Tag Archives: vegetarian

Here Piggy – Botin Madrid

Restaurant: Botin

Location: Madrid Spain

Date: July 1, 2010

Cuisine: Classic Spanish

 

At the end of our month in Spain we wanted to hit up a totally traditional Spanish place for our final dinner. This place in Madrid claims to be the “oldest restaurant in the world.” True or not, it does serve a narrow but good menu of traditional Spanish fare. And this means pig — lots of pig!

The storefront in the heart of old Madrid.

The speciality of the house is roast baby piglet. They told me they go through 50-60 complete pigs a night! You can see them lined up in their terrines waiting for the ovens.

Oink oink!

Their fiery doom.

“The 2007 Les Terrasses is the same blend as the Camins cuvee but entirely sourced from old vines. It spent 12 months in 20% new French oak. Aromas of mineral, Asian spices, espresso, black cherry, and black raspberry lead to a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, smooth-textured wine. Savory, moderately structured, and approachable, it may evolve for 1-2 years but can be enjoyed now and over the next 6-8 years.” Parker gives it a 92.


The building sure looks old.

This traditional Gazpacho was very good — and included the tray of “additives” (cucumber, tomato, crouton). Even I — a consummate raw tomato hater — loved it.

Pimientos Rojos with Boquerones in Vinegar. I love this dish. Anchovies have a bad rap here in the states, but these fresh Spanish ones are amazing. I love the vinegary tang, and the contrast with the marinated peppers. Yum!

Here is the pig in the foreground — with potatoes — the Spanish love meat and potatoes. In the background is roasted lamb shoulder.

The lamb plated. Smokey, rich and tender. The piggy was someone else’s, after looking at the little pigs I just couldn’t bring myself to chow down on one. I didn’t see the lamb.  Bah!

Perfect flan for dessert. Rich custardy goodness and sweet dark carmel.

The funky old school Spanish decor.

the register certainly looks antique.

The cellar.

By the entrance, where they keep the olives they put on the table, is this sad little photo of babe.

Lasagne Bolognese Minus the Meat

Layered between our obsessive holiday restaurant forays we did sandwich in a little home cooked meal. As the main course was lasagne I reached into the cellar and pulled out some Italian.

Parker gives this Barolo a 93, “The 1997 Carobric, also tasted from magnum, presents a more evolved set of flavors including tobacco, earthiness and over-ripe, cooked fruit. Though it shows excellent length it is the wine that most clearly reflects the adverse conditions of the hot vintage in its wilted, somewhat tired quality. 90/Anticipated maturity: 2006-2012.”

Parker gives this one 90, “The 2000 Barolo Bricco Rocche is fragrant with important aromas of roses, anisette, and cinnamon. Polished and elegant in style, it benefits from the additional freshness and continuity provided by the sensations of mint and tobacco on its lingering finish. Drink: 2005-2016.”

This second was smokier than the Carobric.

A little Campari and soda was also in order, with fresh blood orange from one of our trees.

As we cooked (and drank) this 2 year old vermont cheddar was enjoyed by all — including my 2 year old.

The lasagne in the oven. We wanted a vegetarian Lasagne Bolognese, so the “meat” is actually soy. In searching low and high for some fake meat that actually tastes decent — the Boca was the best we found. By making a from scratch Bolognese sauce with the fake meat, it inherits a more complex flavor and does a decent job pretending.

Nicely browned.

Salad, with apples, mushrooms, and walnuts.

Dressing, a lemon vinagrete made with meyer lemons.

Some Broccoli Rabe, blanched, then sauteed with garlic and peppers.

Finished up.

And a fruit salad to finish. The grapefruits were from our tree too.

Christmas is for Dim Sum

Restaurant: The Palace

Location: 11701 Wilshire Blvd, Second Floor, Los Angeles, CA.  310-979-3377.

Date: Dec 25, 2010

Cuisine: Chinese Dimsum

 

As we don’t celebrate Christmas, and very few restaurants are open, Chinese is a long standing tradition. These days we go to Dim Sum. For those of you who have lived in a culinary hole for the last couple decades, Dim Sum is a Cantonese brunch tradition in which tasty little delectables are served on carts. Dim Sum is hard to find on the westside, and this particular place recently changed owners and names. It’s actually slightly better in its current incarnation, although they may offer less items at current. This is a pretty traditional or classic implementation of the cuisine. Last month I reviewed Ping Pong in Washington DC which offered a more expensive but updated variant.

This, for example, is the “fried stuff” cart.

And this young lady is organizing some of the “steamed stuff” carts.

There are condiments too. Vinegar, Chinese mustard, hot sauce, soy sauce, and tea — which isn’t really a condiment but is certainly present at every Chinese meal I’ve ever had.

We don’t go in so much for the fried, but these are shrimp and scallop rolls with sesame seeds.

Shrimp and scallop dumplings (pounded rice batter) with cilantro.

Vegetarian dumplings shaped like Hamantash.

One of my favorites — and readily available. Pork shumai.

Another classic, Har Gow. These are shrimp pockets. They are very light. Dim Sum is also often VERY hot in a physical sense. Seared oral tissue is a significant hazard.

Shrimp, scallop, and some other green.

Shrimp and scallop. You may notice a trend.

Curried shrimp balls. This is shrimp chopped up, reconstituted, and covered in curry sauce.

Tofo stuffed with vegetables. Surprisingly tasty.

Another classic, sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf.

Inside is a blob of rice filled with various bits of meat, vegetable, and egg.

These are pork “crepes” (ripe noodles). As I’ve been eating Dim Sum for over 30 years, as kids we used to call this “slime” (we meant it as a compliment). It has a jiggly consistency. I still love it. They come in various “flavors,” this one being “pork slime.” “Shrimp slime” is also ver popular. The sauce is a somewhat sweet soy.

Steamed pork buns. These fluffy rice flower buns are stuffed with a red tinted BBQ pork. Essentially they are BBQ pork sandwiches.

For desert pineapple bun. These buttery pastries are stuffed with a very yolky egg custard.

Same place, new sign. This is solid Dim Sum. I’ve certainly had better, but in LA you have to travel pretty far east for amazing Dim Sum. The current chef also makes some really really good “soup dumplings,” but they ran out on Christmas eve and none were available. We were crushed. Four of us also pigged out (or maybe shrimped out) for $67.

Red Medicine is the Cure

Restaurant: Red Medicine [1, 2]

Location: 8400 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, Ca. 90211. 323-651-6500.

Date: Dec 22, 2010

Cuisine: Modernized Vietnamese

Rating: Pretty awesome!

 

I’m a loyal reader of Kevin Eats and two weeks ago when he posted an opening night review of a new Vietnamese inspired restaurant named Red Medicine I instantly knew I had to go. Boy am I glad I did. I love good traditional Vietnamese for its intricate flavor palette (see my review here). This new place takes it to a new level, updating and modernizing. This is highly innovative stuff — at least when you consider the sea of Japanese and Italian clones that overwhelm our fair city.

Vietnamese is tough stuff to pair with red wine, but a Grand Cru Burgundy is soft and fruity enough to manage. Parker gives this one 93 points and says, “I loved the sweet cassis aromas of the 2002 Echezeaux as well as its powerful, intense, syrupy personality. Medium to full-bodied and gorgeously ripe, it bastes the palate with thick black fruit flavors. In addition, this wine reveals great depth and a lengthy, fruit-packed finish. Projected maturity: 2007-2017.”

The menu. This is all small dishes (the way I like it).  We ordered 12 savories and 3 deserts for 4 people and that was about perfect.

“KELLEY’S MOM’S FARM EGG / brassicas, pickled rose hips,  chili, fried garlic, boiled peanuts, lovage.” This dish typifies what the chef’s are doing here. It mixes all sorts of flavors, and a lot of fresh herbs, vegetables, and pickled vegetables. The peanuts were those large soft Asian ones and this egg was so soft it ended up in the dish like egg noodles. The overall flavor was salty and herby — and delicious. Plus HOT. Those red peppers were a bit of surprise, but a pleasant burn.

“fluke cured with lime leaf, radishes,  charred cucumber, pine needle.” This was another very interesting flavor combo. Hot again (there are serrano peppers in there) and strong notes of basil and pickle. Delicious!

“BEEF / fermented soy bean, bacon XO, chinese eggplant,  purple cabbage, celery stem, nuoc cham.” The beef and eggplant had an intense charred flavor, like filet minion BBQ or something. The purple cabbage paired with it like a kind of Asian variant on the cole slaw one might have with Southern BBQ.  Wow.

“CHICKEN DUMPLINGS / caramelized sugar, pork fat, lemongrass, confitures.” The elements (chicken, mint, pickles, scallions, sauce) are combined on a lettuce leaf as shown below. I nabbed a healthy blast of the red stuff. Hot again!

Other than the heat, this wasn’t as strongly flavored as the other dishes (and I like strong). It was good, but not as good.

“kabocha, burnt onion, chinese sausage, chrysanthemum,  creme fraiche.” This was basically BBQ squash with yoghurt and sweet BBQ sauce. It was really good.

“kohlrabi, tofu cream, grapefruit,  fish sauce, lettuces, sunchokes.” This was my least favorite dish of the night. Again, not bad, not just not as exciting. It was cool and refreshing.

“BEEF TARTARE / mustard leaf, water chestnut, spicy herbs, nuoc leo, chlorophyll.” Under the green is the beef tartare. You shovel it on the garlic rice crackers. It was incredible. Not intense, but a lovely flavor.

My brother enjoys some of the squash.

“WILD STRIPED BASS / brown butter-soy milk, verbena,  pomelo, raw chestnut, lettuce stems.” This very nicely cooked fish was bathing in this garlicky butter sauce. Nice too, but pretty rich.

“CRISPY SPRING ROLL / dungeness crab, calamansi, pea pods, fines herbs, chili.” Excellent varient on the crispy spring roll tradition. I liked the creamy bits of sauce.

Red Medicine has a very nice list of sweet whites, including many from Zind Humbrecht. They have a $25 corkage (normal enough), but if you buy a bottle they waive it totally. So I bought this nice riesling for $55 and essentially it cost me $5 (I saved 2 corkages). This is probably a 92-93 point Spatlese. Its apricot and pear sweetness did pair perfectly with the food.

“‘BANH MI’ / foie gras, pate de campagne.” Wow these were good. The fois meshed nicely with the bit of serrano, the pickles etc.

“PORK / caramelized black vinegar and honey, prunes, sorrel, dried almond.” This was a tremendous BBQ pork. The fluffy stuff is almond poppy seed puff rice. It mostly added texture and a vague nuttiness. The pork however was incredibly soft, the sauce almost mole like. The net affect was a pit like South Carolina pulled pork without the vinegar.

“DUCK / 5-spice, charred frisee, chicory, tamarind syrup,  grains of paradise.” This duck was also awesome, like confit — or maybe it was confit.

The open kitchen. The place was packed too, even on a holiday Wednesday, after having been open a mere two weeks.

The pastry chef here is world class.

“COCONUT BAVAROIS / coffee, condensed milk, thai basil, peanut croquant, chicory.” This was fantastic. All sorts of interesting textures (check out those fish eye looking things), and a soft taste of coffee, a good dose of peanut butter — and basil!

“LEMONGRASS POTS DE CREME / sweet potato, orange blossom, red bull, bergamot.” Creme Brulee basically, but lemongrass! Unusualy, but excellent.

“BITTER CHOCOLATE / kecap manis, oats, pear, parsnip,brown butter.” This was also good, crunchy, drier — pretty.

I’m very excited about this place and its new flavors. I’ll head back soon. I hope, though, that they switch up the menu with great regularity. Not that what is there isn’t great, but it would seem a waste to stagnate this kind of creativity.

For a second meal at Red Medicine (different dishes for the most part), see HERE.

Rustic Canyon Redux

Restaurant: Rustic Canyon [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 1119 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, Ca 90401. 310-393-7050

Date: Dec 20, 2010

Cuisine: Farmer’s Market Californian

ANY CHARACTER HERE

When I first moved out to California in the early 90s LA cuisine was typified by Asian influences and whacky fusions — all of which I enjoyed. In recent years fusion has become more subtle — and more prevalent — and more and more top restaurants have become ingredient driven. Those whose chefs have a knack are really good, and Rustic Canyon is one of them. My review of a previous meal is here.

Another gem from my cellar. Parker gives this 95. “Another unbelievably rich, multidimensional, broad-shouldered wine, with slightly more elegance and less weight than the powerhouse 1996, this gorgeously proportioned, medium to full-bodied, fabulously ripe, rich, cassis-scented and flavored Grand-Puy-Lacoste is a beauty. It should be drinkable within 4-5 years, and keep for 25-30. This classic Pauillac is a worthy rival to the other-worldly 1996. Anticipated maturity: 2002-2025. Wow! What extraordinary wines Grand-Puy-Lacoste has produced in both 1995 and 1996. At present, I have a marginal preference for the blockbuster 1996, but I am not about to argue with anybody who prefers the 1995! Both are compelling wines.”

The menu here changes daily. Very little is the same as the last time I visited and reviewed.

Like in Spain, olives on the table.

“Squash blossoms, goat cheese and mint.” Fry is always good. This is a Roman dish, specifically, it’s a Jewish Roman dish that’s centuries old — and it’s still great.

“coleman farms lettuces pickled shallots, parmigiano-reggiano, mustard vinaigrette.” Tasted more like pizza than salad!

“panzanella hierloom tomatoes, green olives, red onion, country bread, arugula.”

“ricotta gnocchi braised duck ragu, parmigiano-reggiano.” These melted in the mouth, and were as good as a similar dish at any Italian joint.

“niman ranch burger sharp cheddar, onion fondue, bread and butter pickles, herb remoulade 18 hand-cut french fries.”

“niman ranch pork chop roasted pears, pancetta, porcini, sage.”

“niman ranch burger, breakfast style. With confit bacon, sunny side-up egg, hash brown, tilamook cheddar, 18 hand-cut french fries.”

Zoom in here for the heart stopping view.

If you read regularly, you’ll have seen this favorite before. Parker gives this 96. “Beaucastel has been on a terrific qualitative roll over the last four vintages, and the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape (which Francois Perrin feels is similar to the 1990, although I don’t see that as of yet) is a 15,000-case blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the balance split among the other permitted varietals of the appellation. This inky/ruby/purple-colored cuvee offers a classic Beaucastel bouquet of new saddle leather, cigar smoke, roasted herbs, black truffles, underbrush, and blackberry as well as cherry fruit. It is a superb, earthy expression of this Mourvedre-dominated cuvee. Full-bodied and powerful, it will undoubtedly close down over the next several years, not to re-emerge for 7-8 years. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2025.”

The desert menu.

Coffee ice cream, more like gelato.

“Pear ginger sundae, pear riesling sorbet, gingerbread crumbs, caramel sauce.” Not your classic sundae. The pear sorbet and the breadcrumbs tasted like pear pie. The creamy looking stuff was more a creme fraiche than a whipped cream. Overall delicious.

“Passion fruit posset, creme fraiche whipped cream, toasted pistachios.” Tasted like passion fruit pudding. I love passion fruit.

Again Rustic Canyon proves it’s chops. And Ron Howard was there too.

Quick Eats: Chan Dara

Restaurant: Chan Dara

Location: 11940 W. Pico Blvd. (1/2 blk East of Bundy) West Los Angeles, CA 90064Phone: 310 479-4461

Date: December 19, 2010

Cuisine: Thai

Rating: Very good modernized Thai

 

Chan Dara is one of those funny places that doesn’t exactly fit the model of the traditional ethnic joint (which food-wise, it is). It has a bit more decor than the typical Thai place might, and it has a full bar and TVs running the game. But basically, this is a well run and reliable Thai restaurant with a big menu. Going with the decor, things are a little more Americanized, which is fine for most of my fellow diners, as a very traditional Thai place can be VERY spicy and/or use a lot of fish sauce.

Red wine doesn’t really go with Thai. My last bottle of this drier riesling. To me it tastes like flowers. “Lush lime scents are found in the delightful aromatics of the 1998 Riesling Cuvee Theo. This is a well-structured, pure, suave, concentrated, dense, yet elegant wine. Loads of spices, minerals, and fresh, crisp white fruits can be found in this chewy textured, medium-bodied offering. Projected maturity: 2002-2008.”

The very reliable chicken and beef satay. I love the juicy beef satay here. The sweet/spicy peanut sauce is great too, and the pickles.

“Saigon,” roles. These soft rice crepe rolls are stuffed with various veggies. It’s all in the sweet sauce though.

Tom-Yum-Goong. The classic chili, lemongrass broth with mushrooms and shrimp. Given the cold and rainy day a little soup hit the spot.

Crispy Veggie rolls. My toddler’s favorite — well if you discount the rice crackers.

The sides for the coming dish.

Beef kabob on fire.

And here is the fire.  They dump some Bacardi 151 on top and light. Despite the show, the meat is wonderfully tender and has a great flavor.

Vegetarian pad Thai, with steamed tofu. This dish has the slightly exotic sweet/fishy tang that it is supposed to.

Pineapple duck curry. I love red currys, and this one is particularly good. Chunks of dark duck meat combine with the pinapple into a sweet/savory blend. Just a little heat (Chan Dara is a VERY mild Thai joint), but a lot of flavor.

Mango Salmon with cashews.  You can also see the coconut rice. Asian white rice is great, but a little coconut makes it even better. Then drench it in some red curry.

As usual, I ate too much.

Brunch at Tavern – again

Restaurant: Tavern [1, 2, 3, 4]

Location: 11648 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 806-6464

Date: Dec 19, 2010

Cuisine: Market driven Californian

Rating: Not just your typical short order brunch — but better.

 

The weather is terrible (for LA), 58 and rainy, so brunch. Tavern has a nice glassed in patio.

And cappuccino.

The menu.

My son liked the fish and chips.

Pumpkin waffles.

The Tavern take on the east coast fish breakfast, like we had at the ThanksGavin. They substituted a chevre (fresh goat cheese) for the cream cheese. This worked extremely well, I think I’m going to try it at home.

Turkey burger.

The Tavern eggs benedict: prosciutto, frisse, brioche, Meyer lemon Hollandaise. A very good variant on the classic, only subtlety tweaked.

Carmel salt macaroon.

Check out some other Tavern meals of mine HERE, HERE, or HERE.

Quick Eats: Osteria Latini 2

Restaurant: Osteria Latini [1, 2, 3]

Location: 11712 San Vicente Blvd.Brentwood, CA 90049 310.826.9222

Date: Dec 03, 2010

Cuisine: Italian

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As I mentioned last time, Osteria Latini is a reliable and reasonable neighborhood Italian. It proved that yet again.

From my cellar. Parker gives it 91 points. “The 2004 Brunello di Montalcino is a fresh, vibrant offering bursting with dark cherries, violets, underbrush, minerals and sweet toasted oak on a medium-bodied frame. The wine reveals terrific balance in an energetic, focused style, with firm yet ripe tannins. The finish is long, clean and refreshing. This is a gorgeous effort from Loacker. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2019.”

Tomato, basil, goat cheese.

“ARTICHOKE SALAD, Marinated thin sliced artichokes, heart of palm and parmesan in a lemon dressing.”

“INSALATA BELLA, Arrugola, Pears, sun dried cherries, pine nuts, goat cheese and Parmesan.”

A special, calimari steak stuffed with lump crabmeat and drizzled in ponzu sauce. This is unusual, and certainly has a bit of fusion about it — but it’s good.

“BEET SALAD, Diced red beets, endive, pine nuts, walnuts, dried cherries and goat cheese.” This is Latini variant on this now ubiquitous dish.

Another special, “duck prosciutto with gorgonzola sauce. The duck has a very nice smokey flavor.

Branzino, roasted whole with a lemon butter sauce. They took it away to filet.

“PENNE ARRABBIATA , Penne rigate with spicy marinara sauce, garlic, olive oil and parsley.”

“RISOTTO DI ARAGOSTA, Sautéed with lobster, light marinara sauce and white wine.” I got this again because I love lobster and i love risotto,

“CHICKEN MILANESE OR PARMIGGIANA, Pounded and breaded. Sautéed with marinara and mozzarella cheese.” This chicken must have been the size of Godzilla. It’s lightly breaded, sauced, and has both parmesan and mozzarella.

Special pasta, spaghetti, salmon, zucchini, and tomato.

Here is the sea bass.

The chef brought some out in their raw form to show us.

This mixture of prosecco, lemon sorbetto, and meringue is very refreshing.

For other Osteria Latini reviews, click HERE or HERE.

Or for LA Restaurant reviews.

Or an entire month of eating in Italy!

Quick Eats: Houstons

Restaurant: Houstons

Location: 202 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica, CA 90401. (310) 576-7558

Date: December 17, 2010

Cuisine: American

Rating: Solid High-end Chain American

 

As any reader can probably tell, I’m not too big on chain restaurants. Frankly I consider the Olive Garden, Outback, Claim Jumper ilk to be demonic evil blights on the face of American cuisine. There are, however, a few high end chains that serve their purposes. Houstons is one of them. Although a tad over priced, its not bad for a chain.

The menu.

Their wine list is all American. While I’m a huge patriot and a grand believer in our role as the best genuine republic since the Roman Republic, our wines our too by the book. Certainly the case with this pinot, over oaked, and just not a burgundy.

Clam chowder. I am a fan of well done American food. Houston’s clam chowder used to be better. It used to be loaded with cream and have butter floating on top. It’s still good, but they lightened it up. In case you’re curious, it’s my opinion that clam chowder is descended from the classic Irish peasant soup that combined cream and potatoes — in ready supply in Ireland. New England — and this is New England chowder — is full of Irish. Go figure.

Fish of the day, livened up with cheese and fried shrimp.

They have a very good veggie burger. Not one of those soy patties. The fries aren’t awful either.

The fish sandwich. The slaw is really good too.

Or you could go with cous cous. They mix in a lot of good stuff there, almonds, mint etc.

Maryland lump crab-cakes. Yum! I love blue crab. These were quiet good, with a buttery mustard sauce.

And the apple praline nut crumble — ala mode. The nuts are glazed and delicious. There isn’t that much apple, but the candied nuts and ice cream alone is enough.

So when one wants a reliable quick American fix, Houstons isn’t a bad choice. Still, I’d take the smaller chain Coastal Flats, but that isn’t on this coast.

Swish Swish – Mizu 212

Restaurant: Mizu 212

Location: 2000 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025 (310)478-8979

Date: December 17, 2010

Cuisine: Japanese Shabu Shabu

Rating: Best Shabu Shabu in town

 

Shabu Shabu is a form of Japanese cuisine where various meats and vegetables are cooked table side in boiling broth. Literally the name means “swish swish” for the sound the food makes as it is swished in the boiling water. In Japan one might get the impression that Shabu Shabu, like all Japanese culinary specialties, has been an inherited tradition since neolithic times, but in fact it entered the vocabulary only during World War II. Japanese soldiers in China encountered the ubiquitous Mongolian Hot Pot. But the Japanese are nothing if not masters at the art of culinary assimilation. They have a special ability to take the dishes of others and make them uniquely their own.

Mizu 212 is one of many excellent Japanese restaurants on Sawtelle. They do only Shabu Shabu and it’s all organic.

Each seat has a little hot plate.

On which is installed the pot of broth.

Hot green tea.

Part of the allure of shabu shabu are the sauces. The sesame sauce on the left and the ponzu on the right. The sesame sauce — like the cuisine itself — is borrowed from China. Loosely the sesame is for meat, and the ponzu is for veggies. But the unmodified sauces are just the beginning.

These are the basic condiments. From left to right: Chili oil, scallions, daikon radish, chili powder, and in front garlic!

The sesame gets a huge dose of garlic, as does the ponzu. But the ponzu also gets scallions and radish — and garlic.

There are also the advanced condiments, available on request. Both really help the ponzu shine. The yuzu on the left (juice from a Japanese lime) adds zest, and the chili is HOT! In a perfect kind of green hot. I find that red chili hot doesn’t go so well with shabu shabu — but green does.

 

The finished sauces.

And the actual food arrives. The vegetable plate. All sorts of organic goodness, plus some tofu and udon noodles.

The beef. This is a large plate of vintage aged beef. Mizu actually has about half a dozen meat options, including two different types of Kobe beef, plus chicken, lamb, and numerous types of fish. But beef is traditional.

The pot after a few rounds of veggies are added. Part of the key here is to cook each thing for just the appropriate length of time..

The beef cooks very quickly.

Swish, swish and voila!

Finished. Slather in the garlicky mizu and enjoy.

After all the cooking the meat fats are about all that’s left. Not so appealing.

The remains. There is a endless rice too. After you remove meat or vegetables from the broth, and dip it in one or the other sauces you can rest it to cool on the rice. That way, by the end the rice has become nicely saturated with sauce and fat.

As loyal (and repeat customers) we were treated to a round of homemade blood orange sorbet at the end. Yum!

Rows of other customers enjoying their private feasts. Not only is this meal good, and reasonably healthy, but it entertains too.