April 16, 2010

• Song of the Day
  

  Westside Dining – Westside Tavern is a popular Friday night hangout spot. This place is located inside a shopping mall and serves California tavern cuisine. Well, dining in a mall does not really have the sexy appeal of celebrity chefs establisments. Also, this is definitely not a “gourmet” diner as the place seats 300, with the hostesses giving out vibrating coasters that summon guests when the table is ready. This is an establishment that caters to the masses. At dinner there is always a wait (the restaurant does not take reservations). We were standing near the entrance, vibrating coaster at the ready, beside a dating couple holding hands while three young mothers—freed from the kids for an evening—checked in at home and a group of guys joking each other up with comments about the movie they’d just seen. It was a mall moment, one of those local snapshots that capture the typical L.A. scene. What draws us to this place on a regular basis is their wholesome food with generous portions. There is also one particular item in the dessert menu which is definitely the pièce de résistance – Warm Sticky Toffee Cake.

  Beets, Goat Cheese and Watercress salad with toasted walnuts and honey vinaigrette….
  

  Pan seared scallops over mashed potato and bacon bits…..
  

  Fresh Ground Cheeseburger with Tillamook Cheddar, caramelized onions in a Egg Bun. Hand Cut Sea-salted Fries….
  
  

  Warm Sticky Toffee Cake with Mascarpone Creme…..
  

  I had the scallops, leaving enough room for the sumptuous dessert. The toffee cake is moist and soft, topped with a decadent dose of sweet creme. Yumm! The tab came out to US$30 per person, plus service charge. It was not a cheap dinner, considering that we had regular water and shared the salad and dessert. But I will definitely have a very sweet excuse to come back for.

  “Bib Gourmand” Michelin Guide 2009 – restaurants offering “good food at moderate prices”. The name comes from Bib (Bibendum), the Michelin Man, Michelin’s logo for over a century. Nook Bistro is a smallish restaurant located inside an unremarkable shopping mall, housing mom and pop deli shops and offices. It is just around the corner and we regularly go there when the traffic turns really nasty around town. A pleasant surprise to learn this little neighborhood bistro was reognized in the Guide. This eatery serves similar California fare as the Westside Tavern but on a much smaller scale.

  For starters, every table gets a small bowl of boiled peanuts…..
  

  Autumn Squash Salad, with heirloom farmer’s market tomatoes, melons and goat cheese…..
  

  Regular Dinner Salad mixed with Sundried Tomatoes and melons….
  

  Herb Roasted Pork Chop, with baby arugula, Asian pear, Stilton cheese, pinenuts, fingerling potatoes and apricot vinaigrette…..
  

  Grilled Mahi Mahi on a bed of pan fried Lentils…..
  

  Organic Half Chicken Roast, with creamy barley “risotto,” spring peas, morels and green garlic…..
  

  Dessert – Vanilla Bean Ice-cream with summer peaches…..
  

  The dinner costs around US$30 per person, including service charge. Overall, this is a nice bistro admist the bland surroundings.

  “Bib Gourmand” Dim Sum – mentioned in the Michelin Guide 2009, Elite Restaurant is perhaps the only Chinese restaurant in L.A. serving consistent quality dim sum for a few years straight, and has not changed ownership (yet). Everything is fresh, beautifully crafted, with subtle twists in garnishes or ingredients that make us happy. Steamed spareribs with black beans and chile are delicious, the nuggets of pork on the bone sweet and tender, adorned only with a few black beans and small doses of spicy red and green chile. ‘Shiu mai’ are a mouth watering mix of roughly chopped shrimp and pork stuffed into a thin wrapper, with a crowning touch of a dab of orange roe. The shrimp in the ‘har gow’ are pink and meaty, steamed just enough to give them a satisfying soft crunch when you bite into them. The soupy ‘giant dumpling’ as a single serving in a small bowl is the most satisfying dish of dim sum.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  *(Many thank you’s to W for taking numerous of the above fabulous photos)

  Each dish is reasonably priced, and costs US$2 to $5 each. So, as of now, Elite is the best dim sum restaurant in L.A. and let’s hope it will stay this way for a while.

  • 4:58 pm
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