Two more days of Dine LA, guys. If there’s somewhere you’ve been wanting to try, get on it.
I decided to go to two restaurants this time around. One tried and true, and one I’ve been wanting to try.
Tried & True: Lawry’s
I eat prime rib probably 1x a year. So if I’m going to have it, I like having it at Lawry’s during Dine LA. It’s one of the best deals during the week. Even though it’s a place teens / college students like to go on for fancy dates, that’s part of the nostalgic charm. You know what you’re going to get, and it usually feeds you for at least 2 meals.
For $59, you get the classic spinning salad, your choice of prime rib + lobster tail or scottish salmon. The prime rib gets you a side of yorkshire pudding and the salmon a side of mashed potatoes. You also get to choose a second side of either creamed spinach or creamed corn. For dessert, choose between flourless chocolate cake, trifle or creme brulee. If you go with 2 other people, you can order all 3 and share (which is what we did).
The New: Chateau Hanare
I discovered Chateau Hanare on Instagram as many things are discovered today (for better or for worse). As a first try, I figured going for Dine LA was a good way to dip my toes.
The restaurant is just down the way from Chateau Marmont. It’s a cozy space, with a dojo-like vibe that makes you wish it were snowing outside.
For $49 you get housemade tofu, your choice of salad (between our group we got the avocado tuna, tako & seaweed and assorted obanzai). The assorted obanzai is a sampling of different veggies including mushrooms and cauliflower, which was possibly my favorite veggie dish – but the tuna was pretty killer. You also choose a main course that is served with rice and miso soup. We did the washugyu beef and saikyo miso black cod. Get the washugyu rare and you can’t go wrong. I loved the cod, which was tender and fell apart between your chopsticks. We also got a few extras like karaage and a couple of cocktails added on. My favorite cocktail was the Mikko, also because mezcal is my liquor of choice lately.
The star of the show was the smoked uni toast, which comes plated with a glass serving lid. Once lifted, a cloud of smoke comes out revealing 5 neat little toasts with a generous heap of uni sprinkled with edible flowers.
The parade of desserts we got was a lovely way to end the meal.
JULIENNE CARROTS 