Give Me a Knife Because I’m out of AMMO

There are some nights where I wonder what went wrong.

The gay boyfriend and I took out a friend last night for her birthday. I had a great idea to try AMMO since I’ve been hearing some buzz on it and I happened to have a BlackBoard Eats discount code expiring last night (maybe I am Asian since I used a coupon!).

I would recommend reservations as the place is is somewhat small so I don’t advise walk-ins. I saw one couple end up at the bar when they tried to just walk in.

We were seated right away though the birthday girl wasn’t there yet. We had the first table where I could see a bit out into the street. Our server didn’t introduce herself and asked if we wanted drinks. I ordered a whiskey sour which was well-made.

Black Maple Hill Bourbon, lemon, orange and grapefruit juices, house-made brandied cherry.

That unpitted brandied cherry was potent. I am not so sure it was brandy though! It tasted like pure rubbing alcohol. I’m glad it was small and didn’t ruin the overall drink for me.

The server dumped a plate of amuse bouches on our table without explaining what they were before our third arrived.

When our friend arrived, we all ordered salads and entrees. I wish the server told me my entree would come with a salad because I was very upset. I was already upset she never came around to ask if I wanted another drink or to ask how we liked our meals. Then I was even more annoyed the manager never stopped to see if we liked our meals or to say hello either. He just took our check at the end.

AMMO serves very basic dishes. Jidori chicken, a fish, a hangar steak, pastas and pizza. Nothing amazing but everything is made with great ingredients. It’s a foodie’s dream restaurant. The food is honestly good. I had a hard time deciding and ended up recommending the two better dishes to friends.

The birthday girl had the veggie lasagna which was very good. And the gay boyfriend had the turkey meatloaf which was exactly how I like meatloaf- not dense and a nice thick slice. He also got a boatload of beet greens and I love beet greens.

My meal? Eh.

I started with the beet salad. I was excited to see it come with lentils. The lentils were very wet and overcooked. Otherwise, the salad was good. My friends seemed to enjoy their arugula and red endive salads respectively.

I ordered the jidori chicken. Yeah, I know. I’ve been eating a lot of beef and pork lately and while I would have gotten the sea bass, I wasn’t feeling the sides (ugh, baby carrots- I hate carrots!). So, I got the jidori chicken.

Okay, I like salad. But to get a salad for a starter and then not told my meal would be primarily a salad was not cool. I would have gotten the soup last night instead. When I read on the menu the accompaniments would be mustard greens, I thought they’d be cooked like the gay boyfriend’s beet greens.

The jidori chicken was oven-baked so it’s  a bit crispy. It was fine. I like the jidori chicken at the Park better in Echo Park.

Of course the only dessert I would have ordered happened to be out (the flourless chocolate souffle).

They ask you to tip on the original bill when you use the BBEats special code. I did but I don’t think it was worth it. With a menu that is nothing special, I can go anywhere for the same stuff with a million times better service. For instance, that Jidori chicken? Was it worth the $24? Nah. Not even with the pine nuts in the mustard greens  salad. I rather spend $15 across town and get a much larger portion.

So, all in all? It can be summed up as good food but mediocre service.

AMMO

1155 North Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(323) 467-3293