critiCALmass L.'s Profile
DateLos Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 297-0070
Angelini Osteria
Category:
Italian
Neighborhoods: Mid-City West, West Hollywood
The food at this restaurant is well prepared with fresh ingredients. Their savory red sauces are especially good. The seafood pasta dish is outstanding, and the chicken pasta dish with eggplant is excellent. Even the starter bread with sun-dried tomato spread is wonderful.
The service is good. It's not as friendly as I would like it to be, but they are attentive and accommodating.
The ambiance is nice for a little strip plaza unit. The place is always clean.
Easy parking and access to freeway, it's a good choice for a nice dinner or lunch.
His dishes are geared toward the typical foothill customer ... thus he doesn't carry shellfish normally found in authentic sushi bars. But no deduction for that ... No, the deduction is for serving oversizes slabs of fish on my nigiri sushi and poor knife skills.
"What?" you shout. "How dare you deduct for generous proportions of fish!" Yes, yes, yes--I know--most people freak out because they don't understand sushi very well. Folks, it's not the quantity but rather the quality and proportions and expertise in the cut that make the difference.
Another deduction for lower than average knife skills for a Japanese sushi chef. If you find strings of fatty tissue in the fish, it's because the cut was poorly done or the quality of the fillet was suspect. That's what I got at Sushi Q.
Here's the deal. I believe Toki-san can make nigiri sushi the correct way, the way you would get it in Japan. But I believe you must ask for it that way. Otherwise, you get a massive hunk of fish that overpowers everything. But I'm not certain if his knife skills are up to snuff.
Very good Japanese sake selection.
Nice ambiance.
Good service.
3.25 Stars
The hostess seated us, gave us menus, and we sat there for thirty minutes unattended. The waiter completely ignored us ... never even looked our way once.
My niece wrote on a napkin, "VERY HUNGRY CHILD HERE!" and held it up to no avail.
So, we walked to In-n-Out ...
I'm happy to report that this is not the case at Kenro's. Kenro-san is a very skilled sushi chef from Japan, and the previous owners (still there) understand Japanese cuisine and reproduce it reliably close to the way you would get it in Japan. Sacramento is lucky to have this restaurant.
4.5 Stars
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 386-8439
Beach Chalet
Categories:
American (Traditional),
Breakfast & Brunch
You will find old favorites on the menu like French Dip. My friend ordered that and I had their hamburger for lunch. We were pleased with both dishes. Prices were a bit high but it was expected.
Service was good.
Ambiance was good.
3.5 Stars
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
(925) 671-9925
Jo's Sushi Bar
Categories:
Sushi Bars,
Japanese
I ordered something really simple, tsukiyaki-don. Like oyako-don, it's Japanese comfort food and easy to make. Wow, was I surprised to receive something so tasteless and incorrectly made I couldn't finish it.
The tempura and sushi my family ordered was just ok.
If you understand Japanese cuisine, please avoid anything prepared in the kitchen here. I don't know who's back there, but they are either not Japanese or just can't cook or both.
The sushi is ok for US standards.
I ordered the ham and cheese sandwich and my gf got the lobster bisque. The bisque was as good as any I've had. The sandwich bread was loaded with butter and fried. It was greasy, and sorry to say it reminded me of that fried ham, cheese and egg sandwich thing you can get at Denny's.
Service was excellent.
Ambiance is typical Napa upscale.
Good, but a bit pricey for lunch.
3.5 Stars
Roseville, CA 95661
(916) 782-5525
Suede Blue
Categories:
Seafood,
Steakhouses,
American (New)
They do a good job of plating, but have overcooked the seafood on several occasions. The shrimp was so overcooked the last time, it was like chewing on rubber.
Management does not seem to be as customer oriented as they should be. Consequently, it is doubtful I will return to this restaurant anytime soon.
1 Previous Review:
-
4/11/2010
We dropped in at happy hour for dinner. The bar was busy and loud so we opted for the rather empty dining room. We ordered crab stuffed prawns off the main menu and Australian salmon off the lower priced "early" menu, which has some intriguing dishes as well.
BTW, you might not get the early menu unless you ask for it. http://www.suede-...
Plating was well balanced, generous and clean, food presentation artistic and elegant. Four large stuffed prawns around a bed of black caramelized spicy rice and vegetables. The salmon was encrusted in honey and nuts atop mashed potatoes, vegetables and a creamy champagne sauce.
The prawns were good (wrapped in proscuitto), but the black rice and vegetables were absolutely delicious.
Salmon was disappointing - quite bland and a bit old.
We finished up with three enormous scoops of strawberry, lemon, and champagne sorbet.
Service is the weakest link. Our server was not around when we needed her and always seemed to be in a hurry to move on before I had a chance to ask a question. The manager, hovering around, never came to our table.
Ambiance has a sort of casual elegance with rich wood tones, green booth seating, white table cloths, and black cloth napkins. I recommend booth seating for conversations.
Entree, drink, and dessert about $35.
3.25 Stars
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 296-6056
Amarin Thai
Categories:
Thai,
Vegetarian
Neighborhood: Hillcrest
Unfortunately this time around Amarin overcooked the chicken in the volcano. That was disappointing. But everything else was very good.
Listed in: Top Restaurants
1 Previous Review:
-
4/18/2008
Review update: 5/2/08. Upgraded from 4 to 4.75 stars. Some friends and I dropped into Amarin after a couple of drinks at the Alibi. The entire place was comfortably packed, but we got a table after about 5 minutes.
Our order consisted of Golden Triangles, Spring Rolls, The Black Pearl special, Smoking Mahi Mahi, Red Curry with Sea Food and Pad Thai with Chicken. The deep fried golden triangles came first. But they weren't golden. They were more of a brown color and overly crispy because, to our dismay, they had been overcooked . . . we wined for about 10 seconds and then devoured them like pirana. The spring rolls followed and were fine fine fine.
The red curry was the first entree to appear. About 5 minutes later the pad thai came, 5 minutes later the mahi mahi, 5 minutes later the bowl of rice, and finally after 5 more minutes the black pearl sea food bowl. Not very impressive with the timing, but after a few minutes of wining, we started sharing and digging in as they came. So it worked out.
The red curry was rich and savory with the right amount of heat and the sea food was perfectly cooked. The mahi mahi sizzling on a fajita platter was superbly smoothered with a smokey brown sauce, black mushrooms, and vegetables. The pad thai was sweet and sour and our friend loved it. The black pearl was in a ceramic pot. It consisted of scallops, shrimp, muscles, and vegetables over glass noodles in a light salty broth. I must say it was a generous amount of food but we somehow managed to stuff it into our happy bellies!
When this place is full, the kitchen struggles. And sometimes they deliver overcooked triangles, forget the rice, stagger deliver entrees and so on. But the food is usually among the best you can get in San Diego.
Is Amarin the best Thai restaurant in SD? Possibly. But you should also try Spice and Rice in La Jolla, and for western Loatian influenced Thai food try Di-Chan on Clairemont Mesa Blvd. Then you be the judge. The problem is they have their unique strengths and weaknesses and are excllent in their own way . . . come to think of it, for us foodies it's a great problem to have.
____________________ ____________________ original review
I've enjoyed Thai food in Thailand a few times. I'm always looking forward to something similar here at home. Amarin is very good. But I'm not ready to say it's the best in San Diego. I have had better depending on the dish. For example the Tom Kah soup is just average. But the other dishes mentioned over and over in other reviews are pretty tasty and will keep me coming back for more.
The service, however, can be inconsistent. It can be cold and argumentative especially if you've reserved a table for 12 and 2 people don't show because they've fallen ill that day. The servers were short with us telling us we should've notified them a day in advance that our friends would be sick and not come . . . huh?
But generally speaking the food is good and they use mango. :)
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444 Useful, 130 Funny, and 251 Cool
Walnut Creek, CA
Yelping SinceApril 2008
Things I LoveCulinary Arts, British Rock, American Blues, Italian Leather, Japanese Blades, Fine Wine and Spirits
Find Me InJapan, California, and anywhere else that has great food.
My HometownWalnut Creek, CA / Nagoya, Japan
When I'm Not Yelping...I'm eating, drinking, cooking, and traveling
Why You Should Read My ReviewsYou shouldn't unless you're a foodie.
My Second Favorite WebsiteThe Requiem Shark / The Samurai's Garden
My First ConcertPeter Frampton Comes Alive at Winterland
My Favorite MovieTwilight Samurai / Once Upon a Time in the West
My Last Meal On EarthMom's food
Don't Tell Anyone Else But...I like In-n-Out and Mos Burger
Most Recent DiscoveryCherimoya
Current Crusha Mexican/American woman
The handmade pasta will remind you of Rome. The sauces are all made fresh from scratch. The meats and fish are of the highest quality. Execution is superb.
The service is wonderfully Italian.
The ambiance feels like an Italian restaurant ... cramped and bustling.
This is not an American Italian restaurant. It's an Italian restaurant. Don't bring the kids or expect mushy pasta and sugary sauces here. If you are a true foodie, give this one a try.