I have written about so many restaurants in Manhattan Beach. It is one of my favorite areas to hang out. I found another little place called Little Sister. After checking out their menu and seeing it was full of Asian fusion dishes, I knew I wanted to stop by.
I had made it in time to enjoy happy house, which they called “Spice Hour”. I glanced at the drink specials. I went for the “Tom Hardy”. They called it citrus and fizzy – white wine, passion fruit, and cocchi blanco. To me this tasted like a sangria, just not as sweet. I could definitely taste the passion fruit.
The best about being there for happy hour is they had all the small plates I could try without having too much food.
I started with the char sui pork steamed bun. It came with homemade pickles that were a little spicy. They were a nice garnish. The pork was thinly sliced and stacked on a soft bun. It reminded me of a pork BBQ sandwich; extremely sweet and tender.
Next up were the salt and pepper prawns. They came on skewers with an herb and cashew curry sauce. They were crispy. The curry sauce is what made these prawns stand out. Without the sauce they would have been a standard fried shrimp.
Then came out the lemongrass chicken banh-mi. This mini sandwich had crispy chicken with crushed cashews, mint, basil, and scallions. The sandwich was a little messy to eat. The flavor was amazing. The tangy toppings added so much zest to the chicken.
An interesting dish came up next, the Balinese fried meatballs. It came with a cilantro-mint chutney. The meatball was covered in breadcrumbs and fried. The meatball was extremely flavorful, full of spices. The dipping sauce added sweetness. It was a unique way to have meatball.
The last little plate ordered was the Imperial rolls. These were a cross between an egg roll and a spring roll. The filling was a combination of shrimp, crab, pork, taro root, and glass noodles. The pork added the most flavor to the filling. On the side came roasted peanuts and a chili lime sauce. I did not use any peanuts but did dip a few bites of the roll in the dipping sauce. It had a tangy taste.
Since the dishes I enjoyed were small bites I was able to save room for dessert. They do petite desserts which allows you to select three choices.
My first choice was the honey lavender crème brulee. There is definitely a food trend that incorporates lavender into food. This crème brulee was lighter than a traditional one. It was also extremely creamy. I could taste the subtleness of the lavender. It gave the whole dessert a sweet taste.
The second dessert was the lemongrass coconut pannacotta. It tasted like a coconut pudding. I could clearly taste the coconut but not the lemongrass. It had small crushed pineapples on top. Having that made this dessert very tropical.
Lastly was the homemade Ding Dong. When I cut into it I was not expecting it to be red velvet cake. That was a pleasant surprise because I love red velvet. The cake was very moist. The chocolate on the outside was rich and smooth. Chocolate and red velvet are a wonderful pairing.
I had a wonder visit to Little Sister. This was a great find and would recommend this place to everyone. Make sure you get there in time for “Spice Hour”. Visit their website at www.littlesistermb.com
Enjoy!
T
