Set Menus=Not So Bad

I'm not a big fan of set menus which is why I try to stay away from places that have set menus on holidays. Most of the time, you get the shaft with a set menu; not enough selection, price is set too high, etc. But for my Valentine's weekend getaway, this wasn't the case.

We drove out to the Hollywood area and had dinner at Yamashiro's, a Cal-Asian Restaurant. I love this place simply for the atmosphere. The Japanese gardens are amazing and the view is breath taking, so that in itself made the set menu much more tolerable.

The menu was four courses and to my surprise, there was PLENTY to choose from! Each course had at least three to four options. Mighty dandy!
For my first course, I had the Tropical Albacore Ceviche which was made with pineapple, lime and mango. I have to say, it was a bit disappointing. It lacked acidity. I felt it needed more of the traditional citrus/acid flavor. It was more of a deconstructed sushi than it was ceviche.


Second course.........deja vu.....didn't I just have this????? That's what I get for not reading the full description of the dish. My second course, a Spicy Tuna and Snow Crab Napoleon, looked to be similar to the ceviche, but the taste was 100000000x better. NO JOKE. This stuff was good. It was made with avocado and had a wasabi aioli. Yum, yum, yum.



For my third course, my entree, I had the Pepper Filet Mignon with grilled shrimp. This was the BEST filet I've EVER had. I will say that again in caps lock and bold...BEST FILET I'VE EVER HAD. The filet just melted in your mouth! It was served with roasted asparagus and a twice baked wasabi potato. This item can be found regularly on their menu.





And of course....for dessert....how can you go wrong with a souffle???? It was great!

Overall, I was impressed with dinner even if the ceviche wasn't really a ceviche. The rest of the meal made up for it.

This is really one of my favorite restaurants. It has a good (not great) selection of vegetarian sushi and other veggie dishes as well as a full bar with their signature martini's. If you ever get a chance to go there, please do! Make your reservations and ask to be seated in the sunset room near a window. You won't regret it!

To learn more about Yamashiro's and see their menu and drink selection, go here: http://www.yamashirorestaurant.com/

Please feel free to leave feedback and comments. Guest correspondents are always welcome (I'm getting tired of people looking at me funny whenever I take pictures of my food, it's time someone joins me!)

Side note: After the meal, we walked over to Graumann's......here I am trying to steal John Wayne's foot prints ala Lucy Ricardo.


Happy dining!

Taking one for the team....

So let me get to the point. I took one for the team. I went to a place that I did not like the first time around and vowed never to return to, but I did. I went back.

A few years ago I paid Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse (churrascaria), a visit for lunch. Needless to say, I was not impressed and made it quite clear to everyone in attendance that I would never return. It turns out everyone in attendance could give a rats ass as to what I make clear. Everyone in attendance wants to visit Fogo de Chao again, but this time for dinner. So I suck it up and go with a, "this place is gonna suck... again" attitude.

Upon arrival we sat at the bar and waited for our table and each had a Caipirinha, which is a drink similar to a mint julep but made with rum and about a cup of sugar. Well, maybe not exactly a cup, but close (refer to above picture of everyone in attendance and myself).

So this is how it works: They give you a round disk with one side colored green (go) and the other side red (stop) to control the pace of your meal. Waiters come around and offer you different selections of meat ranging from Fillet Mignon to lamb chops. The food keeps coming until your belly is full and your disk is on the red side. I'll try to post of picture of the disks and the food, but I've discovered that I am quite unsuccessful at posting pictures on this blog.

They also have a salad bar with a wide selection of fruits and veggies and the largest vat of parmesan cheese I've ever seen! Mashed potatoes and rolls are included in the meal and are served family style.

The Downers:
-Cramped quarters...I'm a big girl. I need my space.
-Vegetarians/Vegans, need not apply. Sorry.

As I sat and ate, I tried to think of the reason why this place was such a turn off the first time around. On my first trip to Fogo, I went for lunch and their selection of meat was not very wide. They served a lot of pork and some beef. It just didn't appeal to me. It was clear that for dinner, the food selection is much wider (the dinner price was wider as well!).

Overall, my second trip to Fogo far supersedes the first trip and taking one for the team paid off!

Although, Fogo de Chao is a chain of restaurants, there is only one in Cali located on La Cienega. For more info on Fogo de Chao go to: www.fogodechao.com

Happy Eating!

Welcome Back!

I'M BACK!

I took a little break, but I'm back with new tales of my many food adventures. If you are a new reader, welcome, if you are an old reader, welcome back. If you're not sure what this blog is about, please read the very first entry.

I encourage everyone to participate. Now let's EAT!

More Pampered Eater!

Coming Soon!

Yummy Yummy good for my Tummy

Well, I've been M.I.A for a minute, but I'm back now with TONS to write about. I've been out and about eating like no one's business and I"m eager to tell you all about my latest food adventures! So I say, "YUM" to that!

Big D cooked dinner the other night and it was pretty damn good! We had fried sea bass with a raspberry honey glaze. The recipe is easy and fairly fast to prepare (thank you foodnetwork.com). Here's what we did:

1. Leave the port of Long Beach and deep sea fish. Pray you catch a sea bass. If you don't and you end up with a sheep head, sculpin, barracuda, or a tire, then you're out of luck. Have no fear, you can always drive to the market, pick up some sea bass and pretend you caught it.

2. Catch so much sea bass you don't know what to do with it (if you are buying your sea bass, then you are already one step ahead.)

3. Search for sea bass recipes on foodnetwork.com

4. Settle for the Texas Fried Sea Bass with a Raspberry Honey Soy Glaze

5. Begin to cook! Happy cooking!

The beer batter the fish is cooked in is delish! We used a bottle of Amstel light for our beer batter. The rest of the beer was consumed during the meal. Kill two birds with one stone, I always say!

I drenched my fish in the Raspberry Honey Soy Glaze.......it's better when it's wetter.

Our final product looked something like this


Let me know if any of you try the recipe.

Happy eating,

Your pal,
-D

Where have I been?

STARVING!

WWBE?

Sometimes, when I'm bored, I sit (or lay) and think about off the wall things, like, "would my Red Velvet cake really taste that much better with 2 cups of pudding?" Or, "Is it me, or does my left foot look a LOT bigger than my right?", "Does GIECO really have the lowest prices?".

Today, while in one of my deep thoughts, I began to wonder about Britney Spears. Not about old skool Britney that dated Justin, had cute hair, was all about virginity, but new skool Brit. The one that dates anyone (allegedly), has no hair, and thinks virginity is the name of a city in the mid west. At one point this girl had it all and had the privilege of eating at the finest establishments. Places I dream of dining at, she ate at every night. So as I sank deeper and deeper into thought, I wondered where she eats now. Is it TB run every night? Does she favor Pizza Hut's deep dish? Does she still frequent fine dining establishments?

And so I began to think WWBE? Where Would Britney Eat? If you were her, where would you eat? Where would the Britney of today eat? I'm curious to find out. I will be on the look out for places where I think Britney would eat. If you find any places where YOU think she would eat, please post it.

Remember.........WWBE

Your pal,

-D


Photo credit: Celebritybabylon.com