We’ve been feeling fatigue toward “small plates” restaurants because there are so many of them in LA now. I used to be excited about the concept of small plates because it’s a great way to taste interesting dishes and share them with a group, like dim sum, tapas and Izakaya. Now it seems like all the new “it” spot opened in the past 2 years are small plates restaurant. Plus paying $9-$20 for a small dish became not so appealing unless it’s truly fantastic.
Top chef’s winner Michael Voltaggio‘s Ink was one of these “it” joints and it was really hard to get a table as soon as it opened. I’ve heard great things about it though my waning interest in small plate joints kept me from making effort to score a table. When the unfortunate Foie gras ban took place few months ago, it finally motivated us to give it a try! Their menu is seasonal and changes constantly. I was delighted to see how interesting all the dishes sound on the menu.
Cuttlefish – green papaya, peanut coconut cream, black lime
Hamachi – dashi sponge, soy yuzu, radish, rice cracker
One of our favorites of the night.
Foie gras – waffle, smoked maple, hot sauce
Here’s the dish we came here for. The foie gras was so silky and buttery, in fact it feels a bit like you’re eating a bar of butter. With the waffle and smoked maple this almost feels like a dessert. Anyways, farewell to foie gras for now…until when I travel outside of California.
Burrata – trout roe, apricot, persian saffron
Sugar Snap peas – a mojo of itself, coffee, cardamom, coconut (no pix)
Another favorites of the night among the group.
octopus, ink shells, young fennel, pimenton
Pork Belly, charcoal oil, bbq flavor, corn
Chocolate ice cream, spiced tofu, nutella sponge, powdered ganache
Every single dish was really good! I haven’t been to place where I truly enjoy every dish from start to finish for awhile. I was amazed at the creativity and originality in the combination of flavors. There were a lots of surprises in the pairing of ingredients and how they make these pairings worked. The plating was also artful and you feel like there’re a lot of heart put into each dish. Two big thumbs up for Ink!
Now with creative dishes like these, I wouldn’t mind paying $9-20 for them. And my excitement for small plates have restored…a bit. 🙂
Ink
8360 Melrose Ave Ste 107 Los Angeles, CA 90069
323-651-5866
Tags: creative, small plate
