I don’t write food reviews often and by no means do I consider myself an authority on food but after being recommended to eat at “Street” by Council President Eric Garcetti last week and actually eating there, I feel like this deserves a review because you all need to try this place. Once again Hollywood shows us why its the most diverse neighborhood in Los Angeles.
After a thorough viewing and then a reviewing of www.eatatstreet.com I came to two conclusions; 1. Street is not a restaurant, its a culture and 2. I needed reservations. I made online reservations for 8:15pm… good thing too because I was hoping to get reservations for 7:30pm but was denied. I assumed it was because there was no room. Turns out I was right. As The Demon Kitten and I walked in to Street at 8:10pm, located at 742 N. Highland just North of Melrose, we noticed the place was packed. “Good thing you made reservations.” said The Demon Kitten, or so she thought.
I immediately went to the hostess and gave her my name and reservation time. She apologized for not having a table ready and said it would take about 15 minutes. Okay, this didn’t make me too happy but it didn’t put me off either considering it would only be 10 minutes after the actual reservation time was made… totally understandable. She invited us to go to the bar, which was also packed and had people waiting to get their drinks so we passed and decided to wait patiently. Not five minutes passed when the hostess approached me to say that a table had just opened up and we would be seated as soon as it was cleaned. Ten minutes later we’re still standing at the bar waiting to be seated and the hostess is totally avoiding eye contact with me. I approached her again to find out how long it takes to clean a table, she apologized again saying the table was given to other people. I remained calm and just walked away. I told The Demon Kitten if we didn’t get a table in two minutes we would leave and get dinner at The Hollywood Corner a few blocks North on Sunset where I could guarantee the service would be impeccable; she agreed. Seconds after making that statement a waiter asked if we would like a drink while we waited and brought is a drink menu. We decided to order drinks. The Demon Kitten ordered a Cantaloupe and Beet Agua Fresca which was very tasty and I ordered a Julep which seemed to be the beverage of choice at the bar and I was not disappointed. It was very minty and had just the right amount of sweetness to mask the alcohol but still leaving the bite a good adult beverage should have. Minutes later we were seated.
Upon being seated any and all feelings of sketchy service disappeared. Our waiter, John, was very knowledgeable about the menu; he was very thorough and informative even telling us about a couple of items that were not on the menu. Upon reviewing the menu and highlighting a few items that sounded amazing John returned. We had a few questions regarding the “Globe Trot” which was a series of selections chosen by the Chef. John knew exactly what the selections of that day were and even pointed out that one item was made with beef after The Demon Kitten explained she only ate vegetables and seafood. We settled on the following four dishes.
The Chinese Sesame Cakes which are rice floured cakes filled with a homemade red bean paste, rolled in toasted sesame served with a peanut sauce. The only thing we both could say was that the sesame was very overwhelming.
The Ukrainian Dumplings stuffed with spinach served over a yummy cheese and a citrusy sauce were absolutely amazing. My mouth started watering as I typed this. If and when I go back I will definitely be having those again. In fact we asked John what he thought of them and he said “Probably my favorite dish.” We liked John.
The Japanese Shizo Shrimp rolled with nori seaweed and a light crispy dough served with ponzu, grated radish and wasabi was good but it was served at the same time as the Malaysian Black Pepper Clams which drowned out the taste of the shrimp.
The Malaysian Black Pepper Clams came in a medium sized bowl with about 25 clams. They are simmered in oyster sauce with cracked pepper, palm sugar, soy and lime. D-Licous! It also came with a piece of rye bread that goes very well when dipped in the remaining sauce at the bottom of the bowl.
I totally recommend trying the Ukrainian Dumplings and the Malaysian Black Pepper Clams. I would be willing to give the Shizo Shrimp another chance if served with a different dish and would only suggest trying the Chinese Sesame Cakes if you really like the taste of sesame.
For desert we shared an Egyptian Basbousa Cake which is a lime soaked semolina cake with macerated blueberries, lime curd and whipped cream. Very delicious especially with one of the many varied types of teas “Street” has to offer. We had the Argentinian Yerba Mate and the South African Chocolate Mint Tea.
The ambiance is a little loud but not so much that you cant have a conversation about how delicious your food is with a friend. Street offers indoor as well as patio seating with heaters on chilly nights. Good music adds to an already cool atmosphere giving you a warm fuzzy feeling inside.
Looking past the foul up with the reservations which I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to, this place is definitely a place I would like to return to soon, perhaps during a lunch break to see how they handle business at other times of day and to try some other items on the menu.
I hope you find this review helpful and will eat at Street. Don’t forget your reservations. 323.203.0500
Bon apetit.
Tags: Food, Hollywood —
July 6th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I have been looking looking around for this kind of information. Will you post some more in future? I’ll be grateful if you will.