I normally don’t eat in old town Pasadena cause the food typically sucks but I ventured over after some shopping to try the seasonal raw bar at vertical wine bistro.
Glad I did!! Thing is a beast. $50 for all this fresh seafood. Highly recommend it. Only Thursday-Saturday. The waiter was telling me it still hasn’t caught on which is crazy!!
Spot prawns, abalone, rock crab, oysters, langoustines, shrimp, octopus, lil baby shrimp, sea urchin. Delicious.
Those spot prawns look dope. Fried in the front, raw in the back.
Whoa $50 for that amount of fresh seafood is crazy good… though I am wondering, how does one best consume the “lil baby shrimp”? Just grab a handful and toss 'em in, kinda like peanuts?
Bread. Butter. Shrimps. Nom.
Also just a handful works as well.
Went over the weekend, the platters were GOOD. The selection of oysters weren’t quite as geeky as say Hungry Cat or L&E, nor the prep as on point, but the quality of everything was great.
The spot prawns were as good as they look in the pictures! When we went, Tier 1 did not have crab or sea urchin, so we opted for Tier 2 (also downsized since OP), which was still really a good value. The wine list is functional and has a few hits and misses. It’s a very good option compared to what you might pay at Water Grill or Hungry Cat for something similar.
Thanks, CFu for the good word!
wish i saw this thread before eating in pasadena a couple of nights ago… ended up at pop champagne and dessert… for a place that’s named for champagne and dessert, they have alarmingly little selection of either… food was edible but would have loved some seafood instead…
should have had dinner right next door at Union. Pretty good food.
we were looking for places for small bites and a drink on the fly… and it’s been 4 years since i last frequented pasadena so wasn’t sure what was available… will have to pm baller fu next time i’m looking for spots in la…
Concur. Squid ink garganelli @ Union was pretty insane. Vegetables are done well, as was the confit.
I’ll probably split that $50 platter for lunch, visit Carmela, then get El Taquito for dinner! Gonna do some extra cardio in preparation.
Pity, it is a long way to Pasadena.
With all those oysters Anthony I’m sure it wouldn’t be too long before ‘Love Is In The Air’.
Looks great Fu.
Best Regards
Jeremy
Mmm, Carmela. We got married in Pasadena and had them do an ice cream cart at our reception.
Ha! Same. But we had them bring the truck.
Speaking of Pasadena looks like Claude Beltran’s new place Bacchus Kitchen has opened. I’m going to try and stop by there sometime soon.
Great minds, and all that.