Rate-A-Restaurant #286: Bashan

Restaurant: Bashan

Location: 3459 N. Verdugo Road (Glendale)

Type of restaurant: French, American



We stipulated: It was date night -- the kids were at their cousins' house -- and it was a perfect moment to use a Groupon we had purchased for Bashan. As a bonus, it's Restaurant Week, so this was out one chance to partake in a dineLA menu.

They stipulated: "Bashan Restaurant is a casual fine dining neighborhood restaurant. Constantly searching for the best ingredients, our menus are farmer’s market driven and change seasonally. We incorporate classic French technique in all of our preparations infusing California, Mediterranean and Asian practices." Bashan also offers a $40 prix fixe menu on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and burger night on Sundays.



What we ordered: We both got the $45-per-person dineLA menu.



Appetizers: Pork Belly "Teriyaki" (crispy rice cake, togarashi, braised scallions, pickled apples) and Wild Fijian Albacore Sashimi (papaya, nori, pickled daikon & red jalapeño, ponzu).



Main: Olive Oil Poached King Salmon (Okinawa yams, braised bacon, celery root, sweet peppers, pecans, crispy skin, beurre rouge) and Seared Maine Scallops (marrow beans, Spanish chorizo, mussels, peppadew peppers, grapes, sherry).



Dessert: Brioche Chocolate Bread Pudding (chocolate sauce, cocoa nibs, vanilla ice cream) and Coffee Tiramisu (pistacho, cocoa nibs).



High point: The scallops -- particularly, that broth -- were amazing.

Low point: Strangely, after small but satisfying dishes, the desserts were enormous. Of course, it was overwhelming. We were the last seating, and perhaps they had enough left over that they were being generous.



Overall impression: Bashan has been recognized around town as one of L.A.'s best restaurants, and we can see why. From a amuse bouche (above) at the start to the atmosphere and attentive wait staff, it was a nice experience.



Chance we'll go back: High chance. The dineLA menu wasn't quite as adventurous as we wold have liked, so we definitely want to check out Bashan's regular menu.

DineLA's Restaurant Week Gets Into the Food Truck Craze

The first-ever fall edition of DineLA's popular Restaurant Week takes place Oct. 4-9 and 11-16, once again offering prix fixe menus at popular eateries all over town. Over 260 restaurants are participating.

To spread the word, DineLA has taken to the current food truck trend, sending top chefs out to hand out free food all over Los Angeles this week. Yesterday, The Foundry on Melrose's chef/owner Eric Greenspan and sous chef Nick Russo were outside the Variety Building, and we were there to sample a few free goodies:


Carmelized scallops (with spinach, almonds and curry)


Tuna tartare (with bok choy, orange and soy)

Both items will be featured on the Foundry's Dine LA menu ($44 for an appetizer, mid-course, entree and dessert).



Here's the rest of the week's DineLA food truck stops:

Sept. 30, Santa Monica: Anisette Brasserie Executive Chef, Alain Giraud
Oct. 1, Beverly Hills: Lawry's, The Prime Rib Executive Chef, Walter Eckstein
Oct. 2, Downtown: Rosa Mexicano, Executive Chef John England

Check out DineLA's Twitter account for exact locations.

Rate-A-Restaurant, #157 in a series

Restaurant: Tiara Cafe

Location: 127 E 9th Street, Los Angeles (Downtown)

Type of restaurant: Bakery, Californian, Eclectic

We stipulated: A friend and I wanted to take advantage of the "Dine L.A." promotion. Yet most spots we called said they weren't open for Sunday lunch, or weren't honoring the Dine L.A. menu on Sundays. That left us with few choices. Tiara Cafe was one of them. Big mistake.



What we ordered: Smoked Duck Media Noche Pressed Cuban Sandwich ($10) and Artichoke and Goat Cheese Frittata ($8.50)

High point: Zero. Nada. Zilch. Zip. Wala.

Low point: We specified the Dine L.A. menu when we made reservations and the person on the other end took a note of it and acknowledged our request. The only waiter there took our order off the Dine L.A. menu, only to return twenty minutes later to say that they were not serving the Dine L.A. menu on weekends.



Overall impression: There is no redeeming quality to this restaurant at all. Are we supposed to be dazzled by their jewel-like, high-ceilinged decor that we ignore the mediocre food and slow service? Granted, we were sympathetic to the lone waiter on his first day as he tried to handle the half-filled restaurant, but that is just bad restaurant management if you ask me. Downtown L.A. may be starved for more restaurants but there is more to opening a restaurant than having a cool locale.

Chance we will go back: No way in hell.

For a complete list of our over 150 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.