As wonderful as the food is in LA, I have mentally been compiling a list of foods that I missed eating ever since I left Boston.
My first stop was at Japonaise, the French-Japanese patisserie, in Brookline. How I have missed the butter rolls, the custard pudding, and the Japonaise (green tea mousse cake), as clearly evidenced by the inability to resist taking a bite prior to pictures. The green latte has also been missed, although I do make it for myself many mornings. However, I use 2% milk at home, so the occasional whole milk version is quite an indulgence (for my taste buds). I am not sure that my pancreas agrees (more lipase please!), but I just think of it like a challenge. I am no longer that drawn to the mochi ice cream since I know that I can order them directly from the same factory.
Some of you may recall that my rant against The Bazaar mentioned Toro, the best tapas restaurant in Boston. It was good enough that our party of four waited over an hour to be seated (normally no reservations allowed). We started right off with 3 plates of our group favorite, Navajas a la Plancha (seared razor clams with lemon, garlic, and piqullo peppers), and one order of my personal favorite: Maiz Asado con Alioli y Queso Cotija (grilled corn with alioli, lime, espellette pepper, and aged cheese). The special on offer was a zatar and honey-glazed rib with yogurt sauce. I found the meat to be too sweet for my taste. I can't say that I actively disliked it, but I certainly didn't like it either. The restaurant offers endless bread with the tapas, so we went with an order of Aceitunas (marinated olives) to match. The Pan con Tomate (toasted break with tomato, garlic, Spanish olive oil, and sea salt) was okay, but, given the amount of bread and salt in the rest of the meal, probably an unnecessary order.
We conceded to getting some real vegetables with the Escalivada Catalana (smoked eggplant, onions, peppers, and tomatoes with sherry vinegar and olive oil). The Jamon Serrano Redondo Iglesias (premium cured Spanish ham) was delicious, but tasted pretty similar to prosciutto to me; I probably need a side-by-side comparison to taste the difference, if any. The Congrejo (Jonah crab with piquillo peppers and tarragon) was fine, but tasted like small meat-only versions of crabcakes, especially with the bread that came with it. The one dish that truly disappointed was the Mejillones Escabeche (warm marinated mussels, fennel, garlic toast). I can't say that part of the reason is for the presentation, which just made me think of canned sardines. The sauce, which may or may not be what the mussels were marinated in, was extremely sour. This sourness needed up masking everything else about it. Also, the mussels were not very hot when they arrived, so had cooled down to this awkward barely lukewarm temperature by the time we got to them.
Just remember, this nearly-all delicious meal came out to less than half of the DineLA Bazaar. Now, you should all go to Boston and eat at Toro.
My first stop was at Japonaise, the French-Japanese patisserie, in Brookline. How I have missed the butter rolls, the custard pudding, and the Japonaise (green tea mousse cake), as clearly evidenced by the inability to resist taking a bite prior to pictures. The green latte has also been missed, although I do make it for myself many mornings. However, I use 2% milk at home, so the occasional whole milk version is quite an indulgence (for my taste buds). I am not sure that my pancreas agrees (more lipase please!), but I just think of it like a challenge. I am no longer that drawn to the mochi ice cream since I know that I can order them directly from the same factory.
 |
| Do you hear the food angels singing in praise? If not, maybe you need a Rinne test. |
 |
| Soft custard brings me back to purin-binging in Japan. |
 |
| Japonaise's star: the Japonaise |
 |
| Finally, matcha latte done right! |
 |
| The amount of deliciousness cannot be quantified. |
Some of you may recall that my rant against The Bazaar mentioned Toro, the best tapas restaurant in Boston. It was good enough that our party of four waited over an hour to be seated (normally no reservations allowed). We started right off with 3 plates of our group favorite, Navajas a la Plancha (seared razor clams with lemon, garlic, and piqullo peppers), and one order of my personal favorite: Maiz Asado con Alioli y Queso Cotija (grilled corn with alioli, lime, espellette pepper, and aged cheese). The special on offer was a zatar and honey-glazed rib with yogurt sauce. I found the meat to be too sweet for my taste. I can't say that I actively disliked it, but I certainly didn't like it either. The restaurant offers endless bread with the tapas, so we went with an order of Aceitunas (marinated olives) to match. The Pan con Tomate (toasted break with tomato, garlic, Spanish olive oil, and sea salt) was okay, but, given the amount of bread and salt in the rest of the meal, probably an unnecessary order.
We conceded to getting some real vegetables with the Escalivada Catalana (smoked eggplant, onions, peppers, and tomatoes with sherry vinegar and olive oil). The Jamon Serrano Redondo Iglesias (premium cured Spanish ham) was delicious, but tasted pretty similar to prosciutto to me; I probably need a side-by-side comparison to taste the difference, if any. The Congrejo (Jonah crab with piquillo peppers and tarragon) was fine, but tasted like small meat-only versions of crabcakes, especially with the bread that came with it. The one dish that truly disappointed was the Mejillones Escabeche (warm marinated mussels, fennel, garlic toast). I can't say that part of the reason is for the presentation, which just made me think of canned sardines. The sauce, which may or may not be what the mussels were marinated in, was extremely sour. This sourness needed up masking everything else about it. Also, the mussels were not very hot when they arrived, so had cooled down to this awkward barely lukewarm temperature by the time we got to them.
Just remember, this nearly-all delicious meal came out to less than half of the DineLA Bazaar. Now, you should all go to Boston and eat at Toro.
 |
| Toro, like the bull, not the fatty tuna. |
 |
| Navajas a la Plancha: Gone in less than 5 minutes. |
 |
| Indescribably delicious corn. |
 |
| Special is especially difficult to like, or dislike. |
 |
| Endless free bread makes olives a good choice. |
 |
| Bread and smoked eggplant. |
 |
| It is not prosciutto. |
 |
| I think I could afford to get canned clams on my own. |
No comments:
Post a Comment