FoodZealot

Last year some friends and I did a standing rib roast pretty much according to a Cooks Illustrated recipe - "aged" it for a few days, browned it, brushed it with mustard, applied some seasoning/crust and roasted at a fairly low temp (250°?) throughout the cooking time. We were really happy with the results. photo courtesy of Richard Velasco. For good or bad, this method seemed to produce meat without much variation in doneness, i.e. the whole roast was medium rare. I think this is the first slice off the end. We anticipated this somewhat, and had also another smaller roast roasted to be medium doneness, but we still didn't end up with enough medium well and well done, so we put a pan on the stove and finished some off to people's liking. I normally take my steaks charred rare, but I think for this type of preparation I'm now starting to prefer medium doneness for that firmer chew. I'd also like to add on a few minutes of high heat at the end to get a deeper roasted flavor with sizzling fat. And next time I'll be more aggressive with salt.

Excellent! OC represents! I know that everyone is in holiday mode right now, but just a reminder that Sunday, January 11th, 2004 is the date we're currently discussing for the first tasting event.

Yes! More exploring!

Aha! Our table's griddle/grill must have been set to a lower temperature. That makes sense. I disagree, I think it was a successful excursion. [grin] Despite any comments above, I had a great time and I think SDR is a very good restaurant. I would definitely go back there for another try. And a great value, too. It's more of a style preference on my part.

Okay, now that I've had a couple of days to think about it: First off, eG is pretty freakin' cool. I never would have known that there's such a large Korean community in Garden Grove. And of course, I enthusiastically support more Korean BBQ visits, wherever they happen to be. Thanks to everyone for letting me take pictures before diving in! jschyun, you're right, the waterfall is tacky, but I think it's brilliant in its tackyness. Sorta like karaoke. [grin] Bisou and any lurkers out there, compared to jschyun and grandcru, the rest of us were pretty new to Korean BBQ also, so don't let that stop you. As far as the meal itself, all IMHO, from the panchan, I liked the napa kim chee with oyster flavor (not very spicy, as ErinB said, but I liked the overall flavor), the bean sprouts (and I'm not usually a fan of sprouts) and the fish cake. The daikon kim chee and the thin daikon were okay, but seemed too sweet for my taste. The dressing or whatever on the seaweed was a bit slimy and going toward that rubbery, heavy crunch. I liked the process with the noodle wraps, but I often felt like I was rushing to keep up with the food, and I wasn't even cooking very much. ErinB, tejon and Maison Rustique did the bulk of the cooking at our table - thank you! I also found that managing the table space with all those tiny dishes was a bit too much work for me. I was surprised and a little disappointed that they switched out the griddle/grill thing during the meal. Seemed to me like nothing was burning, the meat was getting nicely browned, and all the veggies were cooking in the beef fat, etc. It would make sense if we were switching from pork to beef or something along those lines. Anyone know why this is done? The style of this restaurant seems to be geared very specifically to the BEEF flavor - and while I can appreciate and enjoy it once in a while, I tend to like big flavors, smoke and caramelization, so I think I prefer the type of Korean BBQ where the meat has been marinated, then grilled over real charcoal. ~Tad

[i thought these posts would end up on separate pages of the thread, but they're not. My apologies for the slow load.] ...Also destined for the griddle, a mix of oyster mushrooms, button mushrooms, onions and green onions: The Main Event - shaved Angus beef (strip steak?) and boneless shortrib loin (barely visible, bottom) and hidden beneath, 1/4" thick ribeye steaks. There's also a single plank of potato, also to be cooked along with everything else. Each table of six has a gas fired griddle in the middle of it where the magic happens. I missed taking a shot of the fresh rice noodle wrappers, about 3" x 3" and thin - roughly the size of wonton wrappers, but ready to eat. Then each person peels those off the stack, and continuously assembles their own mouthfuls with the sizzling hot meat, panchan of their choice, some chili paste, sesame oil/salt, and the greens mix, which contains lettuces, shredded green onion, sesame seed, and a little red cabbage. All the panchan and wrappers are refilled on the table as needed. After cooking through most of the shaved Angus beef, they changed out the griddle for a fresh one (?!?), and we started in on the boneless shortrib loin and ribeye steak - cut into chunks with cheap scissors at the table. The shortrib loin pieces are darker red, in the foreground, and the ribeye pieces are more marbled looking, further back. I also missed taking a shot of the soup that came out near the end - it's made with a miso-like bean paste, tidbits of beef, chili (naturally), and small dice of daikon. It's the only black bowl in the middle of the carnage we left behind. I'd hate to be the dishwasher here! Also notable is the bottle of soju which I think was included for each table of six. All in all, a fine meal. It was a different style of Korean BBQ than I've had before, but I didn't even miss the pork or galbi! Many thanks to jschyun for so diligently doing the research and bringing the 'rents for their expertise and company. And on top of all that, how many restaurants have a full sized water feature inside??! ~Tad

Ok, I'll do this in two parts to split up the pictures a bit. I squashed down the files to be a bit smaller than usual so we could have more of them overall. As usual, please correct any misspellings, misidentifications, descriptions, etc. The requisite group shot: L - R, F - B - 1st row: FoodZealot, tejon's husband Dan. 2nd row, jschyun's Mom, jschyun, tejon. 3rd row, jschyun's Dad, ErinB, grandcru, jschyun's BF Mike, Maison Rustique and husband Don. Here is the dining room from the rear entrance looking toward Garden Grove Blvd. Note the elaborate hood and fire control system above each table: Mr & Mrs Chyun were gracious enough to order for the entire party. The food begins with a barrage of panchan dishes - daikon kim chee: Napa cabbage kim chee flavored with oysters: Seaweed salad: Strips of fishcake with a light dressing: Mung bean (?) sprout salad: Takuan - thinly sliced pickled daikon more to come...

It was great to see everyone and share some beef-ey beef, panchan and soju. I'll post some pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Bisou, welcome to eGullet and the California board! ~Tad

I'll do my level best!

For headcount, it will be just me, but I'll eating as if I was two people. [grin]

I'll happily trek out to The OC, since it seems more people will be able to attend that way. 6pm is fine by me. ~Tad

sometimes I get the rind and odd shaped trimmings from jamon serrano or prosciutto.

Just trying to show that I'm doing the due diligence, like you are for the Korean BBQ outing, just with pictures. [grin] Plus, I like building up anticipation for what I hope will be an epic event. Responding to your earlier comment, I agree: we could plan a day with a lunch, some activities, and a second lunch/early dinner, and people could meet up with us as their schedules allow. Of course the hardcore eaters will visit every restaurant on the schedule... ~Tad

I visited Ruen Pair in Hollywood on Friday night. Yummy delicious. Tom kha goong - coconut/lemongrass soup with shrimp Morning glory greens stir-fried with garlic ~Tad

In doing some research for the LA Thai Tasting Tour, I had this Pork Larb at Ruen Pair Thai, in Hollywood. Delicious. edit to change the URL of the photo

Welcome to the West-siiiiiide, ErinB! When you say take-out, I'm guessing you mean neighborhood-type places, more for dinner than lunch. hollywood already mentioned some places that also I enjoy a lot , but I'll add a few more: Mexican: Guelaguetza (Sepulveda & Palms), Lares (Pico near Stewart), Poquito Mas (Westwood & Olympic), El Tarasco - inexpensive fajitas, burritos, etc (Washington & Pacific), Tortilla Grill (Abbot Kinney & California). BTW, I'm not a fan of Tito's. Cuban: Versailles (Venice & Motor), Rincon Criollo (Sepulveda, south of Washington Place) Indian: All India Cafe (Bundy & Santa Monica), Nawab (Wilshire & 16th?), Hurry Curry - inexpensive, good naan (Venice & Beethoven) Soul food: Aunt Kizzy's Back Porch (mall near Von's, MDR) Italian: C&O Trattoria - basic pastas (Washington & Pacific), Bay Cities - deli sandwiches (Lincoln & Broadway) pan-Asian: Typhoon (Santa Monica airport) Chinese: JR Seafood (Santa Monica & Armacost, West LA), Magic Wok - inexpensive (Washington & Ocean) Thai: Bamboo Thai (Wilshire & Barrington), there are several on Lincoln near Washington that all have Siam in their name, all decent Pizza: Abbot's (Abbot Kinney & California) Coffee: I'm not a big coffee guy, but Joni's Coffee Roasters (Washington & Ocean) has good breakfasts Japanese noodles: Mishima (Wilshire & Westgate), Yashima (Olympic & Sawtelle), Asahi Ramen (Sawtelle & La Grange), the food court at Mitsuwa market (Venice & Centinela) Brazilian: Cafe Brasil (Venice & Westwood) Good luck!

Finally got around to counting, and the total turned out to be fewer than I thought: 169. I guess that means I can buy more, right? ~Tad

Thanks for doing the research! I'm excited to do this. There's about 5 that I want to try at this point, so to me it's just which one happens to be visited first. As tommy would say, "I'm in." Can everybody make it if we have dinner on the 13th?

At your service... [grin]

Elizabeth Ann first mentions it on page 2 of the thread. Essentially, the peppercorns are thought to be a potential carrier of citrus canker, a bacterial disease which damages citrus fruit and their orchards. No chemical or other treatment is available. All susceptible plants within 1900 feet of an infected plant are destroyed, so the stakes are high. Not sure if this is accurate, but according to this blog, it is technically legal to sell existing stocks (prior to May 2002) of spices if they test negative. Here's more info on the citrus canker found by torakris in the sanshou/spices thread, where it is also discussed briefly: http://doacs.state.fl.us/canker/menu1.htm Here's a great site with info about sichuan peppercorns and related spices. edit: spellig

Here's the Sichuan Peppercorn thread that discusses how they seem to have been banned for a while due to a concern that they might affect the citrus industry.

I still haven't acquired the taste for ozoni, but my grandmother used to make it with clam broth, clams, mizuna, and the mochi cooked in it so it's that stretchy, very dangerous consistency. Perhaps daikon or gobo also, but no carrots. I recall it being very austere looking - white mochi, pale broth, wilted greens, and clams. Family traditions aside, I think torakris' MIL's version sounds the most appetizing.

I hope you don't think I was dumping this back in your lap. I'll help however is needed - but you did start the thread, so you have to be present at the event! I can do either lunch or dinner on the 13th, or lunch on the 14th. As for food, I defer to you and others' recommendations. I'm just looking for a good sampling.

SK, you're right, I don't really crave the typical snacky foods of Hawaii. Of those that I like - cuttlefish, preserved plums, etc - most of those things are available at the Marukai store in Gardena, or some Longs Drugs stores, or other ethnic groceries, so they didn't make my dream list. It actually makes buying omiyage (a Japanese tradition of getting gifts for people at home when on a trip) a little difficult, because Lion coffee and mac nuts are fairly obtainable here. I did forget taro chips, though. Those Terra chips are great, but they have seasoning on them - Zesty Tomato and Mediterranean Blend and such. The regular Atebara's taro chips are pretty great. mongo, I agree with you. People's biases are so inconsistent - hot dogs, kielbasa and bratwurst - forcemeat inside an intestine, rather than a can. Big deal. I'm not a huge fan of spam, but to me it's just canned forcemeat, not far off from sausage. Kinda like a mini canned ham (not my favorite either), or turkey deli roll - what most turkey sandwiches are made of. In Asian soups, I would think it functions kind of like a pork version of fish balls or kamaboko. Not sure I'd be making curry out of it, but hey... [grin] Maybe it's just the rectilinear shape that turns people off. Did they ever come out with a round form of Spam? Kraft Mac and Cheese is a beloved freakin' cultural phenomenon here, but my impression is that it's regarded with more disdain than Top Ramen in Hawai`i. Even worse IMHO are canned pastas like Spaghetti-O's and Ravioli-O's, but I seem to be alone in that.