Bonito Michoacan, Las Vegas

When I used to live in Las Vegas, one of my favorite places to eat was Mexican restaurant, Bonito Michoacan. It's part of three local Mexican places, the others being Lindo, the first branch, and Viva, in Henderson. At the time I lived there, Lindo had a fire, so Bonito was the only branch open.
The food is made in the style of the Michoacan region of Mexico, and it's delicious. Fougoo, Redneckhunter, and I went there when we were in Vegas last week.

We started with one the restaurants specialties, the tableside guacamole. Our waiter Richard was very generous with avocados (3 of them) and their blend of onion, cilantro, tomato, jalapenos, and lime juice was just great. With the leftover ingredients, we even got a side of fresh pico de gallo that was also great. I also like that when you arrive, you get a bean dip as well as a hot salsa for your chips.
For an entree, I got the Mole Enchiladas with Pollo - I really like their mole sauce and the corn tortillas, made on the premises, were also delicious.
Redneckhunter ordered the beautifully plated Huevos Rancheros. Other favorite dishes of mine there are the Pollo "Tia Esther", the Carnitas made with Coca-cola sauce, and their seafood dishes.

3715 South Decatur Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89103
(702) 257-6810

Azami Sushi Cafe, LA

While staying in LA with Coprock & his family, one night, we decided to get some takeout sushi. Coprock knew of a place, Azami Sushi Cafe on Melrose which I had eaten at in the past. One interesting thing to note is that the sushi chefs are women. Regardless, this is one of the best sushi places anywhere. The fish selection is amazing good and fresh.

I ordered some toro which was just spectacular. I was also blown away by the yellowtail belly sushi as well.
I also got a creamy blue crab hand roll that was so good.
Coprock's favorite was the red snapper sushi.

We also shared an order of anchovy tempura with curry salt. Next time I go back, I want to try the omakase at Azami.

7160 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: (323) 939-3816

UPDATE: Unfortunately as of July 2008, Azami has changed ownership and is not the same place. Niki supposedly can be found in Arcadia, CA now.

Singapore's Banana Leaf, Farmer's Market, LA

Nestled in one corner of the LA Farmer's Market in Hollywood is a small stand, Singapore's Banana Leaf, that serves unique tasting food from recipes inspired by Singapore and Malaysia.

I've been coming to this place for several years and was glad that on this recent trip to LA that I was able to come back.
For a starter, we ordered the Rojak salad, a fresh salad made up of cucumber, sprouts, pineapple, apple, and fried tofu covered with a peanut tamarind dressing. One of my favorites.
We also ordered Paratha, basically fried dough you could pull apart and dip in a warm curry sauce.

For entrees, we got the Me Goreng with chicken and the Beef Rendang.
The Me Goreng was a fried noodle dish with some chile, vegetables, and meat- kind of like a Malaysian take on lo mein- delicious.

The most flavorful dish was probably the beef rendang- it's basically a slow cooked meat with coconut milk, ginger, and other spices. So flavorful and rich.

6333 W Third St Ste 122
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Phone: (323) 933-4627

Chabuya Tokyo Noodle Bar, LA

After checking out the great Murakami exhibit at the MOCA in LA, coprock and I went over to Sawtelle blvd. and decided to try out Chabuya Tokyo Noodle Bar for lunch.
Of course, I had to get the ramen. I picked the everything ramen with pork charsu, hard boiled egg, noodles, shoots, and fried garlic. The broth was clear, simple, and tasty, and the noodles were pretty authentic to what I've had in Japan.
coprock ordered the ibushi noodles- these were garlic noodles grilled with shrimp. He opted out of the bacon option though. They were really good and the garlic flavor was definitely obvious in the noodles.


2002 Sawtelle Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-1013

Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles

This last week, I was in LA, and I went with my friend coprock to Pizzeria Mozza, the new place opened by La Brea Bakery's Nancy Silverton & Mario Batali.
We started with a pair of great appetizers, a bruschette of white beans alla Toscana with extra virgin olive oil & saba and the mozza caprese. The bruschette was delicious and the beans were nice and creamy. The caprese was spectacular in that the mozzarella was so fresh, it was like a dollop of runny chesse. All this went nice with a glass of Barbera.
For our pizzas, we each ordered one kind and tried each others. I couldn't resist the pizza with white anchovy, tomato and hot chiles (above). It was genuinely spicy. Coprock selected the pizza with Prosciutto di Parma, rucola, tomato & mozzarella. Both were great.
Nancy Silverton supposedly devoted 2 years to finding the perfect crust- we were told it was cooked in an oven using almond wood. The crust was dashed with olive oil before cooking and it came out crispy- almost like a fried dough consistency, on the outside, and yet it also stayed chewy.


641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
1.323.297.0101

Oohhs and Aahhs Soul Food, DC

This weekend, before the Cornelius show at the 9:30 club, I went to soul food restaurant, Oohhs and Aahhs on U street.
I decided on the Fried Chicken breast with some collard greens and mac & cheese. First off, the portions were huge.
The chicken was great; like all good fried chicken, the seasoning on the skin was delicious and the chicken was juicy.

Their mac & cheese was so nice and gooey, and the greens were solid. I also tried a side of yams, and everything came with corn bread.

Oohhs & Aahhs
1005 U St NW
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 667-7142

Holiday Cooking

I had some interesting food for the holidays thanks to someone at work who supplied me with a goose breast and a venison tenderloin.
The goose breast was an interesting experiment in a new meat I had never prepared before. I learned that the key is moisture, but alas, it did turn out too dry regardless.

After, I butchered the breast into filets, I used a recipe that called for soaking the breasts in red wine for about 2 days. I then stuffed them with apples and potatoes and wrapped them in bacon. They looked beautiful, but I think we sat them out too long before slicing them up because the meat was still pretty dry.

It was an interesting experiment though. Maybe next year I'll get it right.

One highlight of Christmas dinner was Fougoo's mother's dish of pike air bladder topped with shrimp and ham.
Fascinated by the idea of the air bladder, I looked at the package, and they looked like pork rinds. I think they are more for texture as the items themselves absorbed the broth from the dish. They were pretty darn good.

For New Year's, I scored an amazing piece of venison tenderloin. Redneckhunter, grillmaster, prepared it for us. First, a soak in some red wine, then searing the outside with butter.
He then coated the meat with whole grain mustard and smoked the meat for about 45 minutes.

The result was spectacular- the meat was still red inside and tasted amazing- so rich. He smoked a piece of beef at the same time and compared to the venison, the beef was like chicken in richness.

Vidalia in DC, Restaurant Week

Kwan, BigfatLar, and I managed to get reservations to Vidalia in DC for restaurant week, and boy were we not disappointed.
For appetizer, I had to get Vidalia's Veal Tongue- it was really nice and tender, and the way it was served on a flat bread with jalapenos reminded me of lengua tacos. Kwan got the wild mushroom soup which had sone nice pancetta in it, and Lar had the Briar Hollow farm rabbit sausage served in a nice broth.
For entrees, I got the Black Foot Pork Cassoulet which was a little different than what I'm used to in that it was served plated. You're less likely to get a crust, but the beans and pork were delicious regardless.

Lar ordered the Charles Farm Duck Breast- it was cooked beautifully and came with a nice little duck spring roll on the side.

Kwan got one of Vidalia's signature dishes, Shrimp and Grits. The shrimp were of good size and they came with the heads, yum. I tried the grits, too- nice and creamy.

Dessert was really good as well. We tried three items: Lar had the Madagascar Vanilla Bean Cake- it had layers of strawberry jam in it and the sauce had poppy seed.
Kwan had the Valhrona Guanaja Chocolate Panna Cotta which had a real nice dark chocolate flavor, and went nicely with things like banana and a nice cherry compote.
I had the Peanut Butter Crunch which was like a chocolate peanut butter wafer, and it came with an awesome salted caramel sauce.