Thursday, July 19, 2012

Eat.Drink.Americano, Downtown LA Gastropub

Another gastropub has popped up down the street from Wurstkuche. When you want more than sausages and truffle-y fries, head to Eat. Drink. Americano for some cheese, small bites, or flatbreads with your drink.

IMG_9672
The craft beers and wines are all from California (as you can see from the wall decor, they're sticking with local). They also carry a couple of wines on tap. The 2009 Silver Tap Zinfandel from Sonoma County ($7) is a robust one to go with food.


The menu is divided into cured meats and cheeses, bites, and flatbreads. Since the place is new, the menu is still evolving. We focused on the "bites" portion and pretty much got the whole section, starting with the Duck and Pickles ($14)
IMG_9637
Confit of duck, pickled vegetables, and baguettes. Simple and satisfying.

King Crab Canneloni and Cauliflower Foam ($15)
IMG_9641
You can't really see the canneloni under the foam in this picture, but the tube-shaped pasta is filled with lumps of king crab. The cauliflower foam was a good complement and fun to boot (although there was a tad too much of it).

I was looking forward to trying their steak tartar with mustard ice cream that I read about, but they didn't have it the night I went. Oh, well, instead I found their Soft Shell Crab Sandwich ($13)!
IMG_9645
This was my absolute favorite. The crispy soft shell crab is sandwiched between biscuits with a creamy mayo dressing. For me, it's the crunch of the seaweed is what really made it. Get this while they have it.


Braised Angus Oxtail Burger ($15)
IMG_9644
My second favorite, possibly. While oxtail burgers aren't really "new" in LA anymore, this is still one of the better renditions of it. A couple weeks ago they were running a happy hour special on this for $10, but do double check if they're still doing that.

Niman Pork Cheek, Mushrooms, Polenta ($13)
IMG_9654
I wasn't expecting these polenta "strips" but the lightly hardened edges give this dish its texture variation. While it doesn't qualify as a big entree, this was certainly more than a "small bite" plate and could easily be a light dinner.

Mushrooms and Eggs with Bread ($12)
IMG_9660
I think this would be better with other, more flavorful types of mushrooms. The earthier ones like shiitake and oyster mushrooms would work better with the runny egg.

Black Cod Tempura and Romescu Sauce ($15)
IMG_9666
Two big pieces of meaty black cod with romescu sauce worth scraping. I would've preferred the fish to be less meaty, flakier, and maybe in smaller pieces, but overall we enjoyed this.

Yellowtail Ceviche ($14)
IMG_9669
The cuts of fish in the ceviche are also bigger than usual, the marinade was very bright and tart.

For me, Eat Drink Americano is a good alternative in the area to the always-packed-like-sardines Wurstkuche with a much more interesting food menu (in fact, between the two I would easily choose EDA). The prices aren't too bad, and with certain dishes you can fill up inexpensively. Take it with a grain of salt that they had just opened and the menu is still being worked upon. Not all the dishes we had were hits, though the hits that we did have were quite promising (mmm soft shell crab sandwich). Oh, and there's still that elusive steak tartar with mustard ice cream that I still need to try!

IMG_9631

Eat.Drink.Americano
923 E 3rd St
 Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-0781
eatdrinkamericano.com
Eat.Drink.Americano on Urbanspoon


 Disclosure: this meal was hosted.

0 comments:

Gourmet Pigs   © 2008. Template Recipes by Emporium Digital

TOP