Restaurant Week: IMBT

Yesterday I went to lunch with my boss at Susan Feniger's Street.

image source: gourmet.com

It was amazeballs.  

We took advantage of the semi-annual DineLA Restaurant Week, during which restaurants all over town offer special 3-course prix fixe menus.  It's a great chance for people like me, who want to taste EVERYTHING but can't really afford it, to try highly-rated places without breaking the bank.  More about Restaurant Week in a bit.  First, here's what we ate**:

The first dish brought to our table wasn't on the menu.  Basically they was like savory rice-crispy treats with all kinds of interesting spices and currants in it.  It was like nothing I'd ever tasted before.  The waiter described them more accurately, but I couldn't remember most of the details.  However, there's this little website called Google, which helped a find a picture and this recipe:

image source: thisisgonnabegood.blogspot.com

We also ordered the Honeydew Cucumber Mint Coolers (described as having a touch of fresh citrus and agave), which were just lovely and the perfect accompaniment to our lunch on the patio.  We then shared all three of the following appetizers (bonus! - we didn't know we would get all three):

Angry Eggs
 deviled eggs with Malaysian hot chile relish topped with green sriracha

*Perfectly creamy, perfectly seasoned.  The green sriracha provided a great little kick.

Burmese Melon Salad
 fresh seasonal melons, toasted coconut, peanuts, lentils, fried onions and gin thoke style ginger dressing

*This was the most interesting, surprising and delightful dish of the day.  It was so tasty, lots of flavors, refreshing but also substantial.  I don't even usually like coconut, peanuts OR lentils, but I kept piling it on to my plate.

New Orleans Laundry Day Fritters
 soft red bean and rice cakes fried crispy; served with crystal hot sauce cream and scallions  (non-vegan version with andouille sausage crumbles available)

*Yummmm.  Who doesn't love something deep fried and served with a cream sauce?  I'm glad these were small because I wouldn't have been able to restrain myself.

For my "main course" I chose the following:

Tunisian Chicken Shawarma Wrap
 braised chicken with olives, African peppers, currants, and smoked paprika. Wrapped in warm lavash with harissa tahini ketchup, tomatoes and lettuce

*This was, again, very tasty and filled with all kinds of flavors new to my taste buds.  However, after all those fantastic and surprising apps, this didn't knock my socks off.  That didn't stop me from taking half of it home though ;-)

And for my dessert I selected:

Egyptian Basbousa Cake
 with lime curd, whipped cream, and fresh berries

*WOWZA.  So so delicious.  My boss said, and I agree, that lime is totally underrated, and we both though this dessert was wonderful.  If I wasn't already so full I would have licked the plate clean.

What a truly fantastic meal.  So many new and interesting flavors.  And we certainly got the full international street food experience thanks to the Restaurant Week menu.

For a list of all the participating restaurants, their special menus, prices, and more information you can visit the DineLA Restaurant Week website by CLICKING HERE.  I definitely hope to hit at least 1 or 2 more before it ends next Thursday.  And if you've been/are going, tell me about your experience(s) in the comments!

**I've never written about food before so I apologize if my descriptions/reviews aren't up to par yet.  I'll get better with practice, I promise!