Animal last night

It has probably been a good two years since I have been to animal, mostly because I experienced quite a decline in innovation and in quality, with more misses than hits on the menu, as the years went by and the Jon/Vinny empire grew. Also the foie gras ban was in effect, possibly stifling their creativity.

So I was really excited to go back and had a mostly stunning meal. Only 1 or 4 dishes missed the mark for me. And, strangely, we did not get any foie gras, after all, 'cause everything else was calling our name. Maybe a mistake…

sirloin carpaccio, savoy cabbage, sesame, kochkaru (some kind of fancy pants soy sauce I was told)
Loved it!

cauliflower, tahini, egyptian spice, white anchovy, puffed rice
Loved this too, I am a sucker for tahini on almost anything - very unique dish - sorry, we ate it too phast to photo properly

This court-jester of a dish (that looked a lot like the hat Jughead from the Archie comics wears) was
veal tongue, pickle, salmon roe, black mustard
YUMMY! That is some sweet-ass horseradish butter under the salmon roe.

The only miss was the dish I was most looking forward to
fried rabbit legs, charleston gold rice, lemon pepper, sour cream gravy
Of the two legs, one was fine, the other was way over cooked - very, very dried out. And the sour cream gravy did not work for us. It was a gloppy mess, studded with nice radish and carrots, but just too thick to be a gravy. Rice was quite good though.

Some nice glasses of wine and beer. Service at the bar was great.

Maybe the best partsof the evening for me…Victor the busboy (such a silly name for a grown man), is still there and as delightful as always.
He has stayed, just like so many great people I have met who are associated with Jon and Vinny’s operation[s]. They must be really great to work for.

4 Likes

victor the busboy ???

Have I had the pleasure of meeting him before for fucking crying out loud.

no fuck foie gras ???
what in fuck’s name is going on ???

oh, we are officially revoking your FTC fucker’s street cred.

and that ain’t no fucking joke.

It should be illegal NOT to order the foie gras at animal

Why didn’t you send the rabbit back?

I have eaten that dish a half dozen times, the standout for all of it has always been how intensely succulent they get those legs. Real shame you happened to get one of the misses in that regard. No place can be perfect though, isn’t that what the “send back” option is for?

Not sure about the gravy complaint though…I think that type of gravy is a Southern prep that’s just thicker than the drippings glop we are used to on the West coast. Although it also strikes me as similar to what is on like chicken fried steak, which seems fairly popular out here even, surprised you’ve never had that dish.

If you were just saying you personally don’t like thick gravies, that’s cool. Just not sure it’s a some kind of technical error on their part lol

Re: Send Back Option
Good question - I usually would send it back for such an egregious error, and I considered it quite strongly, opting not to mainly because I was too full to enjoy it if I got some fresh legs, and also because I wasn’t a fan of the gravy

Re: Gravy preference vs. technical flaw

****Another good point. So, as luck would have it I was eating with a Southerner, who cooks those very same gravies, and cooks them very well. We have had great versions of it (yes, just like great chicken fried steak) at animal on the fried rabbit legs in the past, and they were done brilliantly. Unfortunately, last night’s version was - to our mouths - a bad version of that Southern classic. Technical vs intended - I have no idea - I did not ask my chef or the one at animal. We just felt there was way too much sour cream and maybe not cooked long enough (or maybe cooked too long). ** **

Ah ok. I see, so it actually sounds like they totally fucked up the dish, that sucks.

Unfortunate. I’m surprised you were able to enjoy your meal. I would’ve been quite sour about having that dish messed up, and it’s something I feel you can take home, so I for sure would’ve gotten better legs even if I had to haul them out of there haha

I guess maybe Hatchet Hall was stealing all the Southern mojo in the city last night =P

I am told they have one of the best brunches in town too.

Does your southerner who you were dining with happen to make a classic not seen in these here fucking parts: chicken fried steak with cream gravy ???

yeah, that’s what i’ve heard too.

i just hope it ain’t all just fucking meat-centric.

i need a fucking serious break from that shit, considering i keep getting the fucking meat sweats.

that’s too pretentious of a fucking joint to soak up the southern mojo you speak of right ???

too bad there ain’t a true fucking honest to goodness southern joint in town with shrimp and grits, fried chicken with threes, braised beef short ribs, she crab soup, gumbo (trans-regional varietal, natch) fucking buttermilk pie with a tartness worthy of the celestial firmament and a shatteringly crisp crust to the touch, blackened drumb fish with fucing lump crab meat gilding the proverbial fucking lilly, and cafe blurt for dessert, and sazeracs and mint julep as far as the i can fucking see.

and that ain’t no fucking joke.

My Two Cents?

i like it though it may just be way too fucking cute by half.

My Two Cents on Pico (that reminded me) a little long ???

Oh too bad I guess.

Idk…yeah, an old school southern place probably just doesn’t have a market here in LA I guess?

I suppose not enough people from that region end up here for whatever reason.

I consider us damn lucky that we even have a place like Hatchet Hall. Or place to grab lunch boxes in the middle of the night with waffle sticks and cobbler at The Spot on Pico, or the BBQ fried stuff at My Two Cents n’ shit…

But, yeah, I wouldn’t mind having a place where an old Southern grandmother was cooking that shit the way German food is done out at Jagerhaus in Anaheim as well.

We got enough Texans to come here to start getting decent BBQ…maybe if we get enough Carolinians out here it’ll happen???

jagerous in anaheim ??? what in fuck’s name does that have in any fucking connection with southern meats and threes grubs ???

that’s a fucking titty twister right there.

and that’s no fucking joke.

That tongue dish fucking speaks for itself

3 Likes

It’s German food cooked in the way that you wish Southern food was cooked is all lol

seriously, no when ever mentions that fucking joint, it’s the same joint that’s in the fucking shadow of disneyland, near bear and sunflower ??? not bear, maybe another street.

and the liquor shoppe next door serves meatball subs that was justly famous for some fucking time ???

hmmmmmm, worth a trip to the fucking OC ???

or do you happen to have some connection to the owners ???

Ball Road.

No connection to the owner of Jagerhaus here, sadly. The owner is a wonderful German grandmother that handmakes everything. I can’t say I don’t wish she was making me sauerkraut and potato pancakes at my holiday get together haha

Worth a drive if you like German food, or want to have saurkraut that will change your life. Otherwise, probably not.

Maybe I’ll go out there tonight though…mmm Somehow even Bernard Maringer’s upscale sausages can’t best the old-world flavors of the handmade Bratswurst and mustard up at Jagerhaus, and after so many cocktails last night, could use some Deutsch comfort haha

do they serve any fucking dope beef sausages ??? or VEAL Wienershitznel, instead of the fucking pork ???

appple strudel with fresh whipped cream ???

i can definitely hit up a fucking plate of potato pancakes and sauerkraut.