Lunching at Hungry Cat

Some time ago I had dinner at the Hungry Cat for the first time but I always meant to go back for brunch. Except I rarely actually  make it out to brunch so I had to make do with lunch. We started eating around 1 p.m. and probably didn’t leave until well after 3 p.m. This seemingly was the longest lunch I ever had and yet it didn’t feel that way, lazily sipping on Bloody Marys and eating oysters.

We got a dozen mixed oysters that included Fanny Bay, Hope Ranch, Katama and Hama Hama. Except for the Katama, they were West Coast oysters. All were luscious, sweet and fairly soon, our platter was littered with shells and slightly overturned sauces. I liked the non-traditional ginger and gave the oysters a bit of a zip.

Are we ladies who just have soup and salad? Well, in addition to our meal, I suppose. I enjoyed the squid kabocha soup but wished it was thicker. However, I cleaned up with the Dungeness crab salad. Loved all the chunks of crab but whatever the curry dressing was, it was very light.

Throughout the lunch, I kept wondering what would be a good whiskey drink for the day time. I first tried the persimmon rum punch which was light and probably go well with ladies who only have soup and salad. But then I heard wind of a cocktail with persimmon, whiskey and both dark and light rum. Sign me up. And it was the drink I wanted to sip while enjoying my lunch.

 

I haven’t had a lobster roll since Boston from the Neptune Oyster Company. Now that was a great lobster roll and worth the $25.  Hungry Cat’s version came standard with aioli and the chunks of lobster were big enough. I didn’t think it was worth $23 though. Sorry.

Surprisingly, the star of lunch was the chicken and waffles. They made up a fresh batter for us and the soft waffles actually worked with the crispy fried chicken.

I normally don’t eat dessert with lunch. But after all that seafood and chicken, I needed something light to clear the palate. I love tart things and this Meyer lemon parfait was very nice. I probably could do without the whipped cream but that’s just me.

 

The Hungry Cat

1535 Vine Street
Los Angeles, CA 90028-7304
(323) 462-2155