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

Ketchup

Ketchup, located in the heart of West Hollywood, is the latest "hot spot" from the Dolce Group. It is definitely a place to see and be seen, but other than its upscale diner fare schtick, and the possibility of seeing pseudo-celeb/restauranteur/drunk, Tara Reid, it doesn't have much else going for it.

We made reservations for 9pm on a Saturday night about a week after Ketchup opened. Parking is near impossible on Sunset since most available spots are reserved for valet. My car was left basically where I dropped it off. So we essentially paid $10 valet for someone to hold my keys. How very LA.

As you walk in at street level, the hosts and hostesses (slash actors slash models) greet you, then take you up an elevator to the second floor where the restaurant is located. This gives those with window tables a beautiful view of the street. We had a pretty remarkable view of a billboard (see above photo).

I suppose the scene was pretty cool, or at the very least, novel. They definitely stayed true to the theme of ketchup, and all things tomato. The lighting is all red, and there are posters and large photomosaics of Heinz ketchup bottles. The wine racks are filled with ketchup bottles and the servers all wear t-shirts with fake ketchup splatters. Instead of flowers, you'll find fresh tomatos in clear boxes on the table. I couldn't decide whether I thought this was clever or cheesy, and it felt slightly reminiscent of that Top Chef challenge where they had to open up and decorate a restaurant very quickly.

The servers were very friendly and down-to-Earth, which was a pleasant surprise. However, my experience was dampened by their very evident inexperience. Our server was probably an actor, because he gave a pretty convincing impression that he knew what he was talking about. When Surafel asked how large the mahi mahi entree was, he said it was definitely big enough for two people. I know this is LA, but either he had never seen the dish before, or he was smoking crack because on no realm of reality could that entree have been enough for two people. Later, as he cleared away our plates, he accidentally spilled someone else's leftover cocktail on me. He was mostly apologetic but it left me unimpressed with their lack of professionalism. Hopefully, they've gotten their act together since.

Servers go around in carts and make your cocktails right at your table. They have some interesting combinations that fit the Americana theme: cocktails made with Kool-Aid, Yoo-Hoo or Tang (!). Surpisingly, at $12 a glass (and at a restaurant Tara Reid supposedly frequents), they were not very strong. Appropriately, Daryl deemed them "kids' stuff".

Grape Kool-Aid martini ^

Drink cart ^

But on with the food! The highlight of the evening was the pretzel bread, which they provided gratis. It was a surprising starter, and was buttery, salty and delicious. I only wish they gave more. It came with two sauces, one of which was a mustard blend. I ate my pretzel plain, but highly enjoyed it.

Pretzel bit ^

Ketchup's forte is their appetizers. In the $10-20 price range, you might be more satisfied to just order appetizers, sides and desserts while you people watch. We ordered the Kobe beef hot dogs ("Barking Dogs") and the sweet potato tater tots, and a side of parmesean fries, all of which were tasty and cute.

The fries came with five different types of ketchup: regular, maple, mango, ranch and chipotle. The weird mixes didn't particularly taste like fusions of their namesakes and ketchup. The mango just tasted like mango, the maple just tasted like syrup and the ranch just tasted like ranch dressing. The chipotle was pretty good, and had a little kick to it. It seemed like they were trying too hard to be creative, and it was not panning out. Again, kind of like Top Chef.

Kobe beef hot dogs (left) & sweet potato tater tots (right) ^

Five types of ketchup ^

Parmesean fries ^

Peruse the "Surf n' Turf" menu and you will find an array of good-ol', high-priced American comfort food, such as mac&cheese, shake n' bake chicken, and meatloaf. Their "surf" section featured standard restaurant seafood fare, like they were stretching to match the "surf and turf" theme.

The entrees weren't that great. The fish was okay (it's kind of hard to mess up fish), but it's hard to justify paying $29 for something the size of a McDonalds filet-o-fish. I thought the grilled veggies on the side were really good, and they came in handy when Surafel and I tried to fill the void left by having half a dinner. (Just kidding, the appetizers were actually really filling).

The salads, on the other hand, were enormous and could've easily been shared. Because of the dim lighting, it was kind of hard to see what you were eating and Aegean had some trouble locating her chicken. I thought the ranch dressing was a little watery, but I'm not a huge fan of the stuff in the first place.

Mahi mahi ^

Salad 1 (w/ vinagrette) ^

Salad 2 (w/ ranch) ^

Steering away from the debacle known as the main course, we decided to get some dessert because ending on those dishes would've sucked. Aegean tried to order the ice cream sandwich, but they said they ran out (apparently to the girl right next to us because she got one). So, we shared the Strawberry Strawberry, which was a decent strawberry shortcake. Surafel got the apple pie and Daryl ordered a root beer shake. Overall, they were pretty good and more appropriately priced (at $8 a pop).

Happy Endings ^

Strawberry Strawberry ^

Apple Pie a la mode ^

Root beer float ^

Overall, the food was okay, but not good enough to justify its exorbidant prices. If you want to go, I'd go before the hype dies down. Otherwise, save your money for an expensive restaurant whose best feature is its food, not its eye candy. Grade: C (average and unimpressive)

Ketchup

8590 Sunset Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069

(310) 289-8590