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The Blue Boar

The Blue Boar Public House, an English-style pub from Curtis Nysmith, tries hard to live up to its British theme. With its wrought-iron and dark-wood decor and traditional pub menu, Blue Boar is a far cry from the Nysmith-owned Capitol City sports bar that once stood in its place (you know, the one that had the humongous TV screen that could be seen from a mile away). The cocktails are pretty darn good for the vodka-and-Redbull Cahuenga Corridor neighborhood, so you’ll be pleasantly surprised there. But when it comes to the food, the menu is a bit hit-or-miss.

The Basset Hound cocktail, made with Bulleit rye whiskey, Travis Hasse apple pie liqueur, Liqueur 43 and black tea, is a good option, but ask for it made with less Travis Hasse to cut down on the sweetness. The London Eye with Hendrick’s gin and lavender bitters is simple but nicely balanced. All cocktails are reasonably priced at $10.

The Blue Burger and Chips is a really satisfying meal (and at $10, it’s a steal, too). The toppings are traditional — lettuce, onion, tomato and choice of cheese — but the juicy patty, fluffy brioche bun and savory garlic aioli really make this burger. And the fries! The fries are addictive to the nth degree. I ate way too many in one sitting. The Scotch eggs — hard boiled eggs encased in chicken sausage and deep fried — are kind of scary but also kind of good, especially if you’ve had one too many drinks. Speaking of hangover food, the English Fry Up, a terrifying plate full of fried eggs, English bacon, beans, fried potatoes, sausage (i.e, banger) and fried toast, is to be consumed only while under the influence or while recovering from such a state. Trust me on this one.

Blue Burger

Basset Hound

As Blue Boar takes up just a sliver of the old Capitol City space, Nysmith has plans for a Mexican cantina in the adjacent spot. I guess you can’t take the Hollywood out of…Hollywood?

Further reading:

Cocktail Quick Pick: Hollywood’s Blue Boar Pub by LAist

Note: This meal was hosted.

Mohawk Bend, Echo Park’s new restaurant in a converted movie theater with an impressive 72 beer taps, is a great place for a drink and light meal. Appetizers and salads, as well as a nicely curated beer list, are the stars here, and the atmosphere is lively if a bit crowded. But where Mohawk Bend excels, it overreaches in other areas, especially when it comes to burgers and pizza.

Dining room at Mohawk Bend

...and behind the curtains, the back room

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Chili Cheese Fries at The Veggie Grill

Just when you thought you had The Veggie Grill figured out – it’s tasty, but no, the meat isn’t real – The Veggie Grill surprises you. There’s a secret menu!

As with many secret menu items, these dishes are variations of items already on the menu. The one we tried were the chili cheese fries, which uses the restaurant’s signature sweet potato Sweetheart Fries topped with the Bean Me Up chili, vegan cheese and sour cream, and garnished with chopped tomatoes and parsley. This is a huge dish, so be prepared to either share it or to bring at least half of it home. The chili cheese fries are tasty but heavy. Who knew vegan food could be so substantial?

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of having lunch at Lazy Ox Canteen in Little Tokyo with some cool folks from KCET. Actually, they filmed me while I ate my lunch (it was a little awkward). See, this meeting was for a webisode of KCET’s Free Lunch, in which KCET buys you lunch and you talk about it. Anyone can do it — just leave a comment on one of their videos, and you’ll have the chance of being chosen for a gratis meal on the station. Cool, huh?

So, without further ado, I give you my small-screen debut.

I had the burger, which came with cantal cheese and green peppercorn mustard, as well as a side of fries dusted with dill. The burger was juicy and flavorful, and the fries were cooked perfectly. The dill was a really nice touch, too. I also ordered the roasted cauliflower with chili, mint and pine nuts, which I loved. There was also some lemon juice in it, too.

Lazy Ox burger

Lazy Ox French fries

Roasted cauliflower

You’ll notice in the video and KCET’s blog post that I waited a long time for my order to be taken. It was a bit ridiculous, though I couldn’t tell if they were just giving us space to do our thing, or what. The servers also didn’t want to be on camera, so that’s why it looks like I’m talking to no one. Oh, well, I had fun anyway!

Daily Grill's pepper bacon burger

The tried-and-true Daily Grill restaurants are shaking things up a bit with some new burger options, as well as a new bar concept soft opening at the downtown Los Angeles location March 8. Other food writers and I were recently invited to try out the new burgers — a wild mushroom and a pepper bacon — and take a look at new bar Public School 612′s menu. I left impressed with the new items, as my years-long memory of Daily Grill was more staid than current.

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L.A.’s Restaurant Week is starting back up this weekend (Jan. 24 to Jan. 29, and Jan. 31 to Feb. 5), and to kick off the event, which comes just about three months after the last incarnation wrapped up, Dine L.A. (the city’s food arm of its tourism board, L.A. INC.) threw a party at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Lots of chefs were there, some wearing their chef jackets (Ben Ford, Joachim Splichal) and others not (Ludovic Lefebvre, Marcel Vigneron), as was Mayor Villaraigosa, but what event hasn’t he shown up to? Anyway, the party was catered by the hotel’s Dakota Chop House, 25 Degrees and Library Bar. Here are some of my favorites.

By far the standout food items at the event were the drinks. The arugula gimlet, made with gin, lime, agave and micro arugula, was not only gorgeous but also very, very tasty — and I don’t like gin.

This photo was taken after I had been drinking it for a while; the micro arugula was originally sitting on top

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Sliders at Rowdy Red Wine & Burger Bar

The folks over at Rowdy Red Wine & Burger Bar invited a group of food bloggers (many of the foodies in my blogroll, and then some) to have dinner with its newly introduced wine, which was added to the menu a couple of weeks ago and finally made the restaurant’s name make sense. Rowdy Red, which is named after a type of heirloom tomato, is located in the underground food court of City National Plaza in downtown L.A. But just because it has a name with fancy roots and serves wine doesn’t mean its menu will deplete your wallet; it’s really an American diner at heart.

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