Restaurant Row

Gobi Mongolian BBQ on Sunset near Parkman offers a great atmosphere with a very reasonable pricing men

Gobi

Simply Mongolian BBQ Recession Buster

By Buddy Sampson

Gobi, a Mongolian restaurant located in Silverlake, has what it takes for a great lunch and dinner. In an area populated by other types of restaurants, Gobi stands out. “We’re completely different in the neighborhood,” said Ruth, one of the co-owners of Gobi. “In this neighborhood, there’s more Thai, Chinese and lots of sushi bars.” Michael Buch, another one of the co-owners, a good looking guy that could double as an actor if he so desired, echoed that sentiment. “There’s really nothing like it anywhere,” said Michael. “First of all, there aren’t any other Mongolian barbecue restaurants really anywhere that close other than in a mall. And then taking it a step further, I don’t know of any Mongolian barbecues anywhere that do what we do.”

Gobi (pronounced go bee) utilizes the Mongolian barbecue concept in which patrons serve themselves, decide what they want, add sauces, and give their bowl to the cook.  The cook prepares the meal on the grill and returns the food on a plate for the customer to enjoy their food at their table. “What we’ve done is we’ve taken that concept, but we’ve added really, really high quality ingredients,” Michael explains. “We use all natural chicken breasts. We use all natural lamb, we use all natural pork and we use a choice cut of beef.” Additionally, if customers want shrimp, they can have that added to the meal at a slightly extra cost. In terms of their vegetables, they use natural vegetables as well. “We have all these great farmer’s markets around us, like right now we have Mexican squash and traditional vegetables like onions, tomatoes and sprouts,” he said. “We also offer seasonal vegetables from the farmer’s market, like a butternut squash, maybe a banana squash sometimes, we do standard mushrooms, but we also do Shittake mushrooms and asparagus. I’m always looking, seeing what’s new and what’s interesting, we throw it on the grill, make sure it tastes good and we do it, even if it costs more money.”

Even though Gobi uses quality ingredients, they resist the obvious temptation to pass the cost on to the consumer, making Gobi, a recession buster. Lunch is a mere $9.95, while dinner is $13.95. In terms of beverages, Gobi offers a wide selection of beers, artisan ales, wine, cocktails and sake. Additionally, non-alcoholic drinks are available. Their dessert menu features a scrumptious Chocolate Molten Cake Sundae and Assorted Gelato and Sorbetto.

Located in Silverlake at 2827 W. Sunset Blvd., just east of Parkman, in Los Angeles, Gobi offers customers tremendous value and quality food, with an intimate atmosphere great for singles, couples and families. The Scoop LA highly recommends this restaurant. Visit their website at www.gobimongolianbbq.com and tell them you read about them in The Scoop LA.

The Yard

A fun hang, with great food, too.

By Buddy Sampson

The Yard, at 119 Broadway in Santa Monica, a short walk from the Santa Monica pier, is a fun, pub like restaurant with perhaps one of the best beer menus in Los Angeles. However, there’s more to offer than just libations. The Yard offers a tasty food menu that will satisfy the most discerning of tastes.

If you are looking for a social atmosphere to meet a great group of people or want to sit down and have a great dining experience, The Yard is the place to go. Accompanying me to The Yard, was a good friend and restaurant consultant Paulo Marazzi, who helped me evaluate our dining experience.

A friendly guy named Jeff, the floor manager and part owner greeted us. He directed us to our table and our waiter, Ben was knowledgeable and friendly. He had full command of the menu and knew all the dishes and suggested to us what to order. Of course, since The Yard has a reputation of great beer, we had to indulge in the Telegraph Beer Tasting(3 for $5). Ben, a great guy, bought us the beer and suggested which three for us to order. The Stock Porter was a rich, dark beer and The Sourwheat, is a sultry blond beer. However, our favorite of the three was the California Ale, an Amber, medium-colored beer, described in the menu as an “unfiltered, great malty mouth feel with ample hop balance. We didn’t know what that meant, but we know it was a very tasty beer.

Then the festivities started. The first of several small plates came and we were very impressed. We tried the Crispy Spiced Calamari. It was excellent, as good as any calimari I’ve tasted. Next were the scallops. Paulo, a chef raved about them. They were cooked to perfection. We tried the smoked Brussel sprouts. The sauce, a pumpkin seed sauce was excellent. Paulo and I thought perhaps the sprouts could have been cooked a little longer, but maybe we were being a little nitpicky. The sauce made it quite tasty. They were like little vegetable meatballs. As explained by the gourmet chef, Chris “CJ” Jacobson, a tall guy who was so tall he probably could have played in the NBA if he wanted to, The Yard has tapas, small plates that are money savers, great for those on a budget. The most expensive small plates on the menu are a very reasonable $16. I had The Grilled Kobe Skirt Steak, which featured watercress, grilled Balsamic grapes, Horseradish Crème Fraische. Normally, I always order steak well done, but Ben, our fantastic waiter, suggested I have it cooked medium well done. He was right. It was nothing short of excellent. I could have eaten three more plates of it.

The Scoop LA recommends The Yard and if you are looking for a recession buster and are out for a great evening, we highly recommend The Yard for a night out. It is a very fun hang. Special thanks to Emanuela for a fine dining experience.

The Yard is located at 119 Broadway in Santa Monica.

A Full Service Catering Company. Mr. Martins is a superlative chef who has worked with The Jacksons and many of the major movie studios. Need a fantastic caterer for your event? Contact Mr. Martins at (215) 833-4809 and tell him you read about him in The Scoop LA!

Carousel

By Buddy Sampson

Carousel Restaurant in Glendale is, arguably, one of the finest restaurants in Glendale. It offers one of the finest culinary experiences in the area. But what makes Carousel such a fine restaurant? “The quality of the food and the value for the money,” said Michel Schoucair of Carousel. “The owners are the chefs. For 23 years, we’ve had the same recipes and the same quality of food. We’ve never dropped our standards.” Indeed, Carousel has a stellar reputation to build upon. It started with its Hollywood location, located at 5112 Hollywood Blvd. 23 years ago and opened its Glendale location 10 years ago.

The Scoop Newspaper was invited to sample its food and we were treated to the ultimate in dining experience. We were bought a litany of appetizers, which included Mante (Shish Barak), which were mini meat pies that were oven-baked, topped with tomato sauce and yogart sauce, Shrimp Kebab, which was marinated with lemon juice, garlic and spices that were broiled and served on Chardonnay sauce. (We’ll list some of the other dishes later.)

Carousel not only has terrific food, they have live entertainment Fridays and Saturdays. “We have international music in addition to a tango show and salsa show,” said Michel. Reservations are required. They also feature an outside catering service. “It’s for all kinds of occasions, like weddings, baptisms, private parties and lunches,” he explained. Their specialties are Mediterranean Fish, which includes Red Snapper.

For the ultimate in dining experience, make sure you take your time and savor the experience of dining at Carousel. (More later.)

A Best of City Search 2007 winner, it’s easy to understand why Carousel garnered that honor.

Please visit their website at:  www.carouselrestaurant.com

Visit their website at www.carouselrestaurant.com.

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