Craftbar (Los Angeles)

Last night after a taping of "The Soup", Daryl, Selina and I hightailed it over to Century City to check out the newly opened Craftbar (attached to Craft). Perhaps our good spirits made us more inclined to enjoy, but we found the atmosphere, service and food to be top notch!

Admittedly I was excited to go because I love Top Chef but cannot afford Craft's exorbitant prices. Craftbar was a perfect solution since it is still associated with and attached to the main restaurant, but features drinks and food (snacks, salads, small plates, in a jar, pasta, pizzettes, cheese and sweets) for under $10 each. Very reasonable!

Unfortunately, since they close at 10pm and we got there at 9:35, a lot of the things we wanted to order were no longer available (bacon and lobster rolls, jidori chicken wings with maple dijon aioli, lamb sliders with bleu cheese and tomato marmalade). But because of this inconvenience, the chef (who we will pretend was Tom Colicchio) sent out a complimentary pizzette.

Some photos:

The bar.


Refreshing! The beers are only $5, which is amazing in LA. I think this was a Pilsner.

Falafel & Whipped Spicy Feta

Foie Gras Confit w/ Grapes, Apple & Macadamia Nuts

Steamed Short Rib Buns

Raw Albacore Tuna w/ Pickled Shallots & Kishu Tangerine (AMAZING)

Braised Veal Ravioli & Hazelnut Brown Butter

Sausage Raviolini & Manila Clams

Truffle Garlic Sausage & Lentils


Veal & Ricotta Meatballs

Pizzette #1

Pizzette #2 (gratis)- I think this one had jalapenos.

Craftbar
10100 Constellation Blvd.
Century City, CA 90067

Ketchup

Ketchup, located in the heart of West Hollywood, is the latest "hot spot" from the Dolce Group. It is definitely a place to see and be seen, but other than its upscale diner fare schtick, and the possibility of seeing pseudo-celeb/restauranteur/drunk, Tara Reid, it doesn't have much else going for it.

We made reservations for 9pm on a Saturday night about a week after Ketchup opened. Parking is near impossible on Sunset since most available spots are reserved for valet. My car was left basically where I dropped it off. So we essentially paid $10 valet for someone to hold my keys. How very LA.

As you walk in at street level, the hosts and hostesses (slash actors slash models) greet you, then take you up an elevator to the second floor where the restaurant is located. This gives those with window tables a beautiful view of the street. We had a pretty remarkable view of a billboard (see above photo).

I suppose the scene was pretty cool, or at the very least, novel. They definitely stayed true to the theme of ketchup, and all things tomato. The lighting is all red, and there are posters and large photomosaics of Heinz ketchup bottles. The wine racks are filled with ketchup bottles and the servers all wear t-shirts with fake ketchup splatters. Instead of flowers, you'll find fresh tomatos in clear boxes on the table. I couldn't decide whether I thought this was clever or cheesy, and it felt slightly reminiscent of that Top Chef challenge where they had to open up and decorate a restaurant very quickly.

The servers were very friendly and down-to-Earth, which was a pleasant surprise. However, my experience was dampened by their very evident inexperience. Our server was probably an actor, because he gave a pretty convincing impression that he knew what he was talking about. When Surafel asked how large the mahi mahi entree was, he said it was definitely big enough for two people. I know this is LA, but either he had never seen the dish before, or he was smoking crack because on no realm of reality could that entree have been enough for two people. Later, as he cleared away our plates, he accidentally spilled someone else's leftover cocktail on me. He was mostly apologetic but it left me unimpressed with their lack of professionalism. Hopefully, they've gotten their act together since.

Servers go around in carts and make your cocktails right at your table. They have some interesting combinations that fit the Americana theme: cocktails made with Kool-Aid, Yoo-Hoo or Tang (!). Surpisingly, at $12 a glass (and at a restaurant Tara Reid supposedly frequents), they were not very strong. Appropriately, Daryl deemed them "kids' stuff".

Grape Kool-Aid martini ^

Drink cart ^

But on with the food! The highlight of the evening was the pretzel bread, which they provided gratis. It was a surprising starter, and was buttery, salty and delicious. I only wish they gave more. It came with two sauces, one of which was a mustard blend. I ate my pretzel plain, but highly enjoyed it.

Pretzel bit ^

Ketchup's forte is their appetizers. In the $10-20 price range, you might be more satisfied to just order appetizers, sides and desserts while you people watch. We ordered the Kobe beef hot dogs ("Barking Dogs") and the sweet potato tater tots, and a side of parmesean fries, all of which were tasty and cute.

The fries came with five different types of ketchup: regular, maple, mango, ranch and chipotle. The weird mixes didn't particularly taste like fusions of their namesakes and ketchup. The mango just tasted like mango, the maple just tasted like syrup and the ranch just tasted like ranch dressing. The chipotle was pretty good, and had a little kick to it. It seemed like they were trying too hard to be creative, and it was not panning out. Again, kind of like Top Chef.

Kobe beef hot dogs (left) & sweet potato tater tots (right) ^

Five types of ketchup ^

Parmesean fries ^

Peruse the "Surf n' Turf" menu and you will find an array of good-ol', high-priced American comfort food, such as mac&cheese, shake n' bake chicken, and meatloaf. Their "surf" section featured standard restaurant seafood fare, like they were stretching to match the "surf and turf" theme.

The entrees weren't that great. The fish was okay (it's kind of hard to mess up fish), but it's hard to justify paying $29 for something the size of a McDonalds filet-o-fish. I thought the grilled veggies on the side were really good, and they came in handy when Surafel and I tried to fill the void left by having half a dinner. (Just kidding, the appetizers were actually really filling).

The salads, on the other hand, were enormous and could've easily been shared. Because of the dim lighting, it was kind of hard to see what you were eating and Aegean had some trouble locating her chicken. I thought the ranch dressing was a little watery, but I'm not a huge fan of the stuff in the first place.

Mahi mahi ^

Salad 1 (w/ vinagrette) ^

Salad 2 (w/ ranch) ^

Steering away from the debacle known as the main course, we decided to get some dessert because ending on those dishes would've sucked. Aegean tried to order the ice cream sandwich, but they said they ran out (apparently to the girl right next to us because she got one). So, we shared the Strawberry Strawberry, which was a decent strawberry shortcake. Surafel got the apple pie and Daryl ordered a root beer shake. Overall, they were pretty good and more appropriately priced (at $8 a pop).

Happy Endings ^

Strawberry Strawberry ^

Apple Pie a la mode ^

Root beer float ^

Overall, the food was okay, but not good enough to justify its exorbidant prices. If you want to go, I'd go before the hype dies down. Otherwise, save your money for an expensive restaurant whose best feature is its food, not its eye candy. Grade: C (average and unimpressive)

Ketchup

8590 Sunset Blvd.

West Hollywood, CA 90069

(310) 289-8590

Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen

Inspired by Surafel single-handedly breathing new life into the food blog, I'm going to probably write 2-3 entries today. Alas, my long-in-the-works Happy Hour Round-Up isn't quite ready for the big leagues.

Last night I went out to Rustic Canyon Wine Bar and Seasonal Kitchen, encouraged by the promising review from the LA Times and the yuppy-sounding name (the Prius felt right at home).

But I won't be returning.

Let's start with the name. The restaurant, located at 1119 Wilshire Blvd, overlooks a strip mall with nary a canyon-- or any rust, thank God-- in sight. I'm all for idealistic names, but you have to have the theming to go with it-- just ask Disney's California Adventure (or... don't).

Walking in the restaurant, I hadn't felt that conflicted since I found out The O.C. was finally ending (once it got good again, but before I could get bad again). The decor is pretty nice and mellow-- some would say stark. But the acoustics are awful-- it might have been the loudest restaurant I've ever eaten at, and whole "communal table" idea pushed things over the edge, to the point where I felt like I had to yell at my dining partner to carry a conversation.

The food was good but overpriced. In all, a glass of wine cost about $10 dollars, bringing the total meal cost to over $50 for just one person (no appetizer-- just drink, meal and dessert). I had the chicken-- and while the chicken was perfect, the strange cabbage and risotto combo underneath added some interesting flavors. Still, good chicken. But nothing truly daring or remarkable.

The money would have been better spent at a therapy session-- at my personal favorite, the Rustic Canyon Whine Bar and Seasonal Bitchin' (that's the obligatory pun, admittedly weak, for this entry).

Overall: Don't go.

(to other food bloggers here: since we all know Jane has the market cornered on super-detailed numeric rating systems, how's about we go for a simpler "go/don't go" standard rating system?)

The Good...

I went up to San Francisco this weekend, and filled myself up with some amazing food (including delicious homemade pancakes care of Jason and Kayvan). But this is blog is all about restaurants, so let's do it to it...

The first was Indian Oven, in the Lower Haight district. This non-descript restaurant had quite the wait outside (nearly 30 minutes), but was well worth it. The restaurant had a very homey feel to it. It was very intimate, the perfect place for a nice, relaxing dinner with friends.

This being a special occasion (no idea why though), we decided to go all out, ordering wine and an appetizer. While going to the restroom, I noticed an amazing appetizer dish ("assorted appetizers") on another patron's table, so we ordered it ourselves. It consisted of a samosa, vegetable pakora (spinach, onion, and potato dipped in a chick pea batter), and papadum (a sun-dried lentil wafer). The samosa was rather tasty, with just the right amount of kick to it that was a great complement to the amazingly sweet mango chutney. The pakora tasted like onion rings for the most part-- it was hard to really tell what you were eating-- but was satiating nonetheless. The papadum was a bit plain, until you added the mango chutney, becoming an outstanding combo.

I went with the dal (assorted lentils delicately spiced with sauteed ginger and garlic) for my main course (it was more than enough with the rice and garlic naan). I'm used to eating Ethiopian food, so I was very familiar with the dal (which is almost identical to some Ethiopian lentil dishes). The dal had a subtle (re: plain) taste, but was meant to be eaten with the naan (which was perfectly garlicky). Together, I couldn't get enough of them. The rice was flavorful by itself, needing nothing to kick it up a notch. Like I said, I ordered wine, a Riesling, Yalumba "Y" series (a white wine), that was sweet, with a slight apple taste to it, which went well with the mildly spicy dal.

I didn't try much else, because I had enough to deal with myself (waaaay to much dal), but it was definitely a satisfying meal. My fellow diners were also satisfied. And the fact that there were a few Indians enjoying the restaurant as well made me think that it was pretty authentic Indian food.

Indian Oven proved to be a great find in the city.

Indian Oven
233 Fillmore St
San Francisco, CA 94117


I also had the opportunity to go to the greatest food court in the world... found in a mall (because that's usually where food courts are). The mall (the Westfield San Francisco Centre), only a couple blocks from Union Square, is your typical high-end fashion mall (much like the Beverly Center here). Except, the luxury of the Beverly Center stops just before the food court. At the San Francisco Centre, the food court is an extension of the kind of luxury you can find at the nearby Bloomingdales (i.e. no Fat Burger, Sbarro, or McDonald's, de rigueur at most mall food courts). Food is served on white plates (similar to the presentation plates ubiquitous on the Food Network), alongside silverware. Soda can be served in a glass, and most restaurants (?) offer beer and wine.

After debating between Japanese food (the tempura platter was rather enticing), Korean food (the smell of Korean BBQ was tempting), and a steakhouse, I went with the steakhouse, the Buckhorn Grill, because I saw three people with Roadhouse Onions-- I'm a sucker for high end (-ish) onion rings.

I went with the Little Buck Sandwich (the perfect size), the side of Roadhouse Onions, and a soda. The meat was amazing-- it was so flavorful, juicy, and rather tender. I couldn't get enough of the carmelized onions either. For a rather simple sandwich (just tri-tip and onions on a french roll), it was bursting with flavor. It was the perfect choice. The Roadhouse Onions were what I expected-- fried deliciousness (is that a word? because it is now). With a little ketchup, it was a great side dish. Not nearly as oily as most onion rings, it didn't seem too unhealthy (although they give you so much, it still probably is). Getting all this, in a food court, at a mall, for only $8?! That's pretty insane.

...Apparently the redesigned Century City Mall has a similar food court (with a few of the same choices). It may be worth a gander.

Westfield San Francisco Centre
865 Market St.
San Francisco CA 94103

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

{Ok, I'm new to this, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, and I ate at this place weeks ago, but I'm gonna post anyways, because that's how I roll...}

Situated in the heart of downtown Culver City, just minutes away from the douche bags at Sony, and surrounded by trendy restaurants and bars (and a Cold Stone) sits Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken. The place is first and foremost a fast food restaurant, so don't expect much in terms of atmosphere. This isn't one of those hoity-toity, uber-trendy Westside restaurants (although it does have cool plasma TVs showing sports/the news).

It's pretty simple, you order at the counter then wait for your food. The wait to get your food is manageable (although it seemed like days until I got my food, probably because I was starving, and had a hankerin' for fried chicken). I ordered a 2 piece lunch meal, which comes with a side of fries and a biscuit (I avoided the side of pickles). So far, it's your typical fried chicken fast food joint, like KFC or Louisiana's Fried Chicken. But the similarities end there.

The fried chicken is amazing. The skin is just the right kind of crispy (with that slight aftertaste of "Oh God, this is definitely not healthy"), and if I remember correctly, a little sweet too. By far, the skin was much better than anything you could get at KFC or LFC. The meat (I ordered chicken breast, but you can also get two legs, or two thighs, etc.) was tender and juicy. The biscuit, although a little salty, was also very tasty (slightly crispy on the outside, nice and soft on the inside). The fries (I think you'd call them steak fries) were pretty good too. I also ordered a lemonade, which was just the right combo of sour and sweet (a little more of the former over the latter, just how I like it).

For those of you who don't like fried chicken (?!), they have a pretty extensive menu, and have pretty appetizing desserts, although after all that food (plus the lemonade), I definitely didn't have room for dessert.

Good eating overall. I was happy.

- Surf

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken
9537 Culver Blvd.
Culver City, Ca. 90232
{There's also a location in Compton, just minutes from my house, if you wanna come visit me}

BLD

Like others who write for this blog (and maybe even people who don't), I have a hard time naming my favorite restaurant. There are too many factors-- are we talking about food only? or food and price? or food and ambience? There's no one answer.

Until yesterday. Even before my food arrived, I knew I had found my favorite restaurant in LA.

Opened just a week or two ago, BLD has it all-- food, environment, friendly servers, and fairly reasonable prices for the quality of food. A few items on the menu are over $20, but nothing is over $30-- we're talking Cheesecake Factory prices. Desserts are about $7.

The restaurant comes from the same team of chefs that brought us Grace. I ate at Grace, and I loved it, but it was pricey-- about $120 for two people.

BLD-- which stands for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner-- cost much much less when you don't include the booze. And about that, beware: I had a Long Island Iced Tea (I was with my parents, and that's apparently my dad's favorite drink) that set me back a whopping $11. For one drink! I can't stress the need for a pre-party enough, people.

I had the construct-your-own-dinner option: I chose the hangar steak with the garlic nage sauce, some fancy name for green beans, and 'taters (of the mashed variety, though they also had a fancy name).

The food, as I said before, was delicious. The service was attentive. The chef came out to meet people. All of that was great.

But I really enjoyed, apart from the food, the atmosphere. I'm a casual guy, but most places with great food require pants. No such requirement here. Come as you are-- the wait staff wears t-shirts and jeans, so you won't feel out of place.

And come early (and often). You probably won't regret it.

Ravi

mrs. knott's in pictures

the restaurant. cool hat, man.


old newspapers on the wall


dear lord, the heavenly biscuits.



so warm, and buttery.



creamy chicken noodle soup (so salty, yum!) and side salad.



daryl & cindy



fried chicken (!!!!!!!), mashed 'taters, corn.



mindy!



daryl & cindy again (with chicken)



pete



ravi



and this is how you get mo' biscuits.

Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant

There's a song that comes to mind, and I'm not proud to admit it, but you've all heard it. It's by The Fray (will they still be popular in the fall... say, around September 24th or 25th?) and I think it's called "Over My Head."

Heeding Kathy's warning, I hadn't eaten all day (some would argue that, by the time we arrived, I was so famished my stomach was tied up in Knott's, but I wouldn't stoop that low with a pun).

The "deets":
- Salad
- Soup
- Unlimited buttermilk biscuits (while I remain partial to the Fogo de Chao biscuits, these were still delicious)
- Side dish: corn (everyone's wise choice at our table) or a weird-sounding ham+cabbage number
-3 pieces of fried chicken
- mashed potatoes and gravy
- Your choice of boysenberry sherbet or a fruit pie.

In the short time I've lived in LA, I guess I've become "LA." Food isn't enough. Ambience counts for something in my book, and Mrs. Knott's has none (well, it has a truck stop ambience...) but, more importantly, no air conditioning. It was sweltering in there, people. For that matter, virtually all of the "California Marketplace" shops had no a/c, which isn't very Californian.

But back to the food. The chicken was far and away the star of the meal. I won't bother with the sides, because they were predicable and not stellar (you've probably eaten corn before). The chicken, however was moist, tender, and white, with a crispy brown skin. Delicious.

In many ways, Knott's Berry Farm is merely a shadow of its former glory-- the park was sold to Cedar Fair LP about ten years ago, and the food businesses (jams, etc.) were sold to ConAgra Foods about eight years ago. Inexplicably, Cedar Fair's first plan was to add a replica of Independence Hall to their parking lot. I don't know why. I'd like to think the restaurant also deteriorated (because it's easier to blame corporate accountants for cost-cutting than genuine employee negligence)-- once spotless, its most recent regular inspection cited violations for vermin and other small insects in the food preparation areas. Had I known this before... well, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to try the chicken.

And the chicken made it worth the trip.

Ravi

Ford's Filling Station

After I got over my bout of pancake fever (see entry below), Joanne and I took a trip to Ford's Filling Station, located at 9531 Culver Blvd, deep in Culver City's burgeoning fine dining scene (part of the overall transformation from "Westside slum" to "wow, this city has more than just roads to the airport" the city is currently undertaking).

Wouldn't it be cool if you were so rich that you could open a restaurant (Chadwick's), sink it deep in debt, close it, and then open another one? If your name is Ben Ford and daddy (Harrison of such gems as Firewall and Hollywood Homicide) is your version of a small business loan, you can!

Let me give you the highlights, in bullet-points, as I have no narrative this time around:
-Trendy but not unwelcoming ambiance
-No Dept. of Health grade posted (they have an A, so they should be proud!)
-Kinky service. And I don't mean sexy-- I mean it had kinks. They took our menu before we could order and our waiter must've been working on some sort of commission because he oversold the $7 butterscotch pudding like it was yesterday's fish. What's worse: we bought it. Bill Cosby hasn't been this embarrassed since Leonard Part 6 was released.
-One single-stall bathroom per gender. The women's room had a carpet. Men's, unlike Days of Our Lives, didn't have enough soap.
-Bread was DELICIOUS. Just enough garlic to keep things interesting.
-Salt and pepper were served in weird mini-bowls that, as Joanne pointed out, could lead to some unsanitary salt-pinching (it's like penny-pinching but can cause scurvy).
-Brook trout, like Brooke Shields, was decent but not particularly flavorful/talented.
-Seated very promptly.

Don't let your hopes get as high as Josh Holloway before he tapes Lost (like I did) and you might like it.

North Woods Inn it for the Money

Hello Again,

I had planned to start the new year with a strong "expose" style post about the WORST restaurants in LA. After realizing how daunting that task would be (my list of bad mexican food places was already 19 restaurants long)I buckled under the enormous weight of having so much hatred to spread that I decided to drop it altogether.

So today I bring you only one restaurant's share of hated. NORTH WOODS INN in the SGV. It's a small chain of maybe 4 or 5 so maybe you've seen one on your way to Disneyland. They look like very large log cabins with blankets of snow on the roof.

My mom used to have a flower shop about ten seconds away from the NWI on Rosemead so I grew up my whole life wanting to go there. (When I was little I was obsessed with all things "American" like mashed potatoes, family board game nights, singing in the car. Then I found out that none of those things are really American as much as just corny)The main reason my parents refused to take me to the NWI was because it looked too expensive.

So FINALLY after years of wearing them out my parents took me to the North Wood Inn a couple of weeks ago.

I.
WAS.
STOKED.

Little did I know that my dining experience (and childhood dreams) would come tumbling down after a night of rudeness, grease-where-it-shouldn't-be-ness, and deceit. I will explain:

RUDENESS:
Our waiter resembled Louie Anderson sans cute cartoon affiliation and annoying voice. After overhearing us speak Spanish he insisted on taking our orders using his broken Spanish. Con Caizo (queso) or no Caizo (queso)??!! My parents, who are perfectly capable of ordering in English smiled politely at his poor attempt at being funny and ordered in English.

I ordered a steak sandwich, which doesn't come with all-you-can-eat sides. Our waiter made it very clear that I wouldn't be allowed to have any of my parents all-you-can-eat salad and that even though it would be on the table it wasn't part of my meal. OKAY A-HOLE I GET IT, NO SHITTY RED CABBAGE SALAD FOR ME, COMPRENDO MUCHO BIEN.

GREASE-WHERE-IT-SHOULDN'T-BE-NESS:
I am a huge supporter of the grease. But I think we can all agree that there are places it shouldn't be. Like swimming around at the bottom of our plates, on our (unused) utensils, on the menu and all over the salt and pepper shakers. Finished. Done.

DECEIT:
This is the clincher. Just as my parents suspected, the NWI is pretty expensive. The average price for a dinner entree is about $24 and our waiter made it very clear that it was DEFINITELY big enough to share between two people. So my parents shared a chicken entree. When we received the check I noticed a $8.00 SHARING FEE that was NOT mentioned by our waiter and was no where to be found on the greasy menu. They had shared half of a dry chicken, a scoop of rice and vegetables (don't forget all-you-can-eat red cabbage salad) for $8.00 more than what they had expected. i was soooooooooooooooooooooooo pissssssssssssssssssssssed. But now I'm over it because I'm never going back there again and hopefully neither will you.


After dinner my parents disclosed the REAL reason why they had never taken me to North Woods Inn. When they first opened the flower shop my mom put together a nice flower arrangement for the North Woods Inn as a "we're your new neighbors, if you ever need flowers let us know" sort of thing. My mom remembers getting ignored by the staff so that eventually she just left the arrangement and walked out because no one would stop and talk to her long enough to see what she wanted. The whole ordeal made her feel embarassed enough to never go back. It was sad to hear but I was glad they shared that with me, especially since sharing thoughts about the North Woods Inn with my parents doesn't come with an $8.00 fee.

I ate food with Eric McCormick from Will and Grace!

being in the next table over at Firefly!

I never understood why The San Fernando Valley had so many wannabe actors until I realized that 1) B-list celebrities live here (Brooke Burns and Sarah Michelle Gellar) and when they don't live here, they dine here 2) Eric McCormic at Firefly and Jessica and Nick at The Valley Inn.

But celebrities aside, Firefly is one of those new hip hot-spots in the valley. And lord knows the Valley is fucking burnin' up (96 degrees in February? Fuck you SFV). If you didn't read the review on citysearch you would never have know that the exterior of Firefly was covered in Ivy and would have easily passed it. Luckily for me, I read the review.

Upon walking in you are greeted with warm scarlett walls, oversized faux-Boroque paintings a bar with plenty of accoutrements including a relatively cute bartender. To your left is a smaller bar dining area with comfy sofas, quite comparable to the couches you'd find in Powell, and two walls covered from ceiling to floor with books. But whether those books are being read, my guess is as good as yours.

The dining area is towards the back; it's a beautiful arrangement. Quasi-outdoor patio dining to be slightly less ambiguous. Tables are arranged around a fire hearth and lighting is completely by candlelight. The menu is short but heavy on the wallet.

One of my dining companions's boyfriend actually was a chef at Firefly so lucky for us, we were showered with free appetizers. We started with succulent steamed mussels with a side of drawn butter. I am usually not a fan of mussels, but these were absolutely to die for. Then we had the cheese platter consisting of three cheeses (Brie, Parmesan, Blue) with lovely flavor enhancers like fig or honey. THEN we had fried olives served with a garlic aoli. For my own appetizer I ordered a delicious non-tomato based minestrone. This was only the first course.

My main entree was a Jumbo free range chicken breast (aptly named) wonderfully grilled with white corn and a wild mushroom and potato skin salad. Annie (my friend) had pan-seared Tuna done medium rare with cucumber carpaccio and avocado. Though everyone was stuffed from the appetizers, we all ate as if it we hadn't seen food for days. We were pretty sure the restaurant workers were absolutely disgusted with how 7 girls and 1 guy could put food away. There was not one bite left. NOT ONE.

Though obviously stuffed and bloated we still ordered dessert. Hell Yes we did.

Now I'm just going to make a list because we did a round robin of desserts

Banana Bread and Butter Pudding= Orgasmic
Baked Alaska= 7/10
Chocolate crepe with almond marscapone and espresso beans=8/10
Lemon buttermilk pudding with fresh berries=8/10
Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee= Will eat babies for

But prices were not cheap mind you, Minestrone=$8, Chicken=$20, Bread pudding=$13

Definitely well worth the saving up for.

Firefly
11720 Ventura Blvd. (Colfax Ave.)
Studio City, CA 91604
818-762-1833

Campanile

http://www.campanilerestaurant.com

Honestly, I was underwhelmed.

We went for our Campus Events Directors' Dinner, meaning that ASUCLA picked up the tab, but did I get my money's worth? I don't think so.

I had the fluke (puns abound) on a whim. Nothing fishy there (it was fantastic). Actually, all of the food met or exceeded my expectation, except for the dessert, which was mediocre at best. Sharing ownership with La Brea Bakery (at one point), the pre-meal bread was naturally the best I've ever had.

But the service killed the meal. I know we were a big group (9) but we sat there for over three hours-- essentially the duration of their entire dinner service. People came and went and came and went while we sat waiting for someone to take our order. And trust me, we earned the service-- we probably spent enough money to cover the salaries of the wait staff for the evening.

When our server did come, she was helpful and attentive.

If you know me, you know I hate/thrive on awkward moments (if only to talk about them later), so it should mean something to you that while we were tabulating out tip I said, consciously within earshot of the staff, that the service was disappointing and we should reflect that opinion in our gratuity. Oh, they heard. And they best recognize.

I don't know what else to write. This entry sucked.

(A note about the entry: I usually include pictures, and I was going to attach a photo here of a morbidly obese man-- someone that roughly resembles a very large man sitting at the table next to us that thoroughly entertained Aiko. But I couldn't bear the Google Image Search results, so you're spared.)

Ravi

24 Hour Dining: Canter's Deli

419 North Fairfax, LA

I'd been to Canter's once before, so I should have known to expect mediocrity.

24-hour joints like Canter's and Fred 62 are meant to be experienced only in the wee hours of the morning-- what passes for acceptable food at those hours become Dennysesque at best when the sun rears its bright head. And it was 2am.

I had a fruit bowl. Last time I had the hot open-faced turkey sandwich (also at around 2am-- a bad idea). The fruit bowl was decent and not outrageously priced, which is more than I can say for Swingers (and their $8 bowl), but the service was so-so and the environment shared frightful similarities with the dining hall of a retirement home (both in clientele and decor).

Their pickles put me in a bit of a sour mood. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe that when a restaurant publishes in their menu "Try our world famous _____," said food item should be amazing. And yet these pickles-- which were delivered to our table for free-- were the worst I've ever had. They were still 98% cucumber, which (coincidentally) makes them 98% bland.

I should've just sliced them, put them on my eyelids, and gone to bed.











-->Ravi

Wood Ranch BBQ & Grill

Last quarter, when I dragged my sister all the way to the Grove during rush hour to see an advanced screening of Match Point, only to discover that it was being played in Santa Monica (doh), I saw that there was a Wood Ranch Grill there. Whilst images of meat danced in my head, I promptly proposed a Zagat-Who trip which was enthusiastically received.

After a painfully long five week wait, we finally gathered a ravenous group to trek through Friday night traffic from Westwood to La Brea.

(oh what choices!)

For those of you who don't know (www.woodranchgrill.com), this establishment has epic tri-tip and bbq, even for those people who aren't normally that into red meat. Though they have other menu items, you will probably get the combo meal- 2, 3 or 4 bbq items with two sides. Their bbq items are glazed with their signature bbq sauce and roasted overnight, and include beef ribs, babyback ribs, bbq or fire-roasted chicken (breast or half-chicken) and the tri-tip. I would recommend the tri-tip because that is what they are famous for.

Their sides may cause a problem for the indecisive one, but otherwise are fun to choose from: mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, ranch fries, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, grilled vegetables, baked potato, baked beans, and coleslaw.

Our experience was pretty standard. Because the Grove is normally very crowded on Friday nights, we had to wait about half an hour for a 7-person table. Our food came in a timely manner (not too long but not a short wait), and we were presented with warm and fresh GARLIC BREAD ROLLS THAT MELT IN YOUR MOUTH.

(AHHH DELICIOUS GARLIC ROLLS!)


(Ravi's last moment pre-garlic roll consumption)

But our waitress gave Aiko a virgin raspberry Ranch lemonade (it was supposed to have rum) and they gave Eric the wrong meat (but he liked it, ZING!). But on the up side, they brought him his tri-tip and he got 4 meats for the price of 3. And that my friend, is beating the system.



(Top: Aiko and Cindy, a bit daunted by their entrees?; Bottom: Eric with his ranch fries, sweet potatoes and incorrect meat)


(Count 'em: all four meats)

We all ate and were merry and died of meat overload. This was all concurrent with listening to the worst EZ listening/reject pop (e.g., NSync "Bye Bye Bye"). Be prepared to drop about $30+ if you get the 2 bbq combo and a non-alcoholic drink, but they do validate for parking. Overall, it delivered what I expected it to, so it's an appropriate restaurant when you feel like having some high-quality meat. They have ample portions (my leftovers were a hearty lunch today), but this is definitely a once-in-a-while thing.

Overall: MEATASTIC.



















-k.


Wood Ranch BBQ and Grill
The Grove
189 The Grove Drive Y-80


(Aiko, Cindy and Nish- waiting for food)


(Erica and Eric- the calm before the storm)


(Cindy, Nish and Ravi with their entrees)