Bashan Restaurant is a small, modernly furnished, dimly lit restaurant in Glendale (on the border near Montrose), self-described as casual fine dining.
My husband and I have been there several times over the last six months or so. In our earlier visits, we were greeted initially with bread an an amuse-bouche of a butternut squash soup. We tried a few dishes, most of which I did not feel strongly about either way. However, the Jidori Chicken Breast (which seems to be a permanent fixture on the seasonally-changed menu), was very tasty and enough to draw me back there recently.
On our most recent visit, the amuse-bouche was a cool white corn soup with squid and honeydew melon. It was recommended that we pour the soup over the other two. It was a good mix of sweetness and saltiness, with a spectrum of textures, and I really enjoyed it. The prior amuse-bouche was certainly not bad, but this was much more interesting.
For appetizers, I had the Seared Rougie Foie Gras ($19) and J had the Braised Pork Belly Asian Style ($14). The foie gras was served with a fruit puree, greens, and bits of artichoke fried into salty, crispy chips. All the extras on our plates had the same effect as the amuse-bouche: each component had a different flavor and texture, and when put together they made a lovely flavor party.
As for entrees, J had a short rib special that had delicious flavors, though I felt the short ribs were slightly on the dry side. I had the Prime Flat Iron Steak ($26) with a sweet corn blini, loose corn, piquillo peppers, fava Beans, crispy shallots, and veal jus.
If there had been a Top Chef challenge to take an old-school comfort dish and reinvent it in a modern way, I think this steak dish would have at least made it into the top three. The beef and crispy shallot flavors were reminiscent of meatloaf with fried onions; the corn, fava beans, and piquillo peppers were like a delicious, upscale version of succotash (and that takes some doing, since there’s nothing appealing about succotash).
For those of you with nut allergies, most of the dishes can be modified, but the pickings are slimmer when it comes to dessert. On this last visit, I had the Chocolate Coulant ($8), which was delicious but took a while to bake, and I would have ordered it before my dinner was finished if I had known better.
Though I wasn’t super-impressed with Bashan on my first visit, my interest is definitely growing and I’ve had some really delicious meals there.
Bashan Restaurant
3459 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, CA 91208
(818) 541-1532
Tuesday-Saturday 5:30-10:00 p.m.
Sunday 5:00-9:00 p.m
Closed Mondays
