Hardly Any Fair at All: The Mitsuwa Torrance Hokkaido Fair

Due to a strange course of events, I actually ended up at two food events last Saturday. After returning home from the aforementioned LA BBQ Festival, I drove down to Torrance for the Mitsuwa Market Hokkaido Festival. I actually didn't know what to expect, but I heard good things from I Nom Things and LA OC Foodie. What I found when I entered the store, was hardly a fair at all.

See what I found...

Maybe it was the fact that in was indoors. Maybe I just had too high an expectation. Maybe it was just the supermarket setting that threw me. Whatever the reason, I felt like this was more of a Hokkaido Sale than a Hokkaido Fair. Sure, the stands featured seafood and supposedly other treats from Hokkaido, but it just seemed like Mitsuwa was featuring special items. They set up a special seafood section selling fresh fish, beautiful crabs and other assorted fruits de mer. I was still quite full from the barbecue festival however, and didn't feel like springing for a king crab bento box for $20. In retrospect, it might have been money worth spent, but king crab can be $9.99 per pound when it's on sale at Vons.



Not wanting to leave empty handed, I did wait in the unbearably long line for the desserts. From the look of it, the fair was much more popular than anticipated. They ran out of melon pan (melon flavored pastries) and were only serving Hokkaido-style soft-serve and cream puffs. For $3, the cream puff was terrible. For $2, it would be bareable. For $1, it would still be wildly overpriced. I regret not getting a chance to try the melon pan though. On the other hand, the ice cream was a delightful treat. Not cheap either, slightly under $3, it did offer something unique. The taste was undeniably milky, something you can't easily find in the States. All I can say is that it reminded me much of the milk in Asia, but if you haven't had it before, I don't exactly know how else to describe it except "milky." I want to say that it has a vitamin taste to it, perhaps with a powder sensation. Some Japanese milk flavored candies have this flavor and they are much easier to find in Asian markets.





While I left without quite feeling in the fair spirit, it was a nice trip. I'll admit that I may not have had the full experience because I didn't buy any seafood and didn't try the famous Hokkaido miso and butter ramen. Besides the dessets, I also bought some groceries for a great dinner made by my girlfriend and some somen for lunch. It was my first experience with somen and I highly enjoyed it as a light lunch. So even though the Hokkaido Fair was not quite what I expected, this was one time when I didn't complain about life being unfair.

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LA BBQ Fest Debriefing

Looks rather grim and not that impressive, huh? I think that's the general sense I got from the long-awaited barbecue festival. Strangely enough, the weather seemed to match the mood of most of the participants. All around me people seemed stuffed, but not particularly satisfied.

See why after the jump...

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't say that the festival was a failure. I just felt that the hype surrounding it definitely deflated some of its impact. For one thing, the vendor list of pitmasters seemed to change several times. Of the eight barbecue tents, there were only three from out of town. Granted, LA might have some excellent meats, but I was looking for something I couldn't get locally. The fair itself also seemed rather small, taking up just a corner of the Santa Monica Beach parking lot. I could smell the smokers from Ocean Boulevard, but there wasn't one sign pointing me down to the festival. If it wasn't for the aroma, I couldn't be sure this was actually it.

I tried three places with HC, Will and Thi: LC's Kansas City Spareribs, Southside's Elgin Texas Hot Sausage and Brisket, and Bandana's St. Louis Spareribs. The crowds of lines were good indicators of which barbecue tasted the best, and LC's line was by far the longest.

LC's BBQ



As you can see, LC puts a lot of work into their ribs. What I liked best is the care that went into the ribs themselves rather than heavy reliance on heavy sauce. Tender, but still with enough resistance to the teeth is exactly how I like my ribs. Spare ribs tend to have more fat, thus being more tender than baby back, so they are actually my ribs of choice for barbecue. Although you're more likely to get a rack of baby back here, St. Louis and Kansas City have healthy traditions of using the spare ribs. Tastewise, the ribs had balanced flavors that you don't find in most bad barbecue. All too often meat is usually too salty or cloyingly sweet. The spare ribs at LC's tent were savory with a coating mouthfeel and a hint of smoke. Call it umami or call it whatever you want, but these ribs had a ton of it. I'm not sure what kind of recognition LC's has in Kansas City, but they certainly made an impact with their barbecue in Los Angeles.

Bandana's BBQ



LC's was a tough act to follow. They were indeed some of the best ribs I've ever had. I turned to St. Louis for some competition. For some comparison, I got to the fair right when they opened and there was hardly anyone there. We still waited ten minutes or so for LC's line. When I turned to the Bandana tent, the ribs were lined up on the table waiting for the customers to come. If you look closely at the picture, you can see how dry the ribs are. They were overcooked and flaky. It occurred to me that this was not that much different than beef jerky. Only a variety of sauces made it palatable. Yet even with a whole bottle of their spicy bbq sauce, I still would not pay $10 for their ribs again.

Southside Market and BBQ



From Elgin, Texas comes this Southside barbecue truck spitting out hot links and beef brisket. The brisket was terrible; even doused with sauce it was tough and flavorless. The sausage was not as hot as I had hoped. It was definitely greasy though. I thought it was a juicy frank when I bit into it, but it just coated my mouth in oil. Eating it with raw onions helped take the edge off slightly.

Leyna's Babycakes
leynaskitchen.com


Although I only had a piece of the strawberrilicious cupcake, it was indeed as light and fluffy as advertised. Even the frosting didn't weigh me down. I wonder what they put in these things to obtain that consistency. As of now, I think Leyna only does catered orders, but maybe one day you'll see a Leyna's Babycakes store...at least until Sprinkles sues it out of existence.

All in all, some things I would've liked to see done better:
-Display of instructions and banners for the event
-Smaller portions and cheaper prices
-Better representation from outside the area
-Something to cleanse the meat palate. Maybe a salad?
-Other bbq type activities besides just eating

Maybe I missed out by not going to the local pitmasters, but I can always check them out on my own. For more event details, refer to my previous entry

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Los Angeles Barbeque Festival

Updated summary

This weekend is the Los Angeles BBQ Festival. I was originally just going to blog about my experience there afterwards, but I realized it would probably be a good idea to let my readers know too.

Click for details...

Saturday and Sunday (9/13-14) at the Santa Monica Beach adjacent to the pier.
Noon-6pm

Admission is $10 or $50 for VIP. As far as I know, VIP gets you cutsies in lines.
Use the discount code "YELP" buying tickets online to get $5 off general admission and $15 off VIP.
As if the admission is not bad enough, food is separately priced at $10 per bbq item, $4 desserts and $2-5 beverages.

Pitmasters Include:

Parise Pit BBQ - Mac n Cheese
Gus's BBQ - Smoked Brick Chicken and Baked Beans
L.C's BBQ - Kansas City Spare Ribs and Baked Beans
Bristol Farms - Chicken and Vegetable Skewers
Mr. Cecil's California Ribs - Beef Ribs and Cucumber Tomato Salad
Southside Market and BBQ - Elgin Hot Sausage and BBQ Brisket
Baby Blues BBQ - Memphis Baby Back Ribs and Mac n Cheese
Bandana's BBQ - St. Louis Spare Ribs and Potato Salad

Desserts:

Leyna's Kitchen - Velvet Cupcakes
Essential Chocolate Desserts - S'more Brownies

There will also be some music entertainment. For more information, check out
labbqfest.com

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Redondo's Cantina: Ortega 120

Ortega 120
1814 South Pacific Coast Highway,
Redondo Beach, 90277
(310) 792-4120


With a suggestion from my girlfriend's mom, we ended up at Ortega 120. She told me the location had previously been a lobster shack not too long ago, and then an Italian restaurant before that. Guess it must be a bad location.

The restaurant itself was comfortably airy. Tables were far apart, giving you room for just your group. They project some old movies on a wall and have several large TVs showing various sporting events. Noticing loungy couches along the wall, I could see how the place could easily be converted into a night club.

More after the jump...

Positioning itself as a somewhat more upscale, but still festive, Mexican restaurant, Ortega 120 does a great job of walking that line. The food is excellent, created by Thomas Ortega, formerly of Water Grill, Lucques and Patina. In LA, that seems to be the mark of a decent chef. Patina grads seem overly abundant in this town. My carnitas were juicy and delicious. The pork falling apart as my fork cut through the mound of meat. Speaking of mounds, the portions are rather large.

My main criticism comes from the tables and chairs. They have the leather topped tables with the large weaved seating that never seem to fit comfortably at the table. I might be able to bare it at a taqueria, but at a more upscale place like this, I'd like to sit comfortably.

Ortega 120 has everything it takes to be a success. I want to publicize it as much as possible so it doesn't take the route of the old lobster place or Italian joint. As much as it's a shame those places didn't last, the real shame would be to let this new restaurant falter as well.

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Bland Indian, Isn't that an oxymoron?

Addi's Tandoor
800 Torrance Blvd
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
(310) 540-1616
http://www.addistandoor.com/
$20 per entree

Given my frequent visit to the South Bay, I figured I needed to acclimate myself with the available restaurants in the area. It seems that no one eats in the South Bay, at least no one eats anywhere worth mentioning. Perusing some of my favorite food blogs, I am hard-pressed to find reviews in the area. Even FoodDigger and Yelp don't seem to have very much either. Since I felt open to any cuisine that night, I decided to simply go to one of the highest ranked restaurants in Redondo on FD--Addi's Tandoor.

More after the jump...

We made a reservation a few hours before arrival at 7:15 on Saturday night. Good thing we did; every table had a little "RESERVED" by the time we got there. It put me at ease to see many regulars who seemed to know Addi personally and also to hear several British accents. Seeing as how British cuisine is devoid of anything close to flavor, they've successfully assimilated other cultures. India, of course, was no exception. Now London is actually one of the dining capitals of Europe.

Our waiter seemed polite, but it took a good ten minutes or so before he even approached our table. Although he was a nice guy, the rest of the night was also marked by negligent service as he chatted up the other tables. It's one of those situations where I would have been very satisfied if I was on the other side of the looking glass, but since I wasn't, I'll have to dock Addi's for service.


Mirchiwalla Wings

As an appetizer, I wanted to taste how spicy their spicy chicken wings can be. The dish came out colorful and visually pleasing. The interplay between the fiery red of the drummettes against a bed of yellow, orange and green bell peppers made the plate a canvas. A conveniently wrapped lime gave the chicken some last minute zest. I eagerly bit into one of the wings, only to immediately recoil. What was this? I thought I was eating Indian food but it tasted as dry as British humor. Isn't "bland Indian food" an oxymoron? Well whatever came out certain was lifeless and overcooked, such a shame considering how pretty it looked.


Starting counter-clockwise from the left: lentils, lamb khorma, vegetable makhani, basmati rice

The entrees all come either a la carte or with naan, rice, raita (yogurt)and dal makhani (stewed lentils)as a "dinner" option for $5 more. We got all the above, but only because I needed something to eat my lamb with and an order of rice is an outrageous $4.25. I don't care how special your pilaf is, that's too much to pay for rice alone.

For awhile now, I've been ordering lamb khorma at most of the Indian restaurants I go to as my standard measure of quality. It is a rich curry made of ground nuts (usually almonds or cashews), yogurt and coconut milk with other spices, making it extremely rich. As for lamb, I've always loved it. Of the less-exotic meats, it would be my favorite by far. My first reaction with the khorma at Addi's is the intense concentration of lamb flavor. The meat they used must have been an old animal, because the flavors were so concentrated. However, the meat itself was tough. Despite the lambiness, which I admired, the curry was one-note. The vegetable makhani was too sweet for my tastes. Plus I don't like tomato based dishes like makhani.

I'll have to be honest here. I didn't realize it until I got into the restaurant, but I was actually mildly congested that night. Being a little sick, I wasn't able to taste as well as usual so I can't offer a completely unbiased review of the food. I did however, bring some home with me to try again when I was feeling better. Eating it as leftovers, the food definitely tasted better, but still not as amazing as I had hoped. If each Indian household makes its own curry mixes, this is one home in which I wouldn't want to be a guest.

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Where to Buy Me Some Banh Mi: BC Deli in Oakland

I am testing out my newly formatted entries thanks to help from Drew of How to Cook Like Your Grandmother. This new addition allows me to create summaries of entries to give you a taste before you jump right in. So for the first entry, I decided to write about a backlogged place that I've been eager to share. It's in Norcal, not Little Saigon in the OC, but BC Deli Sandwiches makes the best Vietnamese sandwiches.

More after the jump...


Sandwich menu

This familiar sight has greeted me ever since high school when I used to come to BC Deli, buy five sandwiches and get one free. Vietnamese sandwiches, or banh mi, are hot commodities in predominantely Asian schools. With their old prices, I used to pay $10 for six sandwiches and sell them for $5 each during lunch. Twenty dollar profit easy. Now that they've raised their prices, the profit margin is not quite as large, but they are still a steal compared to a similar sandwich at any American sandwich chain. Everytime I come here, I always buy six sandwiches at a time, even if it's just for myself. They're just too good to pass up.

My favorites are the grilled pork and the grilled chicken sandwiches. They have a char-siu sandwich as well, but they don't appeal to me that much. Nothing about their meat is particularly great, but the way the mayonnaise, soy sauce and possible fish sauce blend together make each sandwich an umami bomb. Also, they have the best pickled daikon and carrots in the Bay Area. Now they have a special toaster to heat up the baguettes, giving each sandwich a satisfying slightly browned, yet always flaky crust. For the record, can anyone tell me what the Vietnamese name for the white and orange pickles is? I've heard a few things, but many Vietnamese people can't seem to agree on what it's called. One of my friends told me she's only called them "sour things" in Vietnamese. For a while, I kept a picture on my phone to order them visually at restaurants instead of butchering the tongue instead.


Grilled pork sandwich, my trusty #5

Though I always buy six at a time, the right portion is about one and a half for me. I could probably stop at one, but the half inevitably gets eaten as well. Otherwise, the rest of the sandwiches keep well in the fridge. They are fun to give out (or sell) but are amazing the next day too. I've tried the banh mi at some other places including the Lee's Sandwiches chain and I still come back to BC everytime. There's just something magical about their sandwiches.

On another personal note, the pickles are extremely easy to make. Just combine white (or rice) vinegar, sugar and a little salt with carrots and daikons cut julienne and leave them floating in the pickling juice for a few hours. Keep them chilled for a week or two and put them on anything or make your own sandwiches.

BC Deli Sandwiches
818 Franklin St
Oakland, CA 94607
(510) 286-9978
$2.50 average for a sandwich or $12.50 for six like I always get.

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Destination Peru #13: Apu Salkantay Puno

City of Puno

We were in Puno to visit Lake Titicaca. Quick, someone tell me something they know about the lake besides it being the highest lake in the world be elevation...yea that's all I knew about it also. However, my mom had remembered reading about it when she was in grade school so we made sure to check it out on our trip to Peru. We arrived after a long ten-hour bus ride with my brother painfully sick the entire time. Too bad for him, he missed out on all the alpaca along the way. When we finally got to the city, I actually thought the town was kinda dumpy and the lake not that magnificent. It wasn't until we got away from the town and went up into the mountains that we got a better view of the nearby lagoon.


Like the hat?

For dinner, we walked along the main tourist drag without any real direction. I had a few restaurants scribbled in my Moleskine, but nothing particular worth searching for. We ended up at the restaurant with the largest crowd, but there was too long a wait so we went across the street to here instead.

Apu Salkantay
JR Lima, Puno

After some extensive research (the kind that involved my Wikipedia search bar), I found out Apu is an honorific term for mountain spirits in Andean culture. Salkantay is the name of one of the Andean peaks. Fittingly, the menu was Peruvian heavily slanted towards Andean cuisine. My dad and I decided on the trout and pejerrey respectively. These are two of the four types of fish indigenous to the lake. Though the English translation of pejerrey on the menu said "kingfish," Wikipedia tells me that it's actually a neotropical silverside. Well whatever fish it is, it wasn't very delicious. The flesh was rather bland and fell apart too easily. It came with vegetables cooked in black bean sauce, seemingly Asian influenced. After trying the dishes, my parents and I were convinced the chef was Chinese. My dad's combination platter, the Fiambre Salkantay, had the aforementioned trout and also alpaca loin and Andean cheese. The loin was among the better alpaca meat I had in Peru. My mom opted French with a lomo a la pimienta, a pepper steak in a brandy sauce. While the reduction was excellent, it tried to cover up the inferior quality beef. Bad meat, bad dish, no matter what you do to it.

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