Banana Crepe at Izayka-Ya

Wow,what a gorgeous looking antidote to the sodium packed meal I had just indulged in at the popular Isayka-Ya Japanese restaurant in West Hollywood.

How I admired the diaphanous crepe enveloping a banana and vanilla ice-cream, as it rested beneath whipped-cream, chocolate drizzle, and a few slices of caramelized bananas.  This dessert was about to be bonkers.

And yet, it wasn't. Like many things in Los Angeles, this dessert was simply an illusion. Why, you wonder? Because the banana was a whole, complete, plain old raw banana Not caramelized, not fried, not sauteed… not even dusted with a whisper of powdered sugar.  A plain stinking banana.  The kind you eat in the morning or when there's nothing better to snack on. And the vanilla ice-cream didn't exactly inspire poetry either.  

(Sigh)… the presentation looked exciting (if not phallic), but the reality disappointed me.. and I hate being disappointed.   Had they simply caramelized the large banana the way they did the garnishing on top, this dessert could have been a contender.