Ramen Girl Part Deux

While Gardena has more than it's fair share of Ramen joints, and most of them have gone untried by yours truly, sometimes you have to go back for more from a tried and true. And boy, am I glad I did. While I enjoyed my experience before, the service was beyond friendly and awesome this time around. On top of that, they've added a few things to their repertoire, namely the new broth Yokohama Pork Striker: Spicy, and a new Corn Butter Bomb.

This time around I brought my Mini Me and her father for a nice warm meal of noodles on a cold fall evening. Since Kyle had never been before they offered to bring him a broth sampler so that he could decide which direction he wanted to take. Awesome concept:

Clockwise from top left: Yokohama Pork Stiker, Sapporo Miso Lover, Yokohama Pork Freaker, and Tokyo Sho-yu Props

Craft Beers, Korean Fusion and...wait for it...BEER FLOATS!

The name 'Biergarten' channels images of steins filled to foamy brims of Hofbrau, bratwurst and sauerkraut. It doesn't make you think of Asian influences, and you certainly wouldn't expect to find it nestled in Korea Town along Western Avenue. However, that's exactly what you get. Oh sure, they have some German classics, but the real joy lies in the Asian fusion dishes like: Kalbi Quesadilla, Volcano Cheese Rice Cake, and Pork Schnitzel & Cheese. Never mind the beer list which is quite the adventure with 24 beers on tap and several bottled, as well as the sake and soju listed. 

Eat My Blog...and help feed the homeless.

It's that time of year when the spirit of giving really kicks in, and though we should be giving back all year, the holidays are the kick in the pants that there are those less fortunate than we are. It's with that spirit in mind that the Los Angeles food blogging community has put together the Eat My Blog bakesale under the helm of Cathy (Gastronomy Blog) with benefits going directly to the L.A. Regional Food Bank.

4 Girls, 3 Hours, 1 Menu

5 successful pop up restaurant incarnations later, Ludobites still remains the hardest reservation to obtain in the world. 6.0 certainly had it's reservation challenges. And after 3 weeks of waiting and reading, it was my turn. 6.0 is my third go round with the French born chef. I still stay true to 4.0, but in doing so I have to admit that my 5.0 experience was limited by both time and dishes ordered. I didn't get the full monty, and thus shouldn't compare the two. 6.0 was my best experience to date, but I have to attribute the company I was with and the incredible journey the food took us on. There were of course some misses along with the hits, but there were far more hits.

I arrived first of my party of 4, and decided that since I was a good 40 minutes early, I'd wait for my companions at the bar. This was a novelty after 5 rounds with no bar, no liquor license and a BYOB policy. The bartender on hand for this evening was surprisingly the proprietor of Max in Sherman Oaks. While I didn't get a chance to talk to her about her plans for Max, I did have a pleasant conversation with a gentleman who was enjoying his first pop up experience that evening. A former restaurateur, and chef, he expressed his pleasure at the future of food in Los Angeles. My first cocktail of the evening was one of Ludo's COQtails, the Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger. I forget exactly what was in it, but I do remember Maker's Mark and ginger. They had me at ginger. My girlfriends arrived when I was halfway through my drink. We did end up having the remaining two COQtails: Mexican Mojito and Yuzu Tequila Martini. I forgot pictures, but I loved the cucumber coolness of the martini, and disliked the cilantro filled mojito. The other girls loved both.

Whiskey Pumpkin Ginger

A birthday, Some Tacos and a Swan Song

Last Monday found me at Petrossian in West Hollywood in a celebration of Bill Esparza's (Street Gourmet LA) birthday. Hosted by Chef Ben Bailly, the word was sent out via Facebook and Twitter, and the LA bloggersphere motivated in kind. Where Monday is normally my one gym night during the week, and I'm generally loathe to give it up, I decided to hob nob with the foodie fabulous for one night instead.

Petrossian is one of the leading purveyors of caviar in the continental United States. In Los Angeles, adjacent to their boutique, is the cafe of which Chef Bailly has resided as the executive chef. Sadly, until this fateful evening, I haven't had a chance to get over there for dinner,and if you go by what's been written here, here and here, I had  definitely been missing out. Apparently, it's been raining decadence in WeHo, and I had missed it.