My friend J has been talking about La Boheme, a French Japanese fusion restaurant in West Hollywood, right by his old stomping ground. It's gorgeous, he says. And that, La Boheme is. It was renovated a couple years ago and the decor is trendy, chic and sexy, all in one. It's also supposed to be one of the most romantic dining spots in LA with it's high ceilings, chandeliers, wall sconces, plush red couches and dim lighting.
The dining room was dark, opulent and goth looking.
The outdoor patio on the other hand, where we were seated, was bright and lively. There was a fireplace and the terrace was well lit. Happy hour is from 5-7.30pm which includes half off appetizers and $4 beers. Unfortunately for us, we were meeting after 7.30pm, so we were unable to partake.
We started with cocktails. Mango mojito and cantaloupe martini. I thought the mojito was alright, it probably needed a bit more sugar and lime because it tasted a little bland.
Bread with white bean puree. I really enjoyed this. The bread was like a foccacia, and the bean puree was thick and creamy. I also liked the use of the beans over butter. Sigh.. although it seems healthier than butter, I enjoyed it so much that I had to request for more bread.
Chicken liver pate with rosemary garlic crostini and onion confit. Delicious. The liver was surprisingly rather mild and went well with the sweet onion confit.
Trio of Wagyu beef sliders. I liked the juicy patty but I thought the bun was ordinary. They should have used brioche, or something more tasty than a regular starchy bun. The sliders were served with horseradish aioli.
Braised short rib pappardelle with rich red wine sauce. I've been on a meaty pasta kick so I've been on the lookout for dishes such as oxtail or boar pasta. Short ribs made the cut as well. I really enjoyed my pasta. The short rib was tender, cooked perfectly and wasn't gamy. The pasta was fresh and cooked al dente. This was so satisfying that I finished up every last morsel on the plate.
Miso glazed salmon with shiitake basmati rice, bok choy and spinach sauce. Fish was cooked perfectly, not dry and it went well with the crisp veggies and flavorful rice. I really do appreciate the Asian influences in most of the dishes as I think it makes a dish so much more interesting.
For dessert, we shared the chocolate chip bread pudding with creme anglais, caramelized bananas and cinnamon ice cream. You really can't go wrong when pairing chocolate with bread pudding. The cold spicy ice cream slowly melted over the warm and freshly baked bread pudding. It was delicious. The bananas had a nice coating of sugar that added additional sweetness to the dessert.Of course when J and I get together, the night usually includes a lot of beer and games. We crossed the street to Barneys Beanery and spent the rest of the night playing air hockey (I suck at it), shuffleboard (I'm a little better at this), foosball and mini hoops (we kicked ass, eventually).
The night ended at 1.30am (ouch) after many many Boddingtons. Dinner at La Boheme was great. The food and portions were good and the prices were decent. The winner really is the decor and ambiance. You feel like you are in the Moulin Rouge. Happy Hour appears to be the way to go at 50% off appetizers and beer/wine specials. It was a fun night, well balanced with dining, beers and games.Hits: ambiance, bread and bean puree, pasta, liver
Misses: cocktails were so-so
Rating: ***
La Boheme
8400 Santa Monica Blvd.,
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(323) 848-2360
http://boheme.globaldiningca.com/index.html
It's pretty chic inside with green furniture and flooring, and walls lined with wine bottles.
Happy hour runs from 4.30-7pm and includes wine at $4-6, draft beers for $4 and appetizers at $5. I liked the drink selection and was glad to see good beers and wine on the menu. Thankfully, no Bud Light to be found.
We started with a round of drinks: the Brut Rose, Pinot Grigio and the Downtown Brown.
Since it was St. Paddy's Day, they offered corned beef slider (three per plate). Sounds great but I had a few issues with the slider. #1. There was too much mayo on the bun. #2. There was too much bun. Don't get me wrong, the bun was fresh and buttery, but when you took a bite of the slider, all you could taste was bun. #3. There was barely any corned beef. In fact, only half the slider had corned beef, and there was probably only two thin, measly slices in each slider.
Short rib sliders with candied shallot. This slider was slightly better than the last, but once again, all you could taste was bun. They definitely need to add more meat to their sliders.
Beer steamed mussels. After the disappointing sliders, we were quite pleased with this order. The mussels were prepared well, not overcooked and were plump. It was also a generous serving for $5. The broth was flavorful and was great to soak the toasts in.
We decided to order the charcuterie plate from the regular menu. Three items for $11. We got the Bresaola, Duck rillette and Prosciutto di Parma. Bresaola is air cured beef. I was quite disappointed with the spread. The meats were shriveled up and looked so pathetic. Furthermore, they didn't look fresh.
After our quick meal, we walked a few blocks over to the Staples Center.
We watched the game in a suite. Well, to be honest, most of us were not even paying attention to the game. It's the Clippers after all!
In the spirit of St. Paddy's Day and also because we were still hungry after the measly charcuterie plate and sliders, we ordered a corned beef sandwich from the concession stand, provided by Nate n' Al, served on deli rye with kettle chips. It was a pretty large sammie with loads of corned beef, unlike our unsatisfying pseudo corned beef slider from BottleRock. The corned beef was surprisingly rather tender and juicy.
Dessert complimentary with the suite, rounded off the night. The lemon bars were the winner.
A meal with mom always starts off with champagne. IMO, I think champagne pairs well with everything: french food, burgers & fries, Indian food, pizza, pasta, ramen.. you name it. Mom decided to prepare Laksa, which is something that I grew up eating and is the Southeast Asian version of comfort food chicken noodle soup. It's a spicy, coconut based noodle soup that usually can include shrimp, sprouts and shredded chicken. There are many variations of laksa but the one my mom makes is the curry laksa, nonya style with a dried shrimp base with loads of home made sambal belacan chili. Good laksa is hard to come by in LA so this was a real treat.
While mom prepared the laksa, she offered me some chicken to nibble on. Soy sauce chicken that was marinated with dark and light soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar, and thrown into a pot to simmer. She threw the chicken and sauce into a rice cooker, but you can also use a pot. The result is a scrumptious piece of bird that is both tender and flavorful.
Next up, a hot bowl of laksa. My mom usually throws in fish cakes and bean sprouts but she didn't have that on hand. Either way, this was delicious and she made it extra spicy. I coughed nonstop for 3 minutes after the first gulp. I liked the rice noodles as they were thin and not too starchy. The soup was rich with coconut and seafood flavors. The laksa was not only soothing and comforting, but also cleared the sinuses and made all my pains go away. Well, at least for the night.
Performance art at one of the galleries.
On my walk, I passed by Nickel Diner and saw an array of desserts for sale outside. I couldn't resist. I'd already walked over a mile at this point.
Peanut butter potato chip cupcake. Tasty. Even the frosting on the top was light and delicious. I liked the chocolate dipped potato chip as it added a saltiness to the sweet dessert. After my little sweet snack, I made my way back to Wurstkuche where I had parked. FYI, parking is supposed to be scarce. Even though I was lucky enough to get rockstar parking up front, there appeared to be parking a couple blocks away so yes, parking is available if you are willing to walk a little. Note to self.. not a good idea for a lady to be walking the streets of downtown alone in the evening. There were some unsavory characters on my solo walk back.
There was a half-hour line forming outside the restaurant. You have to enter through the red and gold (BOOOOO Trojans) doors to order, but you can also enter the dining area via another door down the street. So the obvious strategy is to have one friend scope out seating while another waits in the food line.
Lucky me, I was the one assigned to find seating. The restaurant has brick walls and wooden beams ceilings. There's a cool, hip vibe in the room, it was loud and they had a DJ, yet the place seemed casual and relaxed. There were two diners playing cards at the table after their meals. Seating options were communal tables, table seating and a bar. Naturally, I grabbed seats at the bar.
I ordered the Gouden Carolus, a Belgian tripel.
Our food arrive about a half hour later, so essentially we were fed an hour after we got there. They have a selection of mustard scattered around the room so you'll have to go in search of the specific one you wanted.
Rattlesnake and rabbit sausage. I really liked this sausage. It was lean and juicy. As expected, it tasted like chicken or some lean meat vs. snake. Phew. The sausage also had jalapeno in it so it had a little heat to it, although not too spicy. Surprisingly the portion was sufficient. I was contemplating ordering two dogs but thankfully did not.
Vegetarian smoked apple sage sausage with apple, yukon gold potatoes and rubbed sage. A nice combination of sweet and salty. My friend enjoyed this sausage but it did look just a tad bit drier than mine. Too bad for the vegetarians.
More beers including another Belgian beer, La Chouffe, which the server said would pair well with our sausage selections, and a German Reissdorf Kolsch.
We shared a large order of Belgian fries. I do love a good fry. We ordered the fries with white truffle glaze for an additional $1.50. It was aromatic and worth it. You got two sauces with the large order, which included curry ketchup, pesto mayo, blue cheese walnut & bacon - barf on the blue cheese, Thai peanut amongst others. We opted for the curry ketchup and Thai peanut. The fries were thick but thankfully, not dense and starchy. I like.
The Little Bar is a great casual, divey place with decent beers on tap, and darts and a pool table in the corner.
We started with New Belgium Mighty Arrow. It's a pale ale and was relatively crisp and mild. Absolutely hit the spot. Take that, Umami!
Turkey miso burger with baba ganoush and roasted garlic. This was actually my pick. I liked this over the Umami Burger because it was lighter, leaner and not dripping with grease. The baba ganoush was a nice addition as it added a smokey flavor and some mushiness to the patty, like a layer of spread. The turkey patty was well seasoned and surprisingly not dry.
Sweet potato fries and malt liquor tempura battered onion rings. I thought the sides were the winners. The onion rings were amazing - lightly breaded and not too heavy. The sweet potato fries had a sprinkling of what seemed to be cinnamon, which is a fitting marriage since sweet potatoes and cinnamon go well together during Thanksgiving. You get one dipping sauce free with a side so I selected the garlic aioli. It was alright, didn't have a strong garlic flavor which I guess could be both a good and bad thing.
Umami sells packaged desserts from cakemonkey. I'm not familiar with this brand but apparently it's known for their little individual cakes. It's not cheap, this little cake that looked the size of a hockey puck (ok, maybe a bit larger), was $4.
Raspberry red velvet cakewich with raspberry swirled vanilla frosting, coated in bittersweet chocolate. I thought it was tiny but when shared between two, it was rich enough to be sufficient. Plus, I love love love dark chocolate. Perfect end to the meal.
Another round of beers. This time we got the Skyscraper which is a local LA brewing company.
Tuesdays is Drinko Bingo night at the bar, so we had to partake. Basically you get a free drink if you win a round of Bingo.
The Big Pink came on last. They are an English electro synth rock band with an 80s feel to it. They are pretty awesome,