RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen Part 2

RockSugar was so good yesterday that I went back today with 3 friends and we ordered the prix fixe lunch for four of us as well as an additional appetizer, side dish, and main course (we were all very hungry since it was about 3pm and none of us had eaten lunch).

I am happy to report that the service was again very efficient and friendly, and our food pleased even a very picky eater who commented "I thought this would be weird, but it tastes really good." Just goes to prove that everyone can appreciate good food if they are simply brave enough to try something different.

We had the lacquered ribs as our additional appetizer and although they were sweet and sticky, they were not cloyingly so, and meaty enough for the four of us to share one plate. Our prix fixe for four included 2 salads, so we chose the green salad and the jicama with ruby grapefruit and candied walnuts, which was the favorite for all four of us. For our meats we ordered the caramel chicken and the clay pot beef, which was so good we ordered another full order of the beef at the end of our meal to take home (but we ended up eating it). Our noodle dishe of Thai noodles (Pad Thai) and stir fried vegetables were both delicious, but we also wanted rice with our meal so we ordered the ginger fried rice as an additional menu item. The rice was good, but one of my friends found it too spicy (I did not) and another did not like the fried egg that topped it (so one of us ate the egg without having it mixed into the rice); it a personal taste issue, but better to know before ordering it that it can be both spicy and too eggy for some people.

We wanted cake for dessert, but since only ice creams and sorbets are offered at lunch, we passed and had some great drinks, like the Champagne and lychee which was a refreshing dessert-like drink for people who don't like strong alcohol, and some dirty martinis for those of us who like our drinks strong (like me). Even the one who ordered a Coke loved the taste, remarking that it was a "really good Coke."

Always good to know that a place is as wonderful the second time on the day after the first visit. The decor was even more remarkable this time because it was so empty at 3pm that we had the whole place to ourselves and we felt as if we had out own private food temple in the middle of Century City; this must be what nirvana feels like.