We started with the chicken liver and foie gras mousse with toast. The mousse was everything you expect out of a liver pâté, it was silky smooth, well seasoned and the gamey flavor of liver was not too pronounced. It also had a currant or cherry jelly layer on the top that added a hint of sweetness to help balance the gaminess of the liver and the cornichons lent some acidity to cut through the richness of the mousse. The bread that came with the mousse was toasted well with a crunchy crust and a light, airy texture with a nice chew to it.
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| Chicken Liver & Foie Gras Mousse w Toast |
The fuyu persimmons with burrata, huckleberries, macadamia nuts and butter popcorn came out next. In my opinion the dish may have been mislabeled because it came with a very generous amount of burrata and the fuyu persimmons seemed like more of a complimentary component to the dish than the focus of the dish. Most burrata-centric dishes that I've had usually come with about half the amount of burrata than what this dish came with so the portion size here was a refreshing surprise. Along with the persimmons and huckleberries they also included what I thought were some diced pickled apples on top of the burrata. Maybe I missed it in the portion that I served myself, but I did not detect any of the butter popcorn in the dish. When everything was spread on the grilled bread that was included it all seemed to balance out nicely with the tart sweetness of all the fruits countering the creamy richness of the burrata. The macadamia nuts added a nice crunch and nuttiness to the whole thing that rounded out the dish.
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| Fuyu Persimmons w Burrata, Huckleberries, Macadamia Nuts & Butter Popcorn |
The next dish that came out was the brussel sprouts with crème fraîche, crisp smoked pork belly, pecan and maple. The sprouts were nicely caramelized and perfectly tender. The pork belly was tender and succulent with a hint of smoke on the inside and the outside was fried and crispy when you bit into it. The pecans had a light maple glaze on them that accentuated the sweetness of the brussel sprouts and the nutty flavor and crunch of the pecans blended nicely with the pork belly and sprouts. The crème fraîche was supposed to be there to add some creaminess and acidity to the dish, but for me it did not seem real cohesive to the overall experience. The mound of brussel sprouts and pork belly was topped off with a few chicharrónes that added an additional crispy, indulgent touch to the dish. I would have enjoyed the dish a little bit more though if some vinegar had been incorporated into the dish instead of the crème fraîche. Something like apple cider vinegar would have paired extremely well with both the pork and the brussel sprouts and brought the acidity to cut through the richness of all the fatty pork belly.
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| Brussel Sprouts w Créme Fraîche, Crisp Smoked Pork Belly, Pecan & Maple |
After the brussel sprouts the Spanish octopus with blistered shishito peppers and hummus was brought out. The octopus was extremely tender with a wonderful chargrilled flavor. The shishito peppers were tender and had the characteristic mild pepper flavor and were tossed in a vinaigrette, which added the acidic bite that all seafood requires. The hummus was not a typical hummus. It had a more course texture than other hummuses and the flavor reminded me of a romesco sauce. The plate was garnished with what seemed to be a squid ink puree, which added a earthy, briny flavor to the octopus.
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| Spanish Octopus w Blistered Shishito Peppers & Hummus |
The lobster capellini with san marzano tomato and basil was our next dish to come out of the kitchen. The capellini was a house-made squid ink pasta that had the perfect combination of al dente chew and tenderness to it. The lobster was cut into a small dice and finished in the san marzano tomato sauce before it was tossed with the squid ink capellini and it was all topped with what I assumed was a lobster foam. The lobster was cooked perfectly so that it was soft and tender with the sweetness of the meat coming through clearly and no hint of rubberiness at all. The tomato sauce was well balanced with a healthy amount of basil flavor that complimented the sweet, tangy tomatoes perfectly. The foam gave the dish a nice hit of shellfish aroma that permeated your sinuses when you took a bite.
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| Lobster Capellini w San Marzano Tomato & Basil |
Our last seafood dish was the monkfish tikka masala with rice cracker and lime pickle. The monkfish was cooked on a skewer with onions and then served over a pool of tikka masala sauce with the lime pickle spread on the side of the plate and the rice cracker draped over the whole thing hiding it all from view. The monkfish was moist and tender and really soaked up the tikka masala marinade. The rice cracker was a nice crispy addition to the dish and the lime pickle added a nice contrast to the tikka masala sauce. Overall we all felt this was one of the weakest dishes. I think we were all kind of expecting a more modern take on a tikka masala, but it turned out to be a pretty traditional interpretation with the monkfish substituting for chicken.
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| Monkfish Tikka Masala w Rice Cracker & Lime Pickle |
They brought out the butternut tortellini with crispy duck, orange, ginger, endive and seared foie gras next. The tortellini was generously stuffed with a rich, smooth butternut squash puree and the pasta was slightly thicker than normal, but it worked well with the amount of puree. The duck was nicely cooked, tender and tasted excellent, but the piece i got was not very crispy. The orange and ginger were perfect accent flavors to both the duck and butternut squash. The seared foie gras added an indulgent richness to the whole dish and kind of took it to another level.
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| Butternut Tortellini w Crispy Duck, Orange, Ginger, Endive & Seared Foie Gras |
The last savory dish we ordered was the pork shank with palm sugar, black garlic hoisin, butter lettuce and za'atar flatbread. It was one of the more impressive looking dishes we ordered, with the whole slow roasted pork shank laying out on the platter with the flatbread rolled up next to it and all the garnishes surrounding. The pork itself was succulent and so tender you could cut it with a knife. The za'atar flatbread was a soft, pillowy, tasty vehicle to deliver the pork into your mouth. They also included a spicy sriracha sauce and some pickled carrots and cucumbers that helped to cut through the fatty richness of the pork. When it was all combined together, with the flatbread and butter lettuce enveloping the pork and pickles with hoisin and sriracha spread throughout, it was an incredibly satisfying experience.
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| Pork Shank w Palm Sugar, Black Garlic Hoisin, Butter Lettuce & Za'atar Flatbread |
Julie's favorite dessert of the two we ordered was the peanut butter spring roll with chocolate and banana. It was basically a spring roll filled with a peanut butter mousse set on top of a chocolate mousse, sliced banana and a banana ice cream. I personally thought the dessert was good, but it didn't wow me. The spring roll was nice and crispy and both the mousses were silky smooth and the banana was nice and sweet, but I came away from it feeling like it was kind of basic.
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| Peanut Butter Spring Roll w Chocolate & Banana |
The other dessert we got was the sticky toffee pudding with burnt sugar ice cream. I personally enjoyed this dessert more, even though it was a little on the sweet side. The sticky toffee pudding was very moist and had a nice toffee flavor and a pleasant texture. The burnt sugar ice cream made the dish for me. It had a wonderful bitterness to counterbalance all the sweetness in the pudding as well as providing a cold element to the warm dish. They finished the dessert off by topping it with a nest of fried pastry that provided a nice crunch. Overall I didn't think the desserts really lived up to quite the same high standard that all the savory dishes met, but they were still very good.
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| Sticky Toffee Pudding w Burnt Sugar Ice Cream |
When Julie picked Birch for her birthday dinner I was extremely excited to go and for me it met all my expectations. It had been on my shortlist of restaurants to try since it opened earlier this year and most everyone really liked it. Both Julie and David said they really enjoyed it and Julie even said that it exceeded her expectations. Christal on the other hand just thought the food was good, but it wasn't her favorite. She felt like everything was a little too rich for her tastes and looking back at our meal all the dishes had at least one component that she isn't the biggest fan of, but she said she still enjoyed the meal. I think from now on I'll try and add her rating for the restaurants we go to, and I may have to go back and edit all my restaurant posts and add her ratings retroactively too. Anyway, we were also busy most of the dinner trying to calm Luke down. While we were walking to the restaurant a fire engine sped by with its horn blaring and woke him up from his nap. Luckily he stayed quietly awake for about the first third of the meal and then he started to get fussy, mainly because I think he was overtired. Then when we were leaving the restaurant and he was calmed down two more fire engines drove by with their horns blaring and irritated him even more. Fortunately he fell asleep within a couple minutes after we started driving home.
Food 4.5/5
Service 4/5
Christal's Rating 3/5
http://birchlosangeles.com/
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