We are going tonight unless someone talks us out of it. Lots of people seem to have gone yet nobody has posted an opinion that I can see.
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I take it the food wasnât THAT good if there arenât raves coming out of eating it lol
Angler 2.0
angler 1.0, as good as it was, felt more like an abridged version of angler sf, the new sergio developed menu at angler 2.0 has more of an identity with korean and la influences. i did miss the âshitty '80s musicâ on the soundtrack though.
theyâre going for a more casual menu with everything meant to be shared, but execution is still very high.
service was nice and friendly, but pacing is way too fast. they basically dropped the entire menu on our table in under an hour. even though they say food will come out âas readyâ next time iâm requesting it to be coursed out.
we ordered ooe minus the angler 1.0 sea bream and there was a lot to like here:
pork belly ssam - dish of the night
seaweed rice, cured yolk, trout roe, caviar
vermillion
bluefin tuna
caesar
cheesy bread
cockles
bbq radish
hot fried collar
sprout flowers
eggplant
sea snails
iberian pork
soft serve sundae
@rlw @boourns @hungryhungryhippos power rankings forthcoming?
@chrishei out here bear gryllsâing fish with his bare hands
vermillion, smoked bone vinegar, puffed rice
great dish, the cabbage and herb slaw with fish sauce reminded me animalâs hamachi tostada sans the tostada.
bluefin tuna, calabrian chilies, buttermilk bread
i think unverified-max said they mix in monkfish liver with the tuna for some fat.
bbq radish, sea mustard butter, coastal succulents
table favorite, surprise highlight.
cockles, green sambal, garlic chives
reminded me of stir fry clams with thai basil.
caesar, california endives, sourdough crumble
sf import, good but could use some more crumble.
embered oysters, toasted chili butter & meyer lemon
like a spicier version of hog islandâs chipotle bourbon grilled oysters.
hot fried collar, california striped bass, country pickles
another sf import, flavorful with nice and crispy skin. reminded of hereâs looking at youâs nashville hot collar.
sea snails, vermouth shallots & jalepeno
delicious, broth was a highlight.
capon wing, abalone & sacramento rice
rice and ablaone sauce was good, chicken could be juicier.
potato pancakes, chermoula, cultured cream
seaweed rice, cured yolk, trout roe, caviar
highlight of the night. this was like kinnâs gim rice but at a whole nother level.
cheesy bread, sonoma county cheeses
cheese and bread, canât go wrong.
ssam platter, grilled pork belly, lettuce wraps
surprise dish of the night, even though it didnât come with the duck blood sausage thatâs on the online menu. the pork belly was incredible, would come back just for this.
squash blossom, mugwort, ricotta & gnudi
eggplants, smoked masala, onion yogurt
good
sprout flowers, wild flower honey and garum
table really liked these
iberian pork, coppa steak, chili miso
tasty
dry aged strip, broken marrow chimichurri
nicely done steak.
swordfish, al pastor, bbq pineapple
murray cod simply grilled, citronette
the one lowlight, this was just fine.
soft serve sundae
itâs back and just as good as before.
when @chrishei makes you take his picture for the gram
22 Likes
Some over all thoughts: really enjoyed the return of Angler! Is it better than Angler 1.0? Maybe. Do I like Anger 2.0 better than 1.0? No.
Angler 1.0 had real bangersâbanana pancake (that haunted my dreams), radicchio, beets, potatoâthat I thought were better than 95% of of what we had at this new version. That said, 2.0 is likely a better restaurant because I simply couldnât personally afford or ask my friends to regularly dine at 1.0. Angler 2.0âs menu has menu with wider appeal and accessibility, plus an entrance on La Cienega, and thatâs absolutely notches in its favor. At the very least, it will be a more sustainable restaurant, which in this current climate of great spots closing down left and right is a win for the cityâs dining scene.
Power Rankings (for additional 1.0 vs. 2.0 context, none of what we had Iâd say was better than banana pancake)
1a. Pork Belly Ssam
1b. Seaweed Rice
2. Cheesy Bread
3. Iberian Pork
4. Vermillion
5. BBQ Radish
6. Bluefin Tuna
7. Sprout Flowers (iykyk)
8. Potato Pancakes
9. Sea Snails
10. Eggplant
11. Cockles
12. Swordfish
13. Caesar
14. Oysters
15. Capon Wing
16. Hot Fried Collar
17. Squash Blossom
18. Cod
Sundae still a top soft serve in the city.
Cocktails mostly leaned too sweet.
But Iâd come back.
15 Likes
For me favorites were
- Ssam, unexpectedly great texture and contrast between the belly and the crisp skin
- Seaweed rice (would like to see if it loses anything from not having the caviar, because if itâs anywhere close itâs high bang/buck)
- Iberian pork cooked well and tender
- BBQ radish
- Potato pancakes
- Cheesy bread
Hard to rank after that, but my least favorites were the swordfish and the cod. Neither had great flavor for me. The problem with the cod was that the sauce underneath was well seasoned and tasty, but didnât stay with the cod when you ate it so you canât really taste it.
9 Likes
I agree with @rlw assessment I liked individual dishes at original angler more they were better composed and more sophisticated but as a place to go to dinner with friends or a group 2.0 is better but the music choices were pretty blah. Dining room was packed so hopefully itâll be sustainable. Was hoping for a bette cocktail program. Ordering ooe is downright reasonable.
My power hooks 
(5 being highest, ignore numbering)
Person
1a. Pork Belly Ssam
1b. Seaweed Rice
2. Cheesy Bread
3. Iberian Pork
4. Vermillion
5. BBQ Radish
6. Bluefin Tuna
7. Sprout Flowers (iykyk)
8. Potato Pancakes
9. Sea Snails
10. Eggplant
11. Cockles
12. Swordfish
13. Caesar
14. Oysters
15. Capon Wing
16. Hot Fried Collar
17. Squash Blossom
18. Cod
19. Dry aged steak
20. Ice cream
Personal favorites were the ssam, bbq radish, vermillion, and seafood rice plus the soft serve.
9 Likes
I didnât enjoy it as much as you guys. Granted, I went on the first night of Grand Open. I ordered most of the entire apps menu (minus the radish, Caesar and cheesy bread), and also ordered one of the larger format (Iberico pork) dishes. Restauranteurs Santos Uy (Mignon, Papilles, ForTheWinLA) and Jon Yao (Kato) and posse in da house as guests also.
I felt that Chef Paulâs cooking comes from a good place, but many of the apps were oversauced and too heavy for the delicate seafood it was trying to showcase.
Vermillion: I liked this very much. Excellent tartness, nice crudo-style fish prep. Puffed charred rice was a great textural contrast. Delicious overall.
Bluefin tuna: Too heavy on the chili. Undue sweetness which masked if not erased the complex possibilities of the tuna.
Cockles: These were pretty damn good too. A bit overcooked but, it was very minor issue in the final presentation.
Embered oysters: I see what theyâre aiming for, but the spicy butter killed any hint of brine which the oyster was meant to(?) pair with. Good shucking, though.
Hot fried collar: Striped bass collar was pretty good. Minor service quibble: No proper utensils were present when this dish came out. I asked for a small seafood fork to pick out the smaller bits of meat. Itâs like Howlinâ Rayâs collar minus the massive spice.
Sea snail: Huge disappointment: Gorgeous specimens, but ruined by drenching the snails in this oily butter jalapeno prep.
Capon wing: I think capon easily tends to cook to dryness, so I tend to avoid it in Europe (where I see it more commonly on menus). At Angler, my wing was dry. The abalone kimo (liver) sauce was nice but proportionally there was sooo much koshihikari Sacramento rice (AKA my usual home rice) it made it a so-so dish. My two centsâ: I want abalone the muscle meat too if youâre gonna give me abalone liver!
Potato pancakes: Nice dish. Iâd order this one again.
Seaweed rice (+$96 caviar supplement): Rice was too al dente in my bowl. Really made it tough to enjoy it. Caviar and cured yolk made for a really funky (and not a good funky) taste to my palate. Iâd skip this one.
Iberico pork: Excellent! Great plating, perfectly cooked, tender, juicy, tasted terrific.
Sundae: Just like Angler LA 1.0. And thatâs a good thing.
Sorry no photos (yet). Wanted to offer up my thoughts, as I see some of yâall are gonna go try this place.
12 Likes
Warrior: I liked it. To put it in perspective, we both liked it more than Majordomo and less than the prior Angler. We go to Majordomo about three times a year, so thatâs pretty high praise. My favorite dishes were the Indian-influenced eggplant and oysters. Generally, I thought the chefâs use of Asian flavors was very successful, more so even than Republique and Camphor. My least favorite dish was the capon, which had little flavor and was too chewy. 6.0 Warrior Points. Wine list was okay but disappointing. E.g., looking for a lean, elegant Austrian grĂźner veltliner? Look elsewhere; I saw no Austrian wine at all on the list.
Peony: I find the style of the food is very different from the last Angler. Almost a different restaurant to me. I found the food pleasant today, but not as memorable as the old Angler dishes.
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ironic the main favorite dishes are not⌠seafood items such as the Ssam. Iâm also disappointed to hear the Capon Wing which was hyped in the press releases is not as good as I was hoping.
Iâll try it probably but doesnât sound worth diving into. Not sure of the decor and layout changes, but I almost think they should try to turn it almost into a seafood Bar atmosphere with TVâs that people can go to watch sporting events/drink rather than a mid-upper level restaurant based on the comments here⌠probably too big a space for that
Was the old wine list similar to the one in SF? They have 15 Austrian GrĂźner Veltliners.
I donât remember much about the old wine list, but I remember being happy with it on every visit. I remember they had bottles of Pouilly Fume from Didier Dagueneau, which arenât on the new list. There are certain reference point producers in the wine world (Trimbach in Alsace, Didier Dageauneau in Pouilly Fume, Chateau Guiberteau in Saumur, Veyder-Malberg in Wachau, R Lopez de Heredia in Rioja, the Cotat brothers in Sancerre, Huet in Vouvray, Graci in Etna, Raveneau in Chablis, etc. â white wine focused) that I tend to see on what I consider good wine lists. I didnât see any of those on the new lists.
previous list
Oh wow â that list is way bigger than the new one. 5 times bigger?
To be fair, a lot of peopleâs favorite dishes from the old Angler were not seafood items (potato, beets, radicchio salad, simple salad, banana pancakes).
But I agree that seafood itself wasnât the highlight of last nightâs meal in the same way that it is at, say, Providence.
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true but your reviews also said none of the items were better than Angler 1.0 
How many pages is the new wine list?
Itâs a lot of pages but my many bottles per page. I wish we had taken a picture.
I was looking back at some old menus because I remember a lot of stuff being quite reasonably priced at Angler 1.0 and their non-seafood/meat dishes are comparably priced or cheaper than the current ones (of course inflation has surely had an impact). The big difference is that most of the seafood is cheaper and larger and you no longer have the really expensive items. Example is their beef used to be american wagyu (possibly aged in house?) and is now a slightly smaller conventional dry aged steak. I wish they had kept more of those classic items which werenât that expensive like the radicchio salad, beets, potato because I donât think that was what was preventing people from visiting.
3 Likes
Those old vegetable dishes take a lot of prep so not practical with scaled-back staff. You can still get them in SF.
What doesnât make sense to me is that the vegetable dishes in SF are not more expensive and their fixed costs in that location almost certainly have to be higher. Although I suppose they could be almost loss leaders for them and they are relying on the higher margin proteins and wine to make it viable.