Dae Jang Keum Korean BBQ

Date of Dining: 10/13/2012
Price: ~ $40 per person, but depends on amount ordered
Location: 7905 Engineer Rd, San Diego, CA 92111

The Quick Bit

+ high quality and varied selection of meat

+ great banchan

+ free coffee and peanuts while waiting

Δ all around service issues marred the meal

Δ parking can be difficult

You're probably wondering why I haven't been posting recently. One of the reasons is that I went on vacation, but the other reason is simply posting twice a week had caught up to me and I needed a bit of a break. I believe that I have had enough of that break, and will try to update a little extra (especially about my vacation) for a week or two to make up for my absence.

I've long heard that Dae Jang Keum (DJK) was the best Korean BBQ restaurant in San Diego, but didn't have a chance to investigate until recently. While it is not the cheapest restaurant, DJK is supposedly better based on the quality of meat, marinade, and banchan.

banchan

With quite the spread of banchan, I was extremely happy with the quality of preparation in these dishes. Each dish was well seasoned and full of flavor. They served as the perfect appetizer for the coming onslaught of meat.

charcoals

While I'm not sure that these were binchotan charcoals, they did seem to have many similar properties in how they cooked the meat. The use of coals in a korean bbq restaurant was quite the surprise to me as most places simply resort to a gas grill. However, the use of coals is welcome as they add a nice smoky and mesquite flavor to the meat.

To start, we were given a grill cover to cook the first few courses. This would serve to cook the tongue and brisket cuts.

combination A (minus the brisket)

It was about at this time where I started having problems with the service. I asked the waitress to allow me to take photos, but she seemed in an awful rush. It was rushed to the point that the brisket was unceremoniously dumped on the grill plate before it had adequate time to heat. As most experts will tell you, one of the secrets to good barbecue is getting a nice sear on the meat from a hot grill. The grill was also filled with more meat than should have been present to allow air flow to develop a nice caramelization.

brisket

 The problem was exasperated later as before we had even finished cooking the brisket, the waitress returned and served the remaining portion of meat on the grill and placed the pork belly to grill.

pork belly

As the grill was nowhere near the correct heat, our pork belly began the slow process of boiling. It was at this point where I decided that enough was enough and took over the grill entirely. As such, I was mainly unable to get further photos as I had to fight off the waitress from intruding against my wishes.

I believe that the rush was due to the amount of meat we ordered - normally one round of coals would not be enough to cook that quantity of meat, but she tried to rush us through the cooking process so that an entire round of meat could be cooked using one set of coals. When I asked for the coals to be changed out, I was initially refused, and our party had to wait for 20 minutes before the waitress gave in.

rib eye

After the coals were changed, I managed to get one more photo before having to man the grill again. To cook the thicker meats, the pan was changed out for a grill so that the charcoals could directly infuse the smoky flavor into the meat.

While I generally had a favorable impression of the meal, it was severely marred by the service. Having to concentrate entirely on fighting off the waitress is not how I like to enjoy my meal. I did think the meat was of higher quality than the other all you can eat restaurants.

Conclusion

While the quality of the meat at Dae Jung Keum was great, I had many problems with the service on a Saturday night. My feeling of the meal was so mixed that really all I can say was that the whole meal was inconclusive. I really did enjoy the preparation of the banchan along with the quality of the meat - it was not on the same level as Totoraku, but it was comparable for a much cheaper price. I guess this is a good thing as it means I will have to visit again before making a final determination.

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Totoraku (aka The Pico Teriyaki House) - Interrupt

Date of Dining: 3/31/2012
Price: $150 per person
Location: Shhhh! It's a secret!


The Quick Bit:
+ The best place to enjoy the best flavors of beef in all of its forms
+ Momotaro tomatoes
+ Amazing amuse platter
+ Great friendly service
Δ Gaining admission can be challenging

Recently, I found that I had the opportunity to select one sub-$200 restaurant to enjoy for a trip to Los Angeles. While I did consider some other trendier options, the difficulty of getting reservations steered me towards Totoraku. Having now enjoyed Totoraku, I believe I made the correct restaurant selection.

For those unfamiliar with Totoraku, it is not your fault. You see, Totoraku is supposed to be a "secret" restaurant - to gain admission, one must be invited or know a regular who have "invitation privileges." To obtain invitation privileges, one must become friends with Chef/Owner Kaz Oyama and receive a business card from him. Once the card is obtained, reservations are made through calling Chef Kaz directly on his cell phone (not by leaving a message on the publicly listed answering service). 

The reason for the secrecy is not that the restaurant is violating any laws, it is simply that Chef Kaz is aware that not everyone will be receptive of his cuisine. He simply wants assurance that his cuisine will be enjoyed and appreciated by all the enter the doors. What is so special about the cuisine? One may be told that Totoraku is a glorified yakiniku place, but in addition to yakiniku, Totoraku specializes in serving raw beef. 

Another aspect of Totoraku is that Chef Kaz is a connoisseur of fine wine - there is no faster way to being granted invitation privileges than bringing some nice wines and sharing with the entire staff. While I normally don't talk too much about wine, I feel obligated to share our table's wine list.

2007 Domaine des Croix 1er Cru

2005 Kosta Browne  Koplen Vineyard Pinot Noir

2004 Chateau Pontet-Canet Grand Cru

2001 Sanford La Rinconada Vineyard Pinot Noir

2001 Luis Canas Amaren Reserva

Amuse Platter:

Once we were seated an amuse platter was brought out for our enjoyment. Clockwise from top left:

• ankimo - monkfish liver
• homemade tofu
• kohlrabi, bacon, hollandaise
• momotaro tomatoes with mozzarella
• mango, white truffle, proscuitto
• abalone, lima beans
• lobster, raddichio, caviar
• crab deviled eggs
• (center) sockeye salmon with avocado

The amuse platter is always an interesting part of the Totoraku experience as it changes with each experience. Yet, every person that has talked about the amuse platter has been extremely impressed with the flavors, plating, and range of dishes. Each item is impeccably prepared and definitely works as an amuse for the rest of the meal.

Highlights for this iteration of the plate include the homemade tofu and the mango. The tofu has such a delicate yet rich texture; it was creamy in both mouth feel and consistency, but definitely remained as tofu. The mango was just a good contrast of sweet with cured saltiness while having a touch of truffle to take the flavors to the next level.

Raw Courses:

top sirloin carpaccio - special sea salt, carrot, lettuce

We started the raw beef courses with the top sirloin carpaccio. The carpaccio was a way to showcase the pure flavors of beef without much fat. The slightly sweet vegetables brought out an almost similar sweet quality in the beef. The crunchiness of the carrot also provided a great textural contrast to the chewiness of the beef. Overall, it was a nice way to start out the beef adventure.

smoked ribeye cap - garlic, ginger, spicy sauce

The next raw course was a sliced smoked ribeye cap, which was the favorite raw course of all the ladies at the table. While ribeye is not traditionally considered lean, this was yet another showcase of lean beef protein. The meat was smoked ever so slightly on the edges, which added some complexity to the flavor. The plate was accompanied with garlic, ginger, and hot sauce which we were asked to mix into our own soy sauce plates and dip the meat. The smokiness of the rib eye was really complemented by the flavor of the soy.

beef throat

Along with the smoked rib eye, we were served beef throat. This was my favorite raw course of the evening. In order to produce the amount of throat in the photo, about one and a half cows were slaughtered. To contrast the less fatty flavor of the smoked rib eye, the beef throat is almost purely about the luxurious, buttery, fatty mouth feel of beef. One key component I found with the throat was that the temperature of the beef was important. The throat retained a chewier texture without becoming too chewy if it had been heated too much. 

beef tartare - cucumber, pear, apple, quail egg

tartare after mixing

The final raw course was the beef tartare. This was the culmination of the raw courses as it showcased a fattier mouth feel with the creaminess of the yolk integrated into the entire dish. The pear added a nice element of sweetness to the dish while the tartness of the apple added some acid as well as additional contrasting sweetness. The cucumber rounded out the textures. 

Yakiniku:

After the raw courses, a yakiniku grill was placed in front of the table:

binchotan charcoal

The yakiniku grill we received contained some binchotan charcoal that were already preheated to extremely high temperatures. Please note that I was elected as the table's grill master, so there aren't as many photos as I would have liked.

beef tongue

The beef tongue highlighted both the fattiness of the beef as well as the texture. When cooked medium rare, the tongue exhibited a bit of crunchiness. Additionally, the marbled fat inside the tongue really permeated the flavor of the tongue.

filet mignon - shiitake, shishito, bell pepers, onions

Following the tongue, we received filet mignon along with a large selection of raw vegetables and vegetables for grilling.

momotaro tomatoes

With the filet a vegetables came the bowl of momtaro tomatoes, which was easily the favorite fruit selection of the table. 

The filet mignon was the consensus favorite of the entire table for the yakiniku portion of the meal. The filet was marinated to have a sweet flavor when grilled. Coupled with the tenderness of the filet and the amount of fat marbled in filet and it was an easy choice as the overall favorite.

outside rib eye

The outside rib eye highlighted an even fattier portion of the beef. This was mainly to contrast with the inside rib eye, which was brought out afterwards. Personally, I'm a fan of outside ribeye on the regular steak, so I am also a fan when they are contrasted in the yakiniku preparation as well.

inside rib eye

The inside rib eye had a similar sweet flavor that resembled the filet, but it contained much less fat. It was easily the least fatty cooked portion of the meal. The less fatty portions do a good job of highlighting the pure flavor of the beef without the fat flavor.

short rib - gal bi

Next, we were served some short rib (or gal bi), which was my favorite cooked protein. The short rib had the most fat content and hence the most luxurious mouth feel and fat flavor of beef to it. The meat was cooked to be extremely tender yet retain some chewiness.

skirt steak

The final cooked course was the skirt steak. I felt this was a contrast to the short rib as it was also a very fatty cut, except where the short rib exhibited fat marbling, the skirt steak exhibits more of a connective tissue fattiness. As a result the skirt steak also had the luxurious fatty mouth feel, but was chewier. 

egg drop soup

The final portion of the meal was an egg drop soup containing beef, beef stock, shiitake mushrooms, wakame, and perhaps other ingredients. The soup was a nice way to close out the meal as it brought a warm liquid feeling to the stomach.

Dessert:

espresso, pistachio, white chocolate ice cream, lychee, blueberry sorbet 

The meal finished with a selection of ice creams and sorbets. My favorites were the lychee and blueberry sorbets. 

Conclusion:

One makes the pilgrimage to Totoraku to pray at the altar to beef and experience all the flavors that beef has to offer. I am extremely privileged to have been able to make the journey and look forward to going back again in the future. Just like any pilgrimage, the adventure of Totoraku is not for the faint of heart - one must realize what they are getting into before making the commitment. However, those that make the journey an accept what it entails seem to all be mesmerized by the experience. 

As Totoraku is perhaps a one of a kind experience outside of Japan, it has great food and great friendly service, I award Totoraku the Terrabyte award. 

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The Gourmet Experience 2011

The Gourmet Experience is an annual event put on in San Diego showcasing pretty much anything food related. The event includes free samples of various local products, kitchen gadgets, appliances, demos, local food products, and alcohol. There are also three separate stages where Chefs demonstrate their skills in a culinary showcase. The Gourmet Expo is held at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in the O'Brien Hall. 

I was asked to cover this event by Duo Public Relations, who seems to represent one or more of the products  showcased at the show. Included as part of this were some complimentary passes to the event.

Covering this event calls for a new format of coverage, so I will showcase some products and follow the coverage with the Chefs I met during the show.

Product Showcase:

The Gourmet Expo is held in a typical trade show format where exhibitors get a booth to operate and give samples of their products to the attendees. Additionally, most of the products are available for purchase at the show at a discounted price.

In addition to the booths, there was a culinary challenge area that resembled some sort of Iron Chef or Chopped competition.

There was also a cake decorating contest, where the theme seemed to be creating a Halloween-themed cake.

As I attended the show on the final day, it seemed like the show wasn't as crowded, which worked to my advantage in being able to navigate the show floor.

Praline Patisserie is run by Chef Cruz Caudillo, who was the former pastry chef at Blanca when it was headed by Wade Hageman. Chef Caudillo now specialized in a caramel spread. The caramel was sweet, yet had a large body and depth of flavor that was backed up by one of the four flavors the caramel comes in. My personal favorite of the four spreads was the vanilla flavored spread as the vanilla added a nice body to the caramel and complimented the sweetness. The smoked applewood caramel was definitely unique, but I'm not too sure of its applications.

Chef Caudillo mentioned that he can be found at farmer's markets including Little Italy, La Jolla, Mission Hills, and Pacific Beach. His goal is to build a large enough nest egg to open his own patisserie full time.

By far the most popular show items were olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Many booths could be found featuring olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I probably sampled at least thirty different oils and fifteen different balsamics over the course of the day (and that's with skipping at least half of each).

The M5 booth was very interesting as it featured almost an entirely European market style selection of products. Pastas, oils, canned finish, and other preserved European products were available for purchase. 

Johanne's Brats had a long and steady line of attendees lining up for the chance to sample the sausages.

All the brats included a nice European mustard topping as well

The brats included in the sampler (from front to back) were the cheese brat, the jalapeno brat, and the regular beef and pork brat.

I happened to wander by this booth just as Chef Bernard Guillas of The Marine Room visited. Chef Guillas' booth was promoting his pollen seasonings.

The Muddy Waters Coffee Co was also present, showcasing the gourmet coffee. Their Crossroads coffee was a mix of El Salvador, Ethiopian, Peruvian, Sumatran, and Colombian. It didn't really have a large nose, which I typically expect from designer coffee, but it was very full bodied and had a smooth finish. I spoke to the representative and he said that he does a blend of Indonesia coffees including Bali, Papa New Guinea, and Timor, but was unable to have that available due to the simultaneous availability of coffee from that region.

While I was sampling the vodka at Pucker, I was informed that I lost my man card, as I was the only male drinking out of about ten other attendees. However, I did manage to get a great photo of one of the representative modeling the product. I was also later informed that I did indeed win my man card back and was given a free tshirt so I think I came out ahead.

A flight of St Helena Road Winery's current releases was available for sampling at the show. I felt the meritages were a little light in body, but I did enjoy the 2006 cabernet. The representative informed me that she was trying to get into some local wine stores.

Carlsbad Aqua Farms was also on had at the show, serving up shucked oysters as $5 per 3. While not quite a kunomoto, the Luna oysters are pretty close and have much more meat in them. Carlsbad Aqua Farms oysters can be found at Whole Foods Encinitas on weekdays.

Chefs:

Chef Sharone Hakman:

As I mentioned previously, there were also a variety of chef demonstrations at the show.

My personal favorite chef was Chef Sharone Hakman as he was the most approachable of all the chefs at the show. Chef Hakman was probably last seen as a semifinalist on Season 1 of Masterchef. Admittedly, I was somewhat skeptical on just how well some of the Masterchef contestants are able to cook after the show, but many of them appear to be having a lot of success.

Chef Hakman is currently promoting his personal line of BBQ sauce called Hak's BBQ, a chipotle bourbon bbq sauce that he used during the Masterchef competition to much success. When he was eliminated, Chef Gordon Ramsay recommended that Sharone bottle his sauce and sell it. Taking Chef Ramsay's advice, one year later Chef Hakman has his own line of BBQ sauce. Chef Hakman's BBQ sauce contains a rich mixture of many elements, and what makes it unique is that the consistency of the sauce is the result of the natural reduction and not the result of additives used to thicken the sauce. When you taste Hak's BBQ, you can definitely taste the additional depth in flavor of the sauce.

As I mentioned, Chef Hakman was much more approachable than some of the other chefs. When he did his cooking demonstration, he brought he food out for people to sample

grilled peach and fig salad with basil, feta, balsamic

peach, cucumber, tomato gazpacho with microgreens

slider

Chef Hakman made me a slider featuring his BBQ sauce. The beef was grass fed free pasture beef from Lindy and Grundy mixed in a 70-30 meat to fat ratio.

Chef Hakman was able to get perfect medium rare temperature on the burger. While it would be unfair to review a sample slider against some of the other burgers I've sampled, the beef patty used by Chef Hakman would have been enough for him to beat some of the burgers I've sampled. Additionally, the slightly sweet Hawaiian bun and the inclusion of the Hak's BBQ sauce added more depth of flavor and made the slider an enjoyable treat.

Chef Daniel Barron:

Chef Daniel Barron is the head chef at Blue Point Coastal Cuisine. Prior to working at Blue Point, Chef Barron was the head chef at Anqi when it was named one of the top ten molecular gastronomy menus by Gayot (#2). Chef Barron did a demo on fun cocktails using modern technique

Some of the highlights of Chef Barron's presentation included using liquid nitrogen:

He also dropped dried ice in a cocktail containing pieces of vacuum-dried watermelon that caused the watermelon to dance around inside the glass (sorry no photo).

Chef Barron's sample cocktail was a take on a cadillac margarita and included a kaffir lime foam, which featured xantham gum.

Chef Dave Martin:

Chef Dave Martin was a San Diego resident when he made it to the final four of Season 1 on Top Chef.

Chef Martin's presentation featured roasted brussel sprouts and brasied short rib. He was the funniest presenter because he seemed flustered while on stage worrying about time, and was drinking one of Chef Barron's cocktails to calm himself down. In short, it was everything we learned to know and love about Chef Martin when he was on Top Chef.

Unfortunately, I was unable to sample any of Chef Martin's food.

Flair Bartender Hayden "Woody" Wood:

Hayden Wood (or Woody as everyone calls him) was on hand during the show to demonstrate his flair bartending skills and autograph his book, Woody's Liquid Kitchen for those who purchased it. Woody was the opening act for Guy Fieri's roadshow.

While waiting for my sample cocktail, there was unfortunately a little accident so I didn't get a chance to sample the cocktail from Woody directly. Instead, I had to settle for a cocktail from his assistant

Since the cocktail I sampled wasn't from Woody's hands, I don't think it would be fair for me to review the cocktail I received. However, I was impressed by some of Woody's flair

Conclusion:

All in all, it was an enjoyable day at the Gourmet Expo. I was able to meet a lot of Chefs and sample a lot of the products on hand.

The best local product at the show was the Luna Oysters from Carlsbad Aqua Farm.

The best product overall was Hak's BBQ sauce for its complex full bodied flavors.

The best alcoholic product was the 2006 Maier Cabernet from St Helena Road Winery.

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