EMC Seafood - Arcadia

I've been to EMC a few times before and happy to share their recent grand opening at the Santa Anita mall (Arcadia, CA). I knew a lot of people made their way out to Koreatown and wait in a line over an hour. Wait no more! Well maybe a little bit... but at least you don't have to drive as far depending on which way you are coming from. They are known for their oysters. From Kumamotos to Kusshi, $1 dollar happy hour oysters, their famous uni pasta, and of course more seafood creations. See full menu HERE (Santa Anita).

Here's a glimpse from the media night I attended. (Thanks to everyone that joined the fun when I went live on Instagram!)

Wine, always red. I don't even care if I'm having seafood.

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Oysters

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Salmon Carpaccio

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Uni Toast

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Black Truffle Sliders

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Grilled Foie Gras

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Clams in Abalone Broth

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Black Pepper Beef Mignon

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Uni Pasta

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Yogurt Brulee

With berry compote. This is temporary.

400 S. Baldwin Ave. Suite 2215 Arcadia CA 91007

Cafe Beaujolais - The Birthday Dinner

This post is a little delayed since my birthday was back in July. French cuisine has a big space in my heart when it comes to some of my favorite things to eat. This is my second time dining at Cafe Beaujolais. I fell madly in love the first time I came here and just as much the second time. It's located in the heart of Eagle Rock on Colorado between La Roda Avenue and Mt Royal Drive.

1712 Colorado Boulevard, Los Angeles, California 90041

I don't know much about the history besides it being here for quite some time. They are not just known for their fairly priced dishes, but their hunky European men that work there. And, they pretty much all have accents.

John took me here again since he knew it was my top favorite restaurants. The first thing we ordered were their Escargot. These snails were shelled, and cooked in the most luscious butter garlic parsley sauce known to man. Goes amazing with the bread they offer and dangerous for the body. John dislikes Escargot, but loves the ones they serve here.

We had their special salad of the day which was a prosciutto di parma wrapped frisee.

Dressed in a light vinaigrette with a few cornichons. Sounds simple, but was packed with flavor. I will definitely get this again if it's available.

Steak "Maitre D'Hotel" - Thin cut Girlled Top Sirloin Served with garlic butter and frites. I wished the steak was a New York or Rib Eye, but there was still a lot of flavor from the steak. The garlic butter was soft and melted throughout the steak. Pretty straightforward.

My choice:

Pave De Boeuf Au Porto Et Au Roquefort - Flamed Filet Mignon in Port Sauce and Roquefort Cheese, medium rare. I was nervous to order this. From 1-10 I was probably a 20. I'm not a fan of stinky cheese and hate Gorgonzola and goat cheese (I know). I just can't get passed the flavors. But, I love some bleu like Stilton. This Roquefort cheese was delicious. Has a slight sharp bite, but doesn't taste overly fermented or stinky. It was lovely mixed into the port wine and the filet. This dish just isn't the same without it. Served with a side of potato au gratin and veggies. I recommend this dish.

If you are in the area or just looking for a fantastic, authentic French restaurant, please check out Cafe Beaujolais. It's fantastic. Don't forget to order their specials. They do the traditional coq au vin from time to time.

EMC Seafood & Raw Bar - Irvine, CA

All you Los Angeles natives out there have been crazing over EMC. And if you aren't not from LA, the chances of your friends taking you hear is pretty high. Just like the poke craze, ice cream donuts, and even F'ing churros, you know have tons of restaurants serving up their own raw bar. EMC was one of those top hitters that made it popping first with their location in K-town. It's like 10PM and my friends would still want to head out for Happy Hour. Well wait no more because they also have one open in Irvine. I'm not sure how long the wait can get considering how packed the location in K-Town gets, but those of you that huddles in one car for this, that live out of LA can worry no more.

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

Best part yet is that they are conveniently right off the 5 on Culver. Not even a mile off the exit to find yourself the grand restaurant waiting for you to devour everything they have.

And they have a lot:

Lobsters are still alive. Oysters are still shut. Sea Urchins just laying there, looking dead, but you know they are hella alive and waiting to be popped out of their shell. Whole f'ing branzinos. I can go on and on, but it won't be fair for me to relive this moment at home.

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Ginger Beer making it's way.

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Crispy Garlic Brussels Sprouts. I know. Before you start talking about how I am ranting about the seafood, and I start showing you a bowl of sprouts. Because these were so delicious! Just so perfectly cooked and extremely flavorful. And, I am a huge advocate about having some kind of greens with your meal. Like a big steak with a piece of broccoli. That good balance talk, you feelin' me?

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We had 1/2 a dozen of Kumamoto oysters and 1/2 of Kusshi. Fresh, sweet, perfectly shucked, with cocktail sauce and jalapeno lime. Always a must order.

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I know. Here I go again. Now, what the F does fries have to do with anything? These are fries with truffle mushroom aioli. Like shut the front door who the hell comes up with this stuff? That garlic you see right THERE is some good umami-mouth-gasm right there. Fried so crispy with soft centers, ooooo that just gets me right here *points at my heart*. And for the record, it's on the starters menu so it ain't no side dish psssshhh (I literally did the hair whip).

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The glorious Uni pasta. Also, that one Uni pasta that everyone talks about. It really does live up to the rave. The spaghetti was perfectly cooked and coated in a cream, Fish Roe, Chives, and Dried Seaweed concoction. The fish roe did it for me. I love-love-loved the texture that it gave the noodles.

If this is the only thing you came here for, by all means do it. If you want to eat a lot of other items, make sure you get this to share. It's a heavy dish even though a delicious one.

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Toro Toro Roll - Ground yellowtail and albacore belly inside, topped with chu toro and caviar on top. The kind of fishes you want to eat simply. A touch of wasabi and soy sauce to compliment the fattiness of the fishes. Cleanse your palate with some ginger after before headed for your next bite.

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Lobster roll definitely winning. Served with a slice of lemon and melted butter. I am sensitive to butter. Makes me really tired if I have too much so I just use a tad. But what's really a tad when it's melted? Feels like you can easily pour the whole thing on, no regrets. The lobster is cooked in Tarragon Butter, Sea Salt, and stuffed inside a Brioche Bun. Thumbs up for the flavor combo.

We also ordered their black pepper filet mignon to those allergic to seafood. Delicious, tender, and perfect with the bowl of rice it comes with. We also had their crispy pepper calamari that's served with spicy aioli shown below:

14346 Culver Dr, Irvine, CA 92604

Weho Bistro - West Hollywood

Weho Bistro is a low key French-inspired restaurant located on the corner of La Cienega and Holloway drive. With a large variety of selections on their menu, I am delighted to share a few items from our dinner. Our dinner was accompanied by great friends, Frances, Hugh, Rob, and mi amor John.

1040 N La Cienega Blvd West Hollywood, CA 90069

High Valley Vineyard 2013 Cabernet Sauvignon - Excellent red. Full bodied with a smooth finish. 

Bread, herb olive oil & balsamic, and olive tapenade.

We planned ordered family style. A few items from their shareables were avocado and burrata toast, escargot, Cheese and pate board, mushroom soup and french onion soup.

Filet Mignon with Peppercorn Mushroom sauce

Angus filet, wrapped in bacon, seared till golden and medium rare, topped with crispy onions, served with a side of potatoes dauphinoise and tomato provencal . The mushroom sauce was killer in this dish. Each bite of the filet gets a glorious dip with a slather of mushrooms. 

Magret De Canard

Duck breast with a cognac and honey sauce. The duck was cooked beautifully. Crispy skin which soaked up the decadent cognac sauce. Also served with potato dauphinoise and their tomato provencal. 

Shrimp Provencal

Six sauteed JUMBO tiger shrimp drenched in a garlic, basil, shallot, and tomato sauce served with a basmati and wild rice medley and sauteed garlic green beans. Anything drench in the sauce described above is an absolutely hands down "GIVE IT TO ME" dish. I can't help but eat the tails as well.

Dessert crepes, tartetatin, ice cream sandwich and banana creme brulee to end our dinner extravaganza.

Parking is available shared with CVS. That's right, free parking in West Hollywood. So surreal. 

The Perch - Happy Birthday best friend forever-ever.

On Saturday, we celebrated my Best friend, Jocelynn's birthday. I've known this chick for about 13 years. Our memories are consisted of a lot of alcohol consumption, random crying nights (NO more of those thank God), random parties, Hot Cheetos, and Starbucks.

This year, we went to Downtown Los Angeles to a beautiful restaurant/lounge called Perch.

448 S Hill St, Los Angeles, CA 90013

We had reservations at 5:30 PM, which worked out better for all of us. And I honestly really hate going out late. I don't mind staying out, but starting the night late is such a waste. Think about it: I want to see the sun, feel it, and see it say goodnight. If you've never thought about it that way, I hope you will start.

Before dinner, we took a few... or was it a lot, of Jameson. It's her birthday! and Who cares, we weren't driving (please drink responsibly). There's parking across the street for $10. Remember to put all your belongings out of site. And when crossing the street, always look left and right. AND! make sure drivers see you, and acknowledge you are crossing the street. Downtown LA can be a dangerous place at night with a lot of drunk and impatient drivers.

The Perch LA is pretty strict with reservations. If you want to dine here, make sure to give notice at least 2 weeks ahead of time just to make sure. If you have a party of 6+, definitely call a month in advance. When we showed up to our reservation, we were seated pretty quickly. The restaurant was also more than half empty. More reservations at 5:30 could've been accommodated. After we were seated, without much thought, we all pretty much ordered meat.

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BOEUF BORDELAISE $29 ("braised short rib, roast garlic potato puree, beets, cippolini and pearl onions")

The short rib was braised for who knows how long till it was literally melt in your mouth, fork tender, fat rendered-good sh*t. If you come here, I highly recommend this. I also loved the beets and the bits of citrus to cut through the fat of the short ribs.

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FILET MIGNON AU POIVRE $37
("parsnip + potato puree, asparagus, fines herbes, bordelaise, mushroom ragout")

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The filet Mignon was cooked perfectly. Not much to say besides it being another classic French dish that they offer at Perch. The flavors are not as rich or heavy as it may seem. I do wish there was more of a punch of flavor since filet itself, or at least to me, has a mild beef flavor. A little FYI, I am NOT a filet Mignon gal. I love my fatty rib eyes and new york. The portions by the way, are decent and acceptable.

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Steak Frites $26
("'flat iron, maitre d’ butter, bordelaise, truffle cheese fries")

Maitre D'butter is basically compound butter. It's butter set in room temperature where it becomes softened enough to mix with whatever concoction you want. Roll it back up into a log, fridge it, and then VOILA! The bordelaise is just a red wine base sauce. The "truffle" cheese fries, however, had zero truffles in it. Not even one trace. And I never send back truffle complaining there's not enough, because in reality, if you are not paying $100 for it, then you really aren't ordering it. This is just cheese fries. Unless they really did forget to add artificial truffle oil. Who knows. Don't care, the Jameson is kicking. The flat iron was cooked perfectly and tasted pretty good actually. My friend Mark even said it was as tender as the filet, figuratively speaking.

From the 3 meat dishes, I would definitely order the short ribs again. It was just executed very well and it's always something I love to order, especially if it takes hours till it becomes fork tender.

Hey, where's our waitress? I swear she left to go home or something because she never stopped by. Not having it.

So after dinner, we headed upstairs to the lounge.

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Upstairs looking down at the restaurant.

There's no food served at the rooftop lounge, but there is a bar, and a pretty beautiful, bad ass view of Los Angeles. And notice how pretty everything looks when there's still light out? Hey, and you will never know who you can run into. We ran into an Ex Senator with his family and friends. Super friendly and kind. They also offered their seats when leaving so we can enjoy the rest our evening there. How sweet is that?

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Mark and John

Jocelynn on the left, me on the right.

What I love about Jocelynn the MOST is how reliable she is. Yeah, you can say your friends are fun, do crazy things, love to go out, whatever. How often can you actually count on someone that's within your circle? And know that every single time you are in some kind of rut, they will be there? My ruts consisted of a lot of hunger issues.. but on the real note, she is the best and I can count on her to be by my side for the rest of my growing old years. And if you do have a friend like this, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. But mine is still better.

This night was unforgettable. Literally. I'm all kinds of messed up from it. But I'll never tell.

Cheers!

Daiisies