Onda - Santa Monica

Americas - USA West Los Angeles
21

Good point re: healthy.
Peter Meehan (Lucky Peach) wrote a cookbook called Power Vegetables. In it, Chang makes a case for his take on a “Power Vegetable” and it involves strong fermented flavors, acid, and a move toward making the vegetable take the place of meat.
Koslow is interviewed and her take is about how knowingly consuming healthy vegetables can make the eater feel powerful.

I’m not saying one is right or wrong (and my paraphrasing leaves a lot to be desired), but Koslow’s menus will always read “healthy” by design.

1 Like
22

This explains the menu

“I think that Onda’s going to be a little too hipster for me.”

“I can’t have dishes on this menu feel ‘basic’ and ‘normal’ under any circumstances,” Koslow told the chef. Cámara, who wanted the fritto misto in the first place, was not around. Between July and September, Koslow says, Cámara was rarely in Los Angeles. The restaurant that is “not Mexican but rooted in Mexican food” has had to more or less move forward without one of its roots.

“The reality is that this is more of a consultancy,” Cámara told me a few weeks ago. There was a hesitancy in her voice, and I didn’t know if it was because she wasn’t sure how much to reveal about her role, or if she was unsure herself what that role is. When I asked if she saw herself doing more consultancies of this nature, she sounded almost pained.

In June, when Cámara mentioned Onda on a podcast with David Chang , she described it as “in a hotel—talk about corporate.” Later in that same podcast, she was audibly annoyed when she admitted that Onda would have to handle the food in the hotel’s lobby. (Executives from the hotel heard the podcast and immediately texted Koslow, asking what Cámara’s problem was.)

1 Like
23

i think they will do very well but this is a skip for me at the moment

24

Oh boy.
This could be a train wreck. And like a train wreck, I should really look away. But. I. Can. Not. I’m still going on Saturday despite the foolishness of doing so.

1 Like
25

My buddy may be in danger of being eaten depending on how much I like the food.

26

I ate there last night. The menu is very sqirl. Koslow ran expo. Camara might have been there, not sure. It’s so nice to see Koslows take on dinner, I think her perspective is very precious california and I enjoy the hell out of that.

Hearts of Palm Ceviche
Beautiful dish relying on a few subtle flavors to hold together all the different textures. There’s a reason Schaner grapefruit is listed first. The perfect bitter undertone, comes through like an afterthought.

With the first two dishes I had their martini. Plymouth Navy Strength and a clarified pineapple gomme syrup.

Grilled Nopales Salad
Cotija cheese completes this dish in that really everything deserves a little Cotija. Soft and chalky, then you bite through the nopales and the natural juice washes everything down.

I had an Italian rose with the jowels but can’t remember which one and the drinks menu is gone from their website

Smoked Pork Jowl
The Jowls have a crunchy exterior while keeping the moist center. Really it’s that, some herbs, lettuce, charred pickles and hot sauce. A lettuce wrap deal. Not my favorite, just kinda boring. I saw jowls and just assumed they were braised, didn’t really think about what the set was telling me

Carajillo - Paranubes rum (oaxacan Agricole), espresso and banana. Basically a banana daiquiri espresso martini

Yogurt Parfait (The only picture I took and I’m on mobile so not sure how great it looks uploaded)

DSC_0197
DSC_01971333×750 248 KB

Such a great finish. That grape sorbet is probably the best subtle flavor sorbet I’ve ever had.

The menu is fun. I’ll be back.

5 Likes
27

I am redeemed! :wink:

At the risk of being flamed, I don’t think those cuisines are necessarily that “far apart,” so why not have it be a culinary chameleon?

Not as much as if Cámara had been involved as had been anticipated. Strong artistic visions (and personalities) generally don’t play well w/ each other. One of them was eventually going to have to recede into the background. Perhaps it’s not a bad thing that it happened sooner rather than later? Sort of like re-writing the pilot before the premiere?

1 Like
28

Went on Friday. Will try to upload the pictures later, but in general I came away happy that it exists but not blown away like I am at basically every trip to Sqirl.

Corn nuts: a nice start to the meal, though nothing too special.

Bury Caesar: a great caesar salad. My one issue is that it came with the entire head of romaine unseparated so you have to cut it up yourself. I just don’t love that even though I’ve seen it plenty of places before.

House-pulled cheese + mud creek fuyu persimmons: The best persimmons I’ve ever had in my life, full stop. The cheese was not particularly memorable, but wow the persimmons were great.

Jackfruit sopes: really good mole. Nothing that blew us away, but a nice part of the meal

Smoked pork jowl: Probably the best thing we had. Very much felt like a Vietnamese dish with you building a bite via a lettuce cup + pork + pickled veggies + sauce. Flavors were great, bites were crunchy, and it was a lot of fun to put together. Highly recommend ordering this if you come.

Koji-marinated satsuma sweet potato: These were fine but not memorable. They tasted good, but I didn’t feel like they were particularly elevated. They came with tortillas, which I tried, but mostly served to mask the flavor of the sauces.

Inside-out turkey quesadilla: This was another big favorite. Not at all dainty looking, but the depth of flavor from the turkey pastor, burnt hoja santa, and mushrooms was fantastic.

Charred octopus: This was good, though I wouldn’t consider it a best-in-city candidate for cephalopod dish. Felt relatively straightforward, though this one also came with tortillas and I thought worked very well with them.

Hibiscus apple: they were out of passionfruit crumble despite our reservation being at like 7:15, so we went with hibiscus apple. I thought it was acceptable (more on the interesting textures than flavor), but the more sweet-toothed members of our crew absolutely loathed it so I basically had the thing to myself. If I had to do it over again and wasn’t allowed the crumble, I’d check out the raspado.

Service was a little rough, but given that it was like day 4 I don’t really expect that to be an issue going forward.

5 Likes
29

I went last week. Gonna give them a month or two to settle in before I go back and maybe do a full writeup. Service was slow. The menu was upscale Sqirl-y, but I’m not sure it translates into that type of space in Santa Monica well…

Desserts were good, as were the corn tortillas.

4 Likes
30
1 Like
31

Went last night - overall really enjoyed it but there is some room for improvement.
Sat at the bar and the bar staff and drinks were wonderful.
No pics.

Corn Nuts - loved them. Hate to sounds all kevieats but I appreciated the crunch factor and the saltiness on the back end. Maybe someone with better palate than mine would appreciate the flavor of the " lacto-fermented jalapeño-sauerkraut salt." To me, it just tasted like salt.

Fish Hiding In Kelp - this was fabulous.

Chicory Salad - very bitter and good. Dressing and herbs were awesome.

Jackfruit Sopes - the Jackfruit - Mole filling was my fav bite of the meal…the sopes were not that great. too hard and dry and thin. Hope they will work on those.

Whole Tapioca-Fried Market Fish - charred jalapeño sauce, sorrel, herbs, heirloom corn tortillas
It was a sea bream. I would have preferred a different dredging mixture (like flour and corn meal). According to a server this was done to accommodate the gluten free faction but, IMHO, it does work all that great. the saucing was exceptional though. So were the hand pressed tortillas.

10 Likes
32

Also went last night. Pretty disappointing. So much potential in the concept, the menu reads well, love Sqirl.

And yet… whether as chef-y food, Mexican, or even in reference to Sqirl, the food just doesn’t work. None of the layers, the brininess, the acid, the fermenty depth that makes Sqirl special. Almost nothing memorable, everything one or two steps away from being well conceived or executed.

Corn Nuts - basic. Agree they just taste like salt. Throw some Tajin on them idk.

Fish Hiding - best of the night. A fun fritto misto. Mix of creamy, salty, briny, rich. Could use more lemon slices though.

Hearts of Palm Ceviche - also a standout. Cooling, comforting, wtih a coconut undertone that worked.

Halibut Tartare - pretty pretty bad. Undersalted, nothing going on. Didn’t get any turmeric or serrano. Bland, mealy cubes of fish.

Smoked Trout Tostada - meh. Riffing on marlin ahumado with the tomato-y, smokey fish. But nothing else to it. Needed a layer or three.

Jackfruit Sopes - what a silly dish. Mole nice but needed a queso fresco, an herb, pasta de frijol, something to play against.

Smoked Pork Jowl - pork was great, rich and crunchy. Reminiscent of the pig tail at Spice Table (RIP). But there was a paucity of herbs/accoutrement. Again half way there.

Turkey Quesadilla - pastor up there with memorable pastors (thinking Taqueria Franc adobada). Liked the hoja santa and mushrooms. But as with many dishes here, whole less than the sum of the parts. Really dry. Needed a crema and/or a salsa to accompany.

Overall pretty shocked. Something lost from concept to execution. None of the smoky, corn, spicy, richness of Mexican food. Missing the briny, fermenty, layers of Sqirl. Thought this would be up there with Atla, Quintonil, Fauna. Mexican filtered through a California, Sqirl lens. But it doesn’t really have the contrasts of Mexican food or the depth and surprise of Sqirl.

With time could get there, but minus the jowl, there’s nothing I would choose to eat again.

18 Likes
33

Koslow should scrap ONDA and open up SQIRL SUPPR or something equally cute but entirely her own. I definitely enjoyed what I ate but it seems like she was pigeonholed into this mexifornia concept before being abandoned by Camara. I’d rather see an unfiltered menu of what Koslow wants for dinner, much like how SQIRL is what I imagine she wants for breakfast

5 Likes
34

I went last Saturday night with a light eater. Overall, I enjoyed what I had.

  1. Chips and dips: Chips were excellent. Dips consisted of a puree of black beans with so much herb-y epazote you’d think it was gormeh sabzi at times, a lightly fermented salsa verde that was very good, and some house fermented crema with an herb oil that had that wonderful tang usually only found in fermented creams from abroad. Do I want these things again? I’m not entirely sure I wanted it the first time, but I wanted to taste a variety of flavors and this fit the bill. I’ll probably be more interested in the other snacks next time.

  2. Jackfruit Sopas: I got lucky and my sopes were very well made and definitely tasted of heirloom corn. The mole was very flavorful, layered, and seemed in the colorodito style. There was an acidic twang to the dish that may either come from the jackfruit or the mole itself. Personally, I enjoyed this dish, but I would like to try it with something other than jackfruit.

  3. Nopales Salad: This was just a well-made nopales salad. It’s basic, sure, but it was extremely well executed and perfectly balanced.

  4. Whole Tapioca-Fried Market Fish: I loved this dish. It was bright, herbal, had a bit of heat, and the fish was cooked perfectly. I would agree with @CiaoBob that I would prefer a traditional dredging since the tapioca coating very quickly absorbs moisture from the saucing and you lose the crunch. But I feel like I’m picking nits. This is an excellent dish and the corn tortillas that accompany the fish are cooked properly. They have a toasted corn flavor that brought the whole dish together.

  5. Drinks: Pear, Carrot, Onda-tini . . . well, here’s the thing. These are very well-crafted, thoughtful cocktails. Unfortunately, they skew too sweet for my tastes. I just don’t find them to be balanced properly. The pear was the closest winner for me. Just amazingly fragrant and layered. It reads a bit sweeter than it is as it has a core of pear eau de vie. But I liked that one the best. The Carrot was a sour using a carrot-based syrup. Perhaps the citrus was sweet that day or perhaps the specs are off on this drink, but I got way too little acid and so the drink was a bit cloying by the final sips. Still, this may just be a matter of taste and mine runs a bit dry. The Onda-tini was the only unmitigated disaster. A pretty basic martini formula with the head-scratching addition of a pineapple gum syrup. No other adjustments seemed to be made. Uh . . . yeah. You don’t just put a sweet component into a marinti without re-working the whole drink. If someone is going to insist on working pineapple into the equation, there are better ways to do so (infuse the gin, infuse the vermouth, etc.). Woefully off-balance and very disappointing for anyone expecting something in the martini family of cocktails. Overall, the cocktail program is not for me. Some drinks may be hits for drinkers that like to skew sweet, though.

Overall: I’ll be back without a doubt. There are still dishes I’d like to try. While the food was a bit lighter on Mexican influence that I was hoping, I did think it was right in the Sqirl wheelhouse of flavors. Location is convenient and the food was interesting so I’ll for sure be back. I’ll just check my expectation and stay away from the house cocktails in favor of the classics.

10 Likes
35

Welcome to the Board. :slight_smile:

36

Thanks. Glad to be here. Surprised it took me so long to find. Such a great resource.

4 Likes
37

Was there Sat 11/9. Its a loud room with cement floors, high ceilings and nothing to buffer the sound. How do people hear each other? Sitting in the section facing Wilshire helps somewhat. All the cool kids were there, very trustafarianesque. Service was attentive, friendly and welcoming, except for one mess up (read on). Koslow was expediting. Erin, the GM/Somm opened our wine. She’s a recent transplant to LA, nice to talk to her about her experience so far. We ordered Fish Hiding in Kelp. It’s basically tempura style. The kelp was especially delicious with the dipping sauce. Anchovies a bit sharp and the meyer lemon was deep rich as in confit. The ingredients were very good, yet the dish could be better imo if they could marry the 3 ingredients better rather than having to take bites individually. Smoked Trout Tostada was very good. A nice interplay of smoked trout with the sourness of the kraut and the creaminess of avocado. Jackfruit Sopes was another very good dish. The mole is rich and satisfying with very noticeable spice. It is countered with pickeled onions and the jackfruit is a nice way to deliver the rich mole. Inside Out Turkey Quesadilla is an interesting dish. Basically the ingredients and covered in a melted, salty cheese. A nice dish, but half way through, it becomes too much and fatigues the palate> Definitely a shareable dish. We brought a bottle of champagne ($30 corkage). Our server was so sweet and attentive and gets a solid “A”, but one miss occurred when the food runner asked to clear our plates saying she would return in “two seconds” yet never did. Our food sat a while. All in all a nice meal though the place is pretty noisy, some service issues (expected) and the food is good but doesn’t reach the heights Koslow and Cámara are capable of. I’m not sure how wine friendly it is due to the strong, spicy flavors, though the list has some nice selections. Our champagne was celebratory but a reasonable match, working best with the Fish/Kelp. I hope they can reach their potential. I’m not rushing back, but definitely keeping an eye on them.

6 Likes
38

I went to Onda last night. By objective standards, the meal was fine. Compared to expectations and the pedigree of the people involved, it was quite poor.

I won’t go too far into QPR and price issues other than to say, this place is expensive, and not worth the price. For instance, they serve home made tortilla chips and 3 dips–pureed beans, guacamole, and salsa with crema–for $19. Nothing was spicy. We asked for their habanero salsa, which they brought us, and honestly I’ve never had something more tame passed off as habaneros. This was like the habanero salsa they serve at Minnie Mouse’s house in Toon Town.

None of the flavors here popped. Not one dish was particularly delicious, though a number were pretty good. The best were the fish hiding in kelp and the sweet potatoes, but neither was particularly great.

Somehow, the combination of two visions ended up with something that completely lacks the execution and pure deliciousness of Contramar, and also has none of the zip or creativity of Sqirl. The service is also bad but that is the least of the issues.

Circling back to the chips, I found myself thinking of my first lunch at Contramar, where they brought out delicious tortillas, a vibrant and spicy green salsa, tortilla chips, and a number of sides for free to start the meal. Each thing was better than the next, and signaled that you were about to be taken care of. And then each thing that came out was incredible. Here, by comparison, getting a bunch of mediocre dips for $19 with a side of attitude was a signal I was about to be ripped off.

One other thing–just as a PSA, if you go to this place, do not order the hearts of palm ceviche. You may have thought, as I did, that Koslow would use the techniques at Sqirl to imbue acid, spice, and texture into the hearts of palm to create something interesting. Instead, it’s a bunch of raw hearts of palm, with no seasoning, sitting in a pool of green, flavorless liquid. Yuck.

I still love Sqirl, and I still love Contramar. But this place is a trainwreck, and I don’t think it is a fixable one. The problems go all the way to the core of this place.

9 Likes
39

I understand what you mean by this statement, but I (who admittedly knows very little about there the restaurant industry) think that this is a huge red flag. Service should’ve been the quality least affected by a lack of culinary vision, IMHO. The fact that it is also bad speaks volumes.

I haven’t been to Onda, but it sounds like such an epic and sad fail. :frowning:

1 Like
40

Almost four months since “the most anticipated new restaurant” opened and no review from the bladdison? Is it that bad?

5 Likes