LudoBites 8.0

Another LudoBites is here to grace us with its presence ... and it'll be the last one to take advantage of for awhile, as it has just been announced today that LudoBites 9.0 is going to be in Hawaii. This time working in a datacenter was no help to me; even though I have a direct access to the Internet at a blindingly fast rate (I think Urbanspoon may actually be one of our tenants somewhere), the reservations this time were on a lottery basis. The chances worked out to about a 5% success rate in securing a reserevation. However, there were tables available through walk-ins and cancellations.

Every other time, Boyfriend and I go by ourselves and can't order more than about ten dishes to split amongst the two of us. This time, our friends Brian and Vanessa came along and I was able to say "We'll take the entire menu" ... it was very exciting for me! I'm very glad they were up for the adventure/experience too. These pictures are courtesy of Brian (with Vanessa and Boyfriend performing crucial lighting duties) ... he's a great photographer with an amazing camera, as you will see below. My point and shoot simply could not compare, or take good pictures, with the low lighting where we were sitting.

chicken tandoori crackling

brioche seaweed yuzu butter

uni crème brûlée, coffee

sweet shrimp, miso cream, beans, smoked salmon

day boat scallop, leek, potato, black truffles

foie gras, tamarin, turnips, daikon

razor clam, avocado, yuzu cream, apple, lavender

raw beef, radish, beets, eel

big eye tuna, tahitian vanilla, somen, 7 flavor vinagrette

monkfish liver, cucumber, cornichons, mustard seeds

veal, black olive tapenade crust, orange caramelized endive, clementine beurre blanc

john dory, squash, spelt, fennel, tonka beans

jidori half chicken, parmesan, celery root soubise, walnuts

goat cheese profiterole, pistachio, crispy leaves

lemon meringue, poppy seed crumble, extra virgin olive oil

brown butter almond cake, apples, salted caramel, orange creamsicle

Sixteen courses and they were great. Especial favorites of mine were the broiche, uni crème brûlée, scallop, raw beef, veal and the desserts. I'm really glad Vanessa and Brian enjoyed their first time; maybe we can all go together every time! The location was a bit further out (Westside) but since we had late reservations, traffic was light. We didn't finish up and leave until 11:30pm. Getting up for work this morning was killer. What was also killer was the playlist - 90s hip hop and rap. Tupac, The Luniz, Bone Thugz N Harmony, Dr Dre, Snoop Dog, etc serenaded us sweetly while we had dinner.

It was good to see Krissy and Ludo again. I also ran into another food blogger that I've been following for a long time, Adam Roberts of The Amateur Gourmet. I had run into him before when I was in New York (at Joe's Coffee, after eating at Pearl Oyster Bar mmmmm) and he was living there. He's recently moved to Los Angeles with his boyfriend - hi again and welcome to sunny LA, guys! I'm sure you're loving it here now, especially when you look at the weather reports for the East Coast ...

Lemon Moon Restaurant
12200 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064