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The Foundry on Melrose, Los Angeles

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During dineLA last week, my friends and I decided to try The Foundry because it was on the dineLA list of The LA Time’s Jessica Gelt and because they were offering an extra appetizer and jazz music on the Thursday that we went. Here’s what we tried:

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Appetizer -

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Tuna Tartare was delicious. I liked the contrast of the potato-chip-like sweet potato to the soft tuna. Because The Foundry was listed as $$$ on the dineLA restaurant list, I thought the dishes would be small, but pretty. The Tuna Tartare, however, was quite a small mountain of fresh fish.

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Mid-Courses -

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I love pork belly, so I was really excited about the Tamarind Glazed Pork Belly. It’s appearance was lovely and it had a nice flavor, but I had some trouble cutting into it because it was a bit chewy. It reminded me of Chinese style pork belly. It was really tasty, but I prefer my pork belly to be softer a la Animal’s BBQ Pork Belly Sandwich or Chef Ludo’s Lacquered Pork Belly Mustard Ice Cream Vadouvan at his Bread Bar appearance.

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My friend thought Duck Confit and Squash Risotto was just okay. I thought the risotto was well made, but I didn’t really taste too much duck in it, maybe because it was just duck confit.

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Entrees -

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I ordered Beef Tenderloin and was extremely glad it wasn’t some monster-sized steak. It was cut into 3 slices, which made it much easier for me to eat. My medium rare beef was tender and delicious.

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However, I almost regretted ordering it when I tried the Caramelized Scallops, which were the best cooked scallops I’ve ever had. It was perfectly cooked and sitting in this amazing balsamic brown butter sauce that I just wanted to put on everything. For me, it was like the bacon of sauces. You know the saying, “Everything tastes better with bacon.” I’m almost certain that everything would taste better with Chef Eric Greenspan’s balsamic brown butter sauce.

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My friend thoroughly enjoyed her Breast of Duck, which I found to be surprisingly moist and juicy.

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Dessert -

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I was really curious about the Peanut Butter and Jelly Bread Pudding, but we all just couldn’t pass up the Dark Chocolate and Pistachio Opera Cake, as soon as we saw the words “Dark Chocolate”. The dark chocolate sorbet was my favorite thing about the dish. I really wish it hadn’t melted so quickly or that there had been more of it because it really complemented the cake, but after the sorbet was gone, the cake became much too creamy and rich for me. I think it would be interesting if it was an ice cream cake instead.

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I was really surprised that we had extra little dishes come out before the appetizer, mid-course, and entree. I have no idea what they were called, but the first was like a small tomatoey savory pastry. The second was like cornbread, and the third reminded me of a scone. They were all tasty, even the scone-like item and I don’t normally like scones.

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We sat “outside”, which had a tent over it for the winter season. I imagine it’s really nice in the summer though. And it was quieter than the inside because of the live jazz; fortunately, I could still hear the music from where I sat.

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Their Lounge Menu has some inexpensive items starting at $3.

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I would love to come back to the restaurant in warmer weather.

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More: Gourmet Pig’s review of last year’s dineLA at this restaurant.

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