Exclusive Elite Tasting At Fat Spoon

(Finally got to finishing this review!)
Michael Cardenas, Chef Hiro, and Katie B are some awesome awesome people!
I had the fortune to attend a small tasting at Fat Spoon, and I loved the intimate atmosphere! There were only a handful of Unilocal Elites, so we went around and introduced ourselves. We also got a free hug from Katie with a check-​in! Clever ;)
I loved that in the spirit of Unilocal,our table shared all our food family style. Yes, with a bunch of people we met for the first time. That’s the best way, isn’t it? :P
Even though it was a «tasting» event, it seriously felt like an all you can eat meal. We were allowed to order an appetizer, entre, dessert, and a glass of wine. Michael and Chef Hiro also sent out extra sides and drinks (Ebizu beer) throughout the night!
For appetizers, I tried the albacore sashimi, the beef tataki, mini corn dogs, mac and cheese, sweet potato fries, garlic edamame with curry salt, toasted tuna sandwich, and the curry pan. They were all really delicious, but the albacore sashimi and the beef tataki were some of my favorites! Fresh, thinly cut, and melt in your mouth deliciousness. Served with cucumbers and honey mustard and tomato.
For entrees, I ordered the Uni pasta, but got to try some of the curry dishes, the salmon roe pasta, squid ink pasta, filet mignon pasta with cuatro chili. All the pasta dishes were good! The uni pasta was good and had a subtle earthy taste, but the salmon roe pasta was popping with flavor and deliciousness! The filet mignon pasta with 4 kinds of chili was actually really good too.
Dessert — we tried everything! My favorites were the sweet potato with ice cream and the honey toast.
The food here is really good and fresh. Their philosophy is to bring quality food at an affordable price, and they really do deliver! Service was excellent as well. By the time I left, I’m sure my tummy resembled the curve of a fat spoon!

«Tasting» is an understatement. Everyone at this event got hooked up! DAYUM! Appetizers, entrée, deserts and drinks, it was a full set. We got so much food I had to active my second/​third stomach to fit it all in. =p
Albacore sashimi– Great starter
Garlic edamame with curry salt– The curry salt made this snack feel more substatial
Curry pan– Delicious homemade bread stuffed with ground beef
Kobe beef sausage– The sausage was crispy, so snapped as you bit into it. YUM!
Beef tataki– Delicate slices of beef, think carpaccio.
Kobe beef corn dog– Curry ketchup is the perfect dipping sauce for this
Curry Cheese Fries with fresh Jalapeño– Winning combo, cuz just cheese on fries doesn’t cut it anymore.
Tarako salted cod roe with cream dried seaweed and shiso leaf pasta– The winner of the night according to Katie B.
Loco Moco– So filling, best dish to get here if you’re staving.
Uni & mushroom pasta– MY FAVORITE!
Honey toast– A sweet ending, the fresh fruit was memorable.
Cinnamon sugar doughnut holes– Alight but was better with some vanilla ice cream from the baked potato.
Baked sweet potato with vanilla ice cream & caramel– The sweet potato had a custard like consistency.
Mango sorbet– Fresh flavor, if you are looking for a lighter dessert this is the way to go.
Premium Japanese Import Koshihikari Echigo Beer– Silky smooth, highly recommended.
Katie B. made another perfect event! Adding to my Unilocaled themed swag, I scored my first pair of super cute Unilocal sunglasses! This event had a private dinner party feel to it, I got wonderful table-​mates and made new Unilocal friends. I’ve never been to Fat Spoon, and glad Unilocal gave me this opportunity to try so many of it’s dishes out. I was pleasantly surprised to find that their entries are reasonably priced at around $ 12 – 14, especially since they focus on quality, locally-​sourced ingredients and creating things in-​house.
What most impressed me, was Michael Cardenas. Mr. Cardenas is not only the owner/​founder of Fat Spoon but is connected to a half-​dozen other restaurants such as Sushi Roku and Laxy Ox. He is the most down to earth owner I’ve met, no only did he come by to each table and making sure everyone was enjoying themselves but he even carried some plates to the tables! Wouldn’t you think that at that level he should be on some faraway island sipping on a Mai Tai?! That right there is dedication, and I have much respect.

I’m going to start by saying a big thank you to Katie B. and Michael Cardenas for giving us such a a great event!
This was such an intimate event, that for the first time, no name tags were needed. Instead, Katie has us go around introducing ourselves, what year did we start Unilocaling and where are favorite spot to hang out at!
I love how Katie knows the little details about us, and it makes me feel so special!
Michael Cardena and Chef Fujita was so generous! Each of us got to order an appetizer, an extra, main dish, and drink (including beer and wine) Other then that, PLUS they brought out EXTRA EXTRA complimentary sides for us Elites to try. AND DESSERTS! alot of desserts!
They suggested we try everything Family style. So we did! All 8 of us ordered and we almost tried everything on the menu!
My favorite main entrée was The Salmon Roe pasta, favorite appetizer was Beef Takaki and the curry pan. Favorite dessert was the baked sweet potato with vanilla ice cream.
I honestly think this is one of the very best Unilocal events I’ve been to. Lots of good food, and got to meet new Elite friends!
last but not least, I have NOT redeem my check in hug from Katie yet! So double up next time!!! lol :-P
P. s.~ If you haven’t, definitely check out the pics of what we all ate!!! You’ll be jealous! haha

I am not trying to kiss up to Katie B by saying this, but «WOW! THIS WAS AN AWESOME EVENT!» Maybe I am… But a BIG «Thank You» for organizing this event and suggesting the family style dining! I think this is the first time I walked out of a Unilocal Elite event with a food coma instead of searching for the nearest taco truck on my Unilocal app on my iPhone!
If you click on the pictures I took, you can see samples of all the things I tried tonight. We got a choice of small bites, entrée, and dessert. And with an awesome party of 8 at my table for the 8pm session, we probably got a chance to sample more things than anyone else that evening!
Here are my favorites:
Small Bites: Beef Tataki, Albacore Sashimi
Entrée: Tarako Pasta, Uni Pasta, and Squid Ink Pasta
Dessert: Baked Sweet Potato
I guess I should’ve waited until I arrived home before posting pictures of those awesome dishes on facebook. My phone kept going off during the last half of the meal as my starving friends kept texting me for the location of the restaurant because they wanted to join me.
I wanted to tell them «Nope, you are not invited. Start writing your Unilocal reviews and perhaps you can join me on the next awesome dining experience with us cool Unilocalers.» But in reality I told them, «Sorry, not this time, but I can take you back here this weekend for some more pasta!»
Yes, I am in love with their Pasta. Oh so good!
Note to Katie B: Yes, I got a hug from you tonight, but I still have my offer on the phone, so… can I get an extra one the next time I see you?

Let’s all give Katie B a million rounds of applauses for masterminding this awesome event. She must have pulled a lot of strings for Michael Cardenas to roll out the red carpet for us!
The tasting included a drink, appetizer, entrée, and dessert of our choice. The owner also hooked us up with more appetizers and beers. Our table chose to do family-​style per Katie’s suggestion. We all tried:
+ albacore sashimi in ponzu mustard sauce
+ edamame with curry salt & garlic
+ beef tataki
+ curry pan stuffed with beef & vegetable curry
+ tarako (salted cod roe) pasta
+ filet mignon pasta
+ pescatore pasta with shrimp, scallops, clam & calamari
+ squid ink pasta with clams
+ pork cutlet curry pasta
+ uni & mushroom pasta
+ homemade vanilla pudding
+ honey toast
+ cinnamon sugar doughnut holes
+ baked sweet potato with vanilla ice cream & caramel
We grabbed a little bit of each entrée and passed it on. I even made my own pasta sampler plate! (
) My favorite dish of the night was the tarako pasta. The salty cod roe was superb, and the sauce was not too creamy. The shredded nori just topped it off. The beef tataki, edamame, and honey toast were also really, really good. The edamame was very addicting. I wish I could have had more of the honey toast, but I was stuffed to the max by the end of the night.
The service was awesome. The waiters were extremely nice and attentive. Katie popped all our Fat Spoon cherries. I can’t wait to come back, especially for the tarako pasta & honey toast.
PS: awesome check-​in deal that I have yet to redeem…

I could sum this up with a couple of words: I am still full. Half a day later.
I was skeptical about attending an event on my own. Though I do enjoy stuffing my face solo with say a cliché pint of ice cream or chocolate, eating out is about ambiance and company. So, not knowing anybody that would be attending was nerve wrecking. However, these Unilocalers were super friendly AND fun. I am so glad I went.
We were treated to full size menu items. Our email stated: one drink, one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert. However, the items kept coming in and nobody complained, of course. I had to be careful not to almost finish my wine because everytime I got a bit low, a server would come ninja style to refill it!
Katie B. noticed our confused looks as we tried to decide the best choices and suggested to get a bit of everything and SHARE. Brilliant idea! I was amazed by the appetizers and dessert mainly. My memorable dishes were:
Albarcore sashimi (with a delicious, tangy mustard)
Curry fries (reminded me of fries with some sort of gravy goodness)
mac n cheese (gooey cheese, hard to go wrong!)
beef tataki (super soft and delish)
and last but not least
the BAKED SWEET POTATO with ICE CREAM and CARAMEL SAUCE. Incridibly delicious. The texture was amazing and the taste was super unique.
Thanks Katie B.!! Such an awesome event. I hope to see everyone at more elite events!

Did you say Tasting at Fat Spoon event was communal eating /​family-​style dinning??? YUP! First time ever Unilocalers are not reluctant to share!!! lol And let me say the plates of delicacies where passed around from one end to the other end of the table without a problem. (Thanks Katie for suggesting family-​style eating.)
We each had to pick an appetizer, entrée, and dessert, well the chef Fujita and owner Michael Hide Cardenas brought extra complementary dishes to our tables! We all left very satisfied!
Michael Cardenas the owner is very, very, friendly, and gave us a brief intro of his new gem Fat Spoon, entrees at affordable price with high quality local ingredients and nothing is made from a can!
Favorite entrée for me was: Pescatore Pasta (Shrimp, scallops, clam, calamari with tomato sauce).
Favorite dessert: Baked Sweet Potato– baked sweet potato topped with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce, it’s definitely a must on my next visit!
Chef Fujita also spoiled us with a sample of their Japanese imported beer which made my list of favorite beers: Koshihikahi Echigo Beer, very crisp.
This was a very intimate event and I was very lucky to meet and share meal with some of the best of the best Unilocalers! Thank you all for the intro’s, pretty funny and I luv them!
Katie~ loved the check-​in offer xoXOxo!

This was my first elite Unilocal event and so far I heart being elite. :)
Thank you Katie B. for organizing such a great event. Even though I didn’t check in, I still got my hug. :) It was nice meeting fellow Unilocalers at such an intimate event.
The Fat Spoon was a great place and the staff and chef were gracious and generous. The food was great and since the table shared all the food, I got to try almost everything.
I will be back for their amazing appetizers and seafood curry. I definitely want my own bowl next time. Their sweet potato with ice cream was so delicious. If they can do that to a vegetable, I look forward to more inventive creations and menu items at The Fat Spoon.

What I liked about this Unilocal event was how different it was. Very intimate and small, and I got to visit with new Unilocalers that I hadn’t met before.
I was not really sure what to expect of a tiny café on a busy street in little Tokyo, but this place is very unique. I wrote a separate review on their Unilocal page, so I won’t go into food reviews here, but Katie chose well.
The owner Michael Hide Cardenas (who owns lots of other great restaurants) was on hand and had his staff roll out the red carpet for us. They gave us tons of appetizer options so we could try a little of everything, and these were not tasting sized portions, they were full sized portions!
Same thing with the entrees. I couldn’t finish all of it and they let us take the leftovers home. They also buried us in numerous dessert options and kept refilling my wine glass all night! Too bad I had to drive and stop after one.
These guys really went all out to make this one of the best foodie experiences I’ve had at a Unilocal event.
Well done as always Katie!

Food?: Check!
Empty Stomach?: Check!
Wine: Check!
Beer: Check!
Great service: Check!
New Friends: Check!
Free Hug from Katie B: Check! Well… I didn’t claim it yet. Muahaha
I love this. I love my spoon FAT! Oh yeah.
FOOD:
Small bites:
* Curry Cheese Fries with fresh Jalapeño — Order this. Do yourself a favor and order this. It’s better than Chili Cheese fries. This had a little spice kick and the flavors from the Curry just helped the potato so much!
* Mini Corn Dogs with Curry Ketchup & Beef Takai — I don’t eat beef. Look at another review of beef.
* Albacore Sashimi w/​soy vinaigrette and honey mustard — YES. This was just perfectly sliced. So think that you can taste the flavors with the cucumbers and honey mustard and tomato. I could actually had eaten that all day and NOT feel bad about my diet. It’s a healthy alternative. I don’t care what you say. I say it’s healthy… :P
* Garlic Edamame with curry salt — This was VERY different. I’ve had edamame with so many different kinds of salts but not curry salt and never mixed with garlic. I love garlic — they really stimulated my palate.
* Mac N Cheese — Um… YES. I finished it for my table. I am a pig.
* Sweet Potato fries with truffle soy sauce — The sweet potato fries were good but that soy sauce — TRUFFLE. Very different. I could had used that with sushi. Very unique.
Honestly… I could had been full with the small bites… but whaaaaa… we get a entrée too!!!
ENTREES:
* Fat Spoon Signature Dish: Uni and Mushroom Pasta — This… was a favorite at my table. The uni was perfect (sea urchin) and the mushroom… even Katie B sneaked a bite from my plate. She’s totally ninja. I recommend you ordering this if you go there.
* Seafood Curry: I ate off Rain F’s plate. Muahaha… She scooped it for me. It was good. Not spicy but Japanese spice vs. Thai spice… eh but the flavors was good.
* Squid Ink Pasta — This was good. I sneaked it off Julie (Ha-yeon)‘s plate. It was a unique taste. I really can’t describe it. I still loved mine better… muaha
Whattttt?!! more food!!!
DESSERT:
* Baked Sweet Potato w/​Ice cream: I have never seen this before. Ice cream and sweet potato. This… is SWEET GENIUS (a dessert show on The Food Network). It was very different and the warmth of the sweet potato and the ice cream just worked. The potato was soft and the vanilla ice cream blended it well. It was not overpowering with sweetness.
* Green tea ice cream: I know it’s plain but I LOVE ICE CREAM (and cupcakes)
* French Toast and Ice Cream: Thanks for the other table sharing with us. We got to sample that and it was good. The french toast was NOT super sweet so it mixed well with the ice cream.
* Mango Sorbet: standard but good
SERVICE:
Awesome service.
The owner, Michael, came out and we chatted with him. He totally looks like Lou Diamond Phillips (who I LOVE — LDP was just on that celebrity cooking show). He was a really nice guy and the fact he owns SO many successful restaurants and STILL came to personally serve us. WIN. This guy is so humble. Awesome.
He’s also Japexican! :D I asked him about his ethnicity and he said he’s Japanese/​Mexican AND he speaks both languages fluently. Damn. Humble guy. Really awesome person.
The staff was great! They were attentive… I drank all my wine and then all of the sudden it was full… They are FAST and EFFICIENT.
I turned my head one way and then all of the sudden my table was clear!!! WTF!!!
Glass empty — BAM — full! I didn’t even see it.
Japanese restaurant… Ninjas are from Japan… makes sense now… Ninjas work at that restaurant.
Thank you Fat Spoon. This was an amazing experience. Thank you.
SOCIAL EVENT:
Katie B had everyone introduce each other… so I’m going to give this a shot:
Shoutout to the 6pm crew:
* Catherine C (I know you personally)
* Pete S (I know you personally)
* Javier J (I know you personally)
* Julie (Ha-​Yeon) — your first elite event and your boyfriend owns fake boobies for a Bring it On costume (if you were to go on Thursday)
* Eddie T (lives a block away with his fiancé and residency at UCI),
Ingrid R (from Argentina),
* Rain F (just got married and it’s now W, right?)
* Jenelle (from Pasadena — Happy Hour week wooo!)
* Shane (I called you Sean the whole night — «close enough»)
* Tiffany D (Happy Birthday for Thursday!)
* Erika E (from Glendale and loved your hair cut)
* Ada L (didn’t get to talk to you much but I do read your reviews!!!)
* EDIT 3÷8÷12: LESLIE P! Thanks Katie B! We must talk next time!
Then the 8pm crew came — Anthony N, Jen H, Jenn Y, Vinh H… and that’s all I recognized.
OVERALL: Great small intimate event. I guess… the smaller it is, the better the experience… Oh yeah! ;) ;)
Thank you Katie B. This was a fun experience! I’m so honored and happy to had been able to try this new regular spot ;)

After 4+ years, people ask me why I still continue to write reviews here on Unilocal.
After last night you would think the answer would be to attend these exclusive tasting events where I get to try dishes like curry loco moco or uni and mushroom pasta, tarako (salted cod roe) pasta and squid ink pasta. We were even given the opportunity to order side dishes and appetizers such as uni croquettes, kobe sausages, albacore sashimi, curry pan and kobe corn dogs. How could I forget the dessert options of honey toast with ice cream and even mango sorbet.
Maybe it’s because venues like Fat Spoon open up their alcohol tabs and offer their draft and bottled beers and wine selections and don’t even care how many you drink. If non-​alcoholic beverages make you happy, they’ll even give you those at no charge.
You might even think it’s because I get to go to different events in both LA and OC to venues that I would not normally go to or even know about if it wasn’t for Unilocal.
Nah, none of those are the reasons I’m still writing.
I don’t consider myelf a foodie.
I don’t drink. That much.
Truth be told there are a few reasons I keep writing.
If you want to know the reasons, just ask me at the next event.
Thank you Katie B, Fat Spoon owner, chef and staff!

I’ve been to a lot of great Unilocal events so far, but this one was the smallest and most intimate one I’ve been to. Huge thanks to Katie B. for organizing this event, and also to the owner and staff at Fat Spoon for closing the restaurant to us Unilocalers for the night.
I originally thought that we would each get an appetizer, entrée, dessert, and drink, which seemed like a good amount for one meal already. But on top of that, we were served a few extra starters and beer.
To start off the dinner, we were all served Albacore Sashimi and Garlic Edamame w/​Curry Salt. I enjoyed both of them! The extra seasoning added to the edamame made it much more unique than the plain kind I usually get at other restaurants.
For my appetizer/​starter, I ordered Sweet Potato Fries w/​Truffle Soy Sauce. The fries were unlike other sweet potato fries I’ve had, and the sauce was very unique due to the truffle flavor.
Other started that I got to try were the Curry Pan, Mac & Cheese, and Toasted Tuna Sandwich. They were all delicious, and the tuna sandwich was not what I originally expected it to be.
Per Katie B.‘s suggestion, most of us at our table ordered different entrees so that we can all try as many different dishes as we could. I enjoyed all the entrees we ordered, but we all agreed the best one was the Tarako, which came with a pink sauce with salted cod roe and seaweed. Other entrees that we tried were the Pescatore, Pork Cutlet Curry, Seafood Curry, Uni and Mushroom Pasta, and Squid Ink Pasta.
For dessert, the waitress brought out one of each kind of dessert to our table. We had the mango sorbet, honey toast w/​ice cream, sweet potato w/​vanilla ice cream, and cinnamon sugar donuts. The sweet potatoe dessert was very interesting – I liked the combination of the warm soft sweet potato with the cold ice cream. I also really enjoyed the honey toast and donuts.
Hopefully I didn’t forget to mention any of the food I tried. There was a lot! I was super full by the end of this dinner. The waiters were gracious enough to pack up our entrees for us to take home.
I will definitely go back to Fat Spoon, either to order the yummy food I ate or to try out other dishes. Thank you Katie B. for making this event happen!

The word of the night??? Food Coma! What an event. Katie came up with the best suggestion of the night, go at it family style! The choices were amazing, especially since we all had a choice of one appetizer, one small bite, one entrée, and one dessert. WE all ordered something different so we could have a taste of everything. Sharing is caring!
Lets begin shall we:
For appetizer we all shared amongst ourselves Mini Corn Dogs with Curry Ketchup and Curry Cheese Fries with fresh Jalapeño (hmmmmmhmmmm this was the bomb!)
For Entrée, we shared amongst ourselves Carbonara, which is Italian bacon (pancetta), egg yolk & Parmesan cheese, Bolognese, which is Kobe grated Beef, vegetable with tomato sauce, Pescatore, which is Shrimp, scallops, clam & calamari with tomato sauce, and Uni Pasta, which is Uni «sea urchin» and mushrooms. My fav had to be the Pescatore.
For dessert we destroyed amongst ourselves was the Baked Sweet Potato w/​Ice cream and the Honey toast with Ice Cream. Its a hard choice to decide which one was the best because both were sooooo good!
Drinks we just as good. We had the choice of a variety of beers, wine, or regular beverage.
The service was great! The staff took great care of us.
Once again, and I do mean once again, Katie B did an awesome job! It was great meeting new Unilocal peeps as always! Thanks again Katie!

There are a lot of popular Fats out there:
Fat Joe — The rapper that is no longer that fat but had hits with What’s Luv?, Lean Back etc.
Fatboy Slim — Now known as Norman Cook, famous for electronic dance music who brought us Weapon of Choice
Fathead Wall Graphics — Life size wall decals of famous athletes
Fatburger — Burger joint that serves the King burger if you finish it yourself you get a picture on wall, don’t forget the fried egg
But by far the best one is Fat Spoon, Michael Cardenas’ (Lazy Ox, Sushi Roku, Toranako, etc.) latest project that brings together Japanese curry dishes with Italian pasta. Katie B. did an awesome job working with Michael to have him open up the whole menu for tasting! In order to try everything the table went family style and enjoyed the fatty portions Fat Spoon was so generous with to go with the bottomless soft drinks and draft beers.
Great hospitality, great food, great dining companions makes for a fantastic event! Much thanks to Michael, Chef Hiro, the wait staff and of course Katie B.

Thank goodness this event came around and Fat Spoon was so gracious — I was wondering where my Fat Belly was.
The service and the food were both casual and gracious. Everything was filling with and rich with hit of aristocracy. Meaning — good, filling, delicious and unexpected upper-​crust ingredients. My favorite was the Squid ink with squid and clams — top notch chef — top notch!
Thank you to the wait staff, the chefs, the proprietor and Katie B. making this a Unilocal event for the record books.
I will be back — this spot is ever so conveniently located directly off the gold line Little Tokyo stop (did you hear that eastsiders)?!
Thank you to the 6 o’clock Unilocalers for a lovely Monday night! Go forth and conquer the week!

Communal eating with random Elite Unilocalers.
Our group of six divided and conquered the different dishes at Fat Spoon.
I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. I took a picture of almost all the dishes that hit our table except the tataki beef. Tried 21 different things total!
Although Fat Spoon is not a family style restaurant, the portions are enough for sharing.
Really intimate Unilocal event, first event I’ve been to that didn’t use name tags.
Thanks so much Katie B. and the Fat Spoon crew for making this event happen.

The free hug from Katie B. deserves five stars. I thought that check in bonus was hilarious and very creative I might add. Thanks to Katie B. and the folks at Fat Spoon for putting on this Exclusive Elite Tasting.
First, our waiter took our drink orders. I had the Kirin light beer since I had made a request to have an alcoholic beverage with the least amount of calories since I was going to have lots of it. Those things add up in calories over time.
Then our waiter had brought out some edamame with curry salt and albacore sashimi slices to sample before we placed our appetizer/​starter plate orders. I was actually going to order those two initially, but the kitchen beat me to it. Those dishes were quite delicious. I had never had curry salt but I would love to know where they purchased this curry salt so I can douse it on my edamame in the future.
For my appetizer/​starter plate orders, I sampled the Uni Croquette and more of the albacore since it was so delicious. I was not really a fan of the Uni Croquette because it seemed too heavy. I am not sure if the combination of Uni and a Croquette really go together.
Then, our waiter took our entrée order. I had the Filet Mignon pasta with cuatro chili’s. Literally, it was 4 types of chili’s including jalapeño, sriracha, red chili, and japanese chili according to our waiter’s description. By the time our main entrée came out, I took a few bites and was completely full so they kindly packed it up for me. When you eat the pasta, there is a overwhelming smell of chili’s obviously because there were four types mixed in, but I wish they could have put more filet mignon in the dish as it was overwhelmed by the pasta itself. I still did enjoy my entrée even though I was pretty full by then.
Last, I saved some room for dessert. I didn’t splurge on the dessert since I am trying to eat healthy so I got some green tea ice cream, a typical dessert you would find at an Asian restaurant. However, some people at my table ordered these ornate concoctions such as the sweet potato ice cream. I thought the presentation was quite unique.
I left very content after drinking and eating well at the Fat Spoon. The best part was receiving a big hug from Katie B.

Any night that involves Katie B., new Unilocal friends, and an entire restaurant singing me happy birthday definitely is 5 stars in my book!
Fat spoon and LA culinary maestro Michael Cardenas closed this cute casual restaurent for us for this awesome tasting event. Katie b packed a punch and looked lovely in her coral top!
As a starter, Chen Hiro from Tokyo sent out Albacore sashimi slices in a ponzu mustard tangy sauce. Nice start to a delectable evening. Paired with the addictive garlic and curry salt edamame and everyone was lusting for the entrees!
Then came the personal appetizers. Mine thankfully was the ridiculously awesome Beef tataki — like Shane P. said, it just tastes like velvet. Soft. Thicker cut than a carpaccio, but amazing. Lemon cured and served over thin cucumbers. This was definitely my favorite dish of the night.
Chef Hiro next sent us a curry pan, which was a cool pastry with curry filling… it was good but the flavors weren’t strong enough for my taste. Chef also wanted us to try the ebizu beer, from a region which usually makes sake but just started making beers. My new favorite for sure! Forget Sappor… what’s his name again?! Our waitress came to check on us and agreed too. Sapporo is old news with Ebizu in town.
Then the toasted tuna sandwich came out and surprisingly didn’t look like tuna or a sandwich! And surprising was crazy delicious! Not jut a tuna sandwich. At all. Lovely egg wash. Flavors were rich but not strong or overpowering.
The other appetizers weer all delicious… The mac and cheese was, well… cheesy, but in a mild and nice way. It definitely was what a Mac and cheese should be. The kobe beef mini corndogs were dense but not my favorites.
Per Katie B’s suggestion, we did family style for everything else and thank goodness! So much awesomeness to try! Fat Spoon was founded on the concept of fresh foods, brought to your table at an affordable price. Curries and pastas make the center focus of each meal, and make you feel right at home. I opted for the pork cutlet curry, which was perfectly breaded, succulent, and delish! The curry sauce itself was savory and amazing. One of the best I’ve ever had for sure. Our table’s favorite dish tho, was the Tarako — pink pasta fabness with salted cod roe and a seaweed tower to top it.
Dessert was also family style, with a massive honey toast to start. My first honey toast ever, and I’m sold! The mango sorbet was delicate but so amazing. Sweet potato and ice cream concoction was interesting — like a homey southern sweet potato pie. And finally, to round it out, a Hawaiian Malasada-​esque cinnamon sugar doughnut hole. AMAZING!
Such an awesome night with awesome new friends! Truly intimate, and it’s one of the first Unilocal events i’ve been to where i’ve met and gotten to really talk with others. sans nametags! really loved this aspect of the event… it feels like this is how more events should be run!
All in all, it was an awesome night. Loved meeting new faces around awesome food. Holler @ 6pm and the winning table for total and complete awesomeness domination!

I have to say, I was a little skeptical at first for this place.
I mean, I have been next door at Daikokuya… oh, more than I can count with both hands.
Honestly, I have never been here but I was glad I got to try it.
Thanks Katie B!
She was giving free hugs if you check in!
Hilarious!
The 6pm group was pretty cool, I got to meet a few more friends. Holler at you folks Shane, Catherine, Erika, Janelle, Laura, Rain, Javier. Sorry, I didn’t get to talk to the other ½ the table.
As for the food, I got here late. I didn’t get a chance to try all the appetizers. Everyone said the Beef Tataki was really good. I believe it because I didn’t get any! The edamame was kicked up in a good way. I ordered the toasted tuna sandwich, love the crunchiness of it! Tasted like a white man’s Torta! Thanks for the recommendation and taking care me. (The waitress who put in my order, sorry I didn’t get your name)
Ok, here are my favorites here:
I really liked the curry pan
It it ginormous, it’s like a Monsanto polybrid of the curry house version. It’s bigger and spicier. That’s what she said.
Even though I had ordered the Uni pasta (which actually is quite good). I really really liked the Tarako pasta
The saltiness reminds me of catching fresh fish and eating it.
Oh, BTW. This place serves everything fresh. They don’t believe in canned ingredients. Thumbs up! Thank you Mr. Michael Hide Cardenas of IDG
You guys not only know what’s good, you guys are really hip too!
The squid ink pasta was a 2^nd for me.
Has good flavor, again tasted a bit saltier and fresh. I am normally not a salt person as I get my margaritas with no salt. My fries with no salt. My fried rice with… well, no MSG.
My pasta with the Uni would be 3^rd best here. The taste was very subtle. I would say this pasta is catered towards people who doesn’t like spicy. Very earthy but not as flavorful as I liked. I liked it but when you are given choices and a picky taste bud like my, I would pick Tarako pasta all the way!
As for the dessert, we had a quite a few choices. I am really not a dessert person as you can see from my red asian face. I’ll just have more of the Corbu merlot, thank you very much! That was actually quite good, very young and easy drinking. But as for dessert, the sweet potato with ice cream was really different. It was kind of sweet and sweeter. Some people say it’s sweet and salty but I have a strange pallet.
Thanks again Katie B for organizing. Now my suspense of this place has finally come to and end. And a good one at that! Thanks you Fat Spoon crew, chef Michael and Hiro. Zenbu Yoshoku Oishikatta!
Oh and next time, I will be redeeming my hug on my Unilocal app again Katie!

OMG! I am beyond full!!! Have you seen the photos posted?! Absolutely fabulous! Thanks Katie again for a wonderful intimate event for us. I had a blast meeting everyone at our table for the 8pm session! Yum, Yum, Yum!
Since we’re all pretty much family by now, our table shared everything from appetizers to entrees and to the finaaaaale, dessert. For future dining, I would recommend for a party of two to just order two small bites, one entrée, and a dessert. You will be set! The entrée prices are about $ 12 – 14 and it’s really not that much if you’re sharing. The service was awesome tonight! Our gorgeous server constantly came back to check on us for food or drinks, thank you!!!
So before I forget everything, here’s my recommendation:
Small Bites:
Beef Tataki (comes in four slices, a great starter since it’s chilled)
Mac and Cheese (standard, but comes out bubbling… love cheese!)
Albacore Sashimi (another chilled dish, with deep fried garlic or onions on top)
Entrée:
Tarako Pasta (Salted cod roe, cream, dried seaweed & chopped green onion — I only had a bite of this, but OMG! The flavor was just right. It’s a must for next time!!!)
Uni Pasta (Uni «sea urchin» and mushrooms — any uni lover need to get this. Even if you’re not, get it! The taste is very subtle, but Ooooo Soooo Good!)
Dessert:
Baked Sweet Potato (Super Unique and tasty! I never had anything like it. If you like Sweet Potatoes or Yam, you will absolutely fall in love!)
I’m so glad I came and got to taste a little of everything at Fat Spoon tonight. I will definitely be coming back and bringing my friends! What makes this restaurant stand out from all the others are their lovely pasta dishes that’s delicate and flavorful all at the same time! I can’t wait to try more dishes. A big THANK YOU to Michael Cardenas for this wonderful opportunity!!!