Sunday, March 11, 2012

Load Up on Cocktails and Bites at AMMO

I had been meaning to go to AMMO for a while but had never made it even after a couple of changes on the kitchen helm, but I was recently invited in to try the new cocktail and bar bites menu. The new cocktail menu had gotten a lot of good press and it was definitely time for me to go.

Blood Orange CrushI brought LAOCFoodie as my plus one, since we're tasting cocktails after all and I knew he could handle it!
We decided to both start with something "bubbly" and I ordered the Blood Orange Crush (Bele Casel Prosecco, Aperol, blood orange juice, fresh thyme - $11)

LAOCFoodie ordered the beer cocktail which, coincidentally, was just mentioned in an LA Times article about beer cocktails that morning:
Belgium Sunrise (Allagash White ale, Lindemans Lambic Framboise, frambeau liquor - $10)

Beer cocktail
The Crush is pretty light and sweet. A good cocktail to start off with, though I think I actually liked the beer cocktail better - perhaps because I like Lindemans Lambic.

Since we were invited to try the cocktails and the bar menu, we stuck with the bar bites for our dinner.
I already knew I wanted to try their not-mac-and-cheese, the baked penne with aged white cheddar, fresh thyme, and breadcrumbs ($8)
Mac n Cheese
It turned out to be my favorite thing that night, with its gooey, strong melted cheddar! I've always liked the texture of penne better than macaroni anyway.


Grilled Cheese Sandwich: Emmenthal on country white with caramelized shallots ($6)
Grilled Cheese
After the cheese-loaded baked penne, I wished there was more cheese in these sandwiches.

For some reason, our second round of cocktails were both "greenish". I ordered the Sage Martini with Hendrick’s gin, lemon juice, lime juice, fresh sage ($11). LAOCFoodie got the Highland Fizz (formerly called the "Ver-bean-ya") - Tru organic lemon verbena infused vodka, tangerine juice, housemade ginger soda, mint, and bitters ($11)
Cocktails
I think my drink won this round. The sage "martini" was simple but balanced and happened to be my favorite type of cocktails - with the added sage aroma. The Fizz was sweet and refreshing, though.

We also had the Mini Burgers (they didn't want to call them "sliders") with grassfed beef and turkey with tomato, lettuce, and aioli ($8)
Sliders
Unlike sliders, the mini burgers truly are mini burgers in that they contain all the toppings you would expect in a classic burger. Surprisingly, I might actually like the turkey mini burger here than the beef ...

We disagreed on which popular greens we liked better, so we got both the Sautéed kale and the Charred rapini ($7 each)
Kale Rapini
The rapini turned out to be a little spicy, so my kale still won (for me)! I can eat garlicky kale all day.

To finish off, we go to the whisky cocktails with the Maple Leaf Rag (Black Maple Hill bourbon, lemon juice, maple syrup, bitters, burnt rosemary -$12) and the Citrus Fashioned (Willett 5yr. rye, lemon, orange,  tangerine zest, maraschino jus, bitters -$11)
Cocktails round 3
I liked Maple Leaf Rag quite a bit and I think it "won" this round. The GM also gave us a bit of the Black Maple Hill bourbon by itself for us to try and yep, it definitely smelled like maple. The Citrus Fashioned was a bit strong for me at that point of the night. I should've ordered it earlier ...

Having a weakness for blood oranges when they're in season, we got a blood orange tart for dessert.
Blood Orange Tart

Having never been to AMMO, I was quite happy with the cocktails and food we tasted. The cocktail menu pretty interesting and for the most part they were done well. AMMO should definitely be considered for a chill night out for cocktails in Hollywood, instead of fighting the crowds at the popular (read: packed) bar establishments. The bar bites menu is small but they are sufficient for what they are - bar bites. I haven't tried anything from the dinner menu, but I must say it looked enticing ...

AMMO
AMMO
1155 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 871-2666
ammocafe.com
Ammo on Urbanspoon

1 comments:

Chicken

Haven't been to Ammo since it changed over, so thanks for this update. I might need to swing by for that kale! :)

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