eating at fat spoon with a fork

if you walk down 1st street in little tokyo in search of eats, it is obvious that the bell of the ball is daikokuya. just check out the throng of people huddled around the perimeter waiting for their name to be called just so they can slurp down a bowl of hot ramen. although daikokuya is absolutely worthy of waiting till the end of time, sometimes hunger dictates you to eat sooner rather than later so enter rebound option #1, FAT SPOON which is located RIGHT NEXT DOOR.

fat spoon is a curious little establishment headed by michael cardenas (lazy ox canteen), chef hiro fujita, and company. before entering their quaint little shop, i definitely had high expectations and really wanted this rebound to work out. we enthusiastically ordered four dishes for our noshing pleasure to be shared amongst a company of three.

since i am such a sucka for risotto, the seafood tomato risotto ($12) was a must order for me. unfortunately, i was greeted with mushy textures and bland flavors. if there was ever an urge to offend the kitchen by asking for salt, this would be the time to do so. skip.

the uni with mushroom pasta ($14) was underwhelming as well. again, the pasta was bland and would benefit from seasoning whereas the uni was too delicate in this particular dish to exert its presence which makes me question their inclusion. i definitely need to search for a more impressive uni pasta dish in l.a.!

i was also underwhelmed by the pork cutlet curry ($10) which had a curiously strange texture that bordered on being slightly rubbery. the curry was also mild and one noted which is a complete departure from the usual complex flavors of japanese curry. absolutely disappointing.

alas, we did hit upon ONE dish that night that was surprisingly tasty, the tarako pasta ($10). the salted cod roe added bursts of briny flavors to the pasta which melded quite nicely with the creamy sauce. the creamy sauce was so addictively tasty that my sister spooned the sauce onto her portion of the drab uni pasta. this dish was the first one at our table to be polished off and i would definitely order again.

overall, fat spoon did not shine. in my opinion, their lackluster flavors do not present any threat to daikokuya, the hottest chick on 1st street. although i've been told that their mini corn dogs and uni croquettes are to die for, i do not know if those fried items and the tarako pasta can seduce me back to its doors given the vast eating options we have available to us in our city.

Fat Spoon
329 E. 1st St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 621-7890
http://fatspoonfood.com

price: $$
verdict: it's aight