This song was that nite. To good times & good beer:

First stop, Il Moro beer tasting. Belgians get me. I get Belgians: the waffles, the beer, the frites, the home-whipped mayo; Antwerp knew me for 3 days. When accounts of an affordable beer tasting reached the inbox, I had to be all over it. We were all very excited to be lit up by Belgians rockin’ 10% alcohol content. The beer-tender explained all the Belgian labels and off we went. Hooo-zah. Next time, please have all that on TAP. Next time, PLEASE pour more than just 3 lousy ounces.

From Left to Right: Rochefort Trappistes 10, 11.3% ABV, Chimay Blue, 9% ABV, Oerbier Strong, 9% abv, Duvel – the Budweiser of Belgians:

While Chimay Blue is yeasty, full of rasberry, and will knock an skinny Asian man to floor after 4 bottles, Rochefort 10 is why I love the Belgians. It’s beyond hobby & floral, yet light on the tongue. Between Westmalle, Rochefort and St. Bernardus 12, I never not ever drink another beer from another country. It’s like liquid food in a glass bottle imported from Belgium.

Chasing down the beers were the following few apps:

Fagottini alla Mozzarella Grilled eggplant stuffed with mozzarella cheese, baked in a light tomato sauce topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and basil

Culatello con Cacio di Fossa, Quenelle di Mellone Organico e Erbazzone Reggiano
Culatello the “King” of Italian cured meats served with pecorino “cacio di fossa”, hailed as the millennium cheese of Italy, organic cantaloupe melon, and spinach and parmesan cheese pie

Fritto Misto Dell’Adriadico
Fried pink shrimp and calamari served with a spicy tomato sauce and tartare sauce

All were decent. All were well received. The melons that went with the charcuterie plate was surprisingly good. Beer + apps for our rather large party at the “gastropub” ended up being $20/pp after tip & tax. We were all still hungry.

Previously Il Moro was part of my overall disappointing DineLA ‘07 experience. Yet I’ve returned for dessert and now for the beer tasting. Really want to like this restaurant time and again but it just never quite pulls it all together. Not sure what the problem is, but at this moment, it’s heavily leaning towards economics: at this price level, I can eat myself silly at Craftbar and dream of letting (ex)pastry chef Catherine Schimenti have my baby(s).

Il Moro
11400 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 575-3530

Btw, Il Moro is a J Gold’s Essential LA 99 to-eat restaurant.

Which led us to……

Yabu on Olympic.

Say it over and over with me: Yabu is the only edible noodle house in all of LA’s Westside. While their soba’s dashi isn’t as complex as Ichimian’s, their menu also doesn’t confuse the bejesus out of the patrons. That night, some ordered some udon, others ordered various sobas, cold and warm. Apparently no one else knows carbs are bad, hence only a bowl of house made agedashi toshi appeared in front of me. Dieting is really hard… so I eventually stole bites from everyone’s entrees. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Thank you all for contributing to my taste test with your wallet.

The caldron of hot boiling soba-yu is never emptied during the day. My theory: come later at night, after they’ve boiled hundreds of bowls of soba. The carb taste has to, by science, be more prominent at 9pm instead of 5pm.

Previously, we’ve had the soba, some tempura, and some random “starters” which were

Chikuzen Ni, Boiled Sansai & root vegetables, celery & snow crabsalad, Braised beef tendon, Fried salmon marinated in light broth, Braised spicy vegetables.

Very kaiseki like small dishes totalling $9. Easily my fave thing at Yabu so far. Never tried the raw fishes here as I see no need, but hey, for the dollar, for the experience, I like this place.

Yabu

Apparently Upstair 2’s chef was in a foul mood last weekend when he drew up the menu for their $23.11 dinners @ 2311 Cotner dinners which recently started:

1st Course
Mushroom Barley Soup
Roasted Barley, Leeks, Mushrooms, and Rutabaga

2nd Course
Roast Brisket of Beef
Glazed Baby Carrots, Yukon Gold Potato Pancake

3rd Course
Banana Cream Pie

Fave of above meal? Easily the banana cream pie. Fave thing of a carb lover? Yukon Gold Potato Pancake (think Mickey Dee’s hash browns, but made with real potatoes). The mushroom barley soup was just too earthy. I had visages of being a goat as I chewed on the barley & rutabaga. Great utilization of SaMo Farmer’s Market, but… just… gross… Brisket isn’t the best cut of beef (think tough beef breast, about 5 ribs below); it’s hard enough finding a properly slow cooked/smoked/BBQ’d brisket, it’s even harder to find someone willing to properly roast brisket in a kitchen. Upstairs2 wasn’t that someone.

Then yesterday, I received this in the Inbox:

First Course
Blood Orange Caesar Salad
Pumpernickel Croutons, Shaved Parmesan

Second Course
Steak Fritte
Fines Herbes Butter, Garlic Shoestring Fries

Third Course
Spanish Chocolate Brownie Sundae

Doesn’t that just sound a LOT better than the first prix fixe? The thing that really ticks me off? Both meals burns your wallet equally.

Feel free to call the weekly prix fixes whimsical, just make sure the pleasure factor is always equal.

Having said all of that, I opted out of the prix fixe. And still ended up with a dud. The deconstructed salad was a fine catch, but the greens portion was severely overdressed. The tofu leeks ravioli provided unexpected, fun heat via the red sauce, and the kobe sliders… O my, how much did the kobe sliders SUCK? From the hard roll to the excessively sweet cheese.. just overall ick.

Westsiders can rejoice in the fact that Upstairs2 is attached to a much loved (at least on Yelp) wine bar, procures much of the produce from local markets, and offers a faux romantic setting in a business complex. Me? Not a Westsider…

UPSTAIRS 2
2311 Cotner Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90064
http://upstairs2.com/winedine/