Cravings Aside, EMC
Funny thing was, I really wanted Korean food. We drove around looking for a place that served live octopus. My current craving though I never had it. Pretty daring. But I made a mistake, a really good mistake. We found EMC, a place my friend recommended when discussing the cuisine. She only mentioned it in the realm of seafood. In no way was the placeserving live moving octopus to its patrons. Something I should have realized after entering.
The place was very nice, too nice. Modern. Clean. And to my dismay, it didn’t have stacks of water tanks filled with fresh seafood. No, this was not the live Korean octopus restaurant I was looking for. Our server quickly confirm that after I naively asked “How does the live octopus thing work?” Embarrassment aside, we looked over the impressive menu and ordered away. Some may say it was one uni dish too many. I’d say, I could have used one more. It was a feast I’d order again and again. You can check out the dishes below.
We were there for lunch and the place was pretty empty, only one other couple. However, the service was attentive as if there was a full house. No one missed a beat. Small dishes came out first with our main course coming soon after. This was run with first class distinction, making you forget, it was located in a Korean mall.
EMC Seafood & Raw Bar
3500 W 6th Street, Ste 101
Los Angeles, CA 90020
+1 (213) 351-9988
emcseafood.com
Verdict: I highly recommend this place if you want fresh seafood prepared to preserve the tastes.
These were a light start to our meal. You can tell the fish was fresh the way it flake and held its shape in the lightly crisped batter. It was heavily seasoned. No glop of salsa on these bad boys. Just let the flavors naturally come out.
$6.00USD
So the norm would be a lobster roll, not in this case. We wanted to try the crab roll. Toasted on the grill and stuff with lots of crab meat with just a little bit of dressing. And since this was just a mini, we had plenty of room for the main course.
$9.00USD
Oh man was this worth it. The last place I knew that made this stuff well was a place on Sawtelle which was no longer there. Here at EMC they push this dish to the top on taste. It may be a bit decadent with the cream roe sauce along with the helping of uni, but I regret of it. Pasta cooked to perfection and I was in heaven. I’d personally go out of my way to have this bowl again.
$21.00USD
After having uni many many times and seeing them served on the shell like this here, I couldn’t imagine what could surprise me. How about fresh and large helpings of uni. And this wasn’t your nigiri variety. Each piece could cover two spans of sushi. Amazing taste. I hardly wanted to dilute it with the soy sauce. Oh I’m falling in love with this place.
$18.00USD
Yeah, here’s the bar with a lonely TV. Just enough to make the place a decent happy our spot. Who am I kidding, with $1 oysters, this would be the perfect place for happy hour!