Gastronomy Blog by Cathy Chaplin

Now Closed

04 Jan 2009

Wokcano – Los Angeles (Santa Monica)

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Before the holidays kicked into high gear, I received an invitation to a press dinner at Wokcano Restaurant & Bar, one of the fastest growing Asian fusion restaurants in Southern California. There is a Wokcano in our backyard of Pasadena, and also locations in West Hollywood, downtown Los Angeles, Burbank and Long Beach. The tasting was held on a Tuesday evening at the branch in Santa Monica.

Brothers Michael and Marcus Kwan are the masterminds behind this trendy chain of Asian-inspired eateries. Born in China, the Kwan brothers arrived in Los Angeles in 1989. They began their culinary careers bussing tables in Chinatown, but eventually climbed the ranks and opened their own restaurant in 1995—The Islands on 3rd Street. After six years, the brothers closed The Islands in order to reinvent the cuisine and to rethink the space. The first Wokcano opened for business in 2001 (in the same location as The Islands) offering modernized Chinese cuisine and inventive sushi.

Wokano in Santa Monica is big, really big. There are dining rooms on both the ground and second floors, a sushi bar, and an expansive outdoor lounge and patio. The dinner was held in a private dining room on the second floor. The evening started off with stiff martinis (the lychee one is killer) and casual banter with fellow attendees. Once the crowd had assembled, the real fun began.

The first course, salmon and hamachi with citrus ponzu, was the perfect starter. The fishes were fresh and adorned ever so lightly with scallions and ginger. The zesty ponzu melded well with the fish and its accoutrements. It’s important to note that since this was a press event, the portions were smaller than normal. This dish is priced $12 on the regular menu.

Next, we sampled the crispy pepper calamari, which was lightly battered and had a pleasantly spicy kick from fresh jalapenos and chilies. The calamari was accompanied by a creamy peppery sauce, which enhanced its flavor profile. This dish is priced $9 on the regular menu.

My favorite course of the evening was the trio of sushi rolls. The Spicy Crabmeat Tempura roll (left) was topped with chili sauce and smelt eggs. The Green Dragon Roll (center) was comprised of a spicy tuna roll topped with avocado, Tabasco sauce and spicy mayonnaise. The Golden Triangle (right) consisted of a triangular-shaped asparagus and avocado roll wrapped in soy paper with seared spicy tuna, mint and topped with black masago.

Each of the rolls was tasty and satisfied my sushi tooth, but The Golden Triangle was my absolute favorite for its unique combination of ingredients and smart incorporation of fresh herbs. On the menu, sushi rolls are priced between $4.50 and $15.

I was pleasantly full at this point in the meal, which was a bad sign considering the main courses had yet to make their appearance. The flurry of dishes that appeared next included grilled seabass, black pepper beef mignon, pad Thai, honey walnut shrimp and braised string beans. The seabass and beef were both solid, but the pad Thai wasn’t executed nearly as well. The noodles were gluey and the sauce lacked the tangy touch of tamarind that is essential to the dish.

The highlights of the entrees were the braised string beans and the honey walnut shrimp. The string beans brought just the right amount of savoriness, while the shimp were delicately crusted with a glossy sweetness. On the menu, entrees are priced between $9 and $25.

What’s great about tasting dinners is the opportunity to try a restaurant’s broad range of offerings in one comfortable sitting. While these types of meals hardly reflect a normal dining experience, they do provide me with a real sense of a kitchen’s passions and strengths. I’d definitely return to Wokcano for the cooling sushi starters, the lip-smackingly good honey walnut shrimp, and the minimalist, yet chic ambiance.

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Wokcano
1413 5th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
Phone: 310-458-3080

Potpourri

01 Jan 2009

Ringing in the New Year with Noodles and Roses

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After ten days of traveling about and spending time with our families, The Astronomer and I finally returned home to Pasadena late last night. Even though we didn’t get to bed until way past midnight, we dragged ourselves up early this morning to catch the 120th Rose Parade. Now, we’re officially Pasadena residents.

Prior to heading to the festivities, we fueled up on steaming bowls of hu tieu nam vang—a Vietnamese / Cambodian noodle dish that my aunt prepared and packed up for us the night before. One of the best things about visiting family is returning home with enough food to last a week! Mmm, leftovers.

By the time we arrived on Colorado Boulevard, which happens to be a three minute walk from our apartment, there was already a huge crowd gathered. The best seats in the house went to the psycho enthusiastic folks who spent New Year’s Eve sleeping on the cold, hard pavement (and those who spent 80 bucks a pop for grandstand seats). The mountains hovering in the distance are one of my favorite things about Pasadena.

I grew up watching the Rose Parade on TV, so it was a mighty fine treat to see the magic up close.

Here’s a float featuring a giant gardening rabbit. Exquisite!

And here’s a gravity-defying float from the city of Huntington Beach featuring a family surfing on a gnarley wave of flowers.

My favorite float was made by the city of Burbank. The dinosaur popping out of the movie screen had puffs of smoke coming from its nose and his head moved about robotically! The float looked cool at every angle—front, back, side to side.

Happy New Year!

Restaurant Review

29 Dec 2008

Islands Fine Burgers & Drinks – Corona

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On our drive back to Pasadena after a quick jaunt to San Diego, The Astronomer and I stopped at the Islands in the city of Corona for dinner. Islands was founded in 1982 by Tony DeGrazier, who wanted to recreate the dining experiences he had in the 1960s while in the Navy stationed on Oahu. Nearly thirty years later, there are over 50 Islands outlets in California and Arizona. Apparently west coasters are hungry for unique burgers served under faux palm fronds.

I’ve been eating at Islands since my high school days and was curious to see if I still found their burgers as appealing as I did when I was a lowercase “g.” The decor was as festive as I remembered, but the space at this location was much more expansive than the one I frequented in San Diego. The Astronomer and I were seated in a booth near a couple of families—it’s been a while since we’ve dined at a “family restaurant.”

In all my years eating at Islands, I’ve ordered the same burger time and time again—The Hawaiian, which comes with pineapple rings, Teriyaki sauce, lettuce, tomato, onion, Swiss cheese and mayonnaise. I always request mine on a buttered whole wheat bun without mayonnaise. At Islands, the meat patty takes a backseat to the fixins, which I’m surprisingly still very comfortable with. Tastes and taste buds change over time, but there’s still a very special place in my palate for the sweet, sour and appealingly cheesy Hawaiian. Woot to that!

The Astronomer’s Bleunami was not nearly as successful. The burger came with bleu cheese dressing, lettuce, tomato, red onion and crumbled bleu cheese. The Bleunami wasn’t terrible, just a bit too creamy for our tastes. When it comes to decked-out burgers, it’s okay to have the meat play second fiddle, but with so much sauciness, the patty could barely be heard.

All of Islands’ burgers usually come with a pile of fries, but we substituted ours for three measly but well-executed onion rings.

I’m always a bit nervous about retrying old favorites out of fear that I may no longer find them delicious (I like to keep my memories tasty). Thank goodness Islands still appeals to me after all these years; it would’ve been a travesty.

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Island’s Fine Burgers & Drinks
1295 Magnolia Ave
Corona, CA 92879
Phone: 951-279-7724