Blu Jam Cafe on Melrose Avenue: Crunchy French Toast

When I successfully packed my classes into just 2 days a week, I was so excited for my free days on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and the weekends. Although it meant having 4 to 5 classes a day from morning till 6pm, it was worth it.

It gave me the opportunity to indulge in weekday lunch deals and to also avoid the weekend crowds. 

However, Blu Jam is so popular that we even had to wait for about 40mins to get a table for 2 on a weekday. (Also because the branch on Melrose has limited space.) But it wasn't too bad because Melrose Avenue is full of shops that you would love to explore. There is also graffiti very nicely done around the area for picture opportunities. I wasn't bored while waiting. 

Blu Jam Cafe interior

We came because Blu Jam Cafe is ranked one of the best in the area. Their signature dish is the Crunchy French Toast. We both decided to order it even though we could have tried something else. Most of the American diners ordered this as a dessert shared between 2 people, on top of individual orders of brunch items such as eggs florentine. However, I guess we kind of knew that we would never be able to pull that off and so we just stuck with the french toast.

Crunchy French Toast

I must say that growing up visiting Hong Kong so often has raised my expectations of french toasts. I have not been impressed by any in Singapore, while french toasts in Hong Kong cafes are usually very crispy and tasty. Nevertheless, although Blu Jam's crunchy french toast managed to impress me with its light coat of sweet cornflake that enhanced its texture and flavour, I wished the taste did not only coat the toast. Hong Kong cafes somehow always manage to give flavour to the whole piece of bread. The bread was also tougher than I would have liked.

However, I still love the crunchy french toast because it was so unique. There was also a dip that was tasted like sweet milk that went really well with the toast. They were also very generous with the berries. It was very satisfying, and if you're not a fan of sweet stuff you can always skip or go easy with the dip. 

Please do not repost or re-use my photos without permission

EMC Seafood: best uni pasta and $1 oysters

This place was on my list for a period of time, but I finally went in April 2015.

Started off with salmon aburi with caviar. It was basically seared salmon with micro greens and black tobikko, on ponzu sauce and truffle oil.

Salmon Carpaccio ($12)

The highlight of EMC Seafood is no doubt their oyster happy hour, where oysters are priced at $1 each. Best part is that it can be a daily indulgence between 4-7pm. There were 2 guys seated next to us on a long table, and they finished 60 oysters with a large pan of truffle fries and even uni pasta. While their appetite was indeed impressive, I think my friend and I ordered a lot for 2 girls (although we ended up with packed leftovers). 

Fresh oysters at $1 each

Place is dimly lit, and so the pictures are not very flattering. But they have one of the best uni pastas, I swear. It's supposed to be a golden yellow and fragrant dish, but the picture does it do it any justice. Nevertheless, the uni cream was heavenly, and it was garnished with whole uni pieces and roasted seaweed. There is nothing to pick about this dish, except I realised that it was pretty oily and you feel full easily because of the thick uni cream. I had half of it to-go (packed for later), which is when I realised it was rather oily. I'm not sure what was added to make this dish smell so good and taste so good, but I'm guessing truffle oil was used because of the smokey taste and smell that became more apparent after I microwaved the leftovers. I can't be sure. 

Uni Pasta ($21)

The tender and large portion of well-marinated beef mignon came as a pleasant surprise. Never thought $16 could fetch us such a large tray of delicious beef.

Black Pepper Beef Mignon ($16)

My friend decided that she wanted something light, and thus she ordered uni congee. I must say that LA has made me realised that Koreans are pretty good at cooking congee. They are well seasoned and are fluffy and delicious. Always wanted to try Bonjuk for healthy korean congee, and because they are so colourful and interesting too. 

Uni Congee ($15)

Please do not repost or re-use my photos without permission

Healthy Zone Jook Hyang: Abalone Ginseng Chicken Soup

Had massive cravings for ginseng chicken soup towards the end of the academic year. It's strange because I never really had any ginseng chicken soup in Singapore, but I kept thinking about the delicious ginseng chicken soup I had in Korea when I visited Seoul when I was much younger. Anyway, thank god for the fact that Ktown was right outside USC. My cravings were easily satisfied.

Headed to Healthy Zone Jook Hyang because my friend had recommended it, and it was family style cooking. Well, it was true and it also meant poor service because it was family-owned. But it's not a big deal. I just wanted to enjoy the food. They also served a large variety of banchan, which I appreciated. 

We ended up ordering ginseng chicken soup with fresh abalone, because we were deprived kids who missed Asian food and soup. It also proved to be no salt nor MSG added, because the soup was rather bland and salt was provided on a small dish so that we could decide how much salt to put in. 

Fresh Abalone Samye Tang ($22)

I believe a whole small chicken was used in the soup. It was also stuffed with some seasoned glutinous rice, which made us very happy because glutinous rice is hard to come by in Los Angeles.

Please do not repost or re-use my pictures without permission.

Sushi Go 55: Most value-for-money Chirashi

My guilty pleasure. I keep coming back for their Chirashi Jyu Sushi Box Matsu whenever I crave for sushi and sashimi. Food in LA isn't cheap, and so I grew to look beyond the numbers and this is what I think is most value-for-money. It's a bang for the buck for a chirashi of such quality and quantity. It's not the best place for sashimi (and yes I know Victoria Beckham said Nobu is her favourite), but it's one of the better at an affordable price in Little Tokyo. After tax and tip, I paid about USD$34.

It came as a double stacked chirashi box, as you can see. The fact that thick slices of sashimi were spilling out of the box excited us so much, even though it was because of the bed of radish below. 

The assorted sashimi on the top box includes:

- Uni (sea urchin)

- Hotate (scallop sashimi)

- Sake (salmon sashimi)

- Maguro (tuna sashimi)

- Tai (sea bream sashimi)

- Saba (mackerel sashimi)

- Kanpachi (yellowtail sashimi)

- Amaebi (shrimp)

- Tamago yaki

- Shiitake mushroom

- Fresh green seaweed

- Fish cake

- Yamagobo (pickled burdock root)

The bottom box consisted of the following on top of a bed of sushi rice:

- Ikura (salmon roe)

- Masago (capelin roe)

- Toasted nori seaweed

- Shredded egg omelette

Nevertheless, I should think that the selection of sashimi may be dependent on season and what the restaurant was able to import as well. There is also a less expensive version of the chirashi without uni, hotate and ikura at about USD$20, not including tax and tip. (It is the round version shown at the top of the picture below.) 

Chirashi Jyu Sushi Box Matsu

For those who are willing to spend and are looking for the best sashimi, I would recommend trying to sit at the bar at Sushi Go 55 and Sushi Gen. (The best sashimi is usually only served at the bar.) These are probably 2 of the best places for decent sashimi in the downtown area of Los Angeles. Other popular places include sugarfish and octopus, although I was so satisfied with Sushi Go 55 and Sushi Gen that I never tried other alternatives.

Please do not repost or re-use my photos without permission

Boxwood Cafe by Gorden Ramsay, West Hollywood

Chanced upon this gem when I was looking through the list of restaurants and their menus for DineLA. For those of you who don't know what DineLA is, it is basically a 2-week long restaurant week initiative that restaurants can participate in by offering a set lunch or dinner at a fixed price that is usually discounted by varying degrees. It is to allow people to try food at discounted prices, while the restaurants gain publicity and exposure to the people in Los Angeles. After having such a great experience with DineLA, I hoped that Singapore had the same thing. However, from what I saw, Restaurant week Singapore seemed poorly executed, and the prices were probably not quite attractive. (But of course, that is my personal opinion.) At least I could pick cheaper options through DineLA. The price range is between USD$15-100 per course meal. Additionally, I wasn't able to find an exhaustive list of menus offered by the restaurants participating in Singapore's restaurant week. Meanwhile, I was spoilt for choice for DineLA, and I knew what I was in for because the menus were all displayed online. (Link included below if you want to know what I mean.)

I visited Boxwood Cafe by Gordon Ramsay in West Hollywood for the DineLA restaurant week in January 2015.  I went for a USD$25 3-course set lunch with 2 other friends, not including tax and tip. The tipping in Los Angeles is usually about 10-15% for lunch, although it is recommended to tip between 15-20% for fine dining.  I would say that it was well spent for the food and dining experience, and I would gladly return for the mushroom risotto and steak. However, I don't know how much it would cost to dine here on an average day.

The London Hotel, West Hollywood

Boxwood Cafe

Boxwood Cafe

Appetiser:

The best mushroom truffle risotto I had so far. I did not expect it to be cooked with truffle oil or for it to taste so much more like a truffle risotto because of its name on the menu. However, it was rich in taste, and the risotto was not runny. It was easily picked up by fork, and it doesn't collapse into a thick liquid. I was so impressed by it, and it satiated my tastebuds. 

Mushroom Risotto

I don't think my friend had expected chicken dumplings to be chicken balls. I guess Americans have a different concept of the word dumplings than Asians..? It didn't look very impressive, but my friend mentioned that it was pretty good, and the sauces were good too.

Crispy Chicken Dumplings 

Main Course:

All of us picked the prime rib cap steak although there were 2 other choices. One of the best steaks I had. I never imagined that steak could be tender and soft on the inside, while it remains crisp on the outside. Usually, we get everything tender or it becomes a tough piece of meat when it's poorly executed. I wish I knew where else I could get steaks that are cooked this way. 

Prime Rib Cap Steak

Although the Boxwood Cafe is known for its beef wellington, it was not available for the lunch menu for DineLA. It was offered for dinner at USD$70 though. 

Dessert: 

We ordered all 3 that was available on the menu. 

The English Sticky Toffee Pudding is one of their signature dishes. It was delicious, and resembled a fondant.

English Sticky Toffee Pudding

The coconut panna cotta was cylindrical, with a dollop of mango sorbet or puree and a sheet of sugar. It was a pretty good combination.

Coconut Panna Cotta

I think the St. Honore cake was a let down. The puffs were not crispy nor fluffy, and it lacked the strawberry taste as well.

St. Honore Cake

For those of you visiting Los Angeles in January or June, DineLA happens twice a year. Do visit http://www.discoverlosangeles.com/dinela-los-angeles-restaurant-week  and experience the magic of DineLA for yourself.

Please do not repost or re-use my photos without permission.

Joie by Dozo: Meatless Cuisine and Fine Dining

Decided to try Joie by Dozo on 13 June 2015 because of its interesting concept. I would definitely recommend it to everyone because even though it was a meatless dining experience, it didn't feel like something was lacking at all. Moreover, they boost a high service standard, and the meal was presented very well. Every course felt like a surprise because everything was uniquely designed by the chef. It was very appetising, and I would definitely return for a second visit for a 6 course lunch at such an affordable price. I also loved how the restaurant is located on the rooftop of Orchard Central. 

The restaurant also boasts a pretty good selection for each course, but I'll only be able to show what we had that day.

Fruity and floral tea was served, along with a palate cleanser as shown below. I absolutely loved the presentation of this drink, 

Passion fruit sorbet smoothie

Divine: Chef's selection of assorted platter
I honestly can't name the items on the platter, but I'll try to describe them in the order that was recommended by the waiter. The item of the left was some seaweed cracker with mushroom and cream that had a hint of wasabi. Next was something that resembled salmon sashimi, but I believe it's made from carrots. It's amazing how even the texture was similar to that of salmon sashimi. The last item on the right was ground pistachio some cranberry bubble that broke easily, with cranberry juice oozing out.

Prelude: Entree

I picked the Matsutake Cake, which was a steamed Japanese mushroom cake with rosemary gel, golden enoki and creme patisserie, and pistachio crumbles. It smelled heavenly, and the aroma of the mushroom was enhanced by the fact that the dish was covered in a glass bell jar when served. The mushroom cake was light and savoury, and it went really well with the vanilla cream.

Matsutake Cake

Elixir: Soup

It was less thick and creamy than I imagined. However, it was grainy which indicated that the soup was made from real ingredients, which I really appreciate. There was also a tiny piece of truffle (the black speck shown in the picture), although it did not have much of a taste. Nevertheless, the soup could have been stronger and thicker, although it may be welcomed by people who would have preferred it light.

Infusion of Cepes and Truffle

Crescendo: Main course
We had a few different choices, but we ended up deciding on a mushroom steak and a truffle risotto. The mushroom steak was divine. I was already impressed when it was served. It tasted like black pepper chicken that was very very smooth and chewy. This is way better than replacing patties with portobello mushrooms. It was also served on a hot stone, which kept the mushroom steak hot and I really liked it.

Grill Bai Ling Steak on "Pu Ye" Hot Stone

The truffle risotto was not as aesthetically pleasing, and I had second thoughts when I saw the edamame beans in it. However, after taking a bite, I was pretty impressed. I was slightly surprised that edamame complemented the truffle taste well. However, it's not the best truffle risotto I had. I preferred the one I had at Boxwood Cafe by Gordon Ramsay, West Hollywood. (I'll post about it soon)

Truffle Risotto and Morel

Sweet Endings: Dessert

The coffee creme brulee was pretty good, and it was an interesting twist to the classic. However, I did not really like how there was a large coin of solid caramel that was hard to bite and it had pretty sharp edges as well.

Coffee Creme Brulee

Like most other chocolate fondants, it had a runny chocolate core. Extra bonus points to this because it was dark chocolate, and the ice cream did not melt quickly. 

Warm Chocolate Cake served with Vanilla Ice Cream

Potion
Everything on the menu sounded really refreshing and unique. It was pretty hard to pick, but the waiter was very helpful and recommended drinks that were popular and also those that suited our preferences.

The Mocktail of Love was a minty refreshing mix of cranberry, orange and pineapple juice. I liked how it was served in a tube.

Mocktail of Love

The iced apple mellow melody was a blend of apple and guava juice with mallow flowers. Very refreshing, and there was even a fork for you to eat the fruits in the pot.

Iced Apple Mellow Melody

Please do not repost or re-use the photos without permission.