, but at least it's open late to satiate your late night cravings.

327 E. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Asahi Ramen
Asahi Ramen was my first ramen restaurant, and as such, is the place I use to compare all other ramen places. I go here most often because it's only five minutes from my place. It's a really small space, but the service is always very friendly and quick. I personally like the taste of Asahi's ramen (not as salty as other places). Their portions are generous and their miso ramen is great. I also like their cold noodles and fried rice.

2027 Sawtelle Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90025
Cash only

Ramenya
I also like Ramenya, which is around the corner from Asahi on Olympic Blvd. Normally we only go here on Thursdays when we drive by Asahi and realize that they are closed (seriously, what's that all about?) Not bad, I just happen to prefer Asahi to Ramenya.

11555 W. Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90064
Cash only

Orochon Ramen
I just tried the notorious Orochon Ramen this weekend. The schtick for this place is that they have this intensely spicy ramen (Special #2), and if you can finish this enormous bowl (including the soup) within half an hour, you get your photo taken and posted on their "Wall of Bravery". I went with our friend Jennifer, who is probably the tiniest being I know, and she nearly finished (but didn't have enough time to finish the soup). Amazing. I had the #7, which is the least spicy and wussiest of all the choices.

123 Onizuka Street #303
Los Angeles, CA 90012
$20 credit card minimum

Santouka
Santouka is a gem that is located in the Mitsuwa Marketplace on Centinela Blvd. on the west side. It's low key (as it's in a food court) and really greasy but still tasty. I really like this place too but always seem to get there too late, since they close at 7:30pm. After you eat here, you can check out Japanese magazines and buy Asian goodies in the market.

3760 Centinela Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90066
Cash only

Chabuya
I also went to Chabuya last weekend which is very close to Asahi and Ramenya. I liked the atmosphere and think it's definitely worth checking out, but overall found the broth to be too salty and the service to be kind of lazy. Our friend got the Sapporo Black Label, and it was flat despite being from a bottle!

2002 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025

[Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ddkim/2657155053/] Temporary solution until I load my own ramen photos!

Anisette Brasserie

NOTE: this was published 3/6/09. I am lazy.

These photos are from the summer before Cindy Koh left for med school. As such, I don't really remember enough to type something of substance, suffice it to say the food was delicious.






Beautiful interiors!






Cheers!





Steak + ...


... Frites


Bag of vegetables.


Steamed to perfection.


Duck confit






Lavender ice cream

Anisette Brasserie
http://www.anisettebrasserie.com/
225 Santa Monica Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Akasha

I recently stopped by the new restaurant, Akasha, in Culver City. This was on a whim because S & W Country Diner was closed and we showed up about an hour too early for a movie we were checking out at the $5 theater. (By the way, S&W is excellent).

We didn't check out the restaurant section, but we did buy some pastries which were very delicious. I was surprised to find their desserts affordable because I took a quick look at the restaurant menu, and it was probably in the $$-$$$ territory.

I took some photos, but I'll have to post from home. I just wanted to write this quick entry because I was going through my Google Reader and saw this post on EaterLA. It's rare that I can actually say, "hey, I've been there!"

The lemon bar was divine. It wasn't too sweet, the cake part was tasty and there was just the right amount of tang. But then again, I love lemon bars of all shapes and sizes and tastes. Lemon bars forever! My sister had a toasted bagel and our friend Erin had this chocolate brownie thing. Everyone left satisfied.

Sorry if this post is random, my feet really hurt so I'm kind of delirious.

Elephant Snack Corner

Yes, Ravi, a B. It's still good.


I recently had the opportunity to eat at the Elephant Snack Corner, located on Western Avenue. We were hungry and jonesing for some good Korean grub, when my dad spotted it in the small strip mall next to the BCD Tofu House.

The food was good, authentic and hit the spot. To be honest, I haven't really had the opportunity to eat at very many Korean restaurants that aren't Americanized BBQ joints. I think that because Korean BBQ is so prevalent and profitable, a lot of people miss out on the variety of dishes that Korean cuisine has to offer. I don't blame anyone- I almost always go for the BBQ as well because it's so gosh dang delicious. But next time you go to a Korean restaurant, I urge you to try the many fish, tofu, or noodle dishes and stews that may be on the menu. Everything is good.

Also, please make sure your Korean restaurants offer you plenty of ban-chan (side dishes) because it's an absolute essential for a Korean meal. However, don't let them charge you extra, because that'd just be highway robbery.



Interior.

I went with one of my most favorite dishes, dduk man-du gook (rice cake and wonton soup). We usually have this soup on New Years because this type of rice cake is called nian gao in Chinese, which I believe is roughly translated as "year cake". The black stuff is seaweed (which Koreans love).


This is a soy bean stew with vegetables and tofu. Korean jji gae is so, so delicious. We used to have a soy bean or kimchi jji gae with every meal growing up. This is why I am a jolly person.


My dad got the yook gae jjang, which is a very spicy noodle soup dish. This had me sweating, but MMM so good.


No Korean meal is complete without ban chan!


My poor sister is a vegetarian, so she went with bibimbap, a dish that mixes a lot of veg with rice and a fried egg. This usually comes with some beef or sushi in there, but she usually asks for it without. It's very healthy, and also very tasty.


Please note that the staff does not really speak English here. But their menu is on the wall with pictures, so you could probably get away with pointing and saying the numbers in English. Cash only.

Elephant Snack Corner
901 S Western Ave
Ste 101
Los Angeles, CA 90006
Cross Streets: Western & Ninth

Sydney, Australia: A foodie's hell.

(Note: I feel so strongly about this that I'm writing this entry from an Internet cafe in Sydney-- and it's costing me a dollar an hour.)

Not since Bush told us the WMDs existed has such a wide deception propagated over the masses of a country. Sydney, your food sucks.

I mean really really sucks.

Like beating up the kid in the wheelchair, they add insult to injury by charging far too much money for food significantly worse than that served in UCLA's dining halls.

Didn't you get the memo? Salt isn't the only spice around. And no, I'll order my food "take away" to avoid paying you an extra $2 for the exact same thing. Even though, either way, you have to get up to the counter to order it.

Do you take MasterCard? Yes? fantastic! But what's that? A TWENTY DOLLAR MINIMUM*? I suppose it isn't impossible for one person to eat $20 worth of food here-- my dinner last night cost $22, and they didn't even bother to pretend like they didn't just microwave it (seriously, he took my order, put everything onto a plate like they do at the Whole Foods hot foods bar, and then turned around and stuck it in a microwave. For a meal that cost $22!).

Australia, do you even have a national cuisine? It would appear not, though you certainly eat McDonald's more than most Americans and probably have more than your fair share of kabob stands. You're not too skinny, either. Americans are fat because our food tastes good and they give us huge portions. You are fat because your food just sucks and is made of crap, so you end up eating McDonald's or skipping the solid food and heading straight for the booze.

Oh, I noticed. (And I might end up eating Starbucks and McDonald's exclusively for the last three days I'm here too.)

I'm staying in my hostel with a British guy. And when British people complain about your food, you know you have a problem.

(Other note: besides that, Sydney is amazing and I'd love to live here someday, when I am rich and can demand only the best and freshest cuisine.)

Ravi
*According to Wikipedia, VISA's rules prohibit merchants from designating a minimum purchase threshold, though apparently they don't often enforce the rule.