Yellow Fever

I read about this Asian bowl place about a month ago and forgot about it. Then, my friend Connie asked me if I've been there. I felt I owed it to Connie to find out soon. Soon was yesterday........
Sandi and I were scheduled for a walk in the park. It was almost 5 p.m. when she asked me if I still wanted to walk. I told her it was cold and windy out so maybe we should just walk to Yellow Fever which is about a 1/4 mile from her house; that way we won't feel to guilty eating.

We got there at shortly after 5 when it was empty. Cute decor, clean lines and asian bowls adorned the wall. There was just another couple eating. The young lady Michelle, explained everything to us since it was our first time. First, you have to pick a base: Rice, Noodles or Salad. Step two is the meat; pick filet mignon, grilled chicken breast, braised pork belly etc. and they are named either with a country or state. Then comes the additional toppings like garlic, shallot chips, ginger chips, baked kale or avocado, fried egg, ugly egg rolls though it didn't look ugly to me! There are also "Things to Share" like tiger wings, rice balls, the traditional french fries or the parmesan furikake.

I knew that I wanted to try the Seoul which was the grilled filet mignon with asian slaw, mushrooms, fried egg with gochu sauce(Japanese condiment). For my base, I picked the rice. They asked what additional topping I wanted so I asked their suggestion and this is when Andrew, another server came to the rescue and asked if I liked kale to which I said Yes, but only if it is fried. He suggested the baked kale for my topping and the fried egg. He was as enthusiastic as I would have been explaining the different flavors. How could I refuse. Sandi decided on the Shanghai which was the braised pork belly with sauteed onions, steamed bok choy, asian slaw, shiso leaves and kung pow sauce. She also settled on rice as her base.

We both thought we had to order their famous Parmesan Furikake. That had a ton of flavor plus it was served with their signature sauce that was wonderful with the fries.

I absolutely loved the Seoul. First of all, the kale, though not fried was baked to a crisp. When I mixed everything up, it almost seemed like an explosion in my mouth. Not the "terrorist" kind but more like fireworks. The gochujang sauce on the rice was spicy (not unbearable) and was perfect with the rest of the ingredients. Then you had the different textures, crunchiness of the kale, the tender filet, the soft mushrooms and the crisp asian slaw.

Sandi's Shanghai was also delicious but her sauce was on the sweet side. She tried mine and decided that mine was more exciting.  So for people that can't handle a little heat and prefer something sweeter, Shanghai is the way to go.

For the vegetarians, they have the Californian: baked organic tofu sausage as the meat and they even have the Kona: spam& egg asian slaw, kimchi, furikake, green onions and tamarind katsu sauce. I may want to try this another time but I will have to get the Seoul out of my system first as I am already craving it.

For our beverage we picked the homemade Lychee Lemonade. One word of advise: Order it!

Kelly, the chef and owner came by and sat with us and explained our food in detail. She was very nice and down to earth. In fact the staff is so well picked that they all were efficient, professional and friendly.

By the time we left to walk back home, the restaurant was no longer empty and by the time I drove by there, the parking lot was full.  Yellow Fever is open everyday except Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.  They are located at 24416 Crenshaw Blvd. in Torrance, California. They are on the east side of Crenshaw across from Crossroads Shopping Center.

I was so excited about this place that when I stopped by Ralph's market on the way home, I told the manager about my new discovery. So Connie, you have my approval; hurry down there but go before the crowd. To Kelly: It was nice meeting you and we will see you very soon!