Star Leaf (Pasadena, CA)

Starleaf Restaurant
641 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91101
626-345-5371
www.starleafusa.com
Sat 10/05/2024, 06:35p-08:50p





A recent birthday dinner brought me out to Star Leaf, a new Thai-leaning Southeast Asian eatery in Pasadena's Playhouse Village neighborhood. The place opened at the start of March, and represents the first expansion into the US from Starland Group (星洲集团), a Chinese hospitality company. Starland was founded in 2011 by Ruth Lin, a.k.a. 林敏羲 or Lin Minxi, a former newspaper art editor who launched her first restaurant in Fuzhou's Cangshan Wanda Plaza. Today, the group runs seven brands--the original Starland Leaf (星洲蕉叶), Star Leaf (星叶南洋料理), Coconut Camp (椰子营), Starland Gathering (星洲小聚), Coconut Farm (星洲椰场), Spirit of Hokkien (八闽小聚), 10:10 (拾点十分美式料理)--and its culinary operations are headed up by Wu Haifeng (Max Wu) and Chen Shijie (Jeremy Chen). For the Pasadena restaurant, Starland has tapped Chris Aquino (Erewhon, General Admission, Marché Wine Bar, Thyme 2 Go, Chomp Eatery & Juice Station, Bow & Truss) to run the kitchen on a day-to-day basis, while on board as partners are Benjamin Ang, Chenxia Wu, and Meihua Wu.




Star Leaf resides on the ground floor of the Trio Apartments building, in a space that was previously home to Roy's. The decor has been redone in a style ostensibly inspired by Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, and the room sports a dark-toned, vaguely tropical sort of aesthetic.


Here we see Star Leaf's pan-Southeast Asian menu, which is actually shorter than I expected. Drink-wise, you get theme-appropriate cocktails (and shots), a handful of beers, sundry non-alcoholic options, and a pretty ho-hum wine list. Corkage is $35, limit two. Click for larger versions.


Spicy Thai Som Tum Salad [$19.00] | green papaya, cherry tomatoes, crushed peanuts, dried shrimp, mango, fish sauce
We began with Star Leaf's take on the iconic green papaya salad. I enjoyed the crunch of the unripe fruit and the contributions of the peanut and herbs, but I found the dish lacking in the funk, heat, and sourness that one typically expects with som tam.


Tropical Aperol Spritz [$16.00] | sparkling wine, aperol, fever-tree, yuzu & lime
My party sampled a number of cocktails, and this first one was certainly the most refreshing of the bunch, playing classic bittersweet Aperol notes against plenty of grapefruit-y citrus.



Thai Royal Curry [$42.00] | slow-roasted sambal rempah, coconut cream, eggs, eggplant, baked baguette, crispy soft-shell crab (2 crabs)
Naturally, we had to try at least one of the curries on offer, and this seemed like the most interesting. However, it didn't live up to expectations, presenting itself in a rather tepid manner, without the spicy, savory complexity I was hoping for. I did enjoy the actual soft-shell crabs though, which were properly crunchy, and the curry did make sense with the accompanying white rice, though we were never given the advertised baguette.


Peacock Margarita [$16.00] | tequila, mezcal mist, lime, agave, passionfruit
This overtly tropical iteration of the margarita was easy to enjoy, boasting lots of passion fruit, precious little agave, and an aggressively salty rim.


Mamasan's Shrimp Cake Skewers (4pcs) [$25.00] | charred pineapples, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, garlic chili dip
Fried shrimp cakes were great texturally thanks to their crispy outsides and tender, bouncy interiors. Taste-wise, they blended a lemongrass-fueled pungency with what my esteemed dining companion described as a Fruity Pebbles-esque sweetness. The garlic-chile sauce worked as a fitting complement, though I can't say the same about those chunks of pineapple.


Jade Royale [$18.00] | gin, melon liqueur, yuzu liqueur, calpico yogurt, lemon juice
This lime-hued cocktail looked inviting enough, but sadly, I was not permitted to try it.


Crying Tiger Salad [$19.00 + $12.00] | organic greens, toasted wild rice, tomatoes, manchego, citrus vinaigrette + "crying tiger" steak
Our next dish didn't really recall its suea rong hai inspiration much at all, as it was seemingly completely missing the punchiness and verve of the traditional dish. The actual steak was cooked more than I would've liked, and was thus tougher and chewier than it should've been (though the meat did have a nice sear), while the kale salad on the side was competent enough.


Tropical Mango Fish [$27.00] | asian rainbow slaw, battered fillets, toasted wild rice
Chunks of fish were well-fried, featuring soft, moist insides and properly crisp exteriors that reminded one of my dining companions of funnel cake. The filets were tasty enough on their own, but did benefit from a drizzle of that fruity sauce on the side. Meanwhile, the shredded papaya didn't add much to the dish, and the wild rice was a complete non-factor.


Ume Old Fashioned + Smoked [$18.00 + $2.00] | ume akashi japanese whisky, licor 43, orange bitters, salted plum candy
This smoked old fashioned was the heftiest cocktail of the lot, and showcased loads of woodsy smoke and fruitiness up front, commingled with sugariness and heat in a surprisingly viscous package. Note that we were charged an extra $2 smoking fee, which was not specified on the menu and is something I've never encountered before; it seemed a bit tacky.


12hr Braised Angus Short Ribs [$52.00] | mild green curry sauce, charred cherry tomatoes
Short rib arrived juicy and falling-apart tender, with a lovely sear to boot. The meat's assertively savory nature certainly satisfied by itself, but the beef was even better when taken with a dab of that coconut-y sauce on the side, which brightened things up beautifully. My favorite dish of the night.


Raffles Singapore Sling [$18.00] | gin, cherry heering, benedictine, pineapple, lime juice, grenadine, angostura bitters
Given that the decor at Star Leaf was apparently inspired by the Raffles' Long Bar, I felt compelled to try the bar's signature cocktail. Tonight's version was teeming with pineapple and sweet spices, with nary any trace of booze, making for a properly quaffable drink.


Royal Crown Fried Rice [$28.00] | wild icelandic capelin fish roe, scallops, eggs, shrimp, white jasmine rice & wild rice
I'm normally a sucker for fried rice, but this missed the mark. I found the dish on the bland side, lacking in depth and savor, while the seafood barely made itself known. Meanwhile, that layer of masago on top seemed a bit gimmicky, and mostly served as a textural element, and not one that I necessarily enjoyed.


Kamata Club Blues [$22.00] | japanese whisky, curry agave, turkish tobacco bitter, simple syrup
Another spirit-forward cocktail brought boatloads of sweet-smelling smoke along with a bevy of boozy, sugary, sweetly-spiced nuances, all backed by an astringent underpinning.


Lime Steamed Chilean Sea Bass [$55.00] | lemongrass, cilantro, chili mint, fresh mint
Chunks of Chilean sea bass arrived flaky and moist, generally mild-tasting at first, but with a growing brine. The fish was set in a bracingly tart, herbaceous sauce, and the contrast was actually a bit jarring and clumsy.


White Lotus [$18.00] | vietnamese dry gin, kaffir lime, lime leaf liqueur, bergamot
This crystal-clear cocktail displayed a lychee-like tropical sweetness commixed with an acerbicness that recalled bathroom cleansing agent.


Madame Noi's Pork Collar [$38.00] | double lettuce cups, cucumber, mint, thai basil, green papaya salad, basil garlic dipping sauce
I'm a big fan of pork collar in general, so this was a must-order for me. The meat was on the tougher side, so it wasn't quite there texturally, but I did appreciate its sweetness and char. The collar certainly made sense with the herbs and veggies, and resulted in some nice bites when wrapped up in lettuce and splashed with some of the accompanying garlic sauce.


Muay Tai Kick [$17.00] | mekhong, orgeat, benedictine, lemon, longan
Our penultimate cocktail was arguably the most intriguing of the lot. Think sweet and nutty at first blush, but with an unexpected earthiness that actually made me think of baijiu.


Mango Sticky Rice [$22.00] | triple glutinous rice dyed in: red dragon-fruit, butterfly pea flower
Given that we'd brought a cake, we opted for only one dessert from the menu. Other than the unusual colors at play, this was a pretty by-the-book mango sticky rice.


During our meal, our table was paid an unsolicited visit by magician Vin Chee. I did find the experience to be a bit odd, especially since we were asked to leave a tip at the end of the performance, though I do have to commend Chee's close-up magic skills, as there was some impressive sleight-of-hand happening.


Saigon Summer [$16.00] | tequila, lime leaf liqueur, agave, thai chili infusion, blue curacao, chinese inspired bitters
The decidedly blue-tinted cocktail was the final of the night, and presented a mish-mash of agave, heat, and spices in a fairly nondescript manner.


Tonight's cake was a Chocolate Raspberry from Porto's, which was actually quite lovely. Do note that there's normally a $10 cake cutting fee, but we weren't charged for it.


Extra cake was taken home in probably the nicest to-go boxes I've ever seen at a restaurant. I definitely made sure to re-use the container.

Star Leaf is a fitting replacement for the Roy's that once inhabited this space, in that the cooking is about what one would expect from a chain restaurant, generally lacking in both intensity and complexity. In the end, what we essentially have here is a neutered, sanitized version of Southeast Asian cuisine, corporate and devoid of soul.