421830 Mon Jul 16 21:09:00 -0700 2007 3 2 Los Angeles Area 0 2756072 Just wanted to weigh in with my opinion about Bloom (on Pico around Curson) and its lunch offerings, specifically the burger. We had lunch there on Saturday and 4 of us (2+2) split the Gorgeous Green Salad, the fish tacos and the burger. All were excellent and the salad had tiny little edible flowers in it (nasturtiums? but very small and delicate). In the day of the $15 burger, Bloom's was $9.50 and 1/2 a pound. It came on a nice soft wheat bun with some cheddar cheese (my daughter's choice, but there's also Swiss, Jalepeno Jack and Provolone), lettuce, tomato and a garlic aioli on the side. The fries were crispy brown and oh so good. We ordered it medium rare and it came medium rare. I preferred it to Ford's Pub Burger and Literati II's gourmet $14 burger; rated it a bit less than Wilson's (which is quite a bit more baroque, coming as it does with a short rib chili on it). The mint lemonade was fantastic, as was the fresh squeezed oj. My Arnold Palmer was kind of bland. Also, they are now serving drinks in plastic cups instead of pint glasses -- or they were that day, anyway. Only disappointment was dessert: we went to the dessert case, and there were very few selections (many fewer than at La Dijonaise, for example). We chose a raspberry tart, which was pretty good and an apple tarte tatin, which should have been heated a bit and was not very tasty. Place was packed at 1:30 PM on Saturday. Lots of pretty people. Mon Jul 16 21:09:00 -0700 2007 11896 NAspy 1 2923601 Went today. They are serving drinks in regular glasses. They must have run out the day you were there and substituted plastic. My friend had an Arnold Palmer and sent it back because she said it just tasted like ice tea with a lot of lemon in it. Service bad - been true every time I have been there. My other pet peeve is the itsy bitsy portions, which aren't enough if you are the least big hungry. I usually think the portions are too big at most restaurants, but Bloom has gone to the opposite extreme. Since I had been there before and was aware of how small the portions were, I ordered a $5 soup (a very good vegan artichoke) to go with my salad (very nice fresh greens). My friend didn't believe me about how small the portions were and was so hungry after eating her itsy bitsy piece of frittata that she actually ordered a bowl of oatmeal afterwards. It's not a bad neighborhood place, but it gets pricey when you really can't rely on ordering just an entree if you are at all hungry and don't feel like filling up on dessert afterwards. (Might have been a bit different with your burger, since it came with fries, which are so caloric that they might fill you up.) Sat Sep 08 20:55:46 -0700 2007 2756072 27951 omotosando 2 2923609 doesn't sound like you'd need the fries to 'fill you up'...the op stated that the burger itself was 1/2 pound. that's a lot of beef! Sat Sep 08 21:02:58 -0700 2007 2923601 103920 goodhealthgourmet 3 2923680 That does sound like a lot of meat. However, when I ordered their smoked salmon tartine, I was starving afterwards. Sat Sep 08 22:09:00 -0700 2007 2923609 27951 omotosando