Fermentation Lab

General Notes

Fermentation Lab (the Japantown location) is a relatively new restaurant. I stumbled across it and was intrigued by the menu options. It's a New American-esque / gastropub restaurant with Asian influences, like the uni pasta, katsu loco moco, or matcha creme anglaise served with the churros. Overall, the food is very solid and does not disappoint. Very reasonably priced too. Definitely try their duck fat fries, uni pasta, and churros. The interior of the restaurant is lovely, and the vibes of the place are delightful. Note that they have a second location near civic center, which has the same name but a substantially different menu -- that's more of your typical gastropub menu selection.

Dishes Tasted

• ★★★★ Churros -- served with some kind of chocolate sauce and matcha anglaise. Probably some of the best churros I've had in a long time. Matcha anglaise was great, but I think I slightly preferred the churros with the chocolate sauce.
• ★☆☆☆ Beef Tenderloin Tips -- mashed potatoes, asparagus, mushrooms, some kind of sauce. The components themselves were cooked well (the beef was really tender), but I'm really not a fan of the sauce.
• ★★★☆ Fried Chicken Sliders -- Solid! Nothing particularly noteworthy about these.
• ★★☆☆ Duck Confit Tacos -- The habanero salsa is _very_ spicy -- be warned.
• ★★★★ Uni Pasta -- Probably my favorite dish out of them all. Honestly, the dish doesn't really even need the uni, but it's a nice touch. The pasta is cooked perfectly, and the roe + sauce combination is amazing.
• ★★☆☆ Katsu Loco Moco -- Turning loco moco katsu-style is a bit overkill and doesn't really add much to the dish. But it's hard to go too wrong and it's still delicious. The ratio of components is a little off (there's too much rice), but it doesn't hurt to have extra rice.
• ★★☆☆ Fermlab Burger -- A solid burger, but nothing super outstanding.
• ★★★★ Brussel Sprouts -- Served with bacon and some kind of sweet-ish glaze. They're cooked to perfection.
• ★★★★ Deviled Eggs -- I've never really had deviled eggs before, but these were REALLY GOOD. Especially the one with the salmon roe + salmon on top; such a delightful combination. I don't really remember what the other one was.
• ★★★☆ Duck Fat Fries -- Cooked to perfection and delightfully flavorful! The sauce (I think it was a garlic aioli of some sort) was a great pairing!