ncurland "<---- Food goes in here"

I have a bias towards this dish, since it is always my favorite pick, but their green curry is everything I crave in a curry. I always get the chicken, and request extra vegetables. They are always happy to comply.

Typically not my favorite type of dish, but I found this Pad See Ewe deliciously addictive! When ordered with the Green Curry, I always have a winning combination of sweet and spicy.

My favorite. I eat meat, but I appreciate having some vegetables too, and this is a good dish to pair with a meat dish for a balanced meal. SOOOoooo much ginger, very flavorful. The vegetables are nothing special, but the sauce makes it a hit.

All their Kormas are delicious, but the lamb is my favorite. The pairing of the rich lamb flavors with the creamy cashew sauce is so decadent. I love how much sauce is in this dish, plenty for dipping naan or spreading over rice.

Much better than their meat samosas, these are crispy and bready on the outside, spicy and flavorful on the inside. Great with the dipping sauces.

Another favorite, although sometimes it feels a little too rich for me. Love the tender white meat chicken, and the buttery sauce. Best with something to cut the heaviness of the sauce, like rice and a vegetable dish.

This was the standout meat of my DineLA experience. Though a tiny cut, the juicy succulence of the filet mignon can not be beat. My boyfriend and I were vying for the last bite. The sauce was tasty, and I enjoyed the wasabi mash, although my boyfriend noted it should be called puree, because it is really a thorough blend.

A somewhat disappointing dessert, the eggroll did not seem to be crispy enough to counter the soft banana inside. The Thai vanilla ice cream was delicious, especially with the caramel and candied nuts, though in the future we will order the ice cream a la carte.

I thought this was going to be a fairly predictable dessert. I mean, you can’t get more standard than creme brulee in LA, can you? I figured the coconut would be just an infusion, a light hint that would slightly alter the traditional dish, but nothing spectacular. I was so very wrong.
Rather than the unbroken creamy smoothness beneath the candy coating, I found fresh shredded coconut mixed into the custard. “Blasphemy!” I thought, but I couldn’t stop eating. So intense was the coconut flavor, that I nearly forgot I was eating creme brulee, but for the sugary shards of the caramelized crust that I mixed into the cream. I look forward to eating this delightfully surprising dish again!

Not an ordered dish, but an extra appetizer brought to every table. So many great extras at this restaurant!

Fairly straightforward miso soup, though I appreciated that it was not overly salty, as too many miso soups are, yet still retained a rich miso flavor.

I have never had potstickers like this before. Though filled with mushrooms, the flavor and texture was so much richer than I had expected, more like a steak than a vegetable. In fact, they were meatier than most meat potstickers I’ve had! A great option for vegetarians looking for a rich substitute. The filling was also a bit spicy. The dipping sauce tasted more like steak sauce to me than an asian black bean plum sauce, which added to the bold flavors of the dish. I am definitely getting this next time.

I love cold peanut noodles, and this was no exception. I could have used a little more spice, but it was still an addictively good dish.

Overall, my least favorite appetizers. The flavors were a little too mild for my palate, though the tuna seemed fresh enough. I think the dressing needed a little more seasoning or lemon, something more, to make this dish stand out. It was good, but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

I would give this 3.5 stars. The lamb was cooked well, but the flavors implied by the menu description just weren’t there, or didn’t come together quite right. I would have like a more complex yogurt sauce to stand up to the lamb, but it tasted overly sweet and bland. I still enjoyed eating the meat lollipops, but ended up dipping them into the left-over sauces from other dishes.

A sophisticated chocolate lover’s dessert. Slightly bitter chocolate, definitely not the overly sweet chocolate of most standard desserts. Rich, sensuous, melting in my mouth. Then the unexpected zing of tangy, sweet raspberry syrup, and the heady aroma of raspberry liqueur. Paired with a crisp champagne, and I was ready to take the evening, along with my sumptuous dessert, to the bedroom.

Though not an ordered dish, the bread basket was tasty enough to be note-worthy. A good variety of breads and some Parmesan crackers topped with a variety of spices and a little heat. Minus a half a star for their ice cold butter, something that a lot of fancy restaurants do and I can’t stand. I want to be able to SPREAD my butter, not tear up my bread!

Yum! Flavorful and complex, a great mix of flavors and textures.

Also tasty, although less nuanced. The duck tasted less like a duck confit and more like a barbeque chicken or pulled pork preparation, but still delicious.

This steak was delicious, medium rare, flavorful, in a tangy barbeque red wine sauce. There was a little gristle and fat, but what can you expect from a hanger steak? The bacon and onion jam rounded out the rich flavors of the meat, and the potato hay was light and crispy, like a cloud of crunch, a hashbrown-lover’s heavenly daydream.

Wow. This dish was amazing. So very very rich, yet the zest of the pesto and zing of the tomatoes helped keep the flavors bright enough for continued eating. The cheese filling was very thick and heavy, but there was enough sauce to balance it, and interspersed with bread, I was able to temper the intensity for prolonged enjoyment. Comfort food at its best.

What a fun dessert! With the Santa Monica Pier in sight, the lights of the Ferris wheel reflecting over the waters, it was all the fun of going to a carnival, without the noisy kids and bustling crowds. The cake was traditional fair fare, a little too bready for my tastes, but the strawberry ice cream really won my heart. Every bite had fresh strawberries in it, the sweet cream a soft velvety counterpoint to the lively juice of the fruit.

Not an ordered item, but I have to say, their bread basket was very tasty. I loved their olive bread, and I liked the complimentary meat and cheese sides and oil & balsamic for dipping. The best surprise of the meal.

Tasty enough for an appetizer, though rather standard. The wonton, rather than being light and crispy to enhance the light flavors of the tartar, was heavy and oily. It seemed to weigh down the dish and overpowered the subtle flavors in the tuna. I ended up eating the tartar by itself or with plain bread, though my boyfriend seemed to enjoy the wonton.

Again pretty standard. The shrimp were tasty, and the calamari was pretty straight forward. I would have liked more sweet potato spears, I think there were only 2, and the zucchini was good, but in contrast, the mountain of calamari was a little overwhelming. I was disappointed in the plain breading of all the items, no spices or even pepper, and no LEMON! It was begging for some zest of flavor. The marinara dipping sauce was blah too, I have had more flavorful sauce from Ragu.

The best executed dish, very flavorful and tasty, though not inspired. LOTS of butter, and who doesn’t like that? Of course it’s going to taste good with that as a main ingredient. I did enjoy the little cubes of pumpkin that were in the sauce, a nice sweet addition that complimented the heaviness of the dish. The ravioli were delicious, but overall, the dish would have been too heavy for me to eat on my own. Glad I had someone to help me.

Biggest disappointment of the night. I am a HUGE Tiramisu fan, and this dessert was one of the deciding factors for trying this menu. Unfortunately, this restaurant has no idea what a tiramisu is. I was expecting a dessert of lady fingers soaked in espresso, perhaps a liqueur, layered with sweet mascarpone cheese. Instead, it tasted like dry sponge cake with a hint of poorly brewed coffee, layered with whipped cream mixed with cheap cream cheese. Perhaps this was not the case, but it definitely was not the decadent, rich, flavorful, swoon-worthy dessert that I craved. The only saving grace was that I had ordered an Irish coffee, which helped cut the overly sweet cheese and comfort my broken dreams of a heavenly dessert.

Delicious! Unlike venison I have had in the past, this was not gamey at all….although this may be in part due to the method of preparation: Kung Pao. Seriously, this should be called Kung Pao Bambi, not this sauteed with onions b.s. It also came with green and red bell peppers (and chilis, of course!). It was spicy and tasty and really, that’s all I need in a dish.

The last dish was another one of my favorites of the meal, also in part due to the lemon grass and chili. Though it was similar to the alligator, it was distinct, and I think if I had to choose one, I would pick the chicken. Call me bland and normal, but the flavor of the chicken was better on reheating, and I always end up with leftovers, so longevity is an important factor to me. Also, I liked not having to pick out little bones from the meat, and the spice was a bit heavier, which always makes me happy. I thought it might actually be a bit too strong for me, but the lemon grass helped cut it a bit, as did the rice. I ended up adding extra veggies to this dish, from the catfish spring roll fillers, and I found that this also helped cut the spice and fill out the dish. Overall, a wonderful end to an extreme, unique meal.

Ah, Kangaroo! Where have you been all my life? Oh yes, Australia. Well, now I know where to find you, and the trip to Rosemead, though long, is much shorter and cheaper than the flight to Sydney.
I had heard that Kangaroo could be tough and gamey, but not this Joey! They must have marinated it for hours before, because it was tender and flavorful. But I am getting ahead of myself. First, the presentation:
The kangaroo was brought out smoking on a cast iron platter, sizzling fajita style with bell peppers and onions. The waiter places it on the table, dumps the wine on it, and lights it on fire! Yay! I love a good flambe. The wine imparted a little tang to the meat, and the fire gave it a smokiness that smoothed out the wine flavor. The meat reminded me of beef, the chunks were succulent with a perfect char on the outside. Definitely a fun dish, dinner and a show in one!

A slight low point in the meal. The spinach was good enough, and I love vegetables, in fact I was craving some at the stage in our repast. However, it was just salty, like chinese broccoli at any dim sum restaurant, and a little too oily for my tastes. Eh, I love vegetables, but I appreciate when they are done right. This was not right in my book.

Though NEARLY identical to the Water Spinach in preparation, one key ingredient made a 2 star difference. That’s right, my favorite food of all, Garlic. And not just essence of garlic, or minced garlic, though there were certainly both in the dish, but also huge, honking cloves of garlic! I could smell it right away, from across the table, and as the dish got closer and closer, I could feel my mouth salivating (and this is after 9 filling courses!). Other than the garlic, I appreciated that, in contrast to the water spinach, the bok choy had some crunch, to counter balance the texture of the leaves. Yes, it was also salty and oily, but the garlic! I savored each one of those sweet, caramelized, rich, heady, earthy cloves.

This dish is prepared tableside, which I always appreciate. A little entertainment for the diners (see Kangaroo review). The server was quite proficient in removing the spine and leaving all the meat, yet I still found myself picking out a few bones here and there. Oh well, it was tasty! It is served with rice wrappers and all the fixings for making your own spring rolls, along with a tamarind ginger dipping sauce, but I decided to tast the catfish first by itself. It was flaky, cooked very tenderly, but the flavor was very mild. It would be a fairly boring dish if it were not served with the dipping sauce. Oh tamarind ginger dipping sauce, I could eat buckets of you. I attempted a spring roll, but since the wrappers were much too small (I think 4" rather than 6") it was frustrating and sloppy, so I ended up wrapping the fillings in lettuce, which had more tensile strength, or eating it like a salad on my plate, with the SAUCE for a dressing. Did I mention the sauce? Good.

I am only giving this dish 3 stars, because I can’t recall ever having eaten Quail Eggs, and I was looking forward to this delicacy. However, the way they were prepared, wrapped in shrimp paste, breaded, and deep fried, made them into fritters, and all the flavor and uniqueness of the quail eggs were fried away. As far as fried shrimp and egg fritters go, they were pretty tasty, but you can’t really go wrong with that, can you? Also, they came with a sauce on the side, and though I have a special affinity for dipping sauces of all kinds, I was sorely disappointed with the bland sweetness of this one. It was one note, and not especially complimentary to the dish. Fine, but didn’t bring out any flavors in particular, just seemed to be there in case people thought the shrimp fritter (as it is now dubbed) was too dry. I probably would not order this one again.

No, no, no. Not good. The low point of the meal. Maybe some people like bland, flavorless, chewiness, but not this reviewer. There was a little heat from the chili, but very little, and heat does not equal flavor. It was sour. And that was it. I love shrimp, and this shrimp was difficult for me to eat. So sad and lonely. I think I ended up dipping it in the tamarind ginger sauce. The lotus root gave the limp salad an odd, off-putting texture. Then the salad was garnished with plain white rice crackers, as if to add insult to bland injury. I would NEVER order this again.

This was an interesting one, though definitely not one of my favorites. The snake meat was ground up, and mixed with nuts, then rolled into some sort of leaves, making little rolls reminiscent of Greek Dolmas. On the tongue, the snake was a bit too dry and gamey for me, and something about the ground texture was off, a bit mealy. However, the after taste was pleasant, whatever the spices were, and there was a slow burn that came a minute after swallowing that was unexpected and quite interesting. Not something I would order again, but I do recommend people try if they have never had snake and are curious.

Though one of the last dishes, this was definitely one of my favorites. It looked like another Kung Pao style dish, but it had lots of garlic, chili, and lemon grass. The alligator tasted a lot like dark meat chicken, very flavorful, clinging to little bones like miniature chicken wings. I would definitely get this again, though upon future reheatings, it did get a little gamier.

From here on in the dinner, everything really picked up! This dish was delicious, a yellow curry, very mild and tasty, with red peppers and rice noodles. The boar was gamey, like goat or lamb, and if you like that strong meat flavor, you will like this dish. Yum! The one critique I have is that the curry was a little too mild for my tastes, very different from the curries I usually enjoy. However, I think with the strong flavor of the boar, it was probably wise to go with such a mild, sweet flavor, so that you can fully appreciate the flavor or the meat. Maybe a touch of warmth would have been nice. 4 1/2 stars.

I need to preface this review by saying I don’t think I have ever enjoyed clams. I don’t know how often I have tried them, but I recall having a strong dislike for their flavor, and I also don’t much like oysters. However! This dish made me realize that maybe I DO like clams, that maybe I have just had bad clams in the past. Or (more likely) maybe I only like clams that are HEAVILY seasoned with garlic, chili, and oyster sauce. Who can say? All I know is this dish was spicy and delicious, and made a clam convert out of me. There was a slight fishy aftertaste to the clams, but hardly strong enough to bother me, and was complimented by the spice. The sauce, well, the sauce I am ashamed to say I keep taking more and more of to supplement my rice, vegetables, and less flavorful dishes. Yum!