Animal was what P & I based our little weekend jaunt to LA around (more on that next week). Animal shows up on a ton of lists for best of this or that, and well it seemed right up our alley. I’m so happy we got to give it a try. It was so good in fact, that T and I drove up the next week, for a night in LA and dinner at Animal. The food was that good. The menu is mostly meat (hence the name), and made up of mostly small dishes, at fairly reasonable prices. The food was very good, though I give the service and atmosphere a meh. It’s loud, and the waitstaff seems rushed. No cocktails only wines and bottle beer. It doesn’t really have the stay, relax feeling about it at all. The wine menu is all French wine, no California offerings, which is a bit disappointed since they boast sourcing local. Let’s get down to the food shall we…
Tongue Pastrami (ordered both trips). It was a twist on a Ruben with horseradish mousse, sweet pickles, apple butter, and rye croutons. This was both T’s and P’s favorite dish. I enjoyed it for sure, but my favorite was….
Leg of Rabbit with a Lemon Gravy. OMG the gravy was SO SO good, very different than anything I’ve ever had before.
Sautéed Foie Gras with a Biscuit and Gravy. There is nothing about this dish that doesn’t call my name 🙂 Yum!!
Veil Brain!! This was the most unique and out there dish that I tried. Neither T or I had tried brain before. It was actually quite good. I just try not to think about it too much 🙂 It was seasoned well and the texture was not off putting.
Chicken Liver Pate! I loved this dish, it was simple but really really good. The pate was so velvety.
Bone Marrow (ordered both trips). In general if bone marrow is on the menu, I order it. This was one of the best bone marrows I’ve had.
Sweetbreads. I enjoyed this dish, the components all went well together for a cohesive dish. The onion on top was so mild, I had a hard time telling it was onion.
Uni with Fried Cheese and Cucumber. This dish was VILE. I honestly think that the uni had turned, it was not good.
Save room for dessert, both were excellent!
Mango & Passion Fruit Cheesecake. This was amazing, again simple but really well executed.
Bacon Chocolate Bar with Salt & Pepper Ice Cream. Oh so good, I loved the salt and pepper ice cream. It was TASTY and unique.
Sorry about the picture quality but it is VERY dimly lit. The food really impressed us at Animal, P says it’s in his top 5 eating experiences. It was certainly up there, but it lacks a certain feel and atmosphere to crack my top 5, plus the uni dish on the second trip was SO bad. I only made our reservations about a week in advance both times, and didn’t have an issue. You do have to call for reservations, no online option. I’m super glad we got to try it and I got to share the experience with T too. P’s already asking when he gets to go back 🙂
