food panda

Wolvesmouth @ Beer Belly After trying Chef Craig Thornton's (aka Wolvesmouth) cooking on two previous occasions, I jumped at the chance when I heard there was going to be a special one night pop-up dinner at Beer Belly , a newly opened Beer House in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Although getting a reservation was tough, I managed to snag two seats at the 9pm seating that night. Since beer was available during dinner, I bypassed the wine option and went with various selection of beer offered at Beer Belly. Top: Bread from Bread Lounge. Bottom: Barley Malt Butter I thought the bread at bread lounge was pretty standard fare, but the barley malt butter made it shine. I really loved the flavors of this butter, but I limited myself to the 2 pieces of bread given. I had to make sure I had room for the rest of the meal. Corn Soup - crab, corn fritter, jalapeno, cilantro, buttermilk, lime I've had a corn soup made by Craig before and loved it, so I eagerly awaited for this co...

Sushi Nozomi As I had mentioned on my previous post , since my meal at Nozomi last year, I've been trying to find a opportunity to make a return visit. With Hong's (of The Ravenous Couple ) birthday coming up, I figured this was a good place to have a birthday dinner. After speaking with Mark, the Manager of Nozomi, whom I met last year, we set up another omakase dinner. Yasu-San After having such a good experience with Yasu-San, I requested to have him once again prepare our omakase dinner. On a more recent visit to Nozomi (Yes, I went back again), I found out Yasu-San was from Tokyo, but has been living here in the United States for the past 21 years. Just a little FYI to the readers out there. Kirin Draft Cold beer is a must order. Always. Smoked Giant Clams We were first served a small bowl of smoked clams topped with Japanese mayo and seaweed. I enjoyed the smoky flavors of the clams and while I'm not a huge fan of mayo, I did enjoy the addition of the cream flavors of...

Nozomi Sushi Like with the previous Sushi Zo post, my first dinner at Nozomi happened over a year ago. Although the dinner had occurred such a long time ago, I always had fond memories of my dinner there. Strange enough, I didn't make a return visit until this past weekend. While going over the new pictures for Nozomi, I still want to present my first dinner in pictures. Part two of my Nozomi post will cover the most recent dinner. If you want a more detailed post, please read DJJewelz's post on this omakase meal. The First Rule Of Fight Club? Always Be Nice to Your Sushi Chef Or Else..... Cracker with Uni, Marinated Squid, and Cream Cheese Sunomono It's just the refreshing starter we needed to whet our palates. And here. We. Go! Kinmedai (Alfonsino with Lemon and Himalayan Sea Salt) I loved the use of lemon and sea salt on this. Tai (Black Seabream with Ponzu Jelly) Madai (Red Snapper with Sesame Soy) Yasu-San Showing Us Our Next Fish: Tobiko (Flying Fish) Our head sushi...