Animal Review
I'd wanted to visit Animal for some time and had the opportunity to drop in tonight. I arrived at 6:30 the place was 50% full (btw, why no restaurant name outside?), but by 7:30 the place was packed and people were being turned away...what recession?
The waiter was great. I ordered foie gras atop a biscuit with a maple sausage gravy. It was sublime, and I savored each smokey rich fulfilling bite...wow!
Unfortunately they brought my next course, a marrow bone with an aromatic chimichurri sauce with caramelized onions, before I was done with the foie gras. I pushed it aside and continued to savor the unctuous foie gras dish.
The marrow dish was both rich and flavorful, paired with buttered brioche points. Well done.
For dessert I ordered the sticky toffee pudding with mascarpone & caramel fleur de sel sauces. It was very tasty but wins the award of being the smallest dessert I've ever seen in my life. It was so small that it looked odd on the plate. Oh well, a work area for Animal. Everything else rocked and I enjoyed a lovely meal, highlighted by A+ service personnel.
Looking forward to a second visit.
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Animal
435 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036
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re: mc michael
Servorg
Sep 27, 2011 04:18 PM
I have to say that my strawberry shortcake dessert at S of a G was really pretty darn big...(I was waiting for some dainty, diminutive dealie-whacker (g) and it was surprisingly robust). Enough so I didn't mind the fact that my wife attacked it savagely from a flanking position. ;-D>
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Funwithfood
Sep 26, 2011 09:06 PM
Wow, bizarre responses. I liked what I had simple as that, I'm hardly buying into any "hype". If I hadn't liked it I would have said so--I have no problem going against the grain.
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re: Funwithfood
Steve2 in LA
Sep 27, 2011 02:45 PM
I've been to Animal on five occasions with different guests. We've never had a problem with service. The food has been consistent and memorably flavorful ("too salty" is very subjective) not to mention original. For me and my guests, who have eaten all over the world including New Orleans, Singapore, Paris, Miami and San Francisco, it's always been a terrific experience. Maybe you can get "better" (again, subjective) pig's ear, tail, etc. elsewhere but I've yet to see the menu that compares to theirs.
Restauranting is very much like the parable of the ten blind men and the elephant. It all depends on your own, unique, perspective.
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I went this weekend for the first time...didn't get the hype.
First off...wanted to change to a 6:30 reservation (had 6:00pm)...was told no, then said we would be quick...they needed table by 8:30...they begrudgingly let us in. Off course, we get there the place is only 30% full...they make us wait 5 minutes outside anyway...the restaurant was never more than 75% full.
Ambiance is very spartan and NYC...noise wasn't an issue...staff was a little too cool for school, but at least waitresses were cute. Service was fine.
As for food, we ordered:
Chicken liver - This was good, but the jelly on top really masked the chicken liver flavor. It was more sweet than say the Pizzeria Mozza, which is a saltier, more livery (is that a word?) version. Also, I prefer thinner toast.
Hamachi Tostada - Tasted like something I'd get in a nice thai joint...couldn't really taste the fish - in fact, if they had ommited the fish, it wouldn't have detracted from the dish one bit. Good, but not noteworthy.
Quail - I'm not sure if it was a full quail or a half, but this was one tiny dish...it was a very nice dish.
Fois Gras w/biscuit - Very disappointed...found flavors too cloying and sweet, and texture was very mushy with entire dish swimming in syrup. Rarely do I dislike fois gras - this was one of them. Guess I'm in the minority.
Berries w/custard - like a deconstructed berry tart, was delicious but routine...any decent bakery or cook should be able to make this. Still, probably my favorite dish since I love berry tarts.
Wine was pricey with small pours - definitely would recommend BYO.
Overall, it was a good meal, but the attitude and hype turns me off...
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Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036›17 Replies-
re: manku
Porthos
Sep 26, 2011 03:16 PM
That now makes 3 people on the LA boards who don't get the hype surrounding Animal. I've been 4-5 times over the past 2 years which is probably more than the majority of Animal fans and I still don't get the hype. Most dishes are average-good but I don't see it as this shining LA star people keep making it out to be. Again, it is noted that those who are not "wowed" by it are in the super minority.
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re: linus
Servorg
Sep 26, 2011 04:43 PM
I start counting "demerits" when my own 4 visits are so completely at odds with the service related critique leveled at Animal by manku. I've never had a whiff of attitude from anyone there, including the hostesses. I mean, waiting five minutes for your table was a negative? Good grief.
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re: Servorg
I've never had an issue with service either. In fact I've usually found their wait stuff to be quite personable.
I like this restaurant a lot. I get it. Completely. It found a niche and beat the living daylights out of it. It ain't health food, is about as politically-incorrect as you can get and it makes that a big statement. That's the half of it for me - the other half is the small plates. And a few other things - no bread, and they don't use stock. They've simplied their approach and that's interesting. Also, they're young, they have the appeal of youth, and attract a young, food curious clientel that I find kind of inspirational. It's nice seeing young hipsters who enjoy fairly serious food on the cheap.
I took a serious chef here (actually, he took me because I was loathe to believe any of the hype largely because they had a TV show) and he liked it a lot. Vinny came out and sat with us and maybe he was a little intimidated by the chef, but admitted even he was a little embarassed by hype and pretty much considered himself more of a line-cook than a serious chef. Neverthless, I enjoyed my meal (but had a fat-attack the rest of the evening - I was fantasizing about guzzling down some garage floor degreaser afterwards. ) And I've been back (but I balance the fat intake with more attention). I know a couple other chefs who went last springy - one liked it (not a lot, but he's tough and never raves) the other was utterly disgusted by it. (Out of the three chefs mentioned, this one was - IMHO - the least accomplished and not terribly adventurous).
Yeah, there's hype. Definitely. The TV show after all is a hype guarantee - it IS hype. When people say it's the best restaurant in town - and they sing that praise at the top of their lungs - they're promoting some kind of belief system about food. It's good but please don't get all nutty about it.
It is certainly one of LA's more interesting and entertaining restaurants. And the food is good. I like the fact that I can wonder in on the late side and get a fun snack at the counter.
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re: linus
Porthos
Sep 26, 2011 04:58 PM
Good reviews are fine. But some have claimed this is one of a kind, only in LA cuisine. Better pig ears, better ribs, better sausage pasta, better quail, etc can be found all over. The buffalo pig tail could be legendary if it weren't so salty as to render it inedible. That's the "hype" I'm referring to. Fwiw, no problems with service, have just had better versions of the food served at Animal. Good restaurant yes. Some unique genius cuisine going on here, no.
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re: Porthos
Servorg
Sep 26, 2011 05:16 PM
"Some unique genius cuisine going on here, no."
I'll just remark that I had never seen anything like the flavor combining that Animal came out with here in Los Angeles. Just their use of foie gras alone stands them in unique and genius cuisine territory in my opinion. Items such as coconut sweetbreads, raita, mango and tamarind or their poutine with oxtail gravy and cheddar cheese. What about the halibut with corn, lima beans, wild fennel, chanterelles and lobster butter? It's not exactly common to find a foie gras terrine flavored with boysenberry jam and black pepper gastrique. And finally you have their foie gras with biscuit and maple sausage gravy. I don't find that one at every Tom, Dick and Harry's ristorante...or their foie gras with loco moco, quail egg, spam and hamburger patty.
Their twist on food is still a revelation in terms of taste, boldness and whimsy.
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re: Servorg
Porthos
Sep 26, 2011 05:48 PM
ll just remark that I had never seen anything like the flavor combining that Animal came out with here in Los Angeles
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Out of LA no. Out in NYC, SF, New Orleans, yes. Even the pork bellly with kimchi dish which you think would come out of LA...I found it inferior to the version out in Miami at Michael's Genuine who was doing that dish about 1-2 years before Animal started theirs. And it's relevent because Animal is some knee jerk recommendation for every out of town visitor request when other towns have been doing this stuff for a while already.The poutine. Tried it twice. Aside from the fact that I find it too salty (this from someone that can easily finish the boat noodles at Sapp), I don't get what's so genius about it. The original recipe is fries, cheese, and brown gravy. They substitute brown gravy with oxtail gravy. It's not a huge leap of culinary creativity in my mind. The foie gras poutine up in Montreal at Au Pied Cochon...now that intriques me.
The foie gras with biscuit and maple sausage gravy...I have always given due credit to this dish. It's genius and gets my utmost respect for the madness of it all. To me, that is one dish I can say I have never seen before and is one of a kind. But the other dishes, are not as rare as one might think and are bested even in LA (eg. pig ears, ribs).
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re: linus
Porthos
Sep 26, 2011 10:17 PM
i just dont understand the use of the word "hype" in this context.
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Also see my previous statement: "Good reviews are fine. But some have claimed this is one of a kind, only in LA cuisine"I find Animal to be a good and decent restaurant. I do not find it to be one of a kind, only in LA cuisine (I have provided examples inside and outside of LA and referenced specific dishes). The latter has been claimed by more than one highly respected LA Hound in many past Animal threads and is reason why I have returned multiple times to a restaurant that did not live up to my expectations. To me, that "one of a kind, only in LA" claim is "hype" or hyperbole. The operative words being: to me.
Some may find that my views on my favorite restaurants contain similar amounts of hyperbole or "hype" (eg. P. Mozza, Mori, Spice Table, LQ@SK).
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re: linus
This is hype:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/20...
How many other restaurants in LA have gotten New Yorker profiles?
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re: manku
i respectfully disagree.
that's a positive article on a restaurant and its chefs.
i don't find it to be "Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion," as per one online definition. i don't feel shook and dotolo or any journalists i can think of "Promote or publicize (a product or idea) intensively, often exaggerating its importance or benefits."anything kardashian is hype. the eight zillion articles about, and, indeed, the phrase "the food truck revolution" is hype. the ad campaign for the new foodcentric abc television program, "the chew" is hype.
perhaps i'm picking pepper out of fly shit here. my point was there is a distinct difference between a bunch of positive reviews and hype.
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Servorg
Sep 21, 2011 08:30 AM
Animal is still my favorite restaurant in Los Angeles when it comes to wonderful food at a pretty damn reasonable price with great, attentive non attitudinal service. Funny about the dessert "shrinkage" that you mention. This must be a new (and unwelcome) move as dessert was always very substantial every time we went. I wonder if this isn't an effort to squeeze out better dollar numbers without being seen to raise prices? Passing time is almost always cruel to everything and everyone...except maybe for the taste of cheese and wine.
