Melisse is one of those restaurants in Los Angeles that was on my must-eat list along with Urasawa and Providence. Los Angeles has relatively very few fine dining restaurants that I’ve enjoyed, so I have very high expectations for this particular occasion. I’m hoping I won’t be disappointed as I also wanted to show my mum what kind of foods I’ve been eating outside of the valley. Fox W, a well known Foodspotter, also joined me for this and provided pictures.

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.

I haven’t had steak in a while. I heard of this place from my buddy as a place he always wanted to try since he’s a steak guy. They do their own aging process here. When you walk into the restaurant, you can see through a window slabs of meat going through the aging process. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. Around this time was when aged steaks started to be a huge thing in Los Angeles.

Please note: This is not a Wolfgang Puck restaurant. Wolfgang Zwiener was previously the head waiter for Peter Lugers in New York, so naturally the restaurant style is very similar. You order a cut that’s shared with your entire party. So how does it compare? Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. As I reflect back at this experience, I was super excited to see some of the NYC restaurants coming to LA.

Having lived in Los Angeles the last 5 years including the South Bay/Gardena/Torrance areas, I’ve always sought after my personal BEST ramen place. The best ramen place to me must have a tasty well balanced broth and good tasting thick noodles. Per recommendations, I checked out Ramen Hayatemaru in Torrance partly because they have half bowl sizes, so you can try more than 1 flavor. I typically like my ramen noodles thicker because I like to slurp (excuse my manners) my noodles like Naruto.

No, this isn’t the clothing store on the west side. This is the Black Market Liquor Bar in Studio City. I went here with my cousin based on reviews from a friend. People and Zagat say it’s good, so we checked this out. The decor of the restaurant was interesting. There’s a sign on top of the building that says “Victory Motorcycles Co”, so I was curious as if I went to the right place.

Earlier this week, I reviewed the Ink tasting menu that appeared approximately 2 months after open. Today I went to Ink again to sample his food again. I will be blunt and say tonight was by far the BEST LA expensive food that I’ve had. Let’s get straight to what was on the menu. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog. On this night, Michael Voltaggio was helming the meat station, so my friend and I were in awe that he touched our beef course.

In preparation for my second visit to Ink, I’ve finally got off my ass to review and post my original Ink experience. If you don’t know already, this is Michael Voltaggio’s first restaurant that he opened up here in West Hollywood. It’s his take on modern LA cuisine. I was looking forward to try some of his creations, so let’s see what it’s all about. Note for 2022 migration: this is an old post from my other defunct blog.

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”.

It was my cousin’s birthday, so she wanted to try this place because of all the rave Yelp reviews. Took the train to downtown LA and then hiked about a mile to this place. I hadn’t seen any of the reviews yet, but I personally take Yelp reviews like a grain of salt because from past experiences my palette seems to be very much different than the majority (or maybe it’s just that I’m picky?