The Parish: Fried Oyster Poutine Anyone?

It was a blessing in disguise when we heard that Perch was too full and had to head to the Parish instead. Perch has a great view, I hear, but Parish probably has better food. Indeed, I was impressed with the interesting takes on classics and the modern and swanky redo of the former Angelique Cafe space's interior (RIP).

The drinks weren't as impressive, however. The Russian Tulip was a glass containing 99% ice with a splash of some vodka, lemon juice, grenadine and bitters. It tasted like diluted lemonade.

We had the slow cooked pork shoulder with some greens and more interestingly, paneer, chunks of the delectable Indian cheese that comes with super soft spinach at your fave Indian restaurant (yes, saag paneer is the one).

In case you haven't noticed, we ordered a bunch of fatty, luscious and crunchy goodies to go with our drinks. We'd had a long day, damn it. We deserved it. So the slow cooked pork dish was soft and a mix of healthy and meaty for a fine balance.

Next up: fried chicken with some greens, grilled peaches and grape tomatoes. What better way to enjoy a big old chicken leg with a crunchy crust than with healthy greens and fruit? Again, the balance. The chicken wasn't as good as at Son of a Gun (I know, broken record) but it was decent.

We even had fried oysters, which I would never order but was pleasantly surprised at how good they were. Not only were they fried oysters, they were in poutine form, which signficantly ups the decadence ante to the whole experience.

Poutine is a great Quebec tradition that consists of fries smothered with seemingly whatever your heart desires (or fears), although traditionally it's usually been gravy and curd cheese. Animal has a great version with pulled oxtail and Biergarten did for a while with short ribs but I no longer recommend it. There was a dearth of fries in this oyster version but I appreciated it for its novelty value.

It's hard to talk decadent, the overused food blog term of the century, without mentioning roasted bone marrow. It was a tad disappointing, especially compared with Church and State that's also all about super heavy and delicious stuff.

The bread was crusty enough but the marrow wasn't as spreadable. It needed work.

Last but not least, what's a happy hour without a blood red burger split amongst the group's carnivores?

I was glad the patty was cooked medium rare, red enough in the middle to really taste the beef, with epoisses, a soft French cheese that was a good counterbalance to the pickled carrots' tanginess.

The bun was soft enough but I wasn't crazy about this burger because you guessed it, while above average, it was no Houston's burger. But one recent burger had in SF was not bad, but more about that later.

We also had a burrata salad with greens and grilled peaches that was good but not enough greens. Loved that peaches were grilled as they brought out the fruit's natural sweetness.

Service and ambiance were great. Parking is a bit of a pain as you have to use a lot nearby, pay and walk, God forbid.

I'd like to return to check out its other bar food classics like fish and chips, balanced out by the very healthy chopped kale.

Mochica: Disappointing Food and Drinks, No Go

I was fortunate enough to go to the "Friends and Family" pre-opening event at Mochica a few weeks ago and had mixed feelings about it. I wanted to like it because I love Peruvian food but the verdict was promising but not quite there. I mostly had seafood and veggie dishes because of my party so I also wanted to try the meat dishes. So I returned.

Confession: I've been to its former Mercado La Paloma location and didn't like them then either. 

I recall the highlight of my last visit during Friends and Family being the octopus, so got that. It's grilled octopus with potatoes and jalapeno sauce. It was a bit heavy on the sauce but the octopus was cooked right and the sauce gave it a nice kick. It was solid this time around as well.

I can't say the same for the alpaca stew that seems to be one of its signature dishes. Loved the idea of slow cooked alpaca, paired with some noodles and topped with a fried egg. What's not to like, right?

The alpaca meat didn't have too much flavor. It was soft and tender but tasted bland. Don't get me started on the noodles. They were totally overdone and that alone ruined the dish. It held so much promise -- slow cooked meat + noodles + fried egg whose yolk is oozing and blends into the sauce. Alas, it didn't deliver. Extremely disappointing. It didn't matter the egg was "organic fertile."

The so-called quinotto was interesting. I love risotto so this was a nice variation using quinoa that actually worked. The wild mushrooms emanated a strong mushroom-y flavor and aroma. It was drizzled with some parsley-infused oil that I didn't think was necessary but it wasn't bad either.

The lomo saltado was extremely forgettable. I mean, using top quality meat is key here and the meat was overly tough and chewy. Not to mention the fries, of which there were only like five. Skimpy.

The fried chicken pieces weren't bad but not nearly as good as the fried chicken sandwich at Son of a Gun.

The ceviches were unimpressive. They were nothing like the ones at La Mar Cebicheria in SF.  The food was better executed there. I haven't been to Picca in LA yet but I wonder if it's just the sad reality of the state of Peruvian in LA...

I tried the Spanish Mackerel tiradito and I didn't get the feeling that the fish was super fresh.

One of my eating partners said the lamb and alpaca burger was dry. I agreed.

The cooked fish dishes were nothing special. One of the things I love about Peruvian food is the sauce. I remember my dear friend and master chef MO made some amazing chili-based sauces, yellow, green and red. We had them with tiradito and causas.

I hate to be so down on this place but the cocktails were left wanting too. I'm a huge fan of Pisco Sour and I didn't think they did a good job of the drink. It didn't have the foam from the egg white. Just didn't taste authentic. It was just uber strong.

The food was also overall over salted. Yes, I'm crying wolf again about the salt.

One big no-no: What's up with the servers so eagerly wanting to take our plates like every five seconds? That's extremely annoying so please don't do it again. Although to be honest, I'm not planning on returning.

For dessert, we had the alfajores, which I usually love but they looked so dry and unappetizing that my mouth just dried up by looking at them.

In contrast, the picarones -- a Peruvian version of the donut -- I had at La Mar were amazing. Ok, I'll stop comparing. Just won't be going here again.

Baco Mercat: Great Foie Gras + Kumquat but Namesake Sandwich Disappoints

I was stoked to try Baco Mercat since I'd heard a lot of good things and I liked Lazy Ox Canteen by the same chef. I loved some things and hated others but I'm willing to give it another chance for a next visit, although I'll probably find myself going to the Ox first before I venture to Baco.

Here is the meaning of the restaurant's name.

We had a lot of things but the best thing hands down was the foie gras mousse with kumquat marmalade that came with a brioche-like bread that was toasted just so. The bread was soft and warm and all that good stuff and I venture to say far better than the namesake flatbreads a host of sandwiches were rolled in. Man, get thee another baker already! More on that later.



The spread went so well with the tartness and sweetness of the kumquat marmalade. It was a match made in heaven and I couldn't stop eating it (our server gave us more bread).

The other item that surprised us was the caesar brussel sprouts that everyone was raving about on message boards. It came shredded dressed in a caesar dressing with anchovies since let's face it, not all caesar dressings are created equal. It was a genius combination once again. It hit at some nostalgic areas of my palate -- it sometimes reminded me of little side salads you get at to-go places but in a good way if that's possible. It was refreshing and while good in the spring, it would probably be better in the summer.

I did have high expectations for the namesake sandwich, called "the original," no less. It had pork belly, beef carnitas, a nutty red sauce called salbitxada. The meats were ok and the spread was not bad although too chunky for my taste. This was no romesco sauce, that's for sure. I think I'm more of a romesco person than a salbitxada one.

But my biggest beef with this sandwich was that the bread it supposedly bakes in-house was not impressive at all. In fact, it was tough to slice, like day-old pita bread, not freshly baked bread. The bread itself was so unremarkable that this fact alone made us not want to order the coca, the other flatbread.

I wouldn't get this original baco or any other baco again.

We tried el pesco, which was a baco sandwich with deep fried shrimp in a thousand island-like dressing spiked with some sriracha. Our spice-loving party loved it and got another one, but I was still on the fence because of the lame bread.

We also got the hamachi crudo that came with hash browns and avocado. By "hash browns," they meant a teeny weeny ball of fried shredded potato cake. Our party loved these hash browns so much we wanted to get a side order of it but we were told we couldn't. The hamachi was fresh enough but nothing to write home about. The ones at Santa Monica Seafood Company were better. I liked them sliced thin anyway.

We also had the beef shank "birria" with pasta that pretty much bombed. The beef shank was tender enough but was smelly and I usually love shank. The fried egg on top was good since I like anything with a fried egg on top but not sure how well it went here.

We wanted the place to redeem itself and tried the squid ink risotto but that was drowning in salt. What's with restaurants and salt? I know you're trying to get us to get more alcohol but that was ridiculous. The sheer amount of sodium took away from the fact that the squid was very fresh and well-cooked so it wasn't too rubbery. The peas were super fresh and beautifully green. The rice perfectly al dente. What a shame. Oh, as much as I love fried food, the fried calamari as topping seemed like an unnecessary distraction.

But the biggest culprit of them all was the "Bazole" noodle soup that sounded so promising, until we tasted it and the entire thing was overpowered by star anise. We couldn't taste the beef and pork carnitas. The noodles were overcooked. It was a hot mess. Pretty awful. And the fried egg in this case wasn't able to salvage this one.

I would like to try some of the other meat dishes next time, if I return.

I secretly wished the chef would offer a version of his hamburger since it is, after all, the all-American sandwich. I liked his burger at the Ox.

I also didn't like that there were hardly any wines available by the glass. What's up with that? The choices were limiting. The cocktail list wasn't very enticing either.

I also didn't appreciate our server and host pressuring us to leave even though clearly we were giving the place a lot of business by ordering half the menu and drinks galore.

Oh well, maybe I'll just go to the Ox next time.

Soi 7 in Downtown LA: Avoid and Go to Thai Town Instead

I knew it wasn't going to be pretty as we walked into Soi 7, a dark, unpromising Thai place situated next door to Bottega Louie in downtown (it gets all the overflow of customers unable to get a table there).

Like most people there, we were desperate -- hungry with no reservations anywhere and just shut out of Sai Sai Noodle at the Biltmore that supposedly had good noodles (I remain skeptical but will try it).

Our suspicions were confirmed. It's not so much that the food was inedible as it was either bland (papaya salad) or drowning in sodium (the rest).

We got chicken pad siew, crab fried rice and deep fried catfish because they had run out of deep fried whole fish (snapper).

While the chicken, noodles and greens were fine, the pad siew was extremely salty to the point of giving a headache.

Then the crab fried rice was also very salty. Why pour on the salt/soy sauce so much? The catfish was ok but the sauce that came with it, which I didn't add as we got it on the side, was, you guessed it, a ball of sodium.

I also had the mango mojito and it was pure alcohol, too strong so I couldn't even finish it. Service was spotty.

Needless to say, this seems like a takeout-cum-delivery place for a quick lunch. I will not be returning.

Homegirl Cafe: Great Food, Great Drinks and a Great Cause

I went to Homegirl Cafe shortly after it opened a few years ago and really liked it. The food was creative, tasty and I could tell used very fresh ingredients. Years later, I was heartened to see Homegirl Cafe outposts at City Hall as well as at Kaiser Permanente. The food was just as solid as the first time around.

I like going to the actual location next to Union Station though and while service was spotty back then, I'm sure it's gotten better over the years.

We started off with Angela's Green Potion, a spinach mint limeade, and Mango Agua Fresca, which wasn't too sweet and refreshing. It's hard to say anything negative about mango. I also loved how pretty the pop of colors looked side by side.

Then came the guacamole, which had a bit of a kick that made it better. Homegirl now serves a guac with roasted pineapples that I haven't yet tried but can't wait to sample on my next visit.

Our group ordered a mix of tacos that were all good. I mean I do prefer my fish tacos fried, but the grilled whitefish taco wasn't bad.

I got a 3 taco combination that included red chicken mole, carnitas and beef tinga. The red chicken mole was moist and came with habanero pickled onions, cilantro and sesame seeds, which gave it a slightly nutty flavor.

The carnitas one was topped with an apple-tomatillo salsa and fresh cilantro. It was tart, tangy and very refreshing. The carnitas was moist and soft.

The beef tinga, a stewy way of preparing shredded meat, had a slight kick as well and was topped with habanero pickled red onions and fresh cilantro.

The trio came with a wedge of lime and some sliced radishes.

The sandwiches are served on a freshly baked baguette (on the premises) that also have creative combinations of cold cuts or grilled meats paired with Mexican cheeses.

It's always inspiring to learn about the mission of Homeboy Industries, which is the umbrella nonprofit Homegirl works under. Jobs Not Jails is the organization's slogan. It's a great cause and they do great work so going to its restaurant and bakery is also a great way to do your part in the mission. Check out the inspiring stories here.

Mas Malo: Hold the Ceviche and Guac Fries, Good for After-Work Cocteles

I've never eaten at Malo, but checked out Mas Malo, which is an offshoot and wasn't blown away. The space was gorgeous, similar in vibe and decor to Bottega Louie down the street. The service was appalling and most importantly, the food was average.

Ok, the carne asada and al pastor tacos (had to specify "soft tacos" as opposed to hard ones -- who in her right mind gets hard tacos these days? Ok, I won't judge or hate.) were actually good and one of the spicier salsas was the saving grace. But overall, I'd say it's more of a happy hour-kind of place than it is a fantastic eating experience.

The shrimp and seafood ceviche on tostadas was just a notch above average. The seafood tasted fresh enough but there wasn't too much flavor there.

There were a few salsas and I must say I'm not a huge fan of pico de gallo. I'm a roasted salsa-kind of person who likes her salsa smoky with bits of black roasted pepper and tomato bits floating -- although I know they are carcinogenic and I should reduce my consumption but they're so darn good... One of the spicier roasted salsas was interesting but not quite at the excellent level.

The guacamole fries held so much promise on the menu but alas, the guac was bland and the cheese sprinkled with some cotija-type cheese was the only flavor I could detect.

I looked up the menu online and it looks like it doesn't offer the ceviche or fries anymore, unless it's not publishing its happy hour menu. If it discontinued them, it may be good news as they needed to go or get some flavor infused. Guac fries was a great concept but it failed in its execution. Of course, that didn't stop me from eating the fries, which were decently fried but I dipped them in the salsa out of desperation for some semblance of flavor.

The desserts weren't all that impressive either. The churros weren't as good as the ones I had at Ortega 120, which had crispy, airy churros accompanied by the gooeiest (not sure this word exists but whatever), most intense chocolate sauce. These were just meh.


The drinks were interesting, using different kinds of tequila and mixing it with hibiscus. Given I'm virtually addicted to jamaica, it was a great pairing. I had The Senorita, that doesn't come with salt on the rim.

It's worth a trip just to see the amazing space. I would return to try other cocktails but not before it stops charging for chips and salsa, which is like charging for kimchi or bread and butter -- OUTRAGEOUS!

Park in the lot behind Bottega, which is like $3 after 6pm or something so it's reasonable and walkable.

Rivera: Excellent Olive Oil Poached Lobster, Arepas and Soft-Shell Crab

I didn't like Rivera the first time I went, but the second time around, I had great company and perhaps that made the meal a lot better.

Sure, it was gimmicky. It seems into using stencils to lay out cute little messages on the plates, like "Bravo Gustavo," in reference to the Venezuelan-born LA Philharmonic's new conductor Gustavo Dudamel on a plate of Venezuelan arepas with fried soft-shell crab.

The arepas, or corn cakes, were hot and crispy. The arepas paired very well with the crab, which added more flavor since the arepas alone would have tasted bland. The crab sat on a bed of quinoa, which was ok, drizzled with some chile-based sauce.


The best dish, though, was the melon del mar -- or more precisely, olive oil-poached lobster with tiny cubes of cantaloupe and honeydew melon, that also came with tiny jelly cubes of chile verde (called "gelee" on the menu).

I'm not sure I could taste the olive oil in the lobster, but it was so soft and tender that I couldn't get enough of it. Tasted like luxury itself.



The main dishes were not as strong. The grilled white sea bass fillet with mofongo, a Puerto Rican delight of mashed plaintains with garlic, on a bed of a tomato-y sauce was refreshing and I could tell the fish was pretty fresh, which isn't always the case even in some fancy restaurants.

The other main dish was dubbed Costa Rican pork, which was coffee braised pork tenderloin with sugar cane sauce and some spicy beans. I was intrigued by the coffee-braised part, although in execution it wasn't as apparent in the flavor.

Also, the pork was probably my least favorite dish in that the meat was a tad overcooked. Because pork tenderloin is on the leaner side, it tended to dry up.




I was a tad annoyed the chef felt compelled to quote Madoff -- "Dont Stop 'Till You Get Enough" (after all, he could have easily quoted MJ instead) through stencils on the plate. Think he likes to think of himself as a provocateur of sorts.

The roasted turnip, yam and purple potato on the side didn't have that much flavor. But that helped to balance out the rather strong coffee and reduction sauce the pork came with. The random greens on top were a curious addition that didn't gel as well but I appreciated some greenery.

Now on to dessert: upon our server's recommendation, we went with the lemon olive oil cake with creme fraiche ice cream, strawberry sorbet and a vinegar reduction.

It was beautifully plated with rose petals and all. I liked the fresh strawberries with the cake but with a dollop of the sorbet, it was a good match. The creme fraiche ice cream was a bit heavy, but the sorbet worked ok. The sorbet wasn't the best I've had but good enough.

All in all, not bad. It has a weird system of limiting what one can order depending on the room you're sitting in. Different menus focusing on Mexican, Latin American or Spanish cuisine, respectively. We sat in the Latin American room and hence the mix of Venezuelan and Costa Rican, etc.

Service was poor. For a place like this with these prices, I expect much better service but everything was delayed and we had to ask several times for things, etc.

Also, this place is very loud so be prepared to shout at your dining companion. Oh, and I had the siesta cocktail, which was tequila-based and had grapefruit, Campari, lime and garnished with an orange peel. It was very good although it wasn't consistently made (second one was off).

It may be a decent place to get a drink and have small plates for happy hour or some such.

LA Market at JW Marriott: Mediocre

I had read about celebrity chef Kerry Simon's famous burger so ventured to his latest restaurant, LA Market, in the lavish, towering JW Marriott in LA Live. The space was spanking new, very airy with tall ceilings and showered with super bright SoCal sunlight. The food was disappointing.

First of all, the menu wasn't even online. Second, I had to send back my burger because it was overcooked. This from a so-called Iron Chef? Pu-lease. Granted, they apologized and cooked it decently (but not perfectly) the second time. I appreciated that they were willing to cook my half of the burger medium rare and my dinner mate's half of the burger medium.



However, the patty was a bit anemic and therefore had a hard time being cooked properly. The works it came with were not impressive either. The butter lettuce, caramelized onions, tomato and two thick-cut bacon were unremarkable. The bun, oh the bun. The bread basket before our meal was so much better than this bun. This bun was dense and dry, not soft enough.

This place did get extra points for having sweet potato fries, which came out hot and good. But I wouldn't return for the burger.

The tuna, rice and crab napoleon-like appetizer wasn't too successful. This dish represented how Asian fusion could go wrong by adding an all-too sweet sauce over it unnecessarily. The flavors and textures just didn't gel. The only thing I liked about it was the crunchy crust on the bottom of the rice patty. Don't mess with the sushi formula if it ain't broke, I say. Is it a seaweed-less roll-cum-rice sandwich? Is it a sashimi rice layer cake? Two rice patties were stuffed with raw tuna sat on a thousand island-like dressing with micro greens and fish eggs and topped with a heap of crab meat. I loved the meaty crab meat but what's with that nasty teriyaki-wannabe sauce drizzled over the iffy concoction? That killed it.

I needed to add some serious hot sauce to taste some kind of flavor.

Then there was the mac-n-cheese, which was probably one of the better dishes.



I liked its garlicky taste and crunchiness from the bread crumbs, but the top could have used more cheese. After all, isn't mac-n-cheese all about spooning a mouthful of piping hot, gooey, stretchy cheese as you dive in?

Lately I've been into reinventing leftovers in my kitchen and I was inspired by Corkbar's mac-n-cheese with chile to add canned roasted green chiles when reheating it. When the flavor still wasn't intense enough, I added some Cholula sauce, which made it better, in my humble opinion.

At the end of the meal, we were treated to a massive basket of sweet goodies, presumably to make up for the burger snafu.

That was nice of them, except neither of us has a sweet tooth at all so most of the uber-colorful sweets went untouched.

It was cute to bring all the brownies, cotton candy and caramel corn with two comforting glasses of good ol' fashioned milk shakes.

Other items included rice crispy and marshmallow cakes, cheerios and marshmallow cakes (they're probably called something more appealing but I'm no fan so don't know what else to call them), some super-sweet looking pink balls and a ton of chocolate-y type of things.

Unfortunately, everything was far too sweet for my taste. My dessert indulgences are bread pudding, tiramisu, creme brulee or some killer chocolate souffle or semisweet cake with a dollop of hazelnut gelato and caramelized banana...

But I digress. LA Market may need to develop an exciting happy hour menu for the downtown office crowd or not sure how well it's going to do.

Starry Kitchen Downtown: A Second Chance

I usually have a strong disdain for anything fusion-like, especially fusing Vietnamese or Korean food with others, mostly because I've rarely had a successful combination. So it was with some trepidation that I walked into Starry Kitchen in Downtown LA whose menu smelled like fusion (Located in California Plaza to be exact, where they have Grand Performances concerts in the summer).





I wanted to like it, as I know people who know the owners and they're artists! But the first trial was not great. I had the Taiwanese fried pork chop banh mi sandwich with a side of curry shallot fried rice. Sounds great on paper, right?

Delivery was iffy, however. The pork chop wasn't warm or crispy. It was like a thin piece of tonkatsu that'd been fried hours ago and not bothered to be refried or reheated for the sandwich assembly. I'm sorry but if I'm going to have a fried something sandwich, I want mine piping hot!


The banh mi fillings were ok but a tad bland, which leads me to the one good thing it has going for itself -- the delicious pickled jalapeno, carrot and onion relish a-la-taqueria. If it weren't for this, the sandwich would have been too bland for my taste.

Speaking of bland, the Thai cobb salad that came recommended with lemongrass chicken was oh-so disappointing. There was nothing Thai about that salad except its name. It was a basic cobb salad with romaine, cucumber, avocado (which I used as filling for my sandwich), bacon, boiled egg, blue cheese and the odd addition of lemongrass chicken. Not only did the flavors not blend with the addition of the chicken, the chicken itself tasted like bad airplane rubber chicken! Couldn't taste a hint of lemongrass anywhere. Oh, it needs work.


Even the Thai beef salad in Houston's is far better with its peanuts, mango and other ingredients that make it far more Thai than this odd version.

I will be returning just to try other dishes before writing it off completely but for now, I'm not too impressed.

By the way, on our way out we were so dissatisfied with our food that we decided to hit up some lunch trucks parked outside of the Plaza and ran into Mattie's Southern Kitchen, which purports to serve Southern food.

Well, I recommend avoiding it. The bbq pulled pork sandwich was god-awful. No hint of any bbq sauce. It was just plain old, unseasoned, tasteless, pasty pork stuffed in a sandwich with some cole slaw. Yuck! What a waste of my $5...

Cork Bar: Go For the Wine, Stay (and Return) for the Food

I found a good place for happy hour or just dinner in downtown LA -- Cork Bar on Grand and 12th just a few blocks east of LA Live. It's also good for pre-concert meals and you get hassle-free, free parking to boot.

It doesn't feel like a bar per se -- more like a wine bar that has really good food. Although I like wine as much as the next glutton, I'm no wine buff. Still, I would return just for the delicious if not expensive crab cakes, creamy and luscious mac-n-cheese with a slight kick from pasilla chiles and its hard-to-beat $2 a pop specials on Tuesdays where the chef uses customers as willing guinea pigs to try out new dishes. Outdoor seating is great in the summer before it gets too crowded.



The crab cake was perfectly seared and very meaty, thankfully, since it cost $17. None of that doughy, breaded stuff distracting us from the glorious white flesh. It was advertised as "spicy" crab cakes and truth be told, they weren't very spicy but I didn't hold it against them. They came with an avocado crème fraiche and topped with a cactus and corn relish that gave them a nice sweetness.

The mac-n-cheese mixed three kinds of cheeses, including the best melting cheeses that also happen to be very flavorful -- fontina, cheddar and asiago. Roasted pasilla chiles did give it a spicier dimension but these chiles are usually fairly mild, and given chef seemed to have gone easy on the chiles here, I could have used more but was still content with this dish.

The $2 a dish on Tuesdays for trial dishes is a fantastic deal, and they serve them until they run out. On a recent Tuesday, that dish was, lucky me, slices of beef tenderloin cooked medium rare on top of a green sauce and some turnips that seemed to have been pan seared. The relish on top was chopped chives and some tomato-y mix. I obviously didn't pay as much attention to the rest of the dish but the "meat" of the dish was superb. As a side dish, this came with a little cherry tomato and raspberry drizzled with some kind of balsamic reduction whose sweetness really complemented the tartness of the berry and the slightly sweet and slightly acidic tomato.

I liked it so much I think I must have had at least six orders. Honest to God. You can't go wrong with $2... On second thought, you can go wrong but not here.

I also liked the various soups they serve daily -- the potato one was excellent, as was the carrot soup. The soups are definite keepers.

The white bean puree toasts were also nutty and it felt good having something that's healthy and a joy to your palate.

I've also had the endive, cashews and grapefruit salad with a lavender-honey dressing that was very refreshing and just the thing for a hot, summer evening.

One thing that could be improved is the burger. I admit I'm a big time burger snob, but for an eatery of this caliber, the burger should have a juicier and bloodier patty, a softer yet sturdier bun and the toppings should be more interesting. I mean, if you're going to do potato gratin pieces instead of humble fries, the least you could do it fancy up the burger with some avocado or arugula or something. Ok, I'm comparing it to the gold standard -- the Houston's burger again (By the way, I discovered that the same restaurant group owns Bandera, which has an equally royal burger).

Service also left some to be desired, especially during the later, busier hours. We were told it was because of a large party in one corner but don't think that should be an excuse not to check up on us for a long time and not giving us our food, etc.

Cork Bar
403 W. 12th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 746-0050