by Franklin on November 17, 2014
The Commissary at the Line Hotel was an interesting dining experience. The the concept here is quite unique and somewhat confusing. The greenhouse symbolizes the freshness of fruits and vegetables, yet this place is not a vegetarian restaurant. Commissary is very much a regular restaurant inside a beautiful greenhouse. The location and interior design is what draws everyone. I think the food could have been more exciting or less pretentious. The menu doesn’t even have a description of what you are getting. If its a fish dish, they just simply put, “fish.” If you are getting a burger, it just says “burger.” It’s kind of like, “you don’t need to know what you are eating, just eat it.”
The corn here was incredible. What we did was shave off the kernels from the cob and just mix it in with the ingredients. Definitely an ode the to Mexican street corn of LA, this hit the spot. The char on the corn really brought out the sugars and sweetness. Mixed in with the chili powder and tart aioli of some sort, it was a classic flavor combination. I liked that there was some cheese, but not a lot — this gave the corn a chance to really shine through.
The asparagus was quite delicious as well. The grilled asparagus paired with a tart lemon sauce was amazing. Some parts of the asparagus was tough, but all around had great flavor. The addition of the Parmesan was another ode to the Mexican style corn.
You order boring, and you get boring. Looking at the menu, we really wanted to give the burger a chance, but really didn’t want to. It really didn’t have much going for it. No side of fries, no perfectly medium rare beef patty, no soft delicious bun. It was just a normal burger. Again, it had a nice contrast of fatty beef and tart sauce, but that is all it had going for it. Come to think of it, all of these dishes had similar properties to it. I am beginning to see a trend here.
Eating at the Commissary was a fun experience, but the food was just average for me. Nothing was exciting, apart from the corn. Nothing stood out and really challenged my palate. The ingredients were indeed fresh and everything was prepared nicely. I just expected a lot more. Definitely though, this would be a nice spot to hang out during daylight to have a few bites and a drink. The atmosphere is perfect and the ambiance is just right.
by Franklin on November 11, 2014
Semi Sweet Bakery in Downtown is one of the many places to get cronuts in Los Angeles. Dubbed the name, “crullant”, theirs was more of a hybrid between a croissant and a French cruller. Behind Semi Sweet Bakery is Sharlena Fong, a New York based pastry chef. The cafe bakery was small, chic, and filled with so many baked goodies.
The Crullant was quite nice, and one of the best “cronut” renditions I have had. It was delicate and not too sweet. I liked the fact that this tasted clean and more like a pastry, not oil. A lot of cronuts have that fried oil taste, and I appreciated that this one didn’t have that taste. The glaze was not too much, and gave the crullant a perfect sweet taste. I also liked that there was a lot of layers from the pastry. It gave it a nice texture and flavor.
The Peanut Butter Ding a Ling was tasty. A spin on the Hostess Ding Dong, this one was quite decadent. The peanut butter filling combined with the rich chocolate flavor went so well together. I’m not really a ding dong fan, but this rendition was quite delicious.
Semi Sweet Bakery is almost a perfect bakery. They have some top quality pastries and nothing is too over the top. The ode to the ding dong was nostalgic and the crullant is nearly perfect. Next time, I must try the maple bacon sticky bun.
by Franklin on November 6, 2014
On a recent trip to Las Vegas, we went pretty dang hard on some legit tacos. Tacos El Gordo is my new spot for tacos is Las Vegas. Sitauted right next to the Encore and Wynn resorts, the TG stands more on the north side of Vegas. The best part about TG is that they offer all of the meats, and they are all good. None really fall short of the other, and if anything, the carne asada is the worst one. That is saying much! Our first stop once we touched down to Vegas was Tacos El Gordo. The weekend was officially awesome.
The signature red trays are iconic. They first opened their doors in San Diego, and now they are here in Las Vegas. Life is good.
This is the tripas taco. The tripas (small intestine) had a nice crunch to them, just how I like it. Very tasty and delicious.
The lengua is another favorite of mine in a taco. The meat is beefy and very tender. So tender that it is too tender, but actually it’s not. (What kind of writing is this??) The meat just melts in your mouth, and is a perfect taco addition.
The al pastor was tasty as well. The sauce that they put was delicious and flavorful. The al pastor sits on a spit and is cut to order. The flavors are perfect and the meat is just perfect.
Tacos El Gordo is a good reason to stop by Vegas. Yeah, you can drive 2 hours or so to San Diego, but add another 2 hour drive, you get the deliciousness of Tacos El Gordo and the fun of Vegas. The ordering system is a bit crazy. There are different lines for different meats, and they have a lot of lines, and a lot of people, and a lot of different kinds of meats. All in all though, it is worth the wait and chaos.
