Hollywood: Dinner and Drinks at Birch

 

I recently checked out Birch in Hollywood. I had gotten a Blackboard Eats deal and thought 6 courses for $60 was fantastic.

The drinks at Birch aren’t named but you can order them by their number. With our Blackboard Eats deal, we received a complimentary drink. In this case, it was the Number 3. It arrived bright orange and looking very much like a carrot with the Italian parsley leaves. Being the bitter loving fan, I wasn’t really into the idea of Aperol at first, much preferring Campari but I think the Aperol works better with the cardamon and sweeter carrot juice. It turned out to be a great savory drink while we munched on oysters and bread.

Number 3 – gin, Aperol, cardamon, carrot

 

We started out with the  market oysters with lemongrass veloute and pickled pepper. The briny oysters were enriched by the velvety sauce. Quite a lovely way to begin a meal.

 

While we nibbled on the za’atar flatbread, I took a look around the space. It’s hard to believe the clean, sparkling white restaurant is in the middle of this block of Cahuenga that I practically grew up. While my clubbing nights are long gone, I still appreciate having good food options. It’s near a bunch of trendy bars and would be an odd duck but the recently closed Littlefork paved the way for this kind of dining. Birch is a cozy and comfortable with a menu of varied and tasty sounding dishes.

 

 

I loved how the tasting menu gave us two of everything so far. Two oysters and now two crab coronets. These cones were full of crab, avocado and I liked the bit of grapefruit as well. Grapefruit is my favorite citrus so I may be a bit biased though.

 

Leaping over to more seafood, we had the charred octopus which was perfectly cooked. I cautiously ate some shishito peppers. It’s later in the season so they tend to be spicier.

 

It’s time for another drink. This time around, I chose the sunny Number 2. The vegetal spirit goes great with other flavors in the same vein so it’s a great match with bell pepper. The drink also gets a savory edge with smoked salt and chili bitters. It all gets tied together with Yellow Chartreuse.

Number 2– tequila, Yellow Chartreuse, yellow pepper, smoked salt, chili bitters

 

The monkfish dish came on a skewer which they removed before serving. Bathed in a tikka masala sauce, the chef acknowledges his upbringing in a land where they call going out for Indian food simply “getting curry.”

 

As we were getting full, our server was getting really excited for us. He said the rabbit baklava was his favorite dish at the moment. He said he shouldn’t call it a “hot pocket” but it really is a lovely packed dish of tender rabbit. I tend to not like rabbit sometimes because it can get bitter for me but I didn’t sense any of that in this puffed pastry.

 

 

Finally for dessert, we got a chocolate pudding that reminded me of sticky toffee pudding. It was decadent but not so tooth ache-inducing that I couldn’t eat more than one bite. In fact, I may have had several bites. Okay, maybe almost all of it. Well, I ate all of it. Yes, that’s right, even the crispy bits that reminded me of carefree, County-fair fried food eating days.

Now that I’ve been introduced to Birch, this is going to be my new go-to in this stretch of Hollywood. Hey, maybe it’s time to resurrect clubbing on Cahuenga? Hashtag “throwback Thursday.”

Birch

1634 N Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028  — (323) 960-3369

 

© The Minty 2015