Angler - Beverly Center

The prices here reminded me of some overpriced resort restaurant in hawaii. but instead of being on the beach with a view of the ocean, or being next to the water with a view of the bay bridge like the san francisco angler, this angler is oddly located inside of a dark parking garage underneath a mall with no visible signage or entrance from the street. i made the foolish mistake of thinking there would be some kind of door off la cienga. i walked by the place three times before realizing i had to walk 200ft into the parking garage and make a right to find the place.

Probably best to just valet or self-park in the garage near the “grand court” elevators, take it down to the macy’s men’s cologne section on the first floor, make an immediate u-turn, and look for the la cienga valet exit. the restaurant will be on your left as you make your way through the parked valet cars.

inside skenes’ signature “shitty '80s music” is pumping through the speakers and all the windows are blocked, probably so you’re not reminded that you’re basically dining next to a macy’s inside a parking garage. for being such a seafood focused restaurant, the only thing that reminded me of the sea was a flock of seagulls playing on the sound system.

menu
i just missed the uni liquid toast which was on the menu the next night.

:crab:

bbq salt

hot sauce

peppers

antelope tartare
Lean and non-gamey, not bad.

bull’s blood beet with embered tomato & walnuts
the beet was dehydrated and then reconstituted which gave it a meaty, chewy texture like a portobello mushroom. highlight.

crispy salt & pepper blowfish tails
the chicken wings of the sea. good.

spot prawns
this was halfway between raw and cooked so it was a bit firm on the outside but still soft on the inside. super sweet and delicious. another highlight and more brain food.

barbecue abalone
this had the same exact texture as korean fish cake you get as banchan. i wasn’t a fan of the texture, i prefer it a bit firmer.

whole poached marble fish
when did flounder become as expensive as japanese wagyu? at $88 for about 6-8oz and described as big enough for two, this was probably the worst qpr and most expensive fish i’ve ever had. unfortunately it was just okay, very mild and light, on the verge of being bland. i needed to add some bbq salt and pepper to give it some flavor. the fried bones with togarashi were pretty good.

milk soft serve ice cream, caramel, cacao nibs, salt
simple but delicious, ask for extra caramel.

toto


ice cold bivalves - capital (seattle, wa), kusshi (vancouver island, bc), pacific gold (morro bay, ca), beausoleil (miramachi bay, nb)

oysters were pretty flawless and the cocktail sauce and seaweed mignonette were also highlights.

radicchio with radicchio x.o. #fulltang
i hate radicchio aka ginger lettuce, but this was a revelation. the bitterness was balanced beautifully with the sweetness from the dressing but it didn’t mask the flavor, it was just a perfect complement. highlight.

amberjack
this was fine.

swordfish, olives
highlight of the night. this could not have been cooked any better, it was meaty but still moist, tender and buttery. i hate olives, but these olives were another revelation. i don’t know how they did it but they weren’t bitter at all and almost sweet, i wish i saved some of the olives for the chicken. so much better than my overpriced 88 dollar flounder.

bull’s blood beet with embered tomato and walnut
like a meaty portabella with chunky bbq sauce.

whole pastured chicken
came with a side of vinegar hot sauce/bbq sauce that went very well with the chicken. the breasts were decently moist, pretty good.

chicken knife

milk soft serve ice cream, smoked caramel, cacao nibs, salt
highlight

melon sorbet
intensely melon-y


the place was packed on a saturday night after the bladdison review.

the 1 comma crab

sea bream ceviche, plantain chips, onions
this was fine, the sauce was a bit too acidic.

striped bass head & collar
two heads are always better than one. came with yuzukosho, sakura salt, and leaves to make wraps and was glazed with a kind of sweet soy. the logistics of picking out enough meat to make a wrap didn’t quite work. i just ended up eating the meat by itself and sucking the face bones.

golden straw mushrooms in broth
i enjoyed sipping on the chicken broth more than the cordyceps, which were pretty mild.

live spot prawn
highlight. pro tip, save the sauce to eat with the parker house rolls.

grilled parker house rolls, cultured butter
highlight. the cultured butter was incredible.

angler potato & cheese sauce
crisp on the edges and soft on the inside.

chinese eggplant buried in the embers
nice and smoky with a sweet glaze on top.

grilled striped bass
the chili-crisp topping was a bit too much and overwhelmed the fish.

cocoa pod
reminded me of a chocolate budino


after-dinner bang after a few amuse bouches at kato.

angler reserve caviar
combine this with the warm, soft, slightly sweet, buttery banana pancake and banana butter for a perfectly balanced, decadent, and delicious baby fish taco :fish::taco:

kusshi (vancouver island, bc), shigoku (willapa bay, wa), pacific gold (morro bay, ca), grassy bar (morro bay, ca)
excellent oysters and the smoky, sweet embered tomato cocktail sauce was the best i’ve ever had.

soft serve sundae
must-order

frozen chocolate bar
like a frozen snickers bar with hazelnuts


@Omotesando as our resident ambiance connoisseur and pescatarian i would think this place is right up your alley, despite it being located inside a mall parking lot. once you’re inside it’s pretty comfortable, with spaced out tables, elegant tableware, lively but not too loud atmosphere, and some of the best service in la. and the food isn’t bad either.

angler reserve caviar

roasted banana peel butter

banana pancake

the best fish taco you’ll ever have

ooe - kumamoto (sheldon, wa), kusshi (vancouver island, bc), shigoku (willapa bay, wa), beausoleil (miramichi bay, nb)

big eye tuna
served with a tomato gelee on top of the tuna tartare

nori rice cracker

sweet chicory caesar
delicious

(new) grilled santa barbara squid
seasoned with sichuan peppercorns that tingled the senses

(new) grilled chicory rosa
a bit too bitter for me

(new) whole grilled porgy
perfectly cooked with a crispy, crackly skin

coconut lemongrass sauce

(new) creamsicle
citrus-y and not too sweet, nice and refreshing.

frozen chocolate bar

Angler
8500 Beverly Blvd Suite 117
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(424) 332-4082
https://www.anglerrestaurants.com/los-angeles


http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Saison-crew-to-open-a-new-restaurant-named-Angler-12407148.php

8 Likes

The LA mall food arms race is crazy. What’s also crazy is having to deal with mall traffic to eat at these joints.

4 Likes

I wonder might they ever bring decent food to the Grove. The closed in Beverly Center seems anarchonistic and claustrophobic. Are the restaurants on the top floor where the movie theaters used to be?

This sounds good in theory, but… I don’t truly know how Skenes’ cooking is supposed to translate to a 100-seat mall food restaurant.

The entire reason that Saison is so remarkably great is his obsession with ingredients turned into magical, simple bites of pure gustatory bliss.

Is a place in a mall cranking out dishes rapidly a la carte to 100 people at a time going to be obsessing over the ingredients and cooking processes the way the Saison kitchen does?

It sounds amazing on paper – the idea of being able to eat liquid uni toast and ember-roasted elk t-bones is obviously immensely enticing to one’s culinary imagination – but it seems like it could easily be an absolute disaster in execution…

Dominique Ansel just opened in the old Morsels space. There are a few good places in the farmers market -
Monsieur Marcel, Fritzi, Huntington Meats, Bob’s Donuts, Ulysses Voyage and Loteria Grill are solid spots

2 Likes

The food will end up like Keller, and Mina, even at the Mother Ship location after this.

Noooooooooo :frowning:

I just checked out Dominque Ansel’s menu online and nothing looked very appealing to me, and it is expensive. Maybe it tastes better than it sounds. The wine menu isn’t too exciting either. Just kind of sounds like a bland, middle brow restaurant. Oh well, who wants to deal with Grove parking anyway.

Perhaps anyone who’s been will comment.

Dinner was a big meh

1 Like
1 Like

Angler opening on Tuesday!

The prices here reminded me of some overpriced resort restaurant in hawaii. but instead of being on the beach with a view of the ocean, or being next to the water with a view of the bay bridge like the san francisco angler, this angler is oddly located inside of a dark parking garage underneath a mall with no visible signage or entrance from the street. i made the foolish mistake of thinking there would be some kind of door off la cienga. i walked by the place three times before realizing i had to walk 200ft into the parking garage and make a right to find the place.

Probably best to just valet or self-park in the garage near the “court” elevators, take it down to the macy’s men’s cologne section on the first floor, make an immediate u-turn, and look for the la cienga valet exit. the restaurant will be on your left as you make your way through the parked valet cars.

inside skenes’ signature “shitty '80s music” is pumping through the speakers and all the windows are blocked, probably so you’re not reminded that you’re basically dining next to a macy’s inside a parking garage. for being such a seafood focused restaurant, the only thing that reminded me of the sea was a flock of seagulls playing on the sound system.

menu
i just missed the uni liquid toast which was on the menu the next night.

:crab:

bbq salt

hot sauce

peppers

antelope tartare
Lean and non-gamey, not bad.

bull’s blood beet with embered tomato & walnuts
the beet was dehydrated and then reconstituted which gave it a meaty, chewy texture like a portobello mushroom. highlight.

crispy salt & pepper blowfish tails
the chicken wings of the sea. good.

spot prawns
this was halfway between raw and cooked so it was a bit firm on the outside but still soft on the inside. super sweet and delicious. another highlight and more brain food.

barbecue abalone
this had the same exact texture as korean fish cake you get as banchan. i wasn’t a fan of the texture, i prefer it a bit firmer.

whole poached marble fish
when did flounder become as expensive as japanese wagyu? at $88 for about 6-8oz and described as big enough for two, this was probably the worst qpr and most expensive fish i’ve ever had. unfortunately it was just okay, very mild and light, on the verge of being bland. i needed to add some bbq salt and pepper to give it some flavor. the fried bones with togarashi were pretty good.

milk soft serve ice cream, caramel, cacao nibs, salt
simple but delicious, ask for extra caramel.

toto


Angler
8500 Beverly Blvd Suite 117
Los Angeles, CA 90048
(424) 332-4082
https://www.anglerrestaurants.com/los-angeles

9 Likes

Is that leather fish 2D or a sculpture?

At the SF place, I had the feeling they were exploring new highs in a-la-carte pricing.

Really funny review!

It’s the former P.F. Chang’s locale with the windows and La Cienega entrance sealed up? It seems odd & dark. I guess they don’t want the PFC association or the street traffic. :thinking: I’d rather go to Holbox again or Animal to check out the interesting things they’re doing with seafood right now. We’ll just keep our pricey seafood dollars in the Providence fund. :wink:

Edit: I’m happy about Guisados though!

4 Likes

should’ve gotten the plate of ripe fruit for $26

1 Like

ha, you’re right.

from the google time machine:

1 Like

Bathroom wallpaper

I really like the spot prawns and at $18/piece it’s actually pretty well priced.

Adding some of their house hot sauce onto the antelope tartar changes lives.

Their steak at $108 is cheaper than any of the other restaurants serving the Flannery Jorge Cut, it doesn’t come with any sides, but the steak is cooked to perfection.

I thought the abalone a touch salty in the parts where the sauce pooled in the shell

I was curious what a fucking $26 plate of fruit looks like. Here’s one from sf, probably $30 there:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrBPj37BI02/?hl=en

Nope, only 20 bucks in sf as of 5 months ago.

From yelp