Monthly Archive for January, 2012

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Dinner at The Spice Table – Los Angeles (Downtown)

Published by Gastronomer on January 18, 2012 in Downtown, Los Angeles, Malaysian, Restaurant Review and Singaporean. 7 Comments

My first visit to The Spice Table wasn’t a great one. I came to the restaurant with high expectations and left feeling mostly underwhelmed after a lunch of wings, coleslaw, and Vietnamese sandwiches. Although The Spice Table’s dinner menu is a completely different beast, I didn’t have any desire to try it after my initial introduction.

Sometime last December, I received a $50 voucher from the Malaysia Kitchen Los Angeles campaign* to dine at one of their partner restaurants. I selected to return to The Spice Table after skimming the list of eateries participating in the program.

While the voucher wasn’t enough to cover the entire cost of dinner there, it provided me with the incentive that I needed to give the restaurant another try. I was hoping for an altogether better experience this time around.

The Astronomer and I bypassed the official Malaysia Restaurant Week menu and chose a suite of dishes that sounded delightful to us. The beef tripe ($10) from the “Satays” portion of the menu was the first to arrive.

Marinated in soy, garlic, and palm sugar, the tripe was impressively tender and surprisingly sweet. While I’ve always had a thing for a tripe, The Astronomer has been more hesitant to open his heart. He declared these skewers to be the best preparation of tripe he’s come across.

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Kobawoo House – Los Angeles (Koreatown)

Published by Gastronomer on January 16, 2012 in Korean, Koreatown, Los Angeles and Restaurant Review. 5 Comments

A few days before leaving town for the holidays, The Astronomer and I met up with a group of friends for a weeknight dinner at Kobawoo House, a porky palace that’s been around since 1983. I get the shakes when I go too long without a meal in Koreatown, so it felt damn good to be back in the land of kimchi and all-you-can-eat meat this evening.

Due to the restaurant’s popularity, layout, and capacity, our party of 12 could not be seated for a solid 45 minutes. Additionally, we were split between two tables. This place isn’t great for big groups, but with the promise of pork belly to come, everyone remained in high spirits.

As soon as our butts hit the seats, hot tea and an array of simple banchan arrived at the table. My favorite of the bunch was the green onion-specked omelet, which was served cold. We requested a second helping of it because one slice per person just wasn’t gonna cut it.

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Ton Chan Ramen – San Gabriel

Published by Gastronomer on January 13, 2012 in Japanese, Los Angeles, Restaurant Review and San Gabriel. 3 Comments

For the third year running, the Eat My Blog crew went out for a soul satisfying ramen dinner following our annual bake sale. After standing on our feet the entire day hawking sweets for charity, all we wanted to do was sit down, relax, and slurp our hearts out.

Located next door to the perpetually packed Golden Deli, Ton Chan is considered by some to be the San Gabriel Valley’s strongest ramenya. Here, the tonkotsu broth is made fresh daily with konbu seaweed and pork bones. The broth is boiled for nearly a full day to achieve the desired rich and milky consistency.

We shared a few appetizers before the the noodles arrived. The spicy tuna roll, which consisted of twelve impressively plump pieces, was well constructed and legitimately spicy. I often think about picking up a to-go order of these when I’m dining next door at Golden Deli.

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Matt’s In The Market – Seattle

Published by Gastronomer on January 11, 2012 in New American, Restaurant Review and Seattle. 5 Comments

The Astronomer and I would have never stumbled upon Matt’s In The Market had our friend Daniel not pointed us here. The restaurant is tucked away in the Corner Market Building, three floors up from the throngs of tourists crowding Pike Place Market. Here, owner Dan Bugge and Chef Chester Gerl source fresh ingredients for their ever-changing menu from the market stalls below.

Without having to ask, we were seated at a table for two under the arched windows overlooking the iconic Public Market sign. It was the most memorable view of the entire trip.

Glancing to our right, we could see the pale blue water and snow-capped mountains in the distance. Seattle is a beauty.

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Mighty-O Donuts – Seattle

Published by Gastronomer on January 9, 2012 in Breakfast / Brunch, Dessert, Doughnuts, Seattle and Vegan. 9 Comments

On our final morning in Seattle, The Astronomer and I hopped a bus to the quaint neighborhood of Wallingford to visit Mighty-O Donuts. While I’m usually dubious of fried dough with health claims attached to it, I’d heard such positive reviews of Mighty-O’s vegan offerings that I felt compelled to try them for myself.

I mean, if there’s one town in this world that could produce a delicious doughnut without chemicals, preservatives, hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and flavors, genetically modified organisms, or animal-derived ingredients, I would put my money on Seattle.

Mighty-O has been selling their unique brand of O’s in the Seattle area since the late 1990s and opened this store in 2003. The shop produces over a dozen different varieties of cake doughnuts each day with either a vanilla or chocolate dough and various toppings.