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Today's Water Grill is more a straightforward seafood house than a fine dining restaurant that is aiming to set the culinary world on fire. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
The chef has streamlined the main-course items, keeping them mostly straightforward and unencumbered with foams or complex sauces. Not as many exotics as Cimarusti ordered in his heyday or as complicated or stunning in their preparations. But on the other hand, prices, though still rather high (top-quality seafood is never inexpensive), are lower than before.SIV is a fan of the restaurant's "excellent" version of fish 'n' chips, and she also states that "[t]he kitchen excels at frying." With a more modern look and less complicated menu, SIV wonders whether this "old-fashioned seafood house...is maybe what Water Grill should have been all along." [LAT]
Though Gold argues that Sunny Spot is "nominally a Jamaican restaurant," he still appreciates the tropical flavors found in both food and drink: "Choi's heart may be in Kogi's kalbi tacos or A-frame's zaftig interpretation of Honolulu picnic feasts, but his groove works just as well on the breezy patio of Sunny Spot, amid the bottles of Red Stripe and the Old-Fashioneds made with Nicaraguan rum, the yucca fries and the skewered pineapple wedges dusted with chile powder. When a hoagie stuffed with pork terrine, sliced jalapeños, prosciutto and cheese seems to take its inspiration in equal parts from the Cuban sandwich, the Italian hero, the Mexican torta and the Vietnamese banh mi, you know you're in Roy Choi country." [LAT]
The Elsewhere: e*star LA visits Plan Check, Eat: LA discusses Clementine, Gastronomy dines at Drago Centro, kevinEats at BierBeisl, Midtown Lunch talks about Tochka, Refined Palate hits Tar & Roses, Sinosoul considers Shunji.
