ROL Hand Roll Bar

While on vacation, it gets a bit much dining on a variety of heavy foods.  Some people would like to group it all into "Western Eats" but I would like to point out that some Asian food is pretty greasy and overly filling too.  Hence, we need to break it down to the truly light meals that we crave to break up the heaviness.  Of course we can go grab some salad or some soup noodles.  Heck, the fallback is always Japanese, especially sushi.  However, we wanted something along those lines but a bit different.  That is why we settled on ROL Hand Roll Bar.  It wasn't too far of a drive from Anaheim and besides, we love Hello Nori up in Vancouver.

Before we got to the rolls, we ordered a few starters including the Furikake Fries.  These shoestring potatoes were uniformly super crispy.  Served hot and well-seasoned, the fries took on all the flavors of the seaweed as well as the nuttiness of the sesame seeds.  We really enjoyed them and could've had a few more orders.  We also had the Cucumber Salad that was topped with sesame seeds and fish roe.  There was a nice balance of tanginess and sweetness in addition to the crunch of the cucumber.  A truly appetizing dish.

For those who are not familiar, hand rolls are exactly what you would think it is - a roll with sushi rice and filling rolled by hand in nori.  Typically, one person will need 4-5 rolls minimum to feel satisfied.  For myself, I can do 7-8.   We began with the Salmon hand roll that was lightly dressed and mixed with sesame seeds. The natural sweetness of the salmon came through with only enough seasoning to compliment it.

Next was the Spicy Tuna Crunch that featured buttery mashed tuna with beautiful contrasting crunchy bits.  Once again, the spiciness and seasoning was just enough that there was some bite, but the sweetness and appealing fishiness came through.  Loved the warm seasoned rice and also of course, the crispy nori on the outside.  Speed is of the essence, one must eat this immediately to experience the contrast in textures and temperature. 

For all of us, we had the Scallop which was pretty loaded with large buttery pieces.  It was lightly dressed where it was creamy, yet not particularly strong in flavor.  The natural sweetness and taste of the sea permeated the entire roll.  Similarly with the other rolls, the warm chewy rice and the crispiness of the nori was a nice contrast to the delicate scallops.

As you can clearly see, there was quite a bit of tuna belly in the Negitoro. Normally, there isn't a dressing per se in this as it is purely tuna and green onions.  However, this worked in this application as the roll was more moist and if one wasn't going to dip it into any sauce, the dressing was necessary.  So beyond giving the roll some moisture, it was also a bit creamy with mild sweet notes.  The tuna was buttery and fresh.

Off to something cooked, we dived into the Spicy Crab that featured plenty of fluffy crab meat that was lightly dressed.  I liked that the spiciness was restrained since crab is rather delicate and can be overwhelmed by strong flavors (however, there are some cases where this works, such as Singaporean chili crab).  As such, I could taste the sweetness and aroma of the crab meat.

The other cooked roll we had was the Unagi.  It may have not looked like it, but there was a large piece of eel hidden within.  They torched it to order, so the butteriness of the meat and skin really came through.  There was appetizing caramelization and smokiness.  Naturally, there was the sweet and stickiness of the unagi sauce which meant we didn't need to dip this into anything.

Probably my favorite roll happened to be the last one I was served.  Buttery and soft, the Toro practically melted in my mouth.  It was so fatty and fresh where the clean taste of the sea really came through.  Once again, it was not tossed in anything that was overly strong.  Hence, there was seasoning in the form of sweetness and some umaminess, but not enough to mask the crisp natural flavor.

Lastly, we had the Yellowtail (Hamachi) which appeared to be not dressed in anything.  Good thing too as the inherent sweet fishiness was so pure and refreshing.  However, the delicate texture ensured that each bite was not exhaustive.  What a great finish to this multi-course hand roll meal.  The fact that they serve each one to order, it ensures the temperature of the filling and the rice are perfect.  Also, the crispy nori creates a great textural contrast.  Love this way of eating sushi.

The Good:
- Fresh and made-to-order served to you ASAP
- Quality ingredients
- Friendly service

The Bad:
- Can get pricey when you start ordering lots (because you want to keep eating!)
- Not the same experience if you don't snag a seat at the bar

Yard House

Sometimes convenience is more important than really good eats.  Okay, this may not have been true early on in the life of this blog, but it certainly is now.  Hey, when I'm on vacation, I really should be making decisions based on what works for my family rather than trekking across town to line up at a trendy spot so I can blog about it. Hence, we ended up going across the street from where we were staying over to LA Live.  From all the choices there, we went to the popular chain restaurant Yardhouse.

We started with the Poke Nachos with almost everything on the side, because not everyone wanted everything, but wanted some things.  LOL... So these crispy wonton crisps were supposed to be topped with ahi tuna, avocado, serranos, white truffle sauce, sweet soy ginger sauce, sriracha aioli, cilanto, green onions, sesame seeds and nori.  This was pretty good, especially when we used the sauces with it.  I particularly enjoyed the combination of soy ginger with the aioli.

We also got the Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds with hot honey sauce and horseradish aioli.  This was a fairly generous portion of cheese curds.  Texturally, they were only slightly melted and still had a nice bouncy chew to them.  On the outside, the batter was indeed crispy and light, but completely soaked with grease.  So much so, the parchment on bottom of the basket yielded pools of oil.  Ignoring that, the cheese curds were good and went especially well with the hot honey.

For myself, I had the BBQ Bacon Cheddar Burger featuring a 1/2 pound USDA prime blend patty, applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, BBQ sauce and garlic aioli.  I asked for the patty to be prepared medium-rare and it came out closer to medium.  No matter though as it was juicy and nicely charred.  Bacon was super crispy and the sesame bun was nicely toasted and airy.  Hence, it didn't eat heavy.  However, the burger was quite filling though.  I got parmesan truffle fries on the side and they were crispy with enough seasoning for impact.

Viv had the BBQ Chicken Pizza which was loaded with tender morsels of chicken.  There wasn't enough BBQ sauce though as the pizza ate dry.  Crust was pretty basic being the thin crust variety.  It was crunchy but not particularly memorable.  With the proliferation of Neapolitan pizza joints all over the place, pizza crusts like the ones found at Yardhouse are very mediocre.  But I get it, a chain restaurant needs to keep things streamlined especially with such a large menu.

For my son, he went for the House Cheesesteak featuring chopped ribeye, white cheddar, steak sauce, roasted garlic aioli and fried onion strings on a hoagie. As you can see, this was rather large and he was completely satisfied by both the portion size and the execution.  The soft roll encased tender beef that had a nice sear (with some crispy bits).  Lots of umami here including beefiness, aromatics and sharpness from the cheese.  The side of yam fries were crispy and not greasy.

Naturally, the most expensive dish was ordered by my daughter which was the Sesame-Crusted Ahi with crispy garlic, sesame seeds, green onions, jasmine rice, charred baby broccoli, baby tomatoes and creamy ponzu sauce.  As pictured, the ahi was perfectly medium-rare with only the slightest sear on the outside.  Hence it was tender and vibrant.  However, it was also quite bland and there wasn't enough ponzu to do anything about it.  The veggies were cooked perfectly though.  Good dish, just needed more seasoning.  As for the other dishes, we were satisfied and thought the pricing was fair.  Pretty good for a chain restaurant and it did the job given what we were looking for.

The Good:
- Well-portioned
- Decent pricing with all things considered
- Huge menu (something for everyone)

The Bad:
- Pizza was meh
- Service was good, but long periods of time without anyone checking on us  

Playa Provisions

I'm not afraid to admit it.  Sometimes I buy into the hype and seek out restaurants featuring and/or operated by Top Chef alumni.  I've had some really good experiences with some spots such as Juniper & Ivy, Knife and Toup's.  However, I'm also acutely aware that there will be less-than-stellar places as well.  So I guess I tried to have realistic hopes when I met up with Jess at Playa Provisions while I was in Los Angeles.  Yet, with Brooke Wiliamson attached to this place, I couldn't help but have elevated expectations as well.

We went big with our starter with the Shellfish Tower featuring 12 oysters, 1/2 Maine lobster, 6 jumbo shrimp, 3 Scallops with navel orange nuoc cham and 1/2 dungeness crab.  This was a hefty $150.00 and in some sense, it was worth it due to the sweet and briny silver devil and blue fox oysters as well as the beautifully buttery tender and sweet scallops.  The prawns were excellent too with a nice meaty snap and all of the sweet aromatics that go with it.  Even the lobster was on point with its unmistakable aroma and rebound texture.  The problem was the dungeness crab.  It was spongy and lacked the fluffiness and taste of the sea freshness.  It wasn't very good.  So for that, we were disappointed.

We also had the Watermelon & Whipped Feta with cucumber, kalamata olives, red onion, oregano and olive brine vinaigrette.  This was rather refreshing and did come through with the promise of creamy whipped feta.  The olive brine was a good contrast to the sweet watermelon.  I personally love olives and welcomed the salty tang they added to the dish.  I thought the red onion might've added too much sharpness to the mix, but I'm sure that could be subjective.

Onto the Salt Cod Clam Chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl, it featured meaty smoked pancetta on top.  As you can see in the picture, there was a bevy of fresh Manila clams (in the shell) peaking out from the chowder.  This was pretty good with a rich broth that was a semi-thick viscosity.  Would've liked to see more bininess, but the clams were definitely there.  Salt cod was prepared properly where there was flavor without being salty.  It was rehydrated well as it was flaky and moist.

The one thing that caught my eye on the menu was the Connecticut-Style Lobster Roll sporting dungeness crab, lobster, shrimp, tarragon and chives in warm lobster buttered brioche.  This was pretty good despite the spongy dungeness crab.  As you can see, there was a good amount of seafood that provided a good ratio to the soft bread.  Of course the butter helped with both texture and flavor.  Overall a good seafood roll.

Viv had opted for the crispy battered version of the Playa Fish Tacos.  It was topped with Meyer lemon kohlrabi slaw, caperberry remoulade and cilantro in a corn tortilla.  This was good with flaky and moist fish sporting a light crispy batter.  The slaw was crunchy and fresh with nice acidity.  Creamy with saltiness and tang, the remoulade was a good alternative to tartar sauce.  Would've liked to see more fish though.

So my daughter went back to the well and got her ol' standby being the Fish & Chips.  Now these were essentially the pieces of fish found in the tacos.  Not a bad thing though as they were just as crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside.  However, the size of the fish left a lot to be desired.  Instead of fries, we found crispy potato wedges that were not that crispy.  They were a touch dense.  The tartar was creamy with a nice bite and they didn't skimp on the malt vinegar.

My son didn't do seafood and went for the Patty Melt with dry aged beef, gruyere, caramelized onion, "Beechwood" BBQ sauce and arugula on marble rye.  For a predominantly seafood-focused menu, this item was actually one of the better ones.  The aged beef was moist and tender with plenty of umaminess.  It was nicely accented by the sweet onions as well as the melted cheese.  The tangy sweetness of the BBQ sauce added another layer of flavor.

One of the more disappointing dishes was the Grilled Swordfish.  Now I'm pretty familiar with swordfish, so I realize that it isn't the most moist and light out fish out there.  However, this one was more chewy than usual and hence, we didn't enjoy eating it.  Too bad really as the accompaniments were great including baby corn, green peppercorn and sungold tomato puttanesca.  This provided sweetness, bite and also tanginess.  Very bright and appealing.

As a side to his patty melt, my son also ordered the Crab Mac & Cheese sporting dungeness crab, parm and breadcrumbs.  For this application, the spongy crab worked as it was further baked with cheese on top.  Hence, we weren't looking for fluffy, instead, we were expecting crab flavor and it delivered.  The pasta was al dente and was coated with enough cheesiness to make an impact.  This was one of the better dishes we had.

One last side was the Creamed Cornbread that turned out to be more cream of corn with some cornbread.  Not that it was a bad thing though, as this was delicious.  It was creamy for sure, but also had impactful natural sweetness accented by fire roasted poblano & black truffle relish and sottocenere crumbles.  Lots of umaminess and slight tanginess from the relish while the cheese crumble added some nuttiness.  Overall, the food was good with a few things we didn't enjoy.  For most restaurants, that would be more than acceptable.  However, given the expectations we had, it didn't deliver.  Is that fair?  I'm not really sure, but just being real as to how we felt.

The Good:
- Outstanding service
- Nice ambiance
- Some good dishes

The Bad:
- The dungeness crab was just not good
- Parking is hard to find, but they do have valet

Howlin' Ray's

Back in 2019, I was in LA and seriously considered lining up for hours at Howlin' Rays.  For those who do not know, they specialize in Nashville Hot Chicken and at one point, there used to be lineups as long as 3 hours.  Well I didn't end up going because I had better things to do than wait in a line for 3 hours.  Little did I know that it would take me until 2022 to attempt to try it again.  This time around, I merely ordered online and picked it up.  Easy peasy.  

Of course I got The Sando in extra-hot.  That is only one below their hottest flavor.  Oh and this was indeed spicy.  My lips were burning and my stomach was warm.  I could feel the onset of indigestion.  But oh it was yums because even though it was tongue-numbing, I could still taste the other spices.  The big boneless breast was tender, but not juicy.  The crunch from the batter was solid while the sauce was uniform from them dipping the whole thing in the spiced oil.  Crunchy coleslaw (that was not overdressed) cooled things down a notch while the bun was soft enough to conform to the chicken without falling apart.  This was a really good hot chicken sandwich!

To get a sense of what mild tasted like, I got the Leg Quarter served on bread with pickles.  Man, that chicken was so perfectly brined as it was juicy and super succulent.  However, it wasn't salty though, just flavorful with plenty of natural chicken goodness.  Loved the batter on the outside as it was crunchy like the one in the sandwich.  The skin was well-rendered too.  Mild still had a bit of spice, but perfect for those who can't handle hot. 

To round out this "snack" (I had lunch already), I got Matt-style Fries with collard greens, cut up bacon, comeback sauce, braised tomatoes and melted cheddar cheese.  This was rather messy and quite a bit of stuff on top of the fries.  Hence, they were not very crunchy anymore, but the flavor was tangy with cheesiness and the creaminess of the sauce. Good for the inebriated.  Although this was just a quick snack from Howlin' Rays, it was enough to confirm the hype.  Their stuff is legit and I would have it again when I'm back in LA.

The Good:

- Spicy, but can taste the spices

- Excellent fried chicken

- Friendly people

The Bad:

- It used to be the lineup, but not really anymore.  However, wasn't that part of the charm?  Hey but I'm not complaining that I don't need to lineup!

Parks BBQ

I've been itching to try Parks BBQ for quite some time now.  We've been to LA many times but have never been to K-Town (gasp! it is true!).  Call it the "young children" effect as all we did was generally go to Anaheim.  Well, we were going to Anaheim this time around too, but I made it my mission to go to have some legit Korean BBQ (especially since the kids love it).  We ended up Ubering it because the valet parking situation at Park's can only be described as chaotic.

Before we got to the meat festivities, we were served a selection of Banchan including Rice Noodle with Meat Sauce, Potato, Green Salad, Marinated Bean Curd Skins, Kimchi, Rice Noodle Sheets (more for the pork belly than banchan), Spicy Bean Sprouts, Onion Salad with Cilantro, Marinated Peppers, Meatballs and Potato Salad.  I particularly enjoyed the bean curd skins as they were texturally appealing and slightly spicy.  Kimchi was crunchy and had a rich flavor.  In fact, the banchan here at Park's was a bit different and good.  Not your typical boring selection.

So we had no other thing on our mind other than going for a Taste of Park's BBQ (P1, P2 and P3).  They cook your food here and do it with great efficiency and care.  We started with the Brisket, Boneless Shortrib and Ggot Sal.  Gotta say the quality of the meat was top-notch where the marbling was particularly appealing in the ggot sal.  Meats were tender and the beefiness really came through.  Yes, the pricing isn't cheap here, but I think it is worth every penny due to the meat quality.  I particularly enjoyed the Ggot Sal which was so flavorful from the fat and succulent.

As you can see, there was also mushrooms, zucchini and onion.  We moved onto the Ribeye Steak next.  To the right of it is the cooked Outside Skirt. I found the ribeye to be soft and fatty.  It was beautiful.  As for the outside skirt, it was also marbled, but not as much as the ggot sal.  Hence, it was flavorful, but probably the least of the cuts we had.  It was rather meaty in texture, but still tender nonetheless.

In my haste of enjoying the food, I didn't get a picture of the Bulgogi, yet there is some remnants of it at the top right corner.  It was also, you guessed it, tender and nicely charred. What we see here is Park's Galbi, Shrimp and Pork Belly.  That short rib was buttery and delicious.  The pork belly was quite meaty with just a bit of fat.  Excellent for rolling up in the rice paper sheets.  Lastly, the shrimp were also good with a meaty snap and the usual sweet briny flavor.

To get some rice into our meal, I got the Dolset Bibimbap.  By appearance alone, it seemed to be quite a bit of ingredients on top of the rice.  When mixed together, it turned out that there wasn't actually that much rice, it was practically all toppings!  The stone bowl was hot enough to get a socarrat on the bottom (after I squished the rice on the sides that is).  Really good and hearty.  Now the Taste of Park's BBQ P1, P2 and P3 is $199.00.  I actually don't find that expensive given the variety and quality of meats offered.  Also, the banchan is delicious and the service top-notch.  Totally worth it in my opinion.

The Good:
- High quality meats
- Great service
- Good banchan

The Bad:
- With the meats cooked for you, the meal goes by a bit too quick
- That valet parking situation is not the best

Pan-Fried Dumplings

In 2017, we took my cousins out to Din Ding Dumpling House and introduced their kiddies to Xiao Long Bao.  Well, apparently, it was such a big hit, they kept requesting for them after we returned to Vancouver (we were back in 2019, but didn't have any dumplings).  Since then, they have discovered a place called Pan-Fried Dumplings out in Newark that boasts some pretty good XLBs.  Now that we are able to travel again, we made the trek back out to the East Bay to visit family.  However, instead of meeting up with them for some XLBs, we met up with Areta (who happened to be vacationing nearby) instead!

Predictably, we over-ordered and ended up with 5 steamers of Xiao Long Bao including the 3 pork, 1 chicken and 1 shrimp.  This is the picture of the pork and really, the chicken and shrimp looked almost exactly like this except a bit lighter in color.  All of them featured a fairly thin dumpling skin that was delicate with some elasticity.  There was plenty of soup that was sweet but the pork XLBs were pretty greasy.  The meat was tender and bouncy though.  I found the chicken to be lighter in texture and also easier on the greasiness.  The shrimp had a sweet briny taste while also being not as greasy.

Of course we had to order the Snow-Flake Pan Fried Fried Dumplings (kinda the restaurant's name) and it came out golden brown with a considerable skirt.  Both the bottom of the dumplings and the skirt were crispy and nutty.  The overall dumpling skin was medium-thick and not dense.  I found the filling inside to be, you guessed it, greasy.  However, using such fatty pork also ensured that the meat was tender and moist.

Continuing on with the dumplings, we also had the Soup Pan Fried Buns (Sang Jeen Bao).  These sported crunchy tops that had been pan fried in a good amount of oil.  The bun itself was light where they kept the dough to a minimum.  Hence these did not eat heavy despite the ample soup inside being, once again, greasy.  Like I said, this is a double-edged sword, because for the meat to be juicy and tender, the fattiest mix is the necessary.

Now the greasiness wasn't exclusive to the dumplings.  I found the Ground Three Delight (featuring eggplant, green and red peppers) to be pretty much coated in oil (lots on the bottom of the plate too).  Beyond that, the dish was good though with plenty of wok hei that gave the dish delicious caramelization.  Texturally, the eggplant was perfect, being cooked through without being mushy.  There was plenty of seasoning that was balanced between sweet and salty.

Even though the Beef Wrap looked appealingly flaky, I wasn't a huge fan of it.  The pancake was thin and not overly heavy, but I found it dry and overly flaky.  I would've preferred it to be chewier.  The sliced beef shank inside was tender and flavourful, but that was partly negated by the lettuce.  I know there are versions that have lettuce, yet I'm not a big fan.  It takes away from the beef and the hoisin sauce in my opinion.

I did enjoy the Spicy Red Oil Wontons though as there was a good amount of spiciness that was balanced.  What I mean is that I could taste the savoriness of the pork filling while also the nuttiness of the oil in addition to the spice.  It wasn't one-note.  Furthermore, the wontons themselves were pretty good since they were cooked just right with a tender wrapper with juicy (and surprisingly less greasy, but they were sitting in oil...) pork filling.

Now onto the noodle portion of our meal, we first got served the Tomato Beef Noodle Soup.  I wasn't a really big fan of this as the broth was a bit bland and lacking depth.  I have to give it to them that I could taste tomato though.  I also wasn't too fond of the thick noodles as they reminded me of udon.  We should have chosen the regular noodles instead.  As for the beef, it was okay as it was tender and fairly moist.  

One noodle that I really enjoyed was the Pork Dan Dan Noodles.  Now it didn't look anything close to the picture in the online menu (as there is a brothy sauce).  This was served dry with only the minced meat topping and veggies.  However, when mixed together, the spicy and numbing flavors were super tasty and impactful.  Due to the lack of moisture, the noodles remained al dente and the flavors were more concentrated.

Now the Old Peking Minced Noodles were not as impactful, yet they aren't supposed to be either.  This was more for the kiddies, but it wasn't super popular either.  Not that there was anything particularly wrong with it.  Once again, the noodles were al dente and there was just enough sauce to coat them.  I found the sauce to be not as salty as I would've liked, but there was still flavor.  Maybe there was just a tad too many veggies that watered it down.  Would've just liked the cucumber rather than also including carrots and sprouts.  In the end, the thing we enjoyed the most was the Xiao Long Bao.  Other items were hit and miss.  Prices were on the higher side but portions were generous.  Prepare yourself for some oily lips as things are really greasy here.

The Good:

- Excellent XLBs

- Large portions

- Other dumplings are good too

The Bad:

- Very greasy

- Dishes are hit and miss

Torraku Ramen

So parking centrally to everything at 721 Filbert was a blessing and a curse.  Blessing because we could visit Chinatown and then North Beach pretty handily, but a curse because it was still quite a walk to Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39.  After taking the ferry out to Alcatraz and doing plenty of walking, the kids were no longer game to walk anymore.  Hence, we went back to the car and decided what to do for dinner.  Initially, we were supposed to drive all the way to Palo Alto (on our way back to Fremont) to try out Ramen Nagi.  But it was 4:30pm.  No way were we doing to be stuck in Bay Area rush hour for ramen.  Therefore, we hit up Torraku Ramen which was only minutes away.  Sure, it ain't Ramen Nagi, yet sometimes we make sacrifices based on convenience.

We actually found a parking spot right out front and also a table inside.  Music to our ears as we were both tired and hangry.  My son ended up with the classic Tonkotsu Super Paitan Ramen with fatty pork, bamboo shoots, fried garlic, green onion, nori and egg.  Despite looking like it was over-marinated, the egg wasn't that salty.  The yolk was perfectly custardy though.  As for the pork & chicken broth, it was on the lighter side, not being as rich as it appeared.  There was some creaminess from the fat and collagen though, yet the broth could've used more salt.  Noodles were al dente and well-portioned.  Meat was tender with some dry portions.

My daughter predictably had the Miso Ramen (with all of the same accompaniments) that sported a slightly more fatty broth.  Hence, it was a bit richer and due to the miso, had more depth.  The fermented flavor came through, yet was not salty.  She chose the leaner pork shoulder and it was of course not as tender as the pork belly in the previous bowl.

Viv went for the Shoyu Ramen that also came with all of the aforementioned accompaniments.  This broth appeared to be a bit lighter and indeed it was.  There was still the silkiness of the fat, but there was less than the previous 2 bowls of ramen.  We could definitely taste the soy sauce, but it was accented the broth evenly.  This still had a rich flavour and the black garlic oil added some aromatics.

For myself, I didn't go for ramen at all, instead opting for the Oyako Don.  This was loaded with so much tender dark meat chicken that there was more than the amount of rice.  Nice mix of onions, fluffy egg and mirin which gave this good flavor and texture.  The only thing that could've been better was that the dish had far too much moisture.  So overall, the food at Torraku was good and did the trick, especially given that we needed something closeby.

The Good:
- Above average
- Well-portioned
- Good service

The Bad:
- Would've liked to see a bit more punch in the broth
- Online ordering doesn't really allow for customization (omitting items)