Monday, November 1, 2010

Hey there stranger (The Bazaar, Beverly Hills)

Hey there stranger.  It's been a long long time since I've seen you here on the web posting your food outings.  So much has changed....  The Lakers are back to back champions Smile and my little "Baby Gohan" is now a toddler.  Wow!  Having a toddler sure has changed this rice eating machine's life.  It's not like I haven't had the time to go out and eat, it's just that certain things are more important to me.  What?  More important than eating good food.....Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but being a father is more important than food blogging Surprised smile  Man I must be getting soft.  LOL.

Mr and Mrs Gohan don't like to abuse/over use our babysitters, so we like to spread out our fine dining outings.  But when Dine LA's Restaurant Week starts, we go for the gusto.  Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the other places I visited this year, but I did remember to bring my camera to The Bazaar by Jose Andres.  Good thing too.  I've been wanting to come here for quite some time now.  And this was the perfect opportunity.

LN2 Caipirinha 
Made tableside with Brazilian Cachaça, fresh lime and sugar with a twist by adding liquid nitrogen to give it that unique texture.  I couldn't resist myself by ordering this unique cocktail even if it cost me $20.  It did not disappoint! 


Olives:  Traditional & Modern

I'll be the first to admit that I am not an olive fan, but the Mrs. absolutely loves them.  But those who know me, know that I tend to let my inhibitions go and try dishes that I usually don't like at fine dining establishments.  And this was no exception.  I had to give it the good old college try.  I was pleasantly surprised by the texture and flavor of the modern "olive".  It had a unique texture and a burst of intense olive flavor.  I'm glad I tried it.

Jamón Serrano Fermin
The dry cured ham served with the Catalan style toasted bread with tomatoes was absolutely delicious.  My good friend was dead set on ordering a Jamón dish after seeing an episode of Anthony Bourdain.  LOL.  I think what really made this dish was the toasted bread with the tomatoes.  Yummy!

Cotton Candy Foie Gras
That's right you read it right and you are seeing what you are seeing.  Yes....cotton candy foie gras. Another intriguing dish that I couldn't resist.  Although I love foie gras, I usually don't like it prepared like a terrine, but this was the exception.  The sweetness of the cotton candy and the slight crunch of the crystals of the sugar married well with the saltiness and silkiness of the foie gras.  Pure decadence.

 Tortilla de Patatas
Oh me oh my.  Now this little dish made a HUGE impression on me.  Beautifully presented in a egg shell was potato foam, egg 63 (egg cooked sous vide at 63°C), and caramelized onions.  The flavors were outstanding.  I think we could've eaten a dozen of these.

 Embutidos Platter
This was a platter of Chorizo, Lomo (typically pork tenderloin), and Salchichon (a type of Spanish sausage).  In my opinion, this platter was good but I'm not enough of a connoisseur of cured meats to truly appreciate this dish.  Nothing really popped.  Everything was kind of one note to me.

"Philly Cheesesteak" & "Hilly Cheesesteak"
Apparently these are one of the more popular dishes at The Bazaar.  The "Philly Cheesesteak" is made with an air bread which had the cheese embeded on the inside and topped with wagyu beef.  These were nice and light and full of flavor.  I could've eaten more of these for sure.  The "Hilly Cheesesteak" was basically the same except the wagyu beef was substituted with mushrooms.  I could see why these are one of the more popular dishes.

Boneless Chicken Wings
I love chicken wings and this version did not disappoint. They were seasoned very well and heck, they were boneless.....less work for this lazy person.  LOL

Organized Caesar
 This was like a bite sized deconstructed Caesar Salad made with quail eggs and Parmesan cheese.  If there's one thing that Mrs Gohan loves to eat, it's Caesar Salads.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm pretty much anti green. I'm pretty much a carnivore.  LOL.  But Like I said before, when it comes to certain restaurants, I step out of my comfort zone and go for it.  I was pleasantly surprised!

Papas Canarias
Salted wrinkled potato with mojo verde.  Sounded good but I think this one was a miss.  It was just way too salty for my taste.  I ended up having to rub most of the salt off before I ate it.  I know in the description it said salty but this was just ridiculous.

"The Ultimate Spanish tapa"
Those were not my words!  With the name ultimate Spanish tapa, one would think this dish would've been out of this world considering how good everything else was that night.  It had a lot to live up to, but in my opinion this was the ultimate Spanish tapa fail!  This was my least favorite dish of the night by far. 

Sea Scallops
This dish not only sounded good, looked good, smelled good, but it tasted good too!  The scallops were perfectly cooked and basically melted in your mouth.  The Romesco sauce was very tasty and accentuated the scallops even more.  Bravo!

Croquetas de pollo
Another excellent dish.  Can't go wrong with fried food!  These chicken and bechamel fritters were nice and crispy on the outside and tasty on the inside.  They were not overly oily either.  One of the better dishes of the night.

Catalan spinach
This spinach dish was prepared with apples, pine nuts, and raisins.  Spinach happens to be one of the few vegetables that I actually enjoy, but to be honest I was a little skeptical with the combination of the other ingredients.  I was pleasantly surprised and thought that the pine nuts were actually what made this dish.

Beef hangar steak
Ahhh....beef!  Another one of my favorites of the night.  The meat was perfectly cooked to a medium rare and the piquillo pepper confit was full of flavor.  My only complaint was that the choice of beef....hangar steaks tend to be a little on the tougher side, although the taste was outstanding.

Sauteed Shrimp
The sauteed shrimp with garlic and guindilla peppers was another excellent dish.  It was well balanced and tasty for sure.  I thought that this dish was going to be more garlicky than it actually was.  In fact this dish was quite delicate and the shrimp really shined.

Wild mushroom rice
The wild mushroom rice was creamy and full of flavor.  The idiazabal cheese which is a type of sheep's milk added a little sharpness and complimented the earthiness flavors of the mushroom  My friend who usually doesn't like mushrooms was enjoying this dish quite a bit.  That's saying a lot.....to make something that a person usually doesn't like and to transform it in to something that you really like speaks volumes.

Down to earth
This cocktail was made from mezcal del maguey, cynar, fresh lime and orange on an agave truffle bed.  However you want to describe it....there's no question that this cocktail packs a mean punch.  No wonder it's called down to earth. The strong taste of alcohol you'll be down on the ground.  Here's my friend trying to plug her nose to finish the drink.  Hahaha!  Too funny!


Traditional Spanish Flan
I'm not the biggest flan, but this was pretty good.  It wasn't overly sweet like many flans and I found it to be very creamy.  All in all, it was a very good flan


Creamy chocolate heart
I was a bit disappointed with this dessert.  I love chocolate desserts, but I found this one a bit dry and the cardamon was a bit over powering for my taste.  I have to say that the desserts were the weakest part of dinner, which is a bit saddening.  There's nothing like ending a good dinner with a good dessert.  Oh well.


Great friends and great food.  What a combination!  I know I've stated this before, but what is good food without good company?  Food is meant to be shared and it's more than just satisfying your stomach.  Dining out should be an entire experience beyond your pallet.  With that being said......The Bazaar did not disappoint.  Or in the words of my good friend "Bravo Jose Bravo."  LOL



The Bazaar by Jose Andres
465 South La Cienega Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310-247-0400