Kizuna Steak House: I might go back, but probably not.

Kizuna Steak House
Honda Plaza
456 E 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90189 (213) 617-1008



After the waiting and not eating debacle at Bacaro, we headed back to Little Tokyo because we were meeting friends there for drinks later, and it is certainly no secret that I love Japanese food. There were lines outside the usual suspects; Haru Ulala, Sushi Gen, KaGaYa, Izayoi, and so on. My extremely high heels made me boycot a meander in search something new and exciting, and D's hungry grumpies led us to the first restaurant with open tables. Bad shoes. BAD.



There was not a single occupied table in Kizuna. Bad sign. They were out of several items on the menu and a couple of the sakes we wanted to try. I am not a big believer in signs, and these were less subtle signs that one would use inference to interpret. These were more like the glaring neon signs blinking on and off in a red light district. Not subtle at all.



I do hearts the decor. Very earthy, rattan chairs and table mats, and the cow mural is way cool. The tables were set with beautiful chop sticks made from natural wood and other fibers, but they brought us forks. White people eat with forks, don't they?



First item out was a nice salad, basically greens and taro root in a delicious ginger dressing. Very eatable.



Next out was a "ceviche". There was nothing ceviche like about this dish, and I found it frightening.



The scallops and prawns were cooked, not cured via marination in lime or any other highly acidic citrus. Frankly, it was a little creepy. The greens were not fresh, and they were oddly chewy. No.



This dish was a winner. Lovely dumplings atop soft tofu stuffed with a ground shrimp mixture. Delicious. If I go again, and they are not sold out of these, I will order them. Very nom.



Mmmm. Dumplings.



The tempura salmon skin roll was gross. The seaweed was way chewy, and the tempura batter was hard as a rock.



Clams, IMO, not fresh. D liked them but after eating one I refused another. Looked pretty, tasted suspect.


This, however, was a succeed. Kobe hamburg, they called it. A simple hamburger patty with ponzu sauce. Truly wonderful. Silky meat, flavorful juices. This might entice me to return again. But probably only after all other options are exhausted.



They did a great job with the veggies on this dish. Beautiful, fresh, just a touch of garlic.



It even looks pretty together on the plate. All in all, not a total fail. But the food was so inconsistent, I won't ever be planning to eat here. Instead, I will watch for signs.

Fast & Dirty Dinner at e3rd Steakhouse

e3rd Steakhouse is a sibling in the Zip Fusion family. There is actually a Zip Fusion Sushi two doors down on that awesome little angled strip of E 3rd Street just south east of Little Tokyo. There is also an inviting little wine bar, Blue Dhalia, in between the two.



I have been to e3rd Steakhouse one time previous, for an Obama rally generated within the Asian community of young hip folks. A very good friend of mine, R, is Chinese, hip and very much about town. He occasionally invites us to events that his friends have organized, and we are typically two of the very few non-Asian folk there. These events are always very classy, populated with well heeled and well groomed young people and have nothing of the Sky Bar/Sunset strip feel to their gatherings. People are incredibly friendly, polite and elegant in behavior. This Obama rally was not an exception. And that night e3rd was packed out.



Last night was quieter, but it was early. Being that there is a nightclub element to the restaurant, I am sure it gets busier later in the evening. By the time we left, nearly every table was taken and there were a few large parties.

The food was very good, and the prices are reasonable. The style is Pacific fusion, with overt Korean and Japanese influences. I ordered a small spicy tuna sashimi salad, with a tangy sesame dressing. Even the small size had lots of chunks of fresh red tuna, lots of tomatoes, crisp fresh lettuce, crispy apple slices and dry, savory sea weed.



I also ordered a side of kim chee mashed potatoes. Wow. Just wow.



For a started, J & L ordered the pepper crusted ahi tuna. It was lightly seared and drizzled with a miso orange vinaigrette. Lovely. I barely got in a picture before they inhaled it.




D & L ordered the grilled salmon, which came with choices of two sides. D had his with green beans, which were those long Chinese types green beans that I adore. He also ordered sauteed mushrooms. He said they were great.



J ordered the e3rd rib steak, marinated in pear and soy. So delicious my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

We came in for supper as their doors opened and they were still prepping the bar and kitchen for the night, so we got off to a slow start. Aside from that, service was good, food was very good and I am looking forward to going back again very soon.

Saddle Peak Lodge in the Springtime

When I am writing a review of a restaurant and I have mixed comments I always wonder whether to start with the good or the bad. On the one hand, the bad always colors the rest of the review and if there is something spectacular I don't always want that overshadowed. On the other hand, I wouldn't want any of my 2 readers to feel that a failure on the part of the restaurant was dismissable. As I sit here and consider our Mother's Day Eve meal at the Saddle Peak Lodge, I am weighing how I want this review to be read, and what I want my 2 readers to take away from the review. Because literally every single morsel that entered my mouth was so sublime, I decide to lead with what worked last night. The food worked.



The first food brought to our table was an amuse-bouche, a pureed roast tomato soup. I could have licked the inside of the cup. Other diners were served theirs in a test tube-like container. They must not own enough to have one for everyone when the restaurant is full. I like to think that the demi-tasse actually provided me with more soup than the schmantzy test tube. Deep thoughts.



For starters, we shared two orders of the Santa Barbara spotted prawns with grilled ramps (the culinary equivalent of the Snuffaluffagus) on a bed of lovingly olive oil dressed arugula. Ramps? Always lovely. Prawns? Grilled just right, tender and butterflied for easy access. But the stand out flavor in that appie was the high quality olive oil on the arugula.



For mains, both D and Mom ordered the flat iron steak. The components of this dish were both creative and toothsome. However, the three components seemed like separate dishes, as opposed to one unified offering. But still, so SO good. Quebracho wood grilled prime angus flat iron steak, cooked to perfection. They do not make the mistake of undercooking the meat at Saddle Peak like the kitchen does at many carnivorous restaurants. It was served with a marrow bone. (D gave me his, he is afraid of anything this exotic.) The marrow had been taken out and mixed with a touch of pureed potato, stirred to a whipped consistency, then poured back into the bone. We were thoughtfully provided a spoon to scoop out this wonderful liquid, but the spoons should have been smaller or my tongue should have been longer, as I couldn't quite get every last droplet. Also on the plate was a creamed swiss chard, which I thought a stellar choice to replace the ubiquitous steakhouse creamed spinach. The texture is heartier and the flavor more robust than spinach, yet still has the same effect on the plate. The Yukon potato, bacon and comte terrine was basically layers of potato, bacon and cheese. Nom.



On my supper plate was the Chef’s wild game trio. Moving from left to right, elk, quail and buffalo. Although I was informed my dish did not come with sides, each of the three were well accompanied with the following: elk paired with wild mushrooms, quail atop pureed potatoes, buffalo with spinach. Perfection. This dish, moreso than the flat iron steak, seemed like a complete piece as opposed to separate components. I ordered it cooked to the chef's suggestion, medium-rare, and found medium-rare at Saddle Peak to be exactly to my liking whereas in many steakhouses medium-rare is a touch too bloody for me. I ate everything on my plate except the quail bones.



All of our food was splendiforous. The setting was so lovely. We were escorted to a patio table under the trees without asking.



A heat lamp was provided at exactly the right temperature to keep us warm but not too toasty. We watched the sun set over the Calabasas hills, and enjoyed the warm glow from inside the beautiful dining room after dark.



I hate to malign such a wonderful experience with complaints and negativity so I will keep it brief. Our server sucked. It was never the message that she gave that sucked so much as the method of delivery. She was short to the point of rudeness and informative in a darn close to hostile manner. From start to finish, I was shocked that she has a job at Saddle Peak or anywhere else where they clearly care so much about their diner's experience. This review is an interesting juxtaposition of the review of Providence. I found the food at Providence during my recent visit unremarkable, but the service made the experience so wonderful I will surely overlook the lackluster food and visit again soon. And also here, angry, inattentive and deceptive service will not keep me away from Saddle Peak. If I am approached by the same server next time I will simply ask for another. Saddle Peak is not to be missed on any possible opportunity to dine there. My only regret is that it is too far away to pop in for a casual mid-week meal, and that the bar area is really too small to eat in.