La Mar

Last weekend my roommate Nadia, her sister Tatyana, and I went to La Mar in San Francisco for some Peruvian ceviche. It is completely unfortunate I didn't even think to take pictures.

With the exception of a ceviche salad I had at the Apple cafeteria, this was the first time I got to eat ceviche. I sort of knew what to expect from watching Bourdain and Zimmerman on the travel channel. But for this trip, I let Nadia and Tatyana take lead and do the ordering, given their expertise. ^_^

If you've eaten sushi, then ceviche is no different in terms of the "gross factor". It is essentially raw seafood that has been "cooked" by marinating it in lemon juice and onion. The acid supposedly kills the bacteria that would otherwise be harmful.

La Mar is really nice. We sat at this lounge-like table in the bar area, which suited us. We each got an order of ceviche and shared an appetizer of empanadas and a dessert sampler. Expensive, of course, but I think well worth it for the special trip it was. I think anyone from Peru or Panama would balk at the prices, but then, the atmosphere was really good too.

I was really surprised how full I was from just eating the ceviche. We didn't even bother with the entrees we were so full.

Funny thing though. I went to the bathroom there and it was like complete night and day between the environment in the restaurant and the bathroom. The bathroom looked like it had no place belonging to as nice a restaurant as La Mar and it almost made me suspicious of the restaurant (sanitation of a bathroom should be a measurement of the sanitation of the restaurant, I think. Everyone there has to use the bathroom at some point). But then as I walked out, thinking "man, maybe this restaurant isn't as awesome as it is pretending to be" I see this sign by the door that says that the bathroom exists b/c of historic preservation. And in my head I go "ah... I see." The plaque answered the question in my head. Guess they knew. :P

Harbor Inn

Harbor Inn is a seafood restaurant in Portage Lake, OH. My mom had been talking about taking me for years, but we never seemed to make it due to other, um.. food priorities (see previous post).

But last week, we finally made a trip.

Truth be told, when we arrived I was a bit disappointed. My mom painted the place as a nice relaxing lake-side seafood restaurant, but as we walked in, it was, well... a lakeside pub, complete with plastic wine glasses (the frosted colored kind) and burgers. I guess when I hear "seafood restaurant", I don't think of fish and chips.

But, as it turns out, inside was a nice restaurant. Outside was the pub-like bars. My mom asked for the indoor menu and all was well. We got a bottle of wine and ordered our seafood dishes. I got freshwater trout with almonds and amaretto cream sauce and for dessert, I ordered a butterscotch crem brulee to share.



Both dishes were delicious. :-)

I am very happy to find a good seafood restaurant in our area of Ohio. Most restaurants around my hometown are either chains or involve burgers & chicken wings (which I do not mind. :-) Yum). There was once this nice place even closer to our home but it has unfortunately closed down due to lack of business (The food was very good and the environment really nice, but I suppose what they offered wasn't of interest to the neighboring residents because despite the good food, classy bar, and jazzy live music scene (and being the only place around like this...), they still had to close).

I do wish Harbor Inn could offer the niceties of the indoor restaurant outside as well, but due to regulations (no glass on the deck), they leave outside to the bar hoppers. But I also think this combination is what allows Harbor Inn to keep up a nice seafood place in our small town area. In either case, I really liked this place. :-)

Les Halles

One of my goals in life was to eat at a restaurant of a famous person (I know, lame goal, but it seemed like a fun idea at the time). Since my visit to Liz's place meant being in the capital city of restaurants, it seemed like a good place to try and fulfill that wish. Anthony Bourdain's restaurant was also a rather well-priced place with decent ratings on Yelp.com. I love his show. Even if his depictions of countries are not entirely accurate (his visit of Shibuya Tokyo, I want to know what part of Shibuya he went to. It was nothing like that for me), they are depictions of one point of view and make for fun entertainment and a good way to see a non-touristy side of a country (after studying abroad, the tourist side just doesn't hold the same appeal as truly living there).

Les Halles is Bourdain's restaurant and he has 2 locations in NYC with different items on their menus. We chose on the one on Park Avenue due to distance and had no trouble getting a table without a reservation. I really have no idea how busy the place usually gets, but we were going on a Monday at dinner time. I got the "Magret de Canard au sauce grenade," or "roasted duck breast with pomegranate sauce" and a turnip & potato gratin. It was... okay.

The duck was cooked very well and we absolutely loved the bread and fries I had ordered as a side for the table. But honestly, I didn't really care for the pomegranate sauce at all. "Interesting" is probably the best word to describe it. It was enjoyable for the first bite as something new to try, but I didn't think it complimented the duck very well and really just clashed as another flavor to mess with on the plate. It wasn't terrible, but to me, it just didn't fit.

My friends weren't crazy about their dishes either. The "Poulet Roti, frites" (Roasted chicken w/ fries) was bland and the "Confit de Canard" (duck confit) was flavorless on the inside.

In hindsight, I probably should have ordered steak or something off the grill or specials sections of the menu. I recall an episode of Bourdain talking about the proper way to cook a steak and even a burger with a demonstration in his restaurant. But... I had steak at Liz's the night before and I have a huge bias for my mom's steak which I don't think anyone can beat (no one ever thinks to prepare it like her. It's real fusion food, not this "soy sauce & miso makes it fusion" crap). I never feel like paying $20+ for steak when I know it won't compare to home's. They can cook it as perfectly as they want in an oven, pan, or grill. It won't compare.

So my opinion of Les Halles? Affordable compared to other famous-people-restaurants I've looked up. But worth it? Not really. The meat is cooked well from what I tasted and saw, but they do not do anything inventive or inspiring with the flavors to make the food worth the costs. It's fun to say "I went to Bourdain's restaurant" but for the prices you'd pay on the menu at Les Halles, you could probably pay less at a smaller bistro elsewhere and get more satisfying flavors.

Still... I got to eat at Bourdain's restaurant. :P