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Category: Restaurants (Page 3 of 52)

Dining in DC: Balos Estiatorio

February 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

This happening Dupont Circle spot had hits – and misses.

We spent our first morning in DC, the first Sunday of February, visiting the memorials at the National Mall and working up an appetite. Brunch at Balos Estiatorio was next on the schedule. I’d chosen that restaurant because I saw it recommended in some list and my daughter noticed that it offered baklava French toast. As a lover of both baklava and French toast she was intrigued – and while I don’t like baklava myself, I was curious.

Balos was very busy when we got there (good thing I’d made a reservation!), filled with beautiful, mostly young people relaxing and taking advantage of the bottomless brunch cocktails. We had plans for the afternoon (visiting the Spy Museum with a friend), so we didn’t partake on alcohol, but I certainly got the appeal.

The restaurant is large, stylish but casual, somewhat loud and definitely hip. Service was as personable and polite as we quickly came to expect in DC – despite living at the center of the neo-apocalypse, Washingtonians seem to have (or fake) much better attitudes than Californians. It’s definitely not the weather.

We hit Balos the last day of the winter restaurant week, and they were offering their pre-fix three course brunch menu for $36 (it was listed for $35, but Balos also ads a 4% “operations fee” to make their prices look lower), a $10 saving over the regular price. This time we all partook of it.

Though there were quite a few options for appetizers, both Mike and I decided on the Greek Onion soup, which was very much like French onion soup but with graviera cheese instead of gruyere. It was quite good, particularly in a chilly day, though I think I prefer gruyere in this soup. Still, the broth was sweet, the cheese added saltiness and I enjoyed it.

My daughter had the spanakopita, an old favorite. This was a very good version, and she particularly enjoyed how flaky and crispy it was.

As my main course, I had the lavraki filet, an 8 oz branzino filet, which came with a light herbed sauce and lemon juice. I’m not usually much of a fish eater, but I wanted something light and this fit the bill. There was nothing amazing about this dish, but it was well cooked, well seasoned and tasty – my only complain was that it had too many bones. I did like how the lemon came encased in a mesh covering to keep the lemons inside.

Mike had the steak & eggs, which included “8 oz prime NY strip, Greek fries, eggs your way.” The steak was well cooked and seasoned and was very tasty, we liked the fries, but the eggs were disappointing. He had ordered them over medium, expecting the yolk to be partially runny so he could dip the fries in it, but they were solid. It’s a minor complain and he overall liked the dish.

The biggest disappointment, however, was my daughter’s “baklava” French toast, served with “mixed berries, pistachio, almond, walnut, Greek yogurt.” It had nothing altogether reminiscent of baklava. It was just run of the mill French toast. The two slices of bread were thick, and came with real maple syrup and some berries. There were a couple of nuts, but nothing that would make you think of baklava. My daughter was very disappointed.

There were three choices for dessert, and we tried them all. I had the mascarpone cheesecake, which came with Vyssino cherries. I wasn’t really hungry by this point, which was a good thing as I didn’t really enjoy the cheesecake. It wasn’t what I’d call bad, but it just wasn’t worth the calories and the carbs. It wasn’t as creamy as a regular cheesecake. No one else thought greatly of it either.

Mike enjoyed his galaktoboureko (a custard filled phyllo pastry) much more. He thought it was absolutely great.

Mika had the baklava, which was served with Greek frozen yoghurt. The sour frozen yoghurt was great, and provided a nice contrast to the sweetness of the syrup. My daughter, however, realized she doesn’t really like “wet” baklava, that so soaked in syrup that becomes soggy. She enjoyed the taste, but wished it had been crispier.

In all, we had a nice brunch.

Balos Estiatorio
1940 N St NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Dining in DC: Imperfecto

February 13, 2025 / / 0 Comments 
Dining in DC: Notes from a Week in the Capital

This Foggy Bottom Michelin-adjunct restaurant lives up to its name, in a good way.

We arrived in Washington DC a cold Saturday night in February, merely days after the Führer-wannabe’s inauguration. But it was tourism, rather than politics, which brought us to town and, in my golden years, traveling and dining have become intrinsically connected. I hadn’t made many plans for dining in DC, as it had been hard to predict in advance how tired we would be each day and how far we’d want to venture in search of food, but I did make a point of getting reservations for our fist night. Not only was it a Saturday night, but it came at the tail end of DC’s winter restaurant week, which I figured would be attracting the thriftier diners venturing without the grace of an expense account. That was a good call as Imperfecto was completely booked that night – when our plane was delayed in disembarking we tried to push our reservations until later, and were told they were booked until 10 PM. Fortunately, it was a quick trip from the airport to our hotel in Foggy Bottom and then a quick walk to the restaurant. We made our original reservation with plenty of time.

Imperfecto is a Latin American inspired restaurant, presenting innovative cuisine in an elegant but modern environment. Its Chef’s table has won a Michelin star, though I’m not sure why the award wasn’t given to the restaurant as a whole. It certainly deserves it. The atmosphere is young (in spirit if not in chronological age), dark and loud. People were fairly well dressed, which can make those who didn’t want to change out of their Patagonia fleece feel a bit out of place. I’m not pointing fingers or anything.

The Restaurant Week menu included selected offerings from their regular menu which, combined, represented a significant savings from their à la carte prices. The three course meal was $68 – it was listed as $65 but Imperfecto adds a 5% “service charge” which goes to the restaurant, rather than the wait staff and which looks like an attempt to hide a price increase. In this review, I’ll be adding the service charge to the menu prices.

We ordered two of these menus and an additional main dish for my vegetarian daughter. I wasn’t very hungry so I shared my appetizer and dessert with her, but the meal portions are such that a main would not be enough food by itself unless you weren’t particularly hungry.

Dinner started with a complimentary small glass of mushroom soup. It was very hot and creamy, a little bit too salty and not as good as the Bourdain recipe I like to make, but definitely wonderful in such a cold evening. Having an amuse bouche like this definitely started the meal very nicely.

As my appetizer, I chose the Aladdin burrata ($28 in the regular menu): “burrata, tamarind hummus, fried lentil tabbouleh, apple compote, manoush”. It was a very interesting dish – not one that I’d characterized as delicious, but we enjoyed the mix of flavors and textures. The fried lentils were very crunchy and just fun to eat, the mild burrata was silky and soft, the apple compote provided the occasional burst of sweetness and the hummus provided substance. The dish was served with two small pieces of pita bread – more would have been better. It was definitely large enough to share.

My husband had the ceviche ($27), the other appetizer choice in the restaurant week menu. It was described as “gentle poached shrimp, sweet potato leche de tigre, chiles toreados dressing, rye chip”. He liked it, he finished it, but we were too busy over analyzing my appetizer to hear what he had to say about his. Clearly, he wasn’t as effusive or blown away as we were.

There were three choices for mains in the restaurant week menu, a branzino ($50), a sweet potato dish ($29) and a lamb terrine ($55), and both Mike and I chose the latter. The cordero was described as “Robuchon pomme purée, red cabbage confit, lamb jus, truffle.” It was delicious. I really enjoyed the silky, warm and perfectly seasoned mashed potatoes and the bold flavor of the lamb terrine. The shaved truffle added earthiness while the cabbage confit brought sweetness. The whole dish was very successful and while a classic, still quite creative. Mike liked it as well.

My daughter ordered the truffle tagliolini ($29) off the regular menu. It consisted of tagliolini pasta, “sweet corn cream, asparagus, Pecorino, truffles”. It was a very peculiar dish that tasted unlike anything else she’d had before. She found it interesting, though not particularly delicious. She wasn’t fond of the large slices of truffle which gave the dish a .. flavor – she loves truffles, and she felt they would have been better if shredded. In all, she was glad to try this but she wouldn’t order it again. It wasn’t a particularly large portion, so she was glad to have my appetizer to share as well as my dessert.

There were two dessert choices in the restaurant week menu, and I chose La Nube: “passion fruit lychee gel, amaretto-vanilla custard, white chocolate foam, pistachio ice cream”. This was absolutely delicious – again a wonderful contrast of textures and flavors. The gel was very intense and it was tempered by the other ingredients. My daughter was lucky that I wasn’t hungry or I’d had more than a bite.

Mike had the chocobanana, “olive oil cocoa crumble, burnt banana ice cream. 72% cremeux, halva caramel, sugar tuile” and while it was good and he enjoyed it, it wasn’t as exciting as the gel.

Service was polite and friendly, and in all we had a great time. I’d recommend it.

Imperfecto
1124 23rd St NW
Washington, D.C
(202) 964-1012

San Leandro Bites: Porky’s Pizza Palace

October 23, 2024 / / 0 Comments

A favorite San Leandro pizzeria never fails to satisfy

Last night, my oldest was in town and had a hankering for pizza. I didn’t myself, but I still have been craving pasta, so I decided to order from an old favorite: Porky’s Pizza Palace. This is a restaurant we have frequented ever since we moved to San Leandro, almost a quarter of a century ago. I love the old-fashioned, family-oriented, small-town-America feel of the place, and there food is pretty good as well. I didn’t take pictures this time, we just dived into the food.

The kids had a half-pineapple, half-Golden cheese pizza ($28). They thought the pizza was OK, pretty average pizzeria pizza.

We also ordered cheesy garlic bread ($6.3) and it’s definitely very cheesy. However, the cheese is not that flavorful. Next time we’d order the garlic bread without the cheese.

I decided to order a quart of ravioli ($14) and three meatballs ($12), so I’d have food for three meals. I really like Porky’s ravioli and meatballs. They are not going to win any culinary awards, but the ravioli are well cooked, with soft pasta, and are bursting with beef filling. The meat sauce is flavorful and tastes home made and the meatballs are light and, while commercial, not something I can actually buy myself at the supermarket. They are also pretty large.

In all, I like Porky’s Pizza, in particular the ravioli, and I’ll continue to order from there from time to time, as I have over the decades.

Porky's Pizza Palace
1221 Manor Blvd.
San Leandro, CA
(510) 357-4323
Mon-Thu 3 – 9 pm
Fri 3 – 10 pm
Sat 1 – 10 pm
Sun 1 – 9 pm

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Chain Restaurant Reviews: The Olive Garden

October 23, 2024 / / 1 Comment

I tried the Never Ending Pasta Bowl!

A couple of weeks ago I saw a commercial for The Olive Garden‘s Never Ending Pasta Bowl and since then I’ve been obsessing about it. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I’ve been watching my carbs and avoiding pasta. Or maybe there is just something about the fantasies of limitless eating that appeals to human at an instinctive level. Olive Garden has been having this promotion for decades, so it’s obviously working for them.

I’m by no means a regular Olive Garden customer. I can count in one hand how often I’ve gone to the restaurant over the decades, with fingers to spare. Mostly I found it unmemorable, and with better Italian options around, often the same or more affordable prices, there has never been a compelling reason to go

I actually did a fair amount of reading on the Olive Garden and the Never Ending Pasta Bowl before my visit – such was my obsession. I learned that it wasn’t a particularly good deal for the customer, as most normal people can’t finish a single plate of pasta, much less have seconds. I also learned that you can take leftovers to go, and that you can order a serving of just the sauce. Finally, I learned that waiters hate it because they have to make multiple trips to the kitchen without the corresponding increase in tips.

We visited the Hayward location for lunch a Friday in October. I remembered the restaurant looking cuter back when I last went, this time it was just utilitarian. We were seated near the bar – and the kitchen – in a room without any decorations at all. Given that the food is not that cheap, I expected better.

We went there a little before noon and the place got fairly busy as the lunch hour came, though it was never really full. The restaurant is rather large, with good distance between the tables.

As the entrées all come with soup or salad and breadsticks, we didn’t bother ordering appetizers. My husband and daughter had the salad which they found to be unremarkable. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, it was just a salad.

The breadsticks, on the other hand, were delicious. They are served warm, have garlic flavor, and have a soft interior. They are a tad dry, so they’re great for dipping. They were our favorite part of the meal – though I only had half of one, as I didn’t want to get full on bread (plus I’m watching those carbs).

Olive Garden has four soups, and I’d read that the Chicken & Gnocchi soup ($10, if ordered on its own) was particularly popular, so I ordered that. It was OK. I did like how soft and pillowy the gnocchi were, but there were relatively few of them in the soup. The chicken cream base wasn’t my favorite, but I’m not a fan of cream soups (or soups) in general. I did like it as a dip for the breadstick, however.

I got a second portion to go, as part of the Never Ending Pasta Bowl promotion (which gives you never ending soup or salad and never ending breadsticks as well), and I was surprised at how small it was. I think it had all of two gnocchi.

My daughter had the chicken parmigiana ($21.3). It was a large portion but not a particularly successful one. My daughter compared it to the frozen chicken parmesan we buy at the supermarket.

Mike had the seafood alfredo ($23.5) and he was equally unimpressed. He found the alfredo sauce to be thin and not particularly tasty, and the seafood just OK. He wouldn’t order it again.

In both these cases, you can get a much better plate of food for a similar price at a mom & pop’s Italian restaurant.

I, of course, ordered the Never Ending Pasta Bowl ($16) with a side of protein ($5). The protein this time around are meatballs, Italian sausages or “crispy chicken fritta”, which I think are breaded and fried chicken slices. You are given a choice of four pastas (fettuccine, spaghetti, rigatoni and angel hair) and six sauces (garlic herb, alfredo, marinara, five cheese marinara, creamy mushroom and meat sauce).

For my first plate I had the fettuccine with half mushroom sauce , half meat sauce
and meatballs. The plate was rather generous and definitely enough for a lunch entree, particularly after eating the few gnocchi from the soup. The fettuccine itself was rather bland (but it’s pasta) and a little past al dente – with some parts that were on the rawer side. I don’t think I’d order it again. I did like the mushroom sauce, particularly when I got a mushroom. It was creamy, mushroomy and very tasty. The meat sauce, on the other hand, was a disappointment. It had very small and scant pieces of meat and tasted like jarred sauce. I definitely wouldn’t order it again. The meatballs weren’t bad. They were light, and tasted like the meatballs you get in pizza joint and sandwich places – which I, personally, like. The first order came with three meatballs.


For my second plate, which I took home, I had the angel hair pasta with the five cheese marinara sauce. I liked the angel hair better, but the sauce – a mixture of marinara sauce with alfredo sauce – tasted like supermarket vodka sauce, basically, a creamy tomato sauce. It was too acidic. I would not order it again. This second portion of pasta was also pretty small, and it came with two meatballs.

I also had a bowl of alfredo sauce, as I wanted to try it. As Mike noted, it was on the thin side, and it also didn’t differ much from the jarred stuff. It wasn’t bad as a dip for the breadsticks, but I also wouldn’t order it .

I had water with dinner, Mike had a soda ($4), and my daughter had the raspberry lemonade ($4.50). She really liked it. They come with unlimited refills as well.

Service was fine, a little bit rushed but that’s to be expected.

In all, it was a mediocre and yet pretty expensive lunch – though we all took some leftovers home. I can’t imagine rushing back to the Olive Garden.

Olive Garden
star-outline24688 Hesperian Blvd  
Hayward, CA 
(510) 782-6385
Su - Th 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM
F - Sa  11:00 AM to 11:00 PM

Chain Restaurant Reviews

Bay Area Restaurant Reviews

A foodie in San Francisco: Sears Fine Food Review

October 19, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This 85-year old Union Square fixture attracts tourists and old-timers

I love historical restaurants. Really, I love historical anything. There is a reason why I majored in history, after all. So when I came across Sears Fine Food, as I was looking for places to eat before a play at the San Francisco Playhouse (btw, don’t miss The Play that Goes Wrong), I knew I had to go. The reviews were mixed, but I was willing to put up with substandard food for the historical experience.

Sears Fine Food was opened back in 1938 by Ben Sears, a retired circus crown, and his wife Hilbur. They specialized on breakfast food, particularly the silver dollar Swedish pancakes made from a family recipe. Served with lingonberries, they are still on the menu today.

The restaurant is pretty small and it has less of a historical look than I sought, though it does have black and white photos on the walls of old patrons and an old-fashioned atmosphere.

I ordered the “Our World Famous 18 Swedish Pancakes” with lingonberry sauce and sausages ($27) for dinner that evening – both because nothing else on the menu really appealed to me that night and because I wanted to try them. Alas, they were pretty disappointing.

The pancakes themselves were abundant but generic. They didn’t have the metallic flavor of those made with a mix, but they didn’t have a particularly pleasant flavor either. They came with corn syrup which didn’t do them any favors. A few days later I had a similar dish of silver dollar pancakes with syrup at a local fundraiser, and the homemade pancakes were far, far superior.

I did like the lingonberry preserves, which did elevate the pancakes, but there were only enough for about half the pancakes. I could have ordered another serving ($3), I suppose, but there were too many carbs on the plate as it was. The sausages were fine, pretty generic breakfast sausages. In all, I don’t think I’d recommend this dish. And yes, it was ridiculously expensive for what it was. But I figure you’re paying for the location here.

Mike had the lobster risotto ($27) and that was a somewhat better choice. He liked that the lobster came on top of the risotto rather than mixed in, as that allowed him to control how much risotto he consumed. The risotto itself was a tad salty, but delicious. It had the creaminess you seek on risotto and a very balanced, umami flavor. The lobster, however, was in need of butter. Without it, it lacked moisture and richness. Mike probably wouldn’t order the dish again.

For dessert, he had the creme brulee ($10). It was just OK. The custard should have been more flavorful.

Service was very good, however, and I did enjoy our time there. Still, I can’t imagine I’d go back. 

Sears Fine Food
439 Powell Street
San Francisco, CA
(415)986-0700
Daily 6:30am-9pml

L.A. Chow: Lum Ka Naad

October 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

An exploration of Northern and Southern Thai cuisines

Los Angeles is a great city for Thai food. It’s in LA where I first became acquainted with Thai food, and I’ve had many a memorable Thai meal there. While Thai restaurants have become common in the Bay Area over the last three decades, and we have several ones even in San Leandro, there is still something special about LA Thai food.

Lum Ka Naad is not your ordinary Thai restaurant. It has an extremely extensive menu offering stereotypical Thai dishes as well as classics from other parts of Asia. More interestingly, they also offer a handful of unique dishes from Northern and Southern Thailand, allowing you to explore Thai cuisine more thoroughly. We visited the restaurant during our last visit to my family in the SF Valley, and I’m sure well return.

The restaurant itself is pretty casual, though more by juxtaposition than design. The dining area, if isolated, would be somewhat elegant. It’s decorated with non-garish pieces of Thai art. Alas, the bar/check out and their staging area, including where they keep their carts, are all open to the dining room and bring down the elegance factor by several notches. So just think casual.

We started dinner with an appetizer of beef satay ($15), which was delicious. It brought me back when I was first introduced to the dish so many decades ago. The beef is marinated in a curry then grilled and served with peanut sauce. Both the beef and sauce were on point. It’s been years since I last ordered satay – and I realize now that it’s because many restaurants don’t provide a beef option, and chicken or pork satay can be very dry. The beef was tender and didn’t suffer that problem.

We also shared an appetizer of angel wings ($16). These are boneless chicken wings stuffed with a mixture of ground chicken and glass noodles, then battered and fried. It was a very substantial dish, and I thought it was tasty though not out of this world delicious. Mike liked it more, I think. We took most of this home and reheated it a couple of days later, it stood up to time and microwaving quite well. Still, I wouldn’t order it again, though Mike might.

For dinner, I had the larb kua ($17) from the northern menu. Larb or laab, is a dish of Lao origins that has been adopted and modified in some areas of northern Thailand. I’d never had the northern Thai version, in which the meat is marinated with spices and then pan fried.

It was very tasty. It’s not a huge dish, and I actually finished it all, but I really enjoyed it. I had it with ground beef, but you can choose ground pork or chicken instead. The spicing was delicious and the texture added by the garlic was great.

Mike had the sator & shrimp ($20), a dish consisting of sator beans sautéed with shrimp, ground pork and a shrimp paste sauce. Sator beans, also known as stinky beans for their strong, foul aroma, are a feature of southern Thai cuisine. The dish was pretty spicy, but Mike thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a new flavor combination for him, pungent to say the least. The problem were the leftovers. They stank up my mother’s refrigeration and led her to ban us from using it in the future. The smell lasted even after the leftovers were consumed and she cleaned the fridge. If you order this, make sure to eat it all and don’t take it home.

My sister had the panang curry with chicken ($17). This was a good but not extraordinary version of this dish – but this is a dish so good that it’s hard to make any better. She enjoyed it quite a bit.

My nice, meanwhile, had the orange chicken ($16.50), but with with tofu instead of chicken. Made this way, this Chinese favorite is vegan. She enjoyed that it had been made with actual oranges, and remarked on the freshness of the flavor.

Service was great, our waitress was very attentive and cheerful, and helped us navigate the long menu.

We definitely enjoyed our meal and would return. There is a second Lum Ka Naad location in Encino, for those closer to that area.

Lum Ka Naad 
8910 Reseda Blvd,
Northridge, CA
(818) 882-3028
Mon - Sun : 11:00 am - 10:00 pm

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

Chain Restaurant Reviews: Nick the Greek

October 7, 2024 / / 0 Comments

This Greek fast food chain serves authentic souvlaki pitas!

I have written before about how my first introduction to Greek food was during a trip to Greece while doing my year abroad in Egypt. I was a starving student and Greece seemed expensive compared to Egypt back then, so my diet while there consisted pretty much only of souvlaki pitas. These sandwiches of sliced lamb and beef, with tomatoes and onions, French fries and tzatziki sauce were absolutely delicious. I had the opportunity to try them again when we travelled back to Athens, right before the pandemic. They hadn’t changed.

The gyros that Greek and Mediterranean restaurants in the US were different, and not just because they lacked French fries. I could never really tell why, but the flavor was just not there. Thus I was surprised that Nick the Greek – a chain of all things – has managed to approximate them so well.

Nick the Greek opened a location in San Leandro in the last couple of years, and we’ve been regular costumers since. They have a pretty limited menu, however, of pitas, plates and a bowl.

I usually get the Beef/Lamb Gyro Pita ($12.50). I’ve now learned that the difference between a gyro and souvlaki is that the former consists of meat shaved off a chunk of meat cooked in a rotisserie, while the latter refers to meat cooked in a skewer. I could have sworn that the souvlaki pitas I had in Greece were cooked in a rotisserie, but I could be wrong. I do prefer the taste of texture of meat cooked in skewers, as it turns out.

I like how soft and spongy the pita is. The meat is a little too salty by itself, but it mellows out within the pita. By itself, the lamb has a very intense flavor – you can tell it’s lamb -, while the beef is softer. I like having fries in the pita, though these could be a bit crispier, you don’t really notice them while you eat. The whole combo just works together well, though the predominant flavor is that of onion, when you get a piece, and of the tzatziki when you don’t.

I’ve tried the chicken souvlaki pita before, and I didn’t like it as much. Despite the marinade, the flavor of the chicken was too soft to measure up to the rest of the ingredients. My daughter has done the felafel pita before and she thought it was OK, but not remarkable.

My husband prefers to get the gyro bowl ($13.50) which includes the meat of your choice, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and cucumbers, feta cheese, tzatziki and spicy yogurt on a bed of rice. The whole thing feels like a larger, more substantial meal than the gyro and is enough for two meals. He likes how the flavors meld together.

Nick the Greek has been expanding throughout California and the west, and I can understand why. It’s not a place where you’d eat every day, given the limited menu, but a great place to grab a pita when you don’t feel like cooking.

Nick the Greek
1509 E 14th Street.
San Leandro, CA
Daily 11 AM - 10 PM

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews

Chain Restaurant Reviews

L.A. Chow: Chi’s Chinese Cuisine

September 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Average but satisfying Chinese take out

Chi’s Chinese Cuisine is my nephews’ favorite Chinese restaurant – or maybe, their favorite restaurant ever – so that’s what they requested we get one evening during my family trip to LA. I couldn’t think of anything better, so I ordered from there. It was a simple enough process and pretty quick.

First, I got a Dim Sum Sampler ($15) which came with Har Gow, Siu Mai, Steamed Chicken Dumplings and Char Siu Bao. I had the mini steamed chicken dumplings and they were quite good, though, as usual, with too little filling. My husband had the rest of the dumplings and he found them unremarkable.

My nephews’ favorite dish is the sweet and pungent chicken ($18) described as “lightly breaded white meat chicken with a sweet sauce. and just a touch of spice.” We ordered both a regular and a spicy version, but they all tasted the same – as described. Spicy enough to thrill a seven year old, but not to scare him. Beyond that, the favor was similar to a sweet and sour chicken, a but more sour and less sweet. I could stand a few pieces, but the breading becomes overwhelming beyond that.

I ordered the roasted duck ($22), and I’d say it was OK. It wasn’t as dry as I feared, but it was super moist either. The flavor was pretty standard, with the amount fat you’d expect. I don’t know, I just wasn’t into it. Neither was Mike. Maybe I’ve upgrown this dish.

Mike ordered the cashew chicken ($13.50) and substituted the vegetables for extra chicken ($3). It was good but pretty standard. There was a good amount of cashews and the sauce was flavorful.

My BIL had the Mongolian beef ($15.55). This was probably my favorite dish of the night. The beef was tender and the sauce was very flavorful. I’d order this one again.

Finally, my sister ordered the vegetable chow mein ($14.25). It was just OK – it lacked flavor.

In all, I felt that the food at Chi’s was pretty standard but was surprised at how expensive it is for the amount and flavor of the food. Perhaps they use higher quality ingredients or pay their workers better. Without knowing that, though, I just felt I overpaid. 

Chi's Chinese Cuisine
9635 Reseda Blvd, Northridge
(818) 886-6928
W - M 11 AM - 9:30 PM

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

L.A. Chow: MGD Korean BBQ

September 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Good Korean BBQ – if you stick to the basics

One of our goals for this trip to LA was to have dinner in Korea town. Restaurants in this area seem to follow the Korean model and specialize in one type of cuisine – and it was hard deciding that beforehand. One thing that Mike knew he didn’t want to have is Korean barbecue. As it turned out, we didn’t end up going to Korea town and we ended up having Korea barbecue instead. It seems that barbecue is the only Korean food my sister likes and with three kids to take care of and a full time job, she was too tired to head far.

During my previous visit to LA, we had visited Gen Korean BBQ and I was hoping to find something better. The reviews for MGD Korean BBQ were mostly good, with some people mentioning it was as good as Korea town. While I doubted that, I was willing to give it a try.

MGD – which stands for  Meat, Grill, Drink – offers “all you can eat” BBQ. You pay one price (either $37 for the standard or the $42 for the supreme) and get to order anything you want from a list of appetizers and meats ready for grilling. Unlike Gen, dessert is not included but you can order ice cream for an additional $3. We decided on the supreme menu, as it had some dishes I wanted to try.

The restaurant has an industrial look and is decorated in blacks and reds. They have both high and regular tables, as well as booths, each with a center grill where you cook your own food. The booths were comfortable and ample. It wasn’t too busy when we got there, but it got popping as the evening went on – we were there on a Tuesday.

Dinner started with banchan, which are small dishes of mostly pickled foods to act as condiments and sides. I don’t think we tried any.

They also bring each diner an individual tray with a chili sauce – gochujang, I presume – coarse salt and a green sauce. The salt was useful for the steak, but I didn’t try the other condiments.

I ordered a few appetizers, just to try them. The fried gyoza were good but not remarkable and a little oily. I don’t think I’d bother ordering them again.

The honey butter fried chicken was interesting. It consisted of pieces of chicken, thickly battered and dusted with sugar. It was both salty and sweet. I don’t think I’d order it again, but I’m glad I tried it.

Mike ordered the fried Cajun calamari and liked it well enough.

We started our grilling adventure by ordering prime honeycomb pork belly (from the supreme menu), beef bulgogi and marinated LA galbi. The pork belly was just blah. It was way too fatty, as pork belly tends to be and convinced me that grilling pork belly is just not a good idea. We did like the beef bulgogi and that’s what we kept ordering time and again. It wasn’t a particularly great beef bulgogi, but even a mediocre beef bulgogi is very, very good. I don’t see much of an advantage about grilling it this way rather than sautéing it, though – at least flavor wise.

My sister really liked the LA galbi. Unfortunately, you are limited to one order per person – so she could only order four. I had the tiniest bit to leave the rest for her – she is, after all, nursing a very hungry baby, and I thought it was also good but unremarkable. Again, LA galbi is a flavorful cut to begin with.

We also ordered the prime MGD steak from the supreme menu a couple of times. The steak was very thin and it wasn’t bad once you smeared it with butter and salted it. Still, I don’t go to a Korean BBQ restaurant to eat unmarinated steak. My brother in law liked it, though. what I did like was the grilled pineapple. It was very sweet and delicious.

In a subsequent round we tried some chicken bulgogi, in addition to more beef bulgogi, and prime boneless marinated galbi from the supreme menu. The latter looked very similar to the beef bulgogi but wasn’t as tasty as either that or the bone-in LA galbi.

Finally, my brother in law got a lobster (from the supreme menu). He didn’t realize it was a choice until I pointed it out at the end of the meal. These take a long time to cook, so I’d suggest ordering them as your second round of meats – once you’ve eaten something and you’re not starving.

In addition to the “ready to grill” meats, MGD has a few prepared dishes in their all-you-can eat menu. I tried the cheese tonkatsu (from the supreme menu) and I wasn’t impressed. It turns out that pork and cheese are not particularly good combinations – and that cheese works better if you put it on the breading, rather than under it. But mostly, what I disliked was the flavor of the pork.

Much better was the galbijjim, also from the supreme menu. I had come across mentions of this short rib stew while researching Korean restaurants and I was intrigued – I love short ribs in general. It turned out to be a very, very tasty dish. The short ribs were soft and subtle and the flavor was rich and delicious. The dish was extremely fatty, but that’s true of most short rib stews, as the ample fat and collagen in the ribs melts into the sauce. Next time we go to LA, we’ll head to one of those restaurants in Korea town that specializes in this dish.

Service by our young waiter was very good – he was solicitous and helpful. But they were very understaffed – that poor guy was just constantly rushing between tables.

In all, I wouldn’t rush back to MGD though mostly because of the limits put on LA galbi and because my sister prefers the cheaper Gen Korean BBQ. In addition to this location, MGD has another one in Buena Park.

MGD  Korean BBQ 
9350 Corbin Ave.
Northridge, CA
747-202-0086
M - Th:  4 PM - 10 PM
F - Sa: 12 PM - 12 AM
Su:     12 PM - 11 PM
SUN : 12:00PM - 11:00PM

L.A. Chow: Versailles Comida Cubana

September 24, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Celebrating Cuban food is bittersweet

Versailles is a San Fernando Valley institution, though they also have locations in Culver City and Los Angeles. It’s been around for over fifty years. I first went there when my husband and I were dating, back in the early 90’s. It was my first introduction to Cuban food, and I liked it. My sister reminded me I took her and a friend there when she was in high school – so over twenty years ago -, but I don’t actually recall that experience. Still, when I suggested that we revisit it during our last visit to my family, both Mike and Kathy were up for it.

While my recollections of Versailles were vague, both my sister and I remembered it as fancier than it is in its current state. That might have been because it was darker when we previously dined there, or because we were poorer and thus our ideas of fancy were more modest – but I suspect that the difference is that they used tablecloths once upon a time – and perhaps they had nicer chairs. The chandeliers are still nice, however.

We were there for a very early dinner midweek, so the restaurant was empty when we got there, though a couple of parties joined later. That was a big change from the buzzle I remember from yesteryear, but, again, we were very early

Dinner started with freshly made garlic bread, which was wonderful but made the whole restaurant smell like garlic. It’s not a smell that I mind, myself, but some people might not be as big fans.

With so many great sounding Cuban specialties in the menu, it was hard to make up my mind – but I finally decided on my favorite Cuban dish: ropa vieja ($23). This is a dish of shredded beef cooked in a tomato, onion and bell pepper sauce. Versailles’ version was very good, though I think not quite as good as mine or the one at Porto’s. Still, I really enjoyed it and the portion was large enough to have leftovers for the next day.

It came with rice, beans and fried bananas. I skipped the beans – and declined the waiter’s offer to bring me more bananas. I shouldn’t have, as the bananas were absolutely delicious. Sweet, of course, but that’s what made them so good. Add some ice cream to them, and you have dessert.

Kathy had the chuletas the puerco ($24), marinated pork chops served with sautéed onions and a garlic sauce. Unfortunately, she wasn’t a big fan. She found the pork chops a tad overcooked and dry, and while she liked the flavor, she didn’t think it was extraordinary.

Unlike me, she did ask for extra fried bananas instead of rice and beans, and she got a whole plate of them! As I mentioned, they were delicious.

Mike had something quite similar to Kathy’s: lechón asado ($18). This shredded roasted pork is marinated and served with a creole sauce and sliced raw onions. He absolutely loved it. He found it tender and delicious. He also liked the accompanying black beans, though he noted they were a bit too soupy.

For dessert, we shared a slice of tres leches cake ($8), which was also good in the way tres leches cake usually is.

Service was wonderful. Our waiter was solicitous and offered us more garlic bread and extra fried bananas.

All in all, Mike and I would definitely go back. I’m not as sure about Kathy. 

Versailles Comida Cubana
17410 Ventura Blvd
Encino, CA
(818) 906-0756
Daily 11 AM - 9 PM

Los Angeles Restaurant Reviews

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