XYCLO Restaurant/Lounge - Exploring the flavors of Vietnam



Ruby Red & Inviting

If you know me, you know I love to try new things. If you read this column it’s likely become fairly obvious that I rarely turn down an opportunity to experience something new in the way of the food itself. What a delightful gift it is, that in order to maintain healthy lives, we are required to partake daily of these edible wonders, these meals that give us pleasure while sustaining us. The promise of farm-fresh produce, artisanal baked goods, marvelous proteins, or rich and creamy dairy all at once or in some lovely combination. Some days I crave the familiar — maybe a particular dish I know a restaurant faithfully maintains on its menu, or a set of established flavor profiles I know I will experience under the masterful hand of a favorite chef. While many modern restaurants possess an ever-changing menu, they can usually be counted on to have a “cravable” point of view.
There are other days when an experiment is in order. My taste buds speak to me. They say it is time to take them on an adventure. To veer off the familiar path and try something, well, different. So I will look at my list of places I can go to experience my life through eating a fine meal, and I will try to find something that I haven’t tried before. On these days a new restaurant, as opposed to merely a new dish, is often the very best of adventures. My palate craves a new flavor profile to wake it up. I answer with the unanticipated. As my mouth responds to the notion, I begin to salivate at the prospect, and the journey to discovery begins.

As it so happened, a friend of mine, the Partner’s Wife, had recently suggested I try one of her favorite restaurants, Xyclo. Xyclo is situated on Piedmont Avenue, not far from Adesso. It defines itself as serving a Modern Vietnamese Fusion, which sounded really intriguing, so at long last, I was on my way to check it out and see for myself what all the fuss was about. Chef Vy Lieou did not disappoint.

The BH and I perused the menu, and found quite a few dishes that interested us both. We began with a drink (non-alcoholic) the waitress suggested called the Raspberry Spritzer. Lovely in flavor and aspect, it was a beautiful rosy concoction, and extremely refreshing. Once we’d cleansed our palates with the fruit drink, the staff began bringing the various dishes we’d decided to try. The first was a Vietnamese Carpacchio. The BH and I had experienced Asian-style raw beef before. It is usually sliced very thin and served cured in some sort of citrus fruit juice or vinegar mixture. This version was cured only in lime juice, and flavored with fresh basil, and razor thin slices of red onion. It was absolutely delicious.



Shrimp Rolls



The next thing we tried was even more adventurous. Aptly titled Seven Elements the dish is a Vietnamese treat. If you have never tried a lettuce wrap before, and you think you don’t like things that come in green, you might want to check this one out. The job of lettuce in a “lettuce wrap” is to provide a cooling texture to fatty or spicy foods. This version was lighter than the fried rice mixture served in lettuce by the Laotians and contains seven toppings meant to be mingled and experienced in combinations of 2 or 3 at a time, or all together. The components in the dish were bits of lime with the rind attached, some delicately flavored dried shrimp, cashews, shredded coconut, minced jalapeno, fresh ginger, and fresh finely diced onion. There was also a light dipping sauce, that was very much in consistency like a home made plum sauce. I enjoyed the texture of the elements themselves together. I found the rind was initially a texture so unique and unfamiliar that it was almost too much, being both a little hard and yet unusually chewy. After a moment I gave myself over to the unfamiliarity and really began to enjoy it. It was a little like visiting a foreign country, where I would like to think I would let them show me how to eat their delicacies with an open mind. The flavors were light and springy and really quite inviting. The accompanying plum sauce had a creamy chunky texture to it that was also new to me, but I enjoyed it with the rest of the dish.

After experiencing the previous dish, we were ready for something a bit more familiar. We were rewarded with Fried Shrimp Roll a more traditional Asian fare featuring loads of hot, puffy shrimp, soft and sweet. The fresh shrimp was cooked perfectly, and so was succulent and delicious.



7 ingredient magic

 BH loves his soup. He can’t enjoy any form of Asian food without it. Occasionally I make a face and he’ll pretend to consider not ordering soup, but then I relent. It’s this little dance we do. Not that I have anything against soup really, but some days’ it’s a lot to eat with everything else. Soup kinda fills me up. Today’s version was a well-seasoned, peppery Won Ton Soup. Since every place does a Won Ton Soup, and the broth is generally a version of a chicken stock, the flavors can be underdeveloped, particularly of the broth. This soup was just the opposite. The stock flavors were complex and really well-developed. Soup needs to sit and brew, for it to really come together and this soup had been completely finessed. All the flavors blended beautifully, allowed to mature properly within the broth. Even the dumplings were plump and juicy. Just marvelous.

All in all we found the food fresh and inviting, the staff courteous and prompt, and the atmosphere homey with nice modern touches. There were loads of families with kids, so my guess is that some of the other less adventurous dishes would appeal to youngsters. Though we didn’t indulge, they have a bar. After a nice meal, the tab was also quite reasonable.

So I say, go, check it out for yourself. Bon Appetit!

Xyclo
4218 Piedmont Ave
(between Entrada Ave & Glenwood Ave)
Oakland, CA 94611
(510) 654-2681

http://www.xyclorestaurant.com/
 
Table size: adequate
Sound levels: fairly quiet
Cost: Moderately inexpensive

ROAD TRIP: Los Angeles - Land of the Pretty, Golden People Eating Loads of Magical Food



Chocolate Mousse, Semifreddo - in Three's at XIV

 Fairly recently I lost the frequent company of my youngest daughter to the gaping maw that is Southern California. Initially, I fought it a bit. When she first moved to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB rather than UC Berkeley, she reassured her mother that she merely wanted to be near a beach during college. Her move to the South wasn’t more than that. A temporary stay at a desirable institute of higher learning. I let myself succumb to maternal delusions of impermanence. We believe what we want to believe.

Some time later I was, of course, thrilled when she was accepted to Boalt Hall School of Law. Her first choice of law schools, I knew this would necessitate the then Grad Student’s move back home to attend classes in Berkeley. It did and she was close once more. I saw her often. I allowed myself to adopt a false sense of security. She would settle in San Francisco once she passed the bar. Life was good again.



Another tasty protein at XIV, this time Filet of Beef 

 But, that’s not how it worked out. After completing her first year at UC Berkeley Law, she spent the summer interning for a Big Firm in Century City (living the dream in West Hollywood with another young beauty, both having the time of their young lives). When the internship concluded, she was offered a job at that prestigious Los Angeles law firm, and in case you weren’t aware, there’s a recession and high-paying jobs for young people fresh out of law school are hard to come by, even for top ten school grads. So that was that. At least for now.

The part I haven’t shared is that as a result of all this Los Angeles and SoCal living, the Baby Lawyer (she has graduated, so we can clearly no longer use her former moniker “Grad Student”) had gotten a taste of a lifestyle she’d not previously experienced. Raised in a suburb she now lovingly refers to as “the ghetto” BL hadn’t ever seen the inside of anything much fancier than a Hungry Hunter until she was about seventeen or so. She was fond of cheese and beef and not much else. But college gradually changed all that, and after the BL’s summer in WaHo, she was ready for the big time. Nice clothes, good food, and a fancy car. The better life that’s what we all want for our kids, yes?

The Big Firm treated her to meals at some of LA’s nicest eating establishments, and the Baby Lawyer began to acquire quite a discerning palate. Her favorite appetizer used to be cheese sticks, now it is seared fois gras. She has definitely developed a taste for the finer things in life. Her father and I visited her over that first summer, and I found we really enjoyed sharing our mutual love for food-based outings with our adult child. During the three years she spent at Berkeley, we spent many evenings (and if you read this column, several afternoons as well) enjoying some of the best restaurants in the East Bay.

 As a result of her relocation, we have discovered that it eases the pain of our separation to visit the BL in Los Angeles and continue to share our newfound hobby of breaking very fancy bread. We enjoyed our first visit two years ago so much that we again made a point to visit her while locked away during this most recent summer studying for the California Bar examination. We decided as a family that the best respite from homework overload is a yummy prix fixe menu. Which brings me to the food we enjoyed on this most recent trip.


Ravioli with Truffles at XIV




First night there, we arrived in town around five-thirty, in time to check in at the Marmont and dress for our dinner reservations at Michael Minna’s XIV. This visit, we changed hotels from the Roosevelt to the Chateau Marmont, having had an erratically odd stay at the Roosevelt on the last go round (another story all its own). The BH and I both felt the Marmont was a far superior experience for many reasons, not the least of which its attention to its guests. Though we are not celebrities, we were made to feel like we were. It was more than chic, it was downright homey.

The Marmont is within walking distance to XIV, being maybe half a block away. This may be why the BL selected XIV as our first outing. None of us had been there before, so we were able to discover its attributes together. The service structure is uniquely inventive. They have a prix fixe menus that allows diners to select either seven, eleven or fourteen items, provided everyone in the dining party picks the same maximum number of items.



Lobster Pot Pie, ala Michael Mina



The items arrive in perhaps the cutest presentation I’ve ever seen, and though it is painfully cute, it serves a practical function as well. All dishes arrive on these clever little trays designed to display each diner’s portion. They give the impression of an hors d’oeuvres platter that just keeps coming, each time with a new treat and presentation. We happened to be a trio of diners, so each of our selections were presented in threes. Each dish blissfully tasty. I don’t take detailed notes on vacation, so I can’t describe each dish, and for that I apologize. There are however, a few exceptions.

The first is the Lobster Pot Pie. The BH and I first tasted this dish at a Valentines’ Day dinner at Michael Mina in Las Vegas a number of years ago. We were both really impressed. The name alone conjures up memories of childhood chicken pot pies, fresh out of the oven, steamy and chock full of chicken stewy goodness and carbs. Remember those inexpensive ones you had as a kid that let’s face it, really were tasty? Mina’s is something more high end, with a crust so light and flaky it could be clouds baked in butter. There is nothing more pleasant in the mouth than a bite of perfectly prepared pie crust. Michael Mina’s genius with seafood also expresses itself magnificently in this dish. A perfect rendition of those yummy pie of childhood, but instead of chicken it is chock-full of lobster. Simple hearty perfection at its best. You cannot possibly consider leaving this world before you have tasted a Michael Mina Lobster Pot Pie.

The other standout that comes to mind was the barbeque pork sandwich I had at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City. BL took us there the first summer she spent in LA. The folks she worked with at the Big Firm had taken her there for lunch one day, and we were likewise immediately enamored of the food at Ford’s. Ford’s Filling Station is owned and operated by Harrison Ford’s son, and seems to be a sort of throwback-homage to the diners of the forties. Actually, Culver City is a food haven worth exploring on its own merits, not to mention the star sightings one almost always makes there, given its proximity to Sony. The meat on this sandwich was smoky bliss, gently blanketed by a tangy dressing. The side of baked beans was creamy and flavorful.

The highlight of our trip was to be a trip to Melisse in Santa Monica, which is a spectacular restaurant headed by Chef Josiah Citrin. Long story short, I didn’t make it due to a last minute health issue, so I had to send my family off for the meal of a lifetime. They didn’t even feel guilty. They returned to the hotel with stories of champagne, celebrity spotting (Brandon Routh was celebrating a birthday at the next table) and fois gras. Grr.


Pork Sandwich @ Ford's Filling Station

 The little one has secured an apartment in Santa Monica, right on the beach. She begins permanent residence in SoCal as soon as she returns to the States from Europe. Though I’m a Northern California Girl, and Los Angeles in my mind will forever be the place that teems with perfectly groomed, blindingly shiny, overly brand-conscious people, I must say when I think about the food, I find I am looking forward to future visits with an emotion that does not resemble dread at all. If you too, are planning a trip South, check out any one of the following restaurants. Air kisses to all, and Bon Appetit! .

XIV (high end small plates - multiple prix fixe - emphasis on sea food)
(by Michael Mina)
8117 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
(323) 656-1414
http://www.michaelmina.net/ - select XIV (Fourteen) from California menu

Melisse Restaurant (even higher end dining, seasonal California Upscale)
1104 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-0881
http://www.melisse.com/

Ford’s Filling Station (upscale diner)
9531 Culver Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232-2618
(310) 202-1470
http://www.fordsfillingstation.net/

Rock Sugar Pan Asian Kitchen (This is in the mall. It has a huge menu of Asian Cuisine selections: Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, etc., including some fusion dishes)
10250 Santa Monica Blvd # 654
Los Angeles, CA 90067-6609
(310) 552-9988
http://www.rocksugarpanasiankitchen.com/

Next “away game” will be the saga of my pre-Fashion Week trip to the Big Apple to visit with my eldest daughter. The Makeup Artist who has settled in comfortably on the Isle of Manhattan, finding herself in high demand every Fashion Week, as NYC scrambles to stay one step ahead of every trend. It’s a similar story of maternal angst, fabulously talented offspring and great food. Stay tuned.

NINNA - Checking up on an old favorite

Years ago the BH and I used to walk with a co-worker to a place we liked on Piedmont avenue. The co-worker was ahead of the foodie curve, and she was always finding the latest yummy place to eat somewhere, as well as encouraging my BH to take long healthy walks. Needless to say, when she moved to Indianapolis, I was bummed big time to lose a valued eating buddy.

Their trademark is that they prepare food with a primarily mediterranean style, and fuse their dishes with hint of various traditional Thai spices.

The other day I had a doctor's appointment nearby, so the hubby and I walked over to Ninna to see if it was still as good as we remembered. We have always enjoyed the food there, so we were looking forward to a treat.

When we arrived at the early portion of the lunch hour it appeared just as we remembered. The pleasant woman who greeted us must be Ninna. We have always assumed she was the owner. She has the intimate presence of a person who is more than an employee and seems to care if you have a pleasant experient. She was very attentive, but we were the only patrons in the restaurant for most of our stay. One other patron arrived eventually, though it remained just the two tables for the better part of the meal.

She seated us quickly and brought us each a menu. I'm not sure if it was my memory, or if my food tastes have just outgrown this place, but the menu seemed to be lacking many of the previous dishes I had enjoyed. Most of the choices seemed uninspired and bare-bones. We were hungry so we tried to go with it.

The BH had the Fisherman's soup, a variation on a sort of bouilliabase, consisting of mussel's calamari and shrimp. He asked that they prepare it mild, and they said they could comply, though when it came it was visibly laden with red pepper flakes. He ate around them. I ordered the Grilled Chicken Breast with peanut sauce and spring mixed salad. My husband enjoyed his soup, but he didn't seem overly impressed. I found my chicken breast a bit dry and the sauce was ordinary. The salad was also a bit underdressed and notably unremarkable in its flavors. Remembering the delicacies of flavors enjoyed here in the past made it all the more unimpressive.

It seemed a bit of a shame, as this had been a place we had kept on the top of our favorite places to eat list for such a long time. I don't know if the restaurant has failed to keep up with current food trends, remaining true to is former self and being left in the dust by the natural passage of time, or the quality has actually slipped a bit. Either way, it was a disappointment. Nothing was terrible, it was an adequate meal, and the prices were reasonable, so no harm done.

Sometimes a walk down memory lane brings back experiences or tastes we can treasure. Sometimes it is just a walk. But a walk isn't necessarily a bad thing. Maybe it's just me. If you want to prove me wrong, check it out. This is a tough industry and maybe they were just having an off day.

Bon Appetit!

Ninna Restaurant

4066 Piedmont Avenue

Oakland, CA 94611

510-601-6441

http://www.ninnarestaurant.com/

Tables - cramped

Price Range - Moderate - Lunch entrees $8 - 12

Dining Time - in and out in easily under an hour over lunch time

DRAGON ROUGE - thru the tube to begin

So, yeah, this blog is about Oakland food, but Alameda is almost Oakland. Half my family settled there in the twenties, before my half moved through the tube to Oakland. I was visiting a particular favorite of mine the other night and anxious to begin writing food. The name of the place is Dragon Rouge, it calls itself a Vietnamese Bistro, and it is an amazing treat of eating enjoyment. Last Friday night, my better half (from here on out we'll just call him "BH" for short) and I stopped in for a bite to eat.

We began with cocktails. Dragon Rouge recently expanded to a full bar. Yay~! I had the Dragon's Kiss Martini (which is a fantastic blend of mango, liquor and a hint of Sriracha hot pepper sauce). Okay, sounds weird right? Kinda is, but so good I had two. The combination of the thick sweet mango and the after sip heat left by the Sriracha was bliss. BH had the Dragon Berry Punch. This was a fruity stew of goodness. The kind of drink you want to have way too many of.

Once we have been at this for awhile, I will try to teach BH not to get his hands in my photos. But for now, you can at least get the gist of the drinks.

So on to the meal. We ordered Mango Steak Blankets, Lemon Grass Chicken Rolls, Curry Chicken and a half order of the Mekong Skewer Platter. The waitress (who was as helpful as she was beautiful) brought us the Mango Steak Blankets to start. We were starving so we dived in. There is no describing these delicacies until you have tried them. It is a steak strip of some sort wrapped around the tiniest slice of mango and a tiny bit of green onion. The meat is moist, juicy and perfectly cooked. These babies just about melt in your mouth. BH usually doesn't like his meats with anything sweet and so we had not ordered them together in our many trips here. He recognized the error of his ways at first bite. The "blankets" are accompanied by a lovely, yet simple lemon-lime and salt & pepper dipping sauce, in addition to the standard sweet & sour.

After the Mango Steak Blankets came the Lemon Grass Chicken Roll. These rolls are a lovely example of the raw fresh spring roll. They are well seasoned, extremely fresh and all around goodness. They were immediately followed by the Mekong Skewer Platter (did I mention the service was great? She brought everything right out as it came off the grill. Hot, steamy and fresh!)

The small version of the platter contains one of each protein selection, beef, pork, shrimp and chicken. All are done to perfection. One might think that they'd get at least one of the meats wrong, since they all cook at such different temps, but no. Each was done exactly the way it should be and had that beautiful smoky barbeque flavor. We had initially ordered the larger platter, but the waitress kindly told us it was pretty big, and so might be too much for us. We went with her suggestion, and she was correct. The small platter was sufficient. They next brought us the Curry Chicken and some brown rice to finish off the main courses. The curry chicken is unremarkably delicious. It's really really good. Really simple, and not spicy.

My BH is a pretty serious eater, so we were ready for more, and ordered dessert. The deep fried Banana Samosa is exactly what it sounds like. A yummy, crunchy, hot and cold pile o' goodness. If you are a fan of bananas fried in any manner, it's not to be missed.

Dragon Rouge is located at 2304 Encinal Avenue, Alameda, Ca. The phone is 510-521-1800 and their website is http://www.dragonrougerestaurant.com/.

Bon Appetit!

Price: Moderate

Eating Time: Lunchable

Table size: Adequate