Allston Yacht Club

I met up with a friend at the Allston Yacht Club to pre-celebrate the holiday before she left for New York. She lives within walking distance to AYC and wanted to dine there before the new year. I was expecting portholes and sailor outfits, but AYC is a simple, semi-modern colorful restaurant.

AYC continues its predecessor 15 with their early dinner 3-course dinner for $16 available from 5:30-7:30, Tuesdays to Saturdays. They offer brunch on Sunday from 10 to 3PM. I’ll have to go back for their early dinner. Since we went there after 7:30…we did not get the killer deal. Their dishes are “tapa” style--small (that’s why they’re “affordable”).

I wanted to order the Bacon & Egg Martini (Bacon Infused Vodka & a Pickled Quail Egg ) but our waiter warned that it wasn’t sweet. I can’t handle bitter drinks. I decided on the Hot Mrs. Santa, one of their Holiday drinks.

Boy did I ordered the wrong drink! Hot Mrs. Santa was revolting! It brought me back to my youthful days when I was sick and my mother would shove 44-D down my throat. The waiter was kind enough to let me switch to a glass of Pinot Grigio that was not memorable but at least I had no gag reflex.

For dinner we ordered the…

Cedar Planked Salmon (a filet topped with herb butter and broiled on a smoking cedar plank): There was nothing special about this dish. It wasn’t bad but at the same time it wasn’t memorable. At least I got my Omega 3 of the day.

Arancini (“Little oranges” in Italian. Risotto stuffed with peas and mozzarella rolled in panko and deep fried. Served on a tomatillo salsa crudo): This was my favorite dish of the night—maybe it was because the most filling dish. I do think their arancini is better than Little Dom’s.

Brie & Apple Sandwich: Like the salmon dish, it was ok but I could have easily made this dish at home.

Cheese, jam, olives and toast: We opted for cheese as our dessert. I love cheese. You can’t really go wrong with cheese unless you get the smelly gym locker cheese.

Overall, I find the food at Allston Yacht Club mediocre and it’s only worth dining here if you make it to their early 3-course dinner. Oh and if you have a KCRW Fringe Benefit Card, don't forget to use it like me.

Address: 1320 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
Phone#: (213) 481-0454
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OINKSTER

My friends and I have heard great things about Oinkster, so we headed there after wine tasting at Colorado Wine Company. It’s a cute joint with lots of outdoor seating and indoor seating. If you’re a KCRW member you get 15% off. I shared the pulled pork and pastrami. One of my friends is avoiding meat for lent so she went for the veggie burger. We all shared the Belgium fries and strawberry milkshake.

The pastrami was a bit fatty but still pretty tasty.

I was disappointed with the pulled-pork sandwich. I was expecting BBQ sauce in the sandwich but Oinkster’s is Carolina style so it’s more like a French dip sauce…which I find it a bit too bland for my taste buds.

Oinkster uses Folsom ice cream for their milkshake.

It was good but 8oz is better. My friend had high expectations with their veggie burger.

The Belgium fries tasted good with Oinkster’s ketchup and aioli sauce. However, we found a hair in one of the fries…yikes!

The hair was in the potato...?

We forgot to show our KCRW card for the discount, but management was kind enough to give us a carrot cupcake.

It was a bit odd that the carrot cupcake came before the peanut butter cupcake we purchased… The carrot cupcake was good and the peanut butter cupcake…well, let ‘s just say I prefer a p&b sandwich.




Well, I can check the Oinkster off my list.

Address: 2005 Colorado Blvd Eagle Rock, CA 90041
Phone#: (323) 255-6465
Rating: 2 out of 5

COLORADO WINE COMPANY

Jesus is a wino.

It’s true. His parables are about wine and he likes to turn water into wine. I wished I had that gift…I thought it was very fitting to go wine tasting at Colorado Wine Company in celebrating Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday with a couple of my friends. Every Sundays CWC has a lazy Sunday wine tasting from 1 to 4pm, but might extend pending on number of tasters for $12/person. You get to try four bottles of whatever they feel like, and that’s why they called it a “lazy” Sunday.

If you’re a KCRW member, you get 10% off the wine tasting and on any purchases. Once you pay up front, in the store area, you pick up an animal as proof of payment and head back to the small bar area in the back where the wine tasting is held.

I couldn't find a hippo, so I had to settle for a cow..

The space is smaller than 55 Degrees. Crackers, cheese and fruit is prepared by Auntie Em's Kitchen. Auntie Em knows how to pick her cheese! Delicious!

We started with the Sensation Fournier Sauvignon Blanc 2007, Loire, France ($12.99/btl); I forgot to take a picture of that bottle.

Next up, the Veit Piesporter Spatlese Riesling 2007, Masel, Germany ($21.99/btl).

Muga Seleccion Especial Rioja 2004, Rioja, Spain ($45.99/btl).

Alcione Aglianico 2004, Puglia, Italy ($17.99 btl).



Drew our host was great; he let us also sampled two other wine from the other night. I’ll admit I wasn’t crazy for any of the wine we tried… my other friends enjoyed some of the wines. I’m picky. Actually, I do recall the riesling. My friend said it's more of a German riesling where it's sweet. I normally hate riesling for that reason, but what's different is that it has a bitter finish to offset the sweetness. I hope my three purchased bottles that the staff recommended are good…I bought a CWC gift card when KCRW was doing its fundraising drive.

I’ll have to come back and try their wine tasting on Wednesday. They don’t offer cheese that day, but you can order a slice of pizza from Brownstone Pizzeria (a few doors down from CWC).

Address: 2114 Colorado Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90041
Phone#: (323) 478-1985
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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