Dish of the Month (DoTM) -- August 2017 -- SALADS

Hell . Sorry for the delay. Have been vacationing in Oregon (where it’s been hotter than hell).

At any rate, SALADS finally gets it’s day in the sun (despite a strong showing by hautr cuisine for melancholy aesthetes).

BEGIN!!!

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I’ll inaugurate. My chopped salad from AR Cucina.

The dressing was a bit too acidic, but it totally mellowed by the time I ate the leftovers for breakfast.

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No photos, as was with family and enjoying their company, but splint an excellent salad from Green Street Restaurant in Pasadena:

Cornucopia Salad
Greens tossed with chicken breast, avocado, raisins, dried cranberries, apples, mandarin oranges, green onions, toasted almonds and blue cheese crumbles. Citrus blue cheese vinaigrette

(I removed the chicken from my portion.)

Also split the “ALT” - fresh avocado, ripe tomato, and crisp iceberg lettuce on lightly toasted sourdough. It was good but needed something to make it more “oomphish.”

Service was solid and professional, as usual. The restaurant is a bit staid, but thoroughly reliable, enjoyable, and a place I’d visit more often if I had more money. :smile:

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Salads finally won Dish Of The Month! :slight_smile:

This made us do an impromptu bang-bang-bang-bang (interspersed with multiple visits to some of these places). Started with…

Shamshiri Grill

Tabuli (Chopped Parsley Salad and Herbs, Mixed with Cracked Wheat & Diced Tomatoes, Lemon Juice & Extra Virgin Olive Oil):

It seems Tabuli (or Tabbouleh) is a dish found in many countries around the Mediterranean, and the taste seems to vary (sometimes dramatically). Shamshiri’s version is heavy on the Parsley and Lemon Juice, a touch too citrusy for my tastes, but it’s still refreshing and bright (and a nice cool starter during this heat wave). :slight_smile:

Shirazi Salad (Diced Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Onions & Parsley with House Lemon & Extra Virgin Olive Oil Dressing):

Refreshingly cool and perfect for the heat wave! :slight_smile: I liked the combination of the Diced Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Parsley and Onions, and the Lemon wasn’t as overpowering as it was in the Tabuli Salad.

The rest of our meal with pics are here in this thread.

Shamshiri Grill (Westwood)
1712 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Tel: (310) 474-1410

Pizzeria Mozza

House NV Rose:

Insalata Rossa with Bacon, Egg & Pecorino:

This was a bold, big flavor Salad: I love bitter greens, so the Radicchio was perfect, providing a bitter, vegetal note to every bite, but it’s balanced out by the slight fattiness from the Semi-Soft-Boiled Egg, and the fresh, fried bits of Bacon (still crispy!), and the funk of fresh grated Pecorino Cheese. :slight_smile:

Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel: (323) 297-0101

Ta-Eem Grill

Pargiot Plate (Grilled Chicken Thighs with Garlic and Onion, served with Hummus, Israeli Salads, White Cabbage, Parsley and Pita Bread):

While technically a meat dish, their selection of Israeli Salads outshine the Chicken in some ways. This dish wouldn’t be half as good without the amazing Salads added to it! :slight_smile:

Thanks to @LAgirl for the recommendation, their Pargiot in full Plate form is a huge portion of fresh Grilled Chicken Thighs with Garlic and Onions and a plentiful selection of various Israeli Salads.

Their Beet Salad is fresh and earthy, just the right amount of natural sweetness, and I really liked their Spiced Carrot Salad, which had an almost Curry-like seasoning throughout. Their Pickles were nice and crunchy and tart.

But it’s their Red Cabbage Salad that stole my attention and refused to let go! :smile: It looks rather simple, but Ta-Eem’s version is bordering on magic: The crispness and slight crunch from the fresh Red Cabbage, the inherent vegetal “spiciness” mixed with a bit of creamy from the Mayo, but then elevated from boring with Fresh Garlic and other Herbs.

This is like the best “Cole Slaw” we’ve had in years! :heart:

Their White Cabbage Salad

… was OK, but maybe a bit too acidic.

Housemade Hummus:

Housemade Hummus is wonderfully creamy (no dairy), smooth and well-seasoned. Really tasty. :slight_smile:

So you take some juicy morsels of the Grilled Chicken Thighs, some of the Grilled Onions and Garlic, add it to the amazing, fresh, warm, toasty, fluffy Pita…

Mix in your favorite Israeli Salads and some of the Housemade Hummus, and you have a bite of pure joy! :blush:

SO GOOD! :heart:

The rest of our visits and meals with pics can be found here in this thread.

(Open Sunday - Friday Afternoon. Closed Friday Evening and Saturdays.)

Ta-Eem Grill
7422 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Tel: (323) 944-0013

http://ta-eemgrillinc.com/home.html

Animal

Due to Salads finally winning Dish Of The Month, we thought it was time for a visit to Animal. While initially sounding like an oxymoron (with Animal being famous for its tribute to all things meaty and of an animal), one of the best Salads we had last year was at Animal(!), with the phenomenal Winter Citrus Salad with Yuzu Kosho. So we couldn’t wait to go back and see what was in season and new on the menu…

The space is still as simplistic and minimalistic as its opening days, but it’s quite a bit brighter and cheery for Brunch. :wink:

Heirloom Tomato Salad (Sweet Corn, Shiitake, Onikasu, Maggi Ranch):

It is definitely local Tomato season, and this Salad was really interesting: Bright, lightly sweet and tart baby Heirloom Tomatoes are mixed with some beautifully sweet Corn Kernels, atop a bed of a Housemade Maggi Ranch Dressing, that’s lighter than typical “Ranch,” but it’s got an interesting savory flavor to it (I’m guessing the Maggi Sauce). But it’s their Housemade Onikasu (a Japanese Spice mixture) that changes this Salad into something more. There’s a slight heat to Animal’s Onikasu, but it isn’t as crazy-hot as Tsujita Annex’s version (which really kicks up the heat).

Gem Lettuce Salad (Beet, Feta, Pita, Sumac, Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette):

This is their seasonal replacement for the Winter Citrus Salad we had previously. While we were sad that their Winter Salad was gone (understandable given the seasons), this Gem Lettuce Salad was a worthy replacement. :slight_smile:

The Gem Lettuces were so crisp, cool and fresh! The Beets added tiny bits of sweetness, but their inclusion of Watermelon Radish, Sumac, and a nice light funkiness from the Feta Cheese made it even better. But the biggest surprise were the absolutely delicious crunchy nuggets of goodness known as their Toasted Pita bits, serving as “Croutons” for this salad. They were extremely fragrant (fresh toasted), with that beautiful aroma that fresh toast has. :slight_smile:

The Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette brought everything together (not too tart acidic like standard Lemon). A fantastic Salad! :blush:

The rest of our brunch with pics can be found here in this thread.

Animal
435 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel: (323) 782-9225

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Did lunch at Houston’s yesterday. Got the Thai Steak Noodle Salad in honor of DotM. Solid as always…

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Thursday night my kids asked to go to Souplantation. Can’t get more “salady” than that. Other than wishing they had some protein choices other than egg and cheese, it’s fine for what it is. Starting at 12:00, I’ve got the wonton salad, 3 bean salad, picnic macaroni salad with ham, Broccoli Madness salad, and my custom salad. The plate in the back is my 11yo daughter’s.

No pic, because it was a work lunch, but Friday I was at 94th Aero Squadron in Van Nuys. Had the Chopped Salad – lettuce, roasted onions, crostini, blue cheese tomatoes crispy fried onions and ranch dressing, and added grilled chicken breast to it. It was good, but they forgot the fried onions and I didn’t realize it until I had eaten half the salad, so I didn’t bother to ask for them.

Saturday was lunch at the Bazille cafe at Nordstrom Topanga. Had the Asian chicken salad. Was really good – I’d definitely order it again.
Screenshot_20170807-110038

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Thai Salad and “meatball” sandwich from By Chloe (Vegan) at the 365 Foods in Silverlake.

I eat vegetarian and vegan once in a while and I like this place.

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Bibim Salad.


Predominant flavor is sweet, until you get to the seeds and grains at the bottom, after which the predominant flavor is sunflower seeds. The only vegetable with flavor was celery. The fennel, radish, and whatever else, were tasteless.

Onion + lime + jalapeno, pineapple + napa cabbage kimchi.


Basically it’s sweet, mushy Napa cabbage. Zero lime, onion, jalapeño or pineapple flavor. No fermentation that I could detect.

Nothing tasted fermented; no fizz or depth of flavor whatsoever. On a positive note, I very much liked the lemon verbena kombucha, it was tart.

Baroo, Hollywood

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Worst thread EVAR

Funny, that’s how I feel about the burger thread. Good thing we can simply scroll past if a topic is uninteresting to us.

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Was that the first time you’ve been to Baroo? Has it gone downhill or is it simply a case of being more unique than tasty? I’m asking because I trust your opinion on such places (you actually like their kombucha, which is as real deal ferment-y as it gets). The time we went they were about to close for sabbatical and were out of almost everything, so…

Aren’t you the guy who wanted the mods to add a thumbs down feature? Well… :-1:

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The Palm - DTLA

Watermelon & Burrata Salad w/Basil Vinaigrette


A surprisingly delicious summer salad at an unlikely locale.

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Hey @TheCookie, it was disappointing because it was flavorless. I love pickles and ferments, but there was no funk or sour or salt. I’m not even tempted to go back and try the other items on the menu.

BTW, I took my 12-year old niece to Destroyer and she loved the burnt avocado toast, and the egg and potato chip dish. I may have a new foodie to take with me to weird food places. :slight_smile:

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Great! About your niece and Destroyer I mean. :slight_smile:

Delicatessen by Osawa

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Love the Venice Chopped at Chya Downtown and the Chicken Cobb at Nick & Stef’s is outstanding.

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Tomato Watermelon Salad

So nice to have a seasonal salad with ripe and flavorful fruit; the dressing was balanced and excellently suited to the watermelon and tomato. A riff on David Chang’s cherry tomato salad, very well done.

Little Fatty

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Really loving watermelon right now.

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26 Beach on Washington in Venice/MdR has been an under-the-radar eatery on FTC - rarely discussed. They’re known for their long list of fun takes on conventional dishes - mostly burgers (e.g., California roll burger, Mori eel burger, Medjool date burger, PB&J burger).

26 Beach also has a long list of entree salads. The portions are generous, the produce is fresh and the salads choices are many.

Baja skirt steak salad.

Lamb chop and peach salad.
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These two salads are more like low carb meat entrees, particularly the lamb chop salad. And the peaches were were sweet, carmelized and slightly smokey. The blue and goat cheeses added a nice layer of flavor to the wole salad as well.

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