Redbird report

Stopped by Redbird last night.

Beef tartare was awesome. Don’t let the wasabi snow stop you from ordering it like it almost did to me.

The gnocchi with beef tongue was superb.

While fried black bass was outstanding. Crispy on the outside and moist and sweet on the inside. So good I’m pretty sure I could finish an entire one by itself.

As for the wine, the 1990 Pierre Morey Meursault Perrieres was lovely. Nice aged notes and still with enough acidity so it matched well with the truffles. The 1982 Gilette was nicely resolved with apricot and pineapple notes and a touch of mushroom/earth from the age. Had that for dessert instead of pairing it with dessert.

Probably my favorite non Japanese restaurant in town.

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Awesome @Porthos! :slight_smile: Looks so delicious. And glad to hear the black bass was moist / well-cooked with a nice crispy exterior. I must try it soon…

This morning was the soft-opening of Redbird’s weekend brunch menu and boy was it good. I’m not much a fan of brunch, truth-be-told, but I’d be happy to return.

When we walked in at 10am, we were literally the only customers there. Having only been there for dinner once a while back, there is definitely a different feel to the space during the day. It felt like walking the halls of your high school during the summer. It was very comfortable. Day or night, it’s a great place to sit and have a meal.

Here is the brunch menu:

Not pictured on the back are the brunch cocktails and winez. I went with the Modern Mary. I’d had a similar version of this at Belcampo in SM, but Redbird’s version blew it out of the water. The fennel and white balsamic made it very refreshing and flavorful.

They offer several pastry options (each around $4 or 3 for $10). We got the Ensaimada and Bostock. The cheese on the Ensaimada wasn’t very strong, but it was nice with the light sugar glaze. And the pastry itself was very light. The Bostock is a very good version of an almond/brioche pastry.

We ordered all of the sides except for the bacon (each is $5). The grits were much more appetizing than the picture below would lead you to believe. Cheesy, rich, buttery and great texture. The sausage had really great flavor (although I felt it might have been a touch salty). And the potatoes. Man. They were solid.

It seemed that every table ordered the Basque Baked Eggs, so we followed in kind. Very, very comforting and so addictive. A great brunch dish. I was well full but couldn’t stop eating it. And the bread was so buttery, serving nobly as a spoon.

Overall, with tax and tip, it was a little less than $80 for two (including coffee not pictured). A pricey brunch, but you don’t leave regretting it. And maybe not too too pricey relative to a lot of places you could go on Abbott Kinney and leave not as happy. Plus, metered parking is free on Sundays, so it basically evens out. (I kid.)

It doesn’t seem like there is a whole lot of conversation about Redbird around FTC, but it does seem to be a very solid restaurant with very solid cooking. I still think about the posole, and I’ve only had it the once. I probably won’t think of any one particular brunch item as frequently, but if you’re having brunch, you should probably have brunch at Redbird. If I were to go back, I’d likely focus more on the entree-type dishes. The sides were all very solid, but the more composed dishes may be more worth the visit.

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thanks for the report, i’m going to have and try fried chicken sandwich.

Oh, thanks for the reminder. I meant to mention the fried chicken sandwich, even though we didn’t have it. It sounds so freaking good. From the way it was described to me, they sous-vide the chix, bind the breast and leg meat together with black garlic mousse and then bread and fry it.

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We had dinner at Redbird this past Saturday for my birthday. Overall, we were very happy with our experience. We were originally seated in the indoor dining room next to the server’s station, but were happy to let us move to another table when we asked. (I don’t like sitting next to server areas).

Since it was my birthday, we decided to splurge and order a few things and do it as a 4 course dinner.

I started with the Spanish Octopus with herbs, crispy shallot, and watermelon and DH had the grilled lamb belly. Both were delicious. The octopus was tender and well seasoned, and the salad/herbs and watermelon went well with it. DH loved the lamb belly. I tried a bite and it was very flavorful. (The lamb belly was not very photogenic)

Octopus Salad

Next, I got the tagliatelle with foraged mushrooms, grapes and black truffles. DH went with the seared foie gras with figs and lentils. He loved the foie gras preparation. The tagliatelle was also very good – nice and rich, with a generous assortment of mushrooms, with truffle shavings on top.

Tagiatelle with mushrooms

Foie Gras with Fig and Lentils

For our mains, he went with the venison with creamy polenta and huckleberries. I went with the scallops with rainbow carrots and fava beans. Both very good. The venison was cooked rare, with a couple pieces being medium rare. It was a generous portion. The scallops were perfectly cooked, and went well with the carrots and parsnip puree.

Venison

Scallops

We were beyond stuffed at this point, but since it was a birthday dinner, decided to share a dessert. We went with the chocolate caramel bar with pineapple and coconut sorbet. This was amazing. It was rich, but not overly sweet, and the sorbet was a great compliment to the chocolate and caramel.

Chocolate Caramel Bar

We had 2 cocktails each – I had the Spring Spritz (white wine, grapefruit and vermouth), and the Cardinal Punch (bourbon, brandy, orange, clove and amaro), and DH had the Kingsale King (whiskey, lemon, egg white and bitters) and also a custom whiskey drink from the bartender. The drinks were well made, with generous pours. We also had a nice amuse bouche cocktail when we arrived.

Total bill for food and drink was $265, which we thought was well worth it for what we got.

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Hi @boogiebaby,

Happy Birthday! :slight_smile: Sounds like you had a great time at Redbird. I love their Chocolate Caramel Bar (we were totally stuffed as well, but ordered one also :stuck_out_tongue:).

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Went to Redbird tonight and had a really good meal.

Alcohol

Chicken Liver Mousse :heart_eyes::heart_eyes:
What a gorgeous plate of food, it tasted just as good as it looked. The mousse was so smooth and so rich, all the accompaniments created this sweet, salty, rich, fresh, crunchy and luscious bite.

Squid Ink Bucatini :heart_eyes::heart_eyes::heart_eyes:
@PorkyBelly @Chowseeker1999 @Bookwich @attran99 @foodshutterbug and all other seafood pasta lovers, Redbird is new contender as best seafood pasta in LA. This dish was perfection. The pasta was the perfect bite, provided great texture and a lovely briny sea flavor from the squid ink, it was present but not overpowering. The uni butter was amazing, and the bucatini might be the perfect pasta to soak in all that rich butter and uni flavor. The lobster was perfectly tender, and was portioned into little sweet bites of goodness. Scallion was even more subtle, yet still present enough for some added freshness. Highly recommend.

Halibut
This was just decent, a bit too acidic for me. This was also Pacific halibut, which I am not too fond of the texture. I would pass in this dish, should have ordered the duck.

Snap Peas :heart_eyes: really tasty and the tonnato was excelllent. I actually began picking them up with my hands and started dipping them in that sauce. The hazelnut added both texture and a toasty nutty flavor. Really complex for a side dish. Would order this again.

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I’m kind of loving the look of those green beans.

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Thanks for the report @A5KOBE. :slight_smile: We’ll be sure to try the new Squid Ink Bucatini, hopefully soon. :wink:

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Definitely try it out, would love to hear your thoughts on it. Funnily, I was going to go to Republique last night but fate and a text brought me to Redbird.

I’ll be going to République soon though, I need that malfaldine and the corn agnolotti.

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thanks for the tip, i’ll have to try that with a side of their chicken pot pie, and foie gras.

have you tried the lobster pasta at republique?

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No pot pie as of this weekend. :frowning:

I had the lobster spaghetti a couple of times, the first time was utterly fantastic and the second time was not as great. But I haven’t been to Republique in a while for dinner and the corn agnolotti and eggs on eggs are back so it seems like perfect timing for a visit.

Anything new I must order?

Thanks!

No more comp drink, but the drink I had was super strong. Never had the shrimp and grits, sounds like a winner. Also, the architecture of the building is amazing, really like how they restored the place.

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Besides the eggs on eggs, bread and butter, mafaldine, and agnolotti, I enjoyed the foie gras toast, octopus salad, and cheesecake.

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I had to go back and get that squid ink bucatini. Wow, huge difference from my first visit. Sergio must have taken the day off.

The squid ink lobster pasta was so unbalanced, way too much acid that it overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the uni. My previous visit had so much uni butter flavor, this one just tasted sour. The squid ink pasta was still excellent, too bad this dish is inconsistent. :weary:

This lamb belly dish was interesting and delicious, with the lamb belly stealing the show. So much flavor, I wish they put more on the plate. I would order this again. :heart_eyes:

Carrots, good not great. Delicate curry flavor, cooked perfectly but a little boring.

Scallops with oxtail, excellent. Scallops expertly cooked and super sweet with a near flawless sear. And the oxtail orzo was so fuckin rich, but so flavorful. :heart_eyes:

Yuzu custard or something like that, waiter recommended, meh. Great texture, not a fan of bright desserts of this kind, wish it had more balance.

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