Rock Some Sugar On Me!

Last night we found ourselves at Century City Mall in search of food.  We ruled out the food court, so that left a handful of restaurants.  We decided to give RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen a shot.  Pan Asian means that it represents all of Asia and I would say that was accurate as there were dishes that were Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian and other Asian countries represented on the menu.

The decor of the restaurant is fantastic - it definitely has an Asian feel.  You will initially walk through an open patio with tables that have their own enclosed fire pits.  The main dining room is a little loud, so I was relieved when we were seated on the covered patio with a view of Santa Monica Boulevard.  We each ordered a tasty cocktail from the vast selection - there were four of us and no repeat drink orders.

After given our choice of water (tap, flat or sparkling), an interesting starter was placed on the table.  Our best guess is that it was a sesame papadum.  It was served with a tasty chutney that looked like a salsa, but wasn't spicy.  The best part of this starter is that it wasn't filling the way most complimentary bread and butter or chips and salsa dishes are.

Not sure what this is, but came with a yummy sauce

We decided to start with an appetizer and selected the pork belly buns.  Our server told us they usually come three to an order, but offered to increase the order to four for a small fee.  I've never had a server or restaurant make such an offer before - usually four people have to draw straws on how to split the serving of three, or you have to order a second order and then you have six for four people.  Kudos to RockSugar for making this easy for us.  As for the bun, it was yum.

Glazed Pork Belly Buns (Kurobuta pork, pickled red onions, shallot mayo, chilies and cilantro)

Our server explained to us that all menu items are served family style, so we each picked a dish for the whole table to share.  I once saw a recipe in People Magazine for ginger fried rice and it was one of the tastiest side dishes I have ever made, so when I saw ginger fried rice on the menu, I thought it would be the same plate of heaven.  I was wrong.  When the server brought the plate to the table he offered to break up the fried egg that was on top and I should have asked him to wait a moment so that I could get a picture, but I was too embarrassed.  So the picture below is after his expert egg breaking and mixing.  I barely tasted any ginger or crispy garlic.  The Chinese sausage was cut so thinly and in such small portions that I could barely taste it as well.  It was just bland, and for something labeled with ginger in the name and presumably as the main ingredient, it was sorely disappointing.

Ginger Fried Rice (Chinese sausage, leeks, egg, sesame and crispy garlic)

My friend picked the snapper, and it was probably the best dish we had.  The snapper was lightly breaded and perfectly pan-fried.  The sauce was an excellent compliment to the fish, but the fish was the star.  And my peanut-loving friend was in heaven with the ample supply of peanuts left on the serving dish. Cha ca la vong is a speciality of Hanoian people. Cha ca means "grilled fish" and in the restaurant that originated the dish is a statue of La Vong (an ancient Chinese poet and revolutionist) fishing by a stream.  This statue symbolizes a talented and patient man who knew to wait for the right moment to come. And this dish was worth the wait.

Hanoi Snapper (Cha ca la vong style, rice noodles, cilantro, dill and peanuts with nuoc cham)

My husband selected the pork dish even though the description mentioned peas.  I assumed he didn't realize peas were part of the dish, so when it arrived covered in the green spheres I thought for sure he would be upset.  But instead, he just dug in.  The dish was tasty, but perhaps a little too sweet.

Singapore Hainan Pork (fried crisp, sweet onions, peas and spicy chili sauce)

I had debated ordering the Princess Chicken before I realized we were ordering family style, but instead my friend got the opportunity.  The tempura was tasty and the chicken itself was tender.  The sauce left a lot to be desired, but again, my other friend was in peanut heaven.

Princess Chicken (tempura chicken, roasted Thai chilies, peanuts and palm sugar glaze)

All in all it was a good meal.  Fun, vibrant ambiance.  Good food at reasonable prices.  Helpful servers.  And plenty of peanuts for the peanut lover in you.  Nothing to complain about here.