Watercress Again!

25 April 2011, Home

My Watercress Soup, Bacons and Mushroom. It simply tastes great.

Alternative Fine Dining

9th April 2011, Boxwood Cafe by Gordon Ramsay, West Hollywood

This restaurant was owned by celebrity chef and the host of world popular Hell's Kitchen US, Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmare, The F word, Gordon's Great Escape and Cook Along Live. Yes he is my favourite chef, Gordon Ramsay. Christina Machamer, the 4th season of Hell's Kitchen winner used to work for Chef Ramsay in this restaurant, Gordon Ramsay At The London. Since I was near to the restaurant that day I decided to go to Boxwood Cafe By Gordon Ramsay for brunch and it was located in Gordon Ramsay at The London.

The service of the waitresses and Maitre'd were professional and friendly. I expected nothing less than from the staffs of the world acclaimed chef. I would consider the decor of the restaurant as modern classic which I like. The restaurant was quiet and comfortable.

My starter was Spicy Tuna Tartare, Pickled Ginger and Toasted Pine Nuts. Tartare is chopped raw meat with seasoning and sauce. Tartare was thought to be originated from Tatar tribe from Central Asia. However it was named when it was always served with tartar sauce in the olden days. This was my first time I ordered a tartare dish. My tuna tartar was spicy, fresh, tender and appetizing.

My first entree was Prime Beef Shortrib Risotto, Mascarpone Cheese. This dish was somehow interesting as it reminded me of a Taiwanese dish, Stewed Pork Rice, but the risotto had stronger flavour than the later. The risotto was creamy and savoury. The braised prime beef shortrib was tender, full of beefy flavour and well seasoned. The shortrib and risotto were prefect combination. They were very savoury and absolutely delicious. It was the best risotto I had tasted, so far

My second entree was Striped Bass. Green Beans, Truffled Potatoes. The bass was fried and seasoned perfectly. The skin was crispy. However I think the dish was still quite "dull". A bit of lemon or lime juice would "woke" the bass up by adding flavour to it

I will return to Boxwood Cafe By Gordon Ramsay, just for the Prime Beef Shortrib Risotto

Address: 1020 North San Vicente Boulevard, West Hollywood, CA 90069, United States

Delicious Steak in Woodlands Hill

2nd April 2011, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar

It has been quite while I have not update this blog. I am a "superman" currently, I am always flying around in Asia for business trip. During these trips, I encountered cuisines, most of them are just "not too bad", the few of them are excellent to my demanding taste bug. One such cuisine are Indian cuisine. Indian cuisine is absolutely amazing. Only fresh ingredients are used for the northern India curries, and dried spices are used in southern india curry. Curries from both regions are absolutely delicious, and these let me consider that our South East Asia curries are "Donkey" curries. I will do understand more on India cuisine before I return to India to introduce them to my readers.

During my last trip to Chatsworth, California, I encounter a great steakhouse and this restaurant is mentioned in Zagat To Go (iPAD version of Zagat Survey), and it earns 24 for food, 23 for decor and 24 for service by the Zagat inspectors. I personally think that these are good scores. I decided to pay this restaurant a visit.

The decor is nice, comfortable and classic. The bar was also in the restaurant and showing sport programs on several television sets, the diners were cheering for their favourite team. I personally likes to enjoy my dinner quietly. I must admit the noise from the bar affect my dining experience there. However the service of the waiter and Maitre'D were great, they paid great attention to details. They cleared my table once I had my complimentary breads and raviolis and they left my table with any single food particles on my table. Their excellent service manage to gain a lot of points from me.

My starter was the Roasted Mushroom Raviolis. I had my first raviolis in this restaurant in my life. Raviolis were the Italian version of Chinese dumplings. The fillings were mushroom, spinach, salt and pepper. The spinach was fresh, the mushroom brought the earthly flavour and complement to spianch and the seasoning was prefect. The raviolis were tasty. Which version I like better, the chinese dumpling or the Italian ravioli? I like BOTH.

My main course is a rare Filet Mignon Petite. The plate has no sauce, no meshed potato, no peas. There was nothing on the plate except my steak and chopped parsley sprinkled on the plate. This reminded me of a saying from Chef Gordon Ramsay, "Keep it simple, but good. Forget about pompous sauces, and over-the-top creations. I like good food that is simply cooked, without pretension, but with a lot of heart and flavour" (Source from: More and Beyond, A Collection of Recipes from the Singapore Airlines International Culinary Panel). And this was what describe this steak. I got what I order, a rare steak which was full of flavour, well seasoned, tender, juicy and absolutely delicious.

I will definitely return to this restaurant, just for the great attention-to-detail services and delicious steak.

Address: 6373 Topanga Canyon Boulevard., Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Website: http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/