The Princess Gourmet: November 2009

I joined the Parent Association of University of California Riverside and the first meeting of the school year was held last weekend (Saturday, November 7). I wasn't too thrilled about having to get up early on a Saturday morning to make the hour plus drive to Riverside for a three hour meeting. That being said, it was worth it because after the meeting, I would be seeing my youngest son Nick who is a Freshman at UC Riverside. I knew I wouldn't see Nick again until Thanksgiving so I was really looking forward to our visit.

I made the solo trip to Riverside and enjoyed a cranberry scone and coffee while listening to the various speakers present on various topics. They had a big turnout, a majority of the attendees were Freshman parents. After the meeting, I made the short drive over to the Pentland Hills dorms to see Nick. We ended up driving over to Ontario Mills, a large shopping outlet about 50 minutes east of Downtown Los Angeles and about 20 minutes from the UC Riverside campus. We were only going to run a few errands and then have lunch. We ended up not only running the errands, but went on a shopping spree (I scored on a chocolate brown Coach purse; they were having a big sale and just about everything was an additional 30-50% off!) and completely forgone lunch and went right into an early dinner at nearby Tokyo Wako.

I thought Tokyo Wako would be a fast food type of Japanese restaurant when I had looked it up on my "Around Me" app on my iPhone. I was pleasantly surprised. It's a cross between an upscale Japanese restaurant and Benihana. They also have a very diverse menu and offer a dinner and teppan menu.

Nick and I ordered the Alaskan King Crab Roll--Alaskan king crab meat and avocado topped with seared salmon, smelt egg, scallion and served over a bed of mayo and eel sauce; the 13-piece Assorted Sashimi as well as Deep Fried Oysters (served with sweet and sour sauce; I thought it would have been better with Ponzu sauce) and Beef Fried Rice to share. Since I had to make the long drive home afterwards, I stuck to hot green tea (I picked up an Eggnog Latte at Starbucks on the way home).

We enjoyed our meal but more importantly, I enjoyed my time with my son. If you ever decide to make the trek out to Ontario Mills for outlet shopping and want to indulge in Japanese fare, then I highly recommend Tokyo Wako. Next time, we'll try the Teppan Grill.

TOKYO WAKO
4472 East Ontario Mills Parkway
Ontario, California 91764
909.484.7200

I'm a big fan of "The Next Food Network Star" on the Food Network. I've even considered auditioning for the show but couldn't decide on a culinary point of view (my POV is all over the map). Last season boasted an eclectic group of talented chefs, one of them being Debbie Lee, a Korean American whose vision was to have a show on the Food Network called "Seoul to Soul". As I watched each episode during Season 6, I was impressed with Debbie's creations and thought her to be inventive with marrying both the tastes of Korean and American cuisine.

I happened to be online posting a very positive review of a tea house that I had recently visited and after doing so, happened to catch a tidbit about Gyenari. I recently began frequenting Korean restaurants and this one piqued my curiousity. I saw that it had a website so I checked it out. That's when I found that the head chef was none other than Debbie Lee from the The Next Food Network Star! After reviewing their menu online and reading the various press about the restaurant, I just had to try it. Gyenari even has a Facebook page (yes, I'm a fan) and you can follow them on Twitter (no, I haven't added them yet).

The perfect opportunity finally presented itself. A Friday night (the 13th of all days) and since the restaurant was close to the home of my brother-in-law Tony and his wife Diana, I thought it might be fun to include them in the adventure and make it a couples night out for the four of us.

We had 9:00pm reservations which I booked through OpenTable.com and the restaurant is located near Sony Entertainment Studios in Culver City. I haven't been in this part of Culver City in ages and it appeared that there were major redevelopments. Gyenari is one of many restaurants in the area which also boasts the beautiful Culver Hotel and a Pacific Theatre. Parking is difficult in the area and Tony suggested that we park at the parking garage near Trader's Joes, about 2 blocks down the street (we found out later that Gyenari had valet parking but it's such a short walk from the parking garage and it only costs a dollar for a little over 2 hours to park).

Gyenari has a slick bar meu and specialty cocktail items which also includes soju-based drinks. I'll have to come back for Happy Hour to try out their bar food items but I was looking forward to trying a couple of their martinis. I ordered the "G-Tini", a fusion of pear plum vodka, nigori sake and pineapple juice. It was supposed to be garnished with a floating orchid but I guess they were out. Diana ordered the Watermelon Soju Spritzer, a blend of fresh watermelon, soju, sprite and a salted rim. Both were very good. I later ordered the Lychee-Tini made with lychee juice and kai lychee vodka with a fresh lychee sitting at the bottom of the glass. It was okay; I felt that it was missing something (maybe it was the garnish...LOL!). I think that if you're paying roughly around $9 a drink, it should include some cool, brightly colored fruit garnish. You decide:

Above: Watermelon Soju Spritzer, G-Tini and Lychee-Tini.

Gyenari's menu has two types of menus--an "old world" and "new world" menu. Old world menu items consists of traditional Korean fare (i.e., porridge, kimchee, etc.) and the new world menu items are more modern dishes infused with a Korean flare. Of course, if you go to any Korean restaurant, you aren't given bread at the table as you would at any typical restaurant, you are given a variety of "side dishes" to enjoy alongside your meal or as an appetizer.

I ordered the Korean Rubbed Rib Eye with Bacon Grits. When they placed it in front of me, I was momentarily confused because my rib eye did not come with the grits as it stated on the menu (they must have run out of bacon too), the rib eye was accompanied by kimchee smashed potatoes. I was concerned because (1) they didn't tell me that bacon grits were not available, (2) didn't give me an option to choose another side dish of MY choosing and (3) I don't like kimchee (which really isn't a fair statement because I've never tried kimchee). I have a sensitive stomach so I didn't know if I'd be able to handle the spice in the kimchee smashed potatoes. I was assured that it wasn't spicy so I decided to be a trouper and try it. The rib eye was perfect (although again, they didn't ask me how I wanted my steak cooked--I normally order my steak medium or medium rare and it was prepared exactly the way I liked it). The kimchee smashed potatoes were surprisingly very good, the spice subtle.

Carlo ordered the Pumpkin Porridge to start. I was expecting it to look like a creamy rice dish, similar to risotto but it was more of a heavily textured soup with toasted pine nuts and soju-sauteed dates. It was a sweet porridge and it was, according to Carlo, "okay". His entree, the Poached Black Cod was very good--it was poached perfectly and delicately prepared, the Korean Miso Broth flavorful.

Above: Pumpkin Porridge with Toasted Pine Nuts and Soju-Sauteed Dates

Above: Poached Black Cod with Shimeji Mushroom in a Korean Miso Broth

Tony ordered the Bulgogi, thinly sliced marinated prime rib in their own secret homemade marinade. He ended up having to cook his own meal! LOL! The Bulgogi came with sliced onions, garlic, jalapeno, and large button cap mushrooms along with three dipping sauces.

Diana ordered the Pan Fried Halibut with Egg Batter and Fried Shiso Leaf. The fish was firm and sat atop a medley of pan-fried vegetables as well.

We were full from our meal but we managed to save room for dessert. I wanted to try the Spicy Chocolate Brulee with Bacon Shortbread--I was more curious about how palatable the bacon shortbread would be and these little savory shortbread "coins" were very good. The brulee had a touch of spice and was more like a chocolate pudding with a very light "brulee", topped with fresh whipped cream and GARNISHED (LOL!) with raspberry and mint. Tony and Diana ordered the Asian Pear Bread Pudding with Spicy Cumin Butterscotch and Vanilla Ice Cream. This was also very good and I loved how the asian pear added to the sweetness of the dish but was not overpowering.

All in all, we had an enjoyable evening and it was nice to share a "couples" evening with my brother-in-law and his wife. I wasn't totally "blown away" by Gyenari but we had a good time.