JAPANESE (by way of KOREAN)

where: a-won sushi (어원)
area: koreatown
when: sunday, november 2, 2008
how was it: chinfully chintastic

• japanese restaurant in "style" of korean food. basic fresh sashimi/sushi
• the "set menu" is the best thing on the menu, which is, for $70 per person you get a billion course meal of fresh-ass sushi, sashimi, other fish, grilled fish, and ending with some rice and a spicy fish stew. the choicest selection of sashimi is part of the set menu, including toro, uni, and yellowtail
  
• i will say no more, and let the pictures speak for me
  

MEXICAN and INDIAN

where: tacos la flama
area: west la
when: saturday, november 1, 2008
how was it: chin

• strip mall on pico and barrington had both a taco joint and a fast food indian place. i had the tacos, my girlfriend had the indian
  
• tacos la flama was not bad, overall the tacos were quite tender and tasty
• probably will return, if other options are not available
• would probably much rather go to the indian place instead, moving forward
• one unique and interesting thing about the place was that they also had a butcher in the back that sold mexican meats. for that, may return
  

where: chutney's indian fast food
area: west la
when: saturday, november 1, 2008
how was it: chin

• best thing about this place was that it had a little "bar" of sauces
  
• the chicken tikka masala was pretty tasty - not better nor worse than your average tikka masala at any given indian restaurant
• prices were good, considering at a sit down indian place it may be double and the food not necessarily doubly delicious
  

FRENCH

where: fraiche
area: culver city
when: sunday, october 15, 2008
how was it: tres chien!

• supper club october
• appetizer = risotto in bacon confit, salame platter, pasta dish that literally translates to "priest suicide" or something like that; me = sea bass; my gf = lamb; my brother = sea bass; my friend = monk fish
• overall, the food was quite delicious, but of the above, my favorite had to be monk fish. the fish was quite tender and the seasoning was quite good. that being said, the sea bass was cooked to perfection, and with the sauteed vegetables, etc underneath, stewing within the enclosed bag, each bite was quite enjoyable. lamb was quite tasty as well
• as always, these types of "higher end," pricier establishments are delicious, due to the use of a lot of fat and delicious bad-for-you flavorings. but with the good, is also the generic nature of these "fine dining" joints. they all seem to lump together for me. i don't readily recall what exactly i had at one particular place, and in the end all seem to bleed into one another. thank god i take pictures of the food now...
• ...speaking of which, our waitress was a little annoying, in that she seemed to have some weird type of smug demeanor. not in the haughty, "oh you're here in this fine dining establishment" demeanor, but just more smart-assy. she was giving me shit about taking pictures of the food, and all i could reply was, "i don't remember what i eat very well, so the pictures help me to remember." the whole waiter-customer relationship that restaurants in amerca have established, to this day somewhat baffles me. can we not just order, eat, get what we want, and leave? what is the purpose of the banter? i understand it's for tips, but in the end, out of guilt and avoidance of confrontation, we all leave the required 15 ~ 20%, so why all the fuss? let's keep it real, shall we!
• one last extra comment about the risotto in bacon confit. i mean, doesn't that just SOUND delicious? it's cooked in its own fucking bacon fat juices! and there were large chunks of bacon. in rice. and butter. and bacon. i may return to this restaurant for this alone. special fat face rating for this dish: