Andy Gavin's Blog, page 62
November 29, 2019
Tang Gong at Night
Location: 111 N Atlantic Blvd #350, Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 888-5188
Date: October 20, 2019
Cuisine: Cantonese Chinese
Rating: Very solid banquet Chinese
_Our friend Derek has been the manager variously at Elite Seafood, World Seafood, and China Red. Tonight we return for one of those awesome Tony Lau special Cantonese feasts.
Now he’s helping open up Monterey Park newcomer, Tang Gong.
Tang Gong is upstairs in the Northwest Corner of the busy...
November 27, 2019
Seaweed Sushi
Restaurant: Seaweed
Location: 3450 W 6th St Ste 107, Los Angeles, CA 90020. (213) 674-7996
Date: October 17, 2019
Cuisine: Handrolls & Sushi
Rating: Good bang for the buck
_Trust it to my Armenian friends to ferret out the one sushi bar in all of Korea Town owned by Armenians.
Anyway, located right near Sun Nong Dan, this is a newish small sushi place focusing on handrolls, like Kazunori, but also with some nigiri.
Very tight little space with one long sushi bar (and nothing else).
The...
November 25, 2019
Ima Had Too Much Meat
Restaurant: IMA
Location: 9669 S Santa Monica Blvd #1, Beverly Hills, CA 90210. (310) 734-7829
Date: October 16, 2019
Cuisine: Japanese A5 Shabu-Shabu
Rating: Rich!
_For tonight’s meal the minimum Foodie Club heads out to try something few others would dare…
$400 a person Shabu-Shabu!
This is IMA, sister restaurant to Yazawa, the super A5 Yakiniku joint in Beverly Hills. They use the same meat.
And have a similar (adjacent and with connecting doors) modern Japanese vibe.
The tables have...
November 22, 2019
November 20, 2019
Marcheing South Again
Restaurant: Marche Modern [1, 2]
Location: 7862 Pacific Coast Hwy, Newport Beach, CA 92657. (714) 434-7900
Date: October 10, 2019
Cuisine: Modern French
Rating: Great food and service
_This particular reunion of the Foodie Club: OC Edition has been in the making for months and follows the format of the previous dinner. Tonight’s them was loosely, coche vs. Domaine d’Auvenay (plus a “bit” of spectacular Champagne).
Due to group constraints, we had to meet deep in the OC at 6:00 — lots of traffic again. This time most of us didn’t d...
November 18, 2019
Shandong Dumplings
Restaurant: Shandong Dumplings
Location: 80 N Fair Oaks Ave, Pasadena, CA 91103. (626) 578-9777
Date: October 8, 2019
Cuisine: Shandong Chinese
Rating: Great home-style dumplings
_Another of these small lunch outings with Yarom and I, this time also joined by Tony L.
There aren’t a ton of Shandong specific places in LA.
And this one is in the heart of old town Pasadena.
The homey interior.
They make them here.
The menu.
Peanuts, celery, cucumbers, shredded potato. Cold appetizers.
Hot a...
November 15, 2019
O OOToro
Restaurant: OOToro [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Location: 1569 Fairway Dr, Walnut, CA 91789. (909) 598-8299
Date: October 5, 2019
Cuisine: Japanese Sushi (with slight nod to China)
Rating: Ends of the earth, but very good
_Chef Kaz of Totoraku, an occasional hedonist, sent us far east to this Sushi restaurant in 2016 and it was such a fun time that we had to return again for a sixth visit — it’s now become a twice a year thing.
And by far east I mean REALLY REALLY far east — to Walnut California. 40+ miles from my house. 20 miles past Alhambra (which mos...
November 13, 2019
Billecart Republique
Restaurant: Republique [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
Location: 624 S La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036. (310) 362-6115
Date: October 4, 2019
Cuisine: Modern Bistro French
Rating: Nice (loud) space, tasty hip food, great service
_This Sage Society dinner is like a return an old favorite as in the “o...
November 11, 2019
Feeling it with Felix
After a two year absence I return to Felix not once but twice more in October 2019. Check out all the new pastas…
November 8, 2019
A Fia Kinda Feeling
Restaurant: Fia
Location: 2454 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica, CA 90403. (310) 586-1707
Date: September 28, 2019
Cuisine: New American / Italian
Rating: Great Atmosphere / Tasty
_With my parents and some various other friends in town for the holiday weekend I needed a place where we could do a 10-12 person dinner — ideally in a private room.
Fia is in the same (gorgeous) space as the old Wilshire, just with a new (more Italian, but not totally) concept. They have inside, lovely patio, and a cool private room.
FIA, A DISTINCT DINING CONCEPT...
