EMC Seafood & Raw Bar in Koreatown: Solid Oysters, Scallop Carpaccio and Best of All, Luscious Uni Pasta

It's true. Oyster bars are the latest foodie trend du jour. But EMC Seafood & Raw Bar is in Ktown and I had heard so much about it that I wanted to go see for myself how good it really is. The oysters were great and at $1 a pop during happy hour, it was no wonder that it was a zoo with people waiting hours for a table or circling the bar to nab a seat. My fave dish overall: the uni pasta. The uni was fresh -- throw some light cream into the pasta with some dry seaweed and chives and you have a winner. My only complaint was that the pasta was a tad overcooked. But overall thumbs up.

I also loved the scallop carpaccio, which was fresh, sweet and drizzled with some extra virgin olive oil, yuzu kosho, a paste made from chili peppers, a citrus used in Korean and Japanese cooking called yuzu and salt, smoked salt and some greens on the side. It was so refreshing on a hot summer day. Perfect with your happy hour drink!

The oyster of the day was Misty Point from the state of Washington. They were fresh and delicious -- some subtle sweetness in them. They came with a chili sauce topped with lemon wedges, freshly grated horseradish or a vinegary sauce with jalapenos floating. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to oysters so I'm happy with the lemon but also enjoyed the horseradish sauce for some kick. These were addictive. I think our party of four collectively had over a dozen. 

I wasn't as impressed with the soft-shell crab sliders. Fantastic in concept, which is why we ordered it. I'm a soft-shell crab fiend if there ever was one. But these just didn't deliver. They were over-breaded and so greasy that I couldn't even taste the sweet flesh of the crab. They tried to balance out the fried with some slaw but it just fell flat. It made it even more bland. The best soft-shell crab I've had was very lightly breaded and lightly fried.  

The brussel sprouts were ok but nothing to write home about. They were on the salty side.

A word of caution: come early, as in 4pm when HH begins to avoid crowds. The place is loud, crowded and warm. It has good food and fresh seafood but it isn't a place you could just stop by at peak hours and get a table, even a seat at the bar. 

Parking is free and is in the same building. 

Black Cat in Silver Lake: Bad Burger and Bad Wine List with Awesome Service by Beautiful Waiters

I always read Best of lists with some suspicion as to any ulterior motives the author or publication/blog may have. And when I see duds like Apple Pan on a best LA burgers list, I get seriously skeptical. But I craved a burger so it was high time for a burger club venture. So we went to Black Cat in Silver Lake amid hipster-ville (the lengths we would go to for a good burger). Let's just say my dinner companion pretended not to know me by the end of dinner because I had sent back like five wines. But I digress. The burger was hopelessly below average. Big thumbs down. If I were to deconstruct it, I'd say the patty was probably the biggest culprit. It was over-salted and overcooked, even for a medium the chef insisted on cooking it at (our server promptly told us chef only cooks it three ways -- well done, medium and rare but not medium rare -- wha?). It didn't have enough fat in it so it was dense and not soft enough. Now let's get to the bun. Oh, the bun. It looked like something out of a cheap diner and I was not impressed, even before my first bite. It wasn't warm or fresh-looking. Not surprisingly, it was dense and flavorless when I bit into it with the patty. The works were unremarkable and included Gruyere cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomato and onions. The only addition that worked was the pickle, which tasted home-made and not too tangy and over-pickled like many of the commercials ones.

There was one thing that was good: the baby artichoke salad, albeit its minuscule portion. It came with Parmesan cheese in a simple olive oil and lemon sauce that was very refreshing. I'd definitely have this salad again.

There was something wrong with the red wine list. I tried two Pinot Noir's and at least three different kinds of reds that all tasted horrible (hence the companion being embarrassed). So I settled for an IPA to pair with my burger, which was ok. For a gastropub that comes from the same peeps who brought us Village Idiot, which I really liked, I was disappointed and saddened.

Dessert was average. We had the mandarin orange sorbet and it didn't have the flavor punch that I've experienced in The Strand House, which I loved.

Service was very attentive and all the servers looked like models. Ambiance was great -- it had a bit of a New York vibe. But service, eye candy and ambiance alone do not a good gastropub make. It needs to work more on perfecting the food and wine list before touting itself as a serious gastropub.

OB Bear: Best Fried Chicken in Koreatown?

Some might call it a travesty that after more than a decade in LA, this self-proclaimed Koreatown pro hasn't yet ventured into OB Bear, a veritable institution. It is known as the embodiment of old school K-town watering hole and for serving the crunchiest fried chicken you could ever want to wash down with your Korean beer.

And embodiment it was. I felt completely transported to a dingy "hof" (beer halls modeled after German ones but really nothing like them) on the edges of Shinchon in front of Yonsei University, complete with the ubiquitous shredded cabbage salad served with a huge dollop of Thousand Island dressing. Definitely doesn't get points for ambiance. The only difference from the old school joints back in the homeland is the gigantic flatscreen blasting the latest games.

The fried chicken was excellent although the white meat parts did get a bit dry. For the most part, thought, the skin was crispy and the flesh was moist and served piping hot. The pickled radish cubes helped to balance out some of the heaviness from the fact that it was fried. Best pairing ever.

Now for the beer. I like my microbrews as much as the next person, but nothing beats a refreshing glass of Hite (yes, the place was called OB Bear but served its rival beer brand, Hite. The name OB Bear is likely a take on the name of the OB beer brand's sports team, OB Bears, but maybe it's just one of those lost in translation type of adaptation or the equivalent of Cucci or Ghanel.). And for reason, I never feel as full although I wondered if that was because they dilute it so much with water.

Now for the less successful. The spicy chicken wings are also raved about in message boards so I was excited to try them. Boy did they disappoint. They looked so promising -- check out at that seriously glistening exterior. The chicken wasn't fully cooked and the sauce was just meh.

The pajeon, or scallion pancake, was burnt and not too flavorful. It was nothing special. It could do a lot better.

Blue Cow Kitchen: Better Than Its Former Self, Casa -- Get the Beet Deviled Eggs & Duck Wings

I definitely had reservations about Blue Cow Kitchen, owned and operated by the Mendocino Farms peeps and situated in the former Casa space in California Plaza. I wrote a scathing review of Casa a while back, and the owner Mario (or at least claiming to be, complete with email signature) emailed me, first flattering me about how he loved my (anonymous) blog and no-holds-barred honest reviews, then randomly invited me to lunch and when I asked why, he said he wanted to run some ideas by me and when pressed, claimed he wanted me to be his secret taster where I'd have an exclusive arrangement with him and tell him the real low down about his restaurants. Please. When pressed for details, I never heard from him again.

I tried very hard not to be biased when I walked into this rowdy restaurant filled with a boring crowd of Downtown professionals (except for my party, of course). Hey, I used to be one too so I can say that.

The short of it is that the food was actually decent. You've come a long way, baby, I  mean Mario.

The beet marinated deviled eggs (check out that beautiful fuschia color!) with mustard, bacon and jalapeno was a winner. Besides the nice presentation, the bacon was just crispy enough and its saltiness and crunch went very well with the egg. Not sure about how "candied" the jalapeno tasted but I liked the hint of kick to round off the bite.

The duck wings were a tad ducky tasting but overall the confit and then grilled preparation gave the flesh a softness (from the confit) and charred beauty (from the grilling) that boded well with its slightly spicy aji amarillo (Peruvian yellow chile pepper) glaze, which was delicious. Sprinkled with some freshly chopped cilantro gave it a freshness. The cucumber and sesame-ginger dipping sauce were an afterthought and duly ignored at our table.

The giant baked then fried potato wedges were good, some a bit overcooked and too hard but overall came out hot, crispy and stood their own against the two dipping sauces. I would have wanted the onion "whip," seemingly a variation on ranch, to be bit thicker but it did the job.

The fried chicken sandwich (we stuck to the happy hour menu entirely) came with slaw in the venerable Hawaiian roll. The slaw was bland. The chicken was good but overall, the sandwich did not come even close to this master chicken sandwich at Son of a Gun, the best I've had in LA so far. Even the one at Laurel Hardware in a biscuit was better than this one, although I admit it's somewhat of a different breed  (Laurel was a breakfast sandwich with an oozing fried egg on top, which makes anything better).

The short rib "French dip" was just ok. Maybe it was because I didn't have it hot because everyone at my table loved it. But the bun was dense and wet from the dip, I guess. The short rib was not overly flavorful with barely a mushroom in sight. The most baffling thing, however, was the presence of a slice of toasted bread inside the bun. Wha? That seems a bit redundant, no? Am I missing something? And yes, the previously melted gruyere cheese had congealed and didn't help the cause. I just ended up having the shredded rib meat and washed it down with my glass of Pinot Noir.

Good wine. Dessert was meh. We got two ice cream sandwiches, one with Guinness flavor and the other with salted caramel, that's apparently on the menus of any self-respecting chef these days. The Guinness was unremarkable. Think it sounded more promising than it was. The salted caramel was ok but nothing close to ethereal one at Strand House. The biggest problem I had was with the sandwich cookies. They were chocolate chip cookies, which didn't blend well with the already sweet ice cream. So sweetness overkill. Yes, it's possible. Then they were so hard we had to practically use a Samurai sword to cut it up. Thumbs down.

Service was decent. Vibe was not that great. Would I return? Maybe. But I won't go out of my way to do so. One last piece of advice: redo your online menus so all items are visible.

Public School 310: Overrated and Disastrous, Avoid at all Costs

I always have different levels of expectations before trying a new place and with Public School 310 in Culver City, I was skeptical. It seemed gimmicky (I mean, look at those notepad-themed coasters). My suspicions were fully and painfully confirmed, and then some.

Let's start with the bacon cheddar tots we started with. They sounded so promising but they were totally overcooked to a very dark brown and not even crispy at that. They were dripping grease. The Sriracha ketchup it came with barely had any kick. Bland and disastrous. Horrible execution.

The Hunstman burger was also bland. The patty was unremarkable and didn't have much flavor. It was cooked decently to a medium rare but when I tasted something off, I realized it was the inside of the bun that had been toasted to a layer of black. Unacceptable. The balsamic onions were overpowering and didn't add anything to the burger. It was highly disappointing. The fries weren't even that hot, or crispy, for that matter.

My companion had the Salmon-Pastrami Ruben that came with a gribiche slaw that seems to be rage these days. When we asked what gribiche was, our server kept saying it was a type of slaw without explaining what the slaw consisted of, which reflects poorly on the servers' knowledge on the dishes. It wasn't at all helpful to say that, since we could glean that from reading the menu.

Despite the extremely mediocre, no, below average food, the place was packed, which can only mean one thing -- HYPE. It was definitely a scene and gimmicky, complete with nostalgic notebook covers being used as menu covers. Because it was crowded, the servers constantly wanted to clear our table. I guess it's better than Santa Monica Seafood Company that told our party there's a 1.5 hour limit to sit at a cafe table -- the nerves. That may be reason enough to boycott that place for a while.

In any case, I'm not going to bother returning. It also confirms my feeling about the main Culver City strip being a wasteland in terms of good food. You'd have to trek to Waterloo & City to get half-way decent grub.

Bar Ama in Downtown LA: Cheese Dip with Chorizo + Toasted Noodles with Octopus and Kielbasa

As a fan of the Lazy Ox Canteen, I had high hopes for Bar Ama in Downtown LA. The verdict is that there were some very good things and some inedible things.

My favorite dish was the queso fundido, aka Tex Mex Queso, with chorizo added, of course. I loved dipping the thick, nicely fried tortilla chips into the creamy cheese with generous chunks of chorizo. The second time I had it, the chorizo chunks were a bit too chunky for a small chip bite and they didn't fall apart when I tried to break them up with my chip. So they need to be crumbled better but it was solid.

The second favorite was the fideo with octopus and kielbasa. It reminded me of Spain's rossejat, a toasted noodle dish I made and wrote about, or a dish I would have at the Bazaar or at this paella spot I loved in NYC. The octopus was soft and cooked just so. The kielbasa gave it some kick and meatiness. The pepitas, or squash seeds that were toasted gave the dish its crunch. The shrimp broth the noodles were cooked in gave the dish depth of flavor. The queso fresco along with a salsa verde sprinkled atop this concoction brought the flavors all together. Big thumbs up.

 

The ceviche was refreshing, served with mango, chile, tomatillo, red onion and radish strips. I liked the sweet and savory combo although this is probably more of a summer dish. 

I was pleasantly surprised by its version of the chile relleno. It reminded more of the chile nogada I had in Mexico City in 2012 than the traditional cheese-filled chile relleno that I'm actually not a big fan of. It had cashew sauce and sprinkled with pomegranate seeds and cotija cheese. It was deep fried but so lightly fried it wasn't too heavy. And you know how I feel about pomegranate seeds -- they provided the tangy-ness and texture mix I love to see in dishes. The chile itself was a mild, smaller variety, not the usual chile poblano. It may have been Anaheim chile but I could be wrong. 

Now for the bad. All the puffy tacos we got -- beef and shrimp -- were bad. Maybe I'm not a puffy taco person but the inflated shell was a distraction and didn't add anything to the taco experience. So I wasn't sure why anyone would bother frying something unnecessarily. It's also a pain to eat, which doesn't help. The fillings were on the bland side. All I know is that I yearned for Cholula sauce.

 

The cauliflower in cilantro pesto with cashew and pine nuts was interesting but it was something I could have had in an Indian restaurant, y' know?  The cilantro "pesto" was reminiscent of cilantro chutney found at Indian lunch buffets. I didn't feel like it brought anything to the table, so to speak. 

Don't even get me started on the chicken fried steak we got with fried chicken because they ran out. It was overcooked just by looking at the dark brown breading that was borderline burnt. Then upon biting into the chicken, it tasted like old chicken that had been sitting in the fridge forever. Very bad. Thank God they removed it from our bill because I couldn't take another bite. But that doesn't bode well. Stay away from the fried chicken. I'm sticking to Son of a Gun's amazing chicken sandwich.

The desserts were unimpressive. I love creme brulee and this was serviceable but nothing special. Here's some unsolicited advice (or request!) to the chef: how about churros with a Oaxacan chocolate dip on the side? Or anything with dulce de leche, like mil hojas cake? None of the desserts spoke to us much. But there's such opportunities for greatness. Seize it!

Cocktails are good but strong. I've had Alice's Cooler and El Camino, which are both slightly sweet and citrusy drinks. 

I'll definitely return for that cheese and fideos and look forward to trying more. I hope it doesn't become another Baco Mercat, which I was disappointed with.

Thank you, CTG, for some of these awesome shots!

Waterloo and City: Amazing Chicken Liver Mousse on Perfectly Toasted Bread

I'd been looking for good pate for the longest time in LA and was ecstatic when I serendipitously crossed paths with some ridiculously good chicken liver mousse at Waterloo & City. I say serendipitous because I almost walked out without trying this butter lined deliciousness. We ordered a bunch of terrines including rabbit pistachio and smoked salmon terrines (more on those later) and the chicken liver one came on the house. My dining partner and the restaurant are managed by the same management company so the chefs extended the courtesy.

I can't stop thinking about that chicken liver mousse, which spread like buttah on these excellent slices of crusty bread that were perfectly toasted, complete with charred edges. Thank you, chef, for sending this complimentary plate. The salmon terrine was no slouch either. It was like a napoleon where they alternated with a layer of smoked salmon, cream and then potato. On top of that sat a daintily fried egg. It's true I'm partial to anything with a fried egg on top but this was truly genius. How had I not appreciated the beauty and sheer awesomeness of terrines before?

The rabbit and pistachio terrine came with a mango sauce that I wasn't sure worked together too well. I enjoyed the terrine as is but not nearly as amazing as the chicken liver mousse -- and I don't even like chicken liver! This terrine's texture was more like a regular pate so it wasn't as creamy as the mousse but I still enjoyed it because it was an unusual mix of flavors and textures with the pistachios that I liked. And that bread -- couldn't get enough of it. I wonder if they make it in-house or get it supplied. If the latter, I'd like to get my hands on that bread.

Having a cute little cornichon and giant caper along with some pickled pearl onions made for a nice balance from the uber fatty mousses and things we were consuming, not to mention the carb overload. I had the rabbit terrine for breakfast the next day and enjoyed it just as much.

The hamachi was pretty fresh and flavorful. It came with pieces of avocado, a Thai sauce called Nam Jin, yuzu, fennel and basil. All this was topped with a refreshing lime-ish sorbet. A great summer dish.

The tuna tartare was not as good but the tuna sat on a bed of avocado mousse that had been placed underneath as a sheet. I'm guessing some gadgets were involved in making this look this way. I do prefer real pieces of avocado but it's interesting to see deconstructed food that's a different take from the expected.

Now for the mains. The short rib ravioli sounded more promising than it delivered. I was expecting super moist (ie., fatty), piping hot short rib trapped in a tiny ravioli shell. It ended up being more like a densely packed meat that was rather dry and didn't work in a large ravioli that looked more like a round dumpling. I didn't care for the onion, spinach and truffle sauce they came with. I think this dish would work better if: 1) there were more fat inside the dumpling/ravioli and 2) the ravioli were smaller so it doesn't taste as dense. Great concept but shaky in practice.

The roasted monkfish was nothing special but the fish was fresh and it was topped with fennel and gremolata, a mix of parsley, lime zest and garlic. The fish sat atop saffron risotto.

Ah dessert. We had the donuts that already had caramel drizzled on them, not to mention a ton of sugar. But they also came with three sauces in case we wanted to be naughtier, including an orange curd, bourbon glaze and vanilla ice cream sauces. I liked the donuts solo the best as I am a purist -- most of the time -- but I liked the orange curd one for some variation in flavor. The ice cream didn't work as it was too cold for me in the winter.

The toffee pudding that came with salted caramel and vanilla ice cream was not bad but we were too full to fully appreciate any of it. At that point, it tastes too sweet, too dense, too cold, too this or too that.

But I would definitely like to return to try other terrines and its famed burger, of course, that is only served during happy hour, which we missed.

Industriel in Downtown: Cool Honey Bears Decor, Poor Food

I loved the look and feel of the space at Industriel in downtown LA but was disappointed at the food. It calls itself an "Urban French Provencal Restaurant with Locally-Sourced Farm Fresh Cuisine." Whatever that means. What matters is that it didn't deliver.

The mussels above look so promising, right? They were horrible, bordering on inedible. If a restaurant is doing seafood, it needs to be serious about sourcing fresh seafood. It could be fresh but it's maybe not the best quality. Not only were the mussels poor quality, but the seasoning was also bland. This was the worst dish.

The champagne, grapefruit juice and rosemary sprig cocktail sounded more interesting than it tasted. I could hardly taste the rosemary flavor and wished it had more of it. But hard to go wrong with champagne and citrus.

The pumpkin soup was probably one of the best things we had that evening but I've had better pumpkin soup.

I must admit I was outraged at having to pay for bread, especially after we got the order because it was below average. I'm sorry but I'll take the complimentary bread from Bouchon or Waterloo & City (review pending) any day. 

The shredded kale appetizer wasn't anything special either.

I was looking forward to the gnocchi that was all the rage on message boards but alas, the gnocchi was overcooked and lacked flavor. I liked that they seared the gnocchi so the edges were crispy but all that effort was lost when I bit into the mushy morsels of gnocchi. I also felt like it didn't jive with the rest of the elements on the plate.

The roasted cornish hen served atop arugula on a bed of polenta held some promise but again, no mind-blowing experience to be had here. It wasn't bad but a heavy sauce that reminded me of frozen food (or airplane food) was drizzled all over the bird and that didn't seem like a good thing. 

We had strawberry shortcake for dessert and this was probably the second best although that may not be saying much. The accompanying sorbets were good and refreshing. 

I loved the decor using those bear bottles of honey but the service was insufferably ingratiating. It's one thing to be friendly and helpful. It's quite another to be hanging around our table and oversharing. Our server was highly annoying in that regard and although it comes from a good place, she needs to back off or will turn off a lot of customers away. 

Not sure if I want to return, especially with so many new, tastier joints popping up in the area including the Parish and hotspot Bestia (review pending).