rabble rabble

I had heard so much hype about Osteria Mozza and I finally got the chance to try it last Thursday.  Here’s what I got to eat / taste:

1. Wheat bread - it was oddly served without butter (but still soft and tasty on its own), but kevinEats says that’s how it’s traditionally served in Italian dinners
2. Grilled Octopus with potatoes, celery & lemon - ridiculously tender meat.  If I hadn’t seen “octopus” on the menu, I wouldn’t believe it.  Eat Drink & Be Merry goes into detail about the process

   

   (Photo by Eat Drink & Be Merry)
3. Grilled Santa Barbara Spot Prawns with radish and salsa verde
4. Mozzarella Tasting: burrata, smoked bufala & fior di latte - the soft and buttery burrata was definitely my favorite.  Even though I was full, I would have kept eating it if it hadn’t run out so quickly.  I loved the large chunks of grilled olive oil toast that was served with it.  Wish I could have brought some home with me.

   

   (Photo by kevinEats)
5. Orecchiette with sausage & Swiss chard - fantastic pork sausage and loved the extra texture the crunchy breadcrumbs added

   

   (Photo by FoodGPS)
   
6. Gnocchi with duck ragu - I found it to be too salty and the gnocchi too soft for my taste
7. Tagliatelle with oxtail ragu - the pasta was perfectly cooked and I just adore oxtail.  I don’t care how fatty people think it is

   

   (Photo by Eat Drink & Be Merry)
   
8. Francobolli di brasato al Pomodoro basil & ricotta al forno
9. Grilled Quail wrapped in pancetta with sage & honey - it wasn’t as salty or dry as I’ve had before and the stuffing went well with the bird
10. Pan Roasted Sea Trout with umbrian lentils & red cabbage sottaceto - the fish was amazingly soft and self-flavored (even the next day!) and had a perfectly crispy skin; the sweet lentils were the perfect addition to the fish
11. Porcini-Rubbed Rib Eye Bistecca - tasty tender steak with a kick from the charred exterior 

    

    (Photo by kevinEats)
12. Smoked Barracuda
13. Duck al Mattone with honey pear sauce & corn

    

    (Photo by Exile Kiss)
14. Torta della Nonna honeycomb & pine nuts - someone said it was kind of like a cheesecake.  Frankly, the overall flavors were just too earthy for me
15. Piccolo Budino Caldo di Cioccolato candied almonds & bourbon gelato - you could definitely taste the bourbon in it and everyone loved the chocolate and almonds

I really wish I had gotten to try the Rosemary Olive Oil Cakes because I hear so many good things about it. 

It’s been called Scottish-Jewish food, and the restaurant looks kind of like a cafeteria with a long wooden communal picnic table near the kitchen.  I went last Saturday night and the crowd seemed to be rich hipsters.  At least it was a casual pub-type place with small plates.  I had heard mixed things about The Gorbals and after eating there, I could understand why.  They have a constantly changing menu, which keeps things interesting, but I wish they would update their online menu to reflect the changes (it hasn’t been updated since December 2009).  I also feel like the modifications prevent customers from coming back for their favorites.  HC had a lot of good things to say bout their food, which made me want to go there in the first place.  I was really looking forward to trying:

1. King oyster mushrooms, marrow & walnuts - I’ve been wanting to eat bone marrow ever since I got rejected (they ran out) from Pizzeria Mozza.  
2. Sweet oxtail buns
3. Bacon-wrapped matzoh balls
4. Manischewitz-braised pork belly - something I like to try at every restaurant.  The best I’ve had so far was at LudoBites 2.0 and Animal

Were any of these on the menu Saturday night?  No. Here are my list of LIKES and DISLIKES that I did eat that night:

LIKES

1. Grilled snails on eggs & toast - was one of my favorite dishes, but someone told me it’s pretty difficult to mess up snails because they absorb all the flavor of whatever sauce they’re cooked in.  I’ve only had snails twice, but so far it’s been true that eating snails is kind of like eating little balls of whatever delicious flavorings they were cooked in.  I also really enjoyed the way the egg was cooked.
2. Potato latkes - it was like having large tater tots or small hash browns
3. Crispy broccoli in soy sauce - although, the crispiness kind of weirded out Jennio and Matt, HC and I liked it.  However, we both agreed that it was so simple it probably wasn’t worth the price.
4. Dill fries - pretty good fries.  They would go really well with a beer.

DISLIKES

1. Pork w/ apple sauce - the first plate was a bit dry.  The second plate was better, but still not a standout for me.
2. Beet salad - everything was good on this plate except for some sort of spicy herb that would intensely cover up all the goodness in my mouth from the rest of the salad. 
3. Housemade linguine in wine sauce - sounded really good on paper, but ended up tasting like the pasta was cooked in heavily salted water, which was a shame because I was pleased with the nice texture of the noodles. 

Overall, I think I might return another day just because the menu is constantly changing and I’d like to actually eventually try what I see online.  Maybe next time I’ll also try something off their Scotch menu (although, probably not the Talisker 10 Year because that smelled like rubbing alcohol and actually had that same aftertaste!). 

More reviews:

• LA Weekly
• kevinEats
• Eating LA
• Food GPS
• LA Times