Maison Akira

Still catching up on dining I did in October. =/

In honor of Mrs. McWang's (undisclosed number) birthday, "The Ukrainian," Mr. McWang, and I went to Maison Akira in Pasadena, CA for dinner.

Here are all the fancy-pants dishes we had. This restaurant was Frenchy and not really "Akira"/Japanese at all, in my opinion. Thanks to Mr. McWang for his flashlight (gotta start carrying around one of those for dark restaurants like this one!), which made the pictures look so much better. Wish we'd thought of that sooner!

Above: Our free appetizer: potato-mozzarella balls.

Above: Having just run nearly 22 miles that morning, my hungry self ordered two half-sized salads. On the left is a truffle oil one that was just plain greens in some pretty fragrant oil. And the right is a candied-walnut salad in an Asian dressing.

Above: I can barely remember who ordered this, but doesn't it look fancy?

Above: Mrs. McWang's lobster bisque. It smelled very much like the sea...

Above: Mr. McWang's onion soup.

Above: Fresh flowers by our table! Unfortunately, for some reason we were seated in a walkway(?) due to the high volume that night. And there was a broken light fixture dangling about our heads!

Above: Mrs. McWang's dish. I think it's chicken and some sort of ravioli.

Above: Note the fake lighting used on my dish -- mushroom ravioli with roasted veggies wrapped in phyllo dough. The ravioli was delicious -- earthy and rich. The roasted veggies were pretty good, also, except for the bell peppers (which I am normally not a fan of, anyway). The whole thing was on top of some beet juice. I like beets, but not plain beet juice. Gag.

Above: "The Ukrainian"'s Angus steak. He really liked the tenderness of the meat. I think he got it medium-rare.

Above: Mr. McWang's dish.

Above: The birthday girl's ice-cream dessert. Love that sugar cage on top!

Above: She also got a souffle. It was my first, and although deliciously creamy inside, kind of a bit alcoholic to enjoy fully.

Above: "The Ukrainian"'s caramel apple tart. Divine. Caramel is one of my favorite sweets, one that I strangely don't partake in more often.

Overall, I liked the fancy dining experience (slow, quiet), but I don't see it fit to throw down that amount of money for food that, although interesting, is not drool-worthy in my book. Of course, my palate is very simple.