TBA
Morihiro
Two stops, with the first being brunch at the Mar Vista Farmers' Market. The Phakhaothip food truck's last day, at least for a few weeks! The suki yaki lao (seafood noodle soup) was delicious, especially with extra chili mixed in, although the crab and fish ball were a bit more mild in flavor than some might have expected.
The lao sasuage meal with som thum (papaya salad) was still tasty, although I am still perplexed what makes Lao sausage unique. The kaffir and lemongrass don't really come out in the flavors, although maybe it's more subtle, too subtle for my taste buds to appreciate when eaten at the same time as medium spicy som thum?
Dinner at Michelin Star Chef Morihiro Onodera's new restaurant, Morihiro. A strong focus on locally and organic ingredients, including polishing his own rice (!), seems to be the feature of Onodera-san's newest restaurant. Add in the recent reopening of outdoor dining for an opportunity to immediate enjoy fresh sushi...
The futomaki (unagi, shrimp, mushrom, kanpyo, tamago) was delicious, but as expected, it was outgunned by the appetizer box and the omakase box.
Much was subtle in the appetizer box, including the seaweed and the tamago, but high quality, especially the tofu. And the fresh fruits and jelly with kumquat for dessert-- ZOMG heavenly. The omakase didn't quite match up with the tastiest from Sushi Tsujita or Sushi Hide, but everything was high quality. The sayori and the aji were superb in their mildness for mackerel-family fish, while the kinmedai (golden eye snapper) was excellent by any measure.
Appetizer box: oshinko (pickled veggies), tofu, tamago, kabocha (squash), hijiki (seaweed), yamamomo (peach agar), strawberry, blueberry, kumquat.
Omakase 10 piece box: maguro (tuna), hirame (halibut), kanpachi (amberjack), aji (Spanish mackerel), ikura (salmon roe), amaebi (live sweet shrimp), kinmedai (golden eye snapper), sayori (needle fish), uni (sea urchin), kanpyo roll (squash).