Bestia

Reviews 3

PU

Purple Penguin

LOVE AT FIRST BITE... bestia...we tried to dine at the hip, dimly lit restaurant last week since we love angelini osteria. saw last week in zagats article about which meal was the most memorable...the chef from jose andres bazaar said that it was bestia which sparked my interest even more since it just opened in nov 2012. they only had bar first come, first serve seating. it was crowded. several groups of people were waiting, so we opted to return another time. on the following saturday night, we got in!!! exciting!! we ordered more than usual since we wanted to try many dishes. lucky us, we had a table at the bar area (there are only two small ones inside. more seating out on the small patio weather permitting) our server, jenna, had a sunshiny, cheerful personality. she was cute and welcoming. when we asked her what she has tasted on the menu, she replied, "everything!!" with a huge smile. she answered all of my questions since we all know that i love to ask questions. haha.. the cocktails and drinks werent as expensive (not cheap either but fair) as i thought they would be. hubby had the affinity which consisted of scotch, dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, angostura. turned out to be a small wine glass with a pink drink and cherry at the bottom. julian coxs creation was interesting but he needs to put a spicy drink (like barbacoa which he created at rivera). our dishes arrive in a timely manner. first was the octopus and calamari which was heavenly. this was my favorite dish. im in love with octopus. plus i prefer my calamari not fried. octopus with a breadcrumb texture in a light balsamic. you dont need to order a salad if you order the pan-seared octopus and calamari since it comes with fennel, mixed mushrooms, and arugula. Mmm... every element of this dish was excellent. flavorful, chewy, crunchy, sweet with just the correct amount of acidity. it made me fall in love at first bite.. now the allanduja pizza that everyone has been talking about did not blow me away. i could have done without it. the crust (which was good) took up almost half of the pizza. there was not much housemade spicy sausage with tomatoes, mozarella, and arugula. after eating the pizza, i was feeling like we over-ordered since we had two pastas coming AND had to save room for dessert. spaghetti rustichella had sea urchin, lobster, garlic, fermented chili, and breadcrumbs. jenna had told us that the spaghetti had a harder texture. i wasnt enamored with it but hubby liked it. the flavors worked nicely together. uni was fresh and creamy although there was only one piece; lobster was in tiny pieces. we had complimentary roasted veggies from the chef. as we were consuming it, i was wondering what i could do to make my veggies so tasty.. heheh. my choice of pasta was the agnolotti alla vaccinara. it had cacao in the handmade pasta which created a subtle flavor. pillows of braised oxtail with a hint of chocolate. make sure you taste it with the round currant (they must soak it in water beforehand to plump it up) and pine nuts. this dish was worthy of angelini osteria. i savored each and every bite. i can only remember one other pillow filled with meat that was as satisfying...the duck ravioli at scarpetta. now for dessert... i was disappointed that we had a copy of the old menu. had my heart set on the pink lady crostada. i did compare the old menu and the new one just to see if there was anything else that we missed. they just switched two of the desserts. i wasnt in a deep, rich chocolate mood (or i would have ordered the chocolate budino tart), so we had the chestnut zeppole. its their version of "coffee and donuts". to my surprise, it looks just like one of the desserts from osteria mozza. came with a whipped cream that lacked sweetness. the coffee gelato in a small bowl was delicious. the chestnut donut had a sweet cinnamon aroma but felt like an overpriced churro to me. we felt that their seafood is better than the other meat (i have a list of dishes to try on our next visit). but it is difficult to judge based on one visit. e

WA

Walter Macalma

Years ago they were lauded and talked about among the public and critics alike. I came here as a 2nd stop on a food/drink crawl. In talking with the somm, chef and head bartender I quickly decided to ax the next 3 hours of food places and stay here until close. The décor reminds me of what the “non pretentious” side of LA should look like. A little industrial, a little dark, a little romantic. Service is very good, attentive, European. The wandering somm is available for suggestions, discussions. We chatted about calvados sherry being served in the luge after an entrée and not directly after bone marrow starter or just calvados between dishes if you eat the way I do, aka trou norman. I chatted with the bartenders about apertif’s and digestif’s and how they needed more Italian spirits (since been rectified from the early days). They are as open as I am to trying to new things. Great service top to bottom. Value can get lost when you need a few apps and entrée’s to go with your drinks and bam your meal is $100. I could tell having a somm on site and a craft cocktail menu would be harbingers for good food. I could tell the drinks had a very craft base with local inflections like the mole bitters and stayed Italian with the aperol’s, campari’s and now fernet. Early on they were still finding their way. Beer never took off and they never stocked much. Pate and tare tare dishes were excellent (chicken and veal), but all their starters come with bread it seems. These were perfect as I’d already come from eating and drinking at my last stop when I first came. Chicken gizzards and beats were balanced and bold. Mussels and clams needed some acidity, bone marrow was excellent even without the luge. Grilled lamb balls were bright, herbaceous and didn’t need the yogurt. Salami was good, but I wish they had more offerings (culatello, maybe a house made prosciutto). Nduja pizza was subtle and let the tomatos, fennel play without being overpowered by the protein or even the crust. I wanted a white pizza with ricotta topped with clams and mussels though. Wasn’t going to happen, but chef agreed it would be good if they did. Cavatelli pasta was great with the ricotta dumplings. Vaccinara was great as the bold oxtail was balanced with other bold ingredients. Very rich. Pappardelle is seasonal due to the stinging nettles, poached egg is perfect. Black squid ink pasta and sea urchin pasta steals the show as the best dish of all. I wondered why there was no risotto, I also love black risotto. Whole Branzino is perfect to split if you are also getting another from the second menu. I wasn’t a fan of the skirt steak because it’s twice as expensive as any other skirt steak should be. The moscatao dessert was great with the double blood orange used. I could write a whole nothing review on the drinks alone, but for the most part they are balanced, though not too inventive or spirit forward. I still make this a stop off on nights in LA.

CH

Chase Lisbon

It has been a few months since I ate at Bestia, and the memory experience still angers me at least once a week. I have never had a worse experience with a waiter in my life. The staff seemed very attentive, and friendly enough. The exception seemed to be our waiter. My friend was very excited to take us here and had made the reservations far in advanced. The waiter started off by rushing us, to the point of making my friend incredibly uncomfortable. Questions were answered with sarcasm or unveiled disdain. When told about our dietary restrictions he scoffed at us and asked "Why are you even here?" Yes, the waiter asked us why we were there. We became silent after a few more of his remarks aimed at us. The waiter then made a serious of jokes aimed at us, and walked away. When he returned for the order, my friend felt threatened and overwhelmed. He simply said "bring me whatever you want", because he was too intimidated and uncomfortable to even read the menu. The rest of the night we were subject to being treated terribly and ignored - with the exception of an "eye roll" every time the waiter walked by. When my friend got his food, the waiter couldnt even be bothered to tell him what he had selected. When it came time for dessert, there was no menu given, verbal or written. There were no options offered other then "Do you want dessert?" My friends date described something she had seen from a neighboring table, a plate that looked like cinnamon balls, and the waiter said "We dont have anything like that" and walked away. The table next to us heard this all and actually gave her one of their "cinnamon balls". This night was hands down the worst night of dining that I have had in my life, and I do not say this lightly. Im actually upset again writing this, and have been at least once a week since the experience. It enrages me to think that this man has a job in the service industry and at a respected restaurant. Im aware that my diet is limiting. I never asked for or expected any special service. I DID NOT ASK FOR MY PARTNER, FRIEND, OR MYSELF TO BE INSULTED FOR THIS. I am used to making due, and finding what I can eat at any restaurant. I have never been laughed at, scoffed at, AND told an incredibly insulting story about one of your food runners. I am in UTTER SHOCK over this experience. I can not think of a time in my 40 plus years of dining where I was still angry about something the next week, let alone months later. I have no idea why anyone would want to eat here. Why do people wait for a reservation to come in, be rushed, be insulted, treated like an enemy and rushed out, so that the waiters can laugh about you later. I am writing this review today, at the request of my partner, in an effort to get passed this. This was the worst dining experience of my life. I think about it every time I think about DTLA.