Roy Choi has done it again. The Chef who “drove” into the LA scene with his famous gourmet Korean taco “Kogi Truck” is now back with one of his best so far – Commissary – a new restaurant that sits high atop Koreatown in a greenhouse at the newest hipster hot spot – The Line Hotel. Those of you who have frequented his other popular eateries — A-Frame, Sunny Spot and POT — will also be pleasantly surprised with Commissary.
I visited a few weeks ago and have to say the place is a visual spectacle. Greenery and potted plants hang from each and every corner, even more beautiful in the evening when you can see it glow all the way from Wilshire Boulevard.
Visuals aside, the food caters to vegetable lovers. We went for dinner and tried one of almost everything on the menu. My favorites starters were the Cauliflower Tempura – fried just enough and paired wonderfully with the dipping sauce and the Grilled Corn – grilled to perfection with red and yellow sauces that complemented each other nicely. One of my all time favorites was the Spaghetti. Now, we all know spaghetti normally skews on the heavy side but this particular dish was superb. Packed with pesto, mint, fava beans, mushrooms and Parmesan, it was a light and airy alternative to the heaviness we’re all used to with pasta. For my main dish, I had the Seared Black Bass. It was fluffy and very tasty, and even though I’m not much of a fish eater, this dish was above par.
No visit to Commissary is complete without dessert. We tried every dessert they had and the best one, hands down, was the Sticky Date Pudding. It was extremely flavorful – the bourbon sauce melted perfectly over the fluffy date cake, which was topped off by vanilla ice cream. Another dessert that I enjoyed was The Chocolate Klondike Bar. Who doesn’t love a good Klondike Bar with a Ritz Cracker Crust? My only critique would be the passion fruit ice cream – too tart for the rest of the flavors.
Overall, the experience was a great one. Good boy Roy Choi!