Damiano

Pizza and beer is like a marriage made in heaven, they always go well together.  In LA, one of the best places to get pizza and beer is Damiano.   Located in the Fairfax district of LA, right accross the famous Canter's Deli.   Inside you can see pizza being made in the left counter and a huge beer selection in the glass-door coolers on the right.   We sat in one of the dark unlit booths further into the place.  

Floris Apple 3.6% ABV, a Belgian Lambic beer.  I had  this to start with, it comes in a beautiful dark bottle with metallic green foil on the neck.  Lambic beers undergo spontaneous fermentation with the vat left open for sometime in the bewery for the multiple strains of air-borne yeasts to accumulate.  The beer pours cloudy amber with a white foamy head that easily subsides.  The nose is definitetly sweet green apple.   The mouthfeel is medium with some carbonation and a tart bite in the end.  The taste is like apple cider, with some malty wheatiness to it and a slight hint of cinnamon.  Crisp and fresh, very drinkable.

We got some Fried Clams $ 9.95,  as appetizers.  The batter was crunchy and the clams were not overcooked, nice and fresh, very flavorful. 

We also got a Large Thin Crust Three-topping Pizza $19.00,  with italian sausage, ham and pineapple.   It's all about the dough at Damiano.  Crunchy in the bottom with good browning yet still foldable with some chewiness.

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale  7.0 % ABV, a Belgian Style Strong Pale Ale.  Brewed from the the town of Hitachi in Japan where the electronic manufacturing company with the same name is from.  I love the owl logo on the bottle.  Brewed with wild red rice,  this is the only beer I know that has a sake-like complexity.  The nose is red rice, herbal, with some hints of strawberries.  The mouthfeel is bitter up-front with light-medium body and high carbonation.  The taste is definitely red rice, malty, with a sake after-taste.  This brewery makes unique and very interesting beers.  Their Hitachino White Ale is on of my favorite wheat beers.   This is not the type of beer I would drink regularly, but very interesting.

Damiano

412 N Fairfax Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90036 

(323) 658-7611

Cerelac Batter

We went to a restaurant called Blue Marlin, a Japanese-Italian fusion type of place.   It is one of several restaurants in a strip-mall in Sawtelle in  WLA.  I've been to three other places along this line but it's my first time here.  They have food pics displayed near the door, and one item caught my attention,  Uni Spaghetti.   Must come back for this.

There is an underwater theme to the decor with boats on the ceiling and fish on the walls.   We got some Miso soup and Salad with some sesame seed dressing (no pics).  We ordered some appetizers to share and taste.

The first one to arrive was the Fried Calamari, the squid was delicate and thinly sliced, the batter was light and deliciously salty.  I've never had calamari served this way.  Usually it is served thick and heavy on the batter.  This was really good, I'd come back for this alone.

Next was the Crab Croquette, the batter was light and crunchy,  inside was moist and delicious.  They used real fresh chunky crabmeat, which added great texture in my mouth.  Only two pieces :(   there were three of us.  We all still got to taste it though.

Last to come was the Tuna Tartare served with some dough chips.   The dish is light, mild tasting and fresh.  Nothing special, looks great though.

And for the piece de resistance,  Uni Spaghetti.  The spaghetti is served in a deep bowl like ramen.  But why?   I love Uni sushi,  but this is not for the light hearted.  There is a lot of Uni in the dish.  The aroma is intense, the best I could describe it is "sea urchin cheese".   The texture is creamy akin to carbonara sauce.  The taste is definitely Uni but subtle.  Okay, not my favorite dish, but well executed.  This goes into my list of "tried it".   To wash it down I had some Kirin draft beer.

We also got the Uni Rice, I only had a taste of this.   I thought it was okay.  

Pork Cutlet (Katsu) with the demi-glace sauce,  I also had a taste of this.  I found it really tasty, and the sauce was delicious.

Ah!  Creme Brule, if it's on the menu I will order it.  This was very good,  crispy sweet crust and creamy delicious under.  

Tempura Green Tea Ice Cream,  the Green Tea ice cream is coated in a batter and deep fried, Tempura style!   We were kind of giggling because the batter tasted like "Cerelac", the baby food.   It does!  

So, I may not be back for the Uni Spag but I am still interested in other things in their very interesting menu.

Blue Marlin

2121 Sawtelle Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90025

(310) 445-2522