the bazaar: jose andres goes to la

prior to my summer trip to spain, i started getting addicted to jose andres' tv show on pbs called "made in spain." never heard of him till then but once i did, i immensely enjoyed his show.

fast forward to the late fall and jose andres has opened a new restaurant in la. so, i just had to try it. the whole experience was fun. while there may have been a few misses, there were more hits. so this place is definitely a place i will want to go back to.

first off, we had the jamon iberico de bellota. these yummy slices of swine come from meat that has been fed acorn. it was good.... but for the fact that i had some really good ones in spain. i wish the slices had more fatty goodness. but this plate was better than i had anywhere in the us.



this canned sea urchin was quite a pleasant surprise. i have gotten over my uni phobia but to have this canned delicacy was a revelation. that is, not all canned foods are bad.



this simple plate of bread with tomato and olive oil was great. unlike your typical bruschetta, the tomato was pretty much mushed. but that's ok.



aaah cheese. ever since i visited andrew's cheese shop in santa monica, i have been a fan of idiazabal (left), made out of sheep's milk. and the sample below left did not disappoint. similarly, the murcia (goat cheese) (center) was a great departure from the goat cheese i have had in the past. this version did not suddenly make me a fan of goat cheese but i definitely won't be shunning this version. finally, good ol manchego (right). need i say more?



this simple salad of thinly sliced apples with leeks topped with grated manchego cheese was crisp and refreshing.



this wild mushroom risotto topped with melted idiazabal cheese would have been really really good but for the fact that it was a tad bit too salty.



the seared trout with jamon serrano was very good. the fish was far from dry and very juicy and the jamon on top gave the dish a great texture.



the pork sausage on a bed of white beans was also good. a friend said the sausage was too salty but i thought it was perfectly flavored.



this lamb loin with truffles was delicious. thin cuts of meat and the truffle was very rich and yet light at the same time.



the galician lobster with potatoes was good but nothing spectacular.



the sauteed shrimp with garlic was good. full of flavor. but i don't get the foam. but that's just me.


finally, this paella style pasta with monkfish and shrimp was really good. the angel hair had a nice crispness to it that was not overdone but still soft enough that did not make you miss the rice that usually goes with paella.



we enjoyed two bottles of wine. i preferred the crianza from rioja. it was not too full bodied like the other bottle and i thought it went better with the dishes we ordered.





finally, the flan. it was good but not spectacular. not too sweet.



the damage was about $112 per person with the tax and tip. not too bad considering the dishes were filling and very very good. the dishes we tried were primarily the traditional spanish tapas. the bazaar also had a selection of modern tapas, which we did not try.

i will definitely come back. after all, a lot more dishes await tasting.