Here's Looking At You

I stopped in here the other night finally, no $26 Mai Tai, because you can buy the rum for like $50/bottle. It’s a little hard to figure out why they need to price it at $26 given that. They make it sound like some impossible-to-get rum or something, but whatever.

I would happily go here to drink often if they were open later.

Started with a Seascape Swizzle, which was great. Refreshing, well-balanced ingredients that allowed the smokiness of the mezcal to shine. Eminently sippable, and just about what you would like to start your night.

First dish out was a Tomato salad composed with shredded gouda, and chicories, crunchy buckwheat, corn, mushroom, and Calabrian chilis. It was pleasant enough. The mild heat from the chilis, a bit of savor from the corn, and a subtle smoke and funk from the gouda paired against the juicy tomatoes quite well. Not, perhaps, mind-blowing, but an enjoyable dish without any apparent flaws. The shredded chicories added an interesting texture along with the crunch of the buckwheat; if anything, this was one of the more intellectual tomato salads I’ve had, but it came off well.

I am a huge fan of beet cocktails, and a Crimson Ghost fit that craving. Pungent and earthy from the beet infused vodka, yet refreshing from the lime and hibiscus-plum wine syrup mixed in. Simple. Elemental. Lovely.

Then the Sturgeon came out. This was certainly the best dish of the night, and something I still find myself craving. Large chunks of toothsome sturgeon where hidden beneath a treasure trove of chicken skin and fresh sea grass with verjus foam layered over it and indelibly creamy heirloom rice porridge beneath. This dish recalled the famous chicken skin and crab porridge at Taco Maria, but perhaps topped it. Just exquisite flavors here in every element: savory, crispy chicken skin, tart, saline sea grass, luscious porridge that retained just enough texture to satisfy Goldilocks, and probably the best sturgeon I’ve ever had as it was delicate, even a bit fatty, yet simultaneously hefty in the way a good ribeye is. What a magnificent dish.

I expected Cornish Game Hen to be similarly spectacular, but I hadn’t noticed they switched to a fried preparation of the dish. It was not bad, but I think Howlin’ Rays has forever ruined me by making my standards for fried fowl exorbitantly high. Still, it was certainly a properly fried game hen, juicy, with exceptionally crunchy batter melding into the skin. The batter had some cacao in it, which imparted a slight sweetness and depth to it that was unusual, but not so apparent that one would call this “chocolate fried chicken” or anything. The leek-scapes and peanuts stewed until soft were really nice, adding a vegetal, nutty component along with an umami-rich black vinegar sauce that tied the dish together nicely. All-in-all, it managed to be interesting, well-balanced, and quite clean-tasting for a fried chicken dish, although it didn’t cause me the same feelings of euphoria as a Howlin’ Rays sandwich (which I ate the next day).

I had to try the Psychic Reader because the idea of a cocktail based entirley off of bitters sounded too intriguing to pass up. It was a superbly enjoyable experience in terms of creamy texture with mango and coconut hitting the palate first, with the huge dose of bitters calmly rolling in on the aftertaste. Low alcohol, and incredbily easy to drink while being quite fascinating.

We had been forced to sit at the bar, which turned out to be a good thing as they only serve their basic Pie at the bar. They make very good basic pies here for all of the other avant-garde trappings of the place. Nectarine Plum with a proper amount of thick honey creme fraiche displayed tart fruit, a buttery crust striking a just right balance between soft and crunchy, and cool, delightful cream ; not an overly sweet experience, very classic and enjoyable, though it may not be up to the obscene standards of Nicole Rucker’s masterpieces, the glorious whipped creme makes up for it at least in part.

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A bit of Bubblegum Ice Cream with lychee was much more reserved in flavor than I had expected. It was also more of a soft serve than ice cream. Not bad with the lychee, but did not make me want to eat it again. It leaned extremely intellectual where the pie leaned classic comfort. Worth trying for those who never have though.

Overall, I can easily see myself returning. The cocktails alone are some of the most interesting, and best made in the city. The service, at least at the bar, is fantastic, warm and friendly. The food seems to lean interestingly intellectual, sometimes a bit too much, but at the same time there are glimpses of brilliance. It has a very “San Francisco restaurant” vibe to it (for those that hate that). At the same time, I am not sure I left feeling blown away by my meal as a whole, but I can’t say it was disappointing in any way either really.

For food this ran about $55/person, but I guess neither of us were feeling super hungry or are just not huge eaters as we actually took food home. I saw some comparisons to Republique before, but it seems to run about half of what I typically spend at Republique, and it is also nothing like Republique. Actually, I can’t really think of a good comparison place, which is why I see myself returning to find some more treasure at Here’s Looking At You.

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Nice write-up.

Might just be me, but the Game Hen pic is broken/unviewable.

Yeah, it was broken, I think I fixed it though?

Jup. Fixed.

Grassyass.

Had myself another visit (ignoring my few stops for drinks and pie). Will partially retract my reservations about their food, after having the Sturgeon (it was, indeed, very good). Will simply say: order carefully.

My comparison to Republique was simply along QPR lines, and I think is largely accurate: price of food here is perhaps not quite as high, but fairly close; however, % of menu that consists of “average” or “unexciting” dishes is higher. Admittedly my visits for food have been solo and as such I haven’t had a chance to try all of their menu yet, so perhaps I have been unlucky? Certainly my second visit was better than my first, the shishito peppers were also very good (well, the tonnato + huamei dipping sauce, at any rate). The avocado/tangerine/kohlrabi salad was certainly interesting, and, as @Aesthete would put it, intellectual. Black pepper and tangerines go together surprisingly well.
That said, when the menu says “salad”, I expect a salad, not an intellectual exercise, no matter how enjoyable. This is likely just an mismatch of expectations, but…

At any rate, I’m going to continue eating their pie. Yesterday’s raspberry was good.

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Well, I think it is safe to say that, at the very least, this is not the place to go for run-of-the-mill salads lol

You ever eat pie at Go Get 'Em Tiger btw? If you’re big into pie, I’ve always been shocked by how great their pies are, and they have a pie happy hour!

I think we ate there on the same night because I had a lot of those dishes. I find the portions to be on the smaller side, and $55 is just for food. With even one drink you’re up to around $75, and easily more if you want to feel really full when you’re done. The food is very creative at HLAY.

I don’t disagree; I’m just noting that it was a very non-central example of a salad - “concept only”, if you would. Kohlrabi may be a relative of the cabbage but given the preparation it’s hard to say that it qualifies as a leafy green in this case :stuck_out_tongue:

I wasn’t into pie until I discovered how good it could be. Both locations of GGET seem to be fairly close to me, so I’ll have to check it out.

Totally possible, we’ve eaten at the same places on the same night several times over the years :wink:

Portioning may be subjective… I personally prefer smaller portions of food. I would’ve liked it if portions were smaller and prices lower so I could eat more things personally.

Just dined at The Perennial in SF where I had 9 courses between two people and ended up around $70 for food after tax and tip. That’s $15 more than HLAY, but nearly 2x the courses…

So personal preference on my part.

Where are you eating HLAY-quality food for well under $55 on food though? Seems par for the course to me.

Have you ever had Nicole Rucker’s pies?? Those can really change your pie life, but only available Sundays at Smorgasburg.

There are plenty of places for regular salads (quite good ones) in LA, so I’m ok with having a place with purely conceptual ones haha

shishito peppers - tonnato, huamei
Who doesn’t serve shishito peppers? These were fine.

hamachi collar - nashville hot spice, fuji apple, snake peas
This is what you get if howlin’ ray’s and raku had a one-night stand with no protection. Wow, this was excellent and the highlight of the night. The nashville hot spice was like a howlin’ ray’s mild and gave the fish a touch of heat and sweetness. The skin was perfectly crispy and the meat soft and flaky. Eaten with the apples and peas provided some tartness for the perfect bite.

sturgeon - aged rice porridge, chicken skin, verjus, buttermilk
The sturgeon was perfectly cooked and i loved the crispy chicken skin, but they were a bit heavy handed with the tangy buttermilk and verjus foam. I enjoyed the dish a lot better scrapping off about half of the foam.

heritage pork belly - key lime amba, pineapple, palm sugar, herbs, shallots
soft, crispy, tender, fatty. The fresh herbs and fried shallots gave it a very Vietnamese feel.

yuzu tart - white chocolate, burnt meringue
I had to get this again, so fucking good, am-i-right or a meringue?

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Hi @PorkyBelly,

Nice report and pics. :slight_smile: So would you say it’s improved since the last time you went? Worth visiting now?

Did you just go right when they opened to get that lighting in the restaurant?

It does seem like the sturgeon had far more foam than when I ordered it.

Thanks, compared to a place like Animal, the miss to hit ratio is higher at HLAY, but I think the hamachi collar and the yuzu tart alone are worth a visit.

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I was there around 6 and it was already dark outside.

Does a higher ratio mean more hits per miss or more misses per hit?

Is it just a matter of using an expensive camera to make it look like it was shot in bright light? Or have they raised the lighting level in the restaurant?

The hamachi collar is indeed pretty special here, though imo what really makes it stand out are the vinegared “snake peas” (I’m pretty sure they’re actually Chinese long beans or something similar).

The new trout dish is also pretty good, though I can’t testify to the specifics as I was pretty deep in my cups the one time I had it.

To me the large format seafood dishes here are definitely the stars of the show. The vegetable dishes here are fine, but with the exception of the baby gems salad (and shishito peppers) tend to be a little too intellectually deconstructed to really provide a craveable eating experience. The raw fish preps here are either not very good or so far from my preferred taste to seem like the same thing. Meat tends to be fine but doesn’t have the same creativity and oomph that the fish does. I almost always sit at the bar and get pie for dessert, but that yuzu tart really is something.

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I actually thought that some of the cocktails here are better than even at The Walker Inn. Not sure anxious to return for the food, but it will be worth another shot.

Agreed, cocktail program is very strong. The rotating quarterly menu is pretty exciting, though frankly I don’t think I can come here often enough to try everything :frowning:

more misses per hit than animal.

The lighting seems the same, i just use my cell phone camera.