2.48 Animal
Posted on June 24, 2009
Filed Under American, Best of the Best | 18 Comments
Sorry for the lack of updates. Honestly, I’ve been gaining weight and have been trying to cook healthy food and eat at home. I miss hard core deviant food, but I’d also like to live (and keep eating) for a long time. My apologies, dear readers, but I gotta hang up the foodie hat for a while. The website will still be here for your reference, and I’ll probably reorganize this thing so it’s easier to find what you need. Hopefully I can still get a couple of last hurrahs in and finish year two.
My best friend Matt has recently turned into a huge foodie. I’m talking hard core crazy off the hook stuff. He came to town raving about Animal, which he has been to before, so of course we had to try it! Of course our good friend and fellow foodie Mikey K also joined in on the fun, so tonight we had three guys and one great restaurant.
Animal is a small, elegant place on Fairfax just North of the Grove. The whole place seats 45 people and it was full when we got there at 9pm on a tuesday night. Thankfully we got a table in about 10 minutes and it was on!!!
We start with the Crispy Hominy, which Jonathan Gold raved about. It was crispy, simple, and tasty. $5.
We turn to something a bit more hard core next. This is the poutine with oxtail gravy and cheddar. Poutine is essentially french fries with some sort of gravy or other stuff added on top. In this case the oxtail was the amazing catalyst of all kinds of flavors. Sure, fries are always good, but the oxtail is extremely tender, flavorful, with a rich buttery taste. This is comfort food at its very best. Amazing dish. $15.
We go all out deviant next with pork belly, kimchi, peanuts, chili soy, scallion. The pork is chunky and fatty but had a lighter than expected taste, with great flavor that was lightened and teased by the mountain of kimchi and all kinds of shredded veggies on top. Fantastic stuff. $12.
We finally arrive at our entrees. Here is the flatiron steak with potatoes, chanterelle, and truffle parmesan fondue. The sauce here is quite strong, the truffle aroma overwhelms you at the first bite but the flavors of the wonderful flatiron steak comes out gradually. buttery and flavorful, a satisfying finish. $26
We saw the next table order this and just had to get it ourselves. Balsamic pork ribs. Humongous. Ridiculously tender. The balsamic barbecue sauce is tangy and sweet. The meat is so tender it falls off the bone as you try to get it on to your plate. You can even bite through the bone and eat the marrow, which is surprisingly good too. A little pricy at $37.
We arrive at dessert. Pound cake with strawberry and cream. The cake was perfect with a little crispiness to it, and the strawberries and the fresh whipped cream were just delectable. $7.
Everything was so good here, it reminded me of Mario Batali’s Babbo. The flavors were bold, rich, and unexpected. It was a little pricey, but I think it was well worth it to experience something extraordinary. Indeed, I had forgotten how new food experiences can make you feel — the excitement of trying something new — makes you feel so alive, so unhindered in enjoying the basic stuff in life. Like, you know, an Animal, or something. Alright, back to the diet. See y’all soon.
Animal
435 N. Fairfax Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 782-9225