January 2020 Rundown

Did a bunch of DineLA meals and the highlights were Redbird, PF and Wine (see vegan thread), Yapa and Auburn.

It was a $29 four course set menu for DineLA at Yapa, but the dishes were thoughtfully composed and complemented one another.

Drink: “Palo Mine” | palo santo vermouth, pisco, bergamot $12

Food: Yellowtail Causa; Seasonal Vegetable Tiradito; Braised Pork Belly Over Rice Stew; Sorbet with Meringue

Looking forward to going back, definitely a welcome addition.


Had a total of 7 courses at Auburn on Melrose.

Four Savory courses and drink (Chapel Down Brut sparkling wine included with $99 DineLA menu) - Amuse - Puffed Pork Ears and Parsnip purée tartlet; warm sourdough bread with avocado butter; 1) Persimmons; 2) Japanese Sea Bream; 3) Beets; and 4) Koji aged Sonoma duck. The manager asked me which was my favorite and I told him the sea bream — he mentioned the fermented finger lime used in the dish was a 6 month project.

The use of fermented components in the savories was a bit too pervasive for me, but I’ll try Auburn for brunch in a few months and maybe try the tasting menu again in a year. Love the space and the front of the house hospitality was very pleasant.

Three desserts: 1) Yogurt mushroom caramel; 2) Apple chantilly and 3) off menu Baba soaked in gin; mignardise of earl grey meringue with avocado creme. Enjoyed all desserts, but it was the Baba which brought me in — I saw it listed a week ago on the bar menu posted on their website, but by the time I went to Auburn Sunday the 26th, it was already removed from the bar menu. However, when I mentioned to my server I was hoping to try the Baba dessert, the server checked with the pastry chef, Dyan Ng who offered to make one just for me. Score!

I read that the pastry chef trained with Alain Ducasse and it certainly showed. I had a traditional Rum Baba flambeed tableside at Ducasse’s Benoit in NYC a few years ago and was curious how Auburn’s version would turn out. While it wasn’t served with pyrotechnics, the textures were perfect and I thought the use of gin instead of rum was ingenious for it echoed the overall woodsy notes of savories and sweets of the restaurant’s menu.

Not sure why the baba dessert was taken off Auburn’s menu. Trois Mec initially listed a rum baba dessert on their December menu, but when I went in late December with a friend, the host explained they took it off (supposedly wasn’t popular with a family member?!?) and I also saw that Pasjoli has removed rum baba from its menu as well. Too bad because I’ve definitely been a fan of this type of dessert from my college days of living in Tokyo.

Decided to go out with a bang this month and started a 21 day elimination diet yesterday so I won’t be dining out for a while.

PS: Auburn’s DineLA dinner consists of five courses and I ordered an additional two courses.

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Great report @foodshutterbug. :slight_smile: We had the Baba dessert as well at Auburn recently. Perhaps it’s just rotating off / on the menu?

I’ve been curious about Yapa, would you say it’s worth a return at normal prices? Thanks.

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stopped by newly opened Sogo roll bar in Los Feliz for a very quick lunch (bypassing the newly open kismet rotisserie along the way). I was accommodated me right away as I told them I had only 20 minutes.


I know big deal is made of toto’s, but i was immediately struck by the porcelain. This is my favorite style of plate and flipping it over…


sure enough it was what I thought it was, Hasami porcelain from japan. Timeless beauty and elegance. The wooden plate for the rolls is also Hasami.


Since I was in a hurry, order the 3 roll sampler for $14. Started off with snapper roll…nice, with some yuzu kosho.


Salmon with maybe some sorta of lemony sauce

finally toro,…it was more like minced consistency then actual slices. overall flavor was good…rolls weren’t super generous with the fish and def. had more rice. Beautiful ceramics, good rolls and service ( i was out just in time). a nice addition to the lunch scene. Sorry I have not been to kazunori to compare.

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Will have to try the toro. Really liked the yuzukosho on the snapper, the yellowtail was far too mayo-y/sauced. Nori was almost crisp enough. Rice was pretty meh. But still a great addition to the sushi wasteland of Los Feliz.

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how was the temperature of the fish and rice?

Pearl River Deli by @JLee

  • outstanding execution of your new pork chop bun! i love it!
  • still needs work on the char siu in achieving the ultimate juicy, meaty but tender state

pork chop, pineapple bun
a thick cut of perfectly cooked pork chop sits between soft pineapple buns. flavorwise, the pork chop is very well seasoned with soy flavor that reminds me of maggi sauce while the sauteed onion adds a bit of sweetness and crunch. i think it’ll be even better if there’s an acidic element in there to take the balance to a new level.

look at how juicy the pork chop is!

char siu

rice is much better in general other than the two clumps here which isn’t too much of a problem

nicely charred

still very lean and quite dry

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How was the nori at Sogo?

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Fish temp in snapper was bang on (slightly cool? not cold). Rice temp was on the warmish side but not distracting, lack of individual grain toothsomeness and vinegar element were the bigger strikes against it. Again, graded on the curve of nearby offerings i’m being insanely picky. As mentioned, nori was crisp but could have been much crisper/toasted to my preference.

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Completely agree @caleb. The guy rolling mine was still being trained… I wouldn’t put such high expectations, other than good for the neighborhood

It’s 3 rolls for $14. Let’s keep that in perspective. Looks pretty fantastic to me.

I’ve been eating a lot of Santouka and Jinya over the past several weeks and Jinya is definitely my current ramen benchmark. My favorite item at santouka is now the salmon/Ikura bowl that comes along with the ramen.

Also, this croquette on Jinya’s menu is pretty good. A little oily, but tasty as hell.

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Worst QPR in recent memory at the Border Grill truck. For every downhill report on Ricky’s there’s another establishment serving a more expensive fish taco that does not taste as good as Ricky’s

This was $15 O_o

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Maybe i don’t go to taco trucks enough but 4 tacos for 15$ doesn’t sound like a bad deal.

The tacos would be classified as “petite” from Paquito Mas. 3-4 bites each, max. Would’ve gotten twice as much food from RFT.

Yapa get a very nice review from PEscar this week

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Burger and fries at new Green Cheek in Costa Mesa. They took over the old Barley Forge space. Everything tasted good especially for a brewery. Fries were excellent. Only complaint is that the burger was pretty small. Only covered about 75% of the bun. I’d order a double the next time. Didn’t care for the thousands island dressing either.

Wed Thur are not great days for a bang bang in the central north OC area. The two places I originally wanted to go to are both closed on Wed and Thur.
ST Patisserie
Los Reyes Del Elote truck

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Oliboli Donuts does not get enough love. They make the donuts to order which gives them a huge advantage. Not in the least bit greasy or heavy. Peanut butter n jam on top. Could use a touch more peanut butter flavor but the jam is delicious and not overly sweet. The second best pbnj donut ever. The best is Doughnut Plant in NYC. Regular glazed on the bottom. My son inhaled the donut and said it is way better than Krispy Kreme.

Always concerns me that I’m usually the only person in the shop.

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Chinese Laundry/Live Noodz @Smorgasburg

Really enjoyed the texture of the fresh hand-pulled noodles. I enjoyed the spicy one with some nice oily depth (but could add more kick with their fresh peppers), and thought the leek noodles were a touch salty

The duck was awesome! The meat was succulent and flavorul, and the skin was crispy in a papery way

PSA in general the noodles are vegan unless you add duck (of course) or get the duck broth noodles


Tuscan Son
First time here based on y’all’s reports - nice homey casual place that’s great for tasty and reasonably healthy meals in a pinch

CNY dim sum at Capital Seafood in Beverly Hills
@J_L we were there Saturday for lunch - did we end up overlapping??

For the most part I really enjoy the short drive and their dim sum. Those scallion and shrimp dumplings are the bomb. Har gow wrappers are kinda thick however. Always gotta get my golden lava bun fix!

Original Gourmet Kebob
Random food truck - the lamb chops were pretty decent; I ordered med-rare and got rare which might scare some off :slight_smile: image|666x500


Republique
Had dinner here a couple years ago and wasn’t impressed, but recently went for a group dinner and really loved it, so we sneak in on the occasional early weekend evening to sit at the bar these days. Tagine and the quail below.

First time at Tsujita Ramen in quite a while. The tsukemen is still solid, and I gotta say that I’m impressed with their consistency over time; other places seem to go downhill.

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If you’re in the mood for not-healthy, try some of their pastries (which are quite good). :slight_smile:

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This is the first I have heard of Oliboli (https://www.oliboli.com/).
Donuts fried to order? Or just fillings/toppings to order?