Simply put...
Delizioso !!! Mario Batali and Nancy Silverton's restaurant
Osteria Mozza was absolutely fantastic. Having just been to Mario's other restaurant
Babbo in New York, it made me want to compare restaurants and the perfect time had arose. It was "Mrs. Gohan" and my 10 year anniversary. I can't believe that it has been 10 years already. What a way to celebrate such a milestone!
Walking into the restaurant, the aroma was mouth watering and expectations soon began to make my stomach growl. My initial impressions of
Osteria Mozza was that it was much smaller than I had envisioned. If there was any correlation of the mood of the patrons and the food, I knew that we would be in for a treat. Similar to
Babbo, the noise level was definitely boisterous. The obvious visual difference between the two restaurants, besides the fact that one is in New York and the other in L.A., was the style of the decor.
Babbo had more of homey feel where
Osteria Mozza was definitely more contemporary.
We did not have high expectations of
Osteria Mozza since we had just been to the renowned restaurant
Babbo in New York. We figured that
Osteria would not even come close to
Babbo but, we were pleasantly surprised. After reviewing the menu we were tempted to order off of the menu, but we stuck to our original plan and ordered the pasta tasting menu along with the wine pairing. Come to think of it, there was really no other choice. Since we ordered the pasta tasting menu at
Babbo, it only made sense to also try it here at
Osteria so that we could compare the two restaurants.
Amuse BoucheAfter our deliberation, we couldn't wait for the food to come out. The waiter first brought us the
Amuse Bouche, which was a
bruschetta with ricotta, olive tapenade, and basil which was very good and made me more anxious for the tasting menu to start. Sitting there I couldn't help but think of what was about to come. When the first course came, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. The
Farfalle with green garlic, fave e noci , did not have the Wow factor that I was expecting from a Mario Batali restaurant. By no means was this course a bad dish, aucontraire, it was delicious, but it just did not WOW me. The second course of the pasta tasting menu was a deviation from what was listed on the menu. The second course was supposed to be a mussel and saffron dish. We had asked the waiter if we could make a substitution because we don't like mussels, so the waiter said that he would just tell the chef that we were allergic to seafood. Exactly what I was thinking of doing, I just didn't have the
cojones to do so. The second course ended up being the
Butternut Squash Mezzalune with Amaretti. This dish was delightful. The pasta was perfectly cooked and had just the right amount of sweetness. The third dish which was the T
ortellini burro di Luigi Guffanti e Parmigiano was absolutely devine! The filling in the pasta was what the waiter explained to me as a gourmet type of bologna. It was ground up chicken and pork wrapped up in the Tortellini. Although I felt that the waiter could have come up with a better analogy, simply put, you could call it what ever you would like and it would still kick ass. The fourth course was the
Francobolli di Brasato with passato di pomodoro. These were absolutely delicious. Basically, this dish was a type of ravioli stuffed with a savory short rib served with a pomodoro sauce.
Babbo and
Osteria both serve a pomodoro pasta dish, but I felt that the one here at
Osteria was much better, although 'Mrs. Gohan' disagrees. The fifth savory course was the
Pici with wild boar ragu which was my favorite dish of the night. Just the thought of wild boar conjures up feelings of repulsion, but this dish was anything but repulsive. All in all, the savory dishes were absolutely delicious and lived up to all the hype. In my opinion, the dishes got progressively better as the night progressed, but 'Mrs. Gohan' and I both agree that the savory dishes were slightly better at Mario's restaurant
Babbo in New York.
Farfalle with green garlic, fave e noci
Butternut Squash Mezzalune with Amaretti
Tortellini, burro di Luigi Guffanti e Parmigiano
Francobolli di Brasato with passato di pomodoro
Pici with wild boar raguAs far as desserts go.... There is no question. Hands down
Osteria Mozza was far superior! The first dessert course was
Gelatina di Frutta della Passione e Sorbetto di Mandarina. It was a passion fruit gelatin served with a mandarin sorbet. The passion fruit gelatin portion of this dessert was one of the most tart desserts I've tasted in a long time. Just thinking about this dessert makes my mouth water. The sweetness of the mandarin sorbet perfectly counter balanced this dessert. It was Very Good! The last dessert was definitely a perfect ending to a perfect night.
Cannelloni di Gelati, yogurt, pistachio & espresso. The trio of cannelloni was absolutely perfect. The outer crust seemed like a fried wonton skin which was perfectly crisp and the inside gelato was was simply devine. My favorites was the yogurt and pistachio. Although I totally thought that I would've like the espresso better. I could have eaten those all night if I wasn't so stuffed and buzzed from all the wine.
Gelatina di Frutta della Passione e Sorbetto di Mandarina
Cannelloni di Gelati, yogurt, pistachio & espresso
The comparison between
Babbo and
Osteria will be debated, but I feel that they are both unique in their own way.
Babbo's pasta dishes were better but
Osteria's desserts were better. Either way you can't go wrong! Our 10 year Anniversary was a very special occasion and I was glad that we got to eat a terrific meal to help celebrate the special day. I can't wait for the next special Anniversary. All in all,
Osteria Mozza was everything that I had hoped for. Despite hearing some stories that
Osteria was over hyped and not worth the wait or money, we enjoyed ourselves tremendously. What could be better? Spending time with a special person that you love on a special day eating terrific food. I couldn't ask for more.
Osteria Mozza6602 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA. 90038
323-297-0100
Hands down... No Contest... Absolutely the Best in Town. Well... the best hirekatsu (filet portion of pork cutlet) in town at least. For those people who are familiar with Japanese food, hirekatsu is basically the same as tonkatsu (pork cutlet), but it usually comes in smaller portions and is much more tender. So tender that there is no need for a knife. Just bite into it and enjoy. The menu here at Saga Japanese Cuisine is limited as well as the seating. At first thought, I wished that they had a more diverse menu, but soon realized that it is much better this way. This is what makes this restaurant special. They don't have much on the menu, but what they do have, they do really good! Everything from the hirekatsu, tempura, sukiyaki, and from what I hear, the butter salmon, is excellent. My sister raves about their butter salmon. She swears that its the best salmon. The hirekatsu is so crispy, light, and tender. Most other restaurants that make a tonkatsu, make it crunchy but it tends to be heavy and greasy. Saga Japanese Cuisine really knows how to deep fry. Their dishes are all light and crispy. The sukiyaki is also one of the best that I've tasted, besides eating at home. Especially when my father was alive. My father's sukiyaki was the best. Even years after he has passed away, we still talk about it. Most dinners come with a Chawan-Mushi (steamed egg custard), entree, and some sort of dessert. Although I don't like the chawan-mushi, everyone says that Saga makes a real good one. As far as their desserts go, I could take it or leave it.
Sukiyaki
Hirekatsu
