Ravenous Rob’s Restaurant Reviews

230 E 9th St
New York, NY 10079 (Map)
212-228-8030

Price: $$$

Cuisine: Japanese (Tea, Snacks, and Dessert)

This little tea house in the East Village really is like a bit of Japan stuck in New York. Which, considering how cosmopolitan New York pretends to be, shouldn’t be so rare, but in fact is. The menu here has very little range: a few savory snacks, a small selection of desserts, and a very large selection of teas from both Japan and elsewhere. The savory snacks are a mixed bag, but the more Western style desserts are very good, and the teas worth the rather steep pricetag (they do at least provide refills of hot water).  Ravenous Rob’s picks here: the chocolate souflee with a somewhat tart raspberry sauce, and the Uji sencha.

21 W Victoria St
Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (Map)
805-564-7100
(Web Site)

Price: $$$$$$$$$

Cuisine: American

Ravenous Rob never really liked the idea of California cuisine. It was pretty much a term without meaning, translating in  effect to “whatever the chef decides to throw together.”  But specific incidences can be very tasty, and such is the case with Epiphany.  The dishes here are relatively simple, but high quality, fresh ingredients combined in complementary ways can go a long way.  Standouts from Ravenous Rob’s recent visit included a roast beet salad with dill, nasturtium, and goat cheese, braised lamb shank on a bed of garlic saturated spinach, and a creme brulee bursting with the flavor of fresh vanilla beans. Not quite so impressive were the wild mushroom fettucine, which become tiresome partway through the portion, and a somewhat mundane chocalate souffle.  Nonetheless, even the down notes here are better than the best at many a place.  With service whose fecklessness is luckily superceded by its graciousness.

8660 Banker’s St
Florence, KY 41042 (Map)
859-525-6564
(Web Site)

Price: $$$$

Cuisine: Japanese

Authentic, high-quality Japanese food in Kentucky, of all places? It seems a mystery until one learns that Northern Kentucky is host to Toyota’s USA headquarters. Ravenous Rob is filled with a newfound appreciation for the automaker for allowing this place to survive in otherwise inhospitable territory. And what a place it is! There are things on this menu that are difficult to find in Los Angeles and New York, like dishes using tororo (basically, slimy Japanese mountain potato) and the sushi is actually pretty decent for a place so far inland. The menu has a wide variety, but you might want to indulge in some of the rarer fare.

52-54 High St
Salisbury, Wiltshire
SP1 2PF (Map)
01722 341333

Price: $$$$$$

Cuisine: Italian

It’s really amazing how much food in Britain has improved in the last ten years. London has gotten most of the attention in this regard, but even in smaller towns there is now a chance of finding not just decent, but genuinely very good, dining. Located in Salisbury, which has not only one of England’s finest cathedrals, but is also conveniently close to Stonehenge and the ruins of Old Sarum, Prezzo is built into a row of old timber-framed houses. There’s nothing particularly fancy on the menu here, but good, fresh ingredients prepared well result in tasty food. On his last visit, Ravenous Rob tried penne with chicken with broccoli in a light tomato cream sauce, sprinkled with a touch of chili and pizza with proscuitto and arugula, both excellent. An apple crumble with fresh cream more than served for dessert. This restaurant is apparently part of a chain, making Ravenous Rob wonder yet again why it is that American chain restaurants inevitably turn out so awful. With notably generous portions for this style of dining.

88 W Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91105 (Map)
626-396-0956
(Web Site)

Price: $$$

Cuisine: Bakery/Soup and Sandwich

Ravenous Rob finally got around to trying this Belgian chain and was pleasantly suprised. The food here is simple, and primarily shines because of the freshness and quality of its ingredients, not because of any particular skill or creativity of the preparation. Menu items are oriented towards consumers concerned with organic ingredients and health, occasionally to the detriment of taste — a little extra creamy richness could benefit a few offerings. Overall, though, the fresh, clean taste is an advantage. The service can be a bit feckless at times, but is pleasant and well-mannered, and the staff does a good job of making up for mistakes. With breakfast notably served on weekends until 3pm.

545 Lighthouse Ave
Pacific Grove, CA 93950 (Map)
831-373-8523

Price: $$$$$$

Cuisine: Italian

Step past the rather silly name and inside you’ll find one of the best Italian food experiences Ravenous Rob has had in years. Although nothing here is fancy, the ingredients here are high-quality (and where possible, actually imported from Italy) and the dishes executed with skill and confidence. The staff here are both inefficient and personable in true Italian style; if possible come when the place is less busy and you’ll have a better experience.

18450 Victory Blvd
Tarzana, CA (Map)
818-881-3118

Price: $$

Cuisine: Greek

This place will never win any awards for ambiance, but that’s okay, since it serves delicious Greek food in food in generous portions. They run a healthy take-out business, but you’ll have to wait, since they don’t sacrifice taste for expediency — and that’s just the way Ravenous Rob likes it. With excellent spinokapita, souvlaki, and moussaka, and well-flavored, large Greek salads that mysteriously come with but a single olive each.

東京都渋谷区神宮前4-8-5 (Map)
03-3470-0071

Price: $$

Cuisine: Japanese

Maisen is one of the more famous tonkatsu (breaded and fried pork cutlet) places in Tokyo. Located in a former bathhouse, the decor is unpretentious and the environs sprawling, but the food is both tasty and reasonable. On the menu are not just pork cutlets in various styles but also an assortment of other porcine morsels, such as Chinese-style pork dumplings, and a modest assortment of other Japanese classics, like sashimi and kaki furai (breaded and fried oysters). Ravenous Rob particularly recommends those of the dishes made from the tender and flavorful kurobuta, or “black pork,” of Kyushu.  Located in the fashionable Aoyama district of Tokyo, it is convenient to both the sublime aesthetic horrorshow that is Harajuku and the small but excellent Goto Museum.

701 9th St NW (Map)
Washington, DC 20004
202-638-0800

Price: $$$$$$$

Cuisine: Greek

Zaytinya serves up Greek and Mediterranean cuisine tapas-style, an approach that makes Ravenous Rob happy because he can cram even more varieties of delicious food into his bloated stomach before he bursts. On his visit, Ravenous Rob sampled, among other things, spinach pie in flaky phyllo dough, rabbit in lentils, calamari with spinach and dill butter, and lamb shank with eggplant. All were excellent, although some dishes teetered on the edge of excessive saltiness.

627 W Duarte Rd (Map)
Arcadia, CA 91107
626-445-0707

Price: $$$

Cuisine: Chinese

Chang’s Garden is a Shanghai-style restaurant with a nice array of standard items done well, but is most interesting because it offers some dishes not often found elsewhere. For example, long jin (”dragon well”) shrimp, subtly flavored with tea leaves, excellent in modest quantities, and the five spiced beef rolled with cilantro in pan-fried flat bread, which is all-around superb. With not quite enough waitstaff to handle the crowds.