Birthday Dinner at Simbal
Little Tokyo is brimming with new restaurants and attracting top talent from around Los Angeles. One such place was the new restaurant Simbal, a place that serves up playful Southeast Asian cuisine inside a nice and open floor plan. You can see the chef himself, Shawn Pham, managing the kitchen. We did happen to get a photo with him. Friendly guy even in the midst of the opening months of the place.
Food was served dim sum style, brought out on carts. It’s pretty funny seeing fine dining dishes carted out. We went the menu route and ordered almost everything on there. What? We’re a party of five and it’s a birthday. Okay, so we didn’t order everything. I think we ordered enough to get a sense of what’s being plated here. Sorry, I didn’t take pictures of everything, like the deconstructed banh mi salad or the rice medley. We were too busy scarfing down food and yapping about who knows what. That’s a dinner good times for ya. Anyways, back to the food. I believe the menu changes as I’ve noticed some early reviews didn’t have the black cod dish. Hurray for us!
All in all, I’d say the majority of the dishes were amazing and the service was stellar (our server was a sommelier). It was our friend’s birthday and they customized the menu for us. It’s these little details that truly make the experience. Spot on Simbal staff. And seeing that this was the opening months of the restaurant, some great things will come out of that kitchen.
Simbal
319 E 2nd Street Suite 202
Los Angeles, CA 90012
+1 (213) 626-0244
http://www.simbalrestaurant.com/
Verdict: A fine dining experience to try.
For your sweet tooth, there’s these crispy sugared snacks for you. It’s served along side a Vietnamese coffee dip. It gives you the caffeine kick you’ll need after your meal. Warning, this does lean more towards the sweet side, both donut and coffee dip.
I had a sweetbread kick a couple years ago and was loving it. When we saw this on the menu I had to try the Asian version of it (I’ve had this at restaurants categorized as New American). Not too shabby. I may have to go with the Asian rendition moving forward.
$15.00USD
The chili glaze on the marrow really compliments the fatty flavors. Don’t worry, it’s not spicy, though my tolerance is kinda high. Your miles may vary. But hey, you can always scrape it off and use the salt. But really, it’s not that much heat.
$18.00USD
Oh these were quite majestic. It’s pretty much Vietnamese bo luc lac, shaking beef. Very tender and has that nice sear.
$15.00USD
Now this was my favorite for the night, marinated duck breast. Look at that light sear on the skin and the layer of fat. That my friend is some of the best stuff to go along with the moist breast meat. Perfection!
$16.00USD
Don’t let the look fool you, this was full of flavor. It’s not heavily salty like home made braised pork. This was just enough to prevent the flavors from covering the taste of pork belly.
$13.00USD
That looks beautiful doesn’t it. I’ll let you know it tasted as good as it looks. The dill and the mint made this one unique tasting. Thumbs up for a taste I can’t geographically place.
$15.00USD
That’s mainly a hollow sesame bread you use to scoop up the finely chopped beef below. A good starter for dinner. Though, the tastes were more Western than Southeast Asian.
$12.00USD
Our first dish up were a medley of mushrooms. Nothing too special to warrant a recommendation to order this. If you’re really into mushrooms, sure give it a try. Otherwise you can skip this dish.
$9.00USD
This drink deserves a mention here for it’s balance between sweet and savory. For alcohol lovers it’s a bit hard to tell there’s any in here. Nicely done Simbal.