MTV Cocktail Party @ XIV

Michael Mina is a prolific restaurateur beginning with his eponymous signature restaurant, and Michelin one star winner Michael Mina in San Francisco, under the Mina group he has 17 restaurants in: Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. I've wandered past his places several times over the last several years in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, but haven't had the opportunity to stop in for a meal. It hasn't bothered me because I question how involved in the creative process these famed chefs are once they own this many restaurants. However, I work in an industry that likes to have fun parties and 'posh' places, and MTV delivered XIV on Sunset in my inbox.

Phuket, I feel like Thai tonight.

Belying how the word would be pronounced phonetically, Phuket is actually pronounced Poo-ket. Phuket is an island in the southern region of Thailand, and is considered to be one of the top ten scuba diving areas in the world. But how is their food, is what you're asking. Well, I think you would have to actually go there to know for sure, but on the off chance you can't, you can pretend by going to Phuket Thai in Redondo Beach, CA.

Nelson's @ Terranea

Once upon a time, before there was a Sea World in San Diego, there was Marineland in Palos Verdes. In fact, Marineland once held the only captive 'killer' whale. Then it was bought by the owner of Sea World, who stealthily ferried the whale over to Sea World under the cover of night, and then promptly closed Marineland. For years the property has changed hands while sitting undeveloped until one day two years ago, a tidal wave of construction began to build what is now the Terranea Resort.

LudoBites 6.0 vs. Opentable (and a contest!)

Anticipation has been building since Krissy (the Brain Child) Lefebvre announced LudoBites 6.0 on her Twitter account several weeks ago. Anyone who has tried to get a reservation in the last two incarnations of the acclaimed pop up got to work exercising their mouse clicking finger to refresh, refresh, refresh! OpenTable ran trial runs reflecting the anticpated influx with success. However, this is real life, even if it's on the internet, and that comes with a certain amount of failure with the silver lining of success. At 5pm on October 12, 2010, we broke OpenTable.

Rollin Seoul-O to Pine Tree Korean Restaurant

While most of the South Bay is awash with Asian food fare, there are certainly areas that are neglected. For example, there are a total of 3 Chinese restaurants in San Pedro, and having had all 3, I can tell you that only one should be considered a restaurant, and at that, well...hmmm. I'm going to go with the old adage: if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all. But I'll give you this: there were only white people eating there. RUN AWAY!! And please don't get me started on the fail Japanese joints. I digress. Harbor City, like San Pedro, is not exactly swimming in either Asians or Asian restaurants. That being said, you can imagine my surprise when 3 weeks ago, driving down Western (up Western?) to PCH that I noticed for the first time the Pine Tree Korean Restaurant. It's not hidden. It's right there on the east side of the street with bright yellow signage. They have an older Korean gentlemen in the parking lot as a security guard. How long has this place been here, I wondered. I would soon find out.

Yesterday was a sea of fail. I considered at the end of the day, the prospect of consuming copious amounts of alcohol to wash the day away. Sadly, I don't like getting smashed alone, and so I had to switch pitch myself to trying Pine Tree. I also don't often eat alone, but off I went, in yoga pants and tee with my trusty phone (read: twitter) and a good book. As I pulled into the parking lot, I appreciated the funny look from the security guard. I took that to mean that I was the first white (looking) person that he'd seen all night. That was automatically a good sign.

Upon walking in, I noticed the aged decor of the place. Nothing has changed since 1985, which lends itself an endearing feel. No fancy looking grills and vents, no aluminum chairs that look pretty but are painful to sit in. No, all booths this place, with the tattered edges painstakingly taped to hide their wear. The only thing in the entire place that I could see from this decade was the 42" LCD flat panel mounted on the wall showing the Yankee game. Why the Yanks? I have no idea, but Sabathia was pitching, and they were up 4-2.

I was asked how many in my party, and saw the shared look of shock when I told them one. I sat down where they indicated and was handed the menu. Apparently, they have lunch specials, however as they're only good for Monday through Friday, it's unlikely I'll ever have a go at them. Instead I ordered a large Hite (it really was that kind of day), a small soju, the bibimbap and the bulgogi. I was going to order the seafood pancake, but didn't feel that I wanted to pay that much for just me. As it was, the food I had ordered was going to end up in two days worth of leftovers.

I had a choice of letting the kitchen cook the meat, or doing it at the table. An interesting side note is that I didn't realize I could cook at the table. Where normally you see a grill in the middle, but raised, this one was lower, and had a cover of the same material as the table. Smooth. Go '80's. I opted to cook at the table since I like to keep an eye on my meat. Plus, as I was alone, it would give me something to do. The bibimbap came first, along with various side dishes. Half the fun of side dishes for me, is that I never know what they're going to bring. Every Korean restaurant I have ever been to brings something completely different. Sometimes it works for me, other times not. Pine Tree was so-so. Okay napa cabbage kimchi, but what rocked was their radish kimchi. I'm going to have to try making that one. As far as the bibimbap went, it was merely okay. the quality of the vegetables was spot on, but I like my bibimbap hot where they crack the egg into the rice and it cooks while it's stirred. This had the egg already over medium sitting on the beef and veggies. At $11.95, I honestly don't think it was worth it. For $8.99 I could have the exact same portion/quality at Cho Dang Tofu in Torrance.

The bulgogi is rather hard to mess up unless you have poor quality meat. The quality at Pine Tree is fair. One plate of bulgogi is $18.95, but it's a good amount of meat, especially for one person. I had tons to take home for leftover. Guess what kiddo is having tonight for dinner.

All in all, I can't say I would go back. I wasn't wowed, and $50 was a bit much for just me when I know I can get it cheaper/better if I am willing to drive a bit longer. It's nice knowing it's so close, and I imagine if I was desperate, I could be persuaded to go back. But my overall feeling was 'meh'. It made me happy at the time, as Korean food always does, but it was short lived.







Thanks to my Aunt Fi for providing the new camera! It's definitely making my life easier!

Pine Tree Restaurant
25890 Western Ave
Harbor City, CA 90710
(310) 325-1186