Destroyer LA

This has got to be the hardest restaurant to try because it only opens from Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm. I have wanted to try this place for a while, but couldn't find the time to as normal people have to work (right?). But apparently not, I saw plenty of people come in and out of the place for the 1.5 hour I spent there. Anyways, I finally got a chance to go, and I loved it!

As you can see from the pictures below, it has a very unique décor. The space inside is mostly the open kitchen, but most of the seating is outdoors. The menu is projected on the wall to the right as you walk in to the restaurant, which is pretty cool and it saves paper too!

They have a pretty small menu, which I like. From my experience, a small menu usually indicates better quality food, and it also means that it is easier for me to choose because I am not overwhelmed with options. Here is what we ordered:

1. Marinated mushroom, fresh cheese, spelt, crunchy seeds, arugula 
This dish is so pretty that it looks like a real garden! This is seriously a piece of art, and it has a refreshing earthy taste.
2. Chicken confit, heirloom grits, spigarello, roasted strawberry  
A very interesting dish. The chicken is cooked to perfection, and the strawberries add a very unexpected flavor and some acidity to the dish.
3. Rice porridge, caramelized broccoli, puffed rice, burnt onion
Definitely my favorite dish. As a Chinese, I thought we were the only people who knew how to make a good porridge but this proved me wrong. This is surprisingly good, very simple but delicious. 

I would definitely recommend this place if you can make the very limited opening hours. It combines both the visual and taste sensations into the dish. It has taken fine dining down a notch to more affordable prices, but with the same amount of detail and deliciousness. 

Fig and Olive - My dineLA choice this summer

DineLA is here again! I just could not pass this chance to try one of the restaurants on my list! After screening through the menu, I decided to go with Fig and Olive. The lunch menu is only $25 per person and that includes one appetizer, one main course and one dessert. We did order a cocktail, a couple crostini, so ended up paying a little more than that, but if you stick with the dineLA menu, it is a great opportunity to dine out at a fancy place with a budget price.  

Before we order, they gave us some bread with 3 different kinds of olive oil (light, medium and strong), and they were so good that I almost got stuffed from bread and olive oil before the actual food came! They do live up to the olive part of their name!

For the appetizer, choices are:
Zucchini Carpaccio Lemon, pine nut, parmesan
Gazpacho Soup Tomato, watermelon, squash seed, basil olive oil
Truffle Mushroom Croquette Truffle aioli, parmesan

We picked the zucchini carpaccio and the truffle mushroom croquette. The zucchini carpaccio was very light and refreshing, and we absolutely LOVE the truffle mushroom croquette. It was super creamy inside, very crunchy outside and the flavors were amazing.  

For the entrée, choices are:
Primavera Risotto Asparagus, green pea, parmesan, pea shoot
Chicken Paillard Brussels sprout, haricot vert, red bell pepper, almond, lemon
Paella del Mar Saffron rice, black tiger shrimp, calamari, mussel
Fig & Olive Salad Manchego, fig, gorgonzola dolce, apple, tomato, olive scallion, walnut

We picked the risotto and paella. The risotto was an absolute delight. Love this green risotto so much more than I thought I would. Everything tasted so fresh and felt like I was eating from a farm. On the other hand, the Paella tasted a little disappointing. The seafood did not taste as fresh, but I like the flavor of the saffron rice.

For the dessert, choice are:
Dessert "Crostini" Amarena cherry, mascarpone, pistachio, shortbread
Chocolate Pot de Crème Crunchy hazelnut praline & vanilla cream

We ordered one of each, and we both like the pot de crème a lot more. I think the almond liqueur soaked cherry has too strong of the almond flavor, but I love the mascarpone and shortbread. I feel like it would have tasted so much better with some homemade jam or blueberry sauce. For the pot de crème, strong chocolate flavor, very smooth and the hazelnut praline cookie on the side was amazing.

Overall, for $25 per person, this is a great menu with this value and it is good enough to want to come back and try the regular menu. Just a side note, the dineLA menu often times do not reflect the true quality of the restaurant, which I think is a shame. That's why I usually study the menu a little bit before I decide to try it. But I definitely think dineLA is a great opportunity to try out different restaurants!

Bruxie - "the Waffle God"

I have heard of this place for sooooo long, but the closest location is all the way in Huntington Beach, and they also have other locations like Irvine, Chino Hills, La Brea, etc. Good news is that they have finally opened up another location in Santa Monica last September! 

I have been dying to try it! They offer different waffle sandwiches, both savory and sweet, and their signature is the fried buttermilk chicken waffle. I was going to order 1 savory and 1 sweet, but the guai lo is not in the mood for sweetness this afternoon. So, we ordered the signature fried buttermilk chicken and a Carolina pulled pork waffle sandwich. As for appetizer, we ordered the Irish Nacho, which basically is waffle-cut fries with cheesy sauce, bacon bits and sour cream on top. The waffle is really good! It is very light and crispy (so crispy that it almost feels like it's fried), unlike the normal waffle you would have for desserts. As for the fried chicken, it is thinly coated with flour, which makes a nice crust, but I can barely see any cole slaw (I only saw bits and pieces of cabbage), and that makes the sandwich very dry. What a shame, the waffle is good on its own, the chicken is good on its own, but they didn't really go well enough together. For the pulled pork, I like the sauce and the pork, but it is slightly too wet for the waffle, and it turned a little soggy. Last but not least, the fries! The fries are very good, but I do not like the sauce on top. First, the sauce was not enough to cover all the fries to begin with even if they were good. Second, the cheesy sauce is a little too heavy. The bacon bits were very good as well. I would rather order the plain fries, and it would have tasted so much better with ketchup.

Overall: 3/5
If I were to go back there, I would definitely try the sweet waffles, and maybe I will just order fried chicken with fries instead of the sandwiches. 

One nice thing about eating on the 3rd street promenade is that you get to walk around for a while. The beaches are close by, and there are different stores for shopping, as well as street performances. We saw 2 cute kids playing Beatles today, and they were pretty good!

Son of a Gun - West Hollywood

We decided to have a nice Sunday brunch/lunch last weekend, and I am in the mood for seafood, so we went to this place in west Hollywood called Son of a Gun. I have heard rumors that they have amazing lobster rolls. We got a seat right next to the window, nice open view! And I found a giant poodle outside (very typical rich people dog lol). 

Here's what we ordered:
Cappuccino - just cannot skip my morning coffee, it's pretty decent for a seafood place!
Lemonfish Poke, Black radish escabeche, citrus, crispy sunchoke - I always like a mix of texture, the soft raw fish and crispy sunchoke combination was awesome, a very light and refreshing dish, perfect for appetizier.
Lobster roll, celery, lemon aioli - The roll was so damn good, felt like it was toasted on a pan with butter (yum!) and the lobster is fresh and tasty.
Linquine & clams, uni aglio-olio, chili, breadcrumbs - I used to not like the idea of uni in pasta, but I am growing on it and this is good. At first, I thought the dish is a little pricy for its size, but they are very generous about the clams and it is very tasty. The pasta is al dente (mushy pasta can totally ruin a dish), and it was seasoned nicely. Very creamy but didn't feel too heavy.
Kennebec fries, malt vinegar aiolo - Good fries. You will be surprised how hard it is to find a place with good fries. Love the aioli. 
Italian hamburger: Gianduja, brioche, caramel, maldon - I was struggling whether I should order a dessert because it is a seafood place (will their dessert be good?!), but I did not regret my decision. Love love love the caramel, perfect level of sweetness. And it goes perfectly with the chocolate ice-cream. 

The shell on the bill is kinda cute. They really stick to their seafood theme. This is a 4 out of 5 stars restaurant. A little on the pricey side but food was delicious, love the presentation as well. A lot of little boutiques on that street that you can walk around afterwards, made a very nice Sunday afternoon.
BTW, totally forgot my camera that day, I guess phone pictures are not that bad huh?

Ink. Sack

View fullsize

What's for lunch? I am kinda broke and don't want to spend too much money, yet I like yummy delicious food without actually having to cook.... um..... ramen? It's kinda too hot of an afternoon for ramen...... maybe sandwich? Oh! I remember a sandwich place that I was curious to try! Ink.sack! Found this place when I dined in Ink last time! It is right next to Ink on Melrose near Beverly Grove. Parking on a Sunday is not bad at all. 

This is just too cute. The place is all dressed up for Halloween! Most people order the sandwich to go, we did see a lot of people coming in and out during the time we were there, but the line is never crazy long, and the sandwiches come out pretty quickly. On average, the sandwiches are around $6-8, which is very reasonable.

Now I know why it's so cheap! The sandwiches are kinda small, but for me, it is the perfect size. But for a guy, you might need to eat two of those, but that means you get to order two different flavors, right?! They have some homemade chips, so we ordered the Maryland crab chips. For sandwiches, we ordered Banh Mi, Spicy Tuna and Spanish Godfather. For the chips, I like the cut, I think it is the perfect thickness for chips, thin enough so that it's crispy, but thick enough to taste. But I do not like the seasoning so much, if I do come back here, I might order the salt and pepper next time. For the sandwiches, it seems like they always use ciabatta, which in my opinion, is a little lazy, but their ciabatta is pretty good and it goes well with most things. The bread was clearly toasted and warm, which is a big plus. Unlike a lot of people, I care about the bread as much as what's in the sandwiches. All the sandwiches we had were cold, which is perfect for a hot day. The sandwiches are good, but I am slightly disappointed just because I had very high expectations after the dinner at Ink. For this price, the sandwiches are definitely above average, and the ingredients are fresh. My personal favorite is the Banh Mi, crispy bacon added a little texture to the sandwich, and the pickled vegetables balance the saltiness from the cold sliced pork shoulder pretty well. This restaurant would be a 3 for me. 

I came up with a way of rating restaurant for myself, on a scale 1 to 5. 
5. OMG, that was sooooo good. I wondered what other dishes taste like, definitely want to come back. Not at all angry about what I paid.
4. It was definitely good, but doesn't feel like it's worth the price.
3. I am glad that I tried it, but wouldn't feel like I am missing out if I didn't. 
2. For the price, it's ok.
1. I just wasted my money and my calorie quota on this?! 

Guisados - West Hollywood

Taco Tuesday! We have been craving for some good tacos, and we found this yummy taco place! It was first opened in Boyle Heights, and now it has 3 more locations at DTLA, Echo Park as well as West Hollywood! Tacos in this place are kinda different from the tacos I have had in other Mexican places. This place serves homestyle braises on homemade corn tortillas. Basically, different meat or vegetables simmering in a stew with different spices and chiles, and a scoop of that was put on some homemade tortillas! Yummy!! 
They have more than 10 different taco options, and I just wanted to try everything!! You know what?! Dream come true! They have taco sampler, which contains 6 mini tacos of your choice of meat (no seafood)!!!! OMG!!! So, we ordered a sampler of tacos with different stews of pork, chicken and beef, as well as a regular shrimp taco (Camarones) and a fish taco (Pescado). They were so good! My favorite one is the Pescado! The fish was grilled and seasoned nicely, only complaint is that it's not spicy. One other favorite is the Chorizo, with some red onion and serrano chile sauce on top!! Because the meat was braised, they are very tender, and also the meat absorbs all the spices from the sauce, and it just tastes so good!!! For the vegetarians out there, we did not try the vegetarian tacos, but they do have a variety of vegetarian tacos that looks pretty appealing. 
They also serve beer and the street it's on seems to be very lively! Good place to hang out with a couple friends, have some beer and tacos! 

 

Gregoire - Berkeley

This was my favorite sandwich place, and still is, but it's just I am  not in the area anymore.... It is a cute little French-inspired gourmet sandwich place. They have two locations: one in Berkeley and the other in Oakland. Every month, it is a dining adventure in Gregoire because the menu changes every month. I still remember I used to check out the menu every month to see if there was anything I wanted to try. 
On the menu, they usually would have one salad and one soup. For the sandwiches, they have one or two vegetarian, one or two seafood, one chicken, one beef, one pork and one lamb. They create different sandwiches every month around these meat options. Depending on the ingredients, they match it with different bread, like pantofolina, dutch crunch, french roll, ciabatta, etc. Definitely a high-end sandwich experience. 
I have never been disappointed with their sandwiches. On that day, we ordered Scallop & lime ceviche with taro chips & avocado on Dutch crunch. We weren't too hungry, so we picked something light. Bread was crunchy outside, soft inside, the lime added some acidity to the scallop, and the taro chips added some crunchy texture to the sandwich. It was delicious. One other sandwich that we didn't order but I have tried before is the fried buttermilk chicken filet with spicy cole slaw on a French roll. The chicken was crispy but still juicy inside, and the spicy cole slaw gave it a little moisture and kick to the taste. It seems like this is always on the menu now, so I am guessing it is so popular that they decided to keep it on the menu. 
One thing that you absolutely cannot miss, which is the potato puffs!!!! It is soooooooooooooo good. Perfectly seasoned and fried, with the homemade aioli. It might seem very simple, but it is the best potato puff I have ever tasted. The fries are good too, but honestly, I prefer the potato puffs. 
They offer desserts too. And I have only tried "the fold", and it was good. Very flaky, and the portion is just right after a delicious sandwich meal. They also have dinner, and just started serving breakfast too. I have tried dinner once a couple years ago, and it is good. But it is a little pricey in my opinion, and also I have noticed that they have raised the price since I was last here :( It used to be mostly under $10 for sandwiches, now it's more like $11.50 to $12. Story of my life: Cost of living keeps increasing, and salary stays the same lol.

 

Cheese Board Pizza - Berkeley

On the way up to the redwood, we stopped by Berkeley for a nostalgic visit and the main part of this visit is of course, FOOD! This is my favorite pizza place in Berkeley, and maybe even in California. It usually doesn't open on a holiday, so that's why the last couple times I was here, it's closed! Finally made it on a weekday this time! 

Cheeseboard is a worker-owned collective store, and my understanding is that there is no boss in this place, whoever works in this place also owns a little part of the place. Pretty cool right? Their pizza is always vegetarian. Hold on.... don't get turned off yet.... trust me, it is definitely better than most of the meat pizza I have had. They only offer one kind of pizza a day, and it changes every day, so the line might seem long in the picture, but it goes by very quickly because the order is simple. 

The Cheese Board was opened in 1967 as a cheese store, and it expanded to the store that also sells pizza and baked goods. They have the pizza store right next to the cheese/bread store. They sell almost 400 different cheeses, and the pizza they sell was made from the cheeses they have. Each day, they picked seasonal ingredients for the pizza and complimented it with their cheeses. It's never disappointing. The price is also very reasonable, and surprisingly, it hasn't gone up at all since I lived here 6 years ago. The day we went, the pizza was heirloom tomato, red onion, mozzarella and parmigiano, toasted garlic, olive oil, fresh herb. They have such a variety of cheeses that any other ingredient will find its perfect match and meat is unnecessary. I still remember the favorite pizza I had from Cheese Board was with potato and corn. It was just...... so damn good!!! I regret not going there often enough when I lived in the area. For those who live there, GO! For those who pass by this place, GO!! For those who are in the area, make a detour and GO!!!!!