Sorry its their Beef with Chimcurri and Charred Onions
Wow that review could not be more different than the LAWeekly
Kowtowing to the group which advertises on that same mag, IMO…
Found myself at Otium for lunch yesterday… they’ve put the funnel cake on the dinner menu, so I may still go back to try that haha
Otium is a fun place to drink.
Great huckleberry cinnamon whiskey cocktail, The Fix:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDXCA69k0PO/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
And a very interesting bottle of Timarosso:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDXCGPQE0PX/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Drinks were super enjoyable.
Food…er…less so.
$18 plate of Jerk Chicken, which did not taste anything like Jerk Chicken lol Couldn’t even include some plantains? =(
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDXB2_5k0O_/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Mille Feuille was ok, not terrible exactly, but not really amazing or anything.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDXB8RzE0PH/?taken-by=compulsiveaesthete
Weird how fun it is to drink at Otium versus eat there =/
2 Likes
We stopped by Otium for day-off mid-day cocktails after visiting the Broad.
Had that same huckleberry whiskey cocktail that @Aesthete showed above, which was really solid. The Old Fashioned was exceptional. Maybe the best that I can remember having. The fig leaf that they throw in there is a fig leaf of champions.
I tried to convince the bartender to get me a foie funnel cake (they only serve at brunch & dinner), but he wouldn’t budge. Instead we had that Mille Feuille, which was nice if you got a bite with all of the components, but there were like three nuts, so there were like three nice bites.
The space is great and so are the cocktails. Bartender was super friendly. Would highly recommend for a liquid lunch when you’ve got no where to go.
1 Like
Completely agree. Liquid it the item to eat at Otium.
If you see my photo of the Mille Feuille you will see that 3 nuts is Otium de rigueur for the dish lol
Returned to Otium for the second time lunch. Much better than the first. No problem at all with the pacing or service. Had the crispy potatoes which were good (though kind of a lot of potatoes for a side dish), the squash blossom stuffed with ricotta (very good) and the star of the show, kurobuta pork which was outstanding - thick slices of pork with black rice, thai basil, fried egg and fermented hot sauce. Really nice composition and heat. Highly recommend this dish.
2 Likes
Had a business lunch here today. My first time, but others at the table were enthusiastic return eaters.
We ordered a pasta with crab, the special of the day (kimchi with porkbelly on barley), hamachi tuna, a roast chicken atop potatoes with a chimichurri sauce in a bowl, and and an avocado salad.
We ordered, and everything was good. We started getting our food, and that’s when things hit a bump. I got some roast potatoes on my plate, got some chicken with it, and spooned chimichurri sauce over all of it. I happily ate a small piece of potato, and realized too late it was not potato, but mostly raw clove of garlic. I’ll stink for weeks.
Another bump? Our server did not come ask us how we were doing, and the runners were a little too efficient with dropping things off. Long story short, we didn’t get one of our mains. Since it was a business lunch, and I was the only to notice, it felt churlish to insist on more food. (I’m the most junior employee at this lunch.)
I got out of the booth and told the server in private, so it was taken off the bill. He made a big deal about it at the table (kind of the opposite of what I wanted to happen). He also asked us if we wanted coffee or dessert, but not with an implication that the restaurant would take care of it. We all passed.
Speaking of–I’ll only be back to this place is on someone else’s dime. Convenient location though.
1 Like
Warrior: We have been to Otium four times. It has never really impressed me. But I really liked our meal tonight. Some dishes were outstanding. The best dish was the popcorn sherbert. I’m not sure exactly what I was eating (it was dark on the patio), but this dish had wonderful contrasts of textures and flavors and tasted super-refined. I generally prefer savory to sweet, so for me to name this dish best of the night is really saying something. Turning to the savory dishes, the ora king salmon was superb. It was cooked in a flawless, Michelin-starred way that showed off the magnificent flavor and mouthfeel of this fish. It was so rich that it reminded me of toro, yet the distinctive salmon flavor was strong and profound. The skin was crisped perfectly, and the fish was perfectly medium rare. Perfect execution! Other excellent dishes were the lobster with corn chowder and the gnocchi, both of which tasted rich and luxurious. I was less impressed by the prawns in soy cream, which were overcooked, but did have intriguing flavors. I was least impressed by our first two dishes—one comprising chunks of avocado and cucumber, and another consisting of roll-your-own salmon sushi rolls. These dishes were basic and unimpressive compared to the rest of the meal. All in all, while I know Otium isn’t among the most highly regarded restaurants on this site, I think it is on the same level as some restaurants, such as Majordomo, that are highly regarded.
Peony: I watched Tim Hollingsworth on The Final Table on Netflix. I liked his story and personality, and hope he can do well with Otium. We visited the restaurant before Covid, and I remember the food being well-prepared but not innovative enough considering his background and potential. This time, I’m happy to see some efforts on being more creative. The food this time was also well-prepared and had good flavor. I liked the avocado salad and the salmon sashimi that you could wrap in shiso leaves. I also liked the beautiful texture and flavor of the seared salmon. Just being critical, I liked the lobster with chowder, but I don’t know if the lobster and chowder worked together as one—whether this combination enhances each other. I liked both desserts tonight: they are creative and unique and have special textures that I haven’t tasted in other desserts before. Overall, I like the food at Otium. I just feel the chef has the ability to create more unique dishes at a higher level, and I hope to see that happening soon.
2 Likes
What do you mean by that? Just cooked all the way through (à point)? still raw in the middle?
Warrior: I will be honest. I am not an expert in meat and fish doneness. I think the root of my fondness for Otium’s salmon was that it was (intentionally) a very thick hunk. This allows the outside to be super crispy and the inside to be creamy and rare, with a large gradient of doneness from center to surface. The key to me is that the center tastes creamy rather than flaky. This is when salmon is at its best. The center can be slightly warm, but it should not have changed from translucent to opaque. And there should be plenty of that translucent core.
Translucent is raw in my book, and I won’t eat raw salmon unless it’s sushi-grade.
3 Likes
Warrior: I give it 3.0 Warrior Points.
Peony: not as good as last visit
Bibb lettuce salad. 3.5/10
Avocado with nori oil. 3/10
Naan with truffle butter. 4/10. Not as good as the bing and butter at Majordomo.
Fatty fish collar. 3.5/10. Raw and chewy in some places.
Fried scallion rice. 5/10. The only non-disappointing dish of the night.
Broccoli. 2/10. Barely edible. Tough, dried out.
Mushrooms. 1/10. Inedible. Tasted like they inadvertently added a cup of vinegar instead of a cup of water. If this was intentional, then that’s even worse.
I want to thank our waitress. She did an exceptional job.
So you guys are just gonna post photos and “warrior points” for all your reviews now? No commentary other than Peony’s terse “it was pretty good/not good” type of communication? That’s not at all helpful for the rest of us. Can you at the very least label your photos so we know which dishes we’re looking at?
3 Likes
I added information.
Thanks!
Can someone ELI5 the warrior points.
Majordomo, Bavel, Saffy’s, Mother Wolf, Chi Spacca and AOC (and more) are all 5/10. I still don’t understand this scoring system. Who would seriously give all of those restaurants a 5/10.
1 Like