The full name of this restaurant is actually EMC Seafood and Raw Bar. It’s nestled in Koreatown close to 6th St. and Normandie. It’s on many new LA food lists, so let’s see what the hype is all about (other than the $1 happy hour oysters 4-7 PM). This is #17 of 52 on my 2014 LA food expedition. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog.

I’ve been craving for seafood the last few weeks or months, and I didn’t feel like driving to Whittier to go to Portsmouth. I looked up Eater LA, and I found L&E Oyster Bar on their list of 2014 essential LA restaurants at #26. This is restaurant #1 for my 2014 LA food expedition. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. I recall back then this being a super hot spot in greater Los Angeles area.

Even though this place technically is not in LA, it’s within reasonable driving distance. Portsmouth is an oyster bar (with beer eventually) located close to downtown Whittier. The actual site is in a quiet location in suburbia, so it was odd to see the building. But with word of mouth, the internet, and Yelp/Eater-LA, it doesn’t really matter. Portsmouth had just been opened for roughly a week. There was a soft opening a few weeks back.

This was a special night where Top Chef Marcus Samuelsson creates a culinary experience with the dynamic duo of Son Of A Gun. The menu was nothing like their normal menu. Marcus Samuelsson greeted most, if not all, of the guests during my visit. You can tell he was very appreciative for us patrons to experience this. Not only did he prepare food for us, but he also presented a signed copy of his memoir book “Yes Chef”.