Matisse, Hawthorne

This is my second time coming to this restaurant. This restaurant makes me feel like I am in a restaurant inside a themed park. Faux wood beams on the ceiling and fake brick on the wall. I don't even mind the chandeliers and wall mounted candles with light bulbs. But, what made me burst out laughing was wall mounted candles with light bulbs that moved time to time....I guess they are trying to mimic the real candle??? I thought my friend was crazy when he told me about the candles on the wall moving. Don't go there for their decor. It's so badly done that I thought the Bayou restaurant inside the Pirates of Caribbean ride at Disneyland was classier.

Nonetheless, I like this restaurant for their fantastic service and good food.

Their breads were warm but probably not baked at the location.

Shrimp tempura ($15) was very fresh and yummy. The batter was light and crunchy. The dipping sauce was more Thai than Japanese, sweet and spicy.

Potato wrapped Chilean Sea Bass ($36) was very good. Slight fish smell but it tasted very fresh. I think the fish should smell and taste like fish not like anything else. It was so tender inside and crunch crust with the potato strings on the outside was nice contrast of textures.

We also ordered Beef Bourguignonne Pappardelle ($23). The beef was little tough for tenderloin tips. I was expecting more of braised soft beef but it was more like chunks of steak in the classic French wine and butter reduction. The pasta was also didn't have enough texture and bite to them.

We ordered the chocolate souffle ($8) earlier for them to have a head start. It was very good with the sweet whipped cream and the chocolate sauce.

The Ginger bread pudding ($8) was ok. I love bread pudding and I do make a bread pudding is to die for. This particular one was way too sweet for my taste and I think my croissant bread pudding is way better than this one.

I would recommend this place for their wonderful service and interesting mix of dishes from different cultures.

Matisse

14400 Hindry Ave.

Hawthorne, CA 90250

(310)536-0805

Pann's, LA

I love biscuits and gravy!

I am on a mission to try every restaurants featured in the "Best of LA 2008" magazine. This was a great restaurant to start my mission.

This restaurant serves breakfast all day. I love it! That means I can have this yummy country breakfast ($7.95) any time of the day. They sure didn't hold back on flavoring biscuits and gravy. Biscuits were very flaky and buttery and topped with sausage patties and sausage gravy. Gravy was saturated with bits of sausages. I also loved the country potatoes on the side. They were just perfectly seasoned and cooked.

The second dish we ordered was breakfast combos ($11.75). We got golden french toast, farmer John pork hot link, and scrambled eggs. This was well done also. Very good sweet cinnamon taste on the french toast.

We also ordered 2 fried fresh chicken wings ($4.25) and hot wings. I recommend hot wings not fried wings. Fried wings need the hot sauce for flavoring.

I really enjoyed this landmark diner opened since 1958. It's like any good neighborhood restaurants with very friendly staff and return customers who ask their favorite waiter or waitress by their names. They kept the old school look of the diner on the outside but the interior was much updated and quite hip for this type of restaurants.

Pann's

6710 La Tijera Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90045

(323)776-3770

Asahi Ramen, West LA

If you even been to Sawtelle Blvd. in West LA, you know there are some awesome Japanese restaurants. I've been to Sawtelle for Japanese plant nurseries few times and of course, couldn't pass on all those yummy foods. I heard about Asahi ramen few times on the internet that it's one of the top 10 ramen place to go in LA. I've been to few really good ramen places, mostly in Southbay. Shinsengumi Hakata Ramen (Gardena), Asa Ramen (Gardena), Eboshi noodle bar (Lomita), Chabuya (W. LA & Torrance), Gardena Ramen (Gardena), Orochon (Little Tokyo), Koraku (Little Tokyo), Tampopo (Gardena), Santouka (Torrance),.....

I just had to stop by Asahi Ramen to see what all the fuss is about.

I ordered chahan (fried rice), gyoza (Dumplings), miso ramen, and mabo ramen which were recommended by my coworker who happened to be there for lunch. He recommended a lot more stuff from the menu but I just ordered basics like chahan, miso ramen and gyoza. He personally selected mabo ramen for me to try at this place. I usually like the basic combination in my ramen but I had to try it.

First of all, I was in awe by the proportion of all the food they serve. Compare to the Chabuya across the street this place is definitely for big eaters. Chahan wasn't all that special for me. I prefer Shinsengumi or Eboshi for thier smoky, chewy, and fluffy chahan. Asahi's chahan was too mushy and big chunks of carrot were just not delicate enough for my taste but their gyoza was one of the best I've had at this type of restaurants. They look and taste like home-made and flavorful.

Both ramens were above the average in taste of their soup. I really enjoy the rich broth made by chicken, pork, and vegetable. It seems like they been boiling the soup for hours to get the rich flavor. I was really surprise how mabo sauce enhanced the ramen soup so well. Just enough spiciness and saltiness but not overwhelming the taste of the broth. I wish the noodle was as good as the broth. I was very disappointed that the noodle was soft and had no life to it unlike Orochon (maybe, too chewy). I like my noodle to be al dente for it will get softer in time. Miso ramen was also very flavorful using the light miso instead of dark and pungent miso. I personally like darker but this was still very good. My favorite miso ramen is from Eboshi noodle bar in Lomita. Too bad the charshu (roast pork) wasn't as good. It was a solid meat with no fat and too hard. Asa ramen in Gardena has a best charshu on the ramen. It just melts in your mouth with a explosion of flavor. Over all, I enjoyed my lunch and took some home for dinner. All the ramen places I been to have pros and cons. Asahi has my vote for it's rich and satifying broth.

Asahi Ramen

2027 Sawtelle Blvd.

West Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 479-2231