Animal

Animal has no sign outside their restaurant.  The only indication is a "435" on an all black storefront.  With its creative menu feature offal dishes, Animal has been on my must try list for some time now.  Its best to come with a group of three or four people so you can try more of the dishes. 

The shrimp & rabbit sausage spring roll was really light tasting and refreshing, but nothing special.  The green curry sauce was probably the best thing on the plate.

 Hidden under this runny fried egg are slices of fried pig ears.  Since I've had the pig ears at Delfina a number of times, I was able to compare this dish to it.  The preparation was very similar - slices of fried pig ears flavored with lime and chili.  At Delfina, the lime and chili oil are added to taste versus here, which were already added to the dish.  Lots of lime made this dish a little too tart.  I loved the idea of the runny egg, but it could have been a little more runny, possibly with maybe one more egg.

The last time I had poutine was at The Beast and the Hare (see post HERE).  The oxtail gravy with chunks of tender meat was melt in your mouth delicious.  There were sprinklings of cheddar cheese, but it wasn't melted in, which I found to be odd.  The only gripe about this dish were the fries were super hard!  Probably double fried to insure there was no soggy fries from the poutine gravy, but my teeth actually hurt from eating them.

 I had to get my last bites of foie in before the cutoff date in July so I ordered two of the three foie gras menu items of the night.  A foie gras loco moco was comfort food to the next level.  Rice topped with a beef patty, spam, foie gras, and a fried quail egg sitting in the perfect mixture of soy sauce and sriacha.  Rich and fatty, but delicious.  The only wish I had was that the spam be fried up so the edges are crispy. 

Animal seems to love to add an extra oomph to dishes already known for their richness.  The foie gras, biscuits, and maple sausage gravy is a prime example.  Two bites gives you enough of the full flavor impact of this dish.

The theme of Animal seems to be salty and savory because even the ending dessert seemed to end on a salty note.  A "chocolate crunch bar" with salt and pepper ice cream.  The generous sprinkling of bacon bits gave the dessert its crunchy texture.  Having had a not so pleasant palatte experience with Humphrey Slocomb's Salt and Pepper Ice cream in the past, I was a little hesitant on facing it again with this dessert, but the saltiness of the dessert works well with the ice cream.  Not necessarily a dessert I'll be dreaming about, but the taste is interesting.

     

Address:                       Animal
                                             435 N. Fairfax Ave.
                                             Los Angeles, CA

Type:                               American


Popular chomps:  foie gras loco moco
                                              foie gras terrine
                                              bacon chocolate crunch bar
                                              hamachi tostada
                                              ox tail poutine
                                              tandoori octopus
                                              pig ear
                                              pork belly sliders
                                              bone marrow

 
Chomp worthy:      foie gras loco moco