Empty Plates: LudoBites 8
I am a foodie. Although I balk at the term because it sounds so trendy, and I don’t want to be trendy. Which, according to a definition I heard recently, could make me a hipster. But I am definitely not a hipster. But I do take great pleasure in food. Call me food-driven. That is where my limited discretionary spending goes–really good food.
Since it gained popularity, LudoBites has been in search of an effective and reliable reservation system. After many website crashes and 5-minute sellouts, for v8, reservations were doled out by lottery. This was a lottery I desperately wanted to win. But I didn’t. Which might have made this a very short review, but they did have a few walk-ins available at each seating.
On Monday, January 30, E and I walked in to LudoBites at Lemon Moon at 6pm. And were seated. In fact, we arrived separately and were each seated. E at the bar–tip! you can sit at the (very small) bar and order from the full menu–and I was at the long, communal table. We found each other after about 10 minutes and the ordering began.
Since we were only two, we could not get one of everything–well, I suppose we could have, but I, for one, would have ended up sick–so we had to choose carefully. We watched the dishes going by and ogled the plates of the diners beside us. I’m salivating just thinking about it.
We stated off with “Brioche Seaweed Yuzu Butter.” It took a really long time to come out, and we met our neighbors while we waited. Our server, Misty (maybe you remember her from Angeli Cafe? She thought she recognized me, but, alas, I’ve never been there), scowled over at our table several times, clearly wondering as we were where the bread was. But is was worth the wait. Crispy toasted on the outside, soft and supple on the inside and dripping with salty-tangy butter. Oh. My. God. I am a toast fan. I even have a crocheted, stuffed slice of toast named Mr. Toastee. And this toast was made from brioche, perhaps the most amazing of French breads, by Ludo, my favorite French chef. I would go back and sit at the bar just to eat this toast. And drink wine, of course. So, here it is:
Brioche with seaweed yuzu butter
Oh, sorry. It was beautiful and delicious. Sorry you missed it. Yuzu, by the way, is a tart, Japanese citrus, usually compared to a lime or grapefruit.
Next we got the “Sweet Shrimp, Miso Cream, Beans, Smoked Salmon.” This was my favorite. I could have had just the shrimp all night. They were the “sweet” variety in the sushi sense–served raw. The shrimp were basking in a pool of miso cream, sprinkled with a few white beans and an uncredited chorizo crumble. Curls of salmon framed the pool. It was perfect–creamy shrimp (yes, raw shrimp are creamy) and creamy miso and smokey chorizo and well, it was perfect.
Sweet shrimp with miso cream, beans and smoked salmon
I licked that plate clean. Be assured that nothing was wasted.
Next came “Big Eye Tuna, Tahitian Vanilla, Somen, 7 Flavor Vinaigrette.” Somen is a very thin noodle, like vermicelli. The dish had chunks of fish, cooked but served cold over the noodles with the vinaigrette. I didn’t even try to figure out what the sever flavors were, I just enjoyed it.
Big eye tuna with Tahitian vanilla, somen and 7 flavor vinaigrette
I am allergic to liver, but I eat foie gras anyway. Not that I get it often, but when it’s on offer, I throw caution to the wind. We skipped the “Chicken Tandoori Crispy” starter since it had chicken liver (eh) on crispy chicken skin (yum!), so I wouldn’t overload my system. Instead we got “Foie Gras, Tamarin, Turnips, Daikon.” The foie was floating a broth that I assume was made from tamarind, the plant, not tamarin, the monkey, but I have been wrong before. It was rich and sweet and made a lovely counterbalance to the strips of daikon radish and thin slices of turnip. There were also several types of leaves floating in the broth. One was definitely shiso, and I think another was mint. This dish was somehow both light and rich.
Foie gras in tamarin(d) broth with turnips and daikon
Our last main was “Duck, Orange, Olives, Carrots.” The carrots appeared to be (and tasted like they were) soaked in red wine, and there was a red wine reduction on the plate. E loved this one–I think it was her favorite. I enjoyed it, but would have been pleased to eat another plate of shrimp instead. 
We finished off our meal with “Apple Tart Tatin, Salted Caramel, Orange Creamsicle.” That creamsicle ice cream was amazing. The entire dish was amazing, but that ice cream…. and how can you go wrong with a classic French dessert made by a fabulous French chef. So we started the meal much as we ended it: Ludo’s version of a French classic.
Apple tart tatin with slated caramel and orange creamsicle
I missed the scallops and the John Dory, and I really want more of that shrimp, so if you want to go, I’d be happy to join you! Ludo is at Lemon Moon until February 22.