Yesterday, I was browsing through some photos of a trip to LA(Los Angeles, California) I took this year and came across some photos of a delicious meal I had.
I was eating "good" while in LA and was simply in awe of this Loch Duart Salmon ( roasted asparagus, preserved-lemon smashed potatoes and salmon with fried capers in a miso cream sauce that I had at a Japanese restaurant. I mean I have literally been craving that Salmon since I've been back and desperate enough to scour the internet in search of a duplicate recipe or some way to imitate that explosion of flavors at home. I didn't take any pics of what was the best meal that I've ever eaten in a restaurant. The Miso Cream sauce....Oh that MISO CREAM SAUCE was heavenly! Yes, it was that dayum good! Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos due to my forgetfulness after my early start on the raspberry-lemon drop martini's but I did take photos of the meal I am about to tell you about.
I am a Michael Jackson fan for those who may not have known so I ventured to Beverly Hills and stopped by Chakra( which is said to have been Michael's favorite restaurant)
Chakra specializes in modern Indian cuisine and although I can't say that I've ever really had Indian food, I was feeling very adventurous that day.
Chakra touts a seductive dining room, fashionable late night bar, three unique private VIP rooms and an outdoor patio. While the dress code could be considered casual(I didn't notice any "jeans" when I was there) the restaurant can be considered more upscale with mid (high to some) range meal prices.
Anyway, I browsed the menu and of course I chose Michael's favorite meal. No seriously it was Michael Jackson's favorite meal and if you are wondering how I know take a gander at this:
See! I told you! ;)
I enjoyed my glass of red wine while waiting for the first course, which was a mixed green salad, to arrive.
The salad was plated beautifully and the salad dressing( especially the yellowish colored dressing) was to die for. I've never had a salad plated this way and we assumed that we were to dip our salad in the dressing of our choice which is great for us dressing addicted gals who normally like our salads swimming in dressing.
The next course, of course was the appetizer which arguable may have been my favorite part of the meal. I chose the "Garlic Shrimps"( yes it said "shrimps" with an "s" on the menu)
It consisted of batter fried shrimp tossed in a tangy garlic sauce topped with scallions. one word for this: DELICIOUS!!
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also had some of the best Garlic Naan ever, I mean EVER! This Naan absolutely melted in your mouth. Nothing but velvety, garlicky, goodness!
the flavors were sublime, so many different tastes unfolding on the tongue
Next, for the third course, I chose "Channa Masala", a vegetarian dish of chick peas cooked with onion, tomato and Indian spices. Truth be told, I thought about skipping the vegetarian course..I know, I know, I'm such a bad "carnivore", but really ordering chick peas at a restaurant? Needless to say, I ordered and was more than pleasantly surprised with this dish.
It was absolutely wonderful. It had such great texture and was bursting with a myriad of exotic flavors which were sublime...so many different tastes exploding on my tongue that left me with( sorry to sound so cliche') a party in my mouth. I enjoyed this dish so much that me, missMan, oops I mean meat eater here would definitely order this again.
Now on to the main course. For this part of the meal I chose the Tandoori Salmon.
Other than the salmon and what appeared to be another full blown salad, I'm not exactly sure what the other greens on the plate were...perhaps spinach? It had a really weird texture, sort of like ummm..well I don't want to say mushy but an unusual texture for a leafy green vegetable. The texture felt as if it had been put through a food processor or pureed or something.
Again, delicious although I didn't much care for the sauce on the salmon but it was still quite tasty.
For the last course , I had the most wonderfully, mouth watering, jaw dropping, mouth-gasmic dessert ever! It was simply called "Magic Cube"
This delectably, sinful desert consisted of white and dark mousses(again from the menu) centered with liquor cherries and wrapped in a chocolate sheath. I can't say anything else but WOW!
As this was my first experience with Indian food ( aside from Naan) I can say that I truly enjoyed my meal. I needed to expand my horizons as far as eating is concerned. (hey, I want what I want). Usually, when I'm out, I stick with the tried and true. I have things that I always get regardless of which restaurant I'm in. This time, I made a concerted effort( with all of the restaurants I visited while in LA) to venture out of my comfort zone and choose a variety of foods that I, otherwise, would never think to try. I'm so glad that I did.
If you're ever in the LA, stop by Chakra...Your taste buds will thank you for it!!
Getting it right
,
I was eating "good" while in LA and was simply in awe of this Loch Duart Salmon ( roasted asparagus, preserved-lemon smashed potatoes and salmon with fried capers in a miso cream sauce that I had at a Japanese restaurant. I mean I have literally been craving that Salmon since I've been back and desperate enough to scour the internet in search of a duplicate recipe or some way to imitate that explosion of flavors at home. I didn't take any pics of what was the best meal that I've ever eaten in a restaurant. The Miso Cream sauce....Oh that MISO CREAM SAUCE was heavenly! Yes, it was that dayum good! Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos due to my forgetfulness after my early start on the raspberry-lemon drop martini's but I did take photos of the meal I am about to tell you about.
Chakra specializes in modern Indian cuisine and although I can't say that I've ever really had Indian food, I was feeling very adventurous that day.
Chakra touts a seductive dining room, fashionable late night bar, three unique private VIP rooms and an outdoor patio. While the dress code could be considered casual(I didn't notice any "jeans" when I was there) the restaurant can be considered more upscale with mid (high to some) range meal prices.
The salad was plated beautifully and the salad dressing( especially the yellowish colored dressing) was to die for. I've never had a salad plated this way and we assumed that we were to dip our salad in the dressing of our choice which is great for us dressing addicted gals who normally like our salads swimming in dressing.
The next course, of course was the appetizer which arguable may have been my favorite part of the meal. I chose the "Garlic Shrimps"( yes it said "shrimps" with an "s" on the menu)
Oh, I forgot to mention that I also had some of the best Garlic Naan ever, I mean EVER! This Naan absolutely melted in your mouth. Nothing but velvety, garlicky, goodness!
the flavors were sublime, so many different tastes unfolding on the tongue
It was absolutely wonderful. It had such great texture and was bursting with a myriad of exotic flavors which were sublime...so many different tastes exploding on my tongue that left me with( sorry to sound so cliche') a party in my mouth. I enjoyed this dish so much that me, miss
Other than the salmon and what appeared to be another full blown salad, I'm not exactly sure what the other greens on the plate were...perhaps spinach? It had a really weird texture, sort of like ummm..well I don't want to say mushy but an unusual texture for a leafy green vegetable. The texture felt as if it had been put through a food processor or pureed or something.
Again, delicious although I didn't much care for the sauce on the salmon but it was still quite tasty.
For the last course , I had the most wonderfully, mouth watering, jaw dropping, mouth-gasmic dessert ever! It was simply called "Magic Cube"
This delectably, sinful desert consisted of white and dark mousses(again from the menu) centered with liquor cherries and wrapped in a chocolate sheath. I can't say anything else but WOW!
As this was my first experience with Indian food ( aside from Naan) I can say that I truly enjoyed my meal. I needed to expand my horizons as far as eating is concerned. (hey, I want what I want). Usually, when I'm out, I stick with the tried and true. I have things that I always get regardless of which restaurant I'm in. This time, I made a concerted effort( with all of the restaurants I visited while in LA) to venture out of my comfort zone and choose a variety of foods that I, otherwise, would never think to try. I'm so glad that I did.
If you're ever in the LA, stop by Chakra...Your taste buds will thank you for it!!
Getting it right
,
