Bashan Restaurant Glendale 91208 | 93 FoodDigger Rating

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kevinEats Favorite Cuisine: Japanese,French 86 Reviews

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User Restaurant Rating 93

Bashan (Glendale, CA) 12/17/2009 Bashan restaurant is the brainchild of chef/owner Nadav Bashan, an Israeli native who, while in college, decided to act on his longstanding interest in cooking and pursue a culinary career. After graduating from Pasadena's California School of Culinary Arts, Bashan worked under Allyson Thurber at The Lobster, her new restaurant situated on the Santa Monica waterfront. Bashan spent just under two years with Thurber before taking a Sous Chef position at Michael McCarty's eponymous Michael's, also in Santa Monica. He spent three years there, and was promoted to Executive Chef by the end of his tenure. Later, Bashan moved to Providence, where he sous'd for none other than Michael Cimarusti.

After his experience at Providence, Bashan felt ready to open his own restaurant, and did exactly that in September of 2007. As Bashan is situated in a locale where higher-end eateries are somewhat rare, the restaurant brings a welcomed addition to the dining scene--a casual neighborhood eatery that just happens to be fine dining. The food is market driven and seasonal, based in classic French technique with healthy doses of Californian, Mediterranean, and Asian influences.

Due to the limited space in the Lilliputian kitchen, Bashan's carte is tight, focused, comprised of about a dozen savory courses and a smattering of desserts (there's no pastry chef, so Bashan himself must handle the sweets as well). We did the seven-course tasting at $85, augmented by two extra courses for $10 each. Wine pairings were an additional $40.

1a: Gioia Burrata and Bresaola Salad | Baby Lettuce, Sundried Tomato Relish, Figs, Aged Balsamic
Burrata has almost become clichéd on menus these days, but Bashan manages to breathe new life into the ingredient. The key was the bresaola, a type of Italian air-dried, salted and spiced beef. It contributed a delightful savory tang to counter the creaminess of the cheese, while the use of tomato relish and fig added the requisite saccharine notes. A beautiful composition of tastes and textures.

1b: Tahitian Squash and Roasted Garlic Ravioli | Leeks, Carrots, Truffle Foam
Regular readers will know that I often find squash overly sweet, a fact that did not bode well for this course. Indeed, taken alone, the raviolo was a bit sugary; however, its sweetness was nicely countered by the vegetal smack of the leeks and carrot. Overall, they made it work--nice texture too.

2: Roasted Atlantic Monkfish | Roasted Sunchokes, Peppadew Pepper, Baba Ghanoush, Picholine Olives, Artichoke
Next we have an appealing preparation of monkfish. By itself, the fish demonstrated its signature soft, spongy body and fabulously savory flesh. That wouldn't be enough on its own, however, so the various accoutrements were absolutely key. The dots of spicy pepper sauce provided a deft accent to the weight of the fish, while the piquant olives and artichoke also served as effective foils to the heft of the monkfish. The sunchoke, meanwhile, acted as a mitigating element. I wasn't as sold on the smoky baba ghanoush, however.

3: New Bedford Scallop | Rice Beans, Piquillo Pepper, Bacon, Squid, Aged Pedro Ximenez Sherry Vinegar
Sitting atop a stack of rice beans, the sole, singular scallop, masterfully cooked, showed characteristic sweet flavors, leading to a splendidly briny close. It was beautifully accented by the earthiness of the beans, as well as the tang of the piquillos. My favorite part of this course, though, was the squid, which did an absolutely fantastic job of highlighting the natural brininess of the bivalve. I did find the PX a bit superfluous, however.

4: Braised Pork Belly Asian Style | Daikon 2x, Pickled Ginger and Garlic Puree, Charred Shishito Pepper
Bashan's Asian tangent, courtesy of Mr. Kim, is clearly evident in this next dish. It was an almost kakuni-esque preparation, falling-apart tender, imbued with a fatty, permeating, sweet yet savory flavor, with a hint of spice. The daikon, then, was absolutely crucial in moderating the meat. First, we have the braised version, expectedly mild, which acted as a mitigating element, lessening the decadence of the pork. The pickled variant, on the other hand, balances the belly's power with a piquant zest. This was definitely one of the better pork bellys I've had in a while.

5: Crispy Veal Sweetbreads | Guacamole, Crispy Shallots, Tomato Compote, Quail Egg
Next we have my favorite course of the degustation. If done right, sweetbreads can be positively heavenly--these were. Texturally, a succulent, moist interior was enveloped by the wonderfully crispy outside, while the taste was an amalgam of varying savory notes, with a very subtle sweet flair to boot. The creamy yet tangy guacamole lightened the dish, while the tomato added a marked sugary character.

6: Seared Rougié Foie Gras | Persimmon, Brioche Crouton, Baby Tatsoi, Pickled Guava
Knowing my entrenched disrelish for sweet preparations of seared foie gras, I was very wary of this dish. I first sampled the liver by itself, and found it actually quite good, nicely seared, appropriately savory, imbued with that signature foie gras verve. When I added the persimmon purée, the admixture was, as expected, too sugary for my tastes. To counter this, I made use of the tatsoi, which provided a great pungent, bitter balance to the dish.

7: Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast | Baby Korean Radish, Shitake, Japanese Chives, Mizuna, Satsuma, Walnuts, Sweet Miso Gochujang Vinaigrette
We have here a beautiful rectangle of seared duck breast, just bursting with "ducky" savor. It was almost too flavorful on its own, if such a thing is possible. I loved the shiitake here, as the mushroom added a world of depth and earthiness to the bird. I also appreciated the radish, which contributed an offsetting bitter, vegetal element. To finish, we had a delightfully piquant gochujang sauce, adding a bit of heat into the fray.

8a: Grilled Prime Hanger Steak | Cipollini Onion, Roasted Parsnips, Mango Chutney
Our final savory course was a triplet of beef, presented à la Michael Mina. First up: though hanger steak isn't known for its tenderness, it is known for its "beefy" flavor, which was present here in spades. A juicy, succulent, salty cut of beef, I loved eating it just by itself. It was also quite tasty paired with the roasted cipollini, but the mango made the dish a touch sugary for me.

8b: Niman Ranch 21 Day Dry Aged New York Steak | Pomme Fondant, Carrot, Veal Jus
Vis-à-vis the preceding skirt steak, the sirloin was noticeably subtler in flavor, with a more refined body as well--it was great to compare the two. What was interesting was that the New York almost had a nutty flavor on the midpalate, an unexpected, but not unwelcomed sensation. Further weight was added by the pomme fondant (sort of a potato cake), while the carrot provided a lighter touch.

8c: Braised Prime Short Ribs | Okinawa Yam Mash, Brussels Sprouts, Chimichurri
The last of the trio was also my favorite. It's hard to go too wrong with braised beef, and certainly this was no exception. According to our server, the short ribs were braised in veal jus for eight hours, resulting in a stupendously tender consistency, but one with just enough bite to make it interesting. As expected, the flavor was dark, heavy, but the use of Brussels sprouts really brightened things up. Very good.

I had high hopes going in to Bashan, and I'm happy to report that I wasn't let down. It's sort of the perfect neighborhood eatery--ambitious, but not pretentious, sophisticated, yet approachable. High quality, seasonal ingredients are combined with honest, unfussy, confident technique to create a refined, understated, yet truly enjoyable dining experience. If only Bashan weren't so far away!

Full review with photos: http://www.kevineats.com/20 09/12/bashan-glendale-ca.htm Recommended Dishes Gioia Burrata and Bresaola Salad, Braised Pork Belly Asian Style, Crispy Veal Sweetbreads, Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast

burumun Favorite Cuisine: Japanese,French 187 Reviews

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User Restaurant Rating 93

Great Food in Nowhere-Land 9/26/2008 Chef Nadav Bashan was an executive chef at Michael's for three years before moving over to work under Cimarusti at Providence. Not so long ago he finally opened his own restaurant, Bashan, in Glendale/Montrose area. Although Glendale might sound close to Pasadena, this restaurant is actually pretty out of the way ...

They only had 1 waitress working and at 6.30 pm only had three tables filled with customers.

I've heard great things about their Crispy Veal Sweetbreads so of course I had to get them for my appetizer!
Mmmazing. Crispy skin, smooth silky sweetbreads on the inside. The sundried tomato was a great complement to it all.

Also got some Scallops with beets:
The scallops were nice, big and juicy. I would've liked a little more beets though! After we had run out of beets, the scallops were getting boring to eat by themselves.

For my entree I got Maple Leaf Farm Duck Breast
Let's see. I love duck. I love figs. This dish was great. The duck was particularly tender and flavorful, you can say gamey, even. It was cooked perfectly and also paired very well with the broccolini and the figs.

My companion got the Scottish King Salmon, which was perhaps one of the best salmon dish we've had.
Nicely cooked and still raw in the middle. Tender tender, juicy piece of salmon!

They had a special dessert that night which was this peach napoleon. It was a pretty light and small dessert, but refreshing even though subtle.

We also got theChocolate Bread Pudding, since I feel like I need to have chocolate.
Decadent would describe this well. Richer, denser, and more chocolatey than any other bread pudding I've had. Very rich and chocolatey, I don't know if I would even call this bread pudding ... more like a chocolate cake. But it was quite good and satisfied my chocolate craving for sure.

I really liked this restaurant. I wish it isn't so out of the way for me, as I would like to come back more frequently.

For photos, details: http://gourmetpigs.blogspot .com/2008/09/great-food-in- nowhere-land.html Recommended Dishes crispy veal sweetbreads, duck with figs

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Bashan Restaurant

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