Showing posts with label wilshire blvd. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wilshire blvd. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Pork Chop and Beers at Carson House (Beverly Hills, CA)

Sure there are an abundance of gastropubs in LA, but you can't say the same of Beverly Hills. In fact, Carson House on Wilshire Blvd may be one of the only ones offering such a big beer selection. 

I've been to Carson House once for lunch and once for dinner.
For lunch they serve sandwiches, pizza, and a few entree dishes like this roasted salmon with forbidden rice. 
IMG_8170
Perfect for a nice, healthy lunch.

I indulged more during dinner. We started with the Grilled watermelon salad, heirloom tomato, basil, Dutch feta, lemon vinaigrette
Watermelon salad
I really liked the combination of flavors here. The feta was not crumbled but served as a whole slice which added to the texture contrast of the salad. I thought this really distinguished the salad from the usual watermelon feta combo.

Chicken lollipops (chicken meatballs, buffalo plum glaze, blue cheese whip)
Chicken balls
These are a little spicy! Luckily the blue cheese whip is there to curb the spiciness.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Caulfield's Bar and Dining Room Moves In To The Thompson Hotel (Beverly Hills)

Time flies and apparently it's been over three years since I went to BondSt at The Thompson Hotel for the first time. Now, the restaurant has been replaced with an entirely new concept, Caulfield's Bar and Dining Room. I hardly even recognized the space, which now has an enclosed patio area.Gone are the sushi and Japanese dishes, although Caulfield's "American" concept also encompasses crudo, pasta dishes, and bincho charcoal grilled meats.

Here's what I tried:
Pacific yellowtail crudo, pear, radish, coconut milk, finger lime, ginger ($16).

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I like the flavor combination and the crunchiness of the fresh pear, but I did think the pear slices were a bit too big compared to the yellowtail and it covered up the flavor of the fish.

Burrata, butternut squash, dried figs and capers, balsamic vinegar, basil ($12)
Burrata
This appetizer combined some nice ingredients with the creamy burrata and the sweet roasted squash.


Little angel pasta filled with artichoke, arugula and peas with butter, poppy seeds, Montasio cheese ($24)
Pasta

From the binchotan grill: Marinated skirt steak, fingerling yams, soy, ginger, anticucho sauce ($31)
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I love a skirt steak done right and this was one. Cooked just right so that it's still juicy and tender, this steak had a really nice flavor.

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Cocktails here are the products of Jeremy Back, formerly of City Tavern, and are a definite improvement over what was offered at this hotel before. Expect different shrubs, like the one used in the Kentucky Kiwi (Pure Kentucky XO whisky, kiwi shrub, Bitter Truth Boston bitters, $13).

The most interesting one is perhaps the Bar & Dining Room (Maestro Dobel, fig shrub, cracked black pepper foam, finished with prosciutto dust, $15)
cocktail
Don't be scared away by the pepper and prosciutto. While they gave a subtle savoriness, they don't overwhelm the drink.

For desserts, we decided to go light with the fruit-based desserts. We tried the roasted pear with ginger gelato, which I really enjoyed. Especially the ginger gelato part!
Pear Dessert

Strawberry Pistachio is a popular one that was recommended by our server and it was certainly a good pairing.
Strawberries
Caulfield's brings a breath of fresh air to The Thompson Hotel. I liked what Brian Redzikowski was trying to do at Bond St previously but he was still restricted by what the hotel chain wanted Bond St to serve. Caulfield's is a much livelier and "hip" spot with a more relevant menu. If street parking was easier to find or valet parking was cheaper, I would even come here for Jeremy Back's cocktails.

Caulfield's Bar and Dining Room
9360 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
(310) 388-6860
caulfieldsbeverlyhills.com
Caulfield's on Urbanspoon

Disclosure: this meal was hosted

Monday, January 28, 2013

The Roof on Wilshire: New Year's Day Brunch Is Never a Good Deal

One of my pet peeves is when I sit down at a bar for the first time and the bartender asks what they can get for me without giving me the menu. "Uh, the menu, please" is typically my response. This one takes it a bit further. As he handed me the menu, he says that they have specialty cocktails but they can make me whatever I wanted, like Jack n Coke ... Right. Either he thinks I'm a Jack kind of girl or that's all he knows how to make, but either way it did not seem promising.

I had chosen The Roof on Wilshire for New Year's Day brunch partly because I remembered reading good things about their hot cocktail menu. Granted, Caroline's review was from winter the year before, but I was hoping maybe they'd kept at least some of them - or the quality - for a year. I didn't see any hot drinks listed, though, so I asked the bartender. Apparently the page with the hot drinks list was missing from the menu I had, so he said he'd get me one. Ten minutes later he asked what I wanted to order. "Um, the hot drinks list?"
"Oh, yeah!"

This happened two more times. Luckily I had plenty of time waiting for my party of ten friends who are always late.

Finally, I got the "hot drinks list" which only consisted of a hot toddy and some kahlua whipped cream concoction. That was what I waited 20 minutes to read? Huh. I finally settled on a jalapeno-mezcal cocktail. Not bad, quite spicy.

Finally my table is ready and my friends arrived. The New Year's brunch deal here was a "3-course" meal for around $25 if I remember correctly.
The first course listed some bread and pastry selection, but as I tried placing an order for a croissant, they said they're just bringing a "bread basket" to the table. The "basket" turned out to be this plate. Not bad, but ... the same plate that they brought for the 10 of us they brought to tables of 4. There's also only one croissant and one bacon cheddar biscuit. Which meant I didn't get any. I asked them for more croissant about half a dozen times, which were always answered with "I'll bring them right out" but never appeared.

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