One of the Ten at Melisse. Not as bad as I had feared but I definitely prefer n/naka and Providence for the food. The wine list is far more interesting and reasonable than the list at Providence.
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Playground 2.0 Trust
The A5 miyazaki beef was so fatty it developed type 2 diabetes.
Blue gnocchi with lengua, speaks for itself.
Octopus tostada
Shrimp butter
Suckling pig sope with suckling pig chicharrones
More suckling pig just because
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@Porthos Thanks. Which dishes were highlights at Melisse?
@PorkyBelly wow, nice report! So which dishes were the highlights? And did you think it was worth the money? TIA.
Holy bovine hypertriglyceridemia, Batman… Would you like a bit of meat with your blob of cowfat? 
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Ohmigod, that looks WONDEROUS. Some of y’all need to adopt me as your child so that I can accompany you for meals! 
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Did you move down to the OC JL? Sure are down here a lot!
The only true standout was the foie in puff pastry that came with the venison loin.
The caviar egg starter was good (though I easily prefer the versions at Providence, Manresa, Arpege, Jean Georges, Per Se and heck, even Taco Maria) and so was the foie with candied hazelnuts and grilled persimmon but neither of them were tops. The chawan mushi was just flat disappointing.
The wine service was exemplary though. I would say best in town for the wine service except I also had an amazing experience at Drago.
It sure sounds like our mighty cantankerous curmudgeon of a hound is fucking slumming it these days.
And that ain’t no fucking joke.
Spiny lobster 4 ways: fried tail, sashimi, black truffle tartar and then miso with that meaty head (no throwaway dish).
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Looks really interesting, how do you like it? And is it difficult to score a booking? Thx.
this looks so amazing.
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Shunji?
Sat - Alesmith Brewery in SD. The Pale named for Tony Gwynn was outstanding.
Sun - DTF, crab & pork XLB, green beans with garlic, shrimp fried rice, pork chops and shrimp & pork shumai. Washed down with craft beer. Even though I’ve been more times than I can count, I’m still so thrilled to be able to drink craft beer and eat good Chinese. Any other spots that do this? That joint in Silverlake or that one downtown?
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I so fucking hate you right now JJ.
That’s my favorite fucking dish from Shunji.
The lobster tartare. Well followed after the signature fucking tomato of course.
And then the lobster sashimi. And the lobster tempura.
The lobster soup usually I can do without.
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Saturday was such a beautiful day, we headed to the SM Farmer’s Market, bought some goodies, then hit up Malibu Seafood for lunch. Grilled Mahi Mahi, sea bass, and fish and chips.Stopped by Grom on the drive back. Decent pistacchio, but nowhere near Bulgarini.
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Jason Quinn is really turning out some great dishes at playground. Highlights were the A5 miyazaki meat butter, blue gnocchi, lengua and corn, and all of the suckling pig dishes. There were really no duds the whole night. Tickets were surprisingly still available a week prior for a Friday dinner. Playground 2.0 was the best meal I’ve had in LA in a while, just behind n/naka.
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Paella at Hinoki and Bird.
Come here in multiples of 2. We were 3 and our paella was the same size as those for 2. You still get charged the $55pp. So hungry we’re headed to Luv2eat
Paella was fine with nice soccorat but was too salty. Though possibly best in town, it is a far cry from Spain.
Lighting was ridiculously low. Tried to order wine x 2 but they literally could not find either one until we were done with dinner.
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