The Unvegan » restaurants

A Potbelly of Sandwich

The Unvegan — Wed, 23 May 2012 16:00:32 +0000

The sandwich seems to be smiling at me.

While I was in undergrad, a sandwich shop called Potbelly made its way onto campus in Ann Arbor. I appreciated its existence, but definitely didn’t take as much advantage of it as I should have. Potbelly still hasn’t made its way out west, but on a recent layover at Midway Airport in Chicago, I found myself reacquainted with that college delight.

I wasn’t the only one with Potbelly on my mind, as I found myself in a decently long line, and it wasn’t hard to see why. Airport prices are usually jacked up, but Potbelly was incredibly reasonable and while likely not as cheap as six years ago in Ann Arbor, still damn cheap. Fortunately, the line gave me time to decide which sandwich I wanted. In the end, I opted for the Pizza Sandwich, which came with pepperoni, marinara, provolone, mushrooms and Italian seasonings. I got it on their fresh white bread, with no mushrooms and none of the additional fixings offered. Then I grabbed a bag of Zapp’s Sour Cream and Creole Onion Chips for company.

That's a Zapp!

The sandwich was just as I remembered, a combination of tasty ingredients surrounded by a delicious roll that was at once crunchy and soft. The chips were of the kettle variety and made for a nice companion to my sandwich. I’m was unable to discern the difference between Creole onion and regular onion, but whatever the onion powder used, it tasted just fine.

While some may have more of a nostalgia or affinity to Potbelly, I can’t say that I really do. Sure, it’s a good sandwich and definitely a step above your regular chain sandwich shops, but it doesn’t ooze creativity or have a special sandwich is overwhelmingly better than those I can get elsewhere. Yet, it has its place in the grand scheme of sandwich shops and for that I am appreciative. Plus, the place certainly cannot be beat at Midway.

Victory Dinner at San Francisco Saloon

The Unvegan — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:00:58 +0000

Go Bruins?

After my team posted a huge victory in our rec basketball league, we decided to grab some burgers to celebrate. This led me to San Francisco Saloon, which is not located in San Francisco at all, but rather in West LA and has been serving LA since 1934. The place is more sport bar than saloon and actually has a good sports bar vibe. The burgers are named for LA and San Francisco sports teams like the Giants and the Trojan, with a few non-sports names like Hickory to join them.

Of these, I liked the looks of the Bruin the best. I’m not sure why this was chosen to represent UCLA, but it came with avocado, bacon and jack cheese. All burgers came with lettuce and tomato, so I ordered mine without such things and then chose fries from my side choices. Then, since they asked, I ordered it medium rare.

Be true to yourself.

What arrived looked like a sports bar burger should. The bun was topped with sesame seeds and a toothpick impaled each half of the pre-halved burger. Bacon and cheese protruded beyond the confines of patty and bun, waiting for my attack.

I was a little sad to find the burger cooked pretty thoroughly throughout. Typically, I would not have cared about this at a sports bar, but usually a sports bar doesn’t ask me how I want a burger cooked. As far as taste went, that was pretty much the only thing to complain about. Everything else was spot on, with the bacon being the real highlight of the meal. The fries were a good side, but nothing overly impressive. If there was anything to complain about aside from the fully browned burger, it would be the price. It isn’t terrible by LA standards, but its also priced at the gourmet burger level rather than its actual sports bar level.

I guess basically, San Francisco Saloon, don’t try to make your burgers into something they aren’t. Your bar and burgers remind me of great sports bars I’ve been to in other places, but they don’t try to dress things up to be bigger than themselves. Now that I’ve been I know what to expect. But for unsuspecting patrons like I once was, I want a bit more of “what you see is what you get.”

Delivery Upgrade at Lago D’Argento

The Unvegan — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:00:58 +0000

...and in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

My buddy, DCo, is a bit of a pizza snob. It works out well for me, because he likes to point me in the direction of awesome new and old pizza places. Recently, he told me about a new place called Lago D’Argento over in Silverlake. It took a bit of convincing, but finally I had a real reason to go to that part of town and decided to make a run for pizza while there. I invited another buddy, Jeff, to join and we checked the place out.

I was happy to find a good few pizza options on the menu that weren’t just the basics. One of these was called Good Morning and was topped with Serrano ham, fried egg, Vermont cheddar and some pesto and Jeff and I decided to split that. But we weren’t done there – we also went with their version of a meat lover’s called the Carnivore. This pie had salami, fennel sausage, crispy bacon and Wisconsin mozzarella. If nothing else, this place knew the states to get cheese from.

Before going any further, I should note that upon my first bite of pizza at Lago D’Argento, it was clear that this was not the kind of place for pizza snobs. If you’re looking for classic Italian pizza, do yourself a favor and don’t be fooled by the Italian name of the place. If, on the other hand, you are a huge fan of American-style pizza, this place might just be for you and you should keep reading on.

Basically, when you break it down, the dough is nothing special. Think Dominos pizza, but fancied up a bit. Sure, I know that doesn’t sound very good, but also realize that the ingredients are many levels above “fast food” pizza. While I love the fact that I’m seeing fried eggs all over the place, this was the first time I saw it on a pizza and they kept it nice and juicy. Good Morning could have used some more sauce to add flavor and actually impress me, but it was still an interesting pizza that I was glad to have eaten.

Yes, I am an obligate carnivore. What of it?

The Carnivore was a definite step up on that. Damn, meat is just so good. Each of the meats worked in delicious harmony with each other, but it just felt unfortunate that they weren’t on an equally good dough conduit.

So here’s the deal…when it all adds up, Lago D’Argento gets the job done. It’s a level up from regular delivery, but fails to be much of a worthwhile enterprise. And again, if you’re a pizza snob, you really shouldn’t have even read this far into this review.

Opening the Expo with The Lazy Ox Canteen

The Unvegan — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:00:12 +0000

Egg and pasta as one.

Sometimes a restaurant sounds incredible, but is in a difficult part of town to get to. It lingers on your to-eat list for what seems like ages until a golden opportunity comes around to seize it. For me, this restaurant was The Lazy Ox Canteen and the opportunity was twofold. First, the Expo Line from Culver City to Downtown LA was finally opening opening and second, Blackboard Eats sent me a 30% off coupon for the place. It was the perfect storm and I rode the newly opened Metro train to Little Tokyo for a piece of The Lazy Ox.

Aside from the onions, that sure is pretty.

As per usual, I decided I had to get the burger. The Lazy Ox version of a burger is pretty basic, consisting of Carmody cheese and green peppercorn mustard. In fact, the mustard doesn’t even come on the burger and is served on the side. What they don’t tell you, though, is that it also comes with lettuce, onions and an aioli. Fortunately I asked the waitress about such things before ordering and made sure to order without those vegetables. And while I was glad I was able to figure out there were veggies involved and order without, it was a surprisingly long process, as the waitress didn’t really seem to know the menu yet. I figure she was new and gave her the benefit of the doubt…at least until my burger came.

Other burger places - take note.

I took one good look at it and a little part of me died. Sitting between my buns was a slice of onion. It was an easy situation to remedy, yet I felt somewhat betrayed. The feeling of betrayal, however, quickly disappeared when I took my first bite. This burger was really quite awesome in its simplicity. The cheese had been melted perfectly, but did not have any sort of strong flavor. The bun was a slight gourmet upgrade to the old-fashioned poppy seed sort and the beef was just magnificent. It was perfectly, mildly seasoned, ground medium and cooked to an exact medium rare. I still like me some burgers with crazy fixings, but I must say that this simple, yet expertly crafted cheeseburger did wonders for my belly.

I'll say it again - take note.

The burger also came with fries and a sort of chipotle aioli dipping sauce. These guys were thick-cut and not in the steak fries kind of way, but in the extra-thick regular fries kind of way. I’ve seen these attempted a few times, but none were so well executed as at The Lazy Ox. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside was the name of the game, and these fries were ready to play ball.

The arrow points to where you want to eat. Now.

I also want to recognize that while the burger was great, there were other great dishes on the menu as well. I tried some sort of pork ragu pasta dish (pictured above) and something else that involved bacon or chorizo or some sort of delicious breakfast meat. They were both big time winners.

It all added up to The Lazy Ox being a delicious experience. So delicious, in fact, that I’m already trying to figure out a good time to return and go to town on their full dinner menu.

Holy Corn Muffins at Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen

The Unvegan — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:00:58 +0000

This is what happens when you Google "soul food in Inglewood."

So far, Inglewood has treated me quite nicely, but after a couple days down there I turned to Google for food suggestions. It is probably my least favorite way of finding new restaurants, as the top results are typically the restaurants with the best SEO instead of the best food. Nonetheless, I needed help for lunch and this led me to Dulan’s Soul Food Kitchen, a stone’s throw from court and with promising reviews.

The place was pretty full when I arrived and I found most seats in the restaurant taken by a good mix of people. Quickly, my eyes spotted Dulan (yeah, he has a picture of himself on the menu) and then they spotted the fried chicken lunch special for $8.99. This came with two pieces of chicken, two sides and two cornbread muffins. To test both dark and white, I got a breast and a wing, then picked mac and cheese and mashed potatoes as my sides. In true soul food fashion, each of my orders were plucked out of buffet-style troughs and dropped into a sectional styrofoam box. I paid up and took my eatings outside to enjoy.

It's really the cheesiest.

First, I took a dive into the mac and cheese. This was truly some of the cheesiest mac I have ever experienced and although I never thought I would say this, it was almost too cheesy. Yes, the parts where there was perfect balance between cheese and mac were delicious, but there really wasn’t much balance and I found myself trying to seek it out too much. I didn’t like putting so much effort into my mac, but truly I would rather complain about too much cheese than too much mac. Besides, the portion was pretty huge and while some cheese remained at the end, I was certainly full.

Go easy on that masher!

Next, I tried out the mashed potatoes. For some reason I just wanted those sides first. These guys were flooded with gravy and the gravy itself was quite tasty. The problem was that these mashed potatoes were in no need of extra liquids because they were nearly in liquid form themselves. Rather than a mash, these were essentially a puree of potatoes. A well-seasoned and salted puree, mind you, but there was little texture to fight against the gravy.

I love my checken fried.

Then, of course, I tackled the fried chicken. For some reason, I consider this the ultimate test of a soul food place and Dulan’s did not fail. It didn’t exactly blow me away, either, but I was not disappointed. Both the breast and wing were tender, juicy and flavorful. That was the chicken at least. The batter, though, was pretty run-of-the-mill. This is not a bad thing necessarily, because consistency is good, but I wouldn’t make a special trip to Dulan’s for their fried chicken with the knowledge that I could get something just as good or better elsewhere.

Heaven in muffin form.

The corn muffins, though, were a completely different story. I ate them as my dessert and what a dessert they were! Corn muffins and corn bread have a nasty habit of being dry and crumbling, but these guys were perfectly moist and expertly sweetened. And you know that whole issue people have with muffin bottoms being inferior to muffin tops? Not a problem at Dulan’s. Through and through, each bite was as good as the last and tasted like corn heaven.

So Dulan’s (while having a Hell of a deal for lunch) wasn’t exactly amazing. Here and there I saw some good room for improvement, but maybe I am the only one that feels that way. Since Dulan has been slinging soul food since 1975 and has a second Soul Food Kitchen (also in Inglewood), he is clearly doing a lot right. Or maybe everyone keeps going back for the corn muffins…I know I would.

B is for Blessed

The Unvegan — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:00:09 +0000

Everything that isn't fluorescent in this picture is a winner.

Jury duty, while one of the fundamental principles of the American judicial system, is a pain. You have to miss work, you have to sit around for hours or even days and all you have to show for it at the end of the day is 15 bucks. Yet, in my case I took my jury duty as an opportunity. More specifically, a food opportunity. As opposed to most LA jury duty, which is in downtown LA, mine took my to Inglewood. Although I spent a lot of time in El Segundo in my previous life, it is amazing how different that was from Inglewood.

Location, location, location!

To ensure I would find a good place to eat, I consulted an old coworker of mine who was now working in the Inglewood area. He was quick to recommend a Jamaican place called Blessed, which is right across the street from Hollywood Park in a corner strip mall. I noticed the place had a B rating, which actually made me even more excited about the place, knowing that such a rating would scare away ordinary suburban white people. There was loud reggae music blasting from a stereo in the corner, but nothing that I had ever heard of, so I assumed it was more authentic. Plus, it wasn’t like some ambiance music to give the impression of comfort – no, this stuff was really blasting and would have made it virtually impossible to carry on a conversation had I not been there alone. As it was, everyone else who came into the restaurant were simply picking up orders and not hanging around.

At the ordering counter sat a man with a chef’s outfit on, so I assumed he was doing double duty. I asked which lunch special he recommended and he told me a few things. First, he said if I like spicy food, the jerk chicken is a great choice. Then, he also said that the oxtail was the most popular item. I was torn, but I like spicy and went with the jerk chicken. I waited a few minutes and was brought a fork, napkin and a styrofoam box containing the chicken, a red bean and rice mixture and some sort of cabbage and carrot concoction. I avoided this third thing and set to work on the chicken.

Stop being such a chicken, jerk.

While no knife was given, I quickly found out that none was needed, as this insanely tender chicken should be pulled straight off the bone with a fork. I also found out another thing – Blessed is awesome. As I said when I reviewed Coley’s, I am not exactly knowledgeable when it comes to Jamaican food. I do, however, like to think I am knowledgeable about taste and flavor. With that in mind, Blessed blew Coley’s out of the Caribbean. The jerk sauce was out of this world and absolutely perfect for my spice tolerance. After each bite I could have easily taken a drink, but it wasn’t necessary. And as spicy as it was, the flavor was still powerful and delicious. With some spicy food, your tongue can burn to the extent that everything you eat afterwards tastes spicy, but this was not the case at Blessed. The rice and beans made for a tasty buffer that didn’t really have any sort of special flavor, but just matched up well with the chicken.

In sending me over to Blessed, my old coworker did me a huge favor. Not only did he lead me to some awesome food, but he gave me a bar with which to compare all other Jamaican food I eat. If you ever find yourself in Inglewood, whether for jury duty, Hollywood Park or any other reason, be sure to stop at Blessed. It won’t disappoint.

Burger Aid at Salt’s Cure

The Unvegan — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:00:22 +0000

Why are there pickles on this plate?

My continued quest for amazing burgers took me to a place called Salt’s Cure in West Hollywood. At this particular intersection, only one of the corners lacks burgers, as the other two are populated by Fatburger and Astro Burger. And while Salt’s Cure isn’t strictly a burger place, a quick look at the high priced menu on the wall when I walked in all but guaranteed I would be eating their burger.

Shoulder of pork and elbow of fiancee.

We began by ordering one of their homemade pretzels and a plate of cheese and meat to join it. We went with all three cheeses on the menu, two of which were creamy and the third was blue-ish. As for the meat, we chose the pork shoulder, which turned out to be prepared as a cured meat dish. Not exactly the pork shoulder I was accustomed to seeing, but it certainly fit the bill of the restaurant. These were also served with homemade bread sticks (the crunchy sort), homemade raisin bread, plus some walnuts, raisins and a fruity jam. Basically, it was an awesome spread, except for one thing – pickles. Never before had I seen pickles on a cheese plate and I hope to never see them again. These unwanted veggies ruined at least two slices of bread with their juices (fortunately the fiancee ate those) and generally turned the assortment ugly. Luckily, the cheeses were delicious, as cheese tends to be, and the pork shoulder was also quite stellar. It wasn’t overly salty or seasoned, but cured in a way that released the natural flavor of the piggy in a really delicious manner.

Just look at that bacon girth.

As for the main course, I went with their Bacon Cheeseburger. At 17 bucks, this clocked in as the cheapest entree and was topped with lettuce and onion, with a side of homemade fries. I ordered mine without the lettuce and onion, and was pretty surprised when the burger arrived and wasn’t the size of my head. Not that the thing was small, but for some crazy reason I still associate price with size. I guess I’m just old fashioned like that. The burger was topped with one thick slice of bacon and the white cheddar cheese was oozing down the sides of the guy. I must admit that the burger was quite thick and had been perfectly shaped to fit the upscale poppy seed bun.

This picture is so grainy and that burger is so cheesy.

As far as the taste breakdown, the burger was definitely awesome. The cheese and bacon were both of the highest quality and flavor. The meat itself had been cooked to more of a medium than medium rare, but was still impeccably juicy. So juicy in fact that I feared for the life of the bun. Fortunately, these fears were unfounded, as the bun held up strong against the onslaught of burger juice. The meat also had a nice, thick grind to it and had clearly been pressed into a perfectly round shape. I’m always torn when places do this. I know it makes the burger easier to cook and fit into a bun, but it also sometimes makes me feel as though the burger had been sitting in the back for a while rather than being made just for me. Nonetheless, the burger was great.

Then there were the fries. Quite often, homemade fries wind up in strange sizes and uneven cooking (likely due to the strange sizes). As opposed to the burgers, it seems to be better to have uniformity to fries. At Salt’s Cure, though, the fries were nicely sliced into crunchy-on-the-outside and soft-on-the-inside pieces. This made me a happy man, and they also lived up to their name by seasoning the fries with just the right amount of salt.

The burger at Salt’s Cure was definitely one worth having. I loved the place’s stress on doing things in-house or local, but they were not without flaw. For one, their menu was incredibly limited. Sure, the meaty options were there, but seriously there were only like 5 entrees and the burger was the only one under 25 bucks. And that brings me to my next issue. Yes, the burger was delicious, but $17 delicious? Not quite. It was absolutely worth the visit, I’m just struggling with finding a reason to go back.

Weighing in at Libra

The Unvegan — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 16:00:05 +0000

Dem bones, dem bones.

I have a confession and this may come as a surprise to all of you: I love Brazilian BBQ. Yes, I know it’s shocking that a menagerie of meat such as Brazilian BBQ could be one of my loves, but it’s true. Unfortunately, this isn’t an easy love. Firstly, it ain’t cheap like Korean BBQ, which is equally meaty. Secondly, I can’t go without eating an insane amount of food. Sorry, it’s just how I work at such things, which means my body usually needs a fair amount of recovery time before going back. But, when I saw a sweet Travelzoo deal for Libra in Culver City, at least my first problem with Brazilian BBQ was taken care of.

Glistening garlic chicken.

Upon entering, we were immediately seated and our head waiter came by to see if we knew the ways of churrascaria. We assured him that we did and set out to peruse the salad bar. This thing was vast and had surprising options like mac and cheese to go with the more typical items like yucca and beans. Per my usual, I avoided the entire salad bar (save for a little cheese and salami) as I planned on filling up completely on meat.

Sure, I can start with that.

I shan’t get into each individual meat we were offered, but I will certainly highlight a few. In fact, one of the first things we were served turned out to be one of the best – garlic beef. This stuff was perfectly cooked to a medium rare and had just the right amount of garlic to add flavor but not so much to frighten off the ladies/vampires.

Not picanha, but still amazing.

Another highlight was their picanha steak. As with every other churrascaria I’ve been to, the waiters referred to this as the house special and as always it really was special. I don’t know what they do with it other than lightly season it with salt, but it was as good as I expected it to be and I definitely went back for seconds.

Sausage party!

One thing that was surprisingly good was their smoked sausage. This stuff just melted in my mouth and was packed with smokey awesome flavor (insert sexual innuendo here). It was sliced super thin (end sexual innuendo here) and completely blew away the other sausage offering, which was the Brazilian sausage. I tend to think based on the restaurant we were at that both sausages were Brazilian, but this full, unsliced Brazilian sausage was a poor comparison to the smoked.

Yes, that pineapple is chilling on meat.

I could go on about the chicken hearts, lamb chops, pork ribs and beef ribs, but that would be pretty long-winded. Just know that pretty much everything was awesome. Yet, one of the most awesome things of all wasn’t meat at all. It was their grilled pineapple, which I experienced for the first time at M Grill. Here at Libra, it was no less amazing. Sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and packed full of pineapple juice, my taste buds jumped for joy.

The adobo's in the back.

Oh, and I won’t forget about the salad bar, in which I certainly saved room to dabble. The best thing I found over there was a pan full of chicken adobo. Chicken adobo is a big deal in just about every Latin-influenced county and interestingly enough they all taste different. And also interesting is that they are all delicious. This stuff had a great taste to it and was just moist, tender and delectable.

Just desserts.

Finally, the Travelzoo deal included a dessert and we opted for the berry meringue. This was a wise choice because it was not only light, but also worthy in taste. The strawberries and blueberries were fresh and perfectly ripe, while the whipped cream was simple, unsweetened and a perfect companion to the meringue. It was a great way to wrap the meal up.

In closing, go to Libra. If you eat meat, you won’t regret it. If you don’t eat meat, one sweet look at the waiters’ skewers will convert you. Plus, even the regular price of the place is a whole lot cheaper than a lot of churrascarias.

Letting it Rip at Fab Hot Dogs

The Unvegan — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:00:07 +0000

Fablurry

Over in New Jersey, they like to deep fry their hot dogs. When I found out about this I first thanked the heavens that the state has contributed something to the world besides Jersey Shore. Then I bided my time until I could make the journey out to Reseda to try one of these deep fried “rippers.” You see, Reseda is home to Fab Hot Dogs, where they ship their rippers straight from New Jersey. These rippers are specially made for deep frying and no normal dog will suffice. Of course, Fab Hot Dogs serves tube steaks from other regions of the country (conspicuously missing Detroit Coney Dogs), but on my first time I needed a ripper.

There were a number of house specialties available, but they all seemed to involve ingredients I had no need for. Instead, I opted to build my own dog. The topping choices were vast and reasonably prices so I went with shredded cheddar, pastrami and a fried egg. On the side, I chose tater tots, because only a crazy person chooses fries over tots when tots are so rarely available.

Gooey cheese, but solid egg.

When my food was ready, it looked beautiful. I loaded up on both curry ketchup and the regular type, then brought my food back to the table. The first thing I noticed was that the egg had been fried into the perfect shape to fit inside the bun. These guys were pros. And the hot dog was stellar. I don’t know how this ripper would have tasted grilled, but deep fried it was juicy, flavorful and did not at all feel overly greasy or anything. In fact, it didn’t taste any heavier than an ordinary dog. The pastrami was alright, but the flavor was definitely overpowered by that of the hot dog itself. I loved the addition of the egg, but wouldn’t have minded if it had actually been runny instead of cooked through. One thing that was awesome, though, was their placement of the shredded cheese. Instead of tossing it lackadaisically on top of the egg, it was place in between the pastrami and egg, which melted the cheese into gooey bliss during my devourment.

Looking at these makes me hungry.

This hot dog was definitely a win and I can’t wait to go back and see what other concoctions I can cook up with their topping options. And of course there were the tots. These, like the ripper, had been perfectly deep fried. The outside was a perfectly crisp and golden brown, while the insides were both soft and solid at once. They went great with the curry ketchup and I knew I had made the right choice in choosing them over fries.

If only Fab Hot Dogs wasn’t all the way over in Reseda. I’m glad I was able to make it over to the place, and the people of the valley sure do deserve some sort of happiness in their lives, but it might be a long time before I can make the journey again.

Mozzarella Time at Obika

The Unvegan — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:00:43 +0000

Lotsa mozza!

While the Century City food court is always a winner, there is another restaurant within that mall that has been intriguing me for a while. It’s called Obika and calls itself a mozzarella bar. While I love me some mozzarella, I think I’ve stayed away simply because I didn’t think mozzarella alone was cheese enough to sustain a bar. But now that Obika has been around for a while, it has proven its staying power and I knew it was worth checking out.

There are three mozzarellas on hand; regular, smoked and burratta and we decided to get all three with some side fixin’s to join them. One of these was some strange eggplant concoction that I stayed away from, but the other was prosciutto di Parma. We also ordered some carpaccio and since I didn’t know how full I would be after all this, I also ordered orecchiette and cheese. The more cheese and cured meats, the merrier!

After ordering, Raimondo, the CEO of the place (according to his business card) came out to see how everything was going and proceeded to tell us about how they get their meats and cheeses. It was quite fascinating, and we learned that the mozzarella comes directly from Italy, while many of their meats come from Uruguay due to NAFTA regulations. It was so interesting that I didn’t even worry about the global warming implications of such importation.

I'm cured.

Anyway, the cheese and prosciutto arrived soon after our chat and looked awesome. It’s hard to say which I liked the most, because each was so unique, but I think the smoked mozzarella was my least favorite. That doesn’t mean it was bad by any means, just not as good. The cheeses all had that perfect mix of moisture and solidity. Clearly, this mozzarella had been handpicked and crafted with care. The prosciutto made a nice pairing, but this cheese truly could have live a nice life in my stomach on its own.

So this is how Italians do mac and cheese?

Next up was another dose of cheese with my orechiette. This pasta dish was oven-baked with three cheeses. It also had a sprinkling of pepper to it. Basically, it was a glorified mac and cheese, and that meant it was pretty awesome. I couldn’t even begin to guess what three cheeses were in there, but I do know that they went well together.

Thinly-sliced beef? Yes please!

Finally, on an incredibly full stomach, the carpaccio was served. I am not usually a fan of raw beef, but this carpaccio turned out to be of the thinly sliced and cured variety. In other words, it was good. It was a bit on the oily and salty end, which certainly was not helped by the parmesan cheese shavings that were served with it, but made for a very good dessert.

Obika was pretty delicious, but while I liked it I don’t particularly feel the need to go back. I don’t mean this in a bad way, just in a “I’d get bored if I went there often” way. Perhaps I’ll feel differently after a few months without it, but only time will tell in that matter. At the very least, it is definitely worth checking out.