New Fall Menu at Bistro LQ

Bistro LQ changed their menu to highlight the Autumnal season on Tuesday. I’ve been meaning to check out Bistro LQ for a while. Or actually, check out Chef Laurent Quenioux. I always meant to go to Bistro K but never made it. Then I was reminded of him when I was at a demo and fundraiser for Taste of the Nation.

I have a couple vids of the chef here and here making his  mushroom tapioca.

Walking in yesterday, I felt like I was sitting in a gallery and my dining companion said it felt very much like a spa as we sipped our cucumber water. It was an oasis of calm. I was welcomed “back” though I’ve never been there before. I think the server and host mistook me for someone else but in any case, the vibe was warm and friendly. After initially considering the tasting menu ($70 for 7 courses or $90 for 10 courses) and conferring with our server about the new menu items, we chose to share 7 items (5 overtures and 2 entrees) plus dessert later. Of the seven; the uni was the only dish left from the last menu and we knew we had to try the signature dish.

We were given two amuse bouches; the first were deboned frog legs with a light BBQ sauce. It was very unusual yet I’ve been reading about how frog legs are coming back in vogue now. The second was much more familiar and very good. The fat from the cured meat just melted as soon as I ate it.

We knew we wanted foie gras (have to eat as much as possible before 2012!) but warm or cold? We decided to get the foie gras 2 ways instead of the foie gras tostada which was served warm. I’m glad we did because we got to try this quince marshamallow with it. The foie gras on the corn bread was crazy good. I also liked it as a slice of terrine served with the orange brioche.

The venison tartare is served with a chartreuse gelee and pomme frites. Yes, fries. Our server said he never thought he’d see fries at Bistro LQ but there they were. I’ve been really into chartreuse lately and loved the gelee with the venison which wasn’t gamey at all. I’ve been really into raw venison ever since I had at Piccolo.

I picked out this dish because it’s seafood. And it’s a kimchi broth. Two things I love! And I was intrigued by the idea of the celery leaf tempura. After we were done with the seafood, we discovered our spoons and lapped up the rest of the slightly thick broth. It was really almost a sauce.

Here’s that tapioca I know so well! I loved this plate/bowl thing the uni is in. It was also served with oyster in an lobster gelee on the side. The yuzu kocho lent an herbacious, almost bitter quality to tapioca pudding. I wasn’t in love with the flavor which is odd since I normally like yuzu. But I’m still a relatively recent uni lover (liker?) so maybe it could have been the uni as well.

I’m not really sure what I was thinking when I saw the words “lobster salad” today. Probably nothing as simple as an actual salad with lobster. What arrived were components arranged in such an unexpected way. There was a burrata sorbet on top of diced beets, a cannoli with corn cream and the lobster itself. We were fascinated by how cold the burrata sorbet kept. It never melted!

Mysteriously the meat pie description doesn’t say what meat it is. Luckily for us, we found out it’s rabbit and pork. Served with a gravy and black current sauce, it was really great. The crust was very flakey. And it came with the fanciest onion ring/ green bean casserole I’ve ever seen. Talk about comfort food on an elevated level.

By far this was one of the most interesting dishes we had. It had a little bit of everything- fish, blood pudding, a slice of red bell pepper, smoked duck wing, octopus and lentils.

5 bites of heaven.

My friend and I really couldn’t decide on dessert. We finally ordered the pot de creme which came with bread pudding and Vietnamese coffee affogato. I really liked the dark chocolate espresso pot de creme. Bistro LQ also sent out a plate of sweets. My favorite was the pine nuts cluster.

Bistro LQ

8009 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048-4503
(323) 951-1088