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For our last day in LA, I found out that it was actually the first day of their restaurant week (dineLA). Tons of restaurants offer lunch and dinner prix fixe deals for a range of prices. We HAD to take advantage of this!! We wanted to go somewhere by the beach so I came across Larry's in Venice Beach.
Larry's
24 Windward Avenue
Venice, CA 90291
(310) 399-2700
http://larrysvenice.com/
Price: $$
It's literally a few steps to the beach. :) Most of the seating is open/outdoor/patio. Luckily it was a nice sunny day so it wasn't as cold as it had been for the previous days. We were immediately seated since I made reservations. The dining area was very bright from the sun, which was nice. It's a very casual, chill place.
Our waiter came to give us some water and take additional drink orders. He was nice but a little high strung or something? He also informed us that the entire table had to participate in the dineLA menu or none at all. A restaurant policy apparently... Looking at their regular menu vs the prix fixe, the 3 course deal was by far the better deal! Larry's dineLA lunch promotion was $16 per person for 3 courses.
1st Course:
Wild Arugula & Apple Salad (coppa, parmesan, aged balsamic vinaigrette, toasted almonds).
I ordered this. It was a giant bowl of salad! Wow... I loved the bitterness of the arugula and the sweet/tart from the apple and nuttiness from the almonds was a great addition. It was also dressed perfectly. The waiter says the chef actually likes to underdress the salad which was perfect for me. I hate it when they drown salads in dressing.
Goose and Hazelnut Terrine (huckleberry compote, toast).
This was really interesting. It was almost like a solid pate? The goose flavor was quite light which was good and I particularly liked the crunchy hazelnuts in the terrine. The huckleberry compote complimented it nicely.
Butternut Squash Soup (bacon, creme fraiche).
The flavor was very light...almost too light. It was fine, but I wish it was a bit thicker. It was a little watered down.
2nd Course:
6oz. Lamb or Dry Aged Beef Burger (brioche bun, french fries, house made pickles).
All 3 of my friends ordered this. It was the best bang for the buck. 2 of them ordered lamb and 1 got the beef. I always love brioche. My friend with the beef said it was ok. I tasted the beef patty and it was a little bland. My other friends seemed to enjoy their lamb.
One of the burgers was a little undercooked though. Slightly more pink than my friend wanted. The presentation was nice. The best part of the dish were the fries tho. They were amazing especially with this chili mayo dip of some sort!!
Mushroom Pasta (burrata cheese, fried parsley).
I got the pasta. I'm really glad I ordered this. It was a smaller portion which was good for lunch. The flavors were simple and clean. I could taste every element in that dish. The pasta seems to be homemade. The texture was great. There were lots of mushrooms and the burrata cheese just added a hint of creaminess. I totally enjoyed it!
3rd Course:
Sticky Toffee Pudding (salted caramel, vanilla ice cream).
This was pretty good. It's kind of a spice cake. The ice cream on top paired really well with it. I wish the scoop was bigger though. Also, the caramel wasn't cooked enough because it still had sugar crystals in it. But you know what? We all actually liked it cuz it added a slightly crunchy texture. hehe.
Ice Cream Sundae (marachino cherry whipped cream, assorted candy).
The presentation was so cute! It was like a little build your own ice cream station! :)
It was a good meal. We were super full after! It seems like a cool place to hang out on a lazy afternoon too. However, it seems like the chef is a bit uptight. We were told that we couldn't substitute anything because the chef doesn't want to waste time and the waiter didn't want to get in trouble. One of my friends doesn't eat onions or cheese but couldn't get it omitted on his burger. The waiter asked if he could just scrape it off because he didn't even want to ask the chef if that was a possibility. I thought that was kind of ridiculous!!! Poor waiter...we were pretty easy going, but not all customers are that way. I can see other people get angry with that type of policies.
Anyways, it was still a great finale to our trip. Afterwards, we walked around Venice beach to enjoy the sunny weather.
Until next time LA!! I'll be back soon!! :)
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
I found a place on yelp that was only 3 blocks from The Edison. Reviews seemed pretty positive so we decided to walk there and check it out.
Onyx Lounge
118 West 5th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 891-1144
http://onyxloungela.com/
Price: $$
This was a great find! It was a pretty small restaurant/bar and it was packed when we got there so we had to just stand around and wait for a table. The hostess was really nice and said she would let us know whenever a table opens up.
We headed for the bar in the mean time. The bartender greeted us immediately. Wow! You don't usually get that type of service from bartenders...especially when they are that busy. It was a refreshing surprise.
I got a cocktail to share with a friend. Spring St. Smash (Bourbon, blackberry, basil, lemon, sambuca) $11~
This was their signature cocktail. I thought it was so cute in the jar. And it was a pretty large drink! It was yummy too! Similar to the blackberry mojito I had at the Library Bar (not AS good) but still quite fantastic. The sambuca really added another layer of flavor to it. Plus it's so pretty! :)
Trojan (watermelon, gin, allagash white, chili) $11~
Allagash White is actually a beer. I didn't really like this drink...kinda tasted soapy to me.. haha.
We waited quite a while. Seemed like a really happening place so only new people came in but none of the existing customers wanted to leave! haha. The hostess was nice enough to come by and check on us every once in a while. She told us that one table seemed like they were going to leave (but they ended up sticking around until super late...) Eh. BUT...while standing around, I noticed some guy walk in and he looked quite familiar. I asked my friend if he recognizes him. It took us a while to pinpoint where we'd seen him before and finally we did. It was the actor, Lee Thompson Young, who was Cyborg in Smallville, and also had roles in other TV shows such as Friday Night Lights and Flash Forward!! Our first real celebrity sighting!! haha. We approached him and he was super nice. And we got our photos!! Woot! That definitely made the night even better!
Finally we got a table! And we ordered a few snacks for everyone.
Spicy Garlic Fries (herb buttermilk dressing) $6~
OMG! Amazing! Fantastic! These fries were like crack! So freaking addictive. They were fried perfectly, seasoned perfectly with just a dust of chili powder on top to add some spiciness. I can eat these forever!!!
Warm Ricotta Mixed Berry Pancakes $9~
Very delicate, pillowy pancakes. Not your typical dessert but it was very good.
Chocolate Bread Pudding $11~
This dessert was a bit pricey, but it was fantastic! Sorry for the blurry picture. :( The bread pudding was rich in chocolate flavor and the texture was almost like a thick mousse. Super moist and decadent. I wanted to lick it off the plate!
This was a really cool, chill place. I'm so glad we gave it a chance! The decor is nice, the food and drinks were good and the service was really great. Also, they had a live DJ there but the music level wasn't too loud. We were still able to carry on a conversation with our friends. I can see myself chilling there more often if I lived in LA. I wouldn't mind going back to try more of the menu items either!!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
For our last dinner in LA, I chose this Japanese Yakitori place (grilled skewers and such). It had really good reviews online and the menu was pretty extensive. I found out later that my bf had actually been there before during one of his business trips. He said it was fantastic. Yay! :)
Honda-Ya Izakaya
333 South Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 625-1184
http://izakayahondaya.com/
Price: $-$$
This place is located in a shopping mall. Unfortunately I never found out what the mall was called. But it's on the 2nd floor.
They take reservations, thank goodness, because there were people on a wait list when we got there. And when we left, the line of people got longer! On weekends they also have a 2 hour max for dining since they are so busy... Walking in, the decor was very Japanese. It was pretty cool! But no one greeted us at all. A bunch of waiters and waitresses walked by us but none stopped to greet us or even acknowledge us.. :( Uh oh, not a good sign!
Finally the hostess showed up and took us to our table. Our waiter came to greet us and take our drink orders. Luckily he was really cool and even joked around with us. We were given some Japanese Cucumbers as a complimentary starter. It was really good!!
The menu was so extensive it was really hard to figure out what to order! Everything sounded so good!!
In no particular order we ordered the following... Everyone got to try a little bit of everything. :)
Kobe Beef Tataki (seared Kobe beef) $9.50~
Amazing! This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The beef quality was superb. The meat was just lightly seared on the outside. It was super tender and full of flavor. YUM!!
Salmon Collar $7.95~
This was my other favorite of the night. The salmon was cooked perfectly. And the cheek meat of the fish is always the most tender. Delicious!
Yakitori (price per skewer):
- Special Chicken Heart $2.50~
The waiter explained the difference between regular chicken heart vs the special heart. They cut the heart in half. The bottom is the regular heart and is more lean but looks "nicer". The special heart is the upper part which has the arteries and such which might not look as appealing to some people, but is more fatty and tender than the regular heart. I'm glad we opted for the fattier part. It was pretty tasty. Cooked really well...if overcooked it gets a bit chewy. Out of all the skewers, this was one of my favorites.
- Scallop $3.95~ Quite tender and had good flavor. I like it!
- Squid Legs $2.50~ Cooked well, not extra chewy. Tasty!
- Zucchini with Bacon $2~ I didn't get to try this since we only got 1 skewer. But refer to the previous item's comment and I'm sure this was delicious as well.
- Asparagus with Bacon $2.25~ Anything wrapped in bacon is awesome. Nuff said.
- Beef Tongue $2.25~ I love beef tongue and was looking forward to this the most. But it was a bit chewy and not the best I've had. :(
- Pork Belly $2~ Can't go wrong with pork belly. It was like thick cut bacon. Drool!!
- Duck $3.50~ A little expensive for the amount of meat we got. But the duck flavor was very prominent which I liked and very tender.
Takoyaki (octopus pancake ball) $4.50~
One of my friends ordered this. I'm not a fan of takoyaki. It's usually too heavy and never has enough octopus inside. This was no different. Also the sauce on top was pretty sweet. Eh...
Chijimi (Korean style pancake) $4.50~
One girl ordered this thinking it would be like pajeon (normal Korean pancake) but it was definitely not! haha. It was pretty interesting though. Flavors were good. I liked the fish flakes on top. And it's cool because they move on top because of the heat. It's like the food is still alive! :)
Spicy Tuna Crispy (spicy tuna on top of crispy rice) $6~
One friend ordered this but it was also different than expected. We all thought it would be like spicy tuna roll thats fried or something... But it's actual Asian crispy rice with spicy tuna on top. Interesting and very good! Each order only comes with 2 pieces though. A little pricey!
Men-Mochi (spicy cod roe and cheese baked on mochi/rice cake) $6~
I've never had anything like this before. The combination of mochi baked with cheese is definitely new to me. It was a bit too salty...too much cheese I think. It also needed more of the roe. The mochi was very tough to cut through. It was interesting... but I probably won't recommend it.
Potato Cheese Gratin (baked creamy mashed potato with cheese) $7.50~
I had hoped this would be like a sweet potato cheese gratin I had in Korea (which was awesomely fantastic) but it wasn't really. It was still good but I think also too much cheese in ratio to the potato.
Salmon Chazuke (rice soup with grilled salmon flake) $4.95~
My friend said this is a good hangover dish. It's very light yet comforting. I can see that it would make a hangover feel better. haha.
Dang... sooo much food! Most of the dishes were really good but I was definitely craving something fresh afterwords. A lot of meats and cheese and heaviness. I don't think I can eat like this all the time.
I was full but then I found out they had Black Sesame Ice Cream $1.95~
OMG! I must have!! I LOVE black sesame. It was really yummy!!! :)
Strawberry Mochi Ice Cream $3~
Mochi ice creams are always tasty. It's basically the ones you can buy at the Asian supermarket. hehe.
It was a fun and interesting meal. It's a cool place to go with a big group of people since you want to share and sample everything. We don't have anything like this in Dallas... We definitely need some Izakayas in Dallas. I think it would do really well! I would recommend making a reservation if you decided to go so you don't have to wait in line!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
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