Restaurant Name: Umami Burger
Cusine: American, burgers
Location: Los Angeles, on La Brea Avenue
Company: Raymond, Kato
Overall Experience: AWESOME!






Truffle Burger
italian truffle cheese, truffle glaze






Tempura Onion Rings






Experience and Reflection: Flustered with the amount of people at the Griffith Observatory and hungered since our last meal was just a mere hour ago (joke), Kato, Raymond, and I decided to proceed down the hill and get some grub! After consoling my fellow cousin and LA food-enthusiast, Susie, we punched in the address for Umami Burger and adventured on what would soon be one of the most memorable LA experiences that I will ever have.

The Truffle Burger was absolutely amazing. The meat was of great quality and the flavors complemented extremely well with the Truffle. Although the essence of the truffle was a bit subdued by the cheese, it provided a nice complement. The burger was simple, consisting of just a pair of hamburger buns, succulent meat patty, a slice of Italian Truffle cheese, and finished off with a Truffle Glaze.

The Tempura Battered Onion Rings were absolutely the best onion rings that I have ever tasted! The lightness and flakiness from the tempura batter was a great decision to fry the onion rings in. It make the onion rings deliciously crispy.

Umami Burger provided an absolutely delicious meal. Taken atop the Hollywood Hills and eaten with amazing friends, it was the perfect ingredient for an astonishing dinner.

Restaurant Name: Nobu
Cuisine: Japanese, sushi
Location: Downtown San Diego
Company: Quinn (Little Asian Friend), Skinny Kevin, Lisa
Overall Experience: could have been better




It is Restaurant Week in San Diego and being the food lover I am, of course I have to take full advantage of this deal! So my friends and I decided to visit Nobu.

The deal was a $40 Prix Fixe meal that consisted of an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. Given three options and four people, we were allowed to double on each meal and able to get a taste of everything on the menu.

~~ Appetizers ~~

Sashimi Salad, organic greens served with king salmon sashimi and cilantro dressing

Fresh Oysters, served with nobu sauces

Rock Shrimp Tempura, tossed in creamy spicy sauce with shiitake mushrooms on top of a bed of mixed greens

~~ Entrees ~~

Chilean Sea Bass with Jalapeño Miso, broiled chilean sea bass filet marinated in sweet jalapeño sauce, served with pickled jalapeño and steamed rice

Assorted Sushi, six pieces of chef's choice nigiri and one salmon avocado roll (6pcs)

Grilled Ribeye Anticucho, grilled ribeye of beef topped with peruvian chili sauce, served with baby vegetables and steamed rice

~~ Dessert ~~

Mochi Ice Cream, strawberry dark chocolate, and pistachio

Passion Fruit & Banana Mousse, layers of passion fruit curd, almond cake, banana mousse and white chocolate glaze

Chocolate Green Tea Parfait, green tea ice crea, chocolate crumbles, and white chocolate foam



Experience and Reflection: After my visit to Nobu, I realize that I have much more respect for very small, intimate sushi restaurants. Being able to personalize and get the inside scoop from your "personal" chef at a sushi bar is part of the experience of consuming top-grade raw fish. Although at most times a language barrier stubbornly stands in the way, in the language of sushi and sashimi, there is definitely a mutual understanding.

Nobu had the feeling of a restuarant, the ones that focuses on making profit rather than leaving its customers with an unforgettable experience. The ambiance was like that of Cheesecake Factory of BJ's Brewhouse, where the waiters and waitresses are scrambling around appeasing customers. It felt very commercial and distant from the intimate sushi mentioned previously.

The quality of the food I felt was not par with the price I paid. For appetizers, the oysters were admittedly delicious, but the true taste and essence of the oyster was masked with Nobu's overuse of its sauces. The salad was mediocre, and although the shrimp tempura was delicious, it did not offer any new sensations for my tastebuds. For entrees, I got the sushi platter which composed of various sushi. The quality of the fish was better than your everyday Korean-owned sushi restaurant, but nothing worth paying much for. The ribeye was tough although seasoned nicely. The bass was very heartbreaking. Being such a naturally buttery fish, the bass was tough and almost dry. The desserts were nothing extraordinary. To conclude, I think that I will stick to my neighborhood intimate sushi restaurant.