We had a great time in L.A. - Venice, to be exact. But I have to be honest, and it pains me to say it, we had some not-great food experiences! We split a piece of Gjelina pizza from their take-out shop on Abbott Kinney. It was ok but it did not wow us. First, they don’t reheat it, so even though it was in the mid-80s outside, the slice was luke-warm. And just a little blah.
But more disappointing was Gjusta. I wanted to love this place SO MUCH, believe me! I tried to get the BF to get the porchetta because I’d read (here?) that was the thing to get and I thought he’d like it. Instead he got the pastrami. They’d griddled the pastrami so parts of it were crispy and hard, and overly salty. There was no Russian or thousand island dressing on the sandwich, so therefore no sweetness to balance out the salty. BF did not like it at all.
I got the brisket banh mi - I should have gotten the porchetta! The brisket itself was silky and tender, with a slight smokiness, but it was so overwhelmed by the veggies piled on top it really didn’t taste like a banh mi at all. Don’t get me wrong - Banh mis are one of my favorite sandwiches of all time, and I love the pickled veg that comes on them. But this was unbalanced. You could barely discern the meat, and there was just too much veg on it - there IS such a thing. I pulled off almost all of it and it was better.
We did have a trio of absolutely perfectly delicious salads - marinated peppers (to die for), some roasted potato salad, and a chopped salad. Really good. Too bad about the sandwiches! Very cute space, there was NO WAIT at 7:00 p.m. Sat. night and we got a lovely table on the patio.
Also disappointing… I’m not into sweets, but the BF is, and I’d heard they were good bakers. I bought three of their baked items to go: Bread pudding, pear tatin, and a polenta almond cake. The almond cake was too sweet, the polenta super crunchy in places, and it tasted more lemony than almond-y. The other two were ok, but nothing spectacular. We didn’t eat them, and the next morning I took bites again - they were at least a little more tender, but we ended up throwing them out (should have put them out for the homeless - kicking myself for not doing that.)
I have no doubt there are items we would have loved there, this just wasn’t the time. 
Rose Cafe, however was spectacular. We split the hamachi crudo with tomatoes, tomato water, chilis, mustard green oil, and I forget what else. Incredibly fresh and meaty, with a touch of sweet! Awesome.
Then, a smoked watermelon salad with feta, tomatoes, and arugula in which you could actually taste the smoke on the watermelon. Fantastic.
BUT THEN!!! A dish recommended by our server: boiled heirloom potatoes with crispy tuna “prosciutto,” a beautiful Araucana egg, porchini marmalade, and a chive oil/beurre blanc. HOLY CRAP, that was one of the best dishes I’ve tasted in like, 2 years maybe? Seriously incredibly delicious, perfectly balanced flavors and textures. The potato itself tasted like it had just been dug out of the earth. The mushroom jam was sweet and earthy. The beurre blanc and chive oil blended together in a buttery/herbal dream. I am only a little ashamed to say I tipped that plate to my lips and sucked down every last drop. I almost ordered it again as dessert, and told the BF we would probably have to go back before the weekend was over so I could have it again.
The last thing we ordered was their signature dish: radiatore carbonara with another gorgeous egg and fatty, smokey chunks of guanciale. Unfortunately, it was very salty. Bummed because the meal had been so perfect up till then. I’m a salt fiend and I only managed a few bites. BF said it was only not great in comparison with the rest of the meal and wolfed it down
After that, we ate mostly cheap eats (fries with our bloody marys and beers, really bad Mexican food on the boardwalk [no one to blame but ourselves, but HOW do you ruin Mexican food in So.Cal.??], a pretty blah pupusa, etc.), except for a snacky take-out Peruvian chicken quarter and ceviche from El Huarique (also on the boardwalk, surprisingly.) Super fresh ceviche, and the chicken was on point, with fiery aji verde.
and we DID end up at Rose Cafe again, waiting around for our late flight back home. I got the potato dish again (still mind-blowing), and then i went too far and got 2 pieces of their Korean chicken. I should have known it would be too sweet, but also a little tough - very craggy and thick batter. Not bad, just not as good as everything else we had there.
I’d be in trouble if Rose Cafe was in SF. Loved the space too, and our 2nd dinner there we ate at the bar.
I didn’t do almost any research for this trip because i knew we were going for such a short time, and I didn’t want to start chasing places far away from our rental apt. Good thing this was all nearby. I’ve already told the BF I’d do this trip again next year. (We both grew up in L.A. but have only been back when forced to and haven’t been up on the food scene for a while.)
@TheCookie - thanks for your tips! Even though it didn’t work out this time, I really did appreciate it.
