My favorite and best dish I had this year was the crab taco at hotbox’s tasting menu. Remarkable! Wish it was on the menu all the time. And for the price it was a (very stuffy and bloated) but reasonable meal. Holbox does it right!
My least favorite dish wagyu zabuton at majordomo. absolutely no flavor, overpriced ($83) and had no originality or anything noteworthy to such an expensive dish. Was a tremendous disappointment. How is it still on the menu?
What were your favorite and least favorite dishes this year?
My favorite and best dish I had this year was the crab gohan at Hayato’s kaiseki menu. Terrific! Wish it was on the menu all the time (though I understand Chef Go will serve items only at the height of its season). And for the price it was a (very satisfying) and quality meal. Hayato does it right!
Best: The red sauce at Spirito’s in Carlsbad. And for that matter, their NYC style pizzas. Outstanding, cooked down all-day authentic East Coast Italian sauce almost impossible to find east of Chicago. The original was in Elizabeth NJ, so good even NY-ers would make the pilgrimage and NYC has literally thousands of great Italian joints.
Worst: Within my limited experience, any pizza in the Inland Empire!
Worst: Juliet in Culver City was easily my worst meal of the year. All dishes were over salted, and service wasn’t terrific. Each and every dish was terrible.
Best: Any and every meal at Birdie G’s this past year. Every dish each season is fantastic, even when I’m not sure about it from the description - and because the menu is ever changing, I’m always trying something new.
Best: Uni donut at Kato, Tilefish also Kato, Crab Quesataco Holbox.
Worst: Redefining this as aggressively mediocre for the price. Tostadas at Loreto (might be on an island but these are gloppy messes a la mall sushi in Scottsdale). Amatriciana @ Felix, burnt guanciale. Tacos @ El Ruso whenever Walter isn’t there.
The latter is a little uncharitable but I’m consistently flabbergasted by the love that place gets from Esparza and El Tragon, especially since I like their recs otherwise.
Sleeper: The Bo Ssam and Yuk Gae Jang at Yuk Dae Jang. A great takeout spot.
Been a year of good eating for me, but I’d be missing the bit if I didn’t say the crab taco at Holbox. Other contenders are probably the kinda insane sesame tofu dish at Jiki Miyazawa in Kyoto and maybe the chirimen sansho at Kiyama, and how about the slip sole in espelette butter at the Sportsman in Seasalter.
Worst dish: By no means a worst dish, because the food was pretty decent, but when in London, I somehow fell into the Dishoom hype-trap–waited literally 90 minutes for a table–and had a meal that paled in comparison to what I’d had at Hoppers for lunch that same day.