I've brought out the inner foodie in my co-workers at Milk, a great boutique on 3rd St. where I work at part time in the summers, but mostly just hang out. Recently some of us got together for dinner at 8 oz. Burger Bar after work, after debating long and hard from a list of restaurants I had compiled all day. We made the right choice.
I had peeked at the menu online and was really curious about the short rib grilled cheese--I looooove grilled cheese. But once I sat down and saw the burgers surrounding me I changed my mind. Their signature burger consists of house blend patty, pickle, iceberg, tomato, white onion, and "special sauce," but being not so much a fan of iceberg lettuce and also a fiend for grilled or soft juicy onions I settled on the "Melrose," with house blend, wild baby arugula, garlic roasted tomatoes, and red onion marmalade. And then I added Humbolt Fog cheese. Their house blend patties are a mix of sirloin, tri-tip, short rib, and chuck cured in their "himalayan salt-tiled locker." Yuummm.
You can also build your own burger, as an entire portion of the menu consists of lists of classic burger condiments and some other unconventional items like charred escarole or roasted green tomatoes or 7 different kinds of amazing cheeses. And the sauces! I love sauce, and there are so many choices. The only problem with this is that I was too overwhelmed with the choices to build my own burger, and the Melrose looked so good already. The waitress said Humbolt Fog goes best with it, and I didnt need to order a side sauce because the cheese was so creamy. But of course I found an excuse to order a side of roasted garlic aioli---for my fries! But not just ordinary fries--truffled potato skins. Anything with truffle has my name on it. Soon after everyone followed suit and we had a display of various (free) side sauces for dipping experimentations.
The only apprehension I have about burgers are their size--usually I cant finish one because all the ingredients for a towering pile of (delicious) stomach fillers. (The picture of the burger in my previous post was not mine, but just an example of the possibilities if you choose to go all out). One of the main factors of a filling burger is the bun--too thick, and I just dump it half way through so that I can enjoy my meat. But this bun was surprisingly light and fluffy, and didn't interfere with what was in between it at all. The humbolt fog cheese, as my waitress had recommended, went perfectly with the marmalade and juicy tomatoes, and I occasionally dabbed it in my aioli for an extra kick. And the potato skins---sooo delicious---were possibly the highlight of my meal. There was truffle-y goodness on every crisp bite. I could have just had an order of that and been happy. But of course I ate everything on my plate, and still didnt have to unbutton the top button of my jeans.
And a perk--my burger was $9 and the truffled potato skins were a steal at $4. I'd say a pretty good deal for what I just described above.
Here are some links:
8 oz Website
LA Times Review
Later! Nosher
(Note to Self: will start taking pictures of food soon)
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June 29, 2009
June 26, 2009
Bragging Rights
Ok, I don't mean to brag or anything, but recently I've had a bit of a streak of eating at new restaurants in LA before they're featured in the LA Times. Being on top of my game almost makes the food taste better in retrospect.
First, my family took me to Susan Feniger's new restaurant Street for my 21st birthday. Besides the inviting and interesting decor--white graffiti-like drawings all over the black and orange walls and a really great playlist--the concept itself is great. It's been a while since I ate at a restaurant with a cohesive message other than just, well, gourmet _____ food (fill in the blank with geographical adjectives like French, Italian, Moroccan, etc.) And of course there are so many new places that are trying to do high-end takes on low-end food, like burgers, pizza, hot dogs (see below), but Street takes a gourmet approach to ALL street food, all over the world, all under one roof.
The choices are endless, yet that night it seemed like my family was on a particularly asian-influenced bent. I would wonder what mixing Japanese gyoza with Moldovian meatballs or Cuban stuffed potato cakes would be like, but alas! I don't know. (I'll just have to go back!) We had the following items:
Indian Vada Dumplings: "crispy dal fritters topped with yogurt sauce, mint sauce, and tamarind date chutney"
Japanese Shizo Shrimp: "marinated shrimp rolled with shizo, nori seaweed, and crispy dough; served with ponzu, grated radish, and wasabi"
Vietnamese Corn: "wok cooked medley of fresh corn, spring onions, and glazed pork belly"
Roasted Enoki Mushrooms: "in sesame marinade topped with fried enokis"
Massamun Chicken Curry: "traditional Southern Thai curry with chicken, red yam, and mushrooms simmered in coconut milk and spices of Muslim Indian influence"
Korean Barbequed Shortribs: "in asian pear rice wine marinade; served with asian pear salad and roasted enoki mushrooms"
The Vada dumplings and Shizo shrimp were perfect starters--both still perfectly crisp and served with the perfect pairing of sauces. Considering that pork belly makes everything taste better, the Vietnamese corn was probably my favorite dish. It was very rich and salty in some bites (salty means good for me---I'm a salt fiend, and I love when I don't have to add any extra salt to a dish), yet fresh at the same time, balanced out by the corn. I was underwhelmed by the shortribs, which are by nature fatty but seemed in this case to be only fat. The chicken curry was great too, but nothing I haven't had before. The one outstanding thing about the curry was the addition of red yams--from now on I think all curries should have yams in them.
Our plates went together pretty seamlessly, as we shared everything between the four of us, but mainly because we picked food from the same general geographical location in the world. Sharing everything also limited some of the choices--if I were dining with one other person, I probably would have considered one of the noodle or soup dishes. But sharing Beef Pho didn't seem that easy. My drink was one thing that didn't go with the meal. For my first legal drink, the mint julep was calling my name because I really wanted the Knob Creek Bourbon they had on the menu. But after a while I was wishing I had tried the salted Lhassi with toasted cumin and mint....if only they had an alcoholic version.
Just writing this I'm convinced I need to go again for another taste testing.
LA Times Review
Street Website
More to come on 8 oz. Burger Bar...
First, my family took me to Susan Feniger's new restaurant Street for my 21st birthday. Besides the inviting and interesting decor--white graffiti-like drawings all over the black and orange walls and a really great playlist--the concept itself is great. It's been a while since I ate at a restaurant with a cohesive message other than just, well, gourmet _____ food (fill in the blank with geographical adjectives like French, Italian, Moroccan, etc.) And of course there are so many new places that are trying to do high-end takes on low-end food, like burgers, pizza, hot dogs (see below), but Street takes a gourmet approach to ALL street food, all over the world, all under one roof.
The choices are endless, yet that night it seemed like my family was on a particularly asian-influenced bent. I would wonder what mixing Japanese gyoza with Moldovian meatballs or Cuban stuffed potato cakes would be like, but alas! I don't know. (I'll just have to go back!) We had the following items:Indian Vada Dumplings: "crispy dal fritters topped with yogurt sauce, mint sauce, and tamarind date chutney"
Japanese Shizo Shrimp: "marinated shrimp rolled with shizo, nori seaweed, and crispy dough; served with ponzu, grated radish, and wasabi"
Vietnamese Corn: "wok cooked medley of fresh corn, spring onions, and glazed pork belly"
Roasted Enoki Mushrooms: "in sesame marinade topped with fried enokis"
Massamun Chicken Curry: "traditional Southern Thai curry with chicken, red yam, and mushrooms simmered in coconut milk and spices of Muslim Indian influence"
Korean Barbequed Shortribs: "in asian pear rice wine marinade; served with asian pear salad and roasted enoki mushrooms"
The Vada dumplings and Shizo shrimp were perfect starters--both still perfectly crisp and served with the perfect pairing of sauces. Considering that pork belly makes everything taste better, the Vietnamese corn was probably my favorite dish. It was very rich and salty in some bites (salty means good for me---I'm a salt fiend, and I love when I don't have to add any extra salt to a dish), yet fresh at the same time, balanced out by the corn. I was underwhelmed by the shortribs, which are by nature fatty but seemed in this case to be only fat. The chicken curry was great too, but nothing I haven't had before. The one outstanding thing about the curry was the addition of red yams--from now on I think all curries should have yams in them.
Our plates went together pretty seamlessly, as we shared everything between the four of us, but mainly because we picked food from the same general geographical location in the world. Sharing everything also limited some of the choices--if I were dining with one other person, I probably would have considered one of the noodle or soup dishes. But sharing Beef Pho didn't seem that easy. My drink was one thing that didn't go with the meal. For my first legal drink, the mint julep was calling my name because I really wanted the Knob Creek Bourbon they had on the menu. But after a while I was wishing I had tried the salted Lhassi with toasted cumin and mint....if only they had an alcoholic version.
Just writing this I'm convinced I need to go again for another taste testing.
LA Times Review
Street Website
More to come on 8 oz. Burger Bar...
Feed Me!
Trying my hand, better yet my mouth, at this whole blog thing.
Usually I'm at Columbia University in NYC, but this summer I'm in Los Angeles. Inspired by equal parts boredom (living at home) and valuable resources (last chance and summer to mooch off of parents before graduating), I'm going to document what I love doing most--eating good food.
The first few posts will be recaps of my most recent culinary adventures in Los Angeles, several checks off of my long list of noshing to-dos for the summer. After that, I will try to update as my stomach commands...
Enjoy!
Kate/Nosher
Usually I'm at Columbia University in NYC, but this summer I'm in Los Angeles. Inspired by equal parts boredom (living at home) and valuable resources (last chance and summer to mooch off of parents before graduating), I'm going to document what I love doing most--eating good food.
The first few posts will be recaps of my most recent culinary adventures in Los Angeles, several checks off of my long list of noshing to-dos for the summer. After that, I will try to update as my stomach commands...
Enjoy!
Kate/Nosher
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