New American on Gourmand Syndrome

Lamplight Lounge

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 22:36:40 -0800

Lamplight Lounge was one of the few in-park Disney restaurants that we wanted to try because we heard some decent things about. I was able to nab a reservation pretty easily for 2 for 7:00 PM on a Friday night. The food is similar to a gastropub, and in the winter if you get a late enough reservation, you can actually watch the water show from your counter without cramming onto the bridge or other busy viewpoints.

Carthay Circle

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 20:04:45 -0400

Carthay Circle is located fairly close to the front of California Adventure. You do need an admission to the park in order to access this restaurant which is basically in the square at the end of the main road from the entrance. This was actually our second time visiting. I remember the first time being fairly underwhelming, so I felt it was wasteful to even spend the time to document it. This time around, my partner wanted to check this out again. As usual, you have to make sure you get reservations way ahead of arrival, or else there’s a sketchy wait time. For this, I lowered my expectations greatly, so let’s see how it went.

Yang's Kitchen

Sun, 16 Apr 2023 11:50:51 -0400

We’ve finally arrived in Los Angeles to kick it with family before heading up to Mammoth for a wedding. This restaurant was suggested because it has modern Taiwanese American tastes to it that is seemingly becoming a trend in the Alhambra areas. Unlike NYC, I’ve always felt LA had better Asian food in the low/mid price ranges, so let’s see how it tastes. We were able to wait list on Yelp for about 5 minutes around 10:15 AM.

Napa Rose

Mon, 25 Feb 2019 00:43:34 -0400

Napa Rose is located in Disney’s Grand California Adventure hotel and is known for its award-winning wine list and exemplary service. The food has a lot of inspirations from California’s fresh, farm-to-table qualities. This is arguably Disneyland’s premier restaurant that many, including some of my local family and friends, visit just for the food. I wanted to try this out to see how it compared to New York City.

Maude (Truffles)

Sat, 08 Nov 2014 21:30:54 -0500

For this month, it was TRUFFLES. I’ve never eaten a full blown truffle set meal. At $250 a pop and 600 consecutive phone calls over a span of 2 hours, I was able to get this reservation. Coupled with wine pairing, the meal was superbly awesome.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. This has 1 Michelin Star. I remember that after this dinner, I was getting tired of blogging all my Maude meals. I started to go to Maude solo monthly for a few more times, but they started to enforce solo dining restrictions where you can only come at the first serving which is too early for me.

Maude (Pear)

Wed, 15 Oct 2014 21:14:34 -0500

This is my 5th visit to Maude in 6 months. I guess I have the pleasure of doing this because I don’t have many financial responsibilities. This month’s tasting features pears, and again it did not disappoint me. I love pears, and I was curious in seeing how the chef uses it in his dishes.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. This has 1 Michelin Star.

Maude (Tomatoes)

Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:29:34 -0500

This is the month for tomatoes. I generally love tomatoes. They can come in so many different sizes and textures, such that it makes it very tasty. I will say that the meal for me did not disappoint.

We ended up getting the wine pairing which was about $70 extra. According to my buddy, the wine pairing was excellent throughout the meal and complemented the foods very well. I’ll just take their word for it.

Maude (Corn)

Sun, 24 Aug 2014 21:00:10 -0500

The feature for Maude this month is corn, and it was way more awesome compared to last month. I like corn a lot, so I went in with some expectations, and I wasn’t disappointed.

It really sucks to get reservations here. To get this particular reservation I called about 100 times in a given hour. If you look on my cell phone bill, you will see at least 60 5-second calls to them coupled with 40 some calls from a desk phone. But I did it, woot! Corn is in season, so you can expect bold sweet flavors.

Maude (Berries)

Sat, 05 Jul 2014 20:45:27 -0400

This could very well be my last post for food for a few weeks. Doing a special restaurant each week is getting rather grueling right now. I’ve decided to soften the blow, so I’ll go to Maude each month for the remainder of the year.

This is #26 of 52 (or 26?) of my 2014 LA food expedition.

For this month, the special ingredient is berries. Like my rhubarb meal that I went to 2 months ago, I was expecting this to be similar in that every dish would have strong presence and usage of some berry. To be honest, I was slightly disappointed because it didn’t meet my (overly high?) expectations.

Maude (Rhubarb)

Wed, 07 May 2014 20:45:27 -0400

What was so interesting about Maude was how each month has a different ingredient theme. I like this approach. Not only can you choose what you want to eat, but it also is cool to not have to think about what to order since the entire menu is a tasting menu. This so far is probably my favorite upscale LA restaurant (possibly attributed to the star of this month … rhubarb).

Scratch Bar

Sat, 26 Apr 2014 22:53:32 -0500

Scratch Bar has been on my radar for a while. I love out-of-the-box food creations and multi-course prixe fixed menus, and this restaurant had both of those. It’s relatively new, and it was not even packed at all. I ventured out here by myself after work, and I’m glad I did for an unforgettable night.

This is #16 of 52 on my 2014 LA food expedition.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. This restaurant ended up closing, but it moved out to Encino with a similar theme but even more accessible.

The Hart and the Hunter

Sat, 12 Apr 2014 22:31:10 -0500

At a whim, it was the end of the day, and I completely forgot to pick a place to go for this week. I saw this was on my list, and I figured why not? Mind as well try it. I sure didn’t regret this decision. The Hart and The Hunter is a pretty interesting place.

This is #14 of 52 on my 2014 LA food expedition.

Red Medicine

Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:45:44 -0500

I remember Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods visiting this restaurant. And since I’m a huge fan of him and his experiences, I wanted to give this a try as well. Red Medicine from my understanding is Vietnamese-cuisine-inspired but not necessarily Vietnamese by any means. Don’t go there expecting traditional Vietnamese dishes fused with new American elements. DO go here expecting to get interesting concoctions where everything is not only pretty looking but also very edible.

Sonoma Wine Garden

Sat, 25 Jan 2014 21:56:20 -0500

A colleague of mine, who is an avid wine drinker, mentioned this place in the Santa Monica mall as a place with good drinks and good eats. I’m not a wine purist since I usually drink wine like beer. But he’s on a quest to educate me.

This is restaurant #3 on my 2014 LA food expedition.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog.

Black Market Liquor Bar

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 00:05:01 -0400

No, this isn’t the clothing store on the west side. This is the Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. I went here with my cousin based on reviews from a friend. People and Zagat say it’s good, so we checked this out.

The decor of the restaurant was interesting. There’s a sign on top of the building that says “Victory Motorcycles Co”, so I was curious as if I went to the right place. Inside the restaurant, it had a tavern feel to it similar to some speak easy bars.

Ink (#2)

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 22:55:53 -0400

Earlier this week, I reviewed the Ink tasting menu that appeared approximately 2 months after open. Today I went to Ink again to sample his food again. I will be blunt and say tonight was by far the BEST LA expensive food that I’ve had. Let’s get straight to what was on the menu.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. On this night, Michael Voltaggio was helming the meat station, so my friend and I were in awe that he touched our beef course. I vividly remember that the course was sublime, and if this was the future of the LA food scene, I was super excited to see this restaurant’s future and contribution. Unfortunately and understandably, this restaurant closed in 2017 because he had outgrew it.

Ink

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:55:46 -0400

In preparation for my second visit to Ink, I’ve finally got off my ass to review and post my original Ink experience. If you don’t know already, this is Michael Voltaggio’s first restaurant that he opened up here in West Hollywood. It’s his take on modern LA cuisine. I was looking forward to try some of his creations, so let’s see what it’s all about.

Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. I recall molecular gastronomy being a very hot thing at this time, and after watching the Voltaggio brothers compete on Top Chef, I was super excited to try out this restaurant. On this night, I remember seeing him directing traffic in his kitchen.

SAAM at The Bazaar

Sun, 20 May 2012 21:40:25 -0400

The SAAM at Bazaar by Jose Andres is well known for its take on molecular gastronomy. It’s located in the SLS Hotel off of La Cienega near West Hollywood. It’s filled with your typical pretentious and superficial Hollywood crowds. If you can get past that, there are 2 restaurants here of note: the regular restaurant where you can order tapas and the SAAM restaurant where it’s a 22 course prix fix taster. Since I’m more than likely to not go to the same high end restaurant again, I decided to go big.