MVP Seafood

It's not often that I blog about Chinese restaurants around the SGV, but this opportunity was too good to pass up. Probably because I ate so much seafood that I wanted to pass out ... see the theme there? Sometimes I go to American seafood places (like McCormick & Schmitt, which my dad loves but I despise) and wonder why their prices are so high compared to these Asian places in the SGV, especially for crab and lobster. We ordered all this seafood and the total came out to be a few bucks less than $150, with tax and tip included.

hand-shredded house chicken

mirugai / giant clam / geoduck sashimi

Let me take a minute to say OMGZ on this. The mirugai in sushi form usually runs an average of $7-8 for two pieces and here it is, an entire plateful in all it's fine glory. Freshly killed and sliced up. The restaurant was having a special where the mirugai was only $5.99/lb if you order at least $35 worth of food, which was easily done.

mirugai / giant clam / geoduck soup

After you eat the sashimi, the restaurant will take the body cavity portion of the mirugai and cook it in soup, rice, or congee/jook/porridge form. My parents wanted to order the soup but I think the congee would have been delicious.

dungeness crab, ginger green onion style

lobster, house style 

large pea leaves with garlic

complimentary red bean soup dessert

Red bean soup is delicious. I drank my portion and wheedled my way into drinking my mom's portion too. Couldn't take my dad's, even though he offered, cause it was his birthday ... next time though, all bets are off. Get yourself down to MVP Seafood for some super fresh lobster and mirugai! Everything we had was top notch and I was more impressed than I thought I'd be.

MVP Seafood
545 W Valley Blvd, San Gabriel, CA 91776

Animal

Ahh, Animal. Ever since you opened, you've attracted hordes of hungry carnivores. On your extensive, meat-centric menu, you have but a handful of vegetarian dishes. Even though the ban of foie gras caused you to take some much loved items off your menu, such as the foie gras loco moco, you are still full of satisfied and meat-sweating customers every night.

My first time at Animal was prior to the ban and I only recently returned with a couple friends who were interested to try the place out. Lady Ducayne's man was working there at the time (hey hey Mari!) but I was only able to quickly wave to him through the kitchen before going back to the table. We ordered a bunch of dishes to share between us (the restaurant is family-style) and they demanded my full attention!

shrimp & rabbit sausage spring roll, mizana, green curry

The spring rolls were tasty ... but if they're fried then aren't they eggrolls? Am I wrong? Should I turn in my Asian card right now?! One of my friends refused to eat the spring roll cause umm ... she has a couple pet bunnies. But her husband had no qualms about eating them! In fact, he was the one that wanted to order them. She thought he was a barbarian.

charred octopus, rancho gordo bean, pistou, dandelion

roasted peaches, hazelnut, buttermilk, white currants, crispy ham

crispy pig head, short-grain rice, bulldog sauce, soy egg

barbeque pork belly sandwiches, slaw

poutine, oxtail gravy, cheddar

grilled quail, plum char-siu, pear, apple, yogurt, pomegranate

persian mulberry tart, lemon chiboust, vanilla, black mint

blueberry, frozen brown butter crumble, yogurt, bay leaf ice cream

Favorite dishes were the pork belly sliders and the blueberry dessert, hands down. Actually the desserts were pretty strong here the other time I visited as well. I wasn't blown away by the bacon crunch bar the last time I had it, so we didn't order it again. These two fruit-based desserts were the perfect ending to a heavy meal.

Animal Restaurant
435 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036