I don’t see a lot of feedback on Kali so I’m posting my experience from 8 months ago here.
This place has good food with great QPR. You get a lot of food for the money and for the most part, the flavor combinations work well even though they trend toward the heavy side with liberal use of black garlic sauce on 4 of the 7 courses. Perhaps it can get a little repetitive or at least bring more acidic elements to balance it? Overall, I would still recommend this place.
View from the counter
Nice open space
Chef’s menu please!
Strawberry Shrub to start. The vinegary drink was a touch too sharp for my taste.
Amuse Bouche 1a: Uni on top of a kelp dusted crispy polenta
Amuse Bouche 1b: Uni panna cotta with lemon foam and sea moss
Course #1: Yellowtail crudo with olives, dates, charred lemon oil, salad burnet
Course #2: Burrata with market berries, savory oats, almonds, basil oil, garden greens
Rosemary buttermilk roll
Course #3: Black barley “risotto”, black garlic, and toasted cheese
Highlight of the night. Very satisfying al dente texture with a lot of deep black garlic umami that are countered with the sharp tasting toasted cheese. Truly excellent dish.
Course #4 Sea bass, barley, chimichurri, crispy spinach
Preview of our next course!
Course #5: Dry-aged coffee rubbed duck, polenta foam, roasted cherris
For some reason, they were a bit chewy even though these were dry aged and cooked well.
Course #6 45 day dry-aged ribeye, fingerling potato, buttermilk sauce, herb oiled onion petals
Same thing with the ribeye, they were chewy for a dry aged steak?
Course #7 Candied egg yolk shavings on top of meringue gelato
Petit fours: biscotti made from yesterday’s bread and red wine gelee made from leftover wine
Kali Restaurant
5722 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038