I too am very curious and look forward to your report. It strikes me as a place where you must order the right kind of sake, have their house cured/made pickles/chinmi, and basically treat the place like a real kappo/sake bar than a full blown restaurant. The entrees seem entirely at random, so just load up on apps.
And they are also the only place in town now where they carry Den (Den Sake Brewery, Oakland). I was told someone makes the trek frequently between Oakland and LA/Shibumi, just to ensure Shibumi stocks Denā¦thatās dedication!
As far as Angler goesā¦ while I have yet to go to the one in SF, friends in the know have told me a similar approachā¦get a bunch of apps, perhaps raw shellfish/seafood bar, skip the entrees.
Go on a Tue/Wed when the FOH team can give you more attention
ONLY sit at the bar (doesnāt necessarily have to be in front of Chef)
Drink alcohol. As mentioned in the Chang/Skenes podcast, the menu is best enjoyed with booze.
Reach out to the people behind the bar. They are knowledgeable and passionate (some about wine, others about sake, others about cocktail/spirits) and will lead you on a tour of great drinks.
Must order (includes, but not limited to): sashimi, chinmi, salmon trout
About 3 weeks in and the $88 marble fish (same prep, same fish) is now 36% cheaper at $56. So yeah, i would say that fish at $88 was overpriced.
I guess only rubes who ānever had good fish beforeā would pay $88 for a fishā¦ oh wait.
But guessing that price could possibly get you a king crab 3 way, whole roasted suckling pig, roasties, soup, high end fried rice and maybe couple pounds of live prawns at Sea Harbor plus enough for corkage on wine to feed 8 to 10ā¦
I donāt think anybody else has tanks like Anglerās.
The story of the king crab that ate 27 spot prawns at Angler might sound far-fetched, but itās also just what happens when a predator encounters prey.
Maybe itās a 12-14lb beast and is in line with Newport seafood in pricing. Last year the king crab at Newport was $70/lb. which is even more audacious in pricing than Angler in the grand scheme of things.
That salmon trout at Shibumi is really good. I still remember it from my visit last year. The only reason I havenāt been back to Shibumi is because I am not a downtown denizen and I usually donāt like to stray far from my habitat. Otherwise, I could see myself at Shibumi once a week.
Rightly or wrongly, I personally canāt get past the Beverly Center location, even though it isnāt terribly far from me. The Beverly Center just creeps me out. The last thing I want to do is to spend a lot of money to dine in an antiquated shopping center. Heās competing with a lot of other high end restaurants and I think I read he has 120 seats to fill. I wish them well, but I think their business plan is crazy. I love fish and I love high end dining and if you canāt lure me into your nearby restaurant. . . Hmmn, unless Iām a complete outlier, your restaurant may not make it.
I was a wild child when they were building it. My little friends and I climbed the crane in the middle of the night and gazed out at Los Angeles. One of the most magical nights of my life.
Maybe Iām in the minority but I really donāt understand the hiccup over the Beverly Center. Who cares if a restaurant is in a mall? If the space is nice and the food is good, thatās fine by me. Why is a restaurant being in an old warehouse in the ghetto better than a restaurant in a mall in an upscale part of the city?
Same here.
The real Sergio is cooking from his home near lax these days.
Many Angelinoās eat on street corners next to trucks/grills as well as with Michelin starred restaurants in back alleys off the promenade.
You donāt go through the mall to get to the restaurant and parking is free. There are lots of great restaurants with no view in otherwise uninteresting strip malls where you have to pay for a valet or find street parking.
Tonight (Tuesday), OpenTable shows no reservations between 6:15 and 8:45. Friday and Saturday, nothing before 8:45.
many restaurants have OpenTable blocks during prime time. whether that is or is not the case here, someone will have to post up a picture of the dining room.
I donāt like malls and I donāt like basements and I donāt want to spend a million dollars to eat in one. There is so much good food here, I would rather not eat in enclosed places. I was perfectly happy eating on a milk crate in Gjustaās parking lot back in the day. It was outdoors and there was a tree.
