Matsuhisa (Nobu)

This is the 4th and final post in the Great Eats in Los Angeles with the Family Series. Other posts in this series include 101 Noodle Express, Pizzeria Mozza, and Cafe Hiro.

Some of my favorite "Japanese" style nigiri is not that Japanese at all.

After all, traditional Japanese sushi is really quite simple. Master sushi chefs in Japan spend years perfecting fundamental techniques (e.g. making rice, slicing fish, etc.), rather than designing new and innovative flavors. If you look at the menu served at the top sushi restaurants in Tokyo, you might be surprised to see that they all look the same.

After all, it's just the freshest fish of the day from Tsukiji Fish Market, optionally over vinegar rice, occasionally seared.

Tiradato - Peruvian style sushi

That's where other cultures can sometimes play a role.

When Nobu Matsuhisa moved to Peru at the age of 24 to help open up a Japanese restaurant, he soon realized that many Japanese ingredients were not available down in South America. Nobu learned to improvise, making use of local Peruvian ingredients to create flavor combinations that are now imitated all throughout the world.

It's this type of "fusion" cuisine, Japanese raw fish combined with Peruvian flavors, that Nobu introduced to the US in the form of his first restaurant, Matsuhisa.

Uni Shooters

Matsuhisa is different from the restaurants called "Nobu", Chef Matsuhisa's other venture with Robert DeNiro and a couple other partners. Nobu has this modern, upscale vibe that reminds me more of Las Vegas than Tokyo. Matsuhisa feels more Japanese, more traditional, more "cozy."

Bryan and my brother-in-law Mike were immediately drawn to the uni shooters. Mike said it was one of the best one's he's ever had. In fact, they loved it so much we recreated them at home a few weeks later.

Hearts of palm salad

Because I was in a group with all different sorts of people (aka, my family, who vary in their love of raw fish), we ordered a wide variety of dishes off the menu, using the a la carte menu to design our own "omakase". Many of the dishes at Matsuhisa incorporate South American flavors. You have the option of ordering traditional nigiri (and we did order a few of those); but why do that when the Peruvian influence is what makes his dishes unique?

The hearts of palm salad was light and refreshing, spiked with a spicy jalapeno dressing.
Toro Tartare with Caviar

I was sadly a little disappointed with the toro tartare with caviar, though I'm not sure exactly why. I guess I've had some permutation of these ingredients so many times at various places (e.g., Morimoto, Oishii Boston) that it just doesn't feel all that creative to me. There weren't any special flavors in this dish - just a bit of soy sauce and wasabi.  I almost felt like I could buy these same ingredients and just make this dish myself for half the price.
Tamago and giant clam nigiri

If you really must, you can can order traditional nigiri right off the menu. My sister really enjoyed the egg custard (which looked excellent), and my brother-in-law thought the giant clam was great.

Crispy rice with spicy tuna

We had a lot of fun with an appetizer called Crispy Rice wth Spicy Tuna. Square rice cubes are deep fried and served with mashed up tuna, scallions, and soy sauce.
 It's fun to create your own little fun "bites." The flavor wasn't exactly groundbreaking, but the combination of textures (crunchy rice with the raw tuna) was interesting and fun.

Matsuhisa supposedly invented the (now classic) combination of jalapeño and yellowtail with ponzu sauce. I've definitely seen versions of this combination in more modern sushi places (e.g., O Ya in Boston). It's a killer combination, and this, along with the Peruvian tiradito (pictured waaay up top), were probably my two favorite dishes of the evening.

The yellowtail quality was excellent, and the combination of the fish with the ponzu sauce and jalapeno was addictive.
 Certain members of our party were not huge raw fish eaters, so we ordered several cooked dishes as well. This squid "pasta" actually has no noodles. Instead, the squid is cut in a way that resembles pasta. The flavors of the dish were excellent - very flavorful, well-seasoned, and just all around tasty.
 This next dish, the Rock Shrimp Tempura, was my dad's favorite dish. It's a crowd-pleaser type of dish, something that's easy for even the pickiest eater to enjoy. The rock shrimp w juicy and sweet, fried to perfection.
 The Chilean Sea Bass with Truffle was a bit disappointing. Again, I felt like they were trying to throw expensive ingredients on top of each other and hoping the final outcome would be tasty. It was OK, but, again, probably not worth the added cost.
 The King Crab Tempura, on the other hand, was definitely another crowd pleaser at our table.
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We all thought we were stuffed when Bryan noticed there was homemade soba with jalapeño sauce on the menu. Bryan loves noodles so much that he decided to order it.

It was awesome. If you've never had homemade soba before, you really need to try it. The texture of homemade soba is so much superior to any dried soba I've ever tried. It's much chewier and has a deeper, richer buckwheat flavor.

When you finish dipping your soba in the sauce, they give you a pot of hot water to dilute your sauce so you can drink it as a broth.

Finally, we tried a few desserts. The ice cream was fine but nothing special - simple Japanese red bean ice cream.

Surprisingly, I actually loved the green tea mochi. I'm typically not a huge fan of the dense, ultra-sweet red bean filling that you often find inside green tea mochi. I was delighted to discover that this mochi was filled with a light green tea mousse that was not too sweet at all. I really, really liked it.

Thoughts
Overall, I left surprisingly satisfied and happy. We sat outside in the annex area, which was a bit more quiet, spacious, and relaxed. Our family decided to design our own "omakase" instead of ordering the chef's tasting, and I think it worked out great. The price was cheaper than if we'd gotten the omakase, and we had full control over which dishes we wanted to order.

The food at Matsuhisa is still overall very solid. I would skip some of the gratuitous "luxury" dishes and instead focus on dishes that Chef Matsuhisa does best - fusion dish that incorporates Peruvian spices. My favorites were the tiradio and yellowtail with jalapeno, although I also really enjoyed the squid pasta, the tempura, and the soba.

Matsuhisa

129 N La Cienega Blvd
 Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Cafe Hiro

This is the third post in the Great Eats in Los Angeles with the Family Trip Series. Other posts in this series include 101 Noodle Express and Pizzeria Mozza.

This is exactly the type of restaurant I would visit frequently if I lived nearby.

Cafe Hiro is a little, unassuming restaurant in a random strip mall in Cypress, a city about 30 minutes south of downtown Los Angeles. Chef-owner Hiro Ohiwa trained extensively in both Japan and France (at one and two Michelin starred restaurants no less!) before moving to Los Angeles, where he cooked at places like Matsuhisa and Cafe del Rey. His restaurant reflects his broad international training, and is a comment on how Japanese food has been influenced by so many cultures.

The restaurant is self proclaimed "a blend of Japanese and French, with a touch of Italian", though I would argue it's much broader than that. Here's just a random sampling of the menu: steamed shao mai (Chinese?), osso bucco (Italian), chicken and mushrooms in cream sauce (French??), spiced fries (American??), sea urchin (uni) spaghetti (Italian-Japanese) and "hamburg" steak curry (Japanese, American, and Southeast Asian??).

Most restaurants that serve such a wide variety of food are usually very, very bad. However, Cafe Hiro is able to blend together flavors from all these different cuisines flawlessly, creating fun, innovative dishes that are delightful to eat.

The best part? The prices are a steal for this quality of food.

This Tuna Tartare Salad was a special and came with arugula, jicama, and a poached, runny egg on top.

We all loved the Calamari Frit, which consisted of fried calamari covered with Parmesan cheese and parsley. Expertly fried - the richly flavorful fried squid was crispy yet not a bit greasy.
Minestrone soup came with several of the set menus. This was solid, though nothing particularly exciting.
 My mom ordered the Kurobuta Pork Loin Cutlet. Also know as tonkatsu in Japanese, this breaded fried pork loin cutlet is made with the famous Kurobuta (Black/Berkeshire) Pig. It comes with a choice of a demi-glace sauce or a citrus ponzu sauce.

Kurobuta is tender, juicy, and very fatty. If you look closely at the photo, you can see a layer of fat on one edge of the pork cutlet. Most people find this to be tender and juicy,  the pinnacle of a rich and flavorful pork cutlet. In fact, the high end tonaktsu we had in Japan was jut like this. Unfortunately,  my mom doesn't like the texture of pork fat, and ended up cutting off entire chunks of fat.

Yes, food connoisseurs of this prized kurobuta pork may think this is sacrilege, but for those that don't like pork fat, it's a bit much.
 The Roasted Chilean Sea Bass with Asparagus is served with an oven roasted tomato in a garlic lemon soy sauce. This is Bryan's mom's favorite dish, and my dad loved it as well.  Bryan, who loves uni, got the Sauteed Shrimps with Sea Urchin (uni) "Risotto".  This dish was excellent, with uni mixed throughout the thick, creamy risotto.  My favorite (and Bryan's favorite as well), was the Sea Urchin "Uni" Spaghetti. Topped with toasted seaweed, this dish was simple yet shined due to the fresh ingredients and excellent execution. The pasta was al dente and the uni-flavored sauce was smooth, creamy, and oh-so-flavorful. This is one of Cafe Hiro's signature dishes and I can easily see why. Bryan's dad ordered the Osso Bucco, slowly braised Australian Wagyu beef served with a demi-glace sauce. 
I think Bryan's mom ordered another special of the day, a flavorful Roasted Miso Marinated Black Cod over an assortment of vegetables.

The Matcha Panna Cotta was topped with a lovely, really strong green tea sauce, which I thought went so well with the rich, creamy panna cotta underneath. Everyone loved this dessert, and I think my father (who has a huge sweet tooth), was sad that we only ordered one for everyone to share.

Overall Thoughts
This is a great find nestled within a random strip mall in Cypress, though I would hardly say it's "hidden." The place is always packed, so definitely make a reservation if you don't want to wait.

The food is fun, creative, and excellent. The basic menu hasn't changed too much since the place opened in 2002 (favorites such as uni spaghetti, chilean sea bass with shitake risotto, and the osso bucco) although Chef Hiro does continue to offer specials which are posted on the blackboard each day.

Prices are great. Most of the simpler curry rice and pasta dishes hover in the $10-$15 range, while the main entrees are priced well below $20.

This is really the perfect little gem to have in your backyard. I'm sincerely jealous of Bryan's parents, who could eat here every week if they wanted.

Pizzeria Mozza

This is the second post in the Great Eats in Los Angeles with the Family Trip Series. Other posts in this series include 101 Noodle Express.

It's not everyday that someone, especially someone my father's age, says, "this is the best pizza I've ever had in my life."

My father's not a huge fan of pizza. His idea of pizza comes from the Little Caesar's take-out we ate growing up (buy one, get another one for an extra $4!), and the frozen pizzas my mom periodically will buy and heat up at home.

He's an easy-going guy, however, and did not complain one bit when I told the family we were going to a pizza restaurant for lunch (yes, surprise, surprise, they all put me in charge of planning our meals during this trip).

This meal was a revelation for him (and me too!). The pizza at Pizzeria Mozza is incredible. Even though I've had a lot more really, really good pizza, I'm inclined to say it also ranks among the best pizza I've ever had.

Pizzeria Mozza is a collaboration between Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich, three well-established food industry gurus. We're generally huge fans of restaurants from Batali and Bastianich, so it's no surprise that this place would churn out really, really good food.

Nancy Silverton is the co-founder and head baker at La Brea Bakery. She was also one of the judges for Project Food Blog Competition, which is when I first learned who she was.
 It's not very often that every single dish you order is excellent. We really felt that way about the food at Pizzeria Mozza. We began with the Calamari al forno, which came with fagioli, tomatoes & oregano. ($12). The flavors of the calamari, tomatoes, and beans came together beautifully, and the calamari itself was cooked just right - not a hair too rubbery.
We also got some Spicy Corn Al Forno with Parmigiano, which was awesome. It's a bit messy to eat. Bryan hates getting his hands dirty, so he foolishly tried to eat it with a fork and knife. The buttery corn slipped right off his plate and landed on the ground.

My mom (in all her wisdom), was more skilled and offered to cut up the rest of the corn for Bryan. What a nice mom!

The simple arugula and mushroom salad (Rucola, Funghi & Piave $14) came with fresh ingredients and was solid.  And then the pizza started to come. Our waiter recommended the Fennel Sausage Pizza ($17), his favorite on the entire menu. We are so glad we took his advice. The house-made fennel sausage itself is fantastic and basically defined the pizza. This was definitely one of the favorites on the table.

I loved the doughy, crispy crust of this pizza. It's not surprising that the pizza dough is good, considering that Nancy Silverton made her name as a baker.
 My sister ordered the Pizza alla benno, which comes with speck, pineapple, jalapeño, mozzarella and tomato. The quality of all the ingredients was excellent, and people enjoyed this one as well (though I did not have a chance to try it).My brother-in-law chose the White Anchovy, Tomato and Fresno Chiles pizza.  Unlike traditional anchovy pizza, which uses the salty black anchovies, this pizza came with vinegary, marinated white anchovies. It added more of a bright note to the entire pizza, yet still plenty of umami. My personal favorite pizza was the one I chose: the simple Margherita with mozzarella, tomato & basil. I'm a sucker for this simple pie, but when the ingredients are good, there's nothing that's better. The mozzarella on this pie was outstanding. I have no idea where they source their mozzarella, but it totally made the pie. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the crust is delicious, nor the fact that they've cooked this at ultra high heat in their special brick ovens.

Even though we were crazy full, everyone gobbled this pizza up.

It's no surprise why this restaurant, which started out as a fun side venture, became one of the hottest reservations in LA when it first opened in 2008. Fresh, high quality ingredients coupled with a fantastic crust = very, very enjoyable pizzas.


Thoughts
This food here is really, really good. I hazard to say the pizza is among the best pizza I've had in the US (though, to be fair, I haven't tried that much pizza outside of Boston except for a couple signature pies in Chicago and New York). I love their use of fresh ingredients, and you can't beat the crust.

It's not just the pizza that's good though. Every single appetizer we ordered was excellent as well. After all, you also have Mario Batali's extensive knowledge of Italian food expressed all over the menu.

I would most definitely consider returning if I am ever back in Los Angeles. Heck, if this place were closer to me, it would likely become a regular haunt.

Thankfully, Boston has its own share of excellent pizza places, and I have several personal favorites that I can visit at a moment's notice.

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

101 Noodle Express

This is the first post in the Los Angeles Family Trip Series. 

The greater Los Angeles area is really, really big.

Unlike here in Boston, where we can drive an hour north or south and essentially end up in another state, LA seems to sprawl on and on forever. In fact, people who live in Orange County think that Los Angeles city proper is quite a trek away; and similarly, places in the valley feel really, really far away from the oceanside cities.

I got my first taste of this when we visited LA as tourists.

As tourists, we aimed to hit many places in the general LA area, from the Getty Museum (sort of west) to the Huntington Library (pretty far east) and Orange County (to visit Bryan's family). We soon realized that, not only is the land huge, traffic is really, really bad. You have to really plan your days well and allot plenty of time to travel between destinations.

On the third day of our trip, we visited the Huntington Library (gorgeous place, by the way - you get to see one of the few original Gutenberg Bibles, as well as some of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen). By around 2PM we were famished and headed over to Din Tai Fung for lunch.

Because traffic would become bad pretty soon, we decided it was better to stay out in the San Gabriel Valley area than to try to head back to Bel Air, where we were staying.

The San Gabriel Valley is really known for its Chinese food. It was hard to pick just one place for dinner. Did we want world-famous dim sum? Or maybe hand-pulled noodles? Or family-owned Taiwanese restaurants?

Bryan voted for noodles. After some research on our phones (while hanging out inside an Asian supermarket!), we settled upon 101 Noodle Express, a place famous for its beef roll and hand-torn noodles.

101 Noodle Express focuses on food from the Shandong region in the northeastern part of China. It started out in Alahambra selling a few signature dishes. As popularity for the place grew, it expanded to four locations - three in the San Gabriel Valley and one in Irvine (Orange County).

We visited the original, humble location in Alahambra.

One of their famous signature dishes is the  "De Zhou" chicken. The waitress strongly suggested that we order it, telling us that it was a very unusual dish and something we would not be able to easily find elsewhere.

De Zhou Chicken comes from the city of De Zhou in Shandong, China and was developed during the Qing Dynasty around the late 1800's. It involves deep frying a whole chicken until it's golden brown, and then braising the whole chicken in soy sauce mixed with water, mushrooms, and aromatic spices such as star anise, cardamon, and cloves.

The dish is a cold dish - something we did not necessarily expect. The flavors are enjoyable enough, though it didn't exactly taste that unique or interesting.  Furthermore, the fried, braised chicken skin was a bit rubbery - not the most inviting texture to eat.

It's not the most beautiful dish to look at. In fact, Jonathan Gold, who still speaks highly of the dish, calls it a "gray, withered bird, which resembles the Ghost of Chickens Past".

We ordered one additional appetizer, the Soy Marinated Pig Ears. These were great - chewy and flavorful.

The Scallion Pancakes, which really resemble the exterior of their famous Beef Roll, were excellent. They were thin, delicate, full of fresh scallion flavors, and not at all greasy. If you're looking for something crunchy and deep fried, you won't find it here. This scallion pancake is almost moist, chewy, and very flavorful.

Bryan said it reminded him of the way his mom made scallion pancakes - healthy home cooking!

The free ginger, garlic, and scallion sauce that's just sitting at each table was an awesome flavoring agent and added a delicious zing to any dish.

The Beef Noodle Soup with "Hand Torn" Noodles was the main reason we came. After all, the place is called "101 Noodle Express" and supposedly specializes in "hand-torn" noodles.

We soon discovered that "hand-torn" and "hand-pulled" are two very different things. These noodles were short and roughly shredded (thus hand-torn). Frankly, we were disappointed with the texture of the noodles, which were a little soft and mushy for our tastes. The beef noodle soup tasted fine, but we had really been hoping for some awesome "QQ" al dente noodles.

We also later found out that the hand-torn noodle was a recent addition to the menu, added in 2010. It wasn't one of the original specialty menu items that made them famous in the first place.

Other noodle dishes, like the Za Jiang Noodle, Da Lu Noodle, or Dan Dan Noodle, were all solid but used the same noodles, and thus were just a bit disappointing on the texture front.  In fact, multiple times, Bryan said, "I like the version at Peking Restaurant better."

But then there was the famous Beef Roll and Pork Roll. Imagine flavorful, soy-braised meat, freshly chopped cilantro, scallions, and a special, slightly sweet sauce all wrapped up in a very thin scallion pancake.

I can totally see why they became famous. The Beef Roll was fantastic - dare I say the best beef roll I've ever had? Yes, I do like the one at Peking Restaurant, but I like this one better. It's a bit smaller, the meat inside is more tender, and the outer scallion pancake is thinner and chewier. The overall package seems more refined and perfectly executed.

And I thought the beef roll was tastier than the pork roll, which was still OK, but just didn't compare.

If I came back, I'd just stop by for lunch and eat a whole beef roll. It's by far their best product and their claim to fame is well deserved. They should really just call themselves 101 Beef Rolls or something like that.

The owner claims to be dedicated to local and organic ingredients, with an aim to provide low-cost at the same time. The prices here were definitely really reasonable, with most dishes hovering in the $7-8 range.

Everything is pretty solid, and the scallion pancakes and especially the beef roll stand out. If nothing else, it's worth the trip just for a taste of that beef roll.

Yum.


101 Noodle Express
1408 E Valley Blvd
Alhambra, CA 91801