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Archive for Cafe

Quick Eats – Superba

May24

Restaurant: Superba Food + Bread

Location: 1900 Lincoln Blvd, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 907-5075

Date: April 21, 2019 and February 3, 2020

Cuisine: American Bakery and Cafe

Rating: Seemed pretty good, need to go back

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On the way to the airport with friends we stopped at yet another new cafe, making this three new reports in one weekend!
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Superba (how do you pronounce this?) has been on my list for awhile.
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I pass it all the time on Lincoln, where it stands out as looking like it was built after the 70s.
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The interior is modern construction minimalist, like the contractor forgot to finish the job.
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The have a bike bakery — it was passover and I’m on a low carb diet so I didn’t try any of that.
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Wine of the likely too-plebian-for-me style.
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The menu (2/3/20).
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Cappuccino.
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Turmeric latte.
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We were in a rush too, so we couldn’t even eat in, but got take out (it was faster) and went to the patio. None of the food looks that attractive in it’s takeaway boxes.
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LITTLE GEM CAESAR. brussels sprouts/ treviso/ garlic crouton.
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Basic pancake.
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OAXACA CHEESE OMELETTE. chilaquiles/ tomatillo salsa/ crema.

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I think this came with the omelet?IMG_1428

SMOKED + CURED FISH BOARD. beet cured salmon/ smoked trout/ cod/ sprouted rye toast. Looks pretty minimal in this configuration.

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KETO PLATE. beef brisket/ beeler’s bacon/ turkey sausage/ grilled halloumi/ sunny egg/ roasted tomato/ dressed avocado. This wasn’t bad.
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On a second visit we ate inside and actually had plates, so here is again the:
KETO PLATE. beef brisket/ beeler’s bacon/ turkey sausage/ grilled halloumi/ sunny egg/ roasted tomato/ dressed avocado. It was much better in this more attractive and less jumbled context.

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HAM + CHEESE QUICHE. simple green salad/ radishes/ red wine vinaigrette. Really nice fluffy and “porky” quiche. The lardons inside really amped it up.
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BREAKFAST SANDWICH. fried eggs/ beeler’s bacon/ cheddar/ watercress/ crispy potatoes.

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CROQUE MADAME. sunny egg/ ham/ gruyere + raclette/ salad.
The first time I went, things were ok, but the eating outside with the food jumbled in cardboard containers really held it back. On our second (inside at a normal table) visit I was considerably more impressed. They have a good kitchen here and everything I tried was well executed and tasty.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Porta Via
  2. Quick Eats – The Rose Venice
  3. Quick Eats: Momed
  4. Quick Eats – Little Prince
  5. Quick Eats – Bru’s Wiffle
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Breakfast, Cafe, keto, Seperba, Venice California

Quick Eats – Little Prince

May22

Restaurant: Little Prince

Location: 2424 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. (310) 356-0725

Date: April 20, 2019

Cuisine: American Cafe

Rating: Tasty, but lots of carbs

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I have tried several times to test out Little Prince but in LA new breakfast spots can get really busy — and I refuse to wait.
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I even once had an OpenTable res here and showed up and they REFUSED to honor it, saying it would be 3 hours. Seriously? They claimed it was a “mistake” and it shouldn’t have been listed. But they should have just made it work some way.
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Room is small and cute.
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There may even be a patio out back, didn’t go back to check but many places on this strip do.
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The menu. We were eating low/no carb and had a bit of a tough time finding items hidden on this list that didn’t have some form of carbohydrate.
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Braised bacon. Thick but a touch dry.
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Smoked brisket and anson mills grits, salsa verde and a fried egg.
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Soft scrambled eggs with an herb salad and toast with smoked sablefish and creme fraiche. Very basic, but nicely prepared.
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Eggs baked in the wood oven with smoked cauliflower, green chermoula and flatbread with merguez.
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House made ridiculously guilty looking cinnamon buns — we didn’t have them but they smelled and looked great.

Food is very simple, maybe a touch Southern, and quite well prepared. More interesting than you would expect, but not exactly incorporating too many exotic tastes or flavors. Small, crowded, loud, and they have a touch of an attitude. Best to go at an off hour or with two at most.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

 

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – The Rose Venice
  2. Quick Eats: Andy’s Spanish Eggs
  3. Quick Eats: Sunnin
  4. Quick Eats – Bru’s Wiffle
  5. Quick Eats — Ippudo
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Bacon, Breakfast, Cafe, Eggs, Little Prince, Santa Monica, Venice

Quick Eats – The Rose Venice

May20

Restaurant: Rose Cafe Venice / The Rose Venice

Location: 220 Rose Ave, Venice, CA 90291. (310) 399-0711

Date: April 19, 2019

Cuisine: American Cafe

Rating: Solid contemporary Californian Cafe

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With some friends popping into town for a special occasion we met up in Venice on the way back from the airport.
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Amazingly, despite having passed The Rose about a billion times, including dozens of times on my bike, I’ve never been — until today. I’ve even used it’s parking before (going to Gjusta).
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The place is huge, both inside and out, and tres Venice. The outfits of customers alone are quite amusing.
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There was also a huge line on this random Friday at noon — good thing we had a reservation. Even so it took me 15 minutes to talk to someone to tell them we were here.
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Lots of good looking pastries not on my diet.
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We ate outside.
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The current menu.
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Great marinated assorted olives. Citrus, chile, garlic.
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Almond milk matcha latte with cute piggy latte art — see what I mean about the tres Venice?
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Delicious Crispy Brussels sprouts. Pickled jalepeno dashi broth, poached egg, Thai basil, scallion.
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Grilled rockfish tacos. Smoked chili creme fraiche, avocado, shredded cabbage.
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Di Stefano burrata. Thai pesto, blistered snap peas, asian pears.
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Grilled bread.
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BREAKFAST SANDWICH. Fried Egg, Juniper Bacon, Smoked Cheddar.
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SHAKSHOUKA. Baked Eggs, Moroccan Tomato Sauce, Feta, Arugula, Chermoula, Peppers.
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Closeup without the evil bread. Very nice and high acid. Bright flavors. Pretty light too — except maybe if you are prone to heartburn.

Overall, I liked the Rose and will come back. It’s very hipster — down to the Avocado Toast (not pictured), but the food was bright, clean, modern, and overall very flavorful. Service was solid too.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats – Venice Ramen
  2. Quick Eats – Bru’s Wiffle
  3. Quick Eats – AR Cucina
  4. Quick Eats – Margo’s
  5. Quick Eats – Spoke
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Cafe, New American, Rose Cafe, Venice, Venice California

Quick Eats – Spoke

Mar26

Restaurant: Spoke Bicycle Cafe

Location: 3050 N Coolidge Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90039. (323) 684-1130

Date: February 2, 2018

Cuisine: Cafe

Rating: Cute place while riding

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Sebastian and I met at the Zoo parking lot for some road bike riding along the LA river.
 Up here the river has a distinct and unique feel that I really enjoy, it’s simultaneously beautiful and ugly and always reminds me of:

Halflife 2’s extensive canal scenes!

And it has a non Alien inhabited “bicycle cafe” called spoke. You can “park and eat/drink”!

Simple stuff.

Avocado toast. Feta, corn, cherry tomatoes, arugula. I’m not sure I had ever consciously ordered avocado toast — although obviously I’ve had more or less had this simple dish. Pretty good actually in this combination.

Chocolate orange cappuccino. Interesting.

Weird hipster artifacts. That gut is exactly why I ride the bike — plus it’s fun.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: La Cachette Bistro
  2. Quick Eats: Taverna Tony
  3. Quick Eats: Kreation Kafe
  4. Quick Eats – Sushi Burrito
  5. Quick Eats: Italian-Iberian Snack
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Avocado Toast, Cafe, coffee, Halflife 2, Spoke
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