
He seems to like the open kitchen layout at his pop-up locations. We like it too. It's fun to see the kitchen at work.

The LudoBites menu is mainly small plates and served family style for the whole table to sample. Because of Ludo's extensive French cooking experience, this menu leans towards French cuisine. It should be noted that he also cooks international fare such as his Asian inspired menu at LudoBites v3.0 at Royal/T Cafe. The menu is appetizer-heavy with about 12 choices, 4 mains courses and two dessert options. The menu changes regularly so some of your favorite dishes may disappear the next time you are there.

The best part of LudoBites is that it's BYOB. Heck yeah! Unfortunately I was too busy at work to hit the wineshop so we had to make do with a bottle of Pinot Grigio that I had in my office, which I was saving for one of
those days.

I liked the wine glasses, the logo was a wine bottle holding a wine glass. I wanted to snag it but refrained.

Tartine plate "Warm Baguette" with honey lavender butter and smoked lard
The bread was fresh, hot with a dash of salt sprinkled on top. Unfortunately, I didn't care for the spreads. The honey lavender had a strong scent and was too flowery. I felt like I was eating perfume or potpourri. I usually love me some lard spread but this was too smokey. Typically, I'd have a BIG issue with paying for bread at a restaurant but you get unlimited refills so I guess it's not too bad for $4. Bread is so key at LudoBites because there are always amazing sauces that you'd like to soak the bread in.

Scallop, spinach, yogurt-curry, spring garlic, violet flower
This was such an elegant dish. The scallops were cooked perfectly cooked, which some kitchens can tend to mess up on. I loved the curry broth which had a bold flavor. The edible flower also added a nice color to the dish. There was a lot of bread-dipping action going on at the table.

Marinated king salmon, German butterball potato, red wine vinaigrette, Creme Fraiche
The salmon was cooked perfectly. It was poached and seasoned with cracked black pepper which sounds so simple but was perfectly executed. The colors were vibrant and you just couldn't help but be in a good mood after eating this.

Seabream ceviche, heirloom tomato, Jalapenos, Myer Lemon paste, cilantro flower
The fish was fresh and its mild flavor worked well with the spicy jalapeno which added a kick to the dish. The Myer lemon contributed a tartness which was a bit too sour for my taste.

Black foie gras croque monsieur, cherry amaretto chutney
This is LudoBite's signature dish (apart from his fried chicken). Given my cheese aversion, I was nervous about ordering this. The waitress had to check with Ludo with regards to what type of cheese was in the croque monsieur. It was Lamb Chopper Sheeps milk. Is it mild? She had to check back with Ludo. Yes, mild it was. I was worried that Ludo was going to spit in my food. I could just imagine him saying something like "I cook ze food, you eat ze way I prepare it". Everything about this dish was perfection. The bread was infused with squid ink. It was buttery and crumbled in your mouth. Yes, the cheese was mild, thank goodness. It seemed to me that its main purpose was to hold everything together. The foie gras was a nice generous portion. It was thick, rich and melted a bit under the warm bread. I thought the cherry chutney would be too sweet but it was just right. It was imperative to the dish as it cut the fatty foie flavor. This was the priciest starter at $29 but was worth every penny.

Squid "carbonara", pancetta, poached egg (63 degrees), Parmesan snow, chive flowers
We had to get two orders of this because we knew it would be a winner.

This was taken after we broke the egg. The runny egg yolk bound the rest of the dish together. Squid was used in lieu of pasta. I thought this was a smart variation as the squid actually do look a bit like thick rolled pasta but this was low carb, so even better! The carbonara was so flavorful and I liked the nuttiness of the Parmesan. This was a rich dish so I was glad that they used squid instead of starch.

Monkfish, fresh sansho pepper, fresh peas, lettuce, Vadouvan, Yuzu
This was my least favorite dish because the fish was dry, a bit rubbery and rather bland. Thank goodness for the vadouvan which added a bit of saltiness to the fish. Unfortunately there wasn't enough vadouvan to save this dish. The yuzu was also really tart and I thought didn't add anything to the dish.

Flat-iron steak, escargot red butter, shallots jam, roasted eggplant, carrot slaw
The steak was cooked perfectly with that red medium rare center. I also loved the generous topping of tender snails that were cooked in a thick salty sauce. The puree of eggplant had a nice smokey flavor. The only item I didn't care for was the carrot slaw which had a pungent wasabi taste. Overall, I thought this was a good, complete dish. The escargot really made this a unique steak plate.

Strawberry, macaron, lemon-verbena meringue
I thought would be too sweet and envisioned a big sour meringue on top. Instead, the top was fluffy whipped cream which was surprisingly rather light. The macaron had a nice chewy texture and in the center of the dessert were pop rocks.


Dark chocolate souffle, vanilla whipped cream and hot chocolate cream
Perfectly baked souffle which came out fresh and warm from the oven. The already decadent dessert was topped with luxurious hot chocolate cream. This was gone in a matter of seconds.
The service was excellent. There seemed to be a good energy at the restaurant and the staff seem to enjoy working at the event. Everyone was eager and excited about the venture. The food was delicious and the presentation of the plates were beautiful. They looked like plates you would receive at an expensive fine dining French restaurants. LudoBites is really all about a fun, casual ambiance, and a refined menu at decent prices. Our bill came up to $65 per person including tax and tip, not bad for a full meal. You gotta love BYOB. I'm glad that we were able to get reservations, and here's hoping that Ludo will be popping up more often.
Hits: scallops, foie croque, squid carbonara, salmon, desserts, BYOB, parking
Misses: monkfish, pay for bread
Rating: ***1/2
Ludobites @ Gram & Pappa's
227 E. 9th St.,
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 624-7272
http://www.ludolefebvre.com/ludo-bites