Korean Style Katsu

What's up with L.A., and the good eats in the food courts of Asian markets? There's Santouka for ramen in the Mitsuwa Market (Venice and Centinela in Culver City), and now there's Katsu for a Korean spin on Japanese katsu in the Galleria Market (Devonshire and Reseda in Northridge).

This Korean style katsu is called donkkaseu, and both are basically chicken or pork cutlet that  have been dipped in panko (bread crumbs) and fried. Apparently you can also get shrimp or hamburger at this place. The Korean version of katsu includes banchan, which in this case are sides of marinated jalapeno and radish kimchee. 

I thought that was it for the Korean spin on katsu, until I had already ordered and paid for the chicken katsu, when the cashier stepped aside and I read "kimchee pork cutlet."

Kimchee pork cutlet? I quickly changed my order and paid the...wait for it...56-cents more for the kimchee stuffed pork cutlet. It was the best additional 56-cents I've ever paid.

This combination just makes so much sense (okay, maybe it's because I'm from Hawaii), that I'm surprised I've never heard about this before. I don't know why it's not being served in Hawaii!

This is now my new lunch spot. And I am thrilled because there aren't very many great options near my work. By the way, I read about Katsu while researching restaurants on the Los Angeles Magazine website. I happened upon a blog by Eddie Lin, and the very next day, I left my leftovers at home, and went for my first round of dokkaseu.

Yes, You Can Find Good Italian Food in Hawaii

When at home in Hawaii, I never want to eat Italian food. In fact, I secretly cringed a little after I read that the restaurant I was going to with my friends was the new Italian place (sorry, Ms. K.), Prima.

I was so wrong!

Prima was one of my better food experiences in Hawaii. It bills itself as modern Italian/American, and is located in Kailua. We ate pappardalle (with curry bolognese and fried curry leaves), Brussels sprouts (with prosciutto and bordelaise), di bologna pizza (pepperoncini, mozarella, soft poached egg, rosemary and mortadella), meatball pizza, and the pistachio glace (pistachio semifredo, dried sour cherry hibiscus, semolina, grapefruit and black sesame). I can honestly say that I enjoyed every single dish. I wasn't blown away by the Brussels sprouts, but that's because every restaurant does Brussels sprouts. But the rest of it...well, like I said, this was one of my better food experiences in Hawaii. And when I say "better," I mean that I was in a very happy food coma when dinner came to an end.

 

 

The pappardalle with curry bolognese is a great fusion-type dish. The curry is more like Japanese curry than Thai or Indian curry. The flavors work really well.

The meatball pizza, is actually a spicy meatball pizza. I like spicy foods, and I thought this had a pleasant kick to it. 

Now this was an interesting combination on a pizza. Mortadella, pepperoncini and a poached egg are not my go-to pizza toppings, but it was yummy.

 

Our group was torn over this dessert. I think two of us really liked it, and the other two were more like, "Meh." I was one of the ones who really liked it. I enjoyed the tart, the crunch, the creaminess of the pistacho semifredo. 

Prima also happens to have OnoPops on their menu, but none of the flavors my friends said that I had to try. After a fruitless search for the fun flavors (butter mochi, crackseed lemon peel, etc.), we decided to go to Bubbies for mochi ice cream. No kidding, this the best mochi ice cream ever.

From left to right, you are looking at mochi ice cream in chocolate peanut butter, salted caramel, and green tea. Forget the salted caramel. The chocolate peanut butter and green tea are way better!

My other great food experience while at home for the holidays was at SALT. This place has been on my "list" for months, so I was very happy to go with another group of food fans. We shared the oxtail empanadas and chicken fried local rabbit, as well as all three desserts. I can't remember the exact names of the desserts, but my favorite was the apple and bacon crumble, topped with cheddar ice cream. My entree was the brown butter gnocchi.

The empanadas and the chicken fried rabbit were delicious. I especially enjoyed the empanadas, which came with a tomato and golden raisin chutney. The apple and bacon crumble was amazing. Well, amazing if you like savory in your dessert, which I do. Some of us felt like there was too much bacon, but I was not part of that "us." As for my gnocchi? It was my favorite dish. Gnocchi is not normally something I order, but I did not want fish (not a fan), duck ramen (good ramen is easy to find in Hawaii and California), or the brick pressed jidori chicken (everyone does jidori chicken). I am so glad I went with the gnocchi!

The only thing I'm bummed out about SALT is that I missed the pork belly! I was looking for a dish called "porky belly confit", but it is actually called "bacon and egg." The dish is made up of confit pork belly, space egg, kim chee miso and english muffin. I will be back SALT!

Fooding it Up at Home

A couple of weekends ago I went home to help out with some family stuff. It wasn't the easiest trip, and I needed to blow-off some steam, so the best outlet was trying a couple of new-to-me restaurants. My sister and her boyfriend took me to Home Bar & Grill one night, and on another night I went with friends to Pint + Jigger. These are two very different places.

Tater Tot Nachos

The food at Home Bar was great, but the atmosphere was pretty lacking (bright and loud). They did local food really well. Between the tater tot nachos, neguri poke, fried rice, smoked pork, and tofu, we were stuffed. My favorites were the smoked pork, poke, and tater tot nachos. The nachos are pretty heavy, but so good going down. The smoked pork is fantastic bar food, and the poke was awesome. They actually have two versions of the poke, but get the neguri if you're there.

Neguri Poke

Then my friends and I went to Pint + Jigger the following night. Cool atmosphere, great beers, and good food. Granted, I only had tastes  because I had just come from family dinner where we had my auntie's  beef stew, garlic chicken, and edamame rice, but I would go back for more than their beer list. My friend ordered the Scotch egg, handcrafted pigs in a blanket, and the Pint + Jigger Oatmeal Stout Burger. I tried the Scotch egg and pigs in a blanket. Both good, but I really enjoyed the cherry tomato relish...I really need to try and make my own ketchup one of these days! My favorite part was ordering off the beer menu which divided the offerings into:

• LUCKY 21 On Tap
• Ridiculously Good Beers!!!
• Brews That Don't Suck...
• Aluminum Suds!!
• Beers???

If you are one of my friends at home, or you are visiting Honolulu some time soon, please go to these places! I am so glad to see the level of foodie-ness on the rise in Hawaii, and want to be able to eat my way through my next visit home.

A Last Minute Labor Day Road Trip

Flying by the seat of my pants has never really been my thing, but it's something the B does, so I'm getting a little more flexible. Overall, planning my life out a less has been a good thing, but sometimes, it can be a little painful.

Like when it's Saturday of Labor Day weekend and you decide you want to drive up the California coast the next day. That being said, it was only painful because we needed a hotel room for Sunday night, and there wasn't much to be had in Pismo or Shell Beach. We ended up in a two-star motel - yuck. It was not nearly as clean as I would like, and you had to run the hot water only for about five minutes in order to get it hot. Honestly, I would have camped rather than stay at this place (shhh).

Shell Beach

The rest of our California coast adventure was great. On the way to Pismo Beach, we stopped at Firestone Walker Brewing Company and the Fess Parker Winery for tastings. On Monday, we decided to go to Hearst Castle before heading to Paso Robles.

Hearst Castle

This was my first time at Hearst Castle. It is an amazing place, and if you ever find yourself driving along the PCH, make the time to stop there. You do need at least two hours though if you want to actually tour. You park down at the visitor center and board a bus for a five-mile ride up to the main house. The temperatures at the visitor center were pretty cool, but it was hot up at the castle!

The fog hovers over San Simeon

From the castle you over look San Simeon and the Pacific Ocean if it's a clear day. For us, the fog stayed right over the coastline, so you could only see a little bit of ocean. We called ahead and made reservations over the phone, which was probably a good thing considering how crowded it was at Hearst Castle.

The Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

After the castle, we drove to Paso Robles and did two more wine tastings. One at Rotta Winery and one at Wild Horse Winery. I have not done wine tastings in Paso Robles before, and I enjoyed it. It is much more low key than Napa Valley. Plus, tastings only cost $5 and at Rotta, you get 12 tastings! If you ever end up at Rotta, I hope Gale is working. She is hilarious!

Oops, almost forgot about food. In Pismo we ate at Mo's Smokehouse BBQ for dinner and in Paso Robles we ate at Farmstand 46 for lunch. Both places were good, but I especially enjoyed Farmstand 46. I had the Goat sandwich (actually pork, not goat), and it was quite yummy. Just don't sit outside on a hot day because the yellow jackets will start buzzing around you and your food.

Sunset in the Los Padres National Forest

It was a very nice two-day adventure in California, and thanks to our iPhones, we routed ourselves around traffic on the 101 on the way home. These less-traveled highways took us through the various terrains that make California so unique, as well as through the Los Padres National Forest. It's only been two days, and I feel like hopping in the car again.

Salt's Cure Equals Yum

If you have ever eaten a meal with me, you know that I am pretty much a meatatarian.  Yes, vegetables can be tasty, and I know they're good for you, but they are generally secondary to me when it comes to food choices.  So I took a little bit of offense to one of Adam Richman's search for the "manliest" restaurant in America.  I know I'm a girl and all, but geez, I enjoy a good steak too. 

Miffed feelings aside, goodness did he pick a fantastic place when he went to Salt's Cure in West Hollywood.  All the discussions about meat, the hands-on approach of the two owners made this a must-try for the B and me; which we finally did on Saturday.  We thoroughly enjoyed every moment...well, almost every moment. 

The restaurant is located at North Vista and Santa Monica Boulevard, and it's a pretty small place.  We walked-in around 7:00 p.m., and they had two seats left at the bar.  Actually, we sat at a regular table, right next to the bar, but we faced their open kitchen.  The B likes to situate us like this because he enjoys watching the cooking process.  Which, I must admit, was a fun experience at this place, except for the part when the workers got in a little bit of a tiff.  It was a little disappointing to hear the exchange, but I guess that's what you get when you have an open kitchen.  We said we would pretend it didn't happen because the food was that good.

We shared the pickled vegetables (served with pretzel roll), a creamy goat cheese (with some sort of nutty bread), the mussels (with toasted rustic/country bread), braised Swiss chard, the bacon cheeseburger, and the bread pudding.  Everything was excellent.  They pickle their own vegetables, bake their own breads, cure their own bacon (truly thick strips)...you get the picture.  We had to roll ourselves out of there, but it was worth every over-stuffed moment I had that night.

Pickle Plate with Pretzel Roll

The atmosphere is quite nice, but I wouldn't call it romantic.  The menu changes everyday, so you have to look-up on a chalkboard that hangs near the ceiling.  Apparently they serve brunch on the weekends, and are open for lunch on the weekdays.  It's not the cheapest place, but it's not that expensive either; especially when you consider the lengths they go to for food preparation.  We plan to go back for brunch...if we can ever get ourselves away from the brunch scene at the beach.